Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/447

JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF DAVID DOUGLAS. 441 made them to proceed to the camp, which was seen and obeyed, and we proceeded onwards, collecting a good many plants- by the way. Ar- riving at Strawberry Well, we made a short halt to dine, and ascer- tained the barometer to be 25.750; air 57, and the well 51; dew 56. There were vapoury, light clouds in the sky and a S. W. wind. We arrived at Kapupala at four P. M. The three other men came up at seven, much fatigued like myself. Bar, at Kapupala at eight P. M. 27.926 ; air 57 ; and the sky clear. This is the closing sentence of Mr. Douglas's Journal; penned, indeed, by the date, some months previous to the letter which immediately precedes this portion of the Journal (May 6, 1834), and which was certainly among the last, if it were not the very last, that he addressed to any friend in Europe, and that gave hopes of seeing him home at no distant period. Of the events which hap- pened between that period and the melancholy accident which occasioned his death, a space of little more than two months, there is unfortunately, no information. The first knowledge of his decease, which reached one of the members of the family in this country, was in a peculiarly abrupt and painful manner. It was seen in a number of the Liverpool Monthly, by his brother, Mr. John Douglas, when looking for the announcement of the marriage of a near relative. He immediatey set out for Glasgow, to com- munf 3ate the unwelcome tidings to me ; and in a few days they were confirmed on more unquestionable authority, by a letter from Richard Charlton, Esq., H. B. M. Consul at the Sandwich Islands, to James Bandinel, Esq., enclos- ing a most affecting document, relative to the event, from two Missionaries, the Rev. Joseph Goodrich and the Rev. John Diell, both of which I am anxious to record here in testimony of the deep interest felt by these gentlemen in the fate of our deceased friend ; a feeling, indeed, which assuredly extended to all who knew him.