The Legend of the Octavius Whaler

Legend tells of a whaling vessel discovered off the western coast of Greenland in October 1775. The ship's name might have been the Octavius or possibly the Gloriana, and from what I can tell, the earliest telling of this tale can be traced back to an 1828 newspaper article. When they explored further and found the captain's quarter, the scene inside was even more eerie. There in the cabin were more bodies, a frozen woman holding a dead infant in her arms, a sailor holding a tinderbox as if trying to manufacture some source of warmth. One account tells of how his face and eyes were covered in a green, wet mold. In one hand, the