574 THE SECOND EXPEDITION. 



eled and perished. I shall be accompanied by the two 

 intelligent Esquimaux, Ebeeing and Yukilitoo, who, 

 having accompanied nie on my return from my first 

 expedition, and after remaining with me for two years, 

 now go back with me on this second voyage. I enter 

 upon this undertaking with the liveliest hope of success. 

 I shall not, like previous explorers, set my foot on shore 

 for a few days or weeks, or, like others, journey among 

 men w T hose language to me is unintelligible. I shall live 

 for two or three years among the Esquimaux, and gain 

 their confidence; and I have the advantage of under- 

 standing their language and of making all my wishes 

 known to them." 



The second expedition of Hall occupied more than five 

 years, instead of the two or three years which he had 

 anticipated. During the last three years he was com- 

 pletely shut out from communication with home. Up to 

 1867, he wrote as opportunity afforded to his fast friend 

 and warm supporter, Henry Grinnell. In 1868, when he 

 fully expected to sail for home, no whaling-vessel came 

 back from the Arctic seas, and he was compelled to linger 

 another year in that region. Late in 1869 he returned, 

 and was received with plaudits not less warm than those 

 which had welcomed Kane, fifteen years before. 



Congress, in a few months, passed a bill making adequate 

 appropriations for a national expedition to the Arctic re- 

 gions, to be placed under the direction of Captain Hall, 

 but of this we shall speak in detail in our next chapter, 

 telling all that is known of the Polaris and her, in some 

 respects, disastrous voyage. 



Captain Hall's letter, or report, to Henry Grinnell, Esq,, 

 dated Kepulse Bay, June 20, 1869, states in detail the in- 

 formation he had gained, and the relics he had secured, 

 of the Franklin expedition. The information it is not ne- 

 cessary to recapitulate here, as it is mainly corroboratory 

 of what Rae and Anderson had already obtained (see 



