with paraffin, and burnt him on a table--perhaps their altar. M.
Humblot himself has had awful experiences. He was attached to the
geographical survey directed by the French Government, and ten years ago
he found _Phajus Humblotii_ and _Phajus tuberculosus_ in the deadliest
swamps of the interior. A few of the bulbs gathered lived through the
passage home, and caused much excitement when offered for sale at
Stevens' Auction Rooms. M. Humblot risked his life again, and secured a
great quantity for Mr. Sander, but at a dreadful cost. He spent twelve
months in the hospital at Mayotte, and on arrival at Marseilles with his
plants the doctors gave him no hope of recovery. _P. Humblotii_ is a
marvel of beauty--rose-pink, with a great crimson labellum exquisitely
frilled, and a bright green column.

Everybody who knows his "Darwin" is aware that Madagascar is the chosen
home of the Angraecums. All, indeed, are natives of Africa, so far as I
know, excepting the delightful _A. falcatum_, which comes, strangely
enough, from Japan. One cannot but suspect, under the circumstances,
that this species was brought from Africa ages ago, when the Japanese
were enterprising seamen, and has been acclimatized by those skilful
horticulturists. It is certainly odd that the only "cool" Aerides--the
only one found, I believe, outside of India and the Eastern
Tropics--also belongs to Japan, and a cool Dendrobe, _A. arcuatum_, is
found in the Transvaal; and I have reason to hope that another or more
will turn up when South Africa is thoroughly searched. A pink Angraecum,
very rarely seen, dwells somewhere on the West Coast; the only species,
so far as I know, which is not white. It bears the name of M. Du
Chaillu, who found it--he has forgotten where, unhappily. I took that
famous traveller to St. Albans in the hope of quickening his
recollection, and I fear I bored him afterwards with categorical
inquiries. But all was vain. M. Du Chaillu can only recall that once on
a time, when just starting for Europe, it occurred to him to run into
the bush and strip the trees indiscriminately. Mr. Sander was prepared
to send a man expressly for this Angraecum. The exquisite _A.
Sanderianum_ is a native of the Comorro Islands. No flower could be
prettier than this, nor more deliciously scented--when scented it is! It
grows in a climate which travellers describe as Paradise, and, in truth,
it becomes such a scene. Those who behold young plants with graceful