owing
under shade on rocks and stems of trees.

Unless we are fern experts it is impossible for us to identify each
among so many species. But, at any rate, we gather an impression of
elegance and grace, often of airy lightness, and of wonderful variety
of size and form.

* * *

From the ferns we look to the rest of the forest, and after the first
bewilderment at the profusion and variety of vegetation we try to
fasten on to a few individuals or types which we can identify as
having seen elsewhere in some other part of India or in some
palm-house in England. We are in the still, steamy atmosphere of a
hot-house, and we are conscious that all round us, growing in luxuriant
abundance, are rare and beautiful plants of which a single specimen
would be treasured and treated with every fostering care in England.
But we sigh to be able to recognise these treasures and make contact
between home and this exceptionally favoured region--favoured,
that is to say, as regards plant life. From among the giant trees, the
bamboos, the palms, the climbers, the shrubs, the flowers, the
orchids, we look out anxiously for friends--or at least for
acquaintances whom we hope may develop into friends as we meet
them again and again on our journeys through the forest.

Of the flowers, the orchids are naturally the first to attract us. They
shine out as real gems in the greenery around them. The eye jumps
to them at once. Here seems to be something as nearly perfect in
colour, form, and texture as it could possibly be. If the orchid is
white it is of the purest whiteness, and shines chaste and unsullied
amidst its dull surroundings. If it is purple, or pale yellow, or
golden-yellow, or rose, or violet, or white, the colour has always a
depth and purity which is deeply satisfying. And it seems to be
because the waxy texture of these orchids is such a perfect medium
for the display of colour that orchids are so exceptionally beautiful.
The texture is of the very consistency best adapted for revealing the
beauty of colour. And when we pluck a spray of these choice
treasures from the forest branch and hold it in the sunlight, we feel
we are seeing colour almost in perfection.

The colour and texture are beautiful enough in themselves. But an
added attraction in these orchids is their form--the curvature of their
sepals and petals, and the wonderful little pitchers and cups and lips
and tongues which an orchid exhibits. And the form is no mere