ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



It must however be expressly stated here, that the invitations 

 to Hirt and to the Countess Lichtenau to join the expedition 

 had been given as early as March 1797, and that in the mean 

 time, in consequence of the death of King Frederick William 

 II., on November 16, 1797, the circumstances of the countess 

 had become so altered that it was no longer possible for her to 

 join the party. Humboldt seems to have been fully aware of 

 the peculiarities of Lord Bristol's character. He often spoke of 

 him as c the mad old lord,' and wrote of him to Pictet in the 

 following terms : c You might possibly think the society of the 

 noble lord objectionable ; he is eccentric in the highest degree. 

 I have only once seen him, and that was during one of the 

 expeditions he used to make on horseback between Pyrmont 

 and Naples. I was aware that it is not easy to live at peace 

 with him. But as I travel at my own expense I preserve my 

 independence, and do not risk anything ; I can leave him at any 

 time if he should oppose me too much. Besides, he is a man 

 of genius, and it would have been a pity to have lost so excel- 

 lent an opportunity. I might do something in meteorology. 

 However, I must beg of you not to mention the expedition to 

 anyone.' 1 



Although Humboldt's most cherished hopes had ever been 

 directed towards a scientific exploration of regions within the 

 tropics, he was yet willing, since Vesuvius and Etna were no 

 longer to be reached, to embrace the opportunity now afforded 

 him of visiting a country which had played so leading a part 

 in the history of the world's civilisation. He accepted the 

 proposal under the express condition that he should be at 

 liberty on returning to Alexandria to pursue the journey alone 

 through Syria and Palestine. 



In prospect of this expedition, he devoted himself with 

 diligence to those studies which would best prepare him for 

 the full appreciation of such a tour studies which afterwards 

 proved of great value to him in the comparisons he was led to 

 institute between the monuments of antiquity of the Old World 

 in Egypt and those of the New World to be found in Peru 

 and Mexico. 



1 Le Globe, Journ. geogr.' vol. vii. pp. 153 ; 185. 



