FIRST RETURN TO ENGLAND
In 1865 Mr. Horden and his family came home; the journey was a long
and very anxious one. ‘Among the many dangerous voyages which our bold
sailors undertake,’ he writes, ‘there is none more dangerous, or attended
with more anxiety, than the one to or from Moose Factory. Hudson’s
Straits are dangerous, Hudson’s Bay fearfully so, James’s Bay worst of
all. It is full of sunken rocks and shoals; it is noted for its fogs.
‘When the ship came, it was in a somewhat disabled condition, so severely
had she been handled by the ice. However, we repaired her at Moose, and
although it was very late in the season we determined, putting ourselves
in God’s hands, to trust ourselves in her. We left Moose with a fair
wind, which took us in safety over our long, crooked, and dangerous
bar; but we had not proceeded above half a day’s sail before a heavy
storm came upon us. Dangers were around us, the dread of all coming to
Moose Factory, the Gasket Shoal, was ahead; the charts were frequently
consulted; the captain was anxious, sleep departed from his eyes. We are
at the commencement of the straits; we see land, high, rugged, barren
hills; snow is lying in the valleys, stern winter is already come; it
seems a home scarcely fit for the white bear and the walrus. What are
these solitary giants, raising their heads so high, and appearing so
formidable? They are immense icebergs which have come from regions still
farther north, and are now being carried by the current through Hudson’s
Straits into the Atlantic Ocean. The glass speaks of coming bad weather,
the top-sails are reefed, reefs are put to the main-sail; and now it is
on us, the wind roars through the rigging, the ship plunges and creaks.
Night comes over the scene, there is no cessation of the tempest; it
howls and roars, it is a fearful night! One of the boats is nearly swept
away, and is saved with difficulty; we have lost some of our rigging; one
man is washed overboard, and washed back again. The sea breaks over the
vessel, and dashes into the cabin; but One mightier has said, “Hitherto
shalt thou come, and no farther.” By the morning, the morning of the
Sabbath, the wind had abated.’
Dreary weeks followed; the time for arrival in England had long since
passed, and our travellers were still beating about in the Atlantic.
Luxuries had vanished, comforts had departed, necessaries were becoming
very scarce, and they began to ask each other, ‘Is England ever to be
reached?’ Then the children saw a steamer for the first time in their
lives, and their surprise was great; and now they pass vessel after
vessel. They are running up the English Channel, a pilot comes on board,
and on they go, till they are safely moored in the West India Docks. Now
to a railway station and into a railway carriage, out of that and into a
cab through the busiest part of London; the shops are brilliantly lighted
up; the children are at the windows, their exclamations of surprise are
incessant, a new world is opened to their view—a world of bustle, a world
of life.
Mr. Horden spent a busy year in England, travelling, as he expressed it,
‘from Dan to Beersheba,’ speaking on behalf of ‘his beloved people’ and
his work; everywhere eliciting sympathy and interest. In his absence from
the station Mr. Vincent of Albany had gone to Moose, to provide for the
spiritual wants of the flock and to keep the school going. The children
were examined before the Christmas holidays in Scripture and Catechism
and arithmetic, after which they were rewarded with little presents
sent in the bales from England. He reported the mission as presenting a
cheering aspect. ‘From every quarter,’ he writes, ‘the heathen are being
gradually brought under the influence of the Gospel; we have much cause
for encouragement, but we also meet with opposition. I visited an outpost
in the Rupert’s River district last summer, about five hundred and fifty
miles distant from this station, called Mistasinnee. Both there and on
the way I had frequent opportunities of preaching the Gospel to anxious
inquirers, and before leaving that post I had forty-eight baptisms,
half the number being adults; the trip occupied about two months. We
are having a very mild winter, but not a favourable one for living, as
rabbits and partridges are very scarce. Sometimes we have a difficulty
in making up something for dinner. I hope, however, as the season
advances, we shall do better, for partridges then will be returning to
the northward, and we may get a few in passing.’