On the eve of sailing I married a young
lady to whom I had long been engaged, and, with light hearts, we set
forth on our wedding trip across the Atlantic.
"The first two weeks of that voyage were filled with such happiness
that I trembled for fear it should be snatched from me. During that
time we had fair weather and favouring winds. Then we ran into a gale
that lasted for days, and drove us far out of our course. One mast
went by the board, the other was cut away to save the ship, and, while
in this helpless condition, she struck at night, what I afterwards
learned to be, a mass of floating ice. At the time all hands believed
us to be on the coast, and the crew, taking our only seaworthy boat,
put off in a panic, while I was below preparing my wife for departure.
Thus deserted, we awaited the death that we expected with each passing
moment, but it failed to come and the ship still floated. With
earliest daylight I was on deck, and, to my amazement, saw land on both
sides. We had been driven into the mouth of a broad estuary, up which
wind and tide were still carrying us.
"For three days our helpless drift, to and fro, was continued, and then
our ship grounded on a ledge at the foot of these cliffs. Getting
ashore with little difficulty, we were dismayed to find ourselves in an
uninhabited wilderness, devoid even of vegetation other than moss and
low growing shrubs.
Pages:
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212