BOSS ABANDONS THE " VICTORY." 311 



his sovereignty in Victoria Harbour, and to make an example of the white in- 

 truders who had invaded his domains. One thing was now evident, that if 

 the " Victory " could not be got out of the ice the men must— or one common 

 doom would speedily overwhelm officer and man, and the whole victorious 

 expedition would come to the somewhat unvictorious termination of the 

 stronger members of the crew digging the graves of their comrades, without 

 any reasonable hope that anybody would be left to perform the same ser- 

 vice for themselves. The prospect was not cheering,- and the only alterna- 

 tive, that of abandoning the ship and travelling north along the coast to some 

 spot where open water was accessible in summer, was not an exhilarating 

 one. But scurvy was hovering over the seemingly doomed vessel like a 

 vulture, and if the men were to be saved from the threatening danger they 

 must be kept occupied, however hopeless and cheerless the occupation. 

 Accordingly, early in the spring of 1832 preparations were actively com- 

 menced for abandoning the " Victory." The boats had to be repaired, and 

 sledges made for transporting them, together with the stores and other bag- 

 gage. Sleeping bags of skins had also to be made, clothes repaired, etc. ; 

 and, busily engaged in these employments, the men had little time for that 

 despondent habit of mind which so predisposes men to attacks of scurvy. 



In the spring of the year the weather was intensely severe. On the 7th 

 April the thermometer rose on a sudden to 7", but it had not risen above 

 zero for 136 days. " I do not beheve," says Eoss, "there is another record 

 of such a continuous low temperature ; and it was a state of things most 

 certainly to confirm us in our resolution of leaving the ship to her helpless 

 fate, and attempting to save ourselves in the best manner that we could." 

 In April the work, laborious almost beyond conception, of carrying forward 

 the boats, sledges, etc., was begun. On April 23d, a party of fourteen set 

 out at nine, marched four miles to where one boat had been deposited and 

 dragged her on two miles farther to where a second boat, with a store of pro- 

 visions, had already been placed. From this point the northward journey 

 was continued over the rough ice with great difficulty— the men, divided 

 into two parties, each dragging a sledge laden with a boat and a quantity of 

 provisions. But the work was altogether beyond the men's powers, and a 

 different arrangement was decided upon. The whole party were to drag on 

 one sledge, then return and bring up the other. The nature of the work 

 may be conceived from the fact that, after five hours' labour, an advance of 

 only five miles had been made. " It then began to blow so hard, with drift- 

 ing snow," says Eoss, " that we were obliged to halt and build snow huts. 

 These we covered with canvas, and by means of the deerskin beds, and our 

 cooking apparatus, the whole party of fourteen was well accommodated, 

 though the temperature of our house at night was but minus 15°, while it 

 was as low as 30° (below zero) outside." 



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