His Character and Last Days
Stuart was physically a small wiry man with a great fondness for strong drink, able to endure privations and possessing a fierce determination which overrode any thought of personal comfort. He has not gregarious; he had some good friends but was happiest away from crowds. He cared little for dress; he had a full dark beard and habitually wore grubby moleskin trousers and an unfashionable long-tailed blue coat with brass buttons and cabbage-tree hat.
His eyesight was failing when he embarked on his sixth expedition but by the time he returned the many days of travelling into the fierce sun had rendered him practically blind, in pain and in such poor health that he spent much of the return journey being carried on a litter between two horses. After preparing his diaries for publication he returned to Britain, where he died and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery. There is a museum dedicated to him in the house where he once lived, in Dysart, Scotland.
Read more about this topic: John McDouall Stuart
Famous quotes containing the words character and/or days:
“We now demand the light artillery of the intellect; we need the curt, the condensed, the pointed, the readily diffused—in place of the verbose, the detailed, the voluminous, the inaccessible. On the other hand, the lightness of the artillery should not degenerate into pop-gunnery—by which term we may designate the character of the greater portion of the newspaper press—their sole legitimate object being the discussion of ephemeral matters in an ephemeral manner.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1845)
“Life has been your art. You have set yourself to music. Your days are your sonnets.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)