Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1847-01-15
A Wreck at Sea.

We one day deserted some shapeles object
drifting at a distance. At sea, every thing
that breaks the monotony Of the surrounding
expanse attracts attention. II proved to be
the mast of "a ship that must have been COM
pletely wrecked for there were the remains
OF handkerchiets by which some of the crew
fastened themselves TO this spar, TO prevent
their being washed of by the waves. There
was no trace by which the name of the ship
could be ascertainpd. The wreck had evi.
IDENTIFY drifted about for many months: clus-
tiers Of shell fish had fastened about il, and
long sea-weeds Haunted at its sides. But
where, thought !, is the crew? The struu-
gle has long been over-tiey have gone dow
amid the roar of the tempest-their bones lie
whitening among the caverns Of the deep.-
Silence. oblivion, like the waves, have closed
over them, and no one can tell the story of
their end. What signs have been waited af-
ter that ship what prayers offered up at the
deserted freside of home! How often has
the wife, the mother, pored over the daily pa
pers to catch some casual intelligence Of this
rover of the deep! How has expectation
darkened into anXiety-aDxiey into dread
and dread into despair! Alas not one me-
mento shall return for love to cherish |! All
that shall ever be known is, that she sailed
from her port, "and was never heard of
more!"
The sight Of this wreck, as usual, gave rise
to many dismal anecdotes. This was partic-
ularly the case in the evening, when the
weather, which had hitherto been fair, began
to look wild and threatening, and gave indi-
cations of one of those sudden storms that
will sometimes break in upon the serenity of
a summer voy age. AS we sat around the
dull light of a lamp in the cabin, that made
the gloom more CHASTITY, every one had his
tale of shipwreck and disaster. | was par
ticularly struck with a short one related by
the captain.
GAS | was sailing" said he, sin a fine
stout ship, across the Banks of Newfound-
land, one of those heavy fogs that prevail in
those parts rendered it impossible for us to
see far ahead, even in the daytime; but at
night the weather was so thick that we could
not distinguish any object at twice the length
of the ship. ! kept lights at the masthead,
and a constant watch forward TO look out for
fishing smacks, and we were going at a great
rate through the water. Suddenly the watch
gave the thrilling alarm of "a sail ahead !'-il
was scarcely uttered before we were upon
her. She was a small schooner at anchor,
with her broadside toward us. The crew
= az cps "hu Nv SiNNbFu U nOlSl Il llDHI.
We struck her just amidships. The force,
the size, and weight of our vessel bore her
below the waves; we passed over her,
and were hurried on our course. As the
crashing wreck was sinking beneath us, !
had q glimpse of two or three halE-naked
rushing from her cabin; they Just
from their beds to be swallowed
by the waves. heard their drown
mo- CrU mInnlInn Nrifh tho yrinJ IN. L.,
mat swept 1t to our ears, swept MS out of all
further hearing. | shall never forget that cry!
1t was some time before we could put the
ship bout. she was under such headway.-
We returned. as nearly as we could guess,
to the place where the smack had anchored.
We cruised about for several hours in the
dense fog. We fired signal guns, and lis
tened If we might hear the halloo of any of
the survivors, but all was silent-we never
saw or heard anything of them more."-
Wdshington Iruinp.