476 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
It was not to be wondered at, that the men were induced, on 
these occasions, to draw a comparison between the food allotted 
to them, and that which was allotted to the officers. With the 
latter, there was no short allowance, no restriction as to quality 
or quantity: their table was always supplied with the best fare, 
that the ship could supply; an abundance of bread, preserved 
meats, wine and spirits; whilst, in the midst of their laborious 
duty, the men had literally not enough to eat, nor a glass of 
grog to give a stimulus to their spirits. 
The labor, which the men had to perform in dragging the fish 
to the ship, was too severe for the stoutest men to endure, much 
less those, who were stinted in their food, and who were de¬ 
prived of those stimulants, by which even a temporary strength 
could be imparted to them. The method of transporting the fish 
to the ship, was in large bags, made of tarpaulin, which, being 
filled, were placed on the sledge, and then made fast with a very 
strong lashing. If the men had any bread left, which was a rare 
circumstance, they were accustomed to place it on the top of 
the bag of salmon ; but it was a difficult matter to keep it dry, 
for the ice at that time of the year, was very rotten and hollow; 
for which reason the men would be in one moment on level ice, 
and the next, up to their middle in water, with the sledge and 
all the fish also immersed in it. It was a rare occurrence to 
know more than six men at the sledge; for so few were able to 
sustain the labor and fatigue, that it would almost have amounted 
to a sacrifice of their lives, to have put them to the sledge to 
drag it. Four men were generally the complement, that vere 
able to be put to the sledge; and the weight upon it, some¬ 
times amounted to 900 or 1000 lbs. the number of fish being 
generally about 300, which, upon an average, weighed three 
pounds each. The great irregularity of the ice rendered the 
labor still more burthensome; for in many places it was a con¬ 
tinual standing pull, with scarcely a single declivity, which could 
give a temporary respite to the men. 
Some part of the foregoing may be considered, :ii a certain 
degree, as retrospective matter, having an immediate reference 
to some circumstances of the voyage, which have already gone 
