294 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
Is not this the Orchid of the demon village seen from a somewhat nearer 
standpoint? My readers will remember that the members of the expedition 
were only able to view it from a respectful distance through their field-glasses, 
and, under these circumstances, they might easily have overlooked the 
tentacles. It is true that the Andaman Islands are not exactly in Brazil, 
but with such a substantial agreement in the main facts one can easily 
overlook a few discrepancies in detail. And here the matter must be left 
for our experts to decide. 
And now, joking apart, let me ask is it any wonder that the general 
public entertain some remarkable notions about Orchids when such pre- 
posterous absurdities and gross distorti of facts are put before them? A 
phrase once applied to Orchids in a somewhat different sense may be 
Tepeated here:—“It is high time such noxious superstitions were 
dispersed.” 
ARGUS. 
~~ 
A SACRED ORCHID. 
Mr. Cuartes Anpre, in Le Journal des Orchidées, gives an account of his 
experiences when on a_ botanical expedition by the shores of the river 
Amboan, which, though interesting to read when safe at home, gives a good 
idea of the unexpected dangers often incurred by botanical collectors. M. 
André was in search of Ccelogyne aspersa, and happened to be in a Dyak 
hut when the natives were sorting rice preparatory to sowing it. In the 
evening a noisy procession entered the hut and the females who were among 
them laid with much ceremony large bouquets and garlands of the longed- 
for Orchid on and around the stores of rice. Such was the quantity of 
blooms that the perfume was So powerful as to drive the explorer out of the 
house to spend the night in his boat. He afterwards heard that seed-time, 
as well as harvest, is an important season to the natives, who are dependent 
on their crops, and that he had witnessed rejoicings caused by the abundance 
that year of the Ccelogyne asperata blooms, which were believed to herald 
an equally fertile harvest. When, some time later, M. André returned to 
the spot with, among other treasures, a load of the all-important Orchid he 
found himself the subject of passionate grief and hatred, and that his only 
chance of safety was in a generous distribution of money and tobacco 
and a speedy flight. He had, in the opinion of the Dyaks, com- 
mitted an act of sacrilege in gathering plants sacred to them, the lives 
of which they believed were in some way connected with their own.—Gard. 
Chron., 1890, viii., Pp. 566. 
