THE 



GARDENERS MAGAZINE, 



JANUARY, 1835. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



Art. I. A brief Account of Mr. Colleys Botanical Researches in 

 Guiana. By James Bateman, Esq. F.L.S. H.S. &c. 



Agreeably to my promise, I send you a brief accomit of Mr. 

 Colley's botanical researches in Guiana; which I have taken 

 either from some rough notes made on the spot by himself, or 

 from the account which, since his arrival in this country, he has 

 given me of his adventures on the other side of the Atlantic. 



On Dec. 24. 1833, he sailed from Liverpool; and on Feb. 20. 

 1834, arrived at George Town, Demerara : his object being to 

 collect for me the botanical and other natural curiosities of the 

 country, but more particularly the different species of Orchideae : 

 a tribe of plants which has of late years interested the public in 

 an unexampled manner ; and which, most certainly, deserves in 

 full all the attention that it has received. 



The vegetation in the immediate vicinity of George Town 

 being comparatively destitute of interest, Mr. Colley's first step 

 was to proceed in a canoe up the Demerara river, accompanied 

 by a few negroes. Small as is the appearance which the De- 

 merara makes on the map of South America, it is as large a 

 stream as our own Thames ; and flows, for more than a hundred 

 miles of its course, through an almost level country, its banks, 

 except in the neighbourhood of George Town, being clothed 

 with one vast aboriginal forest. At the time of Mr. Colley's 

 arrival, the colony was suffering severely from drought, and 

 the wet season was daily expected to begin ; but, for four 

 months afterwards, no considerable quantity of rain fell : a cir- 

 cumstance which was very favourable to the object of his mission ; 

 for not only was travelling through the woods and on the rivers 

 safer and more easy, but the plants were many of them covered 

 with ripe seeds ; and the pseudo-bulbs of the Orchideae were in 

 a state admirably suited for their passage to this country. 



I shall now attempt to convey some idea of the aspect of 

 vegetation on the banks of the Demerara ; which, though not 



Vol, XL — No. 58. b 



