LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
^99 
jeetion existed to the truth of that conjecture, on account of the 
great distance of Nichilli to the nearest of the Russian settle¬ 
ments, and the consequent impracticability of transporting their 
accumulated merchandize to so great a distance, over a country 
abounding in natural obstacles, and where the means of trans¬ 
portation could only have been acquired by a combination of hu¬ 
man effort, which could not be supposed to exist in so desert and 
uninhabited a country. It was, however, a subject w 7 hich par¬ 
ticularly engrossed the attention of Commander Ross; and, 
should, on the breaking up of the weather, and the liberation of 
the Victory from her present imprisonment, no immediate pro¬ 
spect present itself of effecting a passage to the westward, it 
was his determination to repair to Nichilli, where he had every 
hope of obtaining the information, of which he was so much in 
want. 
Amongst the natives, who visited the ship on the 10th, was a 
woman, who had suffered so severely by the frost, that her heels 
were completely bitten off, which obliged her to walk on her 
toes; in fact, her whole feet were a piece of deformity, but 
nevertheless she contrived to keep up with her companions, on 
their different excursions, nor was she ever known to complain 
of fatigue. 
Ooblooraiak and Alwak, the two companions of Commander 
Ross, remained on board during the whole of the night; but not¬ 
withstanding the great fatigue, which they had undergone, the 
latter felt no great disposition to sleep, and he therefore thought, 
that it was most rude and unpolite in his companion, seeing that 
he could not hold any conversation with the people on board, to 
leave him to amuse himself with his own thoughts, which, as 
being engendered in the mind of an Esquimaux, could not be 
supposed to be of the most refined and elevated cast. Oobloo¬ 
raiak, therefore, no sooner rolled himself up to take a senik. than 
he received a most ungracious thrust in his side from the elbow 
of his more vigilant companion, which appeared at first, however, 
to have no more effect upon him, than if it had been applied to 
the frozen body of a seal. The visitation,however, came at last 
so frequently, that the wrath of Ooblooraiak was at length aroused. 
