200 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
terrific, and he generally produces a bloody knife or some other 
equally cogent testimony of his astonishing prowess, and of the 
vengeance which he has inflicted upon the recreant spirit. In 
order to release the bears from her controul, he found it neces¬ 
sary to cut off the lower joints of her four fingers, on which the 
bears immediately made their escape, and hastened to their 
natal haunts on earth. For the purpose of liberating the seals, 
it was deemed requisite to cut off the second joints ; the sea 
unicorns were to be liberated from their thraldom by the excision 
of the upper joints; and by the amputation of the whole hand, the 
whales obtained permission to revisit the enviable shores of the 
Esquimaux. Of course it sometimes happens that notwithstand¬ 
ing these valorous exploits, the animals do not make their ex¬ 
pected appearance, but a cheat, who can impose upon his 
countrymen with such fables and absurdities, is soon able to 
invent others of a still more monstrous nature, in order to account 
for the failure of any of his exploits, and the greater the absurd¬ 
ity, the greater is the belief, which is attached to it. 
The crew of the Victory were now doomed to lose one of their 
most efficient members, in the person of Mr. James Marslin, 
the armourer, who had been long indisposed with an asthmatic 
complaint, which of all others was less able to withstand the 
inclemency of an arctic winter. He died on the 20th January, 
at half past nine, without a strain or struggle. For a few nights 
previous to his death he had enjoyed some repose, and by the admi¬ 
nistration of the proper cordials, his life may be said to have been 
prolonged, but no hope of his ultimate recovery was entertained 
either by his medical attendant or any of the crew. He made 
his will, which was drawn up by Mr. Light the steward; his 
sister Mary Smith, and her youngest son succeeding to the whole 
of his property. On the following day two of the crew were 
employed in sewing up his corpse, whilst others went on shore 
to dig his grave. This was however found to be a task of no 
little difficulty, as with the utmost exertion of the crew, they could 
make very little impression on the ground on account of its ex¬ 
treme hardness from the intensity of the frost. 
The ship was visited on the same day by six of the Esquimaux, 
