ALOE. 17 



them were in full bloom, towering above the thicket, and 

 one more perfect than the rest was brought into the waggon. 

 The flower consisted of seven branches, one in the centre, 

 and six surrounding it at regular distances. The centre 

 branch was a foot and a half long, the rest about thirteen 

 inches, all thickly covered with a succession of long, bell- 

 shaped flowers, each orange-coloured at the stem, and 

 passing into bright vermilion towards the top. The bril- 

 liant appearance of this huge flower, or mass of flowers, 

 disposed like a chandelier, and mounted on a stem six feet 

 in height, with a capital of massive leaves, spreading above 

 three feet in diameter, is beyond conception grand *." 



He mentions another, of smaller growth, extremely beau- 

 tiful also : 



" The waste produces some beautiful plants, among 

 which I particularly noticed the Fahlblar, a species of 

 Aloe, the leaves of which are round, of a pale blue colour, 

 and spreading near the ground ; the stalk about a foot long, 

 and the flowers, which are bell-shaped, and of a deep scarlet, 

 hanging down in clusters (." 



A lover of flowers will sympathize with this author in the 

 regret he describes himself to have felt, in the course of 

 preparation for building a new church : " By the grubbing 

 up, and removing these stones, which may have lain there 

 since the deluge, many flowers, much beautiful shrubbery, 

 and a great quantity of Aloes were destroyed. I defended 

 them as long as I could, but was obliged to submit to the 

 necessity of using the stones. The ground was strewed 

 with flowers and bulbs, shattered Aloe-leaves and beau- 

 tiful plants, but I was assured for my comfort, that, after a 

 short rest, the earth would bring forth abundantly, and the 

 Aloes and Fahlblar again adorn the spot j." 



* Latrobe's Visit to South Africa, p. 273. 

 t Ibid. p. 64. : Ibid. p. 458. 



c 



