634 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
so much ’ and further, that “ he would have felt ashamed of him¬ 
self" to have withheld from those very meritorious men, the 
common nourishment, to which they were entitled, and which 
ought to have been distributed with the most liberal hand, con¬ 
sidering the superfluity by which he was surrounded, and the 
exhausted state in vrhich his men appeared before him. 
On the arrival of the men at Fury Beach, there were but about 
9.lbs. of bread remaining: each man had his own bread bag, 
but some were entirely empty, and in others a very small 
portion was left. It was just luncheon time when the crew 
landed ; but although behind them were provisions of every 
kind, Cayt. Ross would not allow a biscuit nor any other kind 
of provisions to be touched, although the men were literally in 
a state of positive hunger. The crew were divided into three 
parties or watches: one under the command of Capt. Ross; the 
second under that of Commander Ross, and the third under 
Mr. Thom, the purser. Each party resided in a separate tent, 
which was pitched immediately on reaching the shore; and the 
occasion now occurred, alluded to in the evidence given by 
Commander Ross, before the committee of the House of Com¬ 
mons, in which a spirit of insubordination manifested itself, 
but which Capt- Ross brought down upon himself, by his mean 
and illiberal conduct, which are epithets of complete mildness, 
in comparison to those, which we should have used, had vve fol¬ 
lowed the manuscripts, now before us. 
The tents were all pitched ; the crew found themselves com¬ 
paratively comfortably housed; and those in the tents with 
Commander Ross and Mr. Thom, were happily busy in satis¬ 
fying their appetite with the best provisions, which at that 
moment could be procured. The messmates of the tent, under 
the command of Capt, Ross, were looking forward to the sup¬ 
ply of provisions, which would be distributed to them, and 
perhaps a glass of grog, as a reward for their steadiness and 
fidelity to their duty ; when Capt. Ross coolly told them, to 
wait until the morning, and in the mean time to eat up the 
remainder of their bread. A conduct like this, so opposite to 
what the men had a right to expect, naturally roused them to a 
