Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-04-11
POsTscRIPr

Here concludes the remarkable narrative of MT. Paul Rodney. It is to be wished that he had found the patience to tell us a little more. The circumstance of his dying in 1893 worth s31 900 leads me to suspect that his associate, Tassard, greatly exaggerated the value of the treasure. I am assured tha, he lived very quietly, and that the lady he married, who bore him two children, both of whom died young, was of nun-like sim plicity of character, and loved show and ex- trayagance as little as her husband. Hence there is no reason to suppose that he squan- dered any portion of the fortune that had in the most extraordinary manner ever heard of fallen into his hands. I have ascertained that he very substantially discharged the great obligation that his relative Mason laid him under, and that his three men received e1 ,00O apiece. It is possible, then, that the pirates were themselves deceived; that what they had taken to be gold or silver ingots were not all so; or it might be that the case of jewelry was less valuable than the admir- ring and astonished eyes of plain sailor, who admits that he had never before seen such sight, figured it. Be this, however. as it may, it is nevertheless certain, as proved by MT. Rodney's last will and testament, that he did uncommonly we'll out of his adventure on the ice.
 Whatever may be thought of his story of the Frenchman's restoration to life, in other directions MT. Rodney's accuracy seems un- impeachable. It is quite conceivable that @ stoutly built vessel, locked up in the ice and thiskly glazed, should continue in an excel lent state of preservation for years. The confession of his superstitious fears exhibits honesty and candor It is related that Capt. Warren, master of an English merchant ship, found derelict in August, 1775, that had ioo vxysfh oI,sv filled with the bodies of the frozen crew. ''His own sailors, however, would not suffer him to search the vessel thoroughly, through superstition, and wished to leave her imme- diately." A pity they did not try their hands at thawing one of the poor fellows; the result might have kept MT. Rodney's strange ex- perience in countenancal
 Accounts of vast bodies of ice, such as Mr. Rodney feli in with, will be found in the ''South Atlantic Directory" For instance:
 Sir James c. Ross crossed Weddels track in lat. 65 degs. s.. and where he had found an open sea Ross found an ice pack of an i'm passable character, along which he sailed for 160 miles; and again, when only deg. be- yond the track of Cook, who had no occasion to enter the pack, Ross was navigating among it for fifty-six days.
 "But these appear insignificant when com pared with a body of ice reputed to have been passed by twenty one ships during the months of December, 1854, and January, February, March and April, 1855, floating in the South Atlantic, from lat A degs. S., long. 2s degs. w., to lat. 40 degs. S., long. 20 degs. w. It's elevation ill no case exceeded 300 feet. The first account of it was received from the Great Britain, which, in December, 1854, was reported to have steamed fifty miles along the outer side of the longer shank. One ship was lost upon it.; others embayed."
 THE END.