Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

6 THE PRESBYTERI, fitly spoken, a much-prayed over letter, the placing of a tract in the hands of a young man, may arrest his attention and set him to praying for God's guidance. One of the most useful pastors we have tells how, when he was a young man, he received such a suggestion from an elder, and, whereas he had never thought before of being a minister, he now went tn a solitary spot in the woods and poured out his soul unto God to show him his duty. "/ears ago an elect lady in the town of Waynesboro. Va., called a little negro boy from the street into her home. After talking to him kindly for a while, she said, "William, when you get to be a man. I hope the Lord will send you as a missionary to preach the gospel to your people in Africa." Out of that suggestion has grown the ministry of W. H. Sheppard in the Congo. Three sons in the ministry, several colored servants from his home in the same calling, and a large number of young men from his church, are the fruit of one man's zeal, that of the Rev. Dr. Jacob Henry Smith, of Greensboro, N. C. WJ a 1 ? _ 6?.au; utcu iu nave tne attention ot young men directed to the ministry and their prayers for divine guidance stimulated by the judicious suggestion of older Christians. If they can be brought to think and to inquire at the Throne of Grace what their duty is, we may feel secure "The meek will he guide in judgment and the meek will he teach his way." THE ESKIMOS OF LABRADOR. By Rev. James H. Taylor. The number of Eskimos on the Labrador are variously reported to be from one thousand to fifteen hundred, though the prevailing opinion is that they scarcely exceed twelve hundred. In his book entitled "The Long Labrador Trail," the author, Dillon Wallace, states the number of Eskimos at less than twelve hundred, but does not give the authority for this census. On the Labrador coast the Eskimos live mostly north of Indian Harbour, at which place Dr. Grenfell has his most northern hospital. The name Eskimo seems to be derived from the Indian word "Ashkimai," a name given by the Indian to the Eskimo because the latter ate raw meat, hence the name "Askimai" or flesh-eaters. The Eskimo of the Labrador lives on the coast while the Indian lives in the interior. There is an old tradition that years ago a battle was fought between the Eskimos and the Indians for the possession of the interior. This battle fought on an island resulted in a division of territorial rights whereby the Eskimo remained confined to the coast while the Indian held the interior. Hence today Eskimos are to be found only on the coast. The name of the island which was the scene of this conflict is Battle Island and the harbor is called Rattle Harbour where Dr. Grenfell has a flourishing hospital work. The Eskimo possesses a very happy disposition and is a confirmed optimist, especially when seals are plentiful. He seems to wear a perennial smile that lights up his face on demand, and although he may not be able to communicate with a stranger in language, his pleasure at meeting people is pronounced t a & && ^ ii +iM' A.N OF THE SOUTH. October 27, 1909. and refreshing. Perhaps the intense isolation of the north makes a welcome singularly genuine. His word of greeting corresponding to our "How are you" is "Ochsunae," meaning "Be strong." It is used both as a word of approach and of parting. The language of the Eskimo is intensely guttural and the letter "k" has assuredly come into its own. appearing in every possible place. By the use of these gutturals the words are chopped off short and quick. An interesting feature of the language appears in the use of one word to express the thought of a \Vhole sentence. For example, Rev. H. A. Peck, a famous missionary to the Eskimos, who has spent over thirty years among them within the Arctic Circle, told me of a sentence that contained nine English words, all put into one Eskimo word which so completely baffled a trader that Mr. Peck had to act as translator. Rev. Peck has reduced the Eskimo language of Baffins Bay to writing, and compiled a grammar for the use of missionaries. The Labrador Eskimo who has had much more contact with civilization than the Eskimo of Greenland or Baffins Bay, has, wherever he has come in contact with the white man, adopted the latter's form of dress and other customs. It is not from any conclusion on liie r\n f *1 ? ? ...o Fa.t nidi me urcss oi uie wnite man is superior to his native costume, but simply an illustration of that old principle of human nature, the desire to avoid work. The struggle for existence on the part of the Eskimo is a desperate problem. He must catch the seal which is to furnish him with skin for clothing and for boots, blubber for oil, and flesh for food. The seal is the mainstay of existence, furnishing clothing, boots, oil, light, food, gear for dog harness, and material for various other things. This seal is not like the fur-bearing Alaskan seal, but has a shorter and coarser hair. When the white man came the struggle for existence lost some of its terrors, as th*? F.clrimr* lfn?w that if he failed to catch enough seals, the white man had hidden somewhere bread enough and to spare. He simply laid down in the industrial traces and has made a real endeavor to upset the economic law in the struggle for existence by letting the other man do the struggling. In the far north where this struggle is fierce and uncompromising, the natural workings of the law are typical of primitive life. For example, if a father dies and leaves a wife with an infant son, that boy must die because the tribe can not undertake to care for that child until he becomes selfsupporting. To take care of the woman is sufficient. (I am indebted to Rev. Peck, of Baffins Land, for this information.) The result of this contact with the white man is that the Labrador Eskimos are dying out. What may be the real reason for this 1 am not prepared to say, but the fact that the Eskimo has surrendered part of the life primitive for which he hjs been designed and his inability tb adapt himself to the new type of life suggests how the biologic law of lack of harmony with an environment brings death. I leave this to the attention of the student of Biology, as the whole matter is worthy of close investigation. True, there is to be taken into consideration^ the fact that the trader has introduced the vices cm I