Desire of the heathen to hear the Gospel.--Brethren meditate a new
settlement--voyage to explore the country.--Quiet course of the
mission--advantages of their church discipline.--Death of
Burghardt.--Exertions of the aged survivors.--Schreiber,
superintendant, arrives.--Anxiety of the native Christians to
attend the ordinances of religion.--Advantages of the Bible as a
school-book.--Four missionaries unexpectedly carried to
England.--Baptized Esquimaux seduced by traders.--Perilous
voyage of the returning missionaries.--striking
accident.--Schreiber retires from the
superintendance--Kohlmeister succeeds--his journeyings to Okkak,
to Nain.--Stability of the work of God at Nain--hopeful
deaths--conversion and recovery of a young native.--Remarkable
preservation of an Esquimaux youth.
Ever since the settlement of the brethren on the east coast of
Labrador, scarcely a year had passed, without their being visited by
great numbers of Esquimaux from the north, either for the purposes of
traffic or curiosity; and latterly, to visit their friends and
acquaintances who had become residents. From these strangers, the
missionaries obtained much interesting information respecting the
inhabitants along the coast; they were told that the most considerable
part of the nation dwelt beyond Cape Chudleigh, lat. 60 deg. 17 m.,
called by them Killineck; that accounts of the settlement had reached
them, and that they were desirous of teachers to instruct them in the
good words. When some of these natives were asked by the brethren to
remain and settle with them, they expressed a great inclination to
have done so, but urged as an objection, the difficulty of procuring
food for their families, and requested the missionaries rather to come
to them, where they could be easily able to obtain a comfortable
supply. The brethren, in consequence, had long meditated a new
settlement, and the Society for the furtherance of the Gospel had
repeatedly consulted with them about the best plan for carrying their
wishes into execution. Various obstacles had, however, always
prevented any effectual steps being taken, till, in consequence of
repeated invitations, it became a subject of serious consideration, by
what means a more correct idea of the extent and dwelling places of
the Esquimaux nation might be obtained, and a general wish was
expressed, that one or more of the missionaries would undertake the
perilous task of visiting such places as were reported to contain
more inhabitants than the southern coast, but remained unknown to
European navigators.
When brother Kohlmeister was in Europe, it was arranged with the
Synodal Committee for the management of the missions of the United
Brethren, that an exploratory voyage should be undertaken, for which
Kohlmeister made preparation on his return to Labrador, and on the
17th of June, he and brother Kmoch set out from Okkak. The vessel
engaged for the arduous undertaking, was a two masted shallop, 45 feet
long, 12 broad, and 5 deep, belonging to Jonathan, (vide p. 213) who
also accompanied them as their captain. Jonathan was a man of superior
understanding and skill, possessed of uncommon intrepidity, and looked
up to, at Hopedale, as the chief of his nation. It was therefore no
small sacrifice on his part, to agree to leave, for an indefinite
time, the place where he was so much respected; but he was ready to
forsake all, and enter on an expedition of unknown length and peril,
in the hope that it would be a means of introducing the gospel among
his countrymen. The greater part of the other Esquimaux thought the
voyage impracticable, and an old Angekok predicted that if the
adventurers did not perish in the violent currents that set in round
Cape Chudleigh, they most certainly would never return.
But none of these dark forebodings made any impression on the mind of
Jonathan. When told that the wild heathen would kill him, he generally
answered, "Well we will try, we shall know better when we get there;"
and once, when conversing with the missionaries, who were not
altogether without apprehension, remarked, "When I hear people talking
about the danger of being killed, I think--Jesus went to death out of
love to us; what great matter would it be, if we were to be put to
death in his service, should that be his good pleasure concerning us."
Nor did his conduct belie his profession: under all circumstances,
during the voyage, his firm, cheerful faithfulness, proved honourable
to his character as a true convert. Besides the missionaries, the
expedition consisted of four Esquimaux families from Hopedale, and one
from Okkak, who attended with a skin, or woman's boat, in case of any
accident befalling the shallop, and to be used in landing, as the
larger vessel could never safely be brought close to the shore--in all
eighteen persons.
As they coasted along, they met several Christian Esquimaux, who were
scattered at different summer provision places. At Kangerlualuksoak,
sixty miles north of Okkak, a fishing station, with a fine strand and
excellent harbour, where they rested on the 30th, [Lord's day,] the
missionaries went on shore, and visited the Christian families, whom
they assembled together for public worship. The congregation amounted
to about fifty, including the boat's company. Brother Kohlmeister
addressed them, and expressed his hope that they were all walking
worthy of their Christian profession--presenting a good example to
their heathen neighbours. A number of strangers sat as listeners, and
the missionaries felt their hearts dilate with joy, to hear the
cheerful voices of converted heathen melodiously sounding forth the
praises of God, and giving glory to the name of Jesus their Redeemer,
in a place which had but lately been a den of murderers, and dedicated
by sorcerers to the service of the devil. Proceeding northward, they
soon found their progress obstructed by drift ice, which forced them,
after two days of incessant labour, to seek shelter in the estuary of
a river, Nullatartok, where being blocked up, they went on shore, and
pitched their tents on a beautiful valley, enamelled with potentilla
aurea in full bloom, resembling a European meadow covered with
butter-cups. The river abounded with salmon-trout; and their hunters
killed two rein-deer, a seasonable supply, as they were detained here
twelve days. On the 16th July, they reached Nachvak, where the high
rocky mountains, glowing in the splendour of the morning sun,
presented a most magnificent prospect. About fifty heathen Esquimaux,
who had encamped here, received them with loud shouts and the firing
of muskets, and while they remained, behaved with great modesty,
neither annoying them by impertinent curiosity, nor harassing them by
importunate begging; they also attended their morning and evening
prayers with great silence, and apparent devotion. They heard the
discourses of the missionaries with respectful stillness, but they
listened with much greater eagerness to the exhortations of their own
countrymen. Jonas, a son of Jonathan, addressed them thus: "We were
but lately as ignorant as you are now; we were long unable to
understand the comfortable words of the gospel; we had neither ears to
hear, nor hearts to receive them, till Jesus by his power, opened our
hearts and ears. Now we know what Jesus did for us, and how great the
happiness of those is, who come unto him--love him as their Saviour,
and know that they shall not be lost, when this life is past. Without
this, we live in constant fear of death. You will enjoy the same
happiness, if you turn and believe on Jesus. We are not surprised that
you do not yet understand us. We were once like you, but now we thank
Jesus our Redeemer with tears of joy, that He has revealed himself
unto us." This address, delivered with great energy, produced, at
least, a temporary effect, for one of the leading men of the party,
Onalik, exclaimed, "I am determined to be converted to Jesus;" and
another, Tallagaksoak, made the same declaration, adding, "He would no
longer live among the heathen."
Having spent two days with these people, the expedition proceeded on
their voyage, and passing Nennoktok, were constrained by tempestuous
weather to anchor in Kummaktorvik-bay. Here they met with four
Esquimaux families, of whom John, and Mary his mother, had once been
residents at Okkak, but had left the brethren, and retired to the
heathen; with them Kohlmeister spoke very seriously, representing the
danger of their state as apostates from the faith, but they showed no
symptoms of compunction, and seemed determined to persist in their
ways. When the storm ceased, they resumed their course, and after a
providential escape from shipwreck on a sunken rock, they arrived it
Oppernavik, where they found Uttakyak, a chief of superior
understanding, and of great influence among his countrymen, with his
two wives and youngest brother, waiting to receive them. He had, while
on a voyage to Okkak in 1800, given the brethren particular accounts
of these regions, and as he had learned that the missionaries intended
to take a voyage to Ungava-bay, he had waited during the whole spring
for them, and put up signals on all heights surrounding his tent, that
they might not miss him. Successive storms, and accumulating ice,
prevented the progress of our adventurers till the 1st of August, when
they left their harbour, and entered Ikkerasak, a narrow channel
between Cape Chudleigh Islands, and the continent; it is ten miles in
length, and dangerous from the currents and whirlpools occasioned by
the flowing and ebbing of the tide, but the missionaries passed
through in safety at low water with a fair wind. On quitting the
channel, the coast ran S.S.W. low, with gently sloping hills, and the
sea [Hudson's straits] appeared studded with small islands. Here they
saw the Ungava country at a distance, stretching to the south before
them.
Three skin boats, filled with Esquimaux, came to bid them welcome, and
followed them to Omanek, a small island, where they pitched their
tents; brother Kohlmeister visited them on shore, and explained to
them the design of their voyage: they listened, but could not
comprehend the scope of his discourse; they shouted, however, with
joy, when he told them that he would come and see them in their own
country. Many among them had never seen a European before, and not
content with accurately inspecting them on every side, came close up
to the travellers, and "pawed" them all over.
Dismissing them highly grateful with some trifling presents, the
voyagers proceeded, and on the 7th reached the entering of the great
river Kangerlualuksoak, 140 miles S.S.W. of Cape Chudleigh, lat. 58
deg. 57 m. Sailing up the bay, they found a fine slope or terrace
facing the south, covered with shrubs, from whence a wooded valley
extended to the left, which they fixed upon as the most suitable place
for a settlement. Uttakisk, who had spent more than one winter in the
Ingura country, assured them that there was an ample supply of native
provisions both summer and winter, and that many of the Esquimaux
would resort to them from every quarter, if they were once fairly
settled. And the missionaries were satisfied that Europeans might find
the means of existence, as the place was accessible to ships, and had
wood and water in plenty. Before departing therefore, they set up high
marks of stones on two opposite hills at the entrance of the bay, and
placed a board on the declivity of a hill to the right, on one side of
which they cut G. III. R. and S.U.F.--Georgius III Rex, Societas
Unitatis Fratrum; and on the other, the initials of the missionaries,
with the date of their arrival. This tablet was raised with some
solemnity in presence of Uttakisk and his family, as representatives
of the people of Ungava; and the missionaries informed them, that they
had taken possession of the place, in case they or their brethren
should think proper to settle there, and called all present to bear
witness; they then proclaimed that the name of the river should
henceforth be called George River, after which three vollies were
fired by those on shore, and answered from the boat.--The texts of
Scripture for the day, were very encouraging:--"From the rising of the
sun, even to the going down of the same, my name shall be great among
the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts," Mal. ii 1. "At the name of
Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth,
and things under the earth; and every tongue shall confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father," Phil. ii 10, 11.
After the ceremony, pease and bread and beer were distributed among
the Esquimaux, which enabled them to make a splendid feast, and the
day was spent in the most agreeable manner.
Next day [Aug. 13th] they left George River, and after beating about
till the 17th, they cast anchor near a point of land, Kernertut, where
they expected to lie in safety [the whole of the crew, except Jonas
and his children and two boys, had gone on shore in the skin boat;]
but during the night, the wind blew a gale, which increased in
violence till daybreak; the sea rose to a tremendous height, and the
rain fell in torrents. Notwithstanding the shallop had three anchors
out, she was tossed about dreadfully, the sea frequently breaking
quite over her, insomuch that they expected every moment to be
swallowed up in the abyss. Jonathan, and the rest of their company,
were obliged to be passive spectators from the beach, where they
waited the event in silent anguish, looking every moment when the
vessel should break from her moorings, and be driven on the rocks.
About noon, the rope by which the small boat was fastened brake; she
was immediately carried up the bay, and thrown, by the violence of
the surf, on the top of a rock, where she stuck fast, keel upwards.
When the tide turned, the raging of the sea and the wind began to
abate, and Jonathan and the other men, as soon as it was practicable,
came to the assistance of the distressed and worn-out brethren. He was
quite overcome with joy, unable to utter a word; he held out his hand,
and shed tears of gratitude at meeting with them alive, for he had
given them up as irremediably lost. The little boat was brought down
from her pinnacle, to the great surprise of all, without material
injury.
Since leaving George's river, the expedition had made little more than
fourteen or fifteen miles, and were at least seventy or eighty, as far
as they could judge, from the river Koksoak, the western boundary of
the Ungava country, which they had fixed upon as the final object of
their voyage. The season was far advanced, and the Esquimaux
represented to them, that if they proceeded farther, it would be
impossible to return to Okkak before winter. In this dilemma, the
missionaries, unable to decide, retired to their hut, and after
weighing all the circumstances maturely, determined to commit their
case to Him in whose name they had entered upon this voyage, and
kneeling down entreated him to hear their prayers in their
embarrassing situation, and to make known to them his will concerning
their future proceedings, whether they should persevere in fulfilling
the whole aim of their voyage, or give up a part and return
home.--"The peace of God," add the missionaries, "which filled our
hearts on this memorable occasion, and the strong conviction wrought
in us both, that we should persevere in his name to fulfil the whole
of our commission, relying without fear on his help and preservation,
no words can describe; but those who believe in the fulfilment of the
gracious promises of Jesus given to his poor followers and disciples,
will understand us when we declare, that we were assured that it was
the will of God our Saviour, that we should not now return and leave
our work unfinished, but proceed to the end of our proposed voyage.
Each of us communicated to his brother the conviction of his
heart--all fears and doubts vanished--and we were filled anew with
courage and willingness to act in obedience to it in the strength of
the Lord." When they made known their determination to Jonathan, and
the reasons which swayed them, he without hesitation replied, "Yes!
that is also my conviction! We will go whither Jesus directs us. He
will bring us safe to our journey's end, and safe home again." With
renewed strength and spirits, the missionaries set forward, and their
companions, who had been wonderfully refreshed and invigorated by
their success among the seals and the rein-deer, willingly followed.
They encountered a severe storm, and escaped many hidden dangers, as
they coasted along a dangerous and unknown shore; but, guided by His
hand in whom they trusted, they had the pleasure of reaching the mouth
of the Koksoak, August 25th, 58 deg. 36 m. N.L. about 700 miles from
Okkak--Cape Chudleigh half way. To the west the country is called by
the natives Assokak, the coast turning again W.N.W. The Koksoak here
is about the breadth of the Thames at Gravesend, and with its various
windings, much resembles that river for twenty-four miles inland. As
they sailed upwards, they were hailed by the natives in their kaiaks,
with "_Innuit, Innuit!_ man, man;" and when they hoisted their colours
there was a general cry of "Kablunat, Kablunat! Europeans! Europeans!"
About one P.M. they cast anchor close to an encampment, containing
fourteen families, some from a distant district called Rivektok. At
first they appeared shy, but upon receiving a few trifling presents
became quite familiar; and as many of them had never seen a European,
walked round them, and inspected them narrowly to see what manner of
animals they were, having previously received some account of them
from Uttakiyok's brother, who had joined them. Proceeding farther up
the river, accompanied by most of the men and some women, they arrived
at a bay, which by the winding of the stream appears like a lake
surrounded on all sides with gently rising grounds, well planted with
woods of moderate size, chiefly birch. Behind the woods are some low
hills. This place they named Unity's Bay.
Here they found another good situation for a missionary settlement--a
fine slope, extending for about half an English mile, bounded on each
extremity by a hill, on both of which they erected high signals.
Juniper, currants, and other berries, were growing in abundance--and
some rivulets of water at no great distance. This spot they named
Pilgerruh, Pilgrim's rest. The view of the interior was in general
flat, with a few low hills and ponds in some places full of wild
geese; the largest trees were not more than eight inches in diameter,
and fifteen or twenty feet high. The Esquimaux informed them that
farther up the trees were larger. The inhabitants were poor, and
miserably equipped in comparison of the Esquimaux near the brethren's
settlement; as those who accompanied the expedition, and who, from
their intercourse with the Europeans, had obtained many conveniences
by barter, and from the teaching of the missionaries had acquired a
knowledge of the gospel. These advantages the latter did not fail to
expatiate upon to their heathen countrymen; and once the brethren met
with Sybilla, Jonathan's wife, surrounded by a company of women under
the shadow of a skin boat, set on edge, exhorting them with great
simplicity and fervour to hear and believe the gospel. Even Uttakiyok
occasionally engaged in advocating the same cause, explained as well
as he could the reason of the Brethren's living in Labrador, and
exclaimed, "My friends, let us all be converted to Jesus." Having
finished their observations on this quarter, the missionaries resolved
to return, as, from the account given by their able and faithful
conductor, Uttakiyok, whose information they had hitherto found
correct, the western coast on the opposite side of the bay was bare
and without any proper landing place, and at this season of the year
uninhabited, the Esquimaux being generally employed in the interior
in hunting the rein-deer; they, therefore, Sept. 1., left the river
and shaped their course homeward. The natives shewed the greatest
reluctance to part with them, and called after them, "Come soon again;
we shall always be wishing to see you." Several of them, and among
these their disinterested friend, Uttakiyok, followed them for some
miles, repeating their entreaties for their speedy return, and
promising to settle beside them when they came. At parting, they
presented Uttakiyok with their skin boat and several useful articles,
as a recompense for the important, essential, and affectionate
services he had rendered them. On the 4th October they reached Okkak
in safety, after an absence of three months and ten days, having
performed a voyage of from twelve to thirteen hundred miles. An
account of their expedition was transmitted home,[I] but circumstances
prevented the mission from being undertaken for several years.
No very remarkable alteration took place at any of the different
stations, during the two succeeding years. The increase of their
number was gradual, and their advance in the Christian course quiet
but perceptible; and at Okkak they had the pleasure of readmitting,
upon their repentance and acknowledgment of their sin, the members
they had been forced to exclude for their misconduct during the past
season; and it is not the least among the mercies of God towards the
brethren, nor one which ought to be passed over in silence, the
benefit which their congregations derive from the kind and judicious,
yet firm administration of church discipline; in a majority of
instances it answers the ends for which it was instituted--the brother
is gained instead of being driven away to associate with the world,
and to nourish a spirit of dislike, if not of hatred, towards those
with whom he was formerly in fellowship--a melancholy consequence when
this ordinance of the Saviour is not attended to in the spirit of
love.
In 1812, the superintendant, Burghardt, was called to his reward; he
had been able to fulfil the duties of his office till within three
days of his departure. He was obliged to take to his bed on the 24th
of July, and had appointed the 28th to confer with his brethren on
various subjects, but when that day came, he was so much exhausted,
that this was found impracticable. He had done with active service
upon earth. He now lay quiet, in peaceful expectation of the happy
moment when his Lord and Master would call him to rest. About three
o'clock in the afternoon, he breathed his last in a most gentle and
peaceful manner, in presence of the family gathered around his bed.
"During this transaction," the missionaries add, in their letter
announcing the event, "a powerful feeling of divine peace prevailed
among us, and many tears were shed by us who are left behind, to
follow the example of this devoted servant of Jesus. He had attained
to the age of seventy nine years."
His removal brought forward, in a very prominent point of view, the
unwearied diligence of the Moravian missionaries, who unite so much
active exertion in temporal affairs, with such devotedness to
spiritual exercises, and, in a pre-eminently apostolic conduct,
exhibit the import of the injunctions, "not slothful in
business,"--"fervent in spirit,"--"serving the Lord." "In consequence
of this vacancy," they continue, "and the age of two others of us, who
are fast approaching their seventieth year, we are not able to do any
great things by manual labour; however, we contrive to perform what is
absolutely requisite, and intend, with the Lord's blessing, to
prepare for the building of a new church, as the present is much too
small, and gone to decay, We thank you for your readiness to assist us
with the necessary help."
Next year, 1813, brother Schreiber arrived to succeed the late
lamented Burghardt as superintendant, and brought with him two
efficient missionaries. The general course of the mission for some
time continued pretty uniform, the meetings were always well attended,
and so great was the desire of the people to be present, that some
came at the hazard of their lives; especially the sisters, who, when
they had no boat of their own, would venture across bays some miles in
breadth, sitting behind their husbands on their narrow kaiaks. The
number of printed books circulated in the congregations, and now
constantly increasing, kept alive the desire to learn to read and
understand the holy Scriptures. The schools were thronged by young and
old.
It has sometimes been asserted that the sacred writings are ill
adapted for school books; that they are above the capacity of
children, and do not possess those attractions which little stories,
extracts from entertaining writers, histories of our own and other
countries present.[J] Without entering upon any argument, it may be
sufficient to remark, that at no time did our native Scotland produce
a more intelligent, acute, and moral race, than that generation which
was educated in schools where the Bible and the Shorter Catechism were
the chief, if not the sole, medium of their instruction. At the
Moravian settlements the same effects flow from a similar mode of
tuition, and the mind that has been early exercised in searching out
the meaning of the Divine Oracles of truth, comes well prepared to
estimate the realities of life, and form a true and correct judgment
upon common topics and matters of daily occurrence: they have been
taught that the present ought to be improved with a reference to the
future, not only in spiritual but in temporal matters, and the natural
consequence is, that the converted Esquimaux and their children become
at once an intelligent and a provident race. So long as they continued
heathen their intellect in general appeared incapable of comprehending
any thing beyond the immediate and grosser cravings of nature, but
now they understood and could converse upon more rational subjects;
then no arguments could induce them, not even their own necessities,
to build store houses, but now they willingly assisted the
missionaries in erecting these buildings for public use, while in some
of the settlements they erected new ones for themselves. Along with
reading, the natives were taught writing and arithmetic, in which many
of them made no inconsiderable proficiency. Yet, notwithstanding all
their care and watchfulness, the brethren were not without their
trials from the members of their congregations, and they, commonly sum
up their accounts of the prosperous state of their people with some
such conclusion as this:--"We must after all confess that much
imperfection is yet seen, and some of those living here are not what
they ought to be. The enemy is not idle, but endeavours to sift those
who believe on Jesus; and we grieve to be obliged to mention, that
even of our communicants there are who have fallen into temptation and
sin. This shall not damp our courage, but we will continue to direct
them to Jesus."
Hitherto little interruption had taken place in the communication
between Labrador and England; the vessel had sailed in safety amid
enemies and storms, and although in some voyages had been in jeopardy,
and in others detained, had always made it out to visit all the
stations; but in 1806 the Jemima was not only prevented from reaching
Hopedale, but carried four of the missionaries on an involuntary trip
to England. The ship arrived at the drift ice on the Labrador coast on
the 16th of July, which Captain Fraser found extending about two
hundred miles from the land, and after attempting to get in first to
Hopedale, then to Nain, and last of all to Okkak, he was at length
completely surrounded by it and in the most imminent danger during six
days and nights, expecting every moment that the ship would be crushed
to pieces, till after very great exertions he got towards the outer
part of the ice. Nevertheless he was still beset with it, and did not
reach Okkak before August 29. The very next day the whole coast, as
far as the eye could reach, was entirely choked up by ice, and after
laying at Okkak nearly three weeks, he was twice forced back by it on
his passage to Nain, which place he did not reach till Sept 22. After
staying the usual time the captain proceeded, Oct 3., from Nain for
Hopedale with fine weather; yet, on account of the lateness of the
season, and a great deal of drift ice, with but little prospect of
reaching that settlement. This circumstance he mentioned to the
brethren at Nain, notwithstanding which, however, Brother Kmoch and
his wife, and two single brethren, Korner and Christensan, who were
going to Hopedale, went on board and they set sail; but the same
evening it came on to blow exceedingly hard, with an immense fall of
snow and very thick weather, so that they could not see the length of
the ship, and being within half a mile of a dangerous reef of rocks,
the captain was obliged to carry a press of sail to clear them, which
he did but just accomplish, for after that the gale increased to such
a degree, the wind being right on shore, that he could not carry sail
any longer, and was obliged to lay the ship to, when the sea broke
often over her, and he was at last forced, seeing every attempt to
reach Hopedale vain, to bear away for England. He again experienced a
gale equal to a hurricane, on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of October,
which, during the evening between the 9th and 10th, was so violent
that the captain expected the vessel would have foundered. She was at
one time struck by a sea that twisted her in such a manner that the
seams on her larboard side opened, and the water gushed into the
cabin and into the mate's birth as if it came from a pump, and every
body at first thought her side was stove in; however the Lord was
pleased to protect every one from harm, nor was the ship very
materially damaged, neither was any thing lost.
Winter set in severely on the Labrador coast, but this proved an
advantage to the missions, as those at Nain were enabled to forward
supplies by sledges to their brethren at Hopedale, who, although
curtailed of some of their comforts, acknowledged with cheerful
thankfulness that they had suffered no essential deprivation. The
Esquimaux were also deprived of their usual supply of food by the
early winter, which prevented them from taking many seals, either by
the net or in kaiaks; but, as not unfrequently happened in their times
of extremity, they were successful in killing a whale, which preserved
from suffering much from famine, and for which they joined their
teachers in returning thanks to their heavenly Father. Their number
was reduced by the death of a venerable brother, Sueb Andersen, who
had served the mission forty years, as well as Christensan, who had
been carried to England; but nevertheless, besides their usual daily
labour, they were able to erect for their own use a building
containing rooms for holding provisions and fuel, and a bakehouse.
Easily contented, however, as they were with their stinted fare, and
pleasantly as they could undergo both privation and manual labour;
they could not see, without the most poignant sorrow, those who had
begun to run well, hindered in their progress, and the greatest
affliction they felt, and the only one which extorted from them a
complaint in this trying season, was the seduction of several of their
congregation. Four traders from the south, with an Esquimaux family in
company, spent that winter in their neighbourhood. They sent European
provisions to the native inhabitants, and invited them to come and
traffic, which proved a great snare, and disturbed the peaceful course
of the congregation; for many of the baptized had lived formerly in
the south, and contracted a taste for European indulgences,
particularly for strong liquors, from which they had been weaned since
their settling at Hopedale; but these propensities revived when
temptation was presented. The brethren spared no pains, by friendly
exhortations and affectionate remonstrances, to avert the calamity,
yet they had the grief to see three families of eighteen persons
desert the station; among whom were six communicants and several
hopeful young people. The women and children wept bitterly at parting,
and even the men seemed affected, but the latter, led captive by the
wiles of the seducer, forced their families to follow. "We cannot
describe," say the missionaries, "the pain we felt in seeing these
poor deluded people running headlong into danger, and we cried to our
Saviour to keep his hand over them in mercy, and not to suffer them to
become a prey to the enemy of their souls."
Kmoch and his wife, and the single brother Korner, who had so
unexpectedly visited England, returned to Labrador in the brig Jemima
in 1817, accompanied by single brother Beck, a descendant of the
Greenland missionary, who in the third generation inherited the same
spirit. Their voyage was perilous, and their preservation afforded a
new display of the mercy of God towards his devoted servants, engaged
to proclaim salvation to the utmost ends of the earth. On the 2d of
June the Jemima left London, and after stopping at the Orkneys, they
reached within 200 miles of the Labrador coast before the 4th of July;
the weather had been remarkably fine, and they were pleasing
themselves with speedily arriving at their destination, when the
ice-birds gave notice of their approaching the ice.[K] Now the wind
shifted, and on the 7th the drift was seen in every direction: for six
days they made several attempts to penetrate through different
openings, but in vain; fields of ice beset the ship on all sides, and
towards the evening of the 13th they discovered an immense ice-berg
approaching. They were sailing before the wind, and just when they
neared it, became enveloped in so thick a fog that they could not see
a yard from the ship, nor use any means to avoid a concussion which
threatened instant ruin. After an hour of helpless anxiety the fog
dispersed, and they perceived that they had providentially passed at a
very short distance. Next morning land was discovered a-head, which
the captain endeavoured to reach, but was forced to seek shelter by
fastening the vessel to a large field of ice three hundred feet in
diameter, elevated about six above the water, and between fifty and
sixty in thickness below. Here they lay with little variation from the
14th to the 20th; when they attempted with a fine breeze to get clear
out. In the evening, the sky lowered, and it grew very dark. At
midnight the passengers were roused by a noise on deck, and hastening
to learn the cause, found they were driving fast towards a huge
ice-mountain, on which they expected every moment to suffer shipwreck.
The night was excessively cold with rain, and the sailors suffered
much before they could again bring the vessel to her moorings. But
this was only the prelude to greater terrors: shortly after mid-day on
the 21st, the wind having risen to a tempest, the missionaries were
alarmed by a tremendous outcry; they instantly ran upon deck, and saw
the ship with the field to which she was fastened, rapidly driving
towards another immense mountain, nor did there appear the smallest
hope of escaping being crushed to pieces between it and the field.
They all cried fervently to the Lord for speedy help in this most
perilous situation--for if they had but touched the mountain they must
have been instantly destroyed. And he heard them: the ship got to such
a distance that the mountain passed between them and the field, but
one of their cables was broken and they lost an anchor; and were left
to the mercy of the storm and the current, in the midst of large
masses of ice from ten to twenty feet thick. The following night was
dreadfully dark and tempestuous, and the howling of the wind, and the
roaring of the ice, as the fields were dashed against each other by
its fury, rendered it truly terrific; while the fragments, as they
were dispersing by the storm, struck violently against the vessel, and
each blow sounded like the harbinger of instant fate. Such shocks were
repeated every five or ten minutes and sometimes oftener; nor was
there any possibility of avoiding them. In this awful situation they
offered up earnest prayers to Him who alone is able to save, and about
six in the morning they were carried into open water not far from the
coast, after having spent ten long hours in a state more easily to be
conceived than described. During the remainder of their voyage they
encountered several heavy gales, and were threatened occasionally with
the gathering ice, and their vessel was leaky, but they happily
arrived at their desired haven in safety. On the 9th of August they
cast anchor at Hopedale.
Amid the trials which the brethren had to encounter, they acknowledge,
with gratitude, the mercies that intervened: they witnessed many
instances of the faithful leading of the Holy Spirit among the
Esquimaux, particularly in the return of many to the good Shepherd,
from whom they had strayed--and during the winter, the station of
Hopedale was preserved from moral contagion by a striking providence.
Some heathen who had set out to seduce their countrymen to go to the
south, were overtaken at sea by a violent storm, which dashed their
large boat in pieces, and being thrown on an unknown desert region,
where no assistance could be obtained, perished miserably by cold and
hunger.
At the close of 1819, brother Schreiber returned to Europe, and
brother Kohlmeister succeeded him as superintendant of the Labrador
missions, for which he was well adapted, both by his knowledge of the
country and the language. In the former year he had performed a voyage
from Okkak to Nain, very different from that remarkable journey in
1804. The weather was fine and warm, with a gentle favourable breeze,
and the varied scenery was delightful. He doubled the promontory of
the Kiglapeit mountains with the greatest ease, and was wafted through
the narrow channel to Nain, charmed with the verdure that decked the
shores, the woods in foliage, the hills covered with grass, and the
vallies spangled with innumerable flowers. Early next year he visited
Hopedale, and the weather being again fine, he accomplished the
journey in two days. The dogs drew the sledge over the frozen snow
with great rapidity; no English post-horses could have done better. He
had formerly ministered in this settlement, and the inhabitants came
out to some distance to meet, and bid him welcome. "I was deeply
affected," says he, in a letter to Mr Latrobe, "on again entering this
place, in which I had spent so many happy days in the year 1804, when
it pleased the Lord to send forth his Spirit, and awaken in the hearts
of the Esquimaux, that hunger and thirst after righteousness and
salvation, the fruits of which have been so manifest and encouraging
ever since. I was then eye-witness of astonishing proofs of His power
and love, and my heart and spirit revived in the recollection of the
all-conquering and superabounding grace which then prevailed, and by
which he drew all hearts unto himself."
To the continuance and advancement of this blessed work, the brethren
were able to bear joyful testimony in the succeeding year. July 31,
1820, they thus write: "The Lord is graciously pleased to cause his
power to be made manifest in the conversion of sinners, and in the
building up our dear Esquimaux flock in the faith by which we are
saved. This we may truly testify to his praise. The Father draws them
to the Son, and the Holy Spirit leads them in the way of life
everlasting. We find open ears and hearts when we declare to them the
love of Jesus as their Saviour, and his blessing rests upon our feeble
testimony of his atoning death and passion. Many a heart, by nature
hard as the surrounding rocks, has been broken by the divine power of
the word of the cross."
They had, however, to mourn over the loss of three of their most
approved native Esquimaux brethren, in the prime of life; they were
suddenly seized with a mortal illness, which, after a short suffering
of twelve hours, brought them to the grave; but the joyful hope of
seeing their Saviour face to face, and celebrating the praises of his
redeeming love, supported them in their dying moments, and comforted
the hearts of their teachers. Their widows, also, distinguished
themselves by their resignation to the Lord under this severe
dispensation, which rendered them desolate, placing their whole trust
in Him who is the faithful friend of the widow and the fatherless. A
young married man, a candidate for baptism, was seized with the same
complaint, and brought to the brink of the grave. In his extremity, he
complained to one of the missionaries that he had never been truly
converted to Jesus. "O!" exclaimed he, "if but one drop of the
precious atoning blood of Jesus would flow upon my soul to cleanse me
from guilt, that I might be assured in my inward parts, of the
forgiveness of my many sins!" He was baptized on his sickbed--it was
an affecting scene--a sense of the presence of the Lord was felt on
the occasion by all present, by the peace and grace that accompanied
the administration of the ordinance. The answer to the sick penitent's
fervent prayer, seemed like that given to the poor repenting thief on
the cross when he cried, "Lord remember me"--it was immediate. To the
surprise of all, he recovered, and remained an instance of the love of
Jesus, even to the chief of sinners.
A remarkable preservation of another Esquimaux youth, was likewise the
cause of much joy at Hopedale. On the 10th of June, 1819, this lad had
been carried out to sea upon a flake of ice, which separated from the
main mass in a terrible storm, and was given up for lost. He, however,
after having, for some time, been driven about, gained the larger body
of drift ice, and was carried towards an island, on which he landed.
Here he staid about two months. He had only a gun, a small knife, and
a few pieces of cord with him, but neither powder nor shot. Of the
cord he made nooses and caught eider-ducks, by which, and their eggs,
he kept himself alive; in the night, he crept under an overhanging
rock to sleep. At length he discovered a piece of wood floating to the
shore; of this he made an oar, and, getting on a flake of ice, rowed
himself to an island nearer the main land, whence he reached two more
islands nearer still. About the beginning of August, he observed two
boats steering towards the south, and made signals: these were not
noticed by the first, which passed on; but the second approached and
took him in. They were southlanders from Kippolak, with whom he was
obliged to go on to the south, and remain there till the ice was
strong enough to admit of his travelling to Hopedale. He removed
thence to Okkak, where he most unexpectedly arrived, to the
astonishment of all his relations, who received him as one from the
dead. He declared that in his banishment from human society, Jesus had
been his hope and refuge, though the prospect before him was indeed
terrific. While he gave this account of his escape, his eyes
overflowed with tears of joy and gratitude; and at the conclusion of
his narrative, he said to brother Kohlmeister--"Benjamin! I declare to
you that I was never alone; Jesus was always with me, and I will ever
follow Jesus, and belong to him in time and eternity."
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote I: The Journal of the Voyage, illustrated with a map, was
published in a separate form. London, 1814.]
[Footnote J: "The children and young people have given us much
pleasure; they have made good progress in reading, and often speak to
us of the pleasure it affords them to be able to read the Scriptures
at home."--Periodical Accounts, vol. 6 p. 241.]
[Footnote K: This bird is about the size of a starling, black, with
white and yellow spots, flies about a ship chiefly in the night, and
is known by its singular notes, which resemble a loud laugh.]