, 1860-12-13

THE

THE L ARCTIC EXPEDITION.
The Sch. oner Rescue and the Expsdl.
0crlanl aud FrobIsilef9a Straits
1niaginary--coal aud Iron Discover
ed, dtc4
Capt Hall, the Commander Of the Arctic
Expedition which bears his name, his written
the following letter to Henry Grinncll, Esq
1t IL without date, bnt the circumstances
which It narrates will indicate the time at
Which It was written with sufficient certainty ;:
On BoAnp DAnK "GEoaGE HESlr,''
kHEw4GuA.x1-o0KE HAnBon.
lat. G. 81 81 North Lea. g. CT Is West.
DzAR SR-I will begin with the 1atest news.
we have Just been visited by one Of the most
| terrific gales that has swept over these coasts
for years. Duddington says that hc las not
| eating these Northern waters. Something Of
an idea can be formed from this fact This
| is the seventh yoyasc to the Arctic regions Of
| the schooner Rescue-of the memorable
"Unitcd States Grinnell Expedition" 1B50-'51,
In search Of Sir John Franklin-tlsis gale Of
which write has proved her utttE destruction.
The wind commenced blowing scle on the
erc Of the 2Gth, increasing finally to perfect
hurricane. abating not until the evening Of the
18th, making 1ull 4s hours that NC were oil
under the expectation Of the complete ship
wreck Of every vessel in tho harbor. The
brig Georgian parted ono Of her anchors, and
shot like an arrow, though dragging another
reef Of rocks at the end Of d small island.
Agaist this same island was the Rescue, already
pounding, she hayiR: dragged her anchor
along With her. The Crew Of the Georgiau2
escaped from their craft by ans Of q spar
running from her larbord side out on the
rocks.
At9 O'Clock, morning Of eth, slight de-
crease Of wind allowed us to drop . boat astern
By means of whale line. In this boat werc
two daring souls. chccnul1y guiding 1t to thu
island, for the object Of bringing the men upon
it aboard the George Henry. 4 landing could
not be etieetcd, but finally the boat tTi1ted un-
der the bowswrit of the wrecked Rescue, from
tiulately aud In truth rescued! There were
some ten natives {EsGululaux) who had been
Landed there from the GcoT;y:3rn-thcy having
visited her just before the commencement oi
the galc.
I regret to add that my expedition boat is
also total wreck, it having been dashed upon
tile same reef Is the Rescue. Though this Ii
ready completed arrangements by which to
prosecute 1t nc1t season; on the opening Of
navigation. My company, so far IS organized,
consists Of Alr. Sttfry and Mr.. Smith, Of New
London, and Kur.jur-sc, an intelligent Esqni-
naux ;:eo:Tanher, and travelling with his nu-
I.an'a (wifc) Tu-nuk-de-licn. To this I only
wish to add one more Esquimaux.
Rest assured, my dear Ms. e., that, God will
ing, will accomplish something before I re-
turn, that shall be for the benefit Of mankind.
! wrote you on the point Of Having Hol-
stcinbosg- head winds, fogs and calms made
it very late before reaching this ''arbor, our
winter quarters. It was 1u-. II when NC ar-
RI. 1.at1 ff,r% ff, - RI
IN my voyage. Yet, as predicted, na. i-aslon
has not been SO free from ice for year, bis
season. Could il have organized q pr .rcom-
pany, should hare pushed On, late as It was.
But the Esquimaux understand we'll their eli
mate, its seasons, their seas! Nothing could
induce them to undertake such journey, so
late in tic scasen, though perfectly willing to
90 with me on the opening OF the waters next
ycar. OF coursc my judgment gaye way to
these men OF experience here North.
Ny observations GTe as frequent as the
weather will permit. 1fmy health is contin-
ucl, am IN hopes to send homc to you a
chart Of the coasts from the west eide OF Nor
cumberland Inlet latitude ofsay, Cape 3fercy)
down to the north coast Of Meta 1ncpsnita, OF
FEobisher.
have uoF announced to you that my dis
coyeries have already been such that am sat-
i=iied FTotis her Strait is myth. Nearly oil
:slases, charts. globes, &c, represent Cumter-
land Strait and Frobisher Strait as both run
ming nearly parallel witt, Hudson Strait-Cunl-
bcrland Strait few degrees north of Frobisl-
er Strait, and Frobisher Strait i few degrees
north Of Hudson Strait. Neither Frobishcr OF
Cumberland StT:i! exist. Am now within thu
sorcailed Cumberland Strait. It's but deep
inlet, running ". n. v. and E. s. SITS head
being Is miles northwc-tcrly Of this larbor,-
its extent southcastcr1y 90 miles. The Admi-
salty charts uf the islands north of the socal1-
cd Froblsher Strait arc very imperfect.
Tuesday, aug. Fl, 1sG0, was day long to be
remembered by me At o'clock on tlle 1T.
tcrnoon OF that day, stood upon the northern
shores OF the so-ealled Frobishcr Strait
Across the clear blue waters before me eaw
Queen Elizabcth's Meta Inro.nita,'' discoy-
cred BY Martin Frobishcr two hundred and
eighty years before. saw its mountains, like
giants holding I'M the sky. sty eyes fell cl,arn-
cd at what w:ls Geforu s-,e. Never did lerl 80 |
spell-bound to ! spot as that wEcreou stood. |
With my spy.glass followed tho northern
coast OF sail unknown land. It's mountains |
bchcld, were unite'l to the main land on which |
| stood. This did not seem possible. But ms |
views made it 50, and ret the distance and the
t1utastic tricks which Nature r:ss rlaylnE (re. /
fraction) might lead the iuto error. Westerly |
and nt'rther1y of the PLACE where stood {dis- !
tance approximate eiyhty-fire miles) the va
tiers before me called Fiot!=hcr's Strait Lad an
end! At least, such was the appearance
Less than one week alter, my opiuion was |
confirmed by six Of the most intelligent Esqui
,Naux Of the North. 1u the most positive ,Ian-
ucr do they statu +hat hut one cilatlncl leads |
into Hudson's Strait. ilJ observations thus
Err show til to be so. The happy opportunity
for me to make thcsc observations presented ]
l1srlf on the day indicated, by Capt. Budding
ton's ordering out the Rescue for 4 trip 10 tie
bay little to the y. W. Of Bear Sound, for the
purpose oflocking out for winter quarters for
the Rescue atsi Il ships crew, that they might
be in readiress for carrying Oh 4 branch ot
Spring whaling there.
The vessel went down one day and returned
he next-or rather VIC did not reach the lar
Dor till the third morning from oyr ltaying it.
- the calm detained us IL hours. made
many valuable acquisitions to my geological |
specimens OIL my Fro6isher Strait trip. The
,ay, by tue by, into which the RcscEe entered, |
5 entered from the North. II is fifteen miles
leep, and runs y. ". anI S. E. true. From
is head to the waters Of Frobisher Bay n 1hr
distance is two miles-this Of course being nj /
On this 1sihmus discovered coal-not a
'ery valuable quantity, but, nevertheless, it
,urns with bright flame, giving forth great
lcat, but leaving 6 large per cent. rcsidunl
laty In character. Here I found various fos-
to me, i new species VI stone.
Sill add that have found ncaF this place ont
II tho best aud most valuable specimens OF
ron ore l ever met with. Its weight is s.
pounds, Of an extraordinary shape, and - per
:cnt Of pure iron. have been much interest
ID in the capture and cutting up Of tho King
If Fishes Scorcsby, you know, is capital
sritcr on tho Arctic Regions, or Northern
Whale Fishery. But have found all import.
mt error that hc has made. Vol !, page 45G,
lc says: The whale las no external ear, nor
all iii oritice for the admission Of sound be
discovered until tue skin is removed" It is
rue that the whale has no external car.
Within q few inches Of the eye Is
n orilicc, leading from the external part Of
he car drum, which is situated abont twelve
nchcs below the j" black skim This oriflce
: Of the size Of Il knitting needle, anil as cx-
'ansiyc as though Of India rubber Health
nd spirits good. Yours, truly.
G. I. HALL.
SOUTHERN CoURTEs1ES.