Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1870-03-21
LETTER FROM JFASHINGTON.
CAPT. HALL AND HIS EXPLORATIONS.
WASHINGTON. d. C. Mar Is


more cold weather this month thus far
than during either of the three winter
months. Last night about II O'Clock we
had a terrific thunder and hail storm com
bincd.
A few evenings since Capt Hall, of
Arctic fame, lectured in Lincoln Hall by
request of prominent citizens, on his ex-
plorations. past and prospective. He was
presented to the large audience by Vice
President Colfix. who accompanied the
introduction by Il neat speech. Capt. Hall
being n very modest man was evidently
somewhat embarrassed by the presence OF
SO illustrious an assemblage, among whom
were the President Senator Sumner and
many members of Congress. He stated that
| he could not deliver a lecture that he had
written out five lectures since his return
from the Arctic regions, but had not de
livered one but he would talk in a famil-
lar way with the audience. His story was
very entertaining as well Is instructive.
Since 1880 he has made two voyages
of discovering traces of Sir John Frank
Inns party. He went each time rs far
north as he could in whaler and then
took to slcdging to prosecute his journey,
unaccompanied by white men. He early
learned that the secret of living in those
extremely cold regions was to follow the
old maxim. of "Whcn YOU are among
the Romans, do as the Romans do and
accordingly discarded the habits of civil
lied life and became an ESquimauX, eating
and dressing exactly rs they do. He was
satisfied from his discoveries that Sir
John Franklin and his crew had persisted
because they had not adapted themselves
to the country, but had attempted to live
as we do here. and from the descriptions
which the natives gave of the men they
must have been fearfullv afflicted with the
scurvy. Each EsqumauN devoured from
! 10 to II lbs. of raw meat and about , ID
pints of train oil per day. This was
necessary to keep up the animal heat, and
! he had often taken off his mitten when the
| thermometer was over 40 degrees below
zero and made notes in his memorandum
book without experiencing any inconven-
fence. They rarely cooked their food,
/ eating it raw and often frozen. The great
luxury of the Esquimaux was raw whale
skin, and never had he tasted anything so
delicious never had he enjoyed feast
| better than he did those he had with the
natives on strips of whale skin. The skin
Is about 81 of an inch thick, and is cut off
in long narrow strips, with about the same
thickness as blubber The host takes up
strip, puts the end in his mouth and cuts
/ off q mouthful. then passes it to the next
( man. and so around. There is no dish
washing or clearing away the table. When
! they eat leaner kinds of meat. with each
mouthiul they take sip of train oil, and
/ the older and stronger the oil the better il
suits the palate. His object had not been
in his former voyages to reach the North
| Pole but his object in coming to Wash
/ inCtUn was to solicit aid from Congress to
enable him to 60 there during the coming
season. He was confident that with IA
small steamer and picked crew, inyolv-
ing cost OF 100000 he could plant the
I American flag at the Pole. The discovery
| of this mysterious region would, he was
satisfied, be of incalculable benefit not
only to science but to commerce.
Whales are every year growing more and
! more scarce and the whalers are obliged to
penetrate farther and farther north, and he
was satisfied that whales would be fonnd in
vast numbers in the vicinity of the Pole, where
they could live safe from molestation. One
! small bay far to the north, not over POO miles
! in extent, had furnished SIS, 900, 900 worth Of
| oil and bone since 1910. The Captain pre-
scented his interpreters, Joe" and Hannah,
| (their English namcs) and an adopted daugh-
ter Of theirs, about six years old, named Syl-
via, in honor of the daughter of Henry Grin
nell, whose name is so inseparably linked with
| Arctic explorations. They were in complete
Esquimaux dress and attracted much attention
| The Captain purchased Sylvia" from hei
father and mother for a dog sledge, and the
parents thought they had made a very advan-
tageous bargain. Hannah was quite unwell
and Capt. Hall said he found it impossible to
keep them in good health in the temperate
zone, but he had never enjoyed more perfect
health than while living in their country, and
| he had spent over five years there. He learn
! ed about Crozier, the second in command OF
{ the Franklin expedition, in a curious manner.
Upon his arrival at Pelly Bay one of the ma
tives said "Now TINA Aglooka," which means
now where is Aglooka:" He could not un-
| derstand who Aglooka was but some months
after he found an Esquimaux whom they called
"Crozier," and from him learned that his real
name was ''Aglooka," but Crozier had chang
ed names with him. They had travelled to-
gether great deal, and Aglooka supposed
that Crozier had reached home. Poor Ag-
looka and his wife were put to death by theii
own tribe, while Capt. Hall was with them
as sacrifices to the Great Spirit, who must be
Bal knar he