584 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS* 
the year 1830-1, he was four miles farther from the object, 
which he had in view, than when he took up his winter quarters 
in Felix Harbour, in 1829. Felix Booth, esq. having served the 
office of Sheriff for the city of London, it was highly considerate 
in Capt. Ross to commemorate the event, by naming his second 
winter harbour, “ Sheriffs Harbour.” The extent of the dis¬ 
coveries, from the time of entering Sheriff’s Harbour, to the 
period of quitting it in 1831, consisted in the single one made 
by Commander Ross, that no passage existed below the 71st 
degree. It must, however, not be omitted to mention, that 
Capt. Ross says, “ That notwithstanding the severity of the 
summer, we travelled across the country to the west sea, by a 
chain of lakes, thirty miles north of the isthmus, when Com¬ 
mander Ross succeeded in surveying fifty miles more of the 
coast leading to the north-west, and tracing the shore to the 
northward of the position of the ship. 5 ’ By the use of the pro¬ 
noun we, it might be supposed, that Capt. Ross himself, was 
included in those travelling parties. It is certain that, on some I 
occasions, we did accompany the fatigue party from the ship, to 
a certain distance; but we then generally found it convenient to 
return to the ship, judging very correctly, that a warm berth in 
our cabin, with a comfortable potation of the ex-sheriff’s cordial 
before us, was preferable to running the risk of the loss of our 
nose or our feet, by the severity of the frost. 
In one of the travelling expeditions mentioned by Capt. Ross, 
his sole purpose was to leave some provisions for Commander 
Ross, at an appointed place, which being done, he retraced his 
steps to the ship. On the following day, the weather being 
propitious, he extended his walk to some distance from the ship, 
when on a sudden he espied a group of Esquimaux evidently 
coming from the place, where the provisions had been depo¬ 
sited : some of them making the most extraordinary motions, 
and appearing unable to walk in a straight line, stumbling and 
falling at every step, which, according to the judgment of Capt. 
Ross, could not proceed from any other cause than the slippery 
state of the ground. The Esquimaux were accompanied by four 
children, who seemed to be very satisfactorily employed in the 
