At bedtime the
Captain went on deck, and, ordering the mate to keep a good lookout,
went below and "turned in." He was not long in his berth when he
heard a great running and shouting over his head, and then the cry
of "Ice ahead!" from the look-out met his ears. With one bound he
rushed on deck, and gave the order, to "'Bout ship," which the mate
had already given; but there was no time to do more than port helm,
and so avoid the direct shock from the massive iceberg, into which
at that moment they rushed with terrible force, the water pouring in
torrents, and many of the men being killed by falling pieces of ice
which towered several feet above the mast-head. The boats were
lowered with all speed, and were hardly clear of the "Glenalpine"
when she went down with a plunge head first, and not a vestige of
hull, spars or masts was to be seen. A few of the men had jumped or
fallen into the water; these were all picked up, and on counting
heads it was found that none were missing except the mate and two
sailors, who had been killed by the falling ice.
So great had been the hurry of shoving off that they found
themselves without chart, compass, or provisions, save a little keg
of water and a small flask of brandy. However, judging by the
direction of the wind, which the Captain had noted carefully before
retiring, the boats' heads were put in the direction of the island
of Anticosti, and, keeping as nearly as possible together (there
were three boats' crews), they pulled hard all night for shore.
Pages:
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238