Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-11-24
THE FROZEN SHIP.

One serene evening in the middle Of
August, 1775, Captain Warrens, the
master of the Greenland, whale ship,
found himself oecalmed among an i'm
mense number Of icebergs, in about
se~veLty-seyen degrees Of north latitude.
On one side, and within a mile Of his
vessel, these were of immense hight and
closely wedged together, and a success
sion Of s~nOw-cOvered peaks appeared
behind each other as far 3 the eve could
reach, showing that the ocean was com
/ pletely blocked up in that quarter, and
that it had probably been so for a long
period Of time. Captain Warrens did
not feel altogether satisfied with his
situation. but there being no wind, he
could not either one way OF the
other, and he therefore kept a stnct
watch knowing that he would be safe
as long as the icebergs continued in their
respective places.
About midnight, the wind rose to a
gale, accompanied BY a thick shower of
snow, while a succession Of tremendous
laundering, grinding and crashing
noises, gave fearful evidence that the
ice was in motion. The vessel received
violent shocks every moment; but the
haziness of the atmosphere prevented
those on board from discovering in what
direction the open water lay, or if there
actually was any at all on either side Of
them The night was spent in lacking
as often rs any cause of danger happen
ed to present itself, and in the morning
the storm abated, and Captain Walrens
found, to his great JOY, that his ship had
not sustained any serious injury. He
remarked with surprise that the ae-
eumulated ieebergs, which had on the
preceding evening formed an impeue-
trable barrier, had been separated and
disarranged by the wind, and that in
one place aeanal of open sea wound its
cOurse among them as far as the eve
could discern.
1t was two miles beyond the entrance
to this canal that a ship made its appear
aneeabOut noon. The sun shOne BRIGHT
ly at the time, and a gentle breeze
blew from the north. At first some
intervening ieebergs prevented Captain
Warrens from distinctly seeing ANYTHING
but her masts; but he was struck with
the strange manner in which her sails
were disposed, and with the dismantled
aspect of her yards and rigging. She
continued TO go before the wind for n
few furlOngs, and then grounding upOD
the low icebergs, remained mOtiOuless.
Captain Warrens's curiosity was so
much excited that he immediately lean
ed into his boat with several seamen-
and rowed toward her. On approach-
ing he observed that her hull was miser-
ably weather beaten, and not a soul an
peared on the deck, which was covered
with snew TO a considerable depth. He
hailed her crew several times, but no
answer returned. Previous to stOpDiDr
on board, an open port hole near the
main chains caught his eye, and, on
looking into it, he perceived a man re-
Ginning back in q chair, with writing
materials on a table before him; but the
f~eebleness Of the light made everything
very indistinCt. The party went on
deck, and having removed the hatch
way which they found closed, they
descended to the cabin.
They first came TO the apartment
which Captain Warrens viewed through
the pOrt-hOle. A tremor seized him al
be entered it. Its inmate retained his
former position, and seemed to be inseD-
sible to strangers. He was found to be-
a corpse, and q green damp mould had
covered his cheeks and forehead. ana
yelled his open ~eye-balls. He had a DeD
his hand, and q lOg-bOOk lay on me
table before him. the lasb sentence in
unfinished page ran thus:
"NOvember IA, 1862. We have nov
been enclosed in the ice seventeen davs
The fire went out yesterday, and our
has been ever since irving 10
it again, without success. His
wife died this morning. There is no.
relief
Captain Warrens and his seaman bur-
ried from the spot without uterine a
word. On entering the PRINCIPAL cabin
the first object that attracted their affeD-
ton was the dead body Of a femaIe re-
on a bed, in an attitude of H.,
and attention. Her conn.,
SeHanee retained the freshness of lie
and a contraction Of the limbs sboUsd
hat her form vas inanimate. seated
the loo was the corpse Of an an
1arentIy young man, holding a steel in
hand and a flint in the other. as If
n the act Of striking fire upon some tim
Ter which lay beside him. In the fore
art OF the vessel several sailors were
dead IN their berths; ard the
o. q boy was found crouched a.
ne bottom Of the gangway. Neithet
PROVISIONS nor fuel could be discovered
,nyWhere; but Captain Warrens was
prevented BY the superstitiOus prejudiees
= ~ 1CaL4tL IuM examining the
Iessei infinitely, as he wished to have
lone. He therefore carried away the
og-b0ok already mentioned, aud return
d to his own ship, and Immediately
teered to the southwark, deeply Inn
lressed with the awful example which
le had Just witnessed Of the danger OF
iavigating the Polar seas in high north
latitude. n
On returning TO England he made
inquiries respecting vesselG that
Iad disappeared in an unknown
nd BY comparing the results Of
nth the information which
Y the written documents in
on, he ascertained the am
nv Of the Imprisoned
master, an
"a been frozen thir
tho tins Of bis ds
le ice.