Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1856-12-24
PARTING HAwsHRs AMONG rcEBERes.


u blew perfect hurricane We had seen Il coming
and ready with three good hawsers gu, ahead and
| all things snug on board.
Still il came on heavew and heavier and the ice began
to drive wildly than thought had seen it,
had just turned In to and dry myself during the me
mentsry iu, and stretching myself In the bunk
when heard the sharp twanging snap ola cord. oul
inch hawser had parted aud were swinging by the
two others the gale roaring like lion to tho south
ward fffr f.tI 60 f.tt
Half minu,cmore, aud "twang twang ~ came second
report knew IL the whale line, by the shncss OF
the ring Our noble inch MANILA still held on was
hurrying sst cock into ts scalskin boot when Nc
Gary came waddling down the companion ladders Gap.
tain Kane, she won't hold much longer it's blowing the
blue devil himself, and am afraid TO surge"
The manits cable was proving its excellence when
reached the deck and the crew. they gathered around
Ian chant swelling through all the rattle Of the running
gear and moaning OF the shrouds the death sooi
The strands gave with the noise of shoted gun and
In the smoke that followed the reco, dragged
out by the wild ice at its mercy
We steadied and did pretty warpug and got the
brig good bed in the rushing drift but IL all came 10
nothing We then tried to beat back throug the narrow
ice cogged water way, that driving quarter Of a
mile wde between the shore and the pack Ii coat us
two hours Of hard labor, thought skully bestowed
but at the end Of that time least our miles or
opposite the great valley in the OF Bedee Reach
Ahead OF farther 10 the NORTH could see tho strait
still narrower, and the heavy ice-tabes grinding up and
coggng between the shore clits the side and
the ledge the other There but thing left for
to keep, in Sort the command OF the helm by
going freely where must otherwise be driven We al
lowed her to stand on reeied foreop sail all hands
watching the enemy, closed in since.
At seven in the morning, close upon the ping
masses We dropped our heaviest anchor with the des-
perate hope OF winding the brig but there no With
standing the ice torrent which followed US We had on
y time to fasten aspar buoy to the ship and let her
slip. So went our best bower.
Down we went upon the gale again, hopelessly scrap
ing along lee OF ice seldom less than thirty feet thick
one doe measured by line tried fasten It, more
than forty had such ice only once before and
never in such rapid motion. One upturned mass rose a
oove our gunwae smashing in bulwarks and deposit
ting haa ton OF ice in alump decks Our staunch
little brig bore herself through all this wild adventure as
though she had a charmed life. But a enemy came
in sight ahead.
Directly in our way Just beyond the line of aoe.ice
against which alternately sliding and humping
was group OF bergs. We had no power to avoid them
and the only question whether be dashed
in pieces against them whether they might not offer
Us some provdentia nook OF refuge from the storm But
as we neared them perceived that they at some
distance FROM the hoeedge aud separated from il by an
interval oil open water. Our hopes rose as the gale
drove us towards the passage and into il and were
ready to exut when from unexplained cause pro-
badly eddy OF the wind against the lofty ice walls we
lost our headway. Almost at the moment We saw
that the bergs were not at rest-tha, with
OF their they bearing down upon the other ice
aud that must be fate be crushed between the
two
s neu o'oau scohcepiece OF low water washed berg
came driving from the southwark. The thought flashed
upon Of OF escapes in Melville Bay as the
sconce moved rapidly close along side US Mcary mana
ged to plant anchor its slope and TO hold on to it
by whale line. IL was an anxious moment Our noble
Tow horse whittier than the pale horse that seemed to be
pursuing hauled brave on the spray dsshng over
his windward TANKS and his forehead blowing up the les
ser ice as II in scorn The bergs incroached upon
We advanced channel narrowed a width of about
forty feet braced the yards keep clear Of the mpe-
ding ice walls We passed clear; but it close shave
so close that quarter boat would have been
ed we had not taken from davs and found ourselves
under the lee of berg in comparatively open lead
Never did heart tried acknowledge with more graft
tude their merciful deliverance from wretched death