kness. I had never been at sea before. When the land had vanished
at all points, and there was nothing in sight but deep blue water around
us and a sky above, the scene was truly sublime; there was a mental
reaction, impressing a lesson of the insignificance of man, which I had
never before felt.

We passed the Gulf of Florida, heaving in sight on one side, as we
passed, of the Tortugas, and, on the other, of the Mora Castle of
Havana, after which there was little to be noticed, but changes in the
Gulf Stream, fishes, sea-birds, ships, and the constant mutations from
tempests to the deep blue waters of a calm, till we hove in sight of the
Neversinks, and entered the noble bay of New York.

It was the third of August when I reached the city, having stayed out my
quarantine faithfully on Staten Island, the mineralogy and geological
structure of which I completely explored during that period of municipal
regimen--for it was the season of yellow fever, and there was a rigid
quarantine. Dr. Dewitt, the health officer, who had known my father,
received me very kindly, and my time wore off imperceptibly, while I
footed its serpentine vales and magnesian plains.

On reaching the city, I fixed my lodgings at a point on the banks of the
Hudson, or rather at its point of confluence with the noble bay (71
Courtland), where I could overlook its islands and busy water craft,
ever in motion.

I had now completed, by land and water, a circuit of the Union, having
traveled some 6000 miles. My arrival was opportune. No traveler of
modern times had thrown himself upon the success of his scientific
observations, and I was hailed, by the scientific public, as the first
one who had ever brought a collection of the mineral productions of the
Mississippi Valley. My collection, which was large and splendid, was the
means of introducing me to men of science at New York and elsewhere. Dr.
Samuel L. Mitchell and Dr. D. Hosack, who were then in the zenith of
their fame, cordially received me. The natural sciences were then
chiefly in the hands of physicians, and there was scarcely a man of note
in these departments of inquiry who was not soon numbered among my
acquaintances. Dr. John Torrey was then a young man, who had just
published his first botanical work. Dr. A.W. Ives warmly interested
himself in my behalf, and I had literary friends on every side. Among
these Gov. De Witt Clinton was prominent.

I had fixed my lodgings where the Hudson