FEOM QUITO TO MEXICO. 327 



ralist, but, above all, the rapid advancement of science aiid the 

 necessity of gaining acquaintance with the new discoveries 

 which must unquestionably have taken place during an interval 

 of four or five years, . . . these are the motives which have 

 led ns to abandon the projected plan of returning by the Phi- 

 lippines and through the Red Sea to Egypt. Although enjoy- 

 ing everywhere the distinguished protection of the King of 

 Spain, I could not fail, as a private individual travelling at my 

 own cost, to encounter a thousand difficulties, unknown to those 

 engaged in expeditions undertaken by Grovernment. The task 

 to which we shall henceforth devote ourselves will be the re- 

 duction of the observations we have made while in the tropics, 

 and their arrangement for publication. With life still before 

 us, and inured to danger and privations of all kinds, we yet 

 linger over the hope of visiting Asia and her adjacent islands 

 at some future time. With an increased store of knowledge,, 

 and possessed of instruments of greater accuracy, we may per- 

 haps some day undertake another expedition, the plans for 

 which already allure us as in a seductive dream.' 



