CHARLES FRANCIS HALL AND THE INNUITS. 



467 



of the Esquimaux. I now return to their country able to speak with them, to 

 live among them, to support my life in the same manner that they do theirs ; to 

 migrate with them from place to place, and to traverse and patiently explore all 

 the region in Avhich it is reasonable to suppose Franklin's crew travelled aiid 

 perished. I shall be accompanied by the two intelligent Esquimaux, Ebierbing 

 and Tookoolito, who, having accompanied me on my return from my first expe- 

 dition, and after remaining with me for two years, now go back with me on this 

 second voyage. I enter upon this undertaking Avith the liveliest hope of suc- 

 cess. I shall not, like previous explorers, set my foot on shore for a few days 

 or weeks, or, like others, journey among men whose language to me is unintel- 

 ligible. I shall live for two or three years among the Esquimaux, and gain their 

 confidence ; and I have the advantage of understanding their language, and of 

 making all my wishes known to them." 



It is now (September, 18G9) more than five years since Hall set out on this 

 second expedition. Up to 1867 he wrote, as occasional opportunity offered, 

 to his fast friend and Avarm supporter, Henry Grinnell ; but his letters gave 

 only faint indications of what he had been able to accomplish. In 1868, when 

 lie had hoped to return, no whaling-vessels came back to the States from the 

 Arctic seas. A trace or two of him has been reported by English vessels, suf- 

 ficient, however, to afford reason to believe that he still lives. An American 

 whaler expected to pass the winter of 1868-9 in the region where Hall, if liv- 

 ing would probably be, and it is hoped that in October of this year, 1869, before 

 these pages will be before the reader, this vessel, bearing the brave explorer, 

 will have reached the American shores. 



FAKJi U i-l^L ui lllL l.S>.Ul'rS. 



