1 82 BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 



after another, to dry them between new papers. 1 ' For three or 

 four years he remained at home cultivating the plants he had for- 

 warded from the United States and arranging materials for the vol- 

 umes which were subsequently published. In 1800 he joined the 

 expedition to Australia, under command of Captain Baudin. He be- 

 came disgusted with his commander and abandoned the expedition 

 at Mauritius, but soon went to Madagascar. There he established a 

 botanical garden in which to cultivate his collections, but soon fell 

 a victim to the unhealthy climate, and died with fever November 13, 

 1802. 



Of course among American botanists the interest in Michaux 

 centers aboat his travels in this country, which are said to have 

 aggregated over 3,000 miles and this is probably very scant meas- 

 ure. In some respects he was more favorably situated for explora- 

 tion than other botanists, for he was in the employ of a govern- 

 ment that provided liberally for his needs; but while still at work 

 here the revolution overtook France and Michaux was forgotten. 

 In these circumstances he used his own means until they were ex- 

 hausted and he was compelled to return home. The mere enu- 

 meration of his trips in this country would more than exhaust our 

 space and the most important only can be given. He earl}' estab- 

 lished two botanical gardens, one in Bergen Co., N. J., and the 

 other near Charleston, S. C ; the former to receive his collections 

 from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland; the latter those 

 from the Carolinas and the southern Alleghany Mountains. It 

 was from this Charleston garden probably that some exotics have 

 spread and become naturalized in the Southern States, as for in- 

 stance Albizzia Julibrissin. In April, 1787, Michaux set out up- 

 on his first journey to the Alleghany Mountains, going up the Sa- 

 vannah river to its sources, crossing the mountains and reaching the 

 waters of the Tennessee. Thence he returned to Charleston, where 

 he arrived in July. His next exploration was in East Florida, in 

 the spring of 1788. In the autumn of the same year he again took 

 a trip to the sources of the Savannah to obtain seeds and roots, the 

 Magnolia cordata being the principal object of his search. The 

 following winter was passed in the Bahama Islands. In June, 

 1789, he started to visit the mountains in North Carolina, ascending 

 Black, Roan, and other mountains of that now famous region. 

 Pushing across the mountains he descended the Tennessee side, 

 with the intention of penetrating into Kentucky, but was prevent- 

 ed by the danger from Indians, and so contented himself with an 

 exploration of the mountains of Virginia, crossing the wild regions 

 of West Virginia along New River, etc. Finally he entered Msry- 

 land and reached Philadelphia by way of Lancaster, Penn. Going 

 to New York he returned to Charleston through the lower grounds. 

 In November of the same 3'ear he again explored the mountains 

 of North Carolina. In 1792 he is recorded as botanizing in New 

 Jersey and around New York. Thence up the Hudson to Albany , 



