LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
631 
to them, which might be necessary to uphold the strength, 
which they were continually called upon to exercise, and on 
which the very existence of himself and the whole of the crew 
depended. The continual cry of Capt. Ross to his men, was, 
“It is life or death with us, therefore haul away.” But how 
was the former to be sustained, or the latter averted, if the 
common means of subsistence were withheld, and at a time 
when no occasion existed for such a rigid system of economy : 
for, if Capt. Ross had not committed another egregious blunder, 
they were then only four days journey from the place, where an 
ample supply of provisions of every kind awaited them, and 
which, consequently, would have authorized the most prudent 
commander to make the most liberal use of the provisions, 
which were then in his possession. 
It was, however, the opinion of the whole of the crew, that it 
was the desire of Capt. Ross to carry his stock of cocoa-nut oil 
to England, as well as some other things, which he had brought 
with him from the ship, but which, in the eyes of the sailors, 
were only like so much ballast or useless lumber. 
After experiencing considerable fatigue, the party arrived at 
Possession Place, of which, in the year 1829, Capt. Ross, Com¬ 
mander Ross, Mr. Mc’Diarmid, and Mr. Thom, had taken 
formal possession ; and since that important act had taken 
place, no one had been so bold or presumptuous as to dispute the 
sovereignty with them. To the northward of that place, there is 
a deep bay, called Garry Bay ; to the southward of which, a long 
point runs to the eastward, called Garry Point, so named by 
Capt. Parry, out of respect to one of his esteemed friends, Ni¬ 
cholas Garry, esq. The distance from the south point of Garry 
Bay to the opposite side, is about 30 miles, and the bay itself, 
in length, is nearly the same distance. Instead, however, of 
shaping his course direct for Fury Beach, Capt. Ross determined 
to travel round the Bay, with all the three sledges: thus im¬ 
posing on the men an additional and useless labor, which, in 
their then exhausted state, they were very incompetent to en¬ 
dure. The travelling round this bay, was represented to be the 
most fatiguing and irksome, which had been experienced since 
