1857.] Bayard Taylor's Visit to Humboldt. 105 



I was most surprised by the youthful 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 should not have suspected him of being 

 over seventy-five. His wrinkles arc few and small, and his skin has 

 a smoothness and delicacy rarely seen in old men. His hair, al- 

 though snow white, is still abundant, his step slow but firm, and his 

 manner active almost to restlessness. He sleeps but four hours out 

 of the twenty-four, reads and replies to his daily train of letters, 

 and suflcrs 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 fticulty 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. Pie 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 open- 

 ing 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 experience will be very 

 interesting, it is true, but will you not suffer from the severe cold?' 

 ' That remains 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 understand how your object to 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 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 desire to traverse 

 the Russian-Tartar provinces of Central Asia. The Kirghiz 

 steppes, he said, were very monotonous; fifty miles gave you the 

 picture of a thousand ; but the people were exceedingly interesting. 

 If I desired to go there, I would have no difficulty in passing 

 through them to the Chinese frontier ; but the southern provinces 



