146 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



and in the following summer he intends to travel, in either 

 Lapland or Hungary, in prosecution of scientific discovery.' 



They started at length upon their tour on July 17, 1795, 

 and Humboldt thus writes to Willdenow, his ' dear friend and 

 companion,' who had written to announce the birth of a son, 

 and to ask him to stand godfather at the baptism : ' I leave 

 to-day for Venice, by way of the Tyrol, thence by Vicenza and 

 the Venetian Alps to Milan and Switzerland.' The letter is 

 mainly of a congratulatory character, and it reveals Humboldt's 

 feelings with reference to 'human interests' of this description. 

 ' I cannot tell you,' he writes, ' with what intense sympathy I 

 read both your letters. There is no one in the world to whom 

 I am so strongly attached as yourself, no one who lies so near 

 my heart. I rejoice with you most truly in the fulfilment of 

 your ardent wishes. How completely I can realise the joy that 

 you and your dear wife must experience you in becoming 

 a father, she in being a noble-hearted devoted mother; and how 

 can I sufficiently thank you for allowing your poor friend, 

 buried in the subterranean regions of the wild Fichtelgebirge, 

 to participate in your joy. A boy withal ! a strong and healthy 

 child ! . . . Next winter I shall hope to embrace you all, and 

 hold your son in my arms.' 



On July 28 Humboldt writes to Freiesleben from Trieste : 

 4 You are aware, my dear Karl, that the main object of my 

 journey is to investigate the connection between the several 

 ranges of the Tyrolese, Venetian (monies euganei), Lombardian, 

 and Swiss Alps. Every arrangement is made with reference to 

 this object. I am also making a collection of plants, therefore 

 I am busy enough. I have met with such a great variety of 

 new specimens, both in the Tyrol and here among these Vene- 

 tian mountains, that I must refer you to my journal I write it 

 up most conscientiously and to my published work on strata.' 

 . . . . After reference to a projected tour through Hungary and 

 Greece, he continues : ' How striking the contrast between the 

 wild districts of the Tyrol, where two days ago I was knee deep 

 in snow, and the sunny plains of Italy around Bolzano and 

 Solmino, where, fanned by Italian breezes, fig-trees flourish 

 in the open air ! ' With yet greater delight he describes a long- 

 stay at Venice, whence he proceeded on August 9, through 



