LETTERS AND RECOLLECTIONS 



OF 



ALEXANDER AGASSIZ 



CHAPTER I 



DESCENT AND BOYHOOD 



Agassiz is not an uncommon name in that part of 

 Switzerland known as the Canton de Vaud. In this re- 

 gion, about halfway between the western end of Lake 

 Neuchatel and Lake Geneva, lies the little village of 

 Bavois, the cradle of the family from which springs the 

 American branch. Here, for many generations, " Les 

 Agassiz de Bavois " appear to have been small landed 

 proprietors. The family can be traced as far back as 

 1539, when the name of one Pierre Agassiz of Bavois 

 appears on some public documents. His direct descend- 

 ant, the Rev. Jean Francois Agassiz, died in 1681 while 

 he was pastor at Payerne. After him, in direct descent 

 from father to son, there were five generations of Pro- 

 testant ministers who had parishes in various towns and 

 villages of Switzerland. 1 



The grandfather of the subject of this biography, 

 and last of this long line of ministers, was the Rev. 

 Louis Benjamin Rodolphe Agassiz. The inscription on 



1 A member of this family, David Agassiz, went to Paris with Necker 

 in 1753 ; and subsequently to London, where he founded the English 

 branch of the family, whose members have occupied honorable positions 

 in the army, the navy, and the civil service. An English Agassiz settled 

 in British Columbia in 1852, where his descendants are still existent. 



