xli 



better qualified for the search ? — ^^resting on the belief they had come to, 

 that Franklin, according to his instructions, would, as was afterwards proved 

 (proved by the relics discovered, and as Richardson was confident), 

 attempt the North-west Passage by Lancaster Sound — that passage which, 

 after Franklin, was more happily accomplished first by Sir Robert M'Clure, 

 and then by Sir Leopold M'Clintock — this the crowning reward of the vast 

 efforts which for a series of years and at an enormous cost had been so 

 heroically made, to the enduring credit of our country, for determining the 

 great geographical problem of the Northwest Passage. 



The account of this search, as pubUshed in two volumes in 1851, is, in 

 accordance with its title of Journal, minute in details, and, from its minute- 

 ness, very instructive and deserving of study, abounding, as it does, in 

 varied information in relation to the geology of the country passed through, 

 its natural productions and inhabitants — a model, in brief, of the journal of 

 a scientific traveller well trained by laborious experience, and of which the 

 value must increase as the regions it treats of, especially the Lake Districts 

 of Canada and the territory of the old Hudson's Bay Company, become, as 

 they deserve, more resorted to and colonized. 



On his return from this expedition he resumed his duties at Ilaslar Hos- 

 pital, where he continued until he tendered his resignation in 1855. He 

 then retired with his family to the Lake District of Westmoreland, where, 

 at Lancrigg, in Easedale, in the neighbourhood of Grasmere, — a spot sur- 

 passing even in beauty the longed for retreat, Rosebank, the aspiration of 

 his boyish days, — he passed the remaining years of his life, which, when 

 he was apparently in perfect health, was suddenly terminated, by what was 

 inferred to have been apoplexy, on the 6th of June, 1865, in his 77th year. 

 He was buried in Grasmere churchyard, the burying-place of the greatest 

 of the Lake Poets, Wordsworth. 



This period of his retirement, the complement of his distinguished career, 

 was one of almost unchequered enjoyment, and would have been com- 

 pletely so, but for the loss of one of his children, his eldest daugh- 

 ter. Active as ever with unimpaired faculties, whilst he recreated himself 

 with gardening, he devoted much of his time to his favourite pursuits, 

 natural history, and latterly philology, for which he had always a pre- 

 dilection. Here he edited Yarrell's * British Fishes,' the last edition, 

 which he enriched with many additions ; and here he wrote his history of 

 Arctic and Antarctic research, bearing the title of '*The Polar Regions," 

 a work especially remarkable for erudition, candour, and mastery of the 

 subject, and for undertaking which he was so eminently prepared and 

 qualified by the experience he had gained in his three exploring ex- 

 peditions. Though so occupied, he seemed always to have leisure and 

 time at command ; he was always ready to give his professional aid to any 

 of the poor people in the neighbourhood wanting medical advice ; and 

 having been appointed a magistrate of the county, he performed the re- 

 quired duties in his habitual conscientious and zealous manner. 



