54 PREPARATIONS FOR BIS POLAR EXPEDITION. 



guished philanthropists ; be left New London, Conn., in 1860, 

 in the whale ship George Henry. The loss of his own boat 

 prevented him from completing his expedition; but he sat- 

 isfied himself, among otiier geographical determinations, 

 that what on previou.s charts had been marked as Fro- 

 bisher's straits is a long open bay, without any communi- 

 cation with the bay of Hudson. 



On his return here, in 1862, he published the results of 

 his researches, in a work entitled, " Life with the Esqui- 

 maux." In 1864, he returned to the Polar regions with his 

 faithful companions, Joe and Hannah. The five succeeding 

 years he spenir in these regions in explorations. Sharing 

 the daily life of this rude people, lie made himself thoroughly 

 acquainted with their language, customs and traditions, 

 and thus Avas prepared on his return to this country, in 

 1869, for his great expedition to the Pole — the final object cf 

 all his eflbrts. 



He busied himself very promptly in organizing it, ap- 

 pealing to Congress for assistance, and while awaiting its 

 action, sustained himself and his dusky friends, by lectures 

 upon his preceding voyages. He met with many hind- 

 rances, but finally obtained the use of a tug of 400 tons, 

 Avhich he admirably fitted up for its rough navigation in 

 the ice, significantly naming her the Polaris. 



The following is an extract quoted from a letter written 

 by Capt. Hall, in 1869: '* There is a great sad blot upon the 

 present age, which ought to be Aviped out, and this is the 

 blank on our maps from about the parallel of 80° North 

 up to the North Pole. I, for one, hang mv head in shame, 

 when I think how many thousands of years ago it was that 

 God gave to man this beautiful world — the whole of it — to 

 subdue ; and yet that part of it which must be most interest- 

 ing and glorious, at least to me, remains as unknown to us as 

 though it had never been created. Neither glory nor money 



