Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1889-08-17
THE LABRADOR COAST.

the Wind-Dangers of the silent and
Dreadful Arctic Icebergs-KxplosioR
of One OF These Huge Floating Ice
Observation-Disclosures Scenes.
On BOARD SCHOONER "SoPH1E," Aug. 1.
| To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
Leaving the bright and beautiful Chateau
Bay, our course now lay within the Atlantic
along the Labrador coast, whose gene
raj bearing is to the northwest for five
hundred miles until Hudson's Strait is
passed, and the almost measureless shores of
Hudson's Bay turn sauarely to the south at
the mighty headland of Cape Wolstenholme.
Out to the southeast stood grim Belle Isle,
the first land which European steamers nakef
| along these turbulent shores. This with
Quiripon Island were known as the "Isles o
Demons" in ancient times, and in the old
| prints they are represented as being covered
| by rampant devils with wings, horns and
| tails. Certainly no other creatures could
| subsist upon Belle Isle. 1t is here that the
chroniclers locate the scene Of the pathetic
tale of Lady Marguerite, niece OF Robervsl,
Vioeroy of New France, and her tmpetuous
though devoted lover. We sailed near the
southwestern edge of the island, close enough
l to well observe its formation. It is simply a
tremendous monolith of stone nine miles
long and three broad, rising preoipitously
from the sea at the outer entrance of the
Strait, with not an iota of verdure upon its
| iron like sides and top. We got fine
glimpse of it's lighthouse perched high upon
q southern headlsnd, its guys and anchor
ings for preventing Its being blown away
| giving it the appearance of some colossal
Arctic aux poised in readiness for flight.
"Yes," said Captain Desehamps rumina-
lively, "only once year any vessel lands
there; and the storms are so terrible that ev-
cry time we sailors pass we dread to look up
there, fearing the light'us III be blown away.
II - TT~I1
rightly give ye the v'locity, but I can fur
nish facts. Twenty years ago-'n' well re-
member him-a keeper named Vaughn had
charge Of the light. He got sort % banker
in arter green things. Awful foolish; but
twus hard to git anybody to stay there at all,
30 they lowed his scheme for garding.
They took hull boat-loads of soil up there
m made him q garding n acre big. Nothing
| would grow on 1t, but he liked to dig in it.
| prob'ly. One evenin' a whirlin' sort oi
!, storm rig, m sorter kept risin' all night
When Vaughn poked his head out in the
mornin' he coulde'nt see the garding no
where. he didn't know at fust but he WA
, q leetle confused hisself, an climbed back il
| an took his bearin's; but there was no gard
/ ing nowhere certain. That tornadsr hat
jest yanked up the hull sile an spilled it al
l / over the 'Lantic. Vaughn had sperit, h
did. He wouldn't stand that. SO he threw
, l up the job an took to shown SEALS"
1 OUr ChpGhlu n6O 6dll6u Oub VI Ot OOuu
for many years and knew every island, cove
and inlet between Belle Isls and Hudsoni
Bay. Dangerous voyage AZ 1t always is
ours was fearlessly made through mazes o.
islands and rocky channels which lined tht
coast. We successfully passed the many
/ headlands and islets of st. Louis Sound, the
bwonderful mountain ribbed expanse of Alex
| is River mouth, the inconceivably grand and
l awful barren peaks of Occasional Harbol
| and st. Miohael's Bay, the black and frown.
> | ing lodges and crags of Dead, Barren, HawI
, | and Seal Islands, and passing Round Hill Is
land, the eastermost land of Labrador, t
/ our right, rounded the great Isle of Ponds
| crept through the noted Indian Tickle chan
, mel and sped out into the ocean again, pas
), | Gannet Islands to the Esquimaux Islands a
the north of the vast Hamilton Inlet, th'
3 | Ivuctoke of the Esquimaux, and made oul
D first anchorage among perhaps three hun
dred vessels; sloops, schooners, brigs anG
brigantines, and indeed every manner of sail
| ing craft that follows the sea for fish. Their
| are no more impressive scenes of desolatioI
on earth than are to be found along thi
9 / upon the sea, away from the great ports o
the continents, such swarms and bevies o
, vessels. In every cove or bay we passet
> could be seen their sails or masts looming
behind blaokened crags, or their rocking
hulls moored to sloping shelves of stone
We met them hourly returning to the soutl
with full cargoes Of fish; in some harbor
!, there must have been one thousand boats
= l and at Indian Tickle We were informed tina
J. more than seven thousand vessels had passe
!, | to the north through that channel this sea
son.
, So far as "a landsman might judge, ou
n dangers, If any, lay not SO much In the ju
- with other craft, and the constant menace {
= those silent and dreadful Arctic traveller
II the icebergs. They were never out of sigl
o day or night. By day they are dreadf,
" | enough; but when at night they confrol
you, ghostly and weird in the pale light
the stars, there is sense of inexpressibl
"a | awful danger in the first chill of their ie
breath. I was at sea in 1882 when o,
steamer in q fog ran With slackened spec
10 ssuarely into one of these monsters, cruncl
d ing and climbing upon its hidden base wit
- her iron PROV. It was thought that the ma
would topple over upon us; but We final
- slowly slid quiveringly back into the Sc
]. In that five minutes nearness to an unsteac
at iceberg several hundred of us experience
l more than 1t is said men feel when they di
40 But on our way to Indian Harbor we had
O. stranger experience still. The English tou
,e ist and my friend the timber hunter we
q | sitting beside me on deck at about ten o'olo
y at night, watching tremendous iceberg
ing about mile and half to the cal
Captain Desohamps assured us 1t was &
largest he had ever seen in these waters; al
OF he estimated Its length to be fully thre
he fourths of a mile and its height above "
,it ter at nearly three hundred feet. Our
"A pecial amazement at the time was in
wonderful appearance under the dazzlil
at effect of the brilliant Northern Ligh
n Presenting apparently to us q solid wall
1t. the softest opalsscent light, now and tn
~ the stupendous mass would glow with 9
IA al haont{fn1 yn1aokinnc from ~
er and shimmering sheen to the intensity
at fame at white heat. But this thrilli
"a. | scene was the least of the wonderful ph
-, nomena. Suddenly with a crash 30 a
n palling that our schooner masts quiver
X like wind-whipped tree tops, the who
,ra fragments. Nothing else save the sudd
irruption of some marine volcano COZ
have presented 90 bewildering a spectac
;. Latterally and perpendioularly pieces weig
lty ing thousands of tons were hurled treme
he dous distances. A corona of a miles
he lifted high above the spot composed of otl
millions of glittering slivers of ice.
~ these and the more massive pieces descend
er- showers of diamond like fashings from {
The reflected rays of the mighty northern lig
ora quivered and shot towards the sky, as
o.o pvrotechnic art of man could ever initiate
tne the faintest degree. Then the ocean la
sen ings about the maelstrom spot leaped In 81
sr. my crests starward to repeat countless spe
.-u like glitterings as it of whitened flame; 1
Gus lowed by dismembered orags of ice crash
In and pounding each other in thunderous dc
cen nations. No human eyes ever beheld m
tho sublime spectacle. Stupefed with its a
,no ing power, we had noticed nothing 9
elm But now as if rushing upon US to enguf
of came waves of mighty height and volu
let. white faced as death; relentless as death
life; and frozen tornado of wind roa
Gen madly across their sheeted crests. Fo
'ver little time it seemed no human power &C
'ver save the Sophie. It was all Of short d,