WATER-LILIES. 
275 
Our •\vater-lilies in this lake are all of the yellow kind. The 
fragrant white lily is not known to grow either in the lake, or in 
any of the little pools and marshy spots very near. It is, how- 
ever, to be found a short distance to the northward of our o-wn 
waters.* The yellow variety is common enough about the neigh- 
borhood. 
Tlie roots of this yellow lily were a favorite repast with the 
moose, and no doubt those great, unwieldy animals have often 
stood in the shallow water of the little bay we now call after the 
black-birds, feeding on the lilies, wliich must have always grown 
there.f The beaver, also, was very partial to these plants, and as 
he was no stranger here in Indian times, probably he may often 
have been at this spot taking his share of the lilies. But it is now 
more than fifty years since these plants have bloomed only for 
man, and the bees, and the black-birds. The last, probably, heed 
them very little, although they are near neighbors, generally 
haunting the low point which foms the bay, whenever they visit 
our neighborhood. 
One of the noblest plants of our countiy belong to this tribe 
of the water-lilies: the Nelumbo, or sacred bean, or water-chin- 
quapin, as it is sometimes called. Its great leaves are from one 
to two feet broad, and its pale yellow blossom about half a foot 
in diameter. It is chiefly in our western waters that the Nelumbo 
is found ; in this part of the cormtry it is much more rare. There 
is, however, one locality in our o\vn State where it grows, and that 
* We have recently heard of a rvhito lily gathered from the lake about two 
years since, but have never seen one ourselves. Formerly, they are said to have 
been more common here, 
t The deer are also very fond of the water-lilies. 
