The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1883-10-17
WELLINGTON LoRAN COUNTY, OHIO OCTOBER

of their number; but 1t must be remem-
bered that thew had q roof over their
heads, and fire-wood, and above all
could provide themselves with proyisi
IONS The general experience of those
who have been in like condition has
been very different ~
Only four years afterward the Dutch
Government offered Inducements to any
party of Greenland whale-fshers who
would winter on the island of st. Maur-
ice, commonly called Mayors Island.
from John Mayer. its discoverer. IL
lies between seventy-one and seventy-
two degrees of north latitude (wbereas
that OF the little English settlement
above described was sixty-seve de-
grees), but is barren, mountainous and
inhospitable enough.
Seven Dutch sailors volunteered for
this adventure, and were left behind BY
the feet, accordingly, on the 26th OF
August. At that time ''the heat of the
sun was so powerful that they pulled OF
their shirts, and sported on a hill neE
their abode" There was an abundanee
OF sea-gulls, and few yegetables-or
at least something that served for salad
grew in the vicinity. They did not
resort to fires until the 9th of October.
AS winter advanced. however, their pri-
vations set in with unaccustomed sever
ity. At the end of the old year they
.'went to prayers, wishing each other a
happy new year and good success in
their enterprise" This Is the last
glimpse of cheerfulness we get among
them. January was dark and stormy;
bears were scarce. and the poor fellows
had little skill in killing them. In
March many of them were attacked by
that arctic scourge, scurvy, caused by
the absence of fresh provisions. On the
Sd of April only two were in health, and
the rest extremely i'll. On that day the
last two of the pullets that hac
been left them were killed. The
clerk" Il. e., / suppose, the
purser) died on the 10th, whereupon th,
rest implored Heaven to have mercy
upon his soul and on themselves. The,
were, indeed, in sad straits by that time
On the Esd one writes in his journal
and the journal is all the record w,
have of their doings, for they all per
ished: 1--WE are by this time reduced Il
deplorable state, none of my comrade
being able to help himself, much les
another; the whole burden, therefore
lies on my shoulders, and / shall per
form my duty as well as am able 81
long as it pleases God to give m
strength. am just now about to assis
our commander out of his cabin; h
thinks it will relieve his pain, for he !
struggling with death. The night
dark, and the wind blowing from tn
south" What miserable utterance O
human misery is this! How difficult
is, as one reads it, to reflect that all thi
happened two centuries and a half age
> One seems to hear the means of thos
solitary, sick men even now. On tn
27th of April, we read, they killed thei
dog. As there is no further note c
what took place, it is supposed the
must have all died in the beginning c
May. 81 .7r -g,
On the 4th of June the Dutch lande
to seek for their comrades, and ''prS
saged i'll from their not having com
down to the shore to welcome them.
They found them all dead men. Nes
one of the bodies stood some bread. an
cheese; q box of ointment, with whic
, he was won't to rub his teeth and joint
? beside another, whose arm was extende
toward his mouth; prayer-book ws
, near a third. Each of the men wa
found in his own cabin" The con
, mander Of the feet caused the bodies
be put in coffins, "and inferred, on S
Johns Day, under general discharg
of cannon. ."-Janles Payne, IN Harper
Young People.