David Douglas was one of the most intrepid of Scotland’s small army of plant hunters, combining botanical passion with the physical strength and courage of an explorer. Born in Scone in 1799, he went to North America on behalf of the Horticultural Society of London, where he covered over 10,000 miles by foot, horseback and canoe between 1825 and 1827. He was a man of extraordinary hardiness, although he admitted that he got ‘fretful’ if he had to go to sleep wet and without supper. As he crossed the Rockies, he collected such specimens as the Douglas fir, that took his name, and the sitka spruce, whose cultivation was to change the face of the Scottish Highland economy in the twentieth century. He was intrigued by discovering enormous pine seeds, and went in search of an as yet undiscovered species, Pinus lambertiana, or the Sugar Pine, the largest of the ninety-six known pines. Douglas came to a mysterious end in Honolulu in 1834 in a pit for trapping wild bulls, which may have been an accident, or may have been murder.
September 25th, 1826
Last night was one of the most dreadful I ever witnessed. The rain, driven by the violence of the wind, rendered it impossible for me to keep any fire, and to add misery to my affliction my tent was blown down at midnight, when I lay among bracken rolled in my wet blanket and tent till morning. Sleep of course was not to be had, every ten or fifteen minutes immense trees falling producing a crash as if the earth was cleaving asunder. … My poor horses were unable to endure the violence of the storm without craving of me protection, which they did by hanging their heads over me and neighing. Toward day it moderated and before sunrise clear, but very cold. … Started at ten o’clock, still shivering with cold although I rubbed myself with my handkerchief before the fire until I was no longer able to endure the pain … took my course southerly towards a ridge of mountains, where I hope to find my pine. The night being dry I camped early in the afternoon, in order to dry the remaining part of my clothing. Travelled eighteen miles.
Thursday 26th
Weather dull and cloudy. When my people in England are made acquainted with my travels, they may perhaps think I have told them nothing but my miseries. That may be very correct, but I now know that such objects as I am in quest of are not obtained without a share of labour, anxiety of mind, and sometimes risk of personal safety. I left my camp this morning at daylight on an excursion, leaving my guide to take care of the camp and horses until my return in the evening, when I found everything as I wished; in the interval he had dried my wet paper as I desired him. About an hour’s walk from my camp I was met by an Indian, who on discovering me strung his bow and placed on his left arm a sleeve of racoon-skin and stood ready on the defence. As I was well convinced this was prompted through fear, he never before having seen such a being, I laid my gun at my feet on the ground and waved my hand for him to come to me, which he did with great caution. I made him place his bow and quiver beside my gun, and then struck a light and gave him to smoke and a few beads. With my pencil I made a rough sketch of the cone and pine I wanted and showed him it, when he instantly pointed to the hills about fifteen or twenty miles to the south. As I wanted to go in that direction, he seemingly with much good-will went with me. At midday I reached my long-wished Pinus (called by the Umpqua tribe Natele), and lost no time in examining and endeavouring to collect specimens and seeds.
New or strange things seldom fail to make great impressions, and often at first we are liable to over-rate them; and lest I should never see my friends to tell them verbally of this most beautiful and immensely large tree, I now state the dimension of the largest one I could find that was blown down by the wind: Three feet from the ground, 57 feet 9 inches in circumference; 134 feet from the ground, 17 feet 5 inches; extreme length, 215 feet. The trees are remarkably straight; bark uncommonly smooth for such large timber, of a whitish or light brown colour; and yields a great quantity of gum of a bright amber colour. The large trees are destitute of branches, generally for two-thirds the length of the tree; branches pendulous, and the cones hanging from their points like small sugar-loaves in a grocer’s shop, it being only on the very largest trees that cones are seen, and the putting myself in possession of three cones (all I could) nearly brought my life to an end.
Being unable to climb or hew down any, I took my gun and was busy clipping them from the branches with ball [shooting them down] when eight Indians came at the report of my gun. They were all painted with red earth, armed with bows, arrows, spears of bone, and flint knives, and seemed to me anything but friendly. I endeavoured to explain to them what I wanted and they seemed satisfied and sat down to smoke, but had no sooner done so than I perceived one string his bow and another sharpen his flint knife with a pair of wooden pincers and hang it on the wrist of the right hand, which gave me ample testimony of their inclination.
To save myself I could not do by flight, and without any hesitation I went backwards six paces and cocked my gun, and then pulled from my belt one of my pistols, which I held in my left hand. I was determined to fight for life. As I as much as possible endeavoured to preserve my coolness and perhaps did so, I stood eight or ten minutes looking at them and they at me without a word passing, till one at last, who seemed to be the leader, made a sign for tobacco, which I said they should get on condition of going and fetching me some cones. They went, and as soon as out of sight I picked up my three cones and a few twigs, and made a quick retreat to my camp, which I gained at dusk. The Indian who undertook to be my last guide I sent off, lest he should betray me.
Wood of the pine fine, and very heavy; leaves short, in five, with a very short sheath bright green; cones, one 14½ inches long, one 14, and one 13½, and all containing fine seed. A little before this the cones are gathered by the Indians, roasted on the embers, quartered, and the seeds shaken out, which are then dried before the fire and pounded into a sort of flour, and sometimes eaten round. How irksome a night is to such a one as me under my circumstances! Cannot speak a word to my guide, not a book to read, constantly in expectation of an attack, and the position I am now in is lying on the grass with my gun beside me, writing by the light of my Columbian candle – namely, a piece of wood containing rosin.