LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
661 
flour-tubs in the hold of the Victory : and therefore, as the 
country, unlike that in the vicinity of Victory Harbour, fur¬ 
nished few or no animals, from which a supply of skins could 
be obtained for the manufacture of clothing, the crew were 
under the necessity of patching up their clothes in the strongest 
manner possible, as not one of them had a single dress but what 
he had in wear, and the uncertainty before them, of how long 
the time would be before they could equip themselves afresh. 
On this subject we shall have some curious information to give, 
when we come to describe the manner, in which Capt. Ross 
distributed the money, which the Lords of the Admiralty ad¬ 
vanced for the payment of the wages of the men. 
When the Fury was abandoned, she had on b^ard a consi¬ 
derable quantity of canvass, interwoven with worsted, which 
was intended for her housing in the winter. At the time when 
the provisions, stores, &c. of the Fury were put on the beach, in 
1825, the canvass was spread upon it, for the purpose of con¬ 
taining the coals ; and during the time that the crew of the 
Victory wintered there, every one of them was anxious to obtain 
some of this canvass, which, with the exception of the provi¬ 
sions, was, in the opinion of the sailors, the best friend they 
had met with in that part of the country. 
The principal use, to which the sailors applied the canvass, 
was, first to draw out the worsted threads, then tying them to¬ 
gether with a weaver’s knot, and having obtained a sufficient 
quantity, they proceeded to make a needle, of the workmanship 
of which the needle-makers of Whitechapel could not possibly 
be jealous, and then with the worsted they made some gloves 
and mittens. Commander Ross had four needles made, where¬ 
with he employed himself in footing and darning his own 
stockings, as well as making for himself some muffetees. 
Owing, however, to the indisposition of Thomas, the carpenter, 
considerable difficulty was experienced in removing the things, 
for the purpose of getting at the canvass; and Shreeve, who 
was the carpenter’s mate, was too busily employed in the fitting 
up of the interior of the house, to render them any assistance. 
The chief employment of the carpenter at this time, was, the 
