[Tipped in:] Autograph letter signed ("Basil Hall") to Capt. Francis Beaufort, 15 September 1836. DISCUSSING CAPTAIN CHARLES WILKES QUALIFICATIONS. In 1836, The US Congress authorized the formation of a US Navy Exploration Squadron with Charles Wilkes in command. It was an interdisciplinary scientific expedition for exploring and surveying the Southern Ocean between 1838-1842, known as the United States Exploring Expedition. Around the same time, Beaufort helped to obtain funding for the Antarctic voyage of 1839-1843 led by James Clark Ross. Perhaps Beaufort's inquiry to Hall sheds new light into whether he was considering Wilkes for this expedition.