Chapter VIII: Part 8

The sacristan was very business-like. He demanded a dollar to begin with for the Indian who would work the charm, and another dollar for himself to pay for the masses which would expiate his sin. Kerbach asked details, which were given quite frankly. The wizard was a respectable person--attended church, and so forth. The sacristan had talked matters over with him and neither doubted of success. Kerbach must write a letter to Don Filipe's wife begging her to intercede. The wizard having charmed that document before presenting it, she would be compelled to grant its request. If the planter should still refuse, a curse would be launched against him. And he could not dare resist that.

The man was so serious, he explained himself in such a matter-of-fact tone, that Kerbach, laughing, risked two dollars on the chance. With the letter in his pocket the sacristan departed. Two days later he returned. Don Filipe was willing to negotiate the lease. Kerbach was so delighted that he never thought of asking whether the lady's gentle influence or the terrors of the curse had persuaded him. Thus Odontoglossum Harryanum was found, to the eternal glory of Roezl.

MASDEVALLIAS

Among Masdevallias we have scarce varieties of Harryana, as _Bull's Blood_, Mr. Bull's punning name for the darkest of all crimsons, and _Denisoniana_, which keen eyes distinguish from it by a shade of magenta; _splendens_, pure magenta; _versicolor_, which has patches of deep crimson on a magenta ground, and a bright yellow 'eye'; _Armeniaca_, large, apricot in colour, also with a yellow 'eye'; _Sander's Scarlet_, which speaks for itself.

_Bonplandii._--Greenish yellow, with a few purple marks. Tails short and stiff.

_Caudata._--Upper sepal light yellow dotted with red; lower purplish rose, marbled with white. A dwarf species, but the yellow tails are two to three inches long.

_Abbreviata._--Small, white speckled with purple.

_Ignea splendens._--Much larger than the normal form. Fiery red.

_Amabilis._--Small, carmine, conspicuous by reason of its 'tail,' an inch and a half long.

_Chelsoni._--A hybrid of the last-named with Veitchii, orange-yellow, with mauve spots and two 'tails.'

_Veitchii grandiflora_, a variety even larger than the common type, seven inches across sometimes; orange-red, suffused with purple.

_Polysticta._--One of the lovely little 'curiosities' which abound in this genus--palest lilac freckled with purple, and tailed.

_Coccinea._--Rosy pink above, glowing scarlet below.

_Macrura._--One of the few Masdevallias which do not please my eye, but very rare. Immense, as much as twelve inches long, counting the yellow tails, rough of surface, vaguely brown in colour, with darker spots.

_Peristeria._--Greenish yellow, freely speckled with purple; yellow-tailed.

_Melanopus._--Small, white, dotted with purple and yellow-tailed.

_Wallisii stupenda._---Pale lemon colour splashed with chocolate. There is a curious white excrescence on each side the column, dotted with scarlet.

ONCIDIUMS

Of Oncidiums in this house I note:--

_Lamelligerum._--A very grand and noble flower, too rarely seen. It belongs to the stately section of which Oncidium macranthum is the common type. The great dorsal sepal swells out roundly from a stalk half an inch long; the two lower resemble in shape those long-bladed paddles, with scalloped edge, which are used by chiefs in the South Seas; in colour rich brown, with a clear golden margin. The yellow petals also have a stalk, but to give a notion of the large, beautiful, and complex development which they carry at the ends is a hopeless endeavour. I have seen ladies' work-baskets which faintly resemble it when wide open; made of the softest straw, without end-pieces, only to be closed by tying a ribbon in the centre. But really the case is desperate. I pass on.

_Tetracopis._--Another of the same group, even more rare, but not so striking. Large, as they all are. Sepals a lively brown, gold edged; petals bright yellow splashed with brown; lip yellow.

_Undulatum._--A third member of this handsome family. Sepals brown, petals white, marbled with yellow and mauve at the base, spotted with purple above, and streaked with yellow. Lip very small, as in all the other cases, but conspicuous by reason of its bright purple tint.

_Ornithorhynchum album._--This is one of our oldest and commonest species, discovered by Bonpland, who accompanied Humboldt to Mexico; brought to Europe no long time afterwards. But the pure white variety turned up to astonish the world very few years ago, and the names of those happy mortals who possess a sample would make only a brief if distinguished list.

_Loxense_ seems to have been not uncommon in our fathers' time, but no plants have arrived from Peru--Loxa is the district--for many years. It makes a long spike with branches, bearing a great number of large flowers; sepals greenish ochre, crossed with blurs of chocolate; petals deep brown, edged and tipped with yellow. Lip large and flowing, as it were, orange-yellow, speckled with red in the throat.

_Weltoni._---Classed of late among Miltonias. A singular and fascinating species, difficult to grow and still more difficult to flower. The sepals and petals are very narrow, with edges like a saw, greenish brown, widening out suddenly at the tip, which is yellow. The lip is extraordinary in all respects. It shows a fine broad disc of dusky purple, with a darker bar across the middle; and below this, sharply divided as if by a stroke of the brush, two smaller discs pure white. Upon the whole to be wondered at rather than admired, but more interesting on that account.

STORY OF ONCIDIUM SPLENDIDUM

We all know that to make a thing conspicuous above measure is the most effective way of baffling those who seek it. Wendell Holmes has expounded the natural law of this phenomenon, and Edgar Poe exemplified it in a famous story. I am about to give an instance from the life, as striking as his fiction.

Oncidium splendidum is one of the stateliest orchids we have, and one of the showiest. Its leaves are very large, fleshy and rigid, and the tall flower spike bears a number of pale yellow blooms striped with brown, each three inches across. There is no exaggeration in saving that they would catch the most careless eye as far off as one could see them.

At an uncertain date in the fifties a merchant captain--whose name and that of his ship have never been recovered--brought half a dozen specimens to St. Lazare and gave them to his owner, M. Herman. This gentleman sold the lot to MM. Thibaud and Ketteler, orchid-dealers of Sceaux. They were tempted to divide plants so striking and so new; thus a number of small and weakly pieces were distributed about Europe at a prodigious price. We have the record of the sale of one at Stevens' Auction Rooms in 1870; it could show but a single leaf, yet somebody paid thirty guineas for the morsel. So ruthlessly were the plants cut up. Even orchids, tenacious of life as they are, will not stand this treatment. In very few years more Oncidium splendidum had vanished.

No one knew where it came from--with a strange carelessness MM. Thibaud and Ketteler had not inquired. M. Herman was dead, and he left no record of the circumstances. The captain could not be traced. Had the name of his ship been preserved, it might have furnished a hint, since the port of sailing would be registered in the Custom House. More than one enterprising dealer made inquiries, but it was too late to recover the trail. Oncidium splendidum took its place for a while among the lost orchids.

But Mr. Sander of St. Albans would not admit defeat. When, after great pains, he had satisfied himself that nothing could be discovered at St. Lazare or at Sceaux, he examined the internal evidence. In the first place, an Oncidium must needs be American, since the genus is not found in the Old World. This species also must dwell in a hot climate; leaves so rigid and fleshy are designed to bear a scorching sun. But the possibilities seemed almost boundless, even thus limited. Patiently and thoughtfully Mr. Sander worked out a process of exhaustion. Mexico might be neglected, for a time at least; those hunting-grounds had been so often explored that some one must surely have come across a flower so conspicuous. So it was with New Grenada. Brazilian Cattleyas have thick, hard leaves, though not to compare with this Oncidium; but they form a single genus which shows the peculiarity among hundreds which do not. Brazil, therefore, might be excluded for the present. The astonishing wealth of Peru in varieties of orchid was not suspected then. After such careful thought as a man of business allows himself when tempted by a speculation which may cost thousands of pounds, Mr. Sander determined that, upon the whole, Central America was the most likely spot; and again, after more balancing of the chances, that Costa Rica was the most likely part of Central America.

After coming to a decision he acted promptly. In 1878 Mr. Oversluys, one of our trustiest and most experienced collectors, was despatched to Costa Rica. More than three years he travelled up and down, and treasures new or old he sent in abundance--Epidendron ciliare, Cattleya Bowringiana, Oncidium cheirophorum, are names that occur at the moment. But as for Oncidium splendidum he had not so much as heard of it. Not a peon could be found in the woods to recognise the sketch which Mr. Sander had given him. Oversluys had never seen the plant himself, I think.

He was driven at length to conclude that if the thing did really exist in those parts--poor Oversluys applied a variety of epithets to 'the thing' now, none expressive of tenderness--it must be on the Atlantic slope or the steaming lowlands beyond. He had felt himself justified in neglecting those districts hitherto because there is no port where a large vessel can lie, and absolutely no trade, save a trifling export of bananas. What could tempt a French captain to the Atlantic shore of Costa Rica? And the expedition was as uninviting as well could be. There were no towns nor even villages--but it must be borne in mind that I speak of twenty years ago. At that time all the white and coloured population was settled on the tableland, excepting a few individuals or families who yearly wandered downwards to squat along the slope. Upon the other hand there were Indian tribes--Talamancas to the southward, who admitted some vague allegiance to the Republic on condition that white men did not enter their territory; and Guatusos or Pranzos to the northward, utter savages. It was their country, however, to which the wandering folks mentioned betook themselves, and thither Oversluys must go; for the track they had cut through the forest was the only one connecting the tableland with the Atlantic coast.

I have travelled that 'road' myself in the days when peril and discomfort were welcome for the promise of adventure; but had we known what lay before us when bidding a joyous adieu to the capital, we should have meekly returned to the Pacific harbour by coach. Oversluys was a man of business, and to men of business adventure commonly means embarrassment and loss of time, if no worse. Varied experiences, all unpleasant, told him that to seek orchids in a country like that must be a thankless enterprise, attended by annoyance, privation, and even danger. But he had undertaken the work. It must be done.

As cheerfully then as such untoward circumstances permitted, Oversluys set forth from San Jose, and in due time reached the Disengagno. This is a blockhouse raised by some charitable person on the edge of the tableland; a very few yards beyond, the path dips suddenly on its course to the Serebpiqui river, 6000 feet below. The spot is bitterly cold at night, as I can testify, or seems so, and for this reason the hut was built, as a shelter for travellers. But they, too lazy to seek wood in the forest at arm's length, promptly demolished the walls and burned them. Only the roof remained in a few months, with the posts that upheld it.

A group of ill-looking peons occupied this shed when Oversluys arrived. They began to pick a quarrel forthwith; in short, he heartily wished himself elsewhere. It was not yet dusk. Drawing the guide apart Oversluys questioned him, and learned that there was one single habitation within reach. The report of it was not promising, but he did not hesitate. As the little party filed off, one of the peons shouted, 'A good night, _macho_! We'll wait for you at La Vergen!'--the first halting-place on the descent. A pleasant beginning!

The shelter they sought lay some miles back. There is plenty of game on these unpeopled uplands, if a man knows how to find it, and a hunter had built himself this cabin in the woods. They reached it as darkness was setting in--a hut as rough as could be, standing on the edge of a small savannah. At the same moment the owner returned, with a deer tied on the back of a small but very pretty ox. He might well be surprised, but hospitality is a thing of course in those parts. Kindness to animals is not, however--much the contrary--and Oversluys observed with pleasure how carefully the little ox was treated. Children came running from the hut, and, after staring in dumb amaze for a while at the strangers, took the animal and actually groomed it in a rough way.

After supper--of venison steaks--Oversluys alluded to this extraordinary proceeding. The guide said, 'Our friend Pablo may well take care of his ox. There's not such another for hunting on the countryside.' And Pablo grunted acquiescence.

'For hunting?' asked Oversluys.

'Yes. You should see him when he catches sight of deer. Tell the gentleman, Pablo.'

Upon this theme the hunter was talkative, and he reported such instances of sagacity that Oversluys--remembering those ruffians who awaited him at La Vergen--asked whether there was any chance to see the ox at work? Pablo meant to have another stalk at dawn, with the hope of carrying two deer to market, and willingly he agreed to take his guest. So they started before daylight.

It was no long journey to the hunting-ground. These high lands are mostly savannah, with belts of dense forest between. Oversluys had heard deer belling incessantly all night. After carefully studying the wind Pablo chose the direction of the hunt. He had cut tracks to each point of the compass, and he took that which would bring him to the edge of the first clearing with the wind in his face.

It was just light enough when they arrived to see half a dozen dark forms above the misty grass. Forthwith Pablo crept out from the trees, walking backwards, his left arm round the ox's neck, and his stooped body behind its shoulder. Thus he could see nothing. It was unnecessary. The ox marched on, its broadside towards the deer, very softly, but always zigzagging closer. As the light strengthened, Oversluys watched with growing pleasure. Very soon the deer noticed this intrusion and ceased feeding; then the ox dropped its head and grazed. Again and again this occurred. So long as one deer remained upon the watch it kept its head down, but when the last recovered confidence, instantly it advanced. Pablo's old gun could not be trusted beyond fifty yards or so. The deer became more restless. They drew together--Oversluys saw they would bound off in a moment. Just then the ox wheeled actively--they flew. But one rolled over, shot through the chest.

Oversluys was so pleasantly excited that he ran to pat the clever creature. Then he assisted Pablo to load up the game. It was broad daylight now. In lifting the body he noticed some large yellow flowers which it had crushed in falling. They were pretty and curious in shape. He glanced at the leaves--they were large, polished, and very stiff. A wild fancy struck him. He compared the drawing. There was no doubt! Scores of Oncidium splendidum starred the tall grass all around!

I do not try to paint his raptures. A few weeks later many thousand plants were on their way to Europe. But the point of the story is that Mr. Oversluys had seen and even admired this flower many a time on the upland savannahs in riding past. He was looking for orchids, however, and who could have expected to find an Oncidium buried among herbage in the open ground?

The ox demands a word. Such trained animals are not uncommon in Central America. The process of education is very cruel. By constant tapping, their horns are loosened when young, so that the tortured beast obeys the slightest pressure. Its movements in walking are thus directed, and when the horns grow firm again it continues to recognise a touch. But the degrees of intelligence in brutes are strikingly displayed here. Some forget the lesson in a twelvemonth. Most are uncertain. A very few, like Pablo's, understand so well what is required of them that direction is needless. In that case the hunter can walk backwards, keeping his body quite concealed. He is almost sure to kill, unless the fault be his own.

LAELIA JONGHEANA

The back wall carries a broad sloping ledge of tufa, where little chips of Odontoglossum and the rest are planted out to grow until they become large enough to be potted--no long time, for they gather strength fast in niches of the porous stone. Along the top, however, are ranged flowering plants of Odontoglossum grande which make a blaze in their season--three to six blooms upon a spike, the smallest of them four inches across. Overhead is a long row of Laelia Jongheana--some three hundred of them here and elsewhere. It is a species with a history, and I venture to transcribe the account which I published in the _Pall Mall Gazette_, July 18, 1899.

'A SENSATION FOR THE ELECT.--The general public will hear without emotion that Laelia Jongheana has been rediscovered. The name is vaguely suggestive of orchids--things delightful in a show, or indeed elsewhere, when in bloom, but not exhilarating to read about. Therefore I call the news a sensation for the elect. At the present moment, I believe, only one plant of L. Jongheana is established in this country, among Baron Schroeder's wonders. Though its history is lost this must be a lonely survivor of those which reached Europe in 1855--a generation and a half ago. It is not to be alleged that no civilised mortal has beheld the precious weed in its native forests since that date; but no one has mentioned the spectacle, and assuredly no one has troubled to gather plants. Registered long since among the "Lost Orchids," which should bring a little fortune to the discoverer, native botanists and dealers in all parts of South America have been looking out. And the collectors! For forty years past not one of the multitude has left the shores of Europe or the United States, bound for the Cattleya realm, without special instructions to watch and pray for L. Jongheana. More and more pressing grew the exhortations as years went by and prices mounted higher, until of late they subsided in despair. Yet the flower is almost conspicuous enough to be a landmark, and it does not hide in the tree-tops either, like so many.

'Every one who takes interest in orchids will be prepared already to hear that Messrs. Sander are the men of fate. How many of such spells have they broken! Without book I recall Oncidium splendidum, of which not a plant remained in Europe, nor a hint of the country where it grew; the "scarlet Phalaenopsis" of native legend, never beheld of white man, which, in fact, proved to be brick-red; Cattleya labiata, the Lost Orchid _par excellence_, vainly sought from 1818 to 1889. The recovery of Dendrobium Schroederium was chronicled by every daily paper in London, or almost, with a leader, when a skull was shown in Protheroe's Rooms with a specimen clinging to it, and a select group of idols accompanying the shipment. Less important, but not less interesting, was the reappearance of Cypripedium Marstersianum at a later date. Verily, we orchidists owe a debt to the St. Albans firm.

'In these cases success was merited by hard thought, patient inquiry, and long effort. Working out the problem in his study, Mr. Sander fixed upon a certain country where the prize would be found, and sent his collector to the spot. Oversluys searched for Oncidium splendidum during three years, until he wrote home that it might be in ---- or ----, but it certainly was not in Costa Rica; yet he found it at last. In this present case, however, the discovery is due to pure luck; but one may say that a slice of luck also was well deserved after those laborious triumphs. One of the St. Albans collectors, M. Forget, was roaming about Brazil lately. The Government invited him to join a scientific mission setting out to study the products and resources of Minas Gaeras. It is comparatively little known. M. Forget was unable to accept the invitation, but he heard enough about this secluded province to rouse his interest, especially when the savants reported that no collector had been there. Accordingly, he made an expedition as soon as possible, and at the very outset discovered an orchid--not in flower--resembling Laelia pumila in every detail but size. It was at least twice as big as that small, familiar species, but the points of similarity were so striking that M. Forget pronounced it a grand local form of L. pumila. And when the consignment reached St. Albans, even the wary and thoughtful authorities there endorsed his view! Not without hesitation. I believe that the name of L. Jongheana was whispered. But despair had grown to the pitch that no one ventured to speak out. Yet by drawings and descriptions, anxiously studied for years, all knew perfectly well that in growth the lost species must be like L. pumila, enlarged. It is, indeed, strong evidence of the absorbing interest of the search that when at length it ended, neither M. Forget nor his employers dared to believe their own eyes.

'So in November last year some hundreds or thousands of a remarkable orchid were offered at Protheroe's under the title "L. pumila (?)." Nearly all the leading amateurs and growers bought, I think, but at a very cheap rate. Half a crown apiece would be a liberal average for plants over which millionaires would have battled had they known. But, after all, the luck of the purchasers was not unqualified. Many who read this will feel a dreary satisfaction in learning that if their plants have perished or dwindled, plenty of others are in like case. Further experience shows that they were gathered at the wrong time; of course they reached Europe at the wrong time. And nearly every one put them into heat, which was a final error. L. Jongheana is quite a cool species. Through these accumulated misfortunes only two out of the multitude have flowered up to this, so far as I can hear. The dullest of mortals can feel something of the delicious anxiety of those gentlemen who watched the great bloom swelling from day to day when it began to show its tints, and they proved to be quite unlike those of L. pumila. At length it opened, and L. Jongheana was recovered.

'What sort of a thing is it, after all? For an unlearned description, I should say that the flowers--two, three, or even five in number--are from four to five inches across--sepals, petals, and curl of lip bright amethyst, yellow throat, white centre; the crisped and frilled margin all round suffused with purple. It was discovered in 1855 by Libon, who died soon after, carrying his secret with him. He was sent out by M. de Jonghe, of Brussels--hence the name.'

Up to the present time only one of the plants here has flowered--and it opened pure white, saving a yellow stain on the lip. This was not altogether a surprise, for a close examination of the faded blooms convinced M. Forget that some of them must have been white, whatever the species might be. And he marked them accordingly. That a collector of such experience should prove to be right was not astonishing, as I say, but remarkably pleasant.

At the end of the house is a pretty verdant nook where Cypripedium insigne is planted out upon banks of tufa among Adiantums and overshadowing palms.

STORY OF BULBOPHYLLUM BARBIGERUM

This species is so rare in Europe that I must give a word of description. The genus contains the largest and perhaps the smallest of orchids--B. Beccarii, whose stem is six inches in diameter, carrying leaves two feet long, and B. pygmaeum of New Zealand. They are all fly-catchers, I think, equipped with apparatus to trap their prey, as droll commonly in the working as ingenious in the design. Barbigerum has pseudo-bulbs less than an inch high, and its flowers are proportionate. But charm and size are no way akin. Fascination dwells in the lip, which, hanging upon the slenderest possible connection, lengthens out to the semblance of a brush. Thus exquisitely poised it rocks without ceasing, and its long, silky, purple-brown hairs wave softly but steadily all day long, as if on the back of a moving insect. Pretty though it be, all declare it uncanny.

The species was introduced from Sierra Leone by Messrs. Loddiges, so long ago as 1835. I have not come upon any reference to a public sensation. Assuredly, however, the orchidists of the day were struck, and it is probable that Messrs. Loddiges sold the wonder at a high price if in bloom. Some people in Sierra Leone forwarded consignments. But an orchid so small and delicate needs careful handling. None of them reached Europe alive, I dare say.

It appears, however, that Bulbophyllum barbigerum is common throughout those regions. The example at Kew, which diverts so many good folks year by year, came from Lagos, near a thousand miles east and south of Sierra Leone. And the story I have to tell places it at Whydah, between the two.

A young man named Boville went thither as clerk in the English factory, soon after 1835. We have not to ask what was his line of commerce. I have no information, but it must be feared, though perhaps we do him wrong, that one branch of it at least was the slave trade. Boville had heard of Messrs. Loddiges' success. Residents at Whydah do not commonly explore the bush, but he was young and enterprising. On his first stroll he discovered the Bulbophyllum, and to his innocence it seemed the promise of a fortune. Real good things must be kept quiet. The treasure was plentiful enough to cause 'a glut' forthwith if many speculators engaged. Luckily he had a Kroo boy in attendance, not a native. To him Boville assumed an air of mystery, said he was going to make fetich, and 'something happen' to any one who spoke of his proceedings--'make fetich' and 'something happen' are among the first local expressions which a man learns in West Africa. The Kroo boy grinned, because that is his way of acknowledging any communication whatsoever, and snapped his fingers in sign of willing obedience. So Boville gathered a dozen plants, and hoped to have a stock before 'the ship' arrived. There were no steamers then, and at Whydah, a very unimportant station for lawful trade, English vessels only called once in three months. Slavers did not ship orchids.

It was Boville's employment henceforth to collect the Bulbophyllum whenever he had a few hours to spare. He hung his spoils on the lattice work which surrounds a bedroom in those parts, between roof and wall, designed for ventilation--hiding them with clothes and things. It is proper to add that the 'English Fort' was already deserted, and the 'Factory' a mere name. The agent, his superior officer, was not at all likely to visit a clerk's quarters. This good man belonged to a class very frequent then upon 'the coast.' He had not returned to England, nor wished to do so, since coming out. At a glance he recognised that this was his real native land, and without difficulty he made himself a fellow-countryman of the negroes, living like a caboceer, amidst an undeterminate number of wives, slaves, and children. Very shocking; but it may be pointed out that such men as this established our colonies or seats of trade in Africa. They had virtues, perhaps, but their vices were more useful. The moral system of the present day would not have answered then. An agent secured his position by marrying a daughter of every chief who might be troublesome. He had no Maxim guns.

Mr. Blank knew every feeling and superstition of the negroes,--that is the point of my reference to his character. And one evening he entered the room just as Boville was hanging up his latest acquisitions, some of which were in flower. Whatever Mr. Blank's business, it fled from his mind on beholding the orchids.

'Good God!' he cried. 'What--what--you are no better than a dead man! I won't protect you--I can't! Good God! What possessed you?'

'I don't understand,' said Boville.

'No, you don't understand! They send me out the most infernal idiots'--and then Mr. Blank fell to swearing.

Boville saw the case was grave somehow. 'Are they poisonous?' he asked.

'Poisonous be--etc. etc. That's the Endua--the holiest of plants! You'll wish they were poisonous before long! What a lot! You didn't get 'em all to-day?'

'I can destroy them. Only Georgius Rex the Krooman has been into the bush with me.'

'You fool! D'you think you can hide this from the fetich? Put--put 'em in a sack, and tumble 'em into the river after dark! Oh Lord, here's an awful business!'

Moving about the room restlessly as he talked, whilst Boville thrust the orchids into a bag, the agent opened a door which gave upon a platform called the verandah--in fact, the roof of the store. It overlooked the street. In an instant he ran back.

'It's all up' he cried. 'Oh Lord! Here's the Vokhimen!'

Boville had heard this name, which belongs to an official of the Vo-dun, the fetich priesthood, whose duty it is to summon offenders. He went to see. The street was in an uproar. Two men clothed in black and white, with faces chalked, were beating Vo-drums furiously--but such din is too usual for notice. They stood at the door of a house--habitations in Whydah are not properly described as huts. All the neighbours surged round vociferous. Presently emerged a grotesque figure, rather clothed than adorned with strings of human teeth and bones, and little wooden idols painted red. His black and white cap had lappets with red snakes sewn thereon; the breast of his tunic bore a large red cross, the sacred symbol of Dahomey. He came forth with a leap, and danced along with ridiculous gestures to the next house, flourishing the iron bar which marks his office. The bones and images rattled like castanets. The drummers followed. Through the next doorway the Vokhimen sprang, and disappeared.

'He isn't after me, thank God!' cried Boville.

'He is, you fool! It's their way to hunt about like that when they well know where to find the victim. No, it's too late to hide the cursed things now. God help you, Boville! I can do nothing.' And Mr. Blank hurried out.

'Go to the Hun-to at least, sir--and to Mr. Martinez! Don't leave me helpless to these devils!'

'I'll do all I can for you, but it's worse than useless my stopping here.'

Perhaps it is necessary to observe that the Europeans in Whydah had long been subject to the King of Dahomey, ruled by a Viceroy. Each nationality had its official chief, called Hun-to by the English, and the Portuguese representative enjoyed particular consideration. Nevertheless, the Viceroy was their absolute master, and he obeyed the fetich men.

It is so easy to conceive poor Boville's bewilderment and despair that I shall not dwell upon the situation. With feverish haste he concealed his orchids. Mr. Blank reappeared, with a rope fringed with strips of palm leaf, dry and crackling. This he threw round Boville's neck.

'They daren't hurt you with that on!' he cried. 'Only the head priest can remove it! Go down! I've set drink on the table! Good-bye!'

The poor fellow obeyed, taking a pistol. All the servants were clustered at the door, wide-eyed, humming with terror and excitement. Presently the drums sounded nearer and nearer--the throng opened--the Vokhimen danced through, jibbering, curveting, posturing. He started at sight of the palm-leaf cord, but passed by, unheeding a glass of rum which Boville offered, and pranced upstairs. The agent was right. This devil knew where to look! He thumped about a while overhead, then capered down, with a bundle of orchids dangling on the iron stick. The glass was not refused this time. After drinking, the summoner touched Boville with his wand of office, saying, 'Come! The snake calls you!'

Boville did not understand the formula, but he guessed its meaning. There was no help. He set forth. The Vokhimen pocketed the rum bottle and followed, moving gravely enough now.

The mob shouted with astonishment at the appearance of a white criminal, but when the cause of his arrest was seen--that bundle of the holy Endua--astonishment changed to rage. Boville owed his life to the Azan, the fetich cord, at that instant. But the drummers beat furiously, and, as if in response, a dozen fetich men suddenly appeared, pushing through the crowd. One side of their heads was shaven bare. They wore garments of hideous fantasy, charms and horrid objects innumerable, and each a pair of silver horns upon the forehead. Under this escort Boville marched to the fetich place.

This was a bare piece of ground, encircled by the low dark dwellings of the priests, with the sacred wood behind it, and in the midst the Snake Temple. Often had Boville glanced into the small building, which has no door, and seen the reptiles swarming inside. He did not feel the loathing for snakes which is so common--happily, as it proved. But no man could watch that multitude of restless, twining creatures without horror.

Led to the dreadful doorway, Boville turned, thinking to resist; but they fell upon him, doubled him up--for the entrance was very low--and thrust him in bodily. The poor fellow screamed in tumbling full length upon a platform which occupied the middle. He had seen it alive with snakes, writhing one over the other.

But none were there. He scrambled to his feet and looked round. The temple had no windows, but the solid walls of adobe did not meet the roof, and the level sun-rays of evening poured through the gap. There was nothing to interrupt the view, save a besom and a basket. But no snake could he see. A movement above caught his eye. He looked up.

There are men who would have lost their wits in terror at that sight. The snakes were there, hundreds of them, perched upon the thickness of the wall--the ridge of their bodies gleaming in the red light of sunset, their long necks hanging down, waving and twining. Every head was turned towards him, the glass-bright eyes fixed on his, and the tongues slithering with eagerness. Nightmare was never so horrible.

For an instant Boville stood frozen, with dropped jaw and starting eyes, the icy sweat streaming from every pore; then, howling in no human voice, he burst through the doorway, through the guard, and fell in the midst of a party advancing.

All the Europeans in Whydah were there, with the Viceroy himself, and the head fetich man. The horrid absurdity of their equipment I have no room to describe. The white men had been pleading, even threatening, and the Viceroy supported them. When Boville dropped at their feet the last word had been spoken. His punishment should be that decreed against the man who kills a snake by evil chance--no worse.

'What is that?' Boville panted, when the agent who held him in his arms had explained.

'Never mind--we'll do our best! And it is to be at once, thank God! Night will soon be here!'

'Don't go--not all of you! Don't leave me with these devils!'

'We must, poor boy--to arrange. But we shall return.'

Boville remained among a group of fetich men, who sang and capered round, making gruesome pantomime of tortures. Meanwhile, others were busy at a shed with spades and bundles of reed. Dusk was settling down when they had finished. The head priests returning took their stations, surrounded by men with torches still unlit. All the population was gathered round the holy area.

Mr. Blank came back with others. 'Listen,' he said. 'They are going to put you--unbound--in a hole, cover you with reeds, and set them alight. You must spring up and run to the nearest water, all these brutes after you. But I have arranged with many of them, and they will intercept the others. Now mark, for your life may depend on it! The law is that one who kills a snake shall be cut and hacked till he reaches water! They expect you to make for the river, but there is a pond on the very edge of the fetich wood yonder! See? You make for that! You can't miss it if you go straight between the torches and the temple. You understand? Now summon your courage, man, and run for your life.'

He wrung Boville's hand. The executioners seized their victim and hurried him to the shed, amidst a furious tumult--roaring, singing, beating of drums, and blaring of cow-horns--thrust him into the hole, and heaped combustibles over him. The instant he was free Boville sprang up, but the reeds flared as quick as gunpowder. All ablaze he ran--the savage crew pursuing. But they mostly expected him on the river side. With but little hurt, save burns, he reached the pool and leapt in.

It is satisfactory to add that Boville did not suffer in health or fortune by this dread experience. He became the richest trader in Whydah, a special favourite with the natives. But he collected no more orchids.

INDEX

Angraecum sesquipedale, 97

Anguloa, 162

Anthurium x Albanense, 68
" x aurantiacum, 69
" x Goliath, 68
" x Lady Godiva, 68
" x Lawrenceae, 68
" x niveum, 69
" x Salmoniae, 68
" x Saumon, 69
" x The Queen, 69

Brassavola Digbyana--Story, 151

Bulbophyllum barbigerum--Story, 253

Calanthe x bella, 129
" x Clive, 130
" x Florence, 130
" x Sandhurstiana, 129
" x Veitchii alba, 130
" x Victoria Regina, 130
" x William Murray, 130

Cattleya x Atalanta, 91
" aurea, 26
" " R. H. Measures, 26
" bicolor Measuresiana, 26
" Bowringiana, 31
" " --Story, 37
" x Browniae, 90
" x Cecilia, 94
" x Chloris, 89
" chrysotoxa, 27
" Extermination of, 28, 144-148
" x Fowleri, 92
" Gaskelliana, 33
" " Dellensis, 33
" " Duke of Marlborough, 33
" " Godseffiana, 33
" " Herbertiana, 34
" " Measuresiana, 33
" " Miss Clara Measures, 33
" " Sanderiana, 34
" " Woodlandsensis, 34
" gigas, 25
" " Imschootiana, 25
" " Sanderae, 26
" guttata Leopoldii--Hybrids, 8
" Harrisoniae R. H. Measures, 35
" intermedia Louryana, 97
" " Parthenia, 96
" x Kienastiana, 91
" labiata Adelina, 147
" " alba, 146
" " Archduchess, 147
" " Baroness Schroeder, 146
" " bella, 147
" " Her Majesty, 147
" " imperatrix, 145
" " Juno, 147
" " Macfarlanei, 146
" " Measuresiana, 146
" " Mrs. R. H. Measures, 146
" " nobilis, 145
" " Princesse de Croix, 146
" " Princess May, 147
" " Princess of Wales, 147
" " Robin Measures, 147
" " Sanderae, 146
" Lawrenceana, 148
" " Extermination of, 148
" x Louis Chaton, 94
" x Mantinii inversa, 89
" x " nobilior, 89
" x Mariottiana, 91
" x Mary Measures, 149
" Mendelii, 29
" " Duke of Marlborough, 30
" " Lily Measures, 30
" " Monica Measures, 30
" " Mrs. R. H. Measures, 30
" " R. H. Measures, 30
" " William Lloyd, 30
" x Miss Measures, 92
" Mossiae, 32
" " excelsior, 32
" " gigantea, 32
" " Gilbert Measures, 32
" " grandiflora, 32
" " Mrs. R. H. Measures, 32
" " --Story, 45
" " Wageneri, 32
" Mrs. Fred Hardy, 27
" x Mrs. Mahler, 13
" O'Brieniana, 94
" x Our Queen, 93
" x Portia, 89
" x Prince of Wales, 91
" Sanderiana, 26
" " A Collector's report upon, 28
" Schroderae, 30
" " Miss Mary Measures, 30
" Skinneri alba--Story, 59
" speciosissima alba, 31
" " Dawsonii, 31
" Trianae, 34
" " Macfarlanei, 34
" " Measuresiana, 35
" " Robert Measures, 35
" " Tyrianthina, 35
" " Woodlandsensis, 35
" Trismegistris, 27
" x Wendlandiana, 94
" x William Murray, 92

Coelogyne speciosa--Story, 135

Cymbidium x Lowiano-eburneum, 132
" x eburneo-Lowianum, 132

Cypripediums, 170
" x A de Lairesse, 191
" x Adrastus, 196
" x Alfred, 181
" x Amphion, 181
" x Annie Measures, 196
" x Antigone, 179
" x Aphrodite superbum, 179
" x Arnoldiae, 180
" x Arnoldianum, 180
" x Arthurianum pulchellum, 196
" x Astraea, 196
" x Athos, 196
" x aurantiacum, 197
" x Aylingii, 180
" x Baconis, 177
" x barbato-bellatulum, 178
" x Beeckmanii, 178
" bellatulum album, 177
" x " egregium, 178
" " eximium, 176
" Boissierianum--_vide_ reticulatum.
" x Brownii, 179
" x Brysa, 200
" x calloso-niveum, 181
" x callosum Sanderae, 180
" x Cardinale, 178
" x Charles Richmond, 202
" x chrysocomes, 178
" x Claudii, 178
" x Cleopatra, 197
" x conco-callosum, 181
" x " Curtisii, 181
" x " Lawre, 181
" Cowleyanum, 181
" Curtisii--Story, 183
" " (Woodlands variety), 182
" Cyanides, 180
" x Cydonia, 200
" x cymatodes, 191
" Dauthierii albino, 192
" " marmoratum, 192
" x Edwardii, 193
" x Engelhardtiae, 193
" x Evenor, 192
" x excelsior, 192
" Fairieanum, 193
" x Frau Ida Brandt, 196
" x Georges Truffaut, 194
" x Gertrude, 194
" x Gertrude Hollington, 177
" Godefroyae, 69
" x H. Ballantine, 177
" x H. Hannington, 179
" x Hector, 179
" x hirsuto-Sallierii, 199
" x Holidayanum, 199
" insigne, 53
" " Amesiae, 54
" " Bohnhoffianum, 54
" " clarissimum, 54
" " corrugatum, 55
" " Dimmockianum, 54
" " Dorothy, 55
" " Drewett's variety, 56
" " eximium, 56
" " Frederico, 55
" " Harefield Hall, 55
" " Hector, 56
" " Laura Kimball, 54
" " longisepalum, 54
" " Macfarlanei, 54
" " majesticum, 55
" " Measuresiae, 55
" " punctatum, 56
" " R. H. Measures, 55
" " Rona, 55
" " Sanderae, 56
" " Statterianum, 54
" x J. Coles, 200
" Javanicum, 199
" x Juno, 191
" x La France, 197
" x Lavinia, 200
" x Lawrebel, 197
" x " (Woodlands variety), 197
" x Lawrenceanum-Hyeanum, 198
" " Sir Trevor, 198
" leucochilum, 69
" x " giganteum, 199
" x Leysenianum, 199
" x Lily Measures, 197
" x Lord Derby, 192
" x M. Finet, 177
" x macropterum, 177
" x Marchioness of Salisbury, 199
" x Marshallianum, 199
" x Massaianum, 203
" x Measuresiae, 203
" x Measuresianum, 199
" x Miss Clara Measures, 203
" x Mrs. E. Cohen, 178
" x Mrs. E. G. Uihlein, 195
" x Mrs. Fred Hardy, 199
" x Mrs. Herbert Measures, 199
" x Mrs. W. A. Roebling, 202
" x Muriel Hollington, 200
" x Myra, 179
" x nitidum, 204
" x Olivia, 176
" x Paris, 201
" x Phoebe, 201
" platytaenium--Story, 205
" x Princess May, 201
" x Pylaeus, 201
" reticulatum, 202
" x Rowena, 201
" x Sade Lloyd, 191
" x Schofieldianum, 202
" x Sir Redvers Buller, 204
" x Southgatense, 203
" x " superbum, 203
" Spicerianum--Story, 213
" x Symonsianum, 200
" x Tautzianum lepidum, 194
" x Telemachus, 194
" x tesselatum porphyreum, 194
" venustum (Measures variety), 195
" x Watsonianum, 195
" x William Lloyd, 191
" x Winifred Hollington, 204
" x Woodlandsense, 195
" x Zeus, 196

Dendrobium x Ainsworthii, 110
" x Leechianum, 110
" Lowii--Story, 121
" nobile album, 110
" " Cooksoni, 110
" " murrhinianum, 110
" " Ruckerianum, 110
" " splendens grandiflorum, 110
" " virginale, 110
" phalaenopsis Schroederianum--Story, 113
" x Schneiderianum, 110

Epidendrum radicans, 110
" x radico-vitellinum, 111

Hybridisation--Remarks, 172
" Mr. Mead's experiments, 173

Laelia x Beatrice, 13
" x Claptonensis, 88
" elegans, 7
" " Adonis, 10
" " Amphion, 13
" " bella, 15
" " Blenheimensis, 13
" " Boadicea, 10
" " Cleopatra, 15
" " Doctor Ryan, 11
" " Empress, 10
" " euracheilos, 14
" " eximia, 15
" " F. Sander, 10
" " Frederico, 12
" " Godseffiana, 10
" " H. E. Moojen, 10
" " H. G. Gifkins, 10
" " haematochila, 11
" " Hallii, 14
" " incantans, 14
" " Juno, 13
" " Ladymead, 12
" " leucotata, 11
" " Lord Roberts, 16
" " Luciana, 12
" " luculenta, 12
" " Macfarlanei, 11
" " " II., 15
" " macroloba, 13
" " matuta, 13
" " Measuresiana, 12
" " Medusa, 10
" " melanochites, 14
" " Minerva, 13
" " Monica, 12
" " Morreniana, 13
" " Mrs. F. Sander, 10
" " Mrs. R. H. Measures, 11
" " Myersiana, 15
" " Neptune, 10
" " nyleptha, 11
" " Ophelia, 11
" " Oweniae, 14
" " paraleuka, 11
" " platychila, 12
" " Princess Stephanie, 13
" " Pyramus, 15
" " Red King, 10
" " Sade Lloyd, 11
" " Sappho, 15
" " Schilleriana, 14
" " " splendens, 12
" " Stella, 10
" " Stelzneriana, 12
" " Tautziana, 13
" " tenebrosa, 11
" " Venus, 12
" " Weathersiana, 14
" " Wolstenholmae, 15
" x Gravesiae, 88
" Jongheana, 249
" x Latona, 92
" x Measuresiana, 88
" Perrinii alba, 97
" " nivea, 97
" praestans alba, 32
" pumila marginata, 31
" purpurata, 107
" " Archduchess, 109
" " Lowiana, 109
" " Macfarlanei, 109
" " marginata, 109
" " tenebrosa, 109
" x Sanderae, 91
" x splendens, 91
" x Yula, 93
" x " inversa, 93

Laelio-Cattleya Albanensis, 91
" " amanda, 88
" " Amazon, 91
" " Amesiana, 93
" " Ancona, 88
" " Aphrodite, 91
" " Arnoldiana, 88
" " Bellairensis, 90
" " Broomfieldensis, 92
" " C.-G. Roebling, 92
" " callistoglossa, 92
" " " ignescens, 92
" " Canhamiana, 94
" " D. S. Brown, 92
" " Decia, 92
" " Empress of India, 94
" " Eudora, 93
" " " alba, 93
" " euspatha, 14
" " excellens, 91
" " Exoniensis, 93
" " Fire Queen, 89
" " Harold Measures, 11
" " Henry Greenwood, 94
" " Hippolyta, 93
" " Hon. Mrs. Astor, 91
" " Lady Wigan, 89
" " leucoglossa, 94
" " Mardellii fascinator, 92
" " Measuresiana, 88
" " Miss Lily Measures, 94
" " Nysa, 88
" " Pallas superba, 94
" " Robin Measures, 90
" " Tiresias, 88
" " " superba, 90
" " Tresederiana, 89
" " velutino-elegans, 94
" " Zephyra, 93

Laelio-Cattleyas unflowered and unnamed--List of, 95

Lycaste aromatica, 159
" Denningiana, 160
" fulvescens, 160
" leucantha, 159
" Locusta, 160
" Mooreana, 160
" plana lassioglossa, 159
" " Measuresiana, 160
" Skinneri alba, 159
" " Lady Roberts, 159
" " Phyllis, 159

Madagascar--Legend of, 99

Masdevallia abbreviata, 237
" amabilis, 237
" Bonplandii, 237
" caudata, 237
" Chelsoni, 237
" coccinea, 238
" Harryana Armeniaca, 237
" " Bull's Blood, 237
" " Denisoniana, 237
" " Sander's Scarlet, 237
" " splendens, 237
" " versicolor, 237
" ignea splendens, 237
" macrura, 238
" melanopus, 238
" peristeria, 238
" polysticta, 237
" Veitchii grandiflora, 237
" Wallisii stupenda, 238

Miltonia Binottii, 162
" vexillaria Cobbiana, 228
" " Measuresiana, 228
" " rubella, 228

Odontoglossum baphicanthum, 226
" Bictoniense album, 223
" coronarium, 225
" crispo-Harryanum, 225
" crispum Arthurianum, 225
" " aureum, 227
" " Chestertoni, 227
" " Cooksoni, 227
" " Dayanum, 228
" " magnificum, 223
" " Measuresiae, 223
" " Our Empress, 223
" " purpureum, 228
" " Reginae, 227
" " virginale, 223
" " Woodlandsense, 223
" cristatellum, 224
" Edithae, 223
" elegans, 223
" facetum, 224
" grande magnificum, 227
" Hallii leucoglossum, 224
" " magnificum, 224
" Harryanum--Story, 229
" Humeanum, 226
" Hunnewellianum, 223
" Josephinae, 223
" Lindeni, 226
" Madrense, 224
" mirandum, 224
" mulus, 222
" Murrellianum, 226
" Pescatorei album, 227
" " Germinyanum, 225
" " grandiflorum, 228
" " splendens, 228
" " violaceum, 228
" platycheilum, 226
" polyxanthum magnificum, 224
" Rossii aspersum, 227
" Ruckerianum, 222
" " splendens, 222
" sceptrum, 225
" Schillerianum, 226
" tripudians oculatum, 226
" vexillarium--_vide_ Miltonia
" Vuylstekeanum, 222
" Wallisii, 224
" Wilckeanum, 222
" " albens, 222
" " pallens, 222
" " Rothschildianum, 225

Oncidium lamelligerum, 239
" Loxense, 240
" ornithorhynchum album, 239
" splendidum--Story, 241
" tetracopis, 239
" undulatum, 239
" Weltoni, 240

Phaio-calanthe Arnoldiae, 130

Phajus x Ashworthianus, 130
" x Cooksoni, 130
" x Marthae, 130
" x Owenianus, 130
" x Phoebe, 130

Phalaenopsis, 67
" x Hebe, 68
" Sanderiana--Story, 79

Pothos aurea, 147

Roezl--Legend of, 17

Sobralia x Amesiana, 161
" Kienastiana--Story, 163
" Measuresiana, 161
" Sanderae, 161
" x Veitchii, 161

Spathoglottis x aureo-Veillardii, 111

Thunia Bensoniae, 131
" Marshalliana, 131

Vanda, 69
" x Miss Joaquim, 69
" Sanderiana--Story, 71

Zygo-colax leopardinus, 131

Zygopetalum x Perrenoudii, 131

THE END

_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_

Footnotes:

[1] It seems not unlikely that scholars may read this and misunderstand. I am not ignorant that 'the Ancients' had frames, probably warmed green-houses--since they flowered roses at mid-winter--and certainly conservatories. But these facts do not bear upon the argument.

[2] Two or three years ago, however, the Government of New Granada made a law forbidding such destruction of trees--a measure which has happily reduced the output of orchids, since the natives are unwilling to climb for them.

Transcriber's Notes:

Passages in italics are indicated by _underscore_.

The misprint "ear" has been corrected to "are" (page 224).

Printer's inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation usage have been retained from the original.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Woodlands Orchids, by Frederick Boyle