HALL, Charles Francis, American Arctic explorer: b. Rochester, N. H., in 1821; d. Thank God Harbor, Greenland, 8 Nov. 1871. Becoming interested in the fate of the Franklin expedition, he devoted his leisure to gathering information about Arctic America, and made two search expeditions, in 1860-62 and 1864-69, living alone among the Eskimo, and bringing back relics of the Franklin expedition and the supposed bones of one of Franklin's company. Natives whom he encountered.in 1869 near the southern shore of King William Land gave him a report of the fate of 79 of the 105 who perished by starvation in that region. He thus contributed much to the details of the ex pedition's final history. In 1871 he sailed in command of the government ship Polaris, on an expedition to the North Pole. On 29 August he reached 82° 11' N., at that date the highest north latitude ever reached. Then turning south he went into winter quarters at Thank God Harbor, Greenland (81° 38' )I.). Here he was taken suddenly ill and died. Over his grave a grateful epitaph was placed by the British polar expedition in 1876. His compan
ions left Thank God Harbor in
1872, but in October, through the ice-anchor slipping, 19 men were left with stores on a floe, and only after five months of severe suffering were they rescued by a sealer off the Labrador coast in the following April. The Polaris drifted to the coast of Greenland, at a point not far south of Smith Sound, and thence in the spring the party set out in boats and was rescued by the Scotch whaler Ravenscraig, off Cape York. Among the valuable results of Hall's work were the exploration of Kennedy Channel, the discovery of Robeson Channel and Hall Basin, and the extension of Greenland and Grinnell Land PA* N. Hall was less a scientist than a fearless and resourceful explorer. He published