The Sun.
London, England, 1837-07-05 00:00:00

THE SWAN WHALER.

Monday afternoon, in consequence of intelligence of
the Swan having been seen off the coast of Holderness, ar'.l!
her arrival being expected with the flow of the tide, manv:.
thousands of our townsmen and townswomen were assembled
at Southend, and were gratified with the sight of the long-
lost vessel, whose re-appearance was regarded as a sort oir,
resurrection. Anxiety, the most intense, had for severa:-",
days been entertained by the relatives of the crew, whici
was greatly increased by the different statements inserted ,h
in the newspapers, and other prints. A London news-
paper of high authority in shipping matters, had anh
nounced her return, with that of the Advice, as alto- -
getber hopeless ; a belief which, as regarded the Swan.,
was but little alleviated.by the return of the Advice, coast- 7-,
dering her deplorable condition, and an appeal had suttee- -:":
queatly been made to the public on behalf of the widows
and families of the crew of the Swan. The appeal was af-
terwards IL,
qualified, and the local papers of Friday and Sa- -,:l
turday last, contained a few words from the master of the -..
Advice, holding out hopes of the Swan being better off than
his ship, which has happily proved to be correct. TheW
ciew of the Swan originally consisted of 48 men, 24 4
whom, including the captain and officers, sailed from Hull,
and twenty-four were obtained from Shetland ; of the
Shetlandmen eleven hare died, of our townsmen seven, and e,
two others from Grimsby, while of the 6 who were received
from the wreck of the Margaret of London, but one,
survives. But for the unfortunate expedition alluded to ie'ta
Captain Doing's communication, in which a party of the
men endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to reach a Danish settle-
~
meat, the surgeon is of opinion that no more than twelvf 7!
persons would have died, and of those who died ef scull':
it is proper to observe that their end approached very fast.
when their spirits began to fail them after that melanehol -.:.
affair. During their confinement in the ice, Divine Wor-
ship was conducted every Sabbtoh, in a most orderly are' -4
0
impressive manner, by a pious Shetlander, the whole ship':
company engaging heartily in the service. The Swan het
three fish; about 30 tuns ; 20 of the Dencornbe's men hay: If
arrived with her ; the Duncombe has four fish, 60 tuns. I'd
THE VOYAGE.—The following arc extracts from a corn a
munication addressed by the Captain of the Swan to tin
owners :
After leaving the ships on the 6th of September in 75
deg., we took the ice, and with little difficulty reached the
lat. 73 deg. 46 min.; when on the point of getting clear, eL
succession of light N.E. winds and calms completely deire
fettled our intention. On the Bth October, although withial
sight of the water, it was impossible to get the ship through i
the bay ice. A westerly gale on the 25th and 26th Oc
[..,
tuber drove us in sight of the east ii nd, which we constantl .„.1.4
approached as we drifted down the straits. The denger42
we t xpericnced in passing and repassing the different reelv
and bays were very great, and on the llth January we werel,
four hours on the ice, expecting every moment to see therfa
ship, which was laying on her broadside, crushed to atoms,K
and ourselves exposed to the fury of the storm. r -
After drifting in dreadful suspense the whole of the win 4
ter, we remained a long time stationary, about fifteen mile,
to tie westward of Hare•lsland, when, seeing no prospect la ea
of a speedy relief, and the scurvy making its dreadful al-
-1 .1
,e trance, fourteen of our men voluntarily offered to launel,,
a b at on shore and reach Fore Island point or Lievley, ant:
alti Leigh persuaded to wait a little longer, yet, on the 1et!)
April, after receiving a quantity of provieions, they h-ft tin*
ship with . every prospect of accomplishing their end—tin
,*4
weather bung fair and warm to us who had fit the severit‘ t 7
of en Arcfc winter ; but on the day following the thermo
n.e er, which had ranged to 20 and 80 above, now fell tok4
30 o- 32 below zero, when the quicksilver froze, and on let
the shah day our fears were realised by seeing three of out r
unfortunate men approaching the ship ; we inst.mtl: z 7::
went- to their eisistance, but only succeeded in sevinjA
two of them, the third having died in the arms of hi 7f;.,1,'
no ssmates. This lamentable occurrence threw a greeree-!
damp upon us, and our men began to drop off very fast-
On the 6th of May, after seeing many opportunitiesk4
where we could have escaped from our icy prison, the Fmk
that were able to walk tried their utmost endeavours to saws
a passage through - the floe—the ship being fixed in tin :04
tll
very centre—but were obliged to give it up on the third 4)
day, not having made the least progress, and their strength ra
feilinge them very fast. Our provision now was nein-1411
expended, and we began to make preparation for alem.l4l
Boning the- ship; not being able to stay longer than see *.ti
20th or 25th of the month ; but it pleased Divine Pro.;::
vidence, who had so often delivered us femn danger, 04
tzz
answer our earnest prayers. On the morning of th4..1
140, being in lat. 69 deg. 10 min. N , we raw a shiPo
bearing W.S., W., about ten miles dietant, which an-
swered trj
our signals, and left us no doubt but we hano
been seen. - At five on tha following morning a boat'sKi
crew was on board of us, baying been launched over tie 1
ice since the previous evening, and we found we were in-1A
debted to the persevering, conduct of Captain Adamson, of_
the Princess Charlotte, for our happy relief and eitimaterti
deliverance. At six o'clock ram. on the 19th, five boatsk:7%
and crews came.on board from the following ships—Wil 0
Liam and Ann, Princess Charlotte, Do;.oth:y, Horn, and
Heroine ; after sawing through 3,000 feet of heavy lee,
liberated us on the afternoon of the 21st ; when putting
half of his men on board, our own poor fellows being unfit':
for the least exertion, the Princess Charlotte conducted usi-‘'
into Whale Fish Island harbour—saw us safely moored,
and stowed our hold. se,
On the 28th the Duncombe abandoned his fishing, supee
plied us with twenty men and accompanied us home. igi.