DARWIN AND HUMBOLDT. 



[333] 23 



contributions to geographical science. 

 Nor was this their only point of 

 sympathy. Georg Forster was a 

 warm republican ; he had espoused 

 the ideas of the French Revolution, 

 and when Mayence became united to 

 the French Republic he was sent as 

 deputy to the National Assembly in 

 Paris. Humboldt was too ardent 

 and too independent to be a laggard 

 in the great public questions of the 

 day. Like Forster, he also believed 

 in the Republic of France and in the 

 dawn of civil liberty for Europe. 

 Thus, both in political and scientific 

 preferences, although so different in 

 age, he and Forster were sympa- 

 thetic traveling companions. This 

 excursion was by no means a pleasure 

 trip. Young as he was, Humboldt 

 had knowledge enough to justify him 

 in approaching the most difficult 

 geological question of the day, namely, 

 the origin of the Basalt. At that 

 time the great war was waging be- 

 tween the Neptunists and Plutonists, 

 — that is, between the two great 

 schools in Geology, — one attributing 

 the rocks to fire as the great con- 

 structive agent, the other asserting 

 that all rocks were the result of water 

 deposits. The young student brought 

 to these subjects the truthfulness and 

 patience which marked all his later 

 investigations. Carried away neither 

 by theories nor by leaders, he left in 

 abeyance the problem which seemed 

 to him not yet solved. His interest 

 in this and kindred topics carried him 

 to Freiberg, where he studied Geol- 

 ogy with Werner, and where he 

 made acquaintance with Leopold 

 von Buch, who became the greatest 

 geologist of the age, and was through 

 life his trusted friend. He also 

 applied himself to Anatomy and 

 Physiology, and made physical in- 

 vestigations on the irritability of the 

 muscular fiber, which he afterward 

 extended to the electric fishes, during 

 his American journey. 



All the while he brooded over his 

 schemes of travel, gathering materials 

 in every direction, in order that his 

 mind might be prepared to understand 



Nature in all her aspects. His desires 

 turned especially toward India. He 

 wished to visit the East, and, reach- 

 ing India by way of Egypt, Syria, 

 and Persia, to cross the Pacific and 

 return to Europe through America. 

 In this he was foiled ; but to his 

 latest day he felt the same longing 

 for a sight of that antique ground of 

 civilization. At this moment all 

 Europe was in a blaze ; between con- 

 tending armies there was little room 

 for peaceful travel and investigation. 

 We find him, therefore, floating be- 

 tween various plans. He went to 

 Paris with the hope of joining Bau- 

 din's contemplated expedition to 

 Australia. In this he was again 

 baffled, for the breaking out of the 

 war between France and Austria 

 postponed the undertaking indefinite- 

 ly. His next hope was Spain ; he 

 might obtain permission to visit her 

 Transatlantic possessions and study 

 tropical nature under the equator. 

 Here he was successful. The scientific 

 discoverer of America, as the Germans 

 like to call him, was destined to start 

 from the same shore as Christopher 

 Columbus. He not only received per- 

 mission to visit the colonies, but 

 special facilities for his investigations 

 were offered him. This liberality was 

 unexampled on the part of the Spanish 

 government, for in those days Spain 

 guarded her colonies with jealous 

 exclusiveness. His enthusiasm dis- 

 armed suspicion, however, and the 

 king cordially sustained his under- 

 taking. 



Almost ten years had passed in 

 maturing his plans, preparing himself 

 for their execution and obtaining the 

 means of carrying them out. He was 

 nearly thirty years of age when he 

 sailed from the harbor of Corunna, 

 running out in a dark and stormy 

 night, and so evading the English 

 cruisers which then blockaded the 

 Spanish coast. 



There is perhaps no part of Hum- 

 boldt's life better known to the 

 public, especially in this country, 

 than his American journey. His 

 fascinating " Personal Narrative ' ' is- 



