TO ENGLAND BY CAPE HORN.
— ♦ Tho following Is nn extract from a lettor dated London, Feb, 20, und addressed by the Hoy James Jcfferis, to a friend in Adelaldo :— And now for a word or two about onr voyage —- it was not without Its perils and, indeed, perils of no ordinary magnitude. For seven days wo were among tho ico of the tiu'uth l'nciflo, Captain Lawson hs» rounded the Horn nineteen times > but he told mo thjtt he nevtr mot whh anything of that sort so ! terriblo before For somo days previous to tho flritt appearance of tho Icebergs we encountered strong easterly winds. These wero bo' un usual that the captain predicted ice a- head, Kach night nt sunset there appeared to windward a low dark bank of clouds, which ereatod considerable anxiety frem its strange and persistent character. On No. vembor 23, at daybreak, in lit. 65° •10', nnd long, 100°, the first berg was sighted, ThU wns soon followed by more, and before the day-was gone more lhan SOO had como into view. Fortunately, tho sea was clear to tho southward, in which direction we sailed ns tho night set in. At daybreak on tho 24th, wo found our hopes fallacious, Far fewer bdrgs,cc*rtninly were in sight, but they were idl rojipd ua, To add to our danger lt foil a dead calm. Not a bhath of wind stirred tho surfaco of tho water, whilo a current, which hero Is ulwiiya running, threatened to get us foul of some one or other of these unplea«ant neighbours, ,The next,d«y (••-Stb) revealed a yet greater extent of noiii. Tho number of icebergs was vastly inofoased, and tho commencing shmniorrlhcati lmd already bvgun t<> Brook .uuntyeWi and otrew tbe sea with their
fragments.. Theso smaller pieces, varying ia fili^is' tron> v a 'few to a thousand cubic feet, , were scattered about so as to deinan 1 the utmost earoUn steering. Collision oven with n smnll bno/wouM have powdered our vewl, for tho calm had been succeeded by n moderately/strong breeze. Cne alght was of great sublimity, A berg that nuwt have been about 800 feet high, parti diy turned over just aa we got ab reuse. Imagine n mass of clear ice, in shape not unlike the ruins of a vast cathedral, with tower y«it standing, in bright three times tb* cluvatLin of ourJTown Hull, and in extent nhout a quarter the *" size of Adelaide, suddenly toppling Oyer, and '_ revealing as it tilted up glimpses of a yet . mightier mass , submerged beneath the "'] oo«an, In the afternoon, we -'approaljnwl %< the largest of tbo f whole.' We gave* it a wide berth of five' or six miles, nnd far two and a half Jrours sailed along it3"«tder~ We judged it to bo neirly twenty miles longs A* aud to be from 300' to" 500 fet 1 In height, A rhero were no means of judging of its superficial extent. The night that followed was AA the most fearful I ever spent at sou } the *j darkness was- increased by thick mist and ' . driving rain. Through it wo saw dim nnd shadowy outlines of ievborg* to right mid left of us,. nnd frequently heard the hollow thun- 7 der of their avalanches. Tl.o uoxt day our ! position semed worao than ever. I here waa ... : , no break in tlie mighty host. At irregular in- - > tervals they covered tlw whole surfxeo of the ; sea. Nearly 1,000 must havo been in alght - from thu mast-head. On the 27th the number - began to diminish. On the 23th thoy wero ■ fewer still. On tho 30tb, jnat nfter day breaJt, In a thick mist, and with elrcum-itance. of M ureal peril as any we had encountered, tho lust hatch of Imo was passed, and we steered for tho open sen. Thero was not wanting, you may ba sure, the fe-ding and expression A of deep nnd fervent gratitude to Him through ' whom alone we had escaped our multiplied dangers. I could not describe to you tha ?j anxiety that weighed upon our spirits during j this fearful eight days. Tho captain had hardly any sleep. I watched with him (tho only one of the pusscngt-rs), either on th* quarterdeck or on tho forecastle, tbe whole seven nights during iho two or threo hours of darkness, nnd cm appreciato tho unwearied energy and skill divplnycd both by him and i hia otikcra, The Koselu-iko proved hcr-wlf *a ■ flrat-nvte seabftat. Tlw «a*w with wld-h she answered to her helm— for we did not once heave-to —was of tho utmost consequence to us ninny times. You may imagine that it was .. exceedingly cold. The thermometer was - seldom above d'i°, I bore it without suffering (ls I expected. It was a good ap-jremi-eshlp to tbo climate of England. As if by way of compensation tho tempests of C.ipo Horn were sleeping, wo passed it within sight, with the sea almost nt rent. On entering tbe F.ngiisb ; Chimwl w$ oncflunter-^l the fury of one of r the worst galea of the season {but th. wind V was in our favour. Under double-reefed top* sails, on n dark nnd dirty night, wo wero < driven at alarming speed between the cliff* . of Dover and the fatal Goodwin Hands, The pilot, full of anxiety told me next morning that with difficulty ha found his way into the > Downs, lf you do come home, don't go by Cape Horn, nor in tho winter of England.
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Bibliographic details
Star (Christchurch), Issue 53, 15 July 1868, Page 2
Word Count
908TO ENGLAND BY CAPE HORN. Star (Christchurch), Issue 53, 15 July 1868, Page 2
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