St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1901-08-07
THE DERELTCT.


Foin+lv to be read on the SCARED TIM
bors was Resolution. That Is all we
learned about her from personal Cd
aeryation, for the fact that her hold
was half full of water precluded the
possibility of careful examination.
But on board Of her we discovered a
human derelict. He was lying In
boan in the galley, and at first we
thought 1t was a mere bundle of furs
and rags. Closer scrutiny, however,
revealed the fact that the bundle was
q man. There was a flicker Of life in
him-no more.
pull him around II you cam" said
the skipper to the ships doctor. u
should like to hear how it was that he
was drifting around in that old hulk,
which, by the way, is a danger to navi-
cation"
My one fellow passenger, man nam
ed Holroyd, and myself hailed with
satisfaction the doctors announcement
a couple of days later that the patient
was sufficiently recovered to come up
on deck and spend an hour with us in
the saloon. We half led, half carried,
him from his berth and sat him down
on the after lockers.
The stranger looked from one to the
other of us with an expression that
was pitiful In his eager longing to give
utterance to some half formed ideas.
Then suddenly he turned to me and
asked:
"What year is thisT told him.
II thought perhaps 1t was frightful
dream" he murmured, "but it was real
ity. Six years! My God, six yearsv
He stopped abruptly and covered his
face with his hands. Holroyd poured
out glass of wine and gave it to him.
This frightened him up bit, and he
slowly began again:
"On the Goth of December, six years
ago. we sailed from Adelaide in the
ship Enterprise on an exploring expedi-
ton in the antarctic regions. The cap
tain's name was Cleveland.
1--WE steered for Kerguelan island.
where we landed some seal fishers, and
then proceeded on our voyage. On the
9th Of January we made out some
high land on the port bow. To the west
the water was full Of summer ice, but
the water was clear to the southwark,
and we pushed on until the 23d of
March, when we were beset in the ice
pack, and it was only with the greatest
difficulty that we warped the ship into
a small inlet which the captain deter
mined to make his winter quarters.
"As soon as the ship was safely
moored we started to explore this DESC
late land, which no living man had ever
set foot upon or even seen. 1t was evil
IDENTIFY part of great southern CONT
nent which stretched beyond the pole
itself. And over those frightful and
Voiceless solitudes of snow Cleveland
determined TO force his way as soon as
spring rendered travelling possible.
with the first traces of returning
light we made preparations for an ex-
of September we started For a month
we travelled under a sky as blue as
Italy's, and then the weather changed.
Fogs, snowstorms and gales succeeded
each other, rendering travelling a work
of such difficulty and danger that we
had to make the best of our way back
to the ship, which we reached in Janu
airy, only to find that the ice had forced
her high up on the shore amid a mass
of debris. She was still habitable,
though she would never float again.
"Six more weary months dragged by.
Escape to the north being cut off by
barrier Of ice mountains, Captain Cleve-
land determined to make another at
tempt to cross the polar sea, or conti-
nent, whichever it was, and reach Ora
ham Land, where he might be picked
up by whaler.
"Our original crew Of 35 was now re-
duced by sickness and accident to about
20. We carried quantity Of provisions,
hoisted the ensign at the peak and babe
goodby to the Enterprise on Oct. &c.
"As we advanced farther the peaks
and rough ground fell away until an
unbroken sheet of snow stretched away
before us. Nowhere else on earth would
1t be possible to find such utter desola-
ton
"The crew held a consultation. and
even the boldest Of them, being dis
mayed by the gloomy prospect, ad-
dressed q request to Captain Cleveland
to return to the Enterprise. This he re-
fused to do, but eight men determined
to go back alone, and so, giving them
one Of the sledges and their provisions,
we parted company. Whether they ev-
er reached the ship know not.
I'VE kept on and on, forever toward
the south, and one by one my compan-
ions died along the road until there
were only four of us left-the captain,
myself and two seamen. 1t was about
this time that l fell into a sort of
trance. How long l continued in this
dazed state l do not know, but wien
recovered consciousness l found my
self standing on a rocky headland gaz-
ing down upon a ship which was i'm
bedded in the center of field of rough
Ice. A few PAGES from me stood Cap
tain Cleveland, gaunt and hollow eyed.
No one else was in sight
THE strange shin was tha American