Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1847-03-19
The SpcriIe ship.

Ono serene evening. in the middle of August
1176. Capt. Warrcns. the mlstcr of IA Greenland
whale ship found himself bccamed among i'm
mense number OF ice bcrgs, in about II degrees
OF rcr !, latitude. On one side. and within 4
mile of hisSessel. these were closely wcdged 10.
srthcr, and succession of snow coorcd peaks
appeared behind each other AS far as the eye
could reach, showing that the Ocean was com
pletcly blocked up in that quarter. and that he
had r,b1bly been 50 fm a long period OF time,
capt Warrens did not feel altogether satished
with his situation ; but there being no w'nd ne
could not move one way or the other. ana ne
therefore kept strict watch, knowing that he
would be safe as long as t'c'ce bcrgs continued
III their respective places.
About mdnIght. t''c w'hd rose 10 Il gaze, ac-
oompanied by th'ck showers OF snow, wh'le a
succession oi tremendous numbering. grinding
ana crashing NOISES, gave fearful evidence that
the ice "as III motion. Tie vessel received vio-
lent SHOCKS every moment; Tor the l'azlness OF
the atmosphere prevented those on board from
discovering III wlat direction the upon water
mayor u iherc actually was any at all on either
size OF tlcm' Inc night was spent III lacking
rs o'lcn rs any cause "f danger happened to pre-
sent ltscli, ana IN the morning the storm abatcd.
and Capt. Warrcns found, to his great JOY, that
his ship had not sustained any serious injury.
lie remarked with surprise that the accumula-
ted ice bergs which had on the preceding cvc-
n'ng formed an lmpcnctrablc barrier had been
separated and disarrangci by the wind and in
one place canal ct open Sea wound It's course
among them as Tar the eye cond see.
IL was Two miles bcvoni thc entrance Of this
canal, that ship made its appearance about
noon. The sun shonc brightly at the time, and
gentle breeze drew from the North. At first
some intervening ice bcrgs prevented Capt.
Warrcns from distinctly s".ing anything but her
masts but he was struck with the strange man.
er IN winch her sails were disposed and with the
dsmantled aspect of her yards and rigging. She
confirmed to go before the wind for few fur
longs and then grounding upon the low ice lctgs.
remained motionlcss.
Capt. Warrcns' curiosity was so much cXcit-
cd that he Immediately leapcd into his boat with
several seamen, and rowrd towards her. On APP
preaching he observed That her hull was miScra-
Dly weather beaten, and not soul appeared on
the deck, winch was covered with snow to a
considerable depth. lie hailed her crow several
times, but no answer returned. Previous to
stepping on board, an open port hole near the
main chains caught his eye, and on looking into
it, he perceived Il man reclining back ona chair.
with writing materials on table before him
but the frccbleness of the light made every thing
very indistinct. The party went upon deck and
having removed the hatcl,way, which they found
closed, they descended to the cabin. They first
came to the apartment which Capt. Warrcns
viewed through the port hole A tremor seized
him, as he entered it. It's inmate retained its
former position, and seemed to be insensbe to
strangers. lie was found to he Il corpse, and
green damp mould had covered his check and
forehead, and vailed his open eve balls. lie
had a pen in his hand and Il log book lay before
him, the last sentence in whose unfinished page