LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
461 
those, who were reported to be in good health, were by no 
means able to perform the common duties of the ship, much less 
to undertake the execution of those severe and arduous labors, 
which were in daily prospect before them. 
On the 5th, the launch being repaired, was got to sea, and 
brought alongside of the Victory. The crew were employed 
in getting the boats on board, as well as every thing that was 
on shore. They then proceeded to water the ship, whilst the 
mechanics were employed on the lee-boards. 
On the 11th and 12th, the wind came round to the south, with 
the ice running strong to the north. Lanes of water were dis¬ 
tinctly seen between the floating masses of ice, the current appa¬ 
rently from three to four knots an hour. In order to enable the 
Victory to accomplish her departure, a south-westerly wind was 
necessary, to clear the passage of the ice; but the wind had set 
in from the north, and continued to blow with great violence, 
from the 12th to the latter end of the month. This delay enabled 
them, certainly, to put the ship in the best possible state for 
the prosecution of the voyage, but still their prospect, on the 
whole, was any thing but of an exhilirating nature. It was on 
the 2nd of July, that Capt. Parry effected his escape from Win¬ 
ter Island, and that period was almost thought too late to hope 
for any successful result, previously to the setting in of the ensu¬ 
ing winter ; with Capt. Ross, however, the month of August was 
nearly closed, and still no prospect of his liberation, it was, 
therefore, to be expected, that some part of September would 
elapse before he could proceed on his voyage ; and as, in the 
preceding year, he had been blocked up in the middle of Octo¬ 
ber, he had not before him much more than a month, which he, 
perhaps, might be able to employ in the prosecution of his 
voyage. 
The wind still continued to blow hard from the north, and,on 
some days, with so much violence, as to endanger the upper 
rigging of the ship. It was to the whole of the crew a severe 
mortification to see themselves cooped up, as it were, in a small 
bay, and, at a distance from them, the ice running in lanes, by 
