of war, drove him on an exploring expedition through Upper
Egypt; his sanity or impulse directed his enthusiasm to a project of
great importance, he turned his attention to that unexplored Central
Africa which occupies the learned of today. The scientific expedition
was long and unfortunate. He had made a valuable collection of notes
bearing on various geographical and commercial problems, of which
solutions are still eagerly sought; and succeeded, after surmounting
many obstacles, in reaching the heart of the continent, when he was
betrayed into the hands of a hostile native tribe. Then, stripped of all
that he had, for two years he led a wandering life in the desert,
the slave of savages, threatened with death at every moment, and more
cruelly treated than a dumb animal in the power of pitiless children.
Physical strength, and a mind braced to endurance, enabled him to
survive the horrors of that captivity; but his miraculous escape
well-nigh exhausted his energies. When he reached the French colony at
Senegal, a half-dead fugitive covered with rags, his memories of his
former life were dim and shapeless. The great sacrifices made in his
travels were all forgotten like his studies of African dialects, his
discoveries, and observations. One story will give an idea of all that
he passed through. Once for several days the children of the sheikh of
the tribe amused themselves by putting him up for a mark and flinging
horses' knuckle-bones at his head.

Montriveau came back to Paris in 1818 a ruined man. He had no interest,
and wished for none. He would have died twenty times over sooner than
ask a favour of anyone; he would not even press the recognition of his
claims. Adversity and hardship had developed his energy even in trifles,
while the habit of preserving his self-respect before that spiritual
self which we call conscience led him to attach consequence to the most
apparently trivial actions. His merits and adventures became known,
however, through his acquaintances, among the principal men of science
in Paris, and some few well-read military men. The incidents of his
slavery and subsequent escape bore witness to a courage, intelligence,
and coolness which won him celebrity without his knowledge, and that
transient fame of which Paris salons are lavish, though the artist that
fain would keep it must make untold efforts.

Montriveau's position suddenly changed towards the end of that year. He
had been a poor man, h