TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 9 



whose counsels were extremely welcome to us ; his 

 worthy son; Messrs. Prohaska, Trattinik, Host, Por- 

 tenschlag, Bredemeyer, Prechtl, Meissner, &c. ; all 

 of whom testified great interest in our enterprise. 

 But what particularly animated our courage and en- 

 thusiasm was the personal acquaintance of M. Fer- 

 dinand Bauer, the painter, who had accompanied 

 Captain Flinders on his voyage in the South Sea 

 and to New Holland, and was then actually en- 

 gaged in pourtraying the strange forms of plants 

 and animals of those remote regions. 



We left Vienna on the 4th of March to repair 

 to Triest. At Gratz we visited the Johanneum, 

 founded by His Imperial Highness the Archduke 

 John of Austria. This excellent institution is 

 chiefly designed for the propagation of practical 

 knowledge in the departments of natural history 

 and the arts, and is a noble monument of the 

 esteem of its princely founder for the sciences. 

 On this occasion we became acquainted with the 

 professors Chrys. V. Vest and M. Fr. Mohs, 

 and if our time had permitted, would willingly 

 have explored the beautiful environs of the capital 

 of Styria, in company with those able enquirers ; 

 but circumstances were imperious, and we 

 hastened away to visit the quicksilver mines of 

 Idria. We thought it would be very interesting 

 to obtain by personal inspection, a knowledge of 

 those mines, the produce of wliich must prove of 

 incalculable benefit to Brazil, rich as it is in gold, 



