xl 



distinguislied service; he had previously, viz., in 185], had the honour 

 conferred on him of Commander of the Bath. It would be out of place 

 here to dilate on his professional attainments ; but it should not be passed 

 over, as showing how he blended science and medicine, that to him chiefly 

 the Medical Department of the Navy is indebted for the Museum which 

 is established at Haslar, and to which he largely contributed. 



If fortunate in his position, he was not less so in the estimation in which 

 he was held by the authorities in power. Hence, when Sir John Franklin 

 had to prepare for his second expedition to the shores of the Polar Sea, he 

 again received the appointment which he had in the first. In consequence 

 moreover of the great confidence placed in him, he was entrusted with a sepa- 

 rate and important charge, that of exploring the coast between the Mac- 

 kenzie and Copper Mine rivers, and later, with the sole command of the party 

 sent to the same region in quest of his friend on the occasion of Sir John 

 Franklin's last and fatal exploring enterprise. A just appreciation of what 

 he accompHshed in both instances can be formed only by the perusal of the 

 two works in which these Expeditions are described ; one, The Narrative 

 of a second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea in the years 1825, 

 1826, and 1827;" the other entitled "Arctic Searching Expedition: A 

 Journal of a boat's voyage through Rupert's Land and the Arctic Sea in 

 search of the Discovery Ships under the command of Sir John Franklin, 

 with an Appendix on the Physical Geography of North America." Both 

 which works, one by FrankUn, the other by Richardson, were published 

 by authority. 



This second expedition, under the command of Sir John Franklin, 

 affords a remarkable contrast to the first, — that so disastrous in its results 

 as regards human suffering and loss of life, this so successful, at least in 

 these relations and the amount of information obtained, — mainly owing to 

 the better arrangements made for the provisioning and conveyance of the 

 party, forewarned by the experience gained in the first ; during the whole 

 time not a life was lost, nor was there any amount of privation experienced 

 even temporarily endangering health*. 



In his last expedition in quest of his friend, in which greater difficulties 

 and dangers were encountered than in the preceding, the same good 

 fortune as to the preservation of health and life was experienced. The 

 engaging in this undertaking by Richardson was, indeed, as before said, a 

 chivalrous act and the strongest proof that could be given of devoted 

 friendship. It should be remembered that he was then entering his sixty- 

 first year, that he separated himself from a happy home and from children 

 he tenderly loved, and this, let it not be forgotten, with the entire sanction of 

 his wife, she fully entering into and appreciating his noble sense of duty. 

 That the Government should have accepted his offered services was what 

 might be expected ; for whom could they have selected for zeal and knowledge 



* After Franklin had left his party, on his return he was informed of the death of 

 one man belonging to it from accident, and of another from pulmonary consumption. 



