Brave Companions by David McCullough - Chapter One

8/7/2019 Brave Companions by David McCullough - Chapter One

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B R A V EC O M P A N I O N SPORTRAITS IN HISTORY

David McCul lough

S I M O N & S C H U S T E R P A P E R B A C K SN e w York London Toronto Sydney


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S I M O N & S C H U S T E R P A P E R B A C K SRocke fe l l e r Ce n te r1230 Avenue of the A me r icasN ew Y ork , N e w Y ork 10020

C o p y r i g h t 1 99 2 b y D a v i d M c C u l l o u g hA l l rights reserved,including the r ight of re p rod uct ioni n who l e o r in part in any form .S I M O N & S C H U S T E R P A P E R B A C K S an d co l o pho n a reregistered t rademarks of S i m o n & Schuster, Inc.Fo r in format ion about special discounts for bulk purchases,

please con tac t S i m o n & Schuster Special Sales:1-800-456-6798 or [email protected] by Irving Perkins A ssociatesM an ufac tu re d in the U n i te d States of A m e r i c a25 27 29 30 28 26

Library of Co n gre ss C a ta l og in g- in -Pub l ica t ion D a ta is available.IS BN-13:978-0-671-79276-3 (pbk)I S B N - 1 0 : 0-671-79276-8 (pbk)

Grateful acknowledgement is made to the fol low ing for permission to reprint previously publ ishedmateria l :Amer ican Heri tage: " T h e L o n e ly W a r o f a G o o d A n g r y M a n , " December 1969; "The UnexpectedM r s . Stowe," August 1973; "Steam Road to E l D o r a d o , " June 1976; "The Treasure from the Carpen-try Sho p," D ecember 1979; "I Lo ve W ashingto n" ( t i t led here , "W ash in g ton on the Potomac") ,A p r i l - M a y 1956.A u d u b o n : " T h e M a n W h o R e d is c o ve re d A m e r i c a " (titled here , "Journey to the Top of the World") ,September 1973; "Th e A m e r i c a n A d ve n tu re of Louis Agassis," January 1977.T h e B r o o k ly n M u s e u m : " T h e Builders ,"fromT h e Gre a t East River Bridge , 1883-1983, 1983.Blair & . Ketchum's Country Journa l : "C ross the Blue M o u n t a i n , " February 1977.Geo: " Glo r y Day s in Me d o ra , " O cto be r 1979.Life: "E xtraordinary Times," 1986, V o l . 9, N o . 12, Time Inc.T h e N e w Y o r k T i m e s M agaz i ne : " A v i a t o r A u t h o r s " ( t it le d here , "Lon g Dis tan ce V i s i o n " ) , O c t o b e r12 , 1986 .T h e S a i n t L o u i s A r t M u s eu m : " R e m i n g to n , " f ro m Frederic Remington: T h e Masterworks , H a rry N .Ab ram s, Inc. , 1988.Smithsonian: " A R oth sch i l d W h o Is K n o w n as the Q ue e n of the F l eas" ( t it l ed here , " M i r i a mR o t h s c h i l d " ) , June 1985.V i k i n g Press: "S ou th of K an kake e : A D ay w i th D av id P l o w d e n , " f rom A n A me r ican C re n o l o g y byD a v i d Pl ow d e n , 1982 .

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CHAPTER ON E

Journey to th e Top o f th eW o r l d

o N A M O R N I N G in May 1804, there arrived at the W hite H ouse byBaltimore coach , and i n the company of the painter C harles Wil l s on Peale,a visitor from abroad: an aristocratic young German, age thirty-four, abachelor, o cc upa tion scientist and explorer. A n d like Halley's comet or thewhite whale or other such natural phenomena dear to the nineteenthcentury, he would be remembered by a l l w ho saw him for the rest of theirdays.H e had come to pay his respects to the president of the new republic,Th o m as Jefferson, a fellow "friend of science," and to tell h im something ofhis recent journeys through South and Central A m e r i c a . For the nextseveral weeks he did little else but talk, while Jefferson, on their walksabout the W h ite H ouse grounds; or James Mad is on , the secretary of state;or the c lever M rs . M adison; o r A lber t G a l la t i n , the secretary of thetreasury; or those who came to dine with the president or to do businesswith h im , l is tened in awe.T he young ma n, they found, was a naturalist, an astronom er, a geogra-pher, a geologist, a botanist, an au thority o n Indian antiquities, a linguist,an artistan academy unto himself, as the poet Goethe would say. H e was

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4 B R A V E C O M P A N I O N Sat home i n any subject. H e had read every b o o k . H e had seen things alm ostimpossible to imagine. " W e a l l consider h i m as a very extraord inary m an,' 'G a l l a t i n told h i s wife, speaking apparentlyforJefferson's entire official fam-i l y , "and his travels, w h i c h he intends publishing o n his return to E urope,w i l l , I thin k , rank above any other productions o f the kind." H e also talkedat double the speed o f anybody G a l la t i n had ever met before and would shiftsuddenly from Engl ish , w h i c h he spoke superbly, into French or Spanish o rG e r m a n , seemingly unaware o f w hat he w as doing, but never hesitating fo ra word, apparently to the very great confusion of h is newfound Am er icanfriends, Jefferson and the Swiss-born G a l la t i n not includ ed.

G a l l a t i n , a man not easily impressed, found the extent of the visitor'sreading and scientific know ledge asto nishing. "I was delighted," he said,"and swallowed mo re inform ation o f various kinds in less than two hoursthan I had for tw o years past i n a l l I had read and heard."I n a letter to Jefferson written from Philadelphia a few days earlier, theyoung m an had said, "[I would] love to talk to y o u about a subject that y o uhave treated so ingeniously in your work on Virg in ia , the teeth o f m a m -m o th, w hic h we too discovered in the A ndes." Jefferson had respondedimmediately and most cordially. " A lively desire w i l l be felt generally toreceive the information you w i l l be able to give." In the new capital city,Jefferson wrote, there was "nothing curious to attract the observations o f atraveler," w h i c h was largely s o , save, o f course, fo r Jefferson him self. U p o narrival the young man had found the presidential mansion anything butimposingcrude wooden steps led to the front door, rooms were s t i l lunplastered and at one po int he had inadvertently encountered the chiefexecutive sprawled o n the floo r , w restl ing w ith his grand children.B u t there they were in Washington for several days, two of the mostremarkable men of their time, fellow spirits if ever there were, talking,talking endlessly, intensely, their conversation having quickly ranged farfrom fossil teeth.The young man's name was Humboldt , Alexander von HumboldtFriedrich Wilh e lm K a r l H e i n r i c h A l e xa n de r v o n H u m b o l d t o r B a ro nv o n Humboldt, as he was commonly addressed. He had been born inBerl in on September 14, 1769, the second son of a middle-aged armyofficer, a m inor figure in the c ourt of Frederick the G reat, and of a rathersolemn, dom ineering young w om an of H uguenot descent w ho had inher-ited a sizable fortune. H e was a baron in about the way some Southernersare co lonels.W i l l i a m Burwell , Jefferson's private secretary, described him as lookingconsiderably younger than his age, "of small f igure , well made, agreeable


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J o u r n e y to the Top of the W o r l d 5looks , s imp le unaffec ted m anners , rem ark ab ly spr ightly." A n d H u m b o l d t ' spasspor t , issued in Par i s in 1798 , has h im five feet , eight inches t a l l , w i t h" l i g h t - b r o w n hai r , g ray eyes , large nose , ra ther large m o uth , w el l -form edc h i n , o p e n f o re h ea d m a r k e d by sm a l l p o x . " H o w e v e r , i n a p o r t ra i t by P e a k ,done sho rt ly after the t r ip to see Jefferson, the eyes are as b lue as D u tc htiles.

Years l a t e r , w h en t h e p h en omen on o f H u m b o l d t h a d b e co m e k n o w n th ew o r l d over , the learned and cur ious w o u l d j ou rney thousands of miles fo rth e c h a n c e to see h i m , a nd h i s p u b l is h e d w o r k s w o u l d be taken as thegospel o f a new ag e. H e w o u l d be regarded as the incom parab le h ig h p r iesto f n i n e te e n th - c e n tu r y s c i e n c e a to w e r in g g o d l ik e i n s p i r a t io n to s u c h adisparate assor tment of i n d i v i d u a l s as Jo h n C h a r l e s F r e m o n t, J o h n Jam e sA u d u b o n , J o h n L l o y d S t e p h e n s , S i r C h a r l e s L y e l l , S i m o n B o l i v a r , W . H .H u d s o n , W i l l i a m H i c k l i n g P r e s c o t t , E d w a r d W h y m p e r , C h a r l e s D a r w i n ,L o u i s Agassiz. D a r w i n , du r ing the voyage of the B e a g l e , w o u l d c a r r y w i t hh im three i n sp i r a ti o n a l b o o k s th e Bi ble , M i l t o n , a nd H u m b o l d t.B u t a t t h is p o i n t th e n a m e H u m b o l d t m e a nt v er y l i t t le . T h e h o n o r a r y

ci t izenships , the count less decorat ions , were a l l s t i l l to c o m e . N o PacificO c e a n c u r r en t , n o b ay o r glacier o r r ive r h a d b e e n n a m e d fo r h i m as yet , nomou n t a i n s i n C h i n a . H u m b o l d t, K a n s a s, a n d H u m b o l d t, Io w a , w e re s t i l lprai r ie grass , par t of that i n c omp r eh en s i b ly v as t p i ec e o f t h e c on t i n en tp u r c h as ed b y J e f fe r s on f r om N ap o leon on ly t h e y ea r b e fo r e an d thatJefferson had just sent M e r i w e t h e r Lewis an d W i l l i a m C l a r k to invest igate.S o i t w as th e y ou n g m an h i m s e lf , n o t a r ep u t a ti on , an d th e s to r y h e h a d totel l that capt ivated everyone. A f t e r near ly five years he had re tu rned f romon e o f th e great scient i f ic odysseys o f a l l t im e. I t was a jo u rney that w o u l dcapture the i m a g i n a t i o n o f the age, but that has been s t rangely forgo tten ino ur o w n t i m e . It is d ou b t fu l that one edu cated A m e r i c a n in ten today c o u l dsay w h o e x a c tl y H u m b o l d t w a s o r w h a t h e d i d , n o t e v e n , p o s sib ly , i nH u m b o l d t , Io w a , o r H u m b o l d t , K ansas . Perhaps th i s is because his t ravelswere th rough Spanish A m e r i c a . P er h ap s h i s ex t r ao r d i n a r y ac c omp l i s h -ments w er e s im p ly ov e r sh ad ow ed b y t h e p o p u la r i mp ac t o f t h e Lewis a n dC l a r k expedi t ion . In any event , h i s was a jou rney of enormous sc ien t i f icconsequence ( far more so than the Lewis an d C l a r k ex p ed i t i on ) an d afasc ina t ing adventure by any standards.

In th e c o m p a ny o f a y o u n g F r e n c h m e d i c a l d o c t o r t u r n e d b o t a n is t, A i m eB o n p l a n d , H u m b o l d t h a d dep ar ted f r o m L a C o r u n a , S p a i n , in June 1799 ,

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6 B R A V E C O M P A N I O N So n a Sp anish frigate, slipping past a British blockade in the dark of night ,i n the midst of a storm, and carrying w ith h im a unique document from theSpanish government. He and Bo npland had been granted complete free-dom to explore for scientific purposesany or al l o f Spain's largelyunexplored A m e r i c a n colonies; to m ake astro no m ical observations, maps;to collect; to go wherever they wished, speak to whomever they wished.T he w ho le arrangem ent was quite unprecedented (prior to this Spain hadrigorously denied any such travels by foreigners), and it had come aboutquite by chance.H u m b o l d t , after co m pleting his education and serving as a governmentinspector of mines in Prussia, had decided to lead his own far-flungscientific expedition. Just where was an open question, but both of hisparents had died, with the result that he had become a man of ampleprivate means and w as free to do w hatever he w ished. H is impulse hadbeen to go to Egypt, to c atch up with N apoleon's troops there. But he andBonpland (whom he had met by chance i n Paris) had pro ceeded no fartherthan Sp ain w hen H um bo ldt, dur ing an audience w ith C har les IV, ex-pressed an interest in H is C a t h o l i c M ajesty's overseas em pire. A n exp edi-t io n , to be paid for by H u m b o l dt, was im m ediately and mo st unexpectedlysanctioned, and the tw o young m en were o n their way.The ship followed Columbus's route, going first to the Canary Islands,and though it w as H um boldt's intent io n to comm ence his scientific discov-ery o f the N ew Wo r ld at C u b a , the Spanish captain, after an outbreak oftyphoid fever on board, decided to put the two explorers ashore at C u -mana, on the coast of present-day Venezuela, or N ew G ranad a, as i t wasth e n k n o w n .They landed, bag and baggage, o n July 16. Thei r gear included forty-oddscientific instruments, the most versatile and finest available at the timeand just the sort of th ing Thomas Jefferson would have found fascinating.Included were a tiny, two-inch sextant (a so-called snuffbox sextant),compasses, a microscope, barometers and thermometers that had beenstandardized with those of the Paris observatory before departure, threedifferent kinds of electrom eters, a device for m easuring the specific gravityof seawater, telescopes, a theo do lite, a Leyden jar, an instrument by whichthe blueness of the sky could be determined, a large and cumbersomem agnetom eter, and a ra in gauge. T h eir excitement was enormous. N obo tanist, no n aturalist or scientist o f any k i nd , had ever been there beforethem . E ver ything was new, even the stars in the sky. "We are here in adivine country," Humboldt wrote to his brother . "What trees] C o c o n u ttrees, fifty to sixty feet high, Poinciana pu lcherr ima, with a foot -high


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J o u r n e y to the Top of the W o r l d 7b o u q u e t o f magnif icent , b r i g h t - r e d flowers;p i sa n g a n d a h o s t o f trees w i t henorm ous leaves an d scented f l o w e r s , as b ig as the p a l m o f a h a n d , o f w h i c hw e k n ew n o t h i n g . . . A n d w h a t c o lo r s i n b ir ds , fish, even crayfish (skyblue a n d y e l l o w ) ! W e r u s h a r o u n d l i ke the dem ented; in the f i r s t three daysw e w ere qui te unab le to classify a n y t h i n g ; w e pick u p o n e o b j e ct t o th r o w i taway f o r t h e n e x t . B o n p l a n d k e e p s t e l l ing m e that he w i l l g o m a d i f th ew o n d er s d o n o t cease s o o n . "

A n d t h e n t h e y w e r e o n t h e m o v e . Fo r three m o n t h s t h e y e x p l o r e d a n dm a p p e d t h e c o a s t a l p l a i n , c o l l e c t i n g so m e s i x t e e n h u n d r e d p l a n t sp a lms , o r c h i d s , grasses, b a m b o o s a m o n g w h i c h they w ere able to iden t ifysix h u n d r e d n e w sp e c i e s . T h e y w i t n e sse d a t o t a l e c l i p se , a n e a r t h q u a k e ,a n d , o n a n ig h t i n N o v e m b e r , a sp e c ta c u l a r m e te o r sh o w e r that w e n t o n fo rh o u r s . T h e y p a d d l e d u p t h e A p u r e R i v e r to its conf luence w i t h th e O r i -n o c o a n d there c o m m e n c e d w h a t w a s to b e t h e i r m a jo r e f fo r t: t h ey w o u l dt race th e O r i n o c o to its so u r c e, s o m e th i n g n o o n e h a d d o n e b e fo r e, a n destablish that there is a c o n n e c t io n , b y th e R i o N e g r o , b etw e en th eO r i n o c o a n d t h e A m a z o n .In a l l o n th e A p u r e , th e O r i n o c o , t h e A t a b a p o , t h e N e g r o , a n dC a s i q u i a r e t h e y sp en t seventy-f ive days i n op en b oats o r c a n o e s , t r a v e l -in g a n e s ti m a t ed 6 , 4 4 3 m i le s t h r o u g h o n e o f th e m o s t difficult a n d l i t t le-k n o w n p la c es o n E a r t h . S o m e ti m e s , o n t h e C a s i q u i a r e , fo r ex amp le , theyc o u l d m a k e a lm o s t n o h e a dw a y a g a in s t t h e c u r r e n t , t h e y a n d t h e i r In d i a ng u id e s r o w i n g s tr e n u o u s l y fo r f o u r te e n h o u r s t o g o a l l o f n i n e miles. T h es m o t h e r i n g h u m i d i t y a n d t o r r e n t i a l r a i n s d e s t r o y e d m o s t o f t h e i r p r o v i -sions. Fo r w e ek s th e y l ived o n b a n a n a s a n d ants , o r a n o c c a s i o n a l fried

mon key .T h e y went as fa r as Esmera lda , a t iny mosqui to - infested v i l l a g e , w h i c hH u m b o l d t p u t o n h i s m a p a n d w h i c h , c u r i o u s l y , r e m a i n s o n m o s t ev er ym a p o f S o u t h A m e r i c a to this day despite the fact that there is n o lo n g e r asingle t race o f t h e p l a c e . B y Se p te m b e r 1, 1 8 0 0 , w h e n th e y a g a i n r e a ch e dC u m a n a , th ey h a d b e h e l d , e x a m i n e d , sk e t c h ed , c o l le c t e d , a n d classifiedm ore p lants than any bo tanis t befo re them (some twelve t h o u sa n d , b y t h e i rc o u n t ) . T h e y h a d g a t h e r e d r o c k sa m p l e s , f i sh e s a n d r e p t i l e s p l a c e d i nphia ls , th e s k i ns o f a n im a ls e n o u g h i n fac t to k eep H u m b o l d t o c c u p i e dfo r th e rest o f h i s life. Y e t th e y h a d b e e n b a r e ly a b le t o c o l l e c t a t e n t h o fw hat they had seen , and the h u m i d i t y a n d i n se c ts h a d d e s tr o y e d m o r e t h a na t h i r d o f w h a t t h ey h a d i n t h e i r p l a n t b o x e s.T h e y them selves , m iraculo usly , he ld up very w e l l . F o r tw o s u c h th o r -o u g h l y i n e x p e r i en c e d , i ll - p r e p a r e d y o u n g E u r o p e a n s t o h a v e p lu n g e da h ea d as th ey d i d , k n o w i n g n o t h i n g o f life i n t h e j u n g l e , v i r t u a l l y

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8 B R A V E C O M P A N I O N Sunequipped b y modern standards, had been both amazingly presumptuousand reckless. Bonpland did not even know how to swim. Y et they with-stood the broiling clim ate and every o ther k i nd o f t ropical discomfort withlittle more to protect them than their own "cheerful character," as H u m -boldt noted. " W i t h some gaiety of temper," he said, "with feelings ofm utual good w i l l , and with a v i v i d taste for the majestic grandeur of thesevast valleys o f rivers, travelers easily supported evils that becom e habitual."The mosquitoes he described as being an atmosphere unto themselves,covering the face, the hands, f i l l i n g the nostrils. Invariably, he said, they"occasion co ughing and sneezing w henever an y attempt is m ade to speak i nthe open air" terrible punishm ent for someone w ho so loved to talk.T o avoid the suffocating heat, he and Bonpland often started the day attw o in the m o r n i n g . T h e i r only salvation from the mosquitoes was to burythemselves in sand.Toward the end o f their journey back d own the O r i n o c o , bo th men camed own w i t h typhoid fever. Bonpland very nearly died, but H u m b o l d t , w hohad been troubled by i l l health most o f h i s life, made a rapid recovery andexcept for that one instance remained perfectly fit throughout, healthierthan at any time i n his life. H e seemed made for the tropics. Th e days w erenever long enough. H i s spirits soared. This for h i m w a s life at it s fullest andbest. "I could no t possibly have been placed i n circumstances more highlyfavorable for study and exploration," he wrote to his brother. "I am freefrom the distractions constantly arising in civilized life from social claims.Nature offers unceasingly the most novel and fascinating objects forlearning."

H e believed, this brill iant, determined young man being eaten alive bymosquitoes, that there is a harmo ny o f nature, that man is a part o f thatharmony, and that if he himself could observe things closely enough,collect enough if he k n e w enoughthen the forces that determine thatharmony would become apparent.N o t h i n g seems to have escaped his no tice. H is physical energy wasboundlessincredible really. Literally everything seems to have interestedh i m . H e sketched, he made astrono m ical observations, m agnetic observa-tion s. H e gathered up ro cks and m inerals and Indian artifacts. A bo ve a l l ,he kept the most copious notes imaginableon tides, soils, petroleum,cho co late, rubber; o n m issionaries; on the physique of the C ar ib Indian,the anatomy o f shellfish; on turtle eggs, howling monkeys, alligators (onefound sunning itself o n a sandbank on the Orinoco measured twenty-twofeet); on vampire bats and poison darts and electric eels (wonder ofw onders); o n the nightt ime cacophony o f the jungle and the sudden silence


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Journey to the Top o f the World 9i m p o s e d b y t h e r o a r o f t h e j a g u a r ( a n o b s e r v a t i o n t h a t w o u l d i n t r i g u eA u d u b o n ) ; o n a t r i b e o f I n d i a n s , t h e O t o m a c o , t h a t o v e r c a m e a n n u a lseasons o f f a m i n e b y e a t i n g a p a r t i c u l a r k i n d o f d i r t ; o n a d a r k , u g l yn o c t u r n a l b i r d c a l l e d t h e g u a c h a r o ( th e o i l b i r d ) , a b i r d a b o u t t h e s iz e o f ac h i c k e n , w h i c h h e e n c o u n t e r e d i n s c r e e c h i n g h o r de s i n si d e a g l o o m ygro t to ; o n the ravages o f t e rmi tes ; o n an exo t ic t r e e t h a t gave m i l k ( i t wasac tua l l y a n Artocarpus , w h i c h h a d b e e n b r o u g h t t o A m e r i c a b y t h e S p a n -ish o n l y a sc o r e o f years ear l ie r ) ; o n the grea t grass fires t h a t l i t u p th e n i g h to n t h e l l a n o s , t h e s w e e p i n g p l a i n s t h a t r e ac h s o u t h w a r d f ro m C a r a c a s; o nI n d i a n l eg e nd s, I n d i a n d i e t , I n d i a n a p ath y , I n d i a n la n g u ag e s. ( W . H .H u d s o n , th e g r ea t E n g l i s h a u t h o r w h o s e c l a ss ic Gr e e n Mans io ns is set int h e s am e g e n e r a l l o c a l e , w o u l d t e l l a s to ry t h a t H u m b o l d t a c q u ir e d a p a r ro tf r o m w h i c h h e w a s a b l e t o p r o d u c e t h e v o c a b u l a r y o f a n e x t i n c t t r i b e , a n dt h a t H u m b o l d t l a te r to o k t h e b i r d b a c k t o P a r i s, w h e r e i t b e c a m e s o m e -t h i n g o f a s en s ati o n . H u m b o l d t m a k e s n o m e n t io n o f s u ch a b i r d i n h i s o w nw r i t i n g s , b u t h e d i d in c l u d e th e v o c a b u l a r y i n q u e s ti o n i n h i s d is c u s s io n o fc o m p a r a t i v e n a t i v e t o n g u e s .)

Few E u r o p e a n s h a d e v e r r e s p o n d e d w i t h s u c h f e r v o r t o a n e q u a t o r i a lw i ld er ne ss as A l e x a n d e r v o n H u m b o l d t . S i r W a l te r R a l e i g h , t w o h u n d r e dy ea rs e a rl ie r , o n h i s o w n fa m o u s a n d a b o r t iv e e x p e d i t i o n u p t h e O r i n o c o ,w r o t e t h a t h e h a d n e v e r se e n a m o r e b e a u t i f u l c o u n t r y a n d d e s c r ib e d " a l lfai r g r e e n gr as s, d e e r c r o s s i n g o u r p a t h , t h e b i r d s to w a r d e v e n i n g s i n g i n g o nevery s ide a thou sand di ffe rent tunes , h eron s o f w hi te , c r im so n, andc a r n a t i o n p e r c h i n g o n t h e r iv e r s id e . . ." H u m b o l d t h a d r e a d e ve ry w o r dR a l e i g h h a d w r i t t e n , a n d h i s r e s p o n s e w a s n o l e s s t o a w o r l d t h a t h a dc h a n g e d n o t i n th e s l i g h te s t i n a l l t h e i n t e r v e n i n g t i m e . O f t e n h e f o u n dh i m s e l f e m o t i o n a l l y o v e r w h e l m e d b y h i s s u r r o u n d i n g s , a n d h i s n o t e b o o ke n t r i e s w e r e s e t d o w n w i t h a d e p t h o f f e e l i n g t h a t h a d l i t t l e t o d o w i t hs c i e n c e . T h e r e w a s , f o r e x a m p l e , t h e m o m e n t o n A p r i l 15 w h e n h e a n d h i sp a r t y f i r s t r e a c h e d t h e m o u t h o f t h e A p u r e a n d b e h e l d t h e O r i n o c o :

In leaving the R io A p u r e we found ourselves i n a cou ntry presenting a totallydifferent aspect. A n immense plain of water stretched before us like a lake, asfar as we could see. White-topped waves rose to the height of several feet,from the conflict of the breeze and the current. The air resounded no longerwith the piercing cries o f herons, f lam ingo s, and spoonbills , crossing in lo ngfiles from one shore to the other. . . . A l l nature appeared less animated.Scarcely could w e discover in the hol lows of the waves a few large crocodiles,cutting obliquely by the help of their long tails the surface of the agitatedwaters. The horizon w as bounded by a zone of forests, w h i c h nowhere reachedso far as the bed o f the river. A vast beach, constantly p arched by th e heat of

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10 B R A V E C O M P A N I O N Sth e sun, desert and bare as the shores of the sea, resembled at a distance, fromthe effect o f the mirage, pools o f stagnant water. These sandy shores, far fromfixing limits of the river, render them uncertain, by enlarging or contractingthem alternately, according to the variable action of the solar rays.In these scattered features of the landscape, in this character of solitudeand greatness, we recognized the course of the Orinoco, one of the mostm ajestic rivers of the N ew W or l d .

O r t h e r e w a s t h i s e x t r a o r d i n a r y d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e j u n g l e a t m i d d a y :H o w v i v i d is the impression produced by the calm of nature, at noo n, i n theseburning cl imates! The beasts of the forests retire to the thickets; the birdshide themselves beneath the foliage of the trees, or in the crevices of therocks. Yet, amidst this apparent silence, when we lend an attentive ear, wehear a dul l vibra t ion , a cont inual murmur, a hum o f insects, f i l l i n g , i f yo u mayuse the expression, all the lower strata of the air . Nothing is better fitted tomake man feel the extent and power of organic life. Myriads of insects creepupon the soi l , and flutter round the plants parched by the heat o f the sun. Aconfused noise issues from every bush, from the decayed trunks o f trees, fromthe clefts of rocks, and from the ground undermined by lizards [and] m i l l i -pedes. . . . These are so many vo ices pro claim ing to us that a l l naturebreathes; and tha t under a thousand different forms life is diffused throughoutthe cracked and dusty soi l , as well as the bosom o f the waters, and in the airthat circulates around us.

" T h i s as p ec t o f a n i m a t e d n a t u r e , " h e w o u l d a d d , " i n w h i c h m a n is n o t h -i n g , h a s s o m e t h i n g i n i t s t r an g e and sad."I t was such passages t h a t w o u l d so s ti r the sou l o f the n in e teen th centu ry ,w h e n th e y ap p e ar ed i n H u m b o l d t 's P ersona l Narrat ive o f t h e e x p e d i t i o n .D a r w i n w o u l d c o n f id e t h a t H u m b o l d t 's d e s c r ip t io n s o f t h e t r o p i c s , r e ado v e r a n d o v e r a g a i n d u r i n g h i s y o u t h , h a d i n s p i r e d h i s e n t i r e c a r e e r .D a r w i n also l i k e d H u m b o l d t 's a c c o u n t o f a n e a r t h q u a k e a t C a r a c a s e n o u g hto have l if ted some o f i t , p re t ty much in tac t , fo r h i s V o y a g e o f the Beagle .F r o m V e n ez u el a, H u m b o l d t a n d B o n p l a n d sa il ed fo r C u b a , a r r i v i n g atH a v a n a a n d t h e c o m f o r t s o f c i v i l i z a t i o n i n N o v e m b e r o f 1 8 00 . H u m b o l d tw a n d e r e d a b o u t H a v a n a ' s b o t a n i c a l g a r d e n , m a d e m o r e m a p s (the firstaccura te m a p s o f C u b a ) , a n d o b s er v ed w i t h s i n k i n g h e a r t t h e i n s t i t u t i o n o fs l avery ( "no doubt the grea test o f a l l e v i l s t h a t a f f l i c t h u m a n i t y " ) . H e a n dB o n p l a n d a l so d i v i d e d u p t h e i r c o l l e c t io n s t h r e e w a y s, s h i p p i n g o n e p a r t toF r a n c e , a n o t h e r to G e r m a n y , a n d l e a v i n g th e t h i r d w i t h f rie nd s i n H a v a n a .


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J o u r n e y to the Top of the W o r l d 11T h e i r anxiety over the safe ty of these t reasures w as very great indeed , ando ne gets t h e i mp r es s i on that H u m b o l d t n o w h a d c e r ta i n misgiv ings a b o u tt h e i r o w n c h a n c e s o f s u r v i v a l . "I t i s rea l ly qu i te uncer ta in , a lmost un-l i ke ly ," h e w r o t e, "that b o t h o f u s, B o n p l a n d a n d m y se lf, w i l l ev er r e t u r nal ive."

T h e fo l l owing spr ing they sai led for the coast of present-day C o l o m b i a ,to th e m o u t h o f th e M a g d a le n a , by w h i c h , for the n ext f if ty-odd days, theyh ead ed s ou t h ag a i n , deep i n l a n d fo r h u n d r ed s o f miles against the current ,as fa r as an ou tpos t ca l led H o n d a . B efo re th em s too d t h e cordi l l e ra o f th eA n d e s . Th ey le ft th e r i v e r an d w en t ov e r lan d t o B o g o t a , w h er e a b r i g h t lydressed cavalcade of d is t inguished c i t izens rode ou t to escor t them in tot o w n .A l l t o l d they spent n ear ly t w o y ea r s i n C o l o m b i a , E c u a d o r , a n d P e r u .F r o m B o g o t a th e y w e n t o v e r th e A n d e s o n f o o t , p i c k i n g t h e mor e difficulto f tw o p o s s ib le r ou t es . Th ey w er e i n t h e A n d es , c r os s i n g an d r ec r os s in g ,f rom September 1801 u n t i l O c t ob er 1 8 0 2 , an d t h ey mu s t h av e mad e ap i c t u r es q u e c a r av an , w i t h thei r gu ides and mules and sc ien t i f ic ins t ru -m en ts . M o u n t a i n s w ere m eas ur ed , v a l ley s s ou n d ed , th e d i s t r i b u t i on o fv eg e t a ti on tr ac ed o n w i nd s w ep t u p lan d s lop es . H u m b o l d t w as s t ruck by th ed i s t i n c t v ar i a t io n s i n p lan t life, a c c o r d i n g to e l e v a t i o n . T h e v e g e t ati o n o nt h e mou n t a i n s w as s t r a t i f i ed , h e fou n d , an d that s t r a t i f i c a t i on , h e c on -c l u d e d , w as d ep en d en t o n s o i l , tem p er a tu r e , an d w ea th e r c o n d i t io n s .T h e r e w e re v e r t i c a l zones, in o t h e r w or d s, an d these w ere ch arac ter ized a t ag lan c e b y t h e i r p lan t life. I t w as a new c o n c ep t an d an ex t rem ely i m p o r t an to n e . A s a lat ter-day biographer w as to wri te , " H e b eg an t o see w h a t n ob od y

h ad u n d er s t ood clearly before h i m : that life's fo r ms an d t h e i r g r o u p i n g w i t ho n e a n o th e r a re c o n d i t io n e d b y physica l fac to r s i n t h e i r en v i r on m en t , thata tm o s p h e r ic a n d g e o l o g i c c o n d i ti o n s n ee d to b e k n o w n i f w e a re to l e a r nt h e m e a n i n g b e h i n d o r g a n i c life. A s i n h is s tu d en t days he ha d desc r ibedr o c k s an d m i n er a ls i n r e la t io n to p lan ts , h e n o w r ea l ized m or e fully that toclassify an d i d en ti fy c o u n t ed fo r l i t t l e u n less y o u u n d er s too d h ow t o r e la tesuch informat ion to in tegrated natu ra l p rocesses ."

H e w o u l d be ca l led th e s ec o n d C o l u m b u s . H e h a d r e dis c o v e r ed A m e r i c a , itw o u l d b e s a i d . H e w as a ls o s ee in g r e la t io n s h i p s an d i n te r r e la ti on s h i p sb e t w e e n t h e E a r t h a n d life o n E a r t h i n a w ay that oth er s b efo re h i m h a dfailed to d o . S o it w o u l d be perfect ly f i t t ing also to say that h e w a s a m o n gthe f i r s t eco log is t s .

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12 B R A V E C O M P A N I O N SThey arrived at Qui t o , E cuador, on January 6, 1802, and spent the nextseveral months sorting out the new collections acquired along the way. In

May, H um boldt and an Indian whose name is u n k n o w n cl imbed an activevolcano called Pichincha, something only one man had done before asnear as H um boldt could determine. Then o n June 9, 1802, he, B o nplan d,a number of Indians, and a young Spanish naturalist named C arlo s M o n -tufar , who had joined the expedition in Quito, set out to climb C h i m -borazo, the extinct, snow-capped volcano, elevation 20,561 feet, thehighest mountain i n Ecuador and then thought to be the highest mountainanywhere on Earth.H u m b o l d t and Bonpland had by now been in the mountains longenough to know what they were about and to be in exceptional physicalcondit ion. They were very likely the finest mountaineers in the world,since mountaineering as a sport and the whole philosophical concept ofm ou ntain "conquering" had yet to dawn o n the nineteenth-century m i n d .B ut again, as on the O rino co , they set o ff w ith li t tle in the way ofequipment as we know i t , no special clothing, and with l i t t le or noknowledge of the mountain itself. Yet "by dint of extreme exertion andconsiderable patience" they very nearly made it a l l the way to the top.H ow H um boldt and his com panions w ent up, the route they took, is no tat a l l clear from his accou nt. B ut in many places, he w rites, the ridge wasno w ider than eight or ten inches. O n their left a snow -covered precipiceshone l ike glass, on their right "a fearful abyss" dropped away a thousandfeet or more. " A t cer tain places where it w as very steep, w e were obliged touse both hands and feet, and the edges of the rock were so sharp that we

were pa infully cut, especially o n o ur hands." M u c h of the time they wereshrouded i n mist so thick they were unable even to see their o w n feet. Thena l l at once the air would clear for an instant and the dom e-shaped summ itwould stand out before them , gleam ing in the sunshine. "W ha t a grandand solem n spectacle! T h e very sight o f it renewed our strength."A t 15,000 feet B o npla nd captured a butterfly. A t 15,600 feet theIndians, w ith one e xcep tio n, refused to go any farther. A t 16,600 feetH u m b o l d t spotted an ordinary housefly. Above the snow line, at about

16,900 feet, rock lichens were the o nly sign o f life. The next reading wastaken at 17,300 feet, at a spot w here the ridge was just barely wide enoughto set up the barometer and tw o of them could stand side by side i n safety.They were stopped finally by an impassable ravine. Nauseated by theth in air, they were a l l so dizzy they could barely stand. Their lips and gumswere bleeding. T he tim e, H um bo ldt says, was an ho ur after no o n. A g a i nthe barom eter was set up. T h e tem perature, they fo und, was three degrees


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]oumey to the Top of the W o r l d 13below f r e e z i n g , w h i c h b o t h H u m b o l d t a n d B o n p l a n d , " f r o m o u r l o n gres idence in the t rop ics ," found "qu i te benumbing ." The a l t i tude wherethey stood was 19,286 feet , h igher than anyone had ever been before, evenin a b a l lo o n .

T h e y had a t ta ined the top of the w o r l d , th ey t h o u g h t . F o r H u m b o l d t itwas a suprem e, indesc r ibab le m om ent. N ear ly th i r ty years later , in 1828 ,w hen the su rpassing m agni tude o f the H im alayas , lo ng a sub jec t o f m uchco njec tu re , was ver if ied by the f ir st re l iab le ins trum ent surveys , H um bo ld tw as n o t ic eab ly s t u n n ed . To a f r ien d h e w r o t e , " A l l m y life I p r ided m yselfo n the fact that o f a l l mor t a l s I h ad r eac h ed t h e h i g h es t p o i n t on E a r t h . "C h i m b o r a z o itself w o u l d not be c l i m b e d for another seventy-eight years.In 1 8 8 0 , E d w a r d W h y m p e r , t h e Br i t i s h m ou ntaineer and ar t i s t, the f i r s tm a n t o c l i m b th e M a t te r h o r n ( i n 1 8 65 ), w o u l d r e ac h th e t o p o f C h i m -borazo , fo l l owing w h at h e fig u red to b e H u m b o ld t's r ou te . T h a t H u m b o ld th ad c om e as fa r as he d i d , W h y m p er fou n d ex tr ao r d i n a r y . D ar w i n , a fte r abrief h i ke i n th e C h i le a n A n d e s , at an e lev a t io n o f ab ou t 1 3 ,0 0 0 feet,w o u l d w r i t e that i t w a s " i n c o m p r e h e n s i b l e " t o h i m h o w H u m b o l d t h a ddone i t .H u m b o l d t and the oth er s i n h is p a r ty d es ce nd ed f ro m C h i m b o r a z o i n agreat h u r r y t h e f ir s t 3 ,6 0 0 feet i n a l l o f a n h o u r, a c c o r d in g to H u m b o l d t,a c l a i m E d w a r d W h y m p e r w o u l d d e cl ar e p re po s te ro u s. A n d l i ke o u r o w nm en o n t h e m o o n , th ey b u s i ly g a th e red u p a l l th e r oc ks th ey c o u ld c a r ry ."W e foresaw that i n E u r o p e , " H u m b o ld t s a i d , "w e s h o u ld f req u en tly b easked for a fragm ent from C h i m b o r a z o . " W h e t h e r h e h a d s u ch a m e m e ntow i t h h i m w h e n h e a r r iv e d at th e W h i t e H o u se is n o t k n o w n .F r o m C h i m b o r azo th e p a r t y p u s hed fa r th e r s o u t h , i n t o t he valley of theu p p er A m az o n . T h e n th ey w ere c l i m b i n g ag a i n i n t o t h e r a re fied a i r o fth e A n d e s , t r a v e li n g n o w , o n o c c a s i o n , along the "w onder fu l rem ains o f th eInca R o a d s " and tak ing , as it happens , about the same route as the present-day P a n - A m e r i c a n H i g h w a y . T h e I n c a R o ad an d th e th ou g h t o f th e e ffo r tand ingenuity i t represented left the two Europeans feeling st rangely hum-b l e d . N o t h i n g b u i l t b y th e R o m a n s h a d ev er str u c k H u m b o l d t as so im p o s -ing , an d a t on e p o i n t , ac c o r d i n g t o h i s c a lc u la t i on s , this road was a t an

e levat ion o f t h i r t een th ou s an d fee t. A t P a r am o an d C a j ama r c a t hey ex am-ined I nc a r u i n s . N o i g n o r a n t savages were these, h e c o n c l u d e d .H e was immensely taken , too , by the g ian t condors that c i r c led ov er -h ead , h i g h ab ov e a l l th e s u mm its o f th e A n d es . H o w w as it p os s ib lep h y s i o l o g i c a l l y h e w ondered , for a c reatu re to fly in c i rc les for hours i na ir so t h i n , t h en d esc end a l l a t on c e to th e level of the sea, " thus passingt h r ou g h a l l g r ada tion s o f c l i m at e . "

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14 B R A V E C O M P A N I O N ST h e n , on a western slope of the Andes, they saw the sea. The skybrightened suddenly, as a sharp southwest wi nd came up, clearing the mist

and revealing an immense bowl of very dark blue sky. The entire westernslope of the cordil lera, as far as the eye could carry, w as spread at their feet."No w for the first tim e," he wro te, "we had o ur view of the Pacific. W e sawit distinctly in the glitter of a vast light, an immeasurable expanse ofocean." H u m b o l d t w as so excited that for once he forgot to take a baromet-ric reading.O n October 23, 1802, they arr ived at Lim a , where they spent tw ouneventful months. The collections w ere carefully gone o ver and repack ed;H u m b o l d t made notes on the local use of guano, the fertilizing propertiesof w h i c h were s t i l l u n k n o w n i n Europe. In late December they sailed nor thfor M ex ic o , and it w as during this voyage, as they sk irted the shores of Peru,that H um bo ldt too k soundings, temperature readings and the like, in thaticy, north-flowing Pacific current so rich in marine organisms that no wbears his name. H e would insist always that he had simply studied it, neverdiscovered it, that it had been k n o w n to sailors and fisherm en for centuries;and on his own maps he would label i t the Peruvian Current . He couldprotest as much as he l iked, however. Th e H um boldt C urrent i t would be,and ironically, i t is probably the thing for which he is now best k n o w n .They spent a year in M ex ic o , from M a r c h 1803, when they landed atA c a p u l c o , unt i l M a r c h 1804, when they sailed from Veracruz for Havanaagain. It had been a long time since M ex ic o was a wilderness, and therewas l i t t le of the natural splendor and mystery of the Orinoco or of theAn d es to entice the explorers. But Humboldt's zest for the place seems to

have been no ne the less fo r a l l that . H e was seldom s t i l l . H e worked mainlyo n a map that, once finished, would be the finest thing ever done onM ex ic o unt i l then. So at variance a nd imperfect were m ost maps of the daythat the posi tion of M e x i c o Ci t y , for example, differed as much as threehundred m iles from one map to another. H is was not only geographicallyaccurate, being based o n astrono m ical observations, but w ou ld includequantities of poli t ical , econom ic, and ethnological inform ation.H e also studied silver m in in g , climate, volcanic action, meteorologicalphenom ena. A n d again he was absorbed in remnants o f the pre-C o l u m b i a n past. W i t h Bonpland in tow, he took a day's ride out toTeotihuacdn and the two of them stood spellbound before that ancienttem ple city. H e made measurements o f the great pyramids and latersketched A ztec codices and the A ztec calendar stone. H um bo ldt was, infact, the first European to sense the scale and greatness of America'sancient civilizations, to take their religious traditions seriously, and his


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J o u r n e y to the T o p o f the World 15su b se q u en t w r i t i n g s o n t h e su b je c t w o u l d o p e n a n e n t i r e n e w w o r l d fo rs c h o l a r s , i n s p i r i n g , in pa r t icu la r , such la t te r -day g ian ts in the field asS t ep h e n s , w h o d i s c o v e r e d t h e M a y a temples o f the Y u c a t a n , a n d P r e sc o t t ,a u t h o r o f T he His tory o f the Conq ues t o f M e x i c o .

H u m b o l d t a n d B o n p l a n d stayed o n l y a s h o r t w h i l e a t H a v a n a w h e n th eys t o p p e d t h e r e t h e s e c o n d t im e . A f t e r g a t h e r i n g u p t h e c o l l e c t i o n s they hadleft fo r sa fekeeping , they sa i led fo r P h i l a d e l p h i a , w h e r e C h a r l e s W i l l s o nPeale s h o w e d t h e m a b o u t h i s a m a z i n g m u s e u m o f n a t u r a l h i s t o r y , set up i nIndependence H a l l , w h e re n o w s t o o d , a m o n g n u m e ro u s o t h e r cur ios i t ies , am a m m o t h , the f i rst fossil s k e l e to n e ve r m o u n t e d i n A m e r i c a .T h e r e w a s a b a n q u e t i n H u m b o l d t 's h o n o r at P ea le's m u se u m , a t te n d e dby A l e x a n d e r W i l s o n , W i l l i a m B a r t r a m , a n d , a m o n g o th e rs , a yo u n g guestb r o u g h t b y W i l s o n , J o h n B a c h m a n , then jus t four teen yea rs o l d , w h o w ast o b e A u d u b o n ' s g r ea t f r i e n d a n d c o l l a b o r a t o r ( o n th e t h r e e - v o l u m e Vivipd 'r o u s Q ua drup ed s o f N o r th A m er ica). T h e n ca m e th e vis i t to W a s h i n g to n ,fo l lowed by a br i e f t r i p w i t h Jefferson to M o n t i c e l l o , w h e r e t h e i r c o n v e rs a -t i o n s c o n t i n u e d d u r i n g m o r e l o n g w a l k s i n t h e g a t h e r i n g h e a t o f t h eV i r g i n i a s u m m e r . A f a m o u s l i fe long f r i e n d s h ip h a d b e e n f o u n d e d .O n A u g u s t 3 , 1 8 04 , H u m b o l d t a n d B o n p l a n d a r r iv e d at B o r d ea u x ,c a u s i n g a g r ea t c o m m o t i o n , s i n c e t h e i r d e a t h b y yel low feve r had beenw i d e l y r e p o r t e d so m e t i m e e a r l i e r . T h e y h a d b e e n g o n e five years. Ina d d i t i o n t o a l l t h e i r i n s t r u m e n t s a n d H u m b o l d t 's j o u r n a l s a n d r e c o r db o o k s , th e y h a d b r o u g h t w i t h t h e m " f o r ty - tw o b o x e s, c o n t a i n i n g a n h e r b a lo f s i x t h o u s a n d e q u i n o c t i a l p l a n t s , seeds, sh e l l s , i n se c t s , a n d w h a t h a dh i t h e r t o n e v er b e e n b r o u g h t t o E u r o p e , g e o l o g i c a l s p e ci m e n s fr o m t h eC h i m b o r a z o , N e w G r a n a d a , a n d th e b a n k s o f th e r iv er o f th e A m a z o n s . " Itwas a ve ry d i ffe rent k i n d o f lo o t f r o m th e N e w W o r l d .

B u t t h e j o u r n a l s a n d t h e c o l l e c t i o n s w e r e o n l y p a r t o f w h a t h a d b e e na c c o m p l i s h e d , o n l y a b e g i n n in g . H u m b o l d t w o u l d sp e n d t h e n e x t t h i r t y -o d d years and v i r t u a l l y a l l h i s p e r so n a l f o r tu n e p u b l i s h i n g t h i r t y m o n u -m e n t a l v o l u m e s u n d e r t h e g e n e r a l t i tl e V o y a g e s a u x R e g i o n s Equinoct iales d uN o uveau C ont inen t , Fa i t D ans L es A nn ies 1 7 9 9 a 1 8 0 4 - T h e s e c o l o s s a lw o r k s were i ssued in fol io a n d q u a r t o s i z e a n d c o n t a i n e d w e l l o v e r ath o u s a n d i ll u s t r a ti o n s a n d m a ps , m a ny o f t h e m h a n d - c o l o r e d . H u m b o l d td id m o st o f t h e t e x t , b u t o t h e r s , sp e c i a l is t s o f o n e k i n d o r a n o t h e r , w e r ealso e n l i s t e d , a m o n g t h e m G e o r g e s d e C u v i e r , th e z o o l o g i s t. T h e b o o k sa p p e a r e d b e t w e e n 1 8 0 7 a n d 1 8 3 9 . T h e c o m p l e t e set c o s t so m e w h e r e i n t h e

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16 B R A V E C O M P A N I O N Sne ighborhood o f $2 ,000 . H ow much the entire enterprise cost is impossi-ble to say, s ince H um bo ldt kept secret a l l his expenses, as well as the totalnumber of books published. The one available figure is for paper, plates,and pr int ing, w h i c h came to $226,000.B ut H um boldt also p roduced V i e w s o f N a ture (1807), Political Essay o ntheKingdom o f Ne w Spa in ( 1 8 1 1 ) , a n d t h e v e ry p o p u l a r Personal Narrat ive o fTrav els to the Equ inoct ial R e g i o n s o f the N ew C o n t i n e n t, w h i c h a p p ea r ed i nFrench first, then English, and in a variety of different editions starting in1815. T h e Personal Narrat ive was a sm ashing publishing success and madehis name known everywhere. The overall effect of his writ ing and theextent of his influence were enormous and in a few instances had someinteresting consequences.T h e Personal Narrat ive, to give one example, included a long, detaileddiscussion of a future ship canal connect ing the A t lan t ic and Pacificsomewhere o n the C en tral A m eric an isthm us the first such study everpresented in pr int. H um bo ldt, during his travels, had never set foot any-w here o n the isthmus, and this he plainly acknow ledged, but he w as takenas the irrefutable voice of authority all the same. He named five likelyroutes for a canal , and of these he thought Nicaragua the most suitable,everything considered, wit h the result that his o pin io n and his name wouldbe used to support one Nicaragua canal scheme after another throughoutth e rest o f the nineteenth century and r ight up un ti l the spring o f 1902,when the Uni ted States Senate by an extremely narrow margin decidedinstead on Panama.

Some of what he wrote was nonsense, based on hearsay or w i l d guess-w o r k . H e was com pletely taken in by stories to ld in the A ndes of live fishbeing spewed out of an erupting volcano. H e reckoned the R o c k y M o u n -tains to be perhaps 3,500 feet h i g h . Bu t many of his calculations, such asthe length of the O r i n o c o , were un can nily accurate. H e also made someastonish ing, educated guesses that put h im years ahead of his time. It hadlong been thought, for example, that there is a difference between thelevels of the A t lan t ic and the Pacific. T h e Pacific was believed to be asmuch as tw enty feet higher, and this supposedly would cause overwhelmingproblems should a can al ever be opened betw een the tw o o ceans. But fromhis o w n observations, Humboldt was convinced there was n o difference i nlevelsonly i n the size and t iming of th e tides. N o t unt i l the 1850s, duringthe surveying o f the Panama Rai l ro ad , was the issue settled by A meric anengineers. H um bo ldt was proven to be quite correct .There are also passages in the Personal Narrat ive substantiating the idea


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j ourne y to the T o p o f the World 17t h a t H u m b o l d t m u s t b e r a n k e d a m o n g t h e e a r li es t e c o l o g i sts . I n h i s sp e c -u l a ti o n s o n a t i d e - l e v e l c a n a l h e s h o w s h i m s e l f t o b e d e e p ly a n d u n i q u e l yc o n c e r n e d a b o u t t h e e ffe ct o f s u c h a c h a n n e l o n th e w h o l e p a t t e r n o f th egreat o c e a n c u r r e n ts . B u t e v e n m o r e p o i n t e d , m o r e r e m a r k a b l e, c o n s i d er -in g w h e n i t w a s w r i t t e n , i s s o m e t h i n g h e w r o t e a fte r e x a m i n i n g a la k e i nV e n e z u e l a , a l a k e t h a t h a d b e e n m y s t e r i o u s l y d e c l i n i n g , e v e n th o u g h it h a dn o visible o u t l e t. T h e a ns w e r to th e r i d d l e , H u m b o l d t s a i d , w a s n o t i n th el ake b u t i n w h a t m a n w a s d o i n g to th e s u r r o u n d i n g c o u n t r y s id e :

B y felling trees that cover the tops and sides of the m ountains, m en i n everyclimate prepare at o nce tw o calamities for future generations: the w ant of fueland a scarcity of w ater. . . . W h e n forests are destroyed, as they are every-where i n A m eri ca by the E urop ean planters with an imprudent precipitat ion,the springs are entirely dried up or become less abundant. The beds of therivers, remaining dry during a part of the year, are converted into torrentswhenever great rains f a l l o n the heights. T he sward and moss disappear withthe brushwo od from the sides o f the mountains, the waters falling i n ra in areno longer im peded i n their course; and instead o f slowly augm enting the levelof the rivers by progressive filtration s, they furrow du ring heavy show ers thesides of the hills, bear down the loosened soi l , and form those suddeninundations that devastate the country. Hence it results that the destructionof the forests, the w ant o f perm anent springs, and the existence of torrents arethree phenomena closely connected together.

H u m b o l d t ' s b o o k s w e re p r a is e d o n b o t h s id es o f th e A t l a n t i c . L o u i s A gass i zw a s t o r e m a r k t h a t a w a l k t h r o u g h t h e l a r g e s t b o t a n i c a l g a r d e n w o u l dh a r d l y b e m o r e i m p r es siv e t h a n a n e x a m i n a t i o n o f th e H u m b o l d t p la te s.B u t th e S p a n i s h A m e r i c a n o d ys se y h a d r e s u lte d i n s t i l l m o r e . M a j o rc o n t r i b u t i o n s h a d b e e n m a d e t o n a t u r a l s c ie n c e , to m a n's k n o w l ed g e o f th eE a r t h and i ts life s ys te m s . H u m b o l d t h a d b e e n t h e f ir st t o r e c o g n i z ethe essent ia l re la t ionships t h a t u n i t e th e p h y s i c a l features o f the p lanet , thelaws o f c l i m a t e fo r w h i c h h e o r i g i n a t e d t h e s y s t e m o f i s o t h e r m a l l i n e s ( h i st e r m ) t h a t h a s b e e n a c c e p t e d a s a s t a n d a r d c o n c e p t f o r s o l o n g t h a t fewr em e m b e r w h o s t a rt ed i t; t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f v e g e ta t io n o v e r th e E a r t ha c c o r d i n g t o c l i m a t e a n d e l e v a t i o n ( th e b a sis o f p l a n t e c o l o g y ) . H e h a d l a idt h e f o u n d a t io n s fo r m o d e r n d e s c r i p t i v e g e o g r a p h y . H e h a d d r a w n t h e f ir stg e o l o g i c a l s e c t i o n s ( i n M e x i c o ) . H e h a d m a de v i t a l o b s e r v a t i o n s c o n c e r n -in g th e E a r th 's m a g n e t is m , v o l c a n i s m , a n d t h e r o l e it p la y s i n m o u n t a i nb u i l d i n g . P e r h a p s m o s t i m p o r t a n t o f a l l , h e a n d B o n p l a n d h a d d e m o n -s t ra ted how r e la t iv e ly l i t tl e h a d b e e n k n o w n o f th e r ic h n e s s a n d v a r i e t y o f

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18 B R A V E C O M P A N I O N Slife on Earth, the infinite abundance of life's forms, and how infinitelymuch more there was to know.

H u m b o l d t l ived long enough to see most of his ideas become old hat, andhe concluded toward the end that his chief contr ibution had been toinfluence younger men. The young Latin American in te l lectual SimonBolivar had sought him out in Rome one year to talk about pol i t ica lfreedom. John Charles Fremont, who regarded Humboldt as a god, hadgone off exploring and sprinkled Humboldt 's name all over the map ofNevada. John Bachman would say that his ow n interest in natural historybegan with meeting Humboldt at the dinner at Peak's museum. A n intenseyoung Engl ishman named Char les L y e l l , who was to become the greatgeologist, wrote after a long interview, "There are few heroes who lose solittle by being approached as Humboldt."M o s t impressive of all perhaps is the case o f Louis Agassiz, who as a

struggling young zoologist in Paris received from Humboldt not onlyencouragement and guidance, but a donation of a thousand francs to assisti n the publication of his init ial wo rk on fishes. "H ow he exam ined m e,"Agassiz was to write later , describing a dinner with Humboldt in a Parisrestaurant, "and how m uch I learned i n that short t ime! H ow to w ork , whatto do, and what to avoid, how to live, how to distr ibute my time, whatmethods of study to pursue."In 1869, in Boston, on the 100th anniversary of Humboldt 's bir th,Agassiz, by then A m erica's most renow ned naturalist, w ould recount in along speech the incredible life of his mentor, the monumental productivityright up until the end, the trip to the Urals in 1829, the historic series oflectures in Ber l in , the friendship with Goethe, the new career i n politics asan adviser to the Prussian king, the keen, relentless observation of thenatural world that lasted more than seventy years. "But Humboldt is notonly an o bserver," A gassiz w ou ld declare, "not o nly a physicist, a geogra-pher, a geologist of matchless power and erudition, he knows that naturehas its attraction for the soul of man; that however uncultivated, man isimpressed by the great phenomena amid which he l ives; that he is depen-dent for his comforts and the progress o f civilization upon the world thatsurrounds him."T h e final w ork, the master work, the grand summing up, was somethingcalled C o s m o s . I t was to contain a l l Humboldt knewof ar t , nature,history, all branches of scienceportraying as never before the grand


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J o u r n e y to the Top of the W o r l d 19h a r m o n i e s o f th e E a r t h a n d u n iv e r se . H e w i s h e d to c o n ve y th e e x c ite m e n to f s c ien c e t o th e i n t e l li g en t n o n s c i en t if i c r eade r. H e h ad b een t h i n k i n ga b o u t s u c h a w o r k fo r fifty y ear s. H e c o u l d n ot ac c ep t w h a t h e c a l led t h en a r r o w - m i n d e d , s en t i men t a l view that n atu r e loses i ts ma gic , " the ch armo f i ts m yster ies ," by a s tudy o f it s forces.

T h efirsto ffivev o l u m e s a p p ea re d i n 1 8 4 5 , w h e n H u m b o l d t w as seventy-s ix . (Jefferson by now ha d b een in h is g rave a t M o n t i c e l l o for near ly twentyyears .) I t was an even greater s en s a t i on t h an h i s P e r s o n a l Narrat ive . B y1 8 5 1 , e i g h t y t h ou s an d c op i es h ad b een s o l d . Indeed , C o s m o s w a s o n e o fth e p u b l i sh i n g events o f the age, l i ke U ncle Tom's C a b i n . I t s t ir r ed a w h o len ew g en er a t i on , i n A m e r i c a par t icu la r ly . I t pop ular ized natu r a l sc ience asn o t h in g h a d b efo re a n d m a d e H u m b o l d t a h o u s e h o l d w o r d .H e was venerated in A m e r i c a as few E urop eans have ever been . " I cam eto B e r l i n , " w r ot e B ay ar d Tay lo r , th e A m e r i c a n essayist, near the end o fH u m b o l d t ' s life, "not to vis i t i t s museums and galler ies , i t s operas , i t stheaters, . . . bu t for the sake of seeing and speaking w i t h the world 'sgreatest l i v i n g m a n A l ex a n d e r v o n H u m b o l d t." E m e rso n w as to c a l l h i m

" o n e o f th ose w on d er s o f th e w o r l d , l i ke A r i s t o t l e . . . w h o a p pe ar f ro mt im e t o t im e , a s i f to s h ow u s t h e possibi l i t ies o f th e h u m a n m i n d . "H u m b o l d t d i ed o n M ay 6 , 1 8 5 9 . H e w a s i n h i s n i n e t i e t h ye ar a n d s t i l l atw o r k , o n t h e final v o l um e o f C o s m o s . H e h a d n e v er r e tu r n e d to S p a n i s hA m e r i c a , u n l i k e B o n p l a n d , w h o , af te r s e r v i n gfora t im e as t h e h ead o f th eEmpress Josephine's gardens, left Par is for South A m e r i c a , w h er e h e f i n -i shed o ut h i s days . B ut for a l l the years that had passed , for a l l t h e h on or sb e sto w e d u p o n h i m , fo r a l l th e c h an g es h e h a d s e en , H u m b o l d t n ev e r

r ega r ded t h e i r ep ic j ou r n ey as an y t h i n g o t h e r t h a n th e c en t r a l ex p er ien c eo f h is life. O n c e , i n th e l a st y ea r o f h is life, w h e n there appeared to be veryl i t t le l e f t o f t h e y ou n g man w h o h ad p os ed fo r P ea le s o lon g b e fo r e ,H u m b o l d t sat for s t i l l o n e m o r e , final p o r t r a i t. H e ab s o lu te ly w o u l d no tw ear any o f h is d ec or a t i on s , h e s a i d , b u t t h en h e q u i e t ly m en t io n ed t o th ear t is t that it w o u l d b e q u i t e a l l r i g h t t o i n c lu d e C h i m b o r a z o i n t h e b ac k-g r o u n d .

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Brave Companions by David McCullough - Chapter One