1818-3 M- Deodat de Dolomieu. 165 



From Malta he accompanied the expedition to Egypt, and 

 proceeded up the valley of the Nile as far as Cairo, from which 

 place he meditated further excursions in pursuit of his favourite 

 objects. His health, however, soon became seriously deranged, 

 and he was obliged to seek for means of returning to Europe. 

 Embarking at Alexandria, after a stormy passage, in which he 

 narrowly escaped shipwreck, the vessel was obliged to take 

 shelter in the port of Taranto. The day after their arrival, one 

 of the sailors died of the plague, and of course the remainder, 

 passengers as well as seamen, were placed in close custody. 

 The Neapolitan territory was at this time in the crisis of revolu- 

 tionary civil war, the one party being supported by the French, 

 the other by the British and their allies ; as each party obtained 

 the temporary ascendency, Dolomieu and his companions ran 

 the risk of being massacred, or were treated with high distinc- 

 tion. The French army being obliged to retreat from the south 

 of Italy, the triumph of the royalists became confirmed, and 

 Dolomieu, together with Cordier, General Dumas, and some 

 other Frenchmen of distinction, were conveyed prisoners to 

 Sicily. His companions being simply prisoners of war, were 

 treated accordingly ; but Dolomieu, by his conduct at Malta 

 having subjected himself to the charge of a violation of alle- 

 giance towards the Order, of which the King of Naples was the 

 acknowledged protector, was immediately separated from his 

 friends, and placed in rigorous confinement, the severity of his 

 treatment being probably aggravated by party animosity. Legal 

 proceedings against him, if they were ever really contemplated, 

 were suspended by the prompt interference in his favour of many 

 distinguished persons, who nobly postponed on this occasion the 

 gratification of political feeling in favour of their regard for 

 science. The Danish government, M. D'Azara, the King of 

 Spain, Sir Wm. Hamilton, and Sir Joseph Banks, made appli- 

 cations in his behalf, which, though not successful in obtaining 

 his liberation, at least prevented the last extremity. At length 

 the battle of Marengo was fought, which again laid Italy at the 

 feet of France ; and the first article in the terms imposed by the 

 conqueror on Naples was the restoration of Dolomieu to his 

 country and to science. In the mean time his philosophical 

 associates at Paris had not been unmindful of their colleague, 

 they having elected him to the Professor's chair, vacant by the 

 death of Daubenton. His return to Paris was hailed with 

 delight by his relations, his friends, and his colleagues ; and he 

 entered on the duties of his office by the delivery of a short 

 course of lectures on the general principles of mineralogy. For 

 the restoration of his health, and in furtherance of his professional 

 pursuits, he now undertook another journey to Switzerland, in 

 the course of which he again reviewed and corrected his obser- 

 vations on tta spots where they were originally made. Tearing 

 himself at length, and with reluctance, from hit Octuved moan- 



