The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1902-1905, 1905-01-20
The Ice Prisoners


out of sight to leeward In zen minutes
There wasn't over an hour OF daylight
left Us when the squal came down.
and when night fell the gusts had set
tied down into a steady gale.
at about 6 o'clock each man snugged
down to make himself as comfortable
as possible, and it was an hour later
when the roar Of breakers came to our
ears. Every one instantly OWNED that
we were drifting down upon an iceberg
and that we were also perfectly help
less in the matter. We had dashed the
oars together and flung them overheard
for drag 10 keep the boats head 10
the sea To have pulled in the drag
would have been fatal Before the
oars could have been detached We
should have been in the trough Of the
sea Presently We drew nearer and
could see the ghOstIy glare Of the berg
through the darkness. We missed the
northwest corner Of it by not more
than hundred feet, and the spray Of
a recoiling wave half filed our craft
We drifted along the great island of
ice for twenty minutes before reaching
its southern face, and then a current
drew US into the lee OF it. and We
knew that we were temporarily saved.
We got In our drag and put out the
oars, and after rowing nearly half a
mile we found an inlet or bay making
into the berg and ran into IL. This bay
extended back into the berg a quarter
of mile and was about a hundred
feet I'm width. 1t was like great
river flowing down 10 the sea between
high cliffs. We were perfectly shelter
ed here, and by the light Of the boats
lantern we made a hearty meal OF our
provisions, and all turned In for a sleep.
The weather was freezingiy cold, but
all were comfortably clad, and we had
the sail Of the boat 10 cover Us in. We
could hear the wind bowling above US
and feel the berg tremble as the great
waves flung themselves against the
face, but every man had good sleep
and woke up stout hearted in the morn
ing. have called the mass Of ice an
iceberg. Perhaps ice island would be
q better term for It, as when we came
to inspect It by daylight we found ii
to be about two miles long on each
face.
The gale was still piping away and
q tremendous sea running when We
awoke, and OF course We had no
thought of leaving the shelter we had.
The first move was to get to the top
of the berg and have q look for the
ship. Mr.. Davis, the mate, took this
upon himself, but he made no discov-
cry to reward his efforts He, how
ever, got good idea of the lay Of
things and selected a place for land
ing. When he returned we left the
bay and pulled to the east and landed
upon sort of shelf. We had blocks
of Ice at hand to build hut and be
fore noon We had cabin big enough
to comfortably hold five Of US and the
stores from the boat In the afternoon
in searching about we found three or
four dwarf pines, planks from a ships
bottom, a cooks galley and chairs and
a table all but the pines from the
wreck of some merchant ship. So in
tense was the cold that night that no
man could have lived for five minutes
outdoors. At midnight q gale came on.
The gale was the tail end Of winter.
On the fourth day the weather became
so mild that the ice began to melt, and
the mate told US that our island was in
a current and was being carried south
at the rate Of two miles an hour. We
were In peril now from the breaking
up of the mass. On the fifth day it
turned completely around, and great
rift appeared right through the center.
We watched it for u day, and, seeing
it widen, we took up our quarters in
what we thought a safer position. We
were not an hour too soon. The rift
the center continued to widen
and deepen, and by and by there was
a great crash, and the berg separated
IN halves. leaving US upon the larger
one. Before night the waves had trim
med the base of our berg of all incum-
brances. and we went drifting along so
steadily and majestically that we al
most forgot our peril.
For three days and nights nothing
happened worth relating except that
we discovered and managed TO kill two
seals which crawled upon the berg
from the water to sun themselves. AS
the winds were light, our berg had no
motion except from the current. On
the morning of the tenth day before
had yet come we crashed into
another berg which had probably
grounded, and our escape from instant
destruction was truly marvellous. The
south side of our berg was split off by
the impact. leaving our hut standing
on the very edge of a cliff sixty feet
high. We had to cut our way through
the back wall to escape.
Our boat went with the piece, and
within two hours the berg heeled over
on its side. This movement took place
very slowly and brought us on the
crest of the lump instead of being on a
shelf near the water. We soon had an
other hut up. and next day, the berg
being quite still again, we made an
other find.
For the next eight days we moved
steadily southwark with the current,
our food being gone and each man liv-
ng on the leather of his belt or shoes.
On the morning Of the nineteenth day
we sighted a sail and raised a smoke
md two hours later were safe aboard
If the Frost King Of St Johns We
had had a rough and perilous time Of
I, and had IT been midwinter all would
lave frozen to death. but as it was all