348 BONPLAND STAIiTri FOJl BllAZlL. 



Paris, the Prince Regent of England invite 1 the assem 

 bled crowned heads and their courts to visit England. 

 Alexander accompanied the Prussian embassy to Lon- 

 don, where he remained some weeks. 



About this time, on the 29th of May, 1814, his old 

 friend, Bonpland, suffered a severe loss in the death of 

 the Empress Josephine. lie was by her bed when she 

 died. When ISTapoleon abdicated he was advised by 

 Bonpland to retire to Mexico, and await there the course 

 of events; but the great disturber of nations was still 

 confident of his star. He could not foresee its fatal 

 setting on the bloody field of Waterloo. Bonpland 

 might have remained at Malmaison, under the new dy- 

 nasty ; he was even solicited to do so by Prince Eugene, 

 but he refused. It was no place for him, since the death 

 of his beloved mistress. He remained with Humboldt 

 till the close of 1816, when he sailed from Havre to Bra- 

 zil, carrying with him a collection of useful plants and 

 European fruit trees. As soon as he arrived at Buenos 

 Ayres the Brazilian government offered him the post of 

 Professor of Natural History, but some intrigue or slan- 

 der, what was never known, changed their feelings to- 

 wards him, and he tendered his resignation. He was 

 not allowed to show his collections, which would have 

 conferred a greater benefit on the country than on him- 

 self; he was even refused a place to lecture in. Dis- 

 pirited by such ill treatment, but as eager as in his youth 

 to explore new lands, and to discover new plants and 

 flowers, he started on an expedition into the interior. 

 Such was the tenor of his letters to Humboldt. 



In August or September, 1818, Humboldt made his 

 third visit to England, where his brother William was 



