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.

A spot of bother!

Saturday, September 20th, 1823 – [Douglas gets into a spot of bother in what is a more lawless 'frontier' region than he perhaps expecting]

Early in the morning I got a car and hired a man to conduct me up the country. I set out slowly, moving along the riverside, picking up anything which presented itself. After passing through a country of twelve miles from Sandwich, came then to a morass of two miles long, succeeded by a passage of sand along Lake St. Clair; rendered the horse so weak that I had to stop for a day [to rest the horse?].

I was glad to do so as there seemed to be a good field; accordingly towards midday I set off with the man I had taken with me.  Here I found……list of specimens he found….[but] during my day’s labour I had the misfortune to meet with a circumstance which I must record as it concerns not only my business but also my personal affairs.

I got up in [an] oak for the purpose of procuring seeds and specimens; the day being warm I was induced to take off my coat and in that state I ascended. I had not been above five minutes up when to my surprise the man whom I hired as guide and assistant took up my coat and made off with it as fast as he could run.

I descended almost headlong and followed, but before I could make near him he escaped in the wood. I had in my pockets my notes and some receipt of money, nineteen dollars in paper, a copy of Persoon’s ‘Synopsis Plantarum’, with my small vasculum. I was thus left five miles from where I had left the car, in a miserable condition, and as there was no remedy that could be taken to better myself, I tied my seeds in my neckcloth and made to my lodging.

I had to hire a man to take me back to Sandwich as I could not drive [this sounds a bit wimpish for Douglas; surely anyone living in that age would be able to make a stab at driving a carriage?]; and the horse only understanding the French language, and I could not talk to him in his tongue, placed me in an awkward situation. I had to borrow a coat as there was no tailor to make me one.

On my getting to Sandwich I remonstrated with the man who recommended my assistant to me, but he said that he never did so to his knowledge, and so on. However, I found my guide was a runaway Virginian.

This is interesting, and sheds some light on Douglas's state of mind. Normally robust and forthright in dealing with any difficulties he seems uncharacteristically feeble in his reaction to this incident. True, he hurtles down the tree and pursues the thief but after failing to catch him his actions seem implausibly weak. 

I'd be surprised if he weren't able to make some attempt at driving the car [a carriage or cart, I guess] and the notion that the horse only understood French is laughably implausible. I suspect the horse would understand a touch of the whip and a vigorous pull on the reins well enough. Come on Douglas, man up. 

And then he finds that his guide is a runaway Virginian, as if that explains all. Sandwich had indeed become an established black settlement, where thousands of freed and fugitive slaves took refuge from slavery in the United States via the Underground Railroad, but it seems a bit harsh of Douglas to attribute that cause to his own unfortunate circumstance. 

With hindsight, I suspect he has been more shaken and unsettled by this incident than he cares to admit, it being his first serious inter-personal challenge on this trip.

The French Settlement, Upper Canada

Thursday, September 18th, 1823 – I set out in the morning in company with Dr Richardson for Sandwich, on the east bank of the River Detroit. For three miles up from Amherstburg the ground is thickly covered with woods. Passed a long settlement, intersected by natural ditches. On passing the swamp, which is fully four miles long, we came to what is called "The French Settlement" [in Upper Canada]. The fields are well cultivated and divided by fences; attached to each house is a neat garden laid out & kept with taste.

Upper Canada, the predecessor of modern Ontario, was created in 1791 by the division of the old colony of Quebec into Lower Canada in the east and Upper Canada in the west. A wilderness society settled largely by Loyalists and land-hungry farmers moving north from the United States, Upper Canada endured war with America, an armed rebellion, and half a century of economic and political growing pains until it was merged again with its French-speaking counterpart into the Province of Canada.

 The first leader of this new wilderness society was Lt-Gov John GravesSimcoe, whose avowed purpose was to create in Upper Canada a "superior, more happy, and more polished form of government," not merely to attract immigrants but to renew the empire and by example to win Americans back into the British camp. Governmental institutions were established, first at Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) and then at the new capital at York (Toronto). Simcoe used troops to build a series of primary roads, got the land boards and land distribution under way, established the judiciary, grandly abolished slavery and showed a keen interest in promoting Anglican affairs. When he left the province in 1796 he could take pride in his achievements — although he had failed to convert Americans from republicanism, and to persuade Britain to turn Upper Canada into a military centre. 

 During the war [of 1812] Upper Canada, whose inhabitants were predominantly American in origin, was invaded and partly occupied. American forces were repulsed by British regulars assisted by Canadian militia. The war strengthened the British link.

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/upper-canada/

It's easy to see that Douglas is travelling in an uneasy and to some extent still-disputed borderland.  Tread carefully, Mr Douglas.

There are a few pears, which are scarcely seen in the western part of the State of New York; probably the emigrants took them from France at the first settling of the country. They have a few peaches, in appearance the same as in the States. I am informed they ripen in ordinary seasons; they have not that sickly appearance which they have in the States, occasined probably by excess of heat

Four miles from Sandwich the ground rises of a brown loam on gravel

Friday, September 19th, 1823 – [Douglas is botanising all day and his journal is essentially a catalogue of the plants he found.  Link is in the sidebar]

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!