Humboldt's direct and unqualified charge of plagiarism against Pike, which has never been answered and is probably unanswerable, is reiterated in that one of his works entitled: Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent during the Years 1799-1804. By Alexander de Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland. Written in French by Alexander de Humboldt, and translated into English by Helen Maria Williams, Philadelphia, M. Carey, 1 vol., 8vo, Dec. 23d, 1815, on p. xxii of which we read: "Mr. Pike displayed admirable courage in an important undertaking for the investigation of western Louisiana; but unprovided with instruments, and strictly watched on the road from Santa Fe to Natchitoches, he could do nothing towards the progress of the geography of the provincias internas. The maps of Mexico, which are annexed to the narrative of his journey, are reduced from my great map of New Spain, of which I left a copy, in 1804, at the secretary of state's office at Washington." In this connection Humboldt also makes the same well-founded charge against Arrowsmith, saying, p. xxi: "My general map of the kingdom of New Spain, formed on astronomical observations, and on the whole of the materials which existed in Mexico in 1804, has been copied by Mr. Arrowsmith, who has appropriated it to himself, by publishing it on a larger scale under the title of New Map of Mexico, compiled from original Documents, by Arrowsmith. It is very easy to recognize this map from the number of chalcographical errors with which it abounds," etc.
Of all forms of dishonesty, literary larceny is the most futile, because the surest of detection. Plagiarism is worse than a crime--it is a blunder. If the matter stolen is worth stealing, the transaction is certain to be exposed, sooner or later. The distinction between the use and misuse of the literary labors of another is so plain and simple that it cannot be misunderstood. It depends solely upon whether acknowledgment be made or not. Plagiarism acknowledged is no plagiarism--one has only to say "by your leave," to appropriate with impunity whatever he desires. But this instant formula is indispensable. Subsequent apology or explanation is impossible. Humboldt took Pike red-handed; this the present biographer deplores; but he can neither discover nor invent a defense. Pike's senselessness in this matter aggravates the offense. To have acknowledged his indebtedness to Humboldt and Bonpland, and then utilized their work to any extent he chose, would have been shrewd policy, as well as honest conduct; for Humboldt's was already a name to conjure with, and the hitherto nameless young writer could not have done better for himself than to cite such high authority in connection with his own work.[M-11] I have reluctantly satisfied myself that Pike's map of New Spain is no other than Humboldt's Carte Générale du Royaume de la Nouvelle Espagne, with Nau's errors and some little further modification.