The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1869-12-11
Interview with DR.. Hall.

The New York World has an account of an
interview with DR.. Hall, the Arctic explorer,
from which we extract the following:
LIFE Up NORTH.
The Captain gave a vivid description of his
experience within the Arctic circle, and ms NE
among the Esquimaux. The largest body OF the
latter he ever saw collected together was only
one hundred and twenty-five. This was at u
little village near Repulse Bay, and was q rather
unusual circumstance. The solitary nature OF
the life led by the explorers may therefore be
imagined. All alone in the frozen waste, with
hardly a living being to be met with living like
moles, in underground houses, with dogs anu
Esquimaux, SO huddled together that the human
could scarcely be distinguished from the brute :
shut out from all intercourse with the outer
world, except the scraps OF news brought at long
intervals by passing whaleships such an exist
ence only varied by occasional expeditions INTO
the interior on sledges drawn by dogs, can hardly
be called endurable, let alone pleasant:
ID YOU eat raw meat, Captain?"
"Oh, yes, most of the time. We sometimes
had it cooked, but usually liked it better raw.
You have no idea how good it is in that way.
In fact, for that country, raw meat Is almost IN
dispensable, though 1 think it would hardly DO
in this climate" H..
Is it true that the E~squimaux like it best
when 1t is tainted?"
eyes, and the more so the better. When
meat has just been killed and is fresh, it is not
near as good, but, when it has got to smell quite
bad, and especially after it has been frozen, then
it tastes a great deal better"
.sHow do you find the change to this country
affects your"
"Oh, very much Pm all upset and can't
do anything steadily. The food is so different,
and there is So much noise everywhere, and L feel
the change in the air greatly. 1t is very close
and hot here. Why, when 1 first got on ship
board to come home, after being so much in the
open air. l could hardly sleep at night, and L find
it hard to do SO now"
HIS DISCOVERIES.
what do you think caused the loss OF Sir
John Franklin's company?"
"Treachery, sir they were deserted by the
natives, and left without fresh provisions or means
of getting them. But for this, some of them
might have been saved"
"What is the result of your researches IN
relation to Franklin"
ssBriefy this: We have settled beyond a
doubt that Franklin actually discovered the
Northwestern Passage. On his previous voyages
he had sailed eastward as far as Cape Herschel,
and now we have shown that he reached the same
point going westward, and thus completed the
chain of communication. To him, therefore.
belongs the honor Of having made the discovery,
though Captain Mcclure has received the reward
offered by the British Government to the person
who should succeed in the effort"
Are you satisfied with this result?"
"Well, yes; considering how much we did, it
is useless to think of how much more might have
been accomplished. If the Esquimaux who went
with me had not been so timid, or if [ had had a
body of resolute white men to back me, L think L
might have gone on. We were lucky enough to
meet with and capture a herd of seventy-nine
musk oxen and seventeen reindeer, which would
have been sufficient provision for a month, and
would have allowed us to explore much further,
but the Esquimaux were afraid of some hostile
tribes of natives in the vicinity, and absolutely
refused to 60 On"
why cannot steam be used for Arctic explo-
ration ?"
at can. There are large supplies of coal on
the west side of Greenland, and | think that with
steam the entire Northwest Passage might be
made in n single season.