short discussion (100-150) Life of Pi

(1) On page 256, Pi makes an "astonishing botanical discovery"  (Martel 256).  Why does Pi believe "many will disbelieve the following episode" (256)?  How does this echo the early passage about how the story "will make you believe in God" (x) or the conversation with Mr. Kumar that starts on p. 25?  

(2) Compare the style of this chapter with one of the following travel writings.  How does Pi incorporate the scientific style of botany and zoology with the travel writing style in one of the following passages:  

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6018/pg6018-images.html   (Swift's Gulliver's Travels) 

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/829?msg=welcome_stranger  (Boswell's Journal of a Tour of the Hebrides)