474 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
against Capt. Ross ; and which was too unfortunately substan¬ 
tiated, in the effect, which the eating of the fish had upon the 
health of the crew. The apparatus in which the fish were boiled, 
was one of Slater’s Patent ; the boilers of which were made of 
copper, and tinned inside, but, from the constant use in which 
they had been kept, the lining was almost wholly w T orn off. There 
being a good supply of vinegar on board, the coppers were filled 
with salmon, and then covered with vinegar; after boiling 
eight or ten minutes, the fish were taken out, with great care, 
and placed regularly, like herrings, in an empty cask; and 
then the boilers were again filled with fish; the same vinegar 
serving for several boilings. This plan was pursued, until two 
large casks were filled, and then it was discovered, that the 
fish were strongly impregnated with copperas, from the delete¬ 
rious effect, which it produced on those, who partook of it; and 
the contents of the two casks were therefore thrown on the 
beach, in Victory Harbour, as a manifesto of the wisdom and 
caution pursued by Capt. Ross, in his management of the inter¬ 
nal economy of the ship. Nor was this the only instance, in 
which Capt. Ross appeared to lose sight of the common 
dictates of foresight and prudence, in the regulations, which he 
adopted, for the management of the victualling department of 
his vessel. 
In consequence of the erection of the steam engine, there w T as 
a great deal of copper funnelling on board, which, with the 
condemnation of the engine, was a heap of lumber, fit only to 
augment the stock of a marine store shop. It was a bright idea, 
generated in the mind of Capt. Ross, that this funnelling should 
be applied to some specific purpose, even if it were in the 
manufacture of a trumpet, wherewith to sound his fame, as the 
first of British navigators. It was, however, determined by 
Capt. Ross, that a more useful utensil than a trumpet, should be 
made of them, without taking it in the least into consideration, 
whether they were in any respect applicable for the purpose, to 
which it was intended they should be applied, or whether such 
application might not be considered as a manifest display of 
the most consummate ignorance and want of all foresight, which 
