The Opelousas courier., 1899-03-11

MN, M.7 80 k&&hskSXIlM, is seldom known
'h7f'H |RsfF 9FTFN at sea. Twas in
''""'""F"faS the middle
watch, from midnight to four o'clock,
and had been on deck about half all
hour when the lookout forward sang
out: ''Ship ahead-starboard-hard a
starboard!'
These words made the second mate,
who had the watch, jump into the
weather rigging. ga ship" he ex-
claimed. IAN iceberg it is, rather,
and All hands wear ship!" he
shouted, abruptly, in a tone which
showed there was not q moment to be
lost.
The watch sprang to the braces and
haulines, while the rest of the crew
tumbled up from below, and the cap
tain and other officers rushed out of
their cabins; the helm was kept up
and the yards swung round, and the
ships head turned towards the direc-
ton whence we had come. The cap
tain glanced his eye round, and then
ordered the courses to be brailed up,
and the m%aintopsails to be backed, so
as to lay the ship to. I soon discov-
ared the cause of these maneuvres;
for before the ship had quite swung
round, I perceived close to US a tower
ing mass with a refulgent appearance,
which the lookout man had taken for
the white sails of a ship, but which
proved in reality to be a vast iceberg.
Attached to it, and extending a con
siderable distance to leeward, was a
field or very extensive foe of ice,
against which the ship would have run
had it not been discovered in time,
and in that case it would in all proba-
bility have instantly gone down with
every soul on board.
In consequence of the extreme dark
ness, it was dangerous to sail either
way; for it was impossible to say what
other foes or smaller masses of ice
might be in the neighborhood, aud we
might probably be upon them before
they would be seen. We therefore re-
manned hove to. As it was, I could
not see the foe till it was pointed out
to me by one of the crew.
When daylight broke next morning,
the fearfully dangerous position in
which the ship was placed was seen.
On every side of US appeared long
foes Of ice, with several icebergs float
ing like mountains on a plain among
them, while the only opening through
which we could escape vas a narrow
passage to the northwest, through
which we must have come in the
course of that perilous night.
What made our position the more
terrible was that the vast masses of
ice we're approaching nearer and
nearer to each other, SO that we had
not q moment to lose, If We would
effect our escape. AS light increased
we saw, at a distance of three miles to
the westward; another ship in a far
worse predicament than ourselves, in
asmuch as she was completely sur
rounded by ice, though she still tioated
in a sort of basin. The wind held to
the northward, SO that we could stand
clear out of the passage should it re-
main open long enough. Our unfor-
tunate neighbor had by this time dis
covered her own perilous condition,
and we perceived that she had hoisted
q signal of distress. We also heard
the guns she was firing to call our at
tention to her; but regard for u own
safety compelled us to disregard them
till we had ourselves got clear Of the
ice.
It was very dreadful to watch the
stranger, and to feel that We could
render her no assistance. a" hands
were at the braces, ready to trim the
sails should the wind head us; for, in
that case, we should have to beat out
of the channel, which was every in
slant growing narrower and narrower.
The captain stood at the weather
gangway, coming the ship. When
he saw the ice closing in on us, he or
dered every stitch of n the ship
could carry to be set on her, in the
forlorn hope Of carrying her out be-
fore the catastrophe should happen.
It was a chance whether Or not we
should be caught and our good ship
pulverized between those vast masses
of relentless ice. However, | was
not SO much occupied with our OWL
danger as to be unable to keep an eye
on the stranger, and to feel deep in
terest in her fate.
Twas in the mizzen top, and as 1
possessed aspy-glass, I could see clear
~ all that occurred. The water on
which the doomed vessel foated was
nearly smooth, though covered with
foam, caused by the colossal masses OF
ice as they approached each other. |
looked, and saw that as the stranger
had but a few fathoms of water on
either side of her as yet, she foated
unframed. The peril was terrifying,
but the direction Of the ice might
change, anil she might yet be free.
Still, OH came the cruel masses with
terrific foros; and ] fancisd that I