The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1867-01-29
An Antie Adventure.

Open Polar Sea- thus relate q danger
Gus encounter with an iceberg
Giving 500 little heed to the cufrets.
wa weIe eagerly whtching tho indaca.
tiuns 81 wind which appeared at The
sonth ANA hoping for "a breeze. when it
was se0ycrgdthat the tide had chang
"a Mnd was stealthily setting as upan d
most 81 bcres which las 10 leeWard. one
81 them uas of that DESCRIPTION known
among the crew by the significant title
of atonch-me-not, aud presented that
iagged, honeyeombed appearance midi
catiye Of great age They were unplea-
SAINT nuighbors The least disturbance
q their equilibrium may cause the
whole mass to erumble to pieces. and
woe be unto the unlucky vessel that is
caught in The dissolution.
In such 4 trap it seemed. however.
that We stood fair chance Of being en-
shared The curren was carrying as
alcng at an uncomfortable rapid rate.
4 boat was lowered as EquicklY as pos
able, to run outa line to berg which
lay grounded about a hundroad Yards
from us. While tins was being done,
We grazed the side Of a berg which rose
hundred feet above our topmast, then
slipped past another Of smaller dimen-
sions BY puhsing against them with
our iec-poles We changed somewhat the
course OF the schooner; but when we
thought that We were steering clear Of
the mass which we SO much dreaded.
an eddy changed the direction Of our
drift, and carried us almost broadside
upon it.
The sch ooner struck ON the starboard
quarter, and the shock, slight though it
was, disengaged some fragments of ice,
that were large enough to have crushed
the vessel had they struck her, and also
many little Jumps which ratified about
us; but fortunately no person was hit,
The quarterback was quickly cleared,
and al hands, crowding foreward, anx-
iously watched the boat. The berg
now began to reyolye, and was settling
slowly over us; the LITTLE humps fell thick
and fast upon the af er-deck, and the
forecastle was the only place where
there was the least chance ii safety
at length tile berg itself saved us
from destruction. An immense mass
broke off from that part which was be-
meath the surface of The sen, and this a
dozen times larger than Tie schooner,
came rushing up within q few yards Of
us, sending q vast volume Of foam and
water flying from Its sides This rap-
ture a.ayed lhe revolution, and the berg
began to settle in the opposite direc-
ton And now catne another danger.
Along tongue was protrudiug immedi
ately under meath the schooner; already
the keel was slipping and grinding up
ON it, and it seemed probable that we
should be knocked up into the air like
football, or at least capsize. The side
of our enemy soon leaned from us, and
we were III no danger from the worse
than Maidstone showers which had driy-
en- us forward; SO we sprang to the ice.
poles and exerted our strength in en-
/ deayoring to push the vessel off. There
were no idle hands Danger respects
not the dignity Of the quarterback.
"After we had fatieued ourselves al
this hard labor without any useful re-
suit, the berg came again to our relief
/ 4 loud report first startled us; another
and another followed in quick success
ion, and the noise grew deafening and
the whole air seemed d reservoir o.
Ifightful sound The opposite side o
4 the berg had split Of, piece after piece
tumbling vast volume o
| ice into the Sea, and sending the bera
revolving back upon as. Fhis time tho
movement was quicker; fragments be
gan again to fall, and, already sufficient
/ Il startled by the alarming dissolution
which had taken place, we were III mo
Imentary expectation Of seeing the whole
side nearest to rs break loose and crasl
bodily upon the schooner, in which
event she would inevitably be carried
down beneath it, rs hopelessly doomed
as a shepherds hut beneath All Alpin,
avalanche.
by this time Dodge, who had charge
Of the boat, had succeeded IN planting
an ice-anchor and attaching bis rope
and greeted MS with the welcome sig,
nal, Haul in We pulled for our lives
/ long and steadily Seconds seemed
minutes and minutes hours. At Atlengtl
we began to move off Slowly ano
steadily ank the berg behind us, carry
ing away the main beam and grazing
hard against the equarter But we werc
safe. Twenty yards away and the dis
ruption occurred which we had aI Sd
much dreaded. The side nearest to us
now split, and came plungine wildly
down INTO the sen. sending over MS q
shower Of spray, raising swell which
set us rocking to and fro as if in gale
Of wind, and left ms grinding in the de-
brJs Of the crumbling ruin
AT last we succeeded in extricatinl
ourselves, and were far enough away Il
look back calmly upon the object Of on
terror. II was still rocking and rolling
like a thing of life AZ each revolution
fresh masses were disongaged: and, d.
its sides came up III long sweeps, great
cascades tumbled and leaped from then
irissing into Tie foauing sea. After
several hours il settled down into quiet
ude, mere fragment IL its former
greatness, while Tie pieces that we're
broken from # Aoated quietly away viii
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