Delaware Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1843-1874, 1873-05-29

| THE Mosr EXTRAORDINARY SHIPwRKcK
, ON RRcoRD.-lf the account given by the sur
vivors Of the Attic ste amer Polars Is true, their
escape from the awful Artic regions Is one OF
| the mos. extraordinary human adventures ever
known. We do not beve that Our readers aud
the public generally have fully comprehended
III.
! It far surpasses all that imagination has given
| US In the glowing pages of fiction. This is the
story, 1t being supposed that the Polaris would
be inevitably crushed between the pishty
masses of ice with which it had become invol-
we'd, the crew determined in season 10 make
| their escape TO one ofthe foes and leave the
vessel to its fate.
| A considerable quantity of provisions were
| thei efore transferred to the ice, with amuntion
sledges and so forth. But things takinga more
| favorable turn, the landing was stopped, while
| fourteen of the crew and some provisions were
| Oh board the steamer.
While thus separated darkness came on, the
party on the ice lost sight Of the steamer which
| disappeared into All open SEQ, and from mat
time TO this no traces of her have been seen.
| Thus nineteen human beings were abandon
ed to their fate on field of ice in mid-ocean,
| in the high latitude Of seventy-seven degrees.
Who could have supposed it possible that
upon this iceberg this party should have re-
| manded for over eight months, drifting slow
| ly TO the south, and that not one life should
|
| a whaling vessel, they were in the latitude OF
| fifty three degrees ana half
, They had fOated in one hundred and seven
| ~ Two da,s through twehty-f'ur degrees Of
Latitude Vi about hfleen hundred miles. In
other words, upon this ice-r,,ft, they had gone
a distance about equal the breadth Of the
Atlantic Ocean, from the coast Of New England
10 that Of Ireland. They had made on an
| average ten miles day, or about one third OF
| mile an hour.
1t was in this slow manner that they escaped
from the Polar region. During more than
three-fourths Of the time they were In the dark
ness ofwinter, incapable of making any obser-
| vations as to the perlls they might be on tn?
point of encoun.ering.
OF course their foe or berg came frequently
in collision with other foes and bergs, and the
tremendous crash would threaten de ath and
destruction to the unfortunate, shipwrecked
mariners Then it would become inexlriciably
mixed with other fields of ice, and remain sta
tionary for days and weeks together. But lie
effort presented itself to land upon any coast
no matter how sterile or desoate
Steadily and gradually was their progress ou
more and more, into the open ocean. Vess ell
| III those latitudes there were none TO meet
Their stock Of provisions kept gradual,
growing less, and il was an easy arithmetica
question to ascertain when the party would bt
| confronted with gaunt and absolute famine. -
As month after month passed away. and on,
degree Of latitude succeeded another, a new hor
rlble Apprehension must have been present to til
Polaris survivors. That was when they strucl
the warm Gull Stream their raft would 500
melt and. dissolve, precipi:aling them INTO III
immense depths Of the sea.
When, luckily, they We're de cried by IL
IigIess, they were approaching that yer
stream, which would soon have entombed th
unfortunate meu and their natural raft. Can an
, one imagine the terrible nature Of the thought
and fears which must have been present
these lost mariners, ,.rit on the ocean one HUI
dred and seventy-two days. 1t is in The lengt
1 and duration Of this shipwreck that it stanJ
: unparalleled.
Truly, what are the perlls of the land icon
pared to those of the sea! For ages to con
, this navigation Of nineteen souls through fife,
hundred miles ofw atery expanse, in tile ma
y ner in which they performed it, will be wo
: | der and q marvel.