SIR JOHN ROSS. 153 
other sail was reported ahead, a top-sail schooner, tow- 
ing after her what appeared to he a launch, decked 
over. 
" When I reached the deck, we were nearly up to 
her, for we had shaken out our reefs, and were driving 
hefore the wind, shipping seas at every roll. The lit- 
tle schooner was under a single close-reefed top-sail, and 
seemed fluttering over the waves like a crippled bird. 
Presently an old fellow, with a cloak tossed over his 
night gear, appeared in the lee gangway, and saluted 
with a voice that rose ahove the winds. 
"It was the Felix, commanded by that practical 
Arctic veteran. Sir John Ross. I shall never forget the 
heartiness with which the hailing officer sang out, in 
the midst of our dialogue, 'You and I are ahead of them 
all.' It was so indeed. Austin, with two vessels, was 
at Pond's Bay ; Penny was somewhere in the gale ; 
and others of Austin's squadron were exploring the 
north side of the Sound. The Felix and the Advance 
were on the lead. 
" Before we separated. Sir John Ross came on deck, 
and stood at the side of his officer. He was a square- 
built man, apparently very little stricken in years, and 
well able to bear his part in the toils and hazards of 
life. He has been wounded in four several engage- 
ments — twice desperately — and is scarred from head 
to foot. He has conducted two Polar expeditions al- 
ready, and performed in one of them the unparalleled 
feat of wintering four years in Arctic snows. And 
here he is again, in a flimsy cockle-shell, after contrib- 
uting his purse and his influence, embarked himself in 
the crusade of search for a lost comrade. We met him 
off Admiralty Inlet, just about the spot at which he 
was picked up seventeen years before." 
