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1To Mrs. Saville, England. August 5th, 17--. So strange an accident has happened to us that I cannot forbear recording
2it, although it is very probable that you will see me before these papers can come into your possession. Last Monday
3(July 31st) we were nearly surrounded by ice, which closed in the ship on all sides, scarcely leaving her the sea-room
4in which she floated. Our situation was somewhat dangerous, especially as we were compassed round by a very thick fog.
5We accordingly lay to, hoping that some change would take place in the atmosphere and weather. About two o'clock the
6mist cleared away, and we beheld, stretched out in every direction, vast and irregular plains of ice, which seemed to
7have no end. Some of my comrades groaned, and my own mind began to grow watchful with anxious thoughts, when a strange
8sight suddenly attracted our attention and diverted our solicitude from our own situation. We perceived a low carriage,
9fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the north, at the distance of half a mile; a being which had the
10shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature, sat in the sledge and guided the dogs. We watched the rapid progress
11of the traveller with our telescopes until he was lost among the distant inequalities of the ice. This appearance
12excited our unqualified wonder. We were, as we believed, many hundred miles from any land; but this apparition seemed to
13denote that it was not, in reality, so distant as we had supposed. Shut in, however, by ice, it was impossible to follow
14his track, which we had observed with the greatest attention. About two hours after this occurrence we heard the ground
15sea, and before night the ice broke and freed our ship. We, however, lay to until the morning, fearing to encounter in
16the dark those large loose masses which float about after the breaking up of the ice. I profited of this time to rest
17for a few hours. In the morning, however, as soon as it was light, I went upon deck and found all the sailors busy on
18one side of the vessel, apparently talking to someone in the sea. It was, in fact, a sledge, like that we had seen
19before, which had drifted towards us in the night on a large fragment of ice. Only one dog remained alive; but there was
20a human being within it whom the sailors were persuading to enter the vessel. He was not, as the other traveller seemed
21to be, a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered island, but a European. When I appeared on deck the master said, "Here
22is our captain, and he will not allow you to perish on the open sea." On perceiving me, the stranger addressed me in
23English, although with a foreign accent. "Before I come on board your vessel," said he, "will you have the kindness to
24inform me whither you are bound?" You may conceive my astonishment on hearing such a question addressed to me from a man
25on the brink of destruction and to whom I should have supposed that my vessel would have been a resource which he would
26not have exchanged for the most precious wealth the earth can afford. I replied, however, that we were on a voyage of
27discovery towards the northern pole. Upon hearing this he appeared satisfied and consented to come on board. Good God!
28Margaret, if you had seen the man who thus capitulated for his safety, your surprise would have been boundless. His
29limbs were nearly frozen, and his body dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering. I never saw a man in so wretched a
30condition. We attempted to carry him into the cabin, but as soon as he had quitted the fresh air he fainted. We
31accordingly brought him back to the deck and restored him to animation by rubbing him with brandy and forcing him to
32swallow a small quantity. As soon as he showed signs of life we wrapped him up in blankets and placed him near the
33chimney of the kitchen stove. By slow degrees he recovered and ate a little soup, which restored him wonderfully. Two
34days passed in this manner before he was able to speak, and I often feared that his sufferings had deprived him of
35understanding. When he had in some measure recovered, I removed him to my own cabin and attended on him as much as my
36duty would permit. I never saw a more interesting creature: his eyes have generally an expression of wildness, and even
37madness, but there are moments when, if anyone performs an act of kindness towards him or does him any the most trifling
38service, his whole countenance is lighted up, as it were, with a beam of benevolence and sweetness that I never saw
39equalled. But he is generally melancholy and despairing, and sometimes he gnashes his teeth, as if impatient of the
40weight of woes that oppresses him. When my guest was a little recovered I had great trouble to keep off the men, who
41wished to ask him a thousand questions; but I would not allow him to be tormented by their idle curiosity, in a state of
42body and mind whose restoration evidently depended upon entire repose. Once, however, the lieutenant asked why he had
43come so far upon the ice in so strange a vehicle. His countenance instantly assumed an aspect of the deepest gloom, and
44he replied, "To seek one who fled from me." "And did the man whom you pursued travel in the same fashion?" "Yes." "Then
45I fancy we have seen him, for the day before we picked you up we saw some dogs drawing a sledge, with a man in it,
46across the ice." This aroused the stranger's attention, and he asked a multitude of questions concerning the route which
47the dæmon, as he called him, had pursued. Soon after, when he was alone with me, he said, "I have, doubtless, excited
48your curiosity, as well as that of these good people; but you are too considerate to make inquiries." "Certainly; it
49would indeed be very impertinent and inhuman in me to trouble you with any inquisitiveness of mine." "And yet you
50rescued me from a strange and perilous situation; you have benevolently restored me to life." Soon after this he
51inquired if I thought that the breaking up of the ice had destroyed the other sledge. I replied that I could not answer
52with any degree of certainty, for the ice had not broken until near midnight, and the traveller might have arrived at a
53place of safety before that time; but of this I could not judge. From this time a new spirit of life animated the
54decaying frame of the stranger. He manifested the greatest eagerness to be upon deck to watch for the sledge which had
55before appeared; but I have persuaded him to remain in the cabin, for he is far too weak to sustain the rawness of the
56atmosphere. I have promised that someone should watch for him and give him instant notice if any new object should
57appear in sight. Such is my journal of what relates to this strange occurrence up to the present day. The stranger has
58gradually improved in health but is very silent and appears uneasy when anyone except myself enters his cabin. Yet his
59manners are so conciliating and gentle that the sailors are all interested in him, although they have had very little
60communication with him. For my own part, I begin to love him as a brother, and his constant and deep grief fills me with
61sympathy and compassion. He must have been a noble creature in his better days, being even now in wreck so attractive
62and amiable. I said in one of my letters, my dear Margaret, that I should find no friend on the wide ocean; yet I have
63found a man who, before his spirit had been broken by misery, I should have been happy to have possessed as the brother
64of my heart. I shall continue my journal concerning the stranger at intervals, should I have any fresh incidents to
65record. August 13th, 17--. My affection for my guest increases every day. He excites at once my admiration and my pity
66to an astonishing degree. How can I see so noble a creature destroyed by misery without feeling the most poignant grief?
67He is so gentle, yet so wise; his mind is so cultivated, and when he speaks, although his words are culled with the
68choicest art, yet they flow with rapidity and unparalleled eloquence.
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