126 ABOUT ORCHIDS. 
Assam in 1858, when botanists regarded it as a 
form of D. Fatlconeri. This error was not so 
strange as its seems, for the Assamese variety has 
pseudo-bulbs much less sturdy than those we are 
used to see, and they are quite pendulous. It was 
rather a lively business collecting orchids in 
Burmah before the annexation. The Roman 
Catholic missionaries established there made it a 
source of income, and they did not greet an 
intruding stranger with warmth—not genial 
warmth, at least. He was forbidden to quit the 
town of Bhamo, an edict which compelled him to 
employ native collectors—in fact, coolies—himself 
waiting helplessly within the walls; but his reverend 
rivals, having greater freedom and an acquaintance 
with the language, organized a corps of skirmishers 
to prowl round and intercept the natives returning 
with their loads. Doubtless somebody received 
the value when they made a haul, but who, is un- 
certain perhaps—and the stranger was disap- 
pointed, anyhow. It may be believed that un- 
edifying scenes arose—especially on two or three 
occasions when an agent had almost reached one 
of the four gates before he was intercepted. For 
the hapless collector—having nothing in the world 
to do—haunted those portals all day long, flying 
from one to the other in hope to see “somebody 
