Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Douglas justifies his position, 1826

David Douglas, in spring 1826, had decided [previous post] to stay on another year in the Pacific Northwest, collecting specimens for the Horticultural Society. But he clearly felt he needed to justify his decision:

"However, I am uncertain how far I may be justified in so doing. ....Two considerations presented themselves: first, I am incurring very little expense; second, being laid up an invalid last autumn during my seed harvest, I doubtless lost many interesting things which I would otherwise have had.

Lest the former [the additional cost of staying an extra year] should be made any objection to , most cheerfully will I labour for this year without any remuneration, if I only get wherewith to purchase a little clothing."

3 comments:

Nutty Gnome said...

Aah Woody - you're teaching me so much that you're in danger of becoming a bit of a guru!

Gordon Mason said...

Just wait as the story develops! By the end of the year you'll be either heartily sick of hearing about David Douglas or drawn inexorably into the story.

Nutty Gnome said...

I'm being drawn in already - I'm a lost cause!