Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1828-12-11
THURSDAY, DECEMBER IL, 1898
The Danger of Sailing an High Latiludes

AWFUL lNcIDENT.-One serene evening III the
middle Of August, l775, Captain Warrens, the
master of a Greenland Whseship, found him
.elfbecalmed among vast number OF iceburgs
in bout II deg. north latitude. On one side,
and Within mile Of his vessel, these were OF
immense height and closely wedged together,
and a succession Of snow covered peaks appear
ed behind each other as far as the eye could
reach, showing that The ocean was completely
blockaded up in that quarter, and that 1t had
nrob,bly been so for long period Of time
CaD,ain Warrens did not feel altogether salis-
6ej with bis station, bot there being no wind,
he could not move one way or another, ana
he therefore kept strict watch, knowing that
he would he safe as long as the surrounding
icebergs continued in their respective places.
About midnighi the wind rose 10 a gle, &C
COMMANDED b. thick showers of snow, while
succession of tremendous laundering, grinding
and crashing'noises gave fearful evideuce tina,
the ice was in motion. The vessel received vi
olent shocks every moments Tor The hazlness 81
the atmosphere preyenred those on board Rom
discovering in what direction the, open wa,"r
law or il there actually waS any At all On either
side Of them The night was spent IN lacking
as often as any cause OF danger happened 10
present itself, and in the morning the storm A.
bated, and Captain Warrens found 10 his sreat
low hat his ship had sustained no serious inju>
INFLATED icebergs which had on the preceding
evenings formed an impene,rable barrier, had
been separated ard disarranged by the wind,
and that in one place canal Of open sea wound
its course among them as far as the eye could
discern.
Itw,s two miles beyond the entrance OF this
canal that ship made its appearance about
noon The sun shown brightly at the time *
a gentle breeze blew from the north. Al hrs'
intervening icebergs prevented Captain War
rens from distinctly seeing any thing but her
masts, but he was stuck with the s'rnge max
ner i'm which her sails were disposed, and with
tbe dismanted aspect Of her yards and rigging.
She continued to go before The wind Tor few
furlongs, aud then grounding upon the low lce>
bergs, remained motionless.
Can,ain Warrens' curiosity was SO much ex-
cited, tina, he imme diatrly leaped INTO his boat,
with several seamen, ana rowed towards her.
On approaching he observed tina, her hull was
miserably weather beaten, and not soul APP
peared upon the deck, which was covered with
snow TO a considerable deph. He hailed her
crew several times, but no answer was return
ed. Previous 20 stepping on boa an open
port hole near the main chains Caught his eye,
and on looking into II, he perceived man re-
Ginning back IN chair, and writin e materials
on small table before him, but the feebeness
Of the ligh, made every thing very ind's,inct.
The party, therefore, wen, upon deck, and hav-
ing removed the hatchway, which ,hey found
closed, they descended to the cabin. They first
came TO The apartment which Capt Warrens
viewed through the Port hole tremour
srizrG him as he entered it. Its tomato retain
ed his former posi- ion, and seem, d % be insen-
sible to strangers. He was found 40 be corps,
and green damp mold covered his cheeks &
forehead, aud yelled his open eye balls. II.
nd bnn Law he
tore him, the las, sentence in whose unfinished
page ran thus; 9Th November 1862; We
have now been enclosed in the ice seventy days.
The fire went on, yesterday, and our master has
been trying ever since TO kindie II again with
out success. His wife died this morning. There
is no reliet!--
Capt Warrens and his seamen hurried from
the spot without uitering word. On entering
the principal cabin, the hrst object that al
tracied their atieution was the dead body OF
female reclining OF a bed in an attitude OF deep
interest and attention. Her countenance retain
I'D the freshness Of life, and a contraction OF
the limbs alone showed that her form was in
animate Seated on the floor in one corner of
the room, was the corpse OF apparently
young man holding steel in one hand aud
flint IN the other, If in The act Of striking fire
upon some Under which lay beside him.
In the fore par, of the vessel sailors were
found lying dead IN their births, and the body
OF dog was crouched at the bottom Of she
gang way stairs. Neither provisions nor fuel
could be discovered any where; but Captain
Warrens was prevented by tae supersti.ious
prejudices Of his seanen from examining the
vessel as miuu,ey he wished TO have done. |
He therefore carried away the log book already
mentioned aud returned TO his own ship, aud
immediately steered TO the southwark, deeply |
impressed with the awful example which he I
had just witnessed the danger of navigating |
the polar seas, IN high aorlhern la,itudes.- |
On returning TO England, he made various in>
qu,ries respecting vessels that had disappeared
in an unknown way, and by comparing the re-
suits Of these with the information watch was
afforded by The written documents in his pos
session, he ascertained the name aud history of
the imprisoned ship and Of her unfortunate
master, and found that she had been frozen up
he r. L..g