THE RANDALL FAMILY 4/
kindred subjects, while his taste for poetry and the belles- lettres was also highly cultivated.
" He studied medicine after graduation, but his acqui- sitions as a naturalist were so well known and recognized that he received the honorable appointment of Professor of Zoology in the department of invertebrate animals in the South Sea Exploring Expedition (called Wilkes's), which the United States were fitting out about this time.
"We can all remember the wearisome delays and jeal- ousies which occurred before the sailing of the Expedition, which finally caused Mr. Randall to throw up his appoint- ment. Since that time he has led a quiet and retired life, devoting himself to his favorite pursuits, adding to them also the collection of engravings, of which he has one of the most rare and original collections in this country. He has also devoted much time to the cultivation and im- provement of an ancestral country seat at Stow, Mass., for the ancient trees of which he has almost an individual friendship.
" An account of his life and experiences from Mr. Ran- dall's own pen would have been very interesting as well as amusing and witty ; for in these qualities he excels. In excusing himself from giving this, he writes as follows : —
" • As for myself, my life, having been wholly private, presents little that I care to communicate to others, or that others would care to know. I cannot even say for myself as much as was contained in Professor Teufels- drockh's epitaph on a famous hunter, namely, that in a long life he killed no less than ten thousand foxes.
" * It might have been interesting in former days to have related adventures of my foot journeys as a naturalist, amid scenes and objects then little known or wholly un- known, where the solitary backwoodsman and his family.
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