From Antarctica to the gold rushes : in the wake of the Erebus : Alexander Smith, polar voyager, astronomer & goldfields commissioner 1812-1872 /John Ramsland.

"Commander Alexander Smith served the Royal Navy with fearless resolution for seventeen years on the quarterdeck, encountering many adventures on the high seas - an intrepid voyager in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Under the command of Captain James Clark Ross, he became a heroic polar explorer in the north Atlantic and was chosen as First Mate for the epic 1839-1843 British Antarctic Expedition aboard HMS Erebus. The Ross expedition was the first to go where no human being had gone before despite competition from Charles Wilkes' American and Dumont d'Urville's French expeditions. Retiring from the Royal Navy, he was appointed Goldfields Commissioner in Castlemaine during the Australian gold rushes in 1853 and developed a fine reputation as a botanist and naturalist...an extraordinary but forgotten life."--Back cover.