Arizona silver belt., 1893-04-22
AN NOLDSAIL0R'SY YARN
A STORY OF HARDSHIP AND DEATH
 IN THE ANTARCTIC OCEAN.

Some Idea of the Place.
 Captain Eldridge, of the steamer Cath.
 arine Whiting, is one of those breezy,
 old time tars who used to start off from some New England port in a sailing yes
 gel which would return only after voy- age of two or three years. During those lengthy and tempestuous buffetings with the sea Captain Eldridge saw much that was of interest. Some of this he has told with a quaint marine candor worthy of being exactly reproduced. He says:
 saw in The World where three men were left on an island in the Arctic. This remindsIne of boat crew that was left on an island in the Antarctic ocean in 1871 by the schooner Franklin, of New London. Captain James Holmes, master. They were landed on Cape Sheriff to kill what seals they could while the schooner went on prospecting voyage--that is to say. looking for rookeries or places where seals travel up on the beach to rear their young.
 Well, they were to stay there until the schooner returned, which would be in ten days at most. So ten days pro- visions were given them, and when ten days had expired the men did not know but the vessel was lost. So they took in their boat the carcasses of seals and started for Potters cove, 250miles away, where they expected Go find the bark Nile, for 1t was expected she would sail on the l5th day of March for New Lon don. They arrived there on the 14th, and she had sailed on the 18th. as it appeared. Now what were they .1o do without clothes or fuel, no provisions or shelter, and a very, cold winter of nine long, dark mouthsf As it is SO far south tue summer is short--say three months, and winter nine mouths-aud summer is as cold as our winter here, but has tho ad- vantage of being all day. while the viii ter is all night They were in G3 6tgs. latitude, souJh
 Wen, thg season was so far gone that The few seals or elephants, or other ani- mals teat iuhabit this part of the globe had gone into the sca for winter But, however. they did manage to get a few seals and elephants and secured tHcir ol antI ou this they lived UnHl spring. For . shelter they got aH old try works which had been iefi ,here by some ship and covered this with suow Go keep ont what cold possible, and with aHow for blankets taey lived the winter through
 In iAe spring they concluded 0 go oaci t9 Cape Sheriff and kin ll tue seals they could before the vessels be- gan to arrive Then they would make some bargain to take home the skins. Sp, without tgy provisions, they started back, but on going ont the straits they got jMamed iu the ice and had to go back oyer tue ice to PWters cove. They would baul their l1at from one cake CT block of ice io another, and aunch when necessary Well, they got back at last whore they started from nearly dead from cold and exposure
 But, however, another trial Four re- fused to go but three of them took an- other boat which Lad been left by some other ship and started again without any food, for there was none to be got at so early in tue spring Nevertheless they arriYel then at Cape Sheriff After ward they killed 2 2.200 seals aud spread their skins on the snow to keep them from heating, but what became of them will never be known. It was supposed that they undertook to cross the straits but could not manage the boat How ever, they were lost. Now about those four that stayed at the Coye--I remeln- Der two of their names, but have for gotten the others One was an Indian from Long Island, some place near Mon tauk--his last name was Garby-and one by the name of James King, who was eventually the only survivor of the seven, and his tale of suffering was ter rible He had to kill and eat the other three men. They were nothing but skin and bones anyway, and he could not have survived TAore than one day more had we not fouud him as we did.
 We buried the remidns of the others in the snow. King then went on board of the bark Nile. and from her he went on board of the schooner z. P. Sinons and came to New London, where he sailed from He sued the company. but finally he gave it up aI | cleared out--no one knows where.
 Now, will give you all the informa. ton can as to why tht ty were left there. Ii was late in the season and the winds would not permit of the schooner getting back to them So she sailed for home. What are seven mems lives to some men?
 Now, will give you some idea of tue place It is in from 6l 10 G3 degs. south latitude and the land is of volcanic origin, sprung up out of blue water and hiding in tue clouds with thousands of feet of snow on top. The rocks are of soapstone appearance, There is not the first sign of vegetation on them--not even moss will grow on the rocks.
 Yes, there is sign of vegetation; what is known as crimson snow. But if you take a handful and look at il without the aid of microscope you will see noth- | ing but little red on the snow, but with l the aid of microscope you can see the 1 fine roots in the snow Soit is vegeta- ble.
 There are no shelltish on the rocks--it | is perfect desolation. But in the summer tho birds of all kinds-that is, birds of high latitude-are here to breed their l young. There are thesea hen, the Mother Carys chicken, which is found all over | the world, and penguin, several species of them And to see these penguin as the march from their nests to the sea and back in single file and stand so erectl | They do not fly They have just merely | a small fin to swim with while in the water They just make a hole in the snow, lay two eggs and sit on them as any bird, right in the snow, But nature | provides a way out of all these scrapes, as it were. Their eggs are a good substi- ute for hens eggs. New York World |