 Before leaving Madrid in 1799, Humboldt and Bonpland visited the Natural History Museum, which held results of Martín de Sessé y Lacasta and José Mariano Mociño's botanical expedition to New Spain.Humboldt and Bonpland met Hipólito Ruiz López and José Antonio Pavón y Jiménez of the royal expedition to Peru and Chile in person in Madrid and examined their botanical collections.Armed with authorization from the King of Spain, Humboldt and Bonpland made haste to sail, taking the ship "Pizarro" from A Coruña, on 5 June 1799.