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THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOXvAND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

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The Life

Travels and Books

OF

Alexander Von Humbold

T.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION

By BAYARD TAYLOR.

J

'•' I am become a name ;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honored of them all."

TENNYSON.

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New York:

Rudd & Carl eton, 130 Grand Street,

(brooks building, cor. of broadway.)

MDCCCLIX.

THE NEW

PL1

106720

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S59, by

EUDD & CABLETON.

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the doited States for the Southern

District of New York.

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PEEF ACE.

There are several biographies of Humboldt, French,
German, and English, but none of any importance, except
Professor Klencke^s. Klencke had an excellent opportu-
nity to make a good booh, for much of his material was
obtained from Humboldt himself, but he failed to do so.
He seemed to have no idea of writing, beyond its being a
means of conveying facts. His facts are reliable, but
bunglingly arranged, without order or method. He says
the same thing over and over again, and entirely lacks the
chief requisite of a biographer — the art of making his
subject attractive. Still, he is reliable, and the author has
made considerable use of his work, especially in Book I.

The first Jive chapters of Book II. are taken from Hum-
boldVs "Voyage aux Regions Equinoxiales." As these
chapters cover an important epoch in Humboldt's life, it was
thought advisable to let him tell his own story, and this
has accordingly been done, wherever it was practicable, the
relation being changed from the first person to the third —
from autobiography to narrative. Of course only the

Bubetance of th> u Voya given, for '/<> work extendi

to ihr \tavo volumes, of four or fivi hundred pages

<<!<■},. it would hath been easy to havi rewritten this mat-
ter, but the author could n<>t see the advantage of so doing:
his book would havt gained something in originality, but
it ir, ,>//,/ have lost much m<>r< in interest* No writer of
travels, ancient or modern, can compare with tTumboldt in
descripHvi power, especially in the "Voyage," wht re his
words are pictures. Tins, pictures have been faithfully
transf m d to the chapU rs nu ntiom d, and ore comm< n<l> d
to tin read r*8 atU ntion.

The r}i<ij>t< rs on Colombia and Peru, an<f Mexico, an
), ,<i</. up from the " Vues des Cordilleres," the "Ansichten
der Natur," and the "Essai politique sur le Royaume de
Nouvelle Espagne.'' They ore not so compleU as the
author could hare fish,,/, hut that is rather Humboldt? 8
fault thou his own,fortfu "Voyage" which would hove
furnished material for them, ho,/ ;t ever been completed,
ends oi>ri>),ti:/ at Cdrthagena. Beyond that point the
narrative of the journey ceases. Gleams of it <>--cur,
however, in Humboldt's of/or works, chiefly in those Just
mentioned, ami it is by these that his progress has }„-en
fro,-, ,1 ,i,,til his return to Wurope. If this portion of the
Biography lacks t?u picturesque <m,i advi nturous element
of t},, chapters that preced it, it has at least th, merit of
variety, and of being th\ fullest account ofth last two or
three years of Humboldfs eventful journey in the Kew
World Th> works specified abavt having been translated
into English, the translations have been generally used,

PREFACE. \

ft

not because the author preferred them to their originals,
but because he doubted his ability to better them. It is one
thing to find 'fault with a translator for his shortcomings,
but quite another thing to avoid them in one's own trans-
lation. The translators to whom the author of this Biogra-
phy is indebted are: TJwmasi?ia Ross, for the "Voyage;"
Mrs. Sabine for the "Ansichten der Natur;" Helen Maria
Williams, for the " Vues des Cordilleres ;" and John
Black for the " Essai politique." The last two works are
out of print, though copies are occasionally to be found at
the old book stalls ; the " Ansichten der Natur," and the
"Voyage," or as it is christened in the translation, the
" Personal Narrative," are in print, though scarcely within
the reach of the general reader, never having been reprinted
in this country. The English edition of the "Personal
Narrative" costs three times as much as the present
volume.

The chapter on Central Asia, in Book III., which is the
substance of Rose's " Reise nach dera Ural," is rewritten
and enlarged from Mr. Taylor's " Cyclopa3dia of Modern
Travel." These, as far as the author remembers, are the
principal sources to which he is indebted. He shoidd men-
tion, perhaps, the various French and English Encyclo-
paedias from which he has filled up his sketches of some
of Humboldt's contemporaries, but Encyclopaedias have no
authors, as everybody knows ; besides, they are made for
the very purpose to ichich he has p>ut them. The same
may be said of the journals of the day.

The reader now understands the extent of the authors

VI PREFACE.

obligations i?i this Biography. Of the Biography itself
it does not become the author to speak, further than to say
that he has taken great pains to make it accurate. If it
shall be considered as readable as it is accurate, he will
have accomplished his purpose, which teas to write a popu-
lar life of Humboldt

INTRODUCTION.

A Biography of Alexander Von Humboldt, which shall
contain a full and conscientious account of his life and
labors, written in a style sufficiently clear and untechnical
to meet the popular tastes, has long been a necessity in our
literature. Those biographies which are already in exist-
ence do not possess this character : they are rather chroni-
cles of his achievements in the various departments of
natural science, than stories of a life almost unexampled
for its wealth of experience, its labors, and successes. The
" Lives of the Brothers Humboldt," by Klencke, which
has been translated into English, is very fragmentary in
this respect ; it passes over unnoticed, many episodes in the
life of Alexander Von Humboldt, which are of great interest
to the general reader. In fact, it has only been in the
closing years of his life, that the excellences of his charac-
ter, as a man, apart from his distinction as a savant, have
received full and general acknowledgment.

No task could have been pleasanter to me than that of
attempting to bring home to the familiar acquaintance of

\ ill tNTEODl < l l'»Nv

the great reading public of tlie United States, the history
of the great man, with whose friendship I was honored ;
and, as the literary labors I had already on hand prevented
me from undertaking such a work, it is all the more gra^i-
fying to me to know that it has been faithfully and con-
scientiously done by one every way capable of the perform-
ance. Having examined the biography which follows, lean
testify to its exactness and completeness, and therefore —
though the subject of the book is its own sufficient recom-
mendation- -cordially accede to the request of the author,
that I should add a few words of introduction, embodying
my own impressions of Humboldt's character.

When I first saw him, he was in his eighty-eighth year,
but, except in the bowed head and slow step,showed scarcely
any signs of bodily decay. A portrait, painted nearly forty
years before, at which time his hair was already gray,
showed that time had occasioned but little change in his
appearance, while its only effect upon his mind was, per-
haps, a lack of that power of concentration which enabled
him to master so many various departments of natural
science. He was still every inch a king, with no faculty
appreciably dulled, no sympathy blunted, no hope for the
increase of human knowledge or generous aspiration for
the good of his kind less earnest than in his prime of life.
A year later, I found him broken, indeed, in bodily health,
yet still capable of sixteen hours of continuous mental labor,
and his last letter to me, written but a short time before
his death, betrayed no sign of failing faculties, though the
hand which traced it was evidently weak and trembling.

INTRODUCTION. IX

In the castle at Tegel, where he was born, and in the
park of which he now sleeps beside his brother, hangs a
portrait of him, painted at the age of thirty-live. He is
there represented as man of rather less than the medium
stature, but firmly and symmetrically built, with a full,
keen, ardent face, firm lips, clear blue eyes, and thick locks
of chestnut hair, clustering about his square, massive brow.
He wears a green coat, knee-breeches, and a heavy cloak
lined with red. He is represented as leaning against a
rock on a slope of the Andes, the snowy dome of Chimbo-
razo filling up the background of the picture. In com-
paring this picture with his living presence, I found that
the shoulders had stooped, leaving the head bent forward,
as if weighed down by the burden of its universal know-
ledge ; the hair had grown snow-white, and somewhat
thinner ; the mouth had lost its clear, sharp outline, and
the eager, energetic expression of the face was gone : but
the blue eyes were as serene and youthful as ever, and the
skin as fair, smooth, and ruddy, almost, as that of a young
man. ^

The first impresRm produced by Humboldt's face was
that of its thorough humanity. The blood which fed his
restless brain never weakened the pulsations of his human
heart. Beneath that devotion to science which he illus-
trated by the labours of seventy-five years, burned steadily
and unwaveringly the flame of sympathy for his kind. Pro-
bably no man who ever lived has given aid and encourage-
ment to so great a number of aspiring and deserving men.
I know instances of persons in humble life having sought

I INTRODUCTION.

his assistance for themselves or their friends, and in no case
Mas it refused. The applicants returned from the interview
cheered, inspired, and full of affectionate veneration for the

man who, in the midst of his immense labours, could yet give
an hour to themselves and their plans. Xo rational appeal
to him was ever slighted, and the vast influence which he
possessed, in his later years, was always exerted in the
behalf of science, and her earnest votaries.

Jealousy of his fellow-labourers formed no part of his
nature. His enthusiasm was too pure and ardent to be
alloyed by any personal consideration. Not his own fame
— not his supremacy as an observer or a theorizer — but the
advancement of human knowledge, the discovery of grand
general laws — the footsteps of God in the Creation — was
his aim and his ambition. What he has done is not to be
measured by his own individual achievements : the generous
impulse which he has given to others cannot be estimated.
The vast results which have followed scientific research,
since the commencement of this century, were initiated by
his example ; he pointed out to others^he tracks which he
could not himself follow, and, even wl^n acknowledged as a
leader, never hesitated to labor with the humblest. In this
respect, his character presents an almost ideal excellence.

The lesson of Humboldt's life is not without its special
significance at the present day, when the thirst for wealth,
and place, and power, seems hotter and fiercer than ever.
With the advantages of his birth and inherited position,
many paths of advancement were open to him, but he dis-
dained them all, sacrificing everything to his love of know-

INTRODUCTION. XI

ledge, until finally, in his old age, honors such as no states-
man ever won, were laid as voluntary offerings at his feet.
The indifference which he regarded them showed how little
such rewards had entered into his plan of life. Yet,though
the acknowledged equal of kings, he was never seduced by
the splendors of courts to forget his character as a man,
whose sympathies were with the people rather than their
rulers. So well were his political predilections understood
among the monarchs who called him friend, that at the Con-
gress of Verona,of which he was a member, when he proposed
some temporary measure which had an arbitrary charac-
ter, the Emperor Alexander I. of Russia, turning to him,
said in a tone of mock reproach : " And is it you, arch-re-
publican as you are, who propose this despotic measure ?"
This incident was related to me by Humboldt himself, dur-
ing my last interview with him. One can therefore under-
stand the depth of that esteem felt for him by the present
demented king of Prussia, when the latter introduced Hum-
boldt to the Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, at Prague,
some four or five years ago. His Jesuitical majesty asked :
" Who is the Baron Von Humboldt, that you present him
to me with so much empressement f I have never heard of
him !" " Not heard of him !" exclaimed the king, in honest
amazement ; " why he is the greatest man since the De-
luge !"

Humboldt's large fortune was wholly expended in the
prosecution of his travels and the publication of his works,
and during the later years of his life, he was entirely depen-
dent on his diplomatic pension, and the copyright of his

xii IN rBODl I I [ON,

"Ko mo my friend Heine, the artist, he Bent hi.4

own copy (the original edition) of his " Vu $ d 8 Cordil-
tires," containing some of his marginal notes. On Learning
that the same gentleman had been obliged to go to Ame-
rica through his connexion with th<' events of 184s, lie pre-
vailed upon the king of Prussia to grant him the Order of
the Red Eagle — through which recognition the official ban
w:is removed. This is but one instance of the many acts

■

of kindness on his part, with which I have become ac-
quainted.

His mind was so admirably balanced — his development

was so various, and yet so complete in every department of
science, that his true greatness is not so apparent as in the
case of those who have risen to eminence by devoting them-
selves to some special study. Perfect symmetry never
produces the effect of vast n ess. It is only by studying tin-
details that we comprehend the character of the whole.
Humboldt, however, may be termed the father of Physical

Geography, and the suggester, if not the discoverer, of that

system of the distribution of plants and animals which opens
to our view another held of that Divine Order, manifested
in the visible world. lie strove to grasp those Becrets,
which, perhaps, no single mind will ever be able to compre-
hend— the aggregate of the laws which underlie the myste-
ries of Creation, Growth, and Decay; and though he fell
short of the sublime aim, he Ma- at least able to say, like
Kepler, when he discovered the mathematical harmonies of
the solar system ; " Oh, Almighty God, I think Thy
thoughts alter Thee!"

INTRODUCTION. Xlll

The record of such a life, even in its external aspects, is
pregnant with suggestions. It is a magnificent illustration
of true success. A combination of the purest and noblest
human character with splendid qualities of the mind is un-
fortunately rare. Without the former, Humboldt might have
achieved the same success in his own personal labors, but
he could not have given the same impetus to scientific re-
search in all parts of the world. The satisfaction we feel
in contemplating his life arises from its completeness. In
him the heart was the focus of warmth, whence radiated
the light of his intellect.

The Portrait which accompanies this volume, is copied
from a photograph which I obtained from Berlin, and which
is a perfect representation of Humboldt, in his eighty-sixth
year.

Bayard Taylor.

New York, August, 1859.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Ueber die Basalte am Rhein nebst Untersuchungm uber Syenit und

Basanit der Alten. Berlin, IT 90

Flora Fribergensis, prodromus. 4to. Berlin, 1793

Specimen Flora subterranean Fribergensis et aphorismi ex physiologia

chimica plantarum. 4to. Berlin, 1793

Versuche uber die gereizten Muskel- und Nervenfasern nebst Vermu-
ihungen uber den Ghemischen Process des Lebens in der Thier- und
Pflanzenwelt. 2 vols., 8vo. Posen, 1797

Versuche uber die Chemische Zerlegung des Luft-Kreises und uber
einige andere Gegenstdnde der Naturlehre.

Plates, 8vo. Brunswick, 1799

Jdeen einer Physiognomonik der Gewaeschse. 4to. Tubingen, 1806

Versuche uber die E lectrischen Fische. 12mo. Erfurt, 1806

Physique generate el Geologic 4to. Paris, 1807

Essai sur la Geographic des Plantes accompagne d'un Tableau physique
des Regions equinoxiales, fonde des mesures executees depuis le
sixihne degre de latitude boreale jusqu'au dixieme degre de latitude
auslrale, par Humboldt et Bonpland. 4to. Paris, 1807

Ansichten der Natur. 2 vols., 12mo. Stutgard & Tubingen, 1808

Melastomatologia, sive descriptio Melastomati et generum affinium.

Plates, Fol. Cassel & Paris, 1808

Conspectus longitudinum et latitudinum geographicarum per decur-
sum annorum 1799 ad 1804, astronomia observatarum.

Plates, Fol. Cassel, 1808

Plantes Equinoxiales recueillies au Mexique, dans Vile de Cuba, dans
les Provinces de Caraccas, de Cumana el de Barcelone, aux Andes
de la Nouvelle Granade, de Quito, et de Perou, et sur les Bords du
Rio Negro, de V Orenoque, et de la Riviere des Amazones, par
Humboldt et Bonpland. 2 vols., FoL Paris, 1808-1809

\\ I BIB] [OQB M'HV.

Vines des OordittireB, ou Monumens des Peuples indigenes dt VAme-

nque. Plates, FoL and Bvo. Paris, is 10

R teil d Observations astronomigues, cP Operations trigonomitriq\

Mesures baromitriques. Redigees et calculees <l'uj>r<s les
Tables les plus ezactes par J. OUmana. 2 vols., 4to. Paris, 1810

If" ii zu einer GtogrophU der Pflomt . 4to. Vienna, 1811

■■' jiiililique sur le Boyawne de In NouveUe Espagne, avec un Atlas
physique et gSographique, fondi sur les Observations astrono-
migueSf diss Mesures t/rigonornetriques <t </>.s y im/lu'-

triques. Atlas FoL, Texts 2 vols, 4to. Paris, 1811

RecueilcP Observations de Zoologit et oVAnatomie compares, faits dans
V Ocean Atiantique, dans VInt&rieur du Nouveau Continent et
dans la Mer da Sud. Par Humboldt et Bonpland.

2 vols., Ito. Paris. 1811-1833

Voyage aux Regions equinoxiales du Xuuveau Continent, fait en 1799,
1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, et 1801. Par A. de Humboldt et .1.
Bonpland Redige par A. de Humboldt. Avec deux Atlas, qui
renferment Fun les Vues des Cord-Meres et Us Monumens
l'> >i pies indiijhws tie VAmerique, et V autre des Cartes gkogra-
plaques et physiques. 8 vols., 4to Paris, 1*1-1-1*25

Nova Genera et Species Plantarum in Peregrinatione Orbit A" .' coir
legerunt. descripserunt, partim adumbraverunt A. Bonpland et

A. de Humboldt. In ordinem digessit C. S. Kunth.

7 vols., Ful. Paris, 1815-1825

Monographie des Melastomacics comprenant toutes (> B Plantes dt
ordre recueiUies jusqu'd ce jour et notamment an Mexique, d
I'llede Cuba, (fee., mise m ordre par A. Bonpland.

FoL Paris, 1816

De Natural i font ilia graminum. Fol. Paris, 1817

Des Lignes isothermes et de la distribution de la chaleur sur le <jlnbe.

- o. Paris, 1817

De Distributions geographica Plantarum secundum Gati Temperiem

et AltUudinem Montium. Prolegomena. L2mo. Paris, 1M7

Memoire sur la fixation des limites des Guyanes Francaise et Portu-

guaise, -lt<>. Paris, 1818

Mvmoses et autres Plantes legumineuses du Nouveau Continent, decrites
et publiees par C. S. Kunth, avec Figures colori

2 vols., FoL Paris. 1819

i Plantarum quas in itinere ad plagam oequiam Orbis Novi
OoUegerunt Humboldt et Bonpland 4 vols., FoL 1822-182G

Essai gSographique surle Gisement des Rochers dans les deux hemir
spken 8vo. Paris & Strasburg, 1823

Ueberden Bauuud di> WirksamJceit der VuUca 8vo. Heidelberg, 1821

Evaluation numSrique dt la population du Nouveau I nt, con-

$id> u It rapport dt la a -e des cultes, des races, et des

idiomes. 8vo. Paris, 1825

BIBLIOGRAPHY. XV11

Essai politique sur Vile de Cuba, avec une Carte et un Supplement
qui renferme des Considerations sur la Population, la Richesse
territorial^ et le Commerce de VArchipel des Antilles et de
Colombia. 2 vols., 8vo. Paris, 1826

Von der in Verschiedenen Thielen der Heissen Zone am Spiegel des

Heeres Stattfindenden Temperatur. 8vo. Leipzig, 1826

Ueber die Hauptursachen der Temperatur- Verschiedenheit auf dem

Erdkbper. 4to. Berlin, 1827

Observations sur quelques phenomenes peu connus, qu'offre le goitre
sous les tropiques, dans les plaines, et les plateaux des Andes.

Paris, 1828

Revision des Graminees, publiees dans les Nova Genera et Species
Plantarum de Humboldt d Bonpland, precedee dun travail
general sur la famille des Graminees, par C. S. Kunth. Ouvrage
accompagne decent Planches color iees. Fol. Paris, 1829

Ueber die bei verschiedenen Vblkern ublichen Sysleme von Zaldzeichen
und uber Ursprung des Stellenwerthes in den Indischen Zahlen.

4to Berlin, 1829
Fragmens de Geologie et de Climatologie Asiatique.

2 vols., 8vo. Paris, 1831

Astronomische und hypsomelrisclie Grundlagen der Erdbeschreibung.

8vo. Stutgard & Tubingen, 1831

Tableau statistique de Vile de Cuba pour les annees 1825 a 1829.

8vo Paris, 1831

Examen critique de Vhistoire de la Geographie du Nbuveau Continent,
et des Progres de VAstronomie nautique au JF« et XVI& siecles.

5 vols, 8vo. Paris, 1836-1839
Petrifications recueillies en Amerique decrites par Leopold de Buch.

Plates, Fol. Berlin, 1839

Asie Centrale, Recherches sur les Chaines de Montagnes et la Clima-
tologie comparee. 3 vols , 8vo. Paris, 1843

Kosmos, Eniwurf einer Physischen Wtltbeschreibung.

5 vols., 8vo. Stutgard & Berlin, 1845-1858

Kleinere Schriften, ersler Band; GeognostischeundPhysilMlische Erin-
nerungen mit einem Atlas enhaltend Umrisse von Vulkanen aus
den Cordilleren von Quito und Mexico.

8vo. Stutgard & Tubingen, 1 853

BOOK I.

1769-1799

CHAPTER I.

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.

Three leagues from the good city of Berlin, near an
arm of the Havel, called Tegel, stands, or stood ninety
years ago, the old castle of Tegel. Behind it lay a grove
of dark pines which separated it from the capital ; on
the southern shore of the lake were the town and for-
tress of Spandau, and to the north-west grassy and
wooded declivities, studded with promenades and gar-
dens. Doubtless this castle, gray and antiquated, had a
stirring history of its own in the days of old, but of this
Tradition is silent. All that we know is, that shortly
before the opening of this life-history, it was the resi-
dence of a Prussian commissioner of woods and forests,
who had greatly beautified it by the laying out of
nurseries and plantations. This commissioner, whose
name was Yon Burgsdorf, was succeeded in 1768, or there-
abouts, by Major Alexander George Yon Humboldt.

Major Yon Humboldt was born in 1720. His father,
Hans Paul Yon Humboldt, served as a captain in the
army of Frederick William the First ; his mother was
the daughter of the Prussian major and general adjutant,
Yon Schweder ; it was natural therefore that he should
follow the profession of arms. He served for a long

4 LNCEST0B8.

time in ;i dragoon regiment, and was then made major,
and finally adjutant to Duke Frederic of Brunswick,
who often Benl him on embassies to Frederic the Great

This was in tin* famous sewn wars' war. When the
Avar was over, in 1765, the great Frederic made him one
of his chamberlains ; he was also attendant chamberlain
on Elizabeth, the newly-married princess of Prussia.
His official duties compelled him to reside in Potsdam,
where he probably met the lady who became his wife.
A descendant of the family of Colomb, which emigrated
from Burgundy, where it was celebrated for its glass
works, she was the widow of a Baron Yon Ilolwede.
Major Von Humboldt persuaded her to change her
weeds for the orange wreath, so they married and settled
in Potsdam. Their first child, William, was born there
on the 22d of June, 1767. They lived in Potsdam but
a short time, two or three years at most, for the marriage
of the princess being at length dissolved, she had no fur-
ther need of an attendant chamberlain, consequently
Major Von Humboldt was at liberty to change his resi-
dence, if so inclined. He exchanged Potsdam for Berlin,
and lived partly there, and partly in his castle at Tegel.
How he became possessed of the castle is not stated. It
was originally a hunting seat of the great Elector, and a
hunting establishment was kept up there under Frederic

the Great The Major's second son, Frederic Henry
Alexander, was bom at Berlin on the 14th of September,
1769. It was principally at Tegel, however, that his
childhood passed.

Of the first years of his life nothing remarkable has
been related. There is a sameness in the lives of chil-
dren, no matter what their rank or talents. If they

PICTURES OF CHILDHOOD. 5

happen to become famous in after years, admiring and
credulous biographers tell wonderful stories about them,
but for the most part these stories are myths. The
infancy of the great, we think, should be surrounded
with marvellous influences. It will never do for us to
make them common mortals like ourselves. So if we
fail to discover any traits of early divinity we must
boldly invent them. Should the cheat be discovered
the world will forgive it, for the sake of the pleasure it
has given them.

That the childhood of Alexander, however, was
an exceedingly happy one, cannot be doubted, for if
ever Nature was kindly disposed towards any of her
children, it was towards him. He was born of wealthy
and noble parents, who mingled, by virtue of their rank
and worth, with the most illustrious of the land. His
home, the old castle of Tegel, situated in a pleasant
country, was surrounded by charming and varied land-
scapes. His earliest glimpse of Nature was beautiful
enough to make him desire to see the rest of the book :
it was a fair page that opened before his childish eyes.
And here, if the reader is imaginative, he can employ
himself in filling up the outlines of the first five or six
years of Alexander's life. He may picture him in the
chambers of the old castle, climbing up his father's knee,
and wondering, as he runs his fingers through his gray
hair, what the wrinkles on his forehead mean ; or tugging
at the gown of his mother to make her answer some un-
answerable question ; or, likelier still, scrambling on the
floor with his brother William, and a heap of toys.
Some day when playing alone, he sees the bookcase in
the corner, and remembering, as in a dream, the pic-

6 bis men i b \< heb i wipe.

tares with which the nurse pacified him when he was
sick, he goes to it, and opening the door softly, lights

by a sort of impish instinct, on the costliest volume on
the Bhelves. It is some famous work on natural history,

.1 ponderous quarto filled with coloured prints ofstraE
plants and animals, and still stranger men. lie pores
over them with great eyes. Fearing at last that he is in
mischief, for she has heard nothing of him for a long
time, his mother steals into the room, and finds him fast
asleep, with the book in his lap. As he grows older he
takes himself out of doors on all possible occasions.
Now he is in the garden, plucking and studying
flowers and grasses ; now in the pine grove filling his
pockets with last year's cones and needles, and now by
the edge of the lake, skimming pebbles over its surface,
or watching its fleet of mirrored clouds.

In such wise, says Fancy, who is sometimes truer than
Fact, lived the boy Alexander, until 1775, when his
education commenced. The science of education, a
science which is still in its infancy, the opinion of its
professors to the contrary notwithstanding, was at that
time agitating the European world. The new method
of Rousseau, which aimed at the physical as well as the
mental development of its pupils, and which considered
the study of natural science full as important as that of
metaphysics, and the classics, had made many adherents
in Germany, and among others Joachim EEeinrich Campe.
Born in 174*5, Campe studied theology at Eelmstadt and
at Halle, and was appointed, in 1773, chaplain to the
Prince of Prussia's regiment in Potsdam. He fulfilled
for two years the duties of his sacred calling in that
doubtful sphere of action, and feeling himself much more

ROBINSON CRUSOE. 7

fitted to teach children than men, and those men soldiers,
he was transplanted by Major Yon Humboldt to teach
his sons, at the old castle of Tegel. A ripe and varied
scholar even then, he enjoyed in after life the reputation
of being, next to Klopstock, the greatest philologist and
critic of German style. He is the author of a German
dictionary, and other works calculated to improve the
language. But the books by which he is best known
are those of travel and adventure. The chiefest of these
are his " Discovery of America," and " Robinson Crusoe."
Looking back from the vantage ground of Time, and
bearing in mind what Alexander Von Humboldt has
done, what might have seemed a trivial thing then, a
mere lucky chance, now seems the special ordering of
Nature. He was fitted, we have since learned, to per-
form a great work for her ; but before he could perform
that work it was necessary that she should reveal it to
him. If the child is to become the father of the man,
the man must somehow be brought before the mental
eye of the child. His infancy must be nurtured by
noble books, and wise teachers, or

" By solemn vision, and bright silver dream."

What better teacher could the boy have had, considering
the work he was to do, than one who translated that
marvellous fiction of the homely old truth-teller, De Foe,
— the fresh, unfading, world-renowned Robinson Crusoe?
It was the book of all others to fire his youthful imagina-
tion with the desire of travel, and to fill his mind with
the unconquerable spirit of adventure. It was a happy
day when Joachim Heinrich Campe, philologist, critic,

8 CHRISTIAN KUNTH.

translator, and finally bookseller, became the tutor of
Humboldt.

He remained in the family a year, teaching the eldest
boy the languages, and the youngest, who was then in
his seventh year, whatever he was pleased to learn.
Alexander was not so robust as his brother, for his
health was considered delicate for many years, nor was
he regarded as his equal in mental endowments.

Their next tutor was a young man of twenty, poor in
this world's goods, but rich in what the proverb declares
to be better than houses and lands — Learning. His
name was Christian Kunth. He is said to have pos-
sessed an extraordinary knowledge of German, Latin,
and French literature, and to have been deeply read in
philosophy and history. He taught William the lan-
guages, and Alexander the natural sciences. One
studied Man in classic antiquity and art, the other the
World in its manifold forms and appearances. It seems
strange, not to say impossible, for children of eight and
ten to pursue such profound studies, but we must
remember that these were not common children.

Nor was their teacher Kunth a common man. Had he
been he would have stopped here. But having sense as
well as learning, he took care of their bodies as well as
their minds. Instead of merely cramming them with
books until they became unwholesome monstrositi
mental pates de foie gras, he gave their thoughts and
limbs free play, in the wind, and dew, and sunshine.
They had holidays whenever they needed them; long
walks with Kunth in the woods and fields; sails on the
blue bosom of the Tegel lake ; excursions to the fortress
of Spandau, and now and then a Hying visit to Berlin.

GOETHE AT TEGEL. 9

Or they threw aside their books, and ran off by them-
selves, like the children they were, and romped and
played to their hearts' content. This kept the roses of
health in their cheeks (Alexanders as yet were delicate
buds), and enabled them to

"bear their weight
Of learning lightly, like a flower."

But for this it might have been a nightshade of deadly
power. Besides, their life was diversified by the coming
and going of visitors : for their father was hospitable,
and the castle was always open to his friends. Ketiring
from the world with honor, the world sought him, in
the shape of its princes, statesmen, and scholars, to say
nothing of generals, colonels, and the like, his old com-
panions in arms. Among other celebrities who enjoyed
the hospitalities of Tegel was Goethe, who accompanying
Duke Karl August to Berlin in May 1778, to see a grand
review, strolled over Schonhausen one morning and
dined at the castle, with the Major and his family.
Little did the man of thirty know that he saw in the
boy of nine, one who was destined to accomplish as
much in Science, as he himself in Literature. But the
time came when he knew him, and admired him, none
more warmly.

Among the most frequent of the visitors at the castle
was Dr. Ernst Ludwig Heim, of Spandau, who, having
attended the now officially-defunct head-ranger, Von
Burgsdorf, continued his visits, medical and friendly, to
his successor, Major Yon Humboldt. And the major
stood in need of his services, for his health, which had

1*

10 DK. 1IKIH.

been broken for some time, now began to fail rapidly.
Day alter day Dr. Heim might have been Been <>n horse-
back, with bis Baddle-bags full of medicine, rounding the
stretch of land between Spandau and Tegel." But lie

could do little fi>r the shattered constitution and the
sixty years of his patient. lie died in January 1 7 7 '• ' ,
ami was buried at Tegel.

Alter the major's death Dr. Heim continued to come
as usual, not now bringing medicine, let us hope, but
with a book under his arm for Kunth, or possibly for
AVilliam and Alexander. Or perhaps it was a rare
flower from his conservatory. For as long ago as the
days of Yon Burgsdorf he was noted for his knowledge
of foreign trees and plants, and he helped the head
ranger to lay out the nurseries and plantations, which
the Ilumboldts were now enjoying. He would drop in
near their dinner hour, and being pressed would remain
to dinner, and often for hours after, instructing the boys
in botany, and explaining to them the t wen t}T-four classes
of the system of Linnaeus. They could now know the
names, classes, and characteristics of the flowers, which
they had before admired ignorantly. William was con-
sidered tlie cleverest, because he could easily compre-
hend the doctor's lessons, and retain the botanical names :
Alexander was not, or did not seem, so apt. The
brothers went with the doctor in his excursions about
the neighbourhood, and in May 1783, were present with
him in Spandau, where they saw Frederick the Great
reviewing his grenadiers — one of his annual amu
ments.

But grand reviews, country excursions, after-dinner
chats on botany, and the cosy comforts of home, must

AT SCHOOL IN BERLIN. 11

soon come to an end. For though, the widowed mother
lives only in her children, she knows that they must
one day be men, and go out into the world. So the best
thing they can do is to go to Berlin, and pursue their
studies, and enlarge their experiences. To Berlin they
go.

They are instructed in Greek and the modern lan-
guages, William having great philological talent, while
Alexander, whose love of the natural sciences grows with
his growth, continues the study of botany under the
celebrated botanist Wildenow. Kunth, who accompanies
them, engages Engel, Klein, Dohn, and others to give
them complete courses of lectures on philosophy, law
and political economy. Nor do they neglect the litera-
ture of their own land and time. They read Goethe and
Schiller together. William prefers " Werter," and "Don
Carlos," and their art-writings; Alexander, while he ad-
mires these, prefers Goethe's more abstruse researches in
natural history. So passes the time, now in the bustle
of the capital, and now in the quiet of the old castle at
home. Dear old Tegel ! it is doubly dear to them now.
For there their mother lives, and there lies their dead
father's dust.

In 1786 they commenced their academical life in the
University of Frankfort on the Oder, where they re-
mained nearly two years, William devoting himself to
the study of law, and Alexander to political economy.
In 1788 they removed to the University of Gottingen.

The name of this University will remind the reader of
English comic poetry, of Canning's famous song in the
burlesque drama, " The Eovers."

I 2 BLl ftfENHAl if.

■• Whene'er with haggard eyes I view
This dungeon that I'm rotting in,
I think of tfa mpanions true,

Who Btudied with me at the I -
-nivi-rsity of < tottingen,
-niversity of Qottingen."

The stanzas are quizzical enough, but the University
itself was a staid, grave place, full of earnest students, and
learned professors. Among the Latter we may mention
three who were celebrated in their different blanches of
literature and science, and who helped to mould the
minds of William and Alexander. These were Blumen-
bach, Heyne, and Eichhorn. Eichhorn, the professor
of Arabic, was a profound scholar, especially in biblical
literature, of which he may be considered the historian.
He tilled the chair of Theology. Jn the chair of Archae-
ology sat Christian Gottlob Heyne, a venerable man of
sixty, who had risen from the lowest circumstances by
the force of his will, and his talents. His speciality was
classic bibliography. He edited Homer, Pindar, Diodo-
rus Siculus, Epictetus, Virgil, Tibullus, and other Greek
and Roman authors, great and small, enriching their text
with learned commentaries. When the Humboldts be-
came his scholars he was busy making out a catalogue of
the immense Library of the University.

Last was Johann Frederic Blumenbach, professor of
physiology and comparative anatomy. Passionately at-
tached to Bcience all his life, which by the way was
nearly as Long as that of his famous pupil. Humboldt, his
love of anatomy commenced at the early age often, from
accidentally seeing a skeleton in the house of one of his
father's friends, a physician of course. He soon had a

GEOKGE FOKSTER. 13

collection of bones and skulls of his own, and taking to
medicine in Jena, obtained his degree in Gottingen in
1775. The next year he was appointed conservator of
the noble Museum of Natural History in the University,
which he enriched by numerous collections of great value.
He preceded Cuvier in many of his discoveries, institut-
ing, shortly before the Humboldts entered his classes,
the method of comparing different varieties of human
skeletons, and skeletons of animals. To the care of these
famous professors William and Alexander were com-
mitted by their old tutor and friend, Kunth, and they
remained under their teachings for two years. Strongly
attracted by Eichhorn and Heyne, William pursued his
favorite studies, philology and art, while Alexander
speculated on " the ground plan of man " in the lecture-
room of Blumenbach.

But the person who exercised the most influence over
him while at Gottingen, was the son-in-law of his
teacher, Heyne — George Forster. Nor is this at all
strange, for the experience of every day shows us that
the influence of man over man outweighs that of books
a thousand fold. There are times, indeed, when even a
bad man is more potent than many good books. Blu-
menbach, Heyne, Eichhorn, and the rest, excellent and
indispensable as they were, were books, so to speak, dead
books to the realistic Alexander, while Forster was a
man, a live man. He had seen what they had only
dreamed of. The feats of Alexander's mythical friend,
Crusoe, were outdone by Forster. Not that Forster had
ever been shipwrecked on a solitary island ; but he had
done better — he had put a girdle round the earth. Some
sixteen years before, when a bov of eighteen, he had

14 TRIBUTE TO HIS MEMOBT.

accompanied Captain Cook as a naturalist in that great
navigator's second voyage round the world. After-
wards professor of natural history in Hesse Cassell, and
at Wilna, he was now spending the summer with his

wife at the house of his father-in-law, Heyne. Ue had
written several works on natural history, geography,
philosophy, and polities, besides a history of his voyage
round the world. Writing of Forster in ls-14, more
than fifty years after his death, Humboldt paid the
following tribute to his memory :

11 Through him began a new era of scientific voyages,
the aim of which was to arrive at a knowledge of the
comparative history and geography of different countries.
Gifted with delicate esthetic feelings, and retaining a
vivid impression of the pictures with which Tahiti and
the other then happy islands of the Pacific had filled his
imagination, as in recent times that of Charles Darwin,
George Forster was the first to depict in pleasing colors
the changing stages of vegetation, the relations of climate
and of articles of food in their influence on the civiliza-
tion of mankind, according to differences of original de-
scent and habitation. All that can give truth, individu-
ality, and distinctiveness to the delineation of exotic
nature is united in his works. We trace, not onlv in his
admirable description of Cook's second voyage of dis-
covery, but still more in his smaller writings, the germ
of that richer fruit which has since matured."

Such was George Forster, who, alter Campe, was the
chief instrument in determining the future life of Alex-
ander Von Humboldt. They were fast friends during
the short period of their intercourse in Gottingen, and
all the time they could spare from their customary

DREAMS OF TRAVEL. 15

duties, was spent in each other's society. "What conver-
sations they must have had of that eventful journey
round the world, and what schemes they planned for
the future ! The active imagination of the young student,
fresh from the reading of wonderful adventures in the
New World, the chronicles of Vasco Kunes de Balboa,
Pizarro, and the rest of those grand old Spaniards, was
fired with the thought of making new voyages and dis-
coveries, which should cast the old ones for ever in the
shade. Voyages in the long swell of tropic seas, under
constellations that never shine to European eyes : sailing
along the dim outlines of the western continent, dark
with the long belt of the pathless forests, or ragged with
the peaks of inland mountains, capped with eternal
snow : or up great rivers a thousand leagues in length,
on, on, into the heart of the New World, the primeval
solitudes of Nature ! The best hours of a man's life are
those that he wastes in dreams, and happy is he who
can make them true, as Humboldt did.

But this was recreation rather than study, and as he
went to the University to study, a graver mood soon
succeeded. The University was rich in scientific collec-
tions, none of which were neglected by the earnest young
student. When not attending the lectures of Blumen-
bach and Heyne, which were generally given in their
own houses, he pursued his researches and experiments
in the University Museum. To-day in the laboratory
among its vials and crucibles, testing acids and gases,
or in the botanic gardens, theorizing over tropic plants
and trees: to-morrow in the anatomical room, sur-
rounded by casts and models ; and many a long night
in the observatory unwinding the dances of the stars.

10 TOO LATE TO WRITE OF HIS YOUTH.

William meanwhile was deep in the philosophy of Kant,
and the esthetic speculations of Goethe and Schiller.
Occasionally the brothers strolled through the city, arm
in arm. Led on by their vagrant fancies they would
cross into the market-place to watch the fountain splash-
ing its broad basin; lounge on the bridge and look at
the boats below; or quickening their steps they would
hasten to the ramparts, and saunter up and down the
shaded avenue of lime trees. If the day was beautiful,
they wandered out of the city gates into the fertile
valleys beyond, and perhaps clomb the Hainberg before
they returned.

So passed their university life. It ended in the autumn
of 1789.

It is to be regretted that we have no fuller account of
the youth of Humboldt, for if there is anything interest-
ing in the life of a great man like him, it is a minute
relation of his youth. We want a living record of his
sayings and doings in the ductile period of his genius:
even his sports, if we can recover nothing better, will
give us some insight into his character. We have pre*
Bented, as the reader will perceive, the merest skeleton
of the first twenty years of Humboldt's life. He ma/
clothe it with flesh, if he pleases, we can do no more.
Nor can others at this late day. It is easy to write the
biographies of those who die young, they leave so many
behind who recollect all that we desire to know; but
when a man of genius lives to tli<' age of ninety, as
Humboldt did. and leaves no auto-biography, the sweetest
time of his life is lost,

" In the dark backward and abysm of Time."

CHAPTER II.

STUDIES AND DREAMS.

In the summer of 1789, Campe. who had been for
some years canon and councillor in Brunswick, deter-
mined to make a trip to Paris, to be present at the
funeral of French despotism, and it was deemed advisable
for William to accompany him. They arrived in Paris
on the 3d of August. Not being fortunate enough while
there to follow Tyranny to its grave, Campe revenged
his disappointment by doing what most authors would
have done in his place — he wrote patriotic letters in
favor of the revolution, and attracted much attention.
Alexander remained behind, probably at (xottingen, pur-
suing his favorite studies, and constantly corresponding
with Forster, who was then at Mayence, where he was
councillor and librarian of the University. The plan of
the great transatlantic journey, formed a year or two be-
fore, was laid aside for a time, in order that he might
study what was then a new science — Geology. He was
deep in the writings of the then celebrated geologist,
Abraham Gottlob Werner.

In his peculiar department of science Werner was un-
doubtedly the most remarkable man of his time. The
son of a poor iron-worker, he commenced his career as a

18 WEKNEB, THE GEOLOGIST,

mineralogist in the Mineralogies! Academy of Freyberg,
before he was out of his teens. From thence he went to
Leipsic, where he busied himself in defining the external
character of minerals, experimenting, and eventually, in
1774, publishing a work on the subject. Up to that
time the descriptive language of mineralogists had been
too indefinite to convey accurate information, or to en-
able those of different countries to understand each other.
After publishing this work, which was long a manual,
Werner returned to the Mineralogical Academy at Frey-
berg, and took charge of its noble cabinet of natural
history. He lectured on mineralogy, and the art of min-
ing, rendering the latter intelligible to all, by his simpli-
fication of the machinery, and his drawings and figures.
His cabinet of minerals was unrivalled for its complete-
ness and arrangement, numbering one hundred thousand
specimens. He wrote largely in the scientific reviews of
that day, the reading of which probably drew the atten-
tion of Humboldt towards him. Be contributed more
to extend the ] tract ieal knowledge of mineralogy than
any one who preceded him, although his method of
classifying minerals according to their external charac-
teristics, instead of their internal essences, if we may use
the phrase, was rather empirical than scientific. His
geology, too, was shallow. His observations were made
on the limited portion of the earth's surface in his own
vicinity, and the succession of rock-formations which he
found thrrc, extended, he reasoned, over the whole sur-
face of the globe. A wider range of observation would
have shown him, that at a little distance from Freyberg,
many of his supposed universal rock-formations were not
to be found, and that other rocks supply their place.

HUMBOLDT'S FIRST BOOK. 19

But as he was obstinate in "his theory he remained igno-
rant of this fact. He contended for the aqueous forma-
tion of almost every kind of rock, the Neptunic theory
as it was called, maintaining that even pumice stone was
the production of water. He would, not visit, however,
the volcanic districts of Italy, and the ancient volcanoes
of France, fearing perhaps that he might be led to aban-
don his first theory — a common fault of scientific men.
Still, considering the time in which he lived, and the
little that was then known of the true formation of the
earth, Werner was entitled to much credit, and is still
honorably mentioned as a pioneer in science. He raised
the art of mining into the science of geology.

Such was Abraham Grottlob Werner, over whose mul-
tifarious writings Alexander was now poring. That
they made a deep impression on him may be gathered
from the fact that we find him, in company with his
friend Forster, in the spring of 1790, making a mineral-
ogical journey. Their route was to the Ehine, through
Holland, and to England. While in England Forster
introduced him to Sir Joseph Banks, the famous Presi-
dent of the Royal Society. Humboldt studied the rock-
formations of the countries through which he passed,
especially the basaltic rocks of the Rhine, and embodied
the result in a small work which was published in that
year. It was entitled, " Mineralogical Observations on
some Basaltic Formations of the Rhine," and was in-
tended to support the Neptunic theory of Werner.
Forster collected materials for his magnum opus, " The
Views of the Lower Rhine." In the meantime William,
who had returned from Paris, vibrated between Erfurt,
where he and the beautiful daughter of the president,

20 DAYBOOK AND LEDGER.

Yon Dacheroden, to whom he was betrothed, wore per-
fecting themselves in the art of Love, and Weimar, the
residence of Schiller, with whom lie was intimate.

Alexander sympathized with his brother in the cha-
racter which he was then playing in the delightful drama
of life, but showed no inclination to appear in the same
rdfo himself. It was not that he loved woman and so-
ciety less, but that he loved solitude and wisdom more.
Besides, had he not his great transatlantic journey to
make? To do this properly it was necessary that he
should have a more thorough worldly training. So
while William, who was appointed councillor of lega-
tion, and assessor to the court of Berlin, went thither to
familiarize himself with his duties, after which he in-
tended to marry, Alexander, choosing the department
of finance, set off for Hamburg, and entering the Com-
mercial Academy of Busch and Bbeling, studied the
practical part of book-keeping. Ere long he was initi-
ated into its mysteries ; but beyond the sense of satis-
faction which the performance of a duty always gives,
we suspect that he found no delight in them. Evidently
In- preferred the leaves of flowers, luminous with the
hand-writing of Nature, to the leaves of his day-books
and ledgers, with their long rows of black figures, and
their monotonous horizons of red lines. And instead of
worshipping gold and silver, as a true book-keeper would
have <l<me, he had a scientific weakness for the less pre-
cious metals. He still pursued his mineralogical and
botanical studies. Indeed, he was BO fond of the latter,
that he would often take a tramp in mid winter to
gather the mosses which only grow at that time.

His stay in Hamburg was short. For in addition to

WERNER'S LECTURES. 21

his admiration for Werner, and his growing taste for
mining, one of his acquaintances, Leopold Yon Buch of
Berlin, had gone to Freyberg to study mining under Wer-
ner, who had just published a new theory of the forma-
tion of metallic veins. This determined Alexander to
vacate his high stool at the mercantile desk, and to set
off for Freyberg. Before going, however, he hastened
to Berlin, to enjoy for a time the society of his mother,
who doubtless found the old castle of Tegel too melan-
choly a place to live in, since the death of her husband,
and the absence of her sons. William was there, with
his beloved Caroline, and his old tutor and friend, Kunth.
For Kunth was one of the family, if untiring devotion
to their interests could make him so.

After his trip to Berlin Alexander proceeded to Frey-
berg, where he remained a year, employing himself
during that time in attending the lectures of Werner, in
looking over his magnificent collection, and in visiting
the mines in the neighbourhood. Freyberg had a fine
cathedral, and several remarkable monuments and works
of art, but nothing that would have led Humboldt thither
except its mines. There were over a hundred of these
in the country about; silver mines, copper mines, lead
mines, and mines of cobalt. How the enthusiastic young
mineralogist must have revelled in them !

In the spring of 1792 he was appointed assessor to the
mining and smelting departments at Berlin ; in the latter
part of the same year he was removed to Bayreuth, as
superintendent of mines, in the newly-acquired Fran-
conian districts, and officially commissioned to remodel
the mining operations there. He was general director of
the mines in the principalities of Bayreuth and Anspach.

DUEBCXOB OF mim>.

His duties were many and arduous, for in addition to
his scientific labours, lie superintended the erection of
public institutions in these districts. Bayreuth is divided
into two parts, Oberland and Unterland. The former,
which came more immediately under his supervision, is
a hilly region, intersected by branches of the great
Fichtelberg, and rich in mines of iron and other minerals.
Humboldt spent a considerable part of his time in jour-
neying over the country, visiting the various mines, and
directing the operations of the miners. He descended
into the mines for the purpose of making observations
on the fungi that grew in the shafts, or, pursuing his
journeys, he botanized by the way. If the region was
mountainous he studied the rock-formations, and specu-
lated on the Neptunic theory of his teacher, Werner.
Busy as he must have been at this time he wrote largely
for the scientific journals and periodicals, contributing to
them the result of his experiments on the physical and
chemical laws of metallurgy, and on the susceptibility
of plants, their modes of nourishment, colour, etc. He
also published a work of local botany, — a "Flora of
Cryptogamic Plants in the Neighbourhood of Freyberg,"
and dedicated it to his former teacher, Wildenow.

In 1794 he accompanied the provincial minister, Yon
Harden berg, on a political mission to the Khine. He
also made several tours through the Alp districts and
Silesia, and an official trip into the province of Prussia
and Poland. Not being able yet to begin his great jour-
ney he contented himself with these small ones — slight
studies as it were for the great picture that was to be.

In 1795 he resigned his situation as director of mines,
and went to Vienna, where he renewed his passion for

DEATH OF HIS MOTHER. 23

botany, studying to great advantage an excellent collec-
tion of exotic plants which he found there, and enjoying
the society of the geologist Freiesleben. He also studied
galvanism, and made a variety of interesting experi-
ments. He planned an excursion into Switzerland with
Freiesleben, but postponed it to make an Italian journey.
The war, which was then raging, confined him to Upper
Italy, so that he was obliged to return without visiting
the volcanic regions of Naples and Sicily.

Shortly before leaving Bayreuth he had received a
letter from his brother William, who, having finished his
role as a lover, had now assumed that of a husband,
telling him that the health of their mother was failing.
She is ill at Tegel, the letter ran — (it was dated in June,
1795) — but we, William and Caroline, will remain with
her until the spring. On his return from Italy another
letter reached him — one of those mournful letters which
every man sooner or later receives. It bore the escut-
cheon of death — a black seal. There was a new grave
at Tegel. His mother was dead.

In the beginning of the year 1797 he went to Jena,
where his brother William was then residing. Here he
found Freiesleben and Goethe. Goethe was so much
interested in his studies in anatomy that he devoted the
rest of his stay in Jena to that science. On his return to
Weimar he wrote to Schiller : "I have spent the time
with Humboldt agreeably and usefully : my natural his-
tory studies have been roused from their winter sleep by
his presence." And Schiller wrote back shortly after:
" Although the whole family of Humboldt, down to the
servant, lie ill with ague, they still speak only of great
journeys."

24 LEOPOLD VON BUCII.

But sick or well, Humboldt's studies went on. He con-
tinued bis experiments on galvanism, turning bis atten-
tion chiefly to tbe laws of muscular irritation, and the
disposition of the nerves of living animals when under
the galvanic influence. He wrote a work on tbe subject,
" Experiments on Nervous and Muscular Irritation," and
sent it to bis old teacber, Blumenbacb, who publisbed it
for bim, with notes and comments of bis own.

The brothers went to Berlin in May to settle tbe family
inheritance, previous to making a journey together into'
Italy. "William's share was the old castle at Tegel, Alex-
ander's the estate of Ringenwalde, in Neumark. He
sold it to the poet Franz Von Kleist, to raise the neces-
sary funds for his great journey.

The unsettled state of affairs in Italy preventing the
contemplated journey, William and his family determined
to proceed to Paris. Alexander went with them as far
as Saltzburg, wrhere he was induced to stay awhile by
bis friend Leopold Von Buch. Buch, who bad just pub-
lished a scientific work, " Outlines of a Mineralogical De-
scription of Landeck," had been, as the reader remem-
bers, one of his fellow-students in the Mineralogical
Academy at Freyberg, and was like him a believer in
tbe Neptunic theory of Werner. Humboldt afterwards
called bim " the greatest geologist of the age." A scientific
trip was proposed, and the pair stalled off on foot, armed
with their geological hammers, and a change of linen.
They travelled through several cantons of Saltzburg, and
Styria, and reached the Tyrolese Alps. While on this
Bohemian trip Humboldt made the acquaintance of Lord
Bristol, an English nobleman, who had visited tbe coasts
of Greece and Illyria, and bad planned an expedition

PROJECTED VISIT TO EGYPT. 25

to Upper Egypt. The party were to be provided with
astronomical instruments and able draughtsmen, and
were to ascend the Nile as far as Assouan, after examin-
ing minutely the positions of the Said between Tentyris
and the cataracts. The expedition was to occupy eight
months. Humboldt consented to join it, on condition
that he should be allowed to continue the journey over
Palestine and Syria, and went to Paris to make the
necessary preparations.

He arrived at Paris in the spring of 1798, and was
warmly welcomed by his brother William, whose house
was a raltying point for all his educated countrymen.
The family led a pleasant life during their stay in the
capital: gave dinner parties, esthetic teas, etc., and en-
joyed themselves at the Parisian theatres. " The comedy,"
wrote Frau Yon Humboldt, " is excellent." " My little
ones would please you. Caroline grows very amiable ;
she is delicate, and has a rare degree of sentimentality,
perfectly natural, however, as you may imagine. Her
brother William is handsome, much more rough, very
naughty, self-willed, and yet exceedingly good-natured.
Theodore is the most amiable child I ever saw : he is
stout, and almost fat, and yet looks slender ; his little
face has an expression of merriment, and yet his glance
seems to indicate something more profound. His eyes
are as if you gaze into the heavens. The white in them
is quite blue, and the eyeball brown. His hair is light,
and his mouth the prettiest I ever saw in a child. If
you could see the boy he would make a fool of you, as
he does of me."

The Humboldts were surrounded by celebrities of all
sorts, artists, poets, statesmen, and savans. Among

2

26 BAUDIN'8 EXPEDITION.

others who patronised them was the celebrated Madame
de Stael, who called William, who had praised her works
highly, it is scarcely necessary to say, " la plus grande
capaciie de VEurope." Had the flattering Corinne chris-
tened Alexander so, she would not have been far from the
truth.

The political aspect of Europe destroyed the plan of
the Egyptian journey, as it had already done the Italian
one, and Lord Bristol having been arrested at Milan, it
was given up. Another scheme, however, was soon set
afoot, for Humboldt now learned that the National Mu-
seum of France was preparing an expedition under the
command of Captain Baudin. The purpose of this expedi-
tion was to visit the Spanish possessions of South America,
from the mouth of the river Plata, to the kingdom of
Quito and the isthmus of Panama. It was to visit the
archipelago of the Pacific, explore the coasts of New
Ilolland, from Yan Dieman's Land to that of NnytSi
after which the vessels were to stop [it Madagascar, and
return by the Cape of Good Hope. Humboldt had but
little confidence in Baudin, who had given cause of dis-
content to the court of Vienna when he was commis-
sioned to conduct to Brazil the botanist, Van der Schott ;
but as he could not hope with his own resources to make
a voyage of such extent, he determined to take the
chances of the expedition. He obtained permission to
embark, with his instruments, in one of the vessels
destined for the South Sea, reserving to himself the
right to leave Captain Baudin whenever he thought pro-
per. Michaux and Bonpland were to accompany the
expedition as naturalists.

The war breaking out afresh in Italy and Germany,

AIME BONPLAND. 27

and the French government needing the funds for some-
thing more solid than science, it was postponed to an
v indefinite period. Truly this was the pursuit of travel
under difficulties.

It is an ill wind however that blows nobody good.
The failure of the expedition was no interruption to the
friendship which Humboldt had formed with Bonpland. .
Aime Bonpland, the naturalist, then in his twenty-fifth
year, was a native of Rochelle, France. His father was
a physician, and he studied the same profession, but the
revolutionary authorities got hold of him before he could
finish his studies, and made him a surgeon on a man-
of-war. When peace was restored he went to Paris, and
became a pupil of the celebrated Corvisart, who had
established a clinical school at the hospital of La Charite.
It was at this time that Humboldt and he met. They
were friends at once. Understanding anatomy and
botany better than Humboldt did, he gave him further
instructions in those studies, receiving from him in
exchange a knowledge of natural history and mineralogy.

Humboldt's friendship with Bonpland, the society that
he met at the house of his brother William, and his own
scientific attainments soon introduced him to the notice
of the naturalists and mathematicians of Paris. He
mingled with the most eminent French savans as their
equal. He pursued his experiments before and after the
failure of the expedition of Baudin, working in concert
with Gay Lussac, of whom more hereafter, with whom he
undertook eudiometric investigations of the chemical
analysis of the atmosphere. The result of their labors
was embodied in a joint production, "Researches on the
Composition of the Atmosphere." He also wrote a

28 STARTS FOR AFRICA.

work on subterranean gases, the fruit of his experience
in the mines of Bayreutb and Anspach.

In the autumn there was a prospect of another expe-
dition. The Swedish consul, Skioldebrand, was at Paris
on his way to embark at Marseilles, on a special mission
from his government with presents to the Dey of
.Algiers. He had resided a long time on the coast of
Africa, and being highly respected by the government
of Algiers, he could, he thought, easily procure permis-
sion for Humboldt to visit the chain of the Atlas moun-
tains. A portion of these mountains had been visited
by M. Desfontaines ; but no mineralogist had yet ex-
amined them. Besides this inducement the consul
despatched every year a vessel for Tunis, where the
pilgrims embarked for Mecca, and he promised Hum-
boldt to convey him by this means to Egypt. The
opportunity was too good to be lost. Humboldt com-
pleted his collection of instruments, and purchased works
relating to the countries he intended to visit, and bidding
adieu to his brother, and Frau Caroline, not forgetting
the delicate Caroline, junior, the handsome but naughty
William, and the amiable Theodore with his blue eyes
and light hair, he repaired to Marseilles with his friend
Bonpland. They impatiently awaited the Swedish
frigate, whicb was expected at the end of October:
several times a day they climbed the mountain of Notre
Dame de la Garde, which commands an extensive out-
look on the Mediterranean, eagerly watching even* sail
on the horizon. Two months passed, and no frigate
came. The papers at length informed them that she had
suffered severely in a storm on the coast of Portugal,
and had been obliged to enter the port of Cadiz to refit.

SPAIN. 29

She would not be at Marseilles till spring. Still persist-
ing in their intention of visiting Africa, they found a
small vessel of Ragusa on the point of setting sail for
Tunis, and agreed with the captain for their passage.
Before the vessel sailed they learned that the government
of Tunis, inimical to la grande nation, was persecuting its
residents in Barbary, and that every person coming from
a French port was thrown into a dungeon. The journey
was abandoned. Not to be baffled, however, they re-
solved to pass the winter in Spain, in hopes of embark-
ing the next spring, either at Carthagena or Cadiz.

They crossed Catalonia and the kingdom of Valencia,
visiting the ruins of Tarragona and ancient Saguntum.
They made an excursion from Barcelona to Montserrat,
and saw the hermits that inhabit its lofty peaks. Hum-
boldt ascertained by astronomical observations the posi-
tion of several points important for the geography of
Spain, and determined by the barometer the heights of
the central plain. The inclination of the needle, and the
intensity of the magnetic forces came in for a share of
his attention.

They arrived at Madrid in March, 1799, and Humboldt
was presented to the king at Aranjuez by the minister
from the court of Saxony, who was himself a mineralo-
gist. The king received him graciously. He explained
to his majesty the motives which led him to undertake
his journey to the New World, and presented a memoir
on the subject to the secretary of state. Don Mariano
Luis de Urquijo, the minister, supported Humboldt's
demand, and obtained for the travellers two passports,
one from the first secretary of the state, the other from
the council of the Indies. The good time had come at

30 CORUNNA.

last, "Never," says Humboldt, "had so extensive a
permission been granted to any traveller, and never had
any foreigner been honored by more confidence on the
part of the Spanish government."

The savans of Madrid offered the travellers great
inducements to stay awhile among them. Don Casimir
Ortega, the abbe Pourret, and the learned authors of the
Flora of Peru opened to them their rich collections.
They examined part of the recently discovered plants of
Mexico, from drawings which had been sent to the
Museum of Natural History of Madrid, and obtained
from the chemist Proust, and the mineralogist Hergen,
some curious details of the mineral substances of
America. They could have spent a long time usefully
as well as pleasantly in the Spanish capital, but bearing
in mind their previous disappointments they departed
about the middle of May, en route for Corunna, from
whence they intended to embark for Cuba. They
crossed a part of Old Castile and the kingdoms of Leon
and Galicia. The snow still covered the lofty granitic
tops of the Guadarama, but in the deep valleys of Galicia
the rocks were clothed with cistuses and arborescent
heaths. Pursuing his geological researches on the way
Humboldt examined the mountains between Astorga
and Corunna, and found that many of them were com-
posed of graywacke. Near Corunna he came upon
granitic ridges which contained tin ore.

Arriving at Corunna they sought Don Raphael
Clavijo, the superintendent of the dockyards, to whom
they had recommendations from the Spanish minister,
and the chief secretary of state. He advised them to
embark on board the frigate Pizarro, which was soon to

FAREWELL LETTERS. 31

sail for Cuba, in company with the Alcudia, the packet-
boat of the month of May, which had been detained by
an English fleet, then blockading the port in order to cut
off the communication between Spain and her colonies.
They concluded to follow his advice, and arrangements
were made to receive their instruments on board the
Pizarro. Don Eaphael ordered the captain to stop at
Teneriffe, as long as Humboldt should deem necessary,
that the travellers might visit the port of Orotava, and
ascend the peak.

It was ten days before their instruments were em-
barked and the vessel was ready to sail. They spent
that time in preparing the plants that they had collected
in the beautiful valleys of Galicia, which they were the
first naturalists to explore, and in examining the fuci and
mollusca, which the northwest winds had cast on the
rocks. Crossing from Corunna to Ferrol, a little town
on the other point of the bay, they made several experi-
ments on the temperature of the ocean, by means of a
valved thermometrical sounding lead, and found that
the neighborhood of a sand bank is revealed before the
lead can be made use of, by the quick decrease in the
temperature of the water, and that the seaman can there-
fore perceive the approach of danger much sooner by
the thermometer than by the lead.

The time of departure drawing near Humboldt wrote
farewell letters to his friends in Germany and Paris.
As before leaving Paris he had agreed with Captain
Baudin, that if the expedition for discoveries in the
Pacific, which seemed to be adjourned for several years,
should take place at an earlier period, he would endeavor
to return from Algiers and join it, at some port in

32 OFF AT LAST!

France or Spain; ho now wrote him that if tlie govern-
ment persisted in sending him by Cape Horn, lie would
meet him at Montevideo, Chili, or Lima, or wherever
else he should toueh in the Spanish colonies. This
done he was ready to bid the Old World adieu.

The English squadron was still off the harbor, but a
storm coming up on the oth of June, it was obliged to
quit the coast, and make for the open sea. They seized
the opportunity and set sail, cheered by a pleasing
prophecy, from those who sawT the Pizarro weigh anchor,
that they would certainly be captured in three days.
They sailed at two o'clock in the afternoon. The wind
was contrary, and they made several tacks before they
could get out of the harbor. At half-past six they
passed the lighthouse of Corunna, the famous Tower of
Hercules. At sunset the wind increased, and the sea
ran high. The shores of Europe lessened in the dis-
tance. The last thing they saw that night was the light
of a fishing hut at Sisarga. It faded. The land disap-
peared. The sea was before them, the wide waste Sea !

BOOK II.

1799-180 4.

CHAPTER I.

THE SEA.

At sunset on the third day they saw from the mast-
head an English convoy, sailing along the coast, and
steering towards the southeast. To avoid it they altered
their course. From that moment no light was allowed
in the great cabin, for fear of their being seen at a dis-
tance. Humboldt and Bonpland were obliged to make
use of dark lanterns to examine the temperature of the
water.

From the time of their sailing until they reached the
36th degree of latitude they saw no organic beings, ex-
cept sea swallows and dolphins; they even looked in
vain for sea-weeds and mollusca. On the sixth day
however they entered a zone where the waves were co-
vered with a prodigious quantity of medusae. The sea
was nearly becalmed, but the medusae were bound
towards the south-east, with a rapidity four times greater
than that of the current.

Between the island of Madeira and the coast of Africa,
they had slight breezes and dead calms, which were
favorable for the magnetic observations that occupied
Humboldt during the passage. The travellers were
never weary of admiring the beauty of the nights;

86 night SCENE.

nothing could be compared to the transparency and
serenity of the African sky. They were struck with the
innumerable quantity of falling stars, which appeared at
every instant. The farther progress they made towards
the south, the more frequent was this phenomenon, espe-
cially near the Canaries. Forty leagues east of the
island of Madeira a swallow perched on the topsail yard.
It was so fatigued that it Buffered itself to be caught by
the hand.

The Pizarro had orders to touch at the isle of Lane -
rota, one of the seven great Canary Islands: and at ii\
in the afternoon of the 16th of June, that island appeared
so distinctly in view that Uuinboldt was able to take the
angle of altitude of a conic mountain, which towered
majestically over the other summits.

The current drew them toward the coast more rapidlv
than they wished. As they advanced, they discovered
at first the island of Forteventura, famous for its nume-
rous camels; and a short time after saw the island of
Lobos in the channel which separated Forteventura
from Lancerota. They spent part of the night on deck.
The moon illumined the volcanic summits of Lancerota,
the flanks of which, covered with ashes, reflected a silver
light. Antares threw out its resplendent rays near the
lunar disk, which was but a few degrees above the
horizon. The night was beautifully serene and cool.
The phosphorescence of the ocean seemed to augment
the mass of light diffused through the air. After mid-
night, great blaek clouds rising behind the volcano
shrouded at intervals the moon, and the beautiful con-
stellation of the Scorpion. They beheld lights carried
to and fro on shore, which were probably those of fish-

LANCEROTA. 37

ermen preparing for their labors. Humboldt and Bon-
pland had been occasionally employed during their
passage, in reading the old voyages of the Spaniards,
and these moving lights recalled to their fancy thosa
which Pedro Gutierrez, page of Queen Isabella, saw in
the isle of Guanahani, on the memorable night of the
discovery of the New World.

On the 17th, in the morning, the horizon was foggy,
and the sky slightly covered with vapor. The outlines
of the mountains of Lancerota appeared stronger : the
humidity, increasing the transparency of the air, seemed
at the same time to have brought the objects nearer their
view. They passed through the channel which divided
the isle of Alegranza from Montana Clara, taking sound-
ings the whole way, and examined the archipelago
of small islands situated northward of Lancerota. In
the midst of this archipelago, which was seldom visited by
vessels bound for Teneriffe, they were singularly struck
with the configuration of the coasts. They thought them-
selves transported to the Euganean mountains in the
Vicentin, or the banks of the Rhine near Bonn.

The whole western part of Lancerota bore the appear-
ance of a country recently convulsed by volcanic erup-
tions. Everything was black, parched, and stripped of
vegetable mould. They distinguished, with their glasses,
stratified basalt in thin and steeply-sloping strata. They
were forced by the winds to pass between the islands of
Alegranza and Montana Clara, and as none on board the
Pizarro had sailed through this passage, they were obliged
to be continually sounding.

From some notions which the captain of the Pizarro
had collected in an old Portuguese itinerary, he thought

hoi raima of ob \< ioa l

himself opposite to a small fort, situated north of Teguisa,
the capital of the island of Lancerota. Mistaking a rock
of basalt for a castle, he Baluted it by hoisting a Spanish
flag, and sent a boat with an officer to inquire of the
commandant whether any English vessels were cruising
in the roada Be was nol a little surprised to learn that
the land which he had considered as a prolongation of
the ' of Lancerota, was the small island of Graciosa,
and that for several Leagues there was not an inhabited
Humboldt and Bonpland took advantage of the
boal to Burvey the land, which inclosed a large bay.
The small portion of the island which they traversed

sembled a promontory of lava, The rocks were naked
with no marks of vegetation, and scarcely any of vege-
table soil.

They re-embarked at sunset, and hoisted sail, but the
breeze was too feeble to permit the Pizarro to continue
her course to Teneriffe. The sea was calm; a reddish
vapor covered the horizon, and seemed to magnify
every object In this solitude, amidst so many uninha-
bited L^lcts, the travellers enjoyed for a long time the view
of rugged and wild scenery. The black mountains of
Graciosa appeared like perpendicular walls five or six
hundred feel high. Their shadows, thrown over the
of the ocean, gave a gloomy aspect to the scenery.
B eke of basalt, emerging from the bosom of the waters,
wore the resemblance of the ruins of some vast edifice,
and carried their thoughts back to the remote period
when submarine voleanoes gave birth to new islands, or
rent continents asunder. Everything which surrounded
them seemed to indicate destruction and sterility; but
the back-ground of the picture, the coasts of Lancerota,

DANGEROUS CURRENTS. 39

presented a more smiling aspect. In a narrow pass
between two hills, crowned with scattered tufts of trees,
marks of cultivation were visible. The last rays of the
sun gilded the corn ready for the sickle.

The captain of the Pizarro endeavored to get out of
this bay by the pass which separated Alegranza from
Montana Clara, and through which he had easily entered
to land at the northern point of Graciosa. The wind
having fallen, the currents drove the vessel very near a
rock, on which the sea broke with violence, and which
was noted in the old charts under the name of Hell, or
Inflerno. Examined at the distance of two cables' length,
this rock was found to be a mass of lava, full of cavities,
and covered with scoriae resembling coke.

As the vessel was prevented by the fall of the wind,
and by the currents, from repassing the channel of Ale-
granza, the captain resolved on tacking during the night
between the island of Clara and the West Rock. This
resolution had nearly proved fatal. A calm was very
dangerous near this rock, towards which the current
drove with considerable force. They began to feel the
effects of this current at midnight. The proximity of
the stony masses, which rose perpendicularly above the
water, deprived the vessel of the little wind which blew ;
she no longer obeyed the helm and they dreaded striking
every instant.

The wind having freshened a little towards the morning
of the 18th, they succeeded in passing the channel.

From the time of their departure from Graciosa the
horizon continued so hazy that they did not discover
the island of Canary, notwithstanding the height of its
mountains, till the evening of the 18th. On the morning

A BTAEBOW )-« \JT..

the 1.9th, they discovered the point ofNaga; but the
land, obscured by a thick mist, presented forms that were
©nfused. As they approached the road of
nta Cruz, they observed that the mist, driven by the
winds, drew nearer to them. The sea was Btrongly agi-
tated, as it most commonly is in those latitu«l«-s. The
I anchored after several soundings, for the mist was
thick thai they could scarcely distinguish objects at
a few cables1 distance ; but at the moment they began to
salute the place, the fog was instantly dispelled. The
p ak of Teyde appeared in a break above the clouds, and
the first rays of the sun, which had not yet risen, illu-
mined the summit of the volcano.

Bumboldt and Bonpland hastened to the prow of the
vessel to behold ill'' magnificent spectacle, and at the
oe instant saw four English vessels Lying to, and very
near the stern. They had passed without being perceived,
and the mist which had concealed the peak from

their view, had Bared them from the risk of being carried
k to Euro] . The Pizarro stood in as el<>.-e as possi-
ble to the f>rt, to be under its protection. Jt was on this
. that, in th<> landing attempted by the English
fore, in July, IT'-1?, the great Nelson had his
arm carried off by a cannon ball.

ta ( ids on a narrow and Bandy beach. Its

■vhieh are of dazzling whiteness, with flat roofs,
and win without . are built close against a wall

of black perpendicular rock, devoid of vegetation. A
line mole built of i >ne, and the public walk planted
with poplars, are the only objects which break the same-

•f the landse-:

The recommendation of the court of Madrid pro-

SANTA CRUZ. 41

cured for them the most satisfactory reception. The
captain-general gave them immediate permission to ex-
amine the island, and Col. Armiaga, who commanded a
regiment of infantry, received them into his house with
great hospitality. They could not enough admire the
banana, the papaw tree, and other plants, which they
had hitherto seen only in hot-houses, cultivated in his
garden in the open air. In the evening they went to
herborize along the rocks, but were little satisfied with
their harvest, for the drought and dust had almost de-
stroyed vegetation. The few plants that they saw, chiefly
succulent ones, which draw their nourishment from the
air rather than the soil oh which they grow, reminded
them by their appearance, that this group of islands be-
longed to Africa, and even to the most arid part of that
arid continent.

Though the captain of the Pizarro had orders to stop
long enough at Teneriffe to give the naturalists time to
scale the summit of the peak, if the snows did not prevent
their ascent, they received notice, on account of the block-
ade of the English ships, not to expect longer delay
than four or five days. They consequently hastened
their departure for the port of Orotava, which was situ-
ated on the western declivity of the volcano, where tney
were sure of procuring guides ; for they could find no
one at Santa Cruz who had mounted the peak.

On the 20th of June, before sunrise, they began their
excursion by ascending to the Villa de Laguna. The
road by which they ascended was on the right of a tor-
rent, which in the rainy season formed fine cascades.
Near the town they met some white camels. The town
itself, at which" they soon arrived, was situated in a

!_' \ 1 1 . i a 1 1 1 •: 1 . 1 1 1 1 M I .

small plain, Burrounded by gardens, and protected by a

hill which was crowned by a wood of laurels, myrtle,

and arbutu . It was encircled 1»\ a greal number of

Shaded by tn - oi perpetual verdure, and

■ I «»ii small eminences, these chapels added to the

Seel <-l the landscape. The interior of the

.vii was n«>t equal i<> its externa] appearance. The

booses were solidly built, but very antique, and the

str< Is - emed deserted. Our botanists, however, did

• complain of the antiquity oi' the edifices, for the

• Is and walls were covered with Canary house leek,
and elegant trichomanes.

B fore they reached Orotava they visited, at a little
distance from tin- port, a botanic garden, which had been
laid "Ut at a great expense some years before by the
Marquis de Nava, There they found M. LeGros, the
I rench vice-consul, who had often scaled the summit of
the peak, and wh«> served them as a guide.

They began their ascent on the morning of the 21st.
M. Le Gros, M. Lalande, secretary t<> tin- French Consul-
3 ata Cruz, and an English gardener at Durasno,
joined them on this excursion. The dav was not fine,
for tii.' Bummil of the peak, which was generally visible
at Orotava from sunrise till ten o'clock, was covered

with thick cloud

They passed along a lofty aqueduct, lined with a great
number of fine ferns, and visited several gardens, in
which the Bruit trees of the north of Europe were
mil i with orange trees, pomegranate, and date trees.
I! r<- th a- the famous dragon tree of M. Franqui.
Although they had been made acquainted with it, from

the narratives of many travellers, they were not the less

LLANO DEL KETAMA. 43

struck with its enormous magnitude. They were told
that the trunk of this tree, which is mentioned in several
very ancient documents, was as gigantic in the fifteenth
century as when they saw it. Its height appeared to
them to be about fifty or sixty feet ; its circumference
near the roots was forty- five feet. The trunk was divided
into a great number of branches, which rose in the form
of a candelabrum, and were terminated by tufts of leaves.

On leaving Orotava, a narrow and stony pathway led
them through a beautiful forest of chestnut trees to a site
covered with brambles, some species of laurels, and ar-
borescent heaths. The trunks of the latter grew to an
extraordinary size, and were loaded with flowers. They
now stopped to take in their provision of water under a
solitary fir-tree.

They continued to ascend, till they came to the rock
of La Gayta and to Portillo : traversing this narrow pass
between two basaltic hills, they entered the great plain
of Spartium. They spent two hours and a half in cross-
ing the Llano del Retama, which appeared like an im-
mense sea of sand.

As far as the rock of Gayta, or the entrance of the
extensive Llano del Retama, the peak of TenerifFe was
covered with beautiful vegetation. There were no traces
of recent devastation. They might have imagined
themselves scaling the side of some volcano, the fire of
which had been extinguished for centuries ; but scarcely
had they reached the plain covered with pumice-stone,
when the landscape changed its aspect, and at every step
they met with large blocks of obsidian thrown out by the
volcano. Everything here spoke perfect solitude. A
few goats a-nd rabbits bounded across the plain. The

•1-1 M..!! 1 I\ I 111. « w l i:v.

ion of the peak was Dine square leagues; and
the lower regions viewed from this point retrograded
in 1 1 1« - distance, the island appeared an immense heap of
• - i matter, hemmed round by a scanty border of
tation.
Prom the Llano del Etetama they passed through nar-
v defiles, and small ravines hollowed at a very remote
time by the torrents, first arriving at a more elevated
plain, then at the place where they intended to pass the
night This station bore the name of the English Halt
Two inclined rocks formed a kind of cavern, which
afforded a shelter from the winds. 'Though in the midst
of summer, and under an African sky, they suffered
from cold during the night The thermometer descended
tip low as to 41°. Their guides made up a Large fire

with the dry branches of retama. Having neither tents
'..-. Humboldt and Bonpland lay down on some
in; of rock, and were incommoded by the flame and
. which the wind drove towards them. They had
at' d to form a kind of screen with cloths tied toge-

ther, but their inclosure took lire, which they did not
perceive till the greater part had been consumed by the

Haines. As the temperature diminished, the peak became

vered with thick clouds. The approach of night inter-
rupted the play of the ascending current, which, during
the day, rose from the plains towards the high regions
phere; and the air, in cooling, lost its expa-
nding water. A Btrong northerly wind
chased the clouds; the moon at intervals, shooting
the vapoui posed its disk on a armament of
the darkest blue; and the view of the volcano threw a
maj( haraoter over the nocturnal scenery, Some-

MORNING CLOUDS. 45

times the peak was entirely hidden from tneir eyes by
the fog, at other times it broke upon them in terrific
proximity ; and, like an enormous pyramid, threw its
shadow over the clouds rolling beneath their feet.

About three in the morninsr, bv the sombrous light of
a few fir torches, they started on their journey to the
summit of the Sugar-loaf. They scaled the volcano on.
the northeast side, where the declivities were extremely
steep ; and after two hours' toil reached a small plain,
which, on account of its elevated position, bore the name
of Alta Yista. This was the station of the neveros, those
natives whose occupation it was to collect ice and snow,
which they sold in the neighbouring towns. Their mules,
better practised in climbing mountains than those hired
by travellers, reach Alta Vista, and the neveros are
obliged to transport the snow to that place on their
backs. Above this point commenced the Malpays, a
term by which is designated here, as well as in every
other country subject to volcanoes, a ground destitute of
vegetable mould, and covered with fragments of lava.

Day was beginning to dawn when the travellers left
the ice-cavern. They observed, during the twilight, a
phenomenon which is not unusual on high mountains,
but which the position of the volcano they were scaling
rendered very striking. A layer of white and fleecy
clouds concealed from them the sight of the ocean, and
the lower region of the island. This layer did not ap-
pear above five thousand feet high ; the clouds were so
uniformly spread, and kept so perfect a level, that they
wore the appearance of a vast plain covered with snow.
The colossal pyramid of the peak, the volcanic summits
of Lancerota, of Forteventura, and the isle of Palma,

A GBAND ii.I.cmi v\Tl< >v.

were like rocks amidst this vast aea of vapours, and their
black tints were in line contrast with the whiteness of
the clouds,

While they were climbing over the broken lavas of
the Ma. . they perceived a very curious optical phe-
nomenon, which lasted some minutes. They thought
.v on the east side small rockets thrown into the
air. Luminous points, about Beven or eight degrees
above the horizon, appeared first to move in a vertical
direction; but their motion was gradually changed into
a horizontal oscillation. Their fellow-travellers, their
guides • v< n, were astonished at this phenomenon, with-
out either Humboldt or Bonpland having made any
remark i^\ it to them. The travellers thought, at first
. that these luminous points, which floated in tho
air, indicate d some new eruption of the great volcano of
Lancerota; for they recollected that Bouguer and La
( [amine, in scaling the volcano of Pichincha, were
witnesses of the eruption of Cotopaxi. But the illusion
1. and they found that the luminous points
were the images of a iveral stars magnified by the vapours.
These images remained motionless at intervals, they then

emed to rise perpendicularly, descended sideways, and
returned to the point whence they had departed. This
motion lasted our or two seconds. Though thev had no

act means of measuring the extent of the lateral shift-
ing they did not tic less distinctly observe the path of
the luminous poim. p did not appear double from an
»f mir . and left no trace of light behind.
Bringing, with the telescope of a small sextant, the stars
int<> contact with the lofty summit of a mountain in

acerot . Bumboldt observed that the oscillation was

ACROSS THE MALPAYS. 47

constantly directed towards the same point, which was
towards that part of the horizon where the disk of
the sun was to appear ; and that making allowance for
the motion of the star in its declination, the image re-
turned always to the same place. These appearances
of lateral refraction ceased long before daylight rendered
the stars quite invisible.

The road, which they were obliged to clear for them-
selves across the Malpays, was extremely fatiguing. The
ascent was steep, and the blocks of lava rolled from
beneath their feet. At the peak the lava, broken into
sharp pieces, left hollows, in which they risked falling
up to their waists. Unfortunately the listlessness of
their guides contributed to increase the difficulty of this
ascent. Models of the phlegmatic, they had wished to
persuade Humboldt and Bonpland on the preceding
evening not to go beyond the station of the rocks. Every
ten minutes they sat down to rest themselves, and when
unobserved they threw away the specimens of obsidian
and pumice-stone, which the geologists had carefully
collected. They discovered at length that none of the
guides had ever visited the summit of the volcano.

After three hours' walking, they reached, at the ex-
tremity of the Malpays, a small plain, called La Ram-
bleta, from the centre of which the Sugar-loaf took its
rise. They had yet to scale the steepest part of the
mountain, the Sugar-loaf, which formed the summit.
The slope of this small cone, covered with volcanic
ashes, and fragments of pumice-stone, was so steep, that
it would have been almost impossible to reach the top,
had they not ascended by an old current of lava, the
debris of which had resisted the ravages of time. These

1 s si MMIT or mi: BUG u:-i <> \r.

g formed a wall ol ':. which Btretched

midst of the I- - 3. They ascended tin'

Sugar-loaf by grasping the half-decomposed seorii
which often broke in their hands. They employi
nearly half an hour t" Bcale a hill, the perpendicular
height of which waa Bcarcely five hundred and forty feet.

When they gained the summit <»!' the Sugar-loaf tl

i !-» find scarcely room enough t<> seat
themseh iveniently. They were stopped by a

i'l circular wall of porphyritdc lava, with a base of
pitchstone, which c aled from them the view <»f tlic
era* 'I'ii.' wesl wind blew with Buch violence that
th< c ild scarcely stand. I' waa i ight in the morning,
and they Buffered rely from the cold, though the

thermometer kept a little above freezing point

The wall which surrounded the crater like a parapet,
was bo high, that it would have been impossible to reach
tin' crater itself if. on the eastern Bide, there had not
been a breach, which seemed to have been the effect of a
flowing of very old lava. They descended through this
breach toward the bottom of the runnel, the figure of
which was elliptic. The greatest breadth of the mouth
appeared t<> them to be three hundred feet, the smallest

o hundred feet,

Tl bernal edges of the crater were almost perpen-
dicular. They descended to the bottom of the crater on
a train of broken lava, from the eastern breach of the
in The heat was perceptible only in a few

. which gave v.-ut to aqueous vapours with a
buzzing noise. Some of these funnels or cre-
vic ire on theoutsideof the inclosure, on the external
brink of the parapet thai Burrounded the crater. Hum-

EDGE OF THE CRATER. 49

boldt plunged the thermometer into them, and saw it
rise rapidly to 154° and 167°. He also sketched on the
spot a view of the interior edge of the crater as it pre-
sented itself in the descent by the eastern track.

The top of the circular wall exhibited those curious
ramifications which are found in coke. The northern
edge was most elevated. Towards the south-west the
enclosure was considerably sunk, and an enormous mass
of scorious lava seemed glued to the extremity of the
brink. The rock was perforated on the west, and a
large opening gave a view of the horizon of the sea.

Seated on the brink of the crater, Humboldt dug a
hole some inches deep, into which he placed the thermo-
meter, which rapidly rose to 107°. Some sulphurous crys-
tals which he gathered here, consumed the paper in which
he wrapt them, and a part of his mineralogical journal
besides.

From the outer edge of the crater the admiring tra-
vellers turned their eyes towards the north-east, where the
coasts were studded with villages and hamlets. At their
feet were masses of vapour constantly drifted by the
winds. A uniform stratum of clouds had been pierced
in several places by the effect of the small currents of
air, which the earth, heated by the sun, began to send
towards them. The port of Orotava, its vessels at
anchor, the gardens and the vineyards encircling the
town, showed themselves through an opening which
seemed to enlarge every instant. From the summit of
these solitary regions their eyes wandered over an
inhabited world. They enjoyed the striking contrast
between the bare sides of the peak, its steep declivities
covered with scoriae, its elevated plains destitute of vege-

3

KAGNIl I- I.N I PROSPECT.

• don, and the smiling aspect of the cultured country be-
neath. They beheld the plants divided by zones, as the

• aperature of the atmosphere diminished with the eleva-
tion of the Bit . B slow the Sugar-loaf; Lichens began to

v. t the Boorious and lustrous lava : and viol. is rose on
tin- slope of the volcano al eight thousand five hundred
• of height Tufts of retama, loaded with Bowers,
adorned the valleys hollowed out by the torrents, and en-
tnbered with the effects of the lateral eruptiona Below
the retama, lay the region of ferns, bordered by the tract
of the arb at heaths. Forests of laurel, rhamnus,

and arbutus, divided the ericas from the rising grounds
planted with vines and fruit trees. A rich carpet of
verdure extended from the plain of spartium, and the
zone of the alpine plants even to the groups of the date
tree and the musa, at the feet of which the ocean ap-
peared to roll. The seeming proximity, in which, from
the summit of the peak, they beheld the hamlets, the
vineyards, and the gardens on the coast, was increased
by the prodigious transparency of the atmosphere. In.
spite of the great distance, they could plainly distinguish
not only the houses, the sails of the vessels, and the
trunks of the trees, but they could discern the vivid
colouring of the vegetation of the plains.

Notwithstanding the heat which they felt in their feet
011 the i of the crater, the cone of ashes remains

■iv. 1 with snow during several months in winter. It
was probable that under the cap of snow considerable
hollows were found, like those existing under the gla-
re of Switzerland, the temperature of which was con-
ntly . levated than that of the soil on which they
reposed. The cold and violent wind, which blew from

DESCENDING THE SUGAR-LOAF. 51

the time of sunrise, induced them to seek shelter at the
foot of the Sugar-loaf. Their hands and faces were
nearly frozen, while their boots were burnt by the soil
on which they walked. They descended in the space of
a few minutes the Sugar-loaf which they had scaled with
so much toil ; and this rapidity was in part in voluntas,
for they often rolled down on the ashes. It was with
regret that they quitted this solitude, this domain where
Nature reigned in all her majesty.

They traversed the Malpays but slowly ; for their feet
found no sure foundation on the loose blocks of lava.
Nearer the station of the rocks, the descent became ex-
tremely difficult ; the compact short-swarded turf was so
slippery that they were obliged to incline their bodies
continually backward, in order to avoid falling. In
the sandy plain of retama, the thermometer rose to 72° ;
and this heat seemed to them suffocating in comparison
with the cold, which they had suffered from the air on
the summit of the volcano. They were absolutely with-
out water ; for their guides, not satisfied with drinking
clandestinely their little supply of Malmsey wine, had
broken their water jars.

They at length enjoyed the refreshing breeze in the
beautiful region of the arborescent erica and fern, and were
enveloped in a thick bed of clouds stationary at three thou-
sand six hundred feet above the plain. The clouds having
dispersed, they remarked a phenomenon which afterwards
became familiar to them on the declivities of the Cordilleras.
Small currents of air chased trains of cloud with unequal
velocity, and in opposite directions: they bore the ap-
pearance of streamlets of water in rapid motion and
flowing in all directions, amidst a great mass of stagnant

i.\ i. oi m. jomr.

As the travellers approached the town of Oro
lav.-i. they met great flocks of canaries. These birds,

11 known in Europe and America, were in genera]
uniformly green. Some, however, had a yellow tinge
on their backs; their note was the same as that of the
tame canary. Towards the close of tin • day they reached
the port ofOrotava, where they received the unexpected
intelligence thai the Pizarro would no1 Be1 sail till the

th or 25th. If they could have calculated on this' de-
lav, thev might either have Lengthened their Btav on the
peak, or have made an excursion to the volcano of Cba-
horra. As it was they passed the following day in visit-
ing the environs of Orotava, and enjoying its agreeable

jiety. They were prescnl on the eve of St. John at a
pastoral fi§te. In the beginning of the evening the Blope
of the volcano exhibited on a sudden a most extraordi-
nary spectacle. The Bhepherds, in conformity to a cus-
tom, do doubl introduced by the Spaniards, had lighted
the fires of St John. The scattered masses of fire, and
the columns of smoke driven by the wind, formed a fine

ntrast with the deep verdure <>f the forests which

yered the sides of the peak. Shouts of joy resound-
ing from afar were the only sounds that broke the silence
of nature in these solitary regions.

They left the road of Santa Cruz on the 25th of June,
and directed their course towards South America, They

On 1".-! Bight of the Canary Islands, the lofty moun-
tains of which were covered with a reddish vapour. The
peak alone appeared from time to time, as at intervals the
wmd di ed the clouds that enveloped the Sugar-loaf.
A few land birds, which had been driven to sea by the
impetuosity of the wind, followed them for several days.

AT SEA AGAIN. 53

The wind fell gradual! y the farther they receded from
the African coast : it was sometimes smooth water for
several hours, and these short calms were regularly inter-
rupted by electrical phenomena. Black thick clouds,
marked by strong outlines, rose on the east, and it seem-
ed as if a squall would have forced the Pizarro to hand
her topsails ; but the breeze freshened anew, there fell
a few large drops of rain, and the storm dispersed with-
out their hearing any thunder.

To the north of the Cape Verd Islands they met with
great masses of floating seaweeds. They were the tropic
grape, which grows on submarine rocks, only from the
equator to the fortieth degree of north and south lati-
tude. From the twenty-second degree of latitude, they
found the surface of the sea covered with flying-fish,
which threw themselves up into the air, twelve, fifteen,.
or eighteen feet, and fell down on the deck.

From the time they entered the torrid zone, they were
never weary of admiring, at night, the beauty of the
southern sky, which, as they advanced to the south,
opened new constellations to their view. " We feel,"
says Humboldt, writing of himself at this time, " we
feel an indescribable sensation when, on approaching the
equator, and particularly on passing from one hemi-
sphere to the other, we see those stars, which we have
contemplated from our infancy, progressively sink, and
finally disappear. Nothing awakens in the traveller a
livelier remembrance of the immense distance by which
he is separated from his country, than the aspect of an
unknown firmament. The grouping of the stars of the
first magnitude, some scattered nebulas, rivalling in splen-
dour the milky way, and tracts of space remarkable for

THE BOOT BERN I BOSS.

their i me blackness ve a peculiar physiognoriy to
the Bouthern sky. This sight fills with admiration even
tip'-.- who, uninstructed in the several branches of physical
feel the same emotion of delighl In the contempla-
tion of the heavenly vault, as in the view of a beautiful
landscape, or a majestic rite. A traveller needs not t<» be
a botanist, to recognise the torrid zone by the mere aspect
of its vegetation. Without having acquired any notions
of astronomy, without any acquaintance with the celes-
tial charts of Flamstead and De la Cattle, he feels he is
not in Europe, when Ik1 sees the immense constellation
of the Shi]», or the phosphorescent Clouds of* Magellan,

arise on the horizon. The heavens and the earth,
everything in the equinoctial regions, presents an exotic
character."

The lower regions of the air were loaded with vapours

for soup' da\ They saw distinctly for the first time
the Southern Cross only on the night of the 4th of July,
in th<- sixteenth degree of latitude. It was strongly in-
clined, and appeared from time to time between the
clouds, the centre of which, furrowed by uncondensed

lightnings, reflected a silvery light.

The pleasure the travellers felt on discovering the

•uthern Cross was warmly shared by those of the crew

who had visited the colonies. In the solitude of the

.ve hail a star as ;i friend, from whom we have long

been separated. The Portuguese and the Spaniards are
peculiarly Busoeptible of this feeling; a religious senti-
ment attaches them to this constellation, the form of
which recalls the sign of the faith planted by their an-

rtora in the desi rte of the New World.

The two greal stars which mark the summit and the

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 55

foot of the Cross having nearly the same right ascension,
it follows that the constellation is almost perpendicular
at the moment when it passes the meridian. This cir-
cumstance is known to the people of every nation situ-
ated beyond the tropics, or in the southern hemisphere.
It has been observed at what hour of the night, in differ-
ent seasons, the Cross is erect or inclined. It is a time-
piece which advances very regularly nearly four minutes
a day, and no other group of stars affords to the naked
eye an observation of time so easily made. Often after-
ward did Humboldt and Bonpland hear their guides ex-
claim in the savannahs of Venezuela, or in the desert
extending from Lima to Truxillo, " Midnight is past, the
Cross begins to bend !" It reminded them of that affect-
ing scene, where Paul and Virginia, seated near the
source of the river of Lataniers, conversed together for
the last time, and where the old man, at the sight of the
Southern Cross, warned them that it was time to sepa-
rate.

The last days of their passage were not so felicitous as
the mildness of the climate and the calmness of the ocean
had led them to hope. The dangers of the sea did not
disturb them, but the germs of a malignant fever became
manifest on board the Pizarro, as they drew near the An-
tilles. Between decks the ship was excessively hot, and
very much crowded. From the time they passed the
tropic, the thermometer stood at 93° or 97°. Two sail
ors, several passengers, two negroes from the coast of
Guinea, and a mulatto child, were attacked with a dis-
order which appeared to be epidemic.

On the morning of the 13th high land was seen from
the masthead, though not clearly, as it was surrounded

FEVER ON BOARD.

with a thick fog. The wind blew bard, and the sea was
\.r. rough. Large drops of rain fell at intervals, and

■iv indication menaced tempestuous weather. \\ hen
the sun rose, and the fog cleared away, they saw the
island of Tobago. It was a heap of rocks carefully cul-
tivated. The dazzling whiteness of the stone formed an
ngreeable contrast to the Verdun- of some scattered tufts
of trees. Cylindric and very lofty cactuses crowned the
top of the mountains, and gave a peculiar physiognomy
t<> this tropica] landscape. The wind slackened after
sunset, and the clouds disappeared as the moon reached
the zenith. Tin- number of falling stars was consider-
able on this and th<< following nights.

The malady which had broken out on board the
Pizarro had made rapid progress, from the time when
they approached the coasts of Terra Firma; but having

irly reached the end of their voyage, they flattered
themselves that all who were sick would l>e restored to
health, as soon as they could land them at the island of
St Margareta, or the port of Cumana.

This hope was no1 destined to be realized, due voung-

• of tin- passengers attacked with the malignant fever
fell a victim to the disease. Be was an Asturian, nine-

d years of age, the only son of a poor widow. Seve-
ral circumstances rendered the death of this young man
affecting. Ee had embarked against his own inclination ;
and his mother, whom he had hoped to assist by the
produce of his efforts, had made a sacrifice of her afleo

n in the hope of Becuring the fortune of her son, by

■ diner him to the colonies to a rich relation, who re-
island «-f Cub;!. The unfortunate young
man expired on the third day of his illness, having fallen

FUNERAL AT SEA. 57

from the beginning into a lethargic state interrupted
only by fits of delirium. Another Asturian, still younger,
did not leave for one moment the bed of his dying friend ;
still he did not contract the disorder.

Humboldt and Bonpland assembled on the deck, ab-
sorbed in melancholy reflections. It was no longer
doubtful, that the fever which raged on board had as-
sumed within the last few da}rs a fatal aspect, Their
eyes were fixed on a hilly and desert coast on which the
moon, from time to time, shed her light athwart the
clouds. The sea, gently agitated, emitted a feeble phos-
phoric light. Nothing was heard but the monotonous
cry of a few large sea-birds, flying towards the shore.
A profound calm reigned over these solitary regions, but
this calm of nature was in discordance with the painful
feelings by which they were oppressed. About eight
o'clock the dead man's knell slowly tolled. The sailors
suspended their labours, and threw themselves on their
knees to offer a momentary prayer. All were united
in one common sorrow for a misfortune which was felt
to be common to all. The corpse was brought upon
deck during the night, but the priest entreated that it
might not be committed to the waves till after sunrise,
that the last rites might be performed, according to the
usage of the Eomish church. There was not an indivi-
dual on board, who did not deplore the death of this
young man, whom they had beheld, but a few days be-
fore, full of cheerfulness and health.

Most of the passengers considered the vessel infected,
and resolved to leave her at the first place at which she
might touch; among these were Humboldt and Bon-
pland. It was not that they feared the fever, but

3*

1\ SIOH1 OF LAND.

1 wishing to visit Mexico until they had rrade some
sojourn on the ' ol Venezuela and Paria, they

thought it besl to land at Cumana. 1 1 1 mi) >< »1< It waa
auxioua to behold in thru- native Bite the beautiful
tropic plants which he had Been in the conservatory at
Vienna.

< »ii the morning of the L5th they perceived a very low
islet, covered with a few sandy downs, <>n which they
could discover with their glasses no trace of habitation
or culture. Cylindrical cactuses rose here and there in
the form of candelabra. The soil, almost destitute of
vegetation, seemed to have a waving motion, in eonse-
quence of the extraordinary refraction which the rays
of the sun underwent in traversing the strata of air in
contact with plains strongly heated. Under every zone,
deserts and sandy Bhores appear like an agitated sea,
from the i ffi cl of mirage.

The i -, seen at a distance, Were like clouds, in

which each observer met the form of the objects that
occupied his imagination. The bearings of the vessel,
and the chronometer being at variance with the charts
which they had to consult, the crew and the passengers

wen- lost in v;iin conjectures. Sonic took mounds of

sand tor Indian huts, and pointed out the place where

they alleged the fort of Pampatar was situated ; others

•v herds of goats, which were common in the dry

valley of St John; or descried the lofty mountains of

MacanaO, which seemed t0 them partly hidden by the

cloud-. The captain resolved to send a pilot on shore,

and the men were preparing to get out the long-boat

when two canoes were perceived sailing along the coast.

asel fired a gun as a signal for them, and hoisted

THE INDIAN PILOT. 59

Spanish colours, but they drew near with distrust. These
canoes, like all those in use among the natives, were
constructed of the single trunk of a tree. In each canoe
there were eighteen Guayqueria Indians, naked to the
waist, and of very tall stature. They had the appearance
of great muscular strength, and the colour of their skin
was something between brown and copper-colour. Seen
at a distance, standing motionless, and projected on the
horizon, they might have been taken for statues of bronze.
When they were near enough for those on board the
Pizarro to hail them, which they did in Spanish, they
threw off their mistrust and carfte on board. They had
left the port of Cumana, they said, during the night, and
were going in search of timber to the cedar forests, which
extended from Cape San Jose to beyond the mouth of Rio
Carupano. They gave Humboldt some fresh cocoa-nuts,
and some beautifully coloured fish. What riches to his
eyes were contained in the canoes of these poor Indians !
Broad spreading leaves, covered bunches of plantains.
The scaly cuirass of an armadillo, the fruit of the cala-
bash tree, used as a cup by the natives, productions
common in the cabinets of Europe, had a peculiar charm
for him, because they reminded him that, having reached
the torrid zone, he had attained the end to which his
wishes had been so long directed.

The master of one of the canoes came on board as
pilot, and the Pizarro weighed anchor towards evening.
They soon came in sight of the little island of Cubagua,
formerly celebrated for its pearl fisheries, but now en-
tirely deserted. There being but little wind, however,
the captain stood off and on till daybreak. Humboldt
and Bonpland passed a part of the night on deck, con-

i EUE1 i:i:a< ii CI ItANA.

reing with the Indian pilot respecting the animalB and

plants <>f his country.

At daybreak on the 1 * » 1 1 1 of July. 1799, forty-one
days after their departure from Corunna, they beheld a
verdant f picturesque •;. The mountains of

.Ww Andalusia, half-veiled by mists, bounded the hori-

:i to the south. The city of Cumana and its castle.
ap ii group They anchored

in the port about nine in the morning: the sick dragged
themselves on deck to enjoy the sin! it of a land which
was to put an cm! to their Bufferings, The eyes of the
naturalists were fixed on the groups of cocoa-trees which
bordered the river: their trunks, more than sixtv feet
high, towered over every object in landscape. The
plain was covered with tufts of Cassia, Caper, and ar-
borescent mimosas, which spread their branches in the
form of an umbrella. The pinnated leaves of the palms
were conspicuous on the azure sky, the clearness of

which was unsullied by any trace of vapour. The sun

wa ndiirj- rapidly towards the zenith. A dazzling

light was spread through the air, along the whitish hills,
which were strewed with cactuses, and over a sea ever
calm, the Bhores of which were peopled with brown
pelicans, egrets, and ilaiiiin. The splendour of the

day, the vivid colouring of the \ able world, the
forms of the plants, the varied plumage of the birds,

everything was stamped with the grand character of
nature in the equinoctial regions.

CHAPTER II.

ABOUT CUMANA.

The captain of the Pizarro conducted Humboldt and
Bonpland to Don Yincente Emparan, the governor of the
province, that they might present to him the passports
which had been furnished them by the Secretary of
State at Madrid. He received them with much cordiality,
and expressed his great satisfaction at the resolution they
had taken to remain for some time in the province, which
at that period was but little known, even by name, in
Europe. Senor Emparan was a lover of science, and
the public marks of consideration which he gave them
during a long abode in his government, contributed
greatly to procure them a favourable welcome in every
part of South America.

The city of Cumana occupied the ground lying be-
tween the castle of San Antonio, and the small rivers of
Manzanares and Santa Catalina. The banks of the
Manzanares were very pleasant, and were shaded by
mimosas, erythrinas, ceibas, and other trees of gigantic
growth. The children of Cumana passed a considerable
part of their lives in its waters ; all the inhabitants, even
the women of the most opulent families, knew, how to
swim ; and in a country where man was so near the state

62 Bl i:i:vi:niiv s\\ immi HQ.

of nature, one of the first questions asked on meeting in
the morning was. whether the water was cooler than it
wa the preceding evening. One of the modes ol

bathing was curious. Every evening Bumboldt and
J". >npland visited a family in the suburb of the Guay-
querias. In a fine moonlighl night, chairs were placed
in the water; the men and women were Lightly clothed,
and the family and strangers, assembled in the river,
passed BOme hours in smoking cigars, and in talking,
according to the custom of the country, of the extreme
dryness of the season, of the abundant rains in the neigh-
bouring districts, and particularly of the extravagances
of which the ladies of Cuniana accused those of Ca-
racas and Havaiina. The company were luckily under
no appn hensions from the small crocodiles, which were
thru extremely scarce, and which approached, men
without attacking them. These animals are three or
four reel Long. Bumboldt never met with them in the
Manzanans, but found a great number of dolphins,
which sometimes ascended the river in the night, and
frightened the bathers by spouting water.

The situation of the house which Humboldt and Bon-
pland occupied was highly favourable for the observa-
tion of the stars and meteorological phenomena. The
view from it by day, however, was b\T no means plea-
sant to them ; for a part of the great Bquare on which it

■d was surrounded with arcades, above which was one

of those long wooden galleries, common in warm coun-

t ri- This was the place where slaves were sold. The

sta 1 to aale were young men from fifteen to

twenty years of a'_rc Every morning cocoa-nut oil was
distributed among them, with which they rubbed their

THE RIVER MANZANAREZ. 63

bodies, to give their skins a black polish. The persona
who came to purchase examined the teeth of these slaves,
to judge of their age and health, forcing open their
mouths as if they had been horses in a market.

The first excursion of the travellers was to the peninsula
of Araya. They embarked on the Rio Manzanares on the
19th of August, about two in the morning. The principal
objects of this excursion were, to see the ruins of the cas-
tle of Araya, to examine the salt-works, and to make a
few geological observations on the mountains forming
the narrow peninsula of Maniquarez. The night was de-
lightfully cool ; swarms of phosphorescent insects glis-
tened in the air, and over the groves of mimosa which
bordered the river.

When, on descending the river, they drew near planta-
tions, they saw bonfires kindled by the negroes. A
light and undulating smoke rose to the tops of the palm-
trees, and imparted a reddish hue to the disk of the
moon. It was on a Sunday night, and the slaves were
dancing to the music of the guitar. The bark in which
the}*- passed the gulf of Cariaco was very spacious. Large
skins of the jaguar, or American tiger, were spread for
their repose during the night. Though they had been
scarcely two months yet in the torrid zone, they had
already become so sensible to the smallest variation of
temperature that the cold prevented them from sleeping.

They landed at Araya, and examined the salt-works,
and having finished their operations, departed at sunset
to sleep at an Indian hut, some miles distant, near the
ruins of the castle of Araya. Night overtook them
while they were in a narrow path, bordered on one side
by the sea, and on the other by a range of perpendicular

6 I GENIUS IX 0BBC1 i:n V.

rocks. The tide was risiiig rapidly, and narrowed the
road at every step. They at Length arrived at the foot
of the old castle of Araya, where they enjoyed a pr
pect that had in it something melancholy and romantic
The ruii d on a hare and arid mountain, which was

crowned with agave, cactus, and thorny mimosas, and
bore less resemblance to the works of man, than to
in. if rock which were ruptured at the early revolu-

tions of the globe.

Among the mulattoes, whose lints surrounded the salt
lake, they found a shoemaker of Castilian descent. He
received them with an air of gravity and self-sufficiency.
II>' was employed in stretching the string of his bow,
and sharpening Ins arrows to shoot birds. His trade of

shoemaker was not very lucrative in a country where
the greater pari of the inhabitants went barefooted;
ami h-' complained that, on account of the dearness of
E Lropean gunpowder, a man of his quality was reduced

employ the same weapons as the Indians. lie was
the sage of the plain: he understood the formation of
the salt by the influence of the sun and full moon, the
symptoms of earthquakes, the marks by which mines of

Id and silver were discovered, and the medicinal

plants, which he classified into hot and c<>hK llavin<*

I the traditions of the country, lie irave them

trious accounts of the pearls of Cubagua, objects

<>f luxury, which he treated with the utmost contempt

To show the travellers how familiar to him were the

cred writings he took a pride in reminding them that
.1-!. preferred wisdom to all the pearls of the Indies.
His philosophy was circumscrihed to the narrow circle
of the want.- of Life, The possession of a very strong

MANIQUAREZ. 65

ass, able to carry a heavy load of plantains to the land-
ing-place, was the consummation of all his wishes.

After a long discourse- on the emptiness of human
greatness, he drew from a leathern pouch a few very
small opaque pearls, which he forced Humboldt to ac-
cept, enjoining him at the same time to note on his
tablets that a poor shoemaker of Araya, but a white
man, and of noble Castilian race, had been enabled to
give him something which, on the other side of the sea,
was sought for as very precious.

In the morning the son of their Indian host conducted
them to the village of Maniquarez. On their way they
examined the ruins of Santiago, the structure of which
was remarkable for its extreme solidity. The walls of
freestone, five feet thick, had been blown up by mines ;
but they still found masses of seven or eight hundred
feet square, which had scarcely a crack in them. Their
guide showed them a cistern, thirty feet deep, which,
though much damaged, furnished water to the inhabit-
ants of the peninsula of Araya.

After having examined the environs of Maniquarez,
they embarked at night in a fishing-boat for Cumana.
The small crazy boats employed by the natives here,
bore testimony to the extreme calmness of the sea in
these regions. The boat of the travellers, though the
best they could procure, was so leaky, that the pilot's
son was constantly employed in baling out the water
with a calabash shell.

Their first visit to the peninsula of Araya was soon
succeeded by an excursion to the mountains of the mis-
sions of the Chayma Indians.

On the 4th of September, at five in the morning, they

M I "' " n I '» 1 HE MOl m HNS.

ii their journey. <>n accounl of the extreme diffi-
culties of tin- road, they had been advised to reduce their
bagj to a very small bulk. Two beasts of burden
were Bufficienl to carry their provision, their instruments,
and the paper necessary to dry their plants. The morn-
deliciously cooL The road, which led to Cuma-
nacoa, ran along the ri,Lrlit bank of the Aianzanares, pass-
ing by the hospital of the Capuchins. On leaving Cu-
mana they enjoyed during the Bhoii duration of the twi-

bt, tVoin the top of the hill of San Francisco, an
extensive view over the sea, the plain covered with
>lden Bowers, and the mountains of the Brigantine.

After walking two hours, they arrived at the foot of
the high chain of the interior mountains, which stretched
from east lowest: from the Brigantine to the Cerro de
San Lorenzo. There, new rocks appeared, and with
them another aspect of vegetation. Every object as-
Burned a more majestic and picturesque character. The

!, watered by springs, was furrowed in every direction;
trees of gigantic height, covered with lianas, rose from
the ravines; their bark, black and burnt by the double

action of the light and the oxygen of the atmosphere,
tntrasted with the fresh verdure of the pothos and dra-
:itium, the tough and shining leaves of which were
letimes Beveral feel long.

Prom the top of a hill of sandstone, they had a mag-
nifioent view of the a a. of Cape Macanao, and the pen-
insula of ftfaniquarez. At their feet an immense forest
i (tended to the edge of the ocean. The tops of the trees,
intertwined with lianas, and crowned with long wreaths
of flowers, formed a vast carpel of verdure, the dark tint
of which augmented the splendour of the aerial light.

THE IMPOSIBLE. 67

In proportion as they penetrated into the forest the
barometer indicated the progressive elevation of the land.
The trunks of the trees here presented a curious phenome-
non, for a gramineous plant, like a liana, eight or ten feet
high, formed festoons, which crossed the path, and swung
about with the wind. They halted in the afternoon, on
a small flat, known by the name of Quetepe. A few
small houses had been erected near a spring, well known
by the natives for its coolness and great salubrity. They
found the water delicious.

As they advanced toward the south-west, the soil be-
came dry and sandy. They climbed a group of moun-
tains, which separated the coast from the vast plains, or
savannahs, bordered by the Orinoco. That part of the
group, over which passed the road to Cumanacoa, was
destitute of vegetation, and had steep declivities both
on the north and the south. It was known by the name
of the Imposible, because it was believed that, in the
case of hostile invasion, this ridge of mountains would
be inaccessible to the enemy, and would offer an asylum
to the inhabitants of Cumana. The view from the Im-
posible was finer and more extensive than that from the
table-land of Quetepe. Humboldt distinguished clearly
by the naked eye the flattened top of the Brigantine, the
landing-place, and the roadstead of Cumana. The rocky
coast of the peninsula of Araya was discernible in its
whole length. The travellers were particularly struck
with the extraordinary configuration of a port, known
by the name of Laguna Grande. A vast basin, sur-
rounded by high mountains, communicated with the
gulf of Cariaco by a narrow channel which admitted
of the passage of only one ship at a time.

THE BURNING FOREST.

This port v. ipable of containing several squadiona
at mi. It was an uninhabited place, bnt annually fre-
quented by vessels, which carried mules to the West
[ndia Islands. Bumboldl traced the rinuosities of this
arm of the sea, which, like a river, had dug a bed be-
■ een perpendicular rocks destitute of vegetation. The
prosped here reminded him of the fanciful landscape
which Leonardo da Vinci has made the back-ground of
his famous portrait of Mona Lisa, the wife of Francisco
del Giacondo.

The Llanero8, or inhabitants of the plains, sent their
produce, especially maize, Leather, and cattle, to the port
of Cumana by the road over the bnposible. Humboldt
and Bonpland continually saw mules arrive, driven by
[ndians, or mulattoes. Several parts of the vast forest,
which Burrounded the mountain, had taken fire; and
the reddisb Barnes, half enveloped in clouds of smoke,
presented a grand spectacle. The inhabitants frequently

• fire to the forests, to improve the pasturage, and
to destroy the shrubs that choked the grass. Enor-
mous conflagrations, too, were often caused by the care-
lessness of the Indians, who neglect, when they travel,
to extinguish the tires by which thev dress their food.

• *

Thev left the Imposible early in the morning of the
5th of September. The path was dangerous for their
beasts, being in most places but fifteen inches broad, and
bordered by precipice When they quitted it it was to
enter a thick forest, traversed by manv small rivers.
They walked for some hours in the shade of this forest,
with scarcely a glimpse of the Bky.

In this place they were struck for the first time with
the aighl of nests in the shape of bottles, or small bags,

SAN FERNANDO. 69

suspended from the branches of the lowest trees, and
attesting the wonderful industry of the orioles, that
mingled their warbling with the hoarse cries of the par-
rots and the macaws. They left the forests, and taking
a narrow path with many windings, carne into an open,
but humid country. Here the evaporation caused by the
action of the sun was so great that they were wet as
with a vapour bath. The road was bordered with a kind
of bamboo, more than forty feet in height. Nothing
could exceed its elegance. Its smooth and glossy trunk
generally bent towards the banks of rivulets, and it
waved with the lightest breath of air.

The road led them to the small village of San Fer-
nando, which was situated in a narrow plain, and sur-
rounded by steep rocks. This was the first mission they
saw in America. The huts of the Chayma Indians,
though separated from each other, were not surrounded
by gardens. The streets, which were wide and very
straight, crossed each other at right angles. The walls of
the huts were made of clay, strengthened by lianas.
The uniformity of these huts, the grave and taciturn air
of their inhabitants, and the extreme neatness of the
dwellings reminded Humboldt of the establishments of
the Moravian Brethren. Besides their own gardens,
every Indian family helped to cultivate the garden of
the community, which was situated at some distance
from the village. In this garden the adults of each sex
worked one hour in the morning, and one in the evening.
The great square of San Fernando, in the centre of the
village, contained the church, the dwelling of the mis-
sionary, and a very humble-looking edifice pompously
called the king's house. This was a caravanserai, des-

7'» TIIK l ATHKIi-MoTHKR.

tin,',! for lodging travellers ; and, as our travellers often
perienced, infinitely valuable in a country where the
name of an inn was unknown.

The missionary of San Fernando was a Capuchin, a
native of Aragon, far advanced in years, bul strong and
healthy. 1 1 is extreme corpulency, his hilarity, the in
teresl he took in battles and si . ill accorded with the
ideas we form of the melancholy reveries and the con-
templative life of missionaries. Though extremely busy

about a COW which was to be killed next day. the old

monk received Humboldt and Bonpland with kindness,
and permitted them to hang up their hammocks in a
llery of his house. Seated, without doing anything,
the greater part of the daw in an arm-chair of red wood,
he complained bitterly of what he called the indolence and
ignorance of his countrymen. The Bight of Humboldt's

instruments, and books, and the dried plants of Bon-
pland drew from him a sarcastic smile; and he acknow-
ledged, with the naivete* peculiar to the inhabitants of
those countries, that of all the enjoyments of life, without

excepting sleep, none was comparable to the pleasure
of eating good beef.

In the village of Arenas, at which they next arrived,
lived a labourer, Francisco Lozano, who presented a curi-
ous physiological phenomenon. This man had suckled
iiild with his own milk. The mother having fallen
';. the father, to quiet the infant, took it into bed, and
press- -d it to his bosom. Lozano, then thirty-two years
had never before remarked that he had milk:
but the irritation of the nipple, sucked by the child,
caused the accumulation of that liquid. The milk was
thick and very sweet Astonished at the increased size

IN SIGHT OF THE TURIMIQUIRI. 71

of his breast, the father suckled his child two or
three times a day during five months. He drew on
himself the attention of his neighbours, but he never
thought, as he probably would have done in Europe,
of deriving any advantage from the curiosity he excited.
Humboldt and Bonpland saw the certificate, which had
been drawn up on the spot, to attest this remarkable
fact, eye-witnesses of which were then living. They
assured them that, during this suckling, the child had
no other nourishment than the milk of his father. Lo-
zano, who was not at Arenas during their journey in
the missions, came to them afterwards at Cumana. He
was accompanied by his son, then thirteen or fourteen
years of age. Bonpland examined with attention the
father's breasts, and found them wrinkled like those of a
woman who has given suck. He observed that the left
breast in particular was much enlarged; which Lozano
explained from the circumstance, that the two breasts
did not furnish milk in the same abundance. Don
Yicente Emparan sent a circumstantial account of this
phenomenon to Cadiz.

As they approached the southern bank of the basin
of Cumanacoa, they enjoyed the view of the Turimiquiri.
An enormous wall of rocks, the remains of an ancient
cliff, rose in the midst of the forests. Farther to the
west, at Cerro del Cuchivano, the chain of mountains
seemed as if broken by the effects of an earthquake.
The crevice, which was more than nine hundred feet
wide, was surrounded by perpendicular rocks, and filled
with trees, the interwoven branches of which found no
room to spread. It appeared like a mine opened by the
falling in of the earth. Two caverns opened into this

72 GOLDEN DBSAMB.

whence at times there issued flames which might
be seen a1 a great distance in the night; judging by the
elevation of the rocks, above which these fiery exhala-
tions ascended, Humboldl was Led to think thai they
roe vers] hundred feet

In an excursion which thev made at Rinconado the
travellers attempted to penetrate into the crevice, wish-
ing to examine the r<»cks which Beemed to contain in their
bosom the cause of these extraordinary conflagrations;
but the strength of the vegetation, the interweaving
of the Lianas, and thorny plants, hindered their pro-
gress. Happily the inhabitants of the valley themselves
felt a warm interest in their researches, less from the fear
of a volcanic explosion, than because their minds were
impressed with the idea that the crevice Contained a gold
mine; and although the travellers expressed their doubts
of the existence of gold in a secondary limestone, they
insisted on knowing "what the German miner thought
of the richness of the vein." Ever since the time of
Charles V. and the government of the Welsers, the
Alfingers, ami th ■ Sailers, at Coro and Caracas, the pco-
ple of Terra Firma had entertained a great confidence in
the Germans with respect to all that related to the work-
ing of miu.'S. Wherever Humboldt went in South
America, when the place of his birth was known, he was
shown Bamples of ore. In these colonies every French-
m;iii was supposed t<> he a physician, and every German
a miner.

The tanners, with the aid of their slaves, opened a

path across the w Is to the first fall of the Rio Juagua;

and on the LOth of September Eumboldt and Bonpland
made their excursion to the crevice. On entering it they

GOISTG TO THE CREVICE. 73

recognised the proximity of tigers by a porcupine re-
cently embowelled. For greater security the Indians
returned to the farm, and brought back some dogs of a
very small breed. The travellers were assured that in
the event of meeting a jaguar in a narrow path he would
spring on the dog rather than on a man. They did not
proceed along the brink of the torrent, but on the slope
of the rocks which overhung the water. They walked
on the side of a precipice from two to three hundred feet
deep, on a kind of very narrow cornice ; when the cor-
nice was so narrow that they could find no place for
their feet they descended into the torrent, crossed it by
fording, and then climbed the opposite wall. These de-
scents were very fatiguing, and it was not safe to trust
to the lianas, which hung like great cords from the tops
of the trees. The creeping and parasite plants clung but
feebty to the branches which they embraced ; the united
weight of their stalks was considerable, and the travellers
ran the risk of pulling down a whole mass of verdure,
if, in walking on a sloping ground, they supported their
weight by the lianas. The farther they advanced the
thicker the vegetation became. In several places the
roots of the trees had burst the rock, by inserting them-
selves into the clefts that separated the beds. They had
some trouble to carry the plants which they gathered at
every step. The cannas, the heliconias with fine purple
flowers, the costuses, and other plants of the amomum
family, attained here eight or ten feet in height; and
their fresh tender verdure, their silky gloss, and the ex-
traordinary development of the parenchyma, formed a
striking contrast with the brown colour of the arbores-
cent ferns, the foliage of which was delicately shaped

4

7 | HO ADMIT] \\. I .

The Indians made incisions with their large knives in
the trunks of the trees, and fixed Humboldt's attention
on the beautiful red and gold-coloured woods.

The supposed gold mine of this crevice, which was
the object of their examination, was nothing but an ex-
ration cut into a Mack strata of marl, which contained

pyrites in abundance. The marly strata crossed the
torrent, and, as the water washed out metallic grains,
the natives imagined, on account of the brilliancy of the
pyrites, that the torrent bore down gold. Nor could
Humboldt convince them to the contrary; for they con-
tinned to pick up secretly, every bit of pyrites they saw
Bparkling in the water. The melancholy proverb, "All
that glitters is not gold," seemed never to have reached
them. Leaving this mythical gold mine they followed
tlie course of the crevice which stretched along a narrow
canal, overshadowed by lofty tiv. 3,

They had suffered great fatigue, and were quite
drenched by frequently crossing the torrent, when they
reached the caverns. A wall of rock b>se there perpen-
dicularly to the height of live thousand feet. In the
middle «.f this section, and in a position unfortunately
inaccessible toman, two caverns opened in the form of
crevio The naturalists were assured by their guides
that they wen- inhabited by nocturnal birds. The party
reposed at the foot of the cavern where the Barnes were

to issue. The natives discussed the danger to
which the town of Cumanacoa would be exposed in case

the crevice should become an active volcano, while Hum
bol.lt and Bonpland speculated on the causes of the phe-
nomenon. So ended the expedition.

On the L2th ^i' September they continued their jour

ASCENT OF THE TUKIMIQUIEI. . 75

ney to the convent of Caripe, the principal settlement of
the Chayma missions. Their first stopping-place was a
solitary farm, situated on a small plain among the moun-
tains of Cocallar.

Nothing could be compared to the majestic tranquillity
which the aspect of the firmament presented in this soli-
tary region. Tracing with the eye, at nightfall, the mea-
dows which bounded the horizon, the plain covered
with verdure and gently undulated, they thought they
beheld from afar the surface of the ocean supporting the
starry vault of Heaven. The tree under which they
were seated, the luminous insects flying in the air, the
constellations which shone in the south ; every object
seemed to tell them how far they were from their native
land. If amidst this exotic nature they heard from the
depth of the valley the tinkling of a bell, or the lowing
of herds, the remembrance of their country was awakened
suddenly. The sounds were like distant voices resound-
ing from beyond the ocean, and with magical power trans-
porting them from one hemisphere to the other.

On the following morning they made the ascent of the
Turimiquiri. The view on this mountain was vast and
picturesque. From the summit to the ocean they per-
ceived chains of mountains extended in parallel lines
from east to west, and bounding longitudinal valleys.
These valleys were intersected at right angles by an infi-
nite number of small ravines scooped out by the torrents.
The ground in general was a gentle slope as far as the
Imposible; farther on the precipices became bold, and
continued so to the shore of the gulf of Cariaco. They
seemed to look down into the bottom of a funnel, in
which they could distinguish, amidst tufts of scattered

7t; mi: I ««\\ BMT OF < a KITE.

trees, the Indian village of Aiicagua. Towards the
north, a narrow Blip of land, the peninsula ofAraya,
formed a dark stripe on th< . which, being illumined

},v the r. :' the sun, reflected a Btrong light Beyond
the peninsula the horizon was bounded by Cape Macanao,
the black rocks of which rose amid the waters like an
immense bastion.

At lasl the travellers reached the convent of Caripe.
It was backed with an enormous wall of perpendicular
rock, covered with thick vegetation: the Btone, which
was of resplendent whiteness, appeared only here and
there between the foliage. In a small square in front of
the convent was a cross of Brazil wood, surrounded with
benches for the infirm monks. They were telling their
beads when Humboldt and Bonpland arrived.

They were received with great hospitality by the
monk- of Caripe. The building had an inner court, sur-
rounded by an arcade, like the convents in Spain. This
inclosed place was highly convenient for Betting up their
instruments and making observations. Thev found a
numerous society in the convent. Young monks, re-
cently arrived from Spain, were just about to settle in
the Missions, while old infirm missionaries sought for
health in the fresh and salubrious air of the mountains
of Caripe. Humboldt was lodged in the cell of the su-
perior, which contained a pretty good collection of books.
He found there the Teatro Orilioo <>l' Peijoo, the Lettres
Edijiante8y and the Traiik (TJMectricite by abbe Nollet
It Beemed as if the progress of knowledge had advanced

even in the fore8tB of America.

But that which conferred the most celebrity on the

valley of Caripe, was the great Cavern of the Guacharo.

THE CAVERN OF THE GUACHARO. 77

In a country where the people loved the marvellous, a
cavern which gave birth to a river, and was inhabited
by thousands of nocturnal birds, the fat of which was
employed in the Missions to dress food, was an everlast-
ing object of conversation and discussion. The cavern,
which the natives called " a mine of fat," was not in the
valley of Caripe itself, but three short leagues distant
from the convent.

Humboldt and Bonpland set out for it on the 18th
of September, acompanied by the alcaldes, or Indian
magistrates, and the greater part of the monks of the
convent. A narrow path led them at first towards the
south, across a fine plain, covered with beautiful turf.
They then turned westward, along the margin of a small
river which issued from the mouth of the cavern. They
ascended sometimes in the water, which was shallow,
sometimes between the torrent and a wall of rocks, on a
soil extremely slippery and miry. The falling down of
the earth, the scattered trunks of trees, over which the
mules could scarcely pass, and the creeping plants that
covered the ground, rendered this part of the road fa-
tiguing. They were within four hundred paces of the
cavern, and yet they could not perceive it. The torrent
ran in a crevice hollowed out by the waters, and they
went on under a cornice, the projection of which pre-
vented them from seeing the sky. The path wound in
the direction of the river ; and at the last turning they
came suddenly before the immense opening of the
grotto. Pierced in the vertical profile of a rock, the
entrance faced the south, and formed an arch eighty
feet broad, and seventy -two feet high. The rock
which surmounted the grotto was covered with trees

78 mi KOISE OF TIIK QUACHABOS.

of gigantic height Plants rose in its clefts, and creep-
ing vines, waving in the wind, were interwoven in :
toons before the mouth of the cavern. Nor did this
luxury < >f vegetation embellish the external arch merely ;
it appeared even in the vestibule of the grotto. They
Baw with astonishment plantain-leaved heliconias eight-
d feel high, the praga palm-tree, and arborescenl arums,
ii »]]« »winLr tlif course of the river, even to those subter-
ranean places. Tin- vegetation continued in the cave of
Caripe, and did not disappear till, penetrating into the
interior, they had advanced thirty or forty paces from the
entrance. They measured the way by means of a cord, and
went on about four hundred and thirty feet without being
obliged to light their torches. Daylight penetrated far
into this region, because the grotto formed but one single
channel, keeping the Bame direction. Where the light
began to fail, they heard from afar the hoarse sounds of

the nocturnal birds.

The noise of these birds was horrible. Their shrill and
piercing cries struck upon the vaults of the rock's, and were
repeated by the subterranean echoes. The Indians showed
the travellers the nests of the guacharos by fixing a torch
to the end of a long pole. These nests were fifty or sixty

t high above their heads, in holes in the shape of fun-
nels, with which the roof of the grotto was pierced like a
sieve. The noise increased as tiny advanced, and the birds

were • d by the light of the torches. When this

noise ceas d for a few minutes around them, thev heard

a distance the plaintive cries of the birds roosting in
r ramifications of the cavern. It seemed as if differ-
ent groups answered each other alternately.

The Indians were in the habit of entering this cavern

THE SUBTERRANEAN STREAM. 79

once a year, near midsummer. They went armed with
poles, with which they destroyed the greater part of the
nests. At that season several thousand birds were killed ;
and the old ones, as if to defend their brood, hovered
over the heads of the Indians, uttering terrible cries.
The young, which fell to the ground, were opened on the
spot for their fat.

At the period commonly called, at Caripe, the oil har-
vest, the Indians built huts with palm-leaves, near the
entrance, and even in the porch of the cavern. There,
with a fire of brushwood, they melted in pots of clay the
fat of the young birds just killed. This fat was known
by the name of the butter of the guacharo.

As the travellers continued to advance into the cavern,
they followed the banks of the river which issued from
it, and was from twenty-eight to thirty feet wide. They
walked on the banks, as far as the hills formed of cal-
careous incrustations permitted them. Where the tor-
rent wound among high masses of stalactites, they
were often obliged to descend into its bed, which was
only two feet deep. They learned that this subterranean
rivulet was the origin of the river Caripe, which, at the
distance of a few leagues, where it joined the small river
of Santa Maria, was navigable for canoes. They found
on the banks of the subterranean rivulet a great quan-
tity of palm-tree wood, the remains of trunks, on which
the Indians climbed to reach the nests hanging from the
roofs of the cavern. The rings formed by the vestiges
of the old footstalks of the leaves, furnished as it were
the steps of a ladder perpendicularly placed.

They had great difficulty in persuading the Indians to
pass beyond the anterior portion of the grotto, the only

BO ras CATS OF SOULS.

part which they annually visited to collect the fat The
whole authority of the monks was n *ary to induce
them to advance as Ear as the Bpot where the torrent
formed a small subterranean cascade. The natives con-
nected mystic ideas with this rave, inhabited by nocturnal
birds; they believed that the souls of their ancestors so-
jouraed in the deep rec - - of the cavern. "Man,''
said they, "should avoid places which arc enlightened
ueither by the sun nor by the moon." "To go and join
the guacharo was with them a phrase signifying to
rejoin their lathers, to die. The magicians and the pol-
lers performed their nocturnal tricks at the entrance
of the cavern, to conjure the chief of the evil spirits.

At tlit- point where the river formed the subterranean
cascade, a hill covered with vegetation, which was Oppo-
site to the opening of the grotto, presented a very pic-
turesque aspect It was seen at the extremity of a straight
passage, one thousand four hundred and fifty feet in
length. Th<' Btalactites d< Bcending from the roof, and
resembling columns suspended in the air, were relieved

on a background of verdure. The opening of the cavern

appeared singularly contracted, when the travellers saw
it aboul the middle of the day, illumined by the vivid
light reflected at once from the sky, the plants, and the
k's. The distant light of day formed a strange con-
trast with the darkness which surrounded them in the
vast cavern. They discharged their guns at a venture,
wherev< r tin- «• >f the nocturnal birds and the flap-
ping of their wing I 1 them t" bus I that a great
number of nests were crowded together. After several
fruitless attempts Bonpland succeeded in killing a couple
of guacharos, which, dazzled by the light of the torches,

THE GHOSTLY PLANTS. 81

seemed to pursue him. This circumstance afforded Hum-
boldt the means of making a drawing of this oird, which
had previously been unknown to naturalists.

In this part of the cavern, the rivulet deposited a
blackish mould. They could not discover whether it
fell through the cracks which communicated with the
surface of the ground above, or was washed down by the
rain-water penetrating into the cavern. They walked in
thick mud to a spot where they beheld with astonish-
ment the progress of subterranean vegetation. The seeds
which the birds had carried into the grotto to feed their
young, had sprung up wherever they could fix in the
mould which covered the incrustations. Blanched stalks,
with some half-formed leaves, had risen to the height of
two feet. It was impossible to ascertain the species
of these plants, their form, colour, and aspect having
been changed by the absence of light. These traces of
organization amidst darkness forcibly excited the curi-
osity of the natives, who examined them with silent
meditation inspired by a place they seemed to dread.
They regarded these subterranean plants, pale and de-
formed, as phantoms banished from the face of the earth.
To Humboldt the scene recalled one of the happiest
periods of his youth — his abode in the mines of Frey-
berg, where he had made experiments on the effects of
blanching.

The missionaries, with all their authority, could not
prevail on the Indians to penetrate farther into the ca-
vern. As the roof became lower the cries of the guacha-
ros were more and more shrill. The travellers were
obliged to yield to the pusillanimity of their guides, and
retrace their steps.

4*

I in: OONYKN i OF CABIPE,

( >n taming back to go out of the cavern, they followed
tli.' course of the torrent Before their eyes became
dazzled with the light of. lav they saw on the outside of
the grotto the water of the river Bparkling amid the
foliage of the trees which Bhaded it. It was like a pic-
ture placed in tin' distance, the mouth of the cavern serv-
ing as a frame. Having at length reached the entranc .
they Beated thems 'Ives on the bank of the rivulet, to rest
after their fatigues. They were glad to be beyond the
hoarse cries of the birds, and to leave a place where
darkness did not offer even the charm of silence and
tranquillity.

Swiftly glided their days in the convent of Caripe.
From sunrise to nightfall they traversed the forests and
neighbouring mountains, to collect plants. When the
winter rains prevented them from undertaking distant
excursions, they visited the huts of the Indians, the

garden of the community, Or assemblies in which the
alcaldes every evening arranged the labours of the suc-
ceeding da v. They returned to the monastery only
when the sound of the bell called them to the refectory
to share the repasts of the missionaries. Sometimes,
very early in the morning, they followed them to the
church, to attend the religious instruction of the Indians.
After passing almost the whole day in the open air, they
employed their evenings, at the convent, in making
notes, drying their plants, and sketching those that ap-
peared to fonn new genera. Unfortunately the misty
atmosphere of a valley, where the surrounding forests
filled the air with an enormous quantity of vapour, was
unfavourable to astronomical observations. Humboldt
Bpenl a part of the nights waiting to take advantage of

THE DESCENT OF PURGATORY. S3

the moment when some star should be visible between
the clouds, near its passage over the meridian. He often
shivered with cold, though the thermometer only sank
to 60°. The instruments remained set up in the court
of the convent for several hours, yet he was almost
always disappointed in his expectations.

From the valley of Caripe the travellers proceeded
across a ridge of hills, and over a vast savannah, to the
table-land of Gruardia de San Augustin. Beyond this
was a slope, extremely slippery and steep, to which the
missionaries had given the name of the Descent of Pur-
gatory. When they looked down from the top to the
bottom of the hill the road seemed inclined more than
60°. The mules in going down drew their hind legs
near to their fore legs, and lowering their cruppers, let
themselves slide at a venture. They soon entered a
thick forest, known by the name of the Montana de
Santa Maria, Here they descended without intermission
for seven hours. It was difficult to conceive a more
tremendous descent ; it was absolutely a road of steps, a
kind of ravine, in which, during the rainy season, im-
petuous torrents dashed from rock to rock. The steps
were from two to three feet high, and the beasts of bur-
den, after measuring with their eyes the space necessary
to let their load pass between the trunks of the trees,
leaped from one rock to another. Afraid of missing
their mark, the travellers saw them stop a few minutes
to scan the ground, and bring together their four feet
like wild goats. If the animal did not reach the nearest
block of stone, he sank half his depth into the soft
ochreous clay, that filled up the interstices of the rock.
When the blocks were wanting, enormous roots served

g | INDIAN- ON A I I: \MI\

as supports for the feel of men and 1". $t& Some of
these roots were twenty inches thick, and they often
branched out from the trunks of the trees much above
the level of the soil. The Creoles had sufficient confi-
dence in the address and instinct of tin- mules, to remain
in their Baddies during this long and dangerous descent
V aring fatigue Irs- than they did, and being accustomed
• travel slowly for the purpose of gathering plants and

:amining the nature of the rocks, Eumboldl and Bon-
pland preferred going down on foot.

The weather was cloudy. The sun at times illumined
the tops of the trees, and, though sheltered from its
rays, they felt an oppressive heat. Thunder rolled at a
distance; the clouds seemed suspended on the tops of
the lofty mountains of the Guacharo ; and the plaintive
howling of the monkeys denoted the proximity of a
storm. They stopped to observe these monkeys, which,
to the number of thirty or forty, crossed the road, pass-
ing in a til<" firom one tree to another over the horizontal
and intersecting branch' While the travellers were

observing their movements they saw a troop of Indians

• lug towards the mountains of Caripe. They were

without clothing, as the natives <>('this country generally
arc. The women, laden with rather heavy burdens,
closed the march. The men were all armed, and even
the youngest boys had bows and arrows. They moved
on in silence, with their eyes fixed on the ground. The
travellers endeavoured to learn Gram them whether they
we • far IV. >m the Mission of Santa Cruz, where they

g the aight. They were overcome with
fati . and suffered from thii The heat increased as
the storm drew near, ami they had not met with a single

THE FOREST OF SANTA MARIA. 85

spring on their way. The words si, palre, n >, patre,
which the Indians continually repeated, led them to think
they understood a little Spanish. In the eyes of a native
every white man was a monk; for in the Missions the
colour of the skin characterized the monk, more than
the colour of the garment. In vain they questioned
the Indians respecting the length of the way : they
answered, si and no, without the travellers being able
to attach any precise sense to their replies. This made
them the more impatient, as their smiles and gestures
indicated their wish to direct them; and the forest
seemed at every step to become thicker and thicker. At
length they separated from the Indians; their guides
were able to follow them only at a distance, because the
beasts of burden fell at every step in the ravines.

After journeying for several hours, continually de-
scending on blocks of scattered rock, they found them-
selves unexpectedly at the outlet of the forest of Santa
Maria. A savannah stretched before them farther than
the eye could reach. On the left was a narrow valley,
extending as far as the mountains of the Guacharo, and
covered with a thick forest. Looking downward the
eyes of the travellers rested on the tops of the trees,
which, at eight hundred feet below the road, formed a
carpet of verdure of dark and uniform tint. They passed
the night at one of the king's houses already mentioned.

They were desirous of continuing their journey east-
ward still farther, but learning that the roads were im-
passable in consequence of the torrents of rain that had
fallen, and that they would be likely to lose the plants
which they had already gathered, they resolved to em-
bark at Cariaco, and return to Cumana by the gulf,

B6 BACK Al I I MAN \.

instead of passing between (he island of Margarets and
the isthmus of Arava. They accordingly started from
the mission of Oatuaro, and proceeded to the town of
Cariaco, where they embarked in a canoe, on the morn-
ingofthe 24th. Quitting the town they sailed westward
along the river of Carenicuar, which ran through gar-
dens and plantations of cotton trees. They saw the
Indian women on the banks washing their clothes with
tlif fruit of the soap-berry. Contrary winds beset them
in the gulf of Cariaeo. The rain fell in torrents, and
the thunder rolled very near. Swarms of flamingoes,
< _ ivts, and cormorants filled the air, seeking the shore,
whilst the alcatras alone continued peaceably to fish in
the middle of the gulf. They landed till evening, and
then resumed their voyage, under a misty sky. In the
morning they saw the vultures perching on the cocoa-
trees, in flocks of forty or fifty.
At last they reached Curnana.

CHAPTER in.

TOWARDS THE ORINOCO.

Humboldt and Bonpland remained a month at Cu«.
mana, employing themselves in preparing for a visit to
the Orinoco and the Rio Negro. They had to choose
such instruments as could be most easily transported in
narrow boats ; and to engage guides for an inland jour-
ney of ten months, across a country without communica-
tion with the coasts. The astronomical determination of
places being the most important object of this undertaking,
Humboldt felt desirous not to miss the observation of an
eclipse of the sun, which was to be visible at the end
of October : and in consequence preferred remaining till
that period at Cumana, where the sky was generally clear
and serene. It was now too late to reach the banks of
the Orinoco before October; and the high valleys of
Caracas promised less favourable opportunities on ac-
count of the vapours which accumulated round the neigh-
bouring mountains.

He was, however, near being compelled by a deploi-
able occurrence, to renounce,' or at least delay for a long
time, his journey to the Orinoco. On the 27th of Octo-
ber, the day before the eclipse, he and Bonpland went as
usual to take the' air on the shore of the gulf, and to
observe the instant of high water, which in those parts

8^ I I '.in \\ II II TUB ZAMBO.

was onlv twelve or thirteen inches. It was eight in the
evening, and the breeze was not yet stirring. They
crossed the beach which separated the suburb of the
(iuayqueria [ndians from the landing-place. Here Hum-
boldt heard souk- one walking behind them, and on turn-
ing he saw a tall Zambo, naked to the waist lie

held almost over Humboldt's head a stick of palm-tree
wood, enlarged to the end like a club. Humboldt
avoided the stroke by leaping towards the left; but Bon-
pland, who walked on his right, was less fortunate. lie

did not see the Zambo as soon as Humboldt did, and re-
ceived a stroke above the temple, which levelled him
to the ground. The travellers were alone, without
arms, half a league from any habitation, on a vast plain
bounded by the sea. The Zambo, instead of attacking
Humboldt, moved oil* slowly to pick up Bonpland's hat,
which, having somewhat deadened the violence of the
blow, had fallen off and lay at some distance. Alarmed
at seeing his companion on the ground, and for some
moments senseless, Humboldt thought of him only.
He helped Bonpland to raise himself, and pain and anger
doubled his strength. They ran towards the Zambo, who,
either from cowardice, or because he perceived at a dis-
tance some men on the beach, did not wait for them, but
ran off in the direction of a little thicket of cactus. lie
chanced to fall in running, and Bonpland, who reached
him lirst, seized him round the bodv. The Zambo drew
along knife; and in this unequal struggle the travellers
would infallibly have been wounded, if some Biscayan
merchants, who were taking the air on the beach, had
no1 come to their assistance. The Zambo seeing himself
surrounded, thought no longer of defence. He again

RED VAPOURS AT NIGHT. 89

ran away, and they pursued him through the thorny cac-
tuses. At length, tired out, he took shelter in a cow-house,
whence he suffered himself to be quietly led to prison,

Bonpland was seized with fever during the night;
but being endowed with great energy and fortitude he
continued his labours the next da v. The stroke of the
club had extended to the top of his head, and he felt its
effect for the space of two or three months. When
stooping to collect plants, he was sometimes seized with
giddiness, which led him to fear that an internal abscess
was forming. Happily these apprehensions were un-
founded, and the symptoms gradually disappeared.

During a few- days which preceded and followed the
eclipse of the sun, very remarkable atmospherical phe-
nomena were observable. From the 10th of October to
the 3rd of November, at nightfall, a reddish vapour
arose in the horizon, and covered, in a few minutes, with
a veil more or less thick, the azure vault of the sky.
Sometimes, in the midst of the night, the vapours disap-
peared in an instant ; and at the moment when Humboldt
had arranged his instruments, clouds of brilliant white-
ness collected at the zenith, and extended towards the
horizon. On the 18th of October these clouds were so
remarkably transparent, that they did not hide stars even
of the fourth magnitude. He could distinguish so per-
fectly the spots of the moon, that it might have been sup-
posed its disk was before the clouds.

After the 28th of October, the reddish mist became
thicker than it had previously been. The heat of the
nights seemed stifling, though the thermometer rose only
to 78°. The breeze, which generally refreshed the air
from eight or nine o'clock in the evening, was no longer

'.h> TIIK BARTHQUAKB.

felt. The atmosphere was burning hot, and the parched

and dusty ground was cracked on every side. On the

4th of November, ; 1 1 >< > 1 1 1 two in the afternoon, hirge

f peculiar blackness enveloped the high mountains

ill.- Brigantine and the TataraquaL They extended
bv degrees as tar as the zenith. About four in the after-
noon Bumboldl and Bonpland heard thunder over their
heads, at an immense height, not regularly rolling, but
with a hollow and often interrupted sound. At the mo-
ment of the strongest eleetric explosion, at twelve minutes
past four, there were two shocks of earthquake, which
followed each other at the interval of fifteen seconds.
The people ran into the streets, uttering loud cries. Bon-
pland, who was leaning over a table, examining plants,
was almost thrown on the floor. Humboldt felt the
shock very strongly, though he was lying in a hammock.
Some slaves, who were drawing water from a well
eighteen or twenty feel <\rr\), near the river Manzanares,
heard a noise like the explosion of a strong charge of
gunpowder. The noise seemed to come from the bottom
of the well.

A few minutes before the first shock there was a
very violent blast of wind, followed by electrical rain,
falling in great drops. The sky remained cloudy,
and the blast of wind was followed by a dead calm,
which lasted all night. The sunset presented a pic-
ture of extraordinary magnificence. The thick veil
<>t clouds was rent asunder, as in shreds, quite near the
horizon; the sun appeared at 12° of altitude on a sky
of indigo-blue. Its disk was enormously enlarged, dis-
torted, and undulated towards the edges. The clouds
were gilded; and fascicles of divergent rays, reflecting

MORE RED VAPOURS. 91

the most brilliant rainbow hues, extended over the hea-
vens. A great crowd of people assembled in the public
square. This celestial phenomenon, the earthquake, the
thunder which accompanied it, the red vapour seen dur-
ing so many days, all were regarded as the effect of the
eclipse. About nine in the evening there was another
shock, much slighter than the former, but attended with
a subterraneous noise. In the night between the 3d and
4th of November the reddish vapour was so thick that
Humboldt could not distinguish the situation of the moon,
except by a beautiful halo of 20° diameter.

The travellers had frequent visits from persons who
wished to know whether their instruments indicated new
shocks for the next day ; and alarm was great and gene-
ral when, on the 5th, exactly at the same hour as on the
preceding day, there was a violent gust of wind, attended
by thunder, and a few drops of rain. No shock was
felt. The wind and storm returned during five or six
days at the same hour,, almost at the same minute.

The reddish vapour disappeared after the 7th of No-
vember. The atmosphere resumed its former purity,
and the firmament appeared, at the zenith, of that deep
blue tint peculiar to climates where heat, light, and a
great equality of electric charge seem all to promote the
most perfect dissolution of water in the air. Humboldt
observed, on the night of the 7th, the immersion of the
second satellite of Jupiter. The belts of the planet were
more distinct than he had ever seen them before.

The night of the 11th was cool, and extremely fine.
From half after two in the morning, the most extraordi-
nary luminous meteors were seen in the direction of the
east. Bonpland, who had risen to enjoy the freshness of

W2 PA] i IN'- STABS,

the :iir, perceived them first Thousands of bolides and
falling stars Bucceeded each other daring the space of four
hours, No trace of clouds was to be seen. From the
first appearance of the phenomenon, there was not in the
firmament a space equal in extent to three diameters of

the moon, which was not filled every instant with bolides

and falling stars. The first were fewer in number, but
BS they were of different sizes, it was impossible to fix
the limit between these two classes of phenomena. All
these meteors left luminous traces from 5° to 10° in
length. The phosphorescence of these traces, or lumi-
nous bamls, lasted seven or eight seconds.

The phenomenon ceased by degrees after four o'clock,
and the bolides and falling stars became Less frequent,
though Humboldt still distinguished some to the north-
east by their whitish light, and the rapidity of their
movement, a quarter of an hour after sunrise.

On the evening of the 16th of November the travellers
set sail from Cumana for La Guayra, descending the
little rivei- of Afanzanares, the windings of which were
marked by cocoanut-trees. At high water they passed
the bar at its mouth. The evening breeze gently swelled
the waves in the gulf of Cariaco. The moon had not
risen, but that part of the milky way which extended
from the feel of the Centaur towards the constellation of
S i -it tari us. seemed to pour a silvery light over the sur-
face of the ocean. The white rock, crowned by the
castle of San Antonio, appeared from time to time be-
tween the high tops of the cocoa-trees which bordered
the shore, and the voyagers soon recognised the coasts

only by the scattered lights of the Guayqueria fishermen.

As they advanced towards the shoal that surrounded

PORPOISES AND FLAMINGOES. 93

Cape Arenas they enjoyed one of those varied sights
which the great phosphorescence of the sea so often dis-
plays in those climates. Bands of porpoises followed
their bark. Fifteen or sixteen of these animals swam at
equal distances from each other. When turning on their
backs, they struck the surface of the water with their
broad tails; they diffused a brilliant light, which seemed
like flames issuing from the depth of the ocean. Each
band of porpoises, ploughing the surface of the waters,
left behind it a track of light, the more striking as the
rest of the sea was not phosphorescent.

The voyagers found themselves at midnight between
some barren and rocky islands, which uprose like bas-
tions in the middle of the sea, and formed the group of
the Caracas and Chimanas. The moon was above the
horizon, and lighted up these cleft rocks, which were
bare of vegetation and of fantastic aspect.

As they came near this group of mountainous islands,
they were becalmed ; and at sunrise, small currents
drifted them towards Boracha, the largest of them.
The temperature of the atmosphere became sensibly
higher whilst they were sailing among the islands of this
little archipelago. The rocks, heated during the day,
threw out at night, by radiation, a part of the heat ab-
sorbed. As the sun rose on the horizon, the rugged
mountains projected their vast shadows on the surface
of the ocean. The flamingoes began to fish in the creeks.
Humboldt and Bonpland saw them as they passed, stand-
ing like a file of soldiers, along the narrow beaches, and
necks of land.

They were so far advanced on their voyage on the
morning of the 20th, that they hoped to reach La Guayra

9 J im.mii.kvi rOBBSIB.

thai day; but their Indian pilot being afraid of the pri«
vateera who were near that port, thought it would be
prudent to make for land, and anchor in the little har-
bour of Eiguerote, which they had already passed, and
await the shelter of night to proceed on their voyag ,
They found neither village nor farm there, but merely
two or three huts, inhabited by fishermen. Their livid
hue, and the meagre condition of their children, showed
the voyag re that this spot was one of the most unhealthy

of the whole coast The Bea had so little depth along
these shores, that even with the smallest barks it was
impossible to reach the shore without wading through
the water. The forests came down nearly to the beach,
which was covered with thickets of mangroves, avicen-
nias, and rnanchineel-trees. To these thickets, and par-
ticularly to the exhalations of the mangroves. Humboldt
attributed the extreme insalubrity of the air. On (put-
ting the boats, and whilst they were yet one hundred
feel distant from the land, lie perceived a faint and
sickly smell, which reminded him of that diffused
through the galleries of deserted mines. The tempera-
ture of the air rose to 93°, heated by the reverberation
from the white sands which formed a line between the
mangroves and the great trees of the forest. As the
shore descended with a gentle slope, small tides were
sufficient alternately to cover and uncover the roo's, and
part of the trunks of the mangroves. The sea-water,
along the whole coast, acquired a yellowish brown tint,
wherever it came into contact with the mangrove trees.
The beaches around were covered with infinite numbers

of molluscs and insects. Loving shade and faint light

they sheltered themselves from the shoek of the waves

CARACAS. 95

amid the scaffolding of thick and intertwining roots,
which rose like lattice-work above the surface of the
waters. Shell-fish clung to this lattice ; crabs nestled in
the hollow trunks ; and the seaweeds, drifted to the coast
by the winds and tides, remained suspended on the
branches which inclined towards the earth.

They set sail from this noxious place at nightfall. At
sunrise they were opposite Caracas. The coast was
rocky and elevated, the scenery at once wild and pictur-
esque. They were sufficiently near land to distinguish
scattered huts surrounded by cocoa-trees, and masses of
vegetation, which stood out from the dark ground of the
rocks. The mountains were everywhere perpendicular,
and three or four thousand feet high ; their sides cast
broad and deep shadows upon the humid land, which
stretched out to the sea, glowing with the freshest ver-
dure. They soon saw the black rocks of La Guayra,
studded with batteries rising in tiers one over another ;
and in the misty distance, Cabo Blanco, a long promon-
tory with conical summits, and of dazzling whiteness.

Humboldt and Bonpland remained two months at
Caracas, in a large house in the most elevated part of the
town. From a gallery they could survey at once the
summit of the Saddle, the serrated ridge of the Galipano,
and the charming valley of the Guayra, the rich culture
of which was pleasingly contrasted with the gloomy cur-
tain of the surrounding mountains. It was in the dry
season, and to improve the pasturage, the savannahs and
the turf covering the steepest rocks were set on fire.
These vast conflagrations, viewed from a distance, pro-
duced the most singular effects of light. Wherever the
savannahs, following the undulating slope of the rocks,

96 i HE GATE OP 'mi: SADDLE.

had filled up the furrows hollowed ou1 by the waters, the
flame appeared in a dark night like currents of lava sus-
pended over the valley. The vivid but steady light
assumed a reddish tint, when the wind, descending from
the Saddle, accumulated streams of vapour in the low
resrions. At other times these Luminous hands, enve-
loped in thick clouds, appeared only at intervals where it
was dear; and as the clouds ascended their edges re-
flected a splendid light These various phenomena, so
common in the tropics, acquired additional interest from
the form of the mountains, the direction of the slopes,
and the height of the savannahs covered with alpine
grasses. During the day, the wind of Petare, blowing
from the east, drove the smoke towards the town, and
diminished the transparency of the air.

On the morning of the 3d of January they commenced
the ascent ^i' the Saddle, a celebrated mountain near
Caracas. The party consisted of eighteen persons, and
they all walked one behind another, in a narrow path,
traced <>n a steep acclivity, covered with turf. They
reached a hill, connected with the body of the mountain,
and called the Gate of the Saddle. Here they crossed a
narrow dyke of rocks, which led to the ridge of the
mountain, and Looked down on two valleys, tilled with
thick vegetation. In one of these valleys they heard the
roaring of waterfalls, which they could not see, they were

thickly hidden in groves of fig-trees.

Prom the (hite of the Saddle the steepness of the
ascent increased, and they were obliged to incline their
bodies considerably forwards ;is they advanced. They
fell the want <>f cramp-irons, or sticks shod with iron.
Short grass covered the rocks of gneiss, and it was

ASCENT OF THE SADDLE. 97

equally impossible to hold by the grass, or to form steps
as they might have done in softer ground. This ascent,
which was attended with more fatigue than danger, dis-
couraged those who accompanied them from the town,
and who were unaccustomed to climb mountains. The
travellers lost much time in waiting for them, and they
did not resolve to proceed alone till they saw them
descending the mountain instead of climbing it. The
weather was becoming cloudy ; the mist already issued
in the form of smoke, and in slender and perpendicular
streaks, from a small humid wood which bordered the
region of alpine savannahs above them. It seemed as if
a fire had burst forth at once on several points of the
forest. These streaks of vapour gradually accumulated
together, and rising above the ground, were carried along
by the morning breeze, and glided like a light cloud
over the rounded summit of the mountain.

Humboldt and Bonpland foresaw from these signs,
that they would soon be covered by a thick fog ; and
lest their guides should take advantage of this circum-
stance and leave them, they obliged those who carried
the most necessary instruments to precede them. The
familiar loquacity of the Creole blacks formed a striking
contrast with the taciturn gravity of the Indians, who
had constantly accompanied them in the missions of
Caripe. The negroes amused themselves by laughing at
the persons who had been in such haste to abandon an
expedition so long in preparation ; above all, they did
not spare a young Capuchin monk, a professor of mathe-
matics, who never ceased to boast of the superior physi-
cal strength and courage possessed by all classes of
European Spaniards over those born in Spanish America.

5

98 i HE PROFESSOR'S < OURAGB PAILS.

He bad provided himself with Long slips of white paper,
which were to be cut, and Hung on the savannah, to in-
dicate to those wh<> might stray behind, the direction
they ought to follow. The professor had even promised

the friars of his order to iire off some rockets, to an-
nounce to the whole town of Caracas that they had suc-

ded in an enterprise which to him appeared of the

utmost importance. lie had forgotten that his long and
heavy garments would embarrass him in the ascent.
Having lost courage long before the Creoles, he passed
the rest of the day in a neighbouring plantation, gazing
at the travellers through a glass directed to the Saddle,
as they climbed the mountain. Unfortunately for them,
however, he had taken charge of the water and the provi-
sion so necessary in an excursion to the mountains. The
slaves who were to rejoin them were so long detained by
him, that they arrived very late, and the travellers were
ten hours without either bread or water.

They were sometimes so enveloped with mist that they
could not without difficulty find their way. At this
height there was no path, and they were obliged to climb
with their hands, when their feet failed them, on the
steep and slippery ascent. After proeeediug for the
spare of lour hours across the savannahs, they entered
into a little wood composed of shrubs and small trees.
The steepness of the mountain became less considerable,
and they fell an indescribable pleasure in examining the
plants of this region. Quitting the wood they found
themselves again in a savannah. They climbed over a
part of the western dome, in order to descend into the
hollow Of the Saddle, a valley which separated the two
summits oi' the mountain. They had great difficulties

LOST IN THE MIST. 99

to overcome here, occasioned by the force of the vegeta-
tion, and were obliged to cut their way through this
forest: the negroes walked before them with cutlasses,
chopping down the limbs that opposed them.

On a sudden they found themselves enveloped in a
thick mist; the compass alone could guide them. In
advancing northward they were in danger at every step
of finding themselves on the brink of an enormous wall
of rocks, which descended almost perpendicularly to the
depth of six thousand feet towards the sea. They were
obliged to halt. Surrounded by clouds sweeping the
ground, they began to doubt whether they should reach
the eastern peak before night. Happily, the negroes
who carried their water and provisions, rejoined them,
and they resolved to take some refreshment. Their re-
past did not last long. As it was only two o'clock in
the afternoon, they entertained some hope of reaching
the eastern summit of the Saddle before sunset, and of
re-descending into the valley separating the two peaks,
intending there to pass the night, to light a great fire,
and to make their negroes construct a hut. They sent
off half of their servants with orders to hasten the next
morning to meet them with a supply of salt beef. They
had scarcely made these arrangements when the east
wind began to blow violently from the sea. In less than
two minutes the clouds dispersed, and the two domes of
the Saddle appeared singularly near.

They shaped their course to the eastern summit, which
they were three-quarters of an hour in reaching. They
were now over eight thousand feet high, and they gazed
on an extent of sea, the radius of which was thirty-six
leagues. It was as smooth as glass, but in the distance

106720

100 THE LITTLE A.NGKLS.

it was lost in the strata of air. They expected, as at
Teneriffe, to Bee the horizon level with the eye, but in
stead of distinguishing a marked limit between the tv
elements, the distant strata of water seemed to be trans-
formed into vapour, an<l mingled with the aerial ocean.
The western dome of* the Saddle conceals! from them
the view of the town of Caracas; but they distin-
guished the nearest houses, the villages of Chacao and
Petare, the coffee plantations, and the course of the Rio
(iuavra, a slender streak of water reflecting a silvery

light

While they were examining with their glasses that
part of the sea, the horizon of which was clearly defined,
and the chain of the mountains of Ocumare, behind
which began the unknown world of the Orinoco and the
Amazon, a thick fog from the plains rose to the elevated

jions, first filling the bottom of the valley of Caracas.
The vapours, illumined from above, presented a uniform
tint <>f a milky white. The valley seemed overspread
with water, and looked like an arm of the sea, of which
tli'- adjacent mountains formed the steep shore.

Seated on the rock, Humboldt was determining the
dip of the needle, when he found his hands covered with
a species of hairy bee, a little smaller than the honey-bee
of the north of Europe. These insects make their nests
in the ground. The people, in these regions, call them
little angels, because they seldom sting.

The fog became so dense that it would have been im-
prud< nt to remain any longer, so they descended. It
was now half-pasl four in the afternoon. Satisfied with
th-' success of their journey, they forgot that there might
be danger in descending in the dark, steep declivities

DESCENDING THE SADDLE. 101

covered by a smooth and slippery turf. The mist con-
cealed the valley from them ; but they distinguished the
double hill of The Grate, which, like all objects lying
almost perpendicularly beneath the eye, appeared ex-
tremely near. They relinquished their design of passing
the night between the two summits of the Saddle, and
having again found the path that they cut through the
thick wood, they soon arrived at the little wood already
mentioned. As there is scarcely any twilight in the
tropics, they passed suddenly from bright daylight to
darkness. The moon was on the horizon ; but her disk
was veiled from time to time by thick clouds, drifted by
a cold and rough wind. Eapid slopes, covered with
yellow and dry grass, now seen in shade, and now sud-
denly illumined, seemed like precipices, the depth of
which the eye sought in vain to measure. They pro-
ceeded onwards in single file, and endeavoured to sup-
port themselves by their hands, lest they should roll
down. The guides, who carried their instruments,
abandoned them successively, to sleep on the mountain.
Among those who remained with them was a Congo
black, who evinced great address, bearing on his head a
large dipping-needle : he held it constantly steady, not-
withstanding the extreme declivity of the rocks. The
fog had dispersed by degrees in the bottom of the valley,
and the scattered lights they perceived below them caused
a double illusion. The steeps appeared more dangerous
than they really were ; and, during six hours of continual
descent, they seemed to be always equally near the farms
at the foot of the Saddle. They heard verj distinctly
the voices of men and the notes of guitars. Sound is
generally so well propagated upwards, that in a balloon

102 tiik zamam; del hi avi;k.

al the elevatioo of eighteen thousand feet^ the barking
of dogs is sometimes heard.

They did no1 arrive till ten at nighi at the bottom of
the valley. They were overcome with fatigue and thirst,
having walked for fifteen hoars, nearly without stopping.
The Boles of their feet were cut and torn by the asperi-
ties of a rocky soil and the hard and dry stalks, for they
had been obliged to pull off their boots, the soles having
become too slippery.

They passed the night at the foot of the Saddle.

On the 7th of February they departed from Caracas,
< n route for the banks of the Orinoco. Nothing worthy
of note occurred for several days.

Not far from the village of Turmero, they discovered
at a league distant, an object, which appeared at the
horizon like a round hillock, or tumulus, covered with
vegetation. It was neither a hill, nor a group of trees
close to cadi other, but one single tree, the famous
Zamang del Guayrc, known throughout the province for
the enormous extent of its branches, which formed a
hemispheric head live hundred and seventy-six feet in
circumference. The zamang is a fine species ^f mimosa,
and its tortuous branches are divided by bifurcation.
delicate and tender foliage was agreeably relieved on
the azure of the sky. They stopped a long time under
this etable roof. The trunk of the Zamang del Guavre

was only sixty feet high, and nine thick ; its real beauty

consisted in the form of its head. The branches ex-
tended like an immense umbrella, and bent toward the
"Hid, from which they remained at a uniform distance
of twelve or hit. 'en fret. The circumference of this
head was so regular, that, having traced different diame-

FRIGHTENED BY A JAGUAR. 10S

ters, Humboldt found them one hundred and ninety-two,
and one hundred and eighty-six feet. One side of the
tree was entirely stripped of its foliage, owing to the
drought; but on the other side there remained both
leaves and flowers; parasites covered its branches, and
cracked the bark. The inhabitants of the adjacent
villages, particularly the Indians, held in great venera-
tion the Zamang del Guayre, which the first conquerors
found almost in the same state in which it now remains.
Humboldt considered it at least as old as the Orotava
dragon-tree.

On the 21st, in the evening, the travellers set out for
Guacara and ISTueva Valencia. They preferred travel-
ling by night, on account of the excessive heat of the
day. The road was bordered witn large zamang-trees,
the trunks of which rose sixty feet high. Their branches,
nearly horizontal, met at more than one hundred and
fifty feet distance. The night was gloomy : the Eincon
del Diablo with its denticulated rocks appeared from
time to time at a distance, illumined by the burning of
the savannahs, or wrapped in ruddy smoke. At the
spot where the bushes were thickest, their horses were
frightened by the yell of an animal that seemed to follow
them closely. It was a large jaguar, which had roamed
for three years among these mountains. He had con-
stantly escaped the pursuits of the boldest hunters, and
had carried off horses and mules from the midst of in-
closures; but, having no want of food, had not yet at-
tacked men. The negro who conducted the travellers
uttered wild cries, expecting by these means to frighten
the jaguar, but his efforts were ineffectual.

On the morning of the 27th they visited the hot springs

104 ] HE OOW 'i i:ii:.

of La Trinchera. Next to the Bpringa of (Jrijino, in Ja
pan, the waters of La Trinchera are the hottest in the
world. 1 1 imil »t »lt it and Bonpland breakfasted near them,
and found that eggs plunged into the water boiled in 1-
than four minutes. The heat became .-tilling aa they ap-
proached'the coast A reddish vapour filled the horizon.
It was near sunset, and the breeze was not yet stirring.
The river of hot water, along the banks of which they
passed, became deeper. A crocodile, more than nine feet
lung, lay dead on the strand. Humboldt wished to ex-
amine its teeth, and the inside of its mouth; but having
been exposed to the sun for several weeks, it exhaled a
smell so let id that he was obliged to relinquish -his design
and remount his horse.

Between Porto CaDello and the valleys of* Aragua they
saw a remarkable tree. They had heard, several weeks
before, ol'a tret-, the Bap of which was a nourishing milk.
It was called 'the cow-tree'; and they were assured
that the negroes, who drank plentifully of this vegetable
milk, considered it a wholesome aliment. All the milky
juices of plants being acrid, bitter, and more or less
poisonous, this account appeared to them very extraordi-
nary; but they found by experience during their stay in
the neighbourhood, that the virtues of this tree had not
been exaggerated. It rose like the broad-leaved star-
apple. Its oblong and pointed leaves, rough and alter-
nate, were marked by lateral ribs, prominent at the
lower surface ;tnd parallel. Some of them were ten
inches Ion--. They did not see the flower: the fruit was
somewhat fleshy, and contained one and sometimes two
nuts. When incisions were made in the trunk it yielded
an abundance of glutinous milk, tolerably thick, devoid

THE HOWLING MONKEYS. 105

of all acridity, and of an agreeable and balmy smell.
The travellers drank considerable quantities of it in the
evening before they went to bed, and very early in the
morning, without feeling the least injurious effect. The
negroes and the free people who worked in the planta-
tions drank it, dipping into it their bread of maize or
cassava. The overseer of the farm told Humboldt that
the negroes grew sensibly fatter during the season when
it furnished them with most milk. It was at the rising
of the sun that this vegetable fountain was most abun-
dant. The negroes and natives were then seen hasten-
ing from all quarters, furnished with large bowls to re-
ceive the milk, which grew yellow, and thickened at
its surface. Some emptied their bowls under the tree
itself, others carried the juice home to their children.

They left the valleys of Aragua at sunrise on the
6th of March. They were never weary of admiring the
fertility of the soil, covered with calabashes, water-
melons, and plantains. The rising of the sun was an-
nounced by the distant noise of the howling monkeys.
Approaching a group of trees, they saw numerous bands
of these monkeys moving as in procession and very
slowly, from one tree to another. A male was followed
by a great number of females, several of the latter carry-
ing their young on their shoulders. The howling mon-
keys, which live in society in different parts of America,
everywhere resemble each other in their manners, though
the species are not always the same. The uniformity
with which they perform their movements is extremely
striking. Whenever the branches of neighbouring trees
do not touch each other, the male who leads the party
suspends himself by the callous and prehensile part of

106 BICK I'.i l PBOUD.

his tail : and, 1 « ■ 1 1 i t 1 '_r fall the rest of his body, Bwings
himself till in one of his oscillations he reaches the neigh-
bouring branch. The whole file performs the same
movements on the same spot The Indians told the
travellers that when the monkeys filled the forests with
their howling, there was always one that chaunted as
leader of the chorus. During a Long interval one soli-
tary and Btrong voice was generally distinguished, till
its place was taken by another voice of a different pitch.
The Missionaries asserted that when a female among
them was on the point of bringing forth, the choir sus-
pended its howlings till the moment of the birth of the
young.

At Guigue they lodged with an old sergeant, a native
of Murcia, a man of a very original character. To prove
to them that he had studied among the Jesuits, he re-
cited the history of the creation of the world in Latin,
lie knew the names of Augustus, Tiberius, and Diocle-
tian ; and while enjoying the agreeable coolness of the
nights in an Inclosure planted with bananas, he employed
himself in reading all that related to the courts of the
R .man emperors. He inquired of Humboldt for a remedy
for the gout, from which he Buffered severely. "Iknow,"
said he, "a Xanibo of Valencia, a famous CUrioso} who

ci >uld cure me; but the Zambo would expect to be treated
with attentions which T cannot pay to a man of his
> I prefer remaining as 1 am."
In the Mesa de Paja, in the ninth degree of latitude,
they entered the basin of the Llano-. The sun was
almosl at its zenith; the earth, wherever it appeared
B1 rile and destitute of vegetation, was at the temperature
of 118° or 122*. Not a breath of air was felt at the height

THE LLANOS. 107

at which thej were on their mules ; yet, in the midst of
this apparent calm, whirls of dust incessantly arose,
driven on by small currents of air which glided over the
surface of the ground, and were occasioned by the differ,
ence of temperature between the naked sand and the
spots covered with grass. These sand-winds augmented
the suffocating heat of the air. Every grain of quartz,
hotter than the surrounding air, radiated heat in all
directions ; and it was difficult for Humboldt to observe
the temperature of the atmosphere, owing to the particles
of sand striking against the bulb of the thermometer.
All around the plains seemed to ascend to the sky, and
the vast and profound solitude appeared like an ocean
covered with sea-weed. The horizon in some parts was
clear and distinct, in other parts it appeared undulating,
sinuous, and as if striped. The earth there was con-
founded with the sky. Through the dry mist and strata
of vapour the trunks of palm-trees were seen from afar,
stripped of their foliage and their verdant summits, and
looking like the masts of a ship descried upon the hori-
zon. There was something awful, as well as sad and
gloomy, in the uniform aspect of these steppes. Every
thing seemed motionless; scarcely did a small cloud,
passing across the zenith, and denoting the approach of
the rainy season, cast its shadow on the earth.

The chief characteristic of these steppes was the abso-
lute want of hills and inequalities — the perfect level of
every part of the soil. Often within a distance of thirty
square leagues there was not an eminence of a foot high.

After having passed two nights on horseback, and
sought in vain, by day, for some shelter from the heat
of the sun beneath the tufts of the palm-trees, they

108 i m. iii.i:i.s\n \ OF i mi: m LNOS.

arrived at a little farm. It was a solitary house in the
steppes, Bunounded by a few small huts, covered with
reeds and skins. The cattle, oxen, horses, and mules
wen- not penned, but wandered freely over an extent of
several square leagues. There was nowhere any inclo-
Bure; men, aaked to the waist and armed with lances,
rode over the savannahs to inspect the animals, bringing
back th<»sc that wandered too far from the pastures of
the farm, and branding all that did not already bear the
mark of their proprietor. These mulattoes were partly
Greed-men and partly slaves. They were constantly ex-
posed to the 1 turning heat of the tropical sun. Their
food was meat dried in the air, and a little salted; and
of this even their horses sometimes partook. Being
always in the saddle, they fancied they could not make
the slightest excursion on foot. The travellers found an
old negro slave, who managed the farm in the absence
of his master. lie told them of herds composed of
several thousand COWS, that were grazing in the steppes;
vet they asked in vain for a bowl of milk. They were
offered, in a calabash, some yellow, muddy, and fetid
water, drawn from a neighbouring pool. The indolence
of the inhabitants of the Llanos was such that they did
not dig wells, though they knew that almost everywhere,
at ten feet deep, tine springs were found. After Buffering
during one half of the year from the effect of inunda-
us, they quietly resigned themselves, during the other
half to the most distressing deprivation of water. The
advised the travellers to cover the cup with

a linen cloth, and drink as through a filter, that they
might not be incommoded by the sindl, and might swal-
low less of the yellowish mud suspend) d in the water.

LOST IN THE LLANOS. 109

As soon as their instruments were unloaded they let
the mules go to search for water, a common custom in
the Llanos. They followed them till they came to one
of the pools from which the water they had drunk was
drawn. They longed impatiently to take a bath, but
found only a great pool of feculent water, surrounded
with palm-trees. The water was turbid, though a little
cooler than the air. Accustomed during their long jour-
ney to bathe whenever they had an opportunity, often
several times in a day, they hastened to plunge into the
pool. They had scarcely begun to enjoy the coolness of
the bath, when a noise which they heard on the opposite
bank, made them leave the water precipitately. It was
an alligator plunging into the mud.

They were only at the distance of a quarter of a league
from the farm, yet they continued walking more than
an hour without reaching it. They perceived too late
that they had taken a wrong direction. Having left it
at the decline of day, before the stars were visible, they
had gone forward into the plain at hazard. They were
provided with a compass, and it might have been easy
for them to steer their course from the position of
Canopus and the Southern Cross ; but unfortunately
they were uncertain whether, on leaving the farm, they
had gone towards the east or the south. They attempted
to return to the spot where they had bathed, and again
walked three quarters of an hour without finding the
pool. They sometimes thought they saw fire on the
horizon ; but it was the light of the rising stars enlarged
by the vapours. After having wandered a long time in
the savannah, they resolved to seat themselves beneath
the trunk of a palm-tree, in a spot perfectly dry, sur-

1 10 M'.H I in THK LLANOS.

rounded by short grass. They could not flatter them-
selves that their guidea would come in search of them in
the savannah before they had prepared their food and
finished their repast Whilst somewhat perplexed by
the uncertainty of their situation, they were agreeably
affected by hearing from afar the sound of a horse ad-
vancing towards them. The rider was an Indian, armed
with B lance, who had just made the round, in order to
collect the cattle. The sight of two white men, who said
they had lost their way, Led him at first to suspect some
trick. They found it difficult to inspire him with con-
fidence ; he at last consented to guide them to the farm,
but without slackening the gentle trot of his horse.
Their guides assured them that they had already
begun to be uneasy about them; and, to justify this
inquietude, they gave a long enumeration of persons
who, having lost themselves in the Llanos, had been
found nearly exhausted.

In order to escape as much as possible from the heat
of the day, they set off at two in the morning, with the
hope of reaching before noon Calabozo, a small but busy
trading-town, situated in the midst of the Llanos. The
aspect <>f the country was still the same. There was no
moonlight; but the great masses of nebula3 that spotted
the southern sky enlightened, as they set, a part of the
terrestrial horizon. The solemn spectacle of the starry
vault, seen in its immense expanse; — the cool breeze
which blew over the plain during the night: — the waving
motion of the grass, wherever it had attained any height;
everything recalled to their minds the surface of the
ocean. The illusion was deepened when the disk of
the sun appearing on the horizon, repeated its ima^e by

EFFECT OF THE MIRAGE. Ill

the effects of refraction, and, soon losing its flattened
form, ascended rapidly and straight towards the zenith.

In proportion as the sun rose towards the zenith, and
the earth and the strata of superincumbent air took
different temperatures, the phenomenon of the mirage
displayed itself in its numerous modifications. The
little currents of air that swept the surface of the soil
had so variable a temperature that, in a drove of wild
oxen, one part appeared with the legs raised above the
surface of the ground, while the other rested on it.
A well-informed person assured them, that he had seen,
between Calabozo and Uritucu, the image of an animal
inverted, without there being any direct image. They
several times thought they saw on the horizon the figures
of tumuli and towers, which disappeared at intervals,
without their being able to discern the real shape of the
objects. They were hillocks perhaps, or small emi-
nences.

The plain assumed at sunrise a more animated aspect.
The cattle which had reposed during the night along the
pools, or beneath clumps of mauritias and rhopalas, were
now collected in herds ; and these solitudes became
peopled with horses, mules, and oxen, that lived here
free, without settled habitations, and disdaining the care
and protection of man.

They found at Calabozo, in the midst of the Llanos,
an electrical machine with large plates, electrophori,
batteries, and electrometers; an apparatus nearly as com-
plete as the first scientific men in Europe possessed. It
was the work of a man who had never seen any instru-
ment, who had no person to consult, and who was
acquainted with the phenomena of electricity only by

112 llli: SELF-TAUGHT ELECTRICIAN.

reading the treatise of Dc Lafond, and Franklin's
Memoirs. Sefior Carlos del Pozo, the name of this
ingenious man, had begun to make cylindrical electrical

machines, by employing largo glass jars, alter having cut
off the Decks. It was only a few years before that ho
had been able to procure, by way of Philadelphia, two
plates, to construct a plate machine, and to obtain more
considerable effects. It is easy to judge what difficulties
S nor Pozo had t<> encounter, since the first works upon
electricity had fallen into his bands, and that he had the
courage to resolve to procure himself, by his own industry,
all that he had seen described in his books. Till now he
had enjoyed only the astonishment and admiration pro-
dueed by his experiments on persons destitute of all
information, and who had never quitted the solitude of
the Llanos; the abode of Humboldt and Bonpland at
Calabozo gave him a satisfaction altogether new. It
may be supposed that he set some value on the opinions
of two travellers who eould eompare his apparatus with
those constructed in Europe. Humboldt had brought
with him electrometers mounted with straw, pith-balls,
and gold-leaf; also a small Leyden jar which served for
his physiological experiments. Seilor del Pozo could
not contain his joy on seeing for the first time instruments
which he had Dot niad»\ yet which appeared to be copied
from his own. Humboldt showed him the effect of the

ntaet <>f heterogeneous metals on the nerves of frogs.
The names ofGalvani and Volta had not previously been
heard in those vast solitudes.

N < ■ x t to the electrical apparatus, nothing at Calabozo

:cited in the travellers so great an interest as the

gymnoti, which were animated electrical apparatuses.

FISHING WITH HOESES. 1 1^

Humboldt was impatient, from the time of his arrival
at Cumana, to procure electrical eels. He had been
promised them often, but his hopes had always been
disappointed. He at first wished to make his experi-
ments in the house he inhabited at Calabozo, but the
dread of the shocks caused by the gymnoti was so great,
and so exaggerated among the common people, that
during three days, he could not obtain one, though they
were easily enough caught, and he had promised the
Indians two piastres for every strong and vigorous fish.
Impatient, at last, of waiting, and having obtained very
uncertain results from an electric eel which had been
brought to him alive, but much enfeebled, Humboldt,
accompanied by Bonpland, repaired to the Cano de Bera,
to make his experiments in the open air, and at the edge
of the water. They set off on the 19th of March, at a
very early hour, for the village of Rastro ; thence they
were conducted by the Indians to a stream, which in the
time of drought, formed a basin of muddy water, sur-
rounded by fine trees. To catch the gymnoti with nets
was considered very difficult, on account of the extreme
agility of the fish, which buried themselves in the much
The Indians told them that they would fish with horses.
They found it difficult to form an idea of this manner of
fishing ; but they soon saw their guides return from the
savannah, which they had been scouring for wild horses
and mules. They brought about thirty with them, which
they forced to enter the pool. The noise caused by the
horses' hoofs, made the fish issue from the mud, and
excited them to the attack. These yellowish and livid
eels, resembling large aquatic serpents, swam on the sur-
face of the water, and crowded under the bellies of the

114 BATTLE WITH ELECTRICAL EELS.

horses and mules. A contest between animals of so
different an organization presented a very striking spec-
tacle. The Indians, provided with harpoons and long
slender reeds, surrounded the pool closely, and some
climbed up the trees, the branches of which extended
horizontally over the surface of the water. By their
wild cries, and the length of their reeds, they prevented
the horses from running away and reaching the bank of
the pool. The eels, stunned by the noise, defended
themselves by the repeated discharge of their electric
1 latteries. For a long interval they seemed likely to
] »rove victorious. Several horses sank beneath the vio-
lence of the invisible strokes which they received from
all Bides, and stunned by the force and frequency of the
shocks, they disappeared under the water. Others, pant-
ing, with mane erect, and haggard eyes expressing anguish
and dismay, raised themselves, and endeavoured to flee
from the storm by which they were overtaken. They
were driven back by the Indians into the middle of the
water; but a small number succeeded in eluding the
active vigilance of the fishermen. These regained the
shore, stumbling at every step, and stretched themselves
on the sand, exhausted with fatigue, and with limbs
benumbed by the electric shocks of the gvmnoti.

In less than five minutes two of the horses were
drowned. The eels being five feet long, and pressing
themselves against the belly of the horses, made a dis-
charge along the whole extent of their electric organ.
They attacked at once the heart, the intestines, and the
cceliac fold of the abdominal nerves. The horses were
probably not killed, but only stunned. They were
drowned from the impassibility of rising amid the

THE INDIAN GIRL IN THE LLANOS. 115

prolonged struggle between the other horses and the
eels.

The travellers had little doubt that the fishing would ter-
minate by killing successively all, the animals engaged ;
but by degrees the impetuosity of this unequal combat
diminished, and the wearied gymnoti dispersed. They re-
quired a long rest, and abundant nourishment, to repair
the galvanic force which they lost. The mules and horses
appeared less frightened ; their manes were no longer
bristled, and their eyes expressed less dread. The gym-
noti approached timidly the edge of the marsh, where
they were taken by means of small harpoons fastened to
long cords. When the cords were dry the Indians felt
no shock in raising the fish into the air. In a few min-
utes Humboldt had five large eels, most of which were
but slightly wounded. Some others were taken, by the
same means, towards evening.

The travellers left the town of Calabozo on the 24th,
highly satisfied with their stay, and the experiments they
had made on an object so worthy of the attention of
physiologists. As they advanced into the southern part
of the Llanos, they found the ground more dusty more
destitute of herbage, and more cracked by the effect of
long drought. The palm-trees disappeared by degrees.
The calmer the air appeared at eight or ten feet high, the
more they were enveloped in those whirlwinds of dust,
caused by the currents of air that swept the ground. In
the afternoon they found a young Indian girl stretched
upon the savannah. She was almost in a state of nudity,
and appeared to be about twelve or thirteen years of age.
Exhausted with fatigue and thirst, her eyes, nostrils, and
mouth filled with dust, she breathed with a rattling in

1 1 G FORDING I UK URITUCU.

her throat, and was unable to answer their questions.
A pitcher, overturned, and half-filled with sand, was
lying at her side. Bappily one of their mules was laden
with water; and they roused the girl from her lethargic
state by bathing her face, and forcing her to drink a few
drops of wine. She was at first alarmed on seeing her-
self surrounded by so many persons; but by degrees she
took courage, and conversed with their guides. She
judged, from the position of the sun, that she must have
remained during several hours in that state of lethargy.
They could not prevail on her to mount one of their
beasts of burden, and she would not return to Uritucu.
She had been in service at a neighbouring farm ; and she
had been discharged, because at the end of a long sick-
ness she was less able to work than before. Their
menaces and prayers were alike fruitless; insensible to
suffering, she persisted in her resolution of going to one
of the Indian Missions near the eitv of Calabozo. They
removed the sand from her pitcher, and tilled it with
water. She resumed her way along the steppe before
they had remounted their horses, and was soon separated
from them by a, cloud of dust. During the night they
1'onled the river Uritucu, which abounded with a breed
of crocodiles remarkable for their ferocitv. They were
advised to prevent their dogs from going to drink in the
rivers, for it often happened that the crocodiles of Uri-
tucu came out of the water, and pursued dogs upon the
Bhore. They were shown a hut, in which their host of
Calabozo had witnessed a very extraordinary scene.
Sleeping with one of his friends on a bench or couch
covered with leather, he was awakened early in the
morning by a violent shaking and a horrible noise.

SLEEPING OVER A CEOCODILE. 117

Clods of earth were thrown into the middle of the hut.
Presently a young crocodile two or three feet long issued
from under the bed, darted at a dog which lay on the
threshold of the door, and, missing him in the impetu-
osity of his spring, ran towards the beach to gain the
river. On examining the spot where the couch was
placed, the cause of this strange adventure was easily
discovered. The ground was disturbed to a considerable
depth. It was dried mud, which had covered the croco-
dile in that state of lethargy, or summer-sleep, in which
many of the species lie during the absence of the rains
in the Llanos. The noise of men and horses, perhaps
the smell of the dog, had aroused the crocodile. The
hut being built at the edge of the pool, and inundated
during part of the year, the crocodile had no doubt
entered, at the time of the inundation of the savan-
nahs, by the same opening at which it was seen to go
out.

On the 25th they traversed the smoothest part of
the steppes of Caracas, the Mesa de Pavones. As
far as the eye could reach, not a single object fifteen
inches high could be discovered. The air was clear, and
the sky of a very deep blue ; but the horizon reflected
a livid and yellowish light, caused by the quantity of
sand suspended in the atmosphere. They met some
large herds of cattle, and with them flocks of birds of a
black colour with an olive shade. They had often seen
them perched on the back of cows, seeking for gadflies
and Other insects. Like many birds of these desert
places, they feared so little the approach of man, that
children often caught them in their hands. In the valleys
of Aragua, where they were very common, the travellers

118 SAN FERNANDO.

often saw tin -m perched upon the hammocks on which
they were reposing, in open day.

On the 27th of March they arrived at the Villa de
San Fernando, the capital of the Mission of the Capu-
chins, id the province of Varinas.

CHAPTER IV.

UP THE OEIKOCO,

The next journey that the travellers made was to the
Orinoco. In the afternoon of the 30th of March, they
set sail from San Fernando in a large canoe, managed by
a pilot and four Indians. They constructed, near the
stern, a cabin covered with palm-leaves, sufficiently
spacious to contain a table and benches. These were
made of ox-hides, strained tight, and nailed to frames of
brazil-wood. The canoe was loaded with provisions for
a month ; fowls, eggs, plantains, cassava, and cocoa, not
forgetting sherry wine, oranges, and tamarinds, which
were given them by the Capuchins.

They soon entered a land inhabited only by tigers,
crocodiles, and tapirs. They saw flocks of birds, crowded
so closely together as to appear against the sky like a
dark cloud which every instant changed its form. The
river widened by degrees. One of its banks was barren
and sandy from the effect of inundations ; the other was
higher, and covered with lofty trees. In some parts the
river was bordered by forests on each side, and formed a
straight canal nine hundred feet broad. The manner in
which the trees were disposed was remarkable. First
were bushes of sauso, forming a kind of hedge four feet

120 CROCODILES.

high, and appearing as if they had been clipped by the
hand of man. A copse of cedar, brazilletto, and lignum-
vita- rose behind this hedge. Palm-trees were rare. The
large quadrupeds of those regions, the jaguars, tapirs,
and peccaries had made openings in the hedge of sauso,
through which they passed when they came to drink at
the river. As they feared but little the approach of a
boat, the travellers had the pleasure of viewing them as
they paced slowly along the shore till they disappeared
in the forest, which they entered by one of the narrow
passes left at intervals between the bushes.

When the shore was of considerable breadth, the hedge
of sauso remained at a distance from the river. In the
intermediate space they saw crocodiles, sometimes to the
number of eight or ten, stretched on the sand. Motion-
less, witli their jaws wide open, they reposed by each
other, without displaying any of those marks of affec-
tion observed in other animals living in society. The
troop separated as soon as they quitted the shore. These
monstrous creatures were so numerous, that throughout
the whole course of the river almost at every instant five
or six were in view. Yet at this period the swelling of
the Rio Apure was scarcely perceived ; and consequently
hundreds of crocodiles were still buried in the mud of
the savannahs. About four in the afternoon Humboldt
stopped to measure a dead crocodile which had been
east ashore. It was sixteen feet eight inches long; some
days after Bonpland found another, a male, twenty-two
feet three inches long. The Indians told them that at
San Fernando scarcely ;i year passed without two or
three grown-up persons, particularly women who fetched
water from the river, being devoured by these carnivo-

ADVENTURE OF A GIRL. 121

rous reptiles. They related the history of a young girl of
Uritucu, who, by singular intrepidity and presence of
mind, saved herself from the jaws of a crocodile. When
she felt herself seized, she sought the eyes of the animal,
and plunged her fingers into them with such, violence, that
the pain forced him to let her go, after having bitten off
the lower part of her left arm. Notwithstanding the enor-
mous quantity of blood she lost, the girl reached the
shore, swimming with, the hand that still remained to her.
In those desert countries, where man was ever wrestling
with nature, discourse daily turned on the best means
that might be employed to escape from a tiger, a boa, or
a crocodile ; every one prepared himself in some sort for
the dangers that might await him. " I knew," said the
young girl of Uritucu coolly, " that the cayman lets go
his hold, if you push your fingers into his eyes." After
his return to Europe, Humboldt learned that in the inte-
rior of Africa the negroes knew and practised the same
means of defence. Isaac, the guide of the unfortunate
Mungo Park, was twice seized by a crocodile, and twice
escaped from the jaws of the monster, having succeeded
in thrusting his fingers into the creature's eyes while
under water. The African Isaac, and the young Ameri-
can girl, owed their safety to the same presence of mind,
and the same combination of ideas.

Humboldt often saw young crocodiles biting their tails ;
and other observers have seen the same action in croco-
diles at their full growth. If their movements almost
always appear to be straight forward, it is because, like
lizards, they move by starts. Crocodiles are excellent
swimmers ; they go with facility against the most rapid
current. It appeared to Humboldt, however, that in

6

122 THE JAGUAR AND THE VULTURES.

descending the river, they had some difficulty in turning
quickly about A large dog, which had accompanied
him in his journey from Caracas to the Rio Negro, was
one day pursued in swimming by an enormous crocodile.
The latter had nearly reached its prey, when the dog
escaped by turning round suddenly and swimming

ainst the current. The crocodile performed the same
movement, but much more slowly than the dog, wdiich
succeeded in gaining the shore.

Near the Jbval the travellers saw the largest jaguar
they had ever met with. The natives themselves were
astonished at its prodigious length, which surpassed that
of any Bengal tiger ever seen in the museums of Europe
The animal lay stretched beneath the shade of a large
zamang. It had just killed a tapir, but had not yet
touched its prey, on which it kept one of its paws. The
zamuro vultures were assembled in great numbers to
devour the remains of the jaguar's repast. They pre-
sented the most curious spectacle, by a singular mixture
of boldness and timidity. They advanced within the dis-
tance of two feet from the animal, but at the least move-
ment he made they drew back. In order to observe
more nearly the manners of these creatures, Humboldt
and Bonpland went into the little skiff that accompanied
their canoe. Tigers very rarely attack boats by swim-
ming to them; and never but when their ferocity is
heightened by a long privation of food. The noise of
their oars led the animal to rise slowlv, and hide itself
behind the sauso bushes that bordered the shore. The
vultures tried to profit by this moment of absence to
devour the tapir; but the tiger, notwithstanding the
proximity of the boat, Leaped into the midst of them,

DON IGNACIO POMPOSO. 123

and in a fit of rage, expressed by his gait and the move-
ment of his tail, carried off his prey to the forest.

Continuing to descend the river, they met with a
great herd of tapirs which the tiger had put to flight, and
from whom he had selected his prey. These animals saw
them land very unconcernedly ; some were seated, and
gazed upon them, moving the upper lip like rabbits.
They seemed not to be afraid of man, but the sight of the
dog put them to flight Their hind legs being longer
than their fore legs, their pace was a slight gallop, but
with so little swiftness that the travellers succeeded in
catching two of them.

They passed the night in the open air, though in a
plantation, the proprietor of which employed himself in
hunting tigers. He wore scarcely any clothing, and was
of a dark brown complexion like a Zambo. This did not
prevent his classing himself among the whites. He called
his wife and his daughter, who were as naked as himself,
Dona Isabella and Dona Manuela. Without having
ever quitted the banks of the Apure, he took a lively
interest in the news of Madrid, enquiring eagerly re-
specting " those never-ending wars, and everything down
yonder." He knew, he said, that the king was soon to
come and visit the grandees of the country of Caracas,
but he added with some pleasantry, " as the people of
the court can eat only wheaten bread, they will never
pass beyond the town of Victoria, and we shall not see
them here." Humboldt had brought with him a tapir
which he had intended to have roasted; but his host
assured him that such ' Indian game ' was not food fit
for white gentlemen like the travellers and himself.
Accordingly he offered them some venison, which he

1 _' i DBEX4 II KD IN THE TEMPEST.

had killed the day before with an arrow, for lie had
neither powder aor fire-arms.

They Bupposed that a small wood of plantain-tn

concealed the hut of the farm; but this man, so proud
of his nobility and the colour of his skin, had not taken
the trouble of constructing even a hut of palmdeaves.
He invited them to have their hammocks hung near his
own, between two trees; and he assured them with an
air of complacency, that, if they came up the river in the
rainy season, they should find him beneath a roof. They
soon had reason to complain of a system of philosophy
which was indulgent to indolence, and rendered a man
indifferent to the conveniences of life. A furious wind
arose alter midnight, lightnings flashed over the horizon,
thunder rolled, and they were wet to the skin. During
this storm a whimsical incident served to amuse them
for a moment. Dona Isabella's cat had perched upon
the tamarind-tree, at the foot of which they lay. It fell
int«» tli>- hammock of one of their companions, who being
hurt by the claws of the cat, and suddenly aroused from
a profound sleep, Imagined he was attacked by some
wild beast of the forest. They ran to him on hearing
his cries, and had some trouble to convince him of his
error. While it rained in torrents on their hammocks
ami on their instruments which they had brought ashore,
their host congratulated them on their good fortune
i'i H"t Bleeping on the strand, but finding themselves in
his domain, among whites and persons of respectability.
W'.t as they were, they could not easily persuade them-
selves of the advantages of their situation, and thev
listened with some impatience to the long narrative
which 'he gave of his pretended expedition to the

CRIES OF THE ANIMAL' AT NIGHT. 125

Rio Meta, of the valour lie had displayed in a sanguinary
combat with the Gruahibo Indians, and the services that
he had rendered to God and his king, in carrying away
Indian children, from their parents, to distribute them
in the Missions.

On the 1st of April, at sunrise, they quitted Senor
Don Ignacio and Senora Dona Isabella his wife.

They passed the next night on a bare and extensive
strand of the river. The forest on its banks being im-
penetrable, they had the greatest difficulty in finding dry
wood to light fires. The night was calm and serene,
and there was a beautiful moonlight. The crocodiles,
stretched along the shore, placed themselves in such a
manner as to be able to see the fire. The travellers
thought they observed that its blaze attracted them, as it
attracts fishes, crayfish, and other inhabitants of the
water. The Indians showed them the tracks of three
tigers in the sand, two of which were very young. A
female had no doubt conducted her little ones to drink
at the river. Finding no tree near, the travellers stuck
their oars in the ground, and fastened their hammocks
to them. Everything passed tranquilly till eleven at
night; and then a noise so terrific arose in the neigh-
bouring forest, that it was almost impossible to close
their eyes. Amid the cries of so many wild beasts
howling at once, the Indians discriminated only such as
were at intervals heard separately. These were the little
soft cries of the sapajous, the moans of the alouate apes,
the howlings of the jaguar and couguar, the peccary, and
the sloth, and the cries of the curassao, the parraka, and
other gallinaceous birds. When the jaguars approached
the skirt of the forest, the dog, which accompanied the

128 PORPOI8E8 AM) BIRDS.

party, and which till then had never ceased barking,
gan to howl and seek for shelter beneath their ham-
mocks. Sometimes, after a Long silence, the cry of the
tiger came from the tops of the trees ; and then it was

followed by the sharp and long whistling of the monkeys,
which appeared to flee from the danger that threatened
them. When the natives were interrogated on the causes
of the tremendous noise made by the beasts of the forest
at certain hours of the night, they answered, "They are
keeping the feast of the full moon."

The travellers set sail on the 2d of April. The morn-
ing was beautiful and cool. The porpoises ploughed
the river in long files. The shore was covered with fish-
ing-birds. Some of these perched on the floating wood as
it passed down the river, and surprised the fish that pre-
ferred the middle of the stream. The canoe was aground
several times during the morning. These shocks were
sufficiently violent to split a light bark. They were
< -a used by the limbs of large trees, which had remained
for years in an oblique position, sunk in the mud.
leaching a spot near the island of Carizales, they saw
trunks of the locust-tree, of an enormous size, above the
surface of the water. They were covered with a species
of plotus, nearly resembling the white bellied darter.
These birds perched in files, like pheasants, and re-
mained for hours entirely motionless, with their beaks
raised towards the sky.

It rained towards evening, and before the rain fell,
swallows skimmed over the surface of the water. They
saw also a flock of paroquets pursued by little goshawks.
The piercing cries of these paroquets contrasted singu-
larly with the whistling of the birds of prey. They

IN DANGER FROM A JAGUAR. 127

0

passed the night in the open air, upon the beach, near
the island of Carizales. There were several Indian huts
in the neighbourhood, surrounded with plantations.
Their pilot assured them beforehand that they should
not hear the cries of the jaguar, which, when not ex-
tremely pressed by hunger, withdraws from places where
he does not reign unmolested. " Men put him out of
humour," said the people in the Missions.

They stopped at noon the next day in a spot called
Algodonal. Leaving his companions while they drew the
boat ashore and were occupied in preparing their dinner,
Humboldt went along the beach to get a near view of a
group of crocodiles sleeping in the sun, and lying in such
a manner as to have their tails resting on one another.
Some little herons, white as snow, walked along their
backs, and even upon their heads, as if passing over
trunks of trees. The crocodiles were of a greenish gray,
half covered with dried mud ; from their colour and im-
mobility they might have been taken for bronze statues.
This excursion had nearly proved fatal to him. He had
kept his eyes constantly turned towards the river ; but,
whilst picking up some spangles of mica agglomerated
together in the sand, he discovered the recent footsteps
of a tiger, easily distinguishable from their form and size.
The animal had gone towards the forest, and turning his
eyes on that side, he found himself within eighty paces
of a tiger that was lying under the thick foliage of a
ceiba. No tiger ever appeared to him so large.

He was extremely alarmed, yet sufficiently master of
himself and of his motions to enable him to follow the
advice which the Indians had so often given him as to
how he ought to act in such cases. He continued to

128 TROUBLED WITH ZANCUDOS.

»

walk <>n without running, avoided moving his arm?, and
thoughl h^ observed that the jaguar's attention was fixed
on a herd of capybaras which was crossing the river.
II" then began to return, making a large circuit toward
tin- edge of the water. lie was often tempted to look
hark in order to assure himself that he was not pursued!
Eappily he yielded very tardily to this desire. The
jaguar had remained motionless. He arrived at the boat
out of breath, and related his adventure to the Indians.
They appeared very little interested by it ; yet, after the
party had loaded their guns, they accompanied him to
the ceiba beneath which the jaguar had lain. He was
there no longer.

The 4th of April was the last day that they passed on
the Rio Apure. During several days they had suffered
crud ly from the stings of zancudos, which covered their
faces and hands. These insects.were gnats, though very
different from those that they had seen in Europe. They
appeared only after sunset. Their proboscis was so long
that, when they fixed on the lower surface of a hammock,
they pierced through it and the thickest garments with
their sting.

The travellers had intended to pass the night at the
Vuelta del Palmito, but the number of jaguars at that
part of the Apure was so great that the Indians found
two hidden behind the trunk of a locust-tree, at the
moment when they were going to sling their hammocks.
Finding no trees to which they could suspend their ham-
mocks, they were obliged to sleep on ox-hides spread on
ground. The I too narrow and too full of

zancudos to permil them to pass the night in them.

In the place where they had landed their instruments,

IN SIGHT OF THE ORINOCO. 129

the banks being very steep, they saw new proofs of the
indolence of the gallinaceous birds of the tropics. The
curassaos and cashew birds had the habit of going down
several times a day to the river to allay their thirst.
They drank a great deal, and at short intervals. A vast
number of these birds had joined, near their station, a
flock of pheasants. They had great difficulty in climb-
ing up the steep banks ; they attempted it several times
without using their wings. The travellers drove them
before them as if they had been driving sheep.

Continuing their journey they discerned towards the
south the lovely hills of Coranto ; while to the east the
granite rocks of the Curiquima, the Sugar-loaf of Cay-
cara, and the mountains of the Tyrant began to rise on
the horizon. It was not without emotion that they
beheld for the first time the waters of the Orinoco.

On leaving the Rio Apure they found themselves in a
country presenting a totally different aspect. An im-
mense plain of water stretched before them like a lake,
as far as they could see. White-topped waves rose to the
height of several feet, from the conflict of the breeze and
the current. The air resounded no longer with the
piercing cries of herons, flamingoes, and spoonbills, cross-
ing in long files from one shore to the other. Their
eyes sought in vain those water-fowls, the habits of which
vary in each tribe. All nature appeared less animated.
Scarcely could they discover in the hollows of the waves
a few large crocodiles, cutting obliquely, by the help of
their long tails, the surface of the agitated waters. The
horizon was bounded by a zone of forests, which nowhere
reached so far as the bed* of the river. A vast beach,
constantly parched by the heat of the sun, desert and

6*

]30 Tin: IfOUNTAINS OP BNCARAMADA.

bare as the shores of the sea, resembled at a distance,
from the effect of the mirage, pools of stagnant water.
These Bandy Bhores, !ar from fixing the limits of the
river, rendered them uncertain, by enlarging or contract-
in-- them alternately, according to the variable action of
the solar rays.

Struck with the extreme breadth of the Orinoco, be-
tween the mouth of the Apure and the rock Curiquima,
Humboldt asc named it by means of a base measured
twice on the western beach. The bed of the Orinoco, at
low water, was over six thousand feet broad; but this
breadth was increased to thirty-two thousand feet in the
rainy season.

The travellers first proceeded south-west, as far as the
shore inhabited by the Gruaricoto Indians on the left bank
of the Orinoco, and then advanced straight towards the
south. The river was so broad that the mountains of
Encaramada appeared to rise from the water, as if seen
above the horizon of the sea. They formed a continued
chain from east to west. These mountains were com-
posed of enormous blocks of granite, cleft and piled one
upon another. What contributed above all to embellish
the scene at Encaramada was the luxuriance of vegeta-
tion that covered the sides of the rocks, leaving bare only
their rounded summits. They looked like ancient ruins
rising in the midst of a forest.

In the port of Encaramada they met with some Caribs
of Panapana. A cacique was going up the Orinoco in
his canoe, to join in the famous fishing of turtle's eggs.
His canoe was rounded toward the bottom, and fol-
lowed by a smaller boat. He was seated beneath a sort
of tent, constructed, like the sail, of palm-leaves. 11 is

THE CARIBS. 131

cold and silent gravity, the respect with which he was
treated by his attendants, everything denoted him to be
a person of importance. He was equipped, however, in
the same manner as his Indians. They were all equally
naked, armed with bows and arrows, and painted with
onoto. The chief, the domestics, the furniture, the boat,
and the sail were all painted red. These Caribs were
men of an almost athletic stature ; they appeared to the
travellers much taller than any Indians they had hitherto
seen. Their smooth and thick hair, cut short on the
forehead like that of choristers, their eyebrows painted
black, their look at once gloomy and animated, gave a
singular expression to their countenances. The women,
who were very tall, and disgusting from their want of
cleanliness, carried their infants on their backs. The
thighs and legs of the infants were bound at certain dis-
tances by broad strips of cotton cloth, and the flesh,
strongly compressed beneath the ligatures, was swelled
in the interstices.

Near Encaramada a very long island divided the river
into two branches. They passed the night in a rocky
creek, opposite the mouth of the Rio Cabullare, which
was formed by the Payara and the Atamaica. The
evening was beautiful. The moon illumined the tops
of the granite rocks. The heat was so uniformly distri-
buted, that, notwithstanding the humidity of the air, no
twinkling of the stars was observable, even at four or
five degrees above the horizon. Towards midnight, the
north-east wind became extremely violent. It brought
no clouds, but the vault of the sky was covered more and
more with vapours. Strong gusts were felt, and made
them fear for the safety of their canoe. During this

I in: PAINTED BO< k.

whole day they had seen very Pew crocodiles, but all of
an extraordinary size, from twenty to twenty-four feet.
The [ndians assured them that the young crocodiles
preferred the marshes, and the rivers that were 1<
broad and less deep.

Speaking of the mountains of Encaramada, Humboldt
says that the natives of those countries had retained the

lief that, "at the time of the great waters, when their
Gathers were forced to have recourse to boats, to escape
the genera] inundation, the waves of the sea beat against
the rocks of Encaramada." This belief was not confined
to one nation singly, it made part of a system of historical
tradition, of which he found scattered notions among
the Maypures of the great cataracts; among the Indians
of the Rio Erevato, and among almost all the tribes of
the Upper Orinoco. When the Indians were asked how
the human race survived this great deluge they said,
" a man and a woman saved themselves on a high moun-
tain, called Tamanacu, situated on the banks of the
Asiveru ; and casting behind them, over their heads, the
fruits of the mauritia palm-tree, they saw the seeds con-
tained in those fruits produce men and women, who
repeopled the earth." A few leagues from Encaramada,
a rock, called "the painted rock," rose in the midst of the
savannah. Upon it were traced representations of ani-
mals and symbolic figures. Between the banks of the
Cassiquiare and the Orinoco, between Encaramada, the
Capuchino, and Caycara, these hieroglyphic figures were
often seen at great heights, en rocky chit's which could
be accessible only by constructing very lofty scaffolds.
When the natives were asked how those figures could
have been sculptured, they answered with a smile, as if

THE HARVEST OF EGGS. 133

relating a fact of which only a white man could be ig-
norant, that "at the period of the great waters, their
fathers went to that height in boats."

A fresh breeze carrying the travellers towards the
Boca de la Tortuga they landed at an island in the middle
of the river. This island was celebrated for the turtle-
fishery, or, as it was called there, "the harvest of eggs,"
that took place annually. Here the travellers found an
assemblage of Indians, encamped under huts made of
palm-leaves. This encampment contained more than
three hundred persons. Accustomed, since they had
left San Fernando de Apure, to see only desert shores
they were singularly struck by the bustle that prevailed
here. They found, besides the Guamos and the Ottomacs
of Uruana, who were both considered as savage races,
Caribs, and other Indians of the Lower Orinoco. Every
tribe was separately encamped, and was distinguished by
the pigments with which their skins were painted. Some
white men were seen amidst this tumultuous assemblage,
chiefly pulperos, or little traders of Angostura, who had
come up the river to purchase turtle-oil from the natives.
The missionary of Uruana, a native of Alcala, came to
meet Humboldt and Bonpland, and he was extremely
astonished at seeing them. After having admired their
instruments, he gave them an exaggerated picture of the
sufferings to which they would be necessarily exposed in
ascending the Orinoco beyond the cataracts. The object
of their journey appeared to him very mysterious. "How
is it possible to believe," said he, "that you have left
your country, to come and be devoured by mosquitos on
this river, and to measure lands that are not your own?"
They were happily furnished with recommendations from

134 HOW THEY FOUND THE EGGS.

the Superior of the Franciscan Missions, and the brother-
in-law of the Governor of Varinas, who accompanied
them, soon dissipated the doubts to which their dress,
their accent, and their arrival in this sandy island, had
given rise among the Whites. The missionary invited
them to partake a frugal repast of fish and plantains.
He told them that he had come to encamp with the
Indians during the time of the harvest of eggs, " to
celebrate mass every morning in the open air ; to procure
the oil necessary for the church-lamps, and especially to
govern this mixed republic in which every one wished
to profit singly by what God had granted to all."

They made the tour of the island, accompanied by the
missionary and by a trader, who boasted of having, for ten
successive years, visited the camp of the Indians, and
attended the turtle-fishery. They were on a plain of
sand perfectly smooth ; and were told that, as far as they
could see along the beach, turtles' eggs were concealed
under a layer of earth. The missionary carried a long
pole in his hand. He showed them, that by means of this
pole, the extent of the stratum of eggs could be deter-
mined as accurately as the miner determines the limits of
a bed of marl, of bog iron-ore, or of coal. On thrusting
the rod perpendicularly into the ground, the sudden
want of resistance showed that the cavity or layer of
loose earth, containing the eggs, had been reached. They
saw that the stratum was generally spread with so much
uniformity, that the pole found it everywhere in a radius
of sixty feet around any given spot. Here they talked
continually of square perches of eggs; it was like a
mining-country, divided into lots, and worked with the
greatest regularity. The stratum of eggs, however, was

HATCHING THE EGGS. 135

far from covering the whole island ; they were not found
wherever the ground rose abruptly, because the turtle
could not mount heights. The Indians assured them
that, in going up the Orinoco from its mouth to its
junction with the Apure, not one island or one beach
was to be found, where eggs could be collected in
abundance. The great turtle dreads places inhabited
by men, or much frequented by boats. It is a timid
and mistrustful animal, raising only its head above
the water, and hiding itself at the least noise.

The period at which it lays its eggs coincides with the
period of the lowest waters. The Orinoco beginning to
increase from the vernal equinox, the lowest flats are
found uncovered from the end of January till the 20th
or 25th of March. The turtles collect in troops in the
month of January, then issue from the water, and warm
themselves in the sun, reposing on the sands. The In-
dians believed that great heat was indispensable to the
health of the animal, and that its exposure to the sun
favoured the laying of the eggs. They are found on the
beach a great part of the day during the whole month of
February. At the beginning of March the straggling
troops assemble, and swim towards the small number of
islands on which they habitually deposit their eggs. At
this period, a few days before they lay their eggs, thou-
sands of these animals may be seen ranged in long files,
on the borders of the islands of Cucuruparu, Uruana,
and Pararuma, stretching out their necks and holding
their heads above water, to see whether they have any-
thing to dread. The Indians, who are anxious that the
bands when assembled should not separate, that the tur-
tles should not disperse, and that the laying of the eggs

13G MAD Tl'KTI.KS.

Bhould be performed tranquilly, place sentinels at certain
distances along the Bhore. The people who pass in boats
are told to keep in the middle of the river, and not

frighten the turtles by cries. The laying of the eggs
takes place always during the night, and it begins soon
after sunset With its hind feet, which are very long,
and furnished with crooked claws, the animal digs a hole
of three feet in diameter and two in depth. These turtles
feel so pressing a desire to lay their eggs, that some of
them descend into holes that have been dug by others,
but which are not yet covered with earth. There they
deposit a new layer of eggs on that which has been
recently laid. In this tumultuous movement an immense
number of eggs are broken. The missionary showed the
travellers, by removing the sand in several places, that
this loss probably amounted to a fifth of the whole quan-
tity. The yelk of the broken eggs contributes, in drying,
to cement the sand ; and they found very large concre-
tions of grains of quartz and broken shells. The num-
ber of animals working on the beach during the night is
so considerable, that day surprises many of them before
the laving of their eggs is terminated. They are then
urged on by the double necessity of depositing their eggs,
and closing the holes they have dug, that they may not
be perceived by the jaguars. The turtles that thus re-
main too late are insensible to their own danger. They
work in the presence of the Indians, who visit the beach
at a very early hour, and who call them 'mad turtles.'
Notwithstanding the rapidity of their movements, they
then easily caught with the hand.
The encampments formed by the Indians began about
the end of March or commencement of April. The

MAKING TURTLE BUTTER. 137

gathering of the eggs was conducted in a uniform man-
ner, and with that regularity which characterizes all mon-
astic institutions. Before the arrival of the missionaries
on the banks of the river, the Indians profited much less
from a production which nature has supplied in such
abundance. Every tribe searched the beach in its own
way, and an immense number of eggs were uselessly
broken, because they were not dug up with precaution,
and more eggs were uncovered than could be carried
away. It was like a mine worked by unskilful hands.

When the camp was formed, the missionary of Uruana
named his lieutenant, or commissary, who divided the
ground where the eggs were found into different por-
tions, according to the number of the Indian tribes who
took part in the gathering. The lieutenant began his
operations by sounding. He examined by means of a
long wooden pole or cane of bamboo, how far the stratum
of eggs extended. This stratum, according to the mea-
surements of Humboldt, extended to the distance of one
hundred and twenty feet from the shore. Its average
depth was three feet. The lieutenant placed marks to
indicate the point where each tribe should stop its labours.
The Indians removed the earth with their hands ; they
placed the eggs they had collected in small baskets,
carried them to their encampment, and threw them into
long troughs of wood filled with water. In these troughs
the eggs, broken and stirred with shovels, remained ex-
posed to the sun till the oily part, which swam on the
surface, had time to inspissate. As fast as this collected
on the surface of the water, it was taken off and boiled
over a quick fire. This animal oil, called turtle butter,
kept the better in proportion as it had undergone a strong

138 UP THE OKI N< >(().

ebullition. When well prepared, it was limpid, inodorous,
and scarcely yellow. The missionaries compared it to
the best olive oil, and it was used not merely for burning
in lamps, but for cooking. It was not easy, however, to
procure oil of turtles' eggs quite pure. It had generally
a putrid smell, owing to the mixture of eggs in which
the young were already formed. The Indians brought
away a great number of eggs to eat them dried in the
sun ; and they broke a considerable number through
carelessness during the gathering. The number of eggs
that wen? hatched before the people could dig them up
was so prodigious, that near the encampment of Uruana
Ilumboldt saw the whole shore of the Orinoco swarming
with little turtles an inch in diameter, escaping with diffi-
culty from the pursuit of the Indian children.

At the Playa de huevos where their pilot had an-
chored to purchase provisions, their store having begun
to run short, the travellers found fresh meat, Angostura
rice, and even biscuit made of wheat-flour. Their In-
dians filled the boat with little live turtles, and eggs dried
in the sun, for their own use. Having taken leave of
the missionary of Uruana, who had treated them with
great kindness, they set sail about four in the afternoon.
The wind was fresh, and blew in squalls. Since they
had entered the mountainous part of the country, they
had discovered that their canoe carried sail very badly;
but the master was desirous of showing the Indians who
were assembled on the beach, that, by going close to the
wind, he could reach, at one single tack, the middle of
the river. At the very moment when he was boasting
of his dexterity, and the boldness of his manoeuvre, the
force of the wind upon the sail became so great that they

UPSET BY A SQUALL. 139

were on the point of going down. One side of the boat
was under water, which rushed in with such violence
that it was soon up to their knees. It washed over a
little table at which Humboldt was writing at the stern
of the boat. He had some difficulty in saving his journal,
and in an instant they saw their books, papers, and dried
plants, all afloat. Bonpland was lying asleep in the
middle of the canoe. Awakened by the entrance of
the water and the cries of the Indians, he understood the
danger of their situation, whilst he maintained a coolness
which he always displayed in the most difficult circum-
stances. The lee-side righting itself from time to time
during the squall, he did not consider the boat as lost.
He thought that, were they even forced to abandon it,
they might save themselves by swimming, since there
were no crocodiles in sight. Amidst this uncertainty the
cordage of the sail suddenly gave way. The same gust
of wind, that had thrown them on their beam, served also
to right them. They laboured to bail the water out of
the boat with calabashes, the sail was again set, and in
less than half an hour they were in a state to proceed.
The wind now abated a little. Squalls alternating with
dead calms were common in that part of the Orinoco which
was bordered by mountains. They were very dangerous
for boats deeply laden, and without decks. The travellers
had escaped by a miracle. To the reproaches that were
heaped on their pilot for having kept too near the wind,
he replied with the phlegmatic coolness peculiar to the
Indians, observing " that the whites would find sun
enough on those banks to dry their papers." They lost
only one book, the first volume of the " Genera Plan-
tarum" of Schreber, which had fallen overboard. At

140 THE BRACK OF PARAIII'MA.

nightfall they Landed on a barren island in the middle of
the river, near the mission of Uruana. They supped in
a clear moonlight, seating themselves on some large
turtle-shells that were found scattered about the beach.

On the 8th the travellers passed the mouths of the Sua
pure and the Caripo, on the east, and the outlet of the
Sinaruco on the west. This last river was, next to the
Rio Arauca, the most considerable between the Apure
and the Meta. The Suapure, full of little cascades, was
celebrated among the Indians for the quantity of wild
honey obtained from the forests in its neighbourhood.

Early on the following morning the travellers arrived
at the beach of Pararuma, where they found an encamp-
ment of Indians. They had assembled to search the
sands, for collecting the turtles' eggs, and extracting the
oil ; but they had unfortunately made a mistake of seve-
ral davs. The young turtles had come out of their shells be-
fore the Indians had i< >rmed their camp ; and consequently
the crocodiles, and a speeies of large white herons, availed
themselves of the delay. These animals, and birds fond
of the flesh of young turtles, devour an innumerable
quantity. They fish during the night, for the young
turtles do not come out of the earth to gain the neigh-
bouring river till after the evening twilight. The zamuro
vultures are too indolent to hunt after sunset. They
stalk along the shores in the daytime, and alight in the
midst of the Indian encampment to steal provisions ; but
they often find no other means of satisfying their voracity
than by attacking young crocodiles of seven or eight
inches long, either on land, or in water of little depth.
It was curious to se<- the address with which these little
animals defended thems Ives for a time against the vul

MONKS PLAYING CAKDS. 141

tures. As soon as they perceived the enemy they raised
themselves on their fore paws, bent their backs, and
lifted up their heads, opening their wide jaws. They
turned continually, though slowly, towards their assailant
to show him their teeth, which even when the animal
had but recently issued from the egg, were very long and
sharp. Often while the attention of a young crocodile
was wholly engaged by one of the zamuros, another
seized the favourable opportunity for an unforeseen at-
tack. He pounced on the animal, grasped him by the
neck, and bore him off to the higher regions of the air.

They found among the Indians assembled at Pararuma
some white men, who had come from Angostura to
purchase the turtle-butter. After having wearied the
travellers for a long time with their complaints of the
bad harvest, and the mischief done by the tigers among
the turtles, at the time of laying their eggs, they con-
ducted them beneath an ajoupa, that rose in the centre
of the Indian camp. They found there the missionary-
monks of Carichana and the Cataracts seated on the
ground playing at cards, and smoking tobacco in long
pipes. From their ample blue garments, their shaven
heads, and their long beards, they might have been mis-
taken for natives of the East. These poor priests re-
ceived them in the kindest manner, giving them every
information necessary for the continuance of their voy-
age. They had suffered from tertian fever for some
months ; and their pale and emaciated aspect easily con-
vinced the travellers that the countries they were about
to visit were not without danger to their health.

The Indian pilot who had brought them from San
Fernando de Apure as far as the shore of Pararuma, was

142 INDIANS PAINTING.

unacquainted with the passage of the rapids of the Ori-
noco, and would not undertake to conduct their bark
any farther. They were obliged to conform to his will.
Bappily for them, the missionary of Carichana consented
to Bell them a line canoe at a very moderate price: and
Father Bernardo Zea, missionary of the Atures and May-
pures near the great cataracts, offered, though still un-
well, to accompany them as far as the frontiers of Brazil.

Most of the missionaries of the Upper and Lower Ori-
noco permitted the Indians of their Missions to paint
their skins; some of them even speculated on this bar-
barous practice of the natives. In their huts, pompously
called convents, Humboldt often saw stores of chica,
which they sold as high as four francs the cake. To
form a j ust idea of the extravagance of the decoration of
these naked Indians, he tells us that a man of large
stature gains with difficulty enough by the labour of a
fortnight, to procure in exchange the chica necessary to
} »aiiit himself red. Thus as we say in temperate climates,
of a poor man, " he has not enough to clothe himself,"
the Indians of the Orinoco say, " that man is so poor,
that he has not enough to paint half his body."

Humboldt was surprised to see, that, the women far
advanced in years, were more occupied with their orna-
ments than the youngest women. He saw an Indian
female of the nation of the Ottomacs employing two of
her daughters in the operation of rubbing her hair writh
the oil of turtles' eg^^ and painting her back with anato
and caruto. The ornament consisted of a sort of lattice-
work formed of black lines crossing each other on a red
ground. Each little square had a black dot in the centre.
It was a work of incredible patience, lie returned from

ANIMALS OF THE ORINOCO. 143

a very long herborization, and the painting was not half
finished.

The Indians were not always satisfied with one colour
uniformly spread ; they sometimes imitated in the most
whimsical manner, in painting their skin, the form of
European garments. The travellers saw some at Para-
ruma, who were painted with bine jackets and black
buttons. The missionaries related to them that the
Guaynaves of the Rio Caura were accustomed to stain
themselves red with anato, and to make broad transverse
stripes on the body, on which they stuck spangles of
silvery mica. Seen at a distance, these naked men ap-
peared to be dressed in laced clothes.

The travellers had an excellent opportunity while on
the Orinoco of examining several animals in their natural
state, which, till then, they had seen only in the collec-
tions of Europe. These little animals formed a branch
of commerce for the missionaries. They exchanged to-
bacco, resin, the pigment of chica, rock-manakins, orange
monkeys, capuchin monkeys, and other species of mon-
keys in great request on the coast, for cloth, nails, hatch-
ets, fish-hooks, and pins. The productions of the Ori-
noco were bonght at a low price from the Indians, who
lived in dependence on the monks ; and these same Indi-
ans purchased fishing and gardening implements from
the monks at a very high price, with the money they
gained at the egg-harvest. Humboldt and Bonpland
bought several animals, which they kept throughout the
rest of their passage on the river, and studied their man-
ners. Among these was a little monkey called the titi.

No other monkey has so much the physiognomy of a
child as the titi; there is the same expression of inno-

1U THE MONKEY'S TASTE IX ART.

cence, the same playful smile, the same rapidity in tlie
transition from joy to sorrow. Its large eyes are in-
Btantly filled with tears, when it is seized with fear. It
is extremely fond of insects, particularly of spiders. The
sagacity of this little animal is so great that one brought
in their boat to Angostura distinguished perfectly the
different plates annexed to one of Cuvier's works on
Natural History. The engravings of this work were
not coloured ; yet the titi advanced rapidly its little hand
in the hope of catching a grasshopper or a wasp, every
time the travellers showed it the plate, on which these
insects were represented. It remained perfectly indiffer-
ent when it was shown engravings of skeletons or heads
of rnammiferous animals. When several of these little
monkeys, shut up in the same cage, were exposed to the
rain, they twisted their tail round their neck, and inter-
twined their arms and legs to warm one another. The
hunters told the travellers that in the forests they often
met groups of ten or twelve of these animals, whilst
others sent forth lamentable cries, because they wished
to enter the group to find warmth and shelter. By
shooting arrows dipped in weak poison at one of these
groups, a great number of young monkeys are taken
alive at once. The titi in falling remains clinging to its
mother, and if it be not wounded by the fall, it does not
quit the shoulder or the neck of the dead animal. Most
of those that wore found alive in the huts of the Indians,
had been taken thus from the dead bodies of their
mothers.

To gain something in breadth in their narrow canoe
the travellers constructed a sorl of lattice-work on the
stern with branches of trees, that extended on each side

THE ROOF OF LEAVES. 145

beyond the gunwale. Unfortunately, the roof of leaves,
that covered this lattice- work, was so low that they were
obliged to lie down, without seeing anything, or, if
seated, to sit nearly double. The necessity of carrying
the canoe across the rapids, and even from one river to
another, and the fear of giving too much hold to the
wind, by making the roof higher, rendered this construc-
tion necessary. The roof was intended to cover four
persons, lying on the deck or lattice-work of brush-wood ;
but their legs reached far beyond it, and when it rained
half their bodies were wet. Their couches consisted of
ox-hides or tiger-skins, spread upon branches of trees,
which were painfully felt through so thin a covering.
The fore part of the boat was filled with Indian rowers,
furnished with paddles, three feet long, in the form of
spoons. They were all naked, seated two by two, and
they kept time in rowing with a surprising uniformity,
singing songs of a sad and monotonous character. The
small cages containing the birds and the monkeys of
the travellers, the number of which increased as they
advanced, were hung, some to the roof and others to the
bow of the boat. This was their travelling menagerie.
Every night, when they established their watch, their
collection of animals and instruments occupied the centre ;
around these were placed first their hammocks, then the
hammocks of the Indians ; and on the outside were the
fires which were thought indispensable against the attacks
of the jaguar.

In a canoe not three feet wide, and so encumbered,
there remained no other place for the dried plants,
trunks, sextants, dipping-needles, and the meteorological
instruments, than the space below the lattice-work of

146 STOKMY WEATHER.

branches, on which Humboldt and Bonpland were com-
pelled to remain stretched the greater part of the day.
If they wished to take the least object out of a trunk, or
to use an instrument, it was necessary to row ashore and
land. To these inconveniences were joined the torment
of the mosquitos which swarmed under the roof, and the
heat radiated from the leaves of the palm-trees, the upper
surface of which was continually exposed to the solar
jays. They attempted every instant, but always without
success, to mend their situation. While one of them
hid himself under a sheet to ward off the insects, the
other insisted on having green wood lighted beneath the
roof in the hope of driving away the mosquitos by the
smoke. The painful sensations of the eyes, and the
increase of heat, already stifling, rendered both these
contrivances alike impracticable.

On the 11th of April they found the course of the
river encumbered by blocks of granite rocks. They
passed on the west the Cano Orupe, and then a great
rock known by the name of the Rock of the Tiger. The
river there was so deep, that no bottom could be found
with a line of twenty-two fathoms. Towards evening
the weather became cloudy and gloomy. The proximity
of the storm was marked by squalls alternating with dead
calms. The rain was violent, and the roof of foliage,
under which the travellers lay, afforded but little shelter.
Happily these showers drove away the mosquitos for
some time. They found themselves before the cataract
of Oariven, and the impulse of the waters was so strong,
that they had greal difficulty in gaining the land. They
were continually driven hack to the middle of the cur-
rent. • At length twoSalive Indians, excellent swimmers,

RIVERS OBSTRUCTED BY ROCKS. 14 7

leaped into the water, and having drawn the boat to
shore by means of a rope, made it fast to a shelf of bare
rock, on which they passed the night. The thunder
continued to roll during a part of the night ; the swell
of the river became considerable ; and they were several
times afraid that their frail bark would be driven from
the shore by the impetuosity of the waves.

The next day they found the bed of the river, to the
length of thirty -six hundred feet, full of granite rocks.
They passed through channels that were not five feet
broad. Their canoe was sometimes jammed between
two blocks of granite. When the current was too violent
to be resisted the rowers leaped into the water, and
fastened a rope to the point of a rock, to warp the boat
along. This manoeuvre was very tedious ; and the tra-
vellers sometimes availed themselves of it, to climb the
rocks among which they were entangled. The rocks
were of all dimensions, rounded, very black, glossy like
lead, and destitute of vegetation. It was an extraordinary
phenomenon to see the waters of one of the largest rivers
on the globe in some sort disappear. They perceived,
even far from the shore, those immense blocks of granite
rising from the ground, and leaning one against another.
The intervening channels in the rapids were more than
twenty-five fathoms deep ; and were the more difficult to
be observed, as the rocks were often narrow towards their
bases, and formed vaults suspended over the surface of
the river.

From the mouth of the Meta, the Orinoco appeared to
be freer of shoals and rocks. Thev navigated in a channel
three thousand feet broad. The Indians remained row-
ing in the boat, without towing or pushing it forward

148 THE MISSION OF SAN BORJA.

with their arms, and wearying the travellers with tneir
wild cries. It was night when they reached the Cataract

of Tabaje. As the Indians would not hazard passing the
cataract, they slept on a very incommodious spot, on the
shelf of a rock, with a slope of more than eighteen
degrees, and of which the crevices sheltered a swarm of
hats. They heard the cries of the jaguar very near them
daring the whole night. The jaguars were answered
by their great dog in lengthened howlings. Humboldt
waited the appearance of the stars in vain : the sky was
exceedingly black; and the hoarse sounds of the cascades
of the Orinoco mingled with the rolling of the distant
thunder.

Early in the morning of the 13th they passed the
rapids of Tabaje, and again disembarked. Father Zea,
who accompanied them, desired to perform mass in
the New Mission of San Borja, established two years
before. They found there six houses inhabited by un-
catechised Guahibos. They differed in nothing from the
wild Indians. Their eyes, which were large and black,
had more vivacity than those of the Indians who inha-
bited the ancient missions. They were offered brand}^,
but they would not even taste it. The faces of all the
young girls were marked with round black spots; like
the patches by which the ladies of Europe formerly
imagined they set off the whiteness of their skins. The
bodies of the Guahibos were not painted. Several of
them had boards, of which they seemed proud; and,
taking the white men by the chin, they showTed them
by signs, thai they were made like them.

The Orinoco, in running from south to north, was
crossed by a chain of granitic mountains. Twice con

ROCKS AND TORRENTS. 119

fined in its course, it turbulently broke on the rocks.
Nothing could be grander than the aspect. of this spot.
It was traversed, in an extent of more than five miles,
by innumerable dikes of rock, forming so many natural
dams. The space between these dikes was filled with
islands of different dimensions ; some hilly, divided into
several peaks, and twelve or fifteen hundred feet in
length, others small, low, and like mere shoals. These
islands divided the river into a number of torrents, which
boiled up as they broke against the rocks. The jaguas
and cucuritos with plumy leaves, with which all the
islands were covered, seemed like groves of palm-trees
rising from the foamy surface of the waters. Blocks of
granite were heaped together, as in the moraines which
the glaciers of Switzerland drive before them. The
river was ingulfed in caverns ; and in one of these
caverns the travellers heard the water roll at once over
their heads and beneath their feet. The Orinoco seemed
divided into a multitude of arms or torrents, each of
which sought to force a passage through the rocks. They
were struck with the little water to be seen in the bed
of the river, the frequency of subterraneous falls, and the
tumult of the waters breaking on the rocks in foam.

From Caracas the travellers proceeded to Atures. The
missionary at Atures related to them a striking instance
of the familiarity of a jaguar. Some months before their
arrival, a jaguar, which was thought to be young, though
of a large size, had wounded a child in playing with him.
The facts of this case, which were verified to them on the
spot, are not without interest in the history of the man-
ners of animals. Two Indian children, a boy and a girl,
about eight and nine years of age, were seated on the

15 I THE HAIRY MAN OF THE WOODS.

grass near the village of Atures, in the middle of a
rannah. At two o'clock in the afternoon, a jaguar
issued from the forest, and approached the childr< o,
bounding around them ; sometimes he hid himself in the
high grass, sometimes he sprang forward, his back bent,
his head hung down, in the manner of a cat. The little
boy, ignorant of his danger, seemed to be sensible of it
only when the jaguar with one of his paws gave him
some blows on the head. These blow.-, at first slight,
became ruder and ruder; the claws of the jaguar
wounded the child, and the blood flowed freely. The
little girl then took a branch of a tree, struck the animal,
and it fled from her. The Indians ran up at the cries of
the children, and saw the jaguar, which bounded off
without making the least show of resistance. *

The little boy, who was brought to the travellers, ap-
peared lively and intelligent. The claw of the jaguar
had torn away the skin from the lower part of the fore-
head, and there was a second scar at the top of the
head.

Among the cataracts of Atures the travellers began to
hear of the hairy man of the woods, that carried off
women, constructed huts, and sometimes ate human flesh.
The Tamancas called it achi, and the Maypures vasitri,
or " great devil." The natives and the missionaries had
no doubt of the existence of this man-shaped monkey,
of which they entertained a singular dread. Father Gili
gravely relates the history of a lady in the town of San
Carlos, in the Liangs of Venezuela, who much praised
the gentle character and attentions of the man of the
woods. She is stated to have lived several years with
one in great domestic harmony, and only requested some

ZANCUDOS AND MOSQUITOS. 151

hunters to take her back, "because she and her children
(a little hairy also) were weary of living far from the
church and the sacraments." The travellers did not see
this mythical hairy man.

They were horribly tormented in the day by mosqui-
tos and the jejen, a small venomous fly, and at night by
the zancudos. Their hands began to swell considerably,
and this swelling increased daily till their arrival on the
banks of the Temi. The means that were employed to
escape from these little plagues were extraordinary. The
good missionary Bernardo Zea, who passed his life tor-
mented by mosquitos, had constructed near the church,
on a scaffolding of palm-trees, a small apartment, in
which the travellers breathed more freely. To this they
went up in the evening, by means of a ladder, to dry
their plants and write their journal. The missionary
had observed, that the insects abounded more particu-
larly in the lowest strata of the atmosphere, that which
reaches from the ground to the height of twelve or fifteen
feet. At Maypures the Indians quitted the village at
night, to go and sleep on the little islets in the midst of
the cataracts. There they enjoyed some rest, the mos-
quitos appearing to shun air loaded with vapours. The
travellers found everywhere fewer in the middle of the
river than near its banks.

In the missions of the Orinoco, in the villages on the
banks of the river, surrounded by immense forests, the
plague of the mosquitos, afforded an inexhaustible sub-
ject of conversation. When two, persons met in the
morning, the first questions they addressed to each other
were: "How did 3^011 find the zancudos during the
night? How are we to-day for the mosquitos?" These

152 TWENTY YKAKS <>F MOSQUITOS.

questions reminded Humboldt of a Chinese form of po-
liteness, which indicated the ancient state of the country
where it took birth. Salutations were formerly made in
the Celestial Empire in the following words, "Have you
been incommoded in the night by the serpents?"

" How comfortable must people be in the moon !" said
a Salive Indian to Father Gumilla ; " She looks so beau-
tiful and so clear, that she must be free from mosquitos."
These words which denoted the infancy of a people were
remarkable. The satellite of the earth appears to all
savage nations the abode of the blessed, the country of
abundance. The Esquimaux, who counts among his
riches a plank or trunk of a tree, thrown by the currents
on a coast destitute of vegetation, sees in the moon plains
covered with forests ; the Indian of the forests of Ori-
noco beholds there open savannahs, where the inhabit-
ants are never stung by mosquitos.

At Mandavaca the travellers found an old missionary,
who told them with an air of sadness, that he had had
" his twenty years of mosquitos in America." He de-
sired them to look at his legs, " that they might be able
to tell one day beyond the sea, what the poor monks
suffer in the forests of Cassiquiare." Every sting leav-
ing a small darkish brown point, his legs were so
speckled that it was difficult to recognise the whiteness
of his skin, through the spots of coagulated blood.
Wlr.it appeared to the travellers singular, was that
the different species did not associate together, and that
at different hours of^the day they were stung by distinct
species. Every time that the scene changed, and, to use
the simple expression of the missionaries, other insects
"mounted guard," they had a few minutes, often a quar-

INSECTS MOUNTING GUARD. 153

ter of an hour, of repose. The insects that disappeared
did not have their places instantly supplied by their suc-
cessors. From half-past six in. the morning till five in
the afternoon, the air was filled with mosquitos. An
hour before sunset a species of small gnat took the place
of the mosquitos. Their presence scarcely lasted an
hour and a half; they disappeared between six and
seven in the evening, or, as they said there, after the
Angelus. After a few minutes' repose, the travellers
would be stung by zancudos, another species of gnat
with very long legs. The zancudo, the proboscis of which
contains a sharp-pointed sucker, caused the most acute
pain, and a swelling that remained several weeks. Its
hum resembled that of the European gnat, but was
louder and more prolonged. In the day-time, and even
when labouring at the oar, the natives, in order to chase
the insects, were continually giving one another smart
slaps with the palm of the hand. They even struck
themselves and their comrades mechanically during their
sleep. Near Maypures the travellers saw some young
Indians seated in a circle and rubbing cruelly each other's
backs with the bark of trees dried at the fire. Indian
women were occupied, with a degree of patience of which
the copper-coloured race alone are capable, in extracting,
by means of a sharp bone, the little mass of coagulated
blood that formed the centre of every sting, and gave
the skin a speckled appearance. One of the most bar-
barous nations of the Orinoco, that of the Ottomacs, was
acquainted with the use of mosquito-curtains, woven
from the fibres of the moriche palm-tree. At Higuerote,
on the coast of Caracas, the copper-coloured people slept
buried in the sand. In the villages of the Rio Magda-

154 THE CATARACT OF THE GUAHIBOS.

lena the Indians often invited the travellers to stretch
themselves on ox-skins, near the church, in the middle
of the great square, where they had assembled all the
cows in the neighbourhood. The proximity of cattle
gives some repose to man. The Indians of the Upper
Orinoco and the Cassiquiare, seeing that Bonpland could
not prepare his herbal, owing to the continual torment
of the mosquitos, invited him to enter their ovens. Thus
they called the little chambers, without doors or win-
dows, into which they crept horizontally through a very
low opening. When they had driven away the insects
by means of a fire of wet brushwood, which emitted a
great deal of smoke, they closed the opening of the oven.
The absence of the mosquitos was purchased dearly
enough by the excessive heat of the stagnated air, and.
the smoke of a torch of copal, which lighted the oven
during their stay in it. Bonpland, with courage and
patience well worthy of praise, dried hundreds of plants,
shut up in these ovens of the Indians.

They embarked on the morning of the 17th of April.
On the 18th they stopped at the mouth of the Rio Tomo.
The Indians went on shore, to prepare their food, and
take some repose. When the travellers reached the foot
of the Cataract of the Guahibos it was near live in the
afternoon. It was extremely difficult to go up the cur-
rent against a mass of water, precipitated from a bank of
gn : — sveral feet high. An Indian threw himself into
the water, to reach, by swimming, the rock that diviu
the cataract into two parts. A rope was fastened to the
point of this rock, and when the canoe was hauled near
enough, their instruments, their dry plants, and the pro-
vision they had collected at Atures, were landed in the

LEMONADE FOR THE MISSIONARY. 155

cataract itself. They remarked with surprise, that the
natural dam over which the river was precipitated, pre-
sented a drjr space of considerable extent, where they
stopped to see the boat go up.

The rock of gneiss exhibited circular holes, the largest
of which were four feet deep, and eighteen inches wide.
These funnels contained quartz pebbles, and appeared to
have been formed by the friction of masses rolled along
by the impulse of the waters. Their situation, in the
midst of the cataract, was singular enough, but unat-
tended by the smallest danger. The missionary, who
accompanied them, had his fever-fit on him. In order
to quench the thirst by which he was tormented, the
idea suggested itself to them of preparing a refreshing
beverage for him in one of the excavations of the rock.
They had taken on board at Atures an Indian basket
filled with sugar, limes, and grenadillas. As they were
destitute of large vessels for holding and mixing liquids,
they poured the water of the river, by means of a cala-
bash, into one of the holes of the rock : to this they
added sugar and lime-juice. In a few minutes they had
an excellent beverage.

After an hour of expectation they saw their boat
arrive above the cataract, and were soon ready to depart.
They were now overtaken by a storm, accompanied
happily by no wind, but the rain fell in torrents. After
rowing awhile, the pilot declared, that, far from gaining
upon the current, they were again approaching the cata-
ract. These moments of uncertainty appeared to them
very long ; the Indians spoke only in whispers, as they
always did when they thought their situation perilous.
They redoubled their efforts, and the travellers arrived

156 THE VILLAGE OF MATPUBES.

at nightfall, without any accident, in the port of May-
pures. The night was extremely dark, and it was
two hours or more before they could reach the village.
They were wet to the skin. In proportion as the rain
ceased, the zancudoa re-appeared, with that voracity
which tipulary insects always display immediately after
a storm. Their fellow-travellers were uncertain whether
it would be best to stop in the port or proceed on their
way on foot, in spite of the darkness of the night.
Father Zea was determined to reach his home. He had
given directions for the construction of a large house of
two stories, which was to be begun by the Indians of
the mission. " You will there find," said he gravely, " the
same conveniences as in the open air; I have neither
a bench nor a table, but you will not suffer so much
from the flies, which are less troublesome in the mission
than on the banks of the river." They followed the
counsel of the missionary, who caused torches of copal
to be lighted. Thev walked at first over beds of rock,
which were bare and slippery, and then entered a thick
grove of palm-trees. They were twice obliged to pass
a stream on trunks of trees hewn down. The torches
had already ceased to give light. Being formed on a
strange principle, the woody substance which resembled
the wick surrounding the resin, they emitted more smoke
than light, and were easily extinguished. The Indian
pilot, who expressed himself with some facility in Span-
ish, told the travellers of snakes, water-serpents, and
tigers, by which they might be attacked.

Arriving during the night at Maypures they were
forcibly struck by the solitude of the place ; the Indians
were plunged in profound sleep, and nothing was heard

THE CATARACT OF MAYPURES. 15?

but the cries of nocturnal birds, and the distant sound of
the cataract. In the calm of the night, amid the deep
repose of nature, the monotonous sound of a fall of
water had in it something sad and solemn. They re-
mained three days at Maypures.

Humboldt and Bonpland were enraptured with the
cataract of Maypures, and they often visited the little
mountain of Manimi to gaze upon it. A foaming sur-
face of four miles in length presented itself at once to
the eye : iron-black masses of rock, resembling ruins and
battlemented towers, rose frowning from the waters.
Eocks and islands were adorned with the luxuriant vege-
tation of the tropical forest; a perpetual mist hovered
over the waters, and the summits of the lofty palms
pierced through the clouds of spray and vapour. When
the rays of the glowing evening sun were refracted in
these humid exhalations a magic optical effect began.
Coloured bows shone, vanished and reappeared; and
the ethereal image was swayed to and fro by the breath
of the sportive breeze. During the long rainy season
the streaming waters brought down islands of vegetable
mould, and thus the naked rocks were studded with
bright flower-beds adorned with Melastomas and Droseras,
and with small silver-leaved mimosas and ferns.

The calm of the atmosphere, and the tumultuous
movement of the waters, produced a contrast peculiar
to this zone. Here no breath of wind ever agitated the
foliage, no cloud veiled the splendour of the heaven ; a
great mass of light was diffused in the air, on the earth
strewn with plants with glossy leaves, and on the bed
of the river, which extended as far as the eye could
reach.

158 THE MOUTH OF THE ZAMA.

They spent two days and a half in the little village of
Maypures, on the hanks of the great Upper Cataract,
and on the 21st of April embarked in the canoe they
had obtained from the missionary of Carichana. It
was much damaged by the shoals it had struck against,
and the carelessness of the Indians; but still greater dan-
gers awaited it. It had to be dragged over land, across
an isthmus of thirty-six thousand feet; from the Rio
Tuamini to the Rio Negro, to go up by the Cassiquiare
to the Orinoco, and to repass the two cataracts.

They landed at the mouth of the Rio Viehada or Yisata
to examine the plants of that part of the country. The
scenery was very singular. The forest was thin, and an
innumerable quantity of small rocks rose from the plain.
These formed massy prisms, ruined pillars, and solitary
towers fifteen or twenty feet high. Some were shaded
by the trees of the forest, others had their summits
crowned with palms.

Passing the Cano Pirajavi on the east, and then a small
river on the west, they rested on the night of the 22d on
the shore of the Orinoco, at the mouth of the Zama.
Notwithstanding the " black waters " of the Zama, they
suffered greatly from insects. The night was beautiful,
without a breath of wind in the lower regions of the at-
mosphere, but towards two in the morning they saw thick
clouds crossing the zenith rapidly from east to west.
When, declining towards the horizon, they traversed the
grc;it nebulae of Sagittarius and the Ship, they appeared
of a dark blue.

The travellers left the mouth of the Zama at five in the
morning of the 23d. The river continued to be skirted
on both sides by a thick forest. The mountains on the

UP THE guavia.ee. 159

east seemed gradually to retire farther back. They passed
first the mouth of the Rio Mataveni, and afterwards an
islet of a very singular form ; a square granitic rock that
rose in the middle of the water. It was called by the mis-
sionaries the Little Castle. They passed the night on the
right bank opposite the mouth of the Rio Siucurivapu,
near a rock called Aricagua. During the night an in-
numerable quantity of bats issued from the clefts of the
rock, and hovered around their hammocks.

On the 24th a violent rain obliged them early to re-
turn to their boat. They departed at two o'clock, after
having lost some books, which they could not find in the
darkness of the night, on the rock of Aricagua. The
river ran straight from south to north ; its banks were
low, and shaded on both sides by thick forests. They
passed the mouths of the Ucata, the Arapa, and the
Caranaveni. About four in the afternoon they landed
at the Indian plantations of the mission of San Fernando.
The good people wished to detain them among them, but
they continued to go up against the current, which ran
at the rate of five feet a second. They entered the mouth
of the Guaviare on a dark night, passed the point where
the Rio Atabapo joins the Guaviare, and arrived at the
mission after midnight. They were lodged as usual at
the Convent, that is, in the house of the missionary, who,
though much surprised at their unexpected visit, never-
theless received them with the greatest hospitality.

During the night, they had left, almost unperceivecl,
the waters of the Orinoco ; and at sunrise found them-
selves as if transported to a new country, on the banks
of a river the name of which they had scarcely ever
heard pronounced, and which was to conduct them, by

160 THE CONQUEST OF SOULS.

the portage of Pimichin, to the Rio Negro, on the fron-
tiers of Brazil. " Yon will go up," said the president
of the missions, who resided at San Fernando, "-first the
Atabapo, then the Temi, and finally, the Tnamini. When
the force of the current of 'black waters' hinders
you from advancing, you will be conducted out of the
bed of the river through forests, which }'OU will find in-
undated. Two monks only are settled in those desert
places, between the Orinoco and the Rio Negro ; but at
Javita you will be furnished with the means of having
your canoe drawn over land in the course of four days
to Cano Pimichin. If it be not broken to pieces you
will descend the Rio Negro without any obstacle (from
north-west to south-east) as far as the little fort of San
Carlos ; you wTill go up the Cassiquiare (from south to
north), and then return to San Fernando in a month,
descending the Upper Orinoco from east to west." Such
was the plan traced for their passage, and they carried it
into effect without danger, though not without some
suffering, in the space of thirty-three days.

In their walks together the president of the mission
gave the travellers an animated account of his incur-
sions on the Rio Guaviare. He related to them how much
these journeys, undertaken for the conquest of souls, were
desired by the Indians of the missions. All, even women
and old men, took part in them. Under the pretext of
recovering neophytes who had deserted the village, chil-
dren above eight or ten years of age were carried off, and
distributed among the Indians of the missions as serfs.

Three years before the arrival of the travellers the
missionary of San Fernando led his Indians to the
banks of the Rio Guaviare, on one of those hostile in-

THE CAPTIVE MOTHER. 161

cursions. They found . in an Indian hut a Guahiba
woman with her three children, two of whom were still
infants, occupied in preparing the flour of cassava.
Resistance was impossible ; the father was gone to fish,
and the mother tried in vain to flee with her children.
Scarcely had she reached the savannah when she was
seized by the Indians of the mission. The mother and
her children were bound, and dragged to the bank of the
river. The monk, seated in his boat, waited the issue of
an expedition of which he shared not the danger. Had
the mother made too violent a resistance the Indians
would have killed her, for everything was permitted for
the sake of the conquest of souls, and it was particularly
desirable to capture children, who might be treated in
the mission as slaves of the Christians. The prisoners
were carried to San Fernando, in the hope that the mother
would be unable to find her way back to her home by
land. Separated from her other children who had ac-
companied their father on the day in which she had been
carried off, the unhappy woman showed signs of the
deepest despair. She attempted to take back to her
home the children who had been seized by the mission-
ary ; and she fled with them repeatedly from the village
of San Fernando. But the Indians never failed to re-
capture her ; and the missionary, after having caused her
to be mercilessly beaten, took the cruel resolution of
separating the mother from the two children who had
been carried off with her. She was conveyed alone to
the missions of the Rio Negro, going up the Atabapo.
Slightly bound, she was seated at the bow of the boat,
ignorant of the fate that awaited her ; but she judged by
the direction of the sun, that she was removing farther

IGli HER PUNISHMENT AND ESCAPE.

and farther from her hut and her native country. She
succeeded in breaking her bonds, threw herself into the
water, and swam to the left bank of the Atabapo. The
current carried her to a shelf of rock, which bears her
name to this day — The Mother's Rock. She landed and
took shelter in the woods, but the president of the mis-
sions ordered the Indians to row to the shore, and follow
the traces of the Gruahiba. In the evening she was
brought back. Stretched upon the rock, a cruel punish-
ment was inflicted upon her with straps of manati leather,
which served for whips in that country, and with which
the alcaldes were always furnished. The unhappy wo-
man, her hands tied behind her back, was then dragged
to the mission of Javita.

She was there thrown into one of the caravanserais.
It was the rainy season, and the night wras profoundly
dark. Forests till then believed to be impenetrable
separated the mission of Javita from that of San Fer-
nando, which was twenty-five leagues distant in a straight
line. No other route was known than that by the
rivers ; no man ever attempted to go by land from one
village to another. But such difficulties could not deter
a mother, separated from her children. The Gruahiba
was carelessly guarded in the caravanserai. Her arms
being wounded, the Indians of Javita had loosened her
bonds, unknown to the missionary and the alcaldes.
Having succeeded by the help of her teeth in break-
ing them entirely, she disappeared during the night; and
at the fourth sunrise was seen at the mission of San
Fernando, hovering around the hut where her children
were confined. " What that woman performed," added
the missionary, who gave the travellers this sad narra-

UP THE RIO TEMI. 163

tive, "the most robust Indian would not have ventured
to undertake I" She traversed the woods when the sky
was constantly covered with clouds, and the sun during
the whole days appeared but for a few minutes. Did the
Course of the waters direct her way ? The inundations
of the rivers forced her to go far from the banks of the
main stream, through the midst of woods where the
movement of the water was almost imperceptible. How
often must she have been stopped by the thorny lianas,
that formed a network around the trunks they entwined !
How often must she have swum across the rivulets that
ran into the Atabapo ! This unfortunate woman was
asked how she had sustained herself during the four
days. She said that, exhausted with fatigue, she could
find no other nourishment than black ants. The travel-
lers pressed the missionary to tell them whether the
Guahiba had peacefully enjoyed the happiness of remain-
ing with her children ; and if any repentance had fol-
lowed this excess of cruelty. He would not satisfy their
curiosity ; but at their return from the Eio Negro they
learned that the Indian mother was again separated from
her children, and sent to one of the missions of the Upper
Orinoco. She there died, refusing all kind of nourish-
ment.

Above the mouth of the Guasucari they entered the
Rio Temi. The country exhibited the uniform aspect
of forests covering ground perfectly flat. Wherever the
river had formed caves the forest was inundated to the
extent of more than half a league square. To avoid
the sinuosities of the river and shorten the passage, the
navigation was performed here in an extraordinary man-
ner. The Indians made the travellers leave the bed of

164 DOLPHINS IN THE FOREST.

the river; and they proceeded southward across the
forest, through open channels of four or five feet broad.
The depth of the water seldom exceeded half a fathom.
These channels were formed in the inundated forest like
paths on dry ground. The Indians, in going from one
mission to another, passed with their boats as much as
possible by the same way ; but the communications not
being frequent the force of vegetation sometimes pro-
duced unexpected obstacles. An Indian, furnished with
a machete, a great knife, the blade of which was fourteen
inches long, stood at the head of their boat, employed
continually in chopping off the branches that crossed
each other from the two sides of the channel. In the
thickest part of the forest they were astonished by an
extraordinary noise. On beating the bushes, a shoal of
fresh- water dolphins, four feet long, surrounded their
boat. These animals had concealed themselves beneath
the branches of a Bombax ceiba. They fled across the
forest, throwing out those spouts of compressed air and
water which have given them in every language the name
of "blowers." How singular was this spectacle in an
inland spot, three or four hundred leagues from the
mouths of the Orinoco and the Amazon !

At five in the evening they regained with some diffi-
culty the bed of the river. Their canoe remained fast
i'nv some time between two trunks of trees; and it was
no sooner disengaged than they reached a spot where
several small channels crossed each other, so that the pilot
was puzzled to distinguish the most open path. They
uavigated through a fo rest so thick that they could guide
themselves neither by the sun nor by the stars.

On the 1st of May the Indians chose to depart long

SAN ANTONIO DE JAVITA. 165

before sunrise. The travellers were stirring before them,
however, because Humboldt waited, though vainly, for a
star ready to pass the meridian. In those humid regions
covered with forests, the nights became more obscure in
proportion as they drew nearer to the Rio Negro and the
interior of Brazil. They remained in the bed of the river
till daybreak, being afraid of losing themselves among
the trees. At sunrise they again entered the inundated
forest, to avoid the force of the current. On reaching
the junction of the Temi with another little river, the
Tuamini, the waters of which were equally black, they
proceeded along the latter to the south-west. This direc-
tion led them near the mission of Javita, which was
founded on the banks of the Tuamini ; and at this
Christian settlement they were to find the aid necessary
for transporting their canoe by land to the Rio Negro.
They arrived at San Antonio de Javita shortly before
noon.

They went every day to see how their canoe advanced
on the portages. Twenty-three Indians were employed
in dragging it by land, placing branches of trees to serve
as rollers. The canoe being very large it was necessary
to avoid with particular care any friction on the bottom ;
consequently the passage occupied more than four days.
Hearing on the 5th that it had arrived, they set off and
followed it on foot, fording a great number of streams
which were considered dangerous on account of the
vipers with which the marshes abounded. They passed
the night in a hut lately abandoned by an Indian family,
who had left behind them their fishing-tackle, pottery,
nets made of the petioles of palm-trees ; in short, all that
composed the household furniture of that careless race of

166 VIPERS IN THE HUT.

men, little attached to property. A great store of resin
was accumulated round the house. This was used by the
Indians to pitch their canoes, and fix the bony spines of
the ray at the points of their arrows. They found in the
Bame place jars filled with a vegetable milk, which served
as a varnish, and was celebrated in the missions by the
name of " milk for painting." Before they took possession
of the deserted hut, the Indians killed two great mapanare
serpents. These serpents grow to four or five feet long.
As the inside of the hut was filled with grass, and Hum-
boldt and Bonpland were lying on the ground, there
being no means of suspending their hammocks, they
were not without inquietude during the night. In
the morning a large viper was found on lifting the
jaguar-skin upon which one of their domestics had
slept.

They embarked on the Rio Negro on the 8th of May.
Passing the mission of Maroa, and the mouths of tho
Aquio and the Tomo, they arrived at the little mission
of San Miguel de Davipe. Here they bought provisions,
among which were some fowls and a pig. This purchase
greatly interested their Indians, who had been a long
time deprived of meat. They pressed the travellers to
depart in order to reach the island of Dapa, where the
pig was to be killed and roasted during the night. They
reached this island at sunset, and were surprised to find
some cultivated ground on it, and on the top of a small
hill an Indian hut. Four natives were seated round a
fire of brushwood, in this hut, and they were eating a
sort of white paste with black spots. These black spots
proved to be large ants, the hinder parts of which resem-
bled a lump of grease. They had been dried, and black-

AN EXCELLENT ANT PASTE. I 0 7

ened by smoke. The travellers saw several bags of
them suspended above the fire. These good people paid
but little attention to their guests ; yet there were more
than fourteen persons in this confined hut, lying naked
in hammocks hung one above another. When Father
Zea arrived, he was received with great demonstrations
of joy. Two young women came down from their ham-
mocks, to prepare for them cakes of cassava. In answer
to some inquiries which were put to them through an
interpreter, they answered that cassava grew poorly on
the island, but that it was a good land for ants, and food
was not wanting. In fact, these ants furnished subsist-
ence to the Indians of the Rio Negro and the Guainia.
They did not eat the ants as a luxury, but because the
fat of ants was a very substantial food. When the
cakes of cassava were prepared, Father Zea, whose fever
seemed rather to sharpen than to enfeeble his appetite,
ordered a little bag to be brought to him filled with
smoked ants. He mixed these bruised insects with flour
of cassava, which he pressed Humboldt and Bonpland to
taste. It somewhat resembled rancid butter mixed with
crumb of bread. The cassava had not an acid taste, but
some remains of European prejudices prevented their
joining in the praises bestowed by the good missionary
on what he called " an excellent ant paste."

The violence of the rain obliged them to sleep in this
crowded hut. The Indians slept only from eight till two
in the morning ; the rest of the time they employd in
conversing in their hammocks, and preparing their bitter
beverage of cupana. They threw fresh fuel on the fire,
and complained of cold, although the temperature of the
air was at 70°. This custom of being awake, and even

]68 STOPrED AT SAN CARLOS.

on foot, four or five hours before sunrise, was genera]
among the Indians of Guiana.

The travellers left the island of Papa long before day-
break ; and notwithstanding the rapidity of the current,
and the activity of their rowers, their passage to the fort
of San Carlos del Iiio Negro occupied twelve hours.

They were informed at San Carlos that, on account of
political circumstances, it was difficult at that moment to
pass from the Spanish to the Portuguese settlements;
but they did not know till after their return to Europe
the extent of the danger to which they would have been
exposed in proceeding as far as Barcellos. It was known
at Brazil, through the medium of the newspapers, that
Humboldt was going to visit the missions of the Rio
Negro, and to examine the natural canal which united
t wo great systems of rivers. In those desert forests in-
struments had been seen only in the hands of the com-
missioners of the boundaries; and at that time the sub-
altern agents of the Portuguese government could not
conceive how a man of sense could expose himself to the
fatigues of a long journey, " to measure lands that did
not belong to him." Orders had been issued to seize his
person, his instruments, and above all, his registers of
astronomical observations. The pair of dangerous na-
turalists were to be conducted by way of the Amazon to
Grand Para, and thence sent back to Lisbon. But for-
tunately for Humboldt, the government at Lisbon, on
being informed of the zeal of its ignorant agents, in-
stantly gave orders that he should not be disturbed in
his operations ; but that on the contrary they should be
encouraged, if he traversed any part of the Portuguese
possessions.

CLOUDY WEATHER. 169

On the 10th of May, their canoe being ready, they em-
barked to go up the Eio Negro as far as the mouth of
the Cassiquiare, and to devote themselves to researches
on the real course of that river, which united the Orinoco
to the Amazon. The morning was fine ; but, in propor-
tion as the heat augmented, the sky became obscured.
The air was so saturated by water in these forests, that
the vesicular vapours became visible on the least increase
of evaporation at the surface of the earth. The breeze
being never felt, the humid strata were not displaced and
renewed by dryer air. The travellers were every day
more grieved at the aspect of the cloudy sky. Bonpland
was losing by this excessive humidity the plants he had
collected ; and Humboldt, for his part, was afraid lest he
should again find the fogs of the Eio Negro in the valley
of the Cassiquiare. No one in these missions for half a
century past had doubted the existence of communica-
tion between two great systems of rivers ; the important
point of their voyage was confined therefore to fixing by
astronomical observations the course of the Cassiquiare,
and particularly the point of its entrance into the Eio
Negro, and that of the bifurcation of the Orinoco. With-
out a sight of the sun and the stars this object would be
frustrated, and they would have exposed themselves in
vain to long and painful privations. Their fellow-travel-
lers would have returned by the shortest way, that of
the Pimichin and the small rivers ; but Bonpland and
Humboldt persisted in the plan of the voyage, which
they had traced for themselves in passing the Great Cata-
racts. They had already travelled one hundred and
eighty leagues in a boat from San Fernando de Apure to
San Carlos, on the Eio Apure, the Orinoco, the Atabapo,

8

1/0 THE WHITE WATERS.

the Temi, the Tuamini, and the Rio Negro In again
entering the Orinoco by the Cassiquiare they would have
to navigate three hundred and twenty leagues, from San
Carlos to Angostura. By this way they would have to
struggle against the currents during ten days ; the rest
was to be performed by going down the stream of the
Orinoco. It would have been blamable, they thought,
to have suffered themselves to be discouraged by the fear
of a cloudy sky, and by the mosquitos of the Cassiquiare.
Their Indian pilot promised them the sun, and " those
great stars that eat the clouds," as soon as they should
have left the black waters of the Guaviare. They there-
fore carried out their first project of returning to San
Fernando de Atabapo by the Cassiquiare; and, fortu-
nately for their researches, the prediction of the Indian
was verified. The white waters brought them by degrees
a more serene sky, stars, mosquitos, and crocodiles.

They reached San Carlos again, and Humboldt passed
a part of the night in the open air, waiting vainly for
stars. The air wras misty, notwithstanding the white
waters, which were to lead them beneath an ever-starry
sky.

They passed three nights at San Carlos, Humboldt
watching during the greater part of them, in the hope of
seizing the moment of the passage of some star over the
meridian. That he might have nothing to reproach him-
self with, he kept his instruments always ready for an
observation.

On the banks of the Cassiquiare he purchased from
the Indians two fine large birds, a toucan, and a species
of macaw, seventeen inches long, having the whole
body of a purple colour. lie had already in his canoe

THEIR BIRDS AND MONKEYS. 171

seven parrots, two manakins, a motmot, two guans, two
manaviris, and eight monkeys. Father Zea whispered
some complaints at the daily augmentation of this ambu-
latory collection. The toucan resembles the raven in
manners and intelligence. It is a courageous bird, but
easily tamed. Its long and stout beak serves to defend
it at a distance. It makes itself master of the house,
steals whatever it can come at, and loves to bathe often
and fish on the banks of the river. The toucan that
Humboldt bought was very young ; yet it took delight,
during the whole voyage, in teasing the nocturnal mon-
keys, which were melancholy and irritable.

Most of the animals were confined in small wicker
cages ; others ran at full liberty in all parts of the boat.
At the approach of rain the macaws sent forth noisy
cries, the toucan wanted to reach the shore to fish, and
the little monkeys went in search of Father Zea, to take
shelter in the large sleeves of his Franciscan habit. These
incidents sometimes amused the travellers so much that
they forgot the torment of the mosquitos. At night they
placed a leather case containing their provisions in the
centre ; then their instruments, and the cages of their
animals ; their hammocks were suspended around the
cages, and beyond were those of the Indians. The ex-
terior circle was formed by the fires which were lighted
to keep off the jaguars. Such was the order of their en-
campment on the banks of the Cassiquiare.

Among the Indians in their canoe was a fugitive from
Guaisia, who had become sufficiently civilized in a few
weeks to be useful to them in placing the instruments ne-
cessary for their observations at night. He was no less
mild than intelligent, and they had some desire of taking

172 A CANNIBAL AMONG THEM.

him into their service. "What whs their horror when, talk-
ing to-him by means of an interpreter, they learned, that
the flesh of the marimonde monkeys, though blacker,
appeared to him to have the taste of human flesh. lie
told them that " his relations preferred the inside of the
hands in man, as in bears." This assertion was accom-
panied with gestures of savage gratification. They in-
quired of this young man, so calm and so affectionate in
the little services which he rendered them, whether he
still felt sometimes a desire to eat of a Cheruvichahena.
He answered, without discomposure, that, living in the
mission, he would only eat what he saw was eaten by
the Padres.

As they approached the bifurcation of the Orinoco
their passage became troublesome, on account of the
luxuriance of the vegetation. There was no longer
a bank: a palisade of tufted trees formed the margin
of the river. They saw a canal, one thousand two
hundred feet broad, bordered by two enormous walls,
clothed with lianas and foliage. They often tried to
land, but without success. Towards sunset they sailed
along for an hour seeking to discover, not an opening,
since none existed, but a spot less wooded, where their
Indians by means of the hatchet and manual labour,
could clear space enough for a resting-place for twelve
or thirteen persons. It was impossible to pass the night
in the canoe; the mosquitos, which tormented them dur-
ing the day, accumulated towards evening beneath the
roof covered with palm-leaves, which served to shelter
them from the rain. Their hands aud faces had never
before been so much swelled. Father Zea, who had till
then boasted of having in his missions of the cataracts

NIGHT IN THE FOREST. 173

the largest and fiercest mosquitos, at length gradually
acknowledged that the sting of the insects of the Cassi-
quiare was the most painful he had ever felt. They ex-
perienced great difficulty, amid a thick forest, in finding
wood to make a fire, the branches of the trees being so
full of sap that they would scarcely burn. There being
no bare shore, it was liardty possible to procure old
wood, which the Indians called zuood baked in the sun.
However, fire was necessary to them only as a defence
against the beasts of the forest ; for they had such a
scarcity of provision that they had little need of fuel for
the purpose of preparing their food.

On the 18th of May, towards evening, they discovered
a spot where wild cocoa-trees were growing on the bank
of the river. It rained violentty, but the pothoses, arums,
and lianas, furnished so thick a natural trellis, that they
were sheltered as under a vault of foliage. The Indians,
whose hammocks were placed on the edge of the river,
interwove the heliconias, so as to form a kind of roof
over them. Their fires lighted up, to the height of fifty or
sixty feet, the palm-trees, the lianas loaded with flowers,
and the columns of white smoke, which ascended in a
straight line towards the sky.

They passed the night of the 20th, the last of their
passage on the Cassiquiare, near the point of the bifur-
cation of the Orinoco. They had some hope of being able
to make an astronomical observation, as falling-stars of
remarkable magnitude were visible through the vapours
that veiled the sky ; whence they concluded that the stra-
tum of vapours must be very thin, since meteors of this
kind were scarcely ever seen below a cloud. Those they
now beheld shot towards the north, and succeeded each

174 THE OBOES OF THE JAGUARS.

other at almost equal intervals. The Indians, who seldom
ennobled by their expressions the wanderings of the ima-
gination, named the falling-stars the urine, and the dew
the spittle of the stars. The clouds thickened anew, and
the travellers discerned neither the meteors, nor the real
stars, for which they had waited during several days.

They had been told that they should find the insects
at Esmeralda still more cruel and voracious, than in the
branch of the Orinoco which they were going up ; never-
theless they indulged the hope of at length sleeping in a
spot that was inhabited, and of taking some exercise in
herbalizing. This anticipation was, however, disturbed
at their last resting-place on the Cassiquiare. Whilst
they were sleeping on the edge of the forest, they were
warned by the Indians, in the middle of the night, that
they heard very near the cries of a jaguar. These cries,
they alleged, came from the top of some neighbouring
trees.

As their fires burnt brightly, the travellers paid little
attention to the cries of the jaguars, who had been
attracted by the smell and noise of their dog. This
animal began at first to bark ; and when the jaguars drew
nearer, to howl, hiding himself below the hammocks
of the travellers. Great was their grief, when in the
morning, at the moment of re-embarking, the Indians
informed them that the dog had disappeared ! There
could be no doubt that he had been carried off* by the
jaguars. Perhaps, when their cries had ceased he had
wandered from the fires on the side of the beach. They
waited part of the morning, in the hope that the dog had
only strayed. Three days after they came back to the
same place; they heard again the cries of the jaguars,

THE SHOP KEEPER OF ESMERALDA. 1*75

but all their search was in vain. The dog, which had
accompanied them from Caracas, and had so often in
swimming escaped the pursuit of the crocodiles, had been
devoured' in the forest.

On the 21st they again entered the bed of the Orinoco,
three leagues below the mission of Esmeralda. It was
now a month since they had left that river near the mouth
of the Guaviare. They had still to proceed seven hundred
and fifty leagues before reaching Angostura.
■ At Esmeralda they were cordially received by an old
officer, who took them for Catalonian shopkeepers, and
who supposed that trade had led them to the missions.
On seeing packages of paper intended for drying their
plants, he smiled at their simple ignorance. "You
come," said he, " to a country where this kind of mer-
chandise has no sale ; we write little here ; and the dried
leaves of maize, the plantain- tree, and the heliconia serve
us, like paper in Europe, to wrap up needles, fish-hooks,
and other little articles of which we are careful." This
old officer united in his person the civil and ecclesiastical
authority. He taught the children the Rosary ; he
rang the bells to amuse himself; and impelled by ardent
zeal for the service of the church, he sometimes used his
chorister's wand in a manner not very agreeable to the
natives.

When they arrived at Esmeralda, the greater part of
the Indians were returning from an excursion which
they had made to the east, beyond the Rio Padamo, to
gather brazil nuts. Their return was celebrated by a
festival, which was called in the mission the festival of
brazil nuts, and which resembled the harvest-homes and
vintage-feasts of Germany. The women had prepared a

176 ROASTED MONKEYS.

quantity of fermented liquor, and during two days the
Indians were in a state of intoxication. The harvest
was celebrated by dancing and drinking. The hut
where the natives were assembled, displayed during
several days a singular aspect. There was neither table
nor bench ; but large roasted monkeys, blackened by
smoke, were ranged in regular order against the wall.

DO O

The manner of roasting these animals contributed to
render their appearance extremely disagreeable in the
eyes of the travellers. A little grating or lattice of very
hard wood was formed, and raised one foot from the
ground. The monkey was skinned, and bent into a
sitting posture ; the head generally resting on the arms,
which were meagre and long. When it was tied on the
grating, a very clear fire was kindled below. The mon-
key, enveloped in smoke and flame, was broiled and
blackened at the same time. On seeing the natives de-
vour the arm or leg of a roasted monkey, it was difficult
not to believe that this habit of eating animals so closely
resembling man in their physical organization, had, to a
certain degree, contributed to diminish the horror of can-
nibalism among these people. The flesh of monkeys is
so lean and dry, that Bonpland preserved in his collec-
tions at Paris an arm and hand, which had been broiled
over the fire at Esmeralda ; and no smell rose from them
after the lapse of a number of years.

The travellers saw the Indians dance. " The monotony
of their dancing was increased by the women not daring
to take part in it. The men, young and old, formed a
circle, holding each other's hands, and turned sometimes
to the right, sometimes to the left, for whole hours, with
silent gravity. Most frequently the dancers themselves

INDIANS DANCING. 177

were the musicians. Feeble sounds, drawn from a
series of reeds of different lengths, formed a slow and
plaintive accompaniment. The first dancer, to mark the
time, bent both knees in a kind of cadence. Sometimes
they all made a pause in their places, and executed little
oscillatory movements, bending the body from one side
to the other. When they were weary of dancing the
women brought them roasted monkeys and palm cabbage,
not forgetting their native liquors, which were strong
and heady.

Leaving Esmeralda on the afternoon of the 23d
the travellers reached the bifurcation of the Orinoco,
where they remained that night. Descending the river
the next morning they passed the mouths of the Rio
Cunucunumo, and the Guanami, and Puriname. Be-
tween the sources of the Rio Blanco, and the Rio Esse-
quibo, they met with rocks and symbolical figures. They
were also shown, near the Culimacari, on the banks of
the Cassiquiare, traces which were believed to be regular
characters. They were however only misshapen figures,
representing the heavenly bodies, together with tigers,
crocodiles, boas, and instruments used for making the
flour of cassava. It was impossible to recognise in these
painted rocks any symmetrical arrangement, or characters
with regular spaces.

The travellers stopped at the village of Santa Barbara
on the evening of the 25th. During the whole of the
next day they enjoyed the view of the fine mountains of
Sipapo, which rose at a distance of more than eighteen
leagues in the direction of north-north-west. The vege-
tation of the banks of the Orinoco was singularly varied
in this part of the country; the arborescent ferns de-

8*

178 THE RIO MATAVEM.

scended from the mountains, and mingled with the
palm-trees of the plain. They rested that night on the
island of Minisi; and, after having passed the mouths
of the little rivers Quejanuma, Ubua, and Masao, arrived,
on the 27th, at San Fernando de Atabapo. They
lodged in the same house which they had occupied a
month previously, when going up the Eio Negro. Then
they directed their course towards the south, by the
Atabapo and the Temi ; they were now returning from
the west, having made a long circuit by the Cassiquiare
and the Upper Orinoco.

Quitting San Fernando on the 27th, they arrived, by
help of the rapid current of the Orinoco, in seven hours,
at the mouth of the Rio Mataveni. They passed the
night in the open air, under the granitic rock El Cas-
tillito, which rose in the middle of the river, the form of
which reminded Humboldt of the ruin called the Mouse-
tower, opposite Bingen.

" Fair Bingen on the Rhine."

On the evening of the 31st they landed just before
sunset on the eastern bank of the Orinoco in order tc
visit the cavern of Ataruipe, the sepulchre of a de-
stroyed nation.

They climbed with difficulty, and not without some
danger, a steep rock of granite, entirely bare. It would
have hern almost impossible for them to have fixed their
feet on its smooth and sloping surface, but for large crystals
of feldspar, resisting decomposition, which stood out from
the rock, and furnished points of support. Scarcely had
they attained the summit of the mountain when they

THE CAVERN OF ATARUIPE. 179

beheld the singular aspect of the surrounding country.
The foamy bed of the waters was filled with an arclii-
pelago of islands covered with palm-trees. Westward,
on the left bank of the Orinoco, the wide-stretching
savannahs of the Meta and the Casanare resembled a
sea of verdure. The setting sun seemed like a globe of
fire suspended over the plain, and the solitary peak of
Uniana, which appeared more lofty from being wrapped
in vapours which softened its outline, all contributed to
deepen the majesty of the scene. Immediately below
them lay a deep valley, inclosed on every side. Birds of
prey and goatsuckers winged their lonely flight in this
inaccessible place. The travellers found a pleasure in
following with the eye their fleeting shadows, as they
glided slowly over the flanks of the rock.

The most remote part of the valley was covered by a
thick forest. In this shady and solitary spot, on the
declivity of a steep mountain, the cavern of Ataruipe
opened to the view. It was less a cavern than a jutting
rock, in which the waters had scooped a vast hollow
when, in the ancient revolutions of our planet, they
attained that height. In this tomb of an extinct tribe
the travellers counted nearly six hundred skeletons well
preserved, and regularly placed. Every skeleton reposed
in a sort of basket made of the petioles of the palm-tree.
These baskets had the form of a square bag. Their size was
proportioned to the age of the dead ; there were some for
infants cut off at the moment of their birth. The travel-
lers saw them from ten inches to three feet four inches long,
the skeletons in them being bent together. They were
all ranged near each other, and were so entire that not a
rib or a phalanx was wanting. The bones had been

180 l'Tsi.i: w, [JENS.

prepared in three different manners, either whitened in
the air and the sun, dyed red with anoto, or like mummies,
varnished with odoriferous resins, and enveloped in Leaves
of the heliconia, or the plantain-tree. The Indians in-
formed them that the fresh corpse was placed in damp
ground, that the flesh might be consumed by degrees;
some months afterwards it was taken out, and the flesh
remaining on the bones was scraped oil* with sharp stones.
Earthen vases half-baked were found near the baskets.
They appeared to contain the bones of the same family.
The largest of these vases, or funeral urns, were five feet
high, and three feet three inches long. Their colour was
greenish-grey, and their oval form was pleasing to the
eye. The handles were made in the shape of crocodiles
or serpents; the edges were bordered with painted mean-
ders, labyrinths, and grecqucs, in rows variously com-
bined. Such designs are found in every zone among!;
nations the farthest removed from each other, either with
respect to their respective positions on the globe, or to
the degree of civilization which they have attained.
They still adorn the common pottery made by the
inhabitants of the little mission of Maypures ; they
ornament the bucklers of the Otaheitans, the fishing-
implements of the Esquimaux, the walls of the Mexican
palace of Mitla, and the vases of ancient Greece.

They could not acquire any precise idea of the period to
which the origin of the baskets and the painted vases,
contained in the bone-cavern of Ataruipe, could betracrd.
A tradition circulated among the Guahibos, that the war-
like Atures, pursued by the Caribs, escaped to the rocks
that rose in the middle of the Great Cataracts ; and there
that nation became gradually extinct, as well as its Ian-

A MILE LOAD OF SKELETONS. 181

guage. The last families of the Atures still existed in
1767, in the time of the missionary Grili. At the period
of Humboldt's voyage an old parrot was shown at May-
pures, of which the inhabitants said, that " they did not
understand what it said, because it spoke the language of
the Atures."

The travellers opened, to the great concern of their
guides, several baskets, for the purpose of examining
attentively the form of the skulls. They were all
marked by the characteristics of the American race, with
the exception of two or three, which approached to
the Caucasian. In the middle of the Cataracts, in the
most inaccessible spots, cases were found strengthened
with iron bands, and filled with European tools, vestiges
of clothes, and glass trinkets. These articles, which had
given rise to the most absurd reports of treasures hidden
by the Jesuits, probably belonged to Portuguese traders
who had penetrated into these savage countries.

Humboldt and Bonpland took several skulls, the
skeleton of a child of six or seven years old, and two
full-grown men of the nation of the Atures, from the
cavern of Ataruipe. All these bones, partly painted red,
partly varnished with odoriferous resins, were placed in
the baskets which we have just described. They made
almost the whole load of a mule ; and as the travellers
knew the superstitious feelings of the Indians in refer-
ence to the remains of the dead after burial, they care-
fully enveloped the • baskets in mats recently woven.
Unfortunately for them, the penetration of the Indians,
and the extreme quickness of their sense of smelling,
rendered all these precautions useless. Wherever they
stopped, in the missions of the Caribees, amid the Llanos

182 SMELLING THEIR OLD RELATIONS.

between Angostura and Nueva Barcelona, the natives
assembled round their mules to admire the monkeys
which they had purchased at the Orinoco. These good
people had scarcely touched their baggage, when. they
announced the approaching death of the beast of burden
that carried the dead. In vain the travellers told them
they were deceived in their conjectures ; and that the
baskets contained the bones of crocodiles and manatis ;
they persisted in repeating that they smelt the resin that
surrounded the skeletons, and " that they were their old
relations." The travellers were obliged to request that
the monks would interpose their authority, to overcome
the aversion of the natives, and procure for them a change
of mules.

They withdrew in silence from the cavern of Ataruipe.
It was one of those calm and serene nights which are so
common in the torrid zone. The stars shone with a mild
and planetary light. Their scintillation was scarcely
sensible at the horizon, which seemed illumined by the
great nebulas of the southern hemisphere. An innumer-
able multitude of insects spread a reddish light upon the
ground, loaded with plants, and resplendent with these
living and moving fires, as if the stars of the firmament
had sunk down on the savannah. On quitting the ca-
vern the travellers stopped to admire the beauty of
this singular scene. The odoriferous vanilla and fes-
toons of bignonia decorated the entrance ; and above, on
the summit of the hill, the arrowy branches of the palm-
trees waved murmuring in the air. They descended
towards the river, to take the road to the mission, where
they arrived late in the night.

They stayed at the mission of Atures only during the

PASSING THE CATARACT OF ATURES. 183

time necessary for passing the canoe through the Great
Cataract. The bottom of their frail bark had become so
thin that it required great care to prevent it from split-
ting. They took leave of the missionary, Bernardo Zea,
who remained at Atures, after having accompanied them
during two months, and shared all their sufferings. This
poor monk still continued to have fits of tertian ague ;
they had become to him an habitual evil, to which he
paid little attention. Other fevers of a more fatal kind
prevailed at Atures on their second visit. The greater
part of the Indians could not leave their hammocks, and
the travellers were obliged to send in search of cassava-
bread, the most indispensable food of the country, to the
independent but neighbouring tribe of the Piraoas.

The travellers passed in their canoe through the lat-
ter half of the Cataract of Atures. They landed here
and there, to climb upon the rocks, which like narrow
dikes joined the islands one to another. Sometimes the
waters forced their way over the dikes, sometimes they
fell within them with a hollow noise. A considerable
portion of the Orinoco was dry, because the river had
found an issue by subterraneous caverns. In these soli-
tary haunts the rock-manakin with gilded plumage, one
of the most beautiful birds of the tropics, built its nest.
The little Cataract of Carucari was caused by an accu-
mulation of enormous blocks of granite, several of which
were spheroids of five or six feet in diameter, and they
were piled together in such a manner, as to form spacious
caverns. The travellers entered one of these caverns to
gather the confervse that were spread over the clefts and
humid sides of the rock. This spot displayed one of the
most extraordinary scenes of nature, that they had con-

184 WAITING IN THE STORM.

templated on the banks of the Orinoco. The river rolled
its waters turbulently over their heads. It seemed like
the sea dashing against reefs of rocks ; but at the en-
trance of the cavern they could remain dry beneath a
large sheet of water that precipitated itself in an arch
from above the barrier. In other cavities, deeper, but
less spacious, the rock was pierced by the effect of suc-
cessive nitrations. They saw columns of water, eight or
nine inches broad, descending from the top of the vault,
and finding an issue by clefts, that seemed to communi-
cate at great distances with each other.

They had the opportunity of examining this extraor-
dinary sight longer than they wished. Their boat was
to coast the eastern bank of a narrow island, and to take
them in again after a long circuit. They passed an hour
and a half in vain expectation of it. Night approached,
and with it a tremendous storm. It rained with vio-
lence. They began to fear that their frail bark had been
wrecked against the rocks, and that the Indians, con-
formably to their habitual indifference for the evils of
others, had returned tranquilly to the mission. There
were only three of the party ; they were completely wet,
and uneasy respecting the fate of their boat : it appeared
far from agreeable to pass, without sleep, a long night
of the torrid zone, amid the noise of the cataracts. Bon-
pland proposed to leave Humboldt on the island, and to
swim across the branches of the river, that were separated
by the granitic dikes. He hoped to reach the forest,
and seek assistance at Atures from Father Zea. They
dissuaded him with difficulty from undertaking this
hazardous enterprise. The little monkeys which they
had carried along with them for months, were deposited

THE MISSION OF URTJANA. 185

on the point of the island. Wet by the rains, and sensi-
ble of the least lowering of the temperature, these deli-
cate animals sent forth plaintive cries, and attracted to
the spot two crocodiles, the size and leaden colour of
which denoted their great age. After long waiting, the
Indians at length arrived at the close of day. The na-
tural coffer-dam, by which they had endeavoured to de-
scend, in order to make the circuit of the island, had
become impassable, owing to the shallowness of the
water. The pilot sought long for a more accessible pas-
sage in this labyrinth of rocks and islands. Happily
the canoe was not damaged, and in less than half an
hour the instruments, provision, and animals, were em-
barked.

They stopped a few days after at the mission of Uruana.
The situation of this mission was extremely picturesque.
The little Indian village stood at the foot of a lofty
granitic mountain. Rocks everj^where appeared in the
form of pillars above the forest, rising higher than the
tops of the tallest trees. The aspect of the Orinoco was
nowhere more majestic, than when viewed from the hut
of the missionary, Fray Ramon Bueno. It was more
than fifteen thousand six hundred feet broad, and it ran
without any winding, like a vast canal, straight towards
the east. Two long and narrow islands contributed to
give extent to the bed of the river. The mission was
inhabited by the Ottomacs, a tribe in the rudest state,
and presenting one of the most extraordinary physiologi-
cal phenomena. They ate earth ; that is, they swallowed
every day, during several months, very considerable
quantities, to appease hunger, and this practice did not
appear to have any injurious effect on their health.

186 THE DIRT EATERS.

Though the travellers could stay only one day at
Uruana, this short space of time sufficed to make them
acquainted with the preparation of the balls of earth.
Humboldt also found some traces of this vitiated appetite
among the Guamos ; and between the confluence of the
' Meta and the Apure, where everybody spoke of dirt-
eating as of a thing anciently known.

The inhabitants of Uruana belonged to those nations
of the savannahs called wandering Indians, who, more
difficult to civilize than the nations of the forest, had a
deeided aversion to cultivating the land, and lived almost
exclusively by hunting and fishing. They were men of
very robust constitution ; but ill-looking, savage, vindic-
tive, and passionately fond of fermented liquors. They
were omnivorous animals in the highest degree ; and
therefore the other Indians, who considered them as
barbarians, had a common saying, " nothing is so loath-
some but that an Ottomac will eat it." While the waters
of the Orinoco and its tributary streams were low, the
Ottomacs subsisted on fish and turtles. The former they
killed with surprising dexterity, by shooting them with
arrows when they appeared at the surface of the water.
When the rivers swelled fishing almost entirely ceased.
It was then very difficult to procure fish, wdnch often
failed the poor missionaries, on fast-days as wTell as flesh-
days, though all the young Indians were under the obli-
gation of fishing for the convent. During the period of
these inundations, which lasted two or three months, the
Ottomacs swallowed a prodigious quantity of earth. The
travellers found heaps of earth-balls in their huts, piled
up in pyramids three or four feet high. These balls
Were five or six inches in diameter. The earth which

ANGOSTURA. 187

the Ottomacs ate was a very fine and unctuous clay, of
a yellowish grey colour ; when it was slightly baked
at the fire, the hardened crust had a tint inclining to red,
owing to the oxide of iron which was mingled with it,
The travellers brought away some of this earth, which
they took from the winter-provision of the Indians.

They reached Angostura on the 13th of June. In
seventy-five days they had performed a passage of five
hundred leagues on the five great rivers, Apure, Orinoco,
Atabapo, Rio Negro, and Cassiquiare ; and in this vast
extent they had found but a very small number of inha-
bited places. After the life they had led in the woods,
their dress was not in the very best order, nevertheless
they hastened to present themselves to Don Felipe de
Ynciarte, the governor of the province of Guiana, He
received them in the most cordial manner, and lodged
them in the house of the secretary of the Intendencia.
Coming from an almost desert country, they were struck
with the bustle of the town, though it contained only six
thousand inhabitants. They admired the conveniences
which industty and commerce furnish to civilized man.
Humble dwellings appeared to them magnificent ; and
every person with whom they conversed, seemed to be
endowed with superior intelligence. Long privations
give a value to the smallest enjoyments ; and Humboldt
could not express the pleasure he felt, when he saw for
the first time wheaten bread on the governor's table.

They felt themselves on the first days after their arrival
tired and enfeebled, but in perfect health. Bonpland
began to examine the small number of plants which he
had been able to save from the influence of the damp
climate; and Humboldt was occupied in settling by

188 TAKEN DOWN WITH FEVER.

astronomical observations the longitude and latitude of
the capital, as well as the dip of the magnetic needle.
These labours were soon interrupted. They were both
attacked almost on the same day by a disorder, which
with Bonpland took the character of a debilitating fever.
At this period the air was in a state of the greatest
salubrity at Angostura; and as the only mulatto servant
they had brought from Cumana felt symptoms of the
same disorder, it was suspected that they had imbibed the
germs of typhus in the damp forests of Cassiquiare.
Their mulatto servant having been much more exposed
to the rains than they were, his disorder increased with
frightful rapidity. His prostration of strength was exces-
sive, and on the ninth day his death was announced
to them. He was however only in a state of swooning,
which lasted several hours, and was followed by a salu-
tary crisis. Humboldt was attacked at the same time
with a violent fit of fever, during which he was made to
take a mixture of honey and bark, a remedy^ much
extolled in the country by the Capuchin missionaries.
The intensity of the fever increased, but it left him on
the following day. Bonpland remained in a very alarm-
ing state, which during several weeks caused them the
most serious inquietude. Fortunately he preserved suf-
ficient self-possession to prescribe for himself. The fever
was continual ; and, as almost always happens within
the tropics, it was accompanied by dysentery. Bonpland
displayed that courage and mildness of character which
never forsook him in the most trying situations. Hum-
boldt was agitated by sad presages ; for he remembered
that the -botanist Loening, a pupil of Linneus, died not
far from Angostura, near the banks of the Carony, a

MELANCHOLY FOREBODINGS. 189

victim of his zeal for the progress of natural history.
They had not yet passed a year in the torrid zone ; and
Humboldt's faithful memory conjured up everything he
had read in Europe on the dangers of the atmosphere
inhaled in the forests. Instead of going up the Orinoco,
they might have sojourned some months in the temperate
and salubrious climate of the Sierra Nevada de Merida.
"It was I," he thought, "who chose the path of the
rivers, and Bonpland's death, if he dies, will be laid at
my door."

CHAPTER V.

TO CUBA AND BACK.

The travellers left Angostura on the 10th of July.
Night had set in when they crossed for the last time the
bed of the Orinoco. They purposed to rest near the little
fort San Rafael, and on the following morning at daybreak
to set out on their journey through the plains of Vene-
zuela. About a month had elapsed since their arrival at
Angostura ; and they earnestly wished to reach the coast,
with the view of finding, at Cumana, or at Nueva Barce-
lona, a vessel in which they might embark for the island
of Cuba, thence to proceed to Mexico. After the sufferings
to which they had been exposed during several months,
whilst sailing in small boats on rivers infested by mos-
quitos, the idea of a sea- voyage was not without its
charms. They had no idea of ever again returning to
South America. Sacrificing the Andes of Pern to the
Archipelago of the Philippines, they adhered to their old
plan of remaining a year in Mexico, then proceeding in
a galleon from Acapulco to Manilla, and returning to
Europe by way of Basso ra and Aleppo.

Their mules were in waiting for them on the left bank
of the Orinoco. The collection of plants, and the differ-
ent geological series, which they had brought from the

THE CARIBS AT CAM. 191

Esmeralda and Rio Negro, had greatly increased their
baggage ; and, as it would have been dangerous to lose
sight of their herbals, they expected to make a very slow
journey across the Llanos.

On the 13th they arrived at the village of Cari, the
first of the Caribbee missions. They lodged as usual at
the convent. Their host could scarcely comprehend
" how natives of the north of Europe could arrive at his
dwelling from the frontiers of Brazil by the Rio Negro,
and not by way of the coast of Cumana." He treated
them in the most poilte manner, at the same time
manifesting that somewhat importunate curiosity which
the appearance of a stranger, not a Spaniard, always ex-
cited in South America. He expressed his belief that
the minerals they had collected must contain gold ; and
that the plants, dried with so much care, must be medici-
nal. Here, as in many parts of Europe, the sciences
were thought worthy to occupy the mind only so far as
they conferred some immediate and practical benefit on
society.

The travellers found more than five hundred Caribs in
the village of Cari; and saw many others in the sur-
rounding missions. They were a very tall race of men,
their height being from five feet six, to five feet ten
inches. According to a practice common in Ameri a
the women were more sparingly clothed than the men.
The former wore only the guajuco, in the form of a band.
The men had the lower part of the body wrapped in a
piece of blue cloth, so dark as to be almost black. This
drapery was so ample, that, on the lowering of the tem-
perature towards evening, the Caribs threw it over their
shoulders. The men cut their hair in a peculiar manner,

192 DIFFICULTIES WITH THE MULETEERS.

very much in the style of the monks. A part of the
forehead was shaved, which made it appear extremely
high, and a circular tuft of hair was left near the crown
of the head. The Carib women were less robust and
good-looking than the men. On them devolved almost
the whole burden of domestic work, as well as much of
the out-door labour. They asked the travellers eagerly
for pins, which they stuck under their lower lip, making
the head of the pin penetrate deeply into the skin. The
young girls were painted red, and were almost naked.

On quitting the mission of Cari, they had some diili-
culties to settle with their Indian muleteers. They had
discovered that the travellers had brought skeletons with
them from the cavern of Ataruipe ; and they were fully
persuaded that the beasts of burden which carried the
bodies of their old relations would perish on the journey.
Every precaution the travellers had taken was useless ;
nothing could escape a Carib's penetration and keen sense
of smell, and it required all the authority of the mission-
ary to forward their passage. They had to cross the Rio
Cari in a boat, and the Rio de Agua Clara, by fording,
or, it may almost be said, by swimming. They had two
bad stations, one at Matagorda and the other at Los
Riecetos, before they reached the little town of Pao.
They beheld everywhere the same objects; small huts
constructed of reeds, and roofed with leather; men on
horseback armed with lances, guarding the herds ; herds
of cattle half wild, remarkable for their uniform colour,
and disputing the pasturage with horses and mules.

The travellers arrived, on the 23rd, at the town of
Nueva Barcelona, less fatigued by the heat of the Llanos,
to which they had been long accustomed, than annoyed

NUEVA BARCELONA. 193

by the winds of sand, which occasioned painful chaps in
the skin.

The climate of Barcelona was not so hot as that of
Cumana, but it was extremely damp, and somewhat un-
healthy in the rainy season. Bonpland had borne very
well the irksome journey across the Llanos, and had
recovered his strength and activity ; but Humboldt suf-
fered more at Barcelona than at Angostura, immediately
after their passage on the rivers. They remained nearly
a month at Barcelona, where they found their friend Fray
Juan Gronzales, who had traversed the Upper Orinoco
before them. He expressed regret that they had not
been able to prolong their visit to that unknown coun-
try ; and he examined their plants and animals with that
interest which must be felt by even the most uninformed
man for the productions of a region he has long since
visited. Fray Juan had resolved to go to Europe, and to
accompany them as far as the island of Cuba. They
were together for the space of seven months, and they
found his society agreeable : he was cheerful, intelligent,
and obliging. Little did they anticipate the sad fate that
awaited him. He took charge of a part of their collec-
tions; and a friend of his own confided to his care a
child, who was to be conveyed to Spain for its education.
Alas ! the collection, the child, and the young ecclesias-
tic, were all buried in the waves.

The packet boats from Corunna bound for Havanna
and Mexico had been due three months ; and it was be-
lieved they had been taken by the English cruisers sta-
tioned on this coast. Anxious to reach Cumana, in
order to avail themselves of the first opportunity that
might offer for their passage to Yera Cruz, the travel-

9

194 TAKEN BY A PRIVATEER.

lers hired an open boat called a lancha, a sort of craft
employed habitually in the latitudes east of Cape Co-
dera, where the sea was scarcely ever rough. Their
lancha, which was laden with cocoa, carried on a contra-
band trade with the island of Trinidad. For this reason
the owner imagined they had nothing to fear from the
enemy's vessels, which then blockaded all the Spanish
ports. They embarked their collection of plants, their
instruments, and their monkeys ; and, the weather being
delightful, they hoped to make a very short passage from
the mouth of the Rio Neveri to Cumana. But they had
scarcely reached the narrow channel between the conti-
nent and the rocky isles of Borracha and the Chi man as,
when to their great surprise they came in sight of an
armed boat, which, whilst hailing them from a great dis-
tance, fired some musket-shot at them. The boat be-
longed to a privateer of Halifax. The protestations of
the travellers were without effect; they were carried on
board the privateer, and the captain, affecting not to re-
cognise the passports delivered by the governor of Trini-
dad for the illicit trade, declared them to be a lawful
prize. Being a little in the habit of speaking English,
Humboldt entered into conversation with the captain,
begging not to be taken to Nova Scotia, but to be put on
shore on the neighbouring coast. While he endeavoured,
in the cabin, to defend his own rights, and those of the
owner of the lancha, he heard a noise on deck. Some-
thing was whispered to the captain, who left in con-
sternation. Happily for them an English sloop of
war, the Hawrk, was cruising in those parts, and had
signalled the captain to bring to ; but the signal not
being promptly answered, a gun wTas fired from the sloop,

RELEASED BY THE ENGLISH CAPTAIN. 195

and a midshipman sent on board the vessel. He gave
Humboldt hopes, that the lancha, which was laden with
cocoa, would be given up, and that on the following day
they might pursue their voyage. In the meantime he in-
vited the traveller to accompany him on board the sloop,
assuring him that his commander, Captain Gamier, would
furnish him with better accommodation for the night,
than he would find in the vessel from Halifax.

Humboldt accepted these obliging offers, and was re-
ceived with the utmost kindness by Captain Gamier,
who had made the voyage to the north-west coast of
America with Vancouver, and who appeared to be highly
interested in all he related to him respecting the great
cataracts of Atures and Maypures, the bifurcation of the
Orinoco, and its communication with the Amazon. He
introduced to him several of his officers, who had been
with Lord Macartney in China. Humboldt had not,
during the space of a year, enjoyed the society of so
many well-informed persons. They had learned from
the English newspapers the object of his enterprise. He
was treated with great confidence, and the commander
gave him up his own state-room.

The travellers continued their passage the next daj',
and were surprised at the depth of the channels between
the Caracas Islands, where the sloop worked her way
through them almost touching the rocks. Numbers of
pelicans, and of flamingoes, which fished in the nooks, or
harassed the pelicans in order to seize their prey, indi-
cated their approach to the coast of Cumana. At sun-
rise the sea-birds suddenly appeared, and animated the
scene, reminding the travellers, in these solitary re-
gions, of the activity of the cities of Europe at the

196 BACK AT (UMAX A.

dawn of day. At nine in the morning they reached the
gulf of Cariaco, which served as a roadstead to the town
of Cm nana. The hill, crowned by the castle of San An-
tonio, stood out, prominent from its whiteness, on the
dark curtain of the inland mountains. They gazed with
interest on the shore, where they first gathered plants in
America, and where, some months later, Bonpland had
been in such danger. Among the cactuses that rose in
columns twenty feet high appeared the Indian huts of
the Guayquerias. Their friends at Cumana came out to
meet them : men of all castes, with whom their frequent
herborizations had brought them in contact, expressed
the greater joy at sight of them, as a report that they
had perished on the banks of the Orinoco had been cur-
rent for several months.

The travellers hastened to visit Don Vicente Em-
paran, whose recommendations and constant solicitude
had been so useful to them during the long journey they
had just terminated. He procured for them, in the centre
of the town, a house which was extremely useful for
their instruments. They enjoyed from its terraces a ma-
jestic view of the sea, of the isthmus of A ray a, and the
archipelago of the islands of Caracas, Picuita, and Bor-
racha. The port of Cumana was every day more and
more blockaded, and the vain expectation of the arrival
of Spanish packets detained them two months and a hall'
longer. They were often nearly tempted to go to the
Danish islands, which enjoyed a happy neutrality ; but
they feared that, if they left the Spanish colonies, they
might find some obstacles to their return. They em-
ployed their time in completing the Flora of Cumana,
geologically examining the eastern part of the peninsula

OFF AGAIN. 197

of Araja, and observing many eclipses of satellites, which
confirmed the longitude of the place already obtained
by other means. They also made experiments on the
extraordinary refractions, on evaporation, and on atmo-
spheric electricity.

They prolonged their stay at Cumana a fortnight.
Having lost all hope of the arrival of a packet from
Corunna, they availed themselves of an. American vessel,
laden at Nueva Barcelona with salt provision for the
island of Cuba. They had now passed sixteen months
on this coast, and in the interior of Venezuela, and on
the 16th of November they parted from their friends at
Cumana to make the passage for the third time across
the gulf of Cariaco to Nueva Barcelona. The night was
cool and delicious. It was not without emotion that they
beheld for the last time the disc of the moon illuminating
the summit of the cocoa-trees that surrounded the banks
of the Manzanares. The breeze was strong, and in less
than six hours they anchored near the Morro of Nueva
Barcelona, where the vessel which was to take them to
Havanna was ready to sail.

They sailed from Nueva Barcelona on the 24th. On
the 2d of December they descried Cape Beata. During the
night there was a very curious optical phenomenon,
which Humboldt could not account for. At half-past
twelve the wind blew feebly from the east ; the ther-
mometer rose to 74°. Humboldt had remained upon
the deck to observe the culmination of some stars. The
full moon was high in the heavens. Suddenly, in the
direction of the moon, 45° before its passage over the
meridian, a great arch was formed tinged with the pris-
matic colours, though not of a bright hue. The arch

198 IIAYAN'NA.

appeared higher than the moon; this iris-hand was near
2° broad, and its summit Beemed to rise nearly from 80°
to 85° above the horizon of the sea. The sky was sin-
gularly pure ; there was no appearance of rain ; and
what struck him most was, that this phenomenon, which
perfectly resembled a lunar rainbow, was not in the
direction opposite to the moon. The arch remained sta-
tionary, or at least appeared to do so, during eight or
ten minutes ; and at the moment when he tried if it were
possible to see it by reflection in the mirror of the sex-
tant, it began to move and descend, crossing successively
the moon and Jupiter. It lacked six minutes of one o'clock
when the summit of the arch sank below the horizon.
This movement of an arch, coloured like the rainbow,
filled with astonishment the sailors who were on watch
on the deck. They alleged, as they did on the appearance
of every extraordinary meteor, that it denoted wind.

The travellers anchored at Havanna on the 19th of
December. Not being able to find a passage in any neu-
tral vessel, Humboldt freighted a Catalonian sloop, lying
at Batabano, which was to be at his disposal to take him
either to Porto Bello or Carthagcna, according as the
gales of Saint Martha should permit.

The travellers set sail on the 9th of March, somewhat
incommoded by the smallness of their vessel, which
afforded no sleeping place but upon deck. The cabin
received no air or light but from above ; it was merely
a hold for provisions, and it was with difficulty that they
could place their instruments in it.

They were soon in the gulf of Batabano, which was
bounded by a low and marshy coast, and looked like a
vast desert. The fishing birds, which were generally at

GARDENS AND BOWERS. 199

their post whilst the small birds and the indolent vul-
tures were at roost, were seen only in small numbers.
The sea was of- a greenish-brown hue, as in some of the
lakes of Switzerland ; while the air, owing to its extreme
purity, had, at the moment the sun appeared above the
horizon, a cold tint of pale blue, similar to that which
landscape painters observe at the same hour in the south
of Italy, and which makes distant objects stand out in
strong relief. They sailed E.S.E., taking the passage
of Don Cristoval, to reach the rocky island of Cayo de
Piedras, and to clear the archipelago, which the Spanish
pilots, in the early times of the conquest, designated by
the names of Gardens and Bowers. The Queen's Gar-
dens, properly so called, were nearer Cape Cruz, and
were separated from the archipelago by an open sea
thirty-five leagues broad. Columbus gave them the
name they bear, in 1494, when, on his second voyage,
he struggled during fifty-eight days with the winds and
currents between the island of Pinos and the eastern cape
of Cuba. He describes the islands of this archipelago as
verdant, full of trees and pleasant.

A part of these so-styled gardens was indeed beautiful ;
the voyagers saw the scene change every moment, and the
verdure of some of the islands appeared the more lovely
from its contrast with chains of rocks, displaying only
white and barren sands. The surface of these sands,
heated by the rays of the sun, seemed to be undulating
like the surface of a liquid. The contact of layers of air
of unequal temperature, produced the most varied pheno-
mena of suspension and mirage, from ten in the morning
till four in the afternoon. Even in these desert places
the sun animated the landscape, and gave mobility to the

200 THE PASS OF DON CRISTOVAL.

sandy plain, to the trunks of trees, and to the rocks that
projected into the sea like promontories. When the sun
appeared these inert masses seemed suspended in air;
and on the neighbouring beach, the sands presented the
appearance of a sheet of water gently agitated by the
winds. A train of clouds sufficed to seat the trunks of
trees and the suspended rocks again on the soil ; to render
the undulating surface of the plains motionless ; and to
dissipate the charm which the Arabian, Persian, and
Hindoo poets have celebrated as

" The sweet illusions of the lonely desert.''

They doubled Cape Matahambre very slowly. Hum-
boldt determined, "as they sailed, as they sailed," the
positions of Cayo de Don Cristoval, Cayo Flamenco,
Cayo de Diego Perez, and Cayo de Piedras. He also
employed himself in examining the influence which the
changes at the bottom of the sea produce on its tempera-
ture at the surface.

Notwithstanding the small size of their bark, and the
boasted skill of their pilot, they often ran aground. The
bottom being soft, there was no danger ; but, nevertheless,
at sunset, near the pass of Don Cristoval, they preferred
to lie at anchor. The first part of the night was beauti-
fully serene : they saw an incalculable number of falling-
Btars, all following one direction, opposite to that from
whence the wind blew in the low regions of the atmo-
sphere. The most absolute solitude prevailed in this
spot, which, in the time of Columbus, was inhabited and
frequented by great numbers of fishermen. The inhabit-
ants of Cuba then employed a small 6sh to take the
great sea-turtles. The " fisher-fish," formerly employed

FISHING WITH FISH. 201

by the Cubans, by means of the flattened disc on his
head, furnished with suckers, fixed himself on the shell
of the sea-turtle, which was common in the narrow and
winding channels of the Bowers. " The fish," says
Columbus, "will sooner suffer himself to be cut in
pieces than let go the body to which he adheres." The
Indians drew to the shore by the same cord, the fisher-
fish and the turtle. When Gomara, and the learned
secretary of the Emperor Charles V., Peter Martyr
d'Anghiera, promulgated in Europe this fact which
they had learnt from the companions of Columbus, it
was received as a traveller's tale. There is indeed an air
of the marvellous in the recital of d'Anghiera, which
begins in these words : " Exactly as we follow hares
with greyhounds in the fields, so do the natives of Cuba
take fishes with other fish trained for that purpose."
We now know, from the united testimony of Bogers,
Dampier, and Commerson, that the artifice resorted to in
the Bowers to catch turtles, is employed by the inhabit-
ants of the eastern coast of Africa, near Cape Natal, at
Mozambique, and at Madagascar. In Egypt, at San
Domingo, and in the lakes of the valley of Mexico, the
method practised for catching ducks was as follows :
men, whose heads were covered with great calabashes
pierced with holes, hid themselves in the water, and
seized the birds by the feet. The Chinese, from the
remotest antiquity, have employed the cormorant, a bird
of the pelican family, for fishing on the coast: rings are
fixed round the bird's neck to prevent him from swallow-
ing his prey, and fishing for himself. In the lowest de-
gree of civilization, the sagacity of man is displayed in
the stratagems of hunting and fishing : nations, who

9*

202 SLAUGHTERING THE YOUNG ALCATRAS.

probably never had any communication with each other
furnish the most Btriking analogies in the means they
employ in exercising their empire over animals.

It was three days before the travellers could leave this
labyrinth of Gardens and Bowers. At night they lay at
anchor; by day they visited the islands, or chains of
rock, that were most easily accessible.

One day while they were employed in herborizing on
the Cayo Bonito, their sailors were searching among
the rocks for lobsters. Disappointed at not finding
lobsters there, they avenged themselves by climbing on
the mangroves and making a dreadful slaughter of the
young alcatras, grouped in pairs in their nests. With
the want of foresight peculiar to the great pelagic birds,
the alcatra builds his nest where several branches of trees
unite together. Humboldt and Bonpland counted four
or five nests on the same trunk of a mangrove. The
young birds defended themselves valiantly with their
enormous beaks, which were six or seven inches long ;
the old ones hovered over their heads, making hoarse and
plaintive cries. -Blood streamed from the tops of the
trees, for the sailors were armed with great sticks and
cutlasses. In vain were they reproved for this crueltv.
Condemned to long obedience in the solitude of the seas,
they felt pleasure in exercising a cruel tyranny over
animals, when occasion offered. The ground was
covered with wounded birds struggling in death. At
the arrival of the sailors a profound calm prevailed in
this secluded spot; when they left, everything seemed to
say: Man has passed this way.

They sailed along the coast keeping two or three miles
distant from land. On the 13th, a little before sunset,

TRINIDAD DE CUBA. 203

they were opposite the month of the Rio San Juan, which
was dreaded bj navigators on account of the innumera-
ble quantity of mosquitos and zancudos which filled the
atmosphere. Humboldt passed a great part of the night
on deck. The coast was dreary and desolate. Not a
light announced a fisherman's hut. There was no village
between Batabano and Trinidad, a distance of fifty
leagues ; scarcely were there more than two or three
farm-yards, containing hogs or cows. Yet, in the time
of Columbus, this territory was inhabited along the shore.
When the ground is dug to make wells, or when torrents
furrow the surface of the earth in floods, stone hatchets
and copper utensils are often discovered.

On the 14th the travellers entered the Rio Gruaurabo,
one of the two ports of Trinidad de Cuba, to put on shore
the pilot of Batabano, who had steered them across the
flats of the Bowers, though not without causing them to
run aground several times. They also hoped to find a
packet-boat in this port, which would take them to Car-
thagena. Humboldt landed towards evening, and placed
Borda's azimuth compass and the artificial horizon, on
the shore, for the purpose of observing the passage of
some stars by the meridian ; but they had scarcely begun
their preparations, when a party of traders, who had dined
on board a foreign ship recently arrived, invited them to
accompany them to the town. They requested the tra-
vellers to mount two by two on the same horse ; and, as
the heat was excessive, their offer was accepted.

The road leading to the port was brilliantly illuminated
by phosphorescent insects. The grass that overspread
the ground, the branches and foliage of the trees, all
shone with a reddish and moveable light, which varied

204 CHEAP LANTERNS.

in its intensity at the will of the animal by which it was
produced. It seemed as though the starry firmament
reposed on the savannah. In the hut of the poorest in-
habitants of the country, fifteen of these insects, placed
in a calabash pierced with holes, afforded sufficient light
to search for anything during the night. To shake the
calabash forcibly was all that was necessary to excite the
animal to increase the intensity of the luminous discs
situated on each side of its body. The people of the
country remarked, that calabashes filled with these phos-
phorescent insects were lanterns always ready lighted.
They were, in fact, only extinguished by the sickness or
death of the insects, which were easily fed with a little
sugar-cane. A young woman at Trinidad de Cuba told
the travellers, that during a long and difficult passage
from the main land, she always made use of their phos-
phorescence when she gave suck to her child at night ;
the captain of the ship would allow no other light on
board, from the fear of corsairs.

The travellers quitted Trinidad on the night of the
15th. The municipality caused them to be conducted to
the mouth of the Eio Guaurabo in a fine carriage lined
with old crimson damask ; and, to add to their confusion,
an ecclesiastic, the poet of the place, habited in a suit of
velvet notwithstanding the heat of the climate, cele-
brated, in a sonnet, their vo}-age to the Orinoco.

On the morning of the 17th they came within sight of the
most eastern island of the group of the Lesser Caymans.

As long as they were within sight of this island, sea-
turtles of extraordinary dimensions swam round their
vessel. The abundance of these animals led Columbus
to give the whole group of the Caymans the name of

ZAPOTE. 205

" The Rocks of the Turtles." The sailors would have
thrown themselves into the water to catch some of these
animals ; but the numerous sharks that accompanied them,
rendered the attempt too perilous. The sharks fixed
their jaws on great iron hooks which were flung to them ;
these hooks were very sharp and, for want of fish-hooks
with chains, they were tied to cords. The sharks were in
this manner drawn up half the length of their bodies ;
and the voyagers were surprised to see that those which
had their mouths wounded and bleeding continued to
seize the bait over and over agaiD during several hours.
The passage from the island of Cuba to the coast of
South America terminated at the mouth of the Rio Sinu,
and it occupied sixteen days. The roadstead near the
Punta del Zapote afforded bad anchorage ; and in a rough
sea, and with a hard wind, the travellers found some
difficulty in reaching the coast. Everything denoted
that they had entered a wild region, rarely visited by
strangers. A few scattered houses formed the village of
Zapote : they found a great number of mariners assem-
bled under a sort of shed, all men of colour, who had
descended the Rio Sinu in their barks, to carry maize,
bananas, poultry, and other provisions, to the port of
Carthagena. Their barks, which were from fifty to
eighty feet long, belonged for the most part to the planters
of Lorica. The Zambos of the Rio Sinu wearied the
travellers with idle questions respecting the purpose of
their voyage, their books, and the use of their instru-
ments. They regarded them with mistrust; and to
escape from their importunate curiosity, the travellers
went to herborize in the forest, although it rained. The
Zambos had endeavoured, as usual, to alarm them by

20G HUMBOLDT MEETS A FELLOW-COUNTRYMAN.

stories of boas, vipers, and the attacks of jaguars; but
during a long residence among the Chavma Indians of the
Orinoco, the travellers were used to these exaggerations.
Quitting the coast of Zapote, covered with mangroves,
they entered a forest remarkable for a great variety of
palm-trees.

After an hour's walk, they found, in a cleared spot,
several inhabitants employed in collecting palm-tree
wine. The dark tint of the Zambos formed a strong
contrast with the appearance of a little man with light
hair and a pale complexion, who seemed to take no share
in the labour. Humboldt thought at first that he was a
sailor who had escaped from some North American ves-
sel ; but was soon undeceived. This fair-complexioned
man was his countryman, born on the coast of the Bal-
tic ; he had served in the Danish navy, and had lived for
several years in the upper part of the Rio Sinu, near
Santa Cruz de Lorica. He had come, to use the words
of the loungers of the country, " to see other lands, and
to roam about : nothing else." The sight of a man who
could speak to him of his country, seemed to have no
attraction for him ; and, as he had almost forgotten Ger-
man without being able to express himself clearly in
Spanish, the conversation was not very animated. Dur-
ing the five years of his travels in Spanish America,
Humboldt found only two opportunities of speaking his
native language. The first Prussian he met with was a
sailor from Memel, who served on board a ship from
Halifax, and who refused to make himself known till
after he had fired some musket-shot at his boat. The
second, the man he met at the Rio Sinu, was very amica-
bly disposed. Without answering his questions, he con-

THE PAPS OF TOLU. 207

tinued repeating, with a smile, " that the country was hot
and humid ; that the houses in the town of Pomerania
were finer than those of Santa Cruz de Lorica ; and that,
if they remained in the forest, they would have the ter-
tian fever from which he had long suffered." The travel-
lers had some difficulty in showing their gratitude to this
man for his kind advice ; for according to his somewhat
aristocratic principles, a white man, were he barefooted,
should never accept money "in the presence of those
vile coloured people !" Less disdainful than their Euro-
pean countryman, the travellers saluted politely the
group of men of colour, who were employed in drawing
off into large calabashes, the palm-tree wine, from the
trunks of felled trees.

They weighed anchor in the road of Zapote, on the
27th, at sunrise. The sea was less stormy, and the
weather rather warmer, although the fury of the wind
was undiminished. They saw on the north a succession
of small cones of extraordinary form, as far as the Morro
de Tigua ; these cones were known by the name of the
Paps of Santero, Tolu, Rincon, and Chichimar. The two
latter were nearest the coast. The Paps of Tolu rose in
the middle of the savannahs. There, from the trunks
of the Toluifera balsamum was collected the precious
balsam of Tolu. In the savannahs of Tolu the travellers
saw oxen and mules wandering half wild. In the archi-
pelago of San Bernardo, they passed between the island
of Salamanquilla and Cape Boqueron. They had scarcely
quitted the gulf of Morosquillo, when the sea became so
rough, that the waves frequently washed over the deck
of their little vessel. Their captain sought in vain a
sheltering-place on the coast, to the north of the village

208 THE ISLAND OF BARU.

of Rincon. They cast anchor at four fathoms ; but
haying discovered that they were lying over a reef of
coral they preferred the open sea.

The wind having dropped during the night they could
only advance to the island of Arenas, where they an-
chored. The weather became stormy during the night.
They again set sail on the morning of the 29th, hoping
to be able to reach Boca Chica that day. The gale blew
with extreme violence, and they were unable to proceed
with their frail bark against the wind and the current,
when by a false manoeuvre in setting the sails (they had
but four sailors), they were during some minutes in im-
minent danger. The captain, who was not a very bold
mariner, declined to proceed further up the coast, and
they took refuge, sheltered from the wind, in a nook of
the island of Baru.

There was to be an eclipse of the moon during the
night, and the next day an occultation of a star in Vir-
go. The observation of the latter phenomenon might
have been very important in determining the longitudo
of Carthagena. In vain Humboldt urged the captain to
allow one of his sailors to accompany him by land to the
foot of Boca Chica, a distance of five miles, lie objected
on account of the wild state of the country, in which
there was neither habitation nor path. A little incident,
which might have rendered the expedition more fatal,
justified the prudence of the captain. Humboldt and
Bonpland went by moonlight, to collect plants on the
shore; as they approached the land, they saw a young
negro issue from the thicket. lie was quite naked,
loaded with chains, and armed with a long knife. He
invited them to land on a part of the beach covered with

ESCAPED CONVICTS. 209

large mangroves, as being a spot where the surf did not
break, and offered to conduct them to the interior of the
island of Baru, if they would promise to give him some
clothes. His cunning and wild appearance, the often-
repeated question whether they were Spaniards, and cer-
tain unintelligible words which he addressed to some of
his companions who were concealed amidst the trees,
inspired them with mistrust. These blacks were no
doubt maroon negroes: slaves escaped from prison.
The party from the vessel were without arms ; the
negroes appeared to be more numerous than they were,
and, thinking that possibly they invited them to land
with the desire of taking possession of their canoe, they
thought it prudent to return on board.

On the morning of the 30th they doubled Punta Gi-
gantes, and made for the Boca Chica, the entrance of the
port of Carthagena. From thence the distance was seven
or eight miles to the anchorage near the town; and
although they took a pilot to guide them, they repeat-
edly touched on the sandbanks. On landing, Hum-
boldt learned, with great satisfaction, that the expedition
appointed to take the survey of the coast, had not yet
put to sea. This circumstance not only enabled him to
ascertain the astronomical position of several towns on
the shore, which had served him as points of departure in
fixing chronometrically the longitude of the Llanos and
the Orinoco, but also served to guide him with respect to
the future direction of his journey to Peru. The passage
from Carthagena to Porto Bello, and that of the isthmus
by the Kio Chagres and Cruces, were alike short and
easy ; but it was to be feared, that they might stay long
at Panama before they could find an opportunity of pro-

210 CHANGE OF ROUTE.

ceeding to Guayaquil, aud in that case the voyage on the
Pacific would be extremely lingering, as they would have
to sail against contrary winds and currents. The persons
they consulted all agreed that the journey by land along
the Cordilleras, by Santa Fe de Bogota, Popayan, Quito,
and Caxamarca, would be preferable to the sea- voyage,
and would furnish an immense field for exploration.
The predilection of Europeans for the cold and temperate
climate that prevailed on the back of the Andes, gave
further weight to these counsels. The distances were
known, but Humboldt was deceived with respect to the
time it would take to traverse them on mules' backs. He
did not imagine that it would require over eighteen
months to go from Carthagena to Lima. Notwithstand-
ing this delay, or rather owing to the slowness with
which he passed through Cundinamarca, the provinces
of Popayan, and Quito, he did not regret having sacri-
ficed the passage of the isthmus to the route of Bogota,
for every step of the journey was full of interest both
geographically and botanically. This change of direc-
tion gave him occasion to trace the map of the Rio Mag-
dalena, to determine astronomically the position of eighty
points situated in the inland country between Cartha-
gena, Popa}^an, and the upper course of the river Ama-
zon and Lima, to discover an error in the longitude of
Quito, to collect several thousand new plants, and to ob-
serve on a vast scale the relations between the rocks of
syenitic porphyry and trachyte, with the fire of vol-
canoes.

During the six days of their stay at Carthagena their
most interesting excursions were to the Boca Grande, and
the hill of Popa. A small portion of hilly land sepa-

THE HILL OF POPA. 211

rated the town of Carthagena and the islet of Manga
from the Cienega de Tesca. These hills, some of which
were more than five hundred feet high, commanded the
town. The Castillo de San Lazaro was seen from afar
rising like a great rocky pyramid ; when examined nearer
its fortifications were not very formidable. Layers of clay
and sand were covered with bricks, and furnished a kind
of construction which had little stability. The Cerro de
Santa Maria de la Popa, crowned by a convent and some
batteries, rose above the fort of San Lazaro, and was
worthy of more solid and extensive works. The image
of the Virgin, preserved in the church of the convent,
had been long revered by mariners. The view from the
Popa was extensive and varied, and the windings and
rents of the coast gave it a peculiar character. Hum-
boldt was assured that sometimes from the windows of
the convent, and even in the open sea, before the fort of
Boca Chica, the snowy tops of the Sierra Nevada de
Santa Marta were discernible.

In order to avoid the excessive heats, and the diseases
which prevailed during the summer at Carthagena,
the travellers removed inland to the village of Turbaco.
This small Indian village stood on a bill, at the entrance
of a majestic forest, which extended towards the south
and the east as far as the canal of Mahates and the river
Magdalena. The houses were mostly built of bamboos,
and covered with palm leaves. Here and there limpid
springs rose out of the calcareous rock, which contained
numerous fragments of petrified coral, and were shaded
by the splendid foliage of the anacardium caracoli, a tree
of colossal size, to which the natives attributed the pro-
perty of attracting from great distances the vapours float-

212 THE VOLCANOES OF TURBACO.

ing in the atmosphere. As the soil of Turbaco was more
than nine hundred feet above the level of the ocean,
a delightful coolness prevailed, especially during the
night.

The Indians of Turbaco, who accompanied the travel-
lers in their herbalizations, spoke of a marshy coun-
try, situated in a forest of palm trees, and called by the
Creoles the Little Volcanoes. They related that, accord-
ing to a tradition still existing among them, this spot had
formerly been in flames ; but that a very pious man, a
vicar of the village, had succeeded by his frequent asper-
sions of holy water in extinguishing the subterraneous
fire. They added, that, since this time, the fiery volcano
had become a water volcano. From their long residence
in the Spanish colonies, the travellers were familiar with
the strange and marvellous stories, which the natives
eagerly recited to fix the attention of travellers on the
phenomena of nature; though they knew, that these
stories were in general less indebted for their currency to
the superstition of the Indians, than to that of the
whites, the mulattoes, and the African slaves; and that
the reveries of a few individuals, who reasoned on the
progressive changes of the surface of the globe, gradu-
ally assumed the character of historical traditions. With*
out giving any credit to the existence of an extent of
country in a former state of ignition, they were conducted
by the Indians to the Volcanoes ; and this excursion
made them acquainted with phenomena, much more im-
portant than any they could have expected.

The Volcanoes were situated to the east of the village
of Turbaco, in a thick forest, abounding with balsam of
Tolu trees. The ground rose gradually two hundred

SPOUTING MUD. 213

and fifty or three hundred feet above the village of Tur-
baco ; but as it was everywhere covered with vegetation,
it was not possible to distinguish the nature of the rocks
that reposed on the shelly calcareous soil.

In the centre of a vast plain were eighteen or twenty
small cones, in height not above twenty-five feet. These
cones were formed of a blackish gray clay, and had an
opening at their summits filled with water. On ap-
proaching these small craters, a hollow but very distinct
sound was heard at intervals, fifteen or eighteen seconds
previous to the disengagement of a great quantity of air.
The force with which this air rose above the surface of
the water led them to suppose, that it underwent a great
pressure in the bowels of the earth. Humboldt generally
reckoned five explosions in two minutes ; and this phe-
nomenon was often attended with a muddy ejection. The
Indians assured him, that the forms of the cones
suffered no visible change in a great number of years ;
but the ascending force of the gas, and the frequency of
the explosions, appeared to vary according to the seasons.
He found by analyses made by means both of nitrous
gas and of phosphorus, that the disengaged air scarcely
contained a thousandth part of oxygen. It was azotic
gas, much more pure than that which is generally pre-
pared in laboratories.

CHAPTER VI.

COLOMBIA AND PERU.

Completing about the end of April the observations
they proposed to make at the northern extremity of the
torrid zone, Humboldt and Bonpland were on the point
of proceeding to Yera Cruz with the squadron of Admiral
Ariztizabal ; but being misled by false intelligence
respecting the expedition of Captain Baudin, they were
induced to relinquish the project of passing through
Mexico on their way to the Philippine Islands. The
public journals announced that two French sloops, the
" Geographe" and the " Naturaliste," had sailed for Cape
Horn ; that they were to proceed along the coasts of
Chili and Peru, and thence to New Holland. This in-
telligence revived in Humboldt's mind all the projects he
had formed during his stay in Paris, when he solicited
the Directory to hasten the departure of Captain Bau-
din. The travellers at once set to work and divided
their precious herbals into three portions, to avoid ex-
posing to the risks of a long voyage the objects they
had obtained with so much difficulty on the banks of the
Orinoco, the Atabapo, and the Rio Negro. They sent
one collection by way of England to Germany, another
by way of Cadiz to France, and a third remained at

UP THE RIO MAGDALENA. 215

Havanna. They bad reason to congratulate themselves
on this foresight : each collection contained nearly the
same species, and no precautions were neglected to have
the cases, if taken by English or French vessels, remitted
to Sir Joseph Banks, or to the professors of natural history
at the Museum at Paris. It happened fortunately that
the manuscripts which Humboldt at first intended to send
with the collection to Cadiz, were not intrusted to Fray
Juan Gonzales, who had followed them to Havanna with
the view of returning to Spain. He left the island of
Cuba soon after the travellers, but the vessel in which he
sailed foundered on the coast of Africa, and the cargo and
crew were all lost. By this event the travellers lost
some of the duplicates of their herbals, and what was
more important, all the insects which Bonpland had with
great difficulty collected during their voyage to the OH
noco and the Rio Negro.

Their collections shipped, the travellers ascended the
Rio Magdalena, Bonpland, as was his wont, exploring the
botanical treasures of the shore, and Humboldt making a
chart of the river district. The sky was cloudy, but the
nights were tropically fine. Their old torments, the
mosquitos followed them. By and by they passed the
little city of Monpex, with its white houses and its red
roofs. They saw the inhabitants chatting before the
doors of their dwellings (it was evening at the time,) and
promenading the darkening streets. In addition to the
plague of mosquitos, which kept them most of the day
in their hammocks, the inhabitants of Monpex were
horribly disfigured with goitres. Their city was sur-
rounded with swamps, and was liable to inundations.
Sometimes they were obliged to desert their houses, and

216 HONDA.

take to their canoes. Crocodiles came up to the banks
to feed on the offal thrown from the city.

From Monpox to Santa Margarita the shore was bor-
dered with orange and lemon trees. At Pinon they saw
the mountains in the interior. The depth of the water
increasing along the shore, they were now and then
obliged to lay in the poles, and haul along by the trees.
They passed the island of Morales, which was shaded with
cocoa palms. Beyond Badillo the crocodiles diminished,
and cocoa plantations began. Sometimes the river,
broadening, resembled a large lake, bordered with forest-
trees. At such places the travellers saw their old friends
of Cumana and the Orinoco, flamingoes, herons, parrots,
and macaws, and hordes of bowling monkeys. Turtles
were plentiful, as were also crocodiles and jaguars. They
saw the crocodiles and jaguars fighting on the banks as
they passed. At last they reached the town of Honda,
having been thirty -five days on the river.

From Honda they proceeded on mules to Bogota.
The road was more like the bed of a torrent than a
road. They descended from the mountain of Sarjento
into the picturesque valley of Guaduas ; then they
climbed the steep sides of the Alta del Trigo, and again
descended to the plain of Villietas. From the paramo
of Cerradera they saw the plains of Bogota, though
they were still nine leagues from the capital. At last
they came in sight of the white towers of the cathedral,
and the monasteries of Monserrat and Guadalupe.

The travellers arrived at Bogota in June, and remained
till September, pursuing their botanical and geographi-
cal researches, and making excursions to the natural
curiosities of the neighborhood.

THE FALLS OF TEQUEXDAMA. 21 7

The plain of Bogota was encircled with lofty moun-
tains ; and the perfect level of the soil, its geological
structure, the form of the rocks of Suba and Facatativa,
which rose like small islands in the midst of the savan-
nas, all served to indicate the existence of an ancient
lake. The Eio Funzha, into which flowed the waters of
the valley, forced its way through the mountains to the
south-west of Bogota. Near the farm of Canoas this
river rushed from the plain by a narrow outlet into a
crevice, which, descended towards the basin of the Eio
Magdalena. Here were the celebrated falls of Tequen-
dama. Taking one pleasant day the road which led to
the falls, the travellers passed the village of Suacha, and
the great farm of Canoas, famous for its crops of wheat.
At a small distance from the farm, on the height of
Chipa, they found themselves surrounded with oaks and
elms, and plants which recalled to their minds the vege-
tation of Europe. Looking down, as from a terrace,
they discovered below them a country producing bana-
nas and sugar canes. They descended by a dangerous
pathway to the brink of the precipice, into which the river
threw itself. At a short distance above them it was one
hundred and forty feet broad, but as it drew near the foil
it contracted itself in a deep but narrow bed, scarcely forty
feet wide, and plunged at two bounds down a perpendi-
cular rock to the depth of six hundred and fifty feet. It
came on like a broad arch of glass ; as soon as it was over
the brink of the precipice it became a fleece of spray, which
was changed in its descent to mist. The mist rose, how-
ever, to a considerable height, and was crowned with glit-
tering rainbows. From the rocky sides of the crevice,
hung with shrubs and bushes, gushed innumerable springs

10

218 THE LEGEND Or BOCHK A.

and tributary streams, and over and around all darted
strange birds, with beautiful plumage. A great portion of
the fall was lost in vapour ; what little was left below, a
dwindled streamlet, rushed impetuously along a stony bed
overhung with trees, and was lost in the dark windings
of the rock. The crevice into which the river plunged,
communicating with the plains of the warm regions, a
few palm trees had sprung up at the foot of the cataract.
This led the inhabitants of Bogota to say that the river
plunged from a hot into a cold country. Humboldt suc-
ceeded, not without danger, in canying his instruments
into the crevice. It took him three hours to reach the
bottom by a narrow path. A few feeble rays of noon
fell on the bottom of the crevice. The solitude of the
place, the richness of the vegetation, and the dreadful
roar that struck upon his ear, were long remembered by
him. He considered it one of the wildest scenes in the
whole range of the Cordilleras.

The column of vapour, rising like a thick cloud from
the falls, could be seen from the walks round Bogota, at
five leagues distance.

There was a legend connected with the place: " In the
remotest times," it ran, " before the moon accompanied
the earth, the inhabitants of the plain of Bogota lived
like barbarians, naked, without agriculture, without any
form of laws or worship. Suddenly there appeared
among them an old man, who came from the plains situ-
ate on the east of the Cordillera of Chingasa, and who
appeared to be of a race unlike that of the natives,
having a long and bushy beard. He was known by
three distinct appellations, Bochica, Nemquetheba, and
Zuhe. This old man instructed men how to clothe

THE LAKE OF GU AT A VITA. 219

themselves, build huts, till the ground, and form them-
selves into communities. He brought with him a woman,
to whom also tradition gives three names, Chia, Yube-
cayguaya, and Huythaca. This woman, extremely beau-
tiful and not less malignant, thwarted every enterprise
of her husband for the happiness of mankind. By her
skill in magic she swelled the Rio Funzha, and inun-
dated the valley of Bogota. The greater part of the
inhabitants perished in this deluge ; a few only found
refuge on the summits of the neighbouring mountains.
The old man, in anger, drove the beautiful Huythaca far
from the Earth, and she became the Moon, which began
from that epoch to enlighten our planet during the night.
Bochica, moved with compassion for those who were dis-
persed over the mountains, broke with his powerful arm
the rocks that inclosed the valley on the side of Canoas
and Tequendama. By this outlet he drained the waters
of the Lake of Bogota. He built towns, introduced the
worship of the Sun, named two chiefs, between whom he
divided the civil and ecclesiastical authority, and then
withdrew himself, under the name of Idacanzas, into the
holy valley of Iraca, near Tunja, where he lived in the
exercise of the most austere penitence for the space of
two thousand years."

After the excursion to the Falls of Tequendama,
the travellers visited the Lake of Guatavita. It was
situated to the north of Bogota, in a wild and soli-
tary spot, on a ridge of the mountains of Zipaguira, at
a height of eight thousand five hundred feet. It was
held in veneration by the Indians in the olden time, who
were supposed to have repaired thither for the purpose
of ablution and purification. The travellers found the

220 ICONONZO.

remains of a flight of steps, by which the Indians were
accustomed to descend to the water, and a channel by
which the Spaniards, after the conquest, had attempted
to drain the lake, to recover the treasures which were
said to have been concealed there when Quesada and
his cavalry appeared on the plains of Cundinamarca. It
lay on a plain, surrounded by mountains. Its basin was
a sort of half oval, whose stony sloping sides were over
grown with bushes and trees.

Towards the end of September Humboldt and Bon-
pland bade Bogota adieu, and started for Quito. Out of
two roads which they might have taken, like true natu-
ralists thev chose the worst. The road from Bogota to
Fusagasuga and thence to Icononzo was one of the most
difficult and least frequented in the Cordilleras. "The
traveller," Humboldt afterwards wrote, "must feel a
passionate enthusiasm for the beauties of nature, who
prefers the dangerous descent of the desert of San Fortu-
nato, and the mountains of Fusagasuga, leading towards
the natural bridges of Icononzo, to the usual road by
the Mesa de Juan Diaz, to the banks of the Magdalena."

Journeying two days in a south-easterly direction they
came to Icononzo, a ruined town of the Muvsco Indians.
It lay at the southern end of a valley of the same name.
The rocks of this valley seemed to have been carved by
the hand of man. Their naked and barren summits
presented a picturesque contrast with the tufts of trees
and shrubs which covered the brinks of a deep crevice
in the centre of the valley. Through this valley ran a
small torrent called the Rio de la Summa Paz. To this
torrent the travellers came, nor could they have crossed
it, without great difficulty, had not nature provided two

THE NATURAL BRIDGES. 221

bridges of rocks, like the natural bridge in Virginia,
The highest of these bridges was forty-six feet in length,
and nearly forty in breadth; its thickness in the centre was
about seven feet. Humboldt experimented on its height,
and found it three hundred and twelve feet above the level
of the torrent. For the safety of travellers the Indians of
the valley had formed a small balustrade of reeds, ex-
tending along the precipitous road leading to the bridge.

Sixty feet below this bridge was another, to which the
travellers were led by a narrow pathway, descending
along the brink of the crevice. In the middle of the
second bridge was a hollow of more than twenty -four feet
square, through which they perceived the bottom of the
abyss. The torrent seemed to flow through a dark ca-
vern, from which arose a melancholy noise, caused by
the numberless flights of nocturnal birds that haunted
the crevice. Humboldt at first mistook them for bats
of gigantic size. Thousands of them were seen flying
over the surface of the water. The Indians assured
him that these birds were of the size of a fowl, with
a curved beak and an owl's eye. They were called
cacas. It was impossible to catch them, on account of
the depth of the valley ; and they could be examined
only by throwing down rockets, to illumine the sides of
the crevice.

Leaving the bridges of Icononzo, the travellers pursued
their journey until they came to the mountain of Quin-
diu. At the entrance of this mountain, near Ibague,
they saw the truncated cone of Zolima covered with per-
petual snow. The little river of Combeima wound along
a narrow valley, and forced its way across a thicket of
palm-trees.

222 THE M<>; MAIN OF QUINDIU.

The mountain of Quindiu was considered the most
difficult passage in the Cordilleras of the Andes. It was
a thick, uninhabited forest, which, in the finest season,
could not be traversed in less than ten or twelve days.
Not even a hut was to be seen, nor could any means of
subsistence be found. Travellers, at all times of the year,
furnished themselves with a month's provision, since it
often happened, that, by the melting of the snowrs, and
the sudden swell of the torrents, thev found themselves
so circumstanced, that they could descend neither on the
side of Cartago, nor that of Ibague. The highest point
of the road, the Garito del Paramo, was one thousand
four hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea.
As the foot of the mountain, towards the banks of the
Cauca, was only three thousand one hundred and forty
feet, the climate there was, in general, mild and tem-
perate. The pathway which formed the passage of the
Cordilleras was only about a foot in breadth, and had
the appearance, in several places, of a gallery dug, and
left open to the sky. In this part of the Andes the
rock was covered with a thick stratum of clay. The
streamlets which flowed down the mountains, had hol-
lowed out gullies eighteen or twenty feet deep. Along
these crevices, which were full of mud, the travellers
were forced to grope their passage, the darkness of which
was increased by the thick vegetation that covered the
opening above. The oxen, which were the beasts of
burden commonly made use of in this country, could
scarcely force their way through these galleries, some of
which were two thousand yards in length ; if a travel-
ler had met them in one of these passages, he could not
have avoided them, but by turning back, and climb-

A DELUGE OF EAIN. 225

ing the earthen wall which bordered the crevice, and
keeping himself suspended, by laying hold of the roots
which penetrated to this depth from the surface of the
ground.

They traversed the mountain of Quindiu in October,
on foot, followed by twelve oxen, which carried their
collections and instruments, amidst a deluge of rain, to
which they were exposed during the last three or four
days in their descent on the western side of the Cordil-
leras. The road passed through a country full of bogs,
and covered with bamboos. Their shoes were so torn
by the prickles which shoot out from the roots of these
gigantic gramma, that they were forced, like all other
travellers who disliked being carried on men's backs, to
go barefooted. This circumstance, the continued hu-
midity, the length of the passage, the muscular force
required to tread in a thick and muddy clay, and the
necessity of fording deep torrents of icy water, rendered
this journey extremely fatiguing ; but, however painful,
it was accompanied by none of those dangers with which
the credulity of the people alarmed travellers. The road
was narrow, but the places where it skirted precipices
were very rare. As the oxen were accustomed to put
their feet in the same tracks they formed small furrows
across the road, separated from each other by narrow
ridges of earth. In very rainy seasons, these ridges were
covered with water, which rendered the steps of the
travellers doubly uncertain, since they knew not whether
they placed their feet on the ridge or in the furrow.

The usual mode of travelling for persons in easy cir-
cumstances, was in a chair, strapped to the back of one
of the native porters, who lived by letting out their backs

224 BIDING <>N MEN'S BACKS.

and loins to travellers. They talked in this country of
going on a man's back, as we mention going on horse-
back. No humiliating idea was annexed to the trade of
porters ; and the men who followed that occupation were

not Indians, but mulattoes, and sometimes even whites.

It was curious to hear these men, with scarcely any
covering, quarrelling in the midst of a forest, because
one had refused the other, who pretended to have a
whiter skin, the pompous title of don, or of su merced.
The usual load of a porter was six or seven arrobas ;
those who were very strong carried as much as nine
arrobas. When we reflect on the enormous fatigue to
whicn these miserable men were exposed, journeying
eight or nine hours a day over a mountainous country ;
when we know, that their backs were sometimes as raw
as those of beasts of burden ; that travellers had often the
cruelty to leave them in the forests when they fell sick ;
that they earned by a journey from Ibague to Cartago,
only twelve or fourteen piasters in from fifteen to twenty-
five days ; we are at a loss to conceive how this employ-
ment of a porter was so eagerly embraced by all the
robust young men who lived at the foot of the moun-
tains. The taste for a wandering life, the idea of a cer-
tain independence amid forests, led them to prefer it to
the sedentary and monotonous labour of cities. The
passage of the mountain of Quindiu was not the only
part of South America which was traversed on the backs
of men. The whole of the province of Antioquia was
surrounded by mountains so difficult to pass, that those
who disliked entrusting themselves to the skill of a
bearer, and were not strong enough to travel on foot
from Santa Fe de Antioquia to Bocca de Nares or Rio

THE FAT ANTIOQUIAX. 225

Samana, relinquished all thoughts of leaving the country.
Humboldt was acquainted with an inhabitant of this
province so immensely bulky, that he had not met with
more than two mulattoes capable of carying him ; and it
would have been impossible for him to have returned
home, if these two carriers had died while he was on the
banks of the Magdalena, at Monpox, or at Honda. The
number of young men who undertook the employment
of beasts of burden at Choco, Ibague, and Medellin, was
so considerable, that the travellers sometimes met a file
of fifty or sixty. A few years later, when a project was
formed to make the passage from JSTaires to Antioquia
passable for mules, the porters presented formal remon-
strances against mending the road, and the government
yielded to their clamours. The person carried in a chair
by a porter was compelled to remain several hours mo-
tionless, and leaning backwards. The least motion was
sufficient to throw him down, and his fall was so much
the more dangerous, as the porter, confident in his
own skill, generally chose the most rapid declivities, or
crossed a torrent on a narrow and slippery trunk of a
tree. These accidents were, however, rare; and those
which happened were attributed to the imprudence of
travellers, who, frightened at a false step of the porters,
leaped down from their chairs.

At Ibague, before the porters started on their journey
across Quindiu, they plucked on the neighbouring moun-
tains several hundred leaves of the vijao, a plant of the
family of bananas. These leaves were twenty inches
long, and fourteen inches broad. Their lower surface was
covered with a farinaceous substance which fell off in
scales. This peculiar varnish enabled them to resist the

10*

226 UNDER THE VIJAO LEAVES.

rain for a long time. Of these leaves, with which they
were plentifully supplied on their journey, the porters
made a roof; a hundred weight was sufficient to cover a
hut. huge enough to hold six or eight persons. When
Humboldt and Bonpland stopped for the night, in Quin-
diu, they picked out a spot in the forest where the ground
was dry, and the porters lopped from the trees a lew-
branches, and made a tent. Dividing their timber-work
into squares, by the stalks of some climbing plants that
grew near, or perhaps by the threads of the agave, they
spread over this frame-work their vijao leaves, the stems
of which were notched so as to hang, row overlapping
row, like the tiles of a house. The travellers found
these extemporized houses cool and commodious : if
they felt the rain during the night, they had only to
point out the spot through which it dropped upon them
— a single leaf wTould mend it.

Day after day passed, and they were still on the moun-
tains of Quindiu, struggling along its difficult paths, now
buried in the depths of its forests, and now emerging into
solitary openings, rugged and stern with rocks. When
the rain ceased, and the sun shone, a varied prospect
opened before them ; deep but irregular valleys : table-
lands of rock sloping away precipitously : barren-looking
hills whose sides were studded with trees; now and then
a gigantic cactus like a bundle of broken spears ; forests
before and behind, and in the distance the snowy cone of
Zolima, looming among the ragged peaks, in a wilderness
of clouds ! Then the sky would be overcast, and the
rain would fall in torrents, drenching them to the skin.

They reached Popayan in November, and rested there
awhile to recruit themselves. Popayan was situated in

THE CATARACTS OF THE RIO VINAGRE. 227

the beautiful valley of the Rio Cauea, at the foot of the
great volcanoes of Purace and Sotara. They visited these
volcanoes during their stay. On ascending from Popayan
towards the top of Purace they found, at an elevation of
eight thousand feet, a small plain inhabited by Indians,
and cultivated with the greatest care. This delightful
plain was bounded by two ravines extremely deep, on the
brink of which the houses of the village of Purace were
built. Waters sprang out profusely from the porphyritic
rock ; every garden was inclosed by a hedge of euphor-
biums, with slender leaves, and of the most delicate green.
Nothing; could be more agreeable than the contrast of
this beautiful verdure with the chain of black and arid
mountains, which surrounded the volcano, and which
were cleft and torn asunder by earthquakes.

The village of Purace was celebrated in the country
for the beautiful cataracts of the Rio Pusambio, the
waters of which were acid, and were called by the
Spaniards Rio Vinagre. This small river was warm
towards its source, and probably owed its origin to the
daily melting of the snows, and the sulphur that burned
in the interior of the volcano. It formed, near the plains,
three cataracts, the two uppermost of which were very
striking. Humboldt sketched the second of these in the
garden of an Indian, near the house of the missionary of
Purace. The water which made its way through a cavern
precipitated itself downward nearly four hundred feet.
The cascade was extremely picturesque, but the inhabit-
ants of Popayan regretted that the river was not ingulfed
in some abyss, instead of mingling, as it did, with the Rio
Cauca. For the latter river was destitute of fish for four
leagues, on account of the mixture of its waters with those

228 wito.

of the Rio Yinagre, which were loaded with oxide of iron,
and sulphuric and muriatic acids.

The travellers arrived at Quito on the 6th of January,
L802, and remained there nearly nine months. Bow
they rilled up the greater part of this time is not stated ;
hut from the number of celebrated mountains in the
neighbourhood, most of which they visited, and from
their omnivorous taste in the sciences, it is certain that it
seldom or never hung heavily on their hands. They had
first to look after their instruments and their collections :
Humboldt had to complete his map of the Rio Magdalena,
and Bonpland to arrange his crowded herbal. Then there
were visits to be received, and returned ; excursions to be
planned and executed : in short a thousand ways to make
the days and months slip away unperceived. When not
in the city of Quito itself they resided in the neighbour-
hood, in the villas and country houses of their friends.
Humboldt resided at one time in the hacienda of General
Aguerre, at Chileo, where his portrait was painted by a
Quitan artist, and where it still hangs. When Mr.
Church, our greatest landscape painter, was in South
America, making studies for his magnificent painting,
"The Heart of the Andes," he lodged in the very room
that Humboldt occupied, and struck with his portrait,
which continually met his eyes on the wall, he procured
a copy of it, from a pupil of the artist who painted it,
and brought it with him, in his return to the United
States. It is an invaluable relict of the great traveller,
represent ing him, not as we know him from later engrav-
ings and photographs, a gray old man, wTith his head
drooping on his bosom, heavy with its harvest of thought ;
but in the vigour of manhood, thin and muscular, with

MOUNTAINS AND VOLCANOES. 229

his hair long, as was the fashion then, and in a Prussian
uniform. The pleasant look of the old face is there, and
the beautiful blue eyes ; but the look is more eager and
longing, and the eyes are brighter and keener. A copy
of the same picture hangs in the old castle at Tegel.

The months of May and June were devoted to moun-
tains and volcanoes, which abounded in the regions about
Quito. Within the space of thirty -seven leagues to the
west, were Casitagua, Pichincha, Atacazo, Corazon, Illi-
niza, Carguairazo, Chimborazo, and Cumambag: to the
east, were Guamani, Antisana, Passuchoa, Rumminnavi,
Cotopaxi, Quelendanna, Tungurahua, and Capa-Urcu.
Humboldt visited several of these mountains, but two of
the grandest ones, Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, he was
unable to ascend.

Cotopaxi was situated twelve leagues from the city, to
the south-east, between the mountain of Rumminnavi, the
summit of which, rugged with small separate rocks, ex-
tended like a wall of enormous height, and Quelendanna,
which entered the boundaries of eternal snow. Its
height was eighteen thousand seven hundred feet. The
masses of scoriae and huge pieces of rock, which it had
in former times vomited from its fiery depths, were
spread over the neighbouring valleys, covering a space
of several square leagues ; could they have been col-
lected and heaped together, they would have formed
a colossal mountain, as large perhaps as Cotopaxi itself.
Cotopaxi was the most dreadful mountain in the whole
kingdom of Quito. During one of its eruptions in 1739,
flames rose into the lurid air three thousand feet above
the brink of its crater. In 1744 its roaring was heard
as far as Honda, a distance of two hundred leagues. In

2:)0 COTOPAXI.

1768 the quantity of ashes sifted from it was so great,
tliat in the towns of Hambato and Tacunga, day broke
only at three o'eloek in the afternoon, and the inhabit-
ants were obliged to use lanterns in the streets.

The summit of Cotopaxi was one of the most beauti-
ful and regular of all the colossal summits of the Cor-
dilleras. It was a perfect cone, covered with an enormous
layer of snow, which at sunset shone with a dazzling
splendour, detaching itself picturesquely from the in-
tensely blue sky. This covering of snow concealed from
the eyes of the travellers the smallest inequalities of the
soil; no point of rock, no stony mass penetrated this
coat of ice, or broke the regularity of the figure of the
cone. Near the brink of the crater they saw a ledge of
rock which was never covered with snow, and which
looked like a series of belts of the darkest hue. The
cone was too steep here for the snow ever to lodge upon
it; besides, currents of heated air were continually
issuing from the crevices. The soul of Winter himself
would have shrunk into nothingness before these " blasts
from hell."

The crater of Cotopaxi, like that of Teneriffe, was sur-
rounded by a circular wall, wThich the travellers were
unable to scale ; for unlike the crater of Teneriffe it had
no opening. The lava which had poured over its horri-
ble brink had never yet made a breach in it. Indeed
they found it difficult to attain even the inferior boun-
dary of perpetual snow : so the}7 were reluctantly com-
pelled to descend. Humboldt made two sketches of the
volcano, one at Suniguaicu, from a ridge of porphyritic
mountains which joined Cotopaxi to the Nevada of
Quelendanna — a southern view of the crater, near the

chimborazo. 231

limit of eternal snow; the other, a westerly view from
the terrace of a beautiful country house, belonging to his
friend, the Marquis of Maenza, with whom he occasion-
ally lodged during his residence in Quito.

On the 22nd of June, the birthday of his brother,
Humboldt commenced his ascent of Chimborazo, accom-
panied by Bonpland and Carlos de Montufar, a young
Spanish naturalist. They started from the plain of
Tapia, at an elevation of over nine thousand feet. This
arid table-land was near the village of Lican, the ancient
residence of the sovereigns of Quito. From Lican to
the summit of Chimborazo was nearly five leagues in a
straight line. They followed the plain, leaving behind
them groups of Indians bound to the market of Lican,
and slowly ascending halted for the night at the little vil-
lage of Calpi. They were now at the foot of Chimbo-
razo It rose before them stupendously in the light of
the setting sun. The foreground was veiled in the
vaporous dimness that striped the lower strata of the
air, but as they cast their eyes towards the summit it de-
tached itself from the deep blue sky. They saw above
the region of ligneous plants and alpine shrubs a broad
belt of grass like a gilded yellow carpet. Beyond this
was a region of porphyritic rocks, and beyond these
rocks, eternal ice and snow. As the earth below grew
darker, the heaven above seemed to grow brighter ; their
sight was dazzled with the refulgent splendour of the snow.

Early the next morning their Indian guides awoke
them, and they began to climb the mountain on the
south-western side, traversing the great plains which
rose like terraces, one above another, until they reached
the plain of Sisgun, twelve thousand four hundred feet

232 THE FOREST OF BOCKS.

above the level of the sea. Here Humboldt wished to make
a trigonometrical measurement to ascertain the height of
the summit, but it was shrouded in thick clouds. From
time to time they caught a momentary glimpse of it, through
openings in the clouds, but the sky was gradually darken-
ing. They continued to ascend until they reached the
little lake of Yana-Cocha, a circular basin one hundred
and thirty feet in diameter. It was the most elevated spot
yet reached by man on the ridge of mountains, three thou-
sand three hundred feet higher than the summit of Mont
Blanc. Here they left their mules. The barometer show* •< 1
a height of fourteen thousand three hundred and fifty feet.
Crossing the yellow belt of grass which they had seen over
night, they came to a region of augite. Here rocks rose
in columns fifty or sixty feet high, and looked like the
trunks of trees. Traversing the aisles of this enchanted
forest of stone, over fields of new-fallen snow, they gained
a narrow ridge wrhich led directly to the summit of Chim-
borazo, and by which alone they might hope to reach it ;
for the snow around was too soft and yielding to be ven-
tured upon. The path became steeper and narrower, and
at last the guides refused to go any further. When they
were sixteen thousand five hundred feet high, all but one
left them. Nothin 2; daunted, however, the travellers went
on, enveloped in a thick mist. The path which they were
ascending was in many places not more than eight or ten
inches broad : the natives called it a " knife-blade." On
one hand was a declivity of snow covered with a glassy
coating of ice, on the other a chasm one thousand feet dvcp^
the bottom of which was covered with masses of naked
rocks. They inclined their bodies over this chasm, dan-
gerous as it was, for they dared not trust themselves to the

BIRDS AXD BUTTERFLIES. 233

snowy pitch on the opposite side. Had they stumbled
they would either have been buried in the mingled snow
and ice, or would have rolled headlong down the steep.
The character of the rock, which was brittle and crumbling,
increased the difficulty of the ascent. Here and there they
were obliged to crawl on their hands and feet ; the sharp
edges of the rock wounded them, and they left behind a
bloody trail. They marched in single file, testing with
their poles the stability of the rocks before them. This
precaution was very necessary, as many of the rocks
were lying loose on the brink of the precipice. Desirous
of knowing how much of the mountain remained to be
ascended, for the summit was continually hidden from
their sight, Humboldt opened the barometer on a point
where the path was broad enough to allow two persons
to sit side by side : the mercury indicated a height of
eighteen thousand three hundred and eighty feet. The
temperature of the air was 98°, and that of the earth 107°.

They proceeded for another hour, and found the rocky
path less steep ; the mist, however, was thicker than ever.
They now began to suffer severely from the extreme
rarefaction of the air. They breathed with difficulty, and
what was still more disagreeable, felt like vomiting. Their
heads swam, their lips and gums bled profusely, and their
eyelids and eyeballs were charged with blood.

From time to time great birds, probably condors, came
swooping down the terrible pass, sailing grandly away ;
and little winged insects, resembling flies, fluttered gaily
around. It was impossible to catch them, owing to the
narrowness of the ledge ; but Humboldt judged that they
were Dipteras. Bonpland saw yellow butterflies, a little
lower down, flying very near the ground.

234 STOPPED BY A chasm.

Finally the belts of cloud parted, and the}' saw on the
sudden, the vast dome of Chimborazo. It Beemed Dear
them, so near that in a few minutes they might reach it.
The Ledges too seemed to favor them by becoming
broader. They hurried onward for a short distance,
excited with the hope of soon standing on the pinnacle.
All at once the path was stopped by a chasm, four hun-
dred feet deep, and sixty feet broad. There was no way
by which they could cross it: the difficulty was insur-
mountable. To tantalize them still further they saw
that the path went forward on the other side of the
ledge, evidently reaching the summit. If they could
have but crossed that chasm !

It was one o'clock in the afternoon, and they were
benumbed with cold. They were nineteen thousand two
hundred feet above the level of the sea.

The belt of clouds closed again, and the peak was
lost. The mist grew thicker and thicker, and everything
indicated a storm. There was nothing left them but to
descend. Halting long enough to collect a few specimens
of the rock they retraced their steps. A storm of hail
overtook them, but as they descended into a lower atmo-
sphere it changed into snow. When they reached the
little lake of Yana-Cocha, where they had left their mules,
they found the ground covered with snow several inches
deep. Before dusk they reached the Indian village of
Calpi, and were entertained that night by the priest.

So ended the attempt to scale the summit of Chimbo-
razo.

Not content with his defeat at Chimborazo and Coto-
paxi, Humboldt visited several other mountains and vol-
canoes in the neighbourhood of Quito. If he could not

ILLINISSA AND CORAZON. 235

ascend them, he could at least sketch them, which was
something. He visited and sketched Corazon, Illinissa,
and Cayambe.

Of the various summits of the Cordilleras, the heights
of which have been determined with any precision, Cay-
ambe is the loftiest after Chimborazo. From angles
which he took on the Exido of Quito, to observe the
progress of the terrestrial refraction at different hours of
the day, Humboldt found its elevation to be eighteen
thousand seven hundred feet. Its form, which was that
of a truncated cone, reminded him of the peak of Zolima,
as he saw it looming above the forests of Quindiu.
Among the many snow clad mountains that surrounded
the city of Quito he considered it the most beautiful, as
well as the most majestic, and it never ceased to excite
his admiration when at sunset it threw its vast shadow
over the plain.

Illinissa was grand and picturesque. Its summit was
divided into two pyramidal points, which were probably
the wrecks of a volcano that had fallen in. These pyra-
mids were visible at an enormous distance.

Corazon derived its name from the form of its summit,
which was nearly that of a heart. It was on the western
Cordillera, between Illinissa and Pichincha. Bouguer and
Condamine ascended this mountain in July, 1738. " We
began our journey," says Condamine, in his celebrated
Voyage to the Equator, " in very fine weather. The
persons whom we had left in our tents soon lost sight of
us among the clouds, which appeared to us only a mist,,
from the time we entered them. A cold and piercing
wind covered us in a short time with icicles. In several
places we were forced to scale the rock, by climbing with

23G Tin: BUDGE OF ROPES at penipe.

our hands and feet. At length we reached the summit;
and on looking at each other, we perceived all one side
of our clothes, one of our eyebrows, and half our beards,
stuck full of small frozen points, exhibiting a singular
spectacle."

In one of their excursions to Riobamba, on the west-
ern slope of the volcano of Tunguragua the travellers
visited the delightful village of Penipe, where they saw a
famous bridge of ropes. It crossed the river of Chambo,
which separated the villages of Penipe and Guanando.
The ropes of this bridge, which were three or four inches
in diameter, were made of the fibrous part of the roots
of the agave Americana, and were fastened on each bank
to a clumsy wooden framework. As their weight made
them bend towards the middle of the river, and as it
would have been imprudent to have stretched them with
too much force, the Indians were obliged, when the banks
were low, to form steps or ladders at both extremities of
the bridge. That which the travellers crossed at Penipe'
was a hundred and twenty feet long, arid seven or eight
broad. The great ropes were covered transversely with
small cylindrical pieces of bamboo. These structures,
of which the people of South America made use long be-
fore the arrival of the Europeans, reminded Humboldt of
the chain bridges at Boutan, and in the interior of Africa.
"Mr. Turner, in his interesting account of his journey to
Thibet, gives the plan of the bridge of Tchintehieu, near
the fortress of Chuka, which is one hundred and forty
feet in length, and which may be passed on horseback.

Travellers had often spoken of the extreme danger of
passing over these rope bridges, which look like ribands
suspended above a crevice or an impetuous torrent; but

PERUVIAN BRIDGES OF WOOD. 237

Humboldt did not consider this danger great, when a
single person passed over the bridge as quickly as possi-
ble, with his body leaning forward. The oscillations of
the ropes, however, become very strong, when the travel-
ler is conducted by an Indian who walks quicker than
himself; or when frightened by the view of the water
which he sees through the interstices of the bamboos, he
has the imprudence to stop in the midst of the bridge,
and lay hold of the ropes that serve as a rail. A bridge
of this kind lasted generally in good condition only
twenty or twenty-five years. It was necessary to renew
some of the ropes every eight or ten years. But in these
countries the police was so negligent, that Humboldt
often saw bridges, in which most of the pieces of bam-
boo were broken. On these old bridges it was necessary
to proceed with great circumspection, to avoid holes,
through which the whole body might slip. A few years
before Humboldt's visit to Penipe, the bridge of the
Eio Chambo suddenly broke down. This was owing to
a very dry wind having succeeded long rains, in conse-
quence of which all the ropes gave way at the same time.
By this accident four Indians were drowned in the river,
which was very deep and rapid.

The ancient Peruvians constructed also bridges of
wood, supported by piers of stone ; though they most
commonly satisfied themselves with bridges of ropes.
These were extremely useful in a mountainous country,
where the depth of the crevices and the impetuosity of
the torrents prevented the construction of piers. It was
by a bridge of ropes, of extraordinary length, on which
travellers could pass with loaded mules, that a permanent
communication was established between Quito and Lima,

238 THE PANECILLO OP CALLO.

after uselessly expending upwards of forty thousand
pounds sterling, to build a stone bridge, near Santa, over
a torrent, which rushed from the Cordillera of the Andes.

But we must not forget the various monuments of the
ancient Peruvians, visited by the travellers during their
nine months' residence in Quito, especially the Panecillo
of Callo, and the House of the Inca Huayna-Capac. They
came upon these singular remains in April, on their
way to the volcano of Cotopaxi, and Humboldt made a
sketch of them as they then appeared. He found them
in an immense plain covered with pumice stone. The
Panecillo was a conic hillock, about two hundred and fifty
feet high, covered with small bushes of molina, spermacoce,
and cactus. The natives believed that this hillock, which
resembled a bell, and was perfectly regular in its figure,
was a tumulus, or one of those numerous hills, which the
ancient inhabitants of this country raised for the interment
of the sovereign, or some other distinguished personage.
Tt was alleged, in favour of this opinion, that the Pane-
cillo was wholly composed of volcanic rubbish, and that
the same pumice stone, which surrounded its basis, was
found also on its summit.

This reason might appear little conclusive in the eyes
of a geologist, for the back of the neighbouring mountain
of Tiopullo, which was much higher than the Panecillo,
was also covered with great heaps of pumice stone,
probably owing to ancient eruptions of Cotopaxi and
Illinissa. We cannot doubt, but that in both Americas,
as well as in the north of Asia, and on the banks of the
Boristhenes, mounds raised by men, and real tumuli of
an extraordinary height, are to be seen. Those which
are found amid the ruins of the ancient town of Mansiche,

THE HOUSE OF THE INCA. 239

in Peru, are not much lower than the Panecillo of Callo.
It is nevertheless possible, and this opinion appeared to
Humboldt the most probable one, that the latter was a
volcanic hillock to which the natives had given a more
regular form. Ulloa, who visited the Panecillo, and
whose authority is of great weight, adopted the opinion
of the natives ; he even thought that the Panecillo was a
military monument ; and that it served as a watch tower,
to discover what passed in the country, and to insure the
prince's safety on the first alarm of an unforeseen attack.
The Inca's House was a little to the south-west of the
Panecillo, three leagues from the crater of Cotopaxi, and
about ten leagues to the south of the city of Quito. This
edifice formed a square, each side of which was one hundred
feet long ; four great outer doors were still distinguish-
able, and eight apartments, three of which were in good
preservation. The walls were nearly fifteen feet high
and three feet thick. The doors were similar to those
of Egyptian temples; the niches, eighteen in number
in each apartment, were distributed with the greatest
symmetry. The stone made use of in building the Inca's
House was a rock of volcanic origin, a burnt and spungy
porphyry with basaltic bases. It was probably ejected
by the mouth of the volcano of Cotopaxi. As this
monument appeared to have been constructed in the be-
ginning of the sixteenth century, the materials employed
in it proved that it was a mistake to consider as the first
eruption of Cotopaxi that which took place in 1533,
when Sebastien de Belalcazar made the conquest of the
kingdom of Quito. The stones of the Inca's House were
cut in parallelopipedons, not all of the same size, but
forming courses as regular as those of Roman workman-

240 A NEW BOl IK.

ship. During bis long abode in the Cordilleras Humboldt
never found any structure resembling those which are
termed Cyclopean. In every edifice thai dated from the

time of the Incas, the front of the stones was very skil-
fully cut, while the back part was rugged, and often
angular. Before Humboldt and Bonpland visited the
ruins at Callo, Don Juan Larea had remarked, that in the
walls of the Inea's House the interstices between the outer
and inner stones were filled with small pebbles cemented
with clay. Humboldt did not observe this circumstance.
He saw no vestige of floor, or roof; he supposed, however,
that the latter was of wood. He could not decide whether
the edifice had originally more than a single story, or
not; as the height of its walls had been diminished no
less by the avidity of the neighbouring peasantry, who
took away the stones for their own use, than by the
earthquakes, to which this unfortunate country was con-
tinually exposed.

He thought it probable that this edifice, as well as
others which he heard called at Peru, Quito, and as far as
the banks of the Amazon, by the name of Inea's Houses,
did not date farther back than the thirteenth century.

Some time in August or September Humboldt received
intelligence that Baudin's expedition had sailed to New
Zealand, intending to pass homeward around the Cape
of Good Hope. This frustrated his projected visit to the
Philippine Islands. As he was by this time, however,
somewhat accustomed to having his plans thwarted, he
devised a new route, and as soon as it was practicable he
and Bonpland .-tailed upon it. About the last of Sep-
tember they left Quito, following the chain of the Andes
by the way of Assuay, Cuenca, and Loxa.

THE FORTEESS OF CANNAE. 241

The road which led them over the Paramo of Assuay
was nearlv as hi^h as Mont Blanc. Here it descended a
valley, there it ascended a mountain, and a little farther
on it stretched monotonously across a level plain. In
one of these plains, which was six leagues square in
breadth, the travellers found lakes of fresh water of con-
siderable depth. These lakes were bordered by a thick turf
of Alpine grasses, but contained no fish, and scarcely any
aquatic insects. Here they found the remains of the
great road of the Incas, which ran by the side of their
heavily-laden mules for over a mile. It had a deep under-
structure, and was paved with well-cut blocks of blackish
trap-porj)hyry. Nothing that Humboldt had seen of the
remains of Koman roads in Italy, the South of France,
or Spain, was more imposing than these works of the an-
cient Peruvians. They originally formed a line of com-
munication through all the provinces of the Empire,
extending over a length of more than a thousand
miles.

Proceeding from Assuay towards Cuenca the road led
them to the ancient fortress of Cannar. It was on a hill,
terminated by a platform, and was in excellent preserva-
tion. A wall built of large blocks of freestone, rose to
the height of twenty feet, forming a regular oval, the
great axis of which was nearly one hundred and twenty
feet in length. The interior of this oval was a flat piece
of ground, covered with rich vegetation. In the centre
of this inclosure stood the Fortress of Cannar, a house
containing only two rooms, the walls of whieh were
twenty feet high. It was probably a lodging-place for
the Incas, when they.journeyed from Cuzco to the king-
dom of Quito. The foundations of a great number of

11

242 TELE RAVINE OF THE SUN.

edifices surrounding the inclosuiv showed that there was
room enough to lodge the small army which generally
accompanied the Incas on these journeys. What was
curious about the Fortress of Cannar was the form of its
roof, which gave it the appearance of a European house.
As one of the first historians of America, Pedro de Cieca
de Leon, who began to describe his travels in 1541,
says that several similar houses, which he examined in
the province of Los Canares, were covered with rushes
this roof was probably added after the conquest of Peru
by the Spaniards.

Leaving the Fortress of Cannar, the travellers came to
a valley hollowed out by the river Gulan. Here they
found small foot-paths cut in the rock. These paths led
to a fissure, which the ancient Peruvians called the
Ravine of the Sun. In this solitary spot, shaded by
beautiful and luxuriant vegetation, the travellers saw an
isolated mass of sandstone, twelve or fifteen feet high. One
side of this rock was remarkable for its whiteness: it was
cut perpendicularly as if it had been worked by the
hand of man. On this smooth white ground were several
concentric circles, representing the image of the sun.
They were of a blackish brown, and in the space they
inclosed were features, half effaced, that indicated two
eyes and a mouth. Examining these circles closely
Humboldt found that they were small veins of iron ore,
common in every formation of sandstone. The features
indicating the eyes and mouth, which were evidently
made by some metallic tool, were probably added by the
Peruvian priests to impose upon the people. When the
Spaniards conquered the country, it was to the interest
of the missionaries to efface them, and it was accord-

THE CHAIR OF THE INCAS. 245

ingly done. Humboldt saw traces of their chisels in all
the circles.

The foot of the rock was cut into steps, which led to a
seat, hollowed out on the top, and so placed that from the
bottom of a hollow the image of the sun might be seen.
The natives related that when the Inca Yupa-Yupangi
advanced with his army to conquer the kingdom of
Quito, then commanded by the conchocando of Lican,
the priests who accompanied him discovered on the
stone the image of the Divinity whose worship ought to
be introduced among the conquered nations. The prince
and his soldiers considered the discovery of the stone as
a lucky augury, and it no doubt contributed the choice
of the ground on which the Fortress of Cannar was
built.

Near by was a chain of hills which was once a part of
the garden belonging to the ancient fortress. Here, as at
the ravine, the travellers found a number of small path-
ways cut in the slope of a rock, which was scarcely
covered with vegetable mould. There was not a tree
which seemed to have outlived fifty years. Nothing re-
minded them of the Incas, except a small monument of
stone, placed on the edge of a precipice. At a distance
it resembled a sofa, the back of which was decorated
with a sort of arabesque, in the form of a chair. From
this singular chair, in which but one person could sit at
a time, there was a delightful prospect. Here, without
doubt, the Incas used to sit and gaze over the surround-
ing country. Before them was the verdant valley,
through which ran the river Gulan, broken into cascades,
and foaming along through tufts of gunnera and mela-
stomas : behind and around were the everlasting hills !

244 THE CIN< IIMNA WOODS.

The travellers rested awhile al Loxa, and visited its
cinchona woods which yielded quinine, or Peruvian
bark. Peruvian bark was firsl brought into Europe in
the middle of the seventeenth century, either, as Sebas-
tian Badus asserts, to Alcala de Henares in 1632, or to
Madrid in 1640, on the arrival of the wife of the Viceroy,
the Countess of Chinchon, who had been cured of inter-
mittent fever at Limn, accompanied by her physician,
Juan del Ve£o. The trees which yielded the finest
quality of quinine were found from eight to twelve miles
to the south-east of Loxa, in the mountains of Uritusinga,
Villonaco, and Riimisitana. They grew in dense woods,
and aspired above the surrounding trees. Their leaves
were five inches long and two broad, and of a peculiar
reddish color. When the upper branches waved to and
fro in the wind, their glittering could be seen at a great
distance.

The quinine tree was cut down in its first flowering
season, or in the fourth or seventh year of its age, accord-
ing as it had sprung from a vigorous root-shoot, or from
a seed. Humboldt learned, that at the period of his
journey, according to official computations, only 11,000
lbs. of the bark were collected annually. None of this
precious store found its way at that time into commerce;
the whole was sent from the port of Payta on the Pacific,
round Cape Horn to Cadiz, for the use of the Spanish
Court. In order to furnish this small quantity eight or
nine hundred trees were cut down every year. The older
and thicker stems were already becoming scarce; but
the luxuriance of vegetation was such that the younger
trees, which supplied the demand, though only six inches
in diameter, often attained the height of fifty or sixty feet.

RUIN'S OF CHULUCANAS. 245

Between the Indian villages of Ayavaca and Guanca-
bamba the travellers found the ruins of the city of Chulu-
canas. These ruins were situated on a slope of the
Cordilleras, near the brink of a river, from which they
were separated by a wall. Two openings in this wall
corresponded with the two principal streets of the city.
The houses, built of porphyry, were distributed into
eight quarters, formed by streets cutting each other at
right angles. In the centre of these quarters, each of
which contained twelve small habitations, were the
remains of four large buildings of an oblong form, sepa-
rated by four small square buildings, occupying the four
corners. The hill on which the city stood was divided
into six terraces, the platforms of which were faced with
hewn stone. On the right of the river which bounded
the city, they discovered an uncouth structure, evidently
an ancient amphitheatre.

The region of country in which they were now travel-
ling— a series of mountain wildernesses, was cold and
stormy. They were often for days in a dense mist,
or worse still, they endured the peltings of violent
showers of hail, which cut their faces and hands. The
vegetation had a peculiar character, from the absence of
trees, the short close branches of the small-leaved myrtle-
like shrubs, the large-sized and numerous blossoms, and
the perpetual freshness of the whole from the constant
and abundant supply of moisture.

At various points in their journey they came upon the
remains of the old road of the Incas. The finest portions of
these roads were at Chulucanas, and in the neighbourhood
of Ingatambo, at Pomahuaca. It was nine thousand seven
hundred feet lower at the latter place than at Assuay.

_ 1 ; THE ROADS OF THE I. WAS.

They found placed at nearly equal distances apart, sta-
tions consisting of dwelling-houses built of well-cut stone
These stations were a kind of caravanserai, and were
called Tambos, and Inca-houses. Some were surrounded
by a kind of fortification ; others were constructed for
baths with arrangements for conducting hot water. The
largest of them were designed for the use of the family
of the Monarch himself.

There were two great artificial Peruvian paved roads
or systems of roads, covered with flat stones, or some-
times even with cemented gravel. One passed through
the wide and arid plain between the Pacific Ocean and
the chain of the Andes, and the other over the ridges of
the Cordilleras. Mile-stones, or stones marking the dis-
tances, were often found at regular intervals. The
road was conducted across rivers and deep ravines by
bridges of stone, wood, and rope. Both systems of roads
were directed to the central point, Cuzco, the seat of
government of the great empire. As the Peruvians em-
ployed no wheel carriages, and the roads were con-
sequently only designed for the march of troops, for men
carrying burdens, and for lightly-laden lamas, Hum-
boldt and Bonpland found them occasionally inter-
rupted, on account of the steepness of the mountains, by
long flights of steps, provided with resting-places at
suitable intervals. Francisco Pizarro and Die^o Al-
magro, who on their distant expeditions used the military
roads of the Incas with so much advantage, found great
difficulties for the Spanish Cavalry at the places where
these steps occurred. The impediment presented to their
march on these occasions was so much the greater, be-
cause in the early times of the Conquista, the Spaniards

WHAT THEY WERE WHEN PERFECT. 247

used only horses instead of the carefully treading mule,
who in the difficult parts of the mountains seems to de-
liberate on every step he takes. It was not until a later
period that mules were employed.

Sarmiento, who saw the Eoads of the Incas while they
were still in a perfect state of preservation, asks in a
Relacion which long lay unread, buried. in the Library
of the E sco rial, "how a nation unacquainted with the use
of iron could have completed such grand works in so
high and rocky a region, extending from Cuzco to Quito on
the one hand, and to the coast of Chili on the other? The
Emperor Charles," he adds, " with all his power could not
accomplish even a part of what the well-ordered Govern-
ment of the Incas effected through the obedient people over
whom they ruled." Hernando Pizarro, the most educated
and civilized of the three brothers, who for his misdeeds
suffered a twenty years' imprisonment at Medina del
Campo, and died at last at a hundred years of age in the
odour of sanctity, exclaims : "In the whole of Christendom
there are nowhere such fine roads as those which we here
admire." The two important capitals and seats of govern-
ment of the Incas, Cuzco and Quito, are one thousand
English geographical miles apart in a straight line, without
reckoning the many windings of the way ; and includ-
ing the windings, the distance is estimated by Grarcilaso
de la Vega and other Conquistadores at five hundred
leagues. Notwithstanding the great distance, we learn
from the well-confirmed testimony of the Licentiate Polo
de Ondegardo, that Huayna Capac, whose father had
conquered Quito, caused some of the building materials
for the houses of the Incas in the latter city, to be brought
from Cuzco.

248 WHEN TIIKY WEBB CONSTRUCTED.

When enterprising races inhabit a land where the
form of ili<' ground presents to them difficulties on a
grand scale which they may encounter and overcome,
this contest with nature l>ecomes a means of increasing

their strength and power as well as their courage. Und-r
the despotic centralizing system of the Inca-rule, security
and rapidity of communication, especially in the move-
ment of troops, became an important necessity of govern-
ment. Hence the construction of artificial roads on so
grand a scale, and hence also the establishment of a
highly improved postal system. Among nations in very
different stages of cultivation we see the national activity
display itself with peculiar predilection in some particular
directions, but we can by no means determine the general
state of culture of a people from the striking development
of such particular and partial activity. Egyptians, Greeks,
Etruscans, and Romans, Chinese, Japanese, and Hindoo-.
show many interesting contrasts in these respects. It is
difficult to pronounce what length of time may have been
required for the execution of the Peruvian roads. The
great works in the northern part of the Empire of the
Incas, in the highlands of Quito, must at all events have
been completed in less than thirty or thirty -five years ;
i. e. within the short period intervening between the
defeat of the Ruler of Quitu, and the death of Iluayna
Capac. But entire obscurity prevails as to the period of
the formation of the Southern roads.

Notwithstanding the tribute of admiration which the
first Conquistadores paid to the roads and aqueducts of
the Peruvians, they not only neglected the repair and
preservation of both these classes of useful works, but
they even wantonly destroyed them ; and this still more

FORDING THE GUANCAIJAMBA. 249

towards the sea-coast, than on the ridges of the Andes, or
in the deep-cleft valleys by which the mountain chain is
intersected.

In their journey from the rocks of Zaulaca to the Valley
of San Felipe, the travellers were obliged to wade through
the Rio de Guancabamba, which flowed into the Amazon,
no less than twenty-seven times, on account of the
windings of the stream ; while they continually saw near
them, running in a straight line along the side of a steep
precipice, the remains of the high built road of the Incas.
The mountain torrent, though only from one hundred
and twenty to one hundred and fifty feet broad, was
so strong and rapid that, in fording it, their mules
were often in danger of being swept away by the flood.
As these mules carried their manuscripts, their dried
plants, and all that they had been collecting for a year
past, we can conceive the suspense with which they
watched from the other side of the stream until the
long train of eighteen or twenty beasts of burden had
passed in safety.

The same river, in the lower part of its course, where
it had many falls and rapids, was made to serve in a
singular manner for the conveyance of correspondence
with the coast of the Pacific. In order to expedite more
quickly the few letters from Truxillo which were intended
for the province of Jaen de Bracamoros, a swimming
courier, as he was called in the country, was employed.
This post messenger, who was usually a young Indian,
swam in two days from Pomahuaca to Tomependa, first
by the Rio de Chamaya, and then by the Amazon. He
carefully placed the few letters entrusted to him in a
large cotton handkerchief, which he wound round his head

11*

250 tin: SWIMMING postman.

in the manner of a turban. When he came to the water-
falls he l<'ft the river, and made a circuit through the
woods. In order to lessen tin- fatigue of swimming forso
long a time, lie Bometimes threw one arm round a piece
of a very light kind of wood. Sometimes a friend went
with him to bear him company. The pair had no concern
about provisions, as they were always sure of a hospitable
reception in any of the scattered huts, which were abun-
dantly surrounded with fruit trees.

The Governor of the province of Jaen de Bracamoros
assured Humboldt that letters carried bv this singular
water-post were rarely either wetted or lost. Soon after
his return to Europe from Mexico, the traveller received,
in Paris, letters from Tomependa, which had been sent in
the manner above described. Several tribes of Indians,
living on the banks of the Upper Amazon, made their
journeys in a similar manner, swimming down the stream
sociably in parties.

On approaching the hot climate of the basin of the
Amazons, the eyes of the travellers were cheered by the
aspect of a beautiful, and occasionally luxuriant vegeta-
tion. They had never before, not even in the Canaries,
or on the hot sea coast of Cumana and Caraccas, seen finer
orange trees than those of the EEuertas de Pucara. Laden
with many thousands of golden fruits, they attained a
height of sixty feet; and, instead of rounded tops, had
aspiring branches, almost like laurels or bay trees. The
oranges of these trees were deliciously sweet, though the
bitter, or Seville orange, was not wanting anions them.

Not far from thence, near the Ford of Cavico, the
travellers were surprised by an unexpected sight. They
saw a grove of small trees, only about eighteen or nineteen

DOWN THE AMAZONS. 251

feet high, which, instead of green, had apparently
red or rose-coloured leaves. It was a new species of
Bougainvillaea, a genus first established by the elder
Jussieu, from a Brazilian specimen in Commerson's
herbarium. The trees were almost entirely without true
leaves, as what were taken for leaves at a distance, proved
to be thickly crowded bracteas. The appearance was
altogether different, in the purity and freshness of the
colour, from the autumnal tints which, in many of our
forest trees, adorn the woods of the temperate zone at the
season of the fall of the leaf.

They found at Chamaya rafts in readiness to convey
them to Tomependa, which they desired to visit for the
purpose of determining the difference of longitude be-
tween Quito and the mouth of the Chinchipe. They
slept as usual under the open sky, on the sandy shore at
the confluence of the Rio de Chamaya with the Amazons.
The next day they embarked on the latter river, and
descended it to the Cataracts and Narrows of Rentema,
where rocks of coarse-grained sandstone rose like towers,
and formed a rocky dam across the river. Humboldt
measured a base line on the flat and sandy shore, and
found that at Tomependa the afterwards mighty river of
the Amazons was only a little above thirteen hundred
and eighty-six feet across. In the celebrated River
Narrow of Manseritche, between Santiago and San
Borja, in a mountain ravine where at some points the
overhanging rocks and the canopy of foliage forbade
more than a feeble light to penetrate, and where all the
drift wood, consisting of a countless number of trunks of
trees, was broken and dashed in pieces, the breadth of the
stream was less than one hundred and sixty feet. The

252 THE HARROW OF BENTEMA.

rocks by which all these Narrows were formed underwent
many changes in the course of centuries. Thus a part
of the rocks forming the Narrow of Rentema, had been
broken up by a high flood a year before Humboldt's
journey; and there had been preserved among the inha-
bitants, by tradition, a lively recollection of the precipitous
fall of the then towering masses of rock along the whole
of the Narrow — an event which took place in the early
part of the eighteenth century. This tall, and the con-
sequent blocking-up of the channel, arrested the flow of
the stream ; and the inhabitants of the village of Puaya,
situated below the Narrow of Rentema, saw with alarm
the wide river-bed entirely dry: but after a few hours
the waters again forced their way. Earthquake move-
ments were not supposed to have occasioned this remark-
able occurrence. The powerful stream appeared to be
incessantly engaged in improving its bed, and some idea
of the force which it exerted may be formed from the
circumstance, that notwithstanding its breadth it was
sometimes so swollen as to rise more than twenty -six feet
in the course of twenty or thirty hours.

The travellers remained for seventeen days in the hot
valley of the Upper Amazons. Here Humboldt cor-
rected and revised the chart of the Amazon made by
Condamine, by sketching an accurate chart of this un-
known portion of the greal river, partly from his own
observations, and partly from careful inquiries. This
done they ascended the eastern declivity of the Cordil-
leras, and arrived at the argentiferous mountain of G-ual-
gayoc, the principal site of the silver mines of Ohota.
Gualgayoc was an isolated mass of siliceous rock, tra-
versed bv a multitude of veins of silver which often in-

THE WINDOWS OF GUALGATOC. 253

tersected, and terminating to the north and west by a
deep and almost perpendicular precipice. The outline
of the mountain was broken by numerous tower-like
and pyramidal points. "Our mountain," said a rich
possessor of mines to the travellers, "stands there like
an enchanted castle." Grualgayoc reminded Humboldt
of the serrated crest of the Monserrat Mountains in Cata-
lonia, which he had visited before his departure for the
JSTew World. Besides being perforated to its summit by
many hundred galleries driven in every direction, this
mountain presented natural openings in the mass of the
siliceous rock, through which the intensely dark blue sky
of those elevated regions was visible to a spectator stand-
ing at the foot of the mountain. These openings were
called windows — the windows of Gualgayoc. Similar
windows were pointed out to the travellers in the walls of
the Volcano of Pichincha, and called by a similar name, — ■
the windows of Pichincha. The strangeness of the view
was still farther increased by the numerous small sheds
and dwelling-houses, which nestled on the side of the
fortress-like mountain wherever a flat surface permitted
their erection. The miners carried down the ore in bas-
kets by very steep and dangerous paths to the places
where the process of amalgamation was performed.

The travellers quartered themselves awhile near the
mines in the small mountain town of Micuipampa, which
was twelve thousand feet above the level of the sea, and
where, though only 6° 43' from the equator, water froze in
the house nightly throughout a large portion of the year.
In this desert devoid of vegetation lived three or four
thousand persons, who were obliged to have all their
means of subsistence brought from the warm valleys, as

254 MICUIPAMPA.

tliey themselves only reared some kinds of kale and salad.
Here, as in every town in the high mountains of Peru,
ennui led the richer class of persons to pass their time in
gambling. They reminded Humboldt of the soldier of
Pizarro's troop, who, after the pillage of the temple at
Cuzco, complained that he had lost in one night at play
" a great piece of the sun."

In a high plain not far from Micuipampa, there were
found throughout an area of above a square mile, imme-
diately under the turf, and as it were intertwined with
the roots of the alpine grasses, enormous masses of rich
red silver ore, and threads of pure silver. Another ele-
vated plain near the Quebrada de Chiquera, was called
the Field of Shells. The name referred to fossils which
belonged to the cretaceous group, and which were found
there in such abundance that they early attracted the
attention of the natives. In this place there was obtained
near the surface a mass of pure gold, spun round with
threads of silver in the richest manner.

The path by which the travellers journeyed from
Micuipampa to Caxamarca was difficult even for mules.
Their way lay over a succession of Paramos, where they
were exposed almost incessantly to the fury of the wind,
and to the sharp-edged hail so peculiar to the ridges of
the Andes. The height of the route above the level of
the sea was generally between nine and ten thousand
feet.

Reaching at length the last of these mountain wilder-
nesses, they looked down with increased pleasure on the
fertile valley of Caxamarca. It afforded a charming
prospect : a small river wound through the elevated
plain, which was of an oval form and about a hundred

CAXAMARCA. 255

square miles in extent. The plain resembled that of Bo-
gota : both were probably the bottoms of ancient lakes.
But at Caxamarca there was wanting the myth of the
wonder-working Bochica, who opened for the waters a
passage through the rock of Tequendama. Caxamarca
was situated six hundred and forty feet higher than Bo-
gota— almost as high as the city of Quito ; but being
sheltered by surrounding mountains it enjoyed a far
milder and more agreeable climate. The soil was ex-
tremely fertile, and the plain full of cultivated fields and
gardens traversed by avenues of willows, large flowered
red, white, and yellow varieties of Datura, Mimosas, and
beautiful Quinuar- trees. Wheat yielded on an average in
the Pampa de Caxamarca fifteen to twenty fold, but the
hopes of a plentiful harvest were sometimes disappointed
by night frosts, occasioned by the great radiation of heat
towards the unclouded sky through the dry and rarefied
mountain air; these frosts were not felt in the roofed
houses.

In the northern part of the plain, small porphyritic
domes broke through the widely extended sandstone
strata, and probably once formed islands in the ancient
lake before its waters had flowed off. On the summit of
one of these domes, the Cerro de Santa Polonia, the
travellers enjoyed a beautiful prospect. The ancient
residence of Atahuallpa was surrounded on this side by
fruit gardens and by irrigated fields of lucerne. Co-
lumns of smoke were seen at a distance rising from the
warm baths of Pultamarca, which were still called the
Baths of the Inca. Atahuallpa spent a part of the year
at these baths, where some slight remains of his palace
still survived the devastating rage of the Conquistadores.

25G THE PA1A< i: OP 4TAHUALLPA.

A large and deep basin in which, according to tradition,
one of the golden chairs in which the Inca was carried

had been sunk, and has ever since been sought in vain
appeared to Humboldt, from the regularity of its circular
shape, to have been artificially excavated in the rock
above one of the fissures through which the springs
issued.

Of the fort and palace of Atahuallpa there were only
very slight remains in the town, which was adorned with
some fine churches. The destruction of the ancient
buildings was hastened by the devouring thirst of gold
which led men, before the close of the sixteenth century,
in digging for supposed hidden treasures, to overturn
walls and carelesslv to undermine or weaken the founda-
tions of all the houses. The palace of the Inca was
situated on a hill of porphyry which had originally been
hollowed at the surface, so that it surrounded the princi-
pal dwelling almost like a wall or rampart. A state
prison and a municipal building had been erected on a
part of the ruins. The most considerable ruins still visi-
ble, but which were only from thirteen to sixteen feet
high, were opposite the convent of San Francisco ; they
consisted of fine-cut blocks of stone two or three feet
long, and placed upon each other without cement, as in
the fortress of Cannar.

There was a shaft sunk in the porphyritic rock which
once led into subterranean chambers, and a gallery said
to extend to the other porrlhyritic dome before spoken
of. Such arrangements showed an apprehension of the
uncertainties of war, and the desire to secure the means
of escape. The burying of treasures was an old and
very generally prevailing Peruvian custom. Subter-

THE PRISON OF ATAHUALLPA. 257

ranean chambers were often found below many of the
private dwellings of Caxamarca.

The travellers were shown steps cut in the rock, and
also what was called the Inca's foot-bath. The washing of
the monarch's feet was accompanied by some incon-
venient usages of court etiquette. Minor buildings,
designed according to tradition for the servants, were
constructed partly like the others of cut stones, and pro-
vided with sloped roofs, and partly with well formed
bricks alternating with siliceous cement. In the latter
class of constructions there were vaulted recesses, the
antiquity of which Humboldt long doubted, but, as he
afterwards believed, without sufficient grounds.

In the principal building the room was still shown in
which the unhappy Atahuallpa was kept a prisoner for
nine months from November, 1532, and there was pointed
out the wall on which the captive signified to what height
he would fill the room with gold, if set free. This height
is given variously, by Xerez in his " Conquista del
Peru" which Barcia has preserved for us, by Hernando
Pizarro in his letters, and by other writers of the period.
The prince said that " gold in bars, plates, and vessels,
should be heaped up as high as he could reach with his
hand." Xerez assigns to the room a length of twenty-
three feet, and a breadth of eighteen feet. Garcilaso
de la Vega, who quitted Peru in his twentieth year, in
1560, estimates the value of the treasure collected from
the temples of the sun at Cuzco, Huaylas, Huamachuco,
and Pachacamac, up to the fateful 29th of August, 1553,
on which day the Inca was put to death, at three mil-
lion, eight hundred and thirty-eight thousand Ducados de
Oro, — not far from fifteen millions of dollars.

258 THE BLOOD-STAINED STONE.

In the chapel of the state prison the stone was shown

still marked by the indelible stains of blood. It was a
thin slab, thirteen feet long, placed in front of the altar,
and had probably been taken from the porphyry or
trachyte of the vicinity. Humboldt was not permitted
to make a precise examination by striking off a part
of the stone, but the three or four supposed blood
spots appeared to him to be natural collections of horn-
blende, or pyroxide in the rock. The Licentiate Fer-
nando Montesinos, who visited Peru scarcely a hundred
years after the taking of Caxamarca, even at that early
period gave currency to the fable that Atahuallpa was
beheaded in prison, and that stains of blood were still
visible on the stone on which the execution had taken
place. There is no reason however to doubt the fact,
confirmed by many eye-witnesses, that the Inca, to avoid
being burnt alive, consented to be baptized under the
name of Juan de Atahuallpa, by his fanatic persecutor,
the Dominican monk Vicente de Valverde. He was put
to death by strangulation, publicly, and in the open air.
Another tradition relates that a chapel was raised over
the spot where Atahuallpa was garroted, and that his
body rests beneath the stone; in such case, the supposed
spots of blood would remain entirely unaccounted for.
In reality, however, the corpse was never placed beneath
the stone in question. After a mass for the dead, and
solemn funereal rites, at which the brothers Pizarro were
present in mourning habits, it was conveyed first to the
churchyard of the convent of San Francisco, and after-"
wards to Quito, Atahuallpa's birthplace. This last trans-
fer was in compliance with the expressed wish of the
djdng Inca. His personal enemy, the astute Ruminnavi,

THE SON OF ASTORPILCO. 259

from political motives, caused the body to be buried at
Quito, with solemn obsequies.

Humboldt found descendants of the monarch, the
family of the Indian Cacique Astorpilco, dwelling in
Caxamarca, among the melancholy ruins of ancient
departed splendour, and living in great poverty and pri-
vation ; but patient and uncomplaining. The son of
Cacique Astorpilco, a pleasing and friendly youth of
seventeen, who accompanied Humboldt over the ruins of
the palace of his ancestor, while living in extreme
poverty, had filled his imagination with images of buried
splendour and golden treasures hidden beneath the
masses of rubbish upon which they trod. He related to
the traveller that one of his more immediate forefathers
had bound his wife's eyes, and then conducted her
through many labyrinths cut in the rock into the subter-
ranean garden of the Incas. There she saw, skilfully
and elaborately imitated, and formed of the purest gold,
artificial trees, with leaves and fruit, and birds sitting on
the branches; and there too was the much sought for
golden travelling chair of Atahuallpa. The man com-
manded his wife not to touch any of these enchanted
riches, because the long foretold period of the restoration
of the empire had not yet arrived, and that whoever
should attempt before that time to appropriate any of
them would die that very night. These golden dreams
and fancies of the youth were founded on recollections
and traditions of former days. These artificial golden
gardens were often described by actual eye-witnesses,
Cieza de Leon Sarmiento, Garcilaso, and other early his-
torians of the Conquest. They were found beneath the
Temple of the Sun at Cuzco, in Caxamarca, and in the

200 GOLDEN DREAMS.

pleasant valley of Yucay, a favourite residence of the
monarch's family. Where the golden gardens were Dot
below ground, living plants grew by the side of the arti-
ficial ones; among the latter, tall plants and ears of
maize were mentioned as particularly well executed.

The morbid confidence with which the young Astor-
pilco assured Humboldt that below their feet, a little to
the right of the spot on which Humboldt stood at the
moment, there was an artificial large-flowered Datura
tree, formed of gold wire and gold plates, which spread
its branches over the Inca's chair, impressed him pain-
fully, for it seemed as if those illusive and baseless visions
were cherished as consolations in present sufferings. He
asked the lad: " Since you and your parents believe so
firmly in the existence of this garden, are not you some-
times tempted in your necessities to dig in search of trea-
sures so close at hand ?" The boy's answer was so sim-
ple, and expressed so fully the quiet resignation charac-
teristic of the aborginal inhabitants of the country, that
Humboldt noted it down in his journal. " Such a
< It sire does not come to us ; father says it would be sin-
ful. If we had the golden branches with all their golden
fruits, our white neighbours would hate and injure us.
We have a small field and good wheat."

Quitting Caxamarea, the travellers descended into the
valley of the Magdalena, the outlet to which lav over the
mountain pass of Guanganiarca. A longing desire now
seized them to behold tin- sea, which they had not seen
for eighteen mouths. In Looking from the summits of
the volcanos near Quito, no sea horizon could be clearly
distinguished, by reason of the too great distance of the
coast and the height of the station : it was like looking

THEY PINE FOE THE SEA. 261

down from an air-balloon into vacancy. Subsequently,
when between Loxa and Guancabamba they reached the
Paramo de Guamim, from whence the mule-drivers had
coufidently assured them that they should see beyond
the plain, beyond the low districts of Piura and Lamba-
jeque, the sea itself, which they so much desired to
behold, a thick mist covered both the plain and the dis-
tant sea shore. They saw only variously shaped masses
of rock alternately rise like islands above the waving
sea of mist, and again disappear. They were now
exposed to almost the same disappointment. As they
toiled up the mighty mountain side, with their expecta-
tions continually on the stretch, their guides, who were
not very well acquainted with the road, repeatedly pro-
mised them that at the end of the hour's march their
hopes would be realized. The stratum of mist which
enveloped them appeared occasionally to be about to dis-
perse, but at such moments their field of view was again
restricted by intervening heights.

" The desire which we feel," says Humboldt, " to
behold certain objects does not depend solely on their
grandeur, their beauty, or their importance ; it is inter-
woven in each individual with many accidental impres-
sions of his youth, with early predilection for particular
occupations, with an attachment to the remote and dis-
tant, and with the love of an active and varied life. The
previous improbability of the fulfilment of a wish gives
besides to its realization a peculiar kind of charm. The
traveller enjoys by anticipation the first sight of the con-
stellation of the cross, and of the Magellanic clouds
circling round the Southern Pole; of the snow of the
Chimborazo, and the column of smoke ascending from

262 IN BIGHT OP THE PACIFIC.

the volcano of Quito; of the fi ret grove of tree-ferns, and
of the Pacific Ocean. The days on which such wishes
are realized form epochs in life, and produce ineffaceable
impressions; exciting feelings of which the vividness
seeks not justification by processes of reasoning." With
the longing which Humboldt felt for the first view of
the Pacific from the crests of the Andes, there mingled
the interest with which he had listened as a boy to the
narrative of the adventurous expedition of Vasco NTufiez
de Balboa, the fortunate man who, followed by Francisco
Pizarro, first among Europeans beheld from the heights
of Quarequa, on the Isthmus of Panama, the eastern
part of the Pacific Ocean.

When, after many undulations of the ground, on the
summit of the steep mountain ridge, the travellers finally
reached the highest point, the Alto de Guangamarca, the
heavens which had been long veiled became suddenly
clear: a sharp west wind dispersed the mist, and the
deep blue of the sky in the thin mountain air appeared
between narrow lines of the highest cirrhous clouds. The
whole of the western declivity of the Cordillera by Cho-
rillos and Cascas, covered with large blocks of quartz,
and the plains of Chala and Molinos as far as the Bea
shore near Truxillo, lay beneath their eyes in astonishing
apparent proximity. They now saw for the first time
the Pacific Ocean itself; and they saw it clearly, forming
along the line of the shore a large mass from which the
light shone reflected, and rising in its immensity to the
well-defined horizon.

They reached Truxillo, from whence they proceeded
southward .along the sandy tracts that bordered the Pa-
cific, till they came to Lima. Near Truxillo Humboldt

THEY' SET SAIL FOR MEXICO. 2G3

visited the ruins of the ancient city of Chimu, and de-
scended into the tomb of a Peruvian prince, in which
Garci Grutierez de Toledo, while digging a gallery, in
1576, discovered a mass of gold amounting in value to
more than a million of dollars. They remained some
time at Lima and Callao, Bonpland botanizing, and
Humboldt studying the influence of the. climate, and
making astronomical observations. They were fortu-
nate enough while at Lima to observe the transit of Mer-
cury over the sun's disk, which enabled Humboldt to
determine the exact latitude of the city.

Towards the end of December, 1802, or at the begin-
ning of January, 1803, they departed for Mexico, sailing
for Acapulco in the Spanish frigate, Atalanta. They
touched at Guayaquil on their way, and remained there
several days. Here they heard from their inaccessible
old friend, Cotopaxi, although they were at least one
hundred and fifty miles from him. After a long period
of rest the volcano had suddenly burst into violent erup-
tion, and was discharging its terrible artillery. They
heard it day and night. After a few hasty preparations
they started inland, fired with the determination to re-
visit the volcano: but before they had gone far they
were recalled by the news, that the frigate was obliged
to set sail immediately. They were soon at sea again,
standing away to the north and west for Acapulco.
They landed in Mexico on the 23d of March, 1803.

CHAPTER VII.

MEXICO.

Tup: letters with which Don Mariano de Urquizo had
furnished Humboldt before leaving Spain, introduced
him at Acapulco, and throughout Mexico, as they had
already done in South America, to the highest govern-
ment officials. We accordingly find him three days
after his arrival at the house of the contador, Don Bal-
*asar Alvarez Ordono, taking observations to ascertain
l,he latitude and longitude of the town. Except in a sci-
entific point of view Aca.pulco had little to attract him.
It stood on the southern shore of Mexico, on the recess
of a bay, near a chain of granitic mountains. On a hill
commanding the town and the entrance to the harbour,
stood the castle or fortress of San Diego. The harbour
was shut in by mountains. It had two entrances formed
by the island of Koquetta; one a quarter of a mile
wide, the other a mile and a half. This was the extent
of its picturesqueness.

From Acapulco, in the beginning of April, the travel-
lers proceeded to the capital, passing the plains of Chil-
pantzingo, rich in wheat fields, and the little town of
Tasco, famous for its beautiful church. They stopped at
Cuernavaca on the southern declivity of the Cordillera
of Gruchilaque, to rectify the longitude, which was incor-

THE MONUMENT OF XOCHICALCO. 265

rect on the common maps. Not far from Cuernavaca
was the monument of Xochicalco, an isolated pile three
hundred and fifty feet high. It was a mass of rocks to
which the hands of man had given a regular conic form.
It was divided into five stories, or terraces, each of which
was at least sixty feet high, but narrowed towards the
top. The hill was surrounded with a deep and broad
ditch ; the whole encampment was nearly twelve thou-
sand feet in circumference. The summit, which was an
oblong platform, two hundred and thirty feet from north
to south, and three hundred feet from east to west, was
encircled by a wall of hewn stone six or eight feet high.
Within this wall stood the remains of a pyramidal monu-
ment. It was originally five stories high, bat only the
first story remained ; for the owners of a neighbouring
sugar-house had demolished the rest, and used the stones
to build their ovens. There was no vestige of a stair-
case leading to the top of the pyramid, where, it was said,
there was once a stone seat, ornamented with hiero-
glyphics. The stones of the pyramid were beautifully
cut and polished, and decorated with reliefs. As each
of these reliefs occupied several stones, and as they were
interrupted by the joints, they must have been sculp-
tured after the edifice was finished. Among the hiero-
glyphical ornaments were heads of crocodiles spouting
water, and figures of men sitting cross-legged, after the
manner of some Asiatic nations. As the building was
on a plain four thousand feet above the sea, and croco-
diles haunted only the rivers near the coast, it was
strange that the architect should have sculptured them,
instead of the plants and animals that belong to moun-
tainous countries.

12

268 THE CITY OF MEXICO.

This artificial mountain, or pyramid, was probably a
fortified temple, which originally contained an arsenal,

and served in war as a fort. The Indians of the neigh-
bourhood showed an ancient map, drawn before the ar-
rival of the Spaniards, in which, where this monument
should have been, there was a rude sketch of two war-
riors fighting with clubs. And about thirty years before
the arrival of Humboldt and Bonpland, an isolated stone
was found near by, with a relief of an eagle tearing a
captive.

It was in the capital, however, which they soon
reached, that the travellers found the greatest number
of ruins. In fact the city of Mexico was based on ruins
— the wrecks of the ancient capital, Tenochtitlan. Under
the Great Square were fragments of the spacious temple
of Mexitli. Behind the Cathedral was the palace of the
king of Axajacatl, where Montezuma lodged the Span-
iards on their arrival ; and opposite the Vicerov's palace
stood formerly the palace of Montezuma himself. These
things had a great influence over the imaginative travel-
lers; but their first object, after finding a residence, and
delivering their letters, was to inquire for a new set of
scientific instruments, in order to pursue their studies.
They were not content to run through the country like
ordinary travellers, chronicling their journey by a list
of the inns at which they stopped : nor yet like artists
or poets, alive to the charm of beautiful seenery and
strange traditions. They were poets, artists, travellers,
it is true: but they were something more. They were
men of science, philosophers, savans: whose business and
pleasure it was, to understand what they saw. They
would read, or at least would try to, every page in the

THE ACADEMY OF PAINTING AND SCULPTURE. 267

great World-Book ; not skipping any, because they were
common, or tedious, but reading all.

They fouDd in Mexico a School of Mines, like the
Mineralogical Academy of Freyberg, (the director, by
the way, was a pupil of Humboldt's old teacher, Wer-
ner) a Botanic Garden, and an Academ}^ of Painting
and Sculpture. The last bore the title of Academia de
los Nobles Aries de Mexico. It owed its existence to the
patriotism of several private citizens, and the protection
of the minister, Galvez. The government had assigned
it a spacious building, which was enriched by a finer
and more complete collection of casts, than was at that
time to be found in any part of Germany. Humboldt was
surprised and delighted when he saw the Apollo Belvi-
dere and the Laocoon. There were no fees for entrance
at the Academy : it was free to all, even mulattoes and
Indians. The rooms were lighted every evening with
Argand lamps, and filled with hundreds of young peo-
ple, who drew from reliefs, or living models, or copied
drawings of furniture, chandeliers, or ornaments in
bronze. The director of the class of sculpture, Don
Manuel Tolsa, had just completed a bronze equestrian
statue of Charles IV., the then reigning king of Spain.
Humboldt was present when it was cast, and saw it
moved to the Great Square — a five days' task. As the
buildings around the Square were not lofty it looked
admirably on its pedestal, standing grandly out from its
blue background of skv.

This royal statue, the Viceroy's palace, and above all
the new Cathedral with its massive towers, made the Great
Square an imposing place. Humboldt did it full justice,
we have no doubt, for his tastes like his powers were

208 THE GBEAT AZTEC IDOL.

universal, but we suspect it interested him more for
what it had been, than what it was — more for what was
under it, than what was above and around it. Below it,
as we have already remarked, were the remains of the
great temple of Mexitli, fragments of which were fre-
quently brought to light. A few }Tears before his arrival,
(in August 1790) some workmen who were employed
there in making excavations, in order to build a subter-
raneous aqueduct, discovered a great Aztec Idol of
basaltic porphyry. It was about twenty feet high, and
six or seven feet broad, and wras sculptured on every
side. At first it appeared an almost shapeless mass, but
on being examined closely, upon the upper part was
found the united heads of two monsters. The eyes were
large, and in each mouth were four hideous teeth. The
arms and feet were hidden under a drapery surrounded by
enormous serpents; the ancient Mexicans called this
drapery the Garment of Serpents. All these accessories,
especially the fringes, which were in the form of feathers,
were sculptured with the greatest care. This double idol
probably represented Huitzilpochtle, the Aztec God of
War, and his wife, Teoyamiqui, who conducted the souls
of the warriors who died in the defence of the gods, to
the Ilouse of the Sun, where she transformed them into
humming-birds. Her bosom was surrounded with deaths'-
heada and mutilated hands, symbols of the sacrifices
which were celebrated in honour of this horrible pair. The
hands alternated with the figures of vases, in which in-
cense was burnt. As the idol was sculptured on every
side it was doubtless supported in the air on two columns,
between which the priests dragged their victims to the
altar of the temple beyond. Upon the under side of the

THE AZTEC PRIESTESS. 260

idol was a representation of Michlanteuhtli, the lord of
the place of the dead. It was a fitting roof to that ter-
rible portal of death.

The viceroy, Count Revillagigedo, transported it to
the University of Mexico ; but the professors of the
University were unwilling to expose it to the sight of
the Mexican youth, so they buried it anew, in one of the
passages of the college. At Humboldt's solicitation the
Bishop of Monteray, who was passing through the capital
on his way to his diocese, persuaded the rector to unbury
it, which gave the traveller an opportunity of sketch-
ing it.

Humboldt was shown another idol at the house of
Senor Dupe, one of his Mexican friends. It represented
a sitting, or rather squatting woman. She had no hands,
but where they should have been were the toes of her
feet. This statue was remarkable for its head-dress,
which resembled the veils sculptured on the heads of
Isis and the Sphynxes. The forehead was ornamented
with a string of pearls on the edge of a narrow fillet :
the neck was covered with a three-cornered handkerchief,
to which hung twenty-two little balls or tassels. These
tassels and the head-dress generally, reminded Humboldt
of the apples and pomegranates on the robes of the
Jewish High Priests. This strange figure was called the
statue of an Aztec priestess, but Humboldt thought it a
representation of some of the Mexican divinities. It was
probably one of the old household gods.

Besides this statue he saw the great Monument of the
Calendar, and the Stone of Sacrifice, adorned in relief
with the triumphs of some old Aztec king, both of which
were dug up in the Great Square. He also visited the

2*70 YIKW PROM CHArOLTEPEC.

arcliivcs of the Viceroyalty, and pored over its hoard of
Aztec manuscripts. These hieroglyphs were written

cither on agave paper, or on stag-skins. They were fre-
quently from sixty-five to seventy feet in length, and
each page contained from two to three feet of surface.
They were folded here and there in the form of a rhomb,
and thin wooden boards fastened to the extremities
formed their binding, and gave them a resemblance to
our volumes in quarto. No nation of the old continent
ever made such an extensive use of hieroglyphical writ-
ing as the Aztecs, and in none of them were real books
bound in this way. Humboldt procured several frag-
ments of similar manuscripts during his stay in Mexico.

But mysterious manuscripts which he could not read,
and uncouth idols with which he could have no sym-
pathy, were soon laid aside for the great Book of Nature,
and the thousands of men around him. One of his favour-
ite haunts was the famous hill of Chapoltepec. From
the centre of this solitude his eye swept over a vast plain
of cultivated fields which extended to the feet of the dis-
tant mountains covered with perpetual snow. Below
him were old cypress trunks fifty feet in circumference,
and off to the east the city. It appeared as if washed by
the waters of the lake of Tezcuco, whose basin, sur-
rounded with villages and hamlets, brought to his mind
the most beautiful lakes of the mountains of Switzerland.
Large avenues of elms and poplars led to it in every
direction ; and two aqueducts, constructed over arches
of great elevation, crossed the plain like walls. The
magnificent convent of Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared
joined to the mountains of Tepeyacac, among ravines,
which sheltered date and yucca trees. Towards the

THE MARKETS OF MEXICO. 271

south was the tract between San Angel, Tacabaya, and
San Augustin de las Ouevas, an immense garden of
orange, peach, apple, and cherry trees. This beautiful
cultivation formed a singular contrast with the wild ap-
pearance of the naked mountains which enclosed the
valley, among which were the famous volcanoes of La
Puebla, Popocatepetl, and Iztaccihuatl. And around and
overhead, steeped in sunshine, was the deep blue tropic sky.

Sometimes in the morning Humboldt went to the
market-place and watched the Indian hucksters, en-
trenched in verdure. No matter what they sold, fruit,
roots, or pulque, their shops were ornamented with
flowers. A hedge, a yard high, made of fresh herbs and
delicate leaves, surrounded like a semicircular wall the
fruits offered to public sale. The bottom of the market,
which was smooth and green, was divided by garlands
of flowers, which ran parallel to one another. Small
nosegays placed symmetrically between the festoons,
gave this enclosure the appearance of a carpet strewn
with flowers. Humboldt was struck with the way
in which the natives displayed their fruit in small
cages of light wood. They filled the bottom of these
cages with raisins and pears, and ornamented the top
with the most odorous flowers. Without doubt this art
of entwining fruits and flowers had its origin in that
happy period when, long before the introduction of
inhuman rites, the first inhabitants of Anahuac offered up
to the gre*at spirit Teotl the first fruits of their harvest.

But the prettiest sight was to see at sunrise the In-
dians with their boats loaded with fruits and flowers,
descending the canals of Iztacalco and Chalco. The
greater part of their fruits and roots were cultivated on

272 Tin: floating gardens.

floating gardens. There were two sorts of these gardens,
one which was movable, and driven about by the winds,
the other fixed and fastened to the shore. The ingeni-
ous invention of floating gardens appears to go back to
the end of the fourteenth century. It had its origin in
the extraordinary situation of a people surrounded with
enemies, and compelled to live in the midst of a lake
little abounding in fish, who were forced to fall upon
every means of procuring subsistence. It is even proba-
ble that Nature herself suggested to the Aztecs the first
idea of floating gardens. On the marshy banks of the
lakes of Xochimilco and Chalco, the agitated water in the
time of the great rises carries away pieces of earth
covered with herbs, and bound together by roots.
These, floating about for a long time as they are driven
by the wind, sometimes unite into small islands. A
tribe of men, too weak to defend themselves on the con-
tinent, would take advantage of these portions of ground
which accident put within their reach, and of which no
enemy disputed the property. The oldest floating gar-
dens were merely bits of ground joined together artifi-
cially, and dug and sown upon by the Aztecs. Similar
floating islands are to be met with in all the zones. Hum-
boldt saw them on the river Guayaquil, twenty-five or
thirty feet long.

Apropos of the markets of Mexico. Here is a pass-
age from a letter of Cortez to the Emperor Charles V.,
which gives a description of the valley of Mexico, and
the old city of Tenochtitlan, markets included. It is
dated the 30th October, 1530, nearly three hundred
years before the visit of Humboldt :

" The province in wdiich the residence of this great

DESCRIPTION OF MEXICO BY CORTEZ. 273

lord Muteczuma is situated, is circularly surrounded with
elevated mountains, and intersected with precipices The
plain contains near seventy leagues in circumference, and
in this plain are two lakes which fill nearly the whole
valley ; for the inhabitants sail in canoes for more than
fifty leagues round. Of the two great lakes of the valley
of Mexico, the one is fresh and the other salt water.
They are separated by a small range of mountains.
These mountains rise in the middle of the plain, and the
waters of the lakes mingle together in a strait between
the hills and the high Cordillera. The numerous towns
and villages constructed in both of the two lakes carry
on their commerce by canoes, without touching the con-
tinent. The great city of Temixtitan is situated in the
midst of the salt-water lake, which has its tides like the
sea ; and from the city to the continent there are two
leagues whichever way we wish to enter. Four dikes
lead to the city ; they are made by the hand of man,
and are of the breadth of two lances. The city is as
large as Seville or Cordova. The streets, I merely speak
of the principal ones, are very narrow and very large ;
some are half dry and half occupied by navigable canals,
furnished with very well constructed wooden bridges,
broad enough for ten men on horseback to pass at the
same time. The market-place, twice as large as that of
Seville, is surrounded with an immense portico, under
which are exposed for sale all sorts of merchandise, eat-
ables, ornaments made of gold, silver, lead, pewter, pre-
cious stones, bones, shells, and feathers, delf ware, lea-
ther, and spun cotton. We find hewn stone, tiles, and
timber fit for building. There are lanes for game, others
for roots and garden fruits ; there are houses where bar-

12*

274 THE PYRAMIDS OP TEOTIHUACAH,

bers shave the head, with razors made of obsidian; and
there are houses resembling our apothecary shops, where
prepared medicines, unguents, and plasters are sold.
There are houses where drink is sold. The market
abounds with so many things, that I am unable to name
them all to your highness. To avoid confusion, every
species of merchandise is sold in a separate lane ; every-
thing is sold by the yard, but nothing has hitherto been
seen to be weighed in the market. In the midst of the
great square is a house which I shall call the Audiencia, in
which ten or twelve persons sit constantly for determin-
ing any disputes which may arise respecting the sale of
goods. There are other persons who mix continuallv
with the crowd, to see that a just price is asked. We
have seen them break the small measures which they
had seized from the merchants."

In one of their excursions from the city the travellers
visited the pyramids of Teotihuacan. These pyramids
stood in a plain that bore the name of the Path of the
Dead. Surrounded by several hundreds of smaller edi-
fices which formed streets, in exact lines from north to
south, and from east to west, rose two great pvramids
which the Indians called Tonatiuh Ytzaqual, and Metzli
Ytzaqual, or the Houses of the Sun and Moon. The
largest was one hundred and seventy-five feet in perpen-
dicular height, the smallest one hundred and fort}' feet.
TwentY-five or thirty feet was the average height of the
lesser p}rramids, which,* according to the traditions of the
Indians, were burial-places for the chiefs of the tribe.
They were said to be dedicated to the stars.

The two great pyramids of Teotihuacan were divided
into four principal terraces, which were subdivided into

EXCURSION TO THE MINES. 275

steps. These steps were covered with fragments of ob-
sidian, which were probably the edges of the instruments
with which the Toltec and Aztec priests in their barba-
rous sacrifices, opened the chests of their human victims.
The upper terrace was formerly crowned with colossal
statues of the Sun and Moon. These statues were made
of stone, and covered with plates of gold. Had they
been stone merely, they might have remained there to
this day, but being plated with gold they were sure to
be spoiled by the first foreign invader. The soldiers of
Cortez stripped off the gold at once, and Bishop Zuma-
raga, a Franciscan monk, who undertook to destroy
whatever related to the worship, the history, and the an-
tiquities of Mexico, completed the work of his militant
followers, by demolishing the idols. The pyramids
alone remained.

When Humboldt arrived in Mexico his astronomical
instruments were sadly out of order, and thinking it
would be impossible to replace them, he intended to re-
main only a few months, and then depart for Europe.
But as Don Manuel del Kio, the director of the School
of Mines, was able to lend him a new set, he remained
a year, travelling in various parts of the country, and
.making observations.

Towards the end of April, or the beginning of May.
he proceeded to the mines of Moran, and Real del Monte,
which lay to the north-east of the capital. The road was
covered with oaks, cypresses, and rose trees. He made
several astronomical observations on his way, stopping
for that purpose at the haciendas of Zumpango, Huchue-
toca, and Tisayuca.

Long before the arrival of the Spaniards, the natives

276 as. ii.Ni WORKING OF nn: mi\i>.

of Mexico, as well as those of Peru, were acquainted
with several metals. They were not contented with the
metals which were found in their native state on the sur-
face of the earth, and particularly in the beds of riv<

and ravines formed by the torrents: they applied them-
selves to subterranean operations in the working of veins ;
they cut galleries, and dug pits of communication and ven-
tilation ; and they had instruments for cutting the rocks.
Cortez informs us in the historical account of his expedi-
tion, that gold, silver, copper, lead, and tin, were publicly
sold in the great markets of Tenochtitlan. The inhabit-
ants of Tzapoteca and Mixtecapan separated the gold by
washing the alluvial lands. They usually paid their
tributes in two ways, either by collecting in leathern
sacks or small baskets of slender rushes, the grains of
native gold, or by founding the metal into bars. These
bars, like those now used in trade, are represented in the
ancient Mexican paintings. In the time of Montez.uma,
the natives had begun to work the silver mines of Tlachco,
in the province of Cohuixco, and those which run across
the mountains of Zumpango. In all the great towns of
Anahuac gold and silver vases were manufactured. The
Spaniards on their first arrival at Tenochtitlan, could
never cease admiring the ingenuity of the Mexican gold-,
smiths. When Montezuma, seduced by his credulity,
recognised on the arrival of white and bearded men, the
accomplishment of the mysterious prophecy of Quetzal-
coatl and compelled the Aztec nobility to yield homage
to the king of Spain, the quantity of precious metals
offered to Cortez was one hundred and sixtv-two thou-
sand pesos de oro. "Besides the great mass of gold and
silver," says the famous Conquestidor in his first letter

COIITEZ TO CHARLES V. 277

to the Emperor, Charles V., " I was presented with gold
plate and jewels of such precious workmanship, that un-
willing to allow them to be melted, I set apart more than
a hundred thousand ducats worth of them to be pre-
sented to your Imperial Highness. These objects were
of the greatest beauty, and I doubt if any other prince
on earth ever possessed anything similar to them. That
your Highness may not imagine I am advancing fables,
I may add that all which the earth and ocean produces,
of which king Montezuma could have any knowledge,
he had caused to be imitated in gold and silver, in pre-
cious stones and feathers, and the whole in such great
perfection, that we could not help believing that we saw
the very objects represented. Although he gave me a
great share of them for your Highness, I gave orders to
the natives to execute several other works in gold, after
my designs, which I furnished them with, such as images
of saints, crucifixes, medals, and necklaces. As the fifth
or eighth on the silver paid to your Highness amounted
to more than a hundred marcs, I gave orders to the native
goldsmiths to convert them into plate of various sizes,
spoons, cups, and other vessels for drinking. All these
works were imitated with the greatest exactness." When
we read this passage, we cannot help believing that we
are reading the account of a European ambassador, re-
turned from China or Japan. Yet we can hardly accuse
the Spanish General of exaggeration, when we consider
that the Emperor Charles Y. could judge with his own
eyes the perfection or imperfection of the objects sent
him.

Humboldt remained a couple of months at Moran and
Keal del Monte, inspecting the Mexican system of min-

278 DISHONESTY OF THE MEXICAN MINERS.

ing. As might have been expected, it was in its infenqjr.
It had not advanced since the sixteenth century, when it
was first transplanted from Europe. The miners were
not enterprising enough to adopt any of the modern im-
provements ; they adhered tenaciously to the old way,
which wras notoriously crude and imperfect They wrere
better paid, however, Humboldt thought, than the miners
of other countries ; they earned from $5 to §6 a-week,
while the wrages of other labourers in Mexico did not
exceed $1,50, or $1,75 for the same time. The miners
were not remarkable for their honesty, for they made
use of a thousand tricks to steal the rich minerals in
which they worked. As they were nearly naked, and
were searched on leaving the mines (not in the most
delicate manner either), they tried to conceal small mor-
sels of native silver, or red sulphuretted and muriated
silver in their hair, under their arm-pits, in their mouths,
and other out-of-the-way corners of their persons. Good
or bad, all were searched alike, and a register was kept
of the minerals found about them. In the mine of
Valenciana, between 1774 and 1787, the sum stolen, but
recovered, amounted to $180,000.

The wrorking of the mines was long regarded as one
of the principal causes of the depopulation of Mexico.
Humboldt, however, did not consider the mortality
among the miners much greater than among the other
classes. This seemed to him remarkable from the tem-
perature to wThich they were exposed. In one mine he
found the thermometer at 93° at the bottom, a perpen-
dicular depth of one thousand six hundred and eighty-
one feet, while at the mouth of the pit, in the open
air, the same thermometer sank in winter to 39°

INDIAN PORTERS OP THE MINES. 279

above 0, a difference of 54° to which the miners were
exposed.

The hardest part of the work was performed by the
native Indians, who were the beasts of burden of the
mines. They carried the metals out on their backs, in
loads of from two hundred and fifty to three hundred
and fifty pounds at a time, ascending and descending
thousands of steps, of an inclination of forty -five degrees,
where the air was from 71° to 73°. The mode of trans-
portation was in bags, under which the Indians placed a
woollen covering, for they were generally naked to the
middle, to save themselves from being bruised and
chafed. Humboldt met them in files of fifty or sixty ;
men of seventy years, and children of ten or twelve.
They threw their bodies forward in ascending, and rested
on staffs, which were generally not more than a foot in
length. They walked in a zig-zag direction, because
they had found from long experience that their respira-
tion was less impeded when they traversed obliquely the
currents of air which entered the pits from without.
Great care was taken in controlling the minerals trans-
ported by them. The proprietors of the mines knew,
within a few pounds, what went out daily. As the
Indians were paid for what they carried, their loads were
weighed before they left the mines.

The Indians of Mexico bore a general resemblance to
those who inhabited the forests of North America, and
the interior of Peru and Brazil. They had the same
swarthy and copper colour, flat and smooth hair, small
beard, squat body, long eyes, with the corners directed
upwards towards the temples, prominent cheek bones,
thick lips, and an expression of gentleness in the mouth,

280 DRUNKENNESS OF THE INDIANS.

strongly contrasted with a gloomy and severe look.
They had a more swarthy complexion than the Indians
which Humboldt and Bonpland saw in Peru, and more
beard likewise. Almost all those that he saw in the
neighbourhood of the capital wore small moustaches.
They attained a pretty advanced age, in spite of their
excessive drunkenness. This vice was most common
among those who inhabited the valley in which the
capital stood, and the environs of Puebla and Tlascala.
The police of Mexico, when Humboldt was there, were
in the habit of sending round tumbrils to collect the
drunkards that were found stretched out in the streets.
They were treated like dead bodies, and carried to the
principal guard-house. The next morning an iron ring
was put round their ancles, and they were made to clean
the streets for three days; they were set free on the
fourth day, but many of them were sure to be back
again in the course of the week.

Travellers who merely judge from the physiognomy
of the Indians are tempted to believe that it is rare to see
old men among them. In fact, without consulting parish
registers, which in warm regions are devoured by the
ants every twenty or thirty years, it is very difficult to
form any idea of the age of Indians: they themselves
are completely ignorant of it. Their head never becomes
gray. It is infinitely more rare to find an Indian than a
negro with gray hairs, and the want of beard gives the
former a continual air of youth. The skin of the Indians
is also less subject to wrinkles. Humboldt often saw
in Mexico, in the temperate zone half way up the
Cordillera, natives, and especially women, a hundred
years of age. This old age was generally comfortable-

LONGEVITY OF THE INDIANS. 281

for the Mexican and Peruvian Indians preserved their
muscular strength to the last. While Humboldt was at
Lima the Indian Hilario Pari died at the village of Chi-
guata, at the age of one hundred and forty-three. He
remained united in marriage for ninety years to an
Indian of the name of Andrea Alea Zar, who attained
the age of one hundred and seventeen years. This old
Peruvian went, at the age of one hundred and thirty,
from three to four leagues daily on foot. He became
blind thirteen years before his death, and of twelve chil-
dren left behind him but one daughter, of seventy -seven
years of age.

The copper-coloured Indians enjoy one great physical
advantage, which is undoubtedly owing to the great sim-
plicity in which their ancestors lived for thousands of
years. They are subject to almost no deformity. Hum-
boldt never saw a hunchbacked Indian ; and it was ex-
tremely rare to see one who squinted, or was lame in the
arm or leg. In the countries where the inhabitants suffer
from the goitre, it never prevails among the Indians, and
seldom among the Mulattoes.

The Indians of Mexico adhered to their ancient cus-
toms, manners, and opinions, especially their religious
ones, with great obstinacy. The introduction of Chris-
tianity into the country had no other effect than the
substituting of new ceremonies for the old — the symbols
of a gentle and humane religion for the ceremonies of a
sanguinary worship. They received from the hands of
their conquerors new laws and new divinities : their van-
quished gods appeared to them to yield to the gods of the
strangers. In such a complicated mythology as that of
the Mexicans, it was easy to find out an affinity between

282 THE 0L1» FAITH AND THE NEW.

the divinities of Aztlan and the divinity of the east.
Cortez very artfully took advantage of a popular tradi-
tion, according to which the Spaniards were merely the
descendants of king Quetzalcoatl, who left Mexico for
countries situated in the east, to carry among them
civilization and laws. The ritual books composed by the
Indians in hieroglyphics at the beginning of the conquest,
several fragments of which Humboldt procured while in
Mexico, show that at that period Christianity was con-
founded with the Mexican mythology : the Holy Ghost
is identified with the sacred eagle of the Aztecs. The
missionaries not only tolerated, but even favoured to a
certain extent, this amalgamation of ideas, by means of
which the Christian worship was more easily introduced
among the natives. They persuaded them that the gospel
had, in very remote times, been already preached in
America ; and they investigated its traces in the Aztec
ritual with the same ardour which the learned, who in our
days engage in the study of the Sanscrit, display in dis-
cussing the analogy between the Greek mythology and
that of the Ganges and the Barampooter. .

The Indians knew nothing of religion beyond the ex-

i

terior forms of worship. Fond of whatever was connected
with a prescribed order of ceremonies, they found in the
Christian religion particular enjoyments. The festivals
of the church, the fireworks with which they were ac-
companied, the processions mingled with dances and
whimsical disguises, were a most fertile source of amuse-
ment for them. In these festivals their national charac-
ter was displayed in all its individuality. Everywhere
the Christian rites assume the shades of the country
where they have been transplanted. In the Philippine

INDIAN PAINTINGS AND CARVINGS. 283

and Mariana islands, the natives of the Malay race have
incorporated them with the ceremonies which are peculiar
to themselves ; and in the province of Pasto, on the ridge
of the Cordillera of the Andes, Humboldt saw Indians,
masked and adorned with small tinkling bells, perform
savage dances around the altar, while a monk of St.
Francis elevated the host.

The Indians were fond of painting, and carving on wood
or stone. Humboldt was astonished at what they were
able to execute with a bad knife on the hardest wood.
They were particularly fond of painting images, and
carving statues of saints. They had been servilely imi-
tating for three hundred years, the models which the
Europeans imported with them at the conquest. This
imitation was derived from a religious principle of a yery
remote origin.' In Mexico, as in Hindostan, it was not
allowable in the faithful to change the figure of their
idols in the smallest degree. Whatever made a part of
the Aztec or Hindoo ritual was subjected to immutable
laws. The Christian images had preserved in Mexico a
f)art of that stiffness and harshness of feature which cha-
racterized the hieroglyphical pictures of the age of Mon-
tezuma.

Eeturning from Moran and Real del Monte in July,
Humboldt projected a visit to the mines of Guanaxuato.
These celebrated mines, which were among the richest
in the country, lay to the north of the capital. On his
way thither he stopped to examine the canal of Huehue-
toca.

From the valley of Tula, through which this great
canal ran, he proceeded to the plain of Queretaro, pass-
ing the mountain of Calpulalpan, and the town of San

284 THE .MINE OF VALEX< I ANA.

Juan del Rio, till ho came to the city of Qucrctaro. He
remained there a few days to make an astronomical ob-
servation, and started for Guanaxuato, stopping on his
way at the mines of Sotolar, Juchitlan, Las Aguas, Mu-
coid, El Doctor, and San Christobal.

The mine of Valenciana, the most celebrated of all
the mines of Guanaxuato, and the richest in Mexico,
although it had been worked by the Indians, and the early
Spanish settlers, was not much wrought until towards
the end of the eighteenth century. In 1760 a Spaniard,
named Obregon, began to work a vein on a part of the
old mine, which was till then believed to be destitute of
metals. He was without fortune, but as he had the repu-
tation of being a worthy man, he found friends, who
from time to time advanced him small sums to carry on
his operations. In 1766 the works were 'over two hun-
dred and fifty feet deep, yet the expenses greatly sur-
passed the metallic produce. The next year he entered
into partnership with a petty merchant of Rajas, named
Otero, and in a short time the silver began to be more
plentiful ; as the pit grew deeper it grew richer. In
1771 they drew enormous masses of sulphuretted silver,
mixed with native and red silver. From that time it
yielded over $1,000,000 annually.

When Obregon, or as he was afterwards called, the
Count of Valenciana, began to work the vein above the
ravine of San Xavier, goats were feeding on the hill
tops. Ten years after there was a town there containing
seven or eight thousand inhabitants. At the time of
Humboldt's visit the population of Guanaxuato was
seventy thousand six hundred ; twentj-nine thousand
six hundred of the number were miners. He remained

THE MINERALS OF MEXICO. 285

there and in the neighbourhood two months, pursuing
his scientific studies, now on the mountains making as-
tronomical observations, and now in the mines, wresting
from Nature the secret of her richest treasures.

We shall not pursue him in his various excursions
among the mines, but give here the result of his obser-
vations on the mineral wealth of Mexico.

The quantity of silver annually extracted from the
Mexican mines was ten times greater than was at that
time furnished by all the mines in Europe ; gold, how-
ever, was not more abundant than in Hungary or Tran-
sylvania. For the most part extracted from alluvial
grounds by means of washing, it was occasionally found
in veins on mountains of primitive rock. The mines of
native gold were most plentiful in Oaxaca, in gneiss, or
micaceous slate. This last rock was particularly rich in
gold in the mine of Rio San Antonio. It was either
found pure, or mixed with silver ; there was scarcely a
silver mine in Mexico that did not contain some gold.
The principal vein in the mine of Santa Cruz, at Villal-
pando, was intersected by a great number of small rotten
veins of exceeding richness. The argillaceous slime
writh which these veins were filled contained so great a
quantity of gold disseminated in impalpable parcels, that
the workmen were compelled to bathe themselves in
large vessels wrhen they left the mine, to prevent any of
the auriferous clay from being carried off by them on
their bodies.

Great quantities of silver were derived from ores, such
as antimony, arsenical gray copper, sulphuretted silver,
muriated silver, prismatic black silver, and red silver.
Red silver constituted the greater part of the wealth of

286 SALAMANCA.

Cosola, Zolaga, and Sombrete. The mine of la Veta
Negra, near Sombrete, yielded in five or six months
seventy thousand silver marcs ; yet it was not one hun
dred feet deep. Black silver was common in the mines
of Guanaxuato, Zacatecas, and Real del Monte. Muri-
ated silver abounded in the mines of Catorce, and Cerro
San Pedro. At Fresnillo it was frequently olive-green;
superb samples of this colour were found in the mines
of Vallorecas. The veins of Zimapan, a little to the
north of Real del Monte, offered a great variety of
curious minerals; among others chiysophrase, and a
new species of opal of rare beauty. Humboldt procured
one of these opals of great size, and carried it with him
when he returned to Europe. The mineralogists Karsten
and Klaproth described it as a fire-opal.

Of all the rock -formations in Mexico the porphyritic
rocks were the richest in gold and silver; then came
primitive slate, graywacke, and alpine limestone. Cop-
per was found in the mines of Ingaram, and at San Juan
Guetamo. Tin was sometimes obtained by washing the
alluvial lands. Iron, too, was abundant.

From Guanaxuato Humboldt proceeded in a southerly
direction to Salamanca. He stopped at Salamanca long
enough to fix its latitude and longitude, and then con-
tinued his journey to Valladolid, the capital of the In-
tendancy of that name. Valladolid was a small city,
containing only eighteen thousand inhabitants. Its ele-
vation was six thousand four hundred feet above the sea,
yet snow had been known to fall in its streets. It con-
tained nothing worthy of notice, except an aqueduct, and
a bishop's palace.

From Valladolid he proceeded to Pascuaro.

PASCUARO. 287

Pascuaro was situated on the picturesque banks of a
little lake of the same name. This lake, and the scenery
in its vicinity, Humboldt declared, would alone have re-
paid him for his voyage across the ocean. The city or
town of Pascuaro contained the ashes of a remarkable
man, Vasco de Quiroga, the first bishop of Mechoacan.
He was the benefactor of the Indians in his diocese,
whose industry he encouraged, prescribing one particular
branch of trade to each village. He died in 1556 ; but
even in Humboldt's time his memory was venerated by
the Indians, who continued to call him their father.

The Indians of the province of Valladolid formed
three races of different origin, the Tarascs, celebrated in
the sixteenth century for the gentleness of their manners,
for their industry in the mechanical . arts, and for the
harmony of their language, abounding in vowels; the
Otomites, a tribe far behind them in civilization, who
spoke a language full of nasal and guttural aspirations ;
and the Chichimecs, who had preserved the Mexican lan-
guage. All the south part of the Intendancy of Valla-
dolid was inhabited by Indians. In the villages, the only
white figure to be met with was the cure, and he also
was frequently an Indian, or Mulatto. The benefices
were so poor there, that the bishop of Mechoacan had
the greatest difficulty in procuring ecclesiastics to settle
in a country where Spanish was almost never spoken,
and where along the coast of the Great Ocean, the priests,
infected by the contagious miasmata of malignant fevers,
frequently died before the expiration of seven or eight
months.

But the wonder of the Intendancy of Valladolid, and
indeed of Mexico itself, was the remarkable volcano of

288 THE VOLCANO OF JOKULLO.

Jorullo, which lay a little to the south of Pascnaro. The
great catastrophe in which this mountain rose from the
earth, and by which a considerable extent of ground
totally changed its appearance, is one of the most extra-
ordinary physical revolutions in the history of our plaint.
Geology points out the parts of the ocean, where, at
recent epochs, within the last two thousand years, near
the Azores, in the JEgean sea, and to the south of Iceland,
small volcanic islands have risen above the surface of
the water ; but it gives us no example of the formation,
from the centre of a thousand small burning cones, of a
mountain of scoriae and ashes one thousand seven hun-
dred feet in height, comparing it only with the level of
the old adjoining plains, in the interior of a continent,
thirt3T-six leagues distant from the coast, and more than
forty-two leagues from every other active volcano. This
remarkable phenomenon was sung in hexameter verses
by the Jesuit Father Raphael Landivar, a native of Grua-
timala. It is mentioned by the Abbe Clavigero in the
ancient history of his country ; and yet, till Humboldt
visited and described it, it remained unknown to the
mineralogists and naturalists of Europe, though it took
place not more than fifty years before, and within six
days' journey of the capital of Mexico.

A vast plain extended from the hills of Aguasarco to
near the villages of Teipa and Petatlan, both equally
celebrated for their fine plantations of cotton. This
plain was at the most not over two thousand six hun-
dred feet above the level of the sea. In the middle
of a tract of ground in which p°rphyry, with a base
of griinstein predominated, basaltic cones appeared, the
summits of which were crowned with evergreen oaks

CAUSED BY EARTHQUAKES. 289

of a laurel and olive foliage, intermingled with small
palm trees. This beautiful vegetation formed a singular
contrast with the aridity of the plain, which was laid
waste by volcanic fire.

Till the middle of the eighteenth century, fields culti-
vated with sugar-cane and indigo occupied the extent of
ground between two brooks, called Cuitamba, and San
Pedro. They were bounded by basaltic mountains, of
which the structure seemed to indicate that all this coun-
try at a very remote period had been already several
times convulsed by volcanoes. These fields, watered by
artificial means, belonged to the plantation of San Pedro
de Jorullo, one of the greatest and richest of the coun-
try. In the month of June, 1759, a subterraneous sound
was heard. Hollow noises of a most alarming nature
were accompanied by frequent earthquakes, which suc-
ceeded one another for from fifty to sixty days, to the
great consternation of the inhabitants of the plantation.
From the beginning of September everything seemed to
announce the complete re-establishment of tranquillity,
when in the night between the 28th and 29th, the horri-
ble subterraneous noise recommenced. The affrighted
Indians fled to the mountains of Aguasarco. A tract
of ground, from three to four square miles in extent,
rose up in the shape of a bladder. The bounds of this
convulsion were still distinguishable in the fractured
strata. The Mai pays near its edges was only thirty-nine
feet above the old level of the plain ; but the convexity
of the ground thus thrown up increased progressively
towards the centre to an elevation of about five hundred
and twenty feet.

Those who witnessed this great catastrophe from the

-< o

J J

290 THE OVENS OF JOBULLO.

top of Aguasarco, asserted that flames were seen to issue
forth for an extent of more than half a square league,
that fragments of burning rocks were thrown up to pro-
digious heights, and that through a thick cloud of ashes,
illumined by the volcanic fire, the softened surface of
the earth was seen to swell like an agitated sea. The
rivers of Cuitamba and San Pedro precipitated them-
selves into the burning chasms. The decomposition of
the water contributed to invigorate the flames, which
were distinguishable at Pascuaro, though it was situated
on extensive table-land, four thousand six hundred
feet elevated above the plains of Jorullo. Eruptions of
mud, ajid especially of strata of clay enveloping balls of
decomposed basalts in concentrical layers, appeared to
indicate that subterraneous water had no small share in
producing this extraordinary revolution. Thousands of
small cones, from six to nine feet in height, called by the
Indians ovens, issued forth from the Malpays. Each
small cone was a funnel, from which a thick vapour
ascended to the height of forty or fifty feet. In many
of them a subterraneous noise was heard, which appeared
to announce the proximity of a fluid in ebullition.

In the midst of the ovens six large masses elevated
from thirteen hundred to seventeen hundred feet each
above the old level of the plains, sprung up from a
chasm. The most elevated of these enormous masses
was the great Volcano of Jorullo. It was continually
burning, and had thrown up from the north side an im-
mense quantity of scorified and basaltic lavas containing
fragments of primitive rocks. These great eruptions of
the central volcano continued till the month of February,
1760. In the following years they became gradually less

REAPPEARANCE OF THE RIVERS 291

frequent. The Indians, frightened at the horrible noises
of the new volcano, abandoned at first all the villages
situated within seven or eight leagues of the plain of Jo-
rullo. They became by degrees, however, accustomed to
this terrific spectacle ; and having returned to their cot-
tages, they advanced towards the mountains of Augua-
sarco and Santa Ines, to admire the streams of fire dis-
charged from an infinity of great and small volcanic
apertures. The roofs of the houses of Queretaro were
then covered with ashes at a distance of more than forty-
eight leagues in a straight line from the scene of the ex-
plosion. Although the subterraneous fire appeared to
Humboldt far from violent, and the Mai pays and the
great volcano began to be covered with vegetables, he
found the ambient air heated to such a degree by the ac-
tions of the small ovens, that the thermometer, at a great
distance from the surface, and in the shade, rose as high
as 109°. This fact appeared to prove, that there was no
exaggeration in the accounts of several old Indians, who
affirmed, that for many years after the first eruption, the
plains of Jorullo, even at a great distance from the scene
of the explosion, were uninhabitable, from the excessive
heat which prevailed in them.

Humboldt was shown, near the Cerro de Santa Ines,
the rivers of Cuitamba and San Pedro. These streams
disappeared in the night of the 29th September, 1759 ;
but, at a distance of six thousand five hundred feet far-
ther west, in the tract which was the theatre of the con-
vulsion, he saw two rivers bursting- throuoh the are;illa-
ceous vault of the ovens, of the appearance of mineral
waters, in which the thermometer rose to 126°. The In-
dians continued to give them the names of San Pedro and

292 ANATHAMA MARANATHA.

Cuitamba, because in several parts of the Malpays great
masses of water were still heard to run from east to west.

In the opinion of the Indians, these extraordinary
transformations, the surface of the earth raised up and
burst by the volcanic fire, and the mountains of scoria
and ashes heaped together, were the work of the monks,
the greatest, no doubt, which they have ever produced in
the two hemispheres! In the cottage which Humboldt
occupied in the plains of Jorullo, his Indian host related
to him, that, in 1759, Capuchin missionaries came to
preach at the plantation of San Pedro, and not having
met with a favourable reception (perhaps not having got
so good a dinner as they expected), they poured out the
most horrible and unheard of imprecations against the
then beautiful and fertile plain, and prophesied that in
the first place the plantation would be swallowed up by
flames rising out of the earth, and that afterwards the
ambient air would cool to such a degree, that the neigh-
bouring mountains would for ever remain covered with
snow and ice. The former of these maledictions having
already produced such fatal effects, the Indians contem-
plated in the increasing coolness of the volcano, the
sinister presage of a perpetual winter.

After visiting the volcano of Jorullo, and descending,
on the 19th of September, two hundred and fifty feet into
the burning crater of the central cone, Humboldt re-
turned to the capital. The arrangement of his botanical
and geological collections, and the regulation and calcu-
lation of his barometric and trigonometric measurements,
detained him and Bon pi and there until the beginning of
January, 1804. It would have been difficult to have
found anywhere, least of all in the dolce far niente of

THE PYRAMID OF CHOLULA. 293

Mexico, two busier men than the travellers were at this
time. They were up to their eyes in work, Humboldt
surrounded with rocks, ores, minerals, observations,
maps and road-books, and Bonpland with thousands of
strange plants, many of them unknown to botanists.
But busy as they were, the travellers found time to
mingle in the gay society of the capital, and to make
short excursions in the neighbourhood.

Having made several journeys to the northern, west-
ern, and southern parts of the country, Humboldt now
determined to see some of the eastern portions, lying
along the gulf of Mexico. So in company with Bon-
pland he started off in January for Xalapa and Vera
Cruz. On their way the travellers stopped at the vol-
canoes of Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl, and the pyramid
of Cholula. This famous pyramid, the largest in all
Mexico, stood in the vicinity of the old city of Cholula,
in the intendancy of Puebla. " The inhabitants of this
city," so writes Cortez, in his third letter to the Em-
peror Charles V., " are better clothed than any we have
hitherto seen. People in easy circumstances wear cloaks
above their dress. These cloaks differ from those of
Africa, for they have pockets, though the cut, cloth, and
fringes are the same. The environs of the city are very
fertile and well cultivated. Almost all the fields may be
watered, and the city is much more beautiful than all
those in Spain, for it is well fortified, and built on very
level ground. I can assure your highness, that from the
top of a mosque, I reckoned more than four hundred
towers all of mosques. The number of the inhabitants
is so great, that there is not an inch of ground unculti-
vated ; and yet in several places the Indians experience

294 THE LEGEND OF QUETZALCOATL.

the effects of famine, and there are many beggars, who
ask alms from the rieh in the streets, houses, and market-
place, as is done by the mendicants in Spain, and other
civilized countries."

When the pyramid of Cholula was in its prime, its
summit was covered with an altar dedicated to Quetzal-
coatl, the God of the Air. He was a white and bearded
man, like the Bochica, of whom we have spoken in our
description of the falls of Tequendema. He was high
priest of Tula, legislator and chief of a religious sect,
which inflicted on themselves the most cruel penances.
He introduced the custom of piercing the lips and ears,
and lacerating the rest of the body with the prickles of
the agave leaves, or the thorns of the cactus; and of
putting reeds into the wounds, in order that the blood
might be seen to trickle more copiously.

The reign of Quetzalcoatl, strange to say, was the
golden age of the people of Anahuac. Men and animals
lived in peace : the earth brought forth without culture
the fruitfullest of harvests, and the air was filled with in-
numerable birds, of whom it was difficult to say, which
was most admired — the beauty of their plumage, or the
sweetness of their song. Such a blessed epoch could
not, and did not last long. The great spirit Tezcatlipoca,
offered Quetzalcoatl a rare beverage which rendered him
immortal, and inspired him with a taste for travelling.
He started off at once for the distant country of Tlap-
allan. The inhabitants of Cholula, through whose terri-
tory he passed, offering him the reins of government, he
remained among them twenty years. He taught them to
cast metals; ordered fasts of eight days; regulated the
intercalations of their year ; preached peace to them, and

THE CREDULITY OF MONTEZUMA 29.5

would permit no other offerings to the Divinity than the
first fruits of the harvest. From Cholula he proceeded
to the mouth of the river Groasacoalco, where he disap-
peared, declaring however, that he would return soon, to
govern the Cholulans again, and renew their happiness.

The unhappy Montezuma thought he recognised the
posterity of this saint in the soldiers of Cortez ! " We
know by our books," said he in his first interview with
the Spanish General, " that myself and those who inhabit
this country are not natives, but strangers who came from
a great distance. We know also that the chief who led
our ancestors hither, returned for a certain time to his
primitive country, and thence came back to seek those
who were established here. He found them married to
the women of this land, and living in cities which they
had built. Our ancestors hearkened not to their ancient
father, and he returned alone. We have always believed
that his descendants would one day come to take, posses-
sion of this country. Since you arrive from that region
where the sun rises, and, as you assure me, you have
long known us, I cannot doubt, but that the king who
sends you, is our natural master." So far Cortez in his
first letter. How far he and his soldiers resembled Quet-
zalcoatl, the Mexican Prince of Peace, the readers of
Mexican history must judge for themselves.

Cholula in its glory was one of

" The Delphian vales, the Palestine^,
The Meccas of the mind."

It was the holy city of the ancient Mexicans, who re-
sorted thither from the most distant parts of the empire.

296 GLORY TO C^UETZALCOATL.

Its streets were picturesque with the long train of their
processions, its winds were jubilant with their barbaric
music. With noise and pomp they marched to the great
pyramid, whose summit was crowned with perpetual
flame, that rose from the temple of Quetzalcoatl. Climb-
ing the steps that led from terrace to terrace they reached
the shrine, and worshipped the image of the god. It
was a monstrous idol of stone, holding in one hand a
shield covered writh hieroglyphics, and in the other a
jewreled sceptre. Upon its head was a mitre with plumes ;
its neck was encircled with a collar of gold, while from
its ears hung pendants of turquoise. " Glory to Quetzal-
coatl! the mighty God of the Air!"

But to return from the Past to the Present, from Tra-
dition to Fact. The perpendicular height of the pyramid
when Humboldt and Bonpland saw it, wras one hundred
and seventy-seven feet; the horizontal breadth of its base
was one thousand four hundred feet. It had four sides,
facing the cardinal points, and as many terraces; alto-
gether it covered a space of forty-five thousand square
feet. They had a magnificent view from its summit,
seeing at one glance four mountains, Popocatepetl, Iztac-
cihuatl, the peak of Orizaba, and the Sierra de Tlascala,
famous for its tempests. Three of these mountains were
higher than Mont Blanc, two were burning volcanoes.

The Pyramid of Cholula was built of unbaked bricks,
alternating wTith layers of clay. Humboldt wras assured
by the Indians that the inside was hollow. During the
abode of Cortez at Mexico, their ancestors, they said,
concealed in the body of the pyramid a considerable
number of wrarriors, for the purpose of falling suddenly
on the Spaniards. The material of which the pyramid

THE MYSTERY OE THE SKELETONS. 297

was built, and the silence of historians on so singular a
circumstance led Humboldt to doubt the truth of the
tradition. It was certain, however, that in this pyramid
there were several cavities, which had been used as
sepulchres for the natives. A short time previous the old
road which ran from Puebla to Mexico was changed, and
in tracing the new one the first terrace was cut through,
so that an eighth part remained isolated, like a heap of
bricks. In making this opening a square house was dis-
covered in the interior of the pyramid. This house con-
tained two skeletons, several idols in basalt, and a great
number of vases curiously varnished and painted. There
was no outlet ! To whom did these vases and idols
belong ? Of whom were those skeletons the remains ?
Humboldt conjectured that the pyramid was built by
prisoners, taken by the Cholulans in their wars with the
neighbouring nations, and that these were the skeletons
of some unfortunate slaves who had been shut up in the
interior of the pyramid to perish. It seems to us, how-
ever, that they were the remains of some important state
personages, condemned for some reason which must ever
remain unknown, to die in this horrible manner. Might
not the King of the Toltecs, like another civilized bar-
barian of later times, have had his Man in the Iron Mask ?
A wife false to him? A daughter loving below herself?
Upon the platform of the pyramid the Spaniards had
built a little chapel, dedicated to the Virgin de los Eeme-
dios. Here an ecclesiastic of Indian blood celebrated
mass every day. Crowds came from far and near to
witness the festival, and among them were many of the
descendants of the ancient people, to whom the land had
once belonged. What thoughts must have crowded

13*

298 IZTACCIHUATL AND POPOCATEPETL.

upon them as they stood there, silent and degraded, the
last of their race! " Glory to Quetzalcoatl !" no longer
rent the air; it was drowsy with "the blessed mutter of
the mass," and

" Good, strong, thick, stupifying incense-smoke."

Quetzalcoatl had passed away, but his altar still remained.
A mysterious dread, a religious awe pervaded their souls
as they gazed upon that immense pile, covered with
shrubbery and perpetual verdure.

The pyramid of Cholula having led the travellers a
little beyond Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl, they turned
back and visited these volcanoes.' Before proceeding to
Xalapa, Humboldt determined their geographical posi-
tion by his observations, and measured their height.
Iztaccihuatl he found to be fifteen thousand seven hun-
dred feet above the sea, and Popocatepetl seventeen thou-
sand seven hundred, which was two thousand feet higher
than the most elevated summit of the old world. He
ascended to the summit of the latter mountain. It was
an ever-burning volcano, but for several centuries it had
thrown up nothing from its crater but smoke and ashes.

Speaking of a report that prevailed in Mexico, that
Diego Ordaz penetrated into the crater of Popocatepetl,
for the purpose of procuring sulphur for the Spaniards
to make powder with, Humboldt gossips thus about the
circumstance, and the mountain itself.

" When the united army of the Spaniards and Tlas-
caltecs, in the month of October, 1519, marched from
Cholula to Tenochtitlan, across the Cordillera of Ahualco,
which unites the Sierra Nevada to the volcanic summit

THE STORY OF DIEGO ORDAZ. 299

of Popocatepetl ; the army suffered both from the cold,
and the extreme impetuosity of the winds, which con-
stantly prevail on the table-land. Writing of this march
to the Emperor, Cortez expresses himself in the follow-
ing manner : ' Seeing smoke issue from a very elevated
mountain, and wishing to make to your royal excellency
a minute report of whatever this country contains of
wonderful, I chose from among my companions in arms,
ten of the most courageous, and I ordered them to ascend
to the summit, and to discover the secret of the smoke,
and to tell me whence and where it issued.'

u Bernal Diaz affirms that Diego Ordaz was of that
expedition, and that this captain attained the very brink
of the crater. He may have happened to boast of it
afterwards, for it is related by other historians, that the
Emperor gave him permission to place a volcano on his
. arms. Lopez de Gomara, who composed his history
from the accounts of the Conquistadores and religious
missionaries, does not name Ordaz as the chief of the
expedition ; but he vaguely asserts that two Spaniards
measured with the eye the size of the crater. Cortez,
however, expressly says : ' That his people ascended very
high ; that they saw much smoke issue out, but that none
of them could reach the volcano, on account of the enor-
mous quantity of snow with which it was covered, the
rigour of the cold, and the clouds of ashes that enveloped
the travellers.' A terrible noise which they heard on
approaching the summit determined them to turn im-
mediately back. We see from the account of Cortez,
that the expedition of Ordaz had no view of extracting
sulphur from the volcano, and that neither he nor his
companions saw the crater in 1519. ' They brought

.°»00 ANCIENT AS< KNT OF POPOCATEPETL.

back,' says Cortez, ' only snow and pieces of ice, the ap-
pearance of which astonished ns very much, because this
country is under the 20° of latitude, in the parallel of the
island Espanola, and consequently, according to the
opinion of the pilots, ought to be very warm.'

" Three years later, however, after two unsuccessful
attempts, the Spaniards succeeded in seeing the crater of
Popocatepetl. It seemed to them three-fourths of a
league in circumference, and they found on the brink of
the precipice a small quantity of sulphur, which had
been deposited there by the vapours. Cortez relates :
1 that he is in no want of sulphur for the manufacture of
powder, because a Spaniard drew some from a mountain
which perpetually smokes, by descending, tied to a rope,
to the depth of from seventy or eighty fathoms.'

" A document preserved in the family of the Montaiios,
and which Cardinal Lorenzana affirms he once had in
his hands, proves that the Spaniard of whom Cortez
speaks, was Francisco Montana Did that intrepid man
really enter into the crater of Popocatepetl ; or did he
extract the sulphur, as several persons in Mexico sup-
pose, from a lateral crevice of the volcano? M. Alzate,
with very little foundation affirms, that Diego Ordaz ex-
tracted sulphur from the crater of the old volcano of
Tuctli, to the east of the lake of Chalco, near the Indian
village of Tuliahualco. The makers of contraband pow-
der no doubt procure sulphur there ; but Cortez expressly
designates Popocatepetl by the phrase, ' the mountain
which constantly smokes.' Be this as it may, it is certain
that after the rebuilding of the city of Tenochtitlan, the
soldiers of the army of Cortez ascended the summit of
Popocalepetl, where nobody has since been."

THE COPPER OF PEROTE. 303

From the volcanoes of Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl,
the travellers proceeded to Xalapa, travelling for the most
part over lofty mountains, and through dense forests of
oaks and fir-trees. They lodged while at Xalapa in the
convent of Saint Francis, the view from which was mag-
nificent. On one hand they could see the plains and the
ocean ; on the other the declivities of the Cordilleras of
Anahuac, and the colossal summits of Orizaba and the
Coffer of Perote. The Coffer of Perote was a rock of
singular shape on the eastern side of the summit of the
porphyritic mountain of that name. It resembled a
square tower, and served as a signal to the sailors who
put in at Vera Cruz. The harbour of Yera Cruz, and
the castle of San Juan de Ulua, were visible from this
great watch-tower. ISTo thing at the summit announced a
crater, yet the mountain was enveloped in a thick bed of
pumice-stone. Its height was thirteen thousand five
hundred feet. The peak of Orizaba, which Humboldt
ascended, and which he always regarded as the most
magnificent mountain in the world, was two or three
hundred feet higher than the crater of Popocatepetl.

The intendancy of Yera Cruz like that of Puebla was
celebrated for its ruins. The most remarkable of these
was the pyramid of Papantla. It was situated in the
midst of a thick forest, at the distance of two leagues
from a great Indian village. It was unknown to the
Spaniards, for centuries ; for as it was an object of vene-
ration among the Indians, they concealed its existence
from the conquerors of their country ; and it was only
discovered accidentally by some hunters, about thirty
years before the time of Humboldt's visit. It was not
constructed of bricks, or clay mixed with stones, and

302 THE PYRAMID OF PAPANTLA.

faced with a wall, like the pyramids of Cholula and
Teotihuacan ; the only materials employed were immense
stones of a porphyritical shape. Mortar was distinguish-
able in the seams. The edifice, however, was not so
remarkable for its size as for its symmetry, the polish of
the stones, and the great regularity of their cut. The
base of the pyramid was an exact square, each side being
eighty-two feet in length. The perpendicular height
appeared not to be more than from fifty to sixty feet.
This monument, like all the Mexican temples, was com-
posed of several terraces. Six were still distinguishable,
and a seventh appeared to be concealed by the vegetation
with which the sides of the pyramid were covered. A
great stair of fifty-seven steps conducted to the truncated
top of the pyramid, where the human victims were sacri-
ficed. On each side of the great stair was a small stair.
The facing of the terraces was adorned with hierogly-
phics, in which serpents and crocodiles carved in relief
were discernible. Each terrace contained a great number
of square niches symmetrically distributed. In the first
story were twenty-four on each side, in the second
twenty, and in the third sixteen. The number of these
niches in the body of the pyramid was three hundred
and sixty-six, and there were twelve in the stair towards
the east. The Abbe Marquez supposed that this number
of three hundred and seventy-eight niches had some
allusion to a calendar of the Mexicans ; and he even
believed that in each of them one of the twenty figures
was repeated, which, in the hieroglyphical language of
the Toltecs, served as a symbol for marking the days
of the common year, and the intercalated days at the
end of the cycles.

LAST DAYS IN MEXICO. 303

The route from Xalapa to Perote was thrice travelled
over by Humboldt and Bonpland, and each time sub-
jected to barometric measurements, for the purposes of
a post road, which was afterwards constructed in that
locality, according to Humboldt's plans.

The remainder of their stay in the New World was
destitute of incident, and may be summed up briefly.

From Xalapa they proceeded to Vera Cruz, where the
yellow fever was raging. They stopped here a few
days when a Spanish frigate sailing for Havana, they
took passage in her, quitting the shores of Mexico on the
7th of March. They remained at Havana two months
attending to the packing and shipping of their various
collections, and then set sail for Philadelphia, which
they reached after a stormy passage of thirty-two days.
While in Philadelphia, at a public library, Humboldt
received intelligence which delighted him. It was in a
scientific publication, and to this effect : " Arrival of M.
de Humboldt's manuscripts at his brother's house in
Paris, by way of Spain." He could hardly help shout-
ing for joy.

From Philadelphia they proceeded to Washington,
where Humboldt was introduced to Jefferson.

They left the New World on the 9th of June, 1804.

BOOK III.

1804-182 9.

CHAPTER I.

BOOKS.

One pleasant August day, fifty-five years ago, in a
quiet chamber in Paris, sat a pale and thoughtful woman.
The chamber was decidedly French, the furniture dating
back, it may be, to the days of Louis Quatorze ; yet there
was something in its atmosphere not quite in keeping.
Perhaps it was the books and pictures, both of which
were German, or it might have been the lady herself,
who was also German. She was not beautiful ; her
figure was a little crooked, but the contour of her head
was fine, and her eyes were remarkably brilliant. Indeed,
her eyes were too brilliant, large and lustrous, as is often
the case with those who are, or have been, ill. That this
lady was ill, could be seen at a glance. Being a wife and
mother she had known all the pains and pleasures of
woman. She knew what it was to give birth to children,
and to have her children die. A few months before she
had given birth to a daughter, her fifth child, who soon
died. It was this that made her pale and thoughtful.
On the couch beside her lay a book, which she had just
been reading, a German book, the work of Goethe, or
Schiller. Beside her was a bundle of letters, one with a
foreign "post mark. It was directed to her husband,

308 FRAU CAROLINE IN PARIS.

William Yon Humboldt. The lady was Frau Caroline,
and the letter was from Alexander. It was dated in
March, at Havana, and announced his speedy return
from the New World. Two or three months had passed
since it was received in Rome, and yet there were no
tidings of him. None, at least, that they wished to
believe. There was at one time an ugly report that he
had died of the yellow fever, but it lacked confirmation,
they thought. So Frau Caroline, who had been spend-
ing a few weeks at Weimar, with her friend Schiller,
had come up to Paris to see if she could not learn some-
thing definite concerning the long-absent Alexander.

While she was sitting there with his letter before her,
that pleasant August day, there came a tap at the door,
and a note was handed her by a messenger. It was
from the Secretary of the National Institute, announcing
the arrival of the traveller in the Garonne. He was
then at Bordeaux, and would shortly be in Paris. Her
heart was lightened of one load ; her pale cheek kindled,
and snatching a pen, she wrote the good news to her
husband.

In a few days Alexander himself appeared.

From time to time during his five years' absence,
rumours of his travels were noised abroad, and he was
much talked about, not only by scientific men, who
naturally felt a deep interest in him and his pursuits, but
by the world at large. Great changes had been wrought
since he left ; battles had been fought, before which the
famous fields of antiquity must " pale their ineffectual
fires :" empires had risen and fallen, or were tottering to
their fall, yet he was not forgotten. The crash of empires,
the thunder of battles had not drowned the " still small

HUMBOLDT'S COLLECTIONS. 309

voice" of Science, and the name of its most distinguished
votary, Alexander Von Humboldt. He returned to find
himself famous.

He was warmly welcomed by the savans of Paris.
The collections which he had brought from the New
World were richer than any that had ever before been
brought into Europe from foreign countries. Other tra-
vellers, selecting some speciality with which they parti-
cularly sympathized, had enriched different departments
of science, but Humboldt and Bonpland, universal in
their tastes and pursuits, enriched all. Botany, geology,
mineralogy, geography, climate — they left nothing un-
touched. Their collections and journals contained the
natural history of a continent. They had achieved a
great triumph by their travels, but its fruit was yet to
come. As they had travelled for the interests of science
rather than their own private gratification, for the world
rather than themselves, it was necessary that the world
should know the results of their travels. For themselves
it was not necessary, for they could recall them day by
day, and step by step, without even turning to their jour-
nals. The rocks and ores in their cases, the plants in
their herbals, were dumb historians of their progress.
Even their mirrors were tell-tales, whispering, as they
reflected their sun-bronzed faces, the gorgeous secret of
the tropics. Of this, however, the world could know
nothing. They might, as they afterwards did, deposit
their collections in Museums of Natural History. This
would be something towards making known the results
of their five years' sojourn in the New World, but it
would not be much after all. B}^ this means they might
reach the scientific and the curious, but not the world.

310 WILLIAM'S TRAVELS.

There was but one way to reach the world, and that was
by writing.

Such, we may conceive, were the thoughts of the tra-
vellers as they surveyed their collections and journals. In
the meantime there were some arrears to be settled before
they could fully resume their old life of civilization and
refinement. There were half-sundered ties to be renewed ;
letters to be written ; friends to be seen ; homes to be
visited ; and for one at least, a debt of love to be paid.
Before Alexander could begin the great work he must
see his brother William, who was then at Albano. lie
learned from Frau Caroline, to whom his return had been
a cordial of health, all that had taken place since his de-
parture. When he started for the New World he left
William in Paris, but the letters which he wrote him
during his journey in Spain, led the latter to undertake
a journey thither. He left Paris in July or August,
1799, accompanied by Frau Caroline and his family, and
proceeded to Garonne and the Pyrenees, crossing over
into Spain at St. Jean de Luz. In the autumn he
reached Biscay. He was delighted with the Basque
nation, whose strange language opened a new field for
his philological studies. From Vittoria he travelled
to Madrid : thence to Cadiz, Seville, Valencia, and Bar-
celona. The journey ended in the plains and mountains
of Catalonia.

In 1802 he was made a chamberlain by the King of
Prussia, and appointed privy counsellor of legation, and
resident-ambassador at the court of Eome, an office
which he still filled. In literature he had not done
much, beyond planning great works, many of which were
never executed. He was then, or as Frau Caroline

GA Y-LUSSAC. 311

doubtless said to Alexander, in August, 1804, " He is
now translating Agamemnon."

The fact of William's being hard at work on his be-
loved iEschylus, and that Frau Caroline intended to re-
main in Paris until the commencement of the following
year, determined Alexander to remain there until he had
regulated his collections and arranged his journals for
publication. He renewed his intimacy with his former
scientific associates, especially with his friend, Gay-Lus-
sac, who had just distinguished himself as an ajronaut,
by making two ascensions from the Conservatory of Arts,
one with M. Biot, on the 24th of August, and one alone,
on the 15th of September. The object of these ascen-
sions was to examine whether the magnetic power ex-
perienced any appreciable diminution as we leave the sur-
face of the earth. Saussure, who made experiments on
the Col du Geant, at eleven thousand feet above the level
of the sea, thought he could perceive a very sensible de-
crease of magnetic virtue : some aeronauts even asserted
that it vanished at a certain height. Loaded with a cargo
of galvanic apparatus, barometers, thermometers, hygro-
meters, and electrometers, besides a small menagery of
frogs, insects, and birds, Biot and Gay-Lussac rose from the
Conservatory amid the plaudits of all Paris. The lower
side of the clouds through which they passed had a bluish
tint, similar to that which they exhibit on the surface of the
earth, but as they rose above them, they saw that they
were full of small eminences and undulations, like a vast
field of snow ploughed and drifted by the wind. They
commenced their experiments at the height of six thou-
sand five hundred feet, and continued them to the height
of fifteen thousand seven hundred feet, and the result of

312 IIUMBOLDT QUITS PARIS.

their observations was that the magnetic property expe-
rienced no appreciable diminution.

This first trip not being considered satisfactory in some
respects, Gay-Lussac made the second alone, and ascended
to the height of four miles and a quarter. He still saw
clouds above him, at a great height, but none below. The
atmosphere had a dull misty appearance. He suffered
intensely from the cold during his experiments. His
hands were benumbed ; he breathed with difficulty ; his
pulse was much quickened, and his throat was so parched
that he could scarcely swallow a morsel of bread. The
result of his experiments was the same as before —
namely, that the magnetic quality does not diminish as
we proceed from the surface of the earth.

Humboldt, to whom great heights were by this time no
novelty, was deeply interested in these researches of Gay-
Lussac, and afterwards joined him in them. His only
literary labour at this time was an essay on the Geology
of America, published in the "Journal of Natural His-
tory."

In the spring of 1805 he accompanied Frau Caroline,
who in the meantime had had another child, a little Gus-
tavus, to Albano. The reader will be good enough to
imagine the meeting of the brothers, who were both men
of strong feelings, though they did not always show
them, and loved and respected each other as two such
brothers should. 13e sure they had much to talk of, be
fore they settled into the quite routine of life, William
of his studies, and Alexander of his travels. He had
remembered his brother's tastes in the distant regions of
the New World, and had collected for him, in missions
and cloisters, and wherever he could, a great number of

ALBANO. 313

grammars of American dialects. These treasures he
gave to William, with the stipulation that he would oc-
casionally lend them to Professor Yater and Frederick
Schlegel, both noted philologists.

The Humboldts were as much sought after at Albano,
as they had previously been at Paris, not only by their
own countrymen, of whom they knew a goodly number,
but by all the learned and great, residing in Pome and
the vicinity. They still gave dinner parties, esthetic teas,
etc., to which the elect were invited. Among those who
visited them at this time were the sculptors, Thorwaldsen
and Pauch, and Sismondi, A. W. Schlegel, and Madame
de Stael. The latter lived so near the Humboldts that
they might be said to form one household.

Notwithstanding the gay life that he led at Albano,
Humboldt was far from idle ; for he contrived to find or
make time to visit the great libraries of Pome, especially
that of the Vatican, and the famous Museum of Cardinal
Borgia, of Velletri. This Museum was rich in hiero-
glyphical writings, especially those of Mexico, and he
renewed in it his acquaintance with his old friends, the
Aztecs, and copied some quaint specimens of their sin-
gular picture-language. And, better still, he was joined,
about this time, by Gay-Lussac, and Leopold Yon Buch.
Learning that Yesuvius was active, they had come to
Italy, the one from Paris, and the other from Germany,
to be present at the expected eruption. They witnessed
it with Humboldt on the 12th of August. As neither
have left a record of the impression it made upon them,
we conclude that it was not remarkable, or, what is quite
as likely, that they were preoccupied with other pursuits .
Gay-Lussac was still engaged with his magnetic experi-

14

314 NO MAN'S LIFE EVER WKITTEN".

ments, in which he was assisted bv Humboldt and Von
Buch, the latter examining the magnetic qualities of the
serpentine rocks of Vesuvius. In the autumn Humboldt
departed for Berlin, where he#remained nearly two years.
Though he wrote largely during this year, he seems to
have published little, except an " Essay on Botanical
Geography," and a paper on magnetism.

From this time for twenty years and more, his life
was as destitute of incident as can well be imagined ; ex-
cept in a bibliographical point of view it is nearly a blank
to his biographers. Yet this blank covers the most
prolific period of his genius, for in it he wrote all his
great works, except " Kosmos." From 1805 to 1829 —
from his thirty -sixth to his sixtieth year, not much is
known of Humboldt. We know where he lived during
that time ; this year he was in Berlin, we can say, and
that year in Paris ; but this is little. To be sure locality
is something, for it helps statistical readers to facts, which
are never to be despised ; but an authentic leaf from the
book of his life, a momentary gleam of thought or feeling
would be worth centuries of mere locality.

And here we are reminded of a thought which has
often come home to us with striking force, when reading
the biographies of great men. It is this : No man's life
was ever written ! If a biographer is skilful, like Boswell
for instance, he gives us a life-like picture of his hero :
the colour of his eyes and hair, his voice, his manner of
speaking, his gestures : his little peculiarities of dress,
the snuff on his shirt frills, or, possibly, the stains of
his last night's wine ; or, as in the case of Poor Goldy,
the awkward patch on the breast of his coat. Still, we
are not satisfied. Delighted we may be, but satisfied we

LIVES OF AUTIIOKS NOT PICTURESQUE. 315

are not. We feel all the while that this is not the man,
it is but his outline, his frame, his shell. "What we want
to get at is the man himself, and unfortunately that is
just what we never do get at. It is but little to know
that his head is covered with golden curls, or thatched
with the snows of age, when we know nothing of the
brain within it — nothing of the thoughts that struggle
there like mad demons, or sleep serenely like angels.
Give us an insight into the man : open his secret doors
and let us see his heart, whether it be noble or base.
Does his blood run rich with love, or boil and seethe with
hate ? Or does it lie like a stagnant pool in a dead marsh,
loathsome, horrible ? We can never know.

Granting, however, that the inner life of a man is
hidden from us, there is still his outer life to be narrated,
and it is with this that most biographers occupy them-
selves. It is not, or should not be, difficult to write the
life of a soldier, for the biographer's work is ready done
to his hands. What can be want better than

" The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife,
The royal banner, and all quality,
Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war ?"

The biographies of actors, and other adventurers, are
excellent reading. But authors, whose days and years
are proverbially barren of incident, and whose profession
keeps them from mingling actively with the world — how
shall their lives be made interesting ? The most that
can be done for an author, in a picturesque point of view,
is to describe him with pens, ink, and paper before him.
From these, by the subtle alchemy of his genius, books
are made — poems, novels, histories, but how is a mystery,

316 Humboldt's scientific life.

often to the author himself. A man at a table writing,
or, as Miss, who doats on his books, fancies, a pale and
spiritual genius in his study at night, his brain labouring
with thought, which his fingers are not swift enough to
jot down — let the picture be as romantic as possible, the
world will never think it equal to a battle-field, although
it reiterates complacently,

" The pea is mightier than the sword."

As with the author, so with the man of science, or rather
worse with him, for his life, while it is similar to the
author's, is generally less interesting, which makes the
writing of his biography more difficult. Fortunatelv,
however, Humboldt was more than a mere man of
science, and his life in the main was a stirring one.
There were intervals of comparative quiet in it, chasms
of scientific and literary labours, yawning, as it were,
between epochs of travel and adventure ; but these once
bridged over, all is well. We shall bridge over, in this
chapter, Humboldt's scientific life in Paris.

We left him at Berlin in the autumn of 1805. There
was no reason for his quitting Albano where he was so
happily situated, except that he needed more solitude
than he could find there. He was, doubtless, too hap-
pily situated to work as he washed. He remained at
Berlin two years, writing, and pursuing his scientific
researches. He continued his magnetic observations, and
the result of his experiments wTas, that mountain chains
and even active volcanoes exercise no perceptible force
on the magnetic powTer, but that it deviates gradually
with its distance from the equator.

He wrote largely at this time, working up different

BOOKS WRITTEN AT BERLIN. 317

portions of his travels, in the form of essays and treatises,
which he read before the Academy of Berlin. Two of
these papers, one on Steppes and Deserts, and another
on the Cataracts of the Orinoco were included in his
"Aspects of Nature." Upon this book, which was the
first, not purely scientific, that he wrote after his return to
Europe, he was now busily engaged. Not having made
up his mind as to the exact form in which he would cast
his journey, he selected some of its most striking inci-
dents and phenomena, and interwove them in a series of
papers, which he called "Aspects of Nature."

The "Aspects of Nature" is one of the few books
that he wrote in his native language, and for that reason
perhaps it was always a favorite with him. When he
wrote for the scholars of Europe he wrote in French or
Latin, but when he wished to reach the hearts of his
countrymen he wrote in German. It was not published
until 1808, when he had left Berlin for Paris. It was
dedicated to his brother William, who acknowledged the
compliment in one of his finest poems. Humboldt's
literary life in Berlin may be summed up in the writing
of the " Aspects of Nature," and in the writing and
publishing of four smaller works, " Ideas on a Geography
of Plants," " A Picture of the Natural Productions of
the Tropics," a "Tableau of the Equinoctial Eegions,"
and a treatise on " Electric Fish."

In the autumn of 1807 Humboldt removed to Paris, in
order to be near his beloved collections, and to commence
his long-delayed work. He had come to the conclusion
that it could not be done properly, or at any rate as he
wished to have it done, by one man in the course of a
life-time, so he divided the material among the savans of

318 BERTHOLLET.

Paris, giving to each the portion for which his tastes and
studies had fitted him. No city in the world was ever
so rich in men of science, as Paris was then, and all these
men were Humboldt's personal friends. He was ac-
quainted with most of them before he started on bis
travels: when he returned, opulent in knowledge and
experience, his acquaintance was sought by the rest.
Among his friends at this time, and for years afterwards,
in fact till the close of their lives, for Humboldt never
lost a friend, except by death, we may mention Biot,
Gay-Lussac, Latreille, Cuvier, Laplace, Arago, and Ber-
thollet. Arago and Gay-Lussac were the youngest of
the band, the former being in his twenty-second year, the
latter in his twenty-ninth. The oldest were Laplace and
Berthollet, both of whom were within a few months of
fifty-nine. Cuvier was born in the same year with Hum-
boldt, and like him was thirty-eight.

Claude Louis Berthollet was born at Talloire, in
Savoy, on the 9th of December, 1748. Eeceiving his
early education at Chambery, he entered the university
of Turin, where he obtained a diploma as doctor of medi-
cine. Armed with this formidable weapon he came to
Paris, and was fortunate enough to be appointed physi-
cian to the Duke of Orleans. While holding this situa-
tion he devoted himself to the study of chemistry, and
published his "Essays," which made him favourably
known in the world of letters. The influence of the
Duke procured for him, some years later, the office of
government commissary, and superintendent of dyeing
processes. This led him to write a work on the theory
and practice of dyeing. He was soon after engaged in
another kind of dying, or rather trying to help the

CUVIER. 3 1 G

French people towards the material for it. When the
Revolution had involved the country in war, saltpetre,
which at first was plentiful enough, finally became scarce,
owing to the difficulties of importation. To make up
the deficiency Berthollet travelled over France, and
showed its sanguinary citoyens how to extract and purify
the salt. Under his teaching any man who desired it,
might have had a private powder-manufactory of his own.

In addition to his little lessons in the art of extempo-
rizing gunpowder, Berthollet was engaged, like many
other men of science at the time, in teaching the French
the art of smelting iron, and converting it into steel.
The swords of the citoyens were probably a little dinted
with hacking each other, so they wanted new ones.

In 1792 we find Berthollet one of the Commissioners
of the Mint, and two years later a member of the Com-
mission of Agriculture and Arts, and Professor of Che-
mistry in the Polytechnic and Normal Schools. In 1796
the Directory, who began to think of returning to civili-
zation, sent him to Italy to select works of art and
science for the capital. Meeting General Bonaparte
there, he joined the expedition to Egypt, and helped to
form the Institute of Cairo. On his return to France
Napoleon, then first consul, made him a senator, and
grand officer of the Legion of Honour, and shortly after-
wards created him a count.

George Leopold Christian Frederic Dagobert Cuvier,
the most celebrated anatomist of modern times, was born
at Montbeliard, on the 23d of August, 1769, twenty-two
days before Humboldt. From his earliest childhood he
gave indications of great talent. He learned to draw
from the works of Buffon, a copy of which, illustrated

320 HIS EARLY CAREER.

with plates, fell into bis hands in his twelfth year. Latin
and Greek were among his first studies ; he learned them
as by intuition, and German with equal facility. He
also made himself master of most of the modern lan-
guages. He had a passion for all kinds of reading,
especially for history, the driest details of which he mas-
tered, and remembered without an effort.

Proficient at the age of fourteen in all the branches of
study taught in the school of Montbeliard, he was sent
to the Caroline Academy, at Stuttgard, where he re-
mained four years. His favourite study was the science
of government, which was one of the five different facul-
ties in which lessons were given at this academy. His
great mental endowments wrere at once recognised by the
professors, and by none more warmly than M. Abel, the
professor of Natural History, who rekindled in the mind
of the young student his early taste for that science.

When the Revolution broke out, Cuvier was residing
in Normandy. Here he met the naturalist, Jessier, wrho
discovered his scientific attainments, and put him in
communication with the savans of Paris. He repaired
thither in 1795, when the fury of the Revolution had
subsided, and by the interest of Jessier and Mellin was
appointed a member of the Commission of Arts, and
soon after a professor of the School of the Pantheon.
For the use of this school he composed a treatise on the
natural history of animals, which served as the basis of
all subsequent works on zoological classification. From
the School of the Pantheon he passed to the Museum of
Natural History, where he filled the chair of Comparative
Anatomy. When Bonaparte returned from Egypt, in
1800, he wras secretary to the National Institute. The

LAPLACE. 321

revolution of the 18th Brumaire, made the victorious
general first consul, and led him to assume the title of
President of the Institute. This made him acquainted
with Cuvier, who vacated the post of secretary for the
chair of Natural History. Wishing, in 1802, to remodel
the system of public instruction, Napoleon named him
one of the six inspectors, who were directed to establish
lyceums in the principal towns in France. His commis-
sion directed him to Bordeaux and Marseilles. He esta-
blished lyceums in these cities, and returned to Paris,
shortly before Humboldt made it his permanent abode.

Pierre Simon Laplace, the world-renowned mathemati-
cian, was born in Normandy on the 23d of March, 1749.
Of his youth nothing is related, except that he was re-
markable for his talents. He achieved his first success in
theology, which he soon abandoned for the study of geo-
metry. To perfect himself in the science, he came to
Paris, with letters of recommendation to D'Alembert. He
presented himself at the house of this philosopher, but
could not succeed in reaching him. Finding his recom-
mendations useless he sat down and wrote D'Alembert a
letter on the general principles of mechanics. Astonished
at its profundity, D'Alembert in his turn waited upon La-
place. "Sir," said he to the young geometrician, "you
see that I pay little attention to recommendations. You
have no need of them. You have made yourself better
known ; that is sufficient for me. You may command
my support." In a few days he had Laplace appointed
Professor of Mathematics to the Military School of Paris.

The wind of good luck, blowing from the 18th of
Brumaire, made Laplace Minister of the Interior. His
talent for statesmanship not being equal to his talent for

322 ARAGO.

mathematics and geometry, he resigned the portfolio of
his office to Lucien Bonaparte, lie was then created a
senator, then vice-chancellor, and at length chamberlain
of the conservative senate.

Of his various scientific writings, especially of his
immortal work, the Traite de Mecanique Celeste, we shall
not speak here; neither shall we pursue him through
his subsequent career. An anecdote of his last days,
and we have done with Pierre Simon Laplace.

" You have made many splendid discoveries, mar-
quis," said a friend to him as he lay on his death-bed.

" What we know is a little matter," the dying philo-
sopher murmured, " what we do not know is immense."

Of Dominique Francois Jean Arago, the celebrated
astronomer, and equally celebrated friend of Humboldt,
no sketch is necessary here, as most readers are familiar
with his biography. It will be sufficient to say that he
was at this time engaged in measuring the arc of the
meridian, a famous and dangerous epoch in his life. Of
Biot, and Gay-Lussac — their balloon ascensions, and mag-
netic experiments, we have already spoken.

Among these men, and others of less note, minor
lights in the constellation of science, Humboldt took his
place, as a star of the first magnitude. He was undoubt-
edly surpassed by some of them in particular departments
of stud}7, but in general knowledge, a knowledge of all
branches of science, and all literatures, he had no sup -
rior, if indeed an equal. There was no sense of in-
feriority on his part; he was a king among his peers.

Once fairly settled in Paris, he sat down and mapped
out his great work. Had a book of travels been his object,
it would not have been difficult for him to have written

DIVISION OF LABOUR. 323

it within a reasonable time : many a traveller would have
done so, while Humboldt was thinking about it. A book
of travels, however, was not his object, at any rate not
his sole object, it was but a small portion of the task
which he contemplated. He would do himself justice as
a traveller by describing the scenes through which he
had passed ; the ocean over which he had sailed ; the
forests in which he had wandered : the rivers he had
explored ; the mountains he had ascended ; the ruins he
had seen ; but he would also do himself justice as a man
of science. He would give the geography, the geology,
the botany, in short, the natural history of the New
World ; not in a general way, from the vague reports of
others, but from his own conscientious observations and
researches. Clearly this was a Herculean task.

He divided his material into six portions. First, the
narrative of his journey ; then its zoology and anatomy ;
then its political aspect. These were followed by its
astronomy and magnetism, its geology, and its botany.
Knowing that he could not, without assistance, write
the multitude of books that such a treatment of his
travels implied, he parcelled the different portions around
among his friends. Arago and Gay-Lussac were to assist
him in chemistry and meteorology : Latreille and Cuvier
in anatomy : Laplace in mathematics : Vauquelin and
Klaproth in mineralogy ; and Bonpland and Kunth, —
(not our old friend, and his boyish tutor, Christian, but
Charles Sigismund Kunth, Professor of Botany in the
University of Berlin) in botany. For his own part he
would superintend their labours, and write the narrative
of his journey. And now to work, Messieurs!

To work they went.

324 WORKS JM BLISHED IN 1808.

As Humboldt laid out his works with groat regularity,

the reader may suppose that the same regularity attended
their publication : but it was not so Not all those that
related to, and completed one branch of science, appeared
at one time : they were published as they were written.
It could not well have been otherwise when so many
hands were at work.

To know the years in which Humboldt's books were
published, is to know the nature of his employment at
that time. With this clue before us we shall trace him
during his life in Paris. He came thither, the reader
will remember, in the autumn of 1807. 1808 was a busy
year with him. It witnessed the publication of two edi-
tions of his "Aspects of Nature," one in German, the
other in French; of a work on latitude and longitude, in
Latin ; of a work on electric fish, in German, and of the
first volume of his work on the equinoctial plants. This
last publication, an immense folio, with pages two feet, or
thereabouts, in length, was the first of a series of works
of the same size and kind. They were mostly written in
Latin, some by Humboldt, others by Bonpland and
Kunth.

In the preface to the first volume of "Equinoctial
Plants," which preface, by the way, was written before
Ilumboldt visited his brother William at Albano, (it is
dated at Paris, March 1, 1805) he speaks of the labours
to which Bonpland and himself were devoted during
their five years' travels, and says that botanical researches
were those with which they oceupied themselves most
assiduously. A great part of the countries through which
they passed had never been visited by botanists. Don
Jose Celestino Mutis, director of the botanical expedi-

EQUINOCTIAL PLANTS. 325

tion of New Grenada, whom Humboldt met at Bogota,
where he was royal astronomer, and to whom he dedi-
cated the " Equinoctial Plants," had examined before
them the forests of Turbaco, and the banks of the Rio
Magdalena; he did not penetrate, however, the moun-
tains of Quindiu, where they obtained some of their
rarest botanical specimens. Only one traveller, Joseph de
Jussieu, had preceded them at Loxa. Ruiz and Pavon
had examined some portions of Peru, but not the province
of Jaen de Bracamorras, where the vegetation was richest.
Cervantes, Sesse and Mocino had made many researches
in Mexico, but nature was so unexhaustible in that im-
mense territory that Humboldt and Bonpland obtained
many specimens, not known to those botanists.

The number of equinoctial plants which the travellers
collected in both hemispheres amounted to six thousand
two hundred different species, many of which were not
previously known in botany. Their collection surprised
the most celebrated botanists, it contained so many new
specimens. In palms, gramines, and cryptogrames, three
families of plants much neglected by former botanists,
it was especially rich.

The " Equinoctial Plants" bore on the title page the
names of Humbolt and Bonpland as its authors. Most
of the work, however, was written by Bonpland, who
was highly complimented by Humboldt. His praise of
his fellow-traveller was as sincere as it was beautiful.
"If my enterprise," he said, " shall one day be regarded
as interesting in the progress of botany, the success will
be almost entirely owing to the active zeal of M. Bon-
pland." The work was embellished with a great number
of designs, which were carefully engraved by Sellier.

326 WORKS PUBLISHED IN 1809-10.

The second volume of the "Equinoctial Plants" was
published in 1809.

This, and the two following years, found Humboldt
hard at work. He had not yet decided, it would seem,
upon writing a regular narrative of his travels, or,
deciding, had postponed it for a few years longer, until
he could see his way more clear before him. lie would
first work up some of his lighter materials. His port-
folio was full of sketches ; his journals were overflowing
with astronomical observations. He entrusted the latter
to Oltmans, a young geometrician of Berlin, who revised
them and made all the calculations anewr, employing the
lunar tables of Berg, and correcting them at the same
time by the passage of the moon over the meridian.
The Institute of France recognised the seven hundred
positions calculated in this manner as the greatest mass
of materials for astronomical geography then existing,
and awarded to Oltmans, in 1809, the prize for astro-
nomy. His work, " A Collection of Astronomical Ob-
servations, Trigonometric Operations, and Barometric
Measurements," was published in 1810, in two quarto
volumes. Humboldt's own publication this year was
the "Picturesque Atlas." This was another of his great
folios, and undoubtedly the most attractive one to general
readers. It is not scientific, like the " Equinoctial Plants,'
and his other botanical works in folio, but descriptive
and historical — a sort of sketch-book of the New World.
It is illustrated by sixty-nine engravings, executed by
the best artists in Paris, Rome, and Berlin — such men as
Gmelin, Wachsmann, Pinelli, and Massard, the elder.
Many of these engravings were made from Humboldt's
own sketches, which were taken on the spots represented.

HUMBOLDT THE AUTHOR. 327

The popularity of the folio "Picturesque Atlas" in-
duced Humboldt to issue a less expensive edition in
12mo. The title of the folio " Picturesque Atlas" was
dropped, and its sub-title, "Views of the Cordilleras, and
Monuments of the Native People of America," substi-
tuted instead. It soon became a favourite book.

If the reader were to imagine Humboldt at this time,
he would doubtless picture him as a man absorbed in
his pursuits, and inattentive to everything else ; his
mind pre-occupied, his memory burdened, his days and
nights devoted to thought. He would picture him in
his study, with quires of white paper before him, a pen
in his hand, and the floor strewn with pages of blotted
manuscript. Or, in the alcoves of some great library,
taking down ponderous folios or quartos to settle some
knotty point. This, we believe, is the usual beau ideal
of a scholar, and in many cases it happens to be the true
one. For Humboldt it will not answer*. It is true that
he read deeply in the public libraries of Paris, and wrote
unweariedly in his private study, turning quires and
reams of paper into manuscript. The manuscript was
not blotted, however, for his handwriting was singularly
clean, neat, and lady-like in its delicacy ; nor was his
memory burdened, or his mind pre-occupied. He pos-
sessed himself too thoroughly to be oppressed by his
work ; his nature was large enough to rise above it, gigan-
tic as it was. He would as soon have gone into society
with ink on his fingers, as to have betrayed himself as a
scholar by any of the cheap signs of scholarship. With
the scholar's love of solitude, he had a woman's love of
society. He loved it, not because it flattered his vanity,
for he had no vanity ; but because his nature was emi-

328 HUMBOLDT LN THE SALONS.

nently a social one, and because it revived and refreshed
him in bis labours, and sharpened his insight into life
and man. Like his friend Goethe, lie was a man of
the world, in the noblest sense of that much-abused
term. He loved to meet and converse with the distin-
guished men and women who filled the salons of Paris.
Even its frivolous characters, the light-headed and light-
heeled crowd, were not despised by him. He amused
himself at their expense occasionally, but it was in
such a pleasant manner that they could not be angry.
He had a vein of genial humour in him, and, when
the occasion demanded it, a biting wit. The worst
that could be said of him was, that he was a little
sarcastic.

"In the salons of Metternich," says Varnhagen Yon
Ense, who met him at Paris, in 1810; "in the salons of
Metternich (at that time Austrian ambassador near the
Court of St. Clond), I saw Humboldt only as a brilliant
and admired meteor, so much so, that I hardly found
time to present myself to him, and to whisper in his ear
a few of those names which gave me a right to a per-
sonal acquaintance with him. Rarely has a man engaged
in such a degree the esteem of all, the admiration of
most opposite parties, and the zeal of all in power to
serve him. Napoleon does not love him. He knows
Humboldt as a shrewd thinker, whose way of thinking,
and whose opinion can not be bent ; but the Emperor
and his Court, and the high authorities have never denied
the impression which they received by the presence of
this bold traveller, by the power of knowledge, and the
light which seems to stream from it in every direction.
The learned of all nations are proud of their high asso-

W0EKS PUBLISHED IN 1811. 329

ciatc, all the Germans of their countryman, and all the
liberals of their fellow.

"It has been rarely vouchsafed to a man in such degree
as to Humboldt, to stand forth in individual independence
and always equal to himself, and at one and the same
time, in scientific activity, and in the widest social and
international intercourse, in the solitude of minute in-
quiry, and in the almost confusing brilliancy of the
society of the day : but I know of no one who, with all
this, has endeavoured throughout his whole life to pro-
mote the progress and welfare of our race, so steadily,
uniformly, and with such ample success."

Humboldt published three works in 1811 ; one in Ger-
man, on the Geography of Plants, another, or rather the
first volume of another, in French, on Zoology and Ana-
tomy, and another, also in French, on Mexico. It was
his " Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain."

The title of this celebrated work gives but a poor in-
dication of its contents. It is not only a political essay
in the amplest sense of the word, but a geographical, mi-
neralogical, agricultural, and ethnological picture of Mex-
ico, as it appeared to Humboldt at the time of his visit.
It is divided into six grand sections or books. The first is
taken up with general considerations of the extent and
physical aspect of the country. The second treats of the
general population and division of the castes. The third
presents a particular statistical view of the intendancies,
their population, and area. He discusses in the fourth
book the state of agriculture, and of the metallic mines ;
and in the fifth, the progress of manufactures and com-
merce. The sixth contains researches into the revenues
of the state, and the military defence of the country.

330 POLITICAL ESSAY ON NEW SPAIN.

To obtain, as be did, during his years life in Mexico,

the material necessary for such a work, did not im-
ply much idleness either on his part, or that of Bon-
pland. For they worked in concert, Bonpland taking the
botanical and agricultural portions, and Humboldt those
that related to geography and geology. He also drew up
a minute map of the whole country, or rather a series of
maps, in most cases from his own surveys and measure-
ments. He determined the position of the capital, and
of most of the principal cities and towns ; the height
above the sea of the different table lands, mountains, and
volcanoes : the configuration of lakes and the windings
of rivers : and above all, the exact situation of the hun-
dreds of mines, with which Nature has blessed, or cursed,
that rich but unfortunate country.

Humboldt was led to this undertaking by the Director
of the Royal School of Mining, who had long been col-
lecting facts regarding the position of the Mexican mines,
and the districts into which they were divided. He was
desirous of having a detailed map, on which the most
noted mines should be marked, constructed for the use
of the Tribunal of Mines. Such a labor was necessary,
he thought, both for the administration of the country,
and for those who wished to know its resources. The
city of Guanaxuato, for instance, was not on most of the
maps published in Europe, although it contained seventy
thousand inhabitants, and some of the richest mines in
Mexico. Neither were Bolanos, Sombrete, Batopilas and
Zimapan mentioned. The position of the Real de Catorce
in the intendancy of San Louis Potosi was not indicated,
although it yielded annually $4,000,000.

The " Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain "

PROJECTED JOURNEY TO THIBET. 331

was dedicated to the King of Spain. How his Catholic
Majesty received the work, which, on the whole flatter-
ing to his government of Mexico, was still truth-telling
when it came to speak of its defects, we are not told. It
was eagerly read in France, and immediately translated
into English, the English version appearing simulta-
neously in London and New York. The English and
American public were anxious to see what Humboldt
had to say concerning Mexico ; familiar with his reputa-
tion as a traveller and a naturalist, they were curious to
see him in the character of a political economist. That
he satisfied their expectations the reviews of the day tes-

tify.

In the autumn of 1810. William Yon Humboldt, who,
since we left him at Albano, had been appointed by the
King of Prussia Councillor of State in the Ministry of
Home Affairs, and Chief of the Section of Keligion and
Public Instruction, went as Extraordinary Ambassador
to the Court of Yienna. There, as at Rome and Paris,
he was surrounded with authors, artists, and statesmen,
such men as Metternich and Schlegel, and Korner, the
youthful Theodore Korner, who was soon to lay down
his lyre, and take up his sword. But a greater celebrity
soon appeared. It was his brother Alexander, who had
left Paris after the publication of the first portions of his
American travels, to take leave of his family before he
started on another great journey. The Minister Roman-
zow had proposed to him to accompany a Russian mis-
sion across Kashghor to Thibet, and, delighted with the
idea, he had at once accepted. He could now visit the
mountains of India, and compare them with the Cordil-
leras of America.

332 WRITING II IS PERSONAL NARRATIVE.

But it was not to be, for France and Russia were at
war. The ill wind that had so often crossed his path
when a scheme of travel was on foot, blew him back to
Paris. Disappointed, but not disheartened, he resumed
bis labours. They were not much lightened by the books
he had published, for his great book, the personal narra-
tive of his travels, was still to be written. In addition to
the labour which this implied, he assumed another, the task
of learning Persian. Considering his projected journey to
Asia as merely postponed, not abandoned, he set about
fitting himself for it. It was his intention to proceed to
India, by the way of Teheran or Herat, at his own
expense.

He returned to Paris on the breaking out of the war
in 1812, and for two years the public knew nothing of
him. lie forsook the salons, and was seldom seen in the
chambers of his scientific associates. Even his old friend
Bonpland, to whom Napoleon had granted a pension,
and whom Josephine, whose heart he had won by a col-
lection of flower-seeds from the West Indies, had made
intendant of Malmaison, saw but little of him. He was
busy with his travels, finishing from memory and imagi-
nation his wonderful picture of the tropics. How he
must have enjoyed reading his journals, written on the
spur of the moment years before; this page on the deck
of the Pizarro, with the sea around him, that on the
crater of TenerifFe, with the heavens above him, and that
in Caracas, dear dangerous Caracas, which an earthquake
had just tumbled in ruins! It was as good as a second
journey to the tropics. It was eight years since his return
to Europe, and during all that time he had brooded, over
his task. He had written much, as the reader has seen —

VOYAGE TO EQUINOCTIAL REGIONS. 333

great scientific works on botany, zoology, and astronomy,
and a profound political essay on the resources of a king-
dom ; but with, the exception of a few slight sketches in
his " Picturesque Atlas," nothing that showed his marvel-
lous power of description, or could be considered as an ap-
proach to a narrative of his travels. He was making up
for lost time now, if an epoch so fruitful in books can be
called lost time, delighting his heart and wearying his
fingers with his task. He wrote, and wrote, and wrote,
turning the quires and reams of blank paper, with which
our fancies have furnished him, into pages of the neatest
manuscript that ever came from an author's study. His
fingers, indeed, might ache, but he was never tired of his
labour of love. Neither was he discouraged at the good-
natured banter of Arago, who told him that he did not
know how to write. " You write without end, mon cher
ami, but that is not a book ; it is a picture without a
frame."

The first volume of his travels appeared in 1814. It
was entitled " A Voyage to the Equinoctial Regions of
the New Continent."

We shall not criticise this remarkable book, of which
the reader has by this time formed an opinion, but let
Humboldt speak for himself, by culling a few paragraphs
from his introduction. It is one of his most masterly
productions, fresh, clear, and philosophical, with a charm-
ing vein of autobiography.

" Many years have elapsed since I quitted Europe, to
explore the interior of the New Continent. Devoted
from my earliest youth to the study of nature, feeling
with enthusiasm the wild beauties of a country guarded
by mountains and shaded by ancient forests, I expe-

334 EXTRACT FROM TREFACE.

rienced in my travels, enjoyments which have amply
compensated for the privations inseparable from a labo-
rious and often agitated life, These enjoyments, which I
endeavoured to impart to my readers in my ' Remarks
upon the Steppes,' and in the 'Essay on the Physiog-
nomy of Plants,' were not the only fruits I reaped from
an undertaking formed with the design of contributing
to the progress of natural philosophy. I had long pre-
pared myself for the observations which were the princi-
pal object of my journey to the torrid zone. I was pro-
vided with instruments of easy and convenient use, con-
structed by the ablest makers, and I enjoyed the special
protection of a government which, far from presenting
obstacles to my investigations, constantly honoured me
with every mark of regard and confidence. I was aided
by a courageous and enlightened friend, and it was sin-
gularly propitious to the success of our participated
labour, that the zeal and equanimity of that friend nevei
failed, amidst the fatigues and dangers to which we were
sometimes exposed.

" Under these favourable circumstances, traversing re-
gions which for ages have remained almost unknown to
most of the nations of Europe, I might add even to Spain,
M. Bonpland and myself collected a considerable num-
ber of materials, the publication of which may throw
some light on the history of nations, and advance the
study of nature.

" I had in view a two-fold purpose in the travels of
wbich I now publish the historical narrative. I wished
to make known the countries I had visited ; and to col-
lect such facts as are fitted to elucidate a science of which
we as yet possess scarcely the outline, and which has

DEFECTS OF MODERN TRAVELS. 335

been vaguely denominated Natural History of the
World, Theory of the Earth, or Physical Geography.
The last of these two objects seemed to me the most im-
portant. I was passionately devoted to botany and cer-
tain parts of zoology, and I flattered myself that our
investigations might add some new species to those
already known, both in the animal and vegetable king-
doms ; but preferring the connection of facts which have
been long observed, to the knowledge of insulated facts,
although new, the discovery of an unknown genus
seemed to me far less interesting than an observation on
the geographical relations of the vegetable world, on the
migrations of the social plants, and the limit of the
height which their different tribes attain on the flanks of
the Cordilleras.

" When I began to read the numerous narratives of
travels, which compose so interesting a part of modern
'literature, I regretted that travellers, the most enlightened
in the insulated branches of natural history, were seldom
possessed of sufficient variety of knowledge to avail
themselves of every advantage arising from their posi-
tion. It appeared to me, that the importance of the
results hitherto obtained did not keep pace with the
immense progress which at the end of the eighteenth
century, had been made in several departments of science,
particularly geology, the history of the modifications of
the atmosphere, and the physiology of animals and
plants. I saw with regret (and all scientific men have
shared this feeling), that whilst the number of accurate
instruments was daily increasing, we were still ignorant
of the height of many mountains and elevated plains ;
of the periodical oscillations of the aerial ocean ; of the

33G SEA VOYAGES VEBSU8 LAND JOUIINEYS.

limit of perpetual snow within the polar circle and on
the borders of the torrid zone ; of the variable intensity
of the magnetic forces, and of many other phenomena
equally important.

" Maritime expeditions and circumnavigatory voyages
have conferred just celebrity on the names of the natur-
alists and astronomers who have been appointed by
various governments to share the dangers of those under-
takings ; but though these eminent men have given us
precise notions of the external configuration of countri
of the natural history of the ocean, and of the productions
of islands and coasts, it must be admitted that maritime
expeditions are less fitted to advance the progress of
geology and other parts of physical science, than travels
into the interior of a continent. The advancement of the
natural sciences has been subordinate to that of geography
and nautical astronomy. During a voyage of several
years, the land but seldom presents itself to the obser- '
vation of the mariner; and when, after lengthened expec-
tation, it is descried, he often finds it stripped of its most
beautiful productions. Sometimes, beyond a barren coast,
he perceives a ridge of mountains covered with verdure,
but its distance forbids examination, and the view serves
only to excite regret.

" Journeys by land are attended with considerable diffi-
culties in the conveyance of instruments and collections,
but these difficulties are compensated by advantages
which it is unnecessary to enumerate. It is not by
sailing along a coast that we can discover the direction
of chains of mountains, and their geological constitution,
the climate of each zone, and its influence on the forms
and habits of organized beings. In proportion to the

WHAT HUMBOLDT WROTE IN THE NEW WOELD. 337

extent of continents, the greater on the surface of the soil
are the riches of animal and vegetable productions ; the
more distant the central chain of mountains from the sea-
shore, the greater is the variety in the bosom of the earth,
of those stony strata, the regular succession of which
unfolds the history of our planet. As every being con-
sidered apart is impressed with a particular type, so, in
like manner, we find the same distinctive impression in
the arrangement of brute matter organized in rocks, and
also in the distribution and mutual relations of plants and
animals. The great problem of the physical description
of the globe, is the determination of the form of these
types, the laws of their relations with each other, and the
eternal ties which link the phenomena of life, and those
of inanimate nature."

He next states the objects that he had in view in his
expeditions, and gives a resume of his collections and
observations, and the various scientific publications to
which they gave use, and continues :

" After having distributed into separate works all that
belongs to astronomy, botany, zoology, the political de-
scription of New Spain, and the history of the ancient civi-
lization of certain nations of the New Continent, there still
remained many general results and local descriptions which
I might have collected into separate treatises. I had, during
my journey, prepared papers on the races of men in South
America ; on the Missions of the Orinoco ; on the obstacles
to the progress of society in the torrid zone arising from the
climate and the strength of vegetation ; on the character
of the landscape in the Cordillera of the Andes, compared
with that of the Alps of Switzerland ; on the analogies
between the rocks of the two hemispheres ; on the phy-

15

338 IIOAV BE WBOTE His JOURNAL.

sical constitution of the air in the equinoctial regions, &c#
I had left Europe with the firm intention of not writing
what is usually called the historical narrative of a journey,
but to publish the fruit of my inquiries in works merely
descriptive; and I had arranged the facts, not in the
order in which they successively presented themselves,
but according to the relation they bore to each other.
Amidst the overwhelming majesty of Nature, and the
stupendous objects she presents at every step, the traveller
is little disposed to record in his journal matters which
relate only to himself, and the ordinary details of
life.

11 1 composed a very brief itinerary during the course
of my excursions on the rivers of South America, and in
my long journeys by land. I regularly described (and
almost always on the spot) the visits I made to the summits
of volcanoes, or mountains remarkable for their height ;
but the entries in my journal were interrupted whenever
I resided in a town, or when other occupations prevented
me from continuing a work which I considered as having
only a secondary interest. Whenever I wrote in my
journal, I had no other motive than the preservation of
some of those fugitive ideas which present themselves to
a naturalist, whose life is almost wholly passed in the
open air. I wished to make a temporary collection of such
facts as I had not then leisure to class, and note down the
first impressions, whether agreeable or painful, which I
received from nature or from man. Far from thinking
at the time that those pages thus hurriedly written would
form the basis of an extensive work to be offered to the
public, it appeared to me, that my journal, though it might
furnish certain data useful to science, would present very

WHAT A HISTORICAL NARRATIVE SHOULD BE. 339

few of those incidents, the recital of which constitutes the
principal charm of an itinerary.

" The difficulties I have experienced since my return,
in the composition of a considerable number of treatises,
for the purpose of making known certain classes of
phenomena, insensibly overcame my repugnance to write
the narrative of my journey. In undertaking this task,
I have been guided by the advice of many estimable
persons, who honour me with their friendship. I also
perceived that such a preference is given to this sort of
composition, that scientific men, after having presented
in an isolated form the account of their researches on the
productions, the manners, and the political state of the
countries through which they have passed, imagine that
they have not fulfilled their engagements with the public,
till they have written their itinerary.

"An historical narrative embraces two very distinct
objects; the greater or the less important events connected
with the purpose of the traveller, and the observations he
he has made during his journey. The unity of composi-
tion also, which distinguishes good works from those on
an ill-constructed plan, can be strictly observed only
when the traveller describes what has passed under his
own eye ; and when his principal attention has been fixed
less on scientific observations than on the manners of
different peoj^le and the great phenomena of nature.
Now, the most faithful picture of manners is that which
best displays the relations of men towards each other.
The character of savage or civilized life is portrayed either
in the obstacles a traveller meets with, or in the sensations
he feels. It is the traveller himself whom we continually
desire to see in contact with the objects which surround

340 qbxat vAKiirrv of his WORK.

him; and his narration interests as the more, when a local
tint is diffused over the description of a country and its
inhabitants. Such is the source of the interest excited
by the history of those early navigators, who, impelled
by intrepidity rather than by science, struggled against
the elements in their search for the discovery of a new-
world. Such is the irresistible charm attached to the fate
of that enterprising traveller (Mungo Park), who, full of
enthusiasm and energy, penetrated alone into the centre
of Africa, to discover amidst barbarous nations the traces
of ancient civilization.

" In proportion as travels have been undertaken by
persons whose views have been directed to researches
into descriptive natural history, geography, or political
economy, itineraries have partly lost that unity of com-
position, and that simplicity which characterized those of
former ages. It is now become scarcely possible to con-
nect so many different materials with the detail of other
events; and that part of a traveller's narrative which we
may call dramatic gives way to dissertations merely
descriptive. The numerous class of readers who prefer
agreeable amusement to solid instruction, have not gained
by the exchange ; and I am afraid that the temptation
will not be great to follow the course of travellers who are
encumbered with scientific instruments and collections.

"To give greater variety to my work, I have often
interrupted the historical narrative by descriptions. I
first represent phenomena in the order in which they
appeared ; and I afterwards consider them in the whole
of their individual relations. This mode has been suc-
cessfully followed in the journey of M. de Saussure,
whose most valuable work has contributed more than

ADVANTAGES OF OLD-WORLD TRAVEL. 341

any other to the advancement of science. Often, amidst
dry discussions on meteorology, it contains many charm-
ing descriptions ; such as those of the modes of life of the
inhabitants of the mountains, the dangers of hunting the
chamois, and the sensations felt on the summit of the
higher Alps.

" There are details of ordinary life which it may be
useful to note in an itinerary, because they serve for the
guidance of those who afterwards journey through the
same countries. I have preserved a few, but have sup-
pressed the greater part of those personal incidents which
present no particular interest, and which can be rendered
amusing only by the perfection of style.

" With respect to the country which has been the
object of my investigations, I am fully sensible of the
great advantages enjoyed by persons who travel in
Greece, Egypt, the banks of the Euphrates, and the
islands of the Pacific, in comparison with those who
traverse the continent of America. In the Old World,
nations and the distinctions of their civilization form the
principal points in the picture ; in the New World, man
and his productions almost disappear amidst the stupen-
dous display of wild and gigantic nature. The human
race in the New World presents only a few remnants of
indigenous hordes, slightly advanced in civilization ; or it
exhibits merely the uniformity of manners and institu-
tions transplanted by European colonies to foreign shores.
Information which relates to the history of our species, to
the various forms of government, to monuments of art,
to places full of great remembrances, affect us far more
than descriptions of those vast solitudes which seem
destined only for the development of vegetable life, and

342 AMERICA THE FIELD FOR A NAITKALIST.

to be the domain of wild animals. The savages of
America, who have been the objects of so many sys-
tematic reveries, and on whom M. Volney has lately
published some accurate and intelligent observations,
inspire less interest since celebrated navigators have
made known to us the inhabitants of the South Sea
islands, in whose character we find a striking mixture of
perversity and meekness. The state of half-civilization
existing among those islanders gives a peculiar charm to
the description of their manners. A king, followed by
a numerous suite, presents the fruits of his orchard ; or a
funeral is performed amidst the shade of the lofty forest.
Such pictures, no doubt, have more attraction than those
which pourtray the solemn gravity of the inhabitant of
the banks of the Missouri or the Maranon.

"America offers an ample field for the labours of the
naturalist. On no other part of the globe is he called
upon more powerfully by nature to raise himself to
general ideas on the cause of phenomena and their mu-
tual connection. To say nothing of that luxuriance
of vegetation, that eternal spring of organic life, those
climates varying by stages as we climb the flanks of the
Cordilleras, and those majestic rivers which a celebrated
writer (Chateaubriand) has described with such graceful
accuracy, the resources which the New World a'ffords
for the study of geology and natural philosophy in
general have been long since acknowledged. Happy the
traveller who may cherish the hope that he has availed
himself of the advantages of his position, and that he
has added some new facts to the mass of those previously
acquired !

" Since I left America, one of those great revolutions,

SPANISH REVOLUTIONS IN AMERICA. 343

which at certain periods agitate the human race, has
broken out in the Spanish colonies, and seems to prepare
new destinies for a population of fourteen millions of inha-
bitants, spreading from the southern to the northern hemi-
sphere, from the shores of the Rio de la Plata and Chile to
the remotest part of Mexico. Deep resentments, excited
by colonial legislation, and fostered by mistrustful policy,
have stained with blood regions which had enjoyed, for
the space of nearly three centuries, what I will not call
happiness but interrupted peace. At Quito several of
the most virtuous and enlightened citizens have perished,
victims of devotion to their country. While I am giving
the description of regions, the remembrance of which is
so dear to me, I continually light on places which recall
to my mind the loss of a friend.

" When we reflect on the great political agitations of
the New World, we observe that the Spanish Americans
are by no means in so favourable a position as the inha-
bitants of the United States ; the latter having been
prepared for independence by the long enjoyment of
constitutional liberty. Internal dissensions are chiefly to
be dreaded in regions where civilization is but slightly
rooted, and where, from the influence of climate, forests
may soon regain their empire over cleared lands if their
culture be abandoned. It may also be feared that, during
a long series of years, no foreign traveller will be enabled
to traverse all the countries which I have visited. This
circumstance may perhaps add to the interest of a work
which pourtrays the state of the greater part of the Spanish
colonies at the beginning of the nineteenth century. I
even venture to indulge the hope that this work will be
thought worthy of attention when passions shall be

344 AYOKKK I'lBLISHED IN 1815

hushed into peace, and when, under the influence of a
new social order, those countries shall have made rapid
progress in public welfare If then some pages of my
book are snatched from oblivion, the inhabitant of the

banks of the Orinoco and the Atabapo will behold with
delight populous cities enriched by commerce, and fertile
fields cultivated by the hands of free men, on those very
spots where, at the time of my travels, I found only im-
penetrable forests and inundated lands."

Such was the plan that Ilumboldt proposed to himself
when he sat down to write the historical relation of his
travels, and he succeeded perfectly. He produced the
finest book of travels ever written. As picturesque
as the most perfect masters of description, no writer,
living, or dead, ever approached him in varied and pro-
found knowledge — in what may be called the philosophy
of nature. lie is nature's own philosopher. Nearly
fifty years have elapsed since the publication of his
" Voyage ;" men and manners have changed, and taste
with them ; what was a mere groping after knowledge
then, is a grasping of it now : similar books have been
written, and excellent ones, too : yet he still holds his
ground with all classes of readers. Nay, he has gained
ground, for his book wras never so popular as at pre-
sent.

From 181-1 to 1819, when the second volume of the
"Voyage" was published, Humboldt continued his-
literary labours, writing a number of works, mostly
scientific. In 1815, he published the first volume of the
"New Genera and Species of Plants." It was a great
folio, similar to the "Equinoctial Plants." Like that it
wras wrritten in Latin, and chiefly by Kunth, to whom he

WORKS PUBLISHED IN 1816-17-18. 345

e»

had committed his botanical collections, Bonpland being
as we have seen, at Malmaison. A kindred work ap-
peared in 1816, the "Monography of Melastomes." This
year was marked by two other publications, a map of
the Eio Magdalena, and a paper " On the Mountains of
India, "the result of his oriental studies. In 1817, he
published the second volume of the " New Genera and
Species of Plants," his celebrated essay on the " Iso-
thermal Lines," and two Latin treatises, one on the
u Geographical Distribution of Plants," the other on the
" Nature of the Family of Grammes." In 1818, appeared
the third volume of the " New Genera," and a " Memorial
upon the Settlement of the Limits of French and Portu-
guese Guiana."

Busy during all these years with the works that we
have enumerated, Humboldt still found time to write in
the scientific reviews of France and Germany. From
his early years, as far back as when he was superinten-
dent of mines at Bayreuth and Anspach, he was in the
habit of contributing to them. His first papers appeared
in the " Mining Journal" of Yon Moll, in Kohler and
Hoffman's " Journal," and in Crell's " Chemical Annals:"
his later ones in the " Journal of Natural History," in
the " Annals of Chemistry," and the " Memoirs of the
Society of Arcueil."

The Society of Arcueil was a scientific association,
composed of some of the most distinguished savans of
Paris. It took its name from the place at which they
assembled — Arcueil, a little village on the Bievre, three
or four miles from Paris. A favourite holiday resort of
the Parisians, it was- the abode of Laplace and Berthollet,
the founders of the society. Its members were Biot,

15*

340 THE SOCIETY OF ARCUEIL.

G-ay-Lussac, Thenard, Decandolle, Collet, Descotils, Malus;
A. B. Berthollet, and Humboldt. They met once a fort-
night at the house of Berthollet, and spent the day to-
gether, giving each other the results of their studies and
experiments, reading the scientific papers that they had
composed since their last meeting, or in pleasant rambles
about the neighbourhood. Most of these men were
members of the Institute of France, and the papers that
they read at Arcueil, were delivered before that august
body, and afterwards published in the " Memoirs" of the
society. To this work, which extended to several
volumes, Humboldt was a constant contributor. In con-
junction with Biot, he wrote the opening paper of the
first volume — (published in 1807) — a treatise on magnetic
observations, to the second (published in 1809) he con-
tributed a curious paper, on the respiration of fishes, the
result of a great number of experiments, made by him-
self and Provencal.

It is a happy thing for a busy man, whose days are
passed in the noise and dust of cities, to have a pleasant
neighbourhood within reach, " a city of refuge," as it
were, to which he can retreat now and then, and meet a
few friends, and refresh his jaded spirit. Such was
Arcueil to the busy Humboldt, who spent many delight-
ful days in its quiet shades. The friends that he met
there were the most congenial that he could have chosen,
the world over ; each distinguished for some pursuit witli
which he sympathized, and all united in the interests of
science. It was a pleasure to him to read his papers to
them, and what is not always the case in these matters,
a pleasure to listen to theirs in turn. They met, as we
have said, at the house of Berthollet; but, as the house

WILLIAM VON HUMBOLDT AT PARIS. 347

of Laplace was near by, the gardens of the two savans
adjoining each other, they were as often at Laplace's as
at Berthollet's. They could not but profit by the con-
versations of the old mathematician, for he was pro-
foundly versed in all the sciences ; besides, he had seen
much of the world, and was full of anecdotes of bygone
times and men. He could tell them of D'Alembert,
Diderot, and the Encyclopedaists, — the master-spirits of
the eighteenth century. If the conversation turned, as
was likely, on Descartes or Newton, their portraits hung
in his study, as did also those of Euler, and poor old
blind Galileo. If they wished to walk he accompanied
them. Arm-in-arm, discussing what was uppermost in
their minds, they wandered around the neighbourhood,
now in the fields and meadows, or along the banks of the
Bievre ; and now by the ruins of the aqueduct built by
the Emperor Julian, in the olden time, to convey water to
his palace in Paris. There was no end of pleasant
rambles at Arcueil.

In addition to the best literary and scientific society
in Paris, Humboldt met from time to time, many of his
German friends. Among others who were present there
in 1814 was A. W. Schlegel, and his brother William.
Napoleon had fallen, the Bourbons were restored, and
the different Powers sent their ambassadors to congratu-
late them. William came as the ambassador of Prussia.
He had ascended several rounds of the political ladder
since he left Albano, as Alexander himself might have
done, had he wished. Soon after the latter settled in
Paris, in 1807, and again in 1809, he filled a political
mission there, near the person of Frederick William, the
Prince of Prussia. When the conferences were over at

348 BONPLAND STABT8 FOB BRAZIL.

Paris, the Prince Kegent of England invite 1 the assem-
bled crowned heads and their courts to visit England.
Alexander accompanied the Prussian embassy to Lon-
don, where he remained some weeks.

About this time, on the 29th of May, 181-1, his old
friend, Bonpland, suffered a severe loss in the death of
the Empress Josephine. He was by her bed when she
died. When Napoleon abdicated he was advised by
Bonpland to retire to Mexico, and await there the course
of events; but the great disturber of nations was still
confident of his star. He could not foresee its fatal
setting on the bloody field of "Waterloo. Bonpland
might have remained at Malmaison, under the new dy-
nasty ; he was even solicited to do so by Prince Eugene,
but he refused. It wTas no place for him, since the death
of his beloved mistress. He remained with Humboldt
till the close of 1816, when he sailed from Havre to Bra-
zil, carrying with him a collection of useful plants and
European fruit trees. As soon as he arrived at Buenos
Ayres the Brazilian government offered him the post of
Professor of Natural History, but some intrigue or slan-
der, wThat was never known, changed their feelings to-
wards him, and he tendered his resignation. He was
not allowed to show his collections, which would have
conferred a greater benefit on the country than on him-
self; he was even refused a place to lecture in. Dis-
pirited by such ill treatment, but as eager as in his youth
to explore new lands, and to discover new plants and
flowers, he started on an expedition into the interior.
Such was the tenor of his letters to Humboldt.

In August or September, 1818, Humboldt made his
third visit to England, where his brother William was

LADY MORGAN'S DIARY. oiO

residing as Prussian ambassador. His stay was short,
for he was in Paris during both these months. We gei
glimpses of him at this time, as of other French celeb-
rities, in the flippant but amusing diary of Lady Mor-
gan. Writing from Paris in August, to her sister Lady
Clarke, she gossips in this fashion :

" We found dear Denon surrounded by English
fashionables, from whom he rushed, when we were
announced, into our arms alternately. We met at din-
ner chez Madame d'Houchien, who received us like her
children. We found some of the old habitues there ;
but Denon and Morgan set me down at our hotel early
in the evening, I was so tired, and they proceeded to the
Bishop of Blois (Gregoire.) The bishop actually em-
braced him, heretic as he was, before all the company,
although there were two Italian bishops present, praised
my work on ' France,' and assured him it had done infi-
nite good. You may, therefore, be perfectly easy about
us. We are to dine to-morrow with Denon. Humboldt
asked to meet us."

At the commencement of September her ladyship
walked to the Barbe bleue, Marche des Innocents, where
she bought herself a chapeau de soleil, with corn flowers
stuck in the side of it — a regular Leghorn — twenty
francs. She then went to Eaubonne to see poor dear
Madame Ginguene, but not finding her at home, she drove
to Montmorenci, where she dined deliciously for* four
francs. On her return she found that Humboldt had
called upon her during her absence. He left a little
billet, instead of a card.

" Le Baron De Humboldt est venu s' informer du
retour bien tardif de Sir Charles et Lady Morgan."

350 HUMBOLDT AND THE MILLINER'S CARD

On the 10th of September she writes Lady Clark.',
from the chateau of Lafayette, at La Grange, and among
other feminine tattle says, "The general has proposed
inviting Humboldt and Denon to join us. If they come,
Europe could scarcely present sucli another circle of
talent and celebrity."

A month later at Paris she again mentions Humboldt,
this time in her diary.

" Humboldt had called, and, as usual, had written his
scrap in the porter's lodge. The poor porter ! had he
known the value of this autograph he would have pil-
fered it ; and what renders it more curious, it is written
on the back of a milliner's card!"

Where could Humboldt have got that milliner's card,
pray ? Had he been buying a new bonnet for some of his
lady acquaintances? Or was he thinking of studying the
botany of artificial flowers ? If the latter he must have
found her Ladyship a rare specimen.

Another extract from the diary : no date : about the
30th of October.

"Humboldt has been again to-day, and again we
were out. How very mortifying ! His visits are none
the less ' angels' visits' because they are not ' few or
far between ;' and certainly, so far as my acquaint-
ance goes with the angelic choir, ' celui-la vaut bien
les autres.' He left a precious little billet in the porter's
lodge, where he wrote it : ' Alexandre Humboldt tou-
jours assez malheureux de ne pas trouver Lady Mor-
gan.' "

Another amusing extract from the diary : some time
towards the end of November.

" Tliursday. — I was sitting this morning for my picture

HER LADYSHIP SITS TO BERTHON. 351

to Berthon, when the frotteur of the hotel, in the absence
of my servant, threw open the door, and announced in
one word, ' Lordvillanspence !' and enter the charming
William Spencer, the poet-laureate of the aristocracy of
London. What an agreeable surprise! He always
brings a bon-ton London atmosphere about him. Berthon
was charmed with the cordiality of our meeting, which,
he thought, brightened up my countenance — which had
hitherto expressed nothing but bore. He made Spencer
sit down — per far effetto — whence I could see him, and
kept poking my head with his mahl stick till, I am sure,
my pose gave me the air of an illustration of the petit
courier des dames. I took the opportunity of asking
Spencer for a copy of his beautiful verses of ' Apology
to Lady Anne Hamilton' for staying too late at her
house, spell-bound by the eyes of the lovely Susan Beck-
ford (afterwards the Duchess of Hamilton). He pre-
tended to have fbrgotten them. I said that was an affec-
tation unworthy of him ; and I repeated the first verse
myself:

' Too late I stayed — forgive the crime,
For who could count the hours ?
For lightly falls the foot of time
That only treads on flowers,' &c.

Berthon, affecting to be charmed with the metre, said,
' Mais traduisez moi cela, Miladi.' I began, ' J'ai reste
trop tard l'autre soir,' but Spencer and I both burst out
laughing, so that we could not proceed. Berthon looked
confused. 'Oh!' said Spencer, in beautiful French, 'it
is only nonsense worthy of Yoiture ; or the Hotel Ram-
bouillet' ' Yraiment !' said Berthon, who had, most

352 HUMBOLDT'S LBTTEB.

likely, not heard of either one or the other, 'Attention,
Miladi !'

"So he went on with his painting, and we fell into dis-
course, in English, on the cancan of May Fair, and into
fashionable frivolities, and Miss Berry's last mot — 'No
friendship can cross the north of Oxford Street' — when
a letter was delivered to me, on the outside of which was
written, ■ Alexandre Von Humboldt.' The dirty little
spot called the world disappeared into its own mists, and
the universe, of which Humboldt is at this moment the
high-priest, seemed to replace the puppet-show with
which we had been playing.

" Spencer begged the cover, and read out the letter, that
my pose might not be disturbed ; and Berthon said, look-
ing at the picture through his hand, ' C'est un grand
homme, M. Ilumboldt ! J'ai ambition de faire son portrait,
et de le mettre a l'exposition du Louvre avec le portrait
de Miladi.'

" I promised to invite Spencer to the first Wednesday
evening I expected Humboldt. This is Humboldt's
letter :

" From M. Ilumboldt to Lady Jforgan.

" ' Thursday.

" ' The pleasing remembrance of Sir Charles and Lady
Morgan adds to the deep regret I felt at not having en-
joyed their interesting conversation at Madame d'H.'s
My health is almost entirely re-established, and I shall
hasten to present myself at Lady Morgan's residence to
offer what is her due on so many claims, the homage of
my sentiments of admiration and devoted respect

AT MADAME DE HOUCHIEN'S. 353

Alas ! what pitiless judges I have in your beautiful Al-
bion ! You will permit me, I hope, to complain a little
when you see how I am treated in the last number of the
' Quarterly Review.' But I have well deserved it.

" ' Humboldt.' "

Our next and last extract from the diary is the most
Morganish of all. It shows us the sort of people with
whom Humboldt mingled in his lighter moments, and
with whom he amused himself, unbending his great
nature in the intervals of his labours.

Towards the end of December, her ladyship,
after dining with the "Doctrinaires," a political set
of the day, set Morgan, who enjoyed an opera, serious
or comic, beyond everything else in the world, down
at the Opera Comique, and drove to the Faubourg St.
Honore to pay a visit to Madame de Houchien, who
received in the charming easy French style every
evening.

" Madame de Houchien had been a dame d'atour of
the Empress Josephine, and her salon was Bonapartiste
tout pur.

" Her compares this evening were no less than Denon,
Segur, and M. de Mortemar, the latter creating groups
out of a pack of cards scattered on the table. Well, the
moment I mentioned where I had come from, grande
hilarite !

"'Figurez vous,' said Madame de Houchien, 'the
author of that maudite ' France,' popped down among
these Solons and Lycurguses.'

" They insisted on hearing how I had debuted, and my
irreverent question as to the religion a la mode was the

354 CHAT ABOUT THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA.

text to a most curious and interesting conversation, in
which every one bore a part, and were well qualified to
do so, as they knew all the chief actors, and, above all,
the principal actresses at the Congress of Vienna (1814),
where Madame de Krudencr was the pythoness, and the
Duchesses de Biron and de Bragazia were the secret
oracles of Metternich, who won his spurs in their
boudoirs.

" Lady Castlereagh (with whom, by-the-bye, some two
or three years ago, I lived for three days every week —
for she used to come to Lord Abercorn's whilst I was
there every Saturday, and stopped till Monday), who
was ' so innocent, dear chuck,' of the knowledge of all
politics, that even that Mephistopheles of diplomacy,
Talleyrand, gave her up in despair, though he tried his
hand to turn her to account whilst she was at the Con-
gress.

" ' Oh,' said Denon, ' Madame Krudener engrossed all
influences. I remember her at the Congress, and later
at Paris, when her salons were crowded with devotees
and crowned heads. She was the greatest actress I ever
saw — too melo-dramatic for a Clairon or a Mars, but
quite good enough for an audience of kings and empe-
rors ; for royalty has loved the drama from Cassar to
Bonaparte.'

" ' How was she dressed ?' I asked — always a woman's
first idea.

" ' Well, in a flowing robe of white cashmere, or some
soft fabric, but draped artisliquement, the folds gathered
round her waist by a silver girdle, des tresses dorees flow-
ing in profusion over a neck of alabaster. She had the
air of having been flung on a crimson velvet sofa piled

KINGS AND EMPERORS PRAYING. 355

with cushions — the sort of background a painter would
have chosen for her. Always two or three crowned
heads in attendance : — Alexander on one side, dressed to
effect in black and diamonds ; the King of Prussia,
nowise remarkable except by contrast, on the other. On
a low stool at the feet of the prophetess, sat her disciple,
Bergasse, and her high priest, Jung Stilling.'

" ' Ecoutez done !' said Madame de Houchien, nudging
me ; ' est-il artiste, notre Denon ? Quelle groupe !'

" ' Attendez, attendez !' said Denon. ' In the midst
of a solemn silence she .rose, and extending her arms,
exclaimed, with a strange and penetrating tone, ' Prions P
Down on his knees went the Emperor of all the Russias,
followed by everybody present, kings, aides-de-camp,
and valets included.'

" ' And this,' said Segur, starting up, ' was the grand-
son of my great Catherine !'

"'You may well *say your great Catherine,' said
Denon. ' What must the Prince de Ligne have thought
on the occasion ? He was present.'

" ( Madame de Krudener must have had great talent,'
said Madame de Houchien.

" ' Pas le moins du monde,' said Denon. ' She had
art, the genius of mediocrity.'

11 ' Yes,' ventured I, * she had religion for her aid ; but
she fought with the arms of St. Therese, who legislated
for popes, and made princes do her bidding. Once you
get into the spiritual, you have nothing to go by but
faith ; and Madame de Krudener had the greatest faith
in Jung Stilling, as the Emperor Alexander had in
her.'

"Here Humboldt was announced. I never hear his

.°>5G HUMBOLDT AND HER LADYSHIP.

name without rising with involuntary deference. II is
presence recala all that is most sublime in the capability

of human nature. His gigantie labours, contrasted with
the pleasant familiarity of his conversation, indicate the
universality of the highest order of mind. He is like
the elephant, who can with equal ease tear down an oak
or pick up a pin! With me, he always 'picks up the
pin,' and we fell into persiflage as usual. His frequent
visits to my salon, and his great kindness to us, have not
diminished the awe and reverence with which I first met
him. He is reckoned very sarcastic, and given to mysti-
fication. Den on put me en garde against this habit, on
which I answered, ' Jalousie du metier.' And so I
soon after took my leave, somewhat wearied, but highly
delighted by the contrast of the two societies, 'L s
homines de la veille et les homines de l'avenir.' I am
glad, however, I was born soon enough to live among the
former."

As we have given a specimen of one kind of light-
writing, the reader may like to see another. It dif-
fers from the prattle of her ladyship, but is equally
amusing in its way. It is from one of "the pitiless
judges" of " beautiful Albion." Everybody remembers
the brilliant opening of Judge Jeffrey's charge, in the
Edinburgh Review, in the famous case of The Excur-
sion— " This will never do ;" and how signally his lord-
ship's verdict has been reversed. Here is a similar case,
from some unknown judge, sitting in the court of the
Quarterly. It is to this that Humboldt playfully refers
in his note, though he was mistaken in the number which
contained the article. It appeared in the Quarterly for
January, 1816, and was called forth by a translation of

o xh

THE QUARTERLY REVIEW ON HUMBOLDT. 357

the first volume of his uYoyage to the Equinoctial
Regions."

" We have been rather tardy," his honour commences,
" in directing our attention to the labours of this cele-
brated traveller; and we hardly know what excuse to
offer for such apparent neglect towards so highly gifted
a person. It is some consolation however to be able to
state that our readers will lose but little from the delay;
for, if we may be permitted to form a judgment from the
two volumes now before us, and from two others under
the title of • Researches,' which we shall notice hereafter,
the most material parts of all his former publications,
have been, or will be, worked up anew, and in a less
bulky form, in which some of them originally appeared.

" It is not the fault of M. de Humboldt, though it may
be his misfortune, that he has fallen into the hands of inju-
dicious friends, who speak of his pretensions in a tone of
exaggerated panegyric that must pain a modest man, and
shame a wise one : to term M. de Humboldt ' the first of
travellers ' is little ; he is represented as one in whom may
be found the rare union of all that Plato, Thales, and
Pythagoras taught among the ancients — all that Montes-
quieu, Buffon, D'Alembert have written among the
moderns. Astronomer, physiologist, antiquary, philolo-
gist, he superadds, it is said, to all these characters a
profundity of wisdom in political economy, and an en-
larged comprehension in the science of statistics, that
would do honour to the first statesman of any age or
country. Language like this has had its usual effects.
It has made the subject of it impatient of just rebuke;
and M. de Humboldt is disposed to be angry with us,
because in our review of the Missionary Travels, (No.

358 NO BESPECTOR OF PERSONS.

xxvi. p. 325) we animadverted on his quoting a fact
from a journal in which it did not exist, and which he
now admits to be the case. We know nothing of that
unfriendly criticism, of which he complains. M. de Hum-
boldt may rest assured that we deprecate alike all bias
of friendship or hostility towards the person of an author ;
but he may also rest assured that we shall use all possible
freedom with his ivories, neither lavishly bestowing unde-
served praise, nor wantonly scattering malicious and
unjustifiable censure: we are disposed indeed to think
highly of M. de Humboldt's acquirements; we admire
his zeal and unwearied industry in collecting information,
and his liberality in distributing it, but at the same time
we have a duty to perform which will neither permit our
senses to be ravished, nor our judgement swayed 'by
the whistling of a name.'

" It would be great injustice, and a violation of the
truth," his honour continues, cunningly blowing hot and
cold at the same time, " not to allow to M. de Humboldt
an extraordinary share of talent ; his literary acquire-
ments appear indeed to be more various than generally
fell to the lot of man. To intellectual powers of the
highest order, he adds an ardent and enthusiastic mind,
full of energy and activity in the pursuit of knowledge.
In the true spirit of enterprise and research we doubt if
he has any superior ; and it seems to be equally exerted
on all occasions; the ardour of pursuit, the mental
energy, and the bodily activity are as much in earnest in
rummaging the shelves of a library, as in clambering up
the sides of a volcanic mountain. He is well read in all
the modern discoveries of astronomical, geological, and
physiological science, but his book affords no evidence

TOO MUCH CANVASS AND TOO LITTLE BALLAST. 359

that he is well grounded in chemistry and mineralogy,
or in the principles and details of the several departments
of natural history, with the exception of botany, in which
he had an able assistant in M. Bonpland.

" M. de Humboldt however," his honour concludes,
after giving a sketch of the traveller's journey as far as
it was contained in the volume before him, or rather the
volumes, for the first volume of the French edition was
expanded into two in the translation ; " M. de Humboldt
however," his honour concludes, "has one good quality
for a traveller; he is no egotist; he never offends by
thrusting forward his own exploits, his own adventures,
and his own ' hair-breadth escapes :' all the parade which
he displays is in adorning science, in whose cause he is
always eloquent ; perhaps he may too frequently throw
his cloak of wisdom over subjects that ages ago had
descended to the vulgar, and thoughtlessly expend his
powers on familiar objects that are generally understood.
In a word we are persuaded that he aims at too much
for any one man to accomplish ; or, to make use of a
nautical phrase, (we have been dealing in nautical mat-
ters) he spreads too much canvass, and carries too little
ballast."

This curiosity of literature is a fair sample of scores
of others which might be selected from the Quarterly at
that time. Its proprietors paid their contributors libe-
rally, and certain prejudices respected, left them free to
slash as they pleased ; the harder the better, it made the
thing sell ! It is instructive to turn over its back volumes,
and see its treatment of many of the now famous names
of the century ; especially the poetical names. It tram-
pled on the divine genius of Shelley : called dear old

800 AFRICAN PAINTINGS.

Leigh Hunt a cockney, and was supposed to have killed
11 Johnny Keats." Far from killing Humboldt, its
absurd attempt to slash his "Voyage" only amused him.
The very extracts that the scribbler quoted, proved his
own incompetency and malice. To think of Humboldt
knowing nothing of mineralogy !

The origin of the difficulty between the traveller
and the reviewer, for there luas a difficulty, is to be
found in the preceding volume of the Quarterly, in
the number for July, 1815. It was this passage which
occurs in a review of Campbell's "Travels in South
Africa:"

" 'Having heard,' says Mr. Campbell, 'of some paint-
ings in Salakooto's house, wre went after breakfast to
view them. We found them very rough, representations
of the camel-leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, lion, tiger,
and stein buck, which Salakooto's wife had drawn on
the clay wall, with white and black paint; however,
they were as well done as we expected, and may lead
to something better.'

" If any credit were due to the authority of M. Hum-
boldt, they have already ' something better.' * ' Mr.
Triiter relates,' says the traveller, ' that in the southern
extremity of Africa, among the Betjuanas, he saw chil-
dren busy in tracing on a rock, with some sharp instru-
ment, characters which bore the most perfect resemblance
to the P and M of the Roman alphabet, notwithstanding
which, these rude tribes were perfectly ignorant of writ-
ing.' No such passage, nor any allusion to such a cir-
cumstance occurs in the only journal which Mr. Triiter
wrote; we take it upon ourselves to assert this posi-
tively, having examined the original manuscript with

HUMBOLDT AT AUX LA CHAPELLE. 361

great care. Yet this is a fact on which M. Humboldt
hangs one of his numerous theories."

But enough of reviewers and tourists.

Humboldt's visit to London in the summer or fall of
1818, had something of a political cast, for in addition to
his receiving a commission from the Allied Powers to
compose a political treatise on the colonies of South
America (probably in relation to the boundaries of
French and Portuguese Guiana) he was summoned by the
King of Prussia to Aix-la-Chapelle, where the Congress
of the Allied Powers was to be held. He arrived there
on the 13th of October, and remained till the 26th of
November. Famous as Aix-la-Chapelle was, for the
treaties that had been signed there, it was never so re-
splendent as now. The object of the Congress being an im-
portant one, namely, the settling of all the old scores that
Napoleon had entailed upon Europe, before and after the
battle of Waterloo ; the adjustment of that formidable
bugbear, the Balance of Power; in short the formation
of what has since been called the Holy Alliance, — (as if
any alliance between kings and emperors could be
holy !) it was necessary for all the leading potentates of
Europe to be present. Thither came the King of Prus-
sia, and the Emperors of Eussia and Austria, each with
his train of diplomats, astute statesmen, headed by the
wily Metternich, and the sagacious Nesselrode. France
sent Talleyrand, and England Castlereagh and Welling-
ton. On the 5th of November came William Von
Humboldt, somewhat disgusted with politics. Another
potentate was present, though we question his being
taken into the account by many of the great personages
that attended the Congress. It was Alexander Von

16

362 WORKS PUBLISHED FKOM 1819 TO 1829.

Humboldt, who was holding a Congress of his own. To
this few were admitted save himself, and the King of
Prussia. It related to his old scheme of travelling in
Asia. The king promised to defray the expenses of his
preparations, and to allow him twelve thousand thalers a
year during the journey, which he purposed to commence
at once. His plans, however, were thwarted, as they
usually were in such cases, so he returned to Paris.

The next ten years of his life were prodigal in books.

In 1819 he published the second volume of his " Voy-
age to the Equinoctial Regions," and " Mimosas and
other Leguminous Plants of the New Continent." In
1820 appeared a second paper " On the Mountains of
India," and the fourth volume of " The New Genera and
Species of Plants." The fifth volume of "The New
Genera" was published in the ensuing year; the sixth in
1823. To the latter year belongs his " Geological Essay
on the bearing of the Rocks of both Hemispheres." In
1824 he published a work "On the Structure and Opera-
tion of Volcanoes," and in 1825 the seventh volume of
" The New Genera," the third volume of his " Voyage
to the Equinoctial Regions," and " A Numerical Esti-
mate of the Population of the New Continent." In
1826 and '27 he published " The Temperature of the Sur-
face of the Sea in different parts of the Torrid Zone,"
"The Principal Causes of the difference of the Tempera-
ture of the Globe," and "A Political Essay on the
Island of Cuba." The draft of this latter work is to be
found in the third volume of " The Voyage to the Equi-
noctial Regions." He has expanded the chapter in
which it occurred, and enriched it with a Map, and a
Supplement, devoted to the Internal Resources and Com-

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 363

merce of the Antilles and Columbia. Three works ap-
peared in 1828 and '29 ; "Remarks on the Goitre in the
Tropics," "On the Systems of Numbers," and "A Re-.
vision of the Gramines published in the New Gerera
and Species of Plants."

A paragraph has sufficed to give the name and date
of these works ; to criticise them would require at least a
chapter. We shall not write that formidable chapter,
but, lest the reader should find our resume as meagre as
an auctioneer's catalogue, we shall devote a few pages to
the subject. As we have already spoken of " The
Aspects of Nature," and the " Voyage to the Equinoctial
Regions," we shall confine ourselves to some of Hum-
boldt's less popular, but more abstruse books. Discard-
ing an embarras du richesse, in the shape of literary and
scientific reviews, we shall let Humboldt himself describe
them, believing that he understood the character of his
writings as well, if not better, than any of his critics.
We follow his own classification in the introduction to
the " Voyage to the Equinoctial Regions."

" I. Astronomical observations, trigonometrical operations,
and barometrical measurements made during the course of a
journey to the equinoctial regions of the New Continent,
from 1799 to 1804. This work, to which are added his-
torical researches on the position of several points im-
portant to navigators, contains, first, the original obser-
vations which I made from the twelfth degree of south-
ern to the forty-first degree of northern latitude ; the
transit of the sun and stars over the meridian ; distances
of the moon from the sun and the stars ; occupations of
the satellites ; eclipses of the sun and moon ; transits of

364 EQUINOCTIAL PLANTS.

Mercury over the disc of the sun; azimuths; circum-
meridian altitudes of the moon, to determine the loneri-
tude by the differences of declination ; researches on the
relative intensity of the light of the austral stars; geo-
desical measures, &c. Secondly, a treatise on the astro-
nomical refractions in the torrid zone, considered as the
effect of the decrement of caloric in the strata of the
air ; thirdly, the barometric measurement of the Cordil-
lera of the Andes, of Mexico, of the province of Vene-
zuela, of the kingdom of Quito, and of New Granada ;
followed by geological observations, and containing the
indication of four hundred and fifty -three heights, calcu-
lated according to the method of M. Laplace, and the
new co-efficient of M. Raymond ; fourthly, a table of
near seven hundred geographical positions on the New
Continent ; two hundred and thirty-five of which have
been determined by my own observations, according to
the three co-ordinates of longitude, latitude, and height.

"II. Equinoctial plants collected in Mexico, in the island
of Cuba, in the provinces of Caracas, Cuniana, and Barce-
lona, on the Andes of New Grenada, Quito, and Peru, and
on the banks of the Rio Negro, the Orinoco, and the River
Amazon. M. Bonpland has in this work given figures
of more than forty new genera of plants of the torrid
zone, classed according to their natural families. The
methodical descriptions of the species are both in French
and in Latin, and are accompanied by observations on
the medicinal properties of the plants, their use in the
arts, and the climate of the countries in which they are
found.

" III. Monograph]) of the Melastoma, Rhexia, and other
genera of this order of plants, comprising upwards of a

THE GEOGItArHY OF PLANTS. 365

hundred and fifty species of melastomacese, "which we
collected during the course of our expeditions, and which
form one of the most beautiful ornaments of tropical
vegetation. M. Bonpland has added the plants of the
same family, which, among many other rich stores of
natural history, M. Kichard collected in his interesting
expedition to the Antilles and French Guiana, and the
descriptions of which he has communicated to us.

" IV. Essay on the geography of plants, accompanied by
a physical table of the equinoctial regions, founded on mea-
sures taken from the tenth degree of northern to the tenth
degree of southern latitude. I have endeavoured to collect
in one point of view the whole of the physical pheno-
mena of that part of the New Continent comprised
within the limits of the torrid zone from the level of the
Pacific to the highest summit of the Andes ; namely,
the vegetation, the animals, the geological relations, the
cultivation of the soil, the temperature of the air, the
limit of perpetual snow, the chemical constitution of the
atmosphere, its electrical intensity, its barometrical pres-
sure, the decrement of gravitation, the intensity of the
azure colour of the sky, the diminution of light during
its passage through the successive strata of the air, the
horizontal refractions, and the heat of boiling- water at
different heights. Fourteen scales, disposed side by side
with a profile of the Andes, indicate the modifications to
which these phenomena are subject from the influence of
the elevation of the soil above the level of the sea. Each
group of plants is placed at the height which nature has
assigned to it, and we may follow the prodigious variety
of their forms from the region of the palms and arbores-
cent ferns to those of the johannesia (chuquiraga, Juss.),

366 ZOOLOGY AND ANATOMY.

the gramineous plants, and lichens. These regions form
the natural divisions of the vegetable empire ; and as
perpetual snow is found in eaeh climate at a determinate
height, so, in like manner, the febrifuge species of the
quinquina (cinchona) have their fixed limits, which I
have marked in the botanical chart belonging to this
essay.

" V. Observations on Zoology and Comparative Anatomy.
I have comprised in this work the history of the condor;
experiments on the electrical action of the gymnotus ; a
treatise on the larynx of the crocodiles, the quadrumani,
and birds of the tropics ; the description of several new
species of reptiles, fishes, birds, monkeys, and other
mammalia but little known. M. Cuvier has enriched
this work with a very comprehensive treatise on the
axolotl of the lake of Mexico, and on the genera of the
Protei. That naturalist has also recognised two new
species of mastodons and an elephant among the fossil
bones of quadrupeds which we brought from North and
South America. For the description of the insects col-
lected by M. Bonpland we are indebted to M. Latreill'1,
whose labours have so much contributed to the progress
of entomology in our times. The second volume of this
work contains figures of the Mexican, Peruvian, and
Aturian skulls, which we have deposited in the Museum
of Natural History at Paris, and respecting which
Blumenbach has published observations in the ' Decas
quinta Craniorum diversarum gentium.'

"VI. Political essay on the kingdom of New Spain, with
a physical and geogr<ij>lii<xd Atlas, founded on astronomical
observations and trigonometrical and barometrical measure-
ments. This work, based on numerous official memoirs,

ESSAY ON NEW SPAIN. 367

presents, in six divisions, considerations on the extent
and natural appearance of Mexico, on the population,
on the manners of the inhabitants, their ancient civiliza-
tion, and the political division of their territory. It
embraces also the agriculture, the mineral riches, the
manufactures, the commerce, the finances, and the mili-
tary defence of that vast country. In treating these dif-
ferent subjects I have endeavoured to consider them
under a general point of view ; I have drawn a parallel
not only between New Spain, the other Spanish colonies,
and the United States of North America, but also
between New Spain and the possessions of the English in
Asia ; I have compared the agriculture of the countries
situated in the torrid zone with that of the temperate
climates ; and I have examined the quantity of colonial
produce necessary to Europe in the present state of civi-
lization. In tracing the geological description of the
richest mining districts in Mexico, I have, in short,
given a statement of the mineral produce, the popula-
tion, the imports and exports of the whole of Spanish
America. I have examined several questions which, for
want of precise data, had not hitherto been treated with
the attention they demand, such as the influx and reflux
of metals, their progressive accumulation in Europe and
Asia, and the quantity of gold and silver which, since
the discovery of America down to our own times, the
Old World 'has received from the New. The geographi-
cal introduction at the beginning of this work contains
the analysis of the materials which have been employed
in the construction of the Mexican Atlas.

" VII. — Views of the Cordilleras, and monuments of the
indigenious nations of the New Continent. This work is

368 VIEWS OF THE CORDILLERAS.

intended to represent a few of the grand scenes which
nature presents in the lofty chain of the Andes, and at
the same time to throw some light on the ancient civili-
zation of the Americans, through the study of their
monuments of architecture, their hieroglyphics, their
religious rites, and their astrological reveries. I have
given in this work a description of the teocalli, or Mexi-
can pyramids, and have compared their structure with
that of the temple of Belus. I have described the ara-
besques which cover the ruins of Mitla, the idols in
basalt ornamented with the calantica of the heads of Isis ;
and also a considerable number of symbolical paintings,
representing the serpent woman (the Mexican Eve,) the
deluge of Coxcox, and the first migrations of the natives
of the Aztec race. I have endeavoured to prove the
striking analogies existing between the calendar of the
Toltecs and the catasterisms of their zodiac, and the divi-
sion of time of the people of Tartary and Thibet, as
well as the Mexican traditions on the four regenerations
of the globe, the jpralayas of the Hindoos, and the four
ages of Hesiod. In this work I have also included (in
addition to the hieroglyph ical paintings I brought to
Europe,) fragments of all the Aztec manuscripts, col-
lected in Rome, Veletri, Vienna, and Dresden, and one
of which reminds us, by its lineary symbols, of the houas
of the Chinese. Together with the rude monuments of
the aborigines of America, this volume contains pictu-
resque views of the mountainous countries which those
people inhabited ; for example, the cataract of Tequen-
dama, Chimborazo, the volcano of Jorullo, and Cay-
ambe, the pyramidal summit of which, covered with
eternal ice, is situated directly under the equinoctial line

AMERICAN LANGUAGES. 369

In every zone the configuration of the ground, the phy»
siognomy of the plants, and the aspect of lovely or wild
scenery, have great influence on the progress of the arts,
and on the style which distinguishes their productions.
This influence is so much the more perceptible in pro-
portion as man is farther removed from civilization.

" I could have added to this work researches on the
character of languages, which are the most durable
monuments of nations. I have collected a number of
materials on the languages of America, of which MM.
Frederic Schegel and Vater have made use ; the former
in his Considerations on the Hindoos, the latter in his
Continuation of the Mithridates of Adelung, in the
Ethnographical Magazine, and in his Inquiries into the
Population of the New Continent. These materials are
now in the hands of my brother, William Von Hum-
boldt, who, during his travels in Spain, and a long abode
at Rome, formed the richest collection of American vo-
cabularies in existence. His extensive knowledge of the
ancient and modern languages has enabled him to trace
some curious analogies in relation to this subject, so im-
portant to the philosophical study of the history of man.
A part of his labours will find a place in this narrative.

" Of the different works which I have here enumerated,
the second and third were composed by M. Bonpland,
from the observations which he made in a botanical jour-
nal. This journal contains more than four thousand
methodical descriptions of equinoctial plants, a ninth
part only of which have been made by me. They ap-
pear in a separate publication, under the title of Nova
Qenera et Species Plantarum. In this work will be found,
not only the new species we collected, which, after a

16*

370 BIBLIOGRAPHY.

careful examination by one of the first botanists of the
age, Prof. Wildenow, are computed to amount to fourteen
or fifteen hundred, but also the interesting observations
mack- by M. Bonpland on plants hitherto imperfectly de-
scribed. The plates of this work are all engraved ac-
cording to the method followed by M. Labillardiere, in the
Specimen Plantarum Kovce JFIollandke, a work remark-
able for profound research and clearness of arrange-
ment."

The publication of these immense works is an epoch
in the history of bibliography. To give some idea of the
amount of money that was expended upon them we will
give a list of the prices at which they were published.
Many of them, we should premise, particularly the folios,
were brought out as separate pamphlets, or in numbers,
on different kinds of paper, and at different prices. We
shall enumerate the latter only, as we write for general
rather than bibliographical readers.

Voyage to the Equinoctial Regions. There are two
editions of this work, one in quarto, in three volumes,
another in octavo, in thirteen volumes. The former was
published at one hundred and fifty-eight francs, (large
paper copies two hundred and fifty-two francs,) the latter
at ninety francs. The six Atlases which accompany the
work cost two hundred and sixteen francs.

The Picturesque Atlas. Published in folio, at five
hundred and four francs, (large paper copies, five hun-
dred and seventy-six francs,) and in octavo, at twenty-
five francs.

Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain. There
are three editions of this work ; one in quarto in two
volumes, with a folio Atlas, published at two hundred

PRICES OF HUMBOLDT'S WORKS. 3*71

and fifty francs, and two in octavo, in four and five
volumes, published at thirty-six francs.

Observations on Zoology. Two quarto volumes.
Published at three hundred and fifty francs, (large paper
copies, four hundred and twenty francs.)

Astronomical Observations. Two quarto volumes.
Published at one hundred and ninety-two francs, (large
paper copies, three hundred and fifty-two francs.)

Equinoctial Plants. Two volumes, folio. Published
at five hundred and ten francs, (large paper copies, eight
hundred and fifty francs.)

Monography of Melastomes. Two volumes, folio.
Published at eight hundred and sixty-four francs, (large
paper copies, one thousand four hundred and forty
francs.)

Mimosas and other Leguminous Plants, folio. Pub-
lished at six hundred and seventy- two francs, (large paper
copies, eight hundred and forty francs.)

Revision of Grammes in the New Genera. Two vo-
lumes, folio. Published at one thousand nine hundred
and twenty francs.

The New Genera and Species of Plants. There are
two editions of this great work, one in quarto, in thirty-
six books or parts, and one in folio, in seven volumes.
The former was published at one thousand two hundred
and ninety-six francs, the latter at one thousand eight
hundred francs. (Large paper copies, three thousand six
hundred francs, six thousand four hundred and eighty
francs, and seven thousand two hundred francs.)

The cheapest copies of these works cost at publication,
unless our arithmetic is at fault, five thousand nine hun-
dred and fifty-five francs, the dearest fourteen thousand

372 ERUPTION OF VKSIVIUS.

one hundred francs. Or, calling live francs a dollar, one
thousand one hundred and ninety-one, and two thousand
eight hundred and twenty dollars!

If it took a small fortune to buy these books, it took a
large one to make them. The exact amount is not
known, but it is estimated at two hundred thousand
dollars. The French, and Prussian Governments assisted
in their publication, but the greater part of the cost was
borne by Humboldt himself, and of course was lost.
For however successful such works are, scientifically, they
are always failures in a mercantile point of view. The
labour and expense involved in the writing and publish-
ing of these works gives us a grander idea of Humboldt,
than we could obtain from any relation of his travels.
They show his intense and unselfish devotion to science,
— a devotion of which few men besides himself were
capable, and to which no man ever sacrificed more — and
place him among the literary benefactors of the world.

But to return to our narrative, from which these biblio-
graphical remarks have led us. Humboldt remained at
Paris until 1822, when he proceeded to Verona, where
another Congress was being held. There he met the
King of Prussia, and after the Congress was over, ac-
companied him on a journey through Italy, stopping on
the way at Venice, Rome, and Naples. While at Naples,
Humboldt had several opportunities of visiting Vesuvius,
which was in a very active state. A series of eruptions
succeeded each other, from the commencement of the
year to the time of his visit t<> Naples, which was in
October or November. He made three ascents of Vesu-
vius, partly to witness the eruption, and repeat his
former barometric measurements of the mountain, ana

HUMBOLDT AT TEGEL. 373

partly to make a more complete determination of all the
edges of the crater.

The eruption of Vesuvius which Humboldt witnessed
in the autumn of 1822 was the most memorable of any of
which we possess any authentic account, since that which
occasioned the death of the elder Pliny, and destroyed
Herculaneum and Pompeii.

In the commencement of 1823, the King of Prussia
returned to Berlin and Humboldt accompanied him
thither. It was not long before he was at Tegel. He
found his brother William, and Frau Caroline, and the
children there, but not the old castle of his childhood.
Only one turret of it remained ; the rest had given place
to a new and stately building. The grounds, the trees,
the flowers, all were changed ; but so was Humboldt
himself. The careless light-hearted boy had passed
away, and in his stead was a staid and thoughtful man.
He left Tegel when he was fourteen, he returned when he
was fifty-four ! What changes had passed over him in
that time ! What lands he had seen, what books he had
written ! He left Tegel a boy, clever it is true, but un-
known : he returned a famous man, known to the world,
one of the world's men — a Name !

Humboldt remained some months at Tegel and Berlin,
enjoying the society of his brother, and his king. The
king had long honoured him for his profound knowledge
of science, and felt a strong liking for his person and
conversation. This liking and honour now took a
definite turn ; he solicited Humboldt to remove from
Paris, and to come and live in Berlin. His brother,
William, and Frau Caroline, joined in this solicitation,
and he resolved at last to gratify them. He would

374 HUMBOLDT AND GOETHE.

return to Paris for a while, and finish some of the woiks
that he had left there undone ; then he would come to
Berlin. So back to Paris, his dear Paris, he went.

He remained at Paris till the autumn of 1826, when he
made a visit to his brother at Tegel, to announce his
speedy and permanent return to Berlin. While stopping
in Berlin, or on his way back to Paris, he saw Goethe.
Of Goethe's impressions of Humboldt at this time we
have a record in " Eckerman's Conversations," under
the date of Monday, 11th December. Hear the German
Boswell.

11 1 found Goethe in an animated and happy mood.
1 Alexander Yon Humboldt has passed some hours with
me, this morning,' said he, coming to meet me with
great vivacity ; ' What a man he is ! Long as I have
known him, he is continually astonishing me anew. I
may say he has not his equal in knowledge, in living
wisdom ; and such rmury-sidedness I have found nowhere
else. Wherever you call upon him, you find him at
home, everywhere ready to lavish upon you the intel-
lectual treasures he has amassed. He is like a fountain
with many pipes ; you need only to get a vessel to hold
under it, on any side refreshing streams flow at a mere
touch. He is to stay some days, and I shall feel,
when he goes away, as if I had lived years during his
visit.' "

This is the way that a great man speaks of his equal.
How unlike those little fellows, the reviewers ! Clearly
Goethe would never have answered the requirements of
the Quarterly.

In February 1827, Humboldt removed from Paris. He
did not proceed directly to Berlin, but joined his brother's

IDEA OF KOSMOS. 375

son-in-law, Count Billow, who had just been appointed
ambassador to England, on a journey to London. Hum-
boldt's stay in England was short, for in May we find him
permanently settled in Berlin. He found his brother in
Berlin, for he had a residence there, as well as at Tegel,
and scores of his old friends, among others Augustus
Schlegel. The king received him with open arms, and
conferred upon him the title of privy councillor. He
might have been Secretary of State, if he had chosen ;
indeed, there was no office too good for him, but he loved
Science too well to change it for Politics. Never
enamoured of that artful, but powerful goddess, who,
whatever her faults, is sure in the end to reward her
worshippers, he was less likely to be won by her blandish-
ments then, than at any other period of his life. He had
a new and grand scheme on foot, — one that he had pon-
dered over for years. He thought of it at Paris, in his
study among his books and manuscripts, and in the salons
of art and fashion, among the wise and the foolish. He
thought of it in Mexico, as he groped his way in the
darkness of the mines, or wandered among the ruins of
vanished nations. He thought of it in Peru, on the
rugged sides of Chimborazo and Cotopaxi ; in the terrible
pass of Quindiu ; in the dense forests of the Orinoco,
and at Cumana among the earthquakes. He thought of
it on the deck of thePizarro, in the midst of the Sea, and on
the crater of Teneriffe in the illimitable wilderness of Air.
He thought of it everywhere, by day and at night, in his
waking moments, and in his dreams. It was always
with him. It was the one thought of his thoughts, his
first and last conception, the most majestic statue of his
house of life. It was " Kosmos." " Its undefined

3V6 LECTURES AT BERLIN.

image," he wrote in 184-i, " has floated before my mind
for almost half a century."

All the travels that he had undertaken, and all the
books that he had written, related to this great work. It
was not as a traveller that he had crossed the sea, and
explored unknown lands : nor yet as a man of science :
but as the traveller, the man of science. He aimed at no
common fame. Indeed, he aimed at none. It was to a
nobler object than " the bauble reputation" that he de-
voted his life ; it was a thirst for knowledge, a passion
for wisdom, not in one thing, or many things, but in all
things. To be a wise man was not enough ; he would be
the wisest of men. His wisdom was universal, like the
Universe to which it was directed, and which he under-
stood, if ever man did, or can understand it.

On the 3rd of November, 1827, he commenced a series
of lectures on the Universe, at Berlin. The University
building in which they were delivered was crovvded.
The king and royal family were there ; the court was
there : the rich, the noble, the wise — in short all the
intellect of Berlin was there. A perfect master of his
theme, he was clear, eloquent, impassioned, inexhaustible,
and they were enchanted. He stood before them like
one inspired. It was a memorable time in Berlin, and
indeed throughout Prussia ; for the fame of these lectures
was soon noised all over the land. Scholars came from
great distances to hear him, and even common people,
the unlettered mass, who only knew of him through the
newspapers. Everybody was anxious to hear and see
Humboldt.

The press was soon so great that he was forced to
repeat the earlier lectures, in a larger building. "Alex-

HUMBOLDT POPULARIZES SCIENCE. 377

ancler," William wrote to a friend in Vienna, " Alexander
is really a 'puissance,' and has gained a new kind of
glory by his lectures. They are unsurpassable. He is
always the same ; and it is still one of the principal fea-
tures of his character to have a peculiar timidity and
undeniable anxiety in the mode of his appearance."
But Herr William that is not strange, for your truly
great man is always modest. The greatest of men — the
" myriad-minded" Shakespeare was so, or he would never
have left his divine plays to the mercy of the players and
commentators.

" These lectures of Humboldt," says his biographer,
Professor Klencke, " were also new and remarkable in
respect to the position which he took towards the people.
For while other learned men, whose social position is
always higher than that of the people, nearly all, in
their scientific and academic pride, did not deem it worth
their while to disseminate their knowledge among the
people, whom it must ultimately most benefit, while
they generally keep their learning as the property and
mystery of a caste, and interchange it among themselves ;
while they consider it infra dig. and degrading for a man
of science to popularize his knowledge ; Alexander Von
Humboldt set them the noble example that a baron, a
chamberlain, and confidential adviser of his king-, did
not consider it beneath his rank and dignity to appear
publicly as the teacher of his favourite science; he
showed that a true man of science does not attach him-
self to an exclusive caste, and that all considerations of
birth, rank, and title, are as nothing in the high service
of science. And thus, Alexander, in the impulses of his
heart and mind fulfilled the noble duty which the men-

378 OFFER OF THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT

tally-gifted man owes to his people of bestowing on them,
and instructing them with the rich treasury of his know-
ledge and experience, thereby raising them nearer him-
self."

Humboldt finished his course of sixty-one lectures on
the 26th of April, 1828. Their reputation was now so
universal that he was urged to print them, for the sake
of those who had not been able to hear him. He con-
sented to do so, and began to write them off from
memory, for he had spoken without notes, but his atten-
tion was distracted by other things. He had been applied
to some months before, while the course was in progress,
by Count Cancrin, the Russian Minister of Finance, who
requested him to give his opinion as to the eligibility of a
coinage of platina from the Ural, and its relative value
to gold and silver. The Spanish Government had also
applied to him on the same subject, and a proposal had
been made by some private individuals to the Congress
of Vienna, to introduce the new metal into circulation,
supported and recognised by government authority.
Humboldt doubted the eligibility of the scheme, and
said so frankly, without forfeiting the good opinion of
the Russian Government. Happening in the course of
his correspondence to express a wish to visit the Ural,
and to compare its mountains with those of the New
World, the Emperor of Russia invited him to undertake
an expedition thither, and offered to defray the whole ex-
pense. More than this, he was instructed to consider
the advantages which the Imperial Government might
draw from his researches into the mining capabilities of
the country, as of secondary importance, and to devote
himself entirely to what he thought the advancement of

BONPLAXD IN BRAZIL. 379

science. The offer was too tempting to be resisted. He
had long dreamed of such a journey, but his plans for it
had been repeatedly thwarted and postponed. It had
seemed to him that it was never to be, but here when he
least expected it, when he had almost ceased to think of
it, was an opportunity such as might never occur again.
He at once accepted the offer.

Besides the preparations which such a journey
demanded, he was busy with other important matters —
the books that he had in progress, some of which were
then passing through the press, and above all with the
unhappy case of his friend Bonpland. We left poor
Bonpland as far back as 1817, in Brazil, on his way into
the interior of that country. He ascended the Parana
until he reached the ancient mission of the Jesuits, which
was situated on the left bank of that river, at a little dis-
tance from Itapua. The possession of this region of country
was then a subject of dispute between Paraguay and the
Argentine Confederation. Aware of this fact, Bonpland
notified Dr. Francia, the Dictator of Paraguay, of his
presence there, and explained to him his intention of
cultivating tea, with the aid of a small colony of Indians
whom he had taken into his service. Francia wished to
have the monopoly of tea to himself, so he pretended to
take Bonpland for a spy, and sent four hundred men
across the Parana one dark night to fall upon him and
his Indians. The little colony was taken by surprise ; a
massacre ensued, many of the Indians were killed, most
were wounded, and Bonpland himself received a sabre-
cut on the head. He repaid this inhuman assault by
dressing the wounds of the soldiers. Two days after-
wards (the massacre took place on the night of the 3d

380 A PRISONER AT SANTA MARIA.

of December, 1821) he was sent in chains to the neigh-
bouring village of Santa Maria. Francia refused to see
him ; he was not imprisoned, but a watch was kept upon
him, and he was forbidden to return to Assumption. He
was allowed to practise as a physician, so he whiled away
the months and years of his captivity, in making medi-
cines, distilling and composing liquors, and in going
about to minister to the sick and afflicted. He wore onl v
the coarsest garments, and went barefooted.

It was a long time before intelligence of this outrage
reached Europe, but it did at last, while Humboldt was
residing in Paris, and he left no means untried to secure
the release of his friend and fellow-traveller. He inter-
ested the French Government in his behalf, and Chateau-
briand, who was then Minister of the Affairs of Strangers,
demanded his freedom from the tyrannical Francia. It
was not granted. The Emperor of Brazil made the same
demand with the like success. At last, however, after a
captivity of nearly eight years, Bonpland was set at
liberty. What influence was powerful enough to com-
pel Francia to this tardy act of justice is not known, but
it is said to have been that of Bolivar. If so, he probably
owed his freedom to Humboldt. We know that Hum-
boldt was at this time in correspondence with Bolivar,
in reference to the internal improvement of his country,
and we cannot doubt that he urged the cause of his friend
with him, as he had previously done with the French
and Brazilian Governments. It was Humboldt, we
believe, who restored Bonpland to liberty.

Ostensibly set free on the 12th of May, 1829, he took
the road to the Missions, but when he arrived at Itapua
there was no order there for his release. He remained at

EHRENBERG AND ROSE. 381

Itapua some months before the caprieious Dictator could
make up his mind to let him go. On the 6th of Decem-
ber, 1830, the creatures of Francia again beset him, and
demanded of him, for the fourth time, the motives of
his former association with the Indians. They insisted
upon knowing whether he was a spy of the French or
Argentine Governments. Finally on the 2nd of Febru-
ary, 1831, they told him that he was free to cross the
Parana, and that the Supreme, (not his Maker, but one
of his Maker's worst specimens of humanity, Francia),
allowed him to go where he would. He hurried towards
Brazil, and fixed his residence on the frontier near the
little city of San-Borja. There, in a modest cottage, sur-
rounded by a large garden of orange trees, he passed the
remainder of his life, practising medicine, botanizing, and
writing to Humboldt and the savans of Europe. He died
last year over eighty years old.

When Humboldt accepted the offer of the Eussian
Government, to explore the mountains of the Ural, he
selected two companions for the journey, — Christian
Gottfried Ehrenberg, and Gustav Kose. Both these
naturalists were young men, one being thirty years old,
and the other thirty-three, which was about the age of
Bonpland and Humboldt when they started on their
great transatlantic journey twenty-nine years before.
Eose, who had studied chemistry and mineralogy, was
conservator of the collection of minerals in the Uni-
versity of Berlin ; and Ehrenberg, whose speciality was
the microscope, had travelled with Hemperich through
Egypt, Abyssinia, and a great part of Arabia, and had
brought back from those countries a magnificent collec-
tion of plants and animals, many of which were till

382 FRAU CAROLINE DYING.

then unknown in Europe. The narrative of his travels,
which lasted from 1820 to 1825, was published while the
preparations for the Asiatic journey were in progress,
and was edited by Humboldt. Besides editing, or help-
ing to edit, this work, and attending to the measurements
of temperature, which the king, at his suggestion, had
caused to be made in all the Prussian mines, the never-
resting traveller was occupied and troubled with the
afflictions of his brother. William was indeed afflicted,
for Frau Caroline, who had been in ill health for years,
was slowly dying. At the close of Alexander's lectures
lie had taken her to Paris and London, in the hope that
a journey thither, and the use of the bath of Gastein, at
which they were to stop on their return, would benefit
her ; but it was not to be. They returned to Tegel in
the middle of September, and she was worse than ever.
She failed rapidly, and towards the end of November
was in constant expectation of death. November,
December passed, and she still lived. All over the land
the Christmas holidays were celebrated. The candles
were lighted on the Christmas tree, the presents were
plucked from the branches, and rich and poor, young
and old rejoiced in the birth of the blessed Christ-Child.
But at Tegel all was sad. No Christmas tree, no gifts,
no happy hearts. All was stillness and gloom, — the
hush of the sick chamber, the shadow of the coming
doom. The New Year came, and went, and Frau Caro-
line still lived. Alexander visited her on a Lord's day
in January. " She was dying," he wrote to a friend ;
" opened her eyes and said to her husband, ' Another
human being is ended !' She expected her death, but in
vain ; she lived again and took an interest in what was

ANOTHER GRAVE AT TEGEL. 383

going on around her. She prayed much." So wrote
Alexander on the 22nd of January, 1829. He was still
preparing for his journey : Frau Caroline was prepared
for hers. It was a short one.

" One step to the white death-bed,
And one to the bier ;
And one to the charnel,
And one — oh where ?
The dark arrow fled
Into the noon!"

She departed on the 26th of March. There was
another grave at Tegel.

CHAPTER II.

CENTRAL ASIA.

On the 12th of April, 1829, Humboldt, Rose, and
Ehrenberg departed from Berlin for St. Petersburg.
They had arranged the different branches of science to
which each was to devote himself. Ehrenberg was to
attend to the botany and zoology of the countries through
which they should pass, Rose was to analyse the minerals,
and keep the travelling diary, while Humboldt undertook
the magnetic observations, the results of geographical
astronomy, and the geology and natural history gene-
rally. To show the respect in which he held him, be-
fore he started, the King of Prussia appointed Humboldt
an acting privy councillor. It was the rank of a minis-
ter, and his title thenceforth was Excellency — " His
Excellency the Baron Von Humboldt."

On their way from Berlin to St. Petersburg, the tra-
vellers passed through Konigsberg and Dorpat, Esthonia
and Livonia. As the sea shore in the neighbourhood of
Konigsberg abounded with amber, it was almost a for-
bidden ground to the inhabitants. It was farmed out at
a high rate, and carefully guarded, so that the fishermen
could only put to sea at certain prescribed points of the
coast. The coast between Dantzic and Memel was let

ST. PETERSBURG. 385

out to a rich contractor for ten thousand dollars a-year.
His magazines contained, at the time the travellers visit-
ed them, one hundred and fifty thousand pounds of
amber. Being highly inflammable it was kept in vaulted
rooms, which were secured with iron doors.

They arrived at St. Petersburg on the 1st of May,
and found everything in readiness for their journey.
Carriages, couriers, and horses were placed at their dis-
posal by Count Cancrin ; a military escort was provided
for them, and even their residences on the way were
selected. A Russian mining officer was appointed as
Humboldt's companion, to give him information regard-
ing the roads and localities, and to see that the authori-
ties performed what was required of them.

The travellers remained some time in St. Petersburg,
in order to see its sights before they commenced their
journey. They visited the public institutions of the
capital, and most of the show-places in the vicinity. As
might have been expected, from their tastes, and the
objects of their journey, they were attracted by the
mineralogical collections of St. Petersburgh, and the size
and splendour of the crown jewels. The largest of these
jewels was on the top of the imperial sceptre. It
weighed one hundred ninety-four and three-quarter
carats, and its greatest diameter was one inch three and
and a half lines. Formerly in the possession of Nadir
Shah, whose throne it long adorned, it was bought,
with other jewels, after his death, by an Armenian at
at Bagdad, for fifty thousand piastres. From this Arme-
nian it was purchased by Catharine the Second, at the
price of four hundred and fifty thousand silver rubles,
and a patent of nobility.

17

386 KASAN.

On the 20th of May the party started for Moscow. Be-
sides a courier, and the mining officer already mentioned,
they were furnished with a Russian cook, as in the sta-
tions beyond Moscow travellers were obliged to cook for
themselves. The broad highway between St. Petersburg
and Moscow was soon traversed, and they halted for a
few days in the old capital of Moscovy. After making
some barometric observations and examining the geology
of the country, they continued their journey over a
marshy level until they reached Nishni Novgorod, on the
Yolga. Here they met with Count Polier, the owner
of several large mining estates in the Ural, and as he
was on his way thither he joined the party. They em-
barked on the Yolga on the last of May, and reached
Kasan on the 4th of June.

Originally the seat of a Tartar Khanate which was
overturned in 1552, after nourishing for three hundred
years, Kasan was still inhabited by Tartars, especially in
the suburbs. The travellers visited the temples of these
Tartars to see their form of worship : the guides removed
their slippers as they entered, but as the travellers wore
boots they were permitted to keep them on.

The party remained at Kasan five days, during which
they made several excursions in the neighbourhood.
The most interesting of these was to the ruins of Bul-
gar, the capital of ancient Bulgaria. As they drew near
the modern village they were met by groups of men,
women, and children ; the whole population came forth
to meet them. At the head of these groups walked the
oldest inhabitants, who, when they came to Humboldt,
offered him bread and salt as a token of reverence,
according to the Russian custom.

THE RUINS OF BULGAR. 387

Dismissing these good people when their hospitable
ceremony was over, the travellers proceeded to the ruins
of the old capital. They found the walls of some build-
ings still standing, two towers, and a number of tomb-
stones bearing monumental inscriptions, in Turkish,
Arabic, and Armenian. These inscriptions dated back
to the year 623 of the Hegira (a. d. 1226). Silver and
copper coins and copper rings and trinkets were some-
times found in the rubbish of Bui gar. There were
several tombs among the ruins, which were objects of
veneration to the faithful. They were the tombs of
Tartar saints, who, as the Tartars generally were any-
thing but saints, were undoubtedly, in their time, the
cream of Tartars. The travellers found a Mollah per-
forming his devotions at one of these tombs. He repeated
his form of prayer, and bowed his body without being
disturbed by their presence. They offered him a seat in,
their carriage, which he accepted, as the ruins were some
distance from each other; and he managed each time
they stopped, to finish his devotions before they finished
their examinations. Devotion was a good thing, so was
a comfortable ride. Returning to Kasan they witnessed
the Saban, a Tartar festival, celebrated every year after
seed-time. The Tartars wrestled with each other, and
ran foot races, and galloped their horses at full speed. It
was a scene of barbaric merriment.

They left Kasan on the 9th, and passed through a dis-
trict inhabited by the Wotjaks. This tribe was a branch
of the family of Finns ; they had embraced Christianity,
and spoke the Russian language, although they retained
the customs of their ancestors. The women wore high
caps of birch-bark, covered with blue cloth, bedecked

388 JEKATHARINENBURG.

with fringes, and hung with silver coins. On the 12th
the j reached the estate of Count Polier, at Werchne
Mulinsk, where they halted to partake of his hospital it v.

From Werchne Mulinsk, they journeyed to Jekathari-
nenburg, the Count accompanying them. Near Perm
they fell in with a party of exiles on the way to Siberia.
This party consisted of sixty or eighty women and girls,
and as they were not fettered, they were probably ban '
ished for trivial offences. The worst class of criminals
were always fettered while on their way to Siberia, being
fastened by one hand to a long rope. The party that the
travellers overtook was escorted by a band of armed and
mounted Bashkirs.

The postmaster at Malmiisch was a mineralogist, with
a taste for anatomy, for around and within his house
were the teeth and bones of an immense mammoth,
found on the banks of the Wjatka.

On the 14th the travellers reached the outskirts of the
Ural — a series of delicious vallies. When thev left the
Neva three weeks before, it was crusted with ice ; now
the grass was out, the plants were in full bloom, and the
ground was profusely covered with flowers. On the 15th
they arrived at Jekatharinenburg.

Jekatharinenburg was situated among the mountains on
the Asiatic side of the Ural ridge. This ridge consisted
of several nearty parallel lines, whose highest point rose to
the height of nearly five thousand feet. Its direction in
the meridian, which was in a line standing perpendicu-
larly upon the equator from the pole, reminded Humboldt
of a similar situation in a chain of the Andes. The north-
ern and central portions of the Ural mountains contained
gold and platina, and abounded in minerals of all kinds.

THE TINE OF THE CONTINENTS. 3 SO

The party remained at Jekatharinenburg four weeks,
making excursions to the mines in its vicinity. They
visited the gold mines of Scbabrowski and Beresowsk,
and the copper mines of Gumeschewskoi, and penetrated
as far northward as Nischne Tagilsk. Nischne Tagilsk
and the whole district for some eight thousand square
versts belonged to the Demidoff family. Their ancestor,
Netika Demidoff, was a common blacksmith at Tula, poor
and obscure, until Peter the Great, in 1702, made him a
present of Magnetberg, a recently discovered magnetic
mountain, and the iron forges of Newjansk. This was
the foundation of Nischne Tagilsk, and the fortunes of
the family.

Nischne Tagilsk was one of the richest mining dis-
tricts in the world. At two versts distance from it stood
the Magnetberg, which supplied all the surrounding
forges with ore, and in the immediate neighbourhood
were copper ores, and mines of gold and platina.

Between Tscherno-Istotschinsk and Kuschwinsk, a
lofty plateau separated the waters of Europe and Asia.
On the east rose the springs of Bobrowka, a rivulet flow-
ing into the Tagel ; on the west those of the Wissim,
which flowed into the Utka and Tschussowaja. Near
the centre of this plateau stood a majestic pine, with the
words "Asia," and "Europe" carved on the right and
left sides. It was the guide post of two continents.

Not far from Kuschwinsk, which was the seat of the
Imperial Iron Works, there was a second mountain of
magnetic iron. It was called Gora Blagodat, or the
Blessed Mountain. Its existence was made known to
the Russians by a Wogul, named Tschumpkin, who was
afterwards burned alive on it by his enraged countrymen.

090 WHY N< T DIAMONDS IN THE URAL?

the primitive inhabitants of the country. The Russians
erected on the summit a monument to his memory.

This region abounding in gold and platina, reminded
Humboldt of the gold and platina regions of Brazil.
The latter produced diamonds; why should not these
produce hem also ? They would, if there was any truth
in his theory, that Nature was always true to herself;
not governed by accident or caprice, but by eternal im-
mutable laws, of which she was at once subject and
sovereign. He had already in his " Essay on the Bear-
ing of Rocks," directed attention to the singular analogy
of mineralogical characteristics in different parts of the
globe, as regards platina and gold-sand. Thus at Cor-
rego, in Brazil, gold, platina, and palladium were found
together; near Tejuco gold and diamonds; and platina
and diamonds near the river Abaste. This fact awakened
in him the strongest hope of discovering diamonds in
the Ural. When he arrived at any of the works he
caused the gold-sand to be subjected to microscopic ob-
servations: if gold and platina were found in it, he
directed the workmen to search carefully for diamonds.
These examinations revealed the existence of crystals
previously unknown in the gold-sands of the Ural, such
crystals as in Brazil occurred in gold-sand with dia-
monds.

The travellers parted from Count Polier at Kusch-
winsk, on the 1st of July. It was their intention to
have accompanied him to his estates on the Koiva, in
the western declivity of the Ural, but as the direct path
was only practicable on horseback, and another route
would have caused them to lose too much time, they
abandoned the idea. The same day they proceeded to

THE FORESTS OF THE URAL. 391

the copper mines of Bogoslowsk. The road led through
dense forests of pines, larches, and cedars; here and there
were birches and poplars. The underwood of these
forests was formed of wild roses in full bloom, and luxu-
riant junipers whose dark green shade was relieved with
the light hue of the birches. The richness and beauty
of the plants contrasted strongly with the poverty of
the fauna. The travellers saw hares and squirrels, and
" such small deer," and now and then a bird. No war-
bling was heard in these forests. They saw several
small hawks, and one finch, but no civilized birds, so to
speak, such as swallows, wagtails, etc. The excessive
vegetation of plants abounding in sap, produced myriads
of gnats, which were a great torment to the travellers.
To protect themselves against these gnats the inhabitants
of the country wore over their faces nets steeped in birch
tar, the smell of which was offensive to the insects.
Sometimes they carried pots on their backs, filled with
decayed wood ; or they burned the fungus of the birch,
the smoke of which was not injurious to the eyes. As
the travellers were not prepared to meet the gnats, they
suffered severely from their attacks: their only resource
was to drive rapidly through them. When they drove
slowly, or stopped, they were beset and stung by swarms.
Their horses were stung worse than themselves : the poor
beasts were in agonies. Along the road, which was being
mended at the time, were groups of peasants at work.
These peasants had lighted fires as a means of defence
against the gnats, and whenever the}' paused from their
labour they held their heads in the smoke, preferring to
suffer that rather than the intolerable torment of the in-
sects.

302 MURsrasK.

Arriving at last at Bogoslowsk, the travellers pro-
ceeded to visit the mines in its vicinity. The scenery
here was magnificent. To the east was a broad unbroken
plain, stretching away like the sea: to the west and north,
forty or fifty miles distant, a range of magnetic moun-
tains. The peaks of these mountains, clad with snow,
loomed over the dark forests of pine and fir that covered
the intervening heights.

From Bogoslowsk they returned to Jekatharinenburg,
stopping on their way at Mursinsk. This district was
rich in precious stones, topazes, beryls, amethysts, and
the like. Eighty-five versts from Jekatharinenburg,
near the granite rocks on the right bank of the Teko-
waja, emeralds were found in abundance. The presence
of emeralds in this neighbourhood was first detected by
a peasant, who was attracted one day as he was cutting
wood by their lustrous sparkling in the mica, where the
ground was opened around the roots of a tree which had
been blown down by the wind. He collected a quantity,
and took them on sale to Jekatharinenburg. They were
tested, fresh excavations were made, and specimens were
sent to St. Petersburg. These emeralds were remarkable
for their extraordinary size, one in the mineralogical col-
lections of St. Petersburg being no less than eight inches
in length, and five inches in diameter.

The travellers arrived at Jekatharinenburg on the 11th,
after an absence of sixteen days. They spent a week
there preparing and arranging their collections, and then
set out for Tobolsk, where they arrived on the 21st.

Tobolsk had been originally laid down as the eastern
limit of their journey, but their speedy and easy pro-
gress through the northern Ural induced Humboldt to

ON THE WAY TO BARNAUL.

393

extend his researches to the Altai, of which but little
was known since the time of Pallas, Renovantz, and
Hermann. This scheme was strongly supported by the
Governor-General. The distance from Tobolsk to Bar-
naul was one thousand five hundred versts, but by start-
ing at once they could traverse it within the time pre-
scribed for their undertaking. So providing themselves
with cap-nets as a defence against the gnats, they imme-
diately commenced the journey. Their road lay across
a steppe through Zara and Kainsk to Tomsk. The soil
was firm and black, cultivated near the villages, and
everywhere covered with tall herbage, interspersed with
groups of birch and poplar. Between the Wagai and
the Ischen whole tracts were covered with red flowers in
full blossom: others were of a deep azure. The pea-
sants of the villages through which the travellers passed
appeared to be wealthy, and their houses, for the most
part, were strikingly clean and neat.

As the sky was unclouded the heat was considerable.
The waters of the river Ajeff, at noon, on the 21st, were
19° 4' Reaumur, the air being 24° 6'. The Irstysch was
also warm, being 19° near the convent of Abalak, on
the 24th. The water of the wells, however, was ex-
tremely cold. At Basckshewa, the first station from
Tobolsk, the water of an ordinary well, free from ice,

was 2°.

Ascending the Irstysch to Tatmytakaja they proceeded
in a south-easterly direction to the waters of the Om, and
thence eastwardly along its banks across the great steppe
of Barabinski, which reached from the Irstysch to the
Obi. Unlike the majority of steppes which are dry and
arid, this terrible waste abounded with marshes, rivers

17*

394 THE SIBERIAN PLAGUE.

and hikes. The soil in some places was flat and level as
the sea, in others it was covered with vegetation
It was impregnated with salt, and many of the lakes
contained salt water. The road was bridged in lung
courses over the marshy ground ; but as these courses
were out of repair, the travelling was tedious.

The party reached Kainsk on the 29th. Here they
learned, for the first time, that the Siberian Plague was
raging in the neighbouring villages. The physician
who gave them this intelligence could afford them but
little information regarding the nature of the disease,
except that it broke out among the cattle, and soon ex-
tended to men. It attacked men in the uncovered parts
of the body, in the face, neck, or arms, commencing
with an indurated swelling, which turned to black and
burning suppurations, that ended in fever and death.
The origin of the disease was ascribed to the stings oi
insects.

As it was impossible to reach the Altai region by any
other route, at least within the time they had allowed
themselves, the travellers resolved to continue their jour-
ney, taking all possible precautions to avoid contact with
the peasants among whom the plague prevailed. They
even refrained from sleeping at the halting places. They
found traces of the malady in all the villages. The day
before their arrival six persons died at Karganskaja,
where five hundred horses had already perished. It was
with considerable difficulty that they procured the means
of continuing their route. Every village had a hospital
of its own, and smoky fires of dry turf and dung were
kept continually burning, in order to jjurify the air. As
the travellers drew near the Obi and left the steppe

BARNAUL. 395

behind them, the disease disappeared. It was never
known among the mountains.

They crossed the Obi at Bergsk, and proceeding in a
southerly direction, reached Barnaul on the morning of
the 2d of August. In nine days they had travelled one
thousand miles.

The city of Barnaul was the central point of the
mining interests of the Altai. It was the seat of the
authorities of the whole region, and the principal loca-
tion of its smelting furnaces. The most important pro-
duct of the Altai was silver, the yield of which was
greater there than in any other part of the continent.
For fifty years before Humboldt's visit it amounted to
two hundred thousand dollars annually. The annual
yield of the mines during the same time was five hun-
dred thousand pounds of copper, and eight hundred
thousand pounds of lead. Notwithstanding the quan-
tity of silver produced by the Altai, the ore from
which it was obtained was very poor ; its average was
only four per cent., while the average of the silver
ores of Mexico was from eighteen to twenty-five per
cent.

Though the working of the Altai mines was more
recent than that of the Ural, the former were undoubt-
edly known from the earliest antiquity, for the remains
of ancient mining operations were plentiful among them.
These remains were generally ascribed to the Tchudes ;
but who the Tchudes were, and at what period they
lived was a mystery which no one cared to inquire into.
It was enough to know that they had left the mines
behind them. The actual working of the mines of the
Altai owed its existence to Akimfitsch Nitikas Demi-

,190 USTKAMENOGOBSK.

doff, a son of tlie old blacksmith of Tula. With the
permission and assistance of the government he formed,
in 1728, the great smelting establishments of Kolywansk
and Bjelaja, and in 1739 laid the foundation of the town
of Barnaul.

Leaving Barnaul on the 4th, the travellers journeyed
southward across the steppe of Platowskaja to the upper
districts of the Obi. They visited the porphyry works
of Kolyvansk, and the silver mines of Eiddersk and the
Serpent Mountain. This mountain, which derived its
name from the great number of serpents found upon it
when it was discovered, was an immense mass of ores,
the most important of which was silver. Two versts be-
yond Eiddersk there was a comical hill, called Kruglaja
Sopka, or the Eound Mountain. The vegetation of this
hill, which was destitute of trees, was so dense and lofty
that it prevented the travellers from seeing each other,
when they were a few steps apart.

On the 13th they reached Ustkamenogorsk, a fortress
on the frontiers of Chinese Mongolia. Leaving their
baggage at this post, which was guarded by a company
of Cossacks, who went through their military exercises
for them, they continued their journey to the gold and
silver mines of Syranowsk. Beyond Syranowsk they
came in sight of the ranges of Cholsun and Katunja.
They saw at a distance of thirty miles the Stolbrowucha,
and still further to the eastward the untrodden summit
of Bjelueha, or as it was called by the Calmucks, God's
Mountain, the highest peak of the Altai. In this region,
near the source of the Berel, in the valley of Eachman-
owka, the travellers saw some remarkable hot springs.
A few feet distant from one of these springs was one of

THE CHINESE STATION. 397

cold water, which flowed eastward through the tuif, into
a small lake.

They were now so near the boundary of China that
Humboldt determined to pass over to Bate, the nearest
Chinese Mongolian post. It was situated on the Irstysch,
below Lake Saisan. As he had made known his wishes
at Buchtarminsk, a Cossack had been sent to Bate to an-
nounce his visit. There were two stations at this post,
one on each bank of the river. The left, or Mongolian
station, was occupied by Mongolian troops, the right, or
Chinese station, by Chinese troops; both were com-
manded by Chinese officers. Between these two stations,
on an island in the Irstysch, was a. Mongolian and Chi-
nese piquet, commanded by a captain of cavalry. Un-
like the rest of the soldiers, who lived in tents, this piquet
lived in houses. They superintended the fishery carried
on by the Mongols of the Chinese portion of the Irstysch,
and arranged the moderate duties on salt, payable to the
Chinese officers. During the winter, when there was no
fishing, the Mongolian part of the piquet returned to the
village of Krasnoyarsk, while the Chinese retired to the
town of Tschugutschask, south of Lake Saisan, and four
hundred and fifty versts from Buchtarminsk.

The travellers visited the Chinese station first, and as
their arrival was expected, they found two tents prepared
for their reception. They were met at one of these tents
by the Chinese commander and two attendants. He
was a tall, thin, young man, arrayed after the fashion
of the Celestial Empire ; he wore a blue silk robe reach-
ing to his ancles, and the usual conical cap, adorned with
peacock feathers, which denoted his rank. His compa-
nions wore a similar dress, but had no feathers in their

o98 THE MONGOLIAN STATION.

caps. He invited the travellers by signs to enter the
tent. It was carpeted, and opposite the door stood seve-
ral chests, covered with carpets and pillows. He seated
himself on one of these extempore couches, and placed
Humboldt by his side; the rest of the party sat on the
other chests, or on the ground. The interpreter they
had brought spoke only Mongolian, but as the Chinese
commander understood that language they were able
to converse with him. He offered them tea, which was
declined, and then inquired into the object of their jour-
ney. Humboldt told him it was to inspect the mines, and
questioned him in turn. He told the traveller that he
came direct from Pekin, on horseback, in four months ;
that he had not been long on that station ; and that he
would be sent to another in three years, that being the
length of military service at any one station in China.

Proceeding to the Mongolian post, they found the com-
mander in his tent at the end of an avenue of poles, upon
which hung fresh pieces of meat. He was dressed like
his comrade on the other side, but was considerably older,
and very dirty, as were also his tent and attendants. As
he did not understand Mongolian, or pretended not to,
the conversation was carried on with difficult v. Hum-
boldt presented him with a piece of velvet, which he
accepted thankfully and offered tea, which was declined.
He led the party to a temple on the bank of the Irstysch.
It was a small square wooden building, with a door
opening on the river. In the interior wras an altar, and
on the wall over the altar, a Buddist idol. Between the
door and the river in a kind of walled court, there was
another altar with burning coals on it.

Returning to their own tent, the party were visited by

VISIT FROM THE FIRST COMMANDER. 399

the first commander, who was accompanied by his two
companions and a band of soldiers. They received him
seated, while the common Mongolians crowded around
the door and looked on. The ceremonies of visitation
over, he and his attendants lighted their pipes, and
smoked vigorously, urging the travellers to do the same.
He tried some tobacco which they offered him, and
relished it highly, but seeing that they did not join him
in his fumigation, he put up his pipe, as his good breed-
ing would not permit him to smoke alone. Humboldt
offered him a piece of blue cloth, which he declined to
accept, though evidently with great reluctance. It was
pushed towards him, and pushed back, but very gentry,
several times. When he had done all that Chinese polite-
ness required of him under the circumstances, he accepted
it, and the twinkle of his eye showed the satisfaction that
he felt. He inquired what he could offer in exchange, and
the interpreter, who had received his instructions before
hand, told him that he could offer Humboldt nothing
that he would value so much as some Chinese books,
which he had seen in his tent. They were immediately
brought, and the same ceremony was again gone through
with : he pushed them towards Humboldt, and Hum-
boldt pushed them gently back. When etiquette was
satisfied he accepted them. They proved to be a famous
historical novel — "San-kue-tchai," containing the history
of the three kingdoms into which China was divided,
after the Han dynasty. Humboldt told the commander
that he intended to give the books to his brother, who
was studying the Chinese language, and the commander
desired him to inscribe his name, Chin-foo, upon them.
He did so, and presented him with the pencil with

400 FEASTING THEIR VISITERS.

which lie wrote. It was placed on the blue cloth, and
borne away by his attendants.

Madeira, biscuits, and sugar were handed round to
the guests. Chin-foo took a small piece of sugar, and
drank one glass of wine. His attendants were not so
moderate ; they drank several glasses, tossing them
down at a single draught, and devoured quantities of
sugar, putting away their pipes for that purpose. Sugar
was then handed round among the Mongols, who by this
time had entered the tent, and stood like children, hold-
ing out their hands wistfully. After a time Chin-foo
took his leave. The Mongols, full of curiosity, crowded
around the Europeans, and touched them. They were
much struck with one of the party who was corpulent,
putting their hands round his stomach, and feeling him
with their fingers. The travellers pushed them away,
but they took it good-humouredly, and as a matter of
course.

There were eighty men in these two stations, all
dressed like their leaders, though their robes were of
different colours, and were confined at the waist by a
girdle. They were ragged, dirty, and mostly without
arms. The weapons of those who were armed were
bows and arrows. They seemed to set little store by
them, for they offered to sell them to the travellers, to-
gether with their pipes and chopsticks, and the rest of
the celestial k nick-nacks. About the tents were a few
camels, a flock of goats, and some sheep with enormous
fat tails.

The travellers returned to Ustkamenogorsk, by the
way of the Irstysch. The route was full of interest to
Humboldt, for on the lonely shores of the river he saw

MIASK. 401

immense rocks of granite, lying horizontally and in
layers, and resting on clay slate, whose layers were
partly perpendicular and partly at an angle of eighty-
five degrees. It was an important fact for him in his
theory of granitic formations.

From Ustkamenogorsk the travellers proceeded to
Miask. They were accompanied by a military escort of
Cossacks, which was relieved at the different posts.
These posts, which consisted of small fortified villages,
at intervals of twenty or thirty versts, extended along
the whole boundary, from the frontier of China to the
Caspian Sea. Passing through Semipolatinsk, a town of
considerable importance in the caravan trade of Central
Asia, they followed the course of the Irstysch as far as
Omsk. They arrived at Omsk on the 25th, and remained
there two days, visiting the Cossack, military, and Asiatic
schools, and pursuing their usual researches. They left
the river at Omsk, and struck to the westward, across
the steppe of Ischim, passing along the frontiers of the
Middle Horde of Khirgises, and stopping by the way
at Petropaulowsk and Troitsk. On the 3d of Septem-
ber they arrived at Miask.

They spent two weeks at Miask, visiting the gold
workings in its vicinity, and making excursions to the
Ilmen mountains, and the mines around Slatoust. The
truth of Humboldt's theory of the existence of diamonds
in the gold-sands of Asia was made known to them
while at Miask ; not through any discoveries of their
own at this time, but by a messenger from Count Polier.
They parted from the Count, who was on his way to his
estates, as the reader will remember, on the 1st of July,
at Kuschwinsk. He was strongly impressed with the

402 DIAMONDS IN THE URAL.

mineralogical ideas of Humboldt, so he examined all the
works for gold-washing in the vicinity of Bissersk. On
the oth of July he reached the last of these works,
about twenty-five versts from Bissersk, and entered it
with M. Schmidt, a young mineralogist from Freyberg.
In the sands which were brought to him, amongst a
quantity of iron crystals and quartz, lay the first dia-
mond of the Ural ! It had been found the day before
by Paul Popoff, a boy of fourteen, employed in the
works. As a reward had been promised to those who
should discover any valuable stones, the boy hastened
with his prize to the overseer. The overseer taking it
for a topaz, placed it among the other minerals for the
Count's inspection. Its transparency was perfect, and
the Count at once recognised it as a diamond. Within
three days afterwards a second was found by another
boy ; and a few days after his departure from the works
the Count received a third, larger than the two others
put together.

As M. Schmidt had all the necessary instruments to
examine the three crystals, and verify the discovery, the
Count ordered him to take their specific gravity. The
first two gems weighed together 3.520, the exact medium
between the extremes assigned by mineralogists, as the
specific gravity of the diamonds; there are 3,4 and 3,6.
The absolute weight of the first was 0.105, or a little
over half a carat.

Count Policr sent one of these diamonds to Humboldt
by M. Schmidt, requesting him not to make the dis-
cover}^ public until the party should return to St. Peters-
burg, as he had not yet presented one to the Emperor.
Before his departure from St. Petersburg, Humboldt was

ORENBERG. 403

confident of finding diamonds in the Ural, and jestingly
declared to the 'Empress that he would not return with-
out Russian diamonds. When the party returned to St.
Petersburg in November, the Emperor alone had seen
the Count's diamonds. Humboldt was the first who
showed one to the Empress.

Count Polier made a circumstantial report of his dis-
covery to the Minister of Finance, and commenced a
letter on the subject to Arago and the " Annals of
Chemistry," but died before he could finish it. The boy
who discovered the first diamond was more fortunate, for
his liberty was given him, and a sum of money besides.

From Miask Humboldt and his party proceeded south-
ward to the head waters of the Uri. They passed a
number of villages belonging to the Bashkirs, but not
then peopled by them, for this tribe, leading a nomadic
life in summer, occupied their houses only in the winter.
Following the course of the southern Ural, the travellers
came to Orsk, at the junction of the Or. This district
was rich in quarries of green jasper, and the river Jaik,
in its vicinity, presented some curious geological pheno-
mena. The road from Orsk to Orenberg being the most
dangerous one on the whole frontier, the authorities fur-
nished Humboldt with a guard of Cossacks as a defence
against the Khirgises.

On the 21st the party reached Orenberg. It was the
capital of the district, the chief fortress on the line, and
the centre of a vast caravan trade to all parts of Central
Asia. The Governor-General being absent, the party
were entertained by Major-General Gens. General Gens
was deeply versed in the geography of Asia, for which
he had collected many important materials, partly from

404 THE MOUNTAIN OF STORMS

the caravans that traversed that country, and partly from
his own travels. He told Humboldt of a lofty mountain
situated to the north-east of the great Balkasch lake.
This mountain had once been a volcano, and caravans in
passing it were frequently disturbed by the storms which
it occasioned. The inhabitants of the region in which it
stood endeavoured to propitiate it by sacrifices of sheep.
General Gens had not seen this singular mountain, but
he knew a Tartar who had visited it, or pretended to
have done so. It reminded Humboldt of the volcanoes
mentioned in the Chinese books, as lying far from the
ocean, the existence of which had divided the opinions
of geologists. He made it the subject of his investiga-
tions, and subsequently obtained more accurate imforma
tion concerning it from the Russian police-director of
Semipolatinsk.

As Humboldt had seen but little of the Tartars that
inhabited the regions along his route, General Gens sent
a messenger to the nearest sultan of the Khirgises, and
requested him to come with his people into the neigh-
bourhood of Orenberg, and give the travellers a specimen
of their games and sports. A large number of Khirgises
soon made their appearance, and raised their tents a few
versts from the city. Then the sultan came, and paid his
respects to Gens and Humboldt.

They drove out to the encampment, surrounded by a
band of Khirgises, who rode around the carriage at full
gallop, resting with their hands on the backs of their
horses, with their feet in the air. The sultan introduce I
the travellers to his wives who were seated in a row in
his tent, and the sports began. The first was horse-
racing. The jockeys drove off to the distance of seven

TARTAR SrORTS. 405

versts, and commenced galloping their horses back to the
tents. In the meantime the spectators formed a ring,
into which stepped two stout Khirgises to wrestle. Cast-
ing off their outer garments, they threw their leather
girdles over each other, and struggled until one was
thrown. When this was done another entered the ring
and contested the prize with the victor, who remained
there until he himself was thrown. One of the wrestlers
threw six of his comrades in succession, but was van-
quished by the seventh. Then a large kettle was brought
out, half filled with boiled groats. Into this kettle General
Gens tossed a silver ruble, which the Khirgises attempted
to fish out with their teeth. Several added to their stock
of small change by their dexterity in this sport, but the
greater number besmeared their heads and shoulders in
vain. Now came the musicians, a band of men who
sang in long-drawn tones, and frightfully distorted their
faces. Their singing was execrable, but they were so
enraptured with it, that it was almost impossible to stop
them. When they had finished, a veiled woman entered
the circle, and sang in the same horrid manner. Then
came two others who sang a duet. They stood with their
faces close together, and were veiled ; but in the course
of the duet they raised their veils so that they could see
each other, and at the same time give the spectators a
side view of their charms, which piece of coquetry was
not thrown away. But now the news spread that the
horsemen were coming, whereupon the overseers plied
their whips, and the crowd gave way. The first prize, a
cloak embroidered with gold, was won by a boy. Then
commenced the foot-race. The distance from the starting
point to the sultan's tent was about a mile ; it was run

406 THE GOLDEN LAKE.

by the winner in three minutes. The first prize was a
silver ruble, the rest were pieces of cotton cloth, and
smaller presents. When the sports were over, the tra-
vellers returned to the city, and prepared for their
departure the next day.

From Orenberg they descended the Ural to Uralsk,
the chief city of the Uralian Cossacks, where they re-
mained a day to witness the autumnal fishing. Then
turning to the north-east across the mountain steppe of
Obschtschei Syrt, they proceeded to Busuluk, and from
thence westwardly to the Volga at Samara. This region
abounded with sulphur springs and waters impregnated
with salt and asphaltes ; in many places large quantities
of sulphur were obtained from the earth. They de-
scended the Volga, passing a number of German colonies
on its banks, and came to Dubowka. From this place
they made an excursion to the great salt lake of Elton,
or Altan Vbr, the Golden Lake, as it was called by the
Cossacks. It was situated in the steppe, seventy miles
to the eastward of the Vol<?a, and was celebrated for its
extensive salt manufactories. In this lake the travellers
found large quantities of insects and birds, which had
fallen into the water, and were preserved. From these
salted specimens Ehrenberg made a good collection of
the fauna of the region.

At Sarepta, further down the river, they visited a
colony of Moravian brethren, who had established them-
selves there in 1765, since which time they had carried on
a considerable traffic, chiefly of their own manufactures,
with the Cossacks.

The lower districts of the Volga, were quite thickly
settled by the Kalmucks ; the travellers frequently passed

A KALMUCK TEMPLE. 407

their houses, and sometimes met the people with their
herds of horses, sheep, and camels. In the course of
their journey they came to a Kalmuck temple. Before
its entrance stood a number of upright sticks, like a
clump of spears adorned with flags, or pennons. These
pennons, which were long stripes of cotton cloth, were
covered with Kalmuck prayers, written in the language of
Thibet, which was always used by the priests in their reli-
gious rites, though unintelligible to their flock. The simple
Kalmucks admired it, just as the simple Catholics admire
Latin. It was a divine language, consecrated by the use
of ages. Neither the priests nor the Kalmucks read
these prayers, (the latter indeed could not :) they were
fastened to the long sticks already mentioned, in order
that the wind might wave them to and fro. The flutter-
ing of these written supplications was considered as
effectual as the repeating of them. If the god to whom
they were addressed had eyes, and most of the gods of
Asia were supposed to be rather liberally supplied in the
matter of vision, he could see them, which would answer
his purpose just as well as if he heard them. It was a
capital test of his divinity, and it saved so much time !

The travellers entered the temple, and watched the
Kalmucks at their worship.

Glaring pictures of grotesque idols, hung on the walls,
and gilded images stood on the altar, before which were
several basins containing fruit, water, dried flesh, cheese,
and other offerings. Between the door and the altar
were six priests, sitting face to face on the floor, the
inferior priests nearest the door, the Lama beside the
altar. They were singing and playing on a variety of
instruments. It was difficult to tell which was worst

408 ASTRACHAN.

their chant or their music ; both were execrable, harsh,
discordant, noisy — a diabolical uproar. At last the
Lama arose, the music ceased, and the priests came and
talked with them.

The travellers came in sight of Astrachan on the
afternoon of the 12th of October. They found a steam-
boat awaiting them at the ferry by the order of the
Governor-General OssipofF, and at once crossed over to
the city, where they were received by the firing of can-
non, and an immense crowd of spectators. They were
conveyed by four-horse carriages to the spacious apart-
ments allotted them, and the next day Humboldt was
waited upon by the dignities of the city, and the deputies
of the various nations represented in the population of
Astrachan. The Governor-General presented them to
the traveller in the order of rank. First came the burgo-
master of the city and the elders of the mercantile pro-
fession, bringing the tokens of homage, in the shape of a
large pound cake, ornamented with grapes, plums, pears,
apples, a"nd salt. Then came the nobles, and the officers
of the garrison, and last the deputies of the Armenians,
Persians, Hindoos, and Tartars, a motely but picturesque
assemblage.

The travellers remained at Astrachan nine days,
studying its diversified population, and visiting its bazars
and temples. In one of these temples they saw a fakir,
who sat crouching on the floor; his chin rested upon his
knees, between which streamed his long white beard,
that reached down to his feet. He had been sitting thus
for fifteen years, with no clothing but a sheep skin,
which was thrown loosely about him. He had forgot
himself to marble.

RETURN TO ST. PETERSBURG. 409

They made a short excursion to the mouths of the
Volga and the Caspian Sea, for the purpose of analysing
its waters, obtaining specimens of its fish, and making
barometric measurements. They then proceeded to visit
Sered Dschab, a noted Calmuck prince, who resided near
the Volga, fifty miles from Astrachan. He sent car-
riages and a large cavalcade to meet them at the land-
ing-place, from which they were conducted to his resi-
dence, where he received them with great state, and
entertained them royally. He showed them his temple,
his horses, his orchards and gardens, and the distilleries
where he manufactured brandy from mare's milk.
Besides Sered Dschab himself, they met at his residence
a neighbouring prince, Dschangir, the young Khan of
the Inner Horde of Khirgises. They would willingly
have spent some time at Astrachan, but as the weather
was cold, and winter was drawing near, they were
obliged to hasten their journey homeward. The day
after their departure the country was covered with
snow.

They retraced their route along the Volga to Zarizyn,
and then crossed over to the Don, where Humboldt
made his last barometric observation on the relative
height of the Caspian Sea. They reached St. Peters-
burg on the 13th of November, after an absence of six
months, during which they had travelled between eleven
and twelve thousand miles.

On the 28th of December they were back in Berlin.

18

BOOK IV.

1829-185 9.

CHAPTER I.

HUMBOLDT AT HOME.

From the time of his return from Central Asia till the
day of his death, Humboldt resided in Berlin. His
house was in the Oranienburger Strasse, at a little dis-
tance from the Spree. It was a quiet neighbourhood, in
the northern part of the city, not far from the palace of
the King. The palace was his home, too, whenever he
chose to make it so ; indeed, during a large portion of
the year he might be said to reside with the King. When
he gave up Paris for Berlin, he entered into closer rela-
tions with his sovereign than was enjoyed by any other
person in the kingdom, outside the royal family. The
tie that bound them was one of the noblest that ever
bound a monarch and his subject. The King honoured
Humboldt for his profound wisdom, and Humboldt
respected the King for his many excellent qualities. It
was a sincere disinterested friendship on both sides. The
gain, however, was with the King, rather than with
Humboldt, for the rank and emolument that he bestowed
upon Humboldt were more than repaid by his society
and conversation.

Besides his palace at Berlin the King had palaces at
Potsdam and Charlottenburg. The Charlottenburg

414 PALACES AT POTSDAM.

palace was two or three miles from Berlin, outside the
Brandenburg gate. It was built by the King on his
marriage with the Princess Sophia Charlotte. The gar-
dens in which it stood were prettily laid out, diversified
with the windings of the Spree, and several small lakes
filled with carp. These carp were trained to come at the
sound of a bell, and pop their noses out of the water
for crumbs.

At Potsdam there were four royal palaces, the most
noted of which was the celebrated Sans Souci, built by
Frederic the Great, in 1745-47. It stood on a terrace on
the right of a broad avenue, which ran through the
grounds. The grounds and gardens were laid out in the
stiff formal French style of the last century ; here em-
bowered alleys and cut hedges, there statues of fawns
and wood nymphs, and there fountains spouting foam in
marble basins. Vines, olives, and oranges grew in hot-
houses. At the end of the terrace on which the palace
was built were the graves of the great Frederic's favour-
ite dogs, and of one of his horses that had borne him
through many battles. Old Fritz loved this spot, and
just before his death he used to be brought to it in a great
arm-chair, to bask in the sun, with his dogs around him.

In the gardens of Sans Souci stood the Charlottenhof
palace, built by Frederic William IV., when he was
crown prince. It was in the style of a Pompeian dwell-
ing, elegant and tasteful, with beautiful fountains, and
an antique altar, and a number of statues and bronzes
from Pompeii and Herculaneum. This was the King's
favourite residence while at Potsdam, and here Hum-
boldt generally resided when he visited him— several
rooms being set apart for his exclusive use.

HUMBOLDT AND AGASSIZ. 415

The commencement of 1830 found Humboldt and
his companions, Rose and Ehrenberg, at work on their
Asiatic journey, but some years elapsed before it was
ready for publication. Humboldt's portion was ready
first, which could hardly have been expected, a consider-
able portion of his time being taken up with his official
duties. He sought the advice and assistance of his sci-
entific friends, as was his custom when undertaking his
great works. This obliged him to reside a while in
Paris. He was also sent thither by the King, with a
diplomatic mission, to acknowledge Louis Philippe and
the new regime. This was in September, 1830. In
February, 1831, he filled another mission there, while
his brother William, who had retired from politics
shortly before the death of his wife, was decorated with
the order of the Black Eagle at home, and admitted into
the Council of State.

It was at this time that Humboldt first met Agassiz,
then a poor student, now the celebrated Professor. " I
was only twenty -four years of age," says Agassiz, in his
touching tribute to the memory of Humboldt, " I was
only twenty-four years of age when in Paris, whither I
had gone with means given to me by a friend, but was
as last about to resign my studies from want of ability to
meet my expenses. Professor Mitscherlich was then on
a visit to Paris, and I had seen him in the morninsr,
when he had asked me what was the cause of my de-
pressed feelings, and I told him that I had to go, for I
had nothing left. The next morning as I was seated at
breakfast, in front of the yard of the hotel where I lived,
I saw the servant of Humboldt approach. He handed
me a note, saying there was no answer, and disappeared.

416 HUMBOLDT'S LIBEKAJLITY.

I opened the note, and I see it now before me as dis-
tinctly as if I held the paper in my hand. It said :

" ' My friend, I hear that you intend leaving Paris in
consequence of some embarrassments. That shall not
be. I wish you to remain here as long as the object for
which you came is not accomplished. I inclose you a
check for fifty pounds. It is a loan which you may
repay when you can.'

"Some years afterwards, when I could have repaid him,
1 wrote, asking for the privilege of remaining for ever in
his debt, knowing that this request would be more con-
sonant to his feelings than the recovery of the money,
and I am now in his debt. What he has done for me I
know he has done for many others — in silence and un-
known to the world.

" It is a circumstance worth noticing," continues Pro-
fessor Agassiz, " that above all the great powers Prus-
sia has more distinguished scientific and literary men
among her diplomatists than any other State. And so
Ilumboldt was actually a diplomatist in Paris ; though
he was placed in that position, not from choice, but in
consequence of the benevolence of the King, who wanted
to give him an opportunity of being in Paris as often and
as long as he chose.

" But from that time there were two men in him, the
diplomatist, living in the Hotel des Princes, and the natu-
ralist who roomed in the Rue de la Harpe, in a modest
apartment in the second story, where his scientific friends
had access to him every day before seven. After that
he was frequently seen working in the library of the
Institute until the time when the Grand Seigneur made
his appearance at the court, or in the salons of Paris."

ASIATIC FRAGMENTS. 417

It was through Humboldt's liberality in 1833, that
Agassiz was enabled to commence the publication of his
great work on Fossil Fishes ; and in the fulfilment of a
mission suggested to the King of Prussia by the same
kind friend, that he emigrated to the United States in
1846.

Besides filling the diplomatic mission which called him
to Paris, Humboldt was busily engaged in seeing through
the press, the first instalment of his journey to Central
Asia. It was published in 1831, under the title of
"Asiatic Fragments." It was not a narrative of the
journey, for the writing of the narrative was assigned
to Rose, but a dissertation in two octavo volumes, on
geology and climatology. The first volume treats of the
mountain-ridges and volcanoes of Central Asia, and of
the various kinds of eruptions in different parts of that
region, comparing them with similar eruptions in Ame-
rica. " He has everywhere interspersed." says Professor
Klencke, " numerous geognostic observations and notes
on the general formation of the soil between the Altai
and the Himalaya mountains, and his communications
on the remarkable occurrence of volcanoes in the middle
of the continent, and far from the ocean, are of great in-
terest. Here Humboldt placed science on a new footing,
for he liad had the special opportunity of observing the
volcanoes in three different quarters of the world. He per-
ceived that the volcanic phenomena could no longer be
considered as belonging to geological developments, but
that they must be explained by physical history in gene-
ral, as the volcanic activity seemed to him to be the
result of a continual communication between the interior
of the earth, which is in a molten fluid condition, and

18*

41 S HUMBOLDT'S THEORY OF VOLCANOES.

the atmosphere which surrounds the hardened and oxy-
dized crust of our planet. On this theory he explained
the still active and the extinct craters, the direction of
the mountain-ridges, and the formations of the soil ; he
deciphered the traces of former terrestrial revolutions,
their relative age, and the physical powers which have
influenced and still influence the form of the earth's sur-
face. Thus the masses of lava which pour from the
craters were to him the petrified streams of formerly
gushing springs of the interior of the earth ; from the
connection and similaritv of effects he traced the causes
and conditions of the formation of rocks and superin-
cumbent strata, of the chemical results of volcanic erup-
tions, of elevations and depressions of the earth's sur-
face. By the strictest investigation of all occurring new
appearances, and by penetrating combination of analo-
gous, observed facts, he explained numerous physical
and geological problems, whose exact solution had
hitherto been deemed impossible. Humboldt thinks that
the volcanic activity of our earth, compared to former
ages, is considerably decreased ; it can no longer bring
forth new elevations or heat in the north, but can only
produce small craters, and an agitation of the earth's
surface. Before the advent of man into terrestrial nature,
a tropical, animal, and vegetable world flourished every-
where on the volcanically -heated earth ; now, on the
cooled planet, the petrified surface only receives warmtli
from the sun, the tropical luxuriance died out towards the
north, and only flourishes where the sun can exercise its
perpendicular influence over the tropics.

In those remote ages of the boiling centre of our earth-
ball, the hot fluid and the gases it generated often and on

CORRECTION OF GEOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. 41 &

many points burst through, the firm crust with tremen-
dous force, made clefts and depressions in it into which
the molten masses of metal, basalt, and other matter
flowed, which were petrified, and now lie in the thus-
formed mountain ridges. Thus arose the Cordilleras of
the Andes, the Himalaya mountains, and thus was petri-
fied the waving surface of the broken soil into those hills
and valleys which transform our plains into picturesque
landscapes. From these causes Humboldt explained the
peculiarities of the Asiatic soil. It was in consequence
of the volcanic power which raised mountains and conti-
nents, and swelled up the earth-crust bubbling like a
gigantic vault, that these hollow vaults sank down in
the course of ages, and thus Humboldt established that
the depression of the surface of the old world, where the
level of the Caspian Sea, like that of the Sea of Ural,
lies two hundred or three hundred feet below the level
of the ocean, and where the depression of the firm soil
extends as far as Orenberg, Saratow, and south-east, pro-
bably as far as the so-called central plain, is nothing but
a crater-land like that of the moon, where the large
points, above one hundred miles broad, called Hipparch,
Archimedes, and Ptolemy, form a basin formation such
as exists also nearer home ; for instance, in Bohemia.

Before Humboldt's journey into the interior of Asia,
there existed many erroneous notions of the geography,
the connexion of the mountain-chains, and the produc-
tions of the soil of those districts, but an entirely new
view of the country was acquired through this bold and
penetrating traveller, who made a large number of inde-
pendent latitude measurements, and who obtained varied
information on travelling routes and local circumstances

420 CLIMATOLOGY OF ASIA.

from travelled Tartars, Bulgarians, and Taschktnts, as
well as from the Russian officers. The inner, central
part of Asia was not, as had been supposed, an immense
agglomeration of mountains, nor an uninterrupted table-
land, for Humboldt established that this part of the
world was crossed from east to west by four mountain-
systems (by the Altai, which ends westward in the Kir-
ghiz district, by the Himmelsberg, by Kuenlun, and by
the Himalaya), which have exercised authenticated in-
fluence on the historical migrations of nations. And
thus Humboldt discovered a volcanic territory in the
centre of Asia, which is one thousand to one thousand
four hundred miles distant from the ocean, and which
presents a surface of two thousand five hundred geo-
graphical miles.

The second volume of the " Asiatic Fragments" con-
tains, besides the description of the twelve routes, "Obser-
vations on the Temperature and the Hygrometric Con-
dition of the Atmosphere in some portions of Asia, and
Investigations into the Causes of the Deflection of the
Isothermic Lines" — namely, the imaginary lines which
unite all points on the earth of equal mean temperature.
In this volume we have important contributions to a cli-
matic knowledge of that country, and in it are indicated
also the causes which produce the deflection of the iso-
thermic lines from the parallel circles. These results,
based on numerous astronomic and magnetic measure-
ments, throw an entirely new light on this branch of
science, and are again closely connected with the results
of the former American journey, as Humboldt had there
also construed the terrestrial laws from similar pheno-
mena in the old and new world."

OBSERVATIONS IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 421

"But the Asiatic journey," continues the Professor,
" became of vast importance in its more extensive re-
sults. Where Humboldt could not himself institute
observations, he arranged further studies for others, with
prudence and foresight. In many parts of Siberia, he
left carefully compared thermometers in the hands of
competent and intelligent persons, and awakened the
taste for these measurements and comparative experi-
ments, especially among the Russian mining superin-
tendents of the Ural Mountains. In addition to this, he
gained the assistance of the imperial academy of St.
Petersburg, by submitting to them an excellently regu-
lated plan for instituting over the entire extent of the
Russian empire a regular system of observations on the
daily changes in the state of barometer, thermometer,
and hygrometer, on the temperature of the air, the direc-
tion of the wind, and the moisture of the atmosphere.
The interest which all the members of the Academy
took in Humboldt's plan was increased by the Emperor's
interest ; and if it is taken into account that the Russian
empire presents a surface larger than the whole visible
surface of the moon, it will be comprehended what
important laws of terrestrial organization can be deduced
and revealed by contemporary and comparative observa-
tions over such a large field. The Russian government
at once acknowledged the importance of these plans, and
instituted a physical observatory in St. Petersburg, whose
task it was to choose the other observatory stations, to
compare and adjust the instruments with which the ex-
periments were to be made ; accurately to determine the
astronomical position of the stations selected, to superin-
tend and direct the magnetic and meteorologic researches,

422 HUMBOLDT AND GOETHE.

to arrange the collected results, to calculate them, and to
publish the mean results."

After the publication of the "Asiatic Fragments," Hum-
boldt returned to Berlin, stopping on his way at Weimar
to see Goethe. " I owe some hours of a frank friendly
conversation with your brother," Goethe wrote to Wil-
liam Von Humboldt on the 1st of December, 1831, "for
whom I can find no expressive title. For although his
view of accepting and operating on geological objects is
quite impossible for my cerebral organs, I have seen with
real interest and admiration how that of which I cannot
convince myself, is with him clearly deduced, and enters
into combination with the stupendous mass of his know-
ledge, where it is then digested by his most estimable
character." A few months more, and Goethe was dead.

The next six or seven years of Humboldt's life were
devoid of incident. His time- was principally spent at
Berlin with the King, and at Tegel with his brother Wil-
liam. Indeed all the time that he could spare from his
official duties was devoted to William. The death of
Frau Caroline brought them more closely together ; the
blow that robbed William of his wife gave him back his
brother. Not that there had ever been a shadow of
estrangement between them, but in their case, as in thou-
sands of others, death seemed to reveal them more fully
to each other. Their hearts were cemented by sorrow.
Besides this there was another bond between them — the
growing consciousness that William's health was de-
clining. The blow that struck down Frau Caroline
seemed to have wounded him also, for from the day of
her death he was changed. His nerves were shattered;
he stooped and tottered in his gait, and his whole body

LAST ILLNESS OF AVILLIAM VON HUMBOLDT. 423

trembled. It was evident that one of u the German Dio-
scuri," as the brothers were called, was on his way to the
Silent Land. One by one the friends of his youth went
before him. First Niebuhr and Stein ; then Goethe and
Gentz, and then Hegel and Schleiermacher. Then it was
his turn. It was his custom to visit his wife's grave on
the anniversary of her birthday, and it cost him at last
his life ; for on one of these solemn festivals of his soul
he caught a severe cold, which hastened his death.
Three days before he died Alexander wrote concerning
him to their mutual friend, Varnhagen Yon Ense. Here
is his letter.

" Berlin, 6 o'clock a.m., 6th April, 1835.

" You, my dear Yarnhagen, who do not fear pain, but
consider it reflectively in the depth of the feelings, you
must receive a few words of love which the two brothers
feel for you in this mournful time. The dissolution has
not taken place yet. I left him at eleven o'clock last
night, and now hasten thither again. Yesterday was a
less painful day : he was in a half soporific condition, had
much and not very restless sleep ; and at each awaking,
words of love and consolation, and the clearness of his
great intellect, which comprehends everything, and ex-
amines its own condition. His voice was very weak,
hoarse, and sharp, like a child's, therefore the physician
applied leeches to the larynx. He is perfectly conscious.
' Think often of me,' he said, the day before yesterday,
1 but always cheerfully. I have been very happy ; to-day
also was a happy da}7- for me, for love is the greatest
happiness. I shall soon be with your mother, and com-
prehend the laws of the higher world.' I have no hope.

424 HIS DEATH.

I did not think my old eyes could shed so many tears.
It has now lasted eight days.

" A. Y. HUMBOLDT."

Three days passed, — three long and dreary days of
suffering and sorrow, and all was over. He died in his
brother's arms.

" I had the misfortune to lose my brother the day be-
fore yesterday," Humboldt wrote to Arago, "and am
in the most profound grief. In great distress we think of
those dearest to us, and I feel a slight consolation in
writing to you. We saw him dying for six days. His
weakness had painfully increased during the last week ; a
continued trembling had shown itself in all his limbs,
but his mind had retained all its native vigor. He la-
boured ceaselessly, and leaves two almost finished works ;
one on the languages of the Indian archipelago, derived
from the Sanscrit ; the other, on the origin and philosophy
of languages in general. These works will be published.
My brother has left his manuscripts, his commenced
works, and his valuable collection of books, to the public
library. He died of an inflammation of the lungs,
watching, with painful sagacity, the progress of the dis-
ease. His was a high intellect, and his soul was full of
elevation and nobility. I feel very isolated."

William Von Humboldt was buried on Palm Sunday.
At eleven o'clock the processiou started from the castle.
First came the hearse covered with crape and drawn by four
horses, followed by Alexander and William's children
and grand-children ; then a number of noble personages
from Berlin, Prince William, the King's brother, seve-
ral generals and statesmen, and a long train of scholars

THE FUNERAL AT TEGEL. 425

and artists: and then the people of the village, who
showed their affection for the dead man's memory by
following his body to the grave, singing hymns and
psalms as they went. The solemn procession wonnd its
way through the grounds until it reached the monument
which William had erected for his wife. It stood at the
end of an alley of cypress, in a spot of the park to
which Frau Caroline had been partial, and which she
had chosen for a resting-place. Upon the summit of
this monument, stood a statue of Hope, by Thorwaldsen.
Under this divine angel, by the side of his dead wife, the
great scholar was laid with prayers and many tears.

" You should have known my brother William,"
Alexander used to say in after years : "he was always
the cleverest of us two brothers."

There is a period in our lives when we think that
grief will kill us. It is in youth when we are ignorant,
not in age when we are wise. . Age teaches us many
things, not the least of which is our power of endurance.
Humboldt felt that he was desolate after his brother's
death, but he also felt that he could endure his desola-
tion. He had many consolations left him still, — his
friends, his books, his inextinguishable thirst for know-
ledge. As we have given a glimpse of his private life,
*let us reverse the medal, and show him as he appeared to
the public at this time.

" When, in the years 1834-5," says the author of Ber-
lin and the Berliner s, " we young students thronged into
lecture room No. VIIL, at eighjt o'clock on winter morn-
ings, to hear Bockh on Greek literature and antiquities,
we used to see in the crowd of students in the dark cor-
ridor, a small, white-haired, old, and happy-looking man,

426 HUMBOLDT IN THE LECTURE-ROOM.

dressed in a long brown coat. This man was the studi-
osus phiblogice, Alexander Von Humboldt, who came, a.s
lie said, to go through again what he had neglected in his
youth. When we met him in the lecture-room we re-
spectfully made way for him ; for though we had no re-
spect for anybody, especially professors, Humboldt was
an exception, for he knew ' a hellish deal.' To his own
honour, the German student still respects this quality.
During the lecture Humboldt sat on the fourth or fifth
bench near the window, where he drew a piece of paper
from a portfolio in his pocket, and took notes. In going
home he liked to acc6mpany Bockh, so as in conversa-
tion to build some logical bridge or other from the old
world to the new, after his ingenious fashion. There was
then in the class a man who has since distinguished him-#
self in political literature, but whom we had nicknamed
{ Mosherosh,' that is Calves'-head, on account of his
stupid appearance. As Mosherosh generally came in late,
it was the fashion to receive him with a magnificent
round of stamping. One day, Humboldt too came late,
and just at the usual time of Mosherosh, and without
looking up we gave the regular round, while Humboldt,
blushing and embarrassed, made his way to his place. In
a moment the mistake was seen, and a good-natured
laugh succeeded. Humboldt also attended the evening
lectures of Ritter on universal geography, and let the
weather be as bad as it might, the gray-haired man never
failed. If for a rarity he chanced not to come, we said
among ourselves in students' jargon, 'Alexander cuts
the college to-day, because he's gone to King's to
tea.' Once, on occasion of discussing an important
problem of physical geography, Ritter quoted him, and

PROPOSED HISTORY OF COLUMBUS. 427

everybody looked up at him. Humboldt bowed to us,
with his usual good-nature, which put the youngsters
into the happiest humour. We felt ourselves elevated by
the presence of this great thinker and most laborious
student. We seemed to be joined with him in the pur-
suit of great scientific ends."

Humboldt's next work of consequence was " A Criti-
cal Examination of the history of the Geography of the
New Continent, and of the Progress of Nautical Astro-
nomy in the 15th and 16th Centuries." It was written
in French, and was published in five octavo volumes, at
Paris, in 1836-89. He had once intended to write a his-
tory of Columbus — a task for which no one was so
well fitted — and had employed the leisure hours of thirty
*years in collecting materials for it ; but the multiplicity
of his labours, in other directions, prevented him from
completing it. He was not content, however, to lose his
valuable materials, so he gave them to the world in the
work just named. It is divided into four divisions.
The first discusses the causes which prepared and led to
the discovery of the New World. The second relates to
Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, and the dates of several
important geographical discoveries. In the third he
treats of the early maps of the New World, and of the
time when the name America was first commonly used ;
the fourth is a history of the progress of nautical
astronomy, and map-making in the fifteenth and six-
teenth centuries. It is a fine subject, and Humboldt has
handled it, as no one besides himself could have done ; but
it is not equal to what we conceive his Life of Columbus
would have been, and we shall always regret that he
abandoned his first intention.

428 GRAND CHANCELLOR OF THE ORDER OF MERIT.

In 1840 Humboldt published an account of his
ascent of Chimborazo, and of the mean elevation of the
continent of America, besides superintending the publi-
cation of the works of his brother William. He was
also a member of the academic committee for the publica-
tion of the works of Frederic the Great. In January,
184:2, he accompanied the King of Prussia to England,
and was present with him at the baptism of the Prince
of Wales. In May of the same year a new order
awaited him, in connexion with the Order of Merit.
This order was founded by Frederic the Great as a mili-
tary order, only*flve non-military persons, of whom
Voltaire was one, being admitted into it in his time.
Frederic William IY. instituted a peace class of the
Order of Merit, and His Excellency the Baron Yon
Humboldt was chosen Grand Chancellor.

Thirteen years had now passed since Humboldt had
made his great Asiatic journey, and eleven years since
his first book on the subject, the " Asiatic Fragments,"
appeared. During that time he had collected a multi-
tude of fresh materials from his correspondents in Kussia,
and from the directors of the Observatory of St. Peters-
burg. So instead of preparing a second edition of the
" Asiatic Fragments," which was called for, the first
being out of print, he set about an entirely new work,
which should give the result of the latest discoveries.
He was assisted, as usual, by some of the most eminent
men of the time ; not so much by his former scientific
co-labourers, for the subject was bej^ond the pale of their
studies, as by a new and rising generation of naturalists and
scholars ; such men as Henrich Julius Klaproth, Stanis-
laus Julien, and Eugene Burnouf. Burnouf investigated

CENTRAL ASIA. 429

the ethnographical and geological portions of the subject
in the ancient Zend books, while Julien and Klaproth
devoted themselves to physical researches in Chinese, in
which language both were profound scholars. The result
of their labours was fused by Humboldt with his own,
and published at Paris in 1843, in three octavo volumes.
•The title of the new work was " Central Asia," and the
chief subjects that it treated of, were the mountain chains
and climatology of that region.

" The result of the Asiatic journey," says Professor
Klencke, " which Humboldt has given in his work on
Central Asia, are very various, and cannot yet be com-
bined under one common head. The most important
new investigations which have here led to further
inquiries, are the treatise on the mean altitude of the
great continent of the earth, on the table-lands of the
interior of Asia, on the mountain .system of Kuenlun,
on the depression of the Caspian Sea and its environs,
below the level of the ocean ; also historico-geographical
investigations into the former course of the Kiver Oxus,
and communications on the boundary of perpetual snow.
Besides this, the work contains plates, which give the
mean temperature of more than three hundred places,
and besides the voluminous geognostic revelations of the
Ural, the volcanoes, the beds of gold, and on the pro-
duce of the gold washings in the Ural districts, and in
Siberia, on the diamonds in the mountains, there are
explanatory essays by Stanislaus Julien, on Chinese his-
torical sources, additions by Klaproth, on volcanoes,
notes by Valenciennes, on the sea-dogs of the Caspian
Sea, &c. The work abounds in important results, and
includes a chart of Central Asia, drawn by Humboldt

430 PROFESSOR LIEBEK'S VISIT TO HUMBOLDT.

himself, which is prepared entirely according to the
latest astronomic and altitude measurements. The cal-
culation of the astronomical observations made for this
purpose, in Siberia, was the last work of Humboldt's
constant fellow- worker, Oltmans, who died soon after the
completion of this task."

But let us for a moment leave these great works, and
glance at their author.

" I visited Humboldt," said Professor Lieber, in his
eloquent address before the New York Geographical
Society, "I visited Humboldt at Potsdam in the year
1844, when he had reached, therefore, the age of seventy-
five ; for you know that he was born in that memorable
year, 1769, in which Cuvier was born, and Wellington,
and Chauteaubriand, and Napoleon, and Canning, and
Walter Scott, and Mackintosh — just ten years after
Schiller, just twenty after Goethe. Humboldt told me
at that time that he was engaged in a work which he
intended to call Kosmos ; that he was obliged chiefly to
write at night, for in the morning he studied and
arranged materials, and in the evening he was expected
to be with the King from 9 o'clock to about 11. After
his return from the King he was engaged in writing until
1 or 2 o'clock.

" Humboldt, when in Berlin or Potsdam, was retained,
if we may use a professional term, to join the evening
circle of the King for the indicated hours. It was all, I
believe, he was expected actually to perform in return
for the titles, honours, and revenue which he was enjoy-
ing, except that the monarch sometimes selected him as
a companion on his journeys. Humboldt described to
me the character of these royal evening reunions. Every-

THE ROYAL REUNIONS. 431

thing of interest, as the day brought it to notice, was
there discussed. The drawing of a beautiful live oak,
near Charleston, which a fair friend had made for me,
was taken by Humboldt to that circle, where it attracted
so much attention that he begged me to leave it, and he
told me that the volume describing our aqueduct, which
my friend, the author, now the President of our College,
had given me at the time of its publication, and which I
had then sent him, had furnished the topic of discussion
for an entire week. We collected, he said, all possible
works on ancient and modern aqueducts, and compared,
discussed, and applied, for many successive evenings. Is
there, then, a royal road to knowledge after all, when a
Humboldt can be retained ?

"May I extend your supposed permission of giving
personal anecdotes, provided they are of a sufficiently
biographical character, such as Plutarch, perhaps, would
not have disdained to record ? I desire to show what
interest he took in everything connected with progress.
I have reason to believe that it was chiefly owing to him
that the King of Prussia offered me, not long after my
visit, a chair to be created in the University of Berlin,
exclusively dedicated to the science and art of Punish-
ment, or to Pcenology. I had conversed with the
Monarch on the superiority of solitary confinement at
labour over all the other prison systems, when he con-
cluded our interview with these words : ' I wish you
would convince Mr. Yon Humboldt of your views. He
is rather opposed to them. I shall let him know that you
will see him.'

" Humboldt and prison discipline sounded strange to
my ears. I went and found that he loved truth better

432 HUMBOLDT'S INTEREST IN THE ERIE CANAL.

than his own opinion or bias ; and my suggestion that
so comprehensive a University as that of Berlin, our com-
mon native city, ought to be honoured with having the
first chair of pcenology, for which it was high time to
carve out a distinct branch, treating of the convict in all
his phases after the act of conviction, was seized upon at
once by his liberal mind. He soon carried the Minister
of Justice along with him, and the offer to which I have
alluded was the consequence.

" On the other hand, a friend, whose name is perhaps
more interwoven with the history of our canal than that
of any other citizen, except Clinton, informs me that he
had the pleasure of sitting by the side of Humboldt at a
royal dinner, at Charlottenburg. During the whole time
they were engaged in conversing almost exclusively on
our great canal, and that greater one which ought to
unite in everlasting wedlock the sturdy Atlantic and
the teeming Pacific, having now yearned for one another
for centuries. Humboldt spoke with a knowledge of
details and a sagacious discernment which were sur-
prising to my friend, well versed in all the details of
these topics.

" Although it has been stated by high authority that
the works of Humboldt show to every one who can
' read between the lines' an endeavour to present
Nature in her totality, unconnected with Man, I cannot
otherwise than state here that, on the contrary, it has
ever appeared to me that this great man, studying
nature in her details, and becoming what Bacon calls
her interpreting priest, he elevates himself to those
heights whence he can take a comprehensive view of
her in connexion with man and the movements of

POETIC TEMPERAMENT OF HUMBOLDT. 433

society, with language, economy, and exchange, insti-
tutions and architecture, which is to man almost like the
nidifying instinct to the bird. Humboldt's tendency in
this respect seems to me in its sphere not wholly dissi-
milar to the view which his friend Hitter takes of geo-
graphy in connexion with history."

"Some fifteen years ago," continued Professor Lieber,
after speaking of a visit which he made to William Von
Humboldt at Tegel; "some fifteen years ago, Hum-
boldt presided over the annual meeting of Naturalists,
then held at Berlin. In his opening speech he chiefly
discoursed on the merits of Linnaeus. He knew of
Linnaeus as Herodotus knew of Salamis and Thermo-
pylae ; for the life of the great Swede overlapped by
some ten years that of Humboldt, and all he there said
of Linne seems to me to apply to himself with far
greater force and on an enlarged scale. In that speech,
too, I remember, he quoted his friend Schiller. Hum-
boldt was, in a marked manner, of a poetic tempera-
ment. I do not believe that, without it, he would have
been able to receive those living impressions of nature,
and to combine what was singly received, in those vivid
descriptions and in language so true and transparent,
that they surprise the visitor of the scenes to this day.
He had that constructive imagination — I do not speak
now of inventive fancy — without which no man can be
great in any branch, whether it belong to nature or to
history.

" But yesterday an officer of our navy, whose profes-
sion has made him well acquainted with South America,
by sea and land, and with the Andes — one of the Monu-
ments of our Illustrious Man — told me that he knew of

19

434 HUMBOLDT AS A LINGUIST.

no descriptions or rather characteristics, so true to living
reality as Humboldt's Views of Nature, which he had
perused and enjoyed on the spot.

" The power of collocation and shrewdness of connex-
ion, the knowledge of detail and the absence of a desire
to perceive things according to a system, the thirst for a
knowledge of the Life of Nature and the constant wish
to make all of us share in the treasures of his know-
ledge— his lucid style, which may raise his Kosmos to a
German classic — these seem to me to characterize Hum-
boldt in his studies of Nature, besides all that which he
has done as a professional naturalist.

" Humboldt's name and life may be termed with strict
propriety of language, international. He read and spoke
English and Italian ; he spoke and wrote Spanish
with ease and correctness, and French almost as well as
German ; he lived for entire periods of many years in
Paris, and counted many French among his best friends,
yet not at the expense of patriotism. In that very
speech at Berlin, which has been mentioned, he dwells
with pleasure on the penetrating effect which the Ger-
man mind has exercised on all the physical sciences no
less than in the mental branches.

" Humboldt was a dweller in kingly palaces; a courtier,
if you choose, and the son of a courtier, without a taint
of servile flattery or of submission. He was rather the
honoured guest of royalty. He loved liberty, and con-
sidered it a necessary element of our civilization. He
was a sincere friend of substantial, institutional freedom.
His mind often travelled to this countrv, and that he
loved America (sometimes with sadness) is sufficiently
shown, were it not otherwise well known, by the sin-

MY IXEAR FRIEND, ARAGO. 435

gular love which the Americans bore him. To me that
little piece of news was inexpressibly touching which
simply informed us that our Minister in Berlin, with the
Americans now present at that city — a cluster of
mourners from afar — formed part of his funeral pro-
cession, the only foreign nation thus represented.

"In his simplicity and genial warmth he did what
many a bold man would have hesitated to do. I was
present as a young and distant listener, when, at Rome,
immediately after the Congress of Verona, the King of
Prussia, Humboldt and Niebuhr conversed on the affairs
of the day, and when the last-mentioned spoke in no
flattering terms of the political views and antecedents of
Arago, who, it is well known, was a very advanced
Republican of the Gallican School, an uncompromising
French Democrat. Frederick William III. simply abo-
minated republicanism, yet when Niebuhr had finished,
Humboldt said, with a sweetness which I vividly remem-
ber: 'Still this monster is the dearest friend I have in
France.'

" Humboldt had all his brother's views of the necessity
of the highest University education and of the widest
possible popular education, and he gave impulse to
many a scientific, historical, or ethnological expedition,
fitted out even by foreign governments, for he was con-
sidered the counsellor of all.

" But I cannot dwell, here, any longer on his versatility
and manifold aptitude. It is proved by the literature
of almost every branch. If we read Barth on Central
Africa, we find Humboldt; if we read Say's Political
Economy, we find his name ; if we study the history of
the Nineteenth Century, we find his name in the diplo-

436 HUMBOLDT COMMENCES KOSMOS.

macy of Prussia and France ; if we read general litera-
ture, we find his name in connexion with Schiller and
Madame de Stael ; if we look at modern maps, we find
his isothermal lines ; if we consult Grimm's dictionary
of the German language, we find Humboldt as authority.

" That period has arrived to which Croesus alluded in
the memorable exclamation, Oh, Solon, Solon, Solon !
and we are now allowed to say, that Humboldt was one of
the most gifted, most fortunate, and most favoured mor-
tals— favoured even with comeliness, with a brow so
exquisitely formed that irrespective of its being the
symbol of lofty thought, it is pleasant to look upon in his
busts as a mere beautiful thing — favoured even in his
name, so easily uttered by all nations which were des-
tined to pronounce it.

" When we pray, not only for the kindly fruits of the
earth, but also, as we ought to do, for the kindly fruits
of the mind, let us always gratefully remember that He
who gives all blessed things, has given to our age and to
all posterity, such a man as Humboldt."

The publication of the narrative of the expedition to
the Ural, by Rose, in 1837-42, and of Humboldt's
"Central Asia" in 18-13, gave the latter the leisure that
he needed to begin the long-delayed "Kosmos." To the
publication of this work, which was to embody the sub-
stance of his lectures delivered at Berlin in 1828-29,
Humboldt had in some sort committed himself, before
starting on the Asiatic iournev. As he remembered
only the outlines of his lectures (there were sixty-one in
all, the reader will remember, and they were delivered
without notes), he was obliged to go over the whole
ground anew. He had begun to do so, we have already

HUMBOLDT AND MILTON. 43)

seen, when Professor Lieber visited him in 1844 ; and
from that time until within a few months of his death,
he was engaged on this great undertaking. The idea of
a work like " Kosmos" had been in his mind for nearly
fifty years. It was, as it were, the sun of his life, and
though his lesser works might seem for a while to
obscure it, floating like clouds between it and the world
of men, it was still there as radiant as ever, shining
divinely in his limitless firmament of mind. One by
one the clouds were drifted aside, — the royal pavilions
of his genius, rich with purple and gold — and in the
calm sweet evening of his age the world was enlightened
as it never had been before.

Glorious old man ! We love to think of thee and thy
immortal task ! We see thee in thy study, the floor
around thee piled with books, the table before thee
strewn with charts, the pen in thy fingers flying over the
sheets of white paper, as thou thinkest "the thoughts
of God," the Divine Conception that shaped the Kos-
mos, the universal World Poem, which thou art singing
anew in thy grand old German tongue ! Next to Milton,
blind, old, poor, sitting at the door of his cottage in the
sunshine, and dictating his long-delayed task, — " Para-
dise Lost," we know of no grander spectacle than the
white-haired Humboldt writing "Kosmos" at midnight!
The men were unlike in many things, one a dweller in
kingly places, the other " fallen on evil days and evil
tongues " but both had served the world through a long

CD I DO

life, and both on the threshold of death were serving it
still, each building a deathless poem. For " Kosmos" is
a poem, though it lacks the jingle of rhythm.

The first volume of "Kosmos" was published in 1845,

438 STEPHENS THE TRAVELLER IX BERLIN.

the fifth and last in 1858. With the exception of a
journey to Copenhagen in the former year, and an occa-
sional visit to Paris (his last visit to the French capital
was in October, 1847), Humboldt spent this time, the
last twilight of the mellow evening of his life, at Berlin,
Potsdam, and Tegel. The preface to the first volume
of " Kosmos" is dated from Potsdam, and the preface to
the last edition of the " Aspects of Nature" from Berlin.
He was visited at the former place in 1817, by Stephens,
the distinguished American traveller, recently deceased.

" Towards sunset, on the first of July," says Mr. Ste-
phens, " the railroad cars from Hamburg brought me to
the gate of Berlin. Entering the city the twilight of a
northern summer illuminated the stately houses, and the
broad avenue of Unter den Linden. Leaving the broad
portal of the Brandenburgh gate, with the car of Victory
on the top, carried off as a trophy by Napoleon, and
after eight years of captivity restored to its place — and
riding on to the other extremity of the avenue, I had
before me at one view the Schloss Platz, or Palace
Square, with the colossal palace, and all the most magni-
ficent buildings of the city, all enlarged and made more
grand by the mellow twilight, and exhibiting an archi-
tectural splendour hardly to be met with in any capital
in Europe. Turning off on one side of the square, at
nine o'clock, I was ' taking mine ease' in the salon of the
Hotel de Russie.

"I had gone over in the Washington, the pioneer of
the American mail steamers to Bremen, and was striking
over the continent for a passeo on the Rhine, and to
intercept the steamer at Southampton on her return to
New York. I had but one day for Berlin. There was

AT SANS SOUCI. 439

but one object in it I had any special desire to see, and
that was — Humboldt. I might visit Berlin again, the
other monuments of the city would remain ; but he
might pass away.

"Early in the morning I called upon Mr. Donaldson,
our minister, and to my extreme regret learned from him
that Baron Humboldt was with the king at Potsdam,
thirty miles distant, in feeble health, and unable to
receive visitors. Fortunately I had occasion to call
upon Baron Yon Rcenne, formerly Prussian Minister to
this country, and incidentally mentioning to him my
disappointment and regret, he stopped me abruptly, and
with friendly earnestness said, that I must not leave
Berlin without seeing Baron Humboldt, at the same
time looking at his watch, calling up my servant, telling
him that the cars for Potsdam started at twelve ; and
hastily writing a line of introduction, without allowing
me time for acknowledgments, he hurried me off to my
carriage. A brisk ride brought me to the depot just in
time for the cars ; three quarters of an hour carried us
to Potsdam, and almost before I had recovered from my
surprise I was at Baron Humboldt's residence.

" It was in the royal palace, a stately and historic pile,
once the residence of Frederick the Great, with his apart-
ments remaining in the same state in which he left them.
One wing was now occupied by Baron Humboldt, and it
seemed a just tribute and a right reward — a proper
crowning of his fame, alike honourable to prince and
subject, that after years of travel, of physical and intel-
lectual labour, he should, in the evening of his days,
return to the town in which he was born, to live in the
royal palace, the guest and friend of his king.

440 PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF IIVMP.OLDT.

"Ascending to the door of his apartments I was dis
appointed anew by positive word from the servant in
attendance, that the Baron would not receive any visitors
that day. With very little hope of success, but disposed
to try every chance, I left my letter, and card, with an
intimation that I would call again at two o'clock.

" On my return, the expression of the servant's face
as he opened the door relieved me of all apprehension.
Showing me into an adjoining apartment, Baron Hum-
boldt came to meet me with the flattering greeting that
no letter of introduction was necessary.

" I was entirely mistaken in the idea I had formed of
his personal appearance, and was surprised at not finding
him bowed down and bent by age. Nearly half a cen-
tury ago, he had filled the first place in the world of
letters, sitting as it were, upon a throne, lighting up the
pathway of science to the philosopher, and teaching the
schoolboy at his desk. He was recorded in the annals
of a long generation. Indeed, his reign had been so
long, and his fame went back so far, that until I saw
him bodily I had almost regarded him as a part of
history, and belonging to the past; even then, alone, and
in the stillness of the palace, I could hardly keep from
looking at him as something monumental, receiving the
tribute of posthumous fame.

" He is now nearly eighty, but has the appearance of
being some years younger. In stature he is rather under
than above the middle size, with a frame, probably in
youth, well fitted for the hardships of his arduous travels.
His head might serve as a study for a craniologist ; his
face is broad, and his eye remarkable for its intellect and
expression. He was dressed in a plain suit of black,

MAIL STEAMERS TO BREMEN. 441

without ribands or decorations of any kind, and his
apartments corresponded with the simplicity of his per-
sonal appearance. He was debilitated from an attack of
illness, but the vigour and elasticity of his mind were
unimpaired. He spoke English with much fluency, but
with an accent, and his manner of speaking and the tone
of his conversation reminded me of Mr. Gallatin, who
was an old personal friend, and to whom he wished to
be remembered.

" The ruined cities of America, being the means of
bringing me to his acquaintance, were of course the first
subject referred to, but learning that my connexion with
the line of mail steamers to Bremen was the immediate
object which had brought me to Germany, he expressed
his satisfaction that I was identified with an enterprise at
that moment most interesting to Germany. He con-
sidered the action of our government in establishing the
line, wise and statesmanlike, as, for a commercial people
like ours, it must be the means of opening new relations,
and a wide field for the enterprise of our citizens. He
himself felt a lively interest in its success, believing that
the Germans of all classes were desirous of direct inter-
course with us ; that they had a great variety of manu-
factures which might be exchanged to advantage for the
large amount of our staples now consumed in that coun-
try, when more frequent intercourse should give a better
knowledge of each other's wants and resources; as
between the United States and Germany there never
could be any feeling of rivalry, or any cause of collision,
and the closer we could be drawn together the better it
would be for both countries. He spoke of the long lines
of railroads now constructing in Germany, to connect

19*

442 HUMBOLDT'S INTEREST IX TOLITICS.

the Rhine and the Danube, the Adriatic and the North
Sea, with branches from towns and manufacturing dis-
tricts, winding into each other all over the country, fur-
nishing facilities for travel and transportation to the sea-
board, such as had never been known before, the greater
part of which, both as a matter of feeling, and on the
score of interest, must in the first instance turn to the
United States.

"He inquired about Mr. Wheaton, our late Minister
to that country, whether he had arrived in the United
States before my departure, and what was to be his
future career. He said that it was understood at Berlin
that he was to be appointed Minister to France, and
expressed his surprise that the United States should be
willing to lose the public services of one so long trained
in the school of diplomacy, and so well acquainted with
the political institutions of Europe.

" Although I had heard Baron Humboldt spoken of
as one of the privy councillors of the king, I did not
expect to find him, at his advanced age, and with his
great work Kosmos to occupy his mind, bestowing much
of his attention on political relations ; but the political
condition of Prussia, and indeed of the world, seemed to
be the subject which interested him most. It was in fact
just at that moment an interesting point in the history
of Prussia. The long-callcd-for Diet, which had been
looked to with great anxiety throughout all Germany,
had closed its session but two davs before mv arrival.
For the first time in the history of Prussia, delegates had
been permitted to appear at the capital, and, in the
hearing of the king, discuss the measures of his govern-
ment. Great reforms had been Droposed, and boldly and

HUMBOLDT COMPLIMENTS PRESCOTT. 443

fearlessly debated. The debates had been published,
and the voice of a liberal party heard all over Germany.

" Baron Humboldt himself is a liberal, a firm believer
in progress and improvement, known and recognised as
sympathizing with that great political party which has
for its lofty aim the greatest good to the greatest num-
ber, bettering the condition of the masses, and increasing
the sum of human happiness; and while throughout the
civilized world he has filled ' the measure of his fame' as
a traveller and philosopher, in Prussia he is regarded
besides as one of her soundest and best statesmen.

"Out of Europe, Mexico seemed to be the country
-which interested him most ; perhaps from its connexion
with those countries which had brought me to his
acquaintance, or, more probably, because it was the
foundation of his own early fame. He spoke of Mr.
Prescott's History of the Conquest, and said that I might,
when the opportunity offered, say to that gentleman, as
from himself, that there was no historian of the age, in
England or Germany, equal to him.

" And he was keenly alive to the present condition of
Mexico ; he was full of our Mexican war ; his eyes were
upon General Taylor and the American army. I was
well aware that, in the conduct of this war, General Tay-
lor was drawing upon himself the eyes of all Europe ;
and that, whatever might be the differences of opinion as
to its necessity or justice, it was producing everywhere,
in monarchical and anti-republican countries, a strong
impression of our ability and power for war — which in
enlightened (?) Europe, even at this day, more than all
the fruits of peace, industry, and extended commerce,
more than the exhibition of twenty millions of people

1 ! 1 HIS INTEREST IN GENERAL TAYLOR.

abounding in all the comforts of life, raises us to the
rank of a ' first-rate power,' and makes us ' respected.'

"Baron Humboldt said that with one of his own maps
before them, the king and his military council had fol-
lowed General Taylor from his encampment at Corpus
Christi, to Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, through
the storming of Monterey, and the bloody seenes of
Buena Yista. They had fought over all his battles, and,
with his positions all marked on the map, were then
looking for further tidings. They had seen and appre-
ciated all bis difficulties at Buena Yista. In Prussia war
is a science, and according to the leading policy of
Europe, to be always ready for war, every male in Prus-
sia, the highest nobleman's son not excepted, is compelled
to serve his regular turn in the army. In the teeth of
all settled opinions, and as it were, upsetting the whole
doctrine of standing armies, General Taylor, with a
handful of regulars, and a small body of volunteers who
had never been in battle, had stood up for a whole day
against a murderous fire, and had finally defeated four
times his number. Field-marshals and generals of
Prussia, among them veterans who had studied the art of
war on the great battle-fields of Europe, were struck
with admiration at the daring and skill displayed at
Buena Vista; and this admiration, Baron Humboldt
said, they expressed without reserve, freely, publiclj-,
and everywhere. Amidst the bitterness and malignity
of the English press, it was grateful to hear from such
lips, that the leading military men of a military nation
did justice to the intrepidity of our volunteers, and to
the courage, skill, and high military talents of General
Taylor ; while Baron Humboldt's comments upon his

HIS LOVE OP THE UNITED STATES. 445

dispatches and orders, and in fact upon all that related
to him personally in the conduct of the war, were such
as no American could listen to without feeling proud.

" I had occupied, without any interruption, more than
an hour of Baron Humboldt's time, when the servant
entered to summon him to dinner — with the king. I
would have left him at once, but courteously saying that
if late, he would excuse himself by mentioning the
cause that detained him ; he urged me to remain a few
days for the purpose of making certain acquaintances at
Berlin, and, pressed as he was, insisted upon giving me a
line to a distinguished gentleman of that place, without
seeing whom he said I ought not to leave. Circum-
stances did not permit me to deliver the letter; but I
had the satisfaction of bringing it home with me, written
in German, in a strong, firm hand, as an autograph of
Humboldt, and a memento of one of my most interest-
ing incidents of travel."

Among the multitudes of all nations who visited
Humboldt in his last years, none were so warmly re-
ceived as those who came from America: to be an
American was an almost certain passport to his pre-
sence, and if the visitor was not ill-bred, to his favour.
He seemed to have a love for the people of the United
States; he appreciated the youth of their country, and
he admired their freshness and enthusiasm. "He who
knew our continent so well," says Bancroft, the historian,
who visited him in Paris in 1820, and again in 184:7 ;
" he who knew our continent so well, knew the relations
of the United States towards every part of it, and formed
his judgments respecting the gradual advancement of the
United States in the extent of its territory — -judged us

446 HUMBOLDT AND BANCROFT.

greatly, judged us calmly, with the best and most fervent
wishes for our welfare, with no disinclination to our in-
crease of territory. Wishing especially that California
and all the noble tract of land which now belongs to us
on the Pacific might come to us, expressing only his
apprehensions of the extent of territory that circum-
stances might step in and interfere with the proper
development of free institutions. I have never heard
any one discuss these questions of our relations to Mex-
ico and our relations to Cuba more calmly and more
candidly, and with more gentleness towards us, and with
more full and perfect intimacy of all the circumstances
that would attend any further progress on our part. He
was always the friend of Young America. He measured
his regard for us not by any merits that we might have,
but by the goodness of his own heart. He was alwavs
ready to pour out his thoughts, his sympathies, and his
encouragements to any young man that came within his
influence. I remember, in 1820, having at that early
period bestowed a good deal of attention to the study
of languages, and, among others, the aboriginal lan-
guages of our own country ; he particularly pointed out
the proper methods of continuing inquiries and investi-
gations on the subject. These ideas he not only commu-
nicated by word of mouth, but he wrote them out at
considerable length, and I had the satisfaction, when I
returned, to communicate them to persons engaged in
that branch of study, and I doubt not that in some degree
they contributed to the development of an acquaintance
with the aboriginal languages of this country."

" It has been my good fortune," says an American cor-
respondent of The Commercial Advertiser, writing from

HUMBOLDT IN 1850. 447

Berlin on the 1st of January, 1850 : " it lias been my
good fortune to see the patriarch of modern science,
Alexander Von Humboldt. During the summer, and in
fact up to the last week, he resided in Potsdam, in the
royal palace ; when the king removed to Charlottenburg
he returned to his own residence in Berlin. One of his
friends, to whom I am already indebted for many kind-
nesses, offered to present me to him, and wrote a note to
solicit an interview. This is necessary, as casual visitors
are rarely or never admitted. The first post of the next
morning brought the answer, written evidently before
daybreak, and mailed before seven o'clock. He fixed
the hour at one o'clook on the 29th. But on that day
a second note informed us that Mr. Humboldt was unex-
pectedly called to attend some court ceremony at the
appointed hour, and so begged us to defer our visit until
the 30th, at the same hour. I mention this as an illus-
tration of his attention to small things. He does not
consider himself exempted from the performance of all
the minor duties of social intercourse. Exactly at the
appointed hour we were at his door. The house is plain
and comfortable, just like the other three-story houses
of Berlin, in its dull, clay-yellow colour. The entrance
is by a large carriage door, persons driving in and de-
scending at the foot of the stairway.

" Humboldt occupies the second floor. A tall, well-
fed servant in livery answered the bell, and ushered us
into a small anteroom, where we laid aside our cloaks
and hats, and waited until our visit should be announced.
We had scarcely time to see that a large picture on wood,
after the old Flemish school, hung on the wall, and to
admire some stuffed birds, admirable specimens of taxi-

448 PERSONAL APPEARANCE.

dermic skill, which stood on a round table, before the
servant reappeared and conducted us through a large
room, the walls of which, from ceiling to floor, were
covered with books, plainly shelved up, into the room of
Humboldt himself. He met us at the door, and received
us very cordially. I must confess that my first impres-
sion was one of disappointment, for his busts and pic-
tures had given me the idea of a man nearly six feet
high, rather stoutly built, and erect as an arrow. Instead
of this there stood before me a man of middle height,
his once robust frame and limbs meagre with age, and
his head drooping and shoulders bowed under the weight
of more than four score summers. Behind him stood a
tall, rosy-complexioned professor from Bonn, some fifty
years of age, and at first my eye fell on him as the per-
son more nearly approaching my ideal of Humboldt ;
but a single glance convinced me that he had not yet
lived his half century. This ideal is the one common to all
the world who have not seen Humboldt, for everybody
that has seen him seems to delight in repeating that age
has not touched his noble faculties, or abated his bodily
vigour. It is very natural to us to excuse our want of
acquirements by attributing supernatural qualities to
those who excel us so far as to be unapproachable. But
in the case of Humboldt the miraculous escape from the
effects of age does not exist. He appears as old as he
really is, but in a fine state of preservation — the result
of constant temperance, and active exercise in the open
air from youth, and of carefully avoiding all unnecessary
exposure, and all extreme emotions, but at the same time
cultivating his affections, and the genial part of his
nature.

HUMBOLDT'S FRENCH. 449

"He commenced the conversation in English, with an
apology for his imperfect style, and spoke in that lan-
guage during a greater part of the interview. Truth
requires me to say that Mr. Humboldt knows, far better
than his too hasty admirers, his proficiency in that lan-
guage. Contrary to the assertion generally made so
loosely, I must agree with him that he does not speak it
perfectly, though well, and with great fluency. A foreign
accent made his English less intelligible than his French,
which he speaks elegantly, and like a native. In speak-
ing of the French savant, Nicolet, he adopted that lan-
guage, and his wit and playful humour appeared in a
very favourable light. . Here, for the first time, I recog-
nised the literary artist, whose taste and genius have won
undying renown, and in the quiet satire and richness of
the style that inimitable power of word-painting and
felicity of expression, which make the pages of his hun-
dred books so fascinating. I felt now the charm of that
eloquence which has convinced so many that age has not
affected the philosopher, either physically or mentally.
It was indeed surprising : there was all the fire and spirit
of thirty on the lips of the man of fourscore. He sat
generally with his head bowed on his breast, but when
he became interested would raise it and look on his
visitors, while a warm and genial smile would play
across his features. He has the expression of a man of
great goodness of heart, without weakness, and the
polished and simple manner of a veteran courtier.
There is nothing flabby about the face, the flesh being
firm and solid. His head is not remarkable for size,
but the forehead is high and smooth, without the pro-
tuberances which phrenologists usually assign to the

450 A GOOD WORD FOR AGASSIZ.

perceptive organs of such men. It is, I should say, a
head of remarkably harmonious development, and not
singular in its appearance, unless it be a singularity that
it is not yet bald, but covered with long thin white
hair.

" The conversation ran on numerous topics. He had
just received a pamphlet published by one of our astrono-
mers, Mr. Gr., in which Sir John Herschel is attacked.
This he regretted, and made some remarks on the favour-
able opinion Herschel had always had of America, and
her scientific men. He inquired with interest after Mr.
Bache, and his progress towards the survey of our coasts,
and seemed quite familiar with the state of policy his
appointment had produced among the gentlemen of the
navy. ' The navy officers always object to an appoint-
ment of that kind when not made from their own number,
no matter how competent and efficient the person may
be.' Speaking of Professor Agassiz, he said, ' You
Americans have made a fine acquisition there. Agassiz
would be distinguished, even in Europe, for his attain-
ments in various branches of natural history. Perhaps
he is a little too unbending in his theory of the effect of
glaciers on the change of the general climate of the world.
However, he has thrown a great deal of light on that
subject, having made personally many very excellent
experiments and observations.' The mention of glaciers
led naturally to that of persons who had explored them,
and of exploring voyages to the north. One of us asked
his opinion as to the fate of Franklin. lie thought it
quite probable that Franklin had not perished, but was
still shut in by the ice, and gave several facts of voyagers
whom he had seen, and who had been for long seasons

A FREE AND EASY BRITON. 45]

so detained in the northern seas. The Esquimaux of
the coast, he said, were not at all dangerous ; Franklin
was well supplied with provisions, and would probably
yet return to give an account of his voyage. Indeed
the report that the Esquimaux Indians had said that
some vessels had long been frozen fast in the ice, away
off to the north, seemed to be fully confirmed.

" He praised the United States for its generous initia-
tive in matters of science, and said that the expedition
to Chili, for scientific purposes, would not have been
undertaken by any country in Europe. He had on the
desk near him a letter, which he had apparently been
reading when we came in. His eyes falling on it, he
asked, ' Do either of you know a Lord K., who is now
travelling on the continent?' On the reply that we had
not the honour of his lordship's acquaintance, and indeed
had never heard of him, he said that he had just received
the most extraordinary letter from him. ' He writes me
from Dresden that he will shortly be in Berlin, and will
be most happy to make my acquaintance, and that I must
certainly dine with him and a few friends at two o'clock
on the 3d, at the British Hotel. He expects an old man
like me to come from Potsdam in the middle of winter
to dine with a lord whom I know nothing about. This
is one of the antics of an eccentric class.' He then went
on in some gay and delicately-humoured remarks on the
eccentricity of Englishmen, which, if I could put them
on paper as he uttered them, would be read with great
relish by the lovers of true wit, and by none more than
the English themselves. They reminded me of the
lively sallies of the Parisian wit, Philarete Chasles. One
of us told him that Captain Stone had left for Egypt and

452 THE CALIFORNIA GOLD MIXES.

Jerusalem. Mr. Humboldt expressed the pleasure lie
had derived from his acquaintance, and wished to know
whether the Captain was aware that he had put his name
in the last volume of the recent edition of the work, The
Aspects of Nature. This is in connection with the account
of the Captain's visit to Popocatepetl. lie then showed
us the English translation of this work by Mrs. Sabine.
"The name of Colonel Fremont happening to be men-
tioned, Humboldt spoke in high praise of his contribu-
tions to geographical science, and thought it unfortunate
he had returned as a prisoner by the very road which he
travelled as an explorer. He thought the day would
come when Col. Fremont's works would be much better
appreciated than at present. He expressed the opinion
that the probable produce of the Californian gold mines
had been over estimated, for that up to the present time
the yield had been much less than that of the Russian
mines, the latter having often produced annually thirty
millions of dollars. No such large pieces had been
found in California. One solid piece of eighty pounds
had been found in ."Russia, and many of forty, thirty,
twenty, and sixteen. He was surprised that no platina had
been found. These are only a few of the remarks made
in a conversation, which he, of course, conducted almost
without remarks on our side. He seems to have an
inexhaustible store of facts, and to be accurately informed
about everything and everybody. His friend said, after
we came away, that the way to hear him to the greatest
advantage was to ask his opinion on any given point,
when his wonderful knowledge would be brought to bear
upon it in a manner most satisfactory to any sceptic as to
the extent and minuteness of his information. We left,

PERSONAL HABITS. 453

quite charmed with the noble and genial nature whose
richness has made it the glory of the age.

" The habits of Humboldt are not remarkable, except
in the limited number of hours necessary to sleep, and in
temperance and regularity. His time is sj^stematically
divided. He rises at six in the winter, and five in the
summer, studies two hours, drinks a cup of coffee, re-
turns to his study, and commences the task of answering
his letters, of which he receives yearly more than one
hundred thousand. (I have heard this number doubled,
but dislike to seem to exaggerate.) From twelve until
two he receives visits, and returns to work at two. At
four he dines, in summer with the kinor, in winter at
home. From four until eleven he passes at the table,
and generally in company with the king, but sometimes
at the meetings of learned societies, or in the company of
his friends. At eleven he retires to his study, and con-
tinues there until one or two, answering letters, or
writing his books, or preparing them by study. His best
books have all been written at midnight. He sleeps four
hours, it having been a peculiarity in his family to re-
quire little sleep. Now, if anybody thinks that by sleep-
ing only four hours, and studying at midnight, he may
equal Hamboldt in varied attainments, let him first be
sure that he possesses another of Humboldt's peculiari-
ties, namely, genius.

" His early inclinations led him to the pursuits in which
he has since so distinguished himself. At twenty-three
he was in such repute for his knowledge that he was ap-
pointed first assessor of the mines of Prussia. From a
very early age, then, up to the present time, about two-
thirds of a century, he has been indefatigable in the pur-

454 BAYARD TAYLOR AT BERLIN.

suit of knowledge. He has brought to this pursuit a
rare susceptibility to the charms of nature, a heart capa-
ble of feeling, and a head of generalizing. His fortune
and rank have ever given him the best advantages of
every kind. If he had not been a savant, he might have
been an artist or a poet, for his works show taste and
imagination of the most exquisite perfection. Most of
his writings will compare in elegance with the purest
classics of Germany. In short, he is one of the most har-
moniously developed characters the world has ever seen,
and posterity will reserve for him a higher niche in the
temple of fame, than for the bloody heroes who have
dazzled the world for a moment by their engineer talent
of manoeuvring masses of troops."

Some years later there came to Berlin a young Ameri-
can traveller, who, younger than Humboldt, when he
made his great American journey, had already travelled
extensively in four continents, and written several books
of travel, which the world had pronounced unequalled
of their kind. He lacked Humboldt's universal know-
ledge of science, for what traveller, ancient or modern,
ever possessed it ? but in word-painting — in the power
of making the landscapes that he had seen, glow on his
pages, as on a painter's canvass, he had no need to fear
a comparison with that great master of the picturesque.
From his early youth he had venerated the name of
Humboldt, and being in Germany, he made a pilgrimage
to Berlin to see him. The homage that he brought to
the great traveller was alike honourable to both. It
becomes youth to reverence age, and it becomes age to
accept the reverence of youth.

" I came to Berlin," says Bayard Taylor, writing

KING HUMBOLDT. 455

from that city, under the date of November the 25th,
1856 : " I came to Berlin, not to visit its museums and
galleries, its magnificent street of lindens, its operas and
theatres, nor to mingle in the gay life of its streets and
saloons, but for the sake of seeing and speaking with
the world's greatest living man, Alexander Von Hum-
boldt.

" At present, with his great age and his universal re-
nown, regarded as a throned monarch in the world of
science, his friends have been obliged, perforce, to pro-
tect him from the exhaustive language of his thousands
of subjects, and, for his own sake, to make difficult the
ways of access to him. The friend and familiar com-
panion of the King, he may be said, equally, to hold his
Court, with the privilege, however, of at any time
breaking through the formalities, which only self-defence
has rendered necessary. Some of my works, I knew,
had found their way into his hands ; I was at the begin-
ning of a journey which would probably lead me
through regions which his feet had traversed, and his
genius illustrated, and it was not merely a natural curi-
osity which attracted me towards him. I followed the ad-
vice of some German friends, and made use of no media-
tory influence, but simply dispatched a note to him, stating
my name and object, and asking for an interview.

" Three days afterwards I received, through the city
post, a reply in his own hand, stating, that although he
was suffering from a cold which had followed his removal
from Potsdam to the capital, he would willingly receive
me, and appointed one o'clock to-day for the visit. I
was punctual to the minute, and reached his residence in
the Oranienburger-strasse as the clock struck. While in

456 HIS STUDY.

Berlin he lives with his servant, Seifert, whose name
only I found on the door. It was a plain two-story
house, with a dull pink front, and inhabited, like most
of the houses in German cities, by two or three families.
The bell- wire over Seifert's name came from the second
story. I pulled: the heavy porte-cochere opened of itself,
and I mounted the steps until I reached a second bell-pull,
over a plate inscribed ' Alexander Yon Humboldt.'

" A stout, square-faced man of about fifty, whom I at
once recognised as Seifert, opened the door for me.
' Are you Herr Taylor ?' he asked : and added, on re-
ceiving my reply : ' His Excellency is read}- to receive
you.' He ushered me into a room, filled with stuffed
birds and other objects of natural history ; then into a
large library which apparently contained the gifts of
authors, artists, and men of science. I walked between
two large tables heaped with sumptuous folios, to the fur-
ther door, which opened into the study. Those who
have seen the admirable coloured lithograph of Hilcle-
brand's picture, know precisely how the room looks.
There was the plain table, the writing-desk covered with
letters and manuscripts, the little green sofa, and the
same maps and pictures on the drab-covered walls. The
picture had been so long hanging in my own room at
home, that I at once recognised each particular object.

" Seifert went to an inner door, announced my name,
and Humboldt immediately appeared. He came up to
me with a heartiness and cordiality which made me feel
that I was in the presence of a friend, gave me his hand,
and inquired whether we should converse in English or
German. ' Your letter,' said he, ; was that of a German,
and you must speak the language familiarly ; but I am

O GOOD GRAY HEAD. 457

also in the constant habit of using English.' He insisted
on my taking one end of the green sofa, observing that
he rarely sat upon it himself, then drew up a plain cane-
bottomed chair and seated himself beside it, asking me
to speak a little louder than usual, as his hearing was not
so acute as formerly.

" As I looked at the majestic old man, the line of Ten-
nyson describing Wellington came into my mind :

( 0 good gray head, which all men knew.'

The first impression made by Humboldt's face is that of
a broad and genial humanity. His massive brow, heavy
with the gathered wisdom of nearly a century, bends
forward, and overhangs his breast, like a ripe ear of
corn, but as you look below it, a pair of clear blue eyes,
almost as bright and steady as a child's, meet your own.
In those eyes you read that trust in man, that immortal
youth of the heart, which make the snows of eighty
seven Winters lie so lightly upon his head. You trust
him utterly at the first glance, and you feel that he will
trust you, if you are worthy of it. I had approached him
with a natural feeling of reverence, but in five minutes I
found that I loved him, and could talk with him as freely
as with a friend of my own age. His nose, mouth, and
chin, have the heavy Teutonic character, whose genuine
type always expresses an honest simplicity and direct-
ness.

"I was almost surprised by the }Touthful character of
his face. I knew that he had been frequently indisposed
during the present year, and had been told that he was
beginning to show the marks of his extreme age ; but I

20

458 MR. TAYLOR'S WINTER JOURNEY.

should not have suspected him of being over seventy*
five. His wrinkles are few and small, and his skin has a
smoothness and delicacy rarely seen in old men. His
hair, although snow-white, is still abundant; his step
slow but firm, and his manner active almost to restless-
ness. He sleeps but four hours out of the twenty-four,
reads and replies to his daily rain of letters, and
suffers no single occurrence of the least interest in any
part of the world to escape his attention. I could not
perceive that his memory, the first mental faculty to
show decay, is at all impaired. He talks rapidly, with
the greatest apparent ease, never hesitating, for a word,
whether in English or German, and, in fact, seemed to
be unconscious which language he was using, as he changed
five or six times in the course of the conversation. He
did not remain in his chair more than ten minutes at a
time, frequently getting up and walking about the room,
now and then pointing to a picture, or opening a book
to illustrate some remark.

" He began by referring to my Winter Journey into
Lapland. 'Why do you choose the Winter?' he asked :
' Your experiences will be very interesting, it is true,
but will you not suffer from the severe cold ?' ' That re-
mains to be seen,' I answered, ' I have tried all climates
except the Arctic, without the least injury. The last
two years of my travels were spent in tropical countries,
and now I wish to have the strongest possible contrast.'
'That is quite natural,' he remarked, 'and I can under-
stand how your object in travel must lead you to seek
such contrasts; but you must possess a remarkably
healthy organization.' 'You doubtless know from your
own experience,' I said, ' that nothing preserves -a man's

REMINISCENCES OF CENTRAL ASIA. 459

vitality like travel.' 'Very true,' he answered, 'if it
does not kill at the outset. For my part, I keep my
health everywhere, like yourself. During five years in
South America and the West Indies, I passed through
the midst of black vomit and yellow fever untouched.'

" I spoke of my projected visit to Russia, and my de-
sire to traverse the Russian Tartar provinces of Central
Asia. The Kirghiz steppes, he said, were very mono-
tonous : fifty miles gave you the picture of a thousand ;
but the people were exceedingly interesting. If I de-
sired to go there, I would have no difficulty in passing
through them to the Chinese frontier ; but the southern
provinces of Siberia, he thought, would best repay me.
The scenery among the Altai mountains was very grand.
From his window in one of the Siberian towns, he had
counted eleven peaks covered with eternal snow. The
Kirghizes, he added, were among the few races whose
habits had remained unchanged for thousands of j^ears,
and they had the remarkable peculiarity of combining a
monastic with a nomadic life. They were partly Bud-
dist and partly Musselman, and their monkish sects fol-
lowed the different clans in their wanderings, carrying
on their devotions in the encampments, inside of a sacred
circle marked out by spears. He had seen their cere-
monies, and was struck with their resemblance to those
of the Catholic church.

" Humboldt's recollections of the Altai Mountains
naturally led him to speak of the Andes. l You have
travelled in Mexico,' said he: 'do you not agree with
me in the opinion that the finest mountains in the world
are those single cones of perpetual snow rising out of the
splendid vegetation of the tropics? The Himalayas,

400 THE CIIAMELION.

although loftier, can scarcely make an equal impression ;
they lie further to the north, without the belt of tropical
growths, and their sides are dreary and sterile in com-
parison. You remember Orizaba,' continued he: 'here
is an engraving from a rude sketch of mine. I hope
you will find it correct.' He rose and took down the
illustrated folio which accompanied the last edition of
his 'Minor Writings,' turned over the leaves, and re-
called at each plate, some reminiscence of his American
travel. ' I still think,' he remarked, as he closed the
book, ' that Chimborazo is the grandest mountain in the
world.'

" Among the objects in his study was a living chame-
lion, in a box with a glass lid. The animal, which was
about six inches long, was lazily dozing on a bed of
sand, with a big blue fly (the unconscious provision for
his dinner) perched upon his back. 'He has just been
sent me from Smyrna,' said Humboldt; 'he is very list-
less and unconcerned in his manner.' Just then the
chamelion opened one of his long, tubular eyes, and
looked up at us. 'A peculiarity of this animal,' he con-
tinued, ' is its power of looking in different directions at
the same time. He can turn one eye towards heaven,
while his other inspects the earth. There are many
clergymen who have the same power.'

" After showing me some of Hildebrand's water-colour
drawings, he returned to his seat and began to converse
about American affairs, with which he seemed to be
entirely familiar. He spoke with great admiration of
Col. Fremont, whose defeat he profoundly regretted.
' But it is at least a most cheering sign,' he said, ' and an
omen of good for your country, that more than a half

WASHINGTON IRVING. 4G I

million of men supported by their votes a man of Fre-
mont's character and achievements.' With regard to
Buchanan, he said: 'I had occasion to speak of his
Ostend Manifesto not long since, in a letter which has
been published, and I could not characterize its spirit by
any milder term than savage.1 He also spoke of our
authors, and inquired particularly after Washington
Irving, whom he had once seen. I told him I had the
fortune to know Mr. Irving, and had seen him not long
before leaving New York. ' He must be at least fifty
years old,' said Humboldt. ' He is seventy,' I answered,
'but as young as ever.' 'Ah,' said he, 'I have lived so
long that I have almost lost the consciousness of time.
I belong to the age of Jefferson and Gallatin, and I heard
of Washington's death while travelling in South America.'
" I have repeated but the smallest portion of his con-
versation, which flowed on in an uninterrupted stream
of the richest knowledge. On recalling it to my mind,
after leaving, I was surprised to find how great a number
of subjects he had touched upon, and how much he had
said, or seemed to have said — for he has the rare faculty
of placing a subject in the clearest and most vivid light
by a few luminous words — concerning each. He
thought, as he talked, without effort. I should compare
his brain to the Fountain of Vaucluse — a still, deep, and
tranquil pool, without a ripple on its surface, but creating
a river by its overflow. He asked me many questions,
but did not always wait for an answer, the question
itself suggesting some reminiscence, or some thought

DO O / O

which he had evident pleasure in expressing. I sat or
walked, following his movements, an eager listener, and
speakmg in alternate English or German, until the time

462 NOT A RUIN BUT A PYRAMID.

which he had granted me had expired. Seifert at length
reappeared, and said to him, in a manner at once respect-
ful and familiar, 'It is time,' and I took my leave.

" l You have travelled much, and seen many ruins,'
said Humboldt, as he gave me his hand again ; ' now
you have seen one more !' ' Not a ruin,' I could not
help replying, ' but a pyramid.' For I pressed the
hand which had touched those of Frederick the Great,
of Forster, the companion of Captain Cook, of Klop-
stock and Schiller, of Pitt, Napoleon, Josephine, the
Marshals of the empire, Jefferson, Hamilton, Wieland,
Herder, Goethe, Cuvier, Laplace, Gay Lussac, Bee-
thoven, Walter Scott, in short of every great man whom
Europe has produced for three-quarters of a century. I
looked into the eyes which had not only seen this living
history of the world pass by, scene after scene, till the
actors retired one b}^ one, to return no more, but had
beheld the cataract of Atures and the forests of the
Cassiquiare, Chimborazo, the Amazon, and Popoca-
tepetl, the Altaian Alps of Siberia, the Tartar steppes,
and the Caspian sea. Such a splendid circle of experi-
ence well befits a life of such generous devotion to sci-
ence; I have never seen so sublime an example of old
age, crowned with imperishable success, full of the
ripest wisdom, cheered and sweetened by the noblest
attributes of the heart. A ruin, indeed ! A human
temple, perfect as the Parthenon.

" As I was passing out through the cabinet of Natural
History, Seifert's voice arrested me; 'I beg your par-
don, Sir,' said he; 'but do you know what this is?'
pointing to the antlers of a Eocky Mountain elk. ' Of
course I do,' said I ; ' I have helped to eat many of

MR. Taylor's second visit. 463

them.' He then pointed out the other specimens, and
took me into the library, to show me some drawings by
his son-in-law, Miihlhausen, who had accompanied Lieut.
Whipple, in his expedition to the Rocky Mountains.
He also showed me a very elaborate specimen of bead-
work, in a gilt frame. ' This,' he said, ' is the work of
a Kirghiz princess, who presented it to His Excellency
when we were on our journey to Siberia.' ' You
accompanied His Excellency, then ?' I asked. l Yes,'
said he ; lwe were there in '29.' Seifert is justly proud
of having shared for thirty or forty years the fortunes
of his master. There was a ring, and a servant came in
to announce a visiter. ' Ah, the Prince Ypsilanti,' said
he ; ' don't let him in ; don't let him in ; don't let a sin-
gle soul in ; I must go and dress His Excellency. Sir,
excuse me — yours, most respectfully,' and therewith he
bowed himself out. As I descended to the street, I
passed Prince Ypsilanti on the stairs."

In October, of the following year, Mr. Taylor had a
second interview with Humboldt, this time at Potsdam.

" As I had business,'' he writes, " which detained me
four days in Berlin, I sent a note to Humboldt, asking
permission to call upon him again, in case his time per-
mitted the visit. The next day's express from Potsdam
brought me a most kind and friendly reply, welcoming
me back to the ' Baltic sand-sea,' as he calls the Bran-
denburg plain, and stating that, although the Emperor
Alexander and his suite were to arrive that evening, he
would nevertheless take an hour or two from the excite-
ment of the Court to talk to me about the North. He
was residing in the Palace at Potsdam, where he directed
me to call at noon on Monday.

464 SANS SOUCI.

" The train by which I left Berlin was filled with offi
cers and diplomatic officials in full uniform, going down
to do homage to the Czar. In the carriage in which I sat,
were two old gentlemen who presently commenced con-
versing in French. After a time, their talk wandered to
the Orient, and they spoke of Diebitsch and his cam-
paigns, and the treaty of Unkiar-Iskelessi. Suddenly,
one of them asked in Arabic, ' Do you speak Arabic ? '
The other answered in Turkish, ' No, but I speak Turk-
ish.' The first replied in the same language, which,
after a time, the two exchanged for Modern Greek, and
finally subsided into Russian. I made out that one was
a Wallachian, but could discover nothing more, notwith-
standing there was an air of a secret mission about them,
which greatly piqued my curiosity. With us was also a
Prussian regimental surgeon, decorated with the Order of
St. Stanislaus for his service in the Crimea.

"Potsdam was all alive with the Imperial arrival. The
King of Saxony was also coming to dinner ; and, that
the three monarchs might be pleasantly diverted in the
evening, the sparkling Marie Taglioni, who had arrived
with us, tripped out' of the cars and off to the Royal
Theatre. The park at Sans Souci was in brilliant holi-
day trim, the walks newly swept, and the fountains jet-
tins: their tallest and brightest streams. The streets of
the dull little court-town glittered with resplendent uni-
forms, among which the driver of my carriage pointed
out Carl, Albert, and various other princes of the House
of Prussia. As we were crossing an open space near the
palace, a mounted guard, followed by an open carriage,
drawn by a span of superb black horses, suddenly ap-
peared. I at once recognised the punchy figure in a

HUMBOLDT IN 1851. 465

green military coat, buttoned up to the chin, who Bat on
the right hand, although I had never before seen his
Majesty. My driver reined up on one side and took off
his hat. I lifted mine as the King passed, looked at him,
and he replied with a military salute. His face was
slightly flushed and his eyes bright, and I remember
thinking that the heavy and rather stupid air which he
wears in his portraits did him injustice. But he was even
then, perhaps, laboring under that congestion which
struck him down the same night, and from the effects of
which he will never recover.

"I was glad when the clock struck twelve at last, and
I could leave the rattling streets for that quiet corner of
the palace in which Humboldt lives. The door was
opened, as before, by Seifert, who recognised me at
once. * Welcome back ! ' he cried ; ' we know where
you have been — we have read all your letters ! His Ex-
cellency has been quite sick, and you will not find him
so strong as he was last year, but he is in tolerable health
again, thank Grod ! Come in, come in ; he is waiting.'
Opening the doors as he spoke, he ushered me into a lit-
tle library, on the threshold of which Humboldt, who
had risen, received me. He was slightly paler than be-
fore, a little thinner, perhaps, and I could see that his
step was not so firm ; but the pale blue eye beamed as
clear an intelligence as ever, and the voice had as steady
and cheery a tone. He shook hands with the cordiality
of a friend, and after the first greetings were over,
questioned me minutely concerning my travels in the
North.

"But one topic soon suggests a hundred others, and he
was ere long roaming at large over the whole field of

20*

4GG PROOF-SHEETS OF KOSMOS.

geography and climatology, touching the farthest and
darkest regions of the earth with the light of his stu-
pendous knowledge. The sheets of the new volume of
1 Kosmos' lay upon the table. ' Here is what I have
been doing, since you were here before,' said he, taking
it up : ' the work will be published in two or three
weeks.' ' You find yourself, then, still capable of such
labour ?' I ventured to ask. ' Work is now a part of
my life,' said he ; ' I sleep so little, and much rest would
be irksome. Day before yesterday, I worked for sixteen
hours, reviewing these sheets.' ' Are you not greatly
fatigued,' I asked, ' after such an exertion ?' ' On the
contrary,' he replied, ' I feel refreshed, but the per-
formance of it depends greatly on my state of bodily
health. I am unconscious of any mental fatigue.' As
I saw in the face, and heard in the voice, of the splendid
old man, all the signs of a sound, unfailing intellect, I
could well believe it. I had prided myself a little on
having worked with the brain fifteen hours a day for six
months, yet here was Humboldt, in his eighty-ninth year,
capable of an equal exertion.

The manner in which he spoke of his bodily health
was exceedingly interesting to me. His mind, full of
vigour and overflowing with active life, seemed to con-
sider the body as something independent of itself, and to
watch, with a curious eye, its gradual decay, as he might
have watched that of a tree in his younger days. 'I
have been unwell through the Summer,' said he, ' but
you must not believe all you may have seen in the news-
papers concerning my illness. They stated that I was
attacked with apoplexy, but it was only a vertigo, which
soon left me, and has not been followed by any of the

BREAKING UP. 461

usual effects of apoplexy. One result, however, shows
that my body is beginning to give way. I have not the
same power of controlling my limbs as formerly ; the
will does not seem to act upon the muscles ; there is a
link broken somewhere, which it is probably too late to
restore. For instance, very often, when I attempt to
walk straight forward, I do not feel certain that my legs
will carry me in a straight line ; they may go either to
one side or the other, and, though I cannot notice any
real want of strength, I feel uncertain and mistrustful.
For this reason, I must have assistance when I go up or
down stairs. After all, it is not singular that some parts
of the machinery should get rusty, at my age.' Soon
afterward, while speaking of Thibet, he referred to a very
fine copperplate map, and I noticed that he saw the most
minute names distinctly, without the aid of spectacles.
But then he has the eyes of a youth of twenty years.
Age may palsy his limbs, but it has never looked out of
those windows.

" After I had been sitting an hour, Seifert came to the
door and said : ' The two gentlemen have come — shall
I admit them ?' I rose to leave, but Humboldt said :
' No, no — remain. They are from Hong-Kong ; per-
haps you know them.' I looked at the cards, and
recognised an acquaintance in the name of an editor of a
Hong-Kong paper. The other was a Government
official. After they entered, .the conversation took a
more general tone, but I was not sorry for this afterwards,
as it gave Humboldt occasion to recall some scenes of
his early life. One of the visitors spoke of Frederic the
Great. ' I remember him well,' said Humboldt : ' I
was sixteen years old when he died, and I can see his

468 hildebrand's drawing.

face still as plainly as I can see yours. I was but
eighteen when I visited England for the first time. It
was during the trial of Warren Hastings, which I fre-
quently attended. I remember that I heard Edmund
Burke, Pitt, and Sheridan, all speak on the same night.'

"I shall not repeat his account of the Congress of
Verona, or his anecdotes of Alexander I. of Russia,
whom he knew intimately, as I am not certain whether
I have a right to do so at present. After the visitors
left, I remained with him until it was time for him to
prepare for the dinner given to Alexander II., to which
he was bidden. ' You will pass through Berlin on your
way to Moscow ?' said he. ' Yes.' ' Well — I must be
polite enough to live until then. You must bring your
wife with }^ou. Oh, I know all about it, and you must
not think, because I have never been married myself
that I do not congratulate you.' After these cordial
words, and a clasp of the hand, in which there was
nothing weak or tremulous, I parted from the immortal
old man.

" I was glad to learn from Seifert, that Hildebrand's
admirable water-colour drawing of Humboldt in his
library is soon to be printed in chromotint, so that very
accurate copies of it can be obtained at a moderate price.
As I have not only seen the original but the room and
man that it represents, I can testify to its entire fidelity,
and would suggest to Humboldt's admirers in America
that they cannot procure a bettor illustration of him. I
suppose copies of it will be sent to America for sale.
Herr Mollhausen, Seifert's son-in-law, who is now
attached, as artist, to the expedition for the survey of a
wagon-road to the Pacific, prepared for the press, before

HUMBOLDT AT POTSDAM. 4G9

leaving Berlin, a splendidly illustrated work on the Gila
Country, which is now being published under the patron-
age of the King. It will cost about twenty-eight dollars
a copy. Humboldt himself wrote the preface, a copy of
which he gave me. He was greatly gratified at the
readiness with which our present Secretary of War gave
Mr. Mollhausen a second appointment."

Such was Alexander Yon Humboldt, author and tra-
veller, as he appeared to authors and travellers in the
palace of his King, and in his own quiet home. To the
citizens of Potsdam and Berlin, all of whom knew him
by sight, he appeared in a somewhat different light ; tor
while many of them were ignorant of him as an author
and traveller, or had at best but a vague idea of his
world-wide renown in this respect, none were ignorant
of his rank as one of the King's privy councillors.
Everybody knew His Excellency, the Baron Yon Hum-
boldt, and honoured him like the King himself. He was
often seen at Potsdam, walking on the terrace of Sans
Souci with his Majesty, Frederic William IY., or saun-
tering by himself in the avenues of the park. One of
his favourite haunts at Sans Souci was a shady walk, in
a retired part of the garden. He loved this spot because
it reminded him of his friend, the former King, who was
buried there. Frederic William III. slept by the side of
his queenly wife in a stately marble monument, the
work of the sculptor, Ranch. Upon this monument was
a recumbent statue of his Majesty,

" With his martial cloak around him."
But it was in Berlin after all that Humboldt was best

470 IN THE STREETS OF BERLIN.

known. His house in the Oranienburger-strasso was, as
we have said, in the neighbourhood of the palace, to
which he went daily when the King was in Berlin. All
the inhabitants of the city, men, women, and children,
knew his slender figure and white hair. lie walked
with a firm but slow step, with his head bent on his
breast. His dress was simple, a plain black suit, without
ribands or orders, and he had the Napoleonic habit of
carrying his hands behind him. His eye was generally
fixed on the ground, but he alwaj-s noticed and returned
the greetings of the citizens. He was as much at home
in the street, as in his own private study, for the passers-
by stepped softly aside for fear of disturbing his thoughts ;
the poorest working-man gazed after him as he passed,
and whispered to his comrade or neighbour : " There
goes Humboldt."

Often in the summer twilight the old man was seen
wending his way to the beautiful avenue — Unter den
Linden. A few minutes' walk from his house brought

o

him to Frederic's-strasse, and the bridge that crossed the
Spree, and a few minutes more to Unter den Linden,
which was crowded with promenaders. L^p and down
the avenue of lime trees, now in shadow and now in
sunshine, the figure of the old man moved, his hands
behind him, and his head drooping on his breast. Of
what is he thinking as he walks there in the mellow
twilight? Of Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, or the dreary
wastes of Central Asia ? Or of the yet unwritten volume
of "Kosmos?" Perhaps he dreams of his early da}^s,
the far off golden time when he was a boy at Tegel.
Let the old man dream, ye gay promenaders ! Disturb
him not with your laughter; let him not hear 3Tour foot-

PERSECUTED WITH LETTERS. 41 1

steps as you pass him. He has earned the right to
dream, for his dreams are worlds !

The only drawback to Humboldt's happiness in his
last years, was the flood of letters which poured in upon
him. He had always corresponded largely with scientific
men in all parts of the world. He was glad to learn of
their experiments and discoveries, and to communicate
his own in return. But to be deluged as he was with
letters in his latter days was intolerable.

"I work," Humboldt wrote to his friend, Julius
Froebel, in January, 1858, "I work mostly in the night,
because I am unmercifully tormented with a constantly
increasing correspondence, for the most part of not the
slightest interest. I live joyless in my eighty-ninth year,
because of the much for which I have striven from my
early youth, so little has been accomplished.

" Your illegible,
" Al. Humboldt."

It was only of those who pestered him, however, auto-
graph hunters, and the like, that Humboldt complained,
not of scholars and savcms, and least of all of his friends.
His pen was as ready in their service as his purse had
been in former years, and would have been still, had
there been anything in it. Witness this letter to George
Ticknor, the historian of Spanish Literature.

" My Dear and Excellent Friend : — Bonds of
friendship, which have their origin so far 'back as my
family, and the affection felt for you by my brother,
William Yon Humboldt, when you lived in German}^
as a young man, seem to impose on me the very plea-

472 LAST MENTION OF BONPLAND.

sant duty of giving you some sign of life — that is to say
a renewed proof of my attachment to you and my inte-
rest in your country, and a brief account of my labours.

" My physical strength declines, but it declines
slowly. My steps are more uncertain in their direction,
owing to a feebleness of the ligaments of the knees ;
but I can remain standing for an hour without being
fatigued. I continue work chiefly at night, being unre
lentingly persecuted by my correspondence, which in-
creases the more as one becomes an object of public
curiosity. What is called literary celebrity is especially
the result of long endurance of life. This kind of emi-
nence increases, therefore, in proportion as imbecility
becomes more manifest. I am never really ill, but often
incommoded, as is to be expected at the age of eighty -
nine.

" Since we were only two persons in the American ex-
pedition (the unfortunate Carlos de Montufar, son of the
Marquis de Selvalegra of Quito, fell a victim to his love
for the liberty of his country), it is somewhat remarkable
that we should both have reached so advanced an age.
Bonpland, still much occupied with scientific labours,
even cherishing the hope of visiting Europe again, and
of bringing in person back to Paris his rich and beautiful
collections in botany and geology, is eighty-five years
old, and enjoys greater strength than I do.

" I have just published in Germany the fourth volume
of Kosmos, and they are now printing the fifth volume,
which completes that work so imprudently begun and
so favourably received by the public. Gen. Sabine
writes me that the English translation is finished and
will appear immediately. The same news comes to me

ANOTHER GOOD WORD FOR AGASSIZ. 473

from France, from M. Galuzzi, who has been passing the
winter in the South, at Cannes.

" The great and beautiful work of Agassiz (the first
two volumes) reached me only a few days since. It will
produce a great effect by the breadth of its general views
and by the extreme sagacity of its special embryological
observations. I never believed that this illustrious man,
who is no less a man of a constant and beautiful nature,
would accept the offers nobly made him in Paris. I was
sure that gratitude would bind him to a new country
where he finds a field so immense for his researches and
great means of assistance. I hope he may be inclined,
together with his great anatomical and physiological
labours among the inferior organisms, to give us also the
specific ichthyology of the numerous basins of the ' Far
West,' beginning with the Holy Empire of the Mormons.

" Science has lately met with an immense loss here by
the unexpected death of the greatest anatomist of our
country, Prof. Johann Muller. This loss is as great for
science, as was for art the death of the immortal sculptor
Kauch. The universality of his zoological knowledge
in the inferior organizations placed Johann Muller near
Cuvier, having a great pre-eminence in the delicacy of
his anatomical and physiological work. He made long
and painful voyages, at his own expense, on the shores
of the Mediterranean and in the Northern Seas. It is
scarcely two }^ears since he came near perishing by ship-
wreck on the coast of Norway. He sustained himself
by swimming for more than half an hour, and considered
himself quite lost when he was wonderfully rescued. I
lose in him a friend who was very dear to me. He was
a man of great talent, and at the same time of a noble

474 AX ASSASSIN OF SOULS !

character. He was admirable for the elevation and inde-
pendence of his opinions. By making enormous sacri-
fices he was able to form a choice library, not only of
anatomy, physiology, and zoology, but one that ex-
tended over all the physical sciences. It consists of
more than three thousand volumes, well bound, and
of as many more volumes containing dissertations, so
difficult to collect. Mr. Miiller spent nearly eight hun-
dred thalers a year for binding alone. It would be
sad to see a collection dispersed and broken up, which
was made with so much care. Since duplicates are
dreaded in Europe, I cannot help fearing lest this fine
collection should cross the great Atlantic river. I have
almost the air of exciting your appetite when I thus pre-
sent myself before you as a citizen of the world, while
the Church journal of Vienna calls me, in capital letters,
a naturalist assassin of souls, ' Selen-mordcr.'

11 Accept, I beg you, my dear and respected friend, the
renewal of the high and affectionate consideration which,
for so many years, I have given to your talents and to
your character.

" A. Y. Humboldt.

" Berlin, 9th May, 1858.

" Since so many benevolent persons, colored as well
as white, in the United States, take an interest in me, it
would be agreeable to me, my dear friend, if this letter,
translated into English by you, could be printed, without
omitting what relates to our mutual friendship. If you
think it necessary you can add that I have myself begged
of you this publication, because I leave unanswered so
many letters that are addressed to me."

Washington's birth-day. 475

The last page of the fifth and last volume of " Kosmos"
was finished on the 14th of September, 1858. It was a
happy day with Humboldt, for he had lived to finish his
life-long task ; besides, it was his birth-day, his eighty-
ninth birth-day. His friends assembled at his house and
congratulated him. "Never," says an English corres-
pondent, "did conqueror receive greater congratulations
from so many persons, and from such great distances, as
the postboy had to carry on Tuesday morning to the
well-known house in the Oranienburger-strasse.

" Humboldt is said to be of the opinion that he will die
next spring ; but his friends who observe him speak dif-
ferently, and are bold enough to predict that this time
he is in error, and that a very different celebration than the
one he anticipates will next year take place in his house."

Autumn passed, and winter came, and still the old
man lived ; so far as his friends could see there was no
danger of his prediction being fulfilled. They would
meet him on his ninetieth birthday, and banter him on
his mistake.

" Yesterday," a young American wrote from Berlin on
the 23d of February, 1858 ; " yesterday was Washing-
ton's birth-day, and we celebrated it by a grand dinner
at the American Minister's, Gov. Wright. Some eighty
or ninety persons were present, among them the Baron
Von Humboldt, whom we all reverence above any man
living. I shall remember it until the last moment of my
life, and it will be with pride that I can say that I was
present upon that occasion in which he honoured the
American nation, in his old age, with his presence at a
dinner given in remembrance of ' The Father of our
Country.'

476 IIEALTII TO THE KING OF SCIENCE!

"The dinner was set at three o'clock, and every one
was already there a little before the hour, in order to be
present when Humboldt came. lie entered the room
precisely upon time. He is a very short man, and quite
infirm, and it is with difficulty that he is able to walk.
Of course as soon as he was placed in his chair, the Min-
ister introduced the ladies and many of the gentlemen
present. After a few minutes' conversation the party
adjourned to the dinner, and the 'devouring of eatables'
took place after a short blessing from a clergyman.

"Gov. Wright made the first speech, and spoke of the
occasion which had brought them together in a very elo-
quent manner, and gave as the first toast, ' The Prince
and Princess of Prussia,' and for the second, ' Washing-
ton's birthday.' Next the Secretary of Legation made a
few remarks, and gave a toast in which he coupled the
names of ' Washington and Humboldt,' which was drunk
standing, and three rousing cheers given. After some
other speeches and toasts were given, Mr. Thayer (cor-
respondent of Dioighfs Journal of Music) gave the fol-
lowing, which I consider the best toast of the occasion :
' The Baron Von Humboldt — the King of Science, the
latchet of whose shoes no common Kings are worthy of
unloosing.' It made a tremendous noise, and Humboldt
spoke in answer ; but his voice was so feeble, and his
language so indistinct, that I believe no one understood
what he said. He remained two hours and then left, as
he can bear but little excitement. As his greatcoat was
being put on I was standing quite close to him, and
seized the opportunity of touching his cape, which is
honour enough for me."

CHAPTER II.

BACK TO TEGEL.

Towards the end of April, 1859, the citizens of Berlin
began to miss His Excellency, the Baron Yon Humboldt.
They met him no longer in the street in the afternoon
walking towards the palace ; neither did they see him at
twilight in his favourite haunt, Unter den Linden.
" Where is His Excellency ?" they asked, but none
could answer. In a few days the question was changed
to " How is His Excellency ?" for they had learned in
the meantime that he was ill. The postboy still made
his morning calls at the famous little house in the Ora-
nienburger-strasse, and from time to time through the day
carriages stopped near by, and stately gentlemen, deco-
rated with orders, alighted and rang the bell softly.

On the morning of the 3rd of May, the journals of
Berlin announced his illness.

" Alexander Yon Humboldt has been confined to his
bed for the last twelve days; his strength has been
gradually failing ; his mind retains all its clearness,
though his power of expression has decreased. In the
dangerous condition of the revered patient, the greatest
care and precaution against all excitement is neces-
sary."

478 THE BULLETINS.

Then followed the bulletin of his health.

" May 2. — The fever has somewhat abated since last
evening. The catarrh is also less violent. The con-
dition of the patient in his very weak state is still very
doubtful."

The bulletins were continued from day to day.

" May. 3. — Yery great loss of strength; his condition
in a high degree doubtful.

" May 4. — The condition of Humboldt during the
night of Monday-Tuesday, was exceedingly critical,
through the violent fits of coughing and diificulty of
breathing. Towards noon of Tuesday the patient was
much improved in various respects, but the continued loss
of strength renders his position to a high degree critical.

" Mayo. — Humboldt's condition since yesterday almost
unchanged. Weakness increasing.

" May 6. — (Friday morning) — The strength of the
patient is decreasing from hour to hour."

The last hours of the dying man were soothed by the
presence of his relatives, who flocked to his residence as
soon as they heard of his illness. First came from
Tegel the Baroness Von Billow, — once his merry little
niece Gabriele, but now a placid widow of fifty-seven ;
then the husband of his niece Adelheid, General Von
Iledemann ; and then, from Ottmachan, his nephew Her-
mann, and his grandnephew William, the son of " the
amiable Theodore," of whom Frau Caroline wrote more
than sixty years before.

Shall we describe the chamber of the dying man — ■
the darkened walls touched with the sunlight that creeps
through the half-closed blinds — the group of sorrowing
friends around his bed — his reverend white hair, his

THE LONG LONG SLEEP. 479

divine blue eyes, the smile on his kind old face ? No.
The death of the humblest man is too sacred a thing to
make a picture of; how much more sacred then the
death of Humboldt — the greatest and best of men !

He died on the 6th of May at half-past two o'clock in
the afternoon. A few moments before his death the
blinds were opened, and the full blaze of the sun poured
into the chamber. " How grand those rays," he mur-
mured : " they seem to beckon Earth to Heaven." He
closed his eyes like a wearied child, and slept the long
long sleep.

The tenth of May was set apart for the funeral. Early
in the morning the citizens of Berlin were seen hurry-
ing in the direction of Frederic-strasse and Unter den
Linden, through which the procession was to pass. The
houses in the Oranienburger-strasse were hung with
crape, and decorated with black flags : Humboldt's house
was closed. The police kept the street clear, admitting
into it only those who were to take part in the cere-
monies. They soon made their appearance — Ministers
of State, Generals of the army, and grave and learned
professors. There was Dove, Eector Magnincus of the
University, Encke, the celebrated astronomer, Professor
Mitscherlich, Carl Bitter the great geographer, and a
host of authors and artists. Before starting they entered
the house to take a last look at the illustrious dead. He
lay in a large oaken coffin in his study, surrounded by
his books. Over him hung his portrait, wreathed with
palm-leaves and exotic flowers. At eight o'clock the
coffin was borne down the stairs, and placed in the
funeral-car. The crowd uncovered their heads as the
coffin appeared.

480 THE FUNEBAL PBOCESSION.

Presently the procession started. It was headed by
Seifert and the servants of the family. Then came the
students of the Frederic William University, six hundred
in all, led by marshals bearing black rods ; then a band
of musicians playing solemn music, and followed by eight
clergymen in official robes. Next came the three court
chamberlains, the Count of Furstenberg Stammhein,
Count Yon Donhoff, and Baron Yon Zecklitz, and a
fourth appointed for the occasion. They bore on red
velvet cushions the insignia of the Order of the Black
Eagle, the medal of the Grand Chancellor of the peace
class of the Order of Merit, and the countless medals and
orders which the sovereigns of Europe had showered
upon Humboldt. Then came the hearse covered with
black, and drawn by six black horses from the royal
stables. The horses were led by royal grooms, who were
attended by five court footmen, and a yager. Behind
the hearse were twenty deputies of the Students' Society,
each with a palm branch in his hand. Upon the coffin,
which was also decorated with palm-leaves, were two
crowns, one of laurel, the other of white azalea branches.
The male relatives of the dead followed — General Yon
Hedemann, Hermann Yon Humboldt, and William Ilum-
boldt-Dacheroden ; together with a number of Knights of
the order of the Black Eagle, headed by the chief of the
order, General Yon Wrangel, and the Generals of the in-
fantry and cavalry, Prince Wradzivill, and Count Yon der
Groeben. Then came the Ministers of State in their bril-
liant uniforms, officers of the Court, Privy Councillors,
and the members of the diplomatic corps. Among the
latter was the American Minister, Governor Wright, and
all the Americans in Berlin. Then a deputation from

AT THE DOM CHURCH. 481

both Houses of the Legislature; the members of the
Academy of Sciences ; the Professors of the University,
headed by the Rector Magnificus ; the members of the
Academy of Arts, and some of the most distinguished
actors of the Royal Theatre. Then the magistrates and
officials of the city, each wearing a gold chain and a
medal over his coat. Then the citizens of Berlin, old
and young, rich and poor, with a great number of stran-
gers, many of whom had come from a long distance to
show their respect to the dead. The rear was formed by
a line of empty carriages, half a mile in length, headed
by the State carriage of the King and Queen, drawn by
eight horses, the carriage of the Prince Regent, and those
of the Princes and diplomatic corps.

Solemn and slow to the sound of mournful music the
procession wended its way to the Dom Church. As
it passed through Frederic-strasse the pupils of the
Frederic Gymnasium sang a hymn. The windows were
draped with black and thronged with respectful faces :
the crowds in the street stood uncovered and silent. Not
a sound was heard save the rain-like patter of feet, and
the yearning soul of the music. As soon as Unter den
Linden was passed the church bells began to toll, and
the Choral Society of •Berlin broke into a hymn.

The Prince Regent, and the Princes of Prussia, stand-
ing with their heads bared like the meanest of their sub-
jects, received the coffin at the portico of the Dom
Church. It was borne into the church, followed by the
court preacher and several ministers, and placed on a
bier before the altar, which was decorated with palms and
flowers. The chamberlains deposited their cushions laden
with orders on either side, and stood at the head of the

21

482 BACK TO TEGEL.

coffin ; the ro}ral personages and trie relatives of Hum-
boldt stepped within the altar-railing, and the organ
began to peal. The congregation sang " Jesus my trust."
" Blessed are the dead," said the Priest, " who die in the
Lord." " Yea, saith the Spirit," the choir answered,
" for they rest from their labours. Hallelujah !" A prajTer
was then made, a funeral sermon was preached, and the
Lord's Prayer was said. Then the grand old chorals,
"Be comforted and most happy," and " Christ is my
Life," were sung, and the ceremony was over. The pro-
cession departed as it came, with pattering feet and
melancholy music. The church was soon deserted of the
living, but the dead remained, in the oaken coffin under
the solemn dome, alone with God !

That night the body was removed to Tegel.

R. IT. S.

THE END.

CURIOSITIES

OF

NATURAL HISTORY.

By FRANCIS T. BUCKLAND, M.A., OXFORD.
1 Vol. 12mo. Illustrated. Price, $1 25.

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