The Sun.
London, England, 1835-12-24 00:00:00

THE ICE-BOUND WHALERS.

One of the vessels, the Duncombc, has arrived at the port.
elf Hull. On Saturday last, the joyful news of the arrival,
:at Shetland, of the Duncombc, of this port, one of the re-
.cently ice-bound whalers in the frozen seas, was cornmuni-
rcated to the inhabitants of this town. Between one and two
,o'clock it was reported that the Duncombc was in the Hum-
'her, and hundreds hurried to the banks of the river to give
:her welcome. The shout raised at the Vittoria was re-
sponded to with three times three loud cheers from the
.densely congregated thousands thronging the Eastern Pier
.of the Humber Dock-basin. The following statement from
Captain Scoffin, of his imprisonment and release from the
=frozen regions, will, we doubt not, be acceptable to all our
ireaders

On the 4th of October the Duncombe got beset in lat.
69. 30. with seven sail in company,—the Abraham, Alfred,
_Harmony and Dordon, of Hull ; the Lady Jane and Gren-
-vile Bay, of Newcastle ; and the Norfolk, of Berwick.
On the lOth of October the Alfred got out into water ;
-the Duncombe and the rest of the ships continued to be
"beset, until the Ilth of Novemi,er, when the Duncombe
-was liberated and got into the water, in latitude 64,
distance front the west land seventy miles. Saw the other
ships beset, on the 7th of November, five sail, about
thirty miles in the ice, and the Norfolk had got nearer to the
water. These ships would be in about 64. 40, when then
seen The Duncombe had water in sight the whole of
the time she was beset, being between five and sir miles
from the limits of the sea. There had been several
swells, which had partially broken the ice, but never suffi-
ciently to permit the Duncombe tilo escape, until the tine
above stated. Numerous attempts had been made by saw—
ing the ice, after the Alfred got clear, to liberate the Dun-
combe, in doing which they sawed through many miles of
ice, in different directions, as there appeared prospects of
success, but the ship was as repeatedly frozen in abvain
amidst solid flaws of ice. Has no doubt but all the other
g.ix ships left in the middle of the'Straits will, by perso
%Trance, extricate themselves, but could not be sure they-
would accomplish their deliverance under the same break-
ing up by which the Duncombe got free. The Norfolk had
the prospect of getting free first. She was first in ad-
vance, and the remainder were nearly in a line behind her.
The ships had altogether drifted from lat. 69. 30. to 64.,
a distance of 330 miles by the currents, being all the time
beset. Captain Scoffin landed his men off Shetland on the
13th of December, but did not go into port ; when he
arrived off Peterhead, the master; and owners of ships,
knowing the Duncombe, sent off beef, onions, cabbages, fresh
butter, and every thin; that could be deemed best for the
crew. The ships all hoisted their colours, and the day was
observed as a festival. Captain Scoffin assures us that
the handsome manner in which they were received will
never be forgotten by him. The Duncombe was. 108 days
in the ice, and durinc, the time
,not a single accident oc-
curred ; the whole oof the crew conducted themselves in a
most orderly manner ; they readily submitted to being put.
upon short allowance, and to every other arrangement
which Captain Scoffin proposed for their good, notwith-
standing the many and severe privations to which they were
exposed.—Hull Observer.
One ship,under a most able officer, will sail in eight or
ten days, and two others will be dispatched, without con-
dition, by the Admiralty, to accomplish all that foresight
and affectionate anxiety can suggest.