Sketch of the Life of Mr, David Doiiglas. 211 



" To console myself for the want of friends of a kindred feeling 

 in this distant land, for an exchange of sympathy or advice, I 

 vary my amusements ; by day it is a barren place that does not 

 afford me a blade of grass; a bird, or a rock, before unnoticed, from 

 which I derive inexpressible delight, while during the stillness of 

 a cloudless night their localities are determined, altitudes mea- 

 sured, the climate they breathe analyzed. Thank God my heart 

 feels gladness in these operations ; without such to pass away an 

 hour, my time would be blank. I willingly admit however, there 

 is one way, and one only way in which a man's powers may be 

 cramped by the pursuit of natural truth, and that is by too ardent 

 devotion to it. In the pursuit of any subject, however lofty, a 

 man may become narrow minded, and in a condition little better 

 than moral servitude, but by embracing different subjects, we 

 need not fear on this head. Every department of science offers 

 its spoils for our decoration. We can be carried into regions 

 where we contemplate the most glorious workmanship of nature, 

 and where the dullest imagination becomes excited. We can tra- 

 vel through distant lands and become acquainted with the com- 

 plexions and the feelings and the characters of mankind, under 

 every form of life ; and in doing this, if we be not most indocile 

 pupils we must learn many lessons of kindness, and freedom of 

 thought along with appropriate knowledge of our immediate voca- 

 tion." 



" I shall have left the Columbia before you receive this hasty 

 note, which I regret the more, as T shall not have the pleasure of 

 hearing from you ; however though far apart you are with me in 

 recollection. Whether I return through the Russian Empire, or 

 the islands of the south seas, I have not yet determined. My 

 arrival in England is uncertain. May you enjoy all and every 

 happiness this world affords, and may God direct your steps." 



The Frazer's River County had not yet been seen by the inde- 

 fatigable traveller. He therefore took a passage in the boats that 

 were leaving Fort Vancouver on the 20th March, with the party 

 preceeding across the Rocky Mountains, and quitted them at 

 Okanagan in about latitude 48° 5' 0", striking north on horseback 

 as far as Kamloops Fort on Thompson's River. Thence by adopt- 

 ing the same means of conveyance and keeping a northerly course 

 he reached Alexandria on Frazer's River, in latitude nearly 5 2° 

 25' 0, longitude 122° 30'. Embarking now on this river he con 

 tinned up stream, taking the western Fork as far as Stuart's Lake 



