6S6 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS 
that can be attributed to Capt. Ross, after his reception on board 
the Isabella. 
The committee proceed to ask Capt. Ross—“ What portion 
of those surveys were made, after you were in the Isabella f 1 
-—“ I surveyed the coast, which we had previously not fully 
surveyed, the coast of the fishery.” 
“ Of the surveys advantageous to commerce, which you made, 
were the principal part made before you Joined the Isabella, or 
subsequently ? 9 \ —“ Some before, and some after I joined the 
Isabella.” 
‘ Which do you consider of most consequence ?”—“ Those 
after I joined the Isabella .” 
“ Did you explore any of those harbours, which you have 
stated, ships might go into to repair in the event of accidents to 
ships, after you joined the Isabella f *—“ Yes.” 
“ And any of those creeks, where the whales breed, after you 
joined the Isabella ?”■— f ‘ Yes.” 
Here, then, we have the positive admission, extracted from the 
mouth of Capt. Ross himself, that the most important discoveries 
of his expedition were made at a time, when his expedition may 
be said to have closed, and that it is chiefly on those discoveries, 
that he calls upon the country to reward him with £.5000; at 
the same time that he tells the committee, that he withholds 
those discoveries from the public, because such disclosure would 
prove injurious to his publication. It is, however, to be remarked, 
that, in his letter to Capt. Elliott, he makes not the slightest 
mention of these discoveries, which he affirms to be the most 
important of his expedition, and which, had they in reality been 
effected, it were natural to suppose, that he would not have let 
such an opportunity escape him, of informing the British public 
and the scientific world in general, of the important advantages, 
which had resulted from his four years’ residence in the Arctic 
seas. As, however, according to the admission of Capt. Ross, 
the discoveries, which he made subsequently to his joining the 
Isabella, are, in his opinion, the most important of his voyage, we 
have only to enter into an examination of the particular points, 
