The Sun.
London, England, 1825-04-09 00:00:00

LITERARY NOTICE.

A 'BRIEF NARRATIVE of an UNSUCCESSFUL AT-
TEMPT. to REACH REPULSE BAY.---By
G. F. LYON. Bvo.
We must naturally lament the failure of ono
part.
part of the Expedition which sailed for the North
of America ; and we most deeply lament that
so gallant a set of officers and of men were sent
on such an expedition, in a vessel so wholly ttrifit
for the purpose. We can readily enter into the.
feelings the gallant Commander describes in the ,
present work, when he saw himself compelled by
dire necessity to abandon all hopes of adding
one leaf more to- the wreathe that already en-'
circles his brow. Rut we must feel deeply for
the other officers employed upon this expedition,.
and more especially for the gallant PAIULY, now
left to himself, and obliged to remain long uncer-
tain as to the fate of his brave fellow adventnrerS•
We find from Captain 1,31'S book that the sea-
son set in with more than its usual severity.' Thd
gales to which he was exposed, and the dangers
he incurred in consequence of them, are such as
ships have, fortunately, not often to encounter.
,
How dreadful they were, and how well his'crew
behaved, the following extract from his book will-
shew

" It must be premised, that on this night of horrors it Wel
a violent gale, the ship was at anchor,,but in a most dangerous'
place ; the night piercingly cold, and the sea continuallywagh''
ing fore and aft the decks, and snow falling incessantly. Ag
the lower deck was afloat, the men could take no rest.
" Never shall I forget the weariness of this most anxiou,9
•
night. Our ship pitched at such a rate, that it was not possible,
to stand-even below; while on deck we were unable to rap°e
.
without holding by ropes, which Were stretched •from side tat
side. The drift snow flew in sharp flakes, so that we could nos' •
look to windward, and it froze upon deck above a foot in deitth'.
The sea made incessant breaches quite fore and aft the shiP',
and the temporary warmth it gave while it washed over us, 104
most painfully checked by its almost immediately freezing-o¢ .;
our clothes. To these discomforts were added the horribly; •
uncertainty as to whether the cables would hold until ;W1
light, and the conviction also, that if they failed us, we should
•
instantly be dashed to pieces. Again, should they continue
to hold, we feared, by the ship's complaining so•
forward, that the bitts would be torn up, or that shywould settle down at her anchors, overpowered by 5°P.,
of the tremendous seas that burst over her. We ail Lit
••••'
down at times during the night, for to have remained 0:0;
.stantly on deck would have quite overpowered us; I consr°•;4.
went up, and shall never forget the desolate picture which iv
always before me. The hurricane blew with such violence r.
.to be perfectly deafening s and the heavy wash of the sea nit' le),
it difficult to reach the mainmast, where the officer of the•WM.scs
• and his people sat shivering, completely cased in frozen so.,°`i;
under a small tarpaulin, before which ropes' were sfreteheabt,
preserve them in their places. I never beheld a darker rlif
and its gloom was encreased by the rays of a small horn ni A.
thorn, which • was suspended from the mizen stay, to _she •
where the people sat.
At dawn, on the 13th, thirty minutes after four, a. IV'
found that the best bower cable had parted, and as theiat e.
now blew with terrific violence from the north, there wasLlke
reason to expect that.the.other anchor would hold longS,'LWaS •
this did, we itched so deeply, and lifted so great a body of
each time, that it was feared the .windlass and forecastle w9utba
be torn up, or she must go down at her anchors ; although 4
ports were knocked out, and a-considerable portion of bang-
cut away, she could scarcely discharge one sea before ship?„.
another, and the decks were frequentlyflooded to an .alltP•7••
depth. •
a•
• At six a.m. all further doubts on this particular rests,
were at an end ; for, haying received two overwhelming,
both the other cables burst 'at the Same Moment, and' we
~grf
left helpless without an. anchor, or any means of $3140190
selves, should the shore, as we had every reason to essysa'
close astern. And here again I• had the happinisi of.*anse;
the same general tranquillity as was shenyn on. the lstcji.,,,ivag
There' Was no outcry that the cables were gone; rrir'4s
Mr. Manilo, with Mr. Carr, the Governor, came. aft „*.10.1.4
they recovered their legs, and in the lowest whisper„.inwrol9
me that the cables had all parted. The ship, in.stanstiPg..T:aio''
wind, lay quite on her broadside, and as it then became
that nothing held her, and that she was quite helplesa;
man instinctively took his station, while the seamen at thellis'
having secured themselves as well as -was'iri their povl'irsodt
peated their soundings, on which our preservation dePen,
with as much composure as if we had been entering air-saf
port. Here again that Almighty. power which had befofe,;;,o
mercifully preserved us, granted us his protection ; for it
happened that it • was-slack water. when -we. parted, :the'Rell
had come round to N.N.W. (along the land), and, our he"'lai?
off to north-east, or sea-waid ; we got twOlrysails; -for- tho,, A egr,
would bear no more, and even with that lay her lee guonSit'
water. In a quarter of an hour we were in 11 fitiforin,sie
expecting every moment, to strike, from haying no idol
we had anchored,' I ordered the few remaining casks 0,, or..
provisions received fronts the' Snap to be hove overboalrit,
being stowed round the capstan and abaft the miten to"' Af
feared their fetching way should we take 'the grows&
'
eight the fore trysail gaffswent in the slings, but we sffif;iiii•
able to lower it, on. account of the amazing force of the f tcfs
and every rope being . encrusted with a thick coating °,„ aao
The decks were now so deeply covered With frozen in°"sers4.9°
freezing water, it .was Scarcely possible, whilevselalo'wo
much, to stand on them ; and all hands being wet anclosOf
frozen, without having had any refreshment for somar-I
our situation was rendered miserable in the extreme." ti. for
After having- undergone such hardships, • 4
51)
having lost his bower anchors and chains, hug,
dreading the recurrence of similar dreadfvl
• tti
'ra
hr
ricanes, it is no wonder that the ,gallant CAF
should at length, even though with considers
c.
reluctance. eventually abandon all hors Of
complishing even the first part of his .P:14;;
reaching Repulse P;ay., and deterrnined
•.
bringing back 'his shattered ship. and .hrs. e,
daunted crew to England. And &we feel 11 hap
•gret that this portion -of the expediting-
failed, we must rejoice that so many truly
luable lives have been saved.

. - ......,...i.a.o.iiiab....a , ,
BIRTBS.: - - •• •'• )3-' jr
.1464 i), y
On the 7th inst., in Finsbury-place, the lady of GO*. . ,
• - ; e
Esq., of a son. . Or°
On Thursday, the 7th inst., the lady of Charlei 13, . .
ti•e.
Esq., of Kennington-lane,- of a son. i„ii• 4
On Thursday, at; the Vicarage, Chertley, the .!--.,
Rey. Charles Pembroke, of a son. • - „.. ThOe
On theld of March last, at 'flprence, the lad)! v• • • e
Musgrave Gray, Elq., of a daughter. . —//.'