BOSS'S FIVE YEARS' VOYAGE. 301 



CHAPTEE III. 



THE "VICTOEY" frozen IN — ESKIMO VISITORS — ^A HOSTILE RECEPTION — MUSK- 

 OX HUNT THE SECOND WINTER IN THE ICE — NORTH MAGNETIC POLE 



DISCOVERED THE THIRD WINTER IN THE ICE — ROSS ABANDONS THE 



"victory" — THE RETREAT TO FURY BEACH. 



For several days Captain Eoss indulged a faint hope that he might yet be 

 able to force his way through the ice and proceed still farther south ; but on 

 the 8th October it had become evident to himself and his officers that they 

 were now in what was destined to be their home for the winter. On the 

 day named a survey was made, but not a pint of clear water was to be seen 

 anywhere—nothing but one dazzling and monotonous, dull and wearisome, 

 extent of snow was visible all round the horizon. " It was indeed," exclaims 

 Ross, " a dull prospect. Amid all its brilliancy this land, the land of ice 

 and snow, has ever been, and ever will be, a dull, dreary, heart-sinking, 

 monotonous waste, under the influence of which the very mind is paralysed, 

 ceasing to care or think, ... for it is but the view of uniformity and 

 silence and death." As it appeared to the gallant captain, the picture was 

 no doubt dreary enough. But it applies only to that reach of Regent's 

 Inlet in which he now found himself ; for other explorers, in other tracts of 

 these regions, and pursuing the work of exploration perhaps with a keener 

 instinct and larger capacity, and certainly with more efficient means and 

 facilities for carrying on the work, have found the sternest Arctic winter not 

 without its pleasures, its useful occupations, and its fascinations of adventure. 

 Meantime the arrangements for rendering the " Victory " a comfortable 

 dwelling-place were immediately commenced. On the 10th October nothing 

 remained standing on the vessel but the lower masts with their rigging. 

 The fuel was then measured and found to amount to 700 bushels of coal 

 and coke^enough to supply fuel for as many days. The provisions were 

 also examined, and the quantity was found sufficient for three years. There 

 was only one year's allowance of spirits on board ; but this was rather 

 a matter for congratulation than otherwise, as their use, in any but the 

 smallest quantities, and on other than occasions of emergency, is invariably 



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