The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1845-04-18
The Frozen Crew.

The Frozen Crew.
There are fearful wonders upon the
ocean--wonders in the tempest and in
the calm; in the tropical heat. and in the
cold Of the frozen seas. Thousands and
tens of thousands 60 down in the deep,
and are no more seen forever. A more
fearful fate has belalen a thousand sons
of the ocean.
Long before the idea of the existence
of new world was contemplated by the
Europeans, the northern seas had been
traversed in every direction by the daring
freebooters of the North, who often bore
the title of the Kings of the Sea. They
had discovered Iceland, and the settlement
there formed, became an asylum for the
hosts Of the northern men who were dirty.
en- from Scandinavia, by the gradual ap-
proach of southern civilization. In time
Iceland also sent forth her colonies, and
early in the tenth century effected set
clement upon the coast of Greenland. II.
long languished for want of sufficient pop
ulaion; at length, in 9Ss, Erick Raude,
an lcelandic chief,ain, fitted out an expe-
dition of twenty-five gallies at Snefell,
and being manned with sufficient crews
Of colonlsts, set forth from Iceland, bound
to what appeared TO them more congo
NAL climate. They sailed upon the ocean
fifteen days, and they saw no land. The
next day brought with it storm, and
many gallant vessel sunk in the deep.
Mountains Of ice covered the waters as
far as the eye could reach. and but few
galles of the fleet escaped destruction.
The morning of the seventeenth day
was clear and cloudless. The sea was
calm, and far away TO the north could be
seen the glare of the icefelds rejecting on
the sky.
The remains Of the shattered fleet gath
cred together to pursue their voyage.
But the galley of Erick was not with
them. The crew of galley which was
driven farther down than the rest. repor-
ted that as the morning broke, the huge
fields Of ice that had covered the ocean,
were driven by the current past them,
and they beheld the galley Of Erick Raudc,
borne by resistless force and with the
speed Of the wind before tremendous
flake of ice. Her crew had lost all con-
troll over her-they were tossing their
arms in wild agony. Scarcely moment
elapsed ere it was walled in by hundred
ice hills, and the whole mass moved for
ward and was soon beyond the horizon.
That the galley Of the narrators escaped
was wonderful. Ii remained, however,
uncontradicted, and the vessel of Erick
Raude was never more seen.
Half a century after this, Danish Col
onv was established upon the western
coast of Greenland. The crew of the
vessel that carried the colonists thilher,
in their excursion into the interior, cross.
ed range Of hill that stretched to the
norIhward; they had approached, per-
haps nearer TO the pole than any succeed
ing adventures. Upon looking down
from the summit Of The hills, they beheld
vast and almost interminable field of
ice, undula,ing in various places, and
formed into a thousand gro,esque shapes.
They saw not far from the shore figure
of an ice vessel with gi,,ering iccle in
place OF mast, rising from it. Curiosi-
ty prompted them to approach, when they
beheid dismal sight. Figures Of men
in every attitude of wo were upon the
deck, but they were icy things. One
figure alone stood erect, and with folded
arms leaned against the mast. A Ratchet
was procured, and The ice split away, and
the features of a chiefaln dsclosed-pal
id and deathly, but free from decay. This
was, doubtless, the vessel, and that figure
the form Of Erick Raude. Benumbed
with cold, and in the agony OF despair,
his crew had fallen around him. He
! alone had stood cree, while the chill OIL
death passed over him. The spray Of
the ocean and the fallen slice. had frozen
as i. lighted upon them and covered each
figure with an icy robe which the short
lived glance Of Greenland sun had no
time to remove. The Danes gazed upor