FAMOUS DOUGLAS FIR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20518, 20 March 1930, Page 14

FAMOUS DOUGLAS FIR.

STORY OF "OREGON PINE."

DISCOVERER'S TRAGIC END.

[from our own correspondent.]

VANCOUVER, Feb. 5.

The discovery of the famous Douglas fir, known in New Zealand as Oregon pine," often credited to Sir 'James Douglas, first Goyernor of British Columbia, was made by David Douglas, a Scottish gardener, born at Scone in 1798. His interest in trees and plants won for him a commission from the Royal Horticultural Society to go on a scientific expedition to the Pacific coast of North America in 1825. He arrived at Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia River, after a voyage round Cape Horn. From here he explored the wilderness that is now Oregon, and was the first to give to the world accurate information regarding the marvellous coniferous forests of the Pacific North-west.

Within a few years, with interest, definitely awakened to the wonders of the flora of the Pacific Coast, Mr. Douglas led a second expedition to the West. Landing at Monterey, California, his inland progress was, frustrated by hostile Indians. Nevertheless he went on, and, 50 miles north of the California border he discovered the queen of California pines, the sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana). Noticing Indians with tobacco pouches full of edible seeds, he asked their source, but they were suspicious and would not help him. When he discovered the pine he found the cones were a hundred feet high, so he shot a few down with his rifle. This brought the Indians in warpaint, ready to fight, but Mr. Douglas convinced them that his rifle would be a very terrible weapon if they molested him. They let him go, and from his interest in plants and flowers they called him " the man of grass." Mr. Douglas met a tragic end on the Sandwich Islands, where he led a third expedition. Ho fell into a trap that had been dug for wild animals. A bull had fallen in shortly before him, and Mr. Douglas was an easy victim to the maddened animal's rage. Rescuers found his dog standing guard over his bundle, which ho left some distance away.