THROUGH THE ICEBERGS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 79, 27 December 1907, Page 3

THROUGH THE ICEBERGS.

STEAMER'S UNUSUAL EXPERIENCE. An • adventure among ice such as rarely falls to the lot of ■a. vessel. crossing the Southern Ocean hefpl the cargo-carrying-steamer Hawkes Bay, which arrived in. Melbourne on December 16 from New York direct. For three days and'nights she'threaded her- way continuously through an almost countless field of icebergs, the total number of which was 1 approximately estimated at bntween 450 and 500.' At the vessel was' so hemmed in that she had to pursue j a: zig-zag course to keep clear or' danger. Some of the icbergs were of great size. /The largest, of which measurements wore taken by means of a. sextant, we're a mile, and a quarter king-' and -540 ft- high.i It took the steamer eight minutes, proceeding at full speed, to pass this, the wall of which on one side .was ,as flat as that of a house. For a' time the sliip's officers kept tally of the icebergs as they were, passed, but snbse<jucritlj\"'<lhst' count'" of them, ■ so rapidly were they left behind. During one "watch" —tfour. hours—nearly 50 icebergs were counted,'- whilst the number of those still ahead seemed- illimitable. '•■ It is ■reassuring to note that this great peril to navigation wns not met north by the Hawkes Bay : in the ordinary track'of'vessels traversing the Southern Ocean,.' but lay 500 or • 600- miles to the southward, the precise situation whore the vessel entered the field being latitude. 58id°g' south .-and-longitude 84deg. 56min: east. " It is unusual nowadays , for steamers to proceed even as far south as 50deg.- of latitude. The question arises as to why the Hawkes Bay sought these lower latitudes. . In' explaining this matter Captain Canipbell states that his chief object in taking the vessel so far down was that lolloped to meet with better weather than the skip experienced in tho higher latitudes, whpro shV was. severely buffeted by furious gales. His expectations in this respect were fulfilled. The further the ship went south the '[better grew the conditions, until filially a' long spell •of fine,'though intensely .cold, weather was experienced.. As another set-off against the increased danger of ice, Captain Campbell relied upon the almost continuous daylight of tho more southern latitudes •to keep. the. ship clear;.of accident. • "When we entered the ice' on December 4," remarked the second officer, consulting a nautical alnyinac, "the sun rose at 3 a.m., and did not set until 9 p.m. Even during the few hours between then and sunrise next morning there was no actual darkness, : and objects could be almost plainly seen. : The danger, therefore, of our 'humping', an iceberg was comparatively slight." . As may be imagainod, the spectacle of some of the giant icebergs under the sun's rays was,very line, especially at sunset, when the sky and horizon wero illnmiued by a magnificent rose-coloured aurora, which imparted an impressive effect to the general ■scone. ' Although the ■ te'mpßrature >' wa.s bitterly cold, it never fell below '4deg. under freezing-point, but- at- times the difficulty of navigating the ship was increased by thick snowstorms. Although her course had to be frequently' changed, so as to avert the.-ice, the ..Hawkes Bay steamed through tho great group at full speed, and therefore suffered little detention. She accomplished a creditable voyage of '48 days from New York, bringing a cargo of general merchandise, and berthing, up the river. Mr. Reynolds is still chief officer. Mr. Allen second,, and ,Mr. Higgs-third, Mr. Martin being chief engineer, and Mr. Campbell chief refrigeratmg'engineer., J' .;. .. ,