322 EXPEDITIONS OF PARRY AND ROSS— 1827-33. 



Windsor, to place before the king an account of his voyage, and to lay at 

 his feet the British flag that had been hoisted on the Magnetic Pole. " I 

 had the honour," writes Eoss, " of being most graciously received by his 

 Majesty, who had always taken a deep interest in my enterprise, and who 

 immediately granted me permission to inscribe his illustrious name and that 

 of her Majesty the Queen, on my chart of the Magnetic Pole ; and com- 

 manded me to place around it the names of the Eoyal Family and the reign- 

 ing crowned heads of Europe." More valuable testimony, however, to the 

 results of the voyage was supplied by the report of the Parliamentary Com- 

 mittee appointed to inquire into the merits and extent of Eoss's discoveries. 

 In this report the committee state that " they see no reason to doubt that 

 Captain Eoss nearly approached, and that Commander Eoss actually 

 reached, the Magnetic Pole ; " and that " they can have no hesitation in 

 reporting that a great public service has been performed." Besides proving 

 that there was no sea-way leading west from the extreme south of Eegent 

 Inlet, and thus narrowing the field for future explorers, Eoss discovered from 

 six to seven hundred miles of coast-line, and performed important services 

 in the advancement of magnetic science and meteorology. 



Although the voyage of the " Victory " was the enterprise of one or more 

 private individuals, the Lords of the Admiralty generously placed in Captain 

 Eoss's hands the sum of £4580 to pay to his junior officers and men the long 

 arrears which, during this five years' voyage, were due to them. Neither 

 Eoss himself nor his nephew received, nor indeed could they expect, reward 

 for their voluntary services. In 1834, however. Commander Eoss was pro- 

 moted to the rank of post-captain, and the honour of knighthood was con- 

 ferred on Captain Eoss. And thus ends the brief narrative of one of the 

 longest, if not one of the most important, of Arctic voyages. 



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