Arriving at Madrid I soon congratulated myself on my decision tovisit the peninsula. Baron de Forell, Saxon Ambassador to the SpanishCourt, received me in a friendly way that greatly favored my project. Tohis knowledge of mineralogy he added a great interest in the progress of science. He let me know that under the patronage of an enlightened minister, Don Mariano Luis de Urquijo, Imight be permitted to make a journey to the interior of Spanish America, atmy own expense. After all the set-backs I had suffered I did not hesitateto take up this suggestion.