re VIsiT £0 i PARIS. 
br ated Von Buch, but was era by the war 
which then raged in Italy from extending his journey 
to that country, whither he was anxious to proceed 
for the purpose of examining the volcanic districts 
of Naples and Sicily. Accompanied by his brother 
William Von Humboldt and Mr Fischer, he then 
visited Paris, where he formed an acquaintance with 
M. Aimé Bonpland, a pupil of the School of Medi- 
cine and Garden of Plants, who, afterwards becom- 
ing his associate in travel, has greatly distinguished 
himself by his numerous discoveries in botany. 
Humboldt, from his earliest youth, had cherish- 
ed an ardent desire to travel into distant regions 
little known to Europeans, and, having at the age 
of eighteen resolved to visit the New Continent, 
he prepared himself by examining some of the most 
interesting parts of Europe, that he might be enabled 
to compare the geological structure of these two por- . 
tions of the globe, and acquirea practical acquaintance 
with the instruments best adapted for aiding him in 
his observations. Fortunate in possessing ample pe- 
cuniary resources, he did not experience the priva- 
tions which have disconcerted the plans and retarded 
the progress of many eminent individuals; but, not 
the less subject to unforeseen vicissitudes, he had to 
undergo several disappointments that thwarted the 
schemes which, like all men of ardent mind, he had 
indulged himself in forming. Meeting with a per- 
son passionately fond of the fine arts, and anxious 
to visit Upper Egypt, he resolved to accompany him 
to that interesting country ; but political events in- 
terfered and forced him to abandon the project. The 
knowledge of the monuments of the more ancient 
nations of the Old World, which he acquired at 
