Return of C. F. Hall, The Arctic Explorer

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On the 26th of September, Mr. C. F. Hall returned to New Bedford, after completing the second of the Arctic explora tions which were undertaken by him, tor the purpose of as certaining the ultimate fate and collecting the relics of Si John Franklin's expedition. The method adopted by Mr Hall in prosecuting the search, though at first sight it might appear extravagant, was, in reality, about the most likely to lead to success. Discarding the use of strongly built ships and costly equipments, he determined on a land search, trusting mainly to sledges as a sufficient means of transit, and to such food as might be had among the natives, for subsistence. He seems to have had, in early life, received no special training for an enterprise of this kind, and, it is said, that he had not even been to sea ; yet, with indefatigable zeal and with an adequate conception of the magnitude, difficulties, and perils of his self-imposed task, he went to work manfully, systematically, and patiently, to qualify himself for it. He departed from New London on his first journey, which was rather of a tentative character, on the 29th of May, 1860, and returned to the slime port on the 13th of September, 1862. The result was satisfactory. Besides making some geographical corrections, he found that he could endure the rigorous climate and live as the Esquimaux lived ; he acquired their language and became familiar with their character and customs and, moreover, from information he then received, he was enabled to limit his field of inquiry, and even had grounds for believing that some of the crews might be still alive. In 1864 he published an account of this journey, and in the same year he set out on his second expedition, now completed.

Scientific American Magazine Vol 21 Issue 16This article was published with the title “Return of C. F. Hall, The Arctic Explorer” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 21 No. 16 (), p. 251
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican10161869-251a

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