56 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



journey I undertook some years ag^o, and 

 which is the subject of this present narrative. 



At that time, on my return to England after 

 a two years stay in Brazil, the suggestion was 

 made to me by my then employers, whether 

 I would feel inclined to go and collect Cattleya 

 Lawrenceana. Without hesitation I accepted 

 willmg-ly the offer, first for the love of the 

 journey in itself, and then because I was certain 

 of making this journey with comparatively 

 greater facility than a former expedition, made 

 some years previously for the same purpose. I 

 had gained a thorough knowledge of the 

 country, its people and all the necessary 

 requirements. Accordingly, after only a very 

 short holiday, I did not lose much time in 

 making all the necessary preparations. I 

 bought a considerable stock of barter goods 

 which had to serve as a means for business 

 transactions with the native Indians, to whom 

 the knowledge and value of current money was 

 completely unloiown. I had a quantity of 

 small trunks made of a neat shape and size so 

 as to be carried comfortably on the Indians' 

 backs. In these trunks the goods, my own 

 outfit, and a stock of provisions were packed. 

 Leaving England on tlie 4th September, I 

 arrived, after a fortnight's pleasant voyage 

 across the Atlantic, in Georgetown, the capital 

 of British Guiana, or Deinerara, on the i8th 

 September. 



Before proceeding any further, it may be as 

 well to give here a short history of Cattleya 

 Lawrenceana. Sir Robert Schomburgk, who, 

 in company with his brother, was exploring 

 the whole interior of the Colony in the years 

 1837 to 1842 on behalf of the British Govern- 

 ment, was the first to find on Mount Roraima 

 a certain Cattleya, which, not having seen it 

 in bloom, he considered to be Cattleya 

 Mossiae. In the early eig-hties a professional 

 Orchid collector. Burke, also passed through 

 those regions, and he also either overlooked 

 it altogether or took it for Cattleya Mossiae 

 as well. A few other naturalists, Brown, 

 Appien and Whiteley, who happened to come 

 across that part of the coimtry, also made no 

 mention of the existence of this plant. At 

 last, in 1884, another collector, Seidl, was for- 

 tunate enough in recognising in the plant a 

 new species altogether, and in sending the 



first large consignment of it to England. The 

 following year, in 1886, I visited that part and 

 succeeded m dispatching another larg"e con- 

 signment, as also did at the same time another 

 collector, Osmers, for the United States. 

 The plant is named in honour of .Sir Trevor 

 Lawrence, Bart., the worthy President of the 

 Royal Horticultural .Society. 



I think I ought to describe the geographical 

 position of the home of this Cattleya. The 

 most north-eastern part of the South American 

 continent, between Brazil and Venezuela, 

 represents the three colonies of British, Dutch 

 and French Guiana. Of these British Guiana 

 is the largest and penetrates furthest inland 

 like a wedge, and just at the summit of this 

 wedge, at 61 degrees longitude West and 5 

 degrees latitude North, where the respective 

 bomidaries of the three countries Brazil, 

 British Guiana and Venezuela meet, stands 

 that wonderful and mysterious mountain of 

 Roraima, which until 1884 was considered in- 

 accessible, although several attempts have 

 been made by former travellers. At the foot 

 of tliis mountain and its immediate neighbour- 

 hood Cattleya Lawrenceana was found 

 growing. 



On my arrival in Georgetown I spent the 

 first three days in completing quickly the last 

 purchases of barter goods, provisions, and 

 other objects necessary for the journey to the 

 interior. Half a day's run in a river steamer 

 up the mouth of the Essequibo river brought 

 me to the picturesque little village of Bartika 

 Grove, at the junction of the Massaruni river 

 with the Essequibo, and from this point all 

 journeys to any part of the interior of the 

 colony really commence. Not a little was I 

 surprised to find such an immense alteration 

 in this place since my first visit a few years 

 previously. Then only about half-a-dozen 

 small bungalows and a few huts, scattered 

 about along the banks of the Essequibo, were 

 to be seen ; now I find a flourishing and pros- 

 perous little settlement with a few hundred 

 houses, some large well-stocked shops, several 

 hotels, official buildmgs, a church, the inevit- 

 able police station and prison ; and all this 

 was due to tlie gold industry, which durmg 

 that period took such a marvellous develop- 

 ment. The scenery round this part of the 



