AWFUL DISCOVERY.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 107, 9 June 1847, Page 3

AWFUL DISCOVERY.

One serene evening In the middle of August, Capt, Warrens, the master of a Greenland whale-ship found himself becalmed among an immense number of icebergs, in about 77 degrees of north latitude* On one side, and within a quarter of a mile of his vessel, these were of immense height, and closely wetlgi'd together, and a succession of snow covered pea Us appeared behind each other as far as the eye could reach, showing that the oecan was completely blocked up in that quarter, and that it had probably been so for along time. Capt. Warrens did not feel altogether satislicd with his situation, but there being no wind, he could not move either one way or the other, and he therefore kept a strict watch, knowing he would be safe so long as the icebergs continued in their respective places. AbouUmidniyht, the wind rose to a gale, accompanied by thick showers of snow, while a succession of tremendous thundering, grinding, and crashing 1 noises, gave fearful evidence that the ice was in motion. The vessel received violent shocks every moment ; (or the haziness of the atmosphere prevented those on board from discovering in what direction the open water lay, or if there actually was any at all on either si.lc of them. The night was spent in tacking as ottcn as any cause of alarm presented itself, and in the morning the storm abated, -and Cupt. Warre.is lound, to his great joy, that the sh'p had not sustained any serious injury. He remarked with surprise, tliat the accumulated icebergs which had on the preceding evening formed an impenetrable barrier, had been separated and disarranged by the wind, and that in one place a canal of open sea wound its course among thcinj as fur as the eye could discern. It was two miles beyond the entrance of this canal that a ship made its appearance at noon. The sun. shone brightly at the time, and a gentle breeze blew from the north. At first some nilei veiling icebergs prevented Capt. Warrens from distinctly seeing anything but her masts ; but he was struck with the strange manner in which her sails were disposed, and with the dismantled aspect of her yards and rigging. She continued to <>o before the wind for a few lurlongs, and then grounding; upoti the low iceberg, remained. motionless. Capt. Warrens' curiosity was so much excited, that he immediately leaped into his boat with several seamen, and rowed towards her. On approaching, ho observed that her hull was miserably weatherbeaten, and not a soul appeared on her deck, which was covered with snow to a considerable depth, lie hailed her crew several times, but no answer was returned. Previous to stepping on board, an open port hole near the main chains, caught his eye, and looking into it, he perceived a man reclining back, in a chair, with writing materials ou a table before him, but the feebleness of the light made everything appe ar very indistinct. The party went upon deck and having removed the hatchway, which they found closed, they descended to the cabin. They first came to the apartment which Capl. Warrens viewed through the port hole. A tremor seized him as he entered it. Its inmate retained its former position, and seeiced to he insensible to strangers. He was found to be a corpse, and a green mould had covered his. cheeks and forehead, and veiled his open eyeballs, lie had a pen in his hand, and a log book lay before him, the last sentence in whose unfinished page ran thus,—" Nov. 11, 1762. We have now been enclosed in the ice seventeen days. The two went out yesterday, and our master has been tr) ing ever since to kindle it again without success. His wife died this morning. There is no iclief — " Capt. Warrens and his seamen hurried from the spot without uttering a word. Ou entering the principal cabin the Hrst object that attracted their attention was the dead body of a female reclining ou a bed in an attitude of deep interest and attention. Uer countenance retained the freshness of life, and a contraction of the limb alone shewed that she was inanimate. Seated ou the floor was the corpse of au apparently young man, holding a steel in one hand, and a flint in the other, as it in the act of striking fire upon some tinder which lay beside him. In the fore part of the vessel several sailors were found lying dead in their berths, and the body of a boy was crouched at the bottom of the guhg-way stairs. Neither provisions nor fuel could be discovered anywheie: but Capt. Warrens was pievented by the superstitious prejudices of his seamen, from examining the vessel as minutely as he wished to have dove. He therefore carried away the log-book already mentioned, and returned to his own ship, and immediately steered to the sou hward, deeply impressed with the awful example which he had just witnessed of the danger of navigating the Polar seas in high northern latitudes. On returning to England, he made various eu» quines respecting vessels that had disappeared in an unknown manner, and by comparing the results of those with the information which was afforded by the written documents in his possession, he ascertained the name and history of the imprisoned ship, and of her unfortunate master, and touud that she had been frozen thirteen years previous to the time of his discovermg her among the ice. — English Paper.

Currans ruling passion was a joke. In his last illness, liis physician remarked one morning, tlmt he seemed to cough with more difficulty. "That is rather surprising," answered he, "as I have been practising all night." "Some commit suicide," said the Emperor Napoleon, ('through iove— folly ; others for the loss of fortune— cowardices others thut they may not live dishonoured —weakness ; but to suivive the loss of empire and the outrages of our contemporaries, appears to me to be the best display oC courage." Moustaches. — The Limerick Chronicle, & great military authority, says: — "In the ensuing year the entile British array, infantry as well as cavalry and artillery, will assume the congenial military moustache." Purpetual Motion.— The following communication from Lieut. Pelford, 36th regiment, appears in the Colonial Times .—" While thinking ol the attractive power which continues the world in a circular courhe, in lieu of starting off at a tangent, 1 was led to the possibility of the developemcnt of perpetual motion. There is. a large reward offered by Parliament for its discovery. Suppose ii circle with needles forming a large number of diameters, and opposite to each needle a very powerful magnetic attraction or loadstone. The attraction, when balanced on the centre, would, if left quiescent, retain this inner circle in a state ol immotion. IJut if the inner circle resembling the card in a compass, be once set in motion, 1 suspect that the collateral attraction of each loadstone on each needle, qll acting simultaneously, would produce a perpetual motion. These needles should be exactly balanced on a large diamond ; and the proposal of Parliament limits this perpetual motion to thirty years. Is this a plausible idea ? 1 regret that 1 have not the means to try the exper 'nen —•'• M. 11, Pjeli'ord, Lie tleminl OGth Regt."