The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1907-04-24

| a
first seen there appeared to be single
long island, perhaps twenty miles in
length, but on nearer approach it was
perceived that there were two islands,
separated by sound some two or three
miles wide, and bearing northwest
and southeast Both islands seemed
nearly of the same height and appeared
of grey sandy tint, and barren, re-
sembling the coast of Chile; but the
more northerly island had hump on
its northwest end and another about
the middle, with growth of low trees
or bushes on the high, fat top. The
northern end of the bluff was steep and
overhung considerably. No beach was
visible; the sea beat right at the foot
of the cliffs. The more southerly ISL
and pointed from south southeast to
north-north-west, and seemed to be
about three times as long as it was
broad, but was, of course, farther away
from the ship.
The Auroras having been erased
from the Admiralty charts of that date,
the ship had come nearer to their sup
posed position than would otherwise
have been the case, and the course the
Gladys was steering brought her about
three nautical miles of the northwest
end of the northern island, when she
passed close to great bed of kelp
which stretched from three to five miles
from the shore. This kelp was of i'm
mense size, the fronds floating on the
surface of the water being fully fifty
feet in length and like palm leaves;
their roots were probably anchored to
the rocky bottom some fifteen fathoms
below This very kelp-bed, as | have
mentioned, was referred to in the old
Atlantic handbooks.
At the time the Gladys passed them
the islands were quite free from ice
or snow, and the weather was perfect
ly clear. Some three days or so later
the Ship which was then on a north
erly course, fell in with strong breeze
on the port side, north and west, and
met with great fleet of icebergs reach
ing some five hundred miles to the
north. They were of every size, from
low masses almost awash to towering
bergs of immense height and extent.
| The vessel was five days and five
nights picking her way with the utmost
caution through the drifting monsters.
Fortunately she was well manned
and could be easily handled, for al
| though every precaution was taken
and she was hove to each night with
topsails to the mast, drifting loose with
the ice, yet one night she was in great
danger.
While lying between two immense
bergs about five miles apart, with her
head towards the weathermost one it
became evident after some hours that
the berg to windward was drifting more
rapidly than the ship, probably drawn
by deep ocean current taking effect
on the submerged part of the ice, which
is generally said to be twice as deep as
the height of the floating portion.
Drifting steadily onward, it approached
| dangerously close to the ship, but all
hands tumbled up and made sail on the
barque till she gained the weather
side of the berg, when the Gladys was
| allowed to drift in its wake till day
light. Some of these enormous ice
masses stood from five hundred to a
thousand feet above the surface of the
water, and were from three to ten miles
long.
On the fifth day the Gladys met with
line Of huge bergs extending in
northeast to west-south- direction
whose northern ends made them look
just like column of battleships with
passages between each, as far as the
eye could reach. One of these vast
ice-masses, about ten miles long,
showed two fiat levels at different
heights, the upper one rising about
three hundred feet sheer from the
water. The ship passed close by the
west and northwest sides of this, and
to their horror Captain Hatfield and
his men saw, on the lower terrace, the
bodies of five men lying in different
positions.
1t was evident that they had been
keeping regular lookout for beaten
'ioSh WAC pidiHly uiSSCiulDle dlOuS luG
sloping face of the upper terrace, while
on the south side, in the ice wall which
connected the higher and lower ter
races, was an ice-cave with tarpaulin
stretched across its mouth where the
poor fellows had taken refuge One
body lay outside of this, while the
other four lay exposed on the terrace
The castaways must have reached this
portion of the berg by climbing up
from the southeast side, which sloped
gently upwards from the water.
About fifteen miles to the southwark
of this berg boat was observed lying
on a half-submerged cake of ice about
half an acre in area. The vessel passed
within fifty yards of it, but no name
could be read, for something had ap-
parently fallen on the boat from above
and crushed it; it lay burst open length
wise, so that only the inside of the
sheathing was visible. 1t seems very
probable that the bodies noticed on
the berg may have been some of the