404 APPENDIX. 



ever in the foreground as the chief desire of his heart. Yet doubts 

 often rose before him as to whether, after so long an absence, he 

 could renew the relationships from which he had been so long 

 estranged. 'What compensation could I find in the noise and 

 bustle of Paris ? ' he inquired. * Should I labour in some garret 

 there for any bookseller who might undertake to print my books ? 

 Should I live there debarred from all other consolation save that of 

 watching from time to time a rose blooming at my window ? I 

 should have to lose that which is to me of all things most precious, 

 the society of my beloved plants, which have been my companions 

 through life.' Even the last letter he addressed to Humboldt, 

 dated from Corrientes, July 7, 1857, is characterised by the same 

 remarkable display of mingled feelings the yearning to behold once 

 more his distant native land, and the hermit's pleasure with which 

 he delighted in the solitary home of his choice. ' I intend,' he 

 writes, ' to be myself the bearer of my collections and manuscripts 

 to Paris, where I hope to deposit them in the Museum. My visit 

 to France will be but of short duration ; for I shall wish to return 

 to my home at St. Anna, where I lead a life as happy as it is peace- 

 ful. There I trust I shall die, and my grave will be shadowed by the 

 numerous trees that I have planted. How great will be my delight, 

 my dear Humboldt, to see you once again, and to renew the many 

 reminiscences we have in common ! On the 28th of next August I 

 shall have completed my eighty-fourth year, and I am three (four) 

 years your junior. A man has recently died in this province at the 

 age of 107. What a prospect is thus presented to two travellers 

 who have passed their eightieth year ! ' This passage, as Humboldt 

 remarked, seems to indicate a strong clinging to life in an old man 

 of eighty-four. It was his desire to lie buried beneath the shade of 

 orange trees and palms, among the trees that he had tended and 

 cherished during life; but in the contemplation of it he again 

 and again reverted in imagination to the journeys he had taken 

 with the friend of his youth ; he could yet vividly recall the delight 

 experienced by his friend on first beholding in Spain the glory of 

 southern vegetation, when, intoxicated by the new sensation, he 

 desired to pass his life amid scenes of such beauty. A sense of duty 

 detained Humboldt amid the cheerless surroundings of his native 

 home, while Bonpland, less conscientious in the indulgence of his 

 wishes, was content to spend his days in quiet inaction, in the 

 enjoyment of a life of contemplation. He died on May 11, 1858, at 

 the age of eighty-five years. The French, usually so zealous for the 

 honour of their nation, have accorded to the merits of their country- 

 man no greater meed of praise than is conveyed in the expression 



