rom the banks
of the Nile to the Persian Gulf and the vast regions of the East. This
was the turning point of his destiny. The Swedish frigate never
arrived; the English cruisers rendered it impossible to cross the
Mediterranean, except in a neutral vessel; and after waiting with
impatience for about two months, he set out for Madrid, in the hope of
finding means in the Peninsula of passing into Africa from the
opposite shores of Andalusia.

Upon his arrival in the Spanish capital, the German philosopher was
received with all the distinction which his scientific reputation
deserved; and he obtained from the government the extraordinary and
unlooked-for boon of a formal leave to travel over the whole South
American colonies of the monarchy. This immediately determined
Humboldt. He entered with ardour into the new prospects thus opened to
him; wrote to his friend Aime Bonpland to propose that he should join
him in the contemplated expedition--an offer which was gladly
accepted; and soon the visions of Arabia and the Himalaya were
supplanted by those of the Pampas of Buenos Ayres and the Cordilleras
of Peru. The two friends embarked at Corunna on board a Spanish
vessel, and after a prosperous voyage, reached Cumana, in the New
World, in July 1799. From that city they made their first expedition
in Spanish America, during which they travelled over Spanish Guiana,
New Andalusia, and the Missions of the Caribbees, from whence they
returned to Cumana in 1800. There they embarked for the Havannah; and
the whole of the summer of that year was spent in traversing that
great and interesting island, on which he collected much important and
valuable information. In September 1801, he set out for Quito, where
he arrived in January of the succeeding year, and was received with
the most flattering distinction. Having reposed for some months from
their fatigues, Humboldt and Bonpland proceeded, in the first
instance, to survey the country which had been devastated in 1797 by
the dreadful earthquake, so frequent in those regions, and which
swallowed up in a minute forty thousand persons. Then he set out, in
June 1802, to visit the volcano of Tungaragno and the summit of
Chimborazo. They ascended to the height of 19,500 feet on the latter
mountain; but were prevented from reaching the top by impassable
ravines. Perched on one of the summits, however, of this giant of
mountains, amidst ice and snow, far above the abode of any living
crea