Taquia, and Tuasinki,
recede and form an amphitheatre, affording a highly interesting scene,
and no doubt the most picturesque of that part of the river Essequibo.

"I was attracted by a number of _Oncidium altissimum_ which covered one
of the rocky piles, and astonished me by their long stems and bright
colour of their flowers, when my attention was more powerfully attracted
by a plant, the appearance of which, although different from the
pseudo-bulbous tribe, proclaimed, nevertheless, that it belonged to that
interesting family, the _Orchideae_. The specimens were numerous; and
clothed almost, with their vivid green, the rugged and dark trunks of
the gigantic trees, which contributed to the majestic scene around me.
It was not long before I discovered one of these plants in flower. It
was as singular as it was new to me;--the sepals and petals of a rich
purple and velvet-like appearance; the helmet, to which form the column
bore the nearest resemblance, of the same colour; the labellum striated
with yellow.

"In the sequel of my expeditions, I found it generally in the vicinity
of cataracts, where a humid vapour is constantly suspended, and where
the rays of the sun are scarcely admitted through a thick canopy of
foliage. I traced the _Huntleya_ from the sixth parallel of latitude to
the shady mountains of the Acaria chain near the equator; but in its
fullest splendour it appeared at one of the small islands among the
Christmas cataracts in the river Berbice. There is a melancholy
circumstance connected with the plant, which its appearance never fails
to recall to my memory. Their singular beauty at this spot induced my
friend, Mr Reiss, who accompanied me as a volunteer during the
unfortunate expedition up the river Berbice, to draw and paint it on the
spot. He was yet occupied with this task when the last of our canoes was
to descend the dangerous cataract. He arose from his occupation,
desirous to descend with the Indians in the canoe, although against my
wish, but he persisted. The canoe approached the fall; it upset; and, of
thirteen persons who were in it at the time, he was the only one who
paid the rash attempt with his life. He is now buried opposite that
island, the richest vegetable productions of which it was his last
occupation to imitate on paper and in colours."[220]

We might linger long on these flowers of strange loveliness, but space
compels us to forsake them and to turn to some other examples in