190 THE ME3I0EABLE. 



of the existence here of a second species of Paradisea, 

 apparently more beautiful and curious than the one I 

 have obtained. You may, perhaps, imagine my excite- 

 ment when, after seeing only two or three times in three 

 months, I at length took a male Ornithoptera. When I 

 took it out of my net, and opened its gorgeous wings, I 

 was nearer fainting with delight and excitement than I 

 have ever been in my life ; my breast beat violently, and 

 the blood rushed to my head, leaving a headache for the 

 rest of the day. The insect surpassed my expectations, 

 being, though allied to Priamus, perfectly new, distinct, 

 and of a most gorgeous and unique colour ; it is a fiery, 

 golden orange, changing, when viewed obliquely, to 

 opaline-yellow and green. It is, I think, the finest of 

 the OrnithoptercB, and, consequently, the finest butterfly in 

 the world I Besides the colour, it differs much in mark- 

 ings from all the Priamus group. Soon after I first 

 took it, I set one of my men to search for it daily, giving 

 him a premium on every specimen, good or bad, he takes ; 

 he consequently works hard from early mom to dewy eve, 

 and occasionally brings home one ; unfortunately, several 

 of them are in bad condition. 1 also occasionally take 

 the lovely Papilio Telemachus." * 



The sight of so noble an aquatic plant as the gigan- 

 tic Victoria regia, the rosy-white water-lily of South 

 America, reposing on one of the glassy igaripes of the 

 mightiest river in the world, must be an incident cal- 

 culated to excite enthusiasm in any lover of the grand or 



* Zoologist, p. 6621. 



