1846-4?.] ESTABLISHMENT AT EAST BOSTON. 295 



interest and sympathy shown to him since the day of 

 his arrival on American soil ; and, curiously enough, 

 the house he leased was only a stone's throw from his 

 landing-place at the Cunard wharf. 



Accompanied by Pourtales, Desor, and Girard, he 

 came to Boston, early in April, stopping at a boarding- 

 house in Temple Place, preparatory to arranging for 

 a house. Agassiz took, for one year, a three-storied 

 brick house at East Boston, close by the sea, the tide 

 even entering the garden; where he tied up a little 

 row-boat, called, in New England, a dory, as his first 

 contribution to the furniture of his establishment. Here 

 is another example of atavism, in a descendant of the 

 lake-dwelling peoples of Switzerland, who were always 

 ready to return to water, whenever occasion offered. 

 He was led to the choice of this house, with its rather 

 heavy rent, - - one thousand dollars a year, - - by his 

 ardent desire to have a laboratory close by the sea, 

 where he could get marine animals to his heart's con- 

 tent, and preserve them alive. 



It was not easy for four Europeans, three of whom 

 spoke hardly a word of English, to furnish a house, 

 and remove there all their property, including books, 

 large diagrams, and the several barrels and boxes of 

 natural history specimens collected since Agassiz's 

 arrival. 



Before the final arrangement and the removal to 

 East Boston, the health of Agassiz broke down, for the 

 first time in his life. Until then fatigue and anxiety of 

 all sorts had made no impression on his strong constitu- 

 tion ; he seemed to be above the reach of sickness. But 



