352 



humboldt's ctjba. 



two French corvettes, the Geographe and the Natu- 

 raliste, had sailed for Cape Horn, and would run 

 along the coasts of Chili and Peru, from whence 

 they were to proceed to New Holland. 



This news excited me greatly, for it again filled T 

 my imagination with the projects I had formed dur- 

 ing my stay in Paris, when I had not ceased for a 

 moment to urge the ministry of the Directory to 

 hasten the departure of Captain Baudin. While on 

 the point of leaving Spain, I had promised to join 

 the expedition wherever I might be able to reach it. 

 When one desires a thing that may produce unto- 

 ward results, he easily persuades himself that a sense 

 of obligation is the only motive that influences his 

 determination. Monsieur Bonpland, always enter- 

 prising and confident in our good fortune, determined 

 at once to divide our collection of plants into three 

 parts. 



In order not to expose all that we had collected, 

 with so much labor, on the banks of the Orinoco, 

 Atabapo, and Eio Negro, to the chances of a long 

 sea voyage, we sent one part to Germany by way 

 of England, another to France by way of Cadiz; 

 and left the third at Havana. We afterwards had 

 reason to congratulate ourselves on the adoption of 

 this course, which prudence counselled. Each part 

 contained, with slight difference, the same species 



