Narrative of the North Polar Expedition
U.S. Ship Polaris, Captain Charles Francis Hall Commanding

The account, first published in 1876, of a dramatic and ill-fated American expedition to the North Pole.

Charles Henry Davis (Edited by)

9781108050159, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 June 2012

780 pages, 58 b/w illus. 1 colour illus. 6 maps
25.4 x 17.8 x 3.9 cm, 1.33 kg

Charles Hall (1821–71) was neither seaman nor navigator, but by 1871 he had made two Arctic expeditions as a result of his fascination with the failed expedition of Franklin. With a grant from Congress, his Polaris voyage aimed to be the first US expedition to the North Pole. Desertion, drunkenness, and disagreements beset the venture from the start, and by the time Hall reached the furthest northern point yet attained by an Arctic explorer, crew discipline had broken down completely. Using official papers and crew journals, this 1876 work by C. H. Davis for the US Navy recounts Hall's sudden death (after accusing his crew of poisoning him), the failed attempt to reach the Pole, and the abandonment of half the crew left drifting for 2500 kilometres on an ice floe. With the mystery of Hall's death and the story of the crew's survival, this is an epic tale of human endurance.

Introduction
1. Captain Hall's arrival in Washington
2. Voyage from New London to St John's
3. Sailing directions on leaving Tessi-Ussak
4. Drifting to the south
5. Providence Berg
6. Hall's instructions to Budington
7. Captain Hall's sickness, death, and burial
8. Hall's first interest in Arctic exploration
9. Employment of the crew
10. Command devolves on Captain Budington
11. A busy crew
12. Blasting ice about the vessel
13. A meteor
14. Winds during March
15. Selection of the boats' crews
16. Attempts to stop the leak
17. Odell's monument
18. The Polaris afloat
19. Increase of twilight
20. Leaving Life-boat Cove
21. The ice-floe party
22. The party abandon the floe
23. The cruises of the United States steamers
24. Examination of the ice-floe
25. Report of the Prize Commission
Appendix
Index.

Subject Areas: Historical geography [HBTP]