The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-07 00:00:00

THE FROZEN SHIP.

One serene evening in the middle of August, 1775,
Captain Warrens, the master of the Greenland, a whale-
ship, found himself becalmed amongst an immense
number of icebergs, in about 77 deg. of north latitude.
On one side, and within a mile of his vessel, these were
of immense height, and closely wedged together, and a
succession of snow-covered peaks appeared behind each
other as far as the eye could reach, showing that the
ocean was completely blocked up in that quarter, and that
it had probably been so for a long period of time, Capt.
Warrens did not feel altogether satisfied with his situa-
tion; but there being no wind, he could not move one
way or the other, and he therefore kept a strict watch,
knowing that he would be safe, so long as the icebergs
continued in their respective places.
About midnight the wind rose to a gale, accompanied
by thick showers of snow, while a succession of tre-
mendous thundering, grinding, and crushing noises, gave
fearful evidence that the ice was in motion. The vessel
received violent shocks every second, for the haziness of
the atmosphere prevented those on board from discover-
ing in what direction the open water lay, or if there was
actually any at all on either side of them. The night
was spent in tacking as often as any cause of dangtr
happened to present itself, and in the morning the storm
abated, and Captain Warrens found, to his great joy,
that his ship hadinot sustained any serious injury. He
remarked with surprise that the accumulated icebergs,
which had on the preceding evening formed an impene-
trable barrier, had been separated and disarranged
by the wind, and that in one place a canal of open sea
wound its course among them, as far as the eye could
discern.

It was two miles beyond the entrance of this canal
that a ship made its appearance about noon. The sun
shone brightly at the time, and a gentle breeze blew from
the north. At first some intervening icebergs prevented
Captain Warrens from distinctly seeing any thing but
her masts ; but he was struck with the strange manner
in which her sails were disposed, and with the dismantled
aspect of her yards and rigging. She continued to go
before the wind for a few furlongs, and then grounding
upon the low icebergs, remained motionless.
Captain Warren's curiosity was so much excited, that
he immediately leaped into his boat with several sea-
men, and rowed towards her. On approaching, he
observed that her hull was miserably weather-beaten,
and not a soul appeared on the deck, which was covered
with snow to a considerable depth. He then hailed her
crew several times, but no answer was returned. Pre-
vious to stepping on board, an open port-hole near the
main chains caught his eye, and, on looking into it, he
perceived a man reclining back in a chair, with writing
materials on a table before him, but the feebleness of the
light made everything very indistinct. The party went
upon deck, and having removed the hatchway, which
they found closed, they descended to the cabin. They
first came to the apartment which Captain Warrens
viewed through the port-hole. A tremor seized him as
he entered it. Its inmate retained his former position,
and seemed to be insensible to strangers. He was found
to be a corpse, and a green damp mould had covered his
cheeks and forehead, and veiled his open eye-balls. He
had a pen in his hand, and a log-book lay More
him, the last sentence in its unfinished page ran thus:—
" Nov, 14, 1762. We have now been enclosed in the ice
seventeen clays. The fire went out yesterday, and our
master has been trying ever since to kindle it again,
without success. His wife died this morning. There is
no relief—"

Captain Warrens and his seamen hurried from the spot
without uttering a word. On entering the principal
cabin the first object that attracted their attention was
the dead body of a female reclining on a bed in an atti-
tude of deep interest and attention. Her countenance
retained the freshness of life, but a contraction of the
limbs showed that her form was inanimate. Seated on
the floor was the corpse of an apparently young man,
holding a steel in one hand and a flint in the other, as if
in the act of striking fire upon some tinder which lay
beside him. In the fore part of the vessel several
sailors were found lying dead in their berths, and the
body of a boy crouched at the bottom of the gangway
stairs. Neither provisions nor fuel could be dis-
covered anywhere ; but Captain Warrens was prevented,
by the superstitious prejudices of his seamen, from
examining the vessel as minutely as he wished to have
done. He therefore carried away the log-book already
mentioned, and returned to his own ship, and immedi-
ately steered to the southward, deeply impressed with
the awful example which he bad just witnessed of the
danger of navigating the Polar seas in high northern
latitudes.
On returning to England he made various inquiries
respecting vessels that had disappeared in an unknown
way, and, by comparing the results of those with the in-
formation which was afforded by the written documents
in his possession, he ascertained the name and history
of the imprisoned ship and of her unfortunate master,
and found that she had been frozen thirteen years pre-
vious to the time of his discovering her among the ice.
—lVestminster Review.

ALARMIMG PREVALENCE OF FEVER.—The village
of Upton, near Blewbury, Berks, has had an awful visi
tation, by the spread of a contagious fever. It first ma-
nifested itself about a month ago in a cottager's family,
family, and such has been its rapid and extensive spread
since, that up to Saturday last not fewer than thirty-
two deaths had arisen in consequence, and these out
of a village population of 150. The disease, we re-
gret to add, is still raging, and such general alarm has
been created from so destructive an enemy, that many of
the villagers have begun to change their dwellings to the
neighbouring downs ; and it is expected, from the re-
movals, which are now pretty generally taking place, that
the village will shortly be deserted. The numbers
of persons who have thus been carried off are chiefly of
the humble labouring class, some of whom are bewil-
dered in distress from the additional painful circumstance
that the head of a family, who bad been its chief support,
has been cut off. The cause of this calamity is so clearly
manifest that the authorities have not deemed it necessary
to institute any inquiry, or to hold an inquest in either
case ; the only mystery is that the contagion should
have shown itself in a situation where theclimate is con-
sidered to be so remarkably healthy. The enragement
of the disease is ascribed to the difficulties in procuring
medical attendance at such a desolate place of abode.
We may remark that this infectious disease has so ex-
tended itself as to be viewed in the district as a ticsand
great plague. The melancholy event has excited much
commisseration for the distressed objects.—Devizes
Gazette
THE LATE Tnomas IrooD.—lt is with deep regret
that we have to announce the decease of the widow of
the late Thomas Hood, the celebrated humourist and
poet. The public are aware that Mr. Hood's life was
closed in the midst of much physical suffering and much
mental anxiety ; and there is little doubt that the un-
wearied exertions of Mrs. Hood, her unceasing attend-
ance on her husband's deathbed, and the grief and trial
which preceded and followed her bereavement, have been
the immediate causes of the disease which has thus pre-
, maturely terminated her existence. She expired on the
4 amino of Fridiv, the 4th of December!