of an Orchid Hunter, 16 



wealth of ornamental and medicinal plants, its bevies 

 of gaudy-coloured birds and curious animals, its snow- 

 capped mountains and boundless prairies where the 

 Indians have always roamed with perfect freedom ; 

 or of its commercial cities, with their rich and culti- 

 vated inhabitants. Even the most stoical Englishman 

 who has travelled here and seen its beauties cannot 

 help but regret that so many thousand miles divide 

 this paradise from our own little island. 



The descent of the river Ma^dalena was made 

 quickly and agreeably, and we very soon arrived at 

 the port called Puerto Berrio. This is the port 

 by which travellers reach the prosperous city of 

 Medellin, one of the most important centres of the 

 country, and the home of Cattleya Dowiana aurea 

 and Cattleya IWirsccwiczii. Puerto Berrio has a 

 special interest to all English orchid collectors. A 

 rough cross of wood on the edge of the forest, on the 

 higher bank of the river, marks the last resting-place 

 of Chesterton, the well-known orchid collector, who did 

 such good service for the firm of James Veitch and 

 Sons, long before the wholesale plunder and extermin- 

 ation of the plants brought about by modern collectors. 



A small mountain town, called Frontino, has given, 

 up to the present, all the Miltonia vcxillaria, but the 

 woods in the vicinity have become already pretty well 

 cleared. I had heard much about the plants to be 



