The Forrest City times., 1891-07-10


 so often described in the books. Then n sudden and terrible interruption came. The bark began to heave out The first movement occurred at about 10 o'clock in the forenoon, and flied everybody with dire alarm. After five minutes she heaved again, lifting right out of the solid field, with great cakes clinglng to her, as if machinery was at work. As she lifted she canted to starboard, and at noon her decks were at an angle of 45 degrees | has always seemed to me that powder ought to have been used to blow up the ice around her and let her back. Indeed had not our Captain got so badly rattled we could have cut and sawed and dragged away half an acre flee in half day. The carpenter, who had little plan of his own, re- ported that the heave had shattered l several blanks in her bottom, and that she would fill If she was crad- | led back. She took one more heave, canting over until almost on her beam ends, and then we got the order to abandon her We got cut clothing, bedding, provisions, a com Ht'SNs bittt louL uodbS, tllt dO headed away in four gangs for Smiths Bay, each gang having 6 boat, which was dragged and lifted over the ice
 The order to abandon ship has the same effect on the sailor that the or l der to retreat does on the soldier. It l creates a panicky feeling, and he loses his judgment. We had not gone five miles before some of the men began to I curse the Captains stupidity in leav- ing the neighborhood of the bark, and | others expressed their doubts of the carpenters reports. However, all pressed forward, and after making ten miles, we went into camp. Fort | untely for us, there was no wind while | the thermometer was only about 50 1 below. After rest of six hours we l pushed on again, and now our march es and rests were marked by hours. l It was terrible hard work crossing 1 those ice fields. and five hours of pull ling, hauling, climbing and sliding were l enough to wear out the best man in the crew
 We had made forty miles or more and were strung out on the pack for q 1 mile or more when man named | Anderson and myself, who were ahead 1 to pick the route, turned a large hum- l mock or hill of ice to find ourselves Jumping up against a threemasted 1 ship. There she lay, broadside to us and not over fifty feet away, looming up in the darkness like a mountain
 We rubbed our eyes and looked again, but It was not deception. We sent the news back and waited until all 1 had come up. and then Capt. Tree went forward with his mates and hailed her. There was no response, and, after hailing agaln, the first mate climbed in over the bows. In three or four minutes be reported her aban- doned, and We all went on board. We soon found her to be the Bristol ship Endurance, whaler. of course, and two thirds full of blubber and oil. She had slight list to port and after looking her over the officers said that she had hove out, the same as our bark, but had settled back again. She had also been abandoned in a hurry, as there were many evidences, but an inspection showed plenty of provisions aboard, and proved her perfectly sound. We had our bedding and clothing, and when it was decided to take possession of her the crew were pleased. In three hours after first sighting her we were as much at home aboard as if we had formed the original crew She was a larger craft than ours, and also better found, and We prohted by the change.
 We had been aboard of the Endur- ance about a month when the carpen- ter tell sick In his case 1t was pure homesickness and nothing else. He was moody and taeiturn, refused to make any effort to throw off The feel ing, and at length took to his bed. There was really no medicine to touchs hts case, lle was slowly dying be- cause ot his desire to get home to wife and bairus. All of us had touch of his malady, but We shook 1t of by hunting, trapping, mdulging Tn games, and keeping our thoughts with the ship. l.ordl man, but have often wondered why half the crew did not go dead crazy, It was endless night
 In was ice--iee-ice IL was like being shut up in dungeon, with the addi- tion that when night came and all was still, the ship was full of groans and sighs from stem to stern--noises caused by the ice heaving and settling. l was appointed to nurse the carpen- ter, and when he had been brought very low and knew that he must go, he told me a secret. He said he had made a false report to the Captain about the damage to the bark's bot tom on purpose to induce him to abandon her. and start for land, He hoped in this way to get home tho sooner.
 This confession was made to me with the promise on my part not to betray the man while living, and he lived on for two weeks after mak- ing the statement. When he had been buried in an icy grave told the Cap tain and he at once fitted out an ex- petition to go back and look up the bark. The first mate and five men composed this party, and after being gone week, during which time the weather was full of tempest, snow and sleet, they returned from the west and blundered right against us before they saw the ship. Their compass had been broken. and they had been lost for six days on that fearful waste of ice. One man died of exposure that night, and two others were used up for a month. Two weeks later the second mate headed party, but they only went about fifteen miles to the north. They reported trayeling so difficult that they had fo reffrn Moth