Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1847-03-18
Gtstorttol.
Awful Discovery.

Awful Discovery,
One serene evening in the middle of Auyust
ITS, Ciptlin Warrens, the master Of a Green
land whllcshp, found himself bee lined am9nr
an immense number of iceberys, in about n Q
of north llttude. Onone side and within nile
CT his vessel, these were cf immense height and
closely wedged together, and succession Of
snow-covereI peaks ppelrc1 behind elch ether
far as the eye could re lch showing tn the occ IN
was completely blocked up in th!t qulrter, and
that it had probably been SO for long period Of
time. Captain Warrens did net feel altogether
satisfied with his situations but there being no
wind he could net move one way or the other
and he therefore kept a strict witch known ?
thlt he would be slfc as long as the ice5erIs cen
tinued In their respective pieces About mid
night the wind rose to gale, acc0mp anied by
thick showers of snow, while a succession Of
laundering, grinding, and crashing noises, gave
fearful evidence that the ice was in motion The
vessel received violent shocks every moment, for
the haZlness Of the atmosphere prevented those
on board from discovering IN Whlt direction the
open water lay, or if there actl}lly WIS any at
all on either side Of them. The night WIS spent
in lacking as often as any case Ct danger p
pencd to present itself, and in the morning the
storm abated, and Clptlin Warrens found to his
great 10y, that his ship had not sus aimed any Sc
rous'injury He remarked with surprise that
the accumulated icebergs, which had the proceed
ing evening formed an impenetrable barrier had
been separated and dscngaged by the wind, and
that in one place canal of open SC wound its
course among them as fir as the eye could dis
Germ. 1t was two miles beyond the entrance of
this canal that a ship mlde its appearance about
noon The sun shone brightly at the time, and
gentle breeze blew from the north. At first
some intervening icebergs prevented Clpt War
rens from distinctly seeing anything but her mast
but he was struck with the strange mlnner in
which her slils were disposed and with the dis
mlntled aspect of her yards and rigging, She
continued to 60 before the wind for few fur
longs, and then, grounding upon the low ice
berg, remllned mOtonIcss. Captain Warrcns'
curiosity was so much excited that he immedi-
ately leaped into his boat with several semen,
and roWed towards her. On approaching he OBJ
served that her hull was mlserably Welthcr-belt-
en-, and not a soul appeared on the deck, which
was covered with snow to a considerable depth
He hailed her crew several times, but no an
swer was returned. Previous to stepping en- board,
an open portfolio near that of the mainchalns
caught his eye, and on looking into it, he per-
ceived man reclining back in chair, with
writing materials Oh a table before him, but the
fecbeness Of the light mlde everything very in
indistinct. The party went upon deck, and hav-
ing removed the h1tchway, which they found
closed, they descended to the clibn. They first
came to the apartment which Captain Warrens
viewed through the portfolio. A remor seized
him as he entered it, It's inmate retained its
To, no
strangers He was found to be a corpse, and
green damp mould had covered his cheeks and
forehead, and yelled his eye-balls He had apen
in his hand, and og-book lay before him, the
last sentence in whose unfinished page ran thus e.:
Nov. II, 1862 We have now been inclosed
in the ice seventeen days. The fire went out
yesterday, and our master has been trying ever
since to kindle it again without success. His
wife died this morning There is no relief"
Capt. Warrens and his seamen hurried from
the spot without utterihg a word On entering
the principal cabin the first object that attracted
their attention was the dead body Of a female re-
clining on a bed in an attitude of deep interest
and attention. Her countenance retained the
freshness of life, and contraction of the limbs
= alone showed that her form was inanimate On
the floor was seated the corpse of an apparently
Young man, holding steel in one hand and a
flint il the other, as if in the act of striking fire
upon some finder which lay beside him. In the
fore part Of the vessel several sailors were found
lying dead in their berths, and the body Of boy
was crouched at the bottom Of the gmg-way
stairs, Neither provisions nor fuel could be dis
covered anywhere: but Captain Warrens was
prevented, by the superstitous prejudices of his
seamen, from examining the vessel as infinitely
as he wshhd to have done H. therefore clr-
ried away the log-5ook already mentioned, and
returning to his own ship, Immediately steaTed
to the southwark deeply impressed with the aw-
ful example, which he Ind ust witnessed Of the
danger Of nlygltlng the polar Sc Is in high north
ern attitudes. On returning England he mud
various inquiries respecting vessels TINT nd dis.
appeared in an unk IOWA WY, aud by comp lrinq
these results with the inform ltion which was at:
forded by the written documents in his possess
ion, he ascertaned the name and history Of tn,
imprisoned ship and of her unfortunate master
and found that she hid been frozen in thirteen
wears previous to the time Of discovering her a
mong the ice