LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
273 
that part of the country : it was purchased by Capt. Ross at a 
comparatively high price, and so allured were the natives by the 
unexpected extent of it, that on the following day, the same 
party made their appearance, each bringing with them a dog, 
fully expecting that no objection would be raised to purchase 
the whole pack on the same advantageous terms. In this how¬ 
ever they were disappointed, for as Capt. Ross was not at that 
time disposed to add to his stock of the canine species, and the 
whole of the crew being prohibited from purchasing any, the 
natives were obliged to retrace their steps homewards, driving 
their unmarketable commodity before them like so many pigs, 
and with the most evident signs of disappointment depictured 
on their countenance. 
Not a day elapsed without some addition being made to the 
stock of peltry, and on one occasion, the natives brought the 
foetus of a seal, representing it as a peculiar dainty; not a little 
surprise was however manifested by them, when they found that 
their dainty morsel was rejected, and evidently with signs of dis¬ 
gust; one of them however carefully took it under his arms, and 
literally licked it with his tongue, smacking his lips, as if the 
taste were most gratifying to him. 
Commander Ross spent the greater part of the 3rd at the ob¬ 
servatory, but little transpired as to the result of his observations. 
As the season advanced, the anxiety of Capt. Ross increased to ob¬ 
tain every possible information relative to the surrounding seas, and 
falling in accidentally with two of the natives, who appeared to 
be better informed than the others relative to the adjacent coasts- 
he required of them to draw on a level patch of snow the course 
of the land or coast, and to point out where was the nearest place 
to the sea on the other side. Their information was however by 
no means of an encouraging nature, for they could not be in¬ 
duced to depart from their original opinion, that no passage ex 
isted to the other sea, but they brought the land all round, signify¬ 
ing thereby that the Victory was in a large bay, studded with 
many islands, and that the place where she then lay was nothing 
more than a small creek, between two of the larger islands. 
According to their account however, there was a large lake to the 
12. 2 N 
