THE LAST EXPEDITION OF CHARLES FRANCIS HALL. 777 



CHAPTER XLV. 



THE FATE OF THE POLARIS. 



The Search for the Polaris.— The First Tidings.— Second Tidings of the Safety of the Crew. 

 — The Search for the Tigress. — At Northumberland Island. — At Littleton Island. — Greet- 

 ing by the Esquimaux. — Last of the Polaris. — The Abandoned Hut. — Close of the Search. 

 — The Escape of the Crew of the Polaris. — The Separation in the Ice. — Beaching the 

 Vessel. — Preparations for the Winter. — Forebodings for the Future. — Chester, the Right 

 Man for the Emergency. — Building the Boats. — The Scurvy. — Getting off. — Skirting the 

 Ice. — At Hakluyt Island. — Fighting a Whale. — The Rescue. — Arrival at Dundee. — Recep- 

 tion of the News. — Results of the Expedition. — Finis. 



IN the preceding chapter has been narrated the voyage of the Polaris to the most- 

 extreme northern point ever as yet reached by civilized man, together with the 

 untimely death of Charles Francis Hall, her noble commander, and the wonderful 

 adventures of that portion of her crew who, on the 15th of October, 1872, became 

 separated from the vessels. Mention has also been made of the two vessels, the large 

 Juniata and the small Tigress, which were sent by the government of the United 

 States to ascertain the fate of the Polaris, and, if possible, to rescue the remainder of 

 her crew. This chapter will narrate the results of these efforts, and bring to a close 

 the story of this remarkable exploring expedition. 



After the departure of the Tigress from Now York, in July, 1873, weeks passed 

 before any tidings came back from the Arctic regions, whither she had gone. But, 

 on the 10th of September, the telegraph brought from St. Johns, Newfoundland, a 

 brief dispatch to the effect, that the place where the people of the Polaris had passed 

 the preceding winter had been found ; that the vessel, herself, had been lost ; but 

 that the crew had, a few weeks before, set off southward in boats, which they had con- 

 structed, and that, in all likelihood, they had been picked up by some whaling vessel 

 which would convey them either to Labrador or Europe. 



A week later came another telegram announcing that the Polaris party had all 

 arrived safely in Dundee, Scotland, whither they had been brought by a whaling 

 vessel. 



The story of the search is best told by Commander Green, of the Tigress ; what, in 

 the meantime, happened to the people of the Polaris, must be learned from their own 

 narratives. 



The Tigress reached the Arctic seas in safety, and on the 11th of August, 1873, 



steamed northward from Upernavik, heading for Tessuisak, which Hall, two years 



before, had styled the most northern known civilized settlement on the globe. At 



Tessuisak, not a word had been heard from the Polaris since she had so hopefully de- 

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