The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1867-03-08
AN ARCTIC ADVENTURE.
Encounter with an Iceberg.

DIR. Hays, in his new work, 'The
open Polar Sea-" Thus relates a dan
gerous encounter with an iceberg:
"Giving too little heed to the currents,
we were eagerly watching the indica
tion of the wind which appearedat the
South, and hoping for breeze, wher
it was discovered that the tide had
changed and was stealthily setting us
upon a nest of bergs which lay to lee
ward. One of them was of that descrip-
tion known among the crew by the sig
nificant title of "touch me not" and
presented that jagged, honey-combed d
appearanceindicatlve ofgreat age. They
are unpleasant neighbors. The least
disturbance of their equilibrium may
cause the whole mass to crumble to
pieces, and woe be unto the unlucky
vessel that is caught in the dissolution.
'In such trap it seemed, however,
that we stood a fair chance of being
ensnared. The'current was carrying
US along at an uncomfortably rapid
rate. A boat was lowered as quickly
as possible, to run out a line to berg
that lay grounded about a hundred
yards from us. While this was being
done, we grazed the side of berg which
rose hundred feet above our topmasts,
then slipped past another of smaller di-
mension. By pushing against them
with our ice-poles we changed some
what the course Of the schooner but
when we thought that we were steer
ing clear ofthe mass which we so much
dreaded, an eddy changed the direction
ofour drift, and carried us almost broad
side upon it,
"The schooner 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 al
somany little elumps which ratified about
us; but fortunately no person was hit.
The quarter deck was quickly cleared,
and all hands crowding forward anx-
iously watched the boat. The berg now
began to revolve, and was setting slow
ly over us; the little Jumps fell thicker
and faster upon the afterdeck, and the
forecastle was the only place where
there was the least chance of safety.
"At length the berg itself saved us
from destruction. An immense mass
broke off from that part which was be-
meath the surface of the sea, and this,
dozen times larger than the schooner,
came rushing up within few yards of
US, sending vast volume of foam and
water flying from its sides. This rup-
ture arrested the revolution and the
berg began to settle in the opposite di-
rection. And now came another danger.
A long tongue was protruding immedi-
ately underneath the schooner, already
the keel was slipping and grinding up
on it, and it seemed probable that we
should be knocked up in the air like
football, or at least capsized. The side
of our enemy soon leaned from us, and
we were in no danger from the worse
than hailStone showers which had driv-
en- us forward; so we sprang to the ice
poles and eXerted our strength in en-
deavoring to push the vessel off. There
were no idle hands. Danger respects
not thedignity of the quarter deck.
"After we had fatigued ourselves at
this hard labor without any useful re-
suit the berg came again to our relief.
A loud report first startled us; another
and another followed in quick succt.
sion, until the noise grew deafenir'
and the whole air seemed reservoir OF
frightful sound. The opposite side of
the berg had split off, piece after piece,
tumbking vast volume of ice into the
sea, and sending the berg revolving
back upon us. This time the move
ment was quicker; fragments began
again to fall, and, already sufficiently
startled by the alarming dissolution
which had taken place, we were in mo-
mentary expectation of seeing the
whole side nearest to us break loose and
crash bodilyupon theschooner, in which
event she would inevitably be carried
down beneath it, as hopelessly doomed
as shepherds hut beneath an Alpine
avalanche.
"By this time Dodge, who had charge
of the boat, had succeeded in planting
an ice-anchor, and attaching his rope,
and greeted us with the welcome signal,
"Haul in." Wepulled for our lives,
long and steadily. Seconds seemed
minutes and minutes hours. At length
we began to move off. Slowly and
steadily sank the berg behind us, car
rying away the main boom and grazing
hard against the quarter. But we were
safe. Twenty yards away and the dis
ruption occurred which we had all SO
much dreaded. The side nearest to us
now split off and came plunging wildly
down into the sea, sending over us a
shower ofspray, raising swell which
set us rocking to and fro as if in gale
of wind, and left us grinding in the
debris of the crumbling ruin.
cat last we succeeded in extricating
ourselves, and were far enough away
to look back calmly upon the object of
our terror. 1t was still rocking and
rolling like thing of life. At each