The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1851-07-27
From the Westminster Review.
The Frozcn ship.


At this period, when so much anxiety prevails respect
ing the fate of Sir John franklin. everything relating 10
the polar regions is OF interest The following sketch
one of the most thrilling exant:
" One serene evening in the middle of August, l775,
Captain WsTens the master of Greenland whaleshp,
found himself becaIued among an immense number Of
ceberg. in about n degrees OF north latitude. On one
SIDE and within mile of his vessel these closely
wedged together, and succession of coored peaks
appeared behind each other lar the eye could reach
showIng that The completely blocked ~ in
that quarter, and that had probably been for long
period Of lime.
"About midnight the wind rose to gale, accompanied
by timex showers OF snow, while succession OF femen
dous, laundering grinding, and crashing noises gave
fearful evidence that the in MOTION The vessel
received violent shocks moments Tor the hazness
OF the atmosphere prevented those board IRON dscov
ering IN what direction the open water lay or II there
actually any all either side OF them The night
spent in lacking often any OF danger hap
pened 10 present itself, and IN the morning the storm
abaed, and Captain Wauens found 10 his great Joy that
his ship had not sustained any serious Injnty He re-
marked, with SURPRISE that the accumulated icebergs
which had on the preceding evening formed impene-
rabe barrier, had been separated aud diaanged by The
wind aud 10 one place canal OF open sea wound lis
cour among them as lar as the eye could discern.
Ii was two miles bey ond the entrsAce OF thus canal
that ship made lis appearance about noon The sun
shone brightly at the ime and gentle breeze blew IRON
he north Al first some Intervening ieeber5s prevented
Captain Warrens from distinctly SEEING anything but her
mass but he struck with the strange manner IN
which her sails disposed and with the dsmanled
aspect OF her yards and rigging She continued TO 20 be-
lore the wind for iufopg and then, grounding upon
the low ieebergs, remained motionless.
Captain WsHen's curlos ~ much excited that
he im, daely leaped into his boat with several seamen
and rowed towards her. On approaching he observes
that her hull was mlseraby weather beaten, and not
soul appeared the deck, which was covered
with snow TO considerable depth He hailed her
several times, but no answer returned. Pre-
vlousy to stepping on board open p)rt-hoe the
main chains caught his eye, and looking into II he
perceived man reclining on chair, with writing ma
t,Fa fabl l.in him nt fp.h nj fhp
light made everything indstinct. The party went upon
deck, and having removed the baichway, which they
found closed, they descended TO the esbm. They hrs
came to The apartment which Captain Wauens viewed
through The ifemor seIzed him he entered
H. lls inmate retained his former position, and seemed 10
be insepsole 10 strangers He was found 10 be corpse
and damp mould had covered bis cheeks and lore
head and vesd his open ey e.bar lie had pen his
hand and log book lay before him. the last sentence 10
whose unfinished page ran 'hns
".Nov ID, I762.-We have now been enclosed in the
ice seventeen days The fire ye.lerdsy and
master has been Try ing since to kInds II again With
out success. HIS wife died this morning There is no
relief =
"Capiain Warren. and his men hurried from the spot
without u'tetng word On entering The principal oabln
the nr-t object at attracted their attention was the dead
body of "a ixiDale. reclining bed IN an attitude oi
drp interest and auent,on. Her countensnce retained
the freshness OF lie, and contraction OF The hnb'
showed thar her form iDannae Seated on the nJor
was the corpse OF apparently young man, holding
steel ~ one baud and flint in The o'bef AZ IN The act
OF SINKING hie upon some Under which lay beside him.
IN Tie inrepa OF the vessel several sailors were found
lying dead IN their berlhs, and the body OF boy
couebed AT the bottom OF III. gaDgway stairs Neither
povisons nor fuel could be discovered anywhere, but
eapaih Wsfrrns was prevented by the supersiltloas
pejndces OF his seamen iron examining the vessel as
mnutey a. he wished to have done He therefore car
RED away the log book already mentioned and returned
10 his own SHIP aud Immediately seered to the south.
ward, deeply impressed with the awful example which
he hal Iu-l witnessed of the danger OF navigating the
polar seas IN high northern ar,uJes
I'm M ta .Io
respecting vessels tnal had disappeared IN al
way and by comparing The results Of those win inior
NATION which afforded by the written documents IN
his possession, he ssceaned the and history of the
ship and her unfortunate master. and found
tn she had been frozen thirteen years previously the
time of his discovering her among the ice"