One of the family possessions was the ancient castle of Tegel, situated a short distance from Berlin, and at this place Alexander spent the greater part of this childhood and youth.

The castle enjoyed the distinction of having more than one interesting legend connected with its history, and the young Alexander and his elder brother William found great delight in weaving strange romances about the place which possessed such a mysterious charm.

The country about Tegel was extremely beautiful, and the castle commanded a view of gardens, lakes, promenades, forests, and towns in the distance, while near by were the picturesque fortress of Spandau, situated on the southern shore of Tegel Lake, and the fine grove reaching on the other side toward Berlin.

Major Humboldt, the father of the two boys, was renowned for his hospitality, and the castles was the scene of almost uninterrupted festivities, the visitors including princes, statesmen, and scholars in the number, and thus the Humboldt children were from their earliest years thrown into the society of some of the most distinguished men of the age.

When he was about ten years of age Alexander saw his father receive Goethe as a guest, the visitor little dreaming that the two fun-loving boys who shyly greeted him would one day become his chosen friends, equally esteemed for their nobility of character and their intellectual gifts; while the children themselves, to whom as yet no dreams of fame had come, thought only of the present moment, and associated their father's guest only with the wonderful stories of which he was the author, and which had so speedily won for him so great a renown.

But such opportunities for seeing the most learned mean of the day could not fail to make an impression upon the minds of the brothers, and they early imbibed the idea that intellectual greatness and individual exertion took the precedence of wealth or rank in the opinion of the truly wise; and thus although a fortunate future might await them inview of their father's position, they early understood that higher distinction could only come from their own earnest effort.

This impression was deepened by the influence of the man whom their father had chosen for their teacher, Heinrich Campe, one of the foremost thinkers of the time.

Campe was a devoted advocate of the new methods of teaching then being introduced into Germany, and found his views warmly supported by Major Humboldt, who desired his children to have the benefit of the advanced school of thought. And it thus happened that the Humboldt brothers had from the beginning the advantage of superior instruction, and had nothing to unlearn when after-years decided their career.

Campe, following the new method, trained his pupils not only in the exercises which develop the memory, but led their minds into new channels, and awakened an interest in the world at large which only increased as the years went on. It was to him that they boys owed their first impressions of foreign countries, and thus from the beginning of their education they were led to take an interest in matters quite outside their own immediate sphere. Campe desired them to become students, not only of the dead languages and mathematics, but of men, manners, and the world in general, and this wish was ardently fulfilled by his pupils.

Although Campe only remained at Tegel two years, his influence was never lost, and extended over the whole lives of his pupils. He was the editor of an edition of "Robinson Crusoe," and made this fascinating volume the groundwork of an interest in foreign countries which only increased with time.

All the old legends which hung around the castle of Tegel failed to excite their imagination to the degree of wonder wrought by the marvelous history of the hero of the desert island; and the familiar fairies, spirits, and genii of their native forests lost their charm in the presence of the actual living Crusoe, whose bravery they might emulate and whose example they both determined to follow.

Thenceforth desert islands possessed a magical fascination, and Alexander avowed his intention of starting for the South Sea at the earliest opportunity. Books of travel were read with an interest never felt before, and the tales of the travelers who now and then visited the castle were listened to with absorbing attention; and the purpose excited by these events was clung to by Alexander with a tenacity that was the more remarkable considering that this delicate health seemed to forbid the possibility of his high hopes ever being realized.

When Campe left the castle to accept an important position elsewhere, he was succeeded by Christian Kunth, whose influence upon his pupils was as beneficial as that of this predecessor, and who remained their lifelong friend.

The plan of Campe to awaken a love for universal knowledge was also pursued by Kunth, and the Humboldts were thus able to continue their methods of study without any serious interruption. Kunth's interest for the welfare of the boys, and his influence over them, continued even when they came to receive instruction from special teachers; and thus when Alexander began taking lessons in botany at the age of fourteen, of an official who lived near Tegel, it was Kunth who led his mind to contemplate the study only as part of the great system of nature, and kept before him the fact that botany was important not because of itself, but because it led to a better of the universality of the laws of creation.

Thus the necessity of grasping the principle that underlies any collection of facts was early instilled in the mind of the future naturalist, and while learning the Linnæan system of classification he also learned that this knowledge was but a step toward the goal desired by the true seeker after wisdom.

During the years of Kunth's tutorship the Humboldts spent the time partly in Berlin and partly at Tegel, giving the strongest evidence, even in their boyhood, of the diversity of their tastes, William devoting himself principally to the classical studies, while Alexander experience an every-increasing love for natural history.

Great was the delight of the younger brother, therefore, when the choice of a university fell upon Göttingen, for there lived the celebrated Blumenbach, whose knowledge of the natural sciences would be of priceless value to the eager student, and it was at Göttingen also that Alexander formed an intimacy that proved of more than usual importance. This was his friendship with George Forster, a son-in-law of one of the teachers in the university, and a man of fine attainments of unusual originality.

Forster had been one of the companions of Captain Cook in his famous voyage around the world, and this fact at once made him an interesting personage in the eyes of Alexander. Forster was equally attracted toward his ardent young admirer, whose tastes were so congenial, and willingly gave him the benefit of his larger experience. All of Alexander's old enthusiasm for desert islands and foreign travel was aroused by the recital of his friend's wonderful adventures, and as Forster was a great student of natural history his story had the effect of rousing in the mind of his hearer an earnestness of purpose that was invaluable in its influence upon his character.

Hereafter a journey across the sea and into unknown lands was not only looked up on as an opportunity for personal excitement and adventure, but was viewed as a serious undertaking, containing possibilities for grave work in science, and, in fact, with his usual good fortune, Alexander had, on his arrival at Göttingen, fallen in with the very man who of all others could best serve him in his preparation for the serious business of life. From this time there was never any question in his mind as to the nature of this work.

His friendship with Forster but strengthened the already half-formed resolution to become a man of travel and science, and the succeeding years only made this purpose more definite. Works of travel, geography, languages, and natural science were hereafter studied with a view to his future work, and he ardently longed for the time when he might begin his life of travel.

The Humboldts left the university of Göttingen, after a two years' course, and a few months later Alexander, being then in his twenty-third year, started with Forster on his first scientific journey. This was an expedition down the Rhine, through Holland, and over to England, and resulted in the publication of an original theory of the formation of the rocks of the Rhine. This journey was chiefly important because it roused in Humboldt a greater delight in mineralogical studies, and led to a decision to make mining his particular business.

He therefore went to Freiburg the following year to study the metallurgical sciences, and made such rapid progress that in less than two years he was appointed superintendent of the mines in Franconia, with commission to remodel the plan of the working of the mines according to his own ideas.

While in this position Humboldt made many interesting experiments on the chemistry of metals, and also contributed toward the discussion that was then going on between geologists as to the formation of the earth. Although he was so young a man his views were received with attention by the older scientists, and were indeed so accurate as to be incorporated into his later works.

The plan for a great journey to America was all this time maturing in his mind. America was still almost a new world to Europeans as regarded the knowledge of it mineral vegetation, and animal life, and it was Humboldt's desire to be the Columbus who should open this unknown territory to the scientific world. North America, with the exception of a narrow portion lying along the Atlantic coast, was still practically unknown even by the inhabitants of the oldest settlements, and South America was even more a land of myths and ignorant wonder. The mines of Mexico and Peru, the vast profits of which had enriched the Spanish crown in the early days of American exploration, were still regarded as objects of interest whose reality could not be doubted, but the most indefinite and extraordinary accounts were in circulation as to the rest of the continent.