SOURCE: A Poet Among Explorers: Chamisso in the South Seas, Herbert Lang. 1973, pp. 13-18, 27-46.

In the following excerpt, Schweizer recounts Chamisso's experiences, recorded in poetry and prose, concerning his voyage to the South Seas.

When the Russian brig Rurik, Captain Otto von Kotzebue, sailed out of the harbor of Copenhagen on August 17, 1815, heading for the Bearing Strait and the hopeful discovery of the fabled Northeast Passage, a civilian of unusual qualities could be seen aboard. Adelbert von Chamisso, author of the intriguing Peter Schlemihl, had joined the expedition, financed by Count Romanzoff of Reval (Tallinn) in the capacity of an honorary scientist, a Titulargelehrter. His duties consisted of the observation and recording of whatever interesting natural phenomena the expedition was to encounter, and since his own discipline was that of a botanist, he concentrated on the discovery and description of new and little known plants. A Hawaiian...