LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
189 
of falsehood, the services of the Captain are not gratuitous, we 
repeat that on taking these circumstances into our consideration, 
it is by no means an improbable conjecture, that in the collection 
of so many Esquimaux dresses, bows and arrows, fishing tackle, 
and dog whips, a most lucid idea had shot suddenly into the brain 
of the naval hero, as he was sitting pondering in his fauteuil, 
in one of the dark and dreary nights of the Arctic winter, that 
although it was by no means his desire that the public should 
look upon his expedition as a farce, yet were he to turn it into 
a farce on his return, it could not fail to prove a hit, especially 
if it were announced in conspicuous characters in the bills of the 
day, that the actors would appear in the real dresses of the coun¬ 
try, each furnished with a bow and arrow, and a fishing rod and 
a bone hook, all of which had been brought home by the princi¬ 
pal actor in the farce. In order however to render the scenic 
description of it complete in all its departments, it was necessary 
that many auxiliaries should be obtained, which were to impress 
on the minds of the spectators, the most thrilling sensations of 
the dangers and hair breadth escapes which the gallant Captain 
had undergone in his various feats, with the terrible monsters 
which were indigenous to the country. Thus it was necessary that 
a number of skins of seals, and of sea unicorns should be obtained, 
which on their arrival in England, being properly stuffed, could 
represent ad vivam, whilst squatting at the base of an iceberg, 
an example of the high courage and intrepidity which the Cap¬ 
tain frequently evinced, in his desperate encounters with the 
harmless animals. A sledge or two might also be found highly 
useful, and strictly in character with the scenic exhibition, and 
then having already some dogs of the country in his possession, 
properly trained to the drawing of a sledge, the whole of it 
would present a coup d'oeil never before witnessed in this country. 
We certainly confess that we give the whole of this statement 
as a conjecture, but at the same time we feel convinced, that we 
have put a most lenient construction upon the act of Capt. Ross, 
in filling three large tubs with Esquimaux dresses and other 
articles, one of which would have been sufficient to convince 
the people of England, that there was something more true and 
