Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1872-07-06

| that of some huge monster Of the antediluvan
world, even A. its oapcs and headlands rcsem-
BILE such a monsters unsighty lIrnbs and claws.
more terrific solitude than this isle OF
Desolaiion does not exist upon our wrecked
planet
| Neither the SHOWS Of lIimalaya nor the sands
OF Sahara can Ontvic its terrors.
! No inhabit0nt is tneTe not even sqya9e-
! no house, no tree. no shrub no fence nor road,
no field nor garden, no horse, no dOg-not
| even snake or a wolf
! Lone blasted and barren, II looks like the
skeleton of a land that has perished
| 1t may indeed be that Desolaton IS the relic
the surviving fragment-nf continent that
went down here countless ages ago, with hosts
! of Inhabitants, in some vast convulsiOn OF
! nature.
! 1t has certainly undergone dreadful vislta-
tinns ;'lecn rent Ivy earthquakes. pulveriZed
/ by iros.s lashed and wasted bv fierce tempcss.
lis mountains are only Of moderate height,
bnl are capped eternally with snow.
! Its vegetation Is limited tO u few dwaTlsh
! plants, including Some moses, a species Of
licben, coarse grass, plant resembling a
small cabbage, and sort Of crcss.
It's winds are raw ard piercing, iis summers
cold and frosty, Its winters those Of tue Polar
| Circles.
The interior Of the island is occupied by i'm.
mcnse boggy swamps, where the ground sinks
| AT every step.
The rains in Dcs0latlon are almost inrCss
IN their season, and the island is accordingly
Nclned with numerous torrents of fresh water,
some of which have worn uut of the solid
rock tremendous cnvaiics and gullics The
| only other season than that of the rains is one
| ol almost constant snow.
! The foCs OF that ghastly region are well
! worthy OF the rains. being Of cloud like
! density, and lowering almost continually oyer
! the whole face of the island
/ mo .f1 = liz l. l.,
a canopy of lead colored clouds, and appears.
| on the rare occasions when it is visible, scare
| ly brighter than the moon in other laii,udes
AS To the moon Itself, and the STARS the cloud,
and logs rarely permit them TO Lclray theii
existence.
No fish worthy Of note not even fishes ol
prey, abound in the adjacent waters, by rea.
son, perhaps, OF their containing poisonous
minerals. or deadly eXhalations from the vol
canic fires beneath them.
Yet the dark grim sea inciosng Desoation
has done something 10 repair the sLcrility OF
the island.
Penguins, ducks. gulls cormorants and other
marine birds are plentiful in some 0! its haE-
| bors.
Seals also abound.
Strange and terrible land
Not single human b. ing, so far ms Is known,
has ever lived there, save as is now to bc re.
corded in these pages.
Near the middle of dull. dismal afternoon
some eleven weeks later than the date OF tn
preceding events. the good ship Flying CHI
derS drew near TO the island OF DrsOlation
shaping her course toward its norihernmos
bay, called by Captain Cook Christmas Har
bor.
A fair breeze was blowing from the north
ana the ship Was carrying every stitch OF hel
Canvas, including studding-sails
Her crew-bOth watcbes-Nere busy abou
the deck, and her passengers-a score in NUN
ber-had gathered IN groups, mostly forward
, and were gazing with great interest upou til,
[ wild, rugged shores before them. SO far as tb
fog suspended upon those shores permitted
them 10 become visible
, The ship had come here for water nearl'
all her water casks having been stove or star
ted during squall ten days previously, aut
every soul aboard Of her having been sine
that date upon short allowances
Upon the quarterback stood Capt Luke
Pedder looking unusually happy, with VIII
Hawley beside him.
" mean 10 get our wafer aboard befor,
dark, CAPTAIN Pedtler. and SO avoid losing
e night here, said the young executive, total,
5 unconscious Of the plot to leave him alone OF
the desolate island, and of the extraordinar
adventures which were before him. Tn
, strange events that happened there. and in
. deed the whole OF this thrilling story will b
r found onlyin the New York Ledger, which !
, now ready and for sale at all the bookstore
[ and news-depOts. Ask for the number date
: July IL, and III ii you will get the continue
ti0n oi The story from the place where
leaves of here