520 ARCTIC VOYAGES. Chap. XIV. 



" Do you consider that the closing up of Prince Regent's 

 Inlet narrows the range within which a north-west passage 

 may be found within a short compass ? 



" It only narrows it by one of the openings. 



" Does it narrow the opening to something above 74 de- 

 grees north latitude ? 



" There are several openings from the end of Lancaster 

 Sound. Prince Regent's Inlet was one of them : by closing 

 that, he has removed one of the probable means of getting to 

 the westward ; but there are three still open. 



" Will you specify their names ? 



" One is going out by the Wellington Channel to the 

 north-west ; another proceeding by Melville Island ; and 

 the third would be by getting to the south-west after passing 

 the Cape, which Captain Ross supposes [asserts] to be the 

 northern extreme of America, towards the shore laid down 

 by Franklin and Richardson. 



" Do you consider that the closing of the most southerly 

 outlet closes that supposed to be most likely to be practi- 

 cable ? 



"No; for that is not the route I should have taken if 

 employed on that service." 



Nothing further needs be said on Captain Ross's 

 opinions regarding a north-west passage; but as 

 Commander James Ross is the officer who did all 

 that was done, or could be done, and appears not 

 to have been treated on this Committee as he ought 

 to have been, it may be proper to state, briefly, an 

 outline of what he did on this voyage, in addition 

 to what has been said of him at the conclusion of 

 Parry's * Polar Voyage.' 



The first year after reaching Felix Harbour, Com- 



