ELLSHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 1 5 



teers, and to try their firmness still more severely, a tempestuous 

 voyage ensued, terminating in a tremendous storm, by which their 

 vessel was dismasted and a horrible suspense for a time hung over 

 their destiny. 



A journal kept on this voyage manifests, however, the fervent and 

 patriotic feeling which cheered the heart and buoyed up the hopes 

 of von Schweinitz in the near prospect of extensive usefulness in 

 the land of his nativity. 



The immediate scene of his duties was the establishment at Salem, 

 Stokes County, North Carolina, where he found time to prosecute 

 the study of botany in a dominion, scientifically speaking, all his 

 own. His stay in North Carolina embraced a period of ten years, 

 from 1812 to 1822. Although not a native he had a strong predilec- 

 tion for this State, having often heard his father and grand-father 

 speak of their visits to its early settlements, and when he became a 

 resident he enjoyed thoroughly the life which it opened to him. 

 His official duties were very arduous. He was a member of the 

 Governing Board of the Moravian churches in North Carolina; a 

 trustee of the Salem Female Academy; the administrator of the 

 very large landed estates which the Moravian church owned in that 

 State and which were originally purchased of Lord Granville in 

 1753, and at the same time he frequently preached the gospel at 

 Salem and other places. 



In the midst of these duties, however, he always found time for 

 his scientific researches. Hardly a day passed by on which he did 

 not go out on botanical excursions in the vicinity of Salem. He 

 extended these excursions at times as far as Raleigh. Stokes and 

 Surry Counties be thoroughly explored. On one of these tours he 

 discovered, among the Sameton Mountains in Stokes County, a 

 most beautiful waterfall which for many years bore his name. 

 Among his scientific correspondents during this period were Dr. 

 Reichenbaeh, of Dresden; Kunze, of Leipzic; Le Conte, U. S. A.; 

 Blumenbach, of Gottingen; Elliot, of South Corolina; Schwaeg- 

 richen, of Leipsic; Hooker, of England, &c. 



It was during this period also that the Presidency of the Univer- 

 sity of North Carolina was tendered Dr. von Schweinitz. As the 

 acceptance of this honor would have necessitated his relinquishing 

 his service in the Moravian church he declined it. He believed he 

 had been called of God to engage in this service. All the traditions 

 of his family up to his ancestor, Count Zinzendorf, were instinct 

 with loyalty to that church and its work. 



The first fruits of his labor were given to the world in 1818 



