LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
659 
Bay to Fury Beach was about 34 miles; but the circuitous route, 
which they had to take, increased the distance to about 40. 
The sledges were made for the transportation of some of the 
immediate requisites, but not of sufficient strength to bear the 
weight of a man, in addition to the necessary cargo. UndeF 
these circumstances, the conveyance of Taylor, by means of the 
sledges, was considered as next to impracticable; and, there¬ 
fore, the question was raised, whether it were possible for him 
to hobble on his stump, and, if that could not be accomplished, 
in what manner was he to be got to Fury Beach ? The whole of 
the crew proffered their aid towards rendering the conveyance 
of him as easy as possible; but a very different plan was sug¬ 
gested by Capt. Ross, and that was, to leave the poor fellow 
behind them ! ! ! If this horrid suggestion be founded in truth, 
Capt, Ross must, at the time, have been under the dominion of 
some fiend of hell, for from no other source could such an infernal 
idea have been poured into his mind. The blood chills along 
our veins, when we contemplate the dreadful sufferings, which a 
human being must undergo in such a situation, before death 
would kindly interpose to put an end to his agony. An act like 
this might have been contemplated by a Nero oraDomitian; but 
that a Christian, in the 19th century, should have exhibited such 
an instance of deliberate cruelty, staggers our belief, and im¬ 
poses upon us the task, which we willingly undertake, of giving 
Capt. Ross an opportunity of contradicting it. The words of 
our informant, are as follows, “ It was at leaving the boats (at 
Batty BayJ, where Capt. Ross wanted to leave George Taylor 
behind ; the man who had lost half his foot.” Discrediting this 
statement altogether, we made application to another indivi¬ 
dual, who was on the expedition, and from him we received a 
verbal confirmation of it. There are few acts, which will bear 
a parallel with it, in the whole range of the crimes, which, from 
the murder of Abel, have stamped the human race with igno¬ 
miny. Instances, indeed, are on record, of brutish captains 
leaving their men on uninhabited islands, and the vengeance of 
offended humanity has in time overtaken them; but steeled in 
hundred fold cruelty must be that individual, who. because a 
