278 SJcetch of the Life of Mr, David Douglas. 



say latitude 54° 30' N., longitude 124° 10' W. Upon his retura 

 from this lake, he met with another of those unfortunate accidents, 

 that cannot always be avoided in small canoes, and which had 

 already so often occurred to him on the waters of the Columbia 

 and its tributaries. He was wrecked in a dangerous part of the 

 river, and again lost all the fruits of the toil of the present 

 journey and the plants he had collected on the way. His relation 

 of this disaster, which occurred on the 13th June 1833, is con- 

 veyed in a letter to his friend Sir W. J. Hooker." 



" On that morning at the stony islands of Eraser's Kiver, my 

 canoe was dashed to atoms, when I lost every article in my posses- 

 sion, saving an astronomical journal, book of rough notes, charts, 

 and barometrical observations, with my instruments. My botani- 

 cal notes are gone, and what give me most concern, my journal 

 of occurrences also, as this is what can never be replaced, even by 

 myself. All the articles needful for pursuing my journey were 

 destroyed, so that my voyage for this season was frustrated. I 

 cannot detail to you the labor and anxiety this occasioned me both 

 in body and mind, to say nothing of the hardships and sufferings 

 I endured. Still I reflect with pleasure that no lives were sacrificed. 

 I passed over the cataract and gained the shore in a whirlpool 

 below, not however by swimming, for I was rendered helpless and 

 the waves washed me on the rocks. The collection of plants con- 

 sisted of about four hundred species, two hundred and fifty of 

 these were mosses, and a few of them new. This disastrous 

 occurrence has much broken my health and spirits. The country 

 over which I passed was all mountainous, but most so towards the 

 western ocean. Still it will ere long be inhabited." 



To this last remark of the gifted Douglas we may safely attach 

 the epithet prophetic. No one but a person of the highest intel- 

 ligence and foresight would at that time have made it. The coun- 

 try was accessible only by the circuitous routes followed by the 

 fur traders through hilly mountainous districts, and was roamed 

 over solely by wild Indian tribes. Now it is traversed in every 

 direction by those of the white race who search for gold, and 

 who will establish themselves, whereever the yellow dust may be 

 found, or whereever the soil and climate may render the cultiva- 

 tion of the earth, or a pastoral life, agreeable." 



