WATER LILY. 147 



ther on the bosom of a native lake, or whe- 

 ther on the Avaters of the Nile, whether 

 bearing the familiar appellation of the water- 

 can, or that of the sacred Lotus, the white 

 lily and her congener are everywhere dis- 

 tinguished for their surpassing beauty ; now 

 gently heaving, as the waters heave beneath 

 them, now shaken by the breezes that sweep 

 freshly across the stream, and now stationary, 

 when the sun is at its height, and the mir- 

 ror-like surface of the lake reflects the gran- 

 deur of the mountains by which it is en- 

 circled. Water insects find a shelter among 

 their ample leaves, a place of refuge when 

 sudden storms disturb the waters, and rain- 

 drops begin to fall, that might crush them 

 by their weight. There is much in each 

 of these lovely flowers to excite the ad- 

 miration of the most incurious ; their snowy 

 whiteness, their watery home, the sparkling 

 bubbles of pure oxygen gas that are copi- 



