330 
I.AS'f VOYAGE OF CAPT, ROSS. 
A man may readily and easily console himself under one mis¬ 
fortune, but, when as Young says, they come in battalions, fol¬ 
lowing each other in as rapid succession as the explosions of a 
cracker, it requires a greater portion of stoicism and philosophy 
to bear up against such an accumulation of ills than generally 
falls to the lot of a human being. The misfortune which Capt. 
Ross had undergone respecting the buttock of beef, was scarcely 
overcome, and his mind had by degrees assumed its wonted 
serenity, when the circumstance of the dogs again occurred to 
rouse all the dormant passions of his breast, and to make him 
appear in the world, that is, within the area of the ninety-second 
degree of west longitude, as a being selected by the fates to be 
made the butt of all the cheating propensities of the Esquimaux 
people. That man is, however, greatly to be prized, who comes 
to us with his aid or consolation in the hour of our affliction, 
and Capt. Ross found a friend in the steward, who undertook 
the difficult task of breaking in the dogs, and before a few weeks 
had elapsed, he had the satisfaction of finding himself drawn 
in his sledge by the crack animals of the country. 
On Sunday the 14th, the Esquimaux, who had their huts to 
the northward visited the ship, bringing with them two seals 
and some seal skins; they were given to understand, that as far 
as the latter articles were concerned, no objection existed to 
purchase any number which they could bring, but that the hole 
in which the seal’s flesh was kept for the dogs was completely 
full, and no more could be stowed away. They were invited 
to dine on board, and an excellent repast they made of the 
hinder part of a seal, which was baked expressly for them, 
although one of the party preferred eating a few slices in a 
raw state. 
This was the day appointed for the regale of the fore-quarter 
of the musk ox beef, which having undergone the process of 
thawing, was placed in the oven with the seal’s flesh, there to 
be brought in to a proper state to be placed on the dinner table of 
the cabin, for the gratification of the palates of those who were 
entitled to the entree. Conceit has a great deal to do in the 
affairs of this world, and it is very often governed by particular 
