LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
565 
at what time they would be able to commence their return, 
which was, in itself, attended with a certainty of suffering* 
and privation, sufficient to appal the stoutest heart, for, that it 
could be accomplished without the sacrifice of life, was too clear 
to admit of the slightest doubt. Their hope of salvation from a 
death of actual hunger, rested on a very uncertain foundation; 
for, although they had left a quantity of provisions at Fury 
Beach, sufficient to maintain them for a few months, yet the 
probability was great, that the stores might have been dis¬ 
covered by the natives, and carried away ; or, that if they were 
still on the beach, it became a question whether they would be 
found in such a condition, that they could be made any use of, 
as articles of food. When the stores were discovered on the 
beach, in 1829, they had been there about four years, it would 
not be until the summer of 1832, that they would be enabled to 
reach the beach again; and after an interval of nearly three 
years, in addition to the previous four years, it could not be 
expected that the stores could be found in very good condition,. 
There was, however, one circumstance, which inspired them 
with the hope, that the stores would still be fit for consumption, 
and that was, that they had on board the Victory, some of the 
stores, which they had brought from Fury Beach, particularly 
preserved meats and vegetables, which were nearly in as good 
condition, as when they were shipped in England ; and as it 
was to be expected, that they would be deeply buried in the 
snow, from a three years accumulation of it, little doubt then 
existed, that their condition would be good and wholesome. 
It became at last a settled point with the men, that they had 
reached the extent of their voyage to the westward, and deep 
and serious were the complaints, which were uttered, for the 
total want of skill and judgment, which had been evinced in 
placing the Victory in so perilous and unfavorable a position. 
On the evening of the 7th September, one of the men went 
to the top of the nearest hill, and, on his return, he reported 
that the ice appeared to be setting into the bay, but that to the 
westward, the sea was clear of ice as far as the eye could reach. 
It was under these circumstances, that the crew felt the misery 
