THWARTED PLANS. 237 



were supposed to have actually set sail. By a second decree 

 the Directory postponed the voyage for a year. . . . 



' It was impossible not to feel my position and the severity 

 of this disappointment ; but it is the part of a man to work, and 

 not to yield to unavailing regrets. I immediately formed the 

 determination of joining the army in Egypt by the land route, 

 accompanying the caravan that travels from Tripoli to Cairo 

 through the desert of Selimar. I selected as my companion 

 one of the young men who had been appointed to the former 

 expedition, Bonpland, a very good botanist and the favourite 

 pupil of Jussieu and Desfontaines. He has served in the navy, 

 is very robust, courageous, and good humoured, and is well 

 versed in comparative anatomy. We hastened to Marseilles, 

 there to embark for Algiers with the Swedish consul, Skjolde- 

 brand, in the frigate " Jaramas," which was conveying presents 

 to the Dey of Algiers. I wished to spend the winter in Algiers 

 and on the Atlas, where, in the province of Constantine, there 

 are to be found, according to Desfontaines, above 400 new 

 species of plants. Thence I hoped, by joining a caravan bound 

 for Mecca, to reach Bonaparte by way of Sufetula, Tunis, and 

 Tripoli.' 



The departure from Paris was delayed till October 20, 1798. 1 

 On the 1 2th of that month Humboldt read before the National 

 Institute a paper upon Agriculture, on the conclusion of which 

 Jussieu addressed him, in few words, a graceful farewell. The 

 most affecting parting was that with Baudin, who termed the 

 separation a dissolution of marriage. In other respects Hum- 

 boldt retained his courage, and continued during the journey 

 in such good spirits as to write humorous descriptions in his 

 note-book of the profane company in which he was thrown, 

 both in the diligence and at the table-d'hote. Lyons was 



1 William von Humboldt wrote from Paris to F. A. Wolf, on October 22, 

 1798 : < My brother, I grieve to say, left here on the 20th the day before 

 yesterday. I have felt his departure exceedingly. For the last few months 

 we have been living under the same roof, have dined together daily, have 

 usually associated with the same society, have, in short, lived together in 

 the most perfect sympathy ; and now, after having so fully enjoyed the 

 pleasure of our unbroken intercourse, there must needs be this separation, 

 which, however, in all probability, will not be of long duration.' (Wil- 

 helm von Humboldt's ' Gesammelte Werke,' vol. v. p. 206.) 





