loo THE WOODLANDS ORCHIDS 



made acquaintance with that admirable collector Crossley, 

 whose stories of Madagascar fired his imagination. Mr. 

 Cutter was loath to send out a man of such unsteady 

 character. The perils of that awful climate were not so 

 well understood, perhaps, twenty-five years ago, but enough 

 was known to make an employer hesitate. Crossley had 

 been shipwrecked on the coast, had lived years with the 

 natives, learned their language, and learned also to adopt 

 their habits while journeying among them. But Leboeuf 

 would not be daunted. A giant in stature — over seven feet, 

 they say — of strength proportionate, not inexperienced in 

 wild travel but never conscious of ache or pain, he mocked 

 at danger. When Crossley refused to take an untried man 

 into the swamps of Madagascar, he vowed he would go 

 alone. That is, indeed, the most fascinating of all lands to 

 an enthusiast even now, when we are assured that the 

 Epyornis, the mammoth of birds, is extinct. At that time 

 there was no good reason to doubt the unanimous assertion 

 of the natives that it still lived. Crossley was so confident 

 that he neglected to buy eggs badly shattered, waiting for 

 perfect specimens. His scruples were ' bad business ' for 

 Mr. Cutter, as that gentleman lived to see, but they appeared 

 judicious at the time. Fragments of Epyornis egg, slung 

 on cords, were the vessels generally used in some parts for 

 carrying water — are still perhaps. Besides this, endless 

 marvels were reported, some of which have been secured in 

 these days. Briefly, the young man was determined to go, 

 and Mr. Cutter gave him a commission. 



Thus Leboeuf made one of M. Humblot's guests at 

 Tamatave. Another was Mr. Wilson, the only orchid 

 collector there ; for M. Humblot did not feel much interest 

 in those plants, I believe, at the time. I have not been able 

 to learn anything about Wilson's antecedents. His diary, 

 upon which this narrative is framed, was lying about at 



