Describes the 1856 maritime tragedy of a ship traveling to New York that hit an iceberg and left its passengers adrift four hundred miles off the coast of Newfoundland

"The small ship making the Liverpool to New York trip in the early months of 1856 carried mail, crates of dry goods, and more than one hundred passengers, mostly Irish emigrants. Suddenly an iceberg tore the ship asunder and five lifeboats were lowered. As four lifeboats drifted into the fog and icy water, never to be heard from again, the last boat wrenched away from the sinking ship with a few blankets, some water and biscuits, and thirteen souls. Only one would survive. This is his story."--Dust jacket