Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 8.djvu/238

186 leave it with regret. In doubling Cape Horn, he shot several curious birds, only to be found in these latitudes, and carefully prepared them for being brought home. The vessel touched at the island of Juan Fernandez, that romantic residence of Alexander Selkirk; and Douglas, who was delighted with its wooded scenery and soil, sowed here a plentiful collection of garden seeds, in the hope that some future Robinson Crusoe would be comforted by the produce, should such a person again become its tenant. On the 7th of April, 1825, he arrived at Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia, where his proper mission was to commence; and here his fitness for it was well attested, by the immense collection of seeds and dried specimens which he transmitted to the Horticultural Society at home. Among his discoveries were several species of a pine of enormous size, one of these, belonging to the class which he called the Pinus Lambertiana, in honour of Mr. Lambert, vice-president of the Linnsean Society, measuring 215 feet in height, and 57 feet 9 inches in circumference. The cones of this forest Titan, of which he sent home specimens, were sixteen inches long, and eleven in circumference. But they had something else than mere bulk to recommend them; for their kernel, which is pleasant to the taste, and nutritious, is roasted or pounded into cakes by the Indians, and used as an important article of food; while the resin of the tree, on being subjected to the action of fire, acquires a sweet taste, and is used by the natives as sugar. After having spent two years in the country adjoining the Columbia, and exploring it in every direction, Douglas, in the spring of 1827, left Fort Vancouver, and crossed the Rocky Mountains to Hudson's Bay, where he met Sir John Franklin, Dr. Richardson, and Captain Back, on their way homeward from their second overland Arctic expedition, with whom he returned to England. His successful labours in botanical science, and the important additions he had made to it, insured him a hearty welcome among the most distinguished of the scientific scholars in London; so that, without solicitation, and free of all expense, he was elected a fellow of the Geological, Zoological, and Linneean Societies. He was also requested to publish his travels, and a liberal offer to this effect was made to him by Mr. Murray, the publisher; but though he commenced the undertaking, he did not live to complete it, so that his authorship was confined to several papers which he contributed to the "Transactions" of the three societies of which he was elected a fellow; and extracts from his letters to Dr. Hooker, which were published in "Brewster's Edinburgh Journal" for January, 1828.

After remaining in London for two years, Mr. Douglas resumed his duties, and set off upon that last scientific tour which was destined to a melancholy termination. He returned to the Columbia River in 1829, and after some time spent in exploration among his former fields of research, which he prosecuted with his wonted ardour and success, he went to the Sandwich Islands. The inhabitants of these islands being in the practice of trapping wild bulls in pits dug for the purpose, Mr. Douglas, one evening, after a few months' residence, fell into one of these excavations, in which an animal had been previously snared; and the fierce creature, already maddened by its captivity, fell upon him, so that next morning he was found dead, and his body dreadfully mangled. This tragical event occurred on the 12th of July, 1834.

Thus prematurely, in the thirty-sixth year of his age, was the life of this enterprising traveller and skilful botanist cut short. The value of his discoveries, even in so brief a career, it would be difficult fully to appreciate. He introduced into our country almost all the new hardy plants that enrich our