he navigational
experience and skills Christopher Hall had acquired in service
to the Muscovy Company made him
a major asset to the Frobisher expeditions.
Hall was assigned a major role in each of Frobisher's three voyages
to Meta Incognita. In 1576, he was master of the Gabriel; in
1577, master of the Aid; and in 1578, pilot of the Thomas
Allen. Placing Hall on the Thomas Allen - whose crew had
not previously journeyed to Meta Incognita - ensured that the two
largest ships in the fleet (it and the Aid) had the
best, most experienced navigators. This was a sound strategy should
the fleet be separated en route.
As proof of the confidence others placed in Hall, he was asked on
many occasions - especially the 1578 voyage - to pilot other ships
of the fleet through difficult passages. His ships' logs for both
the first voyage (known only through a summarized account)
and third voyage, which are viewed as both historically and
technically accurate, provide further evidence of his superior
abilities.
The headstrong risk-taker Frobisher and the cautious but diligent
Hall, however, did not always see eye-to-eye. Frobisher probably
resented the fact that Hall's judgements were usually sounder, and
that Lok had at one point tried to subordinate Frobisher to the
counsel of Hall and others. When faced with contrary opinions,
Frobisher tended to become bad-tempered and his arguments with
Hall occasionally led him to violence. Hall, a professional,
probably had little respect for Frobisher and later joined others
in accusing him of embezzling funds intended to provision the
expeditions.
After he was free of Frobisher, Hall went back to work on Muscovy
Company ships, as well as sailing with Edward
Fenton to Africa and South America. The failure of that voyage,
compounded upon the failure in 1578, however, drove him to alcoholism.
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