514 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS 
port of man. Was it rational to suppose, that the strength or 
health of the men, on their travelling parties, with their impove¬ 
rished fare, could be in the same condition as that of the officers, 
who had been previously accustomed to the best of hire, and 
total strangers to the privations of any kind of food, which 
particularly suited their taste or appetite. The men, who had 
sailed with Capt. Parry, were continually drawing their com¬ 
parison between the fare, which was allotted to them on board 
the Hecla and Fury, and that, which was distributed to them on 
board the Victory: in the former, every thing was given out 
with a free and liberal hand ; in the latter, parsimony appeared 
to be the ruling principle, without any regard to the conse¬ 
quences, which such niggardly conduct might have upon the 
health of the crew. Capt. Ross seemed to forget, that the 
health and physical powers of a man depend as much upon the 
kind of sustenance, which he takes, as any other animal of 
creation; although, if he had personally tried the experiment, of 
restricting himself to the diet, to which he confined his men, it 
scarcely admits of a doubt, that the next monument, which was 
raised in the country of the Esquimaux, would have been over 
his own remains. 
During the excursion of Capt. Ross, he obtained another 
proof, that there was very little reliance to be placed on the 
word of the Esquimaux. They had promised to take him by a 
nearer route to Nichilli, and accordingly he had made an ap¬ 
pointment with Commander Ross, to meet him at that place on 
the 21st of May; but the Esquimaux, who comparatively placed 
little value upon their own time, considered that Capt. Ross so 
far resembled them, as to place no value upon his; and therefore 
it was a matter of very little consequence, whether they arrived 
at Nichilli, a day sooner or a day later. As to any punctuality 
in the keeping of an appointment, it was a thing, they could 
not be made to comprehend the meaning of; it formed no part 
of their conduct observed amongst themselves; and, therefore, 
as they could not be brought to believe, that Capt. Ross, in his 
excursion, had any other aim in view than to see the beauties (not 
the female ones) of their country, it could not be imputed to them, 
