708 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 8, 1893. 
M. HAMELIN’S EXPERIENCES IN 
MADAGASCAR. 
Discovery of the Famed Eulophiella. 
We are indebted to the courtesy of Messrs. F. 
Sander & Co., of St. Albans, for the opportunity of 
placing before our readers to-day a striking yet 
exceedingly faithful illustration, so far as it can be 
given in black and white, of the singularly handsome 
new Orchid from that terra incognita of naturalists 
the interior of Madagascar, which, under the name 
of Eulophiella Elisabeths, has lately created more 
interest among Orchid lovers than any other intro¬ 
duction of late years. The plant was discovered by 
a F'rench traveller, M. Leonce Hamelin, and through 
the enterprise of Messrs. F. Sander & Co. his last 
importation, and the last as it appears that can be 
got out of the country for some time to come, is now 
being put into commerce in this country. M. 
Hamelin’s experiences in Madagascar, as detailed in 
the following letter from him to Messrs. Sander, 
read like a chapter from the " Travels ” of Baron 
Munchausen, and would not be inserted here if there 
was any reason to question the author’s veracity :— 
“ Thenon, 
“ 27 tli June, 1893. 
11 1 am glad to say that I am now quickly recover¬ 
ing my strength and health in the calm and restful 
quiet of this place ; the home comforts that 1 now 
enjoy will, I hope, soon recoup my system that has 
suffered a little severely from my hard knock-about 
journeyings. 
“ I hasten to supplement my brief and hurried 
letter from Marseilles, which gave but a mere sketch 
of my search after Eulophiella Elisabethae, and it 
pleases me to hear that they have reached your 
hands safely, and that you have so kindly under¬ 
taken their disposal. It is seldom that amateurs 
fully appreciate a newly-discovered plant, and it is 
only later on as a rule that they recognise their 
error, and then would give almost any amount for an 
Orchid that has perhaps disappeared; or, if per¬ 
chance the plant does still exist, it is sometimes an 
impossibility to collect it owing to political reasons 
or changes in its native country. It is needless to 
mention cases, they are only too numerous. Eulo¬ 
phiella Elisabethae hardly exists now. The plant 
grows in a country inaccessible to Europeans. I 
had a special privilege accorded me to penetrate 
those regions which are held by an independent and 
powerful tribe, fiercely hostile to foreign encroach¬ 
ments. 
For some seven or eight years I have known the 
King of this great tribe intimately. I have on 
numberless occasions had the opportunity of 
observing and taking part in the quaint ceremonies 
and customs presided over by the King, surrounded 
by his highest dignitaries. These people are very 
suspicious, and it is only after knowing a white man 
for years, and after having tested him fairly, that 
they will allow him to associate with them. This 
favouritism very seldom occurs, and since Madagas¬ 
car has been known to enterprise, even going back as 
far as the history of Flacour, very few Europeans 
have obtained such honours. I feel rather proud 
that I have been one of those few. About six years 
ago I had the privilege of passing through the 
ceremony of the ‘ Tatadra ’ with the King Moyam- 
bassa—which consisted of being made his ‘ brother 
in blood.’ 
To perform this ceremony the whole tribe is called 
together, a gala gathering—like that called together 
on the day of the great * Kabars ’ or coronation fetes. 
I was placed by the side of the King on seats of 
■ Foutsivolomano ’ (white moss) and thereupon I was 
presented to all the subjects. Then the real 
ceremony commenced. It is performed by giving a 
slight cut in the chest of the two who are to be made 
brothers so as to draw a drop of blood, each drop 
being taken on a piece of Ginger, which is handed 
over to the master of the ceremonies, the priest 
doctor, and sorcerer of the Court. At this moment 
the 1 great fire of purification ’ is then made (for it is 
believed by this tribe that fire purifies everything) 
The priest ties the two pieces together and throws, 
them into the fire ; then arming himself with the 
silver ‘ zagaie ’—which is only used on great events 
—swears by the flames and the souls of the tribes’ 
ancestors that the stranger to the tribe and to the 
family is a brother to the King, and that they must 
help and protect him, that their goods become one 
property, and that the interest of one is identical 
with that of the other, and that even death cannot 
break their engagements, for the first who dies and 
appears before the ‘Zanatiar’ must protect his 
brother on earth from the persecutions and devilish 
spells of the bad spirits. 
" This event, executed with the greatest pomp, 
placed me at once amoDgst the highest caste in the 
tribe, and, as a brother to the King and a prince of 
the Royal Family, it was my right and duty traverse 
the whole of his territory. 
" In my subsequent journeys it was nearly one year 
before I discovered the gorgeous Orchid now known 
as Eulophiella Elisabethse. This plant only grows 
in a very limited region and on trees of slow growth, 
and which only begin to attain any height after ten 
years. To secure plants of the Eulophiella, which 
flourish on the tops of the tallest trees, I was obliged 
to have them cut down, and then I most carefully 
gathered all the plants myself, and, I said to myself, 
will the seeds carried away by the wind lodge and 
germinate on other trees and so propagate the 
species ? And the young trees, growing up again, 
will they be suitable for the plants seeing that I only 
found them on the very highest ? Excepting young 
and very small plants, and those are under the 
special care of my brother in blood, Moyambassa, 
until such time as I may want them, I had to do 
this to prevent the total extinction of the species, 
and at least several years must elapse befare these 
small plants will be large enough to gather. 
Amateurs may trust that no plant of this species can 
or will be imported. 
" Enormous difficulties and manifold dangers have 
to be surmounted before even the country where 
they grow can be reached. I have still fresh in 
mem ~>ry the sad fate of three inexperienced and un¬ 
fortunate collectors, who, not knowing the customs 
of the country, died from fever—the last by the 
sword of the natives. 
“ My journeys into the interior have been 
numerous and in every direction, for I have travelled 
for years ; but to be able to do this, one must have a 
fair knowledge of the language, the customs and 
manners of the natives, etc.; above all, patience and 
firmness which must never yield. Under these cir¬ 
cumstances alone is it possible for anyone to live and 
mix with these people. I had numerous obstacles 
to overcome and was obliged to make enormous 
sacrifices and to incur fearful expenses—my journey 
was far from being without danger—and was full of 
privations and sufferings. I think I can consider 
myself very lucky to have had the exceptional chance 
to escape and return safe to my family. 
" Although I had a great number of well-armed 
men with me, upon whom I could rely, I had always 
to fear and guard against surprises by the warriors 
of the neighbouring tribes bordering Moyambassa's 
territory. In this country, fighting is continually 
carried on between the different petty Kings, and 
their only mode of warfare is to act by surprise. 
"An amateur paying 100 shillings for a plant 
would not coyer the cost. Not counting the 
constant exposure of my life, and the lives of those 
accompanying me, not only was our party exposed 
to the risk of being strangled by ferocious and hostile 
tribesmen—a fate that befel many a poor fellow 
belonging to our expedition, whose unwary footsteps 
led him to straggle—but we had to struggle almost 
night and day against the wild animals haunting 
these primeval forests. The most terrible of all is 
the Protocryptoferox Madagascariensis, against 
which we had constantly to be on guard. 
" During the daytime it is extremely dangerous, 
for it crouches in the forks of trees, hidden among 
the rich tropical foliage and climbing plants, and 
watches for its prey. It is exceedingly agile and the 
moment its victim approaches, it slides silently 
down, and in one bound is on top of it—a picture of 
horrible ferocity. At night big fires had to be 
constantly kept up and men had to take the watch, 
as we were thus exposed to the observation of no 
less savage human enemies. 
“ The favourite haunt of the Protocryptoferox 
seemed to me to be amongst the masses of foliage 
where the Eulophiella grew. Here they were 
numerous, and I was happy to be able to capture 
two young ones. The animal is not big, but 
extremely ferocious. The capture of these two cubs 
was attended by a terrible adventure—no less than 
the death of the brother-in-law of the King, a fine, 
handsome, well-built man. I sincerely mourned his 
death. It came about in this wise : Whilst we were 
busy with the young ones, the mother returned, and, 
maddened with rage, pounced on the shoulders of 
Tsiampohe (the King's brother-in-law), rending the 
flesh from back and shoulders, and mangling him in 
a frightful manner. Tsiampohe fell as if struck by 
lightning. The next moment thirty ‘ zagaies ’ were 
quivering in the carcase of the fierce creature that 
had wrought such direful mischief. 
"I had often thought of trying to obtain some 
specimens of the Protocryptoferox, but I had little 
thought of the appalling danger of such an enter¬ 
prise. I think it is the principal reason of its being 
so scarce in European collections. In London you 
have a little one purchased in Marseilles, and there is 
another in Paris imported by M. Humblot. 
" This fatal accident brought me to a position 
sufficiently embarrassing, and witnessing another 
native ceremony. After Tsiampohe’s death, he was 
buried according to their religious rites. The body 
was tied and placed in an erect position in his ovn 
hut, and was allowed to remain until it was full of 
maggots and the flesh rotting to the bones. The re¬ 
mains were afterwards placed in a kind of coffin 
made from the stem of an ebony tree, in which his 
weapons were placed and carried to the cemetery of 
his ancestors. Here, the coffin was placed on four 
sticks about three feet above the ground. 
" The exhibition of the dead body lasts about eight 
or ten days, in which time rum and • bessa-bessa ' 
are drunk in such quantities that by the smell one 
would fancy himself in a veritable distillery. All 
the time is spent in wailing and chanting the praises 
of and brave deeds of the defunct, and to the spirits 
to guard him in the other world. 
"The burial ceremony finishes by taking the 
coffin to the cemetery, and there they kill 50, 60, or 
even 100 bullocks, of which each mourner takes his 
part according to the rank he holds. But it was not 
yet all over. Being ‘ Valola,' or brother in blood to 
the King, and thus a relation of Tsiampohe, I had to 
take part and join inthese ceremonies; and worse than 
that, I had to obey their laws, which command that 
if anybody has the moral responsibility of an 
accident, and that death is the result of it—especially 
of a relative as Tsiampohe was to me—he has the 
choice of being greased and being burnt alive, or 
take the whole family of the deceased, including the 
wife. I chose the latter alternative. Of course 
there are more lively ceremonials, such as eating 
salt with the King, a symbol of cordiality, making 
offerings of bullocks to the memory of the departed. 
These offerings of course serve as a repast to the 
whole tribe. For the dead they only leave the 
bullocks heads, which are stuck up on sticks in two 
rows near the head of the coffin, then they add some 
calabasses with rum and leaves of Kava, so as to 
give his soul a chance of quenching its thirst. 
" But I must conclude, or my simple narrative will 
swell into a volume, and a volume I could well indite, 
which would be interesting in the extreme." 
Writing again on June 29th, in reply to some 
natural history enquiries made on behalf of the 
Honble. Walter Rothschild, M. Hamelin says:— 
" I am in receipt of your letter respecting the eggs 
of the Epyornis which I know perfectly well and could 
have got some if I had gone a little later in the coun¬ 
try of the Eulophiella Elisabethae, but my time for 
these two or three last journeys was already mapped 
out. I will not fail to bring some back on my 
next journey in spite of the difficulties that surround 
their collection. The price paid for this egg in 
London, 2,500 francs, is not excessive, it had proba¬ 
bly some cracks in it, which took off its value some¬ 
what, for an egg in perfect condition has a value of 
5,000 to 6,000 francs. It is true that a perfect egg is 
very rare, or rather almost an impossible thing to 
obtain, but being known, as I am, to all the 
inhabitants of this country through my relations 
with the King, and also being well known to many 
minor chiefs and headmen, my difficulties will be 
smoothed a little and thus I hope to bring home 
some real good ones, at least, I will do my best. I 
I also hope to bring back a skeleton of that gigantic 
bird, of which, so far, only pieces exist in collections. 
There are also some gigantic Hippopotomi in Mada¬ 
gascar and Rhinoceros fossils which I discovered 
in certain districts and which must be, according to 
the bones, nearly six times as large as our elephant. 
It is only the money question that has prevented me 
going in for this work.— L. Hamelin." 
