192 ALEXANDER AGASSIZ 



stantly in search of another Calumet. For at various 

 times he persuaded them to undertake a series of disas- 

 trous mining ventures in Mexico, only two of which 

 ever showed any real promise, Yedras and Prietas. One, 

 King entangled hopelessly in a complicated financial 

 arrangement with an English company ; the other, after- 

 ward a most successful mine, was sold on the representa- 

 tation of a rascally mining captain. 



Had Agassiz and his brothers-in-law ever undertaken 

 the management of these mines personally, or had Agas- 

 siz ever travelled in the field with King, whose optim- 

 ism was greater than his judgment, probably the latter 

 could not, after each successive failure, have hypnotized 

 these gentlemen into embarking with fresh enthusiasm 

 on some new venture. 



Nor were these unsuccessful mining schemes limited 

 to Mexico ; their corpses lie scattered over the United 

 States, — gold, silver, and placer claims in Colorado and 

 California, bought under the best expert advice, coal 

 lands in the South, and oil fields in Pennsylvania. 



In the projects which he rejected, Agassiz was no 

 more fortunate. One of the first to turn his attention to 

 the Gogebic Iron Range, he decided against it, follow- 

 ing the advice of a distinguished consulting engineer 

 of the day, who reported to him that the region, now 

 famous for its iron, was not worth developing. In the 

 early days of the Rand he also sent an engineer to South 

 Africa to examine a property, which afterward became 

 fabulously valuable. Later, when he visited the district 

 himself, he realized that had he been on the spot he 

 never would have allowed the opportunity to escape. 



Agassiz planned his journey to Yucatan with a view 

 of seeing some of its ruins, for his travels in South 



