254 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
it, while gloom and despair never fail to aggravate its fatal 
malignity. 
There are circumstances in which it would not be a derelic¬ 
tion of duty, nor a departure from the dignity of the officer and 
commander, that the latter office should in some degree lose itself 
in that of the friend, and by a becoming and amiable condescen¬ 
sion establish the pleasing proof, that although filling a humbler 
station, the value of the common seaman is properly appreciated 
and rewarded. In this respect, Capt. Ross must not attempt to 
stand in the shoes of Capt. Parry; the latter knew the value of 
his men, he knew that each of them w'as to him a diamond, 
although still in the rough, and his mind seemed bent upon 
devising those amusements which might disarm their dreary 
situation of its ennui, and thereby lead them from gloom and 
discontent, to comparative cheerfulness and happiness. Capt. 
Ross, was in some degree a hermit in his cabin, physically 
unable to make long excursions in the country, or to bear the 
fatigues of the chace, his sphere of action was a circle of about 
two miles, the ship being the centre point, and consequently his 
chief employment was confined to the operations on board the 
ship; overhauling the breeches, jackets, trousers and mittens of 
the natives, and establishing himself as the first merchant in that 
line who ever visited their coasts. Capt. Parry on the contrary, 
had his theatre and his concerts—not an evening passed, if event¬ 
ing there could be, during a three months darkness, that a play 
or a farce was not acted, and the crew w~ere permitted to partake 
of the recreation, although cautioned to remember that they 
were not in the gallery of Astley’s or the Surrey, where it is a 
kind of privilege of their cast, to be as boisterous as the ele¬ 
ment which they make their home. It is true that Capt. Parry 
had his school on board the Hecla, and on the return of his ship 
to England, it was most gratifying to him to learn that every 
man on board could read his bible. We pretend not to appre¬ 
ciate nor to judge of the extent of the talents of the students of 
the Hecla, nor of the pedagogic abilities of those to whom 
their education was entrusted, but this we do know, that if some 
of the students of the Victory could not read their bible when 
