DARWIN AND HUMBOLDT 



[335] 31 



with his, and to recognize the extent 

 of his knowledge and the comprehen- 

 siveness of his views, even where the 

 progress of science led to a different 

 interpretation of the facts. 



I omit all notice of his visit to 

 Cuba, and his journey through Mexico, 

 interesting as they were, remarking 

 only that to him we owe the first 

 accurate maps of those regions. So 

 imperfect were those published before 

 him, that even toward the close of 

 the last century the position of Mexico 

 differed by about three hundred miles 

 in the maps published by different 

 geographers. Humboldt's is the first 

 general map of Mexico and Cuba 

 based upon astronomical observa- 

 tions. 



The next great stage of the Amer- 

 ican journey is along the ridge of the 

 Andes. There is a picturesque charm 

 about this part of the undertaking 

 which is irresistible. At that time 

 traveling in those mountains was 

 infinitely more difficult than it is 

 now. We follow him with his train 

 of mules, beai-ing the most delicate 

 instruments, the most precious scien- 

 tific apparatus, through the passes of 

 the great chain. Measuring the 

 mountains, — sounding the valleys as 

 he went, — tracing the distribution of 

 vegetation on slopes 20,000 feet high, 

 — examining extinct and active volca- 

 cioes, — collecting and drawing animals 

 and plants, — he brought away an in- 

 credible amount of information which 

 has since filtered into all our scien- 

 tific records, remodeled popular 

 education, and become the common 

 property of the civilized world. Many 

 •of these ascensions were attended 

 with infinite danger and difficulty. 

 He climbed Chimborazo to a height 

 of 18,000 feet at a time when 

 no other man had ever ascended so 

 far above the level of the sea, and was 

 prevented from reaching the summit 

 by an impassable chasm, in which he 

 nearly lost his life. When, a few 

 years later, Gay-Lussac made his 

 famous ascent in a balloon, for 

 the sake of studying atmospheric 

 phenomena, he rose only 1,200 feet 



heigher.* Returning from the An- 

 des, Humboldt skirted the Pacific 

 from TruxillotoAcapulco, and paused 

 in Mexico again. There he ascended 

 all the great mountains in the neigh- 

 borhood, continuing and completing 

 the same investigations which he had 

 pursued with such persistency through 

 his whole laborious journey. He 

 studied volcanic action, mines, the 

 production of precious metals, their 

 influence upon civilization and com- 

 merce, latitudes and longitudes, aver- 

 ages of climate, relative heights of 

 mountains, distribution of vegetation, 

 astronomical and meteorological phe- 

 nomena. From Mexico he went to 

 Havana, and from Havana sailed for 

 Philadelphia. His stay in this country 

 was short. He was cordially received, 

 by Jefferson on his visit to Wash- 

 ington, and warmly welcomed by 

 scientific men in Philadelphia. But 

 he made no important researches in 

 the United States, and sailed for 

 Europe soon after his arrival. 



He returned to Paris in 1804, hav- 

 ing been five years absent from 

 Europe. It was a brilliant period 

 in science, letters, and politics in the 

 great capital. The Republic was still 

 in existence ; the throes of Revolu- 

 tion were over, and the reaction to- 

 ward monarchical ideas had not yet 

 culminated in the Empire. Laplace, 

 Gay-Lussac, Cuvier, Desfontaines, 

 Delambre, Oltmanns, Fourcroy, 

 Berthollet, Biot, Dolomieu, La- 

 marck, and Lacepede were leaders 

 then in the learned world. The young 

 traveler, bringing intellectual and 

 material treasures even to men who 

 had grown old in research, was wel- 

 comed by all, and in this great centre 

 of social and intellectual life he made 

 his home for the most part, from 1805 

 to 1827; from the last days of the 

 Republic, through the rise and fall of 



* The ascension of Mont Blanc by De 

 Saussure was the only exploit of that kind on 

 record before. Even as late as 1842 the ascent 

 of the Jungfrau attracted some attention. 

 Nowadays tourists may run up the highest 

 summits of the Alps to drink the health of 

 their friends. 



