GEORGE MARC GRAVE 253 



On this expedition he took with him as his immediate family, Franz 

 Plante, his court preacher (who afterwards became professor of theology 

 at Breda), and William Piso, his body physician, while later there joined 

 him George Marcgrave, astronomer and geographer, and Henry Cralitz, 

 a young German student, who unfortunately died shortly after arriving 

 in Brazil. 



Piso was physician to Count Maurice and chief surgeon of the 

 troops. It seems probable that he was also head of the scientific work 

 of the expedition (Driesen, De Crane) since he was a much older and 

 more experienced man than Marcgrave. However, so far as the natural 

 history work was concerned, Piso limited himself closely to that aspect 

 of it which was purely medical, as will be shown later. Marcgrave on the 

 other hand had a much wider field. He certainly practised medicine 

 to some extent, but his larger activities were given to astronomy, geog- 

 raphy and natural history, in all three of which branches he did an 

 enormous amount of work, as the sequel will show. 



Marcgrave, who seems possibly to have been known to Count 

 Maurice in Holland, before he had been in Brazil many months thor- 

 oughly established himself in the favor of his patron. Manget assures 

 us that this was due first of all to the fact that Marcgrave had some 

 knowledge of military architecture. This knowledge was probably made 

 of service to the Count in the building of his new capital, Mauritia, in 

 the environs of Pernambuco. 



Be that as it may, Marcgrave certainly rose rapidly in the esteem 

 of his chief, for we find that the latter built for him in 1639 in the 

 city of Mauritia an astronomical observatory of stone from which 

 Marcgrave studied the motions of the stars, their risings and settings, 

 their sizes, distances and other phenomena. 5 



To care for these extensive collections, his generous friend and 



the labors of those whom he had engaged for this purpose, but actually worked 

 himself in describing and drawing the various new animals of Brazil, even in 

 the most arduous periods of his government. ' ' 



5 On the island of Antonio Vaez in the harbor of Eecif e, Count Maurice built 

 after plans by Peter Post a vice-regal palace, Freiburg, in the suburb called 

 Mauritia. This building had two towers which were visible six to seven leagues 

 at sea and which served as beacons to the mariners (Nieuhoff). It was probably 

 one of these which Marcgrave used as an observatory. This was in all proba- 

 bility the first astronomical observatory ever erected in the southern hemisphere 

 and in the new world. 



And at the same time he received from Count Maurice a troop of soldiers, 

 which accompanied him throughout those parts of Brazil where he explored, so 

 that he was able to hunt for, capture, collect and dry wild beasts of all kinds, 

 fishes, birds and plants : in all which, collected, preserved and displayed before 

 Count Maurice as if they were alive (i. e., stuffed), he brought great delight 

 to the Count and the highest praise to himself. 8 (Manget.) 



6 This information was given to Manget by Colonellus of Mansfeld, the 

 leader of these troops. 



