292 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
Commander Ross now prosecuted his researches into the 
country with redoubled ardour, his motives being two-fold, the 
pursuit of his scientific researches, and the attainment of a correct 
knowledge of the position of the adjoining seas, in order that 
on the breaking up of the ice, they might direct their course to 
that quarter, where success was most likely to be obtained. # 
In the cases of the Hecla and Fury, their emancipation did 
not take place at the soonest until the month of June, the crew 
of the Victory had therefore still three or four months to look 
forward to, before they could be expected to make any progress, 
and even then considerable doubts had arisen in the minds of 
some of the officers, whether they were not really at the end of 
their destination, as far as their present position was concerned. 
From various observations, which Commander Ross had made 
during his excursions, his hopes were by no means so sanguine 
of the existence of an open sea to the westward, as he had 
originally entertained, and were the expedition to be closed under 
the present circumstances, they had nothing to look for on their 
return but ridicule and disgrace. On this subject many were 
the disputes, which took place between the Captain and the Com¬ 
mander; the former arguing from probability, the latter from 
personal knowledge. The former considered that from every 
calculation that he had made, whilst seated in his arm-chair in 
the cabin, and regaling himself with a potation of Booth's best 
cordial, that it was most probable that an open sea did exist to 
the westward; he had it is true, the testimony of several of the 
natives to nullify that probability, but then he called in another 
probability to his aid, which was, that the natives either did 
not understand what he meant, or that he did not understand 
what the natives meant. He certainly could not argue from any 
knowledge acquired by his own experience, for he considered 
the ship to be his proper station, and that were he to absent 
himself for any length of time from it, a relaxation in the disci¬ 
pline might take place, and some of his orders secretly infringed, 
which he had issued for the better government of the crew, who 
in some instances, had shown rather a refractory disposition, and 
a secret inclination to get to windward of him on every occasion 
