Mr. Explorer Douglas

The heavily-gorged rivers of South Westland spring from glaciers and high mountains and are flanked with dense rain forest. Charles Douglas traversed most of these rivers to their sources in the snows. More than any other man he was responsible for exploring the ranges of South Westland and thus it was that the Department of Lands and Survey called him "Mr. Explorer Douglas". He wrote vivid letters and reports, made sketches and maps, and observed bird life and scenery with a dispassionate accuracy livened with quizzical charm. Yet today he is virtually unknown to New Zealanders except for a few who have followed his trials and respected his legend. He was a great New Zealand explorer in the precise sense of the phrase.

For many years it was thought that most of the writing of Douglas had been destroyed, and his death in 1916 passed unnoticed except for paragraphs in a West Coast newspaper.

In 1932 John Pascoe, then a young mountaineer, learned of the survival of many of the Douglas papers, and inquiries yielded more sketches, letters and diaries. As the search continued Pascoe learned much about the old explorer by following his routes into the ranges.

Format: Hardback - Really good condition for its age

Publisher: A. H. & A. W. Reed

Published: First Edition 1957