A TROPIC GARDEN 237 
from the tiniest of dull-green orchids to the fifty- 
foot spike of taliput bloom. With this founda- 
tion of vegetation recall that the Demerara coast 
is a paradise for herons, egrets, bitterns, galli- 
nules, jacanas, and hawks, and think of these 
trees and foliage, islands and marsh, as a nesting 
and roosting focus for hundreds of such birds. 
Thus, considering the gardens indirectly, one 
comes gradually to the realization of their won- 
derful character. 
The Victoria Regia has one thing in common 
with a voleano—no amount of description or of 
colored plates prepares one for the plant itself. 
In analysis we recall its dimensions, colors, and 
form. Standing by a trench filled with its leaves 
and flowers, we discard the records of memory, 
and cleansing the senses of pre-impressions, be- 
gin anew. The marvel is for each of us, individ- 
ually, an exception to evolution; it is a special 
creation, like all the rainbows seen in one’s life 
~—a thing to be reverently absorbed by sight, 
by scent, by touch, absorbed and realized without 
precedent or limit. Only ultimately do we find it 
necessary to adulterate this fine perception with 
definitive words and phrases, and so attempt to 
register it for ourselves or others. 
