COOL ORCHIDS. 93 
away in the interior, and on my return was sick, 
besides other business taking up my time; I was 
unable to write until to-day. Now let me give 
you some information concerning orchid-collecting 
in this colony. Six or seven years ago, just when 
the gold industry was starting, very few people 
ever ventured in the far interior. Boats, river- 
hands, and Indians could be hired at ridiculously 
low prices, and travelling and bartering paid ; 
wages for Indians being about a shilling per day, 
and all found ; the same for river-hands. Captains 
and boatswains to pilot the boat through the 
rapids up and down for sixty-four cents a day. 
To-day you have got to pay sixty-four to eighty 
cents per day for Indians and river-hands. Captains 
and boatswains, $2 the former, and $1:50 the 
latter per day, and then you often cannot get 
them. Boat-hire used to be $8 to $10 fora big 
boat for three to four months ; to-day $5, $6, and 
$7 per day, and all through the rapid development 
of the gold industry. As you can calculate twenty- 
five days’ river travel to get within reach of the 
Savannah lands, you can reckon what the expenses 
must be, and then again about five to seven days 
coming down the river, and a couple of days to 
lay.over. Then you must count two trips like 
this, one to bring you up, and one to bring you 
