and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— November, 1912. 409 



THE WATER LILY OF BRAZIL. 



VICTORIA REGIA ON THE AMAZON. 

 The famous water lily Victoria regia, which is 

 now grown at Kew, Chatsworth, and elsewhere 

 in England, has only been known to botanists 

 for a little over 100 years. Originally discovered 

 by Haenke in 1801, no specimens were seen in 

 Europe until 1828, when some were sent to 

 Paris by D'OrbigDy, who had found the plant 

 in the River Parana in Guiana. There it was 

 known to the Indians by the name of irupe, a 

 word signifying a dish, in allusion to the shape 

 of the leaves. In 1832 the lily was discovered in 

 the Amazon, but it was not until Sir Robert 

 Schomburgk found the plant on the Berbice 

 River in British Guiana in 1837 that it became 

 known generally to Europeans. Though the 

 plant is familiar to those who know the Bota- 

 nical Gardens at Kew, it is interesting to note 

 that it is by no means easily accessible in its 

 native lands. This fact induced the writer to 

 undertake a small botanical excursion in search 

 of the plant at the junction of the Rivers Ama- 

 zon and Negro in Brazil where, amongst other 

 places, it is to be found. 



The waters of the Rio Negro had fallen some 

 10 ft., the stems of the submerged palms were 

 reappearing from the inky waters which had 

 covered them for the past two months, and 

 every circumstance seemed to favour the idea 

 that a good opportunity bad arrived for en- 

 deavouring to reach the pool where these 

 famous water lilies nourished. 



Manaos lies a few miles above the junction of 

 the Amazon and Rio Negro, and although it 

 was said that in the lakes lying in the swampy 

 ground, intersected by natural canals between 

 the two great rivers, these lilies grew, yet it 

 was only with the greatest difficulty that any pre- 

 cise information could be got about them. The 

 rise and fall of the Rio| Negro is about 60 ft., and 

 only at certain heights of the water can the lake 

 between this river and the Amazon be reached. 

 Journey up the Kiveb. 

 Early in the morning the steam launch I had 

 borrowed came round. The surface of the still 

 backwater was covered with thick white mist, 

 curling slowly round the palms and rolling past 

 the steep sides of the bank opposite. Soon, 

 however, the intense heat of the sun dispersed 

 the cool mist wreaths, and a mile or two down 

 the stream everything was as clear as could be. 

 Steaming quickly down with the current, the 

 meeting of the black waters of the Rio Negro 

 and the milky waters of the Amazon could be 

 52 



seen ahead, a very clear line marking the junc- 

 tion of the two rivers. Leaving behind the 

 rose-red precipitous banks of the Rio Negro, 

 the launch turned and steamed up the low 

 wooded reaches of the Amazon. The scenery 

 was curiously English : groups of round-headed 

 trees rose from what looked like meadow lauds, 

 palms and the thick tropical tangle of brush- 

 wood being quite absent. A cry was raised of 

 " Jacare, jacare ! " — " Crocodile, crocodile ! " — 

 and a little way in front was seen what seemed 

 like one swimming rapidly along. It did not 

 dive as we swung round and stopped the en- 

 gines, and it turned out to be a huge chame- 

 leon swimming across the river and very tired 

 by its long journey. With difficulty willing knives 

 and revolvers were stayed, an arm stretched 

 out, and, to the mingled horror and admiration 

 of the crew, the chameleon grasped it and was 

 safely brought on board, where it was secured by 

 cleverly tied noose. This animal is now thriving 

 in the reptile house of the Zoological Gardens. 



Steaming along between islands, the launch 

 turned up a natural canal, which soon narrowed 

 so much as to make navigation a difficulty. The 

 forest thickened ; monkeys could be heard chat- 

 tering overhead ; white egrets rose and flapped 

 slowly away, and numbers of metallic-plumaged 

 birds flew ahe.ad for a few yards until again put 

 up by our approach. Both banks of the passage 

 were covered with a bright green grass growing 

 in the water, so that much care had to be exer- 

 cised to prevent the propeller getting hopelessly 

 entangled. An enormous crocodile was basking 

 on the water in front, but the thud-thud of our 

 approach awoke him, and he swam into the 

 floating tangle of weeds and grass. The water- 

 way wound and turned ; here and there orchids 

 could be seen on the tree trunks, and now and 

 again a brilliant creeper had flung its purple 

 flowers over a forest tree, but the general im 

 pression was one of gloom. 



Lake Jancaki. 

 A mile or so further on we came out on to 

 Lake Januan, which, according to Agassiz, con- 

 tains more varieties of fish than all the rivers 

 and lakes of Europe. On its banks are some set- 

 tlements of Caboclos, the houses here being 

 built above high-water mark, and some clear- 

 ings for the cultivation of mandioca and sugar- 

 cane. The people were pleased to see us, and 

 showed us the great iron pans used in prepar- 

 ing their farinha, the staple food of these 

 parts, and their little enclosures of orange and 

 coffee bushes. Roses were growing in pots and 

 amaryllis was in flower near the houses, but 

 the people evidently were very poor. Piles of 



