THWARTED PLANS. 227 



The preparations for the journey were soon so far completed 

 that on April 22, 1798, Humboldt left Berchtesgaden by way of 

 Strasburg for Paris, in order that he might provide himself 

 with good instruments and take leave of his brother and his 

 family. 



A few days before leaving Salzburg, he thus writes to 

 Freiesleben : 



6 . . . . Lord Bristol, an old English nobleman, with an 

 income of 60,000. a year, (half mad and half a genius), who 

 travelled in Greece with Fortis, sent me an invitation to meet 

 him at Naples and join him in an expedition up the Nile. He 

 was to start in August and sail in his own yacht with an armed 

 crew, with artists, sculptors, &c., and with a kitchen and well- 

 provided cellar. He was to go as far as Syene in Upper Egypt. 

 I was to be free of expense throughout. In the spring of 1799, 

 we were to return by way of Constantinople and Vienna. Such 

 a proposition was not to be declined. I promised to go with 

 him, and had arranged to leave Paris by the end of June, in 

 order to meet him at Naples by the 1st of August. It is 

 now, however, rumoured everywhere that the French are going 

 to take possession of Egypt. If so, Bristol as an Englishman 

 will not be allowed to enter the country, and whether it will be 

 safe for me to go or not I can only learn in Paris, whither I set 

 out to-morrow. Thus our most cherished plans are scattered 

 to the winds ! I am nevertheless not without hope of accom- 

 plishing somehow this visit to Egypt. If peace be maintained 

 between France and Turkey, I shall go alone, setting out from 

 Marseilles. I count much upon the trip, as I have cherished 

 the hope for so long, and it will be such an excellent way of 

 employing the time I now have at my disposal.' 



Of the various labours he was then engaged upon he gives 

 the following account : c Here, where I intended to remain 

 scarcely two months, I have now spent five in the deep re- 

 tirement of a hermit's solitude, engaged upon various experi- 

 ments with more devoted industry and with more successful 

 results than ever. In Zach's " Ephemeriden " you will see 

 some notice of my astronomical work, such as the determination 

 of latitudes, trigonometrical measures of the Alpine ranges, &c. 

 The second part of my labours was completed in February, and 



Q 2 



