Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1873-10-11
LIFE IN THE ICE KINGDOM

ing to the imagination, apart from the
terrible toll, the courage, the endur-
ance, and the danger, involved in the
pursuit. All these come into the pic.
ture, and underlie its charm, enhanced
by the great distance, the parting from
home and friends, the absolute silence,
the complete isolation. Nonews comes
to the homes of the whalers until
they bring it, with ease and plenty
or the grim blank of failure nC
passing ships hail the yoyagers t,
the north, to the region
where mans dominion has never beel
&C lmowedged, where he is no NOR
than a perseyeriug invader snaJ
es, with inconceivable toll and difficulty,
a few swift victories, and then a stead
ly, inexorably beaten back by the float
ing forces of the ice king. The gian
barriers Of the ice-realm are closeC
against him, and the mysterious night
Of the arctic winter bids defiance to his
puny daring. When the darkness come
down upon the polar world, does the
strange calm that broods over the grea
wastes of water within the great
wastes of ice which form the Spitzber'
gen islands remain untroubled, or dc
the winds howl over the black waves
until the ice-barriers shiver, and moan,
and split themselves into frantic frag
ments, careering wildly under the rush
ing lash of the tempest, and anon clos
ing up for long spells Of their inexora-
tble ward ? The whole region, during
the brief season for which man can
look upon it and live, is one of enchant,
ment and delight, but he leaves it with
the lingering longing to learn the mys,
! tories of its winter unfultilled. No
wonder that the good people of Hull
watched with patient curiosity the lading
of schooner-yacht which sailed from
Hull on the 11th May, 1872, with 9
small party of English gentlemen and
an exclusively English crew, for it was
bound for Spit2bergen, was to sail
round the island, aud was fitted with all
the requirements for whaling and seal.
in. A large fishing feet was sailing,
but the schooner soon outsailed then
all. and as the fishermen hauled toward
their fishing banks, and she stood on hel
course alone, the talk on board her was
of the hyperborean seas ahead. whose
dread and danger the men knew and
had dared and of the great whales
whose capture is such fierce excitement
and large profit. Many days sail pass
by before the fnners appear, but al
length the gentlemen see them, and
their ill-concealed admiration seems un
called for by the crew, to whom these
wonderful creatures are very small deer
indeed, the mere outlying "wildC
fowle of the ice-realm, gliding on the
surface of the calm, clear sea with
sudden, gentle motion, and heaving {
loud "p-o-of" as they come by tht
ship, whence they are watched in strict
est silence. The marvels of the north
ern seas come quickly; Van Mayen''
island lies in the ships course, and as
they near it, the whole air is alive will
whitewinged armies of sea-birds, thC
high cliffs being tenanted by another
host at rest two rocks stand out from
the land, exactly resembling swift-sail
ing ships, coming on with all sails set
and heeling over to the gale and tht
icy peak of Beerenberg rises above thC
sea-level 6,S70 feet. The beach had
history to tell full of warning, and ye
of weird attraction, for here were Bit
of whale boats reduced to match-wooC
by the frightful action of the boisteroui
seas; fragments of wrecks of ships tina
had fought bravely against the ice, bu
had been beaten; bits of masts Of mer
chant-vessels huge piles of driftwood
once stately trees ON the side of som'
Siberian river, now stranded on thu
arctic coast, and the little tunnels witt
which th, sea-wofms had perforated i
in every direction tenantless; for tht
wood-borers cannot i've in the tempera
ture of the awful artic seas. The wild
duck and the white-fox have the islani
to themselves, and beyond it lies TIN
true commencement of the west ice, til,
surge of the heavy sea breaking upol
the outer edge of the huge floating
masses, and the illimitable distanc
laden with heavy blocks, intersperseC
with flat snow. Surely here is the en-,
of all things, and no ship can ever ge
beyond this beautiful barrier, this spray
sprinkled diadem on the brow of tn
awful ice king, shining with almos
unbearable lustre of rubies, diamonds
emeralds, and sapphires; and the thun
dering sound of the disrupted masse
which strew the sea is the warning {
dismissal. They heed neither, but sal
toward the densest part, through
fringe of broken ice in a heaving sea
! forcing the schooner at all speed, an
charging the most likely place for 3
entrance, as the surge rises and fall
, with awful fury. They get through
} for they have men on board who are az
4 customed to deal with ice, to hit it care
. fully, and turn it gently from its way
/ and the wonderful operation succeeds
the schooner stands out to sea in broa
channel, with ice walls on either sid'