Newspaper Page Text
October 27, 1909. THE PRESBYTERIA
civilization. No one can conceive of the possible disaster
to this people if the Moravian missionary and .
mat like Peck and Grenfell had not been near to protest
in many ways against these things.
The Moravians have been engaged in. missionary
work on the Labrador for a century and a half. It
seems hardly credible that long before transportation
was comfortable and the means of communication
were then simple and infrequent, these men and women
sailed into the artic ice of the cruel North At
1 ?- i - - ?
iitii 11anu tamcu xo xms uttermost part the message
of a Saviour to the dweller of the North. If it was commerce
that led the Hudson Bay Co. into that region
during the reign of Charles the Second, it was the
order of the King of Kings that led these Moravians
. with the message of the Cross to this bleak and forbidding
shore. The Hudson Bay Company interpret
their initials H. B. C. as "Here Before Christ." This
comfort appears, that if this company was there before
the missionary it was only a temporary fact, for
soon came the missionary with the purpose not to
make anything out of the native, but to bring him
help and truth. The Moravians have stations at
Makovik, at Hopedale, at Nain and at Okak. Two
stations, Nain and Ramah. were named after places
HI Srrinhirp Pamoli Imttrntrnt* ~ ~ 1 1
v , AW1I1UU, IIUIIVIV.I, 11(1.1 llttll CtUclllUUIlCU.
The Moravians have realized the problem of the decrease
of the Eskimo and work at other places may
yet have to be given up. One is impressed with the
character and strength of these missionaries for, with
the exception of the workers in the Grenfell Mission,
they, are easily the best people on the coast. They
are jnentally strong, physically industrious and vigorous
and of a high type of genuine spirituality. They
are the invariable friends to all travelers who pass
that way and dispense that kind of welcome that suggest
that they are given to hospitality. The buildings
of the missions are very substantial structures and
with every convenience for the kind of work necessary.
In his native life the Eskimo lives in seal skin tents
in summer and in an "Igloo" or snow house in the
winter. At the mission stations he has learned to
build huts and roof them over with moss which may
be gathered from between rocks or on the sides of
the rocks that are near. The native boat is called a
"kayak" and is used only by the men, while the
"Oomiak" is for women. The "kayak" will hold only
one person and is a most perilous nautical affair. It
will turn over with the most remarkable facility and
without provocation. One must be fully acquainted
with the problems of the center of gravity and equilibrium
or he will get into the water, the temperature
of which even in summer is cold. Some of the Eskimos
of the North have a seal skin hood surrounding
the manhole of the "kayak" and by drawing this hood
ugntiy around the waist and making it fast they can
turn their "kayak" completely over and come up on
the opposite side with it, moist but smiling.
The Eskimo dog is called a "Husky." In fact, the
' Eskimo himself is called a "Husky." This name is a
\ correction of the word Eskimo. The early English
\ settler put the letter "H" before the word and said
I "Huskimo" from which the name "Husky" is descend
N OF THE SOUTH. /
ed by ordinary generation. The "Husky" dog is a
marvel for endurance and power when well fed.
When under-fed he is ferocious and unreliable. To
keep him under control, he must be in fear of his master.
There are many instances on record of a dog
team turning on the master and eating him. Only a
\?ri orrA n Krrvflio** o M 1
afiw ? U1UIIIU U1 CL llldll VVUU Wits 111 II1C IIOSpital
at Battle Harbour this summer, disappeared
near St. Mary's Bay on the Labrador. They found a
piece of his clothing. It was thought that lie had
tripped and fallen and the hungry dogs leaped upon
him. Bishop Martin of the Moravian mission at
Nain, lost his little boy in a similar way. They heard
the cries and saw him in the midst of the dogs. They
rescued his shoes. A dog that has once tasted human
blood is killed. There is every reason to believe that
these clops are closely related to the wolf. Dr. Grieve,
the physician in charge at Battle Harbour hospital,
has a dog. "Jerry," that is a perfect type of a tinibei
wolf. Yet these dogs, when well fed are apparently
docile and with a fair show of friendship. They do
not bark, but they make up the deficiency with the
long howl that sounds like a call of the wild. Each
night at almost the same hour one begins the howl,
and from all around from neighboring rocky islands
can be heard other dogs taking up the cry as if they
could not keep down the thing primitive in them.
When you go among them it is well to be armed with
a big stick and not speak softly either. If you canto
express your interest by patting one of these dogs
on the head with the plaintive appreciation of "nice
little doggie," take care that he does not take a
mouthful out of your hand as a souvenir of your
friendship. Dr. Grenfell has the hope of introducing
a different kind of dog and he has been given a pair
of Irish wolf hounds raised in Kentucky and presented
to him by the Central Church Sunday-school of
Washington. The School has also given him a handsome
all hickory "komatik" or sled made by Mr. Cook,
of New York, brother of Dr. Fred Cook. This sled
is now at St. Anthony, Newfoundland.
The Eskimo is a very musical creature* and seems
to have more idea of a ttine than some other savage
tribes. Under the tuition of the missionary, he has
shown great aptitude for singing. I gathered into,
the cabin of our ship a number of Eskimos from the
Hopedale mission. It happened that there was a
niailO on our shin that went Nnrth fiatln?rincr tiller.
r h "\""v
people about me I played some modern airs for them
which they enjoyed hugely. In return they agreed
to sing for me in their native tongue while I played
the accompaniment. They sang. "Hold the Fort,"
"Count Your Blessings", "Abide With Me", "God be
With us Till We Meet Again," and finally "God Save
the King." This latter was made very interesting by
two American companions who sang the words "My
Country 'Tis of Thee." Though we could not com
municate with each other in language we were assured
that there was a mutual bond of sympathy between
us because we had a common Saviour. As our ship
weighed anchor we bade farewell to these simple folk,
hearing their glad "Ochsunae," and watched their little
boats fade away into specks on the horizon as our
ship put out to sea.