The 'Isabella' and 'Abby Bradford'
had been in company for twenty-seven days from Resolution Island to
Nottingham Island, surrounded by ice all the time and narrowly escaping
destruction. The 'Isabella' was carried by the current right upon a
large iceberg, which would most certainly have wrecked the vessel; but,
when just about to strike, the eddy swept them around and past the berg,
though they had entirely lost control of the ship. They were both
"nipped" by the ice several times, and on one of these occasions the
'Abby Bradford' suffered such a severe strain that her timbers creaked
and groaned terribly, and her deck planks were bowed up. So imminent did
their peril appear that the boats and provisions were got out upon the
ice preparatory to abandoning the vessel, when, just as it seemed as if
she must succumb, the pressure was relaxed and the crew returned to
their ship. We had head winds before reaching Resolution Island, but
after passing Cape Best the winds were fair, and we made a fine run of
six days to the latitude of St. John, N. F. We saw a brig off Hamilton
Inlet, evidently trying to beat into that harbor; but saw no more
vessels until the 2d of September, when we saw a heavily laden bark
some distance ahead of us making toward the west. We changed our course
so as to endeavor to head her off, but though we gained upon her
considerably, could not overtake her before dark.
Pages:
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279