316 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



reminds me that it was at the summit of Guaguapichincha, 

 which I frequently visited, and which I regard as classic ground, 

 that La Condamine and Bouguer received their first letter from 

 the Academy ; therefore, it seems to me that Pichincha, si 

 magna licet comparare parvis, is a mountain of good omen to 

 men of science. . . . 



' Long before receiving the letter you addressed to me in 

 your official capacity of Secretary of the Institute, I had writ- 

 ten three letters in succession to the Section for Physics and 

 Mathematics, two of which were from Santa Fe de Bogota, 

 forwarding specimens of bark of seven varieties of the Cin- 

 chona, together with some carefully dried skeletons and. coloured 

 drawings representing the plants and the anatomy of the flowers, 

 which differ considerably in the length of the stamens. 



c Dr. Mutis, from whom I have received every kindness, and 

 for whose sake I undertook a wearisome voyage up the Magda- 

 lena of six weeks' duration, has made me a present of a port- 

 folio of 100 magnificent drawings, representing some new 

 genera and species from his " Flora of Bogota." It has appeared 

 to me that this collection, equally remarkable for its botanical 

 value as for the beauty of the colouring, could not be in better 

 hands than in those of Jussieu, Lamark, and Desfontaines, and 

 I have therefore offered them to the National Institute as a 

 slender token of my attachment. ... I despatched a third 

 letter to the Institute, from Quito, with a collection of geo- 

 logical specimens from Pichincha, Cotopaxi, and Chimborazo. 

 It is very distressing to have to remain so long uncertain as 

 to the safe arrival of these treasures ; for instance, we have 

 heard nothing of the rare seeds we sent to the Jardin des 

 Plantes three years ago ! . . . 



.... 6 At the close of a journey occupying eight months 

 we arrived at Quito, only to learn that Captain Baudin had 

 taken the eastern route, and sailed by the Cape of (rood Hope. 

 Accustomed to disappointments, we consoled ourselves by the 

 thought that we had been actuated by a noble purpose in all 

 the sacrifices we had made ; and in reviewing our herbariums, 

 our barometric and trigonometric observations, our drawings, 

 and our experiments upon the atmosphere of the Cordilleras, 

 we have no reason to regret visiting countries which, to a great 



