586 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
provisions were in a state, as if the natives did not deem them 
worthy of their notice. There was, perhaps, in this conduct of 
the natives, something very nearly akin to the habits of the 
brute, which, having satiated its appetite, leaves the remainder 
to putrify on the ground : or perhaps the effects of the spirits 
had been so overpowering, as to deprive them of all self-posses¬ 
sion, and force them to pursue a line of conduct at variance with 
their usual habits. A European, who has once found his way 
to the wine cask, generally repeats his visit; and it was, there¬ 
fore, strongly suspected by the seamen, that were they to 
deposit the provisions in the same place, the Esquimaux would 
again discover them, and appropriate them to the same purpose 
as they had done the former stock. They, therefore, determined 
to conceal the provisions about a mile further on the route, by 
which they knew that Commander Ross would return to the ship; 
but they had scarcely commenced their labors, when that officer 
and his party hove in sight: and welcome indeed was the supply 
of provisions to them, for their stock was completely exhausted, 
nor had they tasted any food for nearly twelve hours. 
During the latter part of September, the wind blew from the 
S.W. to the S.S.W. driving the ice into the bay, as if there were 
no other place, in which it could accumulate. On the 20th, it 
came in with such force, as to drive the ship eleven feet nearer 
the shore. It was, therefore, necessary to moor her afresh ; 
and this was done by taking her chain cables on shore, and 
giving them a turn round a very large rock, and then backed 
to an anchor. 
The ship was no sooner securely moored, than a man was 
sent on the hills, to take a survey of the ice. The report was, 
that it was making off the shore, and that clear water was to 
be seen as far as the eye could reach : to their great mortifica¬ 
tion, however, the bay was completely choaked up, and also to 
seaward or south-east of the harbour. Perhaps no situation 
could be more galling to the crew of a vessel, than that, in 
which the seamen of the Victory were now placed. From the 
ship to the open sea, the distance was not greater than two 
miles at the farthest; beyond which not a piece of ice was to be 
