HOT ORCHIDS. 145 
yellow, the tip purple, outlined with white, formed 
like a shovel. 
I may cite a personal reminiscence here, in the 
hope that some reader may be able to supply what 
is wanting. In years so far back that they seem 
to belong to a “ previous existence,” I travelled in 
Borneo, and paid a visit to the antimony-mines of 
Bidi. The manager, Mr. Bentley, showed me a 
grand tapong-tree at his door from which he 
had lately gathered a “blue orchid,’—we were 
desperately vague about names in the jungle at 
that day, or in England for that matter. In a 
note published on my return, I said, “As Mr. 
Bentley described it, the blossoms hung in an 
azure garland from the bough, more gracefully 
than art could design. This specimen is, I believe, 
the only one at present known, and both Malays 
and Dyaks are quite ignorant of such a flower! 
What was this? There is no question of the 
facts. Mr. Bentley sent the plant, a large mass 
to the chairman of the Company, and it reached 
home in fair condition. I saw the warm letter. 
enclosing cheque for 100/,, in which Mr. Templar 
acknowledged receipt. But further record I have 
not been able to discover. One inclines to assume 
that a blue orchid which puts forth a“ garland” of 
bloom must be a Vanda. The description might 
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