278 ALEXANDEK VON HUMBOLDT. 



manners characteristic of the fifteenth century, and who fre- 

 quently exhibit traits of humanity and principles of true philo- 

 sophy which are sometimes sought for in vain among nations 

 regarded as highly civilised. 



6 It is therefore with great regret that I look forward to 

 leaving these peaceful regions for the richer and more populous 

 districts of other colonies. I shall certainly meet with greater 

 facilities for collecting information, but I shall oftener encounter 

 men who, while the language of the most beautiful philosophy 

 is upon their lips, deny its first principles in their hearts, who 

 while lash in hand they are subjecting their slaves to cruel abuse, 

 yet speak with enthusiasm of the glories of freedom, and at the 

 same moment offer the children of their negroes, when scarcely 

 more than infants, for sale like so many calves. Would not the 

 solitude of a desert be preferable to the company of such 

 philosophers ? ' 



After a detailed account of the expedition to the Orinoco, he 

 continues : 



6 My friend Bonpland suffered much more severely from this 

 excursion than I did. On our arrival at Gruiana he was attacked 

 by vomiting and fever, which caused me the greatest anxiety. 

 Probably this was the effect of the food, to which we were 

 both unaccustomed. Seeing he made no progress towards re- 

 covery in the town (Angostura 1 ), I had him conveyed to the 

 country-house of my friend Dr. Felix Farreras, eighteen miles 

 from the Orinoco, in a cooler valley at a somewhat greater 

 elevation. There is no more efficient cure in this tropical 

 climate than change of air. 



' I cannot describe to you the anxiety I endured during his 

 illness. I could never have hoped to meet again with a 



1 Among the Kadowitz collection of autographs in the Royal Library at 

 Berlin is a chart of the Orinoco, sketched by Humboldt, which, though very 

 rough, is executed with great clearness, and is accompanied by the 

 remark : i My first attempt to employ graphically the astronomical ob- 

 servations I made on the Orinoco and the Casiquiare. I made the sketch 

 at Santo Thome del Angostura in June 1800, while Bonpland was lying 

 dangerously ill of a nervous fever. I give you the chart, as a proof that I 

 can occasionally write with legibility. 



1 Berlin: 1842. AL. HUMBOLDT.' 



