page_title: Charlie Douglas
section_title: 1889–1903
hierarchical_section_title: Charlie Douglas / Exploration / 1889–1903
caption_attribution_description: English: Charles Edward Douglas (left), Arthur Paul Harper, and Douglas's dog Betsey Jane in the valley of the Cook River in 1894. Taken by an unidentified photographer.
context_page_description: Charles Edward Douglas was a New Zealand surveyor and explorer, who came to be known as Mr. Explorer Douglas, owing to his extensive explorations of the West Coast Region of New Zealand and his work for the New Zealand Survey Department. He was awarded the Royal Geographical Society Gill Memorial Prize in 1897.
context_section_description: From 1889 Douglas agreed to work for the survey department full-time for a wage of eight shillings a day. He was provided with: a prismatic compass, a survey chain and drawing tools.
  For five months, in 1891 Douglas travelled up the Waiatoto River. He climbed Mount Ragan and reached the Therma Glacier at the head of the Waiatoto.
  During 1892 Douglas made an important expedition up the Copland River. It was during the Copland trip that he experienced the first real illness of his 52 years. Later in the year he explored the Whitcombe River.
  Between 1893 and 1895, Douglas was teamed with Arthur Paul Harper and the two first explored the Wanganui River in a dug-out canoe. They then explored the Franz Josef Glacier, Fox Glacier and in 1894 the area of the Cook River. It was in 1894 that rheumatism first began to force Douglas to curtail some of his exploration.
  In 1896, Douglas returned to the Whitcombe River valley and crossed the Whitcombe Pass to the upper Rakaia.
  In 1897, Douglas continued track work in the Whitcombe River. It was also in this year that he was awarded the Royal Geographical Society Gill Memorial Prize. He spent the prize money on a camera that he ended up giving away.
  From 1898 through to 1899, Douglas worked on hut making and track cutting around the glaciers and along the Whitcombe River valley.
  In 1900, Douglas made his last major expedition along the Wanganui River that included a trip to the Lord Range.
  In 1901, Douglas explored the Otira River and from 1903 he explored the Okarito district. He increasingly suffered from ill health.
caption: Charlie Douglas (left), Arthur Paul Harper, and Douglas' dog Betsey Jane in the valley of the Cook River in 1894
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