XXXIV 



On his return to England in the autumn of 1854 he was promoted 

 to the rank of Captain, and was not again employed till 1856, when 

 he was appointed to the command of the " Plumper," in charge of 

 the survey of Vancouver Island and the coasts of British Columbia. 

 He was at the same time nominated a Queen's Commissioner con- 

 jointly with Captain Prevost, R.N., for settling the Oregon boundary 

 question between Great Britain and the United States. 



Captain Richards settled the point on the coast from which the 

 boundary line should start, and rendered efficient aid to the com- 

 bined party of Royal Engineers and others who traced it to the east- 

 ward. 



In the " Plumper," and subsequently in the " Hecate," he con- 

 ducted for seven years the surveys of the intricate and rock- studded 

 coasts and channels of Vancouver and British Columbia, accom- 

 plishing a marvellous amount of work. He returned to England in 

 1863 by the islands of the Western Pacific, Australia, and Torres 

 Straits, making surveys and fixing longitudes on the way. This 

 voyage completed his third circumnavigation of the globe. 



He arrived in England to find himself appointed Hydrographer of 

 the Admiralty, the late occupant of the post. Admiral Washington, 

 having recently died. 



Captain Richards held this post for 10 years, and by his powers of 

 organisation, and the most unremitting industry, greatly increased 

 the efficiency of his department, which he administered with great 

 skill, and placed upon a firm basis to meet its ever growing work. 



A new scheme of retirement placed Richards, who had attained 

 the rank of Rear- Admiral on June 2, 1870, on the retired list in 

 1874, when he left the Admiralty. 



Whilst Hydrographer he did all in his power to further scientific 

 exploration of the sea. The preliminary voyages made by Dr. 

 Carpenter, Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys, and Dr. Wyville Thomson in the 

 " Porcupine," " Lightning," and other of H.M. surveying vessels in 

 1868-71 were promoted by him, and led up to the ever memorable 

 expedition of the " Challenger " in 1872, in the inception of which he 

 played a very important part, whilst its fitting out and organisation 

 were carried out under his superintendence. 



He also made the preliminary arrangements for the transport 

 of the expeditions for the observation of the Transit of Venus in 

 1874, which were carried out shortly after he relinquished office. 



In 1866 Richards was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and 

 in the same year a Corresponding Member of the Academy of 

 Sciences of Paris. He was also an active member of the Royal 

 Geographical Society, serving on the Council. 



In 1869 he was nominated an A.D.C. to the Queen, and in 1871 a 

 Companion of the Bath. He received the honour of knighthood in 



