Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/230

224 224 JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. to procure the skulls of dogs, wolves, and bears for Scouler; but noneof men, for fear he should make a second voyage to the Northwest coast, and find mine bleached in some canoe, 'because I stole from the dead,' as my old friends on the Columbia would say." Mr. Douglas here refers to Dr. Scouler's having carried away from the Columbia River, the preserved skulls of two Chinooks, on account of the singular mode in which, by compressing the frontal bone in infancy, the heads of these people are made to assume a conical, almost sugar- loaf appearance. The indignation of the natives was much roused on this occasion, and Dr. Scouler would probably have met with very rough treatment, if he had not deferred this robbery for the sake of science to the very night pre- vious to the vessel's sailing from the Columbia River, by which he was carried out of the reach of their resentment. Extracts from two other letters, now before me, written previous to his departure, will perhaps be read with inter- est ; and if it shall appear that I have suffered any passage to come before the public which was only intended for a private communication,! trust that my motive in so doing will not be attributed to personal vanity, but to the real cause my desire to commemorate the generosity of Mr. Douglas' heart and his grateful disposition whenever any act of kindness was shown him: GREENWICH, Sept. 14, 1829. "I am exceedingly engaged in my preparations, and will soon be ready. The vessel is to sail not later than the end of this month, which delights me amazingly. I go under most comfortable circumstances, and am certainly very happy. All my instruments are ready, save the chronometer, which I hope to be in possession of in a few days, all packed and ready to be sent on board ship at an hour's notice. Noth- ing pleases me so much as the addition of 20, which has been given me by the Colonial Office; I asked for 60 to provide books, tables, and charts, and they sent 80, as also some instruments, which, though previously used by other persons, are in perfectly good order. I ought to think myself a very lucky fellow, for indeed every person seems to take more interest than another in assisting me. I possess a beautiful assortment of barometers, so constructed that, comparatively