New-York tribune., 1897-08-29
THE KING OF SIAM AT KEW.
por,N1CAI. KNOWLEDGE APPARENTLY
A SPECIALITY OF THE LITTLE
MONARCH.
From The London Daily News.

his MujeStV,
gardens Here. then. was another oppoi i.uni,s sa,n
to correct impressions Of the King chaI 49, 60,
Before we arrived we were told that, a~,nons ~
other things he was Interested IN horuCui.uS h
Un certainly is In everything shown hm ne
manifested a lively and intelligent interest AZ
times indeed he became absolutely ehthusids,
tic. Moreover. the constant snl,e i'u .;,aitv II
and he seemed to have recovered ms VitahS'
he had been feeling rather out OF sottS ,,s cn ~.
previous day, he was certainly quite E,,t nili,a.A
again With his dark gray frock coat u,iou. ~
tnneG ard his silk hat set a little back. ne
strolled in and about the houses peeIillS a. nns
small plants. and pointing TO the Ia, la,sGr tarnrv
with his stick First We entered cool le.n.y, l.ti
and "Ah." cried the King how wen these Sc 'n.rSo ,,'
are growing. What is the temperature! Drdr
ordinary temperature, repiiea Ml.
Some Of these ferns grow on the mountains;
was the next comment. Yes. they DO acqui-
esced the director. We've got some OF them III
SIAM" explained the little monarch. Inns "ss rs
afternoon Nothing seemed to please MN SO
much as the sight Of familiar plant lnsre n,e
a lot Of these in my country. inns inns II w"a 81
have round our houses. nave so"'e VI
this in my garden" and so fOrth-
THE PROMISE OF LILY
He almost clapped his hands when he saw the
asparaeus plumosus isn't it nice? 1t grows
just like asparagus" he Informed Mr. Dyer.
Perhaps he was little TOO prone ~ n,,pI,e he
botanical knowledge to Mr. Dyer However ne
meant it kindly. once. and only once did ,ne
royal botanist get out of h dep.h nh b9rnr in
my country This isn't nearly large enough.
Very poor-yery poor. indeed" This is the
small variety" was Mr.. Dver's quiet comment,
and the King said. OH and passed on but
the discontinue only momentary. IN .ne
lily house he grew very enthusiastic ana aIte.
scrutn1ing and admiring all the specimens,
said: There is a beautiful lily in my country
that YOU haven't got. 1t is called and ne
mentioned name that neither nor Mr' Dyer
recognized. II will send you one: ot the weu- i1
ding flowers and the succrlent plants generduy
ne said with a wave Of the hand. All these can
grow in my country but you grow them very
we'll" Unfortunately the orchids were neariy
over but the few blooms were greatly adinireu;
"I want to show YOU our great water lily sa!d
Mr. Dyer. and he led the way to the NIctoIia
Regia VERY nice-yery large, was the hine
comment but h promptly turned away from
the great leaves. specimen OF coc0-de-Ihett 80
had caught his attention. and he struck one ..
the immense seeds nhere are none larser IN tn1
word) with his stick and joyfully eXclaiineu
"Oh here is ;he double cocoanut. we NAVY
them in our temples
HOW DID YOU KNOW WE WERE COMlNG!
one of the things that the King saw for the
first time was the Venus fly trap. He ana ms
suite listened with open mouths Wnen mI;
Over explained that it caught flies ana digeSteu
them Nothing would content His MaJesty Oue
sight OF the actual occurrence. 80 an at.en. len.
dant set to catch ny, ana the rlsn. s1 su,
of man being selected for the job ny was ouiy
caught 1t was put into one of the plants. ana
the King watched with keen interest IL tne poor pooa
little creatures detention and death. Inc centre
of the plant. fly and all, was atterWafu P'I,
sented to one of the Kings sons. who mucn
ppased with his acquisition. desired a record
Of the plants name and place OF origin but ue
lacked pencil and paper, and IN MS heeo ne
turned 70 one of nv colleagues, who wrote out
the desired particulars please ooh write ~ ~
in shorthand" said the Prince, ana we ai,
laughed heartily at the joke. This HIS hosai
Uighness essayed to push the acquaintance.
What newspapers do you come from: ne
asked and we told him GOOD Lore: ~, GN
claimed the Prince. betraying his university
education "all the newspapers are mere then.
After a while there came another inquiry rom rom
coming to Kew" he asked, with puzzled ar;
II cant imagine how you found OUT. Dld
Colonel Carington tell YOU? "Oh, no. we e6-
gostion "Then"-very cOnfdentially- who ana
tell YOU" mo one told u.s." was the unbushinS
reply of one of my colleagues I'VE found out.
THE KING AND THE PALMS.
The palm house was the scene OF the Kings
greatest enthusiasm. His stick was busy and
his tongue was never still They are beauti-
ful You grow these nicely. What IS the tem-
nrrature? we have this kind in SIAM They
grow in the open air there. When | was In
lava saw some like these Buitenzorg is there,
YOU know-the Dutch Botanical Gardens very
fine have often gone there" A magnificent
r"muti palm threw His Majesty into ecstacies.
He struck an attitude. and. waving his stick
aloft cried. "They grow very bg-very splendid
They live for twenty years. Then for the ilrst
time they bear fruit. Then'-with something
like break in his voice-"they die" Mr.. Dyer
nodded approvingy at this display of knowl-
edge The King rather spoilt the effect by
asking This one has no fruit YETI" NO. SAID
Mr. DYER: "yOu see ii is not dying. All TINS
time Phya Tejo. as enthusiastic a botanist as
the King was taking voluminOus notes OF all he
saw As we crossed the flower garden some
late roses took the Kings fancy and he was
delighted when Mr.. Dyer presented him with
handsome blooms Of "Viscountess Fokestone'
and Mime Lambard." This is only my first
visit" said the King enthusiastically. as he