82 
diligent attendant at the botanical lectures 
given by the Professor of Botany in the 
hall of the garden, and was his favourite 
. companion in some distant excursions to 
the Highlands and islands of Scotland, 
where his great activity, undaunted cou- 
rage, singular abstemiousness, and energe- 
tic zeal, at once pointed him out as an in- 
dividual eminently calculated to do himself 
credit as a scientific traveller. 
It was our privilege, and that of Mr. 
Murray, to recommend Mr. Douglas to 
Joseph Sabine, Esq., then Honorary Se- 
cretary of the Horticultural Society, as a _ 
Botanical Collector; and to London he di- 
rected 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 despatched, 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 
any, of sending him 
to explore the botanical riches of the coun- 
try in North-West America, adjoining the 
Columbia River, and southward towards 
California, he sailed in July for the pur- 
pose of prosecuting this mission. 
We are now come to the most interest- 
ing period of Mr. Douglas’s life, when he 
. From 
that Journal is here selected whatever is 
. likely to prove interesting to our readers : 
and these extracts, with some occasional 
DOUGLAS’ SKETCH OF A JOURNEY TO THE 
observations and extracts from the fe 
ters that were received by his friends du 
ing the continuance of this mission, wi 
prove more than any language we can ei 
ploy, Mr. Douglas's high qualification 
a Naturalist and Traveller. 
A SKETCH OF A JOURNEY TO 
NORTH-WESTERN PARTS OF 
CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERI 
DURING THE YEARS 1824, 5, | 
ND 7. d 
By David Douglas, F.L.S. 
WHILE so much geographical inf 
tion has, of late years, been added to 
general stock of knowledge, and so m 
distinguished individuals have assidu ot 
devoted their talents to the investiga 
of the northern parts of this country, 
Horticultural Society of London, desi i 
of disseminating among the gardens 
similar purpose. Before entering on | 
brief statement, I must beg leave to 
my grateful thanks to John Henry F 
Esq., Governor, and Nicholas Garry, ; 
Deputy Governor of the Honourable 
Hudson's Bay Company, for the ki 
sistance I, on all occasions, experience 
their hands, and for much valuable infor! 
the different residents, partners, and a 
of this Company, both individually 
collectively. 
I embarked on Sunday, the 25th of J 
on board the Hudson’s Bay Com 
