Part 14 (1/2)
”What? They had a newspaper?” exclaimed the American
”They acted a comedy?” said Bell
”That they did,” said the Doctor ”When Parry wintered at Melville Island, he started both areat success”
”Well, I must confess, I should like to have been there,”
returned Johnson; ”for it must have been rather curious work”
”Curious and aood Johnson Lieutenant Beechey was the theatre er, and Captain Sabina chief editor of the newspaper called 'The Winter Chronicle, or the Gazette of Northern Georgia'”
”Good titles,” said Altamont
”The newspaper appeared daily from the 1st of November, 1819, to the 20th of March, 1820 It reported the different excursions, and hunting parties, and accidents, and adventures, and published a stories No doubt the articles were not up to the 'Spectator' or the 'Daily Telegraph,' but the readers were neither critical nor blase, and found great pleasure in their perusal”
[Illustration: ]
”My word!” said Altamont ”I should like to read soe for yourself”
”What! can you repeat thees on board the Porpoise, and I can read you his own narrative if you like”
This proposition was so eagerly welcomed that the Doctor fetched the book forthwith, and soon found the passage in question
”Here is a letter,” he said, ”addressed to the editor”
”'Your proposition to establish a journal has been received by us with the greatest satisfaction I areat source of ahten our hundred days of darkness
”'The interest I take in the matter myself has led me to study the effect of your announceuage, that the thing has produced an immense sensation
”'The day after your prospectus appeared, there was an unusual and unprecedented deed with snippings and parings of quill-pens, to the injury of one of our servants, who got a piece driven right under his nail
I know for a fact that Sergeant Martin had no less than nine pen-knives to sharpen
”'It was quite a novel sight to see all the writing-desks brought out, which had notby the reams of paper visible, more than one visit must have been et to tell you, that I believe attempts will be ether original, as they have been published already I can declare that, no later than last night, I saw an author bending over his desk, holding a volu the frozen ink in his pen at the laainst such tricks, for it would never do for us to have articles in our ”Winter Chronicle” which our great-grandfathers read over their breakfast-tables a century ago'”
”Well, well,” said Altaood deal of clever humour in that writer He ht Here is an ao out in thefor a walk, and the moment you put your foot outside the shi+p, find yourself i, and fall in with a splendid reindeer, take aione off with a flash in the pan, owing to daood supply of soft new bread in your pocket, and discover, when you want to eat, that it has frozen so hard that you would break your teeth if you atteh
”'To rush froht, and on co back to find the cat has eaten your dinner