IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.1 i 115 ■^ Bii 12.2 m m £f 1^ 12.0 u m MM IM |i.6 1111!== Hill lllll^^ < 6" ► /. V FhotograiM: SoHices Corporatton 23 WIST MAIN STRin WnSTIR,N.Y. MStO (716)t72-4S03 M 4^ <^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. t CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notat/Notaa tachniquoa at bibliographiquaa Tha Inatituta haa attamptad to obtain tha baat original copy availabia for filming. Faaturaa of thia copy which may lia bibliographically uniqua, which may altar any of tha imagaa in tha raproduction, or which may aignlficantly change the uaual method of filming, are checked below. 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P o fi b tl a o fi a! o T al M di er b« ril re m Thia item la filmed at tha reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document eet film* au taux de r*ductlon Indiqu* ci-deaaoua 10X 14X 18X 22X 28X 30X y 12X 16X aox MX 28X 32X Th« copy flimod h«ra hat baan raproducad thanks to tha ganarosity of: Library of tha Public Archivas of Canada Tha imagas appaaring hara ara tha baat quality possibia considaring tha condition and lagibility of tha original copy and in kaaping wtth tha filming contract spacifications. Original capiat in printad papar covars ara filmad baginning with tha front covar and anding on tha last paga with a printad or iliuatratad impras- sion, or tha back covar whan appropriata. All othar original capias ara filmad baginning on tha first paga with a printad or iliuatratad impras- sion. and anding on tha last paga with a printad or ilhistratad imprassion. 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Tous las autras exempleires originaux sont filmte en commenpant par la pramlAre paga qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'iliustration at en terminant par la darnlAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un dee symboies suivants apparaftra sur la dernlAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole Y signifie "FIN". Les cartas, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmte A dee taux da rMuction diff«rents. Lorsque ie document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA. il est film« A partir da I'angia supArieur gauche, de gauche A drolte, et de haut an bas, en prenant le nombre d'imagee nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrant la mAthode. 12 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 r .4.' XV /^ ^V REMARKS / ON THE ACCOUNT OF Cfje late ^pse of Bi0co\iei-p TO BAFFIN'S BAY, ,.* ^ r c 1^ 1-^ PUBLISHESi By captain J ROSS, R. N. iii By captain EDWARD SABINE, ROYAL ARTILLERY. j.,^ -■' iLoirtion: PRINTED By RKHARD AND ARTHUR TAYLOR, SHOE tAKE, FOR JOHN fiOOTH, DUKE STREET, PORTLAND PLACE. • 1819. 7 - V * % n r .1-' .1 % W:- , ■OMW REMARKS. 1 HE following pages are solely designed to counteract the erroneous impression which a perusal of Captain Rosses recent publication might produce concerning my employments, services, and opinions, during the late voyage. As Captain Ross's is not an official but a private work, I should have been unconcerned had the mention of my name or occupation been even wholly unnoticed; but when I perceive that observa- tions which I Was sent to make are therein published SB having been made or furnished by others, and va- rious information copied from my papers is given as his own, whilst I am principally introduced as having held an appointment (that of Naturalist) the duties of which I am represented as not having fulfilled, but which duties formed no part of my ofiicial engage- ment; I am obliged in justice to myself, and in con- sideration of the respect due to the authority by which I had the honour of being recommended, to show the true nature of my urtdertaking, and that I have not failed in executing it; to claim the observations and information which are exclusively my own, artd to re- --" ' A 2 1 :vf C<^ ^ 4 mark on other points with which Captain Ross has con- nected my name. • Through the kindness of Sir Joseph Banks, which I have so greatly experienced on this and many occa- sions, I am permitted to publish a copy of the recom- mendation on which my appointment took place. It was conveyed in the following letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty : (COPY.) *' Somerset House, January 29th, 1818. " Sir, — I am directed by the President and Council of the Royal Society to transmit to you, for the infor- mation of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the inclosed list of Instruments which they beg leave to recommend for the use of the two Northern Expe- ditions. ; " The President and Council also desire to recom- mend to the notice of their Lordships Captaift* Edward Sabine, as a proper person to conduct the experiments on board one of the vessels. *' I have the honour to be, &c. &c. (Signed) " William Thomas Brande. " To John Barrov/, Esq. Secretary of the Admiralty." r My competency to conduct these experiments had been previously inquired into by a Committee of the Royal Society, from whom I received instructions for my guidance in the use of the instruments which had been prepared under their direction. It has been customary at the return of preceding voyages of discoveiy, that an official publication has been undertaken by the authority and with the sanction of Government. In the account of Captain Phipps's voyage the nautical and scientific results were united in the same volume : in Captain Cook's voyages they v/ere not so united; the astronomical and other observa- tions being published separately, still however under the authority of Government, by Messrs. Wales and Bayley, who had respectively held the appointment of astronomer. Oil the return of the late Expedition my reports on the subjects intrusted to me were in a state of pre- paration, and I expected to have completed them for publication in any way that should have been pointed out to me. The day after my arrival in London, Captain Ross informed me that he had bten ordered to draw up an official ^ount of all that had been done in the Ex- pedition which h^d been under his command. I im* mediately expressed my readiness to complete my pa- pers for him, and to put him in possession of all the infonnation on every subject, whether connected with my duty or otherwise, which my knowledge or my curiosity had enabled me exclusively to possess; add- ing, that 1 would accept no share of the emoluments arising from the sale of the publication. Learning from the Secretary of the Admiralty, a few days aftenvards, that the Board had decided that no account should appear under the sanction of their authority, but that it was determined to return the f *i journals and papers to the individuals who had con- tributed them, with liberty to make them public in any way that they might prefer, I addressed the fol- lowing letter to Captain Ross : " Portland Place, December 7th, 1&18. " My dear Sir,-^I understand that our journals are to be shortly returned to us^ with a general notifi- cation that every individual is at liberty to publish^ as it is not the intention of Government to draw up any ac- count of the voyage, or to sanction any statement in particular with their authority. " It appears, therefore, that the ultimate decision of the Admiralty is different from that which you ex- pected, when in our conversation on the 19th of No^, vember you informed me that you were to be ofiicially.. directed to give the public the account of every thing which had been done. Had such been the case, I- should most readily have rendered you every assist^ ance in my power in the execution of this duty, with- out limiting myself to the subjects on which it would have been my more immediate duty to have done so, a;i I then expressed myself. . "As I have reason to believe that I can depend on the authority of the information with which I have commenced this letter, 1 take the earliest opportunity of apprizing you in confidence, that should my jour- nal and papers be so returned, I have thoughts of publishing a short narrative of our voyage, compre- hending those points which are of general interest, a detail of the observations, and remarks on the natural i histbiy. I shall haVe little to siBiy oti ndtitical po'mtsi being rather glad to avail myself of the excuse of pro- fessional inability, to avoid the discussion of questions on which the next voyage will remove all doubts. Should it be your design also to publish, and should y6u be disposed to place the same confidence ih me that I aiti' now doing in you, I shall be glad to be acquainted with' your intentions. " Yours, &c., " Edward Sabine." My design of making a com|ilfete pubHcation was afterwards laid aside from reasons which it is unneces- sary here to enter on, but prindipally because a prospect opened to me, in accompanying a second expieditioh, of extending the series of my observations, and of adding to the information which I already possessed. A few days after I had written the above letter, it came to my knowledge accidentally that Captain Ros^ designed to publish, and had already printed, obser- vations which I knew could only have been mine, t immediately wrote to him, stating what I had heard, and remarking that, if he had got any papers of mine from the Admiralty office, their contents were not complete, nor in a state to mieet the public eye ; but! that, if the Admiralty had given him any of my papers, I had no objection to prepare them for publication' arid return them. ' Captain Ross sent mfe one papfer, and only onef; it was an abstract of the observations which I had made 8 J. on the ship's daily latitude and her longitude by each of six chronometers in the Isabella, and by their mean ; arranged in tables on the models of these of Messrs. Wales and Bayley. Captain Ross had ob- tained this document out of the Hydrographic office, and when I received the manuscript I perceived that it had been printed from. I recalculated the results, making a few alterations, and returned them ; pre- fixing an account of the going of the six chronome- ters, which had been under my charge and regulation during the voyage ; having at Captain Ross's request undertaken the care of two furnished by Government, and one belonging to himself, in addition to three which had been lent liie by individuals for my own private use. — ^The acknowledgement of these observa- tions is contained in the following letter : ; > . "Dear Sir, — Herewith you will receive for cor- rection the proof sheets of the observations which you sent me for publication, and which I have to beg you will be pleased to return to Mr. Murray .when cor- rected. — ^And I shall be obliged if you will send me as soon as possible, and in a state for publication, any other observations you may have made during the late voyage, relative to the various objects of the Expe- dition or those branches of science in which you were employed, viz. the variation and inclination of the magnetic needle, intensity of magnetic force, refrac- tion, aurora borealis, and figure of the earth as deter- mined by observation on the pendulum, that I may 9 have the pleasure of giving them a place in my publi- cation, which is now in a forward state. "lam, Sir, • " Your obedient servant, " John Ross. " London, 12th February, 181 y." My reply to this letter I gave him permission to publish, as it would account for the absence of the papers he requested. It was in substance, that the re- ports on these subjects had been sent to the RoyaJ Society at the instance of the Admiralty ; and that any which were deemed worthy of being recorded would be printed, I presumed, in the Philosophical Transactions (in fact they were at this time under examination of a Committee of the Royal Society) ; that if the Admiralty had given the reports to him, and had wished them to form a part of his publica- tion, I would readily have completed them for that purpose. On receiving this reply he returned the manuscript which I had before sent him, and re- marked, that as he had not the whole of my obser- vations, he could not think oi puhWshmg ani/ pari of them. I contented myself with repeating a former request, that, if he should still design to publish any thing of mine, or on my authority, he would at least give me an opportunity of seeing it previously for the pur- pose of correction. Here our correspondence ceased : but on the ap- 10 pearance of Captain Ross*d publication, I perceived that it contained observations wbich I had exclusively madej on various subjects, printed not indeed under my name, but under that of Mr. James Clark Ross, nephew to Captain Ross, a midshipman of the Isabella. I immedi- ately requested an interview with Mr. James Ross, and in the presence of the officers commanding the Hecla and Griper, the two ships now fitting for a new Ex- pedition, and of Mt. Hooper, one of the officers of the Hecla, called on him for the disavowal which follows : March 28th 1819 : — Qtiestions put by Captain Sa- bine to Mr. blames C. Ross in presence of Ijieute-; nants Parry and JLi4don and Mr. Hooper of tlie - Itoyal Navy^ with Mr. Jaines C. Ross's anstver/s. Q. In the Appendix of Captain Ross's Account of a voyage of discovery are inserted " Observations on the Pendulum^' with a memorandum stating " thai these obsert^ations were furnished by Mr. James Ross." These observations being mine, and the ac- cdnnt of them having been copied from my papers, I call on you to disavow them, and to state how and when' you became possessed of what has been printed as furnished by you ? A. I copied them from your papers' during the voyage, by your permission. $. Ih the Appendix is also given " A Table shoW' ing the magnetic dip and intei?sify of the magnetic force, furnished by Mr. James Ross, who ivith Cap'* tain Sabine was employed particularly to make these n observations J" I call on you, as an officer and as. a gentleman, to state whether any of the observations contained in that table were made by you ; whether you ever made any observations on the dip or force ; and how and when you became possessed of the " Ta- ble" printed by Captain Ross ? ^, I never did make any observations on the mag- netic dip or force, and I copied that table from your papers by your permission during the voyage. Q, Did you not when at or near Shetland, on our return home, copy my Meteorological register for Cap- tain Ross, at his request and by my permission ; being the same regbter that is engraved in plates in Captain BossV book> and which was the only one so kept in the Isabella? ' -^. Yes, I did. (S^ed) Edward Sabine, James Clark Rossy In presence of WilHatn Edward Parry, Matthew Liddon^ and William Hooper. I feel thr^t my acknowledgements are aae to Mr. JaiQcii Boss for his manly and honourable disavowal of the use which had been made of his name. It was not without extreme concern that I felt myself under a necessity of calling upon him ; but I well knew that the obligations of honour and of justice were paramount in his mind ta personal or to family considerations.. 12 f: P. if HI Nil m l\ Had I not, however, possessed so ready and effectual a method of claiming my own property, there is in- ternal evidence in some of these observations, that they could only have been made by me ; for instance, an account is given of the going of the Pendulum- clock i" Portland Place at a time when I had not the pleasure of knowing Mr. J. C. Ross, being before I embarked in the Expedition. I have only to add concerning the magnetic observa- tions, that they are incomplete, imperfect, and printed incorrectly ; that those on the pendulum are useless in their present state, as every person who understands the subject will perceive. I have however no reason to be ashamed of the manner in which even my rough memoranda on the spot were made ; a state in which I little expected they would appear before the public. I have also to appropriate and to acknowledge the com- pliment which Captain Ross has paid to the care and attention with which the meteorological tables, which have been published by him, were kept. Amongst the papers which were placed, in Captain Ross's hands on our arrival in England, to be trans- mitted by him to the Admiralty, was one on the lan- guagj& of the Esquimaux who reside to the north of the latitude of 76°. When my journal was returned from the Admiralty, I noticed the absence of this pa- per. But as it was on a subject on which I was not officially employed, and as I had retained a copy of it, I did not give trouble by representing that it was miss- ing J but I had it in view, when I wrote to Captain 13 Ross, to request that he would give me an opportunity of correcting any thing he might design to publish as mine or on my authority. On the appearance of Captain Ross's book I per- ceived that he had appropriated this paper ; much of the information contained therein being published, not only without acknowledgement, but in the first per- son. Page 121, 122, 123, 132, are copied almost verbatim from this document ; wherever he has ven- tured upon apparently even a trivial change of ex- pression, he has fallen into error, which betrays the want of originality. I give an instance of ; this : — - Where he is speaking of an animal called the amarok^ (mis-printed ancarok) he remarks, " I cannot " find it to be mentioned by writers on Greenland." The original sentence was, " I have never seen a descrip' " tion of it by writers on Greenland." The change is un- fortunate ; it is mentioned both by Crantz and Egede, writers whose works were on board; but it is not de^^ scribed by either, for they had only heard of its exists ence from Esquimaux. It is unnec2ssary to cite more such passages ; but there is one very remarkable mis- take, showing not only that Captain Ross does not understand the subject of the Esquimaux language, but that he had not read attentively the information which he communicates as original. In page 12C, speaking of the difference between the northern and southern dialects, he says, " the names of things the ** most common in all countries are totally different: to ** illustratethislsubjoin a list collected frbmSacheuse.** 14 If i 1 i f The list he subjoins was drawn up expressly to illustrate the reverse, which it does ; " the words which are the *' same in both dialects" being exactly those which ^re in most common use. Captain Ross J»dds : " Nevertheless it will be found " by reference to the said list, that the two languages " are radically the same." How this can consist with the words in most common use being totally different, is not easy to be comprehended. There are also abundant mistakes from another source, namely, the difficulty in decyphering my hand writing: from hence it has happened that the Esqui- maux words are almost invariably mis-printed, and frequently fatally as to their pronunciation. I sup- pose that out of twenty persons who have purchased Captain Ross's book, there is' not more than one who cares about the Esquimaux language; butthatonemay alter the words if he pleases, by the same list correctly printed in the 1 3th No. of the Quarterly Journal of Sci- ence and Arts, where it has been published by myself. • I have mentioned that Captain Ross ceturned the observations which I had sent him on the ship's daily latitude and longitude, with an account of the going of her chronometers ; not however until he had used the latter in making up an account which he has published as his own. I shall content myself with producing a single evidence of the use of my manuscript, as it is a decisive one. (In App. p. 100.) No. 228 is stated to hatve been sent by its makers Messrs. Parkinson and Frodsham to Mr. Browne's, about a fortnight before its 1 c c I] t r wm 15 embarkation, subject to the following remark, ^' that it " might be expected to accelerate from 4 to 10 seconds " in the first three or four months ; but this propensity " once disposed of, its rate would suffer no material al- "teration." When the makers brought No. 228 to Mr. Browne's, I was not at home ; they left no written memorandum, but spoke generally of its being a new watch, and that it might therefore be expected to gain. Soon after our return, I sent them an account of its going, no- ticing that it had gained. They returned me a letter, to remind me that they b?d expected it would do so. This \e.i\jeXireceived since our return, contained the re-* mark verbatim which is in inverted commas. I cour sidered it fair to the makers to insert their own words in the manuscript which I sent to Captain Ross. He must have copied them from thence, because he never saw the letter or heard the remark otherwise. This one fact is proof sufficient, that although Cap- tain Ross would not publish the account I had sent him, " because he had not all my observations," he still "'ould and did use it to make up one which should appear his own. But in altering, it for this purpose, he has introduced mistakes and contradictions which destroy the whole. As I am known to have had the re/ gulation of the chronometers, not only by all the ofh- cers of the Expedition, but also at the Admiralty^ X might have the discredit of these mistakes, if I oniit« ted to notice that the published account is not a* cor- rect statement of the going of the chronometers, nor !l III III fr II i*"- f 16 does it show, as Captain Ross says it does, the way in which they were regulated*. • It has been suggested, that having alluded to mistakes and contra- dictions, I ought to point out at least one instance of each. I proceed to do so : premising that of course I do not mean the errors of the press j the extracts from Captain Ross's book are re-printed just as they stand. In the account of the going of the chronometer.s, (App. p. ciii. near the bottom) the following notice is made of the new rates a&signed on the 1st. of June. No. 816-^ J ;§ c 369 ! I £ > § £ < 223 j ^2 I 25J IJ L 1" 39 12 18 9 24 1 ]! r i 3 1" 6 5 12 5 L 4 III _0"64'" 1 i« e bo r=0" p t^ ■? .. ••?* ^ 35 I C IL* S I J<^5 (. = 2"0 Some mistake here is obvious ; since, if each chronometer had been found to have gained for some time to a certain daily amount, it is im- probable that new rates should have been given differing so very widely from that amount. In page 33 of the Narrative these new rfttes of the 1st of June are differently stated ; the Narrative is right, the Appendix wrong. Captain Ross entered them in his journal from a memorandum which I gave him at the time, and from his journal his Narrative is taken. He has contradicted himself in his Appendix, from not having taken sufficient jiains to copy correctly the manuscript account wluch I sent him of the going of the chronometers, as will be seen by the passage itself which i? printed here. No. Corrections to . • Greenwich time. New Rates. ' Old Rates. 815 fast r39" . gaining 1" daily . . gaining 0",54 369 fast 12 18 . g^ning 5,5 ... . gaining 7, 35 228 fast 9 24 . g^ning 12,5 . gaining 3 1024 fast 1 47 . gtuning 1 ... . gaining 1 25 fast 1 10,25 . gaining 4 ... . gtuning 2 623 slow 4 36 . . losing 6 ... . not fixed. The reader will perceive that Captain Ross has copied the figures correctly, (excepting what may be supposed errors of the press) j but f^om want of attention to the heading of the columns he has mistaken the old rates for the new ones, and has printed them wrong accordingly : — an error which a person who had himself attended to the regulation of the chronometers would not have fallen t.ito. i; Captain Ross having thus availed himself so exten- sively of my papers and observations in making his book, I might have expected in ordinary courtesy to have been well spoken of by him, rather than other- wise. He could not indeed conveniently have re- turned me ^acknowledgements for papers which he preferred should appear under another name ; but it certainly renders it the more unreasonable, that he r,35 An instance of erroneous calculation follows ; a mistake of method, not of inadvertency. — Between the 18th and 24th of September a cer- tain number of lunars were obtained ; of these It is stated that ** Tlie means of observations West of the chronometers being 6' 10" *' And those East of the chronometers being 4 35 '* The mean was found to be 6 22^ ation ** or 2 If seconds slow of Greenwich time." A person competent to the regulation of chronometers would not have found the mean to be 5' 22"i. When lunars fall, some on the west and some on the east of the chronometers, half the difference of the obser- vations and not half their sum is the mean difference between the lunars and chronometers, or 0' AT'i, not 6' 22"^. Yet it is to such calculations as these that Captain Ross would refer his readers, as evidencing the correctness of his Longitudes and Chart I WTiilst on the subject of chronometers I may incidentally allude to Captain Ross's observation that one of them was once ** unfortunately forgotten to be wound up." Though he does noi positively <^9xge me as being in fault, he leaves it to be inferred that I was so, by omitting to state, that he had taken it out of my charge three or four days before it went down, and had worn it in his pocket ; and although he had replaced it in its green case the evening before, he did not tell me that he had done so : consequently I did not look for it when I wound the others. One would suppose that such a circumstance was hardly worth being re- corded, especially when it is followed by a notice of the " additional ac- cident" which befel the same chronometer a few days afterwards, when it fell out of Captun Ross's haridtt upon the deck, and was of course ren- dered useless. • 1 -I :,,» r !? I n 18 has gone out of his way to make me " a Naturalist** for the purpose of showing by my note that I consi- dered my pretensions to that honour as very sHght. That Captain Ross w: " under no mistake as to the true nature of my official duties is shown in his letter of the 1 2th of February, printed at page ^. (I beg the reader to refer to it.) It is Captain Ross's own testi- mony, that long after the voyage was over, so far from being in error as to my appointment, he enumerates, rather minutely indeed, the branches of science on which I was actually employed, and does ?iot even jnention Natural History amongst them. The letter also states that Captain Ross's publication was then {«. e, on the 12th February) "in a forward state." Accordingly it appears on a reference, that in all the early part of his book I am mentioned as engaged in my own proper occupations, until the 1 17th page, when I am first introduced as " Our Naturalist;" which si- tuation is allotted to me during the remainder of the book ; whilst others are stated to have performed the services which were exclusively my duty and my per- formance. I conclude, therefore, that on the 12th of February, Captain Ross had not reached his 117th page ; but from thenceforth, having a disposition to exhibit me to a disadvantage, and searching in vain for an opportunity in what I was sent to do, he was forced to make an occasion, in misrepresenting me" as " the Naturalist of the voyage," which he well knew I was not. 10 « 1 have, liowever, a few words to say for myself even on this suhjeet. I have already shown that my recom- mendation and appointn^ent had no reference v/hat- soever to Natural History; to which I may add, that it was never mentioned either by the Committee of the Royal Society who inquired into my qualifications, or by the Admiralty. If therefore I have rendered any services in that department of science, I ought to have received credit, however imperfect they might haVe been, inasmuch as they made no part of my en- gagement. A trust is indeed expressed in Captain Ross's Instructions that I should render material as- sistance in collecting and preserving specimens of the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms; but these Instructions were not shown me, nor did I ever see them until published by Captain Ross. If I had been permitted to see the parts which concerned my- self before our departure, I should not have objected to the trust therein expressed; I should only have re- quested that it might be represented as founded upon my zeal, rather than upon my information. It was generally known, and particularly to Mr. Barrow, that I was in the habit of living with many of the principal members of the Linnean Society; was particularly attached to the study of Ornithology, and acquainted with the method of collecting and preserv- ing generally. It was therefore very reasonably ex- pected, that when not engaged with the immediate du- ties of my appointment, I should readily assist in bring- ing home the natural productions of the countries we b2 20 *.' It! should visit; and I have only to appeal to facts to show that I have been of use. * I might call upon the officers of the Expedition at large to state my indefatigable pursuit in that branch of Natural History in which I am most interested; but it is unnecessary to do so : the Memoir which I have presented to the Linnean Society, and which will be printed in their Transactions, is the best testimony of its result. It may be as well to observe, that every preparation for preserving, &c. was furnished by myself and at my own expense. I am not aware that any materials of the kind were supplied by the Government : — if they were, I never saw or heard of them. My specimens of birds I presented to my brother, to whom I owe the interest and gratification which this pursuit affords me : the information respecting them I have given to the Public. The birds collected by Captain Ross were sent to the British Museum. I had the honour to present the small collection of plants which I obtained in the very few occasions when we were on shore, to the Herbarium of Sir Joseph Banks; and it is shown in the Botanical Appendix to Captain Ross's book, that although his collection united that of all the officers and men under his com- mand, whilst mine was my own alone, of nine new species which have been added to Arctic botany, seven were exclusively brought home by nie; and I can safely " ■ ■ — — -■- — I.... — — ■» !■ ■■.— ■■ ■ ■ 11 I I- I I ■ — ■ 111 »■ » ■ — • Captain Ross states erroneously that I was represented as possessing talents for drawing. It is not sud so in bis Instructions. 21 sny that there would have been more, had not my col- lection been stopped by Captain Rose*s order of the 17tli August, which forbad any person to collect but himself. *j Having presented the marine insects and the mine- rals which I had collected and preserved to the British Museum, I have to subjoin the following letters from Mr. Konig and Dr. Leach, in answer to my request that they would speak for me on those points. From Mr. Konig. *' Britifh Museum, April 10th, 1819. " Dear Sir, — I have great pleasure in certifying that you was the first who sent to the British Museum a small but interesting collection of specimens, as re- sults of the mineralogical researches made in your voy- age to Baffin's Bay. It is but justice to add, that the respective localities of these specimens were carefully set down by you, and that you had no objection what- ever to my showing them to any body who might wish to draw up an account of the Geology of the Arctic Regions where they were collected. *' I remain, dear Sir, very sincerely yours, " Charles Konig. " Captain Sabine." From Dr. Leach. " British Museum, April 2d, 1819. ** I seize this opportunity to again thank you for * This order has been printed by Captain Ross, page 235 in his book. 22 •| il the zeal and kindness with whicli you attended to my request, to collect such marine animals as might fall in your way; and when I consider how much you were occupied with the more important duties of your pro- fession, the result has far exceeded my most sanguine expectations. You must recollect that you gave me permission in December to send a descriptive cata- logue of the objects collected by you to Captain Ross, but I was at that period too much engaged to be ena- bled to send more than a very hasty sketch. ** In haste, your obliged and faithful, " William Elford Leacii." Ilius it has been shown, that although considering it in no degree my duty, I did actually fulfil the trust which the knowledge of my general zeal, not my en- gagements, had led the Admiralty to expect from me. It remains to notice the complaint which Captain lloss makes to the public, that they have not got the information which I had to give, through the medium of his book. I might answer, that it was purely op- tional with me to contribute, or not, to his private publication ; but this reply would not convey a fair representation either of my feeling or conduct towards him. His application to me for information was after I had apprized him by my letter of the ^th of Decem- ber, that I was going to publish on the subject myself. Had he given the whole paragraph of my reply, in- stead of the first sentence printed as the whole, such would have been shown to be the ground on which I »» 23 dccHiied furnisliing lilm with a Paper on the birds of Greenland; which, on a clear understanding from him- self that he was to be ordered to draw up an o^««/ pub- lication, my brother had previously promised that we should jointly write. I subjoin the paragraph entire ; the sentence printed in italics is published by Captain Ross, with my name placed at the end, as if it formed the whole communication. " — la reply to your request for information on Natural History ^ I have no pretension to more than a very ordinary knowledge of any branch of it except' ing Ornithology. Mr. Beverly was desired by your- self to draw up un account of the birds for the Admi- ralty; which he executed, and you have transmitted. You must be conscious that every information I could supply was given to you upon the voyage, and that I never made limits to my duty. My observations and remarks on subjects in which I was officially employed were unquestionably the property of Government, by whose authority they have been returned to me with liberty to publish ; and it shall be my care to lay them properly before the public." My official papers being so returned, there could be no question but that my private papers were at my own disposal ; and my intention to publish them elsewhere was obviously the reason why I did not send them to Captain Ross. I have preferred the Transactions of the Linnean Society as the most appropriate chan- nel for communications on those parts of Natural M 24 History which my own knowledge enabled meto fur- nish. But although I exercised my right of preference, I had no wish to injure Captain Ross's book. On the contrary, my note is published in which I refer- red him to my specimens, having placed the gentlemen in whose charge they were, at perfect liberty to de- scribe them tor him 5 which has appeared by their own letters. Captain Ross states that " no results followed from Captain Sabine's communication with Dr. Leach." I need only refer to Dr. Leach's letter to show that this statement is incorrect. My collection of plants are described in his work ; and if Captain Ross was not at the pains to ask Mr. Konig to describe the minerals, or to show them to Dr. MacCuUoch, it is not my fault that the latter gentleman has never seen them. I should have had great pleasure in giving him all the information in my power (had he requested it) as to locality and circum- stance; and I hope he would not have had the same reason to complain of the want of care in collecting and minuting, which he has found in the specimens brought home by Captain Ross. Having thus, I trust, made clear the true natuie of my duties and of my services, it is with feelings of no ordinary satisfaction that I am permitted to make pub- lic the report of the manner in which I am consi- dered to have fulfilled my engagement, by the Com- mittee to whom (on my return) my papers were sub- mitted for examination by the Admiralty. 25 Extract from the Minutes of the Royal Society, March \Sth 1819. The following Report from the Committee for ascer- taining the length of the Seconds Pendulum was read. ** It is the opinion of this Committee, that Captain Sabine has shown the greatest possible diligence in making the observations which were intrusted to his care, and the greatest judgement and regularity in his method of recording them ; and this Committee there- fore suggests the propriety of recommending Captain Sabine to the Admiralty in the strongest manner, both as deserving every professional encouragement, and as a proper person to be again appointed to take charge of the observations to be made in a new Expe- dition. *' At the same time the Committee cannot help ex- J)ressing great regret that the opportunities afforded for Captain Sabine's Experiments on the Pendulum were so much limited by the shortness of the time al- lowed him at the different stations, and their wishes that this inconvenience should be remedied by the ar- ranp.meiit to be adopted on any future occasion. *^ Resolved, — That the Council do approve and adopt the above Report. " Ordered, — ^That a copy thereof be transmitted to the Admiralty." M- ; 26 i i, i * i i !! \m J In Captain Ross's account of his proceedings in Lancaster's Sound my name is twice introduced, and obviously for the purpose of supporting the propriety of his conduct in not prosecuting the examination of the Inlet ; the inferences which are designed to be conveyed being, that he consulted with me, and that my opinion coincided with his, that it was unneces- sary to go further. — An importance is here attached to my opinion, which did not show itself at the time, nor during the voyage. Captain Ross was accustomed to act solely from his own judgement; he formed his plans and executed them without a reference to any psrson; he certainly at no time placed his confidence in me ; he never showed me his Instructions ; conse- quently I need hardly add that he never consulted me as to his conduct under them. But I can do more than assert this — ^I can ap- peal to a letter which he wrote to the commander of the Alexander but a very few days before we arrived off Lancaster's Sound, in which he expressly states that "he always acts on his own opinions, being alone " responsible — that^ he has never been led by any *' one's else — nor shall any one else share the blame, ** should any ever be attached to his proceedings." When he thus professed that he would not avail him- self of the judgement of his second in command, it is not probable that he should have consulted with a person whose employment was quite distinct from the nautical conduct of the Expedition : and in point of fact he did not. 27 But although my opinion was not asked whether I thought the Inlet sufficiently explored or not, I should not have noticed the statemer t if it were a just one; but as it is not so, and as I did not consider the ex- €imination as satisfactory, being even greatly disap- pointed by our not proceeding further, I owe it to myself not to permit the following passages to pass unnoticed. The first occurs in page \7l: " Captain Sabine, who " produced Baffin's account, was of opinion that we " were off Lancaster's Sound, and that there were no " hopes of a passage until we should arrive at Cum- ** berland Strait; to use his own words, * there was no ** indication of a passage' — * no appearance of a cu)> " rent' — * no drift wood' — * and no swell from the " north west." I shall not detain the reader by ques- tioning words which can only have had a foundation in some casual conversation; but content myse^^^ with referring to the time at which such conversation is stated to have taken place, " when we were o^' Lan- caster's Sound," that is, before we entered it. We were in the Sound early in the morning of the 30th of August, and proceeded to sail into it until tlie even- ing of the following day, an interval in which encou- ragement to our progress westward opened beyond the expectations even of the most sanguine persons on board. Moreover, to what do the expressions amount .^ — To the absence of certain indications which every person knows are not conclusive; and to ^8 "I: li C( (( ilie speculations of an individual before the ships had e^en entered the Inlet ! The second sentence is in page 184 : *' My opi- " nions were mentioned to several of the officers after I had determined to proceed to the southward, and * also to Captain Sabine, who repeated on every oc- casion that there was no indication of a passage.*' The first knowledge which I had of Captain Ross's intention of quitting Lancaster's Sound was from, the officer of the watch, who came down into the gun room where I was sitting about 7 p. M. and said that the ships were making all sail out of the Inlet. I asked the reason, and was answered, "The Captain says he saw land when we were at dinner." We had a long run that night, with a fair wind, which took us far out of the Inlet. Captain Ross states that " his opinions weie mentioned after he had dc' ** termmed to proceed to the Southward'^ They were 80, but not until long after he had executed his deter' mination; for it was not until the 1st of September, when we were out of Lancaster's Sound, and on our way down the coast, that a conversation took place between Captain Ross and myself on the subject. The purpose of this conversation was not to consult a'-out quitting a sound which we had already left ; — it was not to inquire whether I thought Captain Ross had done right or wrong in leaving it; — it was not to learn whether I agreed with Captain Rci^s that a passage could not exist, because he well knew that I had not 20 opx- ifter »♦ I not seen the continuity of land, the only decisive probf 5 and that as he was the only person who had, I could form no opinion until I heard the particulars of what he had seen, and which I did not do until in that very conversation. I could know nothing but from what he should say; I had not seen any land in the direction of the Inlet ; I should have been very happy to have been an evidence of its existence, and to have judged for myself on so important an occasion, in preference to depending on the account of another person. But I was not on deck when the land is stated to have been visible, nor was I informed until nearly four hours afterwards that such an occurrence had taken place. It was not necessary that I should be informed of it. It is true. Captain Ross had directed that *' Captain Sabine be *' called whenever any remarkable object is to be seen in "the sky or water,'' (General orders Nov. 8.) but I had not been called on this occasion, and therefore lost the sight of two very remarkable objects, namely, the ice in Lancaster's Sounds and the range of lofty mountains at its bottom. . ... The conversation alluded to, was occasioned by my very visible mortification at having come away from a place which I considered as the most interesting in the world for magnetic observations, and where my ex- pectations had been raised to the highest pitch, with- out having had an opportunity of making them. Cap- tain Ross explained to me his reasons for not having stood on in the Inlet, amongst which reasons one wa»> his opinion that there was no passage. He said that he 30 PI'. tT il ■|i, I was directed to keep at a distance from land, and not to entangle himself in sounds where he did not find the strong carrent which his Instructions pointed out as ttn indication of a passage. He said, " You saw therfe " was no appearance of such a current, no drift wood, " which people at home talked of." I assented to the observation inasmuch as it related to facts. He fur- ther explained, that scientific observations were con- sidered in his Instructions as very secondary; and however desirous he might be to stretch a point in my favour, he could not act in the face of his orders with such bad sailing ships, and so late in the season. Of course I made no reply ; these were matters for his judgement, not for mine, and I was obliged to con- tent myself under my disappointment. I took the opportunity, however, of asking Captain Ross con- cerning the land which he had seen the day before, the particulars of which he recounted ; but made no inquiry what I thought of them. It remains for me to state the opinion that I did form, and to justify it; not from any importance which I attach to it, — because, however persons may differ as to whether Lancaster's Sound was or was not sufficiently explored by Captain Ross, there can be little doubt but that it will be most satisfactorily examined by the Ex- pedition which is now preparing, — ^but, as a reference has been made to my opinion, it is but justice to my- self to make known what it really was. Of Captain Ross's conductldid not judge, becauseldid not know what his orders were; but presuming that the object 31 of the voyage was to ascertain whether there was or was not a north-west passage, I considered direct and absolute proof of the continuity of land as the only decisive evidence of its impossibility, and as the evi- dence which the public would expect. Had we indeed found a strong current, or drift wood, I should have deemed them very hopeful indi- cations; but their absence proved nothing; and an inlet with shores wider apart than those of Behring's Straitsi with a depth of water exceeding 600 fathoms when above 30 miles from its entrance, an increased temperature of the water*, and an open sea, were en* xiouragements to our progress westward, presenting themselves after we had entered the Inlet, which ren- dered the absence of what are popularly called Indi- cations of a passage, of less comparative importance even than usual. For the particulars of this land, which stands alone to prove that the expectations so generally ex- cited in Lancaster's Sound were fallacious, I was ne- cessarily wholly dependent on Captain Ross. Even when he related them to me, I did not think them conclusive ; and the more I considered them, the more strong my conviction grew, that Lancaster's Sound, as well as many parts of the coast which we had passed l)efore, would be revisited. * The temperature of the surface of the sea had averaged 31" and 32° for a considerable time previously. When we opened Lancaster's Sound it beoame 36", and continued 8o, generally, whilst we were in the Sound. 32 P t! ill;: .■;?! • There are some material points of difference between the statement Captain Ross made at the period when my opinion was formed, and that which he has since published : it is necessary that these should be ex- plained in justification of my opinion, because the printed account leaves no room for hope, whereas his statement at the time did admit of considerable doubt. First. Captain Ross estimated the distance of the land in question as much greater than] I perceive he now considers it to have been ; this might be stated on the authority of others as well as of myself; but it is unnecessary, because estimation of distance admits of uncertainty, and every person has a right to recon- sider his original impressions. Secondly. Captain Ross said he was the only per- son who had seen the land*. As this point is material in influencing a judgement, I must say that I have often heard him make the same assertion since. I will mention one occasion in particular, because it is a late one : Mr. Parry and I were invited to meet him at dinner at Mr. Mouat's house in Shetland, on our re- turn in Nf\ ember ; Captain Ross related some of the particulars of the voyage; and in answer to a question * — I . I * Captain Ross's published account is the following : — " I immediately ** therefore went on deck, and soon after it completely cleared for about *• 10 minutes, and I distinctly saw the land round the bottom of the bay ** forming a connected chain of mountains with those which extended " along the north and south sides. This land appeared to be at a distance ** of 6 leagues ; and Mr. Lewis the master and James Haig leading *« man being sent for, they took its bearings, which were inserted in th* « log." Page 174. \ 33 from one of the guests, whose attention and interest generally were excited to Lnncaster's Sound, even by Captain Ross's own account, he said, " I was the only " person who saw this land ; I was in hopes at one time " that Mr. Lewis, the Greenland master, might have " seen it as well as myself; but I find he did not," or words precisely to that effect . I have requested Mr. Parry, who was present, to confirm this statement, and subjoin his note. « H. M. S. Hccla, April 9th 1819. " Dear Sabine, — In reply to your note of this morn- ing, I can have no hesitation in stating that I have heard Captain Ross say more than once, at Shetland, that he believed he was the only person who had seen the land all round in Lancaster's Sound. " I am " Yours very truly, " William Edward Parry." I have only to add, that I had no reason to doubt the correctness of Captain Ross's statement at Shet- land, because the subject had been much inquired into and canvassed in both ships, and I could not learn that any other person than Captain Ross professed to have seen the land. Thirdly. Captain Ross referred me to the log for the bearing of the land which he had seen. On laying the bearing oflf on the chart, I found that it would not connect the north and south shores of the Inlet by more than 30 degrees of the compass, and such I still find to be the case on examining the documents now c n* •I a |j 1 '■■i 1 ' i^ ir'' ! I'i I 'II ' 1 34 at the Admiralty, namely. Captain Ross's private log, and thoseof theLieutenantandtwoMidshipnien. The reader will understand that the log was the ooly au- thentic document to which I could refer, as imtil Cap- tain Ross's engraving of Croker's Mountains, Barrow's Bay, and Lancaster's Bay appeared, I Ivad never even heard that he had made a drawing of the land. I perceive also that a cause is now stated by Captain Ross, for not having proceeded further in the Inlet, which is indeed a quite sufficient reason, I mean the barrier of' ice. Had this been mentioned in our con- versation on the 1st September, it would have been unnecessary to have assigned any other reasons for not having gone on. I am quite sure that Captain Ross did not tell me of it, because I was ignoraut even after our return to England of there having been ice in Lancaster's Sound. Had such a circumstance been mentioned on the voyage, it could not have failed to have struck me as a contradiction to the general con- versation and belief. On Captain Ross's account of the land, therefore, •which was the only one I could obtain, I could form but one opinion^ that where so much hope had been excited, land seen for a short time, by a single indivi- dual, at a very considerable distance, on a very unfa- vourable day, and which did not fill up the Lilet by so large a space, would not be considered as decisive evidence on our return. . , I must add that I saw many round nie more san- guine of ultimate success whilst we were in Lancaster's Sound than myself; that when we first were off it, 1 35 vate log, ;n. The ooly au- itil Cap- Barrow's ver even i. Captain he Inlet, nean the our con- ave been .sons for Captain •ant even en ice in ice been failed to ;ral con- lerefore. Id form lad been e indivi- ry unfa- Inlet by decisive )re san- icaster's >fr it, 1 •1 i \ was not prepared to have found it the magnificent in- let it proved ; and that although I was as much alive as any person could be to the encouraging circum- stances of increased depth and temperature of the water, distance of the shores asunder, &c. I consi- dered them as grounds of hope that we should not meet with any immediate obstructions to our passage westward, rather than of that decisive nature as to in- dicate a passage. My expectations were most highly raised, that the bottom of the sound, even should it prove one, would be accessible ; and as the nearest practicable approach to one of the magnetic poles ap- peared thus within our reach, the thoughts of how best to profit by the opportunity occupied that share of my attention which others were giving to the anticipations of a passage. It has been already shown, that the expressions which Captain Ross has recorded as having been used by me before we entered the sound, even if admitted, can have nothing to do with his conduct when in the sound the following evening. It may therefore seem hardly necessary to advert to them again ; I have no particular recollection of having so expressed my- self ; I may have remarked in casual conversation that there was no drift-wood ; that the opening in the coast was the Lancaster's Sound of Baffin; that here his hopes of a passage began to fail him. It is true I did produce Baffin's account^ because it happened that I was the only person who had brought it on board ; 36 M '{I but it was produced long before this occasion, and copies had been made from it. I may have said that there was no appearance of a current, though whe- ther there actually was one or not, either in Lancas- ter's Sound or when we were off it, I cannot say, be- cause there was no satisfactory trial made ; no boat was lowered for the purpose. So also in regard to the north-west swell — I may have remarked, when we were off the sound, which is the time I am represented to have done so, that there was none, because it was not until after we were in the sound that the swell set out of it. All these remarks being facts, it is equally possible that I may have made them, as it is certain that the facts are in themselves unimportant. There yet remain a few other instances in which my name is used incorrectly : . . . ^ , n In page 185 Captain Ross expresses his regret that the dip of the needle was not determined at Possession Bay; and in page \77, assigns as the cause, that ** Captain Sabine thought the weather too foggy for " the dipping needle.** This statement is incorrect. So far from having said or thought so, I asked Captain Ross's permission to take the dipping needle on shore, and was refused on the ground that the boats were only to remain for a few minutes on shore to take pos- session of the country, and that he did not wish them to be detained by observations. Fortunately I am able to produce other testimony of this than my own, by the subjoined letter from Mr. Parry : 37 «* Dear Sabine, — In answer to your note of yes- terday, I have to state, that on the 1st of September I went on board the Isabella soon after you had left her to go on shore at Possession Bay. In the course of conversation with Captain Ross, I said, " I suppose Captain Sabine has taken the instruments with him." — ^To this Captain Ross replied, that he had not con- sidered it necessary for you to take them, as there would be no time for observations. In confirmation of the above, it may also be proper to state, that on the evening of the same day I received a note from you, expressing very great regret at not having been allowed to take the dipping-needle on shore ; Captain Ross having objected to your proposal of doing so, as the boats were only going on shoie to take possession of the country. " I am yours very faithfully, , ** Wm. Edward Parry. «' Downing-Street, Marqh 31st, 1819." In page 98 Captain Ross regrets that '* Captain " Sabine and the party who had on the morning of the "9th landed on tha. wiuw Mr. Bushnan had deter " mined to be an island, had not proceeded further, *' and that they did not examine the mountains where ** it now appeared that this iron was found." Captain Ross has omitted to state that Captain Sabine and the party who were with him on this island on the evening of the 8th (it was not the morning of the 9th, as we w^re on board and under way before mid- night) returned in consequence of a signal of recall ^ f li: (I If 1 i i 4 1, i'l l;| , i H 38 and were told on their return that by being away so long they htid detained the ships. .: . . . : In page 148 is stated, that at eight in the morn- ing of the 19th of August the ships " stood for d large " iceberg, to which Captain Sabine and Mr. Bushnan " were sent to take observations for time and variation, " with directions to remain there for the meridian ?dti« " tude. In the mean time we tacked and stood to the- " N.E. to get a better view of Whale Sound and the ** land near it, and were soon convinced there was no. ** navigable passage in that direction. At noon were- " turned to the iceberg for our boat.'* The incorrectness of this account can be best shown by an extract from Caj^tain Ross's own Log now in the Admiralty. , \ ^., An mist 19. Hours. Knots. Course.^ by Compass. Variation Remarks. 10 11 12 2 East. up N.N.E. offN.N.W. North. SS^W. 106 W. At 9h.30n.. tacked and hove to ; sent a boat with otiicers to n>ake observa- tions on a berg close to us ; at lOh. 46m. boat re- turned ) hoisted her up and filled. II 1 5 It appears that at the time vihen the boat ^as sent £sway the ship hove to, and continued so until her re- turn: and when at I Oh. 45m. the boat returned, the ship filled, and made sail i^'orth by compi[?ss or W. by S. § S. true ; the true bearing of the Southern bead-land of WhaL Sound from the iceberg being N.33JE. , 39 From the top of this iceberg Mr. Bushnan and I had unquestionably the best view which was obtained of the opening in the coast where we supposed Baf- fin's Whale Sound to be ; but a very distant view it was, certainly not less than forty miles trom as. But I abstain from citingr more such instances, be- cause I consider them unimportant. For the same cause I do not notice the remarks which Captain Ross has made on the instruments which were furnished for the Experiments which I conducted: it is sufficient to say, that my silence is not to be supposed a concur- rence in Captain Ross's opinions or observations on them. I have confined these remarks solely to those passages in Captain Ross's work wherein I am personally con- cerned ; it is with extreme reluctance tlipt they have been extorted from me ; the necessity of this proceed- ing makes me regret that I laid aside my original de- sign of publishing a narrative of the voyage, to which I should have added my own papers, and an ac- count of the Natural History. A principal motive for withholding my publica* tion * was the apprehensici that my statement could * I have heard that I have been mentioned as the author of an account of the Expedition, which appeared in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine of December last ; and also of a long paragraph on the same subject in the Morning Chr^-nicle n-^ws^japer of the 15th January, I was in no ways coi.'-erned in either of those publications, not having even known of them until, in common with the public at large, I saw tbem in print. I never did write anonymously, and certainly should not d. 30 on such an oc- casion as the present. At the same time I must add, that I consider the /' \ I. I ^*-.' ''^'"" 40 hardly fail to differ materially from Captain Rosses, on points which it was no longer of importance to the public to discuss, because an Expedition had been re- solved on to procure more certain information. I lament that this endeavour to avoid the publication of statements tliat do not agree, has not bee|^, suc- cessful. - • >. i' '♦ . Icvter in Blackwood's Magazine a ftdthful statement of faots, as far as relates to the voyage. Where the author comments on Captain Fiin- dcri'a opinions and observations on magnetism, he is evidently in error. 4 i^ PruiUd iy R. atia A. Taylor^ Shoe Lane, London. %■ ^■■^. 8, on o the ;n re- 1. I ation 8UC- far as 1 Fiitv- irror. ;!::iil '■/^