270 THE VICTORIA EEGIA. 



described it was Poppig, in 1832, who saw it in the river Amazons. 

 Sir Richard Schomburgk, who discovered it in the rivers of Guiana, 

 was, I believe, the first to introduce it in England, where a splendid 

 specimen may be seen at Kew, another at Chatsworth, and a third in 

 the Botanic Garden of Glasgow. Its thick fleshy root-stocks send up 

 a number of long cylindrical leaf-stalks, traversed by air canals, and 

 armed with stout conical prickles. The blade of the leaf is circular, 

 and floats on the surface of the water; when fully developed, it 

 measures from six to twelve feet in diameter, and its margin being 

 uniformly turned upwards to the depth of two or three inches, it 

 assumes the appearance of a large shallow tray. The lower surface 

 is traversed by a number of very prominent veins, radiating from the 

 centre to the margin, and connected with one another by smaller 

 transverse nerves ; so that the whole under-side, which is of a purplish 

 colour, is divided into a network of irregular quadrangular compart- 

 ments or open cells, admirably fitting the leaf for floating on the 

 water: The flowers rise upon prickly stalks. They are more than a 

 foot in diameter, with the white outer petals inclined downwards ; 

 while the central rose-coloured ones, with the stamens, remain erect : 

 the whole presenting the fanciful appearance of a central rose-coloured 

 crown resting on a circular range of snowy and most gracefully curved 

 petals. The fruit is a sort of globular capsule, about the size of a 

 child's head, and formidably beset with prickles. The interior is 

 fleshy, and divided into numerous cells, full of round farinaceous 

 seeds, which are eaten roasted by the Spaniards. Hence, in some 

 parts of South America, it is called Mais del Agua, or Water Maize. 



The pools and lagoons of this region nourish numerous other 

 aquatic plants, among which it will suffice to particularize the Scyn- 

 dapsus fragrans and the Raphia toedigera. 



Turning now to the vast area of the Brazilian empire, we find it 

 divided into matos (or woods) and campos (or open plains). When 

 the inhabitants would convert into cultivable land a district occupied 

 by forest, they set fire to it during the dry season, and soon a vege- 

 tation of frutescent but dwarf species succeeds the primitive vegeta- 



