The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1881-05-31
A Mystery Of the Sea.

neighbor and friend, Captain Barnabas
Gorham, a veteran mariner who has
just retired on his laurels, after rough
and adventurous, but on the whole sue
cessful, career He is man of honor
and of spotless veracity, so far rs my
intimate knowledge of him enables me
to judge, and have no doubt that the
circumstances as related by himself are
true in every particular.
Gorham, when young man of seven
and-twenty, these figures represented
less than half his age, was sailing out
of New York as mate of the packet
ship EndedUor, making voyages to
Liverpool and back. He had been three
years in the same employ, and stood
high in the confidence and esteem of
his commander, as well as of the agents
of the company on both sides of the
Atlantic. He felt himself a competent
seaman and navigator, and was eagerly
looking forward for some vacancy to
occur, which would give him promotion
to the command of the ship, and enable
him to marry the maiden of his choice.
1t was an English girl at Liverpool who
had levied an attachment upon him,
but he determined not to commit mat
rimony, and undertake family cares
upon mates pay.
On one of the outward voyages of
the EndedUor, when nearly in the
longitude of the Azores, but long way
to the northward of the group, a sail
was raised ahead and on approaching
her she was made out to be small bark
lying with her main-top sail aback
under easy sail.
The stranger was, of course, set down
as a whaler maneuvring in the pursuit
of his regular business, and as the En-
deaUor was carrying a press of canvas
with leading breeze, Captain Randall
had no idea of stopping to communicate
with her. But on nearer approach, it
became evident, that, although the
bark was whaler, her boats were all
gone from the davits. They might, to
be sure, have gone to considerable
distance in pursuit of whales, but what
was strange there was no lookout-man
even at the bark s masthead, nor could
any person be seen moving either on or
above the deck. The course of the
ship was changed to pass within hailing
distance but no response was received to
the hail. A legion of ravenous ea-birds
rose and took flight as the Endedvor
ran past her stern, and an odor, not like
that of Arabia Felix, was waited from
under the lee.quarter of the " Bohemia
of New Bedford" lying with whale
alongside in the fluke- chain. From all
appearances the whale must have been
dead many days. The view of the bark s
deck from the new direction still show
ed no living being in sight, and it became
evident that something was wrong,
some mystery about the deserted whaler
which ought to be investigated. Captain
Randall gave the order to haul in the
studding sails, and bring the ship to the
wind.
AS soon as she was hove to, my friend
Gorham was sent with boat to board
the Bohemia, and make observations
The result of these was not such as to
explain or throw light upon the mystery
of her abandonment. Everything was
in tolerable order on board, and nothing
indicated that any mutiny or difficulty
had occurred. The log-book was found
written up to noon on the c9th day of
May, though it was now the Goth of
June, showing that three weeks had
elapsed since the desertion of the YES
sell
From the same source it appeared that
Alfred Deroll was or had been master of
the Bohemia, and Richard Clarke first
officer. The last entry of latitude on
the log showed her to have been then
some six degrees south of her present
position, and not far from the Azores,
when the accident, or whatever it might
have been, occurred. She had been ever
since lying on the port-tack, and gradu-
ally working to the northward, and as
she had met with a succession of moder-
ate weather, and had, moreover, been
drifting in the slick of the decaying whale
she had made a smooth sea of it, and
everything remained safe in its place
without loss or damage.
Gorham did not stay long to take
notes, but returned with his report to
his superior officer. Here was wind
fall indeed The horizon had been
sharply scanned in every quarter from
the lofty mast-heads of the packet-ship,
but no sail of any kind could be dis
covered far or near, except the uninhab-