PKOJECTED SCHEMES. 371 



to become no longer available, or from other causes to receive 

 injury, it would not be just to require the redeli very of these 

 instruments intact. The instruments which the king- has 

 graciously accorded to Baron von Humboldt may, therefore, 

 be used by him without restriction, and, upon his return, be 

 delivered to the Eoyal collection in whatever condition they 

 may be.' 



His preparations were completed, and Humboldt had selected 

 his travelling companions and scientific fellow labourers, 1 

 when he was again compelled to relinquish his journey ; this 

 time probably through the illiberal policy of the East India 

 Company. 



In contemplation of this second scheme for penetrating 

 into the interior of Asia, which seemed to promise fulfilment, 

 Humboldt devoted himself to the study of the Asiatic lan- 

 guages, and the diligent search for all documents yielding 

 information as to the climate of Asia and its mountain structure. 

 As the immediate fruit of this work, appeared his second treatise, 

 entitled, ' Memoire sur les Montagnes de 1'Inde,' with consider- 

 able additions, and bearing the distinctive title, ' Sur la Limite 

 inferieure des Neiges perpetuelies dans les Montagnes de 1'Hima- 

 laya et les Regions equatoriales.' 2 By frequent intercourse with 

 the great linguists Abbe Grregoire, Abel Remusat, Letronne, 

 Hase, Freytag, Klaproth, 3 Villoisin, Champollion, the Persian 



1 Among these was Dr. Baeyer, then Captain and now Lieutenant-General 

 of Dragoons, and President of the Royal Geodetic Institution of Prussia. 

 To him, as an excellent geodetic observer, were to be committed all matters 

 relating to the topographical surveys of the countries they visited, such as 

 observations for latitude and longitude, determinations of the heights of 

 mountains, &c. ; under the direction of Professor Weiss he had also qualified 

 himself as assistant-observer in mineralogy and geology. Dorow (' Erlebtes,' 

 vol. iii. p. Go fg.) relates : ' Goerres expressed himself in the most enthusiastic 

 manner concerning Alexander von Humboldt's projected journey to Persia 

 and Thibet, and wished to induce Dorow to exert himself to join the 

 expedition. . . . Goethe and Reinhardt, on the contrary, doubted much 

 whether Humboldt would accept Dorow as one of the party, seeing he was 

 scarcely likely to prove a very energetic assistant.' 



2 < Annales de Chim. et de Phys.' vol. xiv. (Paris, 1820). 



3 Klaproth, the most renowned Sinologist of that time and the greatest 

 authority on the geography of Asia and the various nations peopling that 

 country, and author of the ' Tableau historique de 1'Asie,' was then engaged 

 upon a work in which Humboldt took a lively interest, ' Carte de 1'Asie 



