Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 5/A Brief Memoir of the Life of Mr. David Douglas, with Extracts from His Letters
A BRIEF MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF MR. DAVID DOUGLAS, WITH EXTRACTS FROM HIS LETTERS.
By Sir W. J. Hooker.
It is not willingly that the following record of the successful labours of Mr. David Douglas in the field of natural history and of his lamented death has been so long withheld from the public; a circumstance the more to be regretted, because his melancholy fate excited a degree of interest in the scientific world which has rarely been equalled, especially towards one who had hitherto been almost as unknown to fame as to fortune. But the writer of this article was anxious to satisfy public curiosity by the mention of some further particulars than what related merely to Mr. Douglas's botanical discoveries; and this could scarcely be done but through the medium of those friends whose personal acquaintance was of long standing, and especially such as knew something of his early life. This has at length been accomplished through the kindness of Mr. Douglas's elder brother, Mr. John Douglas, and of Mr. Booth, the very skillful and scientific gardener at Carclew, the seat of of Sir Charles Lemon, Bart. It is to Mr. Booth, indeed, that I am indebted for almost all that relates to the subject of this memoir, previous to his entering the service of the Horticultural Society, and for the copies of some letters, as well as several particulars relative to his future career.
David Douglas was burn at Scone, near Perth, in 1799, being the son of John Douglas and Jean Drummond,[1] his wife. His father was a stone mason, possessed of good abilities and a store of general information, rarely surpassed by persons in his sphere of life. His family consisted of three daughters and as many sons, of whom the subject of this notice was the second. At about three years of age he was sent to school in the village, where the good old dame,
"Gentle of heart nor knowing well to rule,"
soon found herself mastered by her high-spirited little scholar, who
"Much had grieved on that ill-fated morn,
When he was first to school reluctant borne,"
and took every opportunity of showing his dislike to the restraint by playing truant, or defying the worthy lady's authority. At the parish school of Kinnoul, kept by Mr. Wilson, whither he was soon sent, David Douglas evinced a similar preference to fishing and bird-nesting over book learning; he was often punished for coming late, not knowing his lessons, and playing the truant; but no chastisement affected him so much as the being kept in school after the usual hour of dismissal. His boyish days were not remarkable for any particular incidents. Like others at his time of life, he was lively and active, and never failed of playing his part in the usual sports of the village; a taste for rambling, and much fondness for objects of Natural History being, however, very strongly evinced. He collected all sorts of birds, though he often found it difficult to maintain some of these favorites, especially the hawks and owls. For the sake of feeding a nest of the latter, the poor boy, after exhausting all his skill in catching mice and small birds, used frequently to spend the daily penny with which he should have procured bread for his own lunch, in buying bullock's liver for his owlets, though a walk of six miles to and from school might, well have sharpened his youthful appetite. He was likewise much attached to fishing, and very expert at it, and when he
could not obtain the proper tackle, had recourse to the simple means of a willow wand, string, and crooked pin, with which he was often successful. From his earliest years nothing gave Douglas so much delight as conversing about travelers and foreign countries, and the books which pleased him best were "Sinbad the Sailor" and "Robinson Crusoe." The decided taste which he showed for gardening and collecting plants caused him to be employed, at the age of 10 or 11 years, in the common operations of the nursery ground, attached to the garden of the Earl of Mansfield, at Scone, under the superintendence of his kind friend and master, Mr. Beattie, with the ultimate view of his becoming a gardener. Here his independent, active, and mischievous disposition sometimes led him into quarrels with the other boys, who, on complaining of David to their master, only received the reply. "I like a devil better than a dult," an answer which showed that he was a favorite, and put a stop to further accusations. In the gardens of the Earl of Mansfield he served a seven years' apprenticeship, during which time it is admitted by all who knew him that no one could be more industrious and anxious to excel than he was, his whole heart and mind being devoted to the attainment of a thorough knowledge of his business. The first department in which he was placed was the flower garden, at that time under the superintendence of Mr. McGillivray, a young man who had received a tolerable education, and was pretty well acquainted with the names of plants and the rudiments of Botany. From him Douglas gathered a great deal of information, and being gifted with an excellent memory, he soon became as familiar with the collection of plants at Scone as his instructor. Here the subject of this notice found himself in a situation altogether to his mind, and here, it may be said, he acquired that taste for botanical pursuits which he so ardently followed in after life. He had always a fondness for books, and when the labor of the day was over, the evenings, in winter, invariably found him engaged in the perusal of such works as he had obtained from his friends and acquaintances, or in making extracts from them of portions which took his fancy, and which he would afterwards commit to memory. In summer, again, the evenings were usually devoted to short botanical excursions, in company with such of the other young men as were of a similar turn of mind to himself, but whether he had then any intention of becoming a botanical collector we have now no means of ascertaining. He had a small garden at home, where he deposited the living plants that he brought home. It may be stated that these excursions were never pursued on the Sabbath day, his father having strictly prohibited young Douglas from doing so, and this rule he at no time broke. The hours which might be called his own were spent in arranging his specimens and in reading with avidity all the works on Travels and Natural History to which he could obtain access. Having applied to an old friend for a loan of some books on these subjects, the gentleman (Mr. Scott), to David's surprise, placed a Bible in his hands, accompanied with the truly kind admonition, "There, David, I can not recommend a better or more important book for your perusal."
It has frequently occurred to us, when admiring the many beautiful productions with which the subject of this memoir has enriched our gardens that, but for his intercourse with two individuals, Messrs. R. and J. Brown, of the Perth nursery, these acquisitions, in all probability, would have been
"The flowers on desert Isles that perish,"
At this period of Douglas's life, these gentlemen were very intimate with Mr. Beattie, and their visits to Scone afforded opportunities to him to gain their acquaintance. Both were good British Botanists, and so fond of the study as annually to devote a part of the summer to botanizing in the Highlands; hence their excursions were often the subject of conversation, and it is believed that from hearing them recount their adventures and describe the romantic scenery of the places they had visited in search of plants, Douglas secretly formed the resolution of imitating their example.
Having completed the customary term in the ornamental department, he was removed to the forcing and kitchen garden, in the affairs of which he appeared to take as lively an interest as he had previously done in those of the flower garden. Lee's Introduction to Botany, and Donn's Catalogue, his former textbooks, if they may be so termed, were now laid aside, and Nicol's Gardener's Calendar taken in their stead. The useful publications of Mr. London, which ought to be in the hands of every young gardener, had not then made their appearance; so that his means of gaining a theoretical knowledge of his business were very limited, when compared with the facilities of the present day; but what was of more consequence to one in his situation, he had ample scope for making himself master of the practical part, and it is but justice to state that, when he had finished his apprenticeship, he only wanted age and experience in the management of men to qualify him for undertaking a situation of the first importance.
His active habits and obliging disposition gained the friendship of Mr. Beattie, by whom he was recommended to the late Mr. Alexander Stewart, gardener at Valleyfield, near Culross, the seat of the late Sir Robert Preston, a place then celebrated for a very select collection of plants. Thither David Douglas went in 1818, after having spent the preceding winter months in a private school in Perth, revising especially such rules in arithmetic as he thought might be useful, and in which he either had found or considered himself deficient. He was not long in his new situation when a fresh impulse seized him. The kitchen garden lost its attraction, and his mind became wholly bent on Botany, more specially as regarded exotic plants, of which we believe one of the very best private collections in Scotland was then cultivated at Valleyfield. Mr. Stewart finding him careful of the plants committed to his charge, and desirous of improvement, encouraged him by every means in his power. He treat him him with kindness and allowed him to participate in the advantages which he had himself derived from having access to Sir R. Preston's botanical library, a privilege of the utmost value to one circumstanced like Douglas, and endowed with such faculties of mind and memory as he possessed. He remained about two years at Valleyfield, being foreman during the last twelve months to Mr. Stewart, when he made application and succeeded in gaining admission to the botanical garden at Glasgow. In this improving situation it is almost needless to say that he spent his time most advantageously and with so much industry and application to his professional duties as to have gained the friendship and esteem of all who knew him, and more especially of the able and intelligent curator of that establishment, Mr Stewart Murray, who always evinced the deepest interest in Douglas's success in life. Whilst in this situation he was a diligent attendant at the botanical lectures given by the professor of Botany in the hall of the garden, and was his favorite companion in some distant excursions to the Highlands and islands of Scotland, where his great activity, undaunted courage, singular abstemiousness, and energetic zeal at once pointed him out as an individual eminently calculated to do himself credit as a scientific traveler.
It was our privilege, and that of Mr. Murray, to recommend Mr. Douglas to Joseph Sabine, Esq., then honorary secretary of the Horticultural Society, as a botanical collector; and to London he directed his course accordingly in the spring of 1823. His first destination was China, but intelligence having about that time been received of a rupture between the British and Chinese, he was dispatched, in the latter end of May, to the United States, where he procured many fine plants, and greatly increased the Society's collection of fruit trees. He returned late in the autumn of the same year, and in 1824 an opportunity having offered through the Hudson's Bay Company, of sending him to explore the botanical riches of the country in the Northwest America, adjoining the Columbia River, and southward towards California, he sailed in July for the purpose of prosecuting this mission.
We are now come to the most interesting period of Mr. Douglas's life, when he was about to undertake a long voyage and to explore remote regions, hitherto untrodden by the foot of any naturalist In these situations, far indeed from the abodes of civilized society, frequently with no other companion than a faithful dog, or a wild Indian as a guide, we should have known little or nothing of his adventures were it not for a journal which he kept with great care (considering the difficulties, not to say dangers, which so frequently beset him in his long and painful journeyings), and which has been deposited in the library of the Horticultural Society of London. From that journal is here selected whatever is likely to prove interesting to our readers; and these extracts, with some occasional observations and extracts from the few letters which were received by his friends during the continuance of this mission, will prove more than any language we can employ, Mr. Douglas's high qualifications as a naturalist and traveler.
- ↑ It is not a little remarkable that the mother of Mr. Douglas should have borne the same name with that of another enthusiastic naturalist, who nearly at the same age, and after devoting a similar number of years to scientific researches upon the same vast continent of North America, met with an untimely grave soon after arriving at a neighboring island, almost at the very same period as the subject of this memoir. It will be seen at once that I allude to Mr. Thomas Drummond.