434 ALEXANDER AGASSTZ 



" As far as I can guess from the past dispatch of the 

 ■work and speed of the Albatross, we are due at Manga 

 Reva the last of January and should arrive at Acapulco 

 the last day of February and at San Diego the 12th of 

 March and at Santa Barbara two or three days later. I 

 must be back in Cambridge the 26th or 27th of March 

 to clear the decks and get ready for the Washington 

 meeting of the Academy, the 17th of April. 1 So that 

 when I telegraph you my movements from Acapulco, 

 engage for me a stateroom or a compartment by the 

 Santa Fe to Chicago for the 22d of March ; if you can't 

 get via Santa Fe, get the same accommodation via Rock 

 Island to Chicago. If that does not work, telegraph to 

 San Francisco for the same via Central and Union Pa- 

 cific. I take it Max will be there and will probably share 

 my quarters." 



As usual, Agassiz had returned on time to the day, 

 after having explored one of the least known portions 

 of the earth's surface. His short journey in the cars to 

 Santa Barbara was an amusing contrast, for the local 

 train was delayed for three days in a washout. 



This was the last of Agassiz's expeditions devoted to 

 zoological work. His cruises in the Blake had made the 

 Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and certain portions 

 of the Atlantic, as well known oceanographically as any 

 regions of the world. In his first Albatross Expedition 

 he had extended his investigations to the regions to the 

 westward of Panama, and in this last voyage he had 

 explored a vast extent of unknown ocean and discovered 

 a huge desert area. 



One of the chief ultimate objects of his oceanic inves- 



1 To preside as President of the National Academy. 



