"A catalogue published by a great nurseryman in Bristol ... contained a
number of tropical orchids, of whose wonderful variety and beauty I had
obtained some idea from the woodcuts in Loudon's 'Encyclopedia.' The
first epiphytal orchid I ever saw was at a flower show in Swansea ...
which caused in me a thrill of enjoyment which no other plant in the
show produced. My interest in this wonderful order of plants was further
enhanced by reading in the _Gardener's Chronicle_ an article by Dr.
Lindley on one of the London flower shows, where there was a good
display of orchids, in which ... he added, 'and _Dendrobium Devonianum_,
too delicate and beautiful for a flower of earth.' This and other
references ... gave them, in my mind, a weird and mysterious charm ...
which, I believe, had its share in producing that longing for the
tropics which a few years later was satisfied in the equatorial forests
of the Amazon."[5]
For a brief period, when there was a lull in the surveying business and
his prospects of continuing in this profession looked uncertain, he
tried watchmaking, and would probably--though not by choice--have been
apprenticed to it but for an unexpected circumstance which caused his
master to give up his business.
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