AWAED TO CAPT. FBAJ^CIS HALL. 53 



made various inquiries respecting vessels that had disap- 

 peared in an unknown way ; and by comparing these results 

 with the information which was afforded by the written 

 documents in his possession, he ascertained the name and 

 history of the imprisoned ship and of her unfortunate mas- 

 ter, and found that she had been frozen in thirteen years 

 previous to the time of his discovering her imprisoned in 

 the ice." 



One of the most successful Polar expeditions was that of 

 the late Capt. Francis Hall, ship Polaris. 



The Geographical Society of Paris voted, at its session, 

 April 21, 1875, the biennial prize, a gold medal, devoted to 

 Arctic explorations, to Capt. Hall. In giving a brief 

 account of his explorations, we shall quote a few extracts 

 from the report of the Geographical Society, both as a de- 

 served tribute to the memory of Capt. Hall, and as helping 

 to furnish the reader with a description of the voyages 

 undertaken by him. 



" The Prize Commission has before it several enterprises, 

 which have had for their object either Smith's Sound, East- 

 ern Greenland, Spitzbergen, or Nova Zembla. All of these de- 

 serve our tribute of praise ; but especially that of ih.Q Polaris, 

 the ship in which the American Francis Hall, passed be- 

 yond Smith's Sound and Kennedy's Channel, as far as 82^ 

 16^'' — that is to say, the nearest to the pole that any vessel 

 has reached under sail — has particularly commended the 

 unanimous vote of the Commission." 



Capt. Hall was a veteran in arctic explorations. In 1850 

 he was seized with the desire to take part in the expedition 

 sent out in search for Franklin. Laying aside his grav- 

 ing-tools, he devoted all his leisure hours to the study of 

 the polar regions of America. He designed taking part in 

 the McClintock expedition, failing in which, ho resolved to 

 organize a new expedition. He succeeded in interesting 

 in his enterprise, Mr. Henry Grinnell and other distin- 



