Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1915-07-09
UNDER SIXTY
FEET OF ICE
By M. QUAD
Copyright. 1914. by Associated Lit
erary Press.

as the Cherry island expedition. 1t
was purely in the interest of natural
history. Certain fish and birds which
had become extinct in the south were
still to be found up there, according to
the reports of whalers, and that was
the object in fitting out the brig Alba
tross for voyage from London. Aside
from strong handed crew. three pro-
fessors and four or five students &C.
companied the expedition, and after a
voyage almost without event we
i reached Cherry island soon after the
beginning of its brief summer.
The island, which is Of volcanic or
lgin, is mere tumble of rocks. 1t is
eleven miles long by five in breadth
and at the time of cur visit had no
trees higher than ten feet. These grew
between powders and ON the slopes,
with patchessof coarse grass all about,
but there was not level spot half an
acre In extent on the whole island.
We had been on the island about thir-
ty days and had pretty thoroughly ex-
my humble self met with an accident
one day which led to a most strange
discovery. We had set off together on
Il hunt after birds eggs, and In walk
ing along u slope we struck spot
overgrown with short green weed.
as we walked over this bed we sud.
denly found ourselves slipping. There
was water under it, and the whole
mass gave way and sent US sliding
into a ravine. We went slipping, slid
ing, clutching and humping a full fifty
feet before we brought up. but mel
Their of us was hurt beyond a few
bruises. Owing to the wet grass we
could not Chamber out at that spot and
so continued on down the ravine.
1t was a tOilsome journey we made;
but it ended at last at a wall Of ice
within half a mile Of the surf At thai
about a hundred feet, and, though the.
sun was shining above, it was like
evening down there. A few yards be-
fore we were brought to standstill we
found the body of man lying against
the wall Of rock on the right hand.
was caught and held fast on point Of
rock. We were both good. deal star
tied by the grewsome sight
cat some time or other" said the
professor as he looked about. "this ra
vine had been creek Of considerable
nj dnx {rov 1Nrx 70 kh1s ", TO.
man came up the creek from the
beach, but we now find a wall Of ice
blocking it up. There should. be q
boat frozen UP In the wall between us
and the sea- >",f p ,.... >.'
We had nothing to make a torch Of.
and, retracing our steps to a point
where we could climb out Of the ra-
vine, we left the mystery 70 be solved
another day. There was much discus
sion around the campfires that even
ing, and early next morning we set out
to see IL the ravine had once upon a
time opened to the sea. We soon found
that it had It's mouth had been on a
small bay, but a storm had filled 1t
with powders and damned back the
waters flowing down. Between the
sea and the spot where we found the
body the ice was from fifty to seventy
feet thick. If the sun melted 1t for
few feet In the summer the rains and
SHOWS of winter speedily replaced
what had been lost. We found thi'
ice as clear as glass and as hard as
iron, but powder was brought from
the brig and holes were drilled, and in
a couple of days we had blasted out a
great rift to half its depth.
Everybody had suspicion Of what
was frozen in down there. but yet the
discovery gave us shock. When but
thirty feet of ice lay between us and
the bottom Of the ravine we could see
through it well enough to make out the
hull of ship standing on an even keel.
1t was the hull of brig. with masts
gone. but otherwise intact. We could
even make out the ropes, which had
been frozen stiff as iron while they
streamed along her decks, but there
were no bodies of dead men in sight
To blast out the remaining depths OF
ice and clear the ravine was a task
requiring more aid than we could spare
and more powder than we had aboard
Years before, perhaps half century
a merchant vessel had made that little
bay in distress. Wave and tide had
carried her up the creek, and wave and
tide had blocked her exit.
If one of the crew got away up to
the ravine, why not all of them? And
yet no other body or remains were to
be found on the island. This man.
who may have been the captain, prob
ably started out by himself to see If
there was chance of escape, but iT
making his way up the ravine he per
lshad of cold and hunger. There was
scarce hope for the others. If the,
left the hulk they were forced to re
turn to it for shelter and food. There
| came day when food and fuel were
exhausted. when avalanches of snow
covered the decks and the cold of win
ter froZe the marrow of their bones.
and they hid away in forecastle and
cabin and died with open eyes staring
into the darkness. Upon our return
to London the case was reported and
made much of in the papers, but no
government or individual has ever
gone farther than we did. A hulk lies
there full of dead men-a hulk which
sailed the waters of the frozen seas
half a century ago-and there it will
lie until time Is no more and chaos
reigns again. 1t might be blasted oct.
but of what use? The solving of one
mystery of the sea more or less would
count for but little.