LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
483 
was cut, was not less than four feet in thickness, and every 
piece had to be boused up on the other side, by the capstern. 
By admeasurement, the crew cut 855 feet of ice, before they got 
into their winter harbour : the men often working like horses, 
during the whole of the day, and then to turn out two or three 
times in the night, accordingly as the tide served, to shore the 
vessel up, to prevent her careening on her broadside. Some of 
the men would fall in the canal, head over ears; and before 
they could get to the ship, their clothes would be frozen, the 
jacket to the waistcoat, and the former so hard, that it would 
almost stand upright. But, on those occasions, Capt. Ross 
never followed the example of Capt. Parry : nor did he cheer 
his men, by saying, “ Come, my lads, bear a-hand, out again, 
and tell my steward to give you a good glass of grog.’’ But the 
first thing, that was heard from Capt. Ross, was his well-known 
grunt of displeasure, and then the exclamation, “ It serves you 
right—come make haste, and shift yourselves.” And even when 
a man got wet in the Victory, there was no warm air stove, 
to thaw or dry his clothes, for the ship had nothing but a small 
stove of Slater’s Patent: but, to keep up as large a fire as pos¬ 
sible, the stove would not consume more than two pecks a day ; 
and the whole consumption of fuel on board the Victory, in the 
dead of the winter, was no more than three pecks and a half or 
four pecks per day: whereas, in the Hecla and Fury, the con¬ 
sumption was, five pecks to the warm air stove; five to the 
galley, If to the cabin. If to the gun-room, f of a peck to the 
midshipmen’s berth, and a peck to the sick bay: making in 
all, l4f per day; the temperature of the men’s berths on the lower 
deck, was never below 60; whereas the temperature of the 
Victory’s lower deck was seldom higher than 36, except on 
baking days, which was only once a week, when the lower deck 
was as high as 54, which may be considered as the maximum : 
whereas, in the cabin, the thermometer was as high as 70, the 
average being 65. 
It was not, however, only the shoring up of the vessel, that 
deprived the men of their rest; but if at any time it was 
high water during the night, they were called up to heave the 
