The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-02-22
The Frozen ship.

One serene evening in the middle ofAu-
nst. ITS, Captain Warrens, the master of
Ee Greenland, a whale-ship, found him
ne becalmed among al immense number
icebergs, in about seventy seven degrees
north latitude, en- one side, and within a
hile Of his vessel. These were of i'm.
sense neighth, and closely wedged together,
4 a succession of covered peaks
Mnpeared behind each other as far as the
ne could reach; showing that the ocean
las completely blocked up in that quarter,
nd that it had probably been so for a long
&eriod of time.
G plain Warrens did not feel altogether
M atisfed with his situation, but there being
o wind, he could not move one way or the
81 ther. and he therefore kept q strict watch,
moving that be would be safe as long as
he icebergs continued in their respective
hlaces. About midnight, the wind rose to
gale, accompanied by thick showers of
2now. while a succession of tremendous
numbering, grinding and crushing noises
"A ave evidence that the ice was in motion.
rhe vessel received violent shocks every
a econd, for the haziness of the atmosphere
prevented those on board from discover
sng in what direction the open water lay,
br if there was actually any at all on either
tide Of them.
The night was spent in tacking as often
any cause of danger happened to present
Itself, and in the morning the storm abated,
md Captains Warrens found, to his great
a low. that the ship had not sustained n
1 serious injury. He remarked that the ac-
formulated icebergs which had on the pre-
eeding evening formed on impenetrable
barrier bad been separated by the wind,
Ind that in one place a canal of p sea
wound its course among them as far as the
&eye could discern. 1t was two miles be-
Eyond the entrance Of this canal that a ship
made its appearance about noon. The sun
shone brightly, and a gen le breeze blew
from the north.
Captain Warrens was struck with the
4 strange manner in which her sails were
disposed, and with the dismantled aspect
of her rigging. She continued to 90 before
the wind for a few furlongs, and then
4 grounding upon the low icebergs, remained
.motionless. Captain Warrens Immediately
4 leaped into his boat with several seamen,
and rowed toward her. On approaching
he observed that her hull was terribly
4 weather. beaten, and not a soul appeared
on the deck, which was covered with snow
to O considerably depth. He then hailed
her crew. but no answer was returned,
Previous to stepping on boar5, an open
port hole near the main. chains caught his
eve; and on looking into it, he perceived a
man reclining back in q chair, with writ
irg materials or a table before him; but
the feebleness of the light made everything
very lndistlnct before him.
The party went upon deck, and. having
removed the hatchwriy, descended to the
-. TNIoxr EpcE cavNa. IN thu nn0rfvnQnt
which Capt. Warrens viewed through the
port-bole. Aterrcr seized him as he en-
tered it; its inmate retainedit former posi-
| ton, and seemed to be insensible to strang-
ers. He was found TO bea corpse, and o
green damp mould had covered bis cheeks
and foreheadan aud yelled his open eyeballs.
de had q pen in his hand. and a loi hook
Law before him. The last sentence .n its
y unfinished page ran thus: "Noy. 18th,
1852. We have been inclosed in the ice
seventeen days. Our fire went out yester-
day, and our master has been trying ever
since to klndle it again without success.
His wife died this morning. There is no
relief" Capt. Warrens and his men hur-
ried to the spot without uttering a word.
On enteiiug the principal cabin the first
object that attracted their attention was the
dead body Of a female, reclining on o bed
in an attitude Of deep interest and attention.
Her c~ountenence retained the freshness of
life, but a contraction Of the limbs showed
that her form was inaEimate. Seated on
the floor was tho corpse Of an exceedingly
young man holding q steel III one hand and
q flint In the other, as if in the act OF strik-
ing fire upon some finder which lay be-
side him. In the fore-part of the vessel
So eral sailors were found lying dead In
their berths and the body Of q boy crouched
atthe bottoIa of the gangway stairs. Neith-
er provisions nor fuel conld be discovered
anywherej but Capflin Warrens was pre-
vented by the euperstitlous prejudices of
his getman from examining the vessel as
minutely az he wished TO have done.
He therefore carried away the log-book,
returned to his own ship. and immediately
steered TO the southwark, impressed with
the awful example he had Just witnessed
OF the danger OF navigating the Polar seas
in the high northern attitudes. On return
ing to England he made various inquiries
respecting vestels that had disappeared in
an unknown way; and, by comparing the
results of those with the informant N which
WAS afforded ~ the written documents in
his possession, he ascertained the name
aud history Of the imprisoned ship, and
of her unfortunate masier; and fonnd that
she had been frozen in thirteen years pre-
yicus to the time Of his discovering her
among the ice.