CHARACTERS. 



435 



3'^car 1785 of respectable parents, 

 near the town of Drammen in 

 Norway. Early in life, being then 

 destined for the profession of 

 medicine, he acquired a decided 

 taste for botany, especially that 

 part of it which belongs to the 

 investigation of the cryptogamic 

 plants. For this purpose, when 

 only in his 22nd year, he took a 

 journey to the mountains of Tel- 

 lemarck, where he made so many 

 discoveries of new mosses and 

 lichens as to acquire considerable 

 celebrity for his botanical acumen. 

 He paid a second visit to these 

 mountains in 1812 ; and the repu- 

 tation he now acquired was such 

 as to point him out to the patri- 

 otic society of Norway, as a pro- 

 per person to explore the valleys 

 of Walders, Guldtransdal, and 

 Romsdal, about the 62nd degree 

 of latitude. This object he ac- 

 complished in a very satisfac- 

 tory manner; and he devoted his 

 attention especially to ameliorat- 

 ing the condition of the inhabi- 

 tants of that sequestered district, 

 by teaching them the best means 

 of improving the few advantages 

 afforded them by a barren soil and 

 an inclement climate. 



By the death of hi.s father, Mr. 

 Smith came into possession of a 

 small patrimonial estate ; and he 

 determined to devote this inde- 

 pendence to foreign travel for the 

 purpose of studying natural his- 

 . tory. He had received the ap- 

 pointment of professor of Botany 

 in the university of Christiania ; 

 and one object of his travels was, 

 to form a collection of plants for 

 a new botanical garden which hud 

 been establisiicd there. He first 

 came to London, and visited the 

 principal gardens near it; then 



went to Edinburgh, and after ex- 

 amining its mountains, with those 

 of the north of England and 

 Wales, made an excursion to Dub- 

 lin, and finally returned to London 

 about the close of 1814-. He met 

 at Sir Joseph Banks's with the dis- 

 tinguished naturalist Von Bu'-h, 

 and they agreed upon an expedi- 

 tion to the Canaries, where they 

 passed between six and seven 

 months, and returned to England 

 in December. 



In London he remained a short 

 time, chiefly for the purpose of 

 arranging his botanical treasures; 

 but while he v/as thinking of re- 

 turning to his native country, an 

 offer was vmexpectedly made to 

 him of the ^appointment to the 

 botanical department in the ex- 

 pedition for exploring the African 

 river of Zaire, which he embraced 

 with his accustomed zeal and en- 

 thusiasm. The expedition left 

 Falmouth on the 19th of March, 

 and it was nearly two months be- 

 fore they arrived at the mouth of 

 the Zaire. For the first time the 

 professor made a short excursion 

 on shore on July 7; and in his 

 journal he describes the vegeta- 

 tion as magnificent and extremely 

 beautiful. The siibsequent his- 

 tory of the expedition is little 

 else than a relation of disappoint- 

 ments and disasters. It was found 

 that the information obtained in 

 England was extremely defective 

 and erroneous. The magnitude 

 of the Zaire had been much ex- 

 aggerated. It was found, almost 

 at the commencement, to be dif- 

 ficult and nearly impracticable 

 for the larger vessels ; and at the 

 distance of 130 or 140 miles from 

 its mouth, a succession of rapids 

 completely obstructed even the 



2 F 2 passage 



