162 Biography of F. A, Michaur. 



that miglit redound to t"he advantage of his native countrjj and, 

 with this view, he had early turned his attention to agriculture, 

 the advancement of which, he had soon perceived, could not be 

 move securely attained, than b}^ enriching its domain with such 

 products of foreign climes as were unknown to his own country, 

 and susceptible of acclimation. In order to accomplish his ob- 

 ject, he determined to visit. new regions, possessmg climates sim- 

 ilar to that of France, and to bring back thence such of their 

 productions as might prove of advantage to his native land. 



To effect that purpose, he prepared himself by a proper course 

 of studies, and by devoting his particular attention to the science 

 of Botany, under the great Bernard dc Jussieu. He first visited 

 England; he next made several explorations in the mountains 

 of Auvergne, and in the Pyrenees, and afterwards in Spain. He 

 next embarked for Persia, in the capacity of Secretary to the 

 French Consul at Ispahan, but, in reality, for the sole purpose of 

 exploring that country, then almost unknown to scientific men. 

 From 1782 to 1785, he surveyed the whole of the Persian prov- 

 inces, between the river Tigris and the Euphrates, and returned 

 to France, with an extensive collection of specimens, and a large 

 quantity of seeds of every kind. 



During the absence of the elder Michaux, the French govern- 

 ment had been agitating the important question of introducing 

 into the forests of France, such exotic trees as would be calcula- 

 ted to increase the national resources, with respect to naval con- 

 structions. The information which had been received from the 

 United States in this regard, had been exceedingly encouraging, 

 and Michaux, who had just returned from Asia, was chosen for 

 that particular errand, with instructions to procure, for the royal 

 nurseries, all the young trees, shrubs and seeds he could possibly 

 send. In consequence he made all proper dispositions, and em- 

 barked at Lorient on the 25th of August, 1785, taking with him 

 his son, then only fifteen years of age, and a journeyman gar- 

 dener of the name of Paul Saulnier, of whom I shall speak 

 hereafter. They landed at New York on the first of October 

 following. 



At this remote period of time, I am altogether without record 

 as to the movements of young Michaux, immediately afi:er his 

 landing on our shores. The only source where I expected nat- 1 



urally to obtain information, was the manuscript journal in 

 which his father was in the habit of registering the daily inci- 

 dents of his eventful life, and which had been deposited by his 

 son in the library of the American Philosophical Society. Un- 

 fortunately, this journal has become incomplete, through the ab- 

 sence of three of its fasciculi, containing the years 1785, 1786 and 

 1790, which were lost in the shipwreck of the elder Michaux on 

 the coast of Holland. In the fasciculus of 1787, young Michaux's 



