LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
323 
future navigators should not discover the one, they might most 
probably discover the other. Accordingly a party of five were 
despatched to the northward with instructions to build a larger 
one than that to the southward, on the principle, we supppose, that 
the higher the monument, the higher must be the rank of the 
individual, who projected it; at all events Capt. Ross could say in 
the words of the tablet on the organ-loft of St. Paul’s, Si monu- 
mentum requiris, circumspice. 
Daylight no sooner appeared on the morning of the 13th, than 
Mr. Mc’Diarmid, accompanied by three of the crew, set out in 
search of Commander James. Peter and his companions in 
crime were included in the party, but they found that the route 
which Commander James had taken, could be traced almost to a 
certainty, by the marks of the sledge on the snow, and the foot¬ 
steps of the dogs They had travelled about 5 miles, when to 
their great joy, they observed Commander James at a distance, 
having received a reinforcement of three Esquimaux, who be¬ 
longed to the huts to the south east. They had with them a 
fine seal, which Commander James had just purchased, with 
the understanding that they were to convey it to the ship, where 
they were to receive the reward agreed upon. The satisfaction 
of the parties on meeting was mutual, for owing to the desertion 
of his dogs, Commander Ross had been delayed for a considera- 
time on his return, and not having provided himself with pro¬ 
visions for a protracted journey, he had suffered greatly from 
want. He was however much rejoiced to find his dogs in safety, 
notwithstanding the undutiful trick, which they had played 
him, for he suspected that they might have found their way to 
some of the huts of the natives, and then every chance of regain¬ 
ing them would be lost, except by stratagem or bribe. 
The result of this excursion was by no means favourable to the 
hopes of the mariners, or which could lead them to expect that 
they were in that direction, by which their ultimate object could 
be obtained. As far as bis vision could extend, Commander 
Ross saw nothing but one solid compact body of ice, wedged in 
between a cluster of islands, and not a single appearance which 
could lead him to suppose that even on the breaking up of the 
