Mr. E. Adams on the Birds of Michalaski. 421 



of natural history, he devoted his leisure hours to its study ; 

 and his talents in this respect had an important hearing upon 

 his subsequent appointments. 



''In 1847 he obtained a commission in the Navy as Assis- 

 tant-Surgeon, and was at once appointed to Haslar Hos- 

 pital, and afterwai*ds to the Naval Hospital at Devonport ; 

 but as soon as the expedition in search of Franklin was deter- 

 mined upon in the winter of 1847—48, under Sir James Ross, 

 Mr. Adams volunteered both as Assistant- Surgeon and Natu- 

 ralist, and sailed for the Arctic seas ia the 'Investigator' (Cap- 

 tain Maclure) on the 8th of May, 1848. This search proved 

 a fruitless one ; and in eighteen months' time he returned in 

 his ship to England, in November 1849. His time, however, 

 had not been spent unprofitably, as his collections in orni- 

 thology and geology, as well as his beautiful drawings 

 of places of interest visited, fully testified, and for which 

 he received the thanks of the Hydrographer of the Navy, 

 Admiral Beaufort. Within barely three months of his land- 

 ing in England we again find Adams, in January 1850, on 

 his way to the Polar regions, and on this occasion as As- 

 sistant-Surgeon and Naturalist on board the ' Enterprise,' in 

 the expedition under Collinson and Maclure, once more fitted 

 out in search of Franklin, by way of Behring's Straits. The 

 two ships forming the expedition parted company in the 

 Straits ; and after the discovery of the North-west Passage by 

 Maclure, the ' Enterprise ' put back, and wintering in China, 

 again entered the ice in the following year. In October 1850 

 Mr. Adams was sent with Lieut. Barnard to Michalaski 

 Redoubt, Norton Sound, and thence, in search of the missing 

 expedition, overland to Darabin, the northernmost part of 

 the Koupac river, with a party of the ship's crew and natives, 

 and only escaped, by taking a different route, being mur- 

 dered, as poor Barnard and the Russian commander at the 

 fort were, by hostile Indians. Having rejoined his ship in 

 June 1851, he accompanied it for the remainder of the voyage, 

 spending four years in those dreary regions, and, in pursuit 

 of his favourite study, formed a considerable collection of 

 birds and drawings, most of which are stated to be deposited 



SEft. IV- VOL. II. 2q 



