--Reflections like these would not allow me to despair. I started
up; and disregarding both, hunger and fatigue, traveled forward, assured
that relief was at hand; and I was not disappointed."
VICTORIA REGIA.
On this Queen of Aquatic Plants the language of admiration has been
exhausted. It was discovered in the first year of the present century by
the botanist Haenke who was sent by the Spanish Government to
investigate the vegetable productions of Peru. When in a canoe on the
Rio Mamore, one of the great tributaries of the river Amazon, he came
suddenly upon the noblest and largest flower that he had ever seen. He
fell on his knees in a transport of admiration. It was the plant now
known as the Victoria Regia, or American Water-lily.
It was not till February 1849, that Dr. Hugh Rodie and Mr. Lachie of
Demerara forwarded seeds of the plant to Sir W.T. Hooker in vials of
pure water. They were sown in earth, in pots immersed in water, and
enclosed in a glass case. They vegetated rapidly. The plants first came
to perfection at Chatsworth the seat of the Duke of Devonshire,[093] and
subsequently at the Royal gardens at Kew.
Early in November of the same year, (1849,) the leaves of the plant at
Chatsworth were 4 feet 8 inches in diameter. A child weighing forty two
pounds was placed upon one of the leaves which bore the weight well.
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