446 CAPTAIN ROSs's ARCTIC EXPEDITIOIf. 
phreys, by landing me at Possession Bay, and subsequently on 
the west coast of Baffin's Bay, afforded me an excellent op- 
portunity of concluding my surveys and of verifying my for- 
mer chart of that coast. 
I now have the pleasing duty of calling the attention of 
their lordships to the merit of Commander Ross, who was se- 
cond in the direction of this expedition. The labors of this 
officer, who had the departments of astronomy, natural his- 
tory and surveying, will speak for themselves in language be- 
yond the ability of my pen ; but they will be duly apprecia- 
ted by their lordships, and the learned bodies of which he is 
a member, and who are already well acquainted with his ac- 
quirements. 
My steady and faithful friend, Mr. William Thom, of the 
royal navy, who was formerly with me in the Isabella, beside 
his duty as third in command, took charge of the m.eteorolo- 
gical journal, the distribution and economy of provisions, and 
to his judicious plans and suggestions must be attributed the 
uncommon degree of health which our crew enjoyed ; and 
as two out of the three who died in the four years and a half 
were cut off early in the voyage by diseases not peculiar to 
the climate, only one man can be said to have perished. Mr. 
M'Diarmid, the surgeon, who had been several voyages to 
these regions, did justice to the high recommendation I re- 
ceived of him ; he was useful in every amputation and opera- 
tion which he performed, and wonderfully so in his treatment 
of the sick ; and I have no hesitation in adding that he would 
be an ornament to his Majesty's service. 
Commander Ross, Mr. Thom, and myself, have indeed 
been serving without pay ; but, in common with the creAv, 
have lost our all, which Tregret the more, because it puts it 
totally out of my power adequately to remunerate my fellow- 
sufferers, whose case I cannot but recommend for their lord- 
ship's considerations. We have, however, the consolation that 
the results of this expedition have been conclusive, and to 
science highly important, and may be briefly comprehended 
in the following words. The discovery of the Gulf of Boo- 
thia, the continent and isthmus of Boothia Felix, and a vast 
number of islands, rivers, and lakes ; the undeniable estab- 
lishment that the north-east point of America extends to the 
74th degree of north latitude; valuable observations of every 
kind, but particularly on the magnet ; and to crown all, have 
the honor of placing the illustrious name of our most gra- 
cious Sovereign, William IV. on the true position of the mag- 
netic pole. 
