42 ROYAL WATER-LILY. 



distribution." The following is Sir Eobert's letter : 

 "It was on the 1st of January, 1837, while contend- 

 ing with the difficulties that nature interposed, in 

 different forms, to stem our progress up the river 

 Berbice (lat. 4 deg. 30 min. N., long. 52 deg. W.), 

 that we arrived at a part where the river expanded, 

 and formed a currentless basin; some object on the 

 southern extremity of the basin attracted my atten- 

 tion, and I was unable to form an idea what it could 

 be; but, animating the crew to increase the rate of 

 their paddling, we soon came opposite the object 

 which had raised my curiosity, and, behold, a vege- 

 table wonder ! All calamities were forgotten; I was 

 a botanist, and felt myself rewarded ! There were 

 gigantic leaves, five to six feet across, flat, with a 

 broad rim, lighter green above and vivid crimson 

 below, floating upon the water ; while, in character 

 with the wonderful foliage, I saw luxuriant flowers, 

 each consisting of numerous petals, passing in alter- 

 nate tints, from pure white to rose and pink. The 

 smooth water was covered by the blossoms, and, as 

 I rowed from one to the other, I always found some- 

 thing new to admire. The flower-stalk is an inch 

 thick near the calyx, and studded with elastic 

 prickles about three-quarters of an inch long. When 

 expanded, the four-leaved calyx measures a foot in 

 diameter, but is concealed by the expansion of the 

 hundred-petalled corolla. This beautiful flower, when 

 it first unfolds, is white, with a pink centre ; the 



