650 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
as soon as the rightful owners presented themselves. On arriving 
at the house, Capt. Ross stationed himself at the door, and pro¬ 
ceeded to harangue his crew, the chief topics of which have 
been transmitted to us, although it has been omitted to state the 
degree of influence, which, like the speeches of other great men, 
it had upon the funds of the country. The first topic was, his 
sincere congratulations to his crew, on their return to and safe 
arrival at Fury Beach, which, he was convinced, they would 
ascribe to its only true and genuine cause, which was, the extra¬ 
ordinary talent and skilfulness, which he had evinced on every 
occasion, in which they could be called into action—the prompt 
and ready personal assistance, which he had granted in the alle¬ 
viation of the great fatigue and labor, which they had lately un¬ 
dergone—the parental care, which he had, on every opportunity, 
shown for the preservation of their health, and the promotion of 
their personal comforts—and, lastly, the extraordinary and unex¬ 
ampled instances of self-denial, which he had exhibited on 
various occasions, and which he had, no doubt, would remain 
for ever impressed upon their recollection, as the proudest and 
noblest traits of his character. 
It was with the greatest satisfaction, that he announced to 
them, that he continued to receive from all the tribes of the 
country, with whom he had entered into an alliance, the assu¬ 
rance of the continuance of their friendly disposition; and that, 
although on the other hand, he regretted to inform them, that 
the great question of the discovery of the North West Passage, 
in the pursuit of which they had so nobly and gallantly spent 
the last three years of their life, was just in the same state of 
uncertainty, as when he ordered his steam to be got up at 
Woolwich, yet still it would be the crown and glory of their 
life, to say, that they had shared in the attempt, of which the 
monuments and other valuables, which they had left behind 
them, would be an irrefragable and everlasting proof. 
It was also a source of great satisfaction to him, to inform them, 
that no immediate prospect presented itself of a death of starvation 
by hunger, although he considered it but proper in him to pre¬ 
pare them for such an event, should they not succeed in the course 
