In the next part of the pond, where the water is from eighteen inches to nine feet deep, masses of reeds will be found usually swaying, sighing, and whispering in the wind. There are many kinds, such as Bulrushes, Phragmites, Horsetail, Scirpus, etc. It seems to be the depth, the exposure to wind, the character of the soil, and other unknown factors, that determine which of those will be present. All of them are tall, standing well above the water; their main stem is usually flat on the bottom of the pond, or floating horizontally in the water, but giving off many upright branches. Floating islands are often formed by some of these horizontal main stems breaking off and being carried away. Those Chinese who possess no land make floating islands of such reeds for themselves, and grow crops on them. There are hundreds of such islands in the Canton River. [Illustration: _Stereo Copyright, Underwood & Underwood_ _London and New York_ A LEAF RAFT Victoria Regia, the giant water-lily of the Amazons. Those shown are in a public park in Minnesota and are able to support the weight of a child. In their native home the leaves are said to be ten feet in diameter.] Beyond the reeds, one sees the large flat, floating leaves and beautiful cup-like white or yellow flowers of the Water-lilies. They grow in water which is not more than fifteen feet deep. Their long stalks and leaf-stalks are flexible and yield readily, so as to keep the flowers and leaves floating. There are narrow submerged leaves as well. The actual stem of the White Water-lily is about three inches in diameter, and stout and fleshy. It is full of starchy material, and lies upon the mud deep down at the bottom of the pond. There are many advantages in the position of the flowers, for bees, flies, and other useful insects can reach them easily, but slugs, snails, and other enemies cannot do so. The little seeds have a curious lifebelt-like cup, which enables them to float on the surface. Of course, our own British water-lilies cannot compare with the magnificent _Victoria regia_ of the tropics. Its petals are white or pink on the inside, and its gigantic leaves, six feet or more in diameter, can support a retriever dog or a child. There used to be some of them at Kew Gardens. A curious point about these enormous floating leaves is that they are covered with little spiny points on the under side and at the margin; that is probably to keep some sort of fish from nibbling at the edges. But to return to our pond. Beyond the water-lily region and so long as the water is from twelve to twenty-four feet deep, Pondweeds are able to grow, and their leaves may be seen in the water, whilst their stalks stand up above the surface so as to allow wind to scatter the pollen.