Upon his return to New London (September 13, 1862), Hall immediately endeavoured, through lectures and personal appeals, to equip another expedition to the Arctic. The unsettled state of the nation, plunged into the horrors of a great civil war, made his efforts practically futile; undaunted by the discouraging response, he nevertheless sailed July 1, 1864, and in August was landed, with his meagre equipment, boat and provisions, on Depot Island, Hudson Bay, 64° N., 90° W. Adopting the habits and life of the Eskimos, Hall spent five years in pursuing his researches, receiving occasionally supplies from whalers. The first year was spent in unsuccessful efforts to secure Eskimo aid. The winter of 1865-1866, Hall had his headquarters at Fort Hope, Repulse Bay, and in the spring reached Cape Weyton, 68° N., 89° W. The Eskimos refused to accompany him farther, but he had the good fortune to meet with natives who had visited the deserted ships, and had seen Franklin. Hall secured from these Eskimos considerable silver bearing the crest of Franklin and other officers. [Illustration: CAPTAIN HALL AND ESKIMOS] In February, 1867, Hall visited Igloolik, the winter quarters of Parry in 1822. He improved the next year by following up the west side of Melville Peninsula, completing and surveying the short gap between Rae’s farthest, 1846, and Parry’s farthest in Fury Strait, 1825. The winter of 1868-1869 was spent at Fort Hope, where he at last succeeded in securing Eskimo aid for the final attempt to reach King William Land. He started in March, 1869, in company with ten Eskimos and dog sledges. Crossing Rae Peninsula to Committee Bay and _via_ Boothia Isthmus, the party reached James Ross Strait, distant some sixty miles from King William Land. Here he had difficulty in persuading the natives to continue, but at Simpson Island the success of a musk-ox hunt restored their good humour, and they consented to proceed. On the 12th of May, 1869, Hall reached the mainland; his stay was necessarily very brief, as his native companions could not be persuaded to linger in such a desolate country. [Sidenote: _RELICS OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN_] Upon his return to Repulse Bay, Captain Hall, in a letter to Mr. Henry Grinnell, dated June 20, 1869, writes in part:—