, 1843-07-08
The,Haunted Shin.

vi BOARD me fTlgate, and evidently
quite satisfied, ifnot actually gra,ifed,
that they were captured. On inquiry
It was found that the captured whaler
was a haunted ship! The news soon
spread through the frigate: the next
trouble was to assemble a willing
prize crew TO 90 on board the prize
which trouble might have been a Sc
rious one, but for the force Of disci-
pline. The prize was q large and val,
liable ship-bu, she was haun,ed!-
The authentic report was that during
a still night, when no other noise was
heard, and no other motion felt than
that Of the slow, undula';ng move
ment Of Pacifc.ocean sea, a deep
and deadly groan was heard below,
coming apparently from the after
part Of the vessel, and heard distinct.
ly from every open hatchway; and so
great was the panic at Last, that the
captain declared he could not induce
a man to 90 below.
The prize-master, on taking posses.
rion, pretended to disbelieve the s,o.
sy, and declared that if he hear d anv
~groaning or other ghos,ly noises he'd
soon find out the cause. As evening
approached the prize crew began TO
listen; and sure enough, when the u
sual noise Of shipwork subsidized. and
all was silence, a long, deep drawn
sigh came up through the after hatch
way, and increased at intervals as ST.
lence prevailed. till at last a full and
audible groan came forth, that not on.
lv huddled the prize crew into a fore.
castle close group. but made their
blood curdle and their teeth chatter.
Groan succeeded gronn at short inter.
walls, till at length the prize-masier in,
terposed-"wherc in - does that
noise come from! Call all hands,
CThere was no need of this call; oil
hands were ready on Geck.) este
ward, get lights: come men, arm your
selves and follow me. I'm - il ]
don't have n tussel with this ~groancr.'
He led the way. and the crew follow
ed. On reaching the tween decks,
he stopped & listened TO get the right
direction of the grsan. 1t came as
before from the nfter part of the ship;
and so deep and long drawn, that it
seemed the last life effort of a Hercu-
les in an exhausted death struggle
a full sigh terminating in a groan OF
agony!!!
The dauntless prize master, though
armed with boarding-sword, stood
for a momen, petriied. He had re.
treated n STEP it is quite certain
every one Of his FLOWERS would very
soon have been found huddIed toeeth-
err again in n group on the forccastle,
so terrible was that last groan. and so
awful its effect upon the hearts Of
those who, on occasion Of battle. We're
found foremost in the fight. But he
held his ground-i, was no time to
finch, and cheered his men onward.
',o follow him. They came to a large
@state-room, or stow-hole, through
which it was necessary to pass, and
began. with the aid of a dim light
held by a trembling steward, to re-
move some distractions in the way.
The first thing the prize-master acci-
dentally put his hand on, was the arm,
shoulder, and part of the face of an
old mutilated figure head. which, per,
baps, formerly decorated the Prov Of
the ship. Pulling it out of a mass Of
old rigging, and holding it up, he ia
cetiousiy exclaimed, Here's n part Of
MI. Ghost: come along, men, we'll
get the whole Of him presently" The
light was Just sufficient to develepe
the form Of human limb and rigid
muscles, and the effec, was so appall-
lug upon the steward that he dropped
.ha lantern. The prize.master drop
ted the limb, picked up the lantern,
and pushed on, commanding his men
to follow; who, finding themselves
now in the midst of danger. began to
their eyes, and plucked up.
The stow.hoIe being passed through.
they approached what might be call
ed an after hold, or run, slowed with
casks. Here the deep sigh and hea-
Wy groan filled every place, though
somewhat altered in tone. and less hu-
man and ghost.like. On carefully
surveying the scene, a large cask was
discovered with the bung out; at ev.
cry roll Of the ship, a rush of air would
pass across this bnngho!e. and cause a
most unearthly sound. (And here it
may as well be stated, that if any
skeptic desires TO satisfy his doubts,
let him take an empty bottle or de-
canter with the cork out, and blow a
cross its nozzle-let him magnify this
IN the size nj n large cask. with n large