394 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
And it was so contrived, that you conceive steam to be appli¬ 
cable to the propelling of vessels in the Polar seas?— Yes. 
We are totally at a loss to conceive in what manner Capt. 
Ross can reconcile this evidence with the actual facts, which 
took place with the engine, every one of which goes to falsify 
the opinions, which he expressed before the committee, and 
which we really think that he never would have uttered, had 
he been aware that documents were in existence, and that too 
in our own hands, by which publicity has been given to the 
whole account of the steam engine, its erroneous construction, 
and its entire failure. Was he trying an experiment of how far 
he could play upon the credulity of the members of the com-, 
mittee, when he declared, that the paddles answered quite be¬ 
yond his expectation ; at the same time that the truth was staring 
him in the face, that they were not of the slightest use to him? 
He may indeed qualify his assertion by the quibble, that he does 
not say that his expectations were great, but merely, that the 
paddles answered quite beyond them ; they might therefore have 
been directly low and contemptible, and yet the results have 
far exceeded the expectation, which he had formed, We know, 
that the whole affair of the steam engine is a thorn in the sides 
of certain individuals, and we do not hesitate to state that an 
application was, indirectly, made to us to pass over it in a brief 
and cursory manner; how far we have thought proper to attend 
to that application, certain parts of our work are well able to 
testify ; but relying, as we do, upon the veracity of our informant, 
and whose statements have been corroborated by another party, 
we declare that the opinions expressed by Capt. Ross before the 
committee, are directly at variance with his own experience, 
and that of the whole of his crew ; and further, that the opinion 
of Capt. Ross is declared to be erroneous, by the evidence of 
Commander Ross, who unequivocally states his objections to the 
use of a steam engine in the Polar seas, and that the navigation 
of them can only be accomplished by sailing. 
It was, however, on the 7th April that Capt. Ross sent for Mr. 
Brunton and Mr. Mc’Inniss, the two engineers, into his cabin, to 
whom he read the report, which he had drawn up relative to the 
