Editing Alexander von Humboldt (section)

===The Andes, 1801–1803===
[[File:Humboldt-Bonpland Chimborazo.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Humboldt and his fellow scientist Aimé Bonpland near the foot of the [[Chimborazo]] volcano, painting by [[Friedrich Georg Weitsch]] (1810)]]

After their first stay in Cuba of three months, they returned to the mainland at [[Cartagena de Indias]] (now in Colombia), a major center of trade in northern South America. Ascending the swollen stream of the [[Magdalena River]] to Honda, they arrived in Bogotá on 6 July 1801, where they met the Spanish botanist [[José Celestino Mutis]], head of the Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada, staying there until 8 September 1801. Mutis was generous with his time and gave Humboldt access to the huge pictorial record he had compiled since 1783. Mutis was based in Bogotá, but as with other Spanish expeditions, he had access to local knowledge and a workshop of artists, who created highly accurate and detailed images. This type of careful recording meant that even if specimens were not available to study at a distance, "because the images travelled, the botanists did not have to".{{sfn|Bleichmar|2012|p=190}} Humboldt was astounded at Mutis's accomplishment; when Humboldt published his first volume on botany, he dedicated it to Mutis "as a simple mark of our admiration and acknowledgement".<ref>Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland, ''Plantes équinoxiles, in ''Voyage de Humboldt et Bonpland, Sixième Partie, Botanique, vo. 1 Paris 1808.</ref>

Humboldt had hopes of connecting with the French sailing expedition of Baudin, now finally underway, so Bonpland and Humboldt hurried to Ecuador.{{Sfn|Humboldt chronology|p= lxix}} They crossed the frozen ridges of the [[Cordillera Real (Ecuador)|Cordillera Real]] and reached [[Quito]] on 6 January 1802, after a tedious and difficult journey.

Their stay in Ecuador was marked by the ascent of [[Pichincha (volcano)|Pichincha]] and their climb of [[Chimborazo]], where Humboldt and his party reached an altitude of {{convert|19286|ft|m}}. This was a world record at the time (for a westerner—[[Inca Empire|Incas]] had reached much higher altitudes centuries before),<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mignone|first1=Pablo|title=Ritualidad estatal, capacocha y actores sociales locales: El Cementerio del volcán Llullaillaco|journal=[[Estudios Atacameños]]|date=2010|issue=40|pages=43–62|doi=10.4067/S0718-10432010000200004|language=es|issn=0718-1043|doi-access=free|quote=[D]iscutimos el clásico enfoque arqueológico acerca de este tipo de ritual como dominio exclusivo y protagónico del Estado inca [...] Luego el camino se bifurca para dirigirse uno hacia una plataforma de entierro, a 6715 m.snm, y el otro a la cima del volcán, unos 20 m más arriba.|hdl=11336/14124|hdl-access=free}}</ref> but 1000 feet short of the summit.<ref>Humboldt's claim was disputed by mountaineer [[Edward Whymper]] when he made the first ascent of Chimborazo in 1880.{{cite book|last=Whymper|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Whymper|title=Travels amongst the Great Andes of the Equator |url=https://archive.org/details/amongstgr00whymtravelsrich |publisher=John Murray |year=1892 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/amongstgr00whymtravelsrich/page/30 30]–32}}</ref> Humboldt's journey concluded with an expedition to the sources of the Amazon ''en route'' for [[Lima]], Peru.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Muratta Bunsen | first1 = Eduardo | year = 2010 | title = El conflicto entre eurocentrismo y empatía en la literatura de viajes de Humboldt | journal = Revista Andina | volume = 50 | pages = 247–262 }}</ref>

At [[Callao]], the main port for Peru, Humboldt observed the [[transit of Mercury]] on 9 November and studied the fertilizing properties of [[guano]], rich in nitrogen, the subsequent introduction of which into Europe was due mainly to his writings.<ref name="EB1911"/>