GREAT FLOWER, RAFFLE'siA. 57 



" The whole flower was of a very thick sub- 

 " stance, the petals and nectary being in but few 

 " places less than a quarter of an inch thick, and 

 " in some places three-quarters of an inch ; the 

 " substance of it was very succulent. 



" Now for the dimensions, which are the most 

 " astonishing part : it measured a full yard across ; 

 " the petals, which were roundish, and five in 

 " number, being twelve inches in length, and it 

 " being about a foot from the insertion of the one 

 " petal to the opposite one ; Sir Stamford, Lady 

 " Raffles, and myself, taking immediate measures 

 " to be accurate in this respect, by pinning four 

 " large sheets of paper together, and cutting them 

 " to the precise size of the flower. The nectary, 

 " in the opinion of all of us, would hold twelve 

 " pints, and the weight of this prodigy we cal- 

 " culated to be fifteen pounds. 



" A guide from the interior of the country said 

 " that such flowers were rare, but that he had seen 

 "^everal, and that the natives called them Krubut, 

 " or the Great Flower. You may judge how well 

 " they deserve this name, from the dimensions of 

 " the buds, which are about the size, and have very 

 " much the appearance, of moderate cabbages." 



Mr. Brown, who described the specimens of this 

 gigantic flower that were first sent to England *, 

 was of opinion that the root on which it grew be- 



* Transactions of the Linnaean Society, vol.xiii. part 1. 



