 The correction of the prevalent exaggerated estimate of the height of the Central Asian plateau, and the prediction of the discovery of diamonds in the gold-washings of the Urals, were important aspects of these travels.In the end, the expedition took 8 months, traveled 15,500 km, stopped at 658 post stations, and used 12,244 horses.One writer claims that "Nothing was quite as Humboldt wanted it.