LILIES AND BUTTERFLIES

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6866, 22 March 1929, Page 11

LILIES AND BUTTERFLIES

As we got further down tho side of the ravine, tho rocks began to be covered with glorious ferns ,many of which I had never seen before. There was one species of maiden-hair growing in long, slender fronds like drops of green water, and another had long narrow fronds of delicate lace-like foliage. There wero beautiful bushes of Portlandia, where the sun gave the blossoms a chance to open ,ovcr which white, semi-transparent butterflies, hovered iu the tempered light. I saw, too, a huge owl butterfly with its great eyes cleaming in the shadows. When at last we reached the edge of the river the sight almost took away my breath. The sun shone on the water, though tho bush came down to tho edge on both sides. Everywhere grew beautiful white lilies, as if some gardener had arranged the wholo place for a wedding but surely no gardener ever produced such an effect. Whereever there was a foothold near the water they grew in great clumps, and even on the rocks out in tho water grew more white lilies —wherever one looked one saw them. It would have been possible to gather an enormous bunch in a few minutes.

Lovely butterflies hovered over the flowers. I noticed one—known as Titima—with red upper wings and deep blue hind ones; another had brilliant blue wings with a pale band running across them (Bugaba). One of the prettiest effects of all was produced by two huge butterflies of a bright sul-phur-yellow which were chasing each other over a clump of tho lilies; and brilliant flies of many kinds were seen on every side. ... A singular thing about this river—and I have noticed tho same thing in the case of other rivers out here— is the complete diversity of scenery one meets with upon tho river’s banks. One reach will be hemmed in with vegetation to the water’s edge, while the next will be quite open, with ravines leading away from it; the next reach perhaps, will show tall, bare cliffs, with little verdure, and so on. Here, by the waterfall was a scene of truly tropical splendour from which I c-ould scarcely tear myself away. And before wo left I saw a lovely sight, for a little humming bird came from nowhere that we could see, and hung, poised over a truss of lily flowers. He had a beautiful golden brown head and throat—crest glittering in tho sun —and his little body was a mixture of greens and bronzes, while round his little black feet were tiny ruffles of white down.; he hung before several flowers, moving with lightning speed from one to another liko a piece of beautifully thickened mist, and then suddenly while I Jooked he was gone, but I could not see where, except for a flash of light disappearing. ... Great bushes of what resembled huge red salvias grew on tho side of tho cliffs, and others bearing flowers of the Balsam family; and polypody ferns with fronds many feet in length hung over the ledges far into the air. Numbers of 'convolvuli of many colours rioted in and out of the other vegetation, groat blue ones and one beautiful species, white in colour, with a heart of purple. And over all were the orchids running along the boughs or lodging in tho forks of the trees; some of them arc yellow, others arc pink, or mauve or a mixture of many tints.—tV. Lavallin Puxley, in “The Magic Land ■ of the Maya.”