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Entered according to Act of Congress, in June, 1867, by J. W. Burke & Cos., in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the So. District of Georgia.
Vol. I.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
THE SHIPWRECK.
AST WEEK I told you
about Harry Edwards’
fi’ J uncle, who returned very
unexpectedly to his old
' home, after an absence
rwfiriL of many years. You will also re-
*£l| member that I told you of his
sailing on a whaling voyage,
{T and that the ship in which he
sailed was lost, with all on board, ex
cept Harry’s uncle and one or two
others. lam going to tell you, now,
something about that voyage and the
shipwreck which ended it.
Whales are the largest of all living
creatures. They are of immense value
to commerce, on account of the quan
tities of oil and the black, flexible
whalebone which they furnish. You
know that the sperm oil, used for
burning in lamps, and for so many
other purposes, is produced from the
lat or blubber of the whale, and it is
not wonderful, therefore, that thou
sands of vessels are fitted out in this
country and Europe to go in search
of these “monsters of the deep.”
Whale-fishing, though, is one of the
most dangerous occupations in which
a sailor can bo engaged, but it affords
so great a profit, when successful, and
furnishes so much of that daring
adventure which sailors love, that there
is never any difficulty in filling up the
crew of a whaler.
The ship in which Harry’s uncle sailed
was called the Neptune. She measured
400 tons, (which means that she was ca
pable of carrying a cargo of that weight,)
and was perfectly fitted as a whaler, by
being strengthened in every part, so as
to resist the pressure from the ice to which
all such vessels are inevitably exposed.
The Neptune set sail from Hew Bedford,
MACON, G-A., MAY 16, 1868.
Massachusetts, on a fine summer morning,
with every prospect of a fair and pros
perous voyage. I have no time now to tell
you of the daily life on board the ship, of
the calms and gales which are always
met with at sea. The Neptune had no
more than her share of these for the first
month out.
One day, however, after a moderate
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blow, the wind entirely died away, leaving
the vessel lying like a log on a sea as
smooth as glass. Hot a breath of aii
came to disturb the surface of the water,
but there was something about the ap
pearance of the atmosphere and ocean
which caused the old sailors to feel un
easy. The barometer, too, gave warning
of approaching danger. The quicksilver
began to sink, and fell lower and lower
throughout the day and night, the next
morning the sun rose on the same dead
calm. About noon, a small cloud made
its appearance in the far distant horizon,
and a low, sighing sound came over the
water. The captain, who was a good
sailor, ordered everything to be made
ready for a hard blow, and the orders
were barely carried out before the storm
burst upon them. With a terrific roar,
the gale came down, tearing up the water
in huge drifts, which every instant
rose higher and higher, and threaten
ed them with instant destruction.
If my little readers were never in a
storm at sea, they can form no con
ception of its awful, terrible grandeur.
I can give them no idea of the fury
with which the good ship Neptune was
swept before the blast. She was a
staunch vessel, manned by a gallant
crew, and right bravely did she weath
er it, but the winds and waves were
too much for her. One by one her
masts were swept overboard, until she
drifted before the storm a dismantled
wreck.
If I had time and space, I would
tell you of how all her crew, except
four, were swept into the sea ; how
the wreck floated day after day, with
out sail or rudder, until the four sur
vivors were finally cast ashore on an
island inhabited by savages, more
cruel if possible than the raging ele
ment from which they had barely es
caped. All this, and much more, Har-
ry’s uncle told him about, and I have his
promise that he will tell the story to the
readers of the Weekly one of these da3’s.
Macon , Ga.
Loving Words and Loving Deeds.
Loving words, like sunbeams, will
Dry up it falling tear,
And loving deeds will often help
A broken heart to cheer,
So loving and so living, you
Will be a little sunbeam too.
——
Hever forget past services.
No. 46