LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
355 
arrived on board, having completely lost their way, and had it 
not been for the firing of the gun, and the burning of the lights, 
they would certainly have passed the ship, and wandered about 
the whole of the night, exposed to all the inclemency of the 
weather. They were not a little rejoiced to find themselves 
once more comfortably housed between the decks of the Victo¬ 
ry ; so relative is the happiness of man—for disposed as he may 
be to complain of his present condition, let him but be accident¬ 
ally thrown into a worse, and he then first begins to learn to 
appreciate the advantages and comforts, which he enjoyed in 
the former. 
On Sunday the 21st, the crew as usual attended divine ser¬ 
vice, after which permission was granted them to take a walk 
on land, and they directed their course towards the uninhabited 
huts, which had been deserted on the death of Illictu. A strik¬ 
ing instance here occurred of the extraordinary fidelity of the 
Esquimaux dog. On the death of Illictu, Capt. Ross obtained 
his favorite dog, which was almost grown grey in the service 
of the family, and which was particularly prized by his eldest 
son, who had tried every stratagem to obtain re-possession of 
the animal. On this occasion, the dog accompanied the sailors 
to the huts, and on their way thither, they were met by a party 
of Esquimaux, amongst whom was the son of Illictu, and who 
no sooner saw his father’s dog, than he ran up to it, and actually 
caressed it, as if it had been a long lost child, that was restored 
to him. It was actually painful to the feelings, to see the tears 
roll down the cheek of this sayage of sensibility, as he fondled 
over the dog, which by its actions fully proved, that he had not 
forgotten those, in whose service he had been bred. On the 
arrival of the party at the huts, the dog instantly knew the one 
in which his former master had died, and immediately entered 
it, smelling and looking about, as if he were in search of some 
object, that had been there, and which he wished to find there 
again. The whole place was a scene of desolation, and the 
sailors not being willing to indulge in the melancholy mood, 
soon took their departure. The son of Illictu, in the mean time, 
had been trying every stratagem to entice the dog towards him, 
