Adventures of an Orchid - Hunter. By Albert Millican. (Cassell and Co.)—The
reader who is not repulsed by the flippancy of the opening pages of this volume, will find himself rewarded for his intrepidity. It contains a very interesting and. graphic account of the journeys made by the author in collecting orchids in Columbia, whose forests and mountains are the homes of many favourite species and varieties of this order of plants. Year by year, the ravages of collectors encroach on the habitat of these lovely flowers, and those who would obtain them for commercial purposes have ever to push their search further into the recesses of the Eastern Andes. Many are found growing at a very great elevation. The life of the orchid-hunter is a hard and a dangerous one. He has to journey vast distances, and to endure great fatigue and tribulation,—in fact, he takes his life in his hand. Mr. irlillican and his party met with dangers of a very real kind, from malaria, wild beasts, and the attacks of hostile Indians, whose poisoned arrows slew one of his comrades at his side. The author is evidently a man possessed of great personal strength and courage, but he writes modestly of his own achievements. He describes the beauty of the various orchids in their native homes with much enthusiasm, and declares that the sight of them so growing is worth all the trouble of the journey. The book is well illustrated, and, at a time when orchids are such favourites, should be welcome to many readers.
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