CHAP. III. 



CONTINENT OF EUROPE. 



141 



returned to France with a great number of trees, which were planted in the 

 gardens of M. Lemonnier, and of the Marechal de Noailles, where they suc- 

 ceeded perfectly. He often used to take from these gardens a packet of grafts, 

 and, going through the woods of Versailles, he would graft them on the trees 

 already there. In 1780, he went to botanise on the mountains of Auvergne 

 with several botanists, among whom were Lamarck and Thouin. Michaux 

 was the inost active of all of them ; besides his musket, haversack, portfolio, 

 and several specimen boxes, he carried in his pocket seeds of the cedar of 

 Lebanon, which he sowed in favourable situations. Soon afterwards he went 

 to the Pyrenees and travelled in Spain ; and, in a short time, accompanied the 

 nephew of the celebrated Rousseau to Persia, the latter being appointed con- 

 sul to that country in 1782. He went to Aleppo, Bagdad, the Tigris, the 

 Euphrates, Bassora, and many other places, sending home numerous seeds to 

 Thouin, Malesherbes, and others. Persia at that time was a prey to civil wars, 

 and Michaux, plundered of every thing by the Arabs, was sup[)lied with the 

 means of continuing his journey by M. de la Touche, the English consul at 

 Bassora, though Fi'ance and England were at that time at war ; M. de la 

 Touche, his biographer observes, thinking that a naturahst, who ti-avelled for 

 the good of humanity, ought to be protected by every nation. In this part of 

 the world Michaux remained two years, traversing mountains and deserts from 

 the Indian to the Caspian Sea, and proving that the provinces situated between 

 35° and 45^ of latitude in the East have supplied most of our trees, exclusive 

 of those which belong to America. He here verified the fact first noticed by 

 Kaempfer, that the male flowers of the date will keep during the year, and yet 

 impregnate the female. He sent home sculptured ruins from the palace known 

 as that of Semiramis, near the Tigris, and various other antiques, and objects 

 of natural history. He returned to Paris in June, 1785, and was chosen soon 

 after to go to the United States, to collect seeds of trees and shrubs ; to 

 establish an entrepot for them in the neighbourhood of New York; and 

 to get them sent from that to Rambouillet, which was destined to receive 

 them. He was also commissioned to send home American game. He ar- 

 rived at New York in October, 1785; established a garden there; traversed 

 New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland ; and, after the first year, he sent 

 home twelve boxes of seeds, and 500*0 young trees, together with some Cana- 

 dian partridges, which afterwards bred at Versailles. In September, 1789, he 

 went to Carolina, making Charleston his depot ; he traversed the Alleghany 

 Mountains, and the whole country north and south, leaving his son at Charles- 

 ton, in charge of the gardens there. From this place he sent home numerous 

 seeds, and many hundreds of young trees. In April following, he set out to 

 reconnoitre the sources of the Savannah ; and there he discovered Magnoh'a 

 auriculata, Hohmia viscosa, Azalea n. coccinea, a Kalmk, a i?hododendron, and 

 many oaks and other trees not before known. The manner in which he tra- 

 velled, his intercourse with the native Indians, and the accidents he met with, 

 are extremely interesting. Whenever he discovered a new plant, it inspired 

 him with such enthusiasm, that he no longer felt fatigue. The discovery of a 

 new PavM, and of the Pinckneya pubens, gave him great pleasure. He arrived at 

 New Providence in February, 1799, and returned to Charleston in May of the 

 same year. He afterwards visited the highest mountains of Carolina. The 

 dangers he experienced there convinced him of the necessity of having two 

 guides, because one might perish by the road by a thousand accidents, and it 

 would be impossible for a European to find his way alone through the 

 country. He found in these mountains vast tracts covered with rhododen- 

 drons, kalmias, and azaleas, and with forests of trees altogether impenetrable. 

 War, at this time, was declared between France and England; and IV'Iichaux 

 was afraid of being forced to leave America. He had been for a long time 

 occupied with the idea of determining the native place of all the American 

 trees ; and also at what latitude they begin to grow rare, and where they dis- 

 appear entirely : in short, he wished to ascertain up to what height they 

 are found on the mountains, and in what soil they prosper best. He con-- 



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