The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1851-02-15
TuE FROZEN sIIIp.

At this period when 50 much anxiety pre-:
walls Respecting the fate Of Sir John Franklin,
every thing relating 70 the Polar. regions Is
Of interest. The following sketch +. one Of
the most thrilling We have over heard
Ono scrrnc evening in the middle Of Au-
gust, l776, Capt Warrcns, the master Of the
Greenland, whalcship, found himself bccalm-
cd among an immense number Of iceberg, in
about - degree, of north latitude. on one
side, and within milc of bis vessel, they
were closely wcdgej together, aud Ia shcccs-
sion Of suow.coIor,i peaks appeared behind
zach other as Car a' the eye could reach, show
ing that the ocean was complct.ly blocked
up 10 that quarter, aud that it had probably
been 80 for a long period Of time, Capt
Warrcns didnor fcel aliaa4l.... -sti-'iv'i7vTsh
lis situation; brA there being no wind, hc
could not move onr way or the oIhcr, and he
therefore kept stric, watch, knowing that
he would hc safe as long as the icchcrgs CON
unucd in their respective places.
About midnight the wind rose to a gale,
accompanicd,by by thick showers OF snow. while
u succession Of tremendous thundcring,grind
inn and crashinG noises gnyg tclrnl cyidcncc
that the ice was in motion. The vessel re-
cciycd violent shocks every moment; for the
haainc,s of the atmosphere prevented those
on hoard from discovering in what direction
TtC UIc c yvarrrtt l1rrr v-7- III
on either side Of them. The night was spent
in tAcking as often as any cause of danger
happened to present itself, and in the morn
ing the storm abaled, and found 10 his grca
10Y that his ship had not sustained any seri
Gus injury. lie remarked witt surprise tha
tho accumulated iccbergs which had on tn,
preceding night formed an impenctrable bar
rict, had been separated and disarranged by
the wind aud in one place a canal of oper
sea wound its course among them rs far a
the eye could reach.
IlXaA-lMa- miles beyond the enirance OF
, this canal that ship made It's appearance,
about noon The sun shone brightly at tn,
/ time, and gentle breeze blew from the nortl
/ at irst some intervening icebcrgs prevent
ed Cant. Harrens from distinctly seeing any
thing but her masts, but nc was struck witt
the strange manner in which her sails wer
Disposed, and with the dismantled aspect OF
her yards and rigging She continued to g
before the wind for few furlongs, and thei
grounding upon the low icebergs, rcmaine'
matiouicss
Capt Warrcns' curiosity was 40 much eH
cited, that he Immediately loaped into hi
boat with several scamen and rowcd toward
her. On approaching, he observed that he
hull was miserably wcathcr.beaten, and no
a soul appeared on the deck, which was coy
cred with snow to a considerable depth. II
hailed her crew several times, but no answe
was returned, Previous to stepping on boar
an open port-hole near'iho main chains caugl
his eye, and on looking into it, he perceive
a man reclining on chair, with writing ma
terials on a table before him, but the feeble
ness Of light made everything indistinct. HI
party went upon deck, and having remove
tho hatchway, which they found closed, the
descended into the Cabin. They first cam
p to to the apartment which Capt Warrens view
ed through the port-hole. a iremor seize
hitt, AZ t, entered it inmate retained b
former position, seemed TO be insensibie
strangers. IIo was found to be corpse "a
a green damp mould had covered his check
and forehead and veiled his open cye-hail'
tic had a paR-ia his hand, and log-book Ia
before him, the last sentence in whose untIt
ished page ran thus--"Nov "a, I7d2 w
have now been enclosed in tho ice sesontee
days. The fire went out yesterday, and on
master has been trying ever since 10 krhdl
!. st again without suercss His wife died th