Turning South

Wednesday, October 1st, 1823 – I went across the river again four miles down from the Falls, where there is great diversity of soil. Opposite what is called the Whirlpool grew three species of Quercus on barren rocks. On my returning to the inn I found that Mr Briscoe was to leave in the afternoon. The weather being bad, and the seeming approach of winter, made me anxious to get to New York as soon as possible. We accordingly set out and passed Stamford, where Mr Briscoe informed me Captain Sabine lived. The face of the country is variable, with some beautiful rising eminences. At 4 o’clock we reached Queenston, where I parted from Mr Briscoe. I am under great obligations to this gentleman. Crossed the river at Queenston for Lewiston on my way to Lockport. I got a box, packed my plants and then went to bed. 

Douglas has unequivocally turned south now, en route for New York. The journey will not be uneventful.

To Niagara

Buffalo, Monday, September 29th, 1823 – In the morning I wrote to Jos. Sabine [Secretary of the Horticultural Society, and Douglas’s boss]. At 10 o’clock I set out in company with Mr Briscoe for Niagara. We went on the American side for two miles and crossed [the Niagara River] to the Canadian side. The weather was very cold and there was a snow shower which lasted for three-quarters of an hour.

We had a good deal of difficulty gaining the Canadian side; the wind blew from the west. Along the side of the River Niagara the soil in general is rich, of black and brown loam [Douglas rarely desists from assessing the fertility of a place in terms of its soil; his early training as a gardener shows through!]. We travelled slowly, stopping frequently...... [and] at 5 o’clock in the afternoon we reached the Falls.

Beginning the retreat

Thursday, September 25th, 1823 – I packed my gleanings of plants and seeds and specimens, and stood in readiness for the steamboat from Detroit, which came in the afternoon. In company with Mr Briscoe and family during the whole of the passage; we experienced a motion that could not be surpassed in an ocean. It blew a tempest the whole of the time. Towards Midnight on Sunday 28th we reached Buffalo, one of the wheels of the boat being swept away, and otherwise disabled.

Effectively, this marks the northern limit of Douglas's journeyings on this trip. He goes on to botanise around Niagara for a couple of days but in practice he has now given up on Canada and started to turn back towards New York. 

And what a journey back to Buffalo! He sets sail on, let's say, Thursday evening and reaches Buffalo just before midnight on Sunday. So he has spent three full days being tossed about in a tempest on Lake Erie, in a steamboat which is gravely disabled and must have been at some risk of foundering. I can't help thinking he has been lucky on this part of his journey and is perhaps secretly glad to be heading back to NYC.

Taking stock

Tuesday, September 23rd, 1823 – I made an excursion across the river [from Amherstburg, to which he has returned after the coat-theft incident] to the Michigan Territory [so he is back in the USA]. I have found in the neighbourhood a rose cultivated which I suspect to be of European origin. I am informed that it was taken by the French to Canada at the first settling of the country.

Mr Briscoe today received orders to remove to Kingston by the first steamboat, which news sealed my disappointments: first a long passage, the loss of my coat and money, bad weather – all these combined made me glad to relinquish the idea of Canada at such a late period of the season. It certainly is a fine field, and would afford an abundant harvest.

Shoot them down

Wednesday, September 17th, 1823 – This morning I made a visit to a small island in the River Detroit opposite to Amherstburg. It appeared to be a spot worthy of notice, as I found before evening. The whole island is low and I was told frequently overflowed by the water from the upper lakes. The soil is very rich black loam, covered with trees of large size [Quercus sp]. 

With a shot from my gun I cut some branches, leaves and acorns. They seem to me to be fine, and different from any which I had seen before. With a few more shots I secured specimens and paper of seeds. 

On the south end of the island the trees are much smaller; it probably is not a distinct species, as it was growing on sand on the margin of the river.

How glad I am to see my rose of yesterday growing in perfection – very strong growth. I lost no time in securing plants and seeds. In the middle of the island, in rich soil, I found Lonicera [honeysuckle sp]; the birds had devoured all the berries, which prevented me from having it in my power to carry it in that state. I then secured plants of it. I crossed the river and secured the plants of Rosa and Lonicera, and put away my specimens and seeds.

In the evening I called on Mr Briscoe for the purpose of soliciting his advice as to the most likely places of affording a harvest. He strongly recommended a visit to the River Thames, as also did his friend Rob. Richardson MD, physician for the Indian department. He kindly offered to take me in his car as far as Sandwich, which is fifteen miles from Amherstburg. As there was no time to lose, I proposed to start in the morning. These being agreed to, we parted at 10 o’clock pm.

Here we see Douglas starting to fulfill the second part of his remit on this trip. He has already been looking at new and improved varieties of fruit trees, and will continue to do so on his return to New York and Philadelphia. But here he has broadened his scope and is plant collecting more generally for species not known in Britain which he might profitably introduce for the Horticultural Society. And I love the image of him roaming free on an island in the Detroit River, blasting away with his gun to secure specimens. I guess in those rough-and-ready times the sound of gunfire wasn't uncommon.

"My First Day in America"

Amherstburg, Tuesday, September 16th, 1823 – This morning at daylight I called on Mr Briscoe. We took breakfast at 6 am [another early start!] and set out northeast of Amherstburg. He took his dogs and gun and proved himself, before we had been out two hours, a marksman of the first sort.

This is what I might term my first day in America

The trees in the woods were of astonishing magnitude. The soil, in general, over which we passed was a very rich black earth, and seemed to be formed of decomposed vegetables. On the southeast of the town, near the margin of Lake Erie, the soil is of a reddish cast and produces fine crops of Indian corn; and now for the last four years, I learn they have cultivated tobacco with great success for the Montreal market.

Towards mid-afternoon the rain fell in torrents, urging us to leave the woods drenched in wet.

Interesting, this. Douglas's ship dropped anchor on August 3rd, he has been active in New York and Philadelphia, but it is only now, on September 16th that he considers himself as having his first day in America. I guess that is because this is the first day on which he considers himself properly 'in the field' and ready for plant collecting. Ironically, on modern maps he isn't actually in America at all but in Canada!! And here we see another reference to rain falling in torrents, a description which will become all too familiar a few years later when he is in the Pacific North West!