The Moravians in Labrador Part 6

Before the Esquimaux set out for their fis.h.i.+ng or hunting stations, the members of the church usually partook of a love feast together, and united in thanksgiving and prayer for the mercies they had received, and for the continuance of the Divine blessing. Siksigak, now named Mark, and Joseph, at their return, having been remarkably successful, treated all the inhabitants of Nain with a meal of seals'

flesh. The entertainment was given in the open air, and Mark opened it in an edifying manner by singing some verses of a hymn expressive of thanks to their heavenly Father, for providing for their bodily wants, in which all the Esquimaux joined most devoutly, exhibiting a very different scene from the riotous gluttony of the heathen.

After the people rea.s.sembled at the end of the season, the winter arrangements were made. The communicants were divided into cla.s.ses, male and female, the former under the care of the missionaries, and the latter under that of their wives. In their meetings the conversation was unrestrained and profitable, many little grievances were done away, and brotherly love promoted. "That of the communicant sisters," the diary of Dec 11 remarks, "was remarkably lively; their conversation treated of the great love of the Saviour in dying on the cross to save them from death, and their own unworthiness to be so highly favoured as to be permitted to approach unto his table, and there to feed on him by faith, and to experience the power of his sufferings and death in the quickening of their souls." They added, that upon that occasion they sometimes felt a desire to depart out of the world, to see him face to face, and thank him for his mercy revealed to them. Mark thus addressed his countrymen: "If we who belong to this cla.s.s are with our whole hearts converted to Jesus, and determine, by his help, to put aside all the old deceitful and evil ways, and give ourselves up entirely to him, then we shall feel his power within us. It has been a very painful thing for me to leave my brethren at Hopedale, but I shall live here with pleasure if I perceive that we are come together with a view to belong to our Saviour, and in truth to believe on him, and to become his faithful followers. I am indeed not fit to teach you, but yet I wished to say what I hope from your love, and our being bound together in one mind, to live unto the praise of G.o.d. You all know that formerly I led a very wicked life, but at Hopedale Jesus Christ called me by his powerful voice, saved me from death, and forgave my sins. As my conversion to him began at that place, I feel a peculiar attachment to it." He was heard with great attention, and all exclaimed, "Yes! we all desire to become such people, over whom Jesus may rejoice, and pray him to grant us all true conversion."

The children likewise had their meetings, in which they sung hymns and prayed, during which they were frequently so sensibly affected that they would burst out into weeping. A boy who gave evidence of being truly awakened, called upon the missionaries and told them, "We boys have been sitting together by ourselves and speaking, both of our own sinfulness and of the mercy we have experienced from our Saviour. At the close of our conversation we kneeled down and prayed to him in fellows.h.i.+p, that he would deliver us from all power of sin, during which my heart grew so warm that I felt it penetrate to my feet"--a phrase used by the Esquimaux to express great inward joy. "Jesus,"

continued he, "was very near us. I will give him my whole heart as his property." The schools were diligently attended, both by young and old, whose improvement in Christian knowledge, and in the facility of reading, advanced steadily, while several among the scholars evinced a strong desire to know Jesus, and live to him. But at Okkak in the following year an unusual emotion appeared among the scholars. One day, while the teachers were closing the schools as usual by singing a verse, there arose such an affection of heart, that all melted into tears, and at last without any direction they all fell on their knees.

The missionary, therefore, who was keeping the school knelt down also, and was powerfully excited to fervent prayer for these dear little ones, commending them to the grace of the Saviour, that he would preserve them from the many snares of Satan, and sanctify and build them up in the faith. Some of the more advanced youths gave the missionaries much pleasure by their simplicity and frankness in speaking of their hearts; two of them--companions--conversing with one of the brethren, said, "When we are out together hunting we speak of Jesus and pray to him, and often feel such power and happiness in thinking of him that we weep for joy. But how is it that we have so long heard of him, and he is but just now become precious to us?" They could not explain the phenomenon; but they felt that a long train of historical proof, or of external evidence, was unnecessary to establish the authenticity of the gospel-message. "How is it," added one of them, "that formerly I used to think--It is all fiction! There is no Jesus! And now I know in truth that Jesus lives and loves me, and sometimes draws so near to me that I weep for grat.i.tude and delight. To him I will give myself both soul and body."

In the back ground, at the distance, stand out in horrible and melancholy contrast the effects of satanic influence on the conduct of his votaries. The wife of the old sorcerer, Uiverunna, having died, the old monster seized a poor orphan child, whom they had formerly adopted, and murdered him; then cut him across all the joints of his fingers and toes, ripped open his belly, and threw the body naked into the sea, an offering to appease the wrath of the water-devil he wors.h.i.+pped, and by whose aid he pretended to work great wonders, but who now required a greater sacrifice than usual, as he had not saved his wife's life. But his day of retribution did not long linger.

Having boasted that his Torngak had killed a man, Kullugak's two wives, who died suddenly within a few hours of each other at Okkak, where the family had obtained leave to settle, Kullugak, in company with another Esquimaux, a.s.sa.s.sinated the poor wretch within eight days after he had sacrificed the unfortunate infant.

For several succeeding years the progress of the awakening continued to advance at all the three settlements, both among the heathen by whom they were visited, and among the residents, while the believers grew in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord their Saviour; and the decided nature of the change which had taken place was evidenced by the professing Esquimaux declining their pernicious intercourse with the Europeans, while their heathen countrymen, who were determined to retain the abominations of their forefathers, were as unwilling to reside among them; so much so, indeed, that the missionaries at Hopedale, writing to Europe in 1807, remarked, "No heathen families have lived near us, and it appears as if that old den of Satan at Avertok would remain unoccupied. Three Europeans lived about half a day's journey from hence, but as none of our Esquimaux went to them they did not call here." The report of the brethren in 1809 was: "Concerning our dear Esquimaux congregation, we may truly and thankfully declare that we have perceived a continued work of the Holy Spirit within their souls, leading them to a better acquaintance with themselves as depraved creatures, who stand in daily need of the saving grace of our Almighty Saviour. They are earnest in prayer to him that he would preserve them from falling back into their former wicked and superst.i.tious courses." The accounts from Nain were to the same effect: "Our communicants," say they, "have made a perceptible advance both in the knowledge of themselves as sinners, and of Jesus as their Saviour. They have been taught to know how needful constant dependance on, and communion with him is, if they would walk worthy of their heavenly calling." It is a melancholy and stumbling remark, that as the converted Esquimaux advanced in knowledge and in decency of conduct, so in proportion those who formed an intimate connexion with the Europeans in the south increased in enmity to the word of G.o.d, and to the Saviour's name in particular, declaring they would hear or listen to nothing about him.

Oral instruction has, from the beginning, been the princ.i.p.al, and most efficient means, which G.o.d has employed in propagating the gospel; but the written word has been always necessary for establis.h.i.+ng and building up the churches in their most holy faith. Never did Satan employ a more effectual method for covering the earth with thick darkness, than by instigating his servants, under pretence of a high reverence for the holy word, to shut it up from the people; and when G.o.d wills mercy to a nation, he removes all the hindrances which obstruct its diffusion. As the Esquimaux advanced in their course, they were furnished, by means of the press, with portions of the Scriptures as they could be got translated. The brethren, however, wisely prepared the way for this important work, by translating hymns and tracts, and a harmony of the Gospels, where any deficiency in the language could be more easily rectified than in a book, destined to be left as a permanent legacy to future generations. The joy of the Esquimaux on receiving the hymn books in 1809, was inexpressibly great. "We wish," the missionaries write, "our dear brethren had been present at the distribution, to see the fervent grat.i.tude with which they were received. They entreated us, with tears, to express their thankfulness to their fathers and brethren in the east, for this present." In 1810, they received the Harmony of the Gospels, also printed by the Brethren's Society in London for the furtherance of the Gospel, and the Gospel of John and part of Luke, printed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, who undertook to print the other parts as they could be got ready. Meanwhile the superintendant, Burghardt, finished the translation of the Acts, and the epistles to the Romans and Ephesians, which were read from the MS to the Esquimaux congregation, who were highly delighted to hear the words and exhortations of our Saviour's apostles, and particularly struck with the character and writings of the apostle Paul. Along with their activity in the Christian life, the activity of the converted Esquimaux, in their temporal concerns, increased. The missionaries in the different settlements had erected saw mills; the Esquimaux, under their direction, kept them frequently in employment, and built substantial store-houses for themselves, for preserving their winter's stores; and when the scarcity of food in their own neighbourhood obliged them to go to a distance in search of seals or whales, or to the cod-fis.h.i.+ng, their anxiety to return, to enjoy the benefits of instruction from their teachers, and of communion with their fellow-Christians, quickened their diligence in their necessary avocations. At the close of 1810, the number of the inhabitants at the three settlements amounted to 457, of whom 265 belonged to the different cla.s.ses of communicants, baptized and candidates for baptism.

Hitherto the settlements, though occasionally visited by the contagious diseases that periodically afflicted the country, had never known more than a partial sickness; but in 1811, the small society at Hopedale suffered severely from an epidemic, which, so far as we are able to judge from the symptoms mentioned in the diary, quoted below, bore some distant resemblance to the spasmodic cholera. "On the evening of the 24th of July, we were all suddenly thrown into the greatest confusion, by the arrival of a boat, with our people, from Tikkerarsuk, one of their provision-places in the south: Mark--formerly Siksigak--was dead, and several others dangerously ill. When they went out in the morning, they were all in good health, but were suddenly seized with a nervous affection, which, in a very short time, terminated fatally; notwithstanding every a.s.sistance, Samuel died in the night. Next morning another boat arrived, and brought Adam and Isaac, both dead, though they had yesterday been both fis.h.i.+ng in their kaiaks; the four dead bodies were obliged to be immediately buried, as they quickly showed signs of corruption. The same evening, Daniel brought in his boat four dying persons; at five o'clock the younger, Mark, died. On the 26th, early in the morning, the widow Rebecca, and in the forenoon, young Philip departed; before twelve o'clock, the bodies became so offensive, that it was necessary to inter them. All were filled with alarm and terror, but to our comfort we also remarked submission to the will of the Lord. The sick, in general, declared they were willing to go to the Saviour when he should call them; some said they felt their unworthiness to appear before him, and yet expressed their reliance upon his sufferings as their only refuge; but from total debility and oppression they could speak very little: they complained of great weakness, lameness, blindness, and a feeling of suffocation. At four in the afternoon little Abel, and in the same tent, the widow Salome, and at six o'clock old Thomas, (Kapik,) died. 27th, There was little improvement; besides those who remained ill many more began to complain, and cried out to us for a.s.sistance, so that we knew not where to go or who to help first. At eleven o'clock the four dead were buried, which made ten. On the 29th a great many were taken ill; at four in the afternoon, Magdalene departed comfortable and happy. Father Abel, who had willingly a.s.sisted in burying the dead, followed the same evening.

His wife, Benigna, who had faithfully attended the sick, was prevented from nursing him, being herself laid up. The dead bodies were laid in their place of rest next day. We now felt that all of us were more or less worn out by this great affliction, some of us actually sick, and none certain but he might be seized the next moment. To add to our distress, many children were rendered orphans by the loss of both father and mother, which called forth our sighs to our gracious and merciful G.o.d and Lord for his compa.s.sion and a.s.sistance, and felt revived with the hope that he would hear and help us. Some of the sick began to recover: but on the evening of the 31st the Saviour took Abel's wife, Benigna, home to her blessed rest, and on the following morning, August 1, she was laid in her grave; at seven o'clock in the evening we held a meeting with the Esquimaux, especially with regard to improve the solemn warning given in that harvest the Lord had gathered from this church. From conversations held with several of the sisters on the 12th, we clearly perceived that the removal of so many of our number had made a deep impression on them, and had brought them to reflect on the necessity of constantly depending on the Saviour, and being ever ready to meet him when he shall come to gather them also into his garner."

But to their great grief the missionaries discovered that this was not the happy state of all. When the disease abated they learned with the utmost pain, that some, even of their communicants, in their agony and terror, had had recourse to their old heathenish practices; and what was worse, had endeavoured to appease their consciences by attempting to a.s.similate them to Old Testament rites imperfectly understood. They had killed a dog, and cut the ears off many others, that by sprinkling themselves with the blood of the dog they might prevent death from approaching them. Under the influence of a fanatical delusion, they compared this with the offerings of the Jews, and particularly with the slaying of the Paschal Lamb, and sprinkling the blood on the lintel and posts of the door. "Our situation we feel very difficult,"

complained the anxious missionaries, "as the enemy uses all his ingenuity to blind the poor people, and knows how to employ their fear and distress to harden their hearts, and to prevent them from discerning their sins and repenting. It appears as if he exerted every power to destroy this little congregation, but we hope that G.o.d will shortly bruise Satan under our feet, and not allow his attempts to prosper."

They found it necessary to exclude several from partaking of the holy supper, and this severity was the blessed mean of soon bringing them to repentance and sorrow for their sins. Others who had fainted, but not fallen in the day of trial, expressed themselves now convinced of the necessity of watching over their hearts, that they might not be seduced to seek false comfort or unlawful a.s.sistance: they had, during the time of this awful visitation, as well as they could, kept close to Jesus and prayed to him; but they were nevertheless troubled with fearful thoughts--as that they might all perish, and how sad it would be if their teachers should turn away from them, when there was no one to come to their a.s.sistance, and when they could not help themselves.

But they now saw that they had greatly erred in indulging these hard thoughts, for Jesus had delivered them in their necessity. They felt that they ought to be thankful, but they came far short of that grat.i.tude they owed to him.

Nain and Okkak were mercifully spared this year, and in the grand object of their labours the brethren had still occasion to bless the Lord that he graciously owned the preaching of the glad tidings of salvation, and accompanied it with power and the demonstration of his Spirit: often was his presence powerfully felt, particularly when, from time to time, individuals were added to the church by baptism, or when they partook of the holy sacrament of our Lord's body and blood, in fellows.h.i.+p together.

The outward circ.u.mstances of the missions in Labrador this year were uncommonly prosperous--they sent to England upwards of 100 tons of blubber, 2000 seals' skins, and 2750 fox skins.

CHAPTER VII.

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 G.o.d 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 pa.s.sed, 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 circ.u.mstances, 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 sh.o.r.e--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 fis.h.i.+ng station, with a fine strand and excellent harbour, where they rested on the 30th, [Lord's day,] the missionaries went on sh.o.r.e, and visited the Christian families, whom they a.s.sembled together for public wors.h.i.+p. 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 G.o.d, 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 sh.o.r.e, and pitched their tents on a beautiful valley, enamelled with potentilla aurea in full bloom, resembling a European meadow covered with b.u.t.ter-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 hara.s.sing 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 pa.s.sing Nennoktok, were constrained by tempestuous weather to anchor in k.u.mmaktorvik-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 s.h.i.+pwreck 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 acc.u.mulating 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 pa.s.sed 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 sh.o.r.e, 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, a.s.sured 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 s.h.i.+ps, 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 G.o.d 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 sh.o.r.e 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 pa.s.sive 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 a.s.sistance 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 grat.i.tude 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 circ.u.mstances 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 embarra.s.sing 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 G.o.d," 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 a.s.sured that it was the will of G.o.d 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 sh.o.r.e; 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 a.s.sokak, 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 wis.h.i.+ng 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 circ.u.mstances 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 G.o.d towards the brethren, nor one which ought to be pa.s.sed 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 inst.i.tuted--the brother is gained instead of being driven away to a.s.sociate with the world, and to nourish a spirit of dislike, if not of hatred, towards those with whom he was formerly in fellows.h.i.+p--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 a.s.sist 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 a.s.serted 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 a.s.sisted 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 s.h.i.+p 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 s.h.i.+p 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 pa.s.sage 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 circ.u.mstance 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 s.h.i.+p, 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 sh.o.r.e, that he could not carry sail any longer, and was obliged to lay the s.h.i.+p 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 s.h.i.+p 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 G.o.d 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 s.h.i.+fted, 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 s.h.i.+p 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 s.h.i.+p, 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sengers 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 s.h.i.+pwreck.

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 s.h.i.+p 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 s.h.i.+p got to such a distance that the mountain pa.s.sed 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 ma.s.ses 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 grat.i.tude, 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 a.s.sistance 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 sh.o.r.es, the woods in foliage, the hills covered with gra.s.s, 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 astonis.h.i.+ng 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 pa.s.sion. 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 a.s.sured 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 ma.s.s 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 sh.o.r.e; 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 pa.s.sed 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 grat.i.tude; 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."