PROGRESS OF INDIAN CHILDREN IN READING. BUILDING FOR DIVINE WORSHIP.
LEFT THE COLONY. ARRIVAL AT YORK FORT. DEPARTURE TOR CHURCHILL
FACTORY. BEARS. INDIAN HIEROGLYPHICS. ARRIVAL AT CHURCHILL. INTERVIEW
WITH ESQUIMAUX. RETURN TO YORK FACTORY. EMBARK FOR ENGLAND. MORAVIAN
MISSIONARIES. GREENLAND. ARRIVAL IN THE THAMES.
JUNE 2.--I have been adding two small houses to the Church Mission
School, as separate sleeping apartments for the Indian children, who
have already made most encouraging progress in reading, and a few of
them in writing. In forming this Establishment for their religious
education, it is of the greatest importance that they should be
gradually inured to the cultivation of the soil, and instructed in the
knowledge of agriculture. For this purpose I have allotted a small
piece of ground for each child, and divided the different compartments
with a wicker frame. We often dig and hoe with our little charge in the
sweat of our brow as an example and encouragement for them to labour;
and promising them the produce of their own industry, we find that they
take great delight in their gardens. Necessity may compel the adult
Indian to take up the spade and submit to manual labour, but a child
brought up in the love of cultivating a garden will be naturally led to
the culture of the field as a means of subsistence: and educated in the
principles of Christianity, he will become stationary to partake of the
advantages and privileges of civilization. It is through these means of
instruction that a change will be gradually effected in the character
of the North American Indian, who in his present savage state thinks it
beneath the dignity of his independence to till the ground. What we
value in property, and all those customs which separate us from them in
a state of nature, they think lightly of, while they conclude that our
crossing the seas to see their country is more the effect of poverty
than of industry. To be a _man_, or what is synonymous with them, to be
a great and distinguished character, is to be expert in surprising,
torturing, and scalping an enemy; to be capable of enduring severe
privations; to make a good hunter, and traverse the woods with
geographical accuracy, without any other guide than the tops of the
trees, and the course of the sun. These are exploits which, in their
estimation, form the hero, and to which the expansion of their mind is
confined. Their intellectual powers are very limited, as they enter
into no abstruse meditations, or abstract ideas; but what they know in
the narrow range of supplying their wants, and combating with their
fellow men, they know thoroughly, and are thereby led to consider
themselves the standard of excellence. In their fancied superior
knowledge they are often heard to remark, when conversing with the
European, "You are almost as clever as an Indian." They must be
educated before they can be led to comprehend the benefits to be
received from civilization, or ere a hope can be cherished that their
characters will be changed under the mild influence of the Christian
religion. Man is as his principles are, and wandering under the
influence of those savage-taught habits, in which he has been nurtured,
which tend to harden the heart, and narrow all the sources of sympathy,
the character of the North American Indian is bold, fierce,
unrelenting, sanguinary, and cruel; in fact, a man-devil in war,
rejoicing in blood, exulting in the torments he is inflicting on his
victim, and then most pleased when his inflictions are most exquisite.
We should not be astonished at this character, so repugnant to the
sympathies of our nature, nor should we conclude too hastily against
him,--he also has his sympathies, and those of no common order. He also
loves his parent that begat him, and his child whom he has begotten,
with intense affection; he is not without affection from nature; but
perverted principle has perverted nature; and as his principle is, so
is his practice. Our surprise ceases when we learn that he is trained
up in blood, that he is catechized in cruelty, and that he is
instructed not in slaughter only, but in torment. Nothing that has life
without the pale of his own immediate circle not only does not escape
destruction, but is visited with torment also inflicted by his infant
hand. If his eye in passing by the lake observes the frog moving in the
rushes he instantly seizes his victim, and does not merely destroy it,
but often ingeniously torments it by pulling limb from limb. If the
duck be but wounded with the gun, his prey is not instantly despatched
to spare all future pain, but feather is plucked out after feather, and
the hapless creature is tormented on principle. I have frequently
witnessed the cruelty with which parents will sometimes amuse their
children, by catching young birds or animals, that they may disjoint
their limbs to make them struggle in a lingering death. And a child is
often seen twisting the neck of a young duck or goose, under the
laughing encouragements of the mother for hours together, before it is
strangled. At one moment he satisfies the cravings of nature from the
breast of his mother, and instantly rewards the boon with a violent
blow perhaps on the very breast on which he has been hanging. Nor does
the mother dare resent the injury by an appeal to the father. He would
at once say that punishment would daunt the spirit of the boy. Hence
the Indian never suffers his child to be corrected. We see then the
secret spring of his character. He is a murderer by habit, engendered
from his earliest age; and the scalping knife and the tomahawk, and the
unforgiving pursuit of his own enemy, or his father's enemy, till he
has drenched his hands in, and satiated his revenge with his blood, is
but the necessary issue of a principle on which his education has been
formed. The training of the child forms the maturity of the man.
Our Sunday school is generally attended by nearly fifty scholars,
including adults, independent of the Indian children; and the
congregation consists upon an average of from one hundred to one
hundred and thirty persons. It is a most gratifying sight to see the
Colonists, in groups, direct their steps on the Sabbath morning towards
the Mission house, at the ringing of the bell, which is now elevated in
a spire that is attached to the building. And it is no small
satisfaction to have accomplished the wish so feelingly expressed by a
deceased officer of the Company. "_I must confess_, (he observed) _that
I am anxious to see the first little Christian church and steeple of
wood, slowly rising among the wilds, to hear the sound of the first
sabbath bell that has tolled here since the creation._" I never
witnessed the Establishment but with peculiar feelings of delight, and
contemplated it as the dawn of a brighter day in the dark interior of a
moral wilderness. The lengthened shadows of the setting sun cast upon
the buildings, as I returned from calling upon some of the Settlers a
few evenings ago; and the consideration that there was now a landmark
of Christianity in this wild waste of heathenism, raised in my mind a
pleasing train of thought, with the sanguine hope that this Protestant
Establishment might be the means of raising a _spiritual_ temple to
the Lord, to whom "the heathen are given as an inheritance, and the
utmost parts of the earth as a possession."
I considered it as a small point gained, to have a public building
dedicated to religious purposes, whose spire should catch the eye, both
of the wandering natives, and the stationary Colonists. It would have
its effect on the population generally. The people of England look with
a degree of veneration to the ancient tower and lofty spire of the
Establishment; and they are bound in habitual attachment to her
constitution, which protects the monument and turf graves of their
ancestors. And where the lamp of spiritual Christianity burns but dimly
around her altar, it cannot be denied, that even her established rites
and outward form have some moral effect on the population at large.
On the 10th, I addressed a crowded congregation, in a farewell
discourse, from the pulpit, previous to my leaving the Colony for the
Factory: and having administered the sacrament to those who joined
cordially with me in prayer, that the Missionary who was on his way to
officiate in my absence, might be tenfold, yea a hundred fold, more
blessed in his ministry than I had been, I parted with those upon the
Church Mission Establishment with tears. It had been a long, and
anxious, and arduous scene of labour to me; and my hope was, as about
to embark for England, that I might return to the Settlement, and be
the means of effecting a better order of things.
The weather was favourable on the morning of our departure; and
stepping into the boat the current soon bore us down the river towards
Lake Winipeg. As the spire of the church receded from my view, and we
passed several of the houses of the Settlers, they hailed me with their
cordial wishes for a safe voyage, and expressed a hope of better times
for the Colony. Then it was that my heart renewed its supplications to
that God,
--'who is ever present, ever felt,
In the void waste, as in the city full,'
for the welfare of the Settlement, as affording a resting place for
numbers, after the toils of the wilderness in the Company's service,
where they might dwell, through the divine blessing, in the broad
day-light of Christianity; and being bound to the country from having
families by native women, might find the protection and advantages of
civilized life.
With light favourable winds we soon crossed the Lake and arrived at
Norway House, and such is generally the quickness of the passage from
this point to York Factory, that in the rapid stream of the rivers, a
loaded boat will reach the depot in a few days, which will take three
or four weeks to return with excessive toil, from the strength of the
opposing current. It appears dangerous to the inexperienced traveller
to run the rapids in the passage to the Factory, but it is seldom
attended with any serious accident. The men who have charge of the
boats are generally experienced steersmen, and it is an interesting
sight to see them take the rush of water with their boats, and with
cool intrepidity and skill direct the sweep, or steer-oar to their
arrival in safety at the bottom of a rapid of almost a perpendicular
fall of many feet, or through a torrent of water of a quarter of a mile
or more in length. Sometimes, however the boats strike in the violence
of their descent, so as to cause a fracture, and hurry the crew to pull
ashore to save the cargo from damage. This accident befel us several
times in our passage down, but a kind Providence protected us, and we
arrived in safety at York Factory.
Immediately on my arrival, I made arrangements for fulfilling my
Missionary engagement to visit the Esquimaux at Churchill, the
Company's most northern Post on the Bay. It was the advice of Captain
Franklin, that I should walk the distance of about one hundred and
eighty miles, from York Fort to that Factory, as I might be delayed in
a canoe, by the vast quantities of floating ice in the Bay, so as not
to meet these Indians in time. I followed this advice, and having
engaged one of the Company's servants, with an Indian who was an
excellent hunter, we set off on our expedition, on the morning of the
11th of July, accompanied by two Indians, who had come express from
Churchill, and were returning thither. It was necessary that we should
embark in a boat, to cross the North River; and in rowing round the
Point of Marsh, we perceived a brightness in the northern horizon, like
that reflected from ice, usually called the _blink_, and which led
us to suppose that vast fields of it were floating along the coast in
the direction that we were going. It happened to be low water when we
crossed the mouth of the river, so that the boat could not approach
nearer than about a mile from the shore, which obliged us to walk this
distance through the mud and water, to the place where we made our
encampment for the night, and where the mosquitoes inflicted their
torments upon us. We were dreadfully annoyed by them, from the swampy
country we had to traverse, and I was glad to start with the dawn of
the following morning, from a spot where they literally blackened a
small canvass tent that was pitched, and hovered around us in clouds so
as to render life itself burdensome. The day, however, afforded us very
little relief, while walking, nearly ancle deep in water, through the
marshes; and such was their torture upon the poor animals, that we
frequently saw the deer coming out of the woods, apparently almost
blinded and distracted with their numbers, to rush into the water on
the shore for relief. This gave an opportunity to the hunter to kill
two of them in the course of the afternoon, so that we had plenty of
venison, and a good supply of wild fowl, which he had shot for our
evening repast. We started at sunrise the next morning, after having
had but little sleep, as I had been wrapped in my blanket almost to
suffocation, to escape in a degree the misery of our unceasing torment.
Towards noon, we had much better walking than we had before met with,
and were relieved from the mosquitoes by a change of wind blowing cold
from off the ice, which was now seen from the horizon to the shores of
the bay. The relief to us was like a cessation from an agony of pain;
and as the hunter had just killed another deer, and the wild fowl flew
around us in abundance, we pitched the tent, and halted for several
hours, and refreshed ourselves with sleep, after the irritation and
almost sleepless nights that we had endured. We were on the march again
at five o'clock; and after we had forded Stoney River, we came upon the
track of a polar bear. The Indian hunter was very keen in his desire to
fall in with it, and I lamented that I had not an opportunity of seeing
him engage the ferocious animal, which seemed to have taken a survey of
the party, and to have gone into the wood a short distance from us. The
bears are now coming off the ice in the Bay, on which they have been
for several months past, to live upon seals, which they catch as they
lie sleeping by the sides of the holes in the drift ice, when it
dissolves or is driven far from shore. They seek their food among the
sea-weed and every trash that is washed up along the coast, or go upon
the rocks, or to the woods, for berries, during the summer months.
Savage, however, as this animal is, it is not so much dreaded by the
Indians as the grizzly bear, which is more ferocious and forward in his
attack. These are found towards the Rocky Mountains, and none but very
expert hunters like to attack them. A gentleman who was travelling to a
distance on the plains to the West of the Red River Colony, told me of
a narrow escape he once had, with his servant boy, in meeting a grizzly
bear. They were riding slowly along, near the close of the day, when
they espied the animal coming from the verge of a wood in the direction
towards them. They immediately quickened the pace of their horses, but
being jaded with the day's journey, the bear was soon seen to gain upon
them. In this emergency, he hit upon an expedient, which was probably
the means of saving their lives. He took the boy, who was screaming
with terror, behind him, and abandoned the horse that he rode. When the
ferocious animal came up to it, the gentleman, who stopped at some
distance, expected to see the bear rend it immediately with his paws;
but to his surprise, after having walked round and smelt at the horse,
as it stood motionless with fear, the bear returned to the wood, and
the horse was afterwards recovered without injury.
The morning of the 14th was very cold, from the wind blowing off the
ice in the Bay; and when we stopped to breakfast, I was obliged to put
a blanket over my shoulders, as I stood by the fire, for warmth. The
comfortable sensation however was, that we were free from the annoyance
and misery of the mosquitoes; cold, hunger, and thirst, are not to be
compared with the incessant suffering which they inflict. We waded
knee-deep through Owl River, in the afternoon of the 15th. The weather
was cold, and nothing was to be seen in the Bay but floating ice. It
was rather late before we pitched the tent, and we met with some
difficulty in collecting a sufficient quantity of drift wood on the
shore, to kindle a fire large enough to boil the kettle, and cook the
wild fowl that we had shot. The next day we forded Broad River, on the
banks of which we saw several dens, which the bears had scratched for
shelter: and seeing the smoke of an Indian tent at some distance before
us, in the direction we were going, we quickened our step, and reached
it before we stopped to breakfast. We found the whole family clothed in
deer-skins, and upon a hunting excursion from Churchill. The Indian, or
rather a half-breed, was very communicative, and told me that though he
was leading an Indian life, his father was formerly a master at one of
the Company's Posts, and proposed accompanying our party to the
Factory. He had two sons, he said, who were gone in the pursuit of a
deer; and, on quitting the encampment to travel with us, he would leave
some signs for them to follow us on their return. They were the
following, and drawn upon a broad piece of wood, which he prepared with
an axe.
[Illustration:
6 5 4 3 2 1
1. To intimate that the family was gone forward.
2. That there was a Chief of the party.
3. That he was accompanied by a European servant.
4. And also by an Indian.
5. That there were two Indians in company.
6. That they should follow.]
It is a common custom with the Indians to paint hieroglyphic characters
on dressed buffaloe skins or robes; and a variety of figures are drawn
on many of those which they barter at the Company's Posts. In the
representation of a victory achieved over an enemy, the picture of the
Chief is given, with the mark of his nation, and those of the warriors
who accompanied him. A number of little images point out how many
prisoners were taken; while so many human figures without heads shew
the number who were slain. Such are the expressive signs of a barbarous
people, in recording their war exploits, and communicating information
without the knowledge of letters and the art of printing.
We proceeded, after the wife had put some kettles upon the back of a
miserable looking dog, and had taken her accustomed burden, the tent
with other articles, on her own. The little ones were also severally
laden with a knapsack, and the whole had the appearance of a camp of
gypsies moving through the country.
The 17th. Before we struck our tents this morning, the signs which the
old man left upon the piece of wood yesterday, brought his two sons,
whom he had left hunting, and who had walked nearly the whole of the
night to overtake us. We had now no provisions but what we shot on our
journey, and the addition to our party made every one active in the
pursuit of game as it appeared. The next day we passed Cape Churchill,
and came to a tent of Chipewyan or Northern Indians. The question was
not asked if we were hungry, but immediately on our arrival the women
were busily employed in cooking venison for us; and the men proposed to
go with us to Churchill. As soon as we had finished eating, the tent
was struck, and the whole party proceeded, with the old man a-head,
with a long staff in his hand, followed by his five sons and two
daughters, and the rest of us in the train, which suggested to my mind
the patriarchal mode of travelling. The 19th, our progress was slow,
from being again annoyed with mosquitoes, in a bad track, through a wet
swampy ground. As soon as we had passed the beacon, which was erected
as a landmark to the shipping that formerly sailed to Churchill, as the
Company's principal depôt, before its destruction by Pérouse, two of
the Indians left us, to take a circuit through some islands by the sea,
to hunt for provision. We pitched our tents early, in expectation that
they would join us, but we saw nothing of them that evening. It is
customary, as we were then travelling, to take only one blanket, in
which you roll yourself for the night, without undressing. On laying
down, upon a few willow twigs, I soon afterwards felt so extremely
cold, from the wind blowing strong off a large field of ice drifted on
the shore, that I was obliged to call the servant to take down the
tent, and wrap it round me, before I could get any sleep. The sudden
variation of the weather, however, gave me no cold, nor did it
interrupt a good appetite, which the traveller in these regions usually
enjoys.
Had we not been delayed by the absence of the Indians a hunting we
might have reached the Factory to-day, the 20th. They came in from
their excursion at the time we were taking our breakfast, but without
much success. They had killed an Arctic fox that supplied them with a
meal, and a few ducks which they brought to our encampment, among which
was the Eider duck, so remarkable for the beautiful softness of its
down. In the evening one of the Chipewyan Indians, sent me some dried
venison; and the next morning early we arrived at Churchill. The
Esquimaux, Augustus, who accompanied Captain Franklin to the shores of
the Polar Sea, came out to meet us, and expressed much delight at my
coming to see his tribe, who were expected to arrive at the Factory
every day. He had not seen his countrymen since he acted as one of the
guides in that arduous expedition, and intended to return with them to
his wife and children, laden with presents and rewards for his tried
and faithful services.
JULY 25.--The servants, with the Officers, assembled for divine
service, and laborious as is the office of a Missionary, I felt
delighted with its engagements; and thought it a high privilege to
_visit even_ the wild inhabitants of the rocks with the _simple
design_ of extending the Redeemer's kingdom among them; and that in
a remote quarter of the globe, where probably no Protestant Minister
had ever placed his foot before. The next day a northern Indian leader,
came to the Fort with his family; and upon making known to him the
object of my journey to meet the Esquimaux, he cheerfully promised to
give up one of his boys, a lively active little fellow, to be educated
at the Native School Establishment at the Red River. He appeared very
desirous of having his boy taught more than the Indians knew; and
assisted me in obtaining an orphan boy from a widow woman, who was in a
tent at a short distance, to accompany his son. I told him that they
must go a long way, (Churchill being about a thousand miles distant
from the Colony) but that they would be taken great care of. He made no
objection, but said that they should go, and might return when they had
learnt enough. This was a striking instance of the confidence of an
Indian, and confirmed the opinion that they would part with their
children to those in whom they thought they could justly confide, and
to whose kind tuition they were persuaded they could safely entrust
them. The Company's boats were going to York Factory, and would take
them there; where, on my return, I expected to meet my successor as a
Minister to the Settlement, on his arrival from England by the ship;
and who would take them under his care in continuing the voyage to the
school. "Religion, (says Hearne) has not as yet began to dawn among the
Northern Indians; for, though their conjurors do indeed sing songs and
make long speeches to some beasts and birds of prey, as also to
imaginary beings, which they say assist them in performing cures on the
sick, yet they, as well as their credulous neighbours, are utterly
destitute of every idea of practical religion."
The Company's present Establishment is about five miles up the river,
from the point of rock at its entrance where the ruins of the old
Factory are seen; which was the point Hearne started from on his
journey to the Coppermine River, in the year 1770; and which was blown
up by Pèrouse about the year 1784. It appears to have been strongly
fortified, and from its situation must have been capable of making a
formidable resistance to an enemy; and it can never cease to be a
matter of surprise that it should have been surrendered without firing
a shot. The walls and bastions are still remaining, which are strewed
with a considerable number of cannon, spiked, and of a large calibre.
Augustus used to visit this point every morning, in anxious expectation
that his countrymen would arrive by the way of the coast, in their seal
skin canoes. One day he returned to the Factory evidently much agitated;
and upon inquiry I found that there was an Esquimaux family in a tent
by the shore, under one of the rocks, one of whom had greatly alarmed
him with the information, that soon after he left his tribe with
Junius, (who is supposed to have perished as a guide in the Arctic
Expedition,) one of Junius's brothers took his wife, and thinking that
Augustus was displeased with him, and that he possessed the art of
conjuring, had determined upon his death, and that this superstitious
notion had so preyed upon his spirits as to terminate his existence.
This circumstance, he added, had led a surviving brother to threaten
revenge, and supposing that he might come to the Factory with the
Esquimaux who were expected, he advised him to be on his guard. The
next day, July the 29th, Augustus returned to the point of rock on the
look out, but not without having first requested a brace of pistols,
loaded his musket, and fixed his bayonet, yet nothing was seen of his
countrymen. The next morning I accompanied him to the Esquimaux tent,
with an interpreter, under the idea that I might obtain some
interesting information; and was much pleased to find the family living
in the apparent exercise of social affection. The Esquimaux treated his
wife with kindness; she was seated in the circle who were smoking the
pipe, and there was a constant smile upon her countenance, so opposite
to that oppressed dejected look of the Indian women in general. I asked
the Esquimaux of his country: he said it was good, though there was
plenty of cold and snow; but that there was plenty of musk oxen and
deer; and the corpulency of the party suggested the idea that there was
seldom a want of food amongst them. I told him that mine was better, as
growing what made the biscuit, of which they were very fond, and that
there was much less cold, and that we saw the water much longer than
they did. Observing that the woman was tattooed, I asked him when these
marks were made, on the chin, particularly, and on the hands. His reply
was, when the girls were marriageable, and espoused to their husbands;
who had generally but one wife, though good hunters had sometimes two.
Wishing to know whether they ever abandoned the aged and the infirm to
perish like the Northern Indians, he said, never; assuring me that they
always dragged them on sledges with them in winter to the different
points where they had laid up provisions in the autumn, 'en cache;' and
that they took them in their canoes in summer till they died. Knowing
that some Indians west of the rocky mountains burn their dead, I asked
him if this custom prevailed with the Esquimaux, he said, no; and that
they always buried theirs. The name of this Esquimaux was
_Achshannook_, and as Augustus could write a little, which he had been
taught during the time he was with the expedition, I gave him my
pencil, that the other might see what I wished to teach the Esquimaux
children, as well as to read white man's book, which told us true of
the Great Spirit, whom the Esquimaux did not know, and how they were to
live and die happy. The woman immediately caught up her little girl
about five years of age, and holding her towards me manifested the
greatest delight, with Achshannook, at the wish I had expressed of
having the Esquimaux children taught to write and read the book. They
often pointed in the direction the others were coming, and gave me to
understand that they would soon arrive. We returned to the Fort, and
walking by the side of the river we saw numbers of white whales which
frequent it at this season of the year, and many of which are harpooned
from a boat that is employed, and usually carries three or four of the
Company's servants. The harpooner killed one to-day, which measured
fourteen feet long, and eight in girth, and weighed it was supposed a
ton weight. The blubber is boiled at the Fort, and the oil sent to
England as an article of the Company's trade. When the Esquimaux visit
us from the tent, they generally go to the spot where the carcases of
the whales are left to rot after the blubber is taken, and carry away a
part, but generally from the fin or the tail; they have been known,
however, to take the maggots from the putrid carcase, and to boil them
with train oil as a rich repast. They are extremely filthy in their
mode of living. The Esquimaux who was engaged at the Fort as an
interpreter, used to eat the fish raw as he took them out of the net,
and devour the head and entrails of those that were cooked by the
Company's servants. And it is their constant custom, when their noses
bleed by any accident to lick their blood into their mouths and swallow
it.
Though the beaver, which furnishes the staple fur of the country, is
not common in this immediate neighbourhood, an Indian was successful
enough to kill one at a short distance down the river, which he brought
to the Fort. It was roasted for dinner, and proved of excellent
flavour, though I could not agree that the tail, which was served up in
a separate dish, was of that superior taste it is generally considered
to be. The sagacity of this animal has often been described; and I have
frequently been surprised at the singular construction of their houses,
the care with which they lay up their provision of wood, and the mode
in which they dam up the water near their habitations. They cut with
their teeth sticks of a considerable size, and when larger than they
are able to drag, they contrive to fell them on the bank, so that they
may fall and float down the stream to the place where they design to
make the dam; and then entwine them with willow twigs, which they
plaster with mud, so as effectually to obtain a head of water.
We met again on the Sabbath for divine worship on both parts of the
day, as we had done on the previous Sunday. As the Esquimaux did not
make their appearance, we began to think that the ice in the Bay might
have prevented their coming to the Factory. We were relieved from our
doubts however, on the 2nd of August, by Augustus running to the Fort
with the information that his countrymen were seen coming along in
their canoes. He waited till he ascertained that Junius's brother, who
was said to have threatened his life, was not of the party, and then
went to meet them. Some of them came over the rocks with the canoes
upon their heads, as being a much nearer way to the Company's Post from
the spot where they left the Bay, than following the course of the
river. Their number, with a small party that came soon afterwards, was
forty-two men, who brought with them a considerable quantity of the
Arctic fox skins, musk-ox, and deer skins, with those of the wolf and
wolverine, together with sea-horse teeth, and the horn of a sea-unicorn
about six feet long for barter at the Company's Post. In appearance
they strongly resembled each other, and were all clothed with deer-skin
jackets and lower garments of far larger than usually Dutch size, made
of the same material. Their stature was low, like that of the wife of
the Esquimaux at the tent who was not five feet in height. They were
all very broad set, with remarkably small eyes, low foreheads, and of a
very fine bronze complexion. A few of the men however were nearly six
feet in stature, and of a strong robust make. As soon as they had
bartered the articles which they brought with them for those they
requested in return, which were guns, ammunition, beads, and blankets
principally, they were informed that I had travelled a long way to see
them, and to have some talk with them.
The next day, they gathered round me, and with Augustus and an
interpreter, I was enabled to make the object of my visit to them well
understood. I told them that I came very far across the great lake,
because I loved the Esquimaux; that there were very many in my country
who loved them also, and would be pleased to hear that I had seen them.
I spoke true. I did not come to their country, thinking it was better
than mine, nor to make house and trade with them, but to enquire, and
they must speak true, if they would like white man to make house and
live amongst them, to teach their children white man's knowledge, and
of the Great and Good Spirit who made the world. The sun was then
shining in his glory, and the scenery in the full tide of the water
before us was striking and beautiful; when I asked them, if they knew
who made the heavens, the waters, and the earth, and all things that
surrounded us, so pleasing to our sight? their reply was, 'We do not
know whether the Person who made these things is dead or alive.' On
assuring them that I knew, and that it was my real wish that they and
their children should know also the Divine Being, who was the Creator
of all things; and on repeating the question, whether they wished that
white man should come and give them this knowledge, they all
simultaneously expressed a great desire that he should, laughing and
shouting, "heigh! heigh! augh! augh!" One of them afterwards gave me a
map of the coast which they traversed, including Chesterfield Inlet,
and which he drew with a pencil that I lent him, with great accuracy,
pointing out to me the particular rivers where the women speared salmon
in the rapids in summer, while the men were employed in killing the
deer, as they crossed in the water some points of the Inlet; or were
hunting on the coast, catching seals. Being provident, and not so
regardless of the morrow as the Indians in general, they lay up
provisions at these different places for the winter, and probably
seldom suffer from want of food; nor are they long in summer without
their favourite dish of the flesh and fat of the seal, mixed with train
oil as a sauce, which they prefer to salmon; and when not mixed with
their food, they drink the oil as a cordial.
The Esquimaux often surrounded me in groups, during their stay at the
Factory, and cordially shaking hands, were fond of saying, that the
Northern Indians, or Chipewyans, sprang from dogs, but that they were
formerly as white men. I encouraged them in the idea that we were
originally of the same parents, but that they being scattered, we knew
now a great deal more than they did, and therefore came to see if it
were possible to teach their children our knowledge, for their
happiness, and also themselves, if it were their desire. They appeared
to be quite overjoyed at this conversation, and laughed heartily,
shouting, "Heigh! heigh!" saying, (as the interpreter expressed it,)
"We want to know the Grand God."
I told them that there were stones on the edge of the water, in their
country, and that with a little wood, a house might be made like what
they saw at the Fort. Should I, or any other person, ever come from
across the great lake, to build this house, where their children might
live, and be taught what I had told them; I asked if they would assist
to bring the stones, and help to raise the building. They signified
their willingness by shouting again in their usual manner. I mentioned
the above circumstance, as conceiving it to be practicable and
advisable, from the best information I could obtain, that the first
attempt to form an establishment on the shores of the Bay, to educate
the children of the Esquimaux, should be made at Knapp's Bay, or, as
called by the Esquimaux, Aughlinatook. Augustus's tribe traverse this
part of the coast, which is about two hundred miles north of Churchill;
from whence the frame of the building and some dry provisions in casks
might be taken in boats, to maintain the party, at first making the
settlement, independent of the common resources of the country, and of
the Esquimaux; and a communication kept up with the Company's Post,
which might easily be done, both in summer and winter. It is said that
the word, difficulty, is not known in the English Military dictionary,
and surely ought not to be found in that of the Missionary; and a
mission undertaken to the Esquimaux, upon the plan suggested, conducted
with prudence, intrepedity, and perseverance, can leave little doubt as
to its ultimate success. They tied knots upon a sinew thread, tieing a
knot for each child as it was named, to inform me, at my request, of
the number of children they had belonging to their tribe, and which
they would bring to the school for instruction. The number on the sinew
thread was sixty-two boys and sixty-four girls. Whenever I spoke to
them about provisions, they uniformly said that they would bring
plenty; but should the establishment be made, a small number of
children would at first of course be taken, and increased in proportion
as the resources of the country, and the supplies afforded by the
Esquimaux towards the support of their children, were pretty accurately
ascertained. It is true that they live in a country, as those do on the
Labrador coast, of hopeless barrenness, and endure almost a perpetual
winter's blast; but the success of the faithful devoted Moravian
Missionaries, on the coast of Labrador, and on that of Greenland, in
their labours, privations, and perseverance, to impart the knowledge of
Christianity, which has been blessed of God to the salvation of the
Esquimaux, holds out every encouragement to the intrepid Missionary, in
his attempts to benefit, with Christian instruction, those on the
shores of Hudson's Bay.
'Cold is the clime, the winds are bleak,
And wastes of trackless snow,
Ye friends of our incarnate God!
Obscure the paths ye go.
'But hearts more cold, and lusts more fierce,
And wider wastes of sin,
Ye Preachers of redeeming love!
Obscure the soul within.
'Yet go: and though both poles combine,
To freeze the sinner's soul,
The sinner's soul shall yield to grace,
For grace can melt the pole.
'Then blow ye winds, and roll ye waves,
Your task assigned perform:
The God of grace is nature's God,
And rides upon the storm.
'Nature and Providence obey
The dictates of his grace;
Go! for each drop subserves his cause
Each atom has its place.'
A few of the Esquimaux who came to the Fort, were from Chesterfield
Inlet, and proposed to return, before the other party left us for
Knapp's Bay. Before they started, Augustus was very desirous that I
should see his countrymen conjure; and bringing a blanket and a large
knife, he assured me that one of them would swallow the knife, and not
die; or fire a ball through his body, leaning upon a gun, without being
injured. I understood that he was to perform this jugglery with the
blanket round him, which I objected to, if I saw it; but told him that
I had great objections to such deceptions and art, by which they
imposed on each other; and observed, that if his countrymen could
really conjure, they should conjure the whales to the shore, which were
then sporting in the river before us. He was not pleased, however, with
my refusal, and it was with difficulty that I prevented the exhibition.
When the party left us, they encircled me, and said that they would
tell all of their tribe what had been mentioned about teaching the
Esquimaux children white man's knowledge of the Great Spirit. They
informed me that a great many of the Esquimaux meet in summer about
Chesterfield Inlet; that some come down from the great lake to the
north, and that they had met some, who had seen two very large canoes
when there was no ice; and when one of these canoes stood in towards
the shore where they were, they were so alarmed as to run off over the
rocks, and that they did not return till the big canoes were out of
sight towards where the sun rises. This information led me to suppose
that they were the Discovery Ships, under the command of Captain Parry;
and to conjecture that the ice had been a barrier to his progress in
search of a North-West Passage, and that he was returning down the Bay
to England. The object of the Esquimaux in meeting from different
tribes at Chesterfield Inlet every year, is to barter with those
principally who trade at Churchill Factory, and also with some Northern
Indians, who exchange what European articles they may have for
fish-hooks made of bone, and sinew lines, and skins. I then shook hands
with them, and gave to each individual a clasp-knife, some tobacco, and
a few beads, to take with them to their wives, with which they were
much pleased, telling me, not to be afraid to come to their country, as
Esquimaux would treat me well.
AUGUST 7.--When the remaining party returned to Knapp's Bay, it was
proposed by the Master of the Company's Posts, that they should stop
for a few days at Seal River, about fifty miles north of Churchill, and
spear white whales for the blubber. This they readily assented to, and
the day after they started, I accompanied the officer in a boat to the
point where they were to be employed. We pitched our tents near the
place where they rested at night, and were much amused at their
dexterity in spearing a number of whales on the following day. In the
course of two days they harpooned about forty, so numerous were these
animals in the Bay at the mouth of the river. These Esquimaux were not
unacquainted with habits of cleanliness, for they were no sooner ashore
from spearing whales, than they changed their dirty skin dress for one
of a newer and cleaner character; and in seating themselves in a
circle, around a small fire they had made, I observed that while they
boiled the skin of the whale, and some partook of it, others were
eating the tail and the fin in a raw state. I never knew natives more
orderly and less troublesome; we were in their power, but so far from
annoying us, they never even came to our tents, importuning for tobacco
and other articles, as is generally the case with Indians when near
their own encampment.
Wishing to talk with them again on the subject of teaching their
children, I invited to my tent seven of the oldest men among them; and
repeated to them the questions which I had put to the whole of them
before. They expressed the same feelings in favour of instruction, and
a hope that I was not afraid to come to their country, promising, when
white man came, not to steal from him, a vice which they are sometimes
guilty of at the Factory. I found that they believed in a future state;
and acknowledged that there was a bad Spirit, who made them suffer, and
to whom they prayed that he would not hurt them. They thought that when
a bad man died, the bad Spirit took him, and put him in a hole under
ground, where there was always fire, but this idea they might have got
from their intercourse with Europeans at the Fort: and when a good man
died, they believed that the moon took him up, where he lived as he had
done below, only that he had always plenty to enjoy, and less paddling
to do. In parting with these Indians, as with the others who returned
to Chesterfield Inlet, I gave to each individual a clasp knife, some
tobacco, and a few beads to take to their wives; and my prayer to God
was, that some effectual step might be taken to communicate to these
heathen, that knowledge which they appeared desirous of receiving, and
which would ameliorate their condition through a scriptural hope of a
future life.
We returned to the Factory, along a coast the most dangerous to
navigate that can possibly be conceived, from fragments of rocks being
studded in the water for miles from the shore, and which are only
visible at the reflux of the tide. The safest course to take is to run
out to sea, and sail along out of sight of land; but this is hazardous
in an open boat, if the weather be stormy, or the water is much ruffled
by the wind. The Company lost a boat's crew last fall, as they were
returning to Churchill, from one of the points of rock where they had
been to collect geese, which the Indians had shot, and which are salted
as part of the winter supply of provisions at the Establishment. At
first it was supposed that the boat had been driven out to sea, and all
had perished in a most painful manner; but during our stay, an Indian
came to the Fort, to inform the officer that the empty boat was lying
on the beach, about six or seven miles to the south of Churchill River.
He immediately sent men to the spot, and to search along the coast for
some remains at least of the bodies of the crew, but not the least
appearance of them could be found. The boat filled and went down, with
the sail set and fastened to the mast, which was the state in which it
was found; but whether she struck upon the point of a sunken rock, or
swamped at the conflux of the waters off the mouth of the river at the
return of the tide, not a man survived to tell the melancholy tale.
The 10th.--I began to make preparations for my return to York Factory,
in the supply of ammunition and a couple of days' provisions for our
journey. As every thing we took was borne on the back of the men, we
deemed this sufficient, with the supply we were likely to obtain in our
walk through a country which at this season of the year generally
abounds with wildfowl. It was painful to see several Indian women in an
infirm state of health and lame, continually begging for a little
oatmeal, or picking _tripe de roche_ for a subsistence, being
unable to follow the tribe they belonged to; and, upon inquiry, I found
that it was a common custom among the Chipewyans, to leave the aged,
the infirm, and the sick, when supposed incapable of recovery, to
perish for want! and that one-half of the aged probably die in this
miserable condition! The common feelings of humanity suggest the
question,--Could not some establishment be formed, as a hospital for
the reception of a certain number at least of the aged and infirm;
towards the maintenance of which, the Indians themselves, in bringing
their relations, might be induced to contribute, were it only the tenth
skin from the produce of their hunting? If this establishment could not
be formed near the coast, might not one be made as an experiment on the
borders of their country in the Athabasca? where grain and Indian corn
might be raised towards its support. The subject at least challenges
inquiry, and is fraught with deep interest, as calling forth the best
feelings of benevolence; for a more deplorable situation in existence
cannot be conceived, than for persons to be deserted in afflictive old
age, suffering infirmity, and left at the last stage of life to expire
in want, when, of all other periods in our mortal career, we most need
attention, and sympathy, and kindness.
These Indians have a singular custom of wrestling for any woman to whom
they are attached; and she has to witness the contest, which consists
in hauling each other about by the hair of the head, without kicking or
striking, till the strongest party carries her off as his prize. And
instead of stabbing one another in their quarrels, as is frequently the
case with the Southern Indians, these generally decide them by
wrestling. They may permit a weak man, if he be a good hunter, to keep
the object of his choice; but otherwise he is obliged to yield his wife
to a stronger man, who may think her worth his notice. This barbarous
custom I should suppose prevails among the Esquimaux who visit
Churchill Factory, as they pointed out to me, at the time I saw them, a
weakly looking man, who they said had his wife taken from him by
another of superior strength. They shewed me also how they decided
their quarrels, by each party alternately bending the body in a
horizontal position, and receiving from each other a blow of the fist
on the temple or side of the face.
On the 12th, we left Churchill Factory, and in our track killed plenty
of wild-fowl, and were again tortured with the mosquitoes, till after
the second day's march, when we waded through a low swampy ground,
frequently half-leg deep in water, to some dry ridges of land. The wind
blew again off the ice in the bay, which enabled us to walk without
much annoyance; and in our progress, we often passed large holes, which
the bears had scratched in these ridges to lie in, and which, from the
impression of their paws on the sand, several had recently left. On the
17th, we came to a tent of Indians, who were encamped on the shore, for
the purpose of killing them, in the front of which was the head of one
that they had lately shot, stuck upon some painted sticks, in
expression of some superstitious notions respecting the animal. They
have a great dread of bears, and are very fond of wearing their claws
round their necks, ornamented as a necklace, under the idea that they
shall be preserved from their ferocious attacks. A short time before I
left the Red River Colony, a Saulteaux Indian came to my residence with
a necklace strung with some large claws; and prevailing upon him to
part with it for some tobacco, he addressed it in a very grave speech,
when he took it from his neck, and laid it for me on the table, in
language to the following effect:--"My grandfather! you and I have been
together some time--we must now part. Go to that Chief; and in leaving
me, be not angry, but let me kill buffaloe when I am hungry, and
another bear when I meet with it, and then I will make another necklace
of the claws." I smiled at this address, when, looking at me very
seriously, he said, "If you offend the bear," (I supposed he meant the
spirit of the bear, whose claws he had given me,) "the bears will be
sure to eat you."
On the 18th, some Indians whom we met, told us that they had heard the
great guns of the ship, on her arrival from England, though they had
not seen her at anchor. The next day convinced us of the fact; and we
reached York Factory early the following morning, after having walked
on our return from Churchill, the supposed distance of one hundred and
eighty miles, through a trackless path in swamps and long grass, in
less than seven days.
Here I had the happiness of meeting the Rev. Mr. Jones, arrived by the
ship, on his way to the Red River Settlement, my fellow-labourer in
that situation; to whom I committed the two Chipewyan Indian boys.
After a few days, he proceeded with his little charge to his
destination. And may God, whom we serve in the gospel of his Son,
abundantly bless his exertions, on entering upon a field of anxious and
laborious toil, which I have just left, to visit the land of my
nativity and affection, after an absence of more than three years.
York Factory, as the principal depôt, is rapidly improving in
appearance, and in the extent of its buildings. A number of the chief
Factors and Traders meet here every summer, and a council is held for
the management of the _Northern Factory_; while another is also
annually held at Moose, in St. James's Bay, for the direction of the
_Southern Factory_. This division of the Company's territory, comprises
the whole of the country, from the furthest known point to the north to
the boundary line of the United States, and from the waters of the
Pacific to those of the Atlantic. In carrying into effect the moral
improvement of the country, which has long been contemplated, it would
be very desirable that schools should be established at the Company's
chief depôts; where it is presumed provisions might be obtained, for
the support at least of a limited number of the half-caste children.
And the most beneficial results might follow the regular performance of
divine worship on the Sabbath, by a Clergyman, throughout the summer
months at least, in a building erected and appropriated as a chapel.
These are arrangements, which every benevolent mind, truly desirous of
promoting the best interests of the country, where the progress of
moral and religious instruction would be but slow, would rejoice to see
practically entered upon.
It may be stated with pleasure that directions have been given to
lessen the quantity of spirituous liquors in barter with the natives.
The baneful effects of such a medium of trade have long been deplored
by all who have regarded the amelioration of their state, and sought to
improve their wandering condition. Cruelty, disease, and premature
decay have for centuries past been generated wherever Europeans have
introduced the exchange of ardent spirits with the Indians. No act
therefore can be more beneficial and humane than that of gradually
altering a system which is at once so prejudicial to the native, and
injurious to the morals of the trader. It is to be hoped that the
benevolent intentions of the Honourable Committee will be carried into
full effect, together with the resolutions passed in council at York
Factory, July 1823, for the purpose of improving the moral state, both
of the Indians and of the European inhabitants of the Company's
territory; an event highly interesting to every friend of humanity and
religion.
SEPT. 10.--We embarked on board the ship Prince of Wales on her return
to England, and left the anchorage next day with a favourable wind. The
weather being moderate, on Sunday the 14th we enjoyed the privilege of
having two full services.
The 16th.--The wind continues light and favourable, and I have been
much interested in reading Mr. Wilberforce's pamphlet, entitled, "An
Appeal in behalf of the Negro Slaves." When will men regard each other
as brethren, connected by the common ties of humanity, and as generally
responsible to God, the Judge of all.
Sunday, 21st.--When off Cape Charles at the entrance of Hudson's
straits, the Thermometer I observed was as low as 24°; and the land as
we passed along was covered with snow. The prospect was most chilling
and dreary. Though it blew fresh, there was not however a heavy swell
of the sea, which gave us the opportunity of having divine service both
morning and afternoon. I felt humbled in going through the Ministerial
duties of the day; and the experience of my heart imposes on me the
obligation of labouring more and more after humiliation. What a
consolation is it to _know_ that we are saved by hope, even in Him, who
sitteth upon the circle of the heavens, directing the course of the
elements--who commandeth the waters and they obey Him.
On the 23d we encountered a heavy gale of wind, with a short and angry
sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with waves, and all on board
were reeling to and fro, and staggering like a drunken man. Towards
evening it blew a hurricane; the heavens were black with tempest, and
all around us appeared awfully dangerous. Self-examination is at all
times profitable and incumbent on the Christian, but when dangers press
around him in a tumultuous scene of waters, it is peculiarly consolatory
for him to find upon examination, that the sheet anchor of his hope is
well grounded; and that he has laboured in the cause of his divine Lord
with a conscious integrity, though with a conscious imperfection of
character. It was _well_ said by the wife of a Missionary, in her last
moments, when it was observed to her that she was dying a sacrifice in
the cause of missions, "_I would rather_ (said she) _die a penitent
sinner at the cross of Christ._" Every day, in the smooth unruffled
calm of life, or on the tempestuous ocean of its existence, would I
_feel_ the sentiment so expressive of the Christian's security, and
simple reliance upon the omnipotent arm of the Saviour, as uttered by
St. Peter, when ready to sink amidst the threatening waves, "Lord save
us, we perish."
During the 25th we were becalmed off the Upper Savage Islands, amidst
several large icebergs, some of which were stranded on the shore, and
would receive the accumulation of another winter's fall of snow, from
not being driven out of the Straits into the Atlantic Ocean, where they
are dissolved. The winter was again setting in with a cold frosty air,
and frequent snow storms. The next morning the wind freshened, and on
the 27th, when we were off Saddle Back, we experienced another heavy
gale of wind, which was so violent about eight o'clock in the evening,
that it broke the mizen top sail yard, while nine of the sailors were
furling the sail. Providentially the broken part of the yard slung with
the ropes, or every soul must inevitably have perished, from the
violent rolling of the ship. A more rough and stormy night could not
well be experienced, with the aggravated danger of sailing among a
number of large isles of floating ice; the running foul of one of which
would be immediate destruction, as upon a rock.
The next day the wind moderated, and was favourable, but from the
rolling of the ship I could only read the morning and evening prayers,
and that with some difficulty, when we met for divine worship. In the
evening we approached Resolution Island, and the waters of the Atlantic
opened to us with the encouraging prospect of having more sea room to
encounter any storms that we might afterwards meet with. As we left the
barren rugged shores of the Straits, and the chain of rocks terminating
in ragged points on the coast of Labrador, there was a general spirit
of congratulation; and the prospect of crossing the great Western Ocean
in safety raised in my mind the ascription of praise uttered by the
Psalmist, "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his
benefits."
OCT. 4.--We were off Cape Farewell, South Greenland, with strong gales
of wind. This point called to my mind the labours of the Moravian
Missionaries who had formed several settlements, the most southern of
which I believe is Lichterau, among the Greenlanders, under far greater
difficulties, than are likely to assail the Missionary, in his attempt
to form an establishment for the instruction of the same race of people
in the principles of divine truth on the shores of Hudson's Bay, with
the aid and co-operation of the Hudson's Bay Company. These pious,
simple, devoted Missionaries, have proved that missions to the heathen
on the most inhospitable and barren shores are not visionary schemes,
but succeed effectually under the blessing of heaven to the conversion
of the natives; and they have established the principle, that wherever
the waters roll, and however barren the rock on which man is to be
found, there man may be benefitted with the saving knowledge and
blessings of Christianity. The account given of the first Missionaries
of the United Brethren, whose entrance upon the inhospitable and icy
coasts of Greenland was in 1733, among whom was that eminent servant of
the mission, Matthew Stach, is truly interesting. Leaving Hernnhutt,
they first proceeded to the Danish capital, as Greenland was under that
government, to obtain the sanction of the King, in their intended
mission. Their first audience with the Chamberlain was not a little
discouraging, but being convinced, by a closer acquaintance of the
solidity of their faith, and the rectitude of their intentions, this
Minister became their firm friend, and willingly presented their
memorial to the King, who was pleased to approve of their design, and
wrote a letter with his own hand, recommending them to the notice of
the Danish Missionary, Egede, who had undertaken a mission to Greenland
in 1721, but had hitherto accomplished very little in the way of
success, notwithstanding his indefatigable exertions.
The Chamberlain also introduced them to several persons distinguished
by rank and piety, who liberally contributed toward the expense of
their voyage and intended settlement. Being asked one day by his
Excellency, how they proposed to maintain themselves in Greenland, they
answered, that they depended on the labour of their own hands and God's
blessing; and that not to be burdensome to any one, they would build
themselves a house and cultivate the ground. It being objected that
they would find no wood to build with, as the country presented little
but a face of barren rock. "Then," replied they in a true Missionary
spirit, "we will dig into the earth and lodge there." "No," said the
Minister, "to that necessity you shall not be reduced; you shall take
timber with you for building a house; accept of these fifty dollars for
that purpose." With this and other donations, they purchased poles,
planks and laths; instruments for agriculture, and carpenter's work,
together with several sorts of seeds and roots, with provisions. Thus
equipped, says Crantz, they took an affectionate leave of the Court
where they had been so hospitably entertained, and embarked on the 10th
of April, on board the King's ship, Caritas, Capt. Hildebrand. The
congregation at Hernhutt had already adopted the custom of annually
compiling a collection of scripture texts for every day in the year,
each illustrated or applied by a short verse from some hymn. This text
was called the "daily word," it supplied a profitable subject for
private meditation, and a theme for the public discourses. The daily
word on the morning of their embarkation on a mission which so often
appeared to baffle all hope, was, '_Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen._'
"We view Him, whom no eye can see,
With faith's keen vision stedfastly."
In this confidence they set sail; nor did they suffer themselves to be
confounded by any of the unspeakable difficulties of the following
years, till they and we at last beheld the completion of what they
hoped for in faith.
They sailed by Shetland, April 22nd; and, after an expeditious and
agreeable voyage, entered Davis's Straits in the beginning of May. Here
they encountered a field of floating ice, while enveloped in a thick
fog; but the next day a terrible storm arose, which dispersed the ice
and freed them at the same time from their fears. On the 13th they came
in sight of the coast of Greenland, when a violent tempest of four
days' continuance, preceded by a total eclipse of the sun, drove them
back more than sixty leagues. May 20th, they cast anchor in Ball's
River, after a voyage of six weeks; and joyfully welcomed the snowy
cliffs and savage inhabitants of a country which had so long been the
chief object of their wishes. The word of the day was, _The peace of
God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Jesus Christ._ By this they were frequently encouraged to a
peaceful and believing perseverance, during the first ensuing years,
amidst all the oppositions which they met with, and the slender
prospect they entertained of the conversion of the heathen.
The sight of the first Greenlanders, though they could not speak a word
to them, was accompanied with sensations of lively pleasure; their
pitiable condition pierced them to the heart, and they prayed the Lord,
_the Light to enlighten the gentiles_, that he would grant them
grace, wisdom, and power, to bring some of them at least out of
darkness into His marvellous light. Immediately on their landing they
repaired to Mr. Egede. He gave them a cordial reception, congratulated
them on their undertaking, and promised them his assistance in learning
the language. They next fixed on a spot for their building, on the
nearest habitable part of the coast, to which they afterward gave the
name of New Hernnhutt; and having consecrated it with prayer began to
run up a Greenland hut of stones and sods, in which they might find
shelter, until they had erected a wooden house. At first the natives
regarded them with contempt, concluding from the readiness with which
they engaged in every kind of manual labour, that they were the
Factor's servants; and being scattered among the islands and hills to
fish, catch seals, and hunt deer, while in winter they made journies on
sledges to their acquaintance upwards of a hundred leagues North or
South; the Brethren had little access to them, and but faint hopes of
making any permanent impression on their minds in their wandering mode
of existence. Some of the natives, however, paid a visit to them, but
it was only from curiosity to see their buildings, or to beg needles,
fish hooks, knives, and other such articles, if not to steal; and no
proffered advantages could tempt them to remain for a short time at the
Settlement. Till at length when they understood that the object of
these faithful, tried, and persevering Missionaries was not to trade
with them, but to make them acquainted with their Creator; and when
they observed their modest and gentle carriage, so different from that
of other Europeans, they paid them more attention, pressed them to come
to their huts, and promised to return the visit themselves. A more
frequent intercourse gradually commenced, and the Greenlanders would
sometimes spend a night with the Brethren. The motives of their visits
were, indeed, glaringly selfish. They wanted either food and shelter,
or presents of needles and other things. They even bluntly declared,
that if the Missionaries would give them no stock-fish, they would no
longer listen to what they had to say: and during the winter, which was
intensely cold, the Brethren could not refuse their request for
provisions. They did not altogether discontinue their visits in summer,
but they generally came after spending the night in feasting and
revelling, too drowsy to support a conversation, or intent only upon
hearing some news, or on begging or purloining whatever might strike
their fancy. Their pilfering habits made their visits not a little
troublesome to the Brethren, but the latter did not wish to frighten
them away; and were content for the present, that they came at all,
especially as a few of them discovered a satisfaction in being present
at the evening meetings, though held in German, and made inquiries into
the design of them. After a series of trying hardships; and after
enduring privations for years, they were encouraged in their mission,
established in much long-suffering and patience, by one of the natives
visiting them, and desiring to "see their things." They showed him what
they had, supposing that he wished to barter some Greenland food for
their iron ware. But after remaining quite silent for some time, he at
last said that he had been with the Minister, (Mr. Egede) who had told
him wonderful things of _One_, who was said to have created heaven
and earth, and was called God. Did they know any thing about it? If
they did, they should tell him something more, as he had forgotten a
good deal. This discourse made a deep impression on their minds. They
told him of the creation of man, and the intention it; of the fall and
consequent corruption of the human race; of the redemption through
Christ; of the resurrection; and of eternal happiness and damnation.
The poor Greenlander listened very attentively, was present at their
evening meeting, and slept all night in their tent. Further inquiries
were afterwards made among the natives, till the Brethren had their two
Greenland houses completely filled, and a native congregation
collected. The word of the gospel was eventually propagated by the
Missionaries through a vast extent of country, and its glad tidings
spread still farther by the savages themselves, so that a numerous
company of Greenlanders have been gathered to Jesus Christ by the
preaching of his word--moulded into a spiritual congregation by the
operation of the Holy Ghost (says the above historian,) and furnished
with such provisions for its good discipline, both within and without,
that amidst all defects, it might in truth be called a living,
flourishing, fruit-bearing plant of the heavenly Father's planting.
Such an example of success in Missionary exertions, in the frozen and
uncultivated regions of Greenland and of Labrador, as the United
Brethren have set, holds out every encouragement to hope that a mission
would succeed among the Esquimaux at Hudson's Bay. They resemble the
Greenlanders in their aspect, dress, and mode of living; and speaking
the same language, it would greatly aid the mission to them, if one or
two Christian natives could be obtained and prevailed upon to join it
from the coast of Greenland. They are shouting from their native rocks
for instruction, and have appealed to the Christian sympathy and
benevolence of every friend of missions, in language of the same import
as the call of Macedonia,--"We want to know the grand God."
"Shall we, whose souls are lighted
With wisdom from on high,
Shall we to men benighted
The lamp of life deny?
Salvation! oh, salvation!
The joyful sound proclaim,
Till each remotest nation
Has learn'd Messiah's name.
Waft, waft, ye winds, his story,
And you, ye waters, roll,
Till, like a sea of glory,
It spreads from pole to pole;
Till o'er our ransomed nature,
The Lamb for sinners slain,
Redeemer, King, Creator!
In bliss returns to reign."
BISHOP OF CALCUTTA.
The 5th.--Sunday. The wind has blown hard all day, so as to permit,
from the rolling of the ship, of my only reading the Morning and
Evening Prayers, for divine worship. I know that God, who made heaven,
earth, and seas, is not confined to forms of prayer, how ever
excellent, any more than to temples made with hands. But as a
formulary, how full and comprehensive is that of the Church of England!
and how well adapted to express the feelings of the mind, humbled, and
penitentially exercised, yet exalted in hope at the throne of a
covenant God in Christ Jesus. When the prayers are _prayed_, and not
merely read in the cold formality of office, instead of wearying the
mind by repetition, how often are they the means of arresting our
wandering thoughts, and awakening a devotional feeling! This effect, I
trust, was produced in our minds, as we met together, for the public
services of the day, in the cabin of the ship.
From the 5th to the 9th, we had stiff gales of wind from the same
quarter, which caused the sea to roll with a majesty and grandeur that
I never before witnessed. I stood on the quarterdeck, in admiration of
the scene, and of the wonders of God in the deep, as wave rolled after
wave, occasionally breaking on its _mountainous_ top into a roaring and
foaming surge. But while the waves roar and the winds howl around me, I
am borne in safety through the mighty waters towards the desired haven.
What a fit emblem is this experience of the spiritual and eternal
safety of the Christian, in the ark of the covenant, amidst the foaming
billows of affliction, the wind of temptation, and every storm of trial
raised by man in a fallen and disordered world, branded with so many
marks of its Creator's displeasure.
We were prevented from meeting in the cabin, for divine service, on
Sunday the 12th, from its blowing a hard gale, and the violent tossing
of the ship. We now experienced a sensible alteration in the weather,
as being much milder; and a couple of black wolves and a bear, which we
had on board, were evidently affected by the change of the atmosphere,
as we were bearing up for the Orkney Isles. On the 15th, we anchored in
Stromness harbour, and, leaving this anchorage on the 17th, we reached
Yarmouth Roads, October the 23d; and through a kind protecting
Providence, I landed, on the following day, from the ship, in the
Thames.
Since my departure from England, in May 1820, to this period of my
return, not one accident have I met with, nor have I been called to
experience a single day's illness. Though in perils oft by land and by
sea, and exposed to threatened dangers of the ice, and of the desert,
still my life has been preserved.
* * * * *
Praised be the Lord God of my salvation!
In sending this volume to the press, I feel that I am discharging a
duty which I owe to the natives of the rocks and of the wilderness,
whom I have seen in the darkness and misery of heathenism; and I
ardently desire that the Mission already entered upon, may become the
means of widely extending the knowledge of Christianity among them. I
have no higher wish in life, than to spend and be spent in the service
of Christ, for the salvation of the North American Indians. Not my
will, however, but His be done, who alone can direct and control all
Missions successfully, to the fulfilment of His prophetic word, when
"The wilderness shall become a fruitful field," and "the desert shall
rejoice and blossom as the rose."
* * * * *
Since the foregoing sheets were sent to the Printer, very gratifying
intelligence has been received of the improved state of the Colony; and
a sanguine hope is entertained that several native Indian children from
different nations will be added to the number of those already upon the
Church Mission School establishment at the Red River.
* * * * *
THE END.