VAST voyage of CAPT. ROSS. 
257 
hard and austere treatment which they were daily in the habit 
of receiving 1 . 
We have related the circumstance of the abrupt removal of the 
Esquimaux women from the deck of the Victory, and the suffer¬ 
ings which the poor creatures underwent from their exposure to 
the cold; the kindness however, which the sailors manifested 
towards them, made them some amends for the treatment which 
they had received ; and it was during their walk to the huts, that 
the sailors contrived to make known to them, that their dogs on 
board were much in want of food. The women appeared not to 
take any notice of this appeal to their liberality, but on the follow¬ 
ing day, which was Sunday the 14th, divine service was scarcely 
over, when the Same women were observed approaching the ship, 
each carrying a large piece of blubber for the dogs, and it might 
be supposed that for this act of kindness, and for such a striking 
display of the Christian precept of returning good for evil, Capt. 
Ross would have bestowed upon them some reward—but in his 
eyes it appeared to be nothing more than the proper act of a sub¬ 
ject towards his sovereign, or the slave towards his master. Capt. 
Ross had perhaps read the History of Rome, and remembered 
the munificent act of Tiberius, who, when the inhabitants of 
Capraea opened their magazines of wine for his use, and on his 
taking possession of them, expected some remuneration for the 
sacrifice which they had made, coolly replied, “It is no more 
than their duty.’’" The sailors of the Victory entertained not 
however the same opinion as the emperor of the Romans, or the 
not less sovereign commander under whom they served, for they 
took the opportunity, during their escort of the ladies to their 
huts, to remunerate them for the seasonable supply of blubber, by 
the present of a few needles, and so rejoiced were they at the 
return which was made to them for their kindness, that had the 
sailors taken the whole stock of blubber, which their husbands 
had brought home on the preceding day, not a dissentient voice 
would have been raised. 
To those who have perused the North Georgia Gazette, the 
circumstance cannot have escaped them, that amongst the crews 
of the Fury and the Hecla, there were some choice spirits, into 
11 . 2l 
