332 ALEXANDEK VON HUMBOLDT. 



Trinidad to Sir Joseph Banks in London. Do not suppose, 

 however, that my stores are thereby exhausted, or that I have 

 altogether forgotten Berlin. I have still by me an excellent 

 collection, the result of my botanical explorations in the dis- 

 tricts of Quito, Loxa and Jaen, on the banks of the Amazon, 

 on the slopes of the Andes in Peru, and during my travels from 

 Acapulco to Chilpensingo and Mexico. I shall not venture to 

 trust this invaluable treasure to the care of the postal authori- 

 ties here, for they are incredibly careless in their arrange- 

 ments ; but as I am about to start for Havana, on my return 

 to Europe, I shall convey this collection to you in person. I 

 have taken the greatest precautions to have the specimens 

 carefully dried. . . . 



6 My friends in America, moreover, have been kind enough 

 to say that they will always be glad to forward parcels of fresh 

 seeds, as you may require them. During my travels I have 

 met with several assiduous botanists ; among whom I may men- 

 tion Tofalla at Guayaquil, Oliveda at Loxa, Mutis at Santa 

 Fe, and his pupil Caldas, at Popayan. 



6 1 am delighted to find that the botanical specimens which 

 I sent you through Mr. Fraser reached their destination at 

 length in safety.' (See p. 281.) 



After giving a summary of his movements since leaving 

 Quito, Humboldt continues : c I was very anxious to have re- 

 turned to Europe before the end of the year, but the news that 

 the yellow fever is raging at Vera Cruz and Havana, and the 

 fear of encountering a bad passage across the Atlantic, so late 

 in the year as October, have decided me to postpone my 

 journey. I should not like my travels to end with a tragedy. 

 By adopting what seems to me to be the safest course, my 

 arrival in Europe will be delayed till April or May in 1 804.' 



In two other letters written by Humboldt during his resi- 

 dence at Mexico, the one addressed to Cavanilles on April 22, 

 and the other to Delambre on July 29, he recapitulates the 

 events of the last eighteen months, and describes in detail the 

 incidents of his journey, the difficulties he encountered, and 

 the scientific results of the expedition. At the close of his 

 letter to Delambre, he again announces the abandonment of 

 his original plan of returning by the Philippines, but adds : 



