Two years later he sailed in the barque _Monticello_ on his second expedition. On this occasion he made for Repulse Bay, where he proposed getting into touch with the natives and acquiring from them all the information that they possessed about Franklin’s party and ships. Unfortunately, it appears that the natives knew how dear his mission was to him, and, not wishing to disappoint him, employed their imagination to fill in the gaps in their actual knowledge. As was only inevitable, Hall ultimately discovered that the circumstantial tales with which they regaled him were largely flights of fancy, and, completely disillusioned, he made his way home again to America. During his sojourn with the Eskimos, however, he had acquired a real taste for Arctic exploration, and he at once decided that, as there seemed to be nothing further to be learned about the _Erebus_ and _Terror_, he had better direct his attention towards the North Pole. He was a man of unbounded enterprise, and he soon found friends who were ready to help him to launch his new project. Chief among these was Mr Robeson, Secretary of the American Navy Department, through whose offices Congress voted him $50,000 towards his expenses. A wooden river gunboat of 387 tons, originally called the _Periwinkle_ but rechristened the _Polaris_ was placed at his disposal, and in this he set sail from New London on July 3, 1871. Truth to tell, the expedition was never really marked out for success, as is pointed out by Sir A. H. Markham in the following passage: “He (Hall) had no advantages of education, and was unacquainted with nautical astronomy. He was thus in no sense a seaman, but rather an enthusiastic leader depending on others to navigate his vessel and to render his discoveries useful. He possessed, however, one great advantage. His two previous expeditions had thoroughly acclimatised him, and given him a complete knowledge of Eskimo life. The men who accompanied him were also badly chosen. Buddington was an old whaling captain, without any interest in the undertaking; and Tyson (the assistant navigator) was a man of the same stamp. Chester, the mate, was a good seaman and excellent harpooner, but one who had merely shipped from the inducement of high pay. Dr Bessels, a former student of Heidelberg, who had served in one of the German Arctic expeditions and in the Prussian army during the invasion of France, was the only man of scientific attainments in the ship, and the only man, besides Hall, who felt any enthusiasm for the objects of the voyage. Altogether it was an ill-assorted company, without zeal for discovery, without discipline or control, and in which every man considered himself as good as his neighbour.”