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2. contemplating securing his succession via a new marriagepreferably marriage into an imperial family and that he hadrepeatedly flirted with the dynasty of the Russian Tsars. This viewwas reinforced by the meeting in Erfurt. However, the Tsar wasapparently of a different opinion. When, in 1808, he learned ofNapoleons intentions, he imme- diately married his elder sisterKatherina to the Duke of Hol- stein-Oldenburg. But there was stillhis sister Anna. She was then only 13 years old, and there wouldhave to be a delay, but Napoleon wasted no time. In 1809 hedespatched his emissaries to St. Petersburg with an officialproposal. Meanwhile (on 16th December 1809) the Senate hadpronounced the divorce of Napoleon and Josphine. The wilyMetternich was thus fully aware of the danger hanging over Aus-tria in the event of a marital union between France and Russia,which would threaten not only her own destruction but also thecarving up of Europe between these two great powers. Thefraudulently obtained peace treaty (October 1809) between Franceand Austria had already divided the country, requir- ing largeareas to be forfeited, and access to the sea to be relinquished.She had also been compelled to give up all trade with England. Butat least this undesirable treaty had allowed the Austrian Emperorto return to Vienna on the 26th Novem- ber, and Metternich to takeoffice as Minister of State and do what he had been planning:...from the day of the signing of the peace treaty our strategymust be solely to resist, connive, evade, and cajole. Only thuswill we succeed in surviving until the day of the very probablyuniversal lib- eration. On the 28th November ie two days after hisarrival at the Ballhausplatz he summoned Count Alexandre de Labordeto his office. The latter was the son of a great financier, amember of the national government in Vienna, and acting ascommissioner for the regulation of certain financial interestsdependent on the recently implemented peace treaty. Metternich putforward the possibility of a marriage between the French Emperorand an Archduchess: The idea is my own, I have not yet sought theviews of the Emperor on this matter, but I am almost certain thathe will look favourably on the scheme, he said. When Metternichthen learnt from de Laborde that Napoleon would consent providedacceptance of his proposal was guaranteed (clearly the two Russianflops had not gone down well with the French ruler), and that theway was clear in Paris, he wrote to his master on the 7th February1810, The marriage scheme will undoubtedly develop to our bene-fit. Ultimately his idea not only had the desired effect, but alsoproved popular with the entire land-owning class when the newsspread like wildfire. It even saw Austrian government securitiesrise by 30% on the stock exchange. The 1st April 1810 was no matterfor joking, but the day of the civil ceremo- ny, with who wouldhave thought it the religious service in the Louvre the next day.In the Louvre because the Pope had not given Napoleon his consentand for this reason he wished to avoid a wedding in Notre Dame. Theelders of the Roman Catholic religion opposed a church weddingbetween the Archduchess and a divorced man. Just as in the case ofMarie-Louise (who was called Marie Ludovica before her marriage),the Emperor Franz I (II) did not dare oppose the all-powerfulChancellor when it came to Leopoldine. In 1816 Metternich suggestedthe marriage of his daughter to the heir to the throne of Portugal,Brazil, and Algarde and, of course, as with Marie-Louise this wasfor political as well as personal considerations. The following isthe background to the situation. In 1807 the Portuguese court haddecamped in its entirety to Brazil. Napoleon occupied Portugal, buthimself abandoned it later. The neighbouring English took advantageof the situation, seducing the Portuguese people with their liberalpolicies. For this reason the Portuguese king, Joo VI, wasinterested in a closer liaison with the houses of Habsburg andBraganza, which promised greater security against Great Britain. BL E H E R S D I S C U S 29 FIRST DISCOVERY It was an extraordinaryday in the history of Austria in two respects when the StateChancellor and Foreign Minister, Prince Clemens Wenzel vonMetternich, who in his day wielded considerable influence at theimperial court and on Kaiser Franz I (II), sampled the very firstSacher-Torte in Vienna. It was later to become the most famous cakein the world, and the hand- written recipe has remained aclosely-guarded secret right up to the present day. Round about thesame time (1832), the assistant supervisor of the imperial naturalhistory collection, and leader of the Austrian expedition to Brazilthat had started back in 1817, became the first white man ever tohandle a discus: the Austrian Johann Baptist Nat- terer. His fishwas later (1840) described as Symphysodon discus by Jakob Heckel,along with many other species of fish discovered by Natterer (seepage 28). During his 18 year expedition to Brazil, this Austriancollected a total of 1671 fishes, 1678 reptiles and amphibians,12293 birds, 1146 mammals, 32825 insects, 1729 vials of intestinalworms, 1024 mussels, 125 eggs of various species, 430 mineralsamples, 192 skulls, 42 anatomical specimens, 242 seed samples, 216coins, and 1492 ethnographic items. But just as neither vonMetternich nor the 16-year-old bakers apprentice, Franz Sacher, whocreated the Sach- er-Torte, could have foreseen the sub- sequentworld-wide success of that confection, likewise Natterer had noidea that his discovery would one day become the most popular ofall aquarium fishes, the King of the Amazon. So what does this soinfluential State Chancel- lor von Metternich have to do with thevery first discovery of the discus, and who was he anyway? Well,let me tell you. The future Chancellor of the Austrian Empire wasborn in 1773, in the German village of Metternich, on the left bankof the Mosel, just a few kilometres from Koblenz, and was baptisedClemens Wenzeslas Lothar von Metternich-Winneburg. At that timeLouis XV still ruled in France, Maria Theresa in Austria, KatharinaII in Russia, and Friedrich II in Prussia; Napoleon Bonaparte wasonly four years old, just like Arthur Wellesley, Duke ofWellington, his eventual conqueror. When Metternich died 86 yearslater, the rulers who survived him were Victoria I, Franz-Josef I,Alexander II, and a boy had been born into the Prussian royalfamily whose destiny was to bring about the demise of the old,monarchistic Europe which the aged servant of the Austrian Empirehad supported against all change. Between these two epochs therewas hardly an event of any importance in which Metternich was notinvolved, be it as witness or active participant; there was nonotable personality during his time that he didnt know personally.Thus it was he that arranged the marriages of the Emperorsdaughters Marie-Louise and Leopoldine. The latter is of the mostinterest to us, in connection with the first discus, although in myview it was Napoleon who was to blame (or, at least, chiefly toblame) for Natterer being sent on his travels. But judge foryourself. Metternich was already well aware, when he began to drawthe threads of the marriage of Princess Leopoldines darling oldersister Marie-Louise together, that mar- riage was a favouriteinstrument of Habsburg politics. Bella gerant alii, tu felixAustria nube! (Let others wage war; you, lucky man, marry Aus-tria). And marriage between Marie- Louise and Napoleon would meanthat the Austrian princess, once established in Paris, couldmoderate the demands of the conqueror, lay his suspicions to rest.It is important to realise that in September 1808 Napoleon had helddiscussions in Erfurt with Tsar Alexander I. Pawlowitsch, his dearbroth- er and ally as he called him, and Metternich had beenpresent. And that following 1805, the Corsican tyrant had occu-pied Austria for a second time in 1809. That the existence of theAustrian Empire did not accord with Napoleons concept of worlddomination; and that the Emperors declarations of good- willtowards the French had met with other than belief... Metternich wasalso aware that by 1808 Napoleon was already 28 B L E H E R S D I SC U S FIRST DISCOVERY FIRST DISCOVERY NN aappoolleeoo nnBBoonnaappaarrttee 11776699-- 118822 11CCllmmeennss--WWeennzzeessllaass--LLoott hhaarr vvoonnMMeetttteerrnniicchh-- WW iinn nneebbuurrgg 11777733--11885599 3.time working at the Natural History Museum in Florence, to go onthe trip. Together with von Schreibers, Metternich suggested JohannNatterer as the scientific leader in the field. Since 1806 Nattererhad been working in the Naturalien-Cab- inet, initially as avisiting researcher (until 1808), and thereafter as an unpaidmember of staff. From the end of 1809 he received 300 florins peryear. He had already won recognition from Director von Schreibersfor his work capturing marsh and aquat- ic birds from theNeusiedlersee and the Plattensee for the impe- rial collection. Hehad collected in Croatia, Hungary, and Styria, and along theAdriatic coast. In 1808 he was commissioned to take charge of aconsignment of natural and archaeological items that had arrived inTrieste from Egypt, and accom- pany it to Vienna. On his owninitiative and mainly in his spare time he col- lected fishes andintestinal worms, the latter for his director, who was a learneddoctor who had very early in his career established a collectionrelating to the worm diseases com- mon in those days. Moreover theEmperor himself had personally awarded Natterer a certificate ofcommendation for this work, and granted him permission to work inthe Naturalien-Cabinet without remuneration (this was, of course, asignal honour...). As well as making several trips to Italy toCalabria for the Emperor, usually to bring back creatures arrivedfrom over- seas or to make collections himself, he gave privatetuition in English, Italian, and French. He was also involved inthe original repatriation of valuable items belonging to theNaturalien- Cabinet from Ofen (Budapest) in 1806. When Napoleonmarched in during 1805 everything had been evacuated as it was wellknown that the French plundered collections. Napoleon alwaysensured that scientists accompanied the rearguard of his army, andduring the Egyptian campaign this led to important discoveries suchas the famous Rosetta Stone. There were two evacuations andrepatria- tions, in 1809 and 1813, in which Natterer played asignificant part. In 1815, on the order of his Emperor, hetravelled with von Schreibers to Paris in order to organise thereturn to the Vienna Mnz- und Antikencabinet of the art treasures,libraries, and oth- er items that had been spirited away fromAustria by Napoleon in 1809. Natterers involvement with thecollections during the French years and repatriations was onereason why in 1816 he was pro- moted to supervisory assistant inthe Naturalien-Cabinet, and ultimately was appointed scientificleader of the Brazil expedi- tion in the field. Even so, shortlybefore the departure of the expedition there was a dispute, asthere were moves to replace him with a certain naturalist fromPrague, Doctor Johann Chris- tian Mikan k.k. (of the Cabinet ofNatural Objects), a professor of botany, a suggestion he opposedvigorously. In the end the expedition party was split into twogroups, with each of them leading one part. Both groups had to fol-low the direct instructions of their respective leader, and inevery case consult him with regard to suggestions for excursionsand collections to be made. A set of Instructions for service forthe naturalists Doctor Johann Chris- tian Mikan k.k., Professor ofbotany from Prague, and Mr. Johann Nat- terer k.k.,Naturalien-Cabinet assis- tant from Vienna, appointed to theexpedition to Brazil was given to them, and was binding on all theparticipants. Inter alia, Rio de Janeiro was to be the startingpoint for all excursions. Travel plans must be made in advance,and, indeed, include details of accommoda- tion, routes, hazards,duration, details of the return journey, etc. It would appear thatno-one at the court of Vienna had very much knowledge about Braziland the jungle! Let alone the conditions in that vast country. Onlyconsider, Natterer needed more than a year just to get from thecoast to the Mato Grosso. (Some- thing my mother, along with fourchildren, managed in a month 125 years later, and which today takesonly two hours by plane.) I find the section of these instructions,Notes and comments for the expedition to Brazil, particularlyinteresting: for exam- ple, they were particularly to search forhalf savage aboriginals, long-bearded apes, gold-panningopportunities, etc. in Canta- galo, rather nearer the coast.Cantagalo is in the state of Rio de Janeiro and was already than awell known Municpio... When the frigates of the Austrian navy,Austria and Augusta, left Trieste on the 9th of April 1817, it wasthe first time in the B L E H E R S D I S C U S 31 Following theagreement made at the Vienna Congress (1815), Portugal became partof Metternichs system of alliances, as he himself perceived thatAustria would become stronger through her influence on Portugal andthe New World. (Brazil was ele- vated to the status of kingdombecause of the liaison with Por- tugal, and thus became the onlymonarchy in South America.) And Metternich knew that his Emperor,Franz I (II), desired the restoration of the monarchy in Portugal,which would effective- ly put an end to the liberalisation. And theinstrument for that could only be Leopoldine. As well asrepresenting the political and economic interests of Austria, theState Chancellor had, of course, not forgotten to think a littlefurther ahead. If only because his Emperor was a dedicated garden-er for which reason he became known to posterity as theBlumenkaiser (Emperor of flowers). Franz I (II) had greenhous- eserected and parks created. His chil- dren were also enchanted withnature, and he commissioned the creation of a garden for them inSchnbrunn, a garden which they had to look after themselves as partof their education, and which served to instruct them in botany.Leopoldine herself loved country life and nature. She maintainedher own orchard in Laxenburg the summer residence of the imperialhousehold where she herself culti- vated various berry fruits, aswell as keeping white foxes, a parrot, and ban- tams from Angola,and breeding hares. So what could be more appropriate than for herHighness and Austria to also derive some sci- entific benefit? Hetherefore suggested that a mission for the benefit of science andculture should take place in con- junction with the marriage of herHighness the Austrian princess. Of course permission was given, andthe planning for this expedition was already under way in 1816.Metternich was in overall charge, and von Schreibers, the directorof the Natu- ralien-Cabinet in Vienna, supervised the scientificside. On the 29th November 1816 the betrothal of ArchduchessLeopoldine and the son of King Joo VI, Dom Pedro, was sealed.Emperor Franz I (II) had not given his consent until the return ofthe Portuguese royal house to Lisbon was imminent. He did not findit an easy decision, but it would be the first time in the historyof the world that an emperors daughter had crossed an ocean to avirtually unexplored land. Leopoldine began to study all thecontemporary books on Brazil, as well as maps pertaining to SouthAmerica. She learnt the Portuguese language. The wedding took placeon the 13th May 1817 in the church of St Augustine in Vienna,albeit in the absence of the bride- groom, who was represented perprocurationem by the Archduke Karl. The 13th May because this wasthe birthday of Dom Joo. Leopoldine had sought in vain to make it adifferent date. She was superstitious, and moreover, her mother haddied on a 13th, her darling sister Marie Louise had taken her leaveof the imperial family on a 13th, it was on a 13th that Austria hadlost a battle against France, and many other instances. ThePortuguese ambassador from Paris, the Marqus de Marialva, who(armed with a healthy bank balance, diamonds and other preciousstones, and jewelry) had previously officially asked for the handof the Archduchess in the name of the son of Dom Joo and therebypromulgated the fiction of Brazil as a land of unsurpassed wealth,was originally supposed to represent the son at the wedding, butassigned his authority to the Archduke Karl. Nevertheless hearranged, from France, for festivities to take place over severaldays, an event that long remained in the memo- ries of theViennese. Because Metternich also wanted interna- tionalrecognition for the expedition, rather than it being merely acollecting trip for the impe- rial natural history collection, heapproached various scientists from overseas, including Alexandervon Humboldt, a visitor to his salon. The latter presented him witha long wish list... Eventually Metternich had assembled a teamtotalling 14 aca- demics, researchers, doctors, and painters. Atthe request of the Bavarian king, Max Joseph I, the expedition wasto be accompa- nied for a while by the botanist Philipp Friedrichvon Martius (1794-1868) and the zoologist Johann B. von Spix(1781-1826), a member of the Academy and Conservator of thezoological collection in Munich. The Grand Duke Ferdinand vonToscana even delegated the naturalist Joseph Raddi (1770-1829), atthat 30 B L E H E R S D I S C U S LLeeooppooll ddiinnaaAArrcciidduucchheessssaa dd AAuussttrriiaa 1177 9977--11882266JJoohh aannnn BBaappttiisstt NNaatttteerreerr,, 11778877-- 11884433FIRST DISCOVERY FIRST DISCOVERY 4. B L E H E R S D I S C U S 33history of Austria that ships had ventured overseas. And there werestill serious problems, such as a lack of navigational equip- ment.The only chronometer in the entire k.k. marine arsenal of Venicewas defective, and not until Gibraltar did they obtain a functionalone. There was likewise no sextant until the marine commandantfetched one of his own. Aboard the Austria were Mikan and his wife,Spix, Martius (both pictured right), and others, while Natterer andhis assistant hunter/conservator Sochor shipped on the Augusta.Both frigates were wrecked off the Adriatic coast in a storm onlythree days later. The Augusta lost all her masts and had to lay upin Pola (todays Croazia) for a long time; the Austria, on the otherhand, was soon under way again and first reached Rio de Janeiro onthe 14th June 1817. After her repairs the Augus- ta joined thePortuguese fleet of two ships in Gibraltar and all three ships putinto Guanabara Bay off Rio on the 4th November 1817, where theywere welcomed with cannon, bells, and fire- works. Metternich, whohad accompanied the Arch- duchess Leopoldine to Livorno, where sheembarked, wrote letters to his family describing interesting eventsand detours during his journey across Italy. And I cannot resistincluding a few extracts here, in part because I myself have nowlived in this beautiful country for several years. He enthusesabout Padua, Ferrara, and Bologna, and then writes: Florence, 14thJune 1817: We have been here since 11 oclock yesterday morning...Everything I have seen so far exceeds my expectations. Good God!What fellows those men of the past were!.. The country isglorious... the climate is heavenly. And because the arrival of thecursed squadron as he termed the Portuguese fleet continued to bedelayed: 26th July 1817: The squadron is, happily, now at anchor inLivorno... I am off on my travels again, to the Baths of Lucca. Iplan to begin my treatment tomorrow... (He had eye problems andeven had an eye specialist with him.) Baths of Lucca, 28th July1817: I am staying in the house that Elisa (Napoleons eldestsister) had built for herself, or rather, had converted for herself(todays Vila Reale outside of Lucca). That should tell you that itis com- fortable and well located... News from Livorno... that thesquadron will weigh anchor before 15th August. Livorno, 10th August1817: I arriv