of an Orchid Hunter. <>- 



vegetation of indescribable luxuriance and beauty 



Nature's original productions as yet unmarred by the 

 woodman's axe or the ploughshare. Gigantic timber- 

 trees, from seventy to one hundred feet in height, 

 festooned to the very summit with creeping Alla- 

 mandas, all aglow with their golden trumpet-like flowers, 

 mixed and varied with the scarlet stars of the Tacsonia 

 Van Vo/xemu, or the rich blue of the Ipomaea and 

 the undergrowth of palms of the elegant Phoenix and 

 Cocos families. These were supplemented by a carpet 

 of the most beautiful mosses and low, flowering shrubs, 

 while on the banks of the streams the deep crimson 

 flowers of the creeping Cyrtodeira fidgida contrasted 

 beautifully with its richly pencilled leaves of velvet 

 and gold— everything that could illustrate the glories 

 of the vegetable kingdom, with the exception of 

 Orchids ; and for these I scanned the trees eagerly, 

 but always fruitlessly, on account of the altitude at 

 which the best Orchids are found being very much 

 above the level of the Magdalena Valley. But Nature 

 had been scarcely less prodigal in her provision of 

 animal life. Large and small lizards, of the most 

 exquisite markings — some which seemed to possess a 

 coat of mail made of silver and turquoise — disturbed in 

 their afternoon nap, hurried quickly out of sight in the 

 long grass ; while birds of every fantastic shape and 

 colour flitted in and out of the feathery palms. Occa- 



