GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY: THE WESTON METEOR. 219 



had established himself with a portion of his library, and 

 more of his cabinet of minerals than I had before seen was 

 here opened, while numerous boxes, filled with minerals, 

 remained in the warehouses, unopened. What I now saw, 

 and had before seen, excited in my mind a strong interest 

 to see and examine the whole. My daily -visits to the Gibbs 

 house, which was always accessible to me, made me familiar 

 with its contents, and placed me on terms of easy inter 

 course with its liberal-minded proprietor. An intelligent 

 colored servant, Scipio, was always ready to admit me. 



I had now acquired a scientific friend and a professional 

 instructor and guide, much to my satisfaction, and he ap 

 peared equally pleased to find a companion in his scientific 

 sympathies and pursuits, especially in a young man full of 

 zeal, and both willing and desirous to work. There were 

 in Newport no other men that were devotees of science, 

 and therefore we, as regards these pursuits, became inti 

 mately associated, and were not long in planning excursions 

 on this picturesque and beautiful island, whose physical 

 features of course depend upon its geological structure. 



Soon after our return from an excursion to Cumberland 

 we visited Boston, and returned to Newport October 3, 

 1807. This visit introduced me to some persons having a 

 taste for science. Among them was the Hon. John Davis, 

 Judge of the District Court under the General Govern 

 ment. Judge Davis showed me much kindness ; I enjoyed 

 his friendship to the end of his long life ; and his brother, 

 Mr. Isaac P. Davis, was also my friend. 



There was not at that period fifty years ago much 

 of a spirit of science in Boston. Literature was cultivated 

 and flourished. In my visits to Cambridge, I saw their 

 small but beautiful collection of minerals, given them by the 

 French Republic, which was followed by a similar donation 

 from Dr. Letsome of London. But mineralogy seems not 

 then to have taken root at Cambridge ; and neither min- 



