ed all over with pale golden veins, which,
being numerous and minute, have a very charming appearance, somewhat
like the pale network on black patches which we see in the wings of some
dragon-flies.

The epiphyte Orchids are also magnificent in beauty. One of the
handsomest genera is _Dendrobium_, containing many species, mostly
natives of Southern Asia and the great islands. Perhaps the finest of
all is _D. nobile_, of which the sepals and petals are greenish-white,
tipped with rich purple, and the downy tube-like lip is of the same
regal hue in the interior, with a pale yellow margin.

By the side of this you may set the lovely _Huntleya violacea_, one of
the discoveries of Sir R. Schomburgk in the interior of Guiana. Its
broad wavy petals of the softest richest violet, "vary in intensity from
deepest sapphire to the mild iridescence of opal." This fine flower has
a melancholy interest from its being associated with the death of Sir
Robert's friend and fellow-servant, Mr Reiss. The gorgeous scenes of
tropical vegetation in which the plant was found, and the sad accident,
are thus depicted by the accomplished traveller:--

"I discovered the _Huntleya violacea_ for the first time in October
1837, then on my ascent of the river Essequibo. The large cataract,
Cumaka Toto, or Silk Cotton Fall, obliged us to unload our corials, and
to transport the luggage overland, in order to avoid the dangers which a
mass of water, at once so powerful and rapid, and bounded by numerous
rocks, might offer to our ascent. While the Indians were thus occupied,
I rambled about one of the small islands, which the diverging arms of
the river formed in their descent, and the vegetation of which had that
peculiar lively appearance which is so characteristic of the vicinity of
cataracts, where a humid cloud, the effects of the spray, always hovers
around them. Blocks of syenite were heaped together; and while their
black shining surface contrasted strongly with the whitish foam of the
torrent, and with the curly waves beating against the rocky barriers--as
if angry at the boundary which they attempted to set to the incensed
element--their dome-shaped summits were adorned with a vegetation at
once rich and interesting. _Heliconias_, _Tillandsias_, _Bromelias_,
_Ferns_, _Pothos_, _Cyrtopodiums_, _Epidendrums_, _Peperomias_, all
appeared to struggle for the place which so small a surface afforded to
them. The lofty mountains, Akaywanna, Comute, or