OP BARON HUMBOLDT. 125 



boldt to acompany an expedition by way of 

 Kaschghor to Tibet, which was at once ac- 

 cepted. He was anxious to visit the noted 

 mountains of India, in order to ascertain their 

 geological relation to the mountains of the 

 New World. Unfortunately the outbreak of 

 the war between France and Russia, in 1812, 

 frustrated this project, and Humboldt returned 

 by way of Vienna to Paris, still determined to 

 execute this journey on some future day. For 

 this purpose he studied for some years the 

 Persian language, and decided to proceed by 

 way of Teheran or Herat to India. He 

 acquired a theoretical knowledge of the struc- 

 ture of the mountain-chains of Asia, and could 

 give a satisfactory opinion with reference to 

 the achievements of naturalists who had already 

 visited the Himalayas. A variety of circum- 

 stances made this projected journey especially 

 attractive to Baron Humboldt. The table- 

 land of Central Asia, where tradition places the 

 cradle of mankind, the mountains of India, the 

 remarkable conditions of the limits of perpetual 

 snow inspired Baron Humboldt with a pecu- 

 liar love for the study of Asia. Although the 

 French Government and the King of Prussia 

 had, in the interest of science, offered assistance 

 in furtherance of Humboldt' s intended explora- 



