Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1851-03-27
THE FROZEN SHIP.
BY H. 3. DURANr.

B1 II. DOhANI-
"In the year 1775, Capt Warren,
of Greenland whale-ship, found him.
self becalmed among an immense num-
Der of icebergs. in about n degrees oi
North latitude.
ia few miles distant strange ship
made its appearance. Capt. Warren's
curiosity was so much excited, that he
Immediately leaped into the boat with
several seamen, and rowed towards her.
On approaching, he observed that her
hull was miserably weather. beaten, and
not soul appeared on the deck, which
was covered with snow to a considera-
bic depth. He hailed her several tines,
but no answer was returned. Previous
to stepping on board, an open port hole
near the main chains caught his eye,
and on looking into it, he perceived a
man reclining on chair, with writing
materials on table before him, but the
feebleness of the light made everything
indistinct. The party went on deck,
and having removed the hatchway, which
they found closed, descended 10 the
cabin. They first came to the apartment
which Capt. Warren viewed through the
port-hole. A tremor seized him as he
entered it. Its inmate retained his
former position, and seemed to be in
sensible to strangers. He was found to
be corpse, and a green, damp mould
had covered his cheeks and forehead,
and veiled his open eye-balls. He had
a pen in his hand, and log-book lay
before him, the last sentence on whose
unfinished page ran thus:-'Nov. IA,
1852. We have now been enclosed in
the ice seventeen days. The fire went
out yesterday, and our master has been
trying ever since to kindle it again with
out success. His wife died this morn
ing. There is no relief
"In entering the principal cabin. the
body of a female was discovered recli-
ming in an attitude of deep interest, her
retaining the freshness of
life. Seated on the floor was the corpse
of a young man holding a steel in one
hand, and a flint in the other, as if in
the act of striking fire. Sailors were
lying dead in their berths, and boy
was crouched at the bottom of the gang
way stairs. Neither fuel nor provisions
were discovered. The Captain and his
men hurried from the spot without ut
ering word, and returned to their own
ship" suoEoT ~
Oh mariner brave on the crested wave,
That rolls meath the sunny dome,
Why Elk ye the deep where the surges
sleep,
Afar in the Frost Kings home?
On the tossing sea, ye may journey free,
To many gladsome strand;
But Your rest shall be low, in the gath
ering snow,
Away in the Northern land.
.ook out on the main, which an adamant q
$50 chain, rs tr r-.egi i
Binds down to its mighty will; $
or bark lieth there, in the chill bleak Y
air, =
And its decks are lone and still !.
lot living sound, breaks the silence
round, iT a1-..fi, i,s' =
But the groan of the ice-berg's shock, n
'r the shivering fall of some clear blue a
wall, a
From the brow of the crystal rockl t;
10 We ask for the band that hath nobly .
manned,
That bark mid the breakers roar;
Twere better to roam where the white 81
waves foam,
Than come to this desert shore!
or the Angel Of Death on the Frost r
Kings breath, |
Ger the hearts of that crew, hath sc
flown; ~
fes are rigid and cold, and the dark u
damp mould, 81
Hath crept o'er their brows of stonei If,
o the writer still! but his hand is chill, d
And the gaze of his dreamy eye =
fixed in despair as if listening there ID
To some perishing sufferers sighl =,
hi writer, dream on, It'll eterniyIs n n
dawn, - , al n
With the quiet and voiceless dead; OF
by dirge is the wall of the bowling -
/, gale, r
The iathomiess drift, thy bed. !
ne gods of the storm, round each mar
bic form, 1e--7sI --------
Their revelling court have kept; T
ID muttered drear, in each dull, cold 1
=. ear, an
YET needless, still on they slept; in
ID many an age mid the storm spirits m
rage, .t.a f---. -
On the shores Of that dreary cline, n
icy shall sIupher awpy' unharmed BY /
Unchanged by the hand Of time. IL