30 CORUNNA. 



last, "Never," says Humboldt, "had so extensive a 

 permission been granted to any traveller, and never had 

 any foreigner been honored by more confidence on the 

 part of the Spanish government." 



The savans of Madrid offered the travellers great 

 inducements to stay awhile among them. Don Casimir 

 Ortega, the abbe Pourret, and the learned authors of the 

 Flora of Peru opened to them their rich collections. 

 They examined part of the recently discovered plants of 

 Mexico, from drawings which had been sent to the 

 Museum of Natural History of Madrid, and obtained 

 from the chemist Proust, and the mineralogist Hergen, 

 some curious details of the mineral substances of 

 America. They could have spent a long time usefully 

 as well as pleasantly in the Spanish capital, but bearing 

 in mind their previous disappointments they departed 

 about the middle of May, en route for Corunna, from 

 whence they intended to embark for Cuba. They 

 crossed a part of Old Castile and the kingdoms of Leon 

 and Galicia. The snow still covered the lofty granitic 

 tops of the Guadarama, but in the deep valleys of Galicia 

 the rocks were clothed with cistuses and arborescent 

 heaths. Pursuing his geological researches on the way 

 Humboldt examined the mountains between Astorga 

 and Corunna, and found that many of them were com- 

 posed of graywacke. Near Corunna he came upon 

 granitic ridges which contained tin ore. 



Arriving at Corunna they sought Don Raphael 

 Clavijo, the superintendent of the dockyards, to whom 

 they had recommendations from the Spanish minister, 

 and the chief secretary of state. He advised them to 

 embark on board the frigate Pizarro, which was soon to 



