442 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
embarked in the piragoa, where I could examine them at my ease 
and also continue my voyage. The frond measured 34 feet long 
and was composed of 426 pinnae. The spadix bore about a 
thousand fruits and was a load for two men. Several spadices 
are matured simultaneously. These statistics will alone suffice to 
give you an idea of the magnificent aspect of the Palma Jagua, 
which is one of the chief ornaments of the Upper Casiquiari and 
Orinoco. 
About half-way up the Casiquiari, where the water begins to 
be unmistakably white, the rocks by the river-side and the over- 
hanging inundated branches of trees begin to be clad with a moss 
having exactly the aspect of Ciiididotus fonti?ialoides. It is so 
abundant on the Upper Casiquiari and Orinoco, that I think I 
could in an hour have laden a small boat with it. This moss you 
were the first to describe, under the name of Grimmia fontinaloides^ 
from Humboldt's specimens gathered on the Alto Orinoco. If 
it be pleasant to discover an undescribed species, the pleasure is 
at least equal (and it is free from any selfish admixture) when, after 
the long lapse of years, one gathers again a plant in the spot where 
it was originally discovered by another. I can fancy Dr. Hooker's 
gratification at gathering again the mosses discovered by Menzies 
in New Zealand. 
One of the most notable things in the Pacimoni 
was a tree which was conspicuous from afar by- 
certain white cones thickly scattered among the 
deep green foliage. These cones my telescope 
revealed to be fruits, but my Indians insisted they 
were wasps' nests, and even when we came directly 
under the tree, which was not more than 40 feet 
high, not one of them would venture to climb it 
until they had first poked one of the cones with a 
long stick. Nor did their caution appear to me 
ridiculous, for on the Casiquiari we had had feeling 
proof that wasps' nests occur of all shapes and 
sizes. I expect this tree will constitute a new 
genus of Clusiaceae, allied to Platonia. 
In returning from one of my long expeditions, I 
always feel a sense of humiliation at the little I 
have been able to effect for other sciences besides 
botany, and especially when the country traversed 
