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.
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