218 
NATURE 
[Fuly 17, 1873 
5 H 5 ae | 
only the narrative furnished in this Report, to render their 
arguments invincible. 
The Folaris, an ordinary wooden vessel, lefe New | 
London, Connecticut, on July 3, 1871, well furnished with | 
provisions, but othe:wise ill fitted for an Arctic expe- | 
dition, under the command of Captain Hall, an en- 
thusiastic explorer, who firmly believed he was “born to 
discover the pole,” but apparently deficient in the firmness | 
and decision necessary to manage a crew amid the trials of 
an Arctic winter ; the officers and crew, moreover, seem 
to have been collected at haphazard, and were by no, 
means well assorted. The sccond in command, Captain 
Buddington, who has now the command of the Polaris, 
ought never to have been tal-en on such an exp: dition, | 
and, even though tke most lenient construction be put | 
upon his conduct, is deserving of the severest reprehen - 
sion. After a delay of a week at St. John’s, Newfound- 
land, the Po/aris sailed for the West Coast of Gre enland, 
and after calling at several places on that coast, arrived 
at Disco, which she left on August 17. After calling at 
the settlements of Upernavik and Tessiusak, the latter in 
73° 24’ north lat., the Polaris commenced her exploring 
work in earnest, leaving Tessiusak on the 24th August. 
Hitherto there had been no difficulty whatever in navi- 
gation, nor was the vessel destined to meet with any ob- 
Struction until passing through Smith’s Sound and Ken- 
nedy Channel, she reached 82° 16’ N. lat., a point far 
beyond the limits of previous navigation. This she did 
on August 30, within a week after leaving Tessiusak. 
After making unsuccessful efforts to find a way through 
the ice, Captain Hall resolved to return’ and take up 
winter quarters, which he did.on September 3, in a 
small sheltered cove or bend of the coast in what 
he called Polaris Bay, the “ Open Polar Sea” of Kine, 
where the ship was protected by a stranded iceberg— 
Providence Berg. This was in 81° 38 N. lat., 61° 44’ 
W. long. Had the vessel been specially built for Arctic 
exploration, it appears to us that Captain Hall by good 
management could have pushed even farther north before 
requiring to return to winter-quarters : as it is this is one 
of the most wonderful and successful Arctic cruises on 
record, considering the distance accomplished in less 
than a week so far within the ice-bound region. It affords 
the strongest ground for hope that with a vessel specially 
fitted for ice-navigation, a skilful captain may ere long 
complete the 8° that remain to be traversed before the 
North Pole be brought within the sphere of the known. 
From Polaris Bay on October 10 Captain. Hall left the 
Polaris, accompanied by Mr. Chester, first mate, and Hans 
the Esquimaux with two sledges and fourteen.dogs. In the 
progress of the journey he discovered, as appears by his 
despatch, a river, a lake, and a large inlet. The latter, 
in latitude 81° 57’ north, he named “ Newman’s Bay,” 
calling its northern point “Cape Brevoort,’” and the 
southern one “Sumner Headland.” 
Captain Hall, it appears, had hoped, when he left the 
_ Polaris on this journey, to advance northward at least a 
hundred miles ; but after having gone about fifty he was 
compelled, by the condition of the shore and of the ice, 
and by the state of the climate, to return and await the 
approach of spring for another attempt. He reached the 
ship on October 24, apparently in his usyal fine health, 
but was attacked the same day with sickness, and, taking 
_ to his bed, the next day was found to be seriously ill, 
| After rallying once or twice he died on November 8, and 
was buried on the shore. The commissioners who ex- 
amined the crew reach the unanimous conclusion that the 
death of Captain Hall resulted naturally from disease, 
_ without fault on the part of “anyone. After this sad 
event, the command of the expedition devolved upon 
Capta’n Buddington, who expressly declared, according 
to the evidence, that he had no inclination and no in- 
tention to pursue discovery further ; he determined to 
make his way south to the United States as soon as the 
ice would permit... During the winter little was done, and 
on August 12, 1872, the Polaris began to move south- 
wards. On the 16th of August the ship was made fast toa 
| large floe of ice in the latitude of 80° 2’ north, and longi- 
' 
| tude about 68° west, and while still fast to this floe drifted 
south through Smith’s Sound nearly to. Northumberland 
Island. On the night of the 15th of October, 1872, in 
about latitude 79° 35’ north, during a violent gale of wind 
and snow, the ship was suddenly beset by a tremendous 
Pressure of ice, which was driven against her from the 
southward and forced under her, pressing her up out of 
the water, and by successive and violent shocks finally 
throwing her over on her beam-ends. In the words of 
the Report, — 
Captain Buddington directed the provisions, stores, and 
' materials which had been put in readiness on deck, to be 
thrown over on the ice, and ordered half the crew upon the 
ice to carry them upon a thicker part to the | um- 
mocks, where they would be comparatively sie. He 
also sent all the Esquimaux, with their kyaks, out of the 
ship, and lowered the two remaining boats upon the floe. 
While so engaged, in the darkness of an Arctic night, in 
the midst of a fierce gale and driving snow-storm, the 
hawscrs of the Po/aris failed to hold her, and she broke 
adrift from the floe, and in a few minutes was out of sight 
of the party who were at that moment busily at work on 
the ice. 
From October 15, 1872, until April 20, 1873, when 
they were picked up in latitude about 59° north, these 
nineteen men, women, and children remained through the 
whole of the dark and dreary winter upon the ice. In 
their first endeavours to reach the land, they occupied for 
a time different pieces of floating ice, but, forced finally 
to abandon all hope in this direction, they rested at last 
upon the floe upon which the Polaris had made fast. 
At the time of their separation from the Polaris ev 
one belonging to the expedition was in good health. She 
had plenty of provisions, but not much coal—probably 
about enough to last through the winter. She was last 
seen, 2pparently at anchor, under Northumberland Island, 
where it is most likely she remained for winter-quarters, 
Mr. Robeson has already given preparatory orders to 
the United States steamer Juniata, now at New York, to 
proceed, at the earliest practicable moment, to Disco, and 
if possible to Upernavik, for the purpose of carrying for- 
ward the necessary coal and supplies, communicating 
with the authorities of Greenland, obtaining information, 
and, if practicable, sending forward some word of en- 
couragement to those on board the Polaris. This last 
will most likely be impossible, but an attempt will be 
made. 
It is also proposed to fit out at once an expedition of 
relief, to be sent to Northumberland Island, where the 
Polaris was last seen, in the Tigress, about 200 tons 
