LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
161 
Even the skins of these animals were found of great use, inde¬ 
pendently of the oil, which was extracted from their bodies, and 
the food which the flesh afforded to the dogs. Commander Ross 
saw two grouse, but notwithstanding repeated attempts, he could 
not succeed in killing them. 
The heaviest parts of the engine had now" been conveyed on shore, 
and the boilers alone remained, but on attempting to get them 
up the hatchway, they were found to be too large. If they were 
allowed to remain on board, they would be the means of frus¬ 
trating the plans, which had been formed for the interior regula¬ 
tion of the ship during its winter sojourn, and therefore no 
other alternative was left than to cut the boilers in two, which 
was accordingly effected by the engineer; and thus another and 
almost insuperable obstacle was raised to the engine ever being 
used again. The boilers being cut in two, they were conveyed 
on shore with the greatest difficulty ; the men complaining 
much of the task, as at all events they were now only worth 
their value in metal, and if they had dropped to the bottom of the 
ocean, it would have been no loss to the ship. 
On the 18 th the thermometer was for the first time at Zero, 
being one day sooner than when the Heela wintered in Port 
Bowen. The housing of the ship was now proceeded with in 
the most expeditious manner; two tanks were put over the 
hatchway for condseners, and the cooking apparatus in midships 
was shifted, in order that the line of funnels for the transmission 
of heat might go right round the ship; the deck over head was 
very wet, owing to the partial thawing of the snow, and it 
created a dampness, which independently of its chilling proper¬ 
ties, was not considered as conducive to the health of the crew. 
The whole employment of the crew was now directed to 
render the ship as comfortable as possible, during the long and 
gloomy winter which was before them, but it was the general 
opinion, that however great their exertions might be, the vessel 
possessed not the capability, nor were even those resources at hand 
by which many of the obstacles could be removed, which pre¬ 
sented themselves in several instances to the establishment o* 
