JOHN C. FREMONT. 205 



in the world. The venerable Nestor of knowledge in 

 modern times, Alexander von Humboldt, in send- 

 ing to him the "great golden medal for progress in 

 the sciences" from the King of Prussia, had ad- 

 dressed him in such language as this: "You have 

 displayed a noble courage in distant expeditions, 

 braved all the dangers of cold and famine, enriched 

 all the branches of the natural sciences, and illus- 

 trated a vast country which was almost entirely 

 unknown to us." The Geographical Society at 

 Berlin, at the same time, had chosen him an honor- 

 ary member, at the suggestion of the illustrious 

 geographer, Charles Bitter; and from the Eoyal 

 Geographical Society of England he also received, 

 about the same period, the Founder's Medal. These 

 and other most honorable evidences of the fact that 

 his former labors had been properly appreciated 

 induced Fremont now to plan and execute his fourth 

 great expedition of discovery across the continent, 

 at his own expense ; which proved to be the most 

 difficult, dangerous, and disastrous of all his adven- 

 turous journeys. This result was attributable not 

 to any defect or negligence of his own, but to the 

 ignorance or the perfidy of his guides. 



Fremont commenced his fourth exploring ex- 

 pedition on the 19th of October, 1848. He had 



determined to select his route along the head- 

 is 



