438 STEPHENS THE TRAVELLER IX BERLIN. 



the fifth and last in 1858. With the exception of a 

 journey to Copenhagen in the former year, and an occa- 

 sional visit to Paris (his last visit to the French capital 

 was in October, 1847), Humboldt spent this time, the 

 last twilight of the mellow evening of his life, at Berlin, 

 Potsdam, and Tegel. The preface to the first volume 

 of " Kosmos" is dated from Potsdam, and the preface to 

 the last edition of the " Aspects of Nature" from Berlin. 

 He was visited at the former place in 1817, by Stephens, 

 the distinguished American traveller, recently deceased. 



" Towards sunset, on the first of July," says Mr. Ste- 

 phens, " the railroad cars from Hamburg brought me to 

 the gate of Berlin. Entering the city the twilight of a 

 northern summer illuminated the stately houses, and the 

 broad avenue of Unter den Linden. Leaving the broad 

 portal of the Brandenburgh gate, with the car of Victory 

 on the top, carried off as a trophy by Napoleon, and 

 after eight years of captivity restored to its place — and 

 riding on to the other extremity of the avenue, I had 

 before me at one view the Schloss Platz, or Palace 

 Square, with the colossal palace, and all the most magni- 

 ficent buildings of the city, all enlarged and made more 

 grand by the mellow twilight, and exhibiting an archi- 

 tectural splendour hardly to be met with in any capital 

 in Europe. Turning off on one side of the square, at 

 nine o'clock, I was ' taking mine ease' in the salon of the 

 Hotel de Russie. 



"I had gone over in the Washington, the pioneer of 

 the American mail steamers to Bremen, and was striking 

 over the continent for a passeo on the Rhine, and to 

 intercept the steamer at Southampton on her return to 

 New York. I had but one day for Berlin. There was 



