390 Memoir of William Maclure. 



ed with two colleagues, John Fen ton Mercer and Cox Barnet, 

 Esqs. ; and by the ability and diligence of this commission, 

 the object of their appointment was accomplished to general 

 satisfaction. 



During the few years which Mr. Maclure passed on the 

 Continent in attention to these concerns, he took occasion to 

 visit many parts of Europe for the purpose of collecting ob- 

 jects in Natural History, and forwarding them to the United 

 States — which from his boyhood had been to him the land of 

 promise, and subsequently his adopted country. With this 

 design he traversed the most interesting portions of the old 

 world, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Baltic, and from 

 the British Islands to Bohemia. Geology had become the 

 engrossing study of his mind ; and he pursued it with an 

 enthusiasm and success to which time, toil and distance pre- 

 sented but temporary obstacles. 



Instructed by these researches, Mr. Maclure was prepar- 

 ed, on his return to the United States, to commence a most 

 important scientific enterprise, and one which he had long 

 contemplated as the great object of his ambition, viz, : a 

 Geological Survey of the United States. 



In this extraordinary undertaking we have a forcible 

 example of what individual effort can accomplish, unsustain- 

 ed by government patronage, and unassisted by collateral 

 aids. At a time when scientific pursuits were little known 

 and still less appreciated in this country, he commenced his 

 herculean task. He went forth with his hammer in his hand 

 and his wallet on his shoulder, pursuing his researches in 

 every direction, often amid pathless tracts and dreary soli- 

 tudes, until he had crossed and recrossed the Alleghany 

 mountains no less than fifty times. He encountered all the 

 privations of hunger, thirst, fatigue and exposure, month 

 after month, and year after year, until his indomitable spirit 

 had conquered every difficulty, and crowned his enterprise 

 with success. 



