Louis Agassiz: His Life and Correspondence | Page 8

softly
away, letting down the light of moon and stars on the lake and
landscape. He used to say that in his subsequent Alpine excursions he
had rarely witnessed a scene of greater beauty.
Such of his letters from Zurich as have been preserved have only a
home interest. In one of them, however, he alludes to a curious
circumstance, which might have changed the tenor of his life. He and
his brother were returning on foot, for the vacation, from Zurich to their
home which was now in Orbe, where their father and mother had been
settled since 1821. Between Neuchatel and Orbe they were overtaken
by a traveling carriage. A gentleman who was its sole occupant invited
them to get in, made them welcome to his lunch, talked to them of their
student life, and their future plans, and drove them to the parsonage,
where he introduced himself to their parents. Some days afterward M.
Agassiz received a letter from this chance acquaintance, who proved to
be a man in affluent circumstances, of good social position, living at
the time in Geneva. He wrote to M. Agassiz that he had been singularly
attracted by his elder son, Louis, and that he wished to adopt him,
assuming henceforth all the responsibility of his education and his
establishment in life. This proposition fell like a bomb-shell into the
quiet parsonage. M. Agassiz was poor, and every advantage for his
children was gained with painful self-sacrifice on the part of both
parents. How then refuse such an opportunity for one among them, and
that one so gifted? After anxious reflection, however, the father, with
the full concurrence of his son, decided to decline an offer which,
brilliant as it seemed, involved a separation and might lead to a false
position. A correspondence was kept up for years between Louis and
the friend he had so suddenly won, and who continued to interest
himself in his career. Although it had no sequel, this incident is
mentioned as showing a kind of personal magnetism which, even as

child and boy, Agassiz unconsciously exercised over others.
From Zurich, Agassiz went to the University of Heidelberg, where we
find him in the spring of 1826.
TO HIS FATHER.
HEIDELBERG, April 24, 1826.
. . .Having arrived early enough to see something of the environs before
the opening of the term, I decided to devote each day to a ramble in one
direction or another, in order to become familiar with my surroundings.
I am the more glad to have done this as I have learned that after the
lectures begin there will be no further chance for such interruptions,
and we shall be obliged to stick closely to our work at home.
Our first excursion was to Neckarsteinach, two and a half leagues from
here. The road follows the Neckar, and at certain places rises boldly
above the river, which flows between two hills, broken by rocks of the
color of red chalk, which often jut out from either side. Farther on the
valley widens, and a pretty rising ground, crowned by ruins, suddenly
presents itself in the midst of a wide plain, where sheep are feeding.
Neckarsteinach itself is only a little village, containing, however, three
castles, two of which are in ruins. The third is still inhabited, and
commands a magnificent view. In the evening we returned to
Heidelberg by moonlight.
Another day we started for what is here called "The Mountain," though
it is at most no higher than Le Suchet. As the needful supplies are not
to be obtained there, we took our provisions with us. We had so much
fun out of this, that I must tell you all about it. In the morning
Z--bought at the market veal, liver, and bacon enough to serve for three
persons during two days. To these supplies we added salt, pepper,
butter, onions, bread, and some jugs of beer. One of us took two
saucepans for cooking, and some alcohol. Arrived at the summit of our
mountain, we looked out for a convenient spot, and there we cooked
our dinner. It did not take long, nor can I say whether all was done
according to the rules of art. But this I know,--that never did a meal

seem to me better. We wandered over the mountain for the rest of the
day, and at evening came to a house where we prepared our supper
after the same fashion, to the great astonishment of the assembled
household, and especially of an old woman who regretted the death of
her husband, because she said it would certainly have amused him. We
slept on the ground on some straw, and returned to Heidelberg the next
day in time for dinner. The following day we went to Mannheim to