48 ROYAL WATER-LILY. 



hands and feet considerably pricked without expe- 

 riencing any ill effects. We were fortunate in find- 

 ing the plant in good flower; but, according to the 

 testimony of all at Santarem who have seen it, the 

 leaves attain their greatest dimensions in the winter. 

 Captain Hislop assures me he has seen many leaves 

 twelve feet in diameter, whereas the largest we saw 

 measured a very little above four feet across, and they 

 were packed as close as they could lie. But I can 

 easily conceive how in the wet season their dimen- 

 sions should be considerably augmented; for where, 

 as at present, the plant is growing in less than two 

 feet of water, in winter the igarape will be filled to 

 its topmost banks, or at least fifteen feet deeper 

 than at present, while its breadth will also be 

 greatly increased, so that the petioles of the Victoria, 

 lengthening, doubtless, with the rise of the waters, 

 will bring the leaves to a much greater surface, on 

 which they will have room to dilate to about twice 

 their present size. The aspect of the Victoria, in its 

 native waters, is so new and extraordinary, that I am 

 at a loss to what to compare it. The image is not a 

 very poetical one, but assuredly the impression the 

 plant gave me, when viewed from the banks above, 

 was that of a number of tea-trays floating, with here 

 and there a bouquet protruding between them; but, 

 when more closely viewed, the leaves excited the 

 greatest admiration from their immensity and perfect 

 symmetry. A leaf turned up suggests some strange 



