LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT, ROSS. 
575 
north-west, and the ice stationary. To the great surprise, how¬ 
ever, of all on board, the ice, about four o'clock in the afternoon, 
made a move, as if it were driving out of the bay. Commander 
Ross and Mr. Mc'Diarmid were, at this time, absent from the 
ship, on a shooting excursion ; and therefore, one of the men 
was sent in the direction, which they had taken, to apprise 
them of the move of the ice, and to hasten their return to the 
ship. Before the return, however, of the shooting party, the 
ice had become again stationary, and if possible, more densely 
packed than it was before. 
The 11th, was Sunday, but from some cause, that was not 
explained, no service was performed. The men amused them¬ 
selves in the afternoon, with skaiting and sliding on the new 
ice, whilst the officers went on an excursion, in which they 
were very successful; as they brought home w r ith them, nine 
grouse and two hares, one of which weighed 7lbs. 4oz. 
It might have been supposed, that the fancy for monument 
building, must by this time, have nearly expired; on a sudden, 
however, it appeared to revive, and a party were sent to build 
one, on the highest hill. It, however, having been found, that 
snow was rather a perishable material for the construction of a 
monument, it was resolved, that in the present instance, granite 
should be substituted for it ; Mr. Light, and Mr. Brunton, being 
the architects, to whom the erection was entrusted. By dint 
of labor, accompanied with some fatigue, they succeeded in 
heaping one lump of granite upon another, and having, to the 
best of their ability, given their building the form of an obelisk, 
they christened it, the Victory Monument; and we doubt not, 
that there are many, in after ages, who will puzzle their heads, 
w ith equal industry, to discover, who were the founders of the 
monument on Yakkee Hill, as we are now employing ourselves, 
to discover the hands, that reared the Pyramids of Egypt. 
On the 13th, the wind veered round to the south west, and 
some hope was entertained, that if the wind continued in that 
quarter, the ice would be driven out of the bay, and the Victory 
set at liberty. Some idea, however, may be formed of the 
sudden changes, which frequently take place, in the wind, in 
