Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1873-06-14


"But there want likely TO be any
change inside Of twenty-four hours, and
long before that time, as / felt, my fate
would be decided, so gave up that delu-
sion at once, and now let me tell you to
what trial was subjected,
''f continued drlhluk In this manner
until daylight, when to my surprise, l |
discovered that was within a half mile
OF shore and steadily nearing 1t. This
was explained not by the change In the |
wiLd, but by the fact that come distance |
ahead point Of land ran out Into the |
bay, so as TO throw Itself across my path |
as II were. This cape was 80 covered and |
piled up with great cakes OF I've that |
supposed TO be an iceberg, or rather a
field of ice, but the unbroken connection |
with the shore and the fact that 1t was
anchored proved the contrary.
"Welhif my boat should eifand against
'nT my troubles would soon be over, as |
wouldn't mind the task Of working my
way back agaln.
"You can imagine, perhaps, how
felt, as stood on the raft Of ice watch
ing and wondering whether / should
reach the land or not, for II rocked as
likely to miss as strike and, to shorten
this part Of my story. while I stood there
with longing eyes ] saw the wind and
current carry me within nfts feet Of the
headlaud and then foated on by II into
the expanae of Hudson's Bay. opening
before me like The very picture Of desola-
tion."
'tIf was that near, l would have
jumped overheard aud swan the rest Of
the way" said !
al have no doubt Of that" said Pierre
"bnt didn't, and by the middle of the
day wss 80 far out in the icy sea that
| could not distinguish the land from
the fields Of Ice that sppeared here and
there over the waste OF waters.
1.-THE wind was still blowing steadily,
hut not 80 strong a. dnrlng the night hut
the rocking Of the ice-pile, which was
now my only hope, showed me that It
must 20 to pieces before long.
"About two miles Off to the left could
see on ioehurg drifting along between me
and the shore. II rose several hundred
feet In the air, and where II seemed TO
rest upon the water would have covered
dozen acres. The sun, striking The
snow and ice, made Il look wonderfully
beautiful from where stood hut while
| was watching il, as It moved slowly
along, the lower part suddenly struck
bottom, and there came quivering, lrem-
bling of the whole pile, dashing OF the
water high in the ARA grinding, crush
ing,thundering souhd that came very dis
. tlnetly TO me from across the water, and
then the whole thing broke up into hun
died pieces, which went floating out 10
sea. II
"Of course" continued Pierre, "there
are no such mountains of ice In Hudson 8
Bay as those that come sailing out OF
Bailin's Bay and down around Sewfound-
land. for they don't get the chance 10
form but / suppose good deal OF the
I ice floats down from the north, and then
' is carried back again by the wind when
: the current cannot do IL.
81 was hungry, and without a mouth
! ful Of food, as | told you few minutes
ago hut had my six black fox furs ant
7 some other kind, which | could chew up
ON If the worst should come hut th'
! fear of starving or freezing did no
y trouble me as much as that of drowning
u for few minutes after the breaking NJ
of the iceburg my little island split in tw'
. yery near the middle, but luckily my par
l. riphted itself, without capsizng Ia do It
j. as the other did. But this was a token
Il what was coming, aud ! tied my pei
= tries together In a compact body an
= picked out the largest cake, to which
= meant to hang when the final smas
:. should come.
e al had iust completed these little al
rangpments, when | discovered AN Ice
c bnrpr directly behird ne, and not NOR
b, than a quarter of mile disln't' IL WA
10 not 40 large as the one / just told yo
sr about. but il was heading in the same d
~ rection, and was going faster than wa
W for the reason that IL was still driven
10 part hy the violent wind of u
e. preceding night and forenoon, while IN
9 raft lost the effect Of the wind as quick
as il felt II.
?. 81 could sec that II was outrunnir
~ the current from the splashipg and fyit
10 of the water all along The front us
! struck against il.
! "This put my predicament in anoth
&c shane. If the iceburg should overtal
ah me l wonld be swept under, and Grown'
= unless could save my self BY cllmblI
VA up the side. This was tho simple case
!, it then stood.
n While ] was watching this new lC
~, burg and doing my rest TO settle tue que
&c ton whether, In case | should be oy'
,u taken, there was change OF my catchl
lle hold Of some place and saving mys'
is from going under, l heard grlndln
tsu cracking noise under my ieet,an kh'
ny that my raft was splitting again.
nu in Catching up my roll Of iurs, scra
y bled over to the big piece that nad nA
I'd upon as my last resort, ana Bot theIe y
ma as IL sloughed of from the rest, VIII
a'o continued breaking, with now aud the
w, huge chunk topping over, until th
me wasn't a piece LEFT half the size of the {
- upon which was crouehing
're' >" By this time was In rather unco
H"- Portable quarters, for the table OF ice
Nrr so much lower Than the pile that
IoA, .n been supporting me that couldn't Il
'ue the freezing spray from dashing over
any hope was now the lceburg,
NJ, abOut the middle of the afternoon
'eh' oyer took ue Yon may be sure tina
III was on the watch for il, and rs II mo-
NJ : yery slowly | managed TO get upor
All y,thout much trouble. | threw my
pehl If fox .fure. about u dozen feet, wi
Z they caught upon shelf Of ice,and !
'nle- I mnde the leap myself, ,and Ms the raj
loht ice that hae held inc up 80 long
Us Us ~ cracking and splitting and going lu T.
lu"V mrnts against the mountain was cl
'''' bering UP its side,
4" I was determined tn keep lhore
in hand as long a. could, i.r they
Wy worth little fortune, and AS tuld
nv awhile ago there wa strong keli
tne of nv being GLAD enough To use theu
VI the way of food. -,
way "Thi. iceburg, as | called II, like
: ' !" others was very irregular IN 0utlinc,
lsht not much over hundred feet in bel
eau, while the base was no more tnan hal
h'eI acre In extent at the mot.
i'ehe 1Rough aud ragged ms these mass
lentu ice always are, | managed TO cllnl
ehtly the ion without much trouble, and u
ice tonk NV observation. The nearest
rehl, Of land was on the west and wa oN
asa dozen miles away. South, ,east,and q
amer, IL was all open sea, except where
~, Acids of ice could be seen, and
y drifting norihwsrd. ! have often tho
ouse, since then that there are few men
m ~ a have ever been placed as ! was u
. nun that is, in such position that they
iihnt see not a sign of life anywhere, nor In
"a ,ne ANYTHING At all except water IN one
W"s or other. | was standing UPON II
hg " water. which was ahuat, while the
unu line which marked the coast was 0
llsut scores of feet under the snow ana &c
,-,. overhead was water again In the iol
wbiIe vapor. w.
WINE The sun was now low in the Wes
Y llhe was looking for some place in WI
SNOW, shelter myself when ] made two III
mousse ami discoveries. The first was that
as a was a Polar bear upon the same ic
Id was with me. and the second WAS that
nd the was sn,r y, ,o ~, ~ " visw & around an 4
new ! suuues,s 80, ,.'as still a GOOD long dii
'Isee ! away, and WAS not likely 10 ia
a',as- before morning. ,..,.,..,