154 
TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. 
[8e2ote7nber, 
them. There was nothing about the cave at all remark- 
able, except the flat transverse rock at its mouth. The 
vegetation around it was by no means luxuriant or beau- 
tiful, nor were there any flowers worth noticing. In 
fact, many of our caves in the limestone districts of 
England are in every way more picturesque and in- 
teresting. 
I had heard of a plant growing in the pools in the 
marsh, which I was convinced must be the Victoria regia, 
Senhor Nunez told me there were plenty near his house, 
and early the next morning he sent an Indian to try and 
get me one. After some search the man found one, 
with a half-opened flower, and brought it to me. The 
leaf was about four feet in diameter, and I was much 
pleased at length to see this celebrated plant ; but as it 
has now become comparatively common in England, it 
is not necessary for me to describe it. It is found all 
over the Amazon district, but rarely or never in the river 
itself. It seems to delight in still waters, growing in 
inlets, lakes, or very quiet branches of the river, fully 
exposed to the sun. Here it grew in the pools left in 
the bog; but in June the water would be twenty or 
thirty feet deeper, so its leaf and flower-stalks must in- 
crease in length rapidly while the water rises, as they 
did not seem to be very long now. I took the leaf 
home, in order to dry some portions of it. It is called 
by the Indians ''Uaupe Japona’’ (the Jacana’s oven), ? 
from the resemblance of the leaf, with its deep rim, to ^ 
the clay ovens used for making farinha. 
As we wished to get home that day, we took leave of 
our kind host, and again had to pole our way over the 
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