540 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
a n atter of course with them, that little or no notice is taken 
of it. 
During the night of the 14th, the dogs of the natives dis¬ 
covered the fish, that were drying on the beach, and left them 
not until they had fully satisfied their appetite. Not a moment 
was lost, in getting all the fish on board; for the dogs had not 
only eaten a great number, but spoilt a still greater, by gnawing 
them in different places, biting the head from one, and the tail 
from the other, thereby rendering them, as an article of food, of 
little or no service. 
On the 15th, ten Esquimaux came on board, complaining that 
they were much in want of provisions. Some seal and blubber 
were cooked for them ; for fortunately Abernethy had shot a 
seal on the preceding day, and had succeeded in getting it on 
board, which was not always the case, even if the animal were 
mortally wounded. The seal seldom travels far from its hole, 
(the open space of water being called so by the Esquimaux, 
when the seals come up for the purpose of respiration,) and even 
if the bullet were to strike him in a vital part, he rushes into 
the water, and dies beneath the ice. On the departure of the 
Esquimaux, Commander Ross gave a certain quantity of dried 
fish to those, who had families, and a smaller quantity to those, 
who were single. The chief part of the fish were those, which 
had been mutilated by their own dogs: but the mere want of 
a head or a tail did not appear by any means to depreciate the 
fish in their estimation. The natives were then on their way to 
Nichilli, their dogs being loaded like asses; for as there is 
neither snow nor ice at this period of the year, and the convey¬ 
ance by the sledge being wholly impracticable, they sling their 
luggage over the backs of the dogs, like two paniers. Some of 
the dogs, however, will not submit to this drudgery : and, in 
the present instance, three of them objected to being put to such 
a degrading occupation; they were therefore left behind, to 
seek their own living, and to enjoy a life of independence, with 
starvation as their companion. 
The weather for the month of August was exceedingly 
inauspicious; on the 16th, a heavy fall of snow took place 
