tid 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



and loyal' subjects, the old chiel' Jeremiah, 

 the king of Roraima as he calls himself, 

 whose shrewd old face I had no difficulty in 

 recognising- at once after an absence of five 

 years. One of his ladies presented us with a 

 huge calabash of Kasiri, the drink of wel- 

 come. We found the village of Teroota 

 itself half in decay, but a more pleasant, and 

 at the same time half comical, sight met our 

 eyes when looking down the valley across the 

 Kukenaam river. There we noticed some 

 twelve houses scattered about over the plain, 

 and at the very end of the settlement one 

 extraordinary large building with very high 

 roof, which we were told was the church. 

 But in the centre of all this, which formed a 

 square, we observed a large number of 

 people hurrying up and down and arranging 

 themselves in two rows, wliile a tall, dark 

 figure m their midst seemingly directed all 

 their movements, allotting to each his place. 



Expecting to find with more facility a 

 house for ourselves down in the valley 

 amongst these people, we hurried down the 



steep hill and crossed the Kukenaam river 

 up to our waist in water. On reaching the 

 square the strange-looking, strongly-built 

 figure, whom we had already noticed from the 

 hill-top, briskly stepped forward, and with a 

 stern, grave countenance and extending his 

 hand greeted us, repeating in an almost 

 thundering voice the word " gmani, gmani," 

 an unsuccessful imitation of " good morning !" 

 He wore a pair of woollen trousers, much too 

 tight and too short for him, with an even 

 thicker long overcoat, over which were crossed 

 a pair of braces, and his head covered with 

 an old battered silk hat ; there at least was a 

 proof how civilisation had progressed in these 

 parts. He gave us to understand that he 

 was the clergyman. Then we passed along 

 the two rows of people, the ladies all on one 

 side, the gentlemen on the other, and we 

 shook hands with all of them from the 

 tallest to the smallest youngster. Our 

 prospects certainly looked promising. 



(To be continued.) 



CHYSIS AND THEIR CULTURE. 



ALTHOUGH this genus contains but a 

 few species, is is worthy of notice. 

 The species are deciduous, losing 

 their leaves during their season of rest, and 

 inhabit the northern part of South America. 

 The stems are very thick and fleshy, about a 

 foot long, and produce their elegant flowers 

 in lateral racemes, with the young growth. 

 Their cultural requirements are easily main- 

 tained. Although frequently seen growing- 

 well when fastened on flat blocks of wood, 

 they produce much finer results when grown 

 in pans or baskets and suspended in the 

 Cattleya house, for during the growing season 

 they delight in plenty of light and moisture. 

 A cooler temperature and very little water 

 should be given them during their resting 

 season. Any requisite potting should be 

 attended to after the plants have finished 

 flowering ; they succeed well in good 

 Osmunda fibre, with plenty of drainage 



material. The following are the best known 

 species :- — ■ 



C. bractescens is an elegant species from 

 Mexico, whence it was first imported by 

 Mr. George Barker, who flowered it in April, 

 1840. It was described by Lindley in the 

 Botanical Register, 1841, t. 23, with the 

 remark " It forms the third of the genus now 

 known, and is readily distinguished by its 

 large white, not yellow, flowers, and greatly 

 inflated leafy bracts. Its pollen-masses show 

 yet more strongly than those of the original 

 species the singular structure upon which the 

 genus is founded. In this, as in most other 

 Orchidacese, the most exact attention should 

 be paid to the markings and elevations of the 

 labellum, for they furnish the most constant 

 and exact characters for distinguishing 

 species." This species blossoms in April and 

 May, the waxy flowers are two to three 

 inches across, pure-white, with yellow on the 



