The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1857-01-21
THE DAILY GAZETTE.
1 VISIT TO ALEX. HUMBOLDT

.
Bayard Taylor, in his last letter
10 the Tribune, gives the following
sketch Of his visit to Alexander Hum
boldt at Berlin:
He came up to me with a heartiness
and cordiolity which made me feel that
/ was in the presence Of a friend, gave
me his hand, and inquired whether we
should converse in English or German.
"Your letter." said he, twas that OF a
German, and you must certainly speak
the language tamlliarly; bnt am al
50 in the constant habit OF using Eng
lisb.'
The first impression made by Hum
boldts face is that OF broad and ge
NAL humsaity. His massive brow,
heavy with the gathered wisdom Of
nearly century, bends forward and
overhangs his breast like ripe ear OF
corn. but ~ you look below it, pair
ofclear blue eyes, almost as bright aud
steady ss cllild's meet your own. In
those eyes you read that trust in man,
that immortal youth OF heart, which
makes the SHOWS OF eighty-sesen win.
tiers lie SO lightly upon his head. You
trust him utterly at the first glance,
and you feel that he will trust you it
you are worthy Of it, had approach
Cd him with a natural feeling OF rev
erence, but in five minutes found
that loved him, and could talk with
him a. freely as 1 could with friend
ofmy own aye. Ills nose, mouth, and
chin have the heavy Teutonic charac-
ter, whose genuine type always ex-
presses an honest simplicity aid d.
rectness.
was most surprised by the youth
full character Of his face. knew thai
hehad been frequently inlisposed du,
ring the present year, anu had beeh
told that he was beginning to slow
the marks Of Ills extreme age; but !
should not have suspected him Of be
ing over seventy five. His wrinkles
are few and very small, and his skin
has smoothness and delicacy rarely
seen in old men. His hair, although
snow white, 10 still abundant, his step
slow but firm, and his manner active
almost to reckiessncss. lie sleeps but
four hours out OF twenty four, Reads
and replies to his daily train OF letters,
and suffers no single occurrence OF the
least interest in any part ofthe world
to escape his attention. ! could not
perceive that his memory, the first
mental faculty to show decay, is at all
impaired. ne talks rapidly, with the
greatest apparent Of ease, never hesl
tating tor word, whether in English
or German, and in fact, seemed to be
unconscious which language he was
using, as he changed five or six times
in the course Of the conversation. Lie
did not remain in his chair more than
ten minutes at time, frequently get
ting up and walking about the room,
now and then pointing to a picture Or
opening book to illustrate some re-
mark.
He began by referring to my win
tsrjourney into Lapland. Your es-
pcrience will bo very interesting, it is
true, but viii not suffer from the SO
we're coldlo That remains to be seen,
lanswered. shave tried all climates
except the Arctic without the least in
jury. The last two years OF my trav
els were spent in tropical countries,
and now wish to have the strongest
possible contrast" ''That is quite
NATURAL" he remarked, ''and | can un-
derstand how your object to travel
must lead you to see such contrasts;
but you must possess Remarkably
healthy organization" "Iou doubt
less know from your own experience, ,"
lsaid, "that nothing preserves mans
vitality like travel" "Very true"
he answered, ''if it does not kill at the
outset. For my part, l keep my
health everywhere, like yourseli.-
During five years in South America
and the West indies, passed through
the midst Of black vomit and yellow
fever untouched
lspokc Of my projected visit to Rus.
sia, and my desire to traverse the
Russian Tartar provinces OF Central
Asia. The kirghiz steppes, he said,
were very nonotonous, bnt the peo-
pie were exceedingly interesting Ii !
desired to 80 there, | woula have no
difficulty in passing through them TO
the Chinese frontier; but the Southern
provinces OF Siberia, he thought,
would best repay mo. She scenery
among the Altai Mountains was very
grand. From his window, in ono OF
the Siberian towns, he had counted l |
Peakscovered with eternal snow. The
kirghizss, he added, were among the
few races whose habits had remained
unchanged for thousands Of years, and
they had remarkable popularity OF
combining monastic life. They
We're partly Buddhist and partly Mus,
sulman, and their monkish sects toll
lowed the different clans in their wan
derings, carrying on their devotions
IN the encampments, inside a sacred
circle marked ont by spears. He had
seen their ceremonies, and was struck
with their resemblance to those Of the
Catholic Church. ssiai Z s-.r..
Among the objects OF his study was
a living chameleon, in box with a
glass lid. The animal, which was
about six inches long, was lazily doz'
Ing on a bed OF sand, with big blue
fly tthe unconscious provision for his
dinner) perched upon his back. she
has just been sentto me from Smyrna,
said humboldt; she is very listless
and unconcerned in his Manner
just then the chameleon opened one
ofhis long, tubular eyes, and looked
upat US. "a peculiarity OF this ami
NAL he continued, sis it's power o
looking in different directions at the