LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. RO&S, 
319 
two Esquimaux onboard the ship, to induce one of them to ac¬ 
company him on an excursion to the northward, as from his 
supposed knowledge of the localities of the country, he might 
be of great service to him, in directing him to that part where 
it was most likely that an open sea could be found. On the 
receipt of a trifling present, Ikmalik consented to accompany 
Commander Ross. Accordingly they set off in a sledge, Ikmalik 
taking the reins, and to the fancy of Commander Ross, it appeared 
as if the dogs were conscious that the reins were in the hands 
of a native of their own country. They had not travelled far 
when they met a party of Esquimaux, directing their course to¬ 
wards the ship, bringing with them a seal, which on being 
weighed was found to be 2341bs. 
Whilst Commander Ross was driving four in hand, over hillocks 
of snow and hummocks of ice, Capt. Ross was adding another 
monument to his fame, having despatched eight men from the 
ship to build a monument of snow, to the south west of Felix 
Harbour, to which as no utility whatever was attached, it could 
only be compared to other monuments, which have been erected 
in various parts of the world, to perpetuate some act of folly or 
of guilt. Capt. Ross had this consolation to support him, that 
his monument was like the pyramids of Egypt, not likely to be 
overthrown by human hands, for it became a question, if during 
the long course of an eternity to come, it would be again visited 
by a human being, who could trace in its construction, a me¬ 
morial of the great and mighty deeds which were achieved in 
the vicinity, or stand at its base, and meditate de vault ate mundi 
et fuga seculorum. It cannot be imputed as a fault to a man to 
wish to raise a monument to himself, for it is a feeling natural to 
a human being to wish to live beyond the grave, to have his name 
and deeds carried to other times; and to know that it will 
be pronounced with reverence in after ages, even when the 
marble on which it was engraved has crumbled into dust. A 
Newton, a Howard, a Milton, or a Shakespear, require no brazen 
tablet to perpetuate their name, they will live until their immor¬ 
tality itself expires. The monuments of kings and of warriors 
who have desolated the earth, should be built of the materials 
