His CAPTORS. 177 



Curiosity excited. An appalling Discovery. 



canal that a ship made its appearance about 

 noon. The sun shone brightly at the time, and 

 a gentle breeze blew from the north. At first 

 some intervening icebergs prevented Captain 

 Warrens from distinctly seeing any thing but 

 her mast ; but he was struck with the strange 

 manner in which her sails were disposed, and 

 with the dismantled aspect of her yards and 

 rigging. She continued to go before the wind 

 for a few furlongs, and then, grounding upon 

 the low icebergs, remained motionless. Cap- 

 tain Warrens's curiosity was so much excited 

 that he immediately leaped into his boat with 

 several seamen and rowed toward her. 



On approaching, he observed that her hull 

 was miserably weather-beaten, and not a soul 

 appeared on the deck, which was covered with 

 snow to a considerable depth. He hailed her 

 crew several times, but no answer was return- 

 ed. Previous to stepping on board, an open 

 port-hole near the main chains caught his eye, 

 and on looking into it, he perceived a man re- 

 clining back in a chair, with writing materials 

 on a table before him, but the feebleness of the 

 light made every thing very indistinct. The 

 party went upon deck, and having removed the 

 M 



