590 RESULTS OF THE EXPEDITION. 



cold grave, floats above him the beautiful flag he loved so 

 well in life. 



Aud now, in the soil of the cold, cheerless land to the 

 exploring of which he had devoted his best years, repose 

 the mortal part of one of the most intrepid, most persever- 

 ing of the many great men whose names are recorded in 

 the annals of fame, and his native land, which honored 

 him living, in the midst of its grief at his early death, can- 

 not but feel a justifiable pride in pointing to his record as 

 that of one of her noblest sons. 



Ere we follow the Polaris in her subsequent career, let 

 us pause to note what the brave, dauntless, persevering 

 Hall had done for his country's honor, and what he had 

 contributed to the stores of the world's knowledge of those 

 regions that have for so many years claimed the absorbing 

 interest of all civilized lands. In doing this, we shall repeat 

 some facts before recorded in these pages ; but a recapitula- 

 tion will serve to present in a single picture the triumphs 

 of this great man, and will enable us to realize that, though 

 cut off by an inscrutable Providence ere he had reached 

 the goal himself had set, he yet did not live in vain. 



How nearly he had attained his purpose, how closely he 

 approached to unfolding the secrets of the Polar Sea, and 

 Laud, we can easily estimate, even from the imperfect data 

 accessible. 



The geographical results of the expedition may be sum- 

 med up briefly as follows : The open Polar Sea laid down 

 by Kane and Hayes is found to be in reality a sound, 

 which Captain Hall named Polaris Bay. This sound is 

 of considerable extent, formed by the somewhat abrupt 

 expansion of Kennedy Channel to the northward, and 

 broken by Lady Franklin Bay on the west, and on the 

 east by a large inlet, twenty miles wide at the opening, 

 and certainly extending far inland. Its length was not 

 ascertained, and Mr. Meyer thinks it may be in fact a 

 strait extending till it communicates with the Francis 



