640 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
Insignificant as might appear the petrifactions, which the wan¬ 
dering seamen of the Victory picked up on the mountains of a 
sterile and desolate country, they are, nevertheless, the fragments 
of a mighty whole. The philosophical observer will ascend in 
his inquiries, from the pebble to the rock ; from the rock to the 
mountain range, from the mountain range to the “ great globe 
itself,” from the globe to the system, with all its rolling orbs; 
from the system to the visible heavens “ powdered with stars,” 
from the visble heavens to the invisible and countless myriads 
of suns, systems, and erratic orbs, that are contained in illimitable 
space, and from those to the contemplation of space, time, and 
eternity. 
** The whole up tracing from the dreary void, 
The chain of causes and effects to Him; 
The world producing essence, who alone 
Possesses being. ’ 
It being the determination of Mr. Light to trace Cascade 
River, if possible, to its source, he walked along the banks of it 
for a considerable distance, until his progress was obstructed by a 
heavy patch of snow, which hung over the river from bank to 
bank. This he walked over for nearly a mile, when he got 
down at the further end, and went for some distance under the 
snow, until he was nearly wet through, when he relinquished 
all further search. He was induced to prosecute his research, 
from the hope, that the river might lead him to a lake, in which 
some fish might be caught, but the task occupied him a greater 
time than he could be spared from his duties at head quarters. 
On his return to the boats, he descended into a valley, where he 
picked a number of cockle-shells out of the rocks; and on his 
arrival at the boats, he mentioned the circumstance to Capt. 
Ross, who determined to visit the place in person, for the pur¬ 
pose of obtaining some good specimens of the petrifactions. 
The valley, in which they were to be obtained, was at a consi¬ 
derable elevation, and it was a task of no little magnitude for 
Capt. Ross to undertake, considering his extraordinary obesity, 
which, by the sailors, was compared to that of lllictu , who died 
in the vicinity of Felix Harbour, and whose fat was nearly 
