Litchfield enquirer., 1846-12-31
Awful ksaScoVery.

Awful ksRScoVery.
 One serene evening in the middle of August, i775, Capt. Warrsns, the mSsier oi Grceni"hu whale ship, found himself bscalm,d @mone ah immenss number of icebulgs, Ih about ~ ue- grees of north latitude. On one s'de' ana "l'Il- sn a mile of his vessel, these were of IInmeEse height. and closely wedged together, and a sue cassivn of snow covered peaks appeared behind each other as far as the eye could reach, show" Inc thaf the ocean was completely bl"cked up in that quarter, and that it had prohahly oee'' SO for a long period sf time. Capt. Warrens 6;d not feel altogether satisfied with hlS situa- t;on hut there being no wind he could moi move one way or the other, and he kept there- fore a strict watch, knowing that he would be safe as long as the iceburgs continued m tnelr respective places. About midnight the wIno rese to q gale, accompanied by thick showers of snow, while a succession oi th"nderihg' grinding, aud crashing noises, gave fearful eVi, doucs that the ice was in motion. The vessel received violent shocks every moment, for the haziness of the atmosphere prevented those on boad from discovering in what direction the open water lay, or if there actually was any al ,Il m either side of them. The night was snent in tacking as often as any case ol danger hannened to present itself and in the morning the storm abated, and Capt. Warrens found; to his great ioy, that his ship had not sustained any vsry serious injury. He remarked w'th surnrise that accumulated Iceourgs' Wnlc'i la" the proceeding evening for med an iMpehet'as'e barrier. had been seperatsd and dlsengageu oy the wind, and that in one place canal oi open sea wound it's course among them as Tar as tue eve capld discern. It was two miles beyond the entr,nce of this canal that ship made its ap- near.nce about noon. The sun shoEe brightly at the time. and gentle breeze blew from the north A, first some intervening lceonrgs pre- vented Capt. Warrens from distinctly seeing anything but her masts but he was struck with inc strange manner in which her sails were dsposed and with the dismantled aspect or her vards and rigging. She continued to go before inc wind for a few furlongs, and then, ground ing upon the low iceburg, remained motioh'ess; Capt. Warrens curiosity was so much excited that he immediately leaped into sis boat win several seamen, and rowed towards ner; oh approaching he observed that her null was rn;sarahlv weather beaten, and not soul ap- peared on the deck. which was coVefea "i'n snow to a considerable depth.
 He hailed the crew several times, hut no an- swnr was returned. Previous to stepping on board an open port-hole near the maih,cnalnS cauoht his eve, and, on looking into 1t he pre- ce;yed man reclining back in char, with w,;,;no materials on table befole him, but the feebleness of the light made everything very indistinct. The party went upon deeK' and having removed the hatchway wh'cn they found, closed they descended to the cao1h,- They first came to the apartment Wnich esPt Warrens viewed through the port-he!e. Ue' nor seized him as he entered II. us i".la'e rata;nod ta former position and seemed to be ;nseusible to strangers. He was found to be coruse. and green damp. mould had covered his chseks and forehead, and yelled hls eye balls. He had pen in his hsnd, and log hook lav hafore him, the last sentence Tn whose unfinished page ran thus "Nov. Ill., l762. We hav va now been enclosed in the ice seven- teen days. The fire went out yesterday and our master has been trying ever slnce 10 Sin, dleit again without success. Ills vie oleo this morning. There is no re!iei.
 Captain Warrens and his seamen nufrieo from the spot without utterlng word. on entering the principle cabin the hIst ooJsct that attracted their attention was the dead pod! of female reclining on bed in an attitude of deep interest and attention. Her countenance retained the freshdess, and a contraction of the limbs alone showed that her form was mann. mate. Seated on the floor was the corpse o1 an apparently younn man, holding 'eei m one hand and a flint in the other. as It m the act of striking fire upon seme Under wh'ch lay beside him. In the fore part of the vessel sev- eral sailors were found lying deao lh 'ne', berths, and the body of boy was crouched at the bottom of the gang-wsy stairs Neither provisions or fuel could be discoverea any where; but Capt. Warrens was prevented,:. ,.t;, by. .hn .wn.rst;c;ous nra;nA;~-- -s his suaIpen, rom examining me vesel as minutely as he wished to have done He therefore carried nway the log-book, and returning to his own ship. i'm, mepiately steered southward, deeply impressed with the awful example which he had just witnessed. of the danger of navigating the po- lar seas in high northsn attitudes. On return. ing to England, he made various inquiries re- spscting vessels that had disappeared in an 9n- l known way, and by comparing these 'results with the information which was atfoi ded by | the written documents in his possession, he ascsrtained the name and history of the i'm prissned ship and her unfortunate master. and found that she had been frozen thirteen years previous to her discovery among tho ice.