ity possessed by, say, Lewis
and Clarke.

He had too much brain--too fine a nerve-quality to face the forest
alone. Bonpland made good all that he lacked. He used to call Bonpland
his "Treasure." And surely such a friend is a treasure, indeed.
Bonpland was a linguist, as most of the Swiss are. He was a
mountain-climber, and had been a soldier and a sailor, and he knew
enough of literature and science, so he was an interesting companion.

He was small in stature, lithe, immensely strong, absolutely fearless,
and had left behind him neither family nor friends to mourn his loss. To
Humboldt he was guide, teacher, protector and friend. Bonpland was the
soul of unselfishness.

Perhaps a certain quality of man attracts a certain quality of friend--I
really am not sure. But this I know, that while Alexander von Humboldt
had few personal friends, he always had just those which his nature
required--his friends were hands, feet, eyes and ears for him, to quote
his own words. This voyage on the "Pizarro" occupied five years. The
travelers visited Teneriffe, Cuba, Mexico, and skirted the coast of
South America, making many little journeys inland.

They climbed mountains that had never been scaled before; they ascended
rivers where no white man had ever been, and pushed their way through
jungle and forest to visit savage tribes who fled before them in terror
thinking they were gods. On the return trip they visited the United
States; spent some weeks in Washington, where they were the guests of
the President, Thomas Jefferson. A firm friendship sprang up between
Humboldt and Jefferson: they were both freethinkers, and when Humboldt
recorded in his journal that Jefferson was by far the greatest man
living in America, he not only recorded his personal conviction, but he
spoke the truth.

And as if not to be outdone, although he did not then know what Humboldt
had said of him, Jefferson declared that Alexander von Humboldt was the
greatest man he ever saw.

Most of the vast number of rare specimens and natural-history
curiosities gathered by Humboldt and Bonpland were placed on a
homeward-bound ship that sailed from South America. This ship was lost
and all the precious and priceless cargo went for naught. Had Humboldt
and his companion sailed on this ship, as they had at first intended,
instead of returning by way of the United States, the world would not
have known the name of Alexander von Humboldt.

But Fate for once was ki