1 8 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Menzies of his ascent of the volcano Mauna Loa, 13,675 feet, the 

 first time that the mountain had been climbed by man — native 

 or European. It was not again ascended till David Douglas, 

 also a Perthshire botanist, reached the summit forty years later, 

 on 24th January 1834. Douglas mentions that even after this 

 long interval Menzies' name was remembered by the islanders, 

 who described him as " a red-faced man who cut off the limbs 

 of men and gathered grass." 



The book now under review includes the Joiirjial from 8th 

 April 1792, when the vessels were off the Californian coast, the 

 *' New Albion" of Drake, till 13th October, when they had 

 completed their exploration of the intricate sea-board of the 

 countries which we now call Washington and Southern British 

 Columbia. To those who know that coast and its topographical 

 and botanical features, the daily record of these open boat 

 expeditions up the windings of Puget Sound, and among the 

 interminable inlets and channels of the Straits of Georgia, 

 between Vancouver Island and the mainland, form a thrilling 

 narrative. On 20th May, two boatfuls of explorers under the 

 command of Lieutenant Puget, with Menzies among their 

 number, reached the furthest inland bay of Puget Sound, where 

 the large town of Tacoma now stands, and contemplated the 

 highest mountain, 14,526 feet, outside Alaska, and the most 

 splendid on the American continent. '' Mount Rainier," says 

 Menzies, "now appeared close to us though at least 10 or 

 12 leagues off, for the low land at the head of the bay swelled 

 out gradually to form a most beautiful and majestic mountain 

 of great elevation, whose line of ascent appeared equally smooth 

 and gradual on every side, with a round obtuse summit, covered 

 two-thirds of its height down with perpetual snow, as were also 

 the summits of a rugged ridge of mountains that proceeded 

 from it northward." 



Dr Newcombe's notes of the present-day names of the places 

 reached are very helpful. Most of Vancouver's names survive, 

 though it is doubtful if many of the inhabitants of Seattle, 

 Tacoma, and Vancouver, are aware of the origin of names so 

 familiar to them as Mount Rainier, Port Townshend, Mount 

 Baker, Point Roberts, Burrard Inlet, and many more. The 

 first circumnavigation of Vancouver Island was completed by 

 the 19th August, when both ships emerged into the open sea 

 and headed south for Nootka Sound. That the danglers of 



