822 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
his duty to return to his lawful master to whom he owed his 
allegiance. This argument on the part of Peter would have 
been held good in any court of pied poudre in England, but 
not so with his companions. Nevertheless there are few circum¬ 
stances from which a moral cannot be drawn, if a person does 
but know where to look for it, and in the present instance, let 
those, who are addicted to bad company take warning by the 
punishment, which was inflicted on two of the conspirators, of 
the ruinous and disgraceful consequences that ensue in associat¬ 
ing with wicked companions, for they are gradually led into the 
commission of crimes, which bring them to an ignominious end. 
Commander Ross with his companion Ikmalik, had ascended 
a hill for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the surround¬ 
ing country, when Peter taking advantage of their absence quietly 
betook himself off, followed by two of his companions, and by 
some instinctive power, which it is here impossible to explain, 
they directed their route direct for the ship. It was about 
4 o’clock p.m, that the steward was standing near the gangway, 
when to his great astonishment he observed Peter, the ring¬ 
leader, approaching the ship, not as usual merry and frisky, 
with his tail erect, but hobbling along, followed by his compan¬ 
ions, and apparently so footsore that he scarcely ventured to put 
his feet to the ground. Still however the faithful creature no 
sooner saw its master, than it appeared to forget all its afflictions, 
but the unexpected return of these animals excited some very 
unpleasant apprehensions respecting Commander Ross, for it was 
not supposed that they would have left him, had not some serious 
and perhaps a fatal accident befallen him; it was therefore 
determined that should he not return in the interim, a party 
should set off by daybreak on the following morning, and it was 
expected that by taking the dogs with them, they would be 
able to discover the exact route which Commander James had 
taken. 
Notwithstanding the difficulty which the crew experienced in 
the building of the monument to the south west, arising from 
their constant exposure to the cold, Capt. Ross determined that 
another should be built to the northward in case that if any 
