MEMOIR OF ANDRE MICIIAUX. 



the Pyrenees, and travelled in Spain ; and, in a short time, aocompanied the 

 ncplifw of the eeleltrated Kousseau to Persia, tlio latter l)eitii^ appointed Consul 

 to that country in 1782. He went to Alepjio, Pap^ihid, the Tii^ris, th(! Euphrates, 

 Passora, and many other places, sending home numerous seeds to Thouin, ]SIales- 

 herhes, and others. l*ersla at that time was a prey to civil wars, and Michaux, 

 iduiidered of everythiiif;^ by the Arabs, was sui)plied with the means of continning 

 liis journey by M. de la Touche, the Enf^lish Consul at liassora, though France 

 and England were at that time at war ; M. do la Touche, his biographer observes, 

 thinking that a naturalist who travelled for the good of humanity, ought to be 

 protected by every nation. In this part of the world Michaux remained two 

 years, traversing mountains and deserts from the Indian to the Caspian Sea, and 

 proving that the provinces situated between 35° and 45^ of latitude in the East, 

 have supplied most of our trees, exclusive of those which belong to America. He 

 here verified the fact first noticed by Kfcmpfer, that the'male flowers of the date will 

 keep during the year, and yet impregnate the female. lie sent home sculptured 

 ruins from the palace known as that of Semiramis, near the Tigris, and various 

 other antiques, and objects of natural history. He returned to Paris in June, 

 1785, and was chosen soon after to go to the United States, to collect seeds of 

 trees and shrubs ; to establish an entrepot for them in the neighborhood of New 

 York ; and to get them sent from that to Rambouillet, which was destined to re- 

 ceive them. lie was also commissioned to send home American game. He arrived 

 at New York in October, 1785 ; established a garden there ; traversed New Jersef, 

 Pennsylvania, and Maryland ; and, after the first year, he sent home twelve boyes 

 of seeds, and five thousand young trees, together with some Canadian partridges, 

 which afterwards bred at Versailles. In September, 1789, he went to Carolina, 

 making Charleston his depot ; he traversed the Alleghany Mountains, and the 

 whole country north and south, leaving his son at Charleston, in charge o^ the 

 gardens there. From this place he sent home numerous seeds, and many hundreds 

 of young trees. In April following, he set out to reconnoitre the sources of the 

 Savannah, and there he discovered Magnolia auriculata, Robinia viscosa, .izalea 

 V. coccinea, a Kalmia, a Rhododendron, and many oaks and other trees not before 

 known. The manner in which he travelled, his intercourse with the native Indians, 

 and the accidents he met with, are extremely interesting. Whenever he discovered 

 a new plant, it inspired him with such enthusiasm, that he no longer felt fatigue. 

 The discovery of a new Pavia, and of the Pinckneya pubens, gave bra great 

 pleasure. He arrived at New Providence in February, 1799, and returned to 

 Charleston in May of the same year. He afterwards visited the highestmountains 

 of Carolina. The dangers he experienced there, convinced him of the necessity 

 of having two guides, because one might perish by the road by a thoisand acci- 

 dents, and it would be impossible for a European to find his way al«ne through 

 the country. He found in these mountains vast tracts covered witV Rhododen- 

 drons, Kalmias, and Azaleas, and with forests of trees altogether impenetrable. 

 War, at this time, was declared between France and England, and Michaux was 

 afraid of being forced to leave America. He had been for a long time occupied 

 with the idea of determining the native place of all the American 'rees ; and also 

 at what latitude they begin to grow rare, and where they disappetr entirely. In 

 short, he wished to ascertain up to what height they are found oi the mountains, 

 and in what soil they prosper best. He considered the native fountry of a tree 

 to be that in which it is most numerous, and where it acquires He greatest height 

 and thickness. Thus he fixed on Kentucky as the native countrj of the Tulip-tree, 

 because it there forms vast forests, has a trunk commonly seven feet or eight feet 

 in diameter, and grows one hundred and twenty feet high, tiriving in a moist, 



