HISTORY OF GREENLAND

INCLUDING

AN ACCOUNT OF THE MISSION

CARRIED ON BY THE

IN THAT COIJNTRY.

FROM THE GERMAN OF DAVID CRANTZ .

WITH

A CONTINUATION TO THE PRE SENT TIM E

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES

AND AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING A SKETCH OF THE M ISSIONOF THE BRETHREN IN LABRADOR.

fi at n,

Give me a. theme to g race anAng el’s tong ue

"

;A theme to whnch a. lyre was never strungBarbarianhordes,by Satan

’s onaft enthrafl’d

From chams to freedom,g uilt toglory call

’d

The deeds of men,unfnended an unknown,Sent: forth by H1m who loves and saves h l s own

‘With faithful to xl a barren land to bless,And feed h xs fl ock s amxdst the Wilderness.

MONTGOM ERY,M S .

aw Twp VOL UME S.

VOL . II.

L OND ON

FOR LONGMAN, BURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN,PATERNOS 'I‘ER-ROW.

1820.

ti CONTENTS

i t ionft'

or the M iss ions.—. Benevolence of Fmends of theBrethren.

National Assistants. for Devotionm the Cong re

g ation, Schools, Sermons,8m.— Sing ing of the Greenlanders.

Purpart of the D iscourses,Catechizations,& c.

'

of the Brethren.

TheirMethod of Teaching . Doctrinal Knowledg e of the Greenlanders .

’

Baptisms.—Holy Communionu Marriag es of the

Greenlanders. Their Sicknesses,Death, and Burial. Schools

for the Greenland Children. Concluding Remark. Some

Letters of believing Greenlanders

CHAP.’ VII.

" CONTINUA T ION OF‘

THE H ISTORY

Introduc tmy Remarks .—The Narrative is continued. Death of

Brother Boehnisch : —HeathenGreenlanders,Fisheries,Casualties .

History of L ichtenfels. National Assistants Chang esamongthe M issionai ies.— State of? New Herrnhut. - South Stmms

Escape:of aMissionary from Dang‘

er: Scarcity at Lichte’

nfels.

Happy Course of that Cong reg ation—Voyag e of.Matthew Stach .

Snow .—Diseases, Accidents, and Deaths .

—Visitors at NewHerrnhut.—Kassiak.

—Arrival o f M issionaries. Increase of the

Cong reg ation. Chang es in the Colonies .

- Death of Frederic

1Vth ..—Visitors at L ichtenfels

'

. Remarkable awakening at'

New

Herrnhut Tokko.—Immenek .

—Rapid Increase of the Cong r'

e

g ation Return of Henry Huekel. —Awakening at Lichtenfels .

Visits of the Brethren. —Firewood .—Accidents and Deaths.

D eath of Matthew Stach .—Appointment of a g eneral Superintendu

ant. A third Settlement established at Lichtenau. Out-Places.

Epidemic. P1 og res s of the difi'

erent Settlements. Visits from

the East Coast. Sing ular Elo’

pements of severalGreenlanders.

Dang ers of the Missionaries and Natives .—Voyag es of the Bre

thren Grillich and Rudolph.— Scarcity of Provisions. - Voyag e

of Brother Kleinschmidt. Greenlandic New Testament. Hard

Winters. Accident at Kang ek . Conclusion 232

APPENDIX.

Narrative of the First Settlement made by the United Brethren on

the Coast of Labrador,with a brief Vievv‘

of the‘

Prog re‘

ss. of the

M ission 287

HISTORY

CHAPTER I.

From 1733 to 1740 .-Brief historical Sketch of the of the

Brethren. Circumstances which led to M issionary Undertaking s.Departure of the threefi rst Al issionaries to Greenland . Their

Reception at‘ Copenhag en. Voyag e and Arrival in Greenland .

Thei r Reflections on their Prospects there. Primary D gfl culties}

Attack of th’

é Small -Pox .

’

-l 734~. Wretched Condition ofthe Savag es. Arrival of two new M issionaries . 1735 . Con

tinned Labours of the Al issionaries . Visits made to them bythe Heathens. Solemn Eng ag ement of the B rethren. -Thei r

want of the Necessaries of L gfe. Their Sentiments under Po

verty , Contempt,ex ternalWeakness,and internal Pressures. - 1736 .

Providential Supplies. Increase rf their Family . M r . Eg ede

returns to E urope with Christian Stach.— Instance of a Heathen

desirous to be converted. 1737 . Returnof Christian Stach witha new Assistant.—Failure of Supplies f rom Holland . Accidents

at Sea .—D iscourag ing want of Success. Residence off our Wee/cs

among st the Savag es. 1738 . A Greenlander consents to staywith the [Missionaries Kajarnalr is awakened, and believes the

Gospel. Results of his Conversion. 1739. A sevlere“

Faminedrives the Natives to the Brethren. They become more desirous

’

ofInstruction. B aptism of thefi rstf our Greenlanders. Flig ht of

THE present church of the United Brethren traces itsOrig in to t he anc ient Bohemian church, known underthe same appellation, which was founded in

'

the middleof the fifteenth century by those persecuted BohemiansVOL . 11. B

2 SKETCH or THE

and Waldenses who were determined to resist the tem

poral encroachments and spiritual errors of the PapalSee.

,Watered by the blood of its martyrs, John Huss

and Jerome of ‘ Prag ue; and deriving its episcopalord ination from the Waldensian bishops, it long maintained the Christian faith in-

purity, and spread itself innumerous flourishing branches throug h Poland and

Moravia. But the unremitted v iolence of its adver

saries, and the opposition of the secular power, at;

leng th reduced it to a lang uish ing condition and after

having been once snatched from the brink of ruin bythe timely assistance of theChurch of Eng land

”5, it ap

For a detailed account of the oppressions ex erc ised ag ainst the

ancient Bohemian and M orav ian church, see Crantz’

s History of theB rethren, and Risler

’

s Select Narratives. At the beg inning of the

eig hteenth century, the deplorable condition of the Protestant epis

copal church inPoland was well known in Eng land, and an orde r of

the privy-council was issued,March l 0th, 17 15, fo r their relief,and

for preserving the remainder of the said episcopal churches in Great

Poland and PolishPrussia. Among the multitude ofnobles and clerg ydriven from their nativ e country in the reig n of Ferdinand II., was

J ohnAmos Comenius (Komensky ) who was m inister of the BrethrenatFulneck inMoravia, from 16 18 to 1627 . In his ex ile, he wrote a

compendious history of the Bohem ianBrethren, to which he prefix ed“

anAddress to the Church of Eng land, dedicating th 1s book as his last

will and testament to that church, to use it according to their own

pleasure,and preserve it as a deposit for the posterity of the Brethren

should God produce, (as he writes in theD edicatory Address,) evenout of these concussions, that which is better thanwe all can think :

to wit, as he hath promised,that the g ospel may at last pass away ,

from sharply chastised Christendom to the o ther nations of the wo1 ld

that so as it was long ag o, our stumbling may be the enriching of

the world,and our d imimshing the riches of the Gentiles. Rom. x i. 12 .

The consideration of th is so-much-to-be-admired eternal pro

vidence, doth g reatly allay the g rief which I have taken by reasonof

the ruin of the church of my native country of the g overnment,of

wh ich, so long as she kept her station the laws are here described,

and set forth in v iew. Evenmyself,alas ! being the very last super

intendent of all, (senior bishop or president of the synod,) am fain

before your eyes, 0 churches to shut the door after me.

But yet 1 wouldnot have these thing s to be so taken, as if, inmy

solitude,and by my departure hence,I feared or foretold the final end

o f the church inmy country . I know that the hurch,being founded

upon the rock of eternity, cannot fail, y iz.the Catholic . And yet

ex amples testify, that particulm churches are somctlmes overth rown

CHURCH or run BnnTHREN.3

peared to be totally ex tinct in the beg lnmng of the

eig hteenth century. At that critical period, however,it please dGod suddenly to rev1v1fy the dying flame. A

number of Morav ian emig rants formed a new settlement at Herrnhut in Upper Lusatia in 17Q Q, Where

they revived the ecclesiastical institutions and disc i

pl ine of their ancestors,’

and united in a solemn cove

nant to follow Christ as their Head and Master,evenunder contempt,persecutions, and death .

1

This renovated church beg an a t an early period toturn its attentionto the deplorablestate

‘

of the Heathen.

world, deeply sensibly of the duty under wh ich it lay,

by thehand of an ang ry God that according to his g ood pleasure,o thers may be planted, or else the same elsewhere s

This I, with full trust, ex pecting from the everlasting g oodness,.

v (if notwithstanding ,God should call me to depart out of this‘

Iife

without present comfort,) will say w ith the last of these seven‘Mac

cabean Brethrenmartyrs, L et the ang er of the Omnipotent, which is"come upon our g eneration for our sins,rest uponme, (or cease i11 ~mc,)and my brethren. 2 Mac . v ii. 38 .

But to y ou,Friends, after the ex ample of our eternal Master,we

commend ourwell-beloved Mother, the Church . Take you now the

care hereof in our rooms,whatever it shall please God to do onto her,Whether to restore her among st us, or,when she is deceased at home;

to,raise her to life elsewhere. You have just cause indeed to love her,

evenwhen dead, who whilst y et living ,went before you in g ood ex

amples of faith and patlence,evennow unto the third g eneration;

God himself,when he took away and laid waste h is people’s land,

city,and temple,because of their unthankfulnessl'

orh is blessing s,would

still have the basis of the altar to be left in its place, upon which

after ag es, when they should be returned to themselves and to God,m ig ht build ag ain. If then, by the g race of God, there hath

”

been

found in us, as wise men and g odly have sometimes thoug ht, anything true, any thing honourable, any thing just, any thing pure,any thing to be loved,and

'

of g ood report, and,1f any v irtue and any

praise, care must be taken that it~

die not with us whenwe die ; and,at least, that the very foundation be not buried in the rubbish of

present ruins, so that the g eneration to come should not be able totell where to find them. And indeed, this care is taken, and prov ision is made on th is behalf, by this our trust confided ' to yourhands.

”

AnEng lish translation of this book was published in1661 ,and theorig inal Latinwas reprinted inLondon in 17 10.

r B a

4 CAUSE , or ntx ssromu w unns arax rnos.

to carry forth the l ig ht of the g ospel, and, in rel ianceon the Div ine Providence, endeavour to dispel some

portion of that g ross darkness which covered the

nations. After maturelly considering this important

object, it sent out its m issionaries in simpl ic ity andlowl iness, poorly suppl ied, indeed, with ex ternals,but armed with a l ively zeal, and an intense streng th

of faith. The seed which they were favoured to

sow, g rew mig htily by the blessing of God, and pros

pered,_till after the silent but most persev

‘

eringlabours of many years, its produce filled the wilderness with its frag rance, and g laddened the desert

places of the earth with its beauty. There could not

well be imag ined an apter emblem of the Brethren’

s

missions, than the g rain ofmustard seed, wh ich g rew

and wax ed a g reat tree and the fowls of the air lodg ed ,

in its branches. From very smal l beg inning s, an

assembly of about six hundred poor ex iles, did th is

g reat work commence in hope, and the several flourishing settlements in various parts of the g lobe now

testify, that the streng th of the Lord has accompaniedthe weak endeavours of h is servants, that the race is

not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong ,

and that the feeblest instruments are sometimes made

use of to perform the most sig nal ex ploits in ex tendingthe k ing dom otithe Cross.Nicholas Lewis, Count Zinzendorf, a German noble.

man, equally disting u ished by orig inal g enius, learning , and piety, was the first promoter of m issionary un

dertaking s among the Brethren. An earnest desire tobe instrumental in spreading the Word of L ife amongforeig nnations, had takenpossession of his mind during the course of his university studies, but “as notcalled into ex ercise til l the year 173 1,whenhe attendedat the coronation of Chri stianVI at Copenhag en.

In that c ity‘

he met with two Greenlanders who hadbeen baptized by the venerab le Mr. Eg ede, and learnedwith pain that the mission to Greenland was to be

rel inquished. His domestics also conversed with a baptized neg ro from St. Thomas, who earnestly entreated

ns ran'

rune or ne’

er M ISS IONARIE S . 5

that Christian missionaries mig ht be sent to his eh

slaved countrvmen. He appeared peculiarly interestedin the fate of his sister,whom he had left behind mthat island,and who,as he said, frequently besou

‘

g ht the

g reatGod to send some one who mig ht show her the

way to Him. The Count afforded him an opportunityof stating his case in a public meeting of the B1ethren

at Herrnhut, whe1e his representations and entreaties

proved so effectual, that two of those present, Leonard

Dober and one of h is confidential friends, ofl'

ei ed to g o

St. Thomas, thoug h under the pei suasion that theywould be oblig ed to sell themselves for slaves in order

to g ain access to theneg roes. 1 hey set sai l Aug ust l t,

1732, tenyears after the bu ilding of Herrnhut,when

the cong reg ationconsisted of no more than six hundred

poor ex i les, including womenand childrenAt the same time the plan of a mission to Green

land Was also ag itated . As that country was under

the Danish g overnment, which was very friendly to theBrethren, it appeared to

’

them the more el ig ible for theestablishment of a mission and the forlorn state of the

poor natives, wh o had already received Christian ih

struction from Mr. Eg ede, loudly called upon their”

compassion. Matthew Stach and Frederic Boehnisch,two young men, being at work tog ether in preparing

'

a

piece of g round for a burial-place at H errnhut, in the

course of conversation, found that they had both,nuknown to each other, fmmed the desire of g oing asmissionaries to Greenland . They the1efore p1oposed themselves for this service ; but the delay of a y ear intervening ,before theh ofl ei was accepted, and Boehnisch having ,meanwhi le, undertaken a considei able jou1ney, Christian Stach consented to accompany his cous in. Thesetv

’

vo miss ionaries, along with ChristianDavid, the princ ipal ag ent in the Moravianemig ration, who intendedto return to Europe after, the settlement of a mission,set out from Herrnhut, J an. 19th, 1733, attended withnumberless g ood wishes from their Breth1e .n

The cong reg ation which was as yet totally i

perienced inmi ssionary affairs, could g ive them no ia

B 3

16 anc arrrou AT

stm ctions. They were but the s econd company whohad

,tomake the untried ex periment, whether the hea

thenwould receive the messag e of peace from theirCreator and Redeemer, and were therefore left to

act in every c ircumstance as the Lord and his Spiritshould lead them. It was only sug g ested that theyshould cherish an affectionate brotherly love that theyshould respect the venerable ChristianDav id, as a father,and

’

profit by his advice and that they should of

fer themselves as assistants to that long -tried Apostleof the Greenlanders, Mr. Eg ede, but if he did not

want their help, they should by no means interfere inh is labours.

‘With scarcely any provision for their journey beyondthe most necessary articles of clothing ,our missionariestravel led by way of Hamburg h, to the Danish capital.Here they met with a k ind recept ion from ProfessorEwald,member of the Colleg e of M issions, and M .

Reuss, his Majesty’s chaplain, and from several otherfriends to whom they had been recommended. Theirintention of g o ing to Greenland could not, however,but be reg arded as a visionary scheme,particulary whi lethe fate of the Danish m i ssion at Godhaab was yet in

suspense. But they took l ittle notice of these g loomyforeboding s,and cast their confidence onHim,who, as

they believed,'

had called them to the work, and wouldsupport them

in the prosecution of it. They learnedshortly after that his Majesty had g ranted leave for onevessel more to sail to God/zaab, and that M . Pless, thefirst lord of the bedo chamber, had eng ag ed a merchant

of the name of Severen, to send a trader to D isco Bay ,

ontrial . Thoug h the latter would be ready to sail almost immediately, they preferred, after del iberate con

sideration; to wait for the King’

s ship, and made theirappl ication to this effect to the c hamberlain.

Their first'

audience with th is minister was not a l ittlediscourag ing .

'

Indeed it mig ht wel l seem strang e to

h im, that young'

laymen who possessed no advantag es

of should hope to succeed,where

the indefatig able exertions of the learned and pious

arenrrron' AT corsm’

ni onn.

Eg ede had accompl ished so l ittle. But being con

vin'

céd by a closer acquaintance of the solidity of their ’

faith, and ' therectitude'

of their intentions,’

he became

their firm friend, wil ling ly presented their memorial tothe

‘

King , and ex erted all his influence in their behalf.He is said on this occasion, to have made u se of the

fol lowing arg ument that God has in all ag es employedthe meanest and apparently

' the mest'

despicable instrua

ments for accomplishing'

the g rand desig ns of his kingdom, in order to leadmen to ascribe the honour to himalone, and rely not on their own power or penetration,but on his hand of,blessing . His Majesty,moved l

l

bythe representations of his mmister, was pleased to

accept their overtures, and wrote with his own hand a]

recommendatory letter to Mr. E g ede.

The Chamberlain also introduced them to several

persons d isting uished by rank and piety, who l iberally’

contributed towards the ex pense of their voyag e andintended settlement. Being a sked one day by his

E x cellency, how they proposed to maintain themselves ’

in Greenland, they answered that they depended on

the labour. of etheir own hands, and God’

s blessing ,and that not to be burdensometo any one, they wouldbuild themselves a house and cultivate the g round. It

being objected that they would find no wood to buildwith,as the country presented little_ but _

a face of barren

rock “Then,”

replied they,“ we will d ig ihro the earth

and lodg e there.

” No,”said the Chamberlain; to

that necessity y ou shal l not be reduced ; you shalltake timber with you for build ing a house accept of

these 50 dol lars for that purposei” With this and '

other donations , they purchased poles, planks, and

laths ; instruments for ag riculture, masonry, and‘

car

pouter’

s work several sorts of se‘

eds‘

and roots ;'

implemerits of fish ing and hunting household furniture,bucks,paper, and provisions.

Thus equi they took an affecting leave of thecourt/ where had been so h ospitably entert

‘

ained,:r

and embark l 0th of April, onb oard th 3King

’

s ships Caritas, captain, Hi ldebrand”

. The cono’

8 . VOYAGE AND ARRIVAL In GREENLAND.

g reg aticma t H errnhut had already adopted the custom,of annually c

’

ompiling a collection of Scripture tex ts

for every day inthe year, each illustrated or appl ied bya short verse from some

“

hymn. This tex t was calledthe Daily Word ; it suppl ied a .

,profitable subject for

privatemeditation,and a theme for the public discourses.It has beenfrequently observed that the text appomtedfor a day disting uished by some remarkable event,has

had a striking coincidence with that event. Thus theDaily Word on that l oth of April,

'

when our Brethren

set sail upon a missionwhich so oftenappeared to baffl eall hope, was, (Heb. x i. Faith is

,

the substa nce ofthing s hoped for, the evidence of thing s not seen.

We viewH im whom no ey e cansee

With Faith's heen visionsteadfastly .

In th is confidence they set‘

sail,nor did they suffer

themselves to be confounded by any of the unspeakabledifliculties of the fol lowing years, till they and we at

last beheld the completion of what they hoped for in

They sailed by Shetland, April Q Qd, passing there

out of the North into the West Sea‘

, or Long Reach,and after an expeditious and ag reeable voyag e, enteredDavis’s Strait, in the beg inning of May . Here theyencountered a field of floating ice,while enveloped ina

thick fog ,but the ne x t day a terrible storm arose,whichdispersed the ice,and freed them at the same time fromtheir fears. On the 13 th, they came in sig ht of the

coast of Greenland, when a vio lent tempest of four

days’ continuance, preceded by a total eclipse of the .

sun, drove themback more than (50 leag ues. May 920th

they cast anchor inBaal’s River,after a voyag e of six

weeks, and joyfully welcomed the snowy cliffs and sa

vag e inhabitants of a country,which had so long beenthe chief object of their wishes . The Word of the Daywas The peace (f God ah ichpasseth all understand:

ing , shall keep y our hearts and minds throug h Christ

J esus." By this they were frequently encourag ed to a.

REFLECTIONS ON THEIR PROSPECTS.

peaceful and bel ieving perseverance during the first .

ensuing year's, amidst all the'

oppositions they met with,and the slender

'

prospect of the conversion of the Hea

then. The sig ht of the first Greenlanders, thoug h theycould not speak,

a word to them,was accompanied withsensations

’

nf l ively pleasure their l

pitiable condition

pierced them to the heart, and they prayed the Lord,the Lig ht to enlig htentheGentiles, that he would g rantthem g race, wisdom, and power, to bring some of

them . at least out of darkness into his marvellousl ig ht.Immediately on their landing they repaired to

Eg ede,and del i vered the letters of recommendation,which they had received from several members of theColleg e of Missions. He g ave them a cordial reception,cong ratulated them ontheir undertaking , and promisedthem his assistance in learning the lang uag e. Theynext fixed upon a spot for build ing on, the nearest ha

bitable part of thet oast, to which they afterwards g ave

thename ofNewHerrnhut‘l", and having consecrated it

w ith prayer, beg an to runup a Greenland hut of stonesand sods, inwhich they mig ht find shelter, until theyhad erected a wooden house. They boug ht an old

boat of the captain, inwhich they intended to procurethemselves food ‘ by fishing . It was an early season,and the snow disappeared a month siog ner th an usual ;yet the cold was so severe, that the turf often froze intheir hands. On the 6th of June, they had so far finished their hut, that they could enter it,pulling downthetent of boards, in which they had hitherto lodg ed.

Directly after the shiphad sailed,June 15 th,they laid thefoundationof theinproper dwelling -house,and advancedso far infive weeks,that one room was habitable. Theyl ikewise beg an to build a house for such Greenlandersas mig ht resort to them for instruction,but it was longbefore there was any use fiar this.The honest warmth and coi

‘

ifi dence of the missionaries in this period of their lab

nours, appear from the

“

l" Herrnhut sig nifies The L ord’s Watch

IO nerns crrons cn rnsm PROSPECTS.

followmg letter of Matthew Stach, to his friends 111

Europe I address you,my Brethren,from a coun

try whol e the name of Jesus is not yet known, and

where the Sun of Rig hteousness has not yet arisen. 1

You live in the brig ht noon day the sun is ri senupon

you Has he now warmed your hearts ? Or are

some of you sti l l fi ozen?'

I he l ig ht shines round

all of you , but for h im who has not yet arisen to

walk 111 the lig ht, it were better to have l ived 1nGreen

land, and never heard of Jesus. Fm to know what 18

g ood, and not to act according ly, IS a‘

reproach to the

truth. The heart of Jesus bum s with love for the sal

vationof men, and will he suffer a soul that pants afterhim,to snek fo1 four, or five, or six yea1 s without attaining ? l cannot bel ieve it, for I have experiencedthe

”

contrary. When I soug ht himw ith all my powers,and all my powers we1e ex hausted,my eyes still swamWith tears, and my heart palpitated with desil e. And

when even t he fountains of my eyes were dried up,and,my heart had no m0 1e streng th to beat, the f1 iendof sinners came and healed my

b

wounded consc ience.

This is not a mere imag ination, but a d ivine power .

wh ich occupies and fills the heart.But you who have known the Sav1our and been

washed inhis blood, may you be establ ished in g race 2And as you have tasted that the Loni is g 1acious, g o

on in the streng th of that meat, and conque1 in the

name of the Lord. My hea1 t 18 l isted with yours unde1the banne1 of the cross. To Christ will I l ive, to himwill I d ie for noug ht but my Saviour who rescued

me from death can g ive me pleasu1e. Now,my Brel

thren, g i ow and fl om ish in the blessed flock of God,which he has planted as a sig n among the nations inthese last days. The salvation 1s g 1eat,and the ha1 vestwill. be

, g lorious, when we have sown much seed and

watered it with many tears. Let us animate each .

othe1 to follow the bleeding lamb without the camp.

Rejoice not that you have t1ampled the old serpent

under your feet, but rejoicethat you 3 1 65bid in the

clefts of eve1 lasting love“

Let your loins be always

u

mmfie

J;

s-L.

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

I? 11 11111111 111 nrsrrenm es.

scripts1which had cost so much trouble» -But thein

vincible love of the m issionaries for these” poor savag es,cheered them in their tedious task, and fortified theirminds ag ainst desponding reflections;1 Two hundred families, amounting to perhaps 2000souls, were at that time resident in Baal ’3 River, butthey were scattered among the islands and hi lls, tofish, catch seals, and hunt deer ; and towards winterthey made voyag es to their acquaintance, upwards of

a hundred leag ues north or south. A l ife so wanderingleft the Breth1enbut l ittle hope of g aining access to

them, still less of making any permanent impressionupon thei1 minds. No proffered advantag es couldtempt them to remain for any leng th of time at the

colony. Some indeed paid a passing visit to the Bre

thren, but it was only from curiosity to see their building s, or to beg needles, fish hooks, knives; and ethensuch articles, if not to steal . If the Brethren soug ht

them out in the islands, they seldom found any one

who would g ive them a lodg ing even for pay ; andinstead of entering into discourse with them, theywere continually asking whether they did not intend tobe g one.

i bese trials however appeared trifling when com

pared with the fa11 heavie1 one which was now ap

proaching . This was a te1 11 ible mmtality which spreadlike a plag ue, and, threatened the destruction of the

whole nation. A boy and a g ii l, the only sm vivors of

the six Greenlanders who had been carried to Den

mark m 178 1, were sent back to their native country,in a sickly state of health, by this yeal ’s vessel . The

g irl died at sea , the boy reached his home, apparentlysafe and well : soon after, howeve1, a cutaneous dis

order broke out, wh ich was thoug ht to v be no more

than a common eruption, but after v isiting among his

friends, and communicating the infection, he died of

i t inSeptember. The first who fel l a victim to the

contag ion,was the Greenland boy,Frederic Christian,a particular favourite of Mr. Eg ede,who,by nine years

’

instruction, had fitted him for the office of catechist

ATTACK or run SMALL-Pox . 18

the chi ldren. He could also speak Danish,hado r read;and was extremely useful to h im in com

posing his 'Greenlandic g rammar. It soon becameevident that the d isorder was the small-pox . Mr. Eg ede

dispatched an express round the country“

,warning theGreenlanders to remam in their ownd wel ling s,as thos

'

e‘

who were already infected could not escape by fl ig htand advising the inhabitants of places still free from the

contag ion,‘

to admit no fug itives.

'

But all his admou‘

mitions were in vain. Those who had caug ht the in;faction fied as long as their streng th permitted, and

since ' their countrymen persisted in their custdm ofdenying no_ g uests, the distemper g ained g round everyda2The m lserable savag es suffered dreadful ly from the

'

effects of tl1is ..unknown pestilence. As the pustuleswould not rise, they endured excruc iating pain, heat,and th irst, which inspiteof

"

every remonstrance, theywould allay by larg e draug hts of iced water, so that

they seld om out-l ived the third day . Some stabbedthemselves,or plung ed into the sea to put a speedy endto their tormentss One man, whose son had d ied of

the malady, stabbed his wife’s sister, under the mad

presumption, that she had bewitched him to death.

The Europeans themselves were not without anxiety,as the Greenlanders accused them of

'

h being the cause

of this pestilence ; a notion in which they.

‘

were confirmed by the dream of an old woman, that the Green

lander Charles, who i had been to Copenhag en, wouldmurder all his countrymen. An almost incredible instance of the

“

power of'

imag ination deserves here to bementioned. An inhabitant of a place y et untainted,came to v isit his sister at the colony, but before he set

foot on shore, he imag ined that he saw her apparition,which terrified him to such a deg ree that he rowedaback; immediately fel l sick, and imparted the infectionto his neig hbours.

ounded by the: g reatness . of the c alamity, theneg lected to bewai l the death of their nearest

of human prudence, much less

wanrcnhn Comp rr i on or run NATIVES.

of rel ig ious feel ing ,marked the scene of misery. The

more ag ed indeed cried to God in their disbut whenno help came, they g ave utterance to their,thoug hts in despairing , or even blasphemous lang uag efand refused to hear of patience and res ig nation. 1

M11

. Eg ede’s sensations under this affl ictive v isit-1

ation may be conceived . He was unremitted in his

endeavours to al leviate the distress of thepoor sutfe1erssending his son to their relief, and pay ing them per

sonal v i sits,either alone 0 11 accompaniedby theBreth1 en.

They were almost every where shocked w ith the sig htof houses tenanted only by the corpses of their formenoccupants, and dead bodies lying unburied onthe snow,which they covered with stones. In one island the

only l iving creatures they found were,a l ittle g irl coveredwith the small pox , and her three young er brothers ,

The father, having buried all the rest of the inhabitants,had laid h imself and his young est child m

.

a g rave of

stones, bidding the g irl to cover him with skins : after

wh ich she and her brothers were to l ive upona couple of

seals and some dried herring s till they could g et to the?

Europeans. M 11

. Eg ede and the Brethrenreceived andnursed all the sick who fl ed to them, althoug h their owmhealth was much impaired by the no isome stench of thedying . Such unquestionable proofs of love touched thehearts even of those who had before shown the g reatest

animosity to the M1ssmnar1es. A personof this desc11

1p-t

tion said to the minister onhis death bed You have

beenmore k ind to us thanwe have beento one another

you have fed us,when we were famishing ; you haveburied our dead, who would else have been a prey todog s, foxes, and ravens and you have told us of God,and of a better life hereafter He had likewise the;

pleasure to perceive in some of the children whom he

had baptized, a resig ned ex pectation of death, and a

comfortable hope of a resurrection to tha

Our Brethrenmade the best use of this opportu

speak to the hearts of the poor people who tookw ith them : they also eng ag ed a boy to remaincon

with them, to assist them in the lang uag e, buthis benefactors as soon as he was out of dang er.

wan cnsn CONDIT ION,0 1

1. THE NATIVES.

This v irulent contag ion rag ed fromSeptember 1783,to the following June, and perhaps still long er. It

spread, as far as ccould be ascertained, about 80 leag uesboth above and below the colony. When theag entsmade their nex t trading voyag e, they found nothingbut empt

yhouses for Qt) leag ues north. Ina district

of 15 m1 es round the colony, the numbei o f deadamounted in January 1734 to 500, thoug h many of the

inhabitants took flig ht in the very beg inning . The

total of those carried off by the disease was estimated '

by Mr. Eg ede at betweentwo and three thousand.

'

A”

t

Baal’

s River only eig ht persons recovered, and a boywho had a hole in h is side, throug h which the deadlyv irus found vent, remained perfectly free, from illness.

1

As the nation now seemed to be almost extirpated,and

'

the country round“

New H errnhut was‘

shunned

as the nest of the plag ue, the Brethren had enoug h to

damp their ardour. But repeated strokes of adversityhad taug ht them firmness they had oftenbefore beheldand adored the wonderful ways of God ; and they camefrom a place where they had seen the words of the

Apostle realized ‘l‘ H e talleth the thing s which are not

as thoug h they were. Their desire to spend their l ivesin the service of the Heathenhad not been an hastyimpulse, and they were steadi ly resolved to wait fo ryears,before they would rel inquish their aim. Whenthe1ef0 1 e they were advised to return, as the land wasdepopu lated,they cheerfully replied :

“1 God’s wayss arenot as man

’

s ways . he who called us hither can stillkeep us to fulfil his purpose.

”

To complete their troubles, they were all three

attacked by an eruption wh ich increased so much in

the winter that they could scarcely move their limbs,and were frequently oblig ed to keep their bed. Veryprobably th is d isorder was the scui vy, so commonin

northern countries, to which they would be renderedthe more liable by the chang e f1 om habits of labour to asedentary l ife,ina cold,damp,habitation. One of them

however was always able to wait upon the rest, and tog o with the colony

’s boat to visit the sick natives The

1 6 m nenas ear-1

11

1111 MISSIONARIES .

attentions of M11

. Eg ede and his wife were constant andsincere, and proved a considerable solace to them.

17844.— Such were the discourag ing circumstancesthat marked the prog ress of the first year and the corn

mencement of the second. The distemper among theBrethren g radually died away,whenthe spring affordeda pientiful supply b f scurvy-g rass ; but the c

’

ontag ionling ered among the Greenlanders ti ll afterM idsummer,on account of which very few of them were to be seen

in the neig hbourhood of the settlement. Yet the 1

Brethrennot only continued their v isits,ontheir fishingand hunting excursions, but also undertook voyag essolely for the purpose of searching out the resorts of

'

the

natives. ChristianDavid penetrated farthest s outh thisy ear, in a voyag e undertakenbetweenthe 1 1th and S l stof March, in the company of the traders. He after

wards made an attempt to sai l northward, but found itimpracticable. His principal views inundertaking thesevoyag es were, to examine into the c ii cumstances of thecountry ; to ascertain whether the contag ion still prevailed, and where the bulk of the natives had theirsummer and winter abodes ; to invite them to

“

visit theBrethren; and to proclaim to them as much as possiblethe joyful messag e of the Gospel. At first,after travelling many leag ues they found no people, but unburiedcorpses,with new clothes and tools lying near them.

The second day a violent tempest broug ht them intoimminent dang er among the rocks, and it was withg reat difficulty that they were able to make the landover the ice. Alter spending three days and nig hts ina keen frost,without any shelter, waiting in vain for afavourable wind, they attempted to return to an inhabited island,but the ice debarred them from approachingit. They were therefore oblig ed to forsake their boat,and roceed over land to another island, where theyfound

J

five inhabited Greenland houses. Here theyremained ten days. The natives were very friendly,desired to hear the name of the missionary with its signification,looked at his book, (the Bible),wondered howhe could understand the

‘

wil l of God from that, and

MORE M i ssmNs TO. GREENLAND. 17

expressed a wish to know something about it ; but

owing to his ig norance of the lang uag e he could g iv

them very little information. They followed him everywhere l ike children, and showed evident sorrow at

parting .

“Towards the end of the year, the Brethren were

rejoiced by the re appearance of some of the natives.

They assumed a very friendly deportment, and were

very fluent in flattering ex pressions, by which theyendeavoured to soothe the Europeans into liberal ity.

1As long as the conversation turned upon seal-catch ing ,or the state of other countries, they l istened with pleasure but as soon as rel ig ious topics were started,they g rew drowsy, or set up a shout and scampered off.

When the Brethren were accompanied by the m inisteron their visits, the natives indeed showed them more

respect,and sometimes. acquiesced in the -truths wh ichhe propounded by saying 0 yes,we bel ieve it all ,

”

and even desired farther instr .uc tion But it was v‘

eiyapparent from a variety of circumstances that their

seeming interest in relig ion, it not pure dissimulation,proceeded solely _

from veneration for the person of the

m issionary This i s plain from the following inc identAfter one of M 1 . Eg ede

’

s assistants had been tel lingthem the narrative of the creation, 810 . and they hadex pressed thei r wonted assent, they beg an to relate

’

the

insipid tables and marvellous ex ploits ofasking the m issionary whether he bel ieved them.

Upon his answering in the neg ative, and alu

leg in'

g in

support of his disbelief that their tales were inconsist

ent with common sense and probabil ity, they repliedIf you will not bel ieve Us upon our word,you must

not require us to bel ieve what we cannot comprehendupon

’ yours .

”

In compl iance with the request of h is Majesty, thatmore missionaries m ig ht be sent to Greenland, the

Br 1

ethren dispatched two of the ir number thither in th isyear. One of these, Frederic Boehnish,was recalledfrom a journey for this purpose. He had been pi e.

wio‘

usly destined for the m ission at St. Thomas b utVOL . II.

18 THREE smrs SAIL a s’

rnan [1734 .

arrived too late to join the company that was proceeding to the West Indies. Being desired to choose one

of two Brethren,Daniel Schneider or JohnBeck,for apartner, he fix ed upon the latter. This Brother hadbeen before imbued with the missionary spirit by a letterof Matthew Stach

’

s from Greenland, and in the sequel

had sig nified his intention of eng ag ing ln the service toh is elders. He therefore accepted the appointmentwithout any dernur nor had he ever occasion to

repent, as his labours among the heathenwere blessedwith abundant fruit. On the l oth of March, after

being blessed with imposition of bands, they set off for

Berl in,where the King’

s chaplain,Jablonsky, bishop of

the Pol ish Brethren, showed them much kind attention,and implored the blessing of God on their undertak ing .

From thence they prosecuted their journey by way of

Lubec to Copenhag en,where they arrived after a pro

sperous voyag e onApril l st. In this c ity they met witha favourable reception, but upon mentioning theirvoyag e to Greenland, they had to encounter many difliculties. To obviate these they drew up a memorial,which was presented to the King , and supported byBaron von Soelenthal, g overnor to his royal hig hnessthe crown prince, who had several times interrog ated the Brethren concerning their voyag e and inten

tions. Soon after his Majesty’s g rac ious determinationwas sig nified to them, that they should have their passag e to Greenland free of ex pense.

Three ships sailed this year for Greenland One of

them put in at Godhaab, and broug ht a new Danishm issionary,Mr. Ohnsorg the second sailed for D is/co,and had on board Mr. Bing , and Mr. Eg ede

’

s eldestson, who had g one from Greenland to Copenhag en in173 1,to prosecute his studies,and now returned as mis

sionary of the colony t0 be settled atD isho. The third,in which‘ our m issionaries sailed, was loaded withbuilding materials for this colony . Their voyag e wasfar from being ag reeable for besides hard usag e, theywere oblig ed to p

o

ut up with a g reat deal of mockery and

abusive lang uag e. We mention this ln order to excite

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Q0 DIFFICULTY or acoumme THE LANGUAGE . [1784 .

However,young Mr. Eg ede,who had learned the lang uag e from the natives whi le a ch ild, and spoke it withfluency, assisted them very faithfully,and practised withthem twice a week inGermanand GreenlandicThey also endeavoured, as much as possible, to con

form to the Greenland mode of l iv ing and therebylessen their demands upon the Brethren in Europe.

And God laid his blessing on their endeavours, so thatthey improved in the art of fishing more and m0 1e.

They now also 1e rulateds their meeting s for relig iOus

worship according to a fixed order ; and besides the

hour destined for prayer and smg mg ,appointed one everyday for reading the Holy Scriptures, and med itatingthereon. Inth is exerc ise they beg anwith the Epistle tot he Romans. Besides each of them set apart some partionlar ti1ne,both of the day and nig ht,inwhich he import uned the Lord, to bless himself, his brethren, thewhole church ot

'

>G od,and above all,their endeavours tolearn the lan‘

g hag e, and convert the heathen inhabitants of Greenland .

1 1785 .-Hav ing as yet no field of active labour among

”

the natives,their chief occupation,during thewinter,wasthe study of the lang uag e. The f

'

ai ther they advanced,the g reater the difiicult1es appeared espec ial ly as theynow endeavoui ed to find appropriate expressions forscriptural and relig ious ideas.

'

I bey had beenpositivelytold by g rammarians, that it would be impossible forthem to translate any thing more thanhistorical piecesbut they did not suffer themselves to be d iscourag ed,and in a few years their prog ress ex ceeded their mostsang uine ex pectations ; espec ially as the natives themselves,when l ig ht once broke in

'

upontheir minds, soonfound words' to ex press theirnewly o acquired sentiments.And they now saw that they had reason to cong ratulatethemselves ontheir judicious determination,not to speakwith their charg e on spiritual subjects lnthe beg inning ,lest their false or equivocal ex pressions mig ht g ive theme rroneous conceptions of the Christian relig ion, and filltheir minds with a strang e medley of ideas.

’

l hat they mig ht be a

b

bie to pursue their missionary

£111

labours with ‘

less interruption, the Brethren determinedg reg ation atHerrnhut for a marriedof their house keeping . This busi

ness in the meantime fell to the province of ChristianDavid,whpse ag e

’

and state of health rendered him unfit

for learning the lang uag e, or for travelling , and

besides was waiting for the first vessel to take him to

Europe,that he mig ht promote the cause to the best ofhis power at home. The other four Brethren renewedtheir voyag es along the coast,and g ained considerableknowledg e of the country and its inhabitants. As theyweremak ing preparations for one of these voyag es in

March,the only umiak they had left was borne up from

the g round by a v iolent tempest, whirled aloft some

hundred paces throug h the air, and dashed to piecesag ainst a rock. The loss was however repaired by the

k indness of M11

. Eg ede,who g ave them an old Euro

pean boat,and when they had not hands enoug h to

man it, lent them a smaller one calculated for sh0 1 t

excursions. In addition to this he g enerally madethem the companions of his own benevolent v isits

long est voyag es undertaken th is yearwere thoseof Matthew and Christian Stach ; the former went

100 miles towards the south, and the latter the same

distance towards the north, both of them 111 the com.

pany of the traders,to whom their assistance was not nuwelcome m a difficult and perilou

i

smavig ation,attendedwith cold, rain, snow, and contrary winds. F 1

0 1 several

leag ues they found nothing but ruinous houses whoseinhabitants were dead, and some sol itary dog s whichhad kept themselves al ive for the two last veers,du i ingthe g reat cold, by eating old tent-skins and shell fish.

1

TheGreenlanders at first reg arded them with contempt,concluding from the readiness withwhich they eng ag edin every kind of manual labour, that they were the

factor’

s servants. But when they understood that theirobject was not to trade with them, but to makethemacquainted with their Creator,and when ohservedtheir modest and g entle carriag e,

J

that of other Europeans,they paid them more attention.

Q PILFERING 315111111 1

on THE N‘

ATIVES. [173i

Théfi‘dhk‘

hnd fi1 ie'

ndlybehavioui“r

hf themissionaries,tem

pared with an air of earnest sei1ioush’

ess,g amed somuch

ontheir esteem and confidencefthat they eag erly soug httheir i conversation, to

‘

come into theirhouses, beg g e d them to repeat their visit, and promisedto

‘

return it themselves. This animated the Brethrentoapply

'

with the utmost assiduity to the lang uag e, andthey beg an

1 to discourse W1th the natives about sensibleobjects. They l ikewise read some of the pieces tran

‘

s

lated by Mr. Eg ede, as the decalog ue,’

the creed, andthe L

‘

ci‘

rd’s prayer, reminding them of what he had

fbr'

tfi erly teld them of the creation and redemption,eir memories what they had as usual forectif

'

ying their m isapprehensions. TheyWard in avowing their bel ief of what the}r

heard; but 1When the ei’

rperien’

ce of the heart ms

demandedy théy were completely at a Toss. A short

prayer being: ‘

r'

ead to them by Matthew Stach, the

yassured h im‘

nlandic, 1 but‘

adde

that th

inning“

, and receiving (f him that it was a'

strang e lan

g uag e,and too sublimefor their ears to comprehend.

The‘Gre

’

enlanders now commenced a more frequentihtercotitse With the Brethren, and would sometimesspend the nig ht with

“

them‘

. The motives o f" theiryisits were indeed g laring ly selfish ; they wanted eitherfood and shelter,or presents

“

of'

needles and other thing sthey even bluntly declared that if the

’

Brethren would

g ive them no more'

stockifish, they Would no long erl istento what they had to say .

‘

And during the winter,which was intensely cold, the Brethrencould not refusetheir request for provisions. They did

'

not altog etherd iscontinue their visits in summer, but they g enerallycame, after spending the nig ht infeasting and revelling ,too

_drowsy to support a eonversation, 0 1

1 intent onlyupon hearin

’

gébme news, or on beg g

'

ing'

or purlo iningwhatever

‘

r'

nig ht strike their fancy.

‘Their pilf'

eringhabits made their

’

visits not a.

l ittle troublesome to theBrethren; but the l

‘

a’

tt'

er did hot Wish to frig htenthe'

m

l ‘735 .] SELF-ENQ UIRY or 11111 11 MISSIONARIES. 3 »

away and Were content for the present that they came

at all,especially as a fewof them discovered a satisfac

tion in being present at the evening meeting s, thoug hheld m German,and made enquiries into the desig n of

them.

While the Brethren were thus anx iously waiting til lthe lig ht should dawn upon the natives, they were byno means inattentive to their own spiritual concerns.Thoug h they had enjoyed many blessing s in theirfamily worsh ip, they were sensible that they had suff

fered considerable detriment from awant of close1 brothe1 ly fellowship, each endeavouring to stand alone,and bear his own uncdmmunicated burden. To re

medy th is defect, they resolved to spend anhour everyevening in fl ee conversation on what had passed in

their m inds during the day, relative to their main oh

ject,and what obstructions and difficulties had occurredto

'

each. They would at the same time admonish and

reprove each other in love,whennecessary, and spreadtheir common wants in prayer before their Master.

That nothing mig ht remain to prevent the c losest union,they

,also allotted a period of some weeks for pri

vately ex amining themselves on the following point :Whether they were conv inced that their call was of

God, and were determined never to abandon it,whatever trials they mig ht have to endure, unti l they couldconscientiously believe, that they had ifulfilled thei 1duty as faithful servants,to the utmost possible ex tent ,

or until God d ischarg ed them from their call .”

The results of this self enquny, we1 e as follows :ChristianDav id declared, that his cal l to Greenland

extended no further than to see the foundation‘

of a

settlement, and hav ing attained this object, he intended to retu1n by the first opportuni ty. Yet he

considered himself eng ag ed to supp0 1t the mission,wherever he was, not only by his prayers, but by ac

tive ex ertions.Christian Stach had never cons1de1ed h1mself bound

to devote his whole l ife to the serv ice of the heathen.

He had rather undertaken the voyag e ,upon trial , but;

24W RESOLUTIONS or THE M ISSIONARIES.

he would remain in his present situation till God took'

h im out of it, or till he was called away by his Brethren.

The remaining three, Matthew . Stach, FredericBoehnish, and John Beck, were ready to enter into a

solemn obl ig ation, to prosecute the work for l ife 0 11

death, bel ieving where they could not see, and hopingeven ag ainst hope ; nor would they desert theirenterprise until they could appeal to God with

’

the testimony o f their consc iences, that they had doneall that man could do . They determined to indulg eno anx iety as to the means which God would make useof to g lorify h imself in th is work, but throug h the

streng th of the Lord to persevere in the prayer of faith.1

They

b

would be charg eable to no one who did not freelycontribute his share towards the salvation of the inh

dels. Among the proofs wh ich they adduced to avouch

the D iv ine orig in of their call, they particularly mentioned this, that during the prosecution of thei1 planthey had encountel ed g reatei difficulties than they had

previously ex pected .

In confi1mation of their vows, the th i ec Brethrendrew up the following resolutions :We will never forg et that we came hither, resting

ourselves upon God our Savioui , ih whom all the na

tions of the earth shal l be blessed, not onthe p1inciple

of sig ht but of faith“ The redemption Wi oug ht out fo1 us by Christ;

th1 0 11g l1 his own blood, shall be our chief doct1 ine,which

b

we will confirm by our w0 1ds and actions, asGod shal l g ive us ab ility, and by this we wi ll endeavourto bring the heathen to the obedience of faith.

We will prosecute the study of the lang uag e withassiduity,patience, and hope.

We wil l each acknowledg e and value the spiritual

g 1ace conferred upon the other, in honour p1 ete1 one

another mutually, and be subject to each othe1 in the

Lord .

“ We wil l steadfastly maintain b1 0 the1 ly disc iplineadmoniti on, and correction, according to the rule of

Christ, and will withdx aw fi om any one who swerves

DISTRESS 0 11

THE M ISS IONARIES. Q5

from the purity of the Gospel, unti l he~

shall humbleh imself before God and his Brethren.

We1

wil l do vour outward labour in the name of the

Lord, and .if any one is remiss, we wil l remind himof his duty ; yet we will not be over-anx ious for ex ter

h als, but cast our care upon‘

h im who feeds the span ,

rows, and c lothes the flowers of the field.

”

After this,ag reement, they streng thened the bonds

of their union, by a refreshing partic ipation of the

Holy Sacrament.

Our m issionaries soon found that they had need ofall the support,wh ich could be derived from a l ivelyfaith and strict mutual fellowsh ip. In the precedingyear an eminent benefactora t court had provided themwith the necessaries of life,but this time they were ena

titely forg otten.

Several articles. even, which the Brethren who came

the last year, had been oblig ed to leave “

behind for.

want of room, had not been forwarded .

The cong reg ation at H errnhut was ig norant of theirsituation,and unable to relieve them,had it been knownto them. To increase their anx iety they received no

,

letters,except fibm two friends at court.Disappo inted intheir hopes of a supply,they werenow

invo lved in the deepest distress. The amount of their

provisions for the year consisted of a-barrel and a halfof oatmeal, most of

‘

which they bartered at the colony~for malt half a barrel of pease, and a small quantity'

of sh ip biscu its. Out of this pittance they were to sup

ply ChristianDav id for his voyag e to Copenhag en, as

the captain said he could not board him, thoug h after

wards he allowed him to mess with the sailors. The

m issionaries at Godhaab compassionated their distress,but were not in a situation for rendering them

“

much

assistance, the m issionary Bing and his famdy havingd ecently removed thither from -haab, on ace

count of the scarcity of provisions. To complete their”

m isfortunes, the season w as ex tremely unfavourablef or

‘

hunting“

and fishing , in wh ich they had hithertomet 5with tolerable success. The onlv resource left

Q6 DISTRESS or1

11

111: MISSIONARIES.

was to buy seals of the Greenlanders, as they them

selves could not catch those animals. But when the

savag es perceived their necessitous condition, theynot only raised the price of their wares, but

most of them, espec ial ly such as had rec eived the

g reatest benefits from the Brethren, would sel l themnothing on any terms. Often, after rowing from one

place to another, for two or three days, thei r utmostentreaties c ould scarcely procure half a seal, and whenthat was consumed, they were f orced to satisfy their

hung er by shel l-fish and sea-weed.

At leng th God disposed a strang er of the name of

Ippeg au to come th irty leag ues from the south to them,

who offered to sell them reg ularly all the provisionswhich he could spare. This Greenlander had acc identally met with them in the summer,when they hadlost their way, in one of their voyag es, among st theislands. He had ou

'

that occasion treated them with

g reat k indness, and appeared to be struck with theirmanners and conversation. They had forg otten the

c ircumstance,whenhe thus prov identially v isited them

,towards the end of the year, and proffered them hisfriendship and assistance. The Brethren now inuredthemselves to eating

1

seals’ flesh, and prepared theirscanty stock of oatmealwith the train-oil,wh ich, revolting as it is to an European stomach, was a luxuryin comparison of the old tallow-candles they had before been oblig ed to use for the purpose.

The urg ency of their wants increased the perils oftheir to ilsome life, as they were frequently constrainedby the crav ing s of appetite to venture out upon the

foaming billows inanold weather-beatenbulk for manymiles along the shore. Once, when they had nearlyreached the land on their return homewards, they weredriven back four or five m i les by a sudden squall, and

after being completely drenched by the breakers,wereoblig ed to spend four nig hts upon a rocky islandex posed in their wet clothes to the cold. Another

time, , being exhausted with plying at the oar, theyhalted for the

fi

nig ht at an uninhabited spot,where for

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98 DISTRESS 0 1-1

THE MISSIONARIESJ [1736 .

On one such occasion the Brethrenwitnessed the con

sumption of eleven seals,yet the most‘earnest entreatiescould not move the d isg usting revellers to part with a

sing le morsel .As long as they could procure a supply of seals

’ flesh,they retained their streng th pretty well . But In spring ,whenth is resource beg an to fai l, vig our could be nolong er supported by a precarious diet on shel l fish and

sea-weed. They according ly became so weak as to bequite unable to manag e their boat.Sometimes in serene weather they ventured out in a

kajak to ang le for fish. But they soon dropped thishazardous employment, as owing to a sudden g ust of

wind and the consequent surf, one of them was exposedto the most imminent dang er, from wh ich he was withd ifficulty saved by the timely assistance of two G1 een

landers,who towed him on shore between their kajaks.Meanwh ile God cared for their necessities. Among

‘

the rest the boatmen found a dead wh ite whale, and

shared it with the Brethren. On another occasion,after they had eatennothing but shell-fish for five days,a Greenlander left them a porpoise takenfrom the bellyof its dam,which was enoug h fol a meal . Once, after

an unsuccessful chase, they were forced by a contraryw ind upona desolate island, and oblig ed to lodg e thereall nig ht. Here they espied an eag le sitting

)

on the

nest, and shot it. After some trouble they g ot at thenest, and in it found four larg e eg g s besides the bird swhich weig hed twelve pounds. It also suppliedwith a quantity of quills, an article of whichwere much in want. In all their ex ternal distrthe ex amples of Elijah and E lisha afl

'

orded

most emphatical consolation.

Nor was their confidence put to shame. A sho1 t

after the above-mentioned inc ident,asloop fi om Ho

bi oug ht them a cask of prov isions,with a letter frfriend inAmsterdam. 0 11 this occasion theyfollows We had just thenreturned from a

but unsuccessful ex cursion, and

more struck with the g rac iousvidence ofGod. Hearing that our

ARRIVAL or THREE "Snips .

dam requested some account of our c ircumstances, andalso that we would acknowledg e the receipt of the“

cask,which'

they had,sent to try if they could serve us

by ”

th is channel,we Were very desirous of v isiting thesh ip. The princ ipal obstacle was the leaky conditionbf pur boat,which seemed unfit to carry us throug h the

prodig ious surg e that rolls from the ocean into thebays, 0 11 to make its way among innumerable islandsand sunken rocks. But the encourag ement we had

just received animated us ex ceeding ly,and onMay 2otb

we set off on our voyag e. On the QQd we arrived at

the ship, and after having spent a day with thecaptain,and g iven him the desired certificate,

‘

set off on the

24th on our return. On the way back we boug ht someseals’-fl esh, and arrived safely at our habitation [ on

the 27th, heartily tired with plying the oar. The

ang el of the Lord had g uarded our lonely dwell ing inour

“

absence, for we'

found that some plunderers hadattempted to force the door, but had done no damag e.

”

Mr. Lelong ,well known as an author, was the per

sonwho had ex ecuted the benevolent desig n of trans

m itting some stores by the Dutch ships to the BrethreninG reenland. The same g entleman also solic ited theaid of h is friends to supply their wants for the nex ty ear. By the returnof the ship the Brethren sig nified

their g ratitude for his benevolent intentions, and alsotheir request to be provided wi th a g ood boat,amost”

necessary artic le for their subsistence.

They now ardently looked forward to the arrival of theships,and at leng th three came,the first of which ran intothe

'

harbour June 13 th . By this they received neither“letters nor prov isions. The c aptain, an honest, piousman,expressed compassionat their need,but coul d onlyafford them a little salt,being ordered to proceed to thenorthern colony,wh ither he took Mr. Eg ede, as mis

s ionary . The last ship arrived 7th of July, but con

tained only “

a very scanty supply of prov isions, thoug hit broug ht an increase to their family of four persons.

”

However they were considerably revived by the receiptmf many letters, and a new reinforcement of auxiliaries .

30 MR. EGEDE RETURNS 7110 DENMARK. [1786.

These were,Matthew Stach’

s mother,a widow forty

years of ag e, and her two unmarried daug hte1 s,Rosinaand Anna, the former twenty-two, the latter twelve

years old. They were sent ch iefly to take the manag ement of the housekeeping . Georg e Wiesner accompanied them as conductor, and it was left at his option

either to stay inGreenland or to 11

.eturn He went back

the year“

after.

The venerable Mr. Eg ede returned “

to Denmark

with th is ship. So much has been already related of

th is wonderful man, whom God used as h is sig nal instrument in beg inning the Greenland m ission, that nothing remains but to mention the reasons of his depar

ture, and the ensu ing incidents of his l ife. He came

to Greenland with the determmat ion to sacrifice his allto the service of the heathen, and it is manifest howimmoveably he adhered to it. He remained in the

country throug hout a g eneral defection, when nobodywas left but h imself, his family, and a few sailors, without any assurance of future support Seeing howeverthat a long er continuance at his post,for reasons abovementioned, could answer no g ood end, he now panted

with an ardent desire to visit his native country . His

ch ildrenwere g rowing up,and he could not g i ve them a

suitable education in Greenland. Besides, he himselfwas very sickly,and much enfeebled by the cares,to ils,and vex ations he had suffered, so that he could no

long er d ischarg e his office with alacrity, but had forsome time waited for assistance adequate to its incumb 1ances. Therefore, when in the year 1784 onlythree m issionaries were sent, whom he thoug ht insuffi

c ient for so ex tensive a field, he determined to sue'for

his dismission and g o to Copenhag en, that he mig htrepresent the state of the missions at the fountain head,and procure a competent reinforcement for its successful

prosecution. In the year 1735 he received his dis

charg e ln the most g racious te1ms, but as he could notresolve to take his wife,who had meanwhile fal len dan

g erously ill, across the ocean, he staid another year111 the count1y It pleased God to take her to a

1736 } MR. EGEDE RETURNS 1

11

0 DENMARK. 3 1

blessed eternity on the 2151; of December. Mr. Eg ededrew her character in the following terms. The

h ig hest paneg yric with which I can c‘

rown her name

short of what her piety and Christian v irtuesdeserve. I will not ex patiate on her irreproachableconduct indomestic life, nor on her peculiar qualifications as a wife and as a mother. Suffice it to men

tionhow eag erly she submitted to my will, as s oon as

she g ot an insig ht into the resolution I had formedto forsake my nativecountry and repair

‘

to Greenland,that I mig ht instruct its ig norant inhabitants in thedoctrines of Christianity. For thoug h friends and relat ions vehemently importuned her, for her own sake,for m ine, and for that of our tender offspring , to withstand this apparently so frantic project yet out of loveto God and me, she joined heart and hand with me inmy hazardous enterprise ; and, l ike a faithful Sarah,accompanied her husband,not to some Canaan, butto a strang e and uncultivated heathen land . And it is

well known to many, with what exemplary fortitudeshe bore her part of the labours and adversities wehad to endure ; nay, how often she cheered my mindwhen oppressed

“

by reiterated obstacles and repulses.

So far Mr. Eg ede. We have had occasion several timesto make m ention of this mag

‘

nanimous woman,whomwe may properly cal l a Christian heroine ; and have

only to add that the m issionaries never spoke of her

but with the g reatest respect, as she treated them in

all respects l ike her own children. Mr. Eg ede’s g rief

for her loss g radually wasted h is v ig our, both of bodyand mind, till at last he was visited with a painf ul attack of scurvy. This lasted till the vessel came, in

which he was to be carried from Greenland,afterhav ing laboured with ardour, thoug h seeming ly without fruit, for fifteen years. He preached his farewellsermon on Isaiah xlix. 44. I said, I have laboured in

vain, I have spent my streng th for noug ht and in

vai‘

n ; yet surely my judg ement is with the Lord,and my work with my God.

”After the sermon he

" baptized a l ittle Greenland boy, which was the fi rst

SQ MR. EGEDE ARRIVE S IN DENMARK . 0 786.

baptism ‘ the Brethren had witnessed in Greenland.

His parting interview with them was affecting . Theybeg g ed him to forg ive all fail ing s on their part, and

he assured them of his love, which would make‘

it a

pleasure to him to further their concerns as zealouslyin Copenhag en, as he had done inGreenland he im»

plored the d ivine blessing on their official endeavours,and ex pressed a l ively hope, that God would bring theaffairs inGreenland,which he now left in heaviness,toa g lorious issue. Aug ust 9th he sailed with his

young est son and two daug hters. The Brethren sent

Christian Stach w ith him as their deputy to Herrn

hut, to g ive a verbal statement of their internal and

ex ternal c ircumstances,and also of their labours amongthe heathen, because hitherto their letters could notbe properly conveyed. They arrived . ih Copenhag enSeptember Q l th. M 1

1

. Eg ede had taken the remainsof his wife with h im, and they were interred in

St.fi

Nicholas’s church-yard. Soon after he had the

honour of an interview with the King , and on that

occasion made known his sentiments concerning the

most effectual means of prosecuting the mission. to

advantag e. He was afterwards made superintendentof the m ission in Greenland, with a salary of 1001.

per annum, and was ordered to found a seminary of

students and orphans, whom he should teach the

Greenland tong ue, and from whom the m issionariesand catechists were to be chosen. He spent his lastdays in retirement with his daug hter 0 11 the island of

Falster, and there he closed a useful and honourablelife, in the 73d year of his ag e.

As the family of m issionaries now consisted of seven

persons; they made a new arrang ement as to t heirdomestic

/economy and their several employments. As

Matthew Stach’

s two sisters, besides doing their share

of housekeeping , were appo inted assistants in servingthe G reenland women with the g ospel, that brotherinstructed them in the lang uag e with ‘

assiduity. In

this study they both,and especially the young est,madean unex pected profic iency .

MOCKERY or THE BRETHREN. 33

Much could not be effected this year in their laboursamong the heathen; Few of the natives v isited them,b eing stil l unconcerned about spiritual thing s, and

tempo ral advantag es'

they could not ex pect to reap.

Only in the spring some poor starved objects foundtheir way to them, to whom they g ladly g ave some

victuals when they had any .

Neither had they any opportunity for distant v isits,but were oblig ed to content themselves with a few

excursions i n the neig hbourhood. They found few’

open ears, and stilll

fewer'

des irous hearts. For the

Greenlanders sometimes had no t time to l isten on ac

count of their bus iness or a danc ing -match, at other

times, they would hear nothing but news, and toldthe Brethren that they had heard enoug h already of

spiritual thing s from abler instructors . At the same

time they were not only volatile and trifl ing under

instruction, but in case the Brethren stopped more

than one nig ht in their houses, used all possible meansto entice them to conformity with their dissolute praetices. And as these did not succeed, bnt the Brethrenmaintained their serious deportment, they endeavoured

to tire them out by mocking their'

reading , sing ing ,and praying , with all k inds of ridiculous mimickry,0 1

1 by accompanying their devotional ex erc ises withdrums. They also took occasion from their outwar

’

d

poverty to ridicule them with all"

manner of cuttingsarcasms,which the Brethren had by th is time learnedto understand . And if the latter repl ied, that theydid not stay in Greenland for the sake of outward

advantag es, g ood eating 0 11 drink ing , they retorted

with a jeer,Illio se Ajokarsaromarpisig ut l Fine fellowsindeed to be our teachers ! We know very wel l that

you yourselves are ig norant, and have learned youresson of others.

The Brethren bore these rude mockeries with equanimity. But when the savag es perceived that they couldeffect noth ing in this way, they beg an to insult andabuse the

'

person'

s of the m issionaries. They peltedthem with stones for sport, took their thing s and shatVOL . 11. D

344 A NEW CONVERT . 1786.

tered them to pieces, and tried to spoil their boat, ordrive it out to sea. One nig ht the Brethren heard a

noise on the outside of their tent, and perceived that

some one was pulling its curtains, wh ich were fastenedw ith pins. Upon g oino

fout to investig ate the cause of

the uproar, they beheld a company of Greenlanderscol lected about the tent, some of whom had naked

knives in their hands, and could not be driven off ti llthreatened with fire-arms. The Brethren supposed at

that time,that“

they came only to cut their tent-sk ins to .

pieces but some years after,whena number of Greenlanders 1in these pa1 ts Were converted, they were

1nfo1med that a conspiracy had been set on foot ag ainsttheir l ives, inhopes that the other Europeans would notreveng e the death of such poor despised people.

Meanwhile the’

Brethren did not rel inquish theirhopes,and rejoiced if but one of the natives l istenedwith pleasure to the doctrine of reconc iliation, espe

cially if he came of his own accord to hear. This yearafforded the fi 1st instance of the latter case ina quitestrang e and heathen man. We shall quote their ownwords May 4 th,we went to the Sound to pierceeat fish with a prong , and pitched our tent near four

G i eenland dwel ling s. But the inhabitants soon de

c amped and fl ed further, not relish ing our company.

Wh ile we were fish ing , on the 7th, a perfectly strang e

heathen,who arrived this spring from a place 50 leag uesdistant ln the south, came to us, and desi1ed to see our

thing s. We showed him what we had, supposing thathe wished to bar ster some Greenland food for our iron;ware. But after l emaining quite silent for some time;he at last said that he had beenwith the pellesse,(theirway of pronounc ing praetz, or m inister,) who had

told him wonderful thing s of One,who was said to havecreated heaven and earth, and was called God. Didwe know any thing about it ? If we did,we should tellhim something more, as he had forg otten a g ood deal .This d iscourse made a deep 1mpression upon us . We

told him of the c1eation of man, and the intention of 1t

of the fal l,and consequent corrupti on of the human

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36 INTELLIGENCE or FRESH succouns. [It/37 .

g ated last year to Germany, returned wi th this vessel.

On his o'

utward voyag e in company of M r. Eg ede, he

had encountered four terrible storms the last of these,attended with a thick mist, was the most violentthoug h it continued only for an hour, it almost oversetthe ship, and dashed inpieces thirty vessels onthe coasto f Norway. After informing the BrethrenatH errnhut

o f the state of the mission, and recommending it totheir prayers and support, he proceeded to Eng land toconfer with Count Zinzendorf,who was theninLondon?The latter, with his col leag ues in office, endeavoured toanimate his hopes by c iting the cheering ex ample of them ission in St. Thomas,which already beg an to flourish,and g ave h im several useful hints for the g eneral cond uc t of the missionaries, thoug h they could not adv isethem how to act in particular c ircumstances. Withreg ard to the outward support of t he Brethren in

G reenland, they promised to do every thing in theirpower, and took the necessary measures without delay.

ChristianMarg raf having offered h imself for the ser

v ice ,of the heathen inGreenland,was ordained for hisofiice inHolland by Bishop David Nitschmann. From

Amsterdam the two missionaries . travelled to Copenhag en, and hav ing received the royal permission inveryk ind terms, set sail for Greenland. After many difficulties they arrived on the coast,and ran into a harbourthree leag ues distant from the colony. Here a storin

blowing from the south drove the vessel on a 11

ock,.

.whence however it was happily g ot off w ithout damag e,after continuing for 12 hours in so perilous a situation,rthat the keel was d iscernible at low water. The nex t

day they were received with joy and thankfulness bytheir Brethren.

They broug ht the welcome intellig ence, that the

friends of the mission inHolland had promised to send “

a new boat by the whalers. They were to receive it at‘

the outermost islands, where they according ly waitedfor several days tog ether,at two different times,but invain. Their old boat, wh ich had been g iven them,

when the owners were afraid to use it any long er, had

MORE MISFORTUNE S .

now g rown so leaky,that the very sig ht of it made them

shudder. In spite of continual repairs it was so rotten,that theycould run their knives throug h it. Alarm ingapprehensions arose intheirm inds for the safety of bothship and boat,and these fears were by no means g roundless. The season was unusually cold, spirits froze inrooms with fires in them, and the bi eath cong ealed ontheir faces even inMay . There were frequent stormson the coast, in one of wh ich the captain,who broug htthem the cask of prov isions the last year, lost hisship. The crew saved themselves in two boats, butwere oblig ed to cru ize upwards of 1100 miles,beforethey could meet with a Dutch vessel .The boatmenof the colony, too, had their share of

mi sfm tunes Being intercepted and carried away by asudden tempest, before they could retreat to a place of

safety, the Brethren’

went to seek them,and after three

days’ quest,found them almost dead with cold and hun

g er. A still more dreadful casualty befel them towardsthe end of the year. Ontheir return from a ti ading voyag e, a heavy hurricane caug ht them, when with ineig ht miles of their home, and drove them into the

ice, by wh ich —they we1e impounded for four days,tossed and whirled round the whole time, between l ifeand death, by the mountainous waves. They at leng thex tricated themselves and g ained the sho i e, but it was

twenty leag ues from their destination. No soonei had

they all landed, than the wind tore away the two boatsand drove them out to sea. Happily for them, theyfound a G1 eenlander, who hospitably ente1tained them

for several days, and conveyed them half way home bywater.

.They were oblig ed to pi osecute the remainderof the1r Journey on foo t 1n the bitter cold, over a roug h

and h illy country After two day ’

s march, they fel l inwith a party of savag es,who offered themselves as g uidesfor the rest of the 1

. .vayWhile the ex ternal c ircumstances of the Brethren

wore so ominous an aspect, they met with no buds of

prom ise -ih their labours of love among their heathencharg e, to cheer and inv ig orate their spirits. Five

38 0 3 511

11111011 or THE NATIVES. [1737 .

long years of continued toil and hardship had passedaway

1 without any appearance of success ; and it had

already come» to their knowledg e, that their unpro

ductive labours were a subject of ridicule to many persons in their native country. Can it be thoug ht

strang e, if, under these discourag ements, they felt adeg ree of concern, lest their friends and patrons shouldwithdraw their support, and decl ine any further riskanundertak ing loaded with miscons tructions One who

knew the Pag annations, and was: acquainted with thealmost

~

total failure of all antecedent attempts at theirconversion,a fai lurewh ich confirmed many inthe opinion,that nothing less than,m iracles would Win their belief,would find less matter of wonder in the past unfru itfulness of these nov ices in the work, than ih -the unblench

ing perseverance,which they opposed to distress, difficulties, and impediments of every kind, never for a mob1nent quitting hold of the hope of u ltimate success.

The present prospect was indeed dreary and comfortless. The Greenlanders,who came from a distance,were

ig norant and s tupid, and the l ittle they could hear in a

shortvisit,was sooneffaced hy the hurry ofamig ratory life.

In,those,who resided at Baal ’s,river, the only chang e

that could be perceived was for the worse they weret ired and disg usted, and hardened. ag ainst the truth .

They resolved to lend their hearing no long er, ex cept

for a bribe To any k ind of news, they indeed listened:with delig ht, and could bear to hear interesting Scripture narratives, and accounts of m iracles, but as soon

as the m issionaries beg an to discoure on the nature and

attributes of God, the fall and corruption of the soul,God

’

s wrath ag ainst sm, the necessity of an atone

ment, faith and g race, the'

sanctification of the disor

dered creature, and eternal happiness or misery ; they

g rew sleepy, answered every question with ay es,and

s lunk away one by one. Or else they showed open

1 A certainwriter applied to the missionaries the line of the

satirist“ Nos numcrus sumus, et frug es consumers nati

a. cutting taunt to men less firm in tli ei11,:p1

1 inciples, but in this

instance i t was soon wiped oti .

17352] coum r l ou or1

11

111: s irVAGE s . 89

marks of displeasure, and beg an to talk of seal-catch“ing ; or they pleaded their incapac ity of understandingthe truthsproposed. Shew us the God you describe,they said; t henwe will bel ieve on him and obey 11

'

You represent h im as too h ig h and incomprehensiblehow shall we arrrive at him P or how can he troubleh imself about us ? We have invoked li 1m,when faintand bung ey, and were not heard . What you say of

him, cannot be true ; or, if you know him better than

we, pray for us, and procure for us1

a suffic iency offood, a samnd body, and a dry house ; that is all

[

we

want. Our sou l is healthy already ; you are of‘

a different race from us : people in your

‘

country may have

d iseased souls and from the instances we see of them,

we can believe,that for them akphysician ofsouls may 'be

necessary. Your heaven andyour spiritual joys and fel l-1

c ities may be g ood enoug h for you, but they would betoo tedious for us. We must have seals, fishes, and

birds. Our souls can no more subsist without themthan our bodies ; we shall not find the se in your parad ise, wh ich we wil l therefore leave to you and the

worthless partk

of our countrymen ; but as for us, we

will g o down1

to Torng arsuk,— there we shal l find a

superfiuity of all th ing s, [ and enjoy them w ithouttrouble.

”

By such arg uments did they endeavour toward ofl'

every thing ,that,was calculated ta _make an impressionon their hearts, not sparing , unless they Were checked,the most sacred mysteries of relig ion in mockery tooprofane to be repeated ; for the most stupid Green

lander can m isuse his understanding , as well as hissuperiors in intellect.As the Brethren found theircompany still shunned

by the natives, they were necessitated to seek for them

among the islands in their leaky old boat. The partieulers of one such voyag e wi ll be suffic ient to g ive an

idea of the condition of the poor, savag es at thattime.

The - Brethren set out inNovember, purposing to

Visit Kang ek, but were driven by contrary winds to theD 41

40 Pnocsnmns s‘

or MKTTHEW STACH . [1737 .

southern islands, where they met with many Green

landers of their acquaintance as wel l as strang ers ;ambng the rest lppeg aw, who two years ag o had beenthe providential means of preserving their l ives, and

had since then been in the south . They were k indlyreceived by these people, and thoug h, before two dayshad elapsed, they were g ivento understand that theirreturn would be ag reeable, they prevailed on them to

permit one of the missionaries to make a short stayamong st them,for the sake of improv ing h imself intheirlang uag e. Matthew Stach lived a month with them,andg ave the following account of his proceeding s to his

brethren.

My hosts are extremely“

chang eable in their con,

duct, sometimes”

friendly, sometimes morose. At‘

first

I conversed much with them, and occasionally read

them a passag e from the New Testament ; but nowtheir desire of hearing 18 g one, I have told them the

reason,why the Son of God was“

oblig ed to\

die but

they only desire me to g o out with them, and call uponGod ’

s Son to g ive them seals,because they are inwant.1 “ All I say to them of d ivine thing s is made matter of

ch it-chat and laug hter. On the cont11

ary,.

they extoltheir ang ekoks,who canvanish out of sig ht, g lide alongan inv isible rope to heaven and hell, and rescue the

incarcerated seals from the infernal demon. When Ipoint out the absurdity of these tales, they ang rily bidme hold my peace, and turn their backs uponme. At

other times, they will tel l me,they bel ieve all I say,and would have me to stay long er with them and learntheir lang uag e, that I may tell them more. But these

fits of g ood-will are very transient. On one occasion.

they danced two whole nig hts successively: I bel ievethere were one hundred and fifty people assembledtog ether in the house ; some of them tried every thingto vex me, and they drummed and bellowed so horriblyduring the d anc ing , that my ears ached. The nextday it rained v iolently ; then they beg g ed me to pray tothe Son of God,because he was Almig hty, to send

them g ood weather, that the rainmig ht not penetratethroug h the roof. I told them there was no necessity

l 78’

7.j PROCEEDINGS OF MATTHEW STACH . 411

to pray for. that, as they mig ht prevent the inconvenience by. spreading their tent-sk ins upon the roof ;th ould ratherpray to God, to be g racious to r their

so They scouted my adv ice, and said they under

stood nothing about it, nor did‘

they need it ; thoug h

for,myself, perhaps, it mig ht be very g ood . And -in

g eneral they speak contemptuously and spitefully of all.

that they have heard and professed for so many years tobel ieve. They frequently ask questions, which sound

very fool ish, and yet involve sarcasms on. Christian;truths. My soul is often in a flame,when they mock

my God.

'

However, the children all love me and.

run after me ; sometimes I call them tog ether, speak

with them, and ask them questions. They l isten withpleasure, but / it is difficult tokeep up their attentionand as soonas some new object catches their eye, awaythey run after

’

it.

As I was one day reading to a Greenlander,there occurred the words We should des

'

se earthlything s he immediately said Snog ,Why so ?

,I

formed him, that God had created mank ind not onlyfor th is earthly

r

life, but for an everlasting state'

of

existence, and that it was the unhappy effect of the

Fall,“

that men concerned themselves solely'

for the« body, careless of the imperishable soul, and . of that

doom wh ich awaits them,when Christ shall come to

judg e the world, and shal l conduct those,who be

lieve, to heaven, but shall consig n the’

wicked and un

bel ieving to fire unquenchable. The Greenlander re

pl ied : If, the Son of God be such a terrible Being ,I do not wish to g o to heaven.

’

I asked him; if hewould g o to hell-fire ? He answered, No ; he wouldnot g o thither either, but would stay here upon earth.

When I represented. to him, that no man can stay forever upon earth, but all must die and remove 1

to a

g ood or a bad place, he mused a while and then said,he did not know that, nor did

"

he l ike to hear anymore about it ; he must g o a fishing ; his wife had noprovisions ; and he had no ears for such incompreg

'

«hensmle th1ng s.”

nrsronr or MAItGEK . [1737 .

Se little effect Was produced on the Greenlandersby dwelling

‘

onthe divine attributes, eternal happinessor misery, and the Christian duties. Something elsewas requisite, something ,wh ich must be g iven fromabove,and received in true simpl ic ity and lowliness.

1738 .—Thoug h none of the seed as yet sownhad

sprung up in the hearts of the heathen, the Brethrenbeg an the

“ year 1788 with a renewed determinat ion ta

persevere. They seemed to have a presentiment, hownear was the help from Zion, and that in this yearthe Lord would burst the chains,wh ich held the poor

Greenlanders in bondag e to Satan.

Many hung ry v isitors as usual applied for assistance.

In these they took particular pains to discover some

traces of g rief for sins committed, but so dead were .

their consciences, that even thieves, to whom they ex :

plained at larg e the enorm ity of their crime,were pre’

sently caug ht in all sorts of theft. Among the ir 11

famished g uests was a young Greenlander, cal ledMang ek,who offered to come and - l ive With them;

'

if

they would mamtain him, prom l smg at‘

the same timeto g ive them all the seals h e caug ht. Thoug h it wasnot probable,that he would prolong his stay after the '

fam ine ceased, they took him in, as an instrumentsent from above, to teach them the lang uag e morefundamentally. Daily instruction was g iven h1m, 1

and particular attention paid to the state of his heart.

At first they perceived no difference between him andhis former companions, but by and by observed fromhis deportment, that someth ing was g oing forwardsln h is heart, wh ich led the others to persecute

him'

; who, after finding all allurements vain, endeaa l

v‘

oured to bring about his dismissal from the Brethren,by charg ing him with hav ing purloined several articles."

But after strict ex amination, they were forced to own,

that they had invented their accusation. By deg reessome emotions were perceived inhis heart,and it was

noticed that,especially during prayers, tears frequentlystarted from his eyes.

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44. CONVERSION or THE NATIVE S. [1788.

deem him by suffering and dying . And now, saidBrother Beck,we must believe inHim,if we wish to besaved . The Holy Spirit then prompted this brotherto g ive them an energ etic description of

'

the ag oni’

es'

of Jesus. He ex horted them to consider seriously,how much it had cost our Saviour to purchase theirredemption, how he had been wounded, suffered inex

pressible ang u ish, sweat blood, and died a cruel deathfor their sakes, and how awful would be their respon

sibility, should they reject his o ffers of g race. He\

afterwards read to them from the New Testament thenarrative of Christ’s suffering s on the Mount of Olives.

Then the Lord opened the heart of one of them, calledKajarnak, who stepped up to the table and said with a

loud, earnest, and affecting voice : How was that ?

Tell me that once more, for I would fain be saved too.

’

These words,’says the m issionary, the l ike of which

I had never heard from a Greenlander before, thri lledthroug h my frame, and melted my heart to such a

d eg ree,that the tears ran downmy cheeks,while I g avethe Greenlanders a g eneral account of our Saviour’sl ife and death, and of the whole counsel of God con

cerning our Salvation.

’ 'Meanwh ile the other brethrenreturned from their several employments, and beg anto ex plain the doctrines of the Gospel to the heathen,still more at larg e. Some of them laid their handsupon their mouths, as IS their custom,when struck

with surprise. Some who had no relish for the sub

ject, sneaked off ; but others desired, that we shouldteach them also to pray ; and when, we did so, they lrepeated our expressions over and over,in order not to”,forg et them. In short, there was such an ag itation:among them as we had never seen before. At

tak ing leave, they promised to repeat their v isit ina short time, and hear of this matter ag ain, and

that tlrey,\would also tell t heir acquaintance of it.

A short time after, some of them visited v s

'

ag ain,_and staid all nig ht. Kajarnak still recollected a g reat;

portion of what had been told him, and could rec ite

rWSSJ convnnsrou or THE NATIVES . 4111 .

‘

some of the prayers. He said, he wo uld now g o to

. h is tent, and tell his family, espec ially his l ittle son'

,

these wonderful th ing sOn the 15th of June,a g reatnumber of the natives

v isited us ag ain. Most of them were deaf to the Gos

pel. But i t became more and more apparent, that di

v ine truth had made an indelible impression on the

heart of He is continual ly repeating eithera short or a te x t, that he has heard from

us, and is ‘

n’

ow come entirely to l ive with us. Whenwe speak to him, the tears frequently , rol l down hischeeks. His peculiar intellig ence is surprising , whencompared with the supineness and stupidity of the other

Greenlanders, who can scarcely comprehend, what is

daily repeated to them. But this man scarcely hearsa truth before he understands it, so as to retain it inhis memory and heart. He is also ex ceeding ly affec

tionate, and shows a c onstant desire to be insti ncted,catch ing every word with an eag erness,which we havenever obsel ved in a Greenlander before. H is fam i ly,or tent companions,were the first, who were benefited

by the conversationof Kajarnak, but before amonthhad elapsed,three larg e families of South Greenlanderscame and pitched their tents near the mission-house.

They came to hear the joyf ul news of their redemptionand when the B1eth 1en could not find su itable ex p1 es

s ions, the new convei t helped them from the i ulness of

his heart. All were afl ected, and several even of those,who had at first opposed, declared that they wouldnowbel ieve and stay during the winter with Kajarnak .

But few of them kept their w .ord Most of them soon

after took their leave with tears to sha1e in the 1 ein

deer hunt, promising to 1 etu1n towa1ds winter Ka

jarnak declined accompanying them, lest his soul shouldsuffer harm which, alas ! was the case with his companions.

'

1 hey indeed returned,but the heathenish prac

tices, inwhich they had eng ag ed, had oblite1ated theirrelig ious impressions , and after some time they left theBrethrenentirely. By their departme Kajarnak, l av

46 A SCHOOL BEGUN. [1738.

ing no tent of his own,was broug ht into g reat straits.The Brethren offered him a pa1 t of their own dwelling ,thoug h it was very small . But he only requested a

couple of sk ins for a tent, al ledg ing , that th is was theth ird time his friends had forsakenhim,and takenwiththem the woman

’s boat and tent, because he would no t

follow their ways. From th is dec laration it mig ht beg athered, that even before the arrival of the Brethren

"

the Holy Spirit had beenpreparing his heart for the re

ception of the Gospel.The Brethrenwere always concerned,lest his friends

should entice him away. They took every opportunityto ex ag g erate the difficulties of his new way of life,and the bondag e he would suife 1, in comparison to

their wild, unbounded freedom at the same time: 1doing their utmost tomake the m issionaries contempti

'

1)

ble, and thei1 doctrines and fi iendship suspic ious”But as Kajai nak difiéred very much from his country timen in point of since1 ity, ing enuously disclosed to !

Brethren the bad reports propag ated concerning r1

them among st the heathen, and always conferred withthem about h is intentions, they could satisfy theirm inds, that He who had beg un a g ood work in him,would certainly accomplish it.In the beg inning of Octobe i ,when the frost sets

‘

slin, and the Greenlanders f0 1 sake their tents, abouttwenty persons were lodg ed in two houses, one

of which was afterwards desal ted. The Brethrentherefore beg an to devote an hour evel y mo1mug and

evening to pray er, and catechization. On Sunday, a

passag e fi om the Bible was read and ex plained,anfive persons, who were reg ai ded the most suitablecandidates for baptism, received spec ial instruction,previous to their partaking of that sac 1ament. A school

also was beg un, wh ich at st was a source of much toiland vex ation, on account of the excessively volati led isposition of the Greenland ch ildren. However,after much labom,

‘

some of them learnt to read a

l ittle.

WANT or rNs'

rnuc'rons. 47

When the Greenlanders l aboured under d isease, theBrethrenw ere thEiP OI fly physicians, and the Lord

blessed the medicines wh ich they administered, in a

variety of cases.

Two invalids wished to have a form of prayer, adapted to their circumstances. Their request was indulg ed,but they were informed, at the same time, that theym ig ht always spread their wants before our Sav iour, in

their ownwords, with confident simplic ity .

This delig htful beg inning of a w0 1 k of God, was

speedi ly interrupted, by an occasion f0 1 admonitionand reproof. On the return of the sun, at the win

ter solstice in December, the awakened Greenlanders were inv ited to a dance in the neig hbourhood,and thoug h warned by the missionaries, most of them

repaired thithe1 privately. The nex t day they wereminded how the people of God had been chastised forsuch carnal merriment, in wh ich they put themselveson a level with the heathen. The g reater numberwere ashamed of their conduct, yet the Brethrenheard with pain, how some attempted to vindicatethemselves by alledg ing , that they had g one out of

complaisance to their friends.

The Brethren, finding that four persons were not

adequate to the task of instructing and caring forthe Greenlanders,were oblig ed to apply for two more

assistants, and as they were very much cramped in

their present dwelling , also requested, that, if possible,they m ig ht be provided with a new house, containing one larg e room, and two lesser ones adjommg it.Their wish could not, however, be g ratified, till fouryears after.

”

The appropriate promise contained in the text appointed for the day, on wh ich Kajarnak

’

s awakeningtook place,is remarkable. It was the following .

They shal l not laboni in vain, nor bring forth

for trouble for they are the seed of the blessed of the

Lord,and their offspring with them . Isaiah, lx v. 98 .

1789.—'

1 he awakening , which had commenced in

448 PROGRESS or THE NATIVES. [1789.

the preceding year, continued to g ain streng th 1n this.Several inc idents,by no means ag reeable,were se1 v1ceable ln bring ing the natives to hear the truth, and in

preparing their hearts to embrace it. In the very beg inning of the year, the cold was so rig omus, and there

was so much we in the v1c1nity of the colony, that theo rd inary hunting ex peditions were entirely suspended,and many Greenlanders were frozen to death forwant oftrain to supply their lamps, or .perished yet more

m iserably by hung er.“ This distress urg ed them to seek

refug e among st the Europeans. Some were oblig edto walk for many leag ues o ver the ice with their kajakson their heads, before they came to the water. Theye arnestly ent1eated the colonists to g rant them a dwel ling

-place, and to fetch their wives and c hildren, whos tood waiting on the ice, many m iles distant. The

Brethren set out 1mmediately 0 11 this cha1 itable service,a ccompanied by another boat from the colony, but theice prevented their landing on the 1sland, and theywere forced to leave the poor W1 etches a whole week intheir m isery, till more favourable weather perm ittedthem to be broug ht offi They had lain ten days on

the snow, and had barely kept up l ife by eating old

sk ins, shoe-leather,and sea weed. A Greenlander hadin the mean time succeeded m a hazardous attempt tob1mg his wife and childien to t he colony lntwo kajaksb e with his eldest child tied to his back m one kajak,towing along the other wh ich contained his wife and

y oung est child .

The Brethren had now their two Greenland housesc ompletely crowded with these people. They em

braced the opportunity to address themselves to theirhea1 ts, and the attention perceived 1n several showed,that these exhortations were not altog ethe1 withouteffect. How long ,

”said they, “ have we and our

fathers neither knownnor bel ieved the truth !who woulds til l refuse to hear and embrace it .

1” The Breth1enon

th is occasion g rateful ly acknowledg ed the favourablechang e m their outward circumstances. Two yea1 s ag o

1 739 ] BECK’S NARRATIVE . 49

they thoug ht themselves happy, if they could buy such

bones or offal as the Greenlanders wereready to throwaway ; now they had continually 15 or 90 hung ry personsstanding round them, and fed from their table. In the

spring they carried these fug itives,at their request,backto their former residence . Yet one family staid, and therest promised

"

to pay them frequent v isits, and to livewith them during

'

the winter, that they mig ht hearGod

’

s word .

The Brethren did not remain inactive in the interim,but commenced their v isits round the country, as earlyas February, thoug h they were oblig ed to carry their

boat over a g reat ex tent of ice. Scarc ity of proviswns

had compelled the Greenlanders to resort to K ang ek,and JohnBeck accompanied them, in order to instructthose who had already heard the Gospel,and to proclaimit to the rest. His recital of his labours during histwelve days’ abode there, is interesting ,as it ex hibits themanner, in which the miss ionaries endeavoured to

convey divine truths to the understanding of the

natl ves.

We found five houses uponone of the islands, andwere all lodg ed in the larg est. In the evenmg I had

a meeting for prayer with our own.people,‘

whichraised the wonder of the savag es. February 3d, after

sing ing a hymnand prayer,I d iscoursed to them on the

love of God,who would have saved,and

come to the knowledg e of the truth. I'

afterwards

spoke separately with each'

of our own people, ex horting Mang ek, in particular, to lead an ex emplary lifebefore his countrymen, as he was the first, who g ave

himself up to our instruction On the 4 th numbers

No one‘

will be hardy enoug h to m smuate from hence,that the

Brethrenwished to allure the natives by temporal benefits,and bribe

them to turn Christians. It is one thing to prosely te ep erson by ,

favours,and another to open the arms of mercy to every one whombodily distress forces to us for help,without respect of persons or

sentiments,and to t ake this Opportunity to make such a poorwretchacquainted with his Creator ; else indeed we should be worse than 1

infidels.

VOL . II.

50 ‘

BECK ’S NARRATIVE . [1739.

came to Kang ek from other islands, to danc e. Thehouse .was completely filled, and we withdrew into a

smaller hut, suffering them to pursue their org ies undistathed, the whole nig ht. After , they had slept themselves sober, I told them something of the creation, the

”

fall, and our redemption. Meg ak, who slept nex t tome, was very much affected by the evening prayer.

When we lay downto rest, he several times repeated

parts of it,and asked in what manner our Saviour haddel ivered us from the power of the Destroyer. I was

vastly‘

pleased to see him inquisitive about so noble a

subject, and conversed with him on it upwards of an

hour. He resumed the topic as soon as he awoke in

the morning . After I had prayed with them, I crossed

the ice,to another island to instruct -the savag es. Con.

trasted with their miserable ig norance, I could value

more hig hly the g race, which t he Lord has bestowedupon Kajarnak and h is fam ily.

1 He long ed much to

return to New H errnhut, for the din of the savag es

shocked him. .In the evening , three men stayingunusually long at

‘

sea, occasioned g reat anx iety to theirfriends. I consoled them by sug g esting ,that the delaywas probably owing to some heavy capture and as the“

hunters returned, at midnig ht with two seals, they ima,

g ined I could prophesy, and said they would in futureb elieve all my words. The nex t day they were veryattentive to a discourse /

onthe love of Jesus, in coming“

into the world to redeem us by suffering and dying . In

the evening , however, they renewed their dances,with‘“

the ex ception of a few, who staid and l istened wi ths

interest towhat I said. Matters continued in this trainduring the rest of my v isit; I spoke fi

10m time to time ‘1

with our people, especially the children, on the incar

nationand passionof Jesus. They were all ex tremelydesirous to be at home ag ain. At parting ,Meg ak g ave

me a fowl in tokenof'

his g ratitude,which was the moreremarkable, as the Greenlanders are far betterzpleased,to receive than to make

fpresents.

”

The g rateful refl ections, which frequently arose his.

the mind of our missionary during his intercourse with .

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se A SON BURIE S HIS 11101

1 11 1 11 ALIVE . [1739.

it g enerally issued, not in a wholesome selfknowledg eand fervent long ing after a Redeemer, but in curiousquestions, difficult to be cleared up to a raw nuculti vated understanding , and of: no practical util ity.

One, for instance, asked, if God could not hear the

serpent speaking to Eve ; and if he could, why did henot warn her of the dang er, and prevent the fall ?Many barbarous acti ons were committed under the ir

eyes, which they had not the power to prevent. A son

had, ac cord ing to the Greenland custom, tied up his

mother, who had apparently b1eathed her last, in a

skin. An hour after, she beg an to utter lamentable ’

screams. Fear hushed the Greenlanders into silence,but on the urg ent persuasions of one of the m issionaries, the son uncovered her face, and asked her if she

was really still al ive. No answer being returned, he

t ied her up ag ain. Some time after,‘

the ones were

repeated, onwhich her son put a piece of blubber intoher month, which she swallowed ; but as she c ould notspeak, he once mone closed the shroud. When she

raised her outcry the thi1d time, and answered his question, he reluctantly consented to release her. The

poor w ,retch however, was not long suffered to enjoythis reprieve. Her unnatural offspring seized his op

portunity to g ag her, and convey her unnoticed to

another island, secure from fear of interruption, wherebe buried her alive. Th is c1uelty he afterwards pal

liated,by saying , that he had merely put an end to her

misery, as she had been derang ed and unable to take ?

any food for several days. It was observed, that hehad made crosses in the snow, at reg ular intervalong ; the path, by which he had drawn her to ~ the fa

spot.

Painf ully as these proofs of the miserably deg radedand obdurate state of the natives in g eneral affected the

Both the prevalence and the orig in of this custom are points on

wh ich I could g ather no satisfactory intellig ence. The latter would

be accounted for on the supposition, if it could be admitted, that

some of the old Norweg ian Christians were incorporated with the

Greenlandem.

THE CATECHUMENS BAPTIZ ED. 53

feel ing s oi'

themissionaries, they derived abundant con

solation from the prosperity of Kajarnak and the rest

of their catechumens. They plainly traced in them,

not only a real consc iousness of a Deity, but a profoundreverence for him ; not only a compliance with the doctrines of a futui e 1 esur1ection and eternal happiness forbel ievers, but deep v iews of their m isery, j oy in the

love of God as displayed 111 Christ’s atonement, and an

increasing desire for the word of l ife . The w0 1k of

g race had taken deep root in their hearts, and evincedits power in a chang e of life, voluntary renunc iationof the follies of Pag anism, and a cheerful endurance of

the mockery of their infidel acquaintance, by whom

they were forsaken, hated, and contemned . Kajarnakinparticular was much afl

'

ected by what he had heard,and would sometimes, of his own free impulse, ex hort

his countrymen to embrace the truth after their longig norance, or he would ofier up a short but fervent

pi ayer to the same purpose. He had a clear head, andasssisted his teachers ln the choice of proper words, frequently correcting them inthe equ ivocal ex pressi ons, towhich they were stil l l iable, and which we1 e open to

the sly perversions of the mal ic ious savag es. He was

not satisfied with merely answering the questions,whichhis teachers put to him, but broug ht forward his own

enquiries, and soug ht an ex planationof h is difficulties.

During a conversation on the new theme, which now

eng rossed all his think ingo1

powers, he declared that as

soon as an evil thoug ht arose in h is mind, he immediately, wherever he was, raised h is heart in silence toJesus, and prayed him to deliver him from it by hisblood.

As the catechumens ev inced a l ively desire for baptism, the Brethren could no long er refuse to complywith their request, and open to them in this holy ordi

nance theway to the enjoyment of all the blessing s

purchased by the blood of Jesus. They did not, howhowever, take th is step without g reat caution. Man

g ek was - denied the partic ipation. of this priv ileg e,thoug h he had continued under their instruction up

GREENLAND FORMULARY or BAPTISM .

wards of a year,a nd had not beenwithout v isiting s of'

g race ;butno durable impressionhad beenmade uponhism ind,as heh imself owned with shame. Perhaps the Brethrencarried their scrupulosity '

too far in this instance,and required more than could reasonably be expectedof a person still unbaptized ; and it may have been the

pain and disappo intment of this repulse, which threwh im into an unsettled, wavering state, till he finallybetook h imself to the heathen. But the m issionariescannot be justly blamed for their strictness in reg ard tothe admissionoft heir first candidates, knowing , as theydid, that the ceremony wo uld attract universal attentionto the conduct of the new Christians.

Kajarnak and his family werenow taken into a special

preparation for baptism, and were daily instructed inthe most essential articles of the Christian faith ;1 asthey could best comprehend and retain

1

them in theirmemories. C u Easter Sunday they were solemnlybaptized,Kajarnak receiving the name of Samuel, hiswife being called Anna, his son Matthew, and h is

daug hter Hannaln After they had before the wholecong reg ation simply answered . the interrog atories of

the missionaries respecting the g round of their hope,and

‘

prom ised to renounce all heathenish practices,remain constantly with their teachers, and l ead a l ifeworthy of the Gospel, they were, with fervent prayerand , imposition of hands, pronounced free from the

power of darkness, and dedicated to their rig htfulLord and Sav iour Jesus Christ. TheGreenland forma

lary is as follows : K oz'

au/cz'

tAtatalz N iarnahlo Anmer

nerneruhlo Ai ufng innerum Air/cana l, J esuh To/rlroanut,

I baptize thee 1n the name of thea

Father, and of the

Son, and of the Holy Ghost, into the death of Jesus.”

A powerf ul emotion pervaded the spectators, as wellas the baptized, during the whole of this solemntransaction.

1

1

But the joy with which the missionaries contem

plated their little flock,and their pleasing anticipationsof .a speedy increase of numbers,were soon obscured;Scarcely four weeks had passed since the late event,

17393 11 11111t 0F ,TWENTY-ON E Boar 's.

“

do

when a ' band of murderers from the north, treacheri »

ously stabbed Kajarnak’s brother-ih -law

'

at Kang elrghaving enticed him out to sea. T heir pretence was”that he had formerly conjured the son of their leader.

He indeed tore the harpoonfrom his body, and fl ed to.

land, .but h e was overtaken, covered with wounds;

and thrown from the top of a cl iff,where the bodywas found after a long search.

1 The‘

assassins rhaving ,

threatened to murder Kajarnak himself,and two moreof his relations, threw them into no small panic,but the colonists shortly after seized the ring leader;w ith several of his accompl ices. He confessed, that

bes ides the present murder, he had k illed three Green-S

landers with his own hand, and been necessary toi the

death of as manymore. Since; however,he was amenable to no human judicature, and was entirely ig norantof the d ivine law, he was dismissed with a severe

reprimand ; but two Of his companions,who had formerlybeen instructed in the word of God, were punishedwith flog g ing . Kajarnak

’

s apprehensions were rather

increased than dispelled by a mode of procedure,whichappeared to him more likely to irritate than to awe the

offenders,and after much anxiety he declared that he

thoug ht it his duty to accompany his brotherOkkomiak,who was most obnoxious to their resentment, to his

relations in the south . It was in vain, that themission-s

aries endeavoured to appease his promisedto board him intheir own fam ily, that he m ig ht not beunder the necessity of g oing abroad to hunt. Theirconcern touched him. to the quick, but he could notresolve to stay, and they saw him set out

1with heavyhearts. In a tbrtnig ht only two tents of Greenlanders .

were left. in the whole country.

The sol itude was however enlivened after a Short

1nterval by ,the arrival of twenty-one boats of South »

landers, among whom were the friends of Sime’

k, one

hearers. They had met the fug itves on7,

and heard from them wonderful t hing swh ich . they 1were eag er to be farther

They returned thanks for the kindnessE 44

56 . THE BRETHREN COLLECT A CONéREGAT mN. 0 739.

shown to their countrymen, particularly for restoringthewife of Simek to l ife. The Simple fact,wh ich theirig norance invested with so much ’

of the marvel lous,was,that the Brethren had recalled her to her senses

“

from a violent fainting fit in child-birth by the appiication of some cordial drops.

‘

Simek h imself returned

with his company towards winter, and he was soon fol

lowed by the g reater part of those Greenlanders,Whohad found

,

a refug e with the Brethren during the

severe famine, so that nine families now winteredwith them.

A party of Southlanders returnlng from D islco, likewise called at the settlement. One of these,who thoug htno Greenland bride worthy of him, came one day when

the -Brethren were'

absent from home,with a numberof followers, to carry off young Anna Stach by forceto be his Wife. Fortunately she understood theireonv ersation, hurried back into the house and bolted thedoor.

’

The ruflians after some fruitlessattempts to burst

it open, tried to cut throug h the windows with theirknives

”

; supposing them to be made of seal-g ut liketheir own. Their endeavours were of course unavailing ; to dash the g lass in pieces never occurred to

them, and they slunk of threatening to return,when

they were not expected. The third day they ag ainmade their appearance in g reater numbers, but werehappi ly repulsed by our Greenlanders,with the aid of

'

some boatmen from the colony.

Having now collected a considerable native cong re—~j

g ation, the Brethren could proceed to hold reg ularhours, morning and evening , for sing ing hymns and

for catech isation. The benefic ial effects of this arrang ementwere soonperceived. Most of the hearers readilyconsented to throw away their amulets, and place theirconfidence alone on God. Stil l much levity and in

constancy marked their conduct. At one time theywere sleepy and indifferent during the reading of the

Scriptures ; at another their attentionwas awake and

l ively, and they were eag er to become pious all at

once. Indeed it g ave the missionaries no smal l trouble”

THE BRETHREN COLLECT A CONGREGATION. 57

to impress upon them the evidences and work ing s of a

g enuine faith as distinct from mere approbation. Yet

it was pleasing to observe the g eneral will ing ness to betaug ht ; and the ch ildren,inparticular,six ofwhom were

formed into a school, g ave promise of better times. It

oug ht not to be passed over, that this stirring among st

the Greenlanders had a salutary influence ' on others,not only proving a source of encourag ement to the

Danish missionaries, but leading the other Europeans

of the colony to profitable reflection.

CHAPTER

I

From 1740 to l 747 .-Chang e g

” Sy stem in the Conduct of theMisszormVisitation.

—TheNatives withdraw in Spring .-Returncf Kcy

'

ar

nah,with other ex hilaratin 0 ccurrences. Usef ul Services of thenewConverts . 1741 .

—Deat of q arnalc. —Visits to the Natives .

Good Understanding subsisting between theB rethren and the Danish

M issionaries. 1742. Matthew Stach returns f rom Germany .

A M issionar lost on his Voy ag e— Success attending thepreaching

of the Gospe Imperfections of the Believers. A new Increase

of awakened Greenlanders . 1743. Appearances of a g eneral

Awakening in the D istrict of Baal’sRiver . Sing ularD ream‘

of an

Ang eholc.—Annual Dispersion

-of the believing Floch. Fatal Ac

cident.—WinterResidcnce with theM issionaries.—Med ing sfi r reli

g iousWorship. VariousDang ers andD eliverances. -1744.—E :rten

sionof the speL—Plot of a Band (f M urderers dgfeated.

—Arrang ementsfbr theSummer. E x clusionand Re-admission.

— Chri stmas.

1745 .—Spiritual Course of the believing F lock

—The M issionaryB oehnisch returns f rom a Visit to Germany

— Casualties .— 1746 .

Oppositionof theAng ekoks.—E x cursion to huntReinDeon—Arrival

of the M issionaries,Soerensen and Boernilcé.

1740.THE eig hth year of the missionwas sig nalized

by the important chang e, which took place in the

mode of ‘

conducting it. Thoug h the Brethren, as

we have seen, had . already acknowledg ed the princ iple, that their g rand

'

object oug ht to be Jesus“

Christ, and their main doctrine the purification fromsins throug h his blood, they had not steadily acted

upon it ; their sincere resolves, according to theirown expression, miscarrying in the ex ecution for

want of unanimity. Experience had now added its

testimony, that the only eflicient means of touch ingthe hearts of savag es, was not to insist, in the first

instance, on such . truths as the unity of God, the

creation, and the fal l ; a method, which thoug h it ap

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60 A YOUNG FEMALE CONVERT. [1740

arid some of them were much affected. The childrenhad become g reatly attached to their instructors : theytook their reading -books with them, in wh ich the

Brethren had written them some prayers and l ittleex hortations. After their departure the m issionariescontinued their usual v isiting voyag es to the sur

rounding heathen, thoug h without much immediatebenefit.It was a joyful surpr1se to them to see Kajarnak

return after a year’s absence, bring ing with him his

brother and his fam ily, which had been the chief mo

t ive of his ex pedition. He stepped unex pectedly intothe room, while the cheerful party were celebrating ”

the marriag e of the missionary Boehnisch with youngAnna Stach . The g uests, no less than the Brethren,rejo iced at this first instance of a Greenlander,who hadremained faithful, during all the temptations of a re

sidence among his savag e countrymen. He said, thathe had made known the g ood news, which he ha

’

d

heard from the missionaries, to the heathens in the

South ; that at first they listened to him with pleasure and wonder but when, after a while, they g rewtired, and turned it all to ridicule, he left them undisturbed, holding converse with

“

the Sav iour in sol itude,and edifying h imself and his family. Towards the

end of his stay there, he had felt an ardent long ingfor the company of his teachers, and could not possibly part from them any more.

’

He \ had left his son

for another year among his friends, in the hope

that they, too, m ig ht‘ be induced to come and hear

the Gospel .The return of their first convert was succeeded by

other occurrences of a pleasing nature. A youngwoman had repeatedly importuned them to take her

into their service, but as they supposed her to be

actuated merely by temporal views, they dec lined it.After some time she came ag ain, complaining with ,

tears, that she could no long er bear to live amongthe unbel ieving natives, who all hated her, becauseshe would not conform to their customs. Upon this

1740 ] PUSSIMEK’

S PRAYER. 6 1

a place was found for her at. the Colony, where she

made such prog ress in Chri stian attainments, under

the instructions of the Danish, m issionary, that she

.was baptized by him before the expiration of the

eary.Another young female at New H errnhut, who was

deeply impressed with the doctrines of the Gospel,took every opportunity to speak to

'

all who would hearher, of the value of that g race,wh ich had producedso powerful effects upon her own heart. She did not

fail to attract contempt and opposition among the'

rest : they to ld her that, when they l istened to her,and reflected upon the subject, they g rew sick,meaning that they felt an uneasy sensation, wh ich was disag reeable to them.

\But she replied, that when she

was sick, she was made wel l by prayer.

A th ird most striking instance of the power of

d ivine g race is best related in the words of the

Brethren In a Greenland house, where all besideswere hostile t o us, there was a young woman of

the name of Pussimek who was very much affected.

Wh ile we were speak ing , she held her hand s before‘

her face to h ide her tears, and softly sobbed forth :O Lord ! let thy l ig ht . break throug h the very thick

darkness.

” At another. t ime, we saw her kneelingbehind a rock, and caug ht the words O God, thou

knowest that I am ex ceeding ly corrupted from our

first parents, have mercy upon me !” When we after

wards asked her why she knelt, she answered Be

cause I nowbeg in to believe ; I pray daily to God to

be g rac ious to me” Being directed to persevere in

prayer, she beg an to weep and to e x claim 0 Jesus !my heart is thoroug hly depraved ; make me truly sorry\for it ; take away the bad thoug hts, and form me ac

cording to thy pleasure. And as I yet know but l ittleof thy word, g ive me thy Holy Spirit to instruct me.

”

Her companions, very naturally hating the person,whose ex ample was a constant reproof to them, treatedher

‘

with a severityi quite foreig n to the national cha

racter, so much so, that she was g lad to take the

652 NORTHLAN’DERS ARRIVE. [1740

first opportunity of seeking an asylum with the

Brethren”She

‘

Was never weary of l istening to the doctrineof the Cross, and soon beg an to speak of it to others.

No sooner did any heathens come,to the place, than

she paid them a v isit, ex plained to them the reason of

h er l iving here, to ld them of all the blessing s,whichshe had enjoyed, and of the sti ll g reater happinesswhich she had ' in View, and her admonitions were

not without their effect. Hav ing been prepared forbaptism, and made acquainted with the nature and ' de:

s ig n of that holy ordinance, she declared‘

that she

now no long er believed, that Jesus was the friend of

s inners, because we had told her so, but because she

felt it in her own heart. As we perceived in her‘

a most

ardent long ing after the blood of sprinkl ing , and the

energ y of Jesus’ death, she was baptized at her

earnest request, and called Sarah.

These events ex c ited a new emotion among the

Greenl’anders,'

who wished to become as happy as theircountrymen. The Brethren took their new converts

with them on their visits to the heathen, to conv incethem, by l iving witnesses,that the word of the Cross isthe power of God unto salvationto all them that believe,and is of force to renew the h e art, m ind, temper, and

all the faculties. They testified of the g race, wh ichwas purchased for all, and of wh ich they now partook,with a frankness and spirit that astonished, and, in

many cases, forced conv iction upon the savag es. An

old g rey-headed man said, that the name of Jesus wasimpressed on his heart, and that he was always thinking J esuna ! 0 Jesus !_ which he had heard repeatedin prayer.

Those also who v isited the settlement from the adjacent islands, and from remote places,were g enerallymuch affected by the testimony of the baptized Green

landers. A party who came from a considerable distanceto the south, and perhaps from the east-side, (for their

’

dialect was not perfectly intel lig ible,) listened with sur

prise and eag erness to the account of the crucified

DEATH or KM ARNAK . 63

J esus. Many Northlanders also, who pitched theirtents with the Brethren for a few days in Aug ust,were wonder-struck, when Kajarnak and Sarah g ave

an account of their converswn. They were ut

terly amazed at their prayers, which they supposed

they had learned by 1ote, and would wi lling ly havedone the same ; but they were told, that they mustlearn to know their misery, and that would teach themhow to p ay .

Towards winter the Brethren beg an to translate a

Harmony of the Four Gospels into Greenlandic,for theuse of their little flock . Kq jarnak and Sarah rendered

them material assistance in th is work . They frequentlyused apt ex press ions, which no g rammatical knowledg ec ould haved iscove1ed Of these the Brethi en took particular notice and inthis manner, after hav ing taug httheir converts to think,they learned to Spent/c from them.

Kajarnak was ex tremely active inendeavouring to turnh is counttymen from their evi l ways. As he was once

o n a jeum ey, he was inv ited by the natives to: dancew ith them at the sun feast, and join in“ the usual festivities on the reappearance of that lum inary, but he

g ave them this answer I have now another Joy, for

a brig htei sun,namely, Jesus, has risen inmy heart. I

must hast en to my teachers to celebi ate with them a

g reat festival, in token that the Creatm of all thing s“

was born into the world as a poor infant for 0 111 re

d emption. And on this subject, as his b10 ther,who

was present, related,h e uttered a discourse.which com

pletely astounded them.

11741 1 . But the B1eth1 enWerenot long permitted toenjoy the services of so valuable an assistant in thei1 mini stry. 13m re the nextyear,he was cal led away fromthis mortal scene, to prove. the reality of that blessed

ness, to which his hopes had been So 1ecently directed.

The account of his death g lven by the m issionariesis, in substance, as follows :We had of late devoted our attention partic ularly

tn Kajarnak and Sarah, instructing them in all the

truths necessary to salvation, as they had g reater op

‘

6 t 13m m or x AJ ARNAK . [WALL

portunities than ourselves for enforc ing them upon

the natives, and could illustrate them better. Kajarnaktwice went out into the country, to tel l the heathenssomething of Jesus, the friend of sinners . He returned

home from his first attempt with a sorrowful heart, forall he said was laug hed at. Soon after he met withbetter success in K ang elr, where he drew round him a

will ing and attentive”

auditory, wh ile he dwelt with

peculiai emotion on the me1 its of the bleedingRecon

c iler, who yielded up his sacred body to suc h a painful death, that we should no long er employ our mem- 1

here in the serv ice of sin, but as instruments of rig hteousness all the days of our l ives. On the l t of

February he was suddenly attacked by a coug h, ai

tended with pleuritic stitches. We spoke to him of the

transitmy nature of th is l ife, and the necessity of a

constant resig nation to the wi ll of God . While we

were thus addressing him, he g rew so faint, that hecould neither hear nor see. But during a prayer,whichwe then offered up, he came to h imself,and immedi.

ately joined us, in the m idst of his most acute pains,with such fervour, that we and all the surroundingGreenlanders were amazed. On the 25th, the spasms

were frequently so v iolent that they stopped his bi eath

yet in the g reatest ag onies he remained composed and

tranquil. ‘ When his family beg an to weep, he saidDo not be g rieved for me have yo u not heard,that

believers when they die, g o to our Sav iour, and

partake of his eternal joy ? You know that I am the

first among you that was converted by him, and now

he calls me first home to himself. If you are faithfu lto the end, we shal l see one ano ther ag ain before thethrone of the Lamb .

” He then expressed his wisheswith 1 eg ard to his family, enti eating us to take cha1g e

of them, especial ly of his two sons. We had manymost interesting conversations with him -onthe succeed

ing days. On one of these occasions he declared that

eve1y thing he had heard m the days of health, wasnow much cleare1 to his heart. On the 27th, the day

741 15] BURIAL or KAJ ARNAK. 65

of his death, the Danish m issionary paid him a visit,as he had done reg ularly from the commencement of

his i llness; being ex tremely fond of him : During his

.v isit, just as we were speak ing to the patient of the

g oodness of the Lord, be breathed his last, havingbowed his head uponhis hands, as if to sleep.

H is wife Anna and his brother Kuyayak, were quiteresig ned under th is affl icting v isitation, and desired 1is

to bury the deceased in the manner of bel ievers. The

nex t day the rmssmnaries,factors,boatmen,and Green

landers of the colony, came to the interment. After

t he sing ing of some favourite hymns of the deceased,and a short discourse, four Greenland boys carried theremains to our new bury ing -place. At the g rave, one

of the Danish missionaries addressed an ex hortation to

the company present, from the words, I am the resur

r ection and ' fl ze life, See.

”and told them that a believer

does not die, but at his departure beg ins tr‘

uly to l ive,y ea,

‘

to l ive for evermore. We thenkneeled downuponthe snow, under the open sky, and g ave back to our Sa

v iour this our firstling ,w ith our fervent thanks for

all the g race he had conferred upon him. The Green»landers wondered at all they saw and heard, it beingd irectly contrary to their customs, to perform the lastoffices to the dead with such affectionate care, ex cept

the deceased is their nearest relation.

The remembrance of the happily departed Kajarnak'

had a beneficial influence uponh is surv1v1ng family.

‘H is brother Kuyayak'

, indeed, soon relapsed" into a

llating state, unable to resolve either to stay withthe Brethren, or finally to part with them . His wifedied, and as she had been actuated in her l ife-time bya spirit the reverse of Kajarnak

’s, her death-bed scene

was marked by a far different character. It could notfai l—to impress the Greenlanders, and rouse them

’

to'

a

zealous imitation of Kajarnak’s ex ample. On her hus-fi

band alone, it"appeared to have no eff ect. In springhe retired with h is family to the islands, after a mental

$111 farewell onbothzsides'

, and thoug h he spent t he- fol

l owing winter with the Brethren, according to pro

VOL . 11 .

66 Anenx o x s ASHAMED or THEIR CRAFT.

mise, he ag ainset out the nex t year towards the North,and lost his life on the way .

Better hopes were entertained of his sonKuanak.

He was a'

bashful boy, but of an ing enuous disposition,and showed a sincere love to the Saviour. Thoug h hewas ob lig ed to attend his father in his rov ing s amongthe islands, he seldom m issed an opportunity of v isiting his teachers, whom he esteemed the more, inpro

portionas he learned to perceive the difference betweenbel ievers and unbel ievers. I often feel quite anx ious,

’

fsaid be,

“among the heathens ; therefore, I implore

Jesus to g ive me constancy, that I may never wanderfrom him, for I can rest no whe re but at his feet.

”After

his father’s death he came back a cripple to New

H errnhut.

Instances were not wanting of the most refractoryspirits bending under the transforming power of Divine

g race. Okutsuk, a young woman,who had formerlybeenreproved for lying , and had returned an impadent answer,now came back from the savag es, to whom

she had withdrawn, declaring that during her abode

among st them, she had been deeply convinced of her

m isery, and nowwished to be baptized . In these sen,

timents she steadily persevered, and at leng th forsookher g reat and wealthy family, to l ive with the bel ievers.

The k indness of Ippeg au also, who had five years ag obeen the means of preserv ing the Brethren from a n

‘

miserable death by famine, was requited to him in hischildren.

The desire for hearing the word of l ife now became '

more g eneral among the natives, and even some noto

rious Ang ekoks beg an to be ashamed of their craft.

The Brethren endeavoured to improve these favourm

able symptoms by frequent excursions. The Kang ek

people,”they write on one of these v isits, “ imag ine

that every thing must be read out of a book, and when

we come, they ere our books are ? Sartold them, that rit was the best

master ; if he r

God

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68 RETURN os'

DANIEL scenarnsnu

with him. Since he reques ted their counsel, they ad

vised him not so much'

to aim at increasing , his num

bers, as at g rounding those,who were already awakened,on

'

a firm foundation of v ital knowledg e ; and to pro

mote a c lose connection among st them, that when

he could not be wi th them, they m ig ht encourag e

each other. He saw the g ood sense of th is advice,and its util ity evinced i tself more clearly from year toyear“17412A—In1742,MatthewStach,the oldestm l ssmnary,

who had g one on a v isit to Germany two years before,returned, bring ing with him another Brother, who wasto have the care of the ch ildren. Hav ing opportunelyarrived in Europe, during the sitting of a synod of theBrethren at Marienborn, he could deliver a verbal

account of the mission in Greenland to the assembledservants of the church . December 1c , 174 1, he wasordained a priest by Polycarp Mu ller, Bishop of the

Brethren, and after having g iven g reat pleasure to the

friends of the m ission on the continent, by his narrative of what had already been done among the pag ans

in Greenland, he set our. on his return. At Copenhag en he presented a petition for the abrog ation of

some g alling restrictions,which had hitherto 1‘

the Greenland Brethren, both in their secu]

spiritual proceeding s ; which being approved of

Col leg e of M issions, he was honoured with a very.c ions royal rescript, permitting him to administer. tism,and all other m inisterial acts .

Contrary winds retarded his arrival in Green

till J uly 17th. Daniel Schneider returned withship to

,Europe. He had arrived the preceding y

to supply the place of Christian Marg raf, who, ‘

account of ill health,and inabil ity to learn the lang uawas oblig ed to resig n h is station. H

'

was to assist the m issionaries in their seafor a year, but it was at his option to

them, if it ag reed with his inclination,learn the la

1110 1113 snnrousnnss AMONG THE NATIVE S. 69

kept.

him another year, as they had various scruplesrespecting the voyag e, but since he could

‘

not reconc ileh imself to . the Greenland mode of l ife, they dismissedhim inpeace. He wrote to them

the southern colony, where the captainwas oblig ed‘

to

touch ; but'

since that!

time neither he nor the vesselwas ever heard of. This is the only Brother, that hasbeen cast away in the numerous voyag es to and from

Greenland, thoug h these seas are b verspread withdang er, and many ships perished among st the frig htf ulice-berg s in the earl ier period of this navig ation.

During the two years of the missionary Stach’s ah‘

sence, only one Greenland woman had beenbaptized,but there were many souls,who l istened to the wordwith

joy, from whom a plentiful harvest mig ht soon be

ex pected . Among the rest, came several of Kajarp ak

’

s relations, to whom he had fl ed after his baptism .

They said that he had told them many thing s about

Jesus,which they did not at that time understand, but

since then they had frequently revolved them in theirminds ; and werenow come to be more fully instructed.

These were not empty words, for besides attending themeeting s, they came sing ly to converse

'

with the mis

sionaries, and g enerally concluded with the ejaculation0 that God would Open my eyes, and purg e my

ears, that I may rig htly understand this matter, and

be happy 1”

External disasters led some to g reater"

seriousness of

mind. One person said, that he had a short time ag o

been overset in his kajak, and as he lay under water,

Such was the case in 1765,whenCrantz wrote his history . Since

that time two similar acc idents have occurred ; one in 1786,whenthewidow Ko

'

nig seer and the unmarried brother Heinze were lost

at seawith the ship and the whole crew,on their return from Greenland to Germany , And in 1 817, the m issionary Kranich, returningto Europe after a service of twelve years in Greenland, found 1a

watery g rave. By a letter written from on board to the Brethrenat Lichteri

'

au,it appears,that his mind was prepared to depart and bewith Chri st ; if, as . he adds, he should never reach the desiredhaven of which he seemsto have had some presen

’

timent,

70 DEALINGS WITH .1 soacansa . [17t Q .

unable to r'

ecovei h imself he thoug ht : Now I must

die, and my soul will puibably g o down to the bad

Spirit. But he cried in his inmost hea1 t : O thou

who art above, ttake my soul to thee 1” That instant,two Greenlanders

'

came and raised him up. After

Wards, when he was told, that Jesus was called aDeliverer,who had 1 escued 11s by his blood nom sin and

eternal death, he feeling ly ex c laimed, “ 0 that g reatDelivere1 .

In the visitswhich the m issionaries undertook, eitherin company of the factors to procure provision, or forthe express purpose of conversing with the natives,they always found opportunity to

‘

sow the g ood seedanew, or to water what had been sown, and the Lordoften g ranted them to see the footsteps of his beue.

diction. A few weeks before one of their v isits to a

lodg e of Greenlanders, Arbalik had related somethingof our Saviour’s dialog ue with the woman of Samariato a woman there ; th is wroug ht so upon her m ind,that she now enquired with long ing after that l ivingwater for all who thirst. Occasion was takenfromhence to speak more at larg e to her and some other

attentive hearers on the belief in Jesus,who was crucified, and is the

'

true God and eternal l ife. It was

perceived, that they were always particularly affected,when the Saviour’s ag ony was spoken of. And as

our ownheai ts,”say the Brethren, were uncommonly

waimed by this theme, the words came so fluently,that each wondered at the other

’s power of ex pression.

They justly ascribed the sole g lory to the Spirit ofGod, under whose powerful energ y the heart of the

poo1 woman Opened like that Lydia. She could neverhear enoug h, and after listening with delig ht the wholeday to the proclamation of the g lad tiding s of salvation, she sent her son to fetch the missiona1 ies to her

house at nig ht, that they m ig ht tel l her more. Theyhad als o to deal with a s0 1ce1e1 Kassiak,for that was

his name, did not deny, that the1 e was a God, the

Creator and Governor of the world ; but he affirmed,that he likewise had received a divine power from

PROGRE SS or convnasrou . 7 1

Torng arsuk, or as he expressed h imself, he was also

g od ; not indeed ove1 believei s, who had committedtheniselves to the protection of another deity, but hehad power over all that adhered to Torng a1 suk, and

could be of service to them by his al t. Happily theBrethrenwe1e enabled, in the pi csence of a crowd of

his countrymen, to convince ' him of his wretched and

unhappy state

The above is only one of many instances, in 'whichthe believing Greenlanders prepa1ed the way foi thei1teachers. Whei ever they rang ed foi food, they spreadthe knowledg e of Jesus, and eve1y evening had a meet

ing . for 1 elig ious discourse and prayer, with those whodesired it. They were not always strictly correct in

their expressions,but it was ev ident, that they had profited more from the instructions received,and especiallyfrom the reading of the Holy Scriptures, than couldhave been ex pected. Thus, one of them being asked,why he did not eat of the raw flesh, and drink the warmblood of a rein-deer just shot, repl ied : God had

forbidden it to his people in the law, and seeing h is

teachers let the blood runoff; he would follow their example.

” Nothing had previously beem said to him on

th e subject. The missionaries availed themselves of

the zeal of the new conve1 ts with g reat advantag e, as

they could not themselves g o to the natives at all times,and in all places. NO1 could the pag ans make the

same objectionto the testimony of their bel ieving coun

trymen, wwh ich they had forme1ly made to that of the

missionaries, and which many i g norant minds, even in

Christendom, make use of as an excuse for their indifference . You are a different sort of people from us

it is your profession you have suffic ient time andc apaci ty to study these thing s.

” They now saw ex am

ples of their equals, once as ig norant and as v icious asthemselves, who were become new creatures throug h

the g race of Jesus, and freely showed fo1th the praisesof him who had called them out of darkness into h ismarvel lous l ig ht

ARRIVAL OF TH IRTY GREENLANDERS .

But self conceit that subtle intruder, beg an to creepin among st the believing G 1 eenlande1 s, and too often

embittei red the j oy of their teacher with a tincture of

g rief. Thus even Sal ah was observed to become

petulant and um uly . When she was 1 eminded of the

g race bestowed upon her, and et 1ted to continuefaithful, he1 heart softened, she acknowledg ed her

fault, ah d heartily entreated our Saviour f0 1 pardon, and

g race to amend . But th is 1 efor1nation was not the

work of a moment. In the sequel, the Brethi en discovered,that the root of the mischief was,her entertainn

ing hig h thoug hts of herself on account of her success

ful dil ig ence among the heathen. They pointed out to

he1 then

corruptionof he1 heart and bade her reflect onthe deplorable situation, inwhich the Redeeme1 foundher, and showed mercy unto he1, with her sensationson that occasion. She burst into tea1s, and said : Ah

now,I plainly feel, that I have'

g radually

“

departed f1om

the happiness I thenenjoyed,and our Saviour is becomea strang er to me. Now, thoug h I pray, I find no com

fort, notwithstanding ; and I seem ;

unable to recover

the way to Him . On th is, they kneeled down withh er,and prayed to the compassionate Saviom , to revealh imself to her heart afresh. She was desi1 ed to p1ay too,but she could not utter a sing le word, the sobs stiflingher voice. Since that time, however, she had v isiblya very humble opinion of herself, and was ag ainfavoredw ith a free access to the friend of the s inful and m iser.able. M r. Drachart had noticed the same failing in hisbaptized people, and found it necessary, as well as ,

the Brethren, to proceed vei y cautiously ln the tuitionof his l ittle flock, and to inculcate poverty of spiritas an essential part of the Christian eha1acte1

InOctobe1, thirty G i eenlandei s came to spend thew inter with the Bi ethl en, who now found ample em

ployment in mak ing the necessary arrang ements for

thei 1 accommodation, and m caring to1 the poor. In

addition to the l eg ular catech isations, they institutedl ittle assoc iations among st their Greenlanders, whichthey cal led bands or classes,where f our or five persons

FIVE OF TH E'

NATIVES BAPTI Z ED .

of the same sex met, under the direction of the“

mis

sionaries, and'

spoke freely and without compulsion;of the state

*

of their hearts, and their advances in'°

the

v ital knowledg e of Christ.Towards the close of the year, five persons were

admitted tor

be candidates for baptism. These were,young Arbalik,who had already delivered a noble testimony to his countrymen, He had formerly beena»

.

pupil of the sorcerers, and was to have learned the‘

art’

of conjuring people to death. Nauag iak and his sister“

Kannoa, who came into this t country from the distanceof fifty lea ues on the east coast, as far as could be

g athered rom their account.“

After they had beenawakened by the preaching of the Gospel, their a

boat

companions, disl iking their chang e of, sentiments andconduct, secretly rowed off and left them behind, on

which they came directly to the Brethren, being deserted by the world, inorder to b e partakers of a

'

better

inheritance.

‘

And lastly, Okutsuk, and Issek, the

sister of Sarah, who had beendirected to the bel ieversby her dying mother. Onthe second day of the Christ

’

mas hol idays, Matthew Stach performed the baptismalact inpresence of anumerous company of Greenlanders,who betrayed g reat emotion.

Not long before, Mr. Draehart had also baptizednine persons. Among these was an old man, who,when he heard, that his two daug hters were to be baptized, went to the missionary, and asked

‘

if . he m ig htnot be baptized too P It is . true,

”said he, I can:

say but l ittle, and very probably I shal l never learn SO

much as my children, for thou canst see that my hairsare . quite g rey, and that I am a very old man but I

believe with all my heart in Jesus Christ, and that allthen sayest of Him is true.

”So mov ing a petitlonv

could not be refused, thoug h the ag ed man could nolong er retain the questions and answers in his memory.

He was much affected, while the ceremony was per.formed,and moistened the place,Where he was baptized,with his tears.

741 AWAKENING AMONGST THE NATIVES.

1743. Appearances now seemed to predict an uni

versal awakening of theGreenlanders roundBaal’sRiver .

It is true, there were many who could not yet resolve,to forsake their wonted resorts for hunting , and livewith their teachers, in order to receive the instructionrequisite to prepare them for baptism. Owing to this,their first ardour frequently cooled ag ain, and some

wandered away to the south or the north. But yet

the g reater part of those,who had once yielded to‘

the

power of g race, returned in succeeding years, and

several, who never came back into the bosom of the

cong reg ation, went into eternity in a manner very ditl .

ferent from their pag anneig hbours.‘

Some ag ain pres

scented their enquiries after the truth in the newlyerected colonies of the Danes, and were received there

fl

into the Christian church. Nor did those, who had

sowed the g ood seed, behold th is without sincere joy,for it was indifferent to them who reaped, prov idedthe Lord of the harvest did but g et his due. From,

this time the whole nation discovered a far more fa

vourable opinion of foreig ners, whom they had before ieither dreaded or despised a chang e to be chiefly at

tributed to the impression left upon the wanderingGreenlanders, who were frequently convinced, even

whenthey were not converted.

Every v isit from the missionaries was now hailed with

joy by the natives. Mr. Drachart having heard that

one of his flock had been drowned at Kang ek, the

Brethren carried him th ither in their boat, and

with them some of their baptized people to bury tthe

corpse, and to, tel l the heathen something of the

death of Jesus, and the happy sleep of bel ievers.They found Arbalik in the house already, busily em

ployed . He was speak ing to an atten

of faith in Jesus Christ, from whom, tho

ually dead by nature, and without abilitysave themselves, they mig ht, by bel ieving ,and f ulness of joy . Nor need the

how or for what they should pray ; t at w

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76 FATAL ACCIDENT. 0 748 .

In this voyag e the m issionaries were constrainedto

'

acknowledg e the g reat lov ing -kindness of theirheavenly Guardian. Those who had once despised,derided, and abused them,

'

now came to ask pardon ;and even the most untractable in former times, stood

along the shores as they passed by, entreating them

to land and tel l them the words of God. On theirreturn, the cold was intense : the boat was covered

w ith so th ick a crust of ice, that they could scarcelyrow it,thoug h there were sevenof them and the spraywhich dashed over cong ealed so suddenly,that it would

\

have sunk the vessel,but for their unremitted ex ertionsin lading it out.The dispersion of the l ittle flock,when the necessity

of seek ing abroad for prov isions, drove them from

their winter retreat, proved a blessing to the surrounding country. Yet the Brethren never suffered them to

depart, without g iving them proper warning of the

dang ers and temptations,towhich theymig ht beex posed.

They were l ike Jacob,when be dismissed Benjaminthey followed them to the strand,entreating them withtears not to lose sig ht of

'

Jesus who was crucified, and

took leave of them with their benediction.

-A fatal acc ident soon called the Brethren to the

assistance of their people. A dead cachalot was drivenashore

\in K ookcernen, and the event was celebrated

with the customary festivities by the Greenlanders.Two of the baptized admonished them, not to in»dulg e in such boisterous merriment, but to thank God .

for his g ifts instead of abusing them. The barba 2

rians only laug hed at them, and the uproar and

tumult were redoubled, when suddenly one of the

drawman from his purposej’

but we have observed, from frequent

ex perience, thatpersons thus acted upon seldom arrive at a fix ed and.

‘

a

solid frameo fm ind . According ly I remarked,that this Greenlander,whom I saw my self, thoug h he led a quiet and irreproachable life,r

had not y et attained to the enjoyment of the food he saw inhis dream,because he still manifested no true hung er and thirst after the rig ht

eousness of Christ.

$748J DEATH or NAUAGIAK . 77

revellers fell ' down l ifeless . Others who had eaten of

the animal, died on the same day and the'

nex t. The

Brethren having heard, that the whale was g reenandblue on the side where it had been wounded, and

rig htly conjecturing , that the harpoonmust have been

poisoned, broug ht with them some drops,wh ich‘

Oper:

ated as an antidote, and saved several ‘

It was

observed, that the eyes of the sick first g rew fix ed andtheir tong ues wh ite ; then they g radually lost all sensation, their bodies swelled ex cessively, and they diedaway without any pain. All that had eaten of the g reen

fl esh were lost beyond rel ief,but such as survived forty?eig ht hours, and c ould vomit, recovered.

Onthis occasion, a woman came to the m issionariesbring ing on her back her sick son, twelve years old,who, with a faint voice, desired e

them to tell him some

thing of the Saviour before he died . Their own baptizedNauag iak, had alsop artaken of the fatal meal,andfel l a v ictim to his imprudence. He was uncommonlycheerful during his sickness, spoke with del ig ht of theblessing s he had enjoyed in the preced ing winter, and

expressed his ardent love for h is Saviour, and his

long ing to be soon at home with him. His life, since

4“ It was probably wounded and lost by a Spanish whaler, two of

w hich were seen in the Strait th is year. One of these ships ran

ag round thirty leag ues north of Godlzaab the crew attempted to

e scape to land in their boat, but were shot; as is supposed, by the

arrows of the Greenlanders, and plundered ; thoug h these latter

assert that they found them famished to death with hung er and

cold. Many a sh ip has suffered a similar fate. Only two years

before, the Greenlanders had stabbed the crew of a Dutch

vessel. They rang ed themselves among the sailors,as if they wantedto trade with them, and the sig n ag reed upon being g iven, theydrew their knives from under their coats, and every one stab

bed his man. At Dis/to, they enticed the crew of a smug g ler

to bring their g oods on shore. No sooner was the r‘

nerchandizelanded, than a fellow,who was in the plo t, came running downwithintellig ence that the Danish factors were on the road. The smug

g lers,panic-struck; left all their g oods behind,and fl ed to their boatseveral of them were killed by a party stationed in ambush behindthe rocks, and the

‘

rest of the perfidious natives carried off the'whole

booty .

78 SINGING scn‘

oor'

. E STABLl SHED. [was

h is residence with the Brethren, had been ex emplary.

No shade of discontent was ever seen to darken h is

countenance, thoug h he had to suffer many privations ;and he chose rather to stay with his teachers, than to

remove to other places where ‘

he m ig ht have improvedh is c ircumstances. His sk ill in addressing the heathenswas not equal to that of others ; but he was well satisfied to be a disciple on the breast of Jesus. 0 , how

doth the Lord love the people !”After the funeral, the

Brethren hastened away to the islands to v isit the rest of,“

their flock .

Many strang ers cal led at the settlement on their fraquent mig ratory voyag es along the coast ; many familiesa lso took up their final residence there. Among thesewas

Matthew Kajarnak, who had been bequeathed to theBrethren by‘

his father. Four y ears of absence amongthe barbarians in the south had made him rather wild,but being reminded of his baptism, and of the words of

h is dying parent,he soon became reconc iled to the more

orderly and settled hab its of the Christian soc iety. A

numerous companyofGreenlanders were ag aincollectedround the mission-house for the winter, and the usualmeeting s were renewed . A sing ing -school was alsoinstituted among the female part of the cong reg ation,and the committing of verses to memory was g enerallyencourag ed . This custom was found to be of admir

able utility and as relig ious truths were thus instilledinto the m inds of the Greenlanders, and espec ially of

the children, in an ag reeable and easy manner, theypresently learned the hymns,and they could with g reaterfreedom ask the meaning of a verse thanof a d iscourse.

Our Greenlanders were accustomed,not to a boisterousvociferation, but to a soft, slow, and intellig ible mode

of sing ing , wh ich delig hted the heathens themselves ;and many a strang er has been induced by it to stay andhear a d iscourse, a catechisation, or a chapter of the

Bible. The l ittle flock of the baptized was aug mented

in the course of th is year by elevenpersons ; and thefirst Christianpair were

'

united in holy matrimony:

‘l

t

N

at

Bosnmscn RETURNS '

r o EUROPE. 79

Several remarkable preservations excited the l ively

g ratitude of Our Brethren. Once,when theyWent outto search for wood, a contrary stormy wind and snowyweather, kept them prisoners a whole week ona desert

island,without a tent to screen them from the pierc ingcold.

No ship’

having arrived at Fredericskaab, the factor

at Godkaab resolved to carry them two boat-loads of

provisions, and desired the Brethren to accompany himwith their boat. When they were on the po int of set

ting out, the factor of the southern colony arrived,which rendered their assistance unnecessary. The

same unfriendly storm,which had imprisoned the Brethren for a week on . an island, beset the factors on

their voyag e, and overturned one of the hosts by itsmonstrous bi llows ; two men were drowned, and two,having cl imbed upon the keel of the boat, floated upwards of a

' leag ue in this precarious s ituation, beforethe other boat could come to their rel ief.Happily the Godhaab sh ip arrived in safety with

encourag ing letters, and the necessary suppl ies fromEurope. This vessel carried back the missionary,Frederick Boehnisch on his first v isit to the cong reg a

tions at home.

” M u—The spirit ofenquiry after the truth,wh ich had

beendiffusedamong thenatives,still continued inprog ressduring this and the following years,and extended even

beyond the ordinary reach of missionary'

v isits. EarlyinMarch,the female,whose attentionhad formerly beenawakened by Arbalik

’s account of the woman of Sama

ria,‘

was baptized inKang ek the inclemency of the

weather preventing her from attend ing the g eneralbaptism at the settlement. She was a very hopeful

convert, and endowed with rich g ifts both of‘

nature»

and g race ; but she was exposed to the persecutingmalice of a noted Ang ekok in the island, who Wasalso very inimical to the Brethren, and 'threatened to

fall upon them with his band of murderers, as theirministry

Lamong the heathen made alarming inroads

[

upon his trade and credit. The same man having

80 .BAD CONDUCT or AN ANGEKOK. [1744 .

failed in anf

attempt to conjure a healthy soul into a sickc hild, accused a poor woman of having murdered thenew» soul by witchcraft ; and to avoid being hewn to

pieces, the m iserable wretch leaped from a rock intothe '

sea,and was drowned.

The demon of reveng e, ever so powerfully at work

in the breasts o f the natives, threatened molestation tothe cong reg ation of bel ievers. Among the islanderswho v isited atN ew H errnhut, were some who aimed

.

at tak ing away the l ives of several of the baptized,under the pretext, that they were 5related to the murxderers of their friends ; but after the g uilt of murder,and the injustice of such a mode of reveng e had beenrepresented to them, they were confronted with the

objects of their resentment, and a full and free recon:

ciliationw as effected. One of these people, named

Kainaek, had, some years before, been impressed withc onv iction by the words of the missionaries . Whenhewas reminded of this,the tears came into his eyes, andhe faultered forth, that he was a miserable, corruptedc reature, and knew very wel l, that he oug ht to be con

verted, but could not, because his inclination led him,

inpreference, to wander up and downwith the savag es.

After Kuyayak,Kajarnak’s brother,had been drowned

in coasting to the north, th is man undertook the g uardianship of young Kuanak . Afterwards the poor boy,d uring one of the parox ysms of a burning fever,wounded Kainaek

’s wife with a knife, for wh ich he was

beaten most unmerc ifully. He was'

broug ht to the

Brethren as a cripple, and cured by them. The boynow came to Kainaek, and confessed that he had

deserved the blows ; but he advised him and the rest

of them to be converted. They all wept tog ether, and

owned that they were wrong .

O thers of the v isitors were the more d isposed to payattention to the missionaries, as they were ex ceeding lyout of humour with anAng ekok,who had endeavouredto convince them, that the r elig ion of Jesus was a;

mere inventionof the foreig ners inproof of which he

INTERVIEW WITH THE NATIVES. 81

adduced the death of several of the believers, contraryto what their teac hei s had declar ,ed that none who believed onthe Son of God, should d ie. Being cal led toaccount in their presence, and asked if he had ever

heard, that the believe1 s should a lways remain in thisworld,he honestly confessed,with a candour, of whichit would be wel l, if there we1 e mo1e ex amples : Oh

no, I did not understand it so, but because I knew,that I oug ht tobe convei ted, and yet would not, I invented this objection, lest the rest of the people shouldbe converted, and I be left alone.

” He told one ofthe baptized, that he also was will ing to embrace the

truth, but was restrained by love for his deceased children and friends, for he could have no j oy ln heaven, if

they were inhell .Thus truth obtained one victmy after the other

and the simple doctrine of the cruc ified Jesus, plainlyset forth, failed not of its wonted effects on the wi d

est, ha1dest, and most hostile hearts. But the Brethrenwere not slow to exert a due severity towards those,whose audacious profl ig acy required more rig oroustreatment.

InMay the banditti above mentioned mai ched to

the settlement,at a time, when all the Greenlande i s,at

least all the men, were absent in quest of g ame

and all the Brethren, e x cept M . Stach, we1e g one to

v isit them . The following 13 his account of what passed

during this intei v iew :

My room was crowded, and the rest of the house

was filled by those, who could not g ain admittance.

Thoug h I knew what they had threatened, I felt no .

alarm, and went on quietly with my translation. After

s itting some time, thei1 ch ief said . We are come to

hear something gG ood . I told him I was g lad of it. Afte1

sing ing a vei se, I prayed that the Lb

ord would open

their hearts, to unde1 staud what he should g ive me to“s ay . I then proceeded to Speak a feww0 1ds on St.Paul’s p1each ing at Athens .

‘ Yet,’

said I I willnot dwel l on this topic, for you know already,that there

VOL. 11.

82 INTERVIEW WITH THE NATIVE S.

is a Creator.

’

To th is they all ag reed, with the ex ceptionbl

'

one man You also know that you are w ickedThey unanimously assented .

‘ Now then I

come to the mam point, that you and we have a Sav iour,the same g reat Being , who c reated all thing s in the be»

g inning . He l ived upwards of th irty years on earth, to

insti nct and bless mankind, after which he was nailedto a c 1oss, and slain by his countrymen,who would not

bel ieve his words. But on the th ird day he rose ag ainom the g 1 ave, 1nd afterwai ds ascended up into heaven.

The time is now approaching , whenhe wil l comeag ainin the clouds of heaven, and all the dead wi ll rise

tb

and

appen1 bef0 1e him, as the rig h teous Judg e, to rec eive

sentence, every one acc ording to h is works. But thou

poor man l’

said I, tu i ning to their chi ef, how Wiltthou Stand ag hast, when all the souls,whom thou hast

hurried but of th is wo1 ld, shall step f0 1th and say to

Him that s1ts upon the throne : This wicked °

1171 etch

murdered us just as thou hadst sent thy messeng ers,to

publ ish to us the plan of salvat1on l’ What answer

wilt thou then 1 eturu .9” He was silent, and cast his

eyes down to the g round . Observ ing that tremorhad seized the whole company,I proceeded Hearken

to me ; I wil l put thee in a way to escape this tremend

ous judg ment ; but delay not, or death will antic i

pate thee ; for thou art o ld . Fall then at the feet of

Jesus. Thou canst not see h im, yet he is every where.

Tel l him, that thou hast heard, that he loves the humansoul ex ceeding ly,and 1 ejects no one,that cries for g race.

i ell him to have mei cy on thee,poo1 m iserb

able man,and wash out thy sins W1ith his own blood .

’

He p rom ised with anaffected he u t that he would . They all

listened with attention to the c x ho1 tations of Anna,whose brother they had murdered, and afterwards

walked up and down the place, in a thoug htf ulmood, and with folded hands ; but towa1ds evening theydeparted.

As many irreg ularities eas ily'

crept m among the

G reenland ers.'

wlnle d ispersed in their fishing parties,

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3 4° cELEBuArron or cnnrsrmas . ( 1744 .

and t heir ch ild was the first baptized by the Bre

thren.

f

ff he m issionaries had made it a rule,not to force thesacraments upon the Greenlanders, but to wait till theyearnestly desired them ; and they revolted

'

from the

thoug ht of seeing heathens baptized they knew not

why,‘ roving about wi ld. But they received an admo.

nition-on this head and when they afterwards found,-that their people faithfully adhered to their baptismalprom ise, they became less scrupulous in administeringt his ordinance to the children of bel ievers.

Solomon,one of the baptized,entered this year intothe eternal mansions,as a sinner that had found g race.

His unblameable conduct had occasioned the Brethrenmuch .joy ever since his baptism,until th is spring ,when

elapsed into sin,was ex cluded from the fellowship of

the bel ievers, and left the settlement. One of the

teachers, however, meeting with him a fortni g ht afterthis event, took him aside, and encourag ecf him to

apply to'

Jesus for mercy,assuring him, that there aloneh e could find a refug e from all sin, all error and evil,On this his heart g rew tender, and he shed a fl odd of

tears. He returned with his tent to New H errnhut in

g ood health,but fel l sick the very nex t nig ht. As he

was evidently fast approach ing to his end, and was

very penitent for his transg ression,he was ag ainreceivedinto the cong reg ation; Then he declared,that he wasready to depart into the eternal state, and told all a

who visited him, how‘

g reatly he desired to be with‘

J esus.

The two cong reg ations of the Brethren and of Mr.

Drachart united inthe festive celebrationof Christmashymns were sung appropriate to the festival, and a

discourse was held on the lowly birth and deep conde

scension of the Creator of all thing s. The Green

landers were afterwards heard to say : 0 how manynig hts have we Spent in heathenish revelry,but we haveh itherto been utter strang ers to del ig hts l ike these 1

”

1746 .- E11courag ed by the happy effects which seemed

174 .5.j SPIRITUAL P ROGRESS or THE NATIVES. 85;

to result fromthe se Christmas solemnities,the Brethrenthoug ht it would be conduc ive to the welfare of theirflock, to petice more particularly the g ene ral feasts of)the Church, in commemoration of the g reat and

thing s, which’

the Lord has done for his people In

th is v iew,they read on such memorial days,the h istoryof the respective events from the Bible, and made somesho1t explanationand application. If the Greenlandershad not rig htly understood the subject, whenthus publicly propounded, they came afterwards to have theird ifficulties resolved,and this also afforded an excellentopportunity to their instructors for discermng the real

“

:

situation. Of their m inds.If any of the baptized did any thing unseemly, they

were either reproved for it inprivate, or in their separate meeting ; Or they were even debarred from that

meeting for'

a time, if the Offence was Of an ag g 1avated

nature The effect of th is discipline g ene1ally was,that they directly acknowledg ed their fault, and asked ,

pardon of the persons ag g rieved. Sometimes the poorOffender was frig htened such a one they cheei ed upsometimes he was affronted ° in which case he was leftto himself awh ile, till he came to reflection, and beg g edforg iveness with tears . The worst habit of the Greenlan

ders 1s their running up and downwith idle stories andscandal . They were seriously warned of the injuriousconsequences of such a tale-bearing disposition and

were told, that whoever propag ated an Offence, shouldbe excluded the meeting s of the baptized, as ,well,as hethat comm itted it. They promised in future to g ivetheir teachers timely notice of every unpleasant occurrence, that they m ig ht examine into the matter and .

make an, end of it.

Notwithstanding all defects, the Brethren couldrejo ice in the spiritual prog i ess of their people, 0 1

°

at

least, in the uprig ht confession of their faults. Thusone of the missionaries writes ° After the meeting ,several Greenlanders came into my room ; I took

occasion from the subject of the discourse to ask them,

86 INTERCOURSE WITH THE GREENLANDERS.

What was most dear and valuable to them Onesaid ; ‘

That our Saviour has chosen me out of the

world, and so frequently permits me to feel ' that he

lbves me .

’Another said Because I am yet so

ig norant, I wish to learn the words of salvation rig htly,and to keep them in my heart.

’ A third subjoined" Once I was also extremely eag er for knowledg e, and

thoug ht that every thing would be rig ht if I could butlearnmuch . But whenI found,thatwith all my knledg e, the suffering s of Jesus were stil l foreig n to me,sometimes even the object of my contempt and aver

sion, I was shocked at myself, and saw that Imust beconverted anew : now nothing is so e stimable tome,as his blood.

’The last '

said : With this I am yet

unacquainted I am still choaked with cares for a l ivelihood, and thoug h they avai l me nothing , I cannot

extricate myself from them.

’ On another occasion,a person acknowledg ed, that he

’

had g one among the

sa'

vag es soon after his baptism,wh ich made him unset

tled and vain. Whenmy heart told me, I should g oto my teachers, and lay openmy . heart, I persuadedmyself, that it would be to no purpose, for they couldnot help me ; nor could I adhere to their directions ;therefore it would be better for them not

'

to know mysituation. Thus my heart g rew colder and harder;

Now it g ives me pain, and I beg ourSaviour to soften

my heart with his blood.

’

In truth,th is intercourse with the wild Greenlanders,wh ich stil l could not be well avo ided, was no smalltrial to these weak beg inners. For as the ' savag es

were too g rossly ig norant, to be able, l ike other Pag annations, to oppose the truth by some plausible and con

nected systemof their own, they held out the bait of

sensual g ratification,and tried, by every k ind of allurement,to seduce the bel ievers to jo intheir revels. The

latter were sensible of the dang er,and.

now felt as muchalarm as they, at first, felt pleasure, at the thoug hts ofa trip to

“

the h eathen. In one of their autumnalstations, ”

the savag es offered part of their house to the

BOEHNISCH RETURNS FROM GERMANY.

most eminent of the new converts , but heOpei ceived

their artifice, and c ivil ly decl ined the inv itation.

They nex t attempted to inveig le him into pleasures ofvarious k inds and when this lure was found equal lyineffectual with the i ormer,they pl ofl ei ed him several

of their thing s, if he would g ive them his company butfor a sing le time. He felt an incl ination to accept the

present, as the offered articles were such as he g reatlyneeded at the moment, but he instantly recollectedh imself, and refused them. At leng th thev went away,telling him that he carried 11: atter

o

s quite too far, and .

that at th is rate they could have 1 0 communication at

all with the baptized .

The Brethren v isited thei1° people from i sland to .

island,as often as c ircumstances would perm it. The

latter were always g lad to see them, and had g enerallya store of questions ready for them to 1 esolve. A

party, however whom they met with 1 11 the Kookoeinen,owned that they had eng ag ed 111 pag an d iversions withthe unbel ievers, and on

t

that account felt ashamedbefore them and their b iweth i en. In one place the

heathen gold the m 1ssionaries, that a man who had

some time ag o been in the habit of visiting the settlement, had recently died, declaring 1n his lastmoments,that he was not afraid of death . The Brethren ex

plained to them the reason why bel ievers need not feardeath, but may rejo ice when they put off the g armentof flesh . On another island a conjuror had broug htthe heav

’y_

charg e ag ainst the believei s of scarm gaway the sea fowl, by their new doctrine and mode of

l ife, after he had released them fiom their submarineprison.

In the summer, Frederick Boehnisch 1° °

etu1ned from ;

Gennany On h is journey thither two years ag o, hewas intercepted by a party of the m il itary,who w ishedto press him into the se1 v1ce,and was detained f or seve1alweeks. His meek stedfastness not only won him thefavor of many of the officers, but even g ave rise to

serious reflection 111 some m inds, both among st the

BRETHREN DELIVERED FROM WATER.

officers and common soldiers. They f'

urnished‘

him

with a memorial to the g eneral, and the Abbot Steinmetz, interesting h imself strong ly in his behalf, a dis

charg e was obtained . On the day before he set out

onhis return,he received ordination,and thenembarkedin one of the Dutch whalers,with Captain Idze Alders,who made him his chaplain during the voyag e. He

was on board the [sh ip the whole time of'

the whalefishery inDisko Bay, and was to

"

have been set aslmreat God/zaab, on the returnof the vessel . But as a strongsouth wind, which commonly choaks the bays with \

ice, sprung up ,while they were ten leag ues ,

distantfrom

'

the colony, he chose to land directly, thoug h

there was a th ick“fog ; and the sh ip was oblig ed forth

with to put off to sea. The Greenlanders conveyedh im in safety to his Brethren.

The Whole inlet was soon so clog g ed with ice, that’i

the inhabitants could neither g o out nor in. July l g th,th

‘

ere'

was howeve r an opening suffic ient for the Danishsh ip to run in, thoug h with g reat dang er. In thisvessel there arrived two sing le sisters, of

'

whom the one

was married to the missionary JohnSchneider, and the

other to Mr. Drachart,°

who had requested a help-matefrom theBrethren

’

s cong reg ation. JohnBeck embarked inthis ship for Europe, taking with him his, twoch i ldren, as it was now sufficiently evident . that the

m issionaries could not g 1ve them a suitable educationamong the Greenlanders.At the end of the year the cong reg ation, of Whom

eig hteenwere newly baptized, consisted of fifty-three

persons. The Brethren were twice del ivered fromdang er by water. In May, when every thing was

frozen, and the earth covered with snow, they werestartled one morning by a no ise, l ike the roar of a

tempest. The house was instantly ful l of'

water. Theyran out to d ivert the stream, supposing it to proceed

’

from the melting of'

the show, but all without was sol idas marble. In the space of an

"

hour the water was“

g one, and then they found that it had g ushed from the

t ARTIFfCES or THE ANGEKOKS » 893

earth l ike abrook,both in the dwell ing house°

and store

house : this phenomenonwas never repeated. It was»just fl o

’

dd tide, at full m oon, and the brooks-and spring s .

of"

Greenland are then subject to an uncommon attrae

t ion. InAug ust,when the mlss1onaries went out to °

hunt g ame, and at the same time to carry some pro

v isions to their absent Brethren, they were inc losedtheice, in a thick m1st. » They had, however, just timeenoug h to leap upon the frozen mass, and draw their"boat up after them. In this cold retreat they spentfour hours,when the ice opened so far, that they: could;;make their way throug h.

1746. The g eneral commotion among the savag esnow beg an to subside, but 0 11 the

'

other hand the l ittleflock oi

'

bel ieving Greenlanders i ncreased cont inually.

Many whose hearts bowed to the force of'

conviction,repaired to their; Christian countrymen, to share in thehappiness

“

, of which they were stil l destitute. Others,unwilling to yield up their hearts to their Creator, and

g oaded by a restless consc ience,wandered up and down

among st the savag es, endeavouring by fraud or force‘

to prevent others from listening to\

the truth. And

others ag ain were undetermined, which side theyshould espouse.

a

Ag ainst'

such irresolute minds the Ang ekoks ex ertedall their artifices, whether oi

'

temptation to allure, or

of terror to intimidate. A strang e Ang ekok came to

Kang ek, and Warned the people ag ainst g iving ear to

the Christians. He pretended, that he had made a

journey to heaven, to ex amine into the state of the

souls there ; he found all the baptized in a wretched

condition,without food and cloth ing ,but the unbaptizedl ived

'

e'

at affluence. A“

dreadful story was also

propa of a baptized Greenlander, who havingd ied at the northern colony, had appeared ag ain quitenaked, and said that he had been driven into a . dark

and dismai hole, where he endured g reat misery.

Those whowished to find excuses for their unbelrief'

,

g ave credit t0 ‘

these tales, and added that such

01 A HUNTING DIARY: [1746r

ments were infl icted on them by the foreig ners, inreveng e for the murder of their ancestors.

'

The Europeans, who were at present settled among them,

did them indeed no bodily harm,but t1 ied to makethem unhappy by their new opinions and usag es. But

the effect of these for °

g e1 ies was very trifl ing .

Inpropmtion as the baptized became sensible of the

benefits of daily instruct ion, and the detriment aris ingfrom their dispersion, they habituated themselves themore readily to the social order of c iv il ized life, beingconv inced,that the external reg ulations established bytheir teachers, were intended

b

to subserve their real

pl osperity, not for any pul pose of arbitrary restraint.Whenthey were obl ig ed to g o on the ang marset fishery,among the islands, they kept tog ether as much as pos

sible in one place , and if their absence was l ikely tobe of some continuance,one of the Brethren accom

panied them .

With the reader’s perm ission,we will, onth is occaq

‘

sion, introduce one of their hunting diaries.

Sept. 8 . Some Greenlanders set out to hu‘

nt remdeer, and as we did not choose to let them g o alone,I

, (Matthew Stach) wentwith them . A v iolent boyeor squall from the south, assailed us in the fiord, and

drove ou1 boats asunder. I was oblig ed to steer before

the wind straig ht into the fiord, as the adjacent coast .

presented nothing but steep rocks. Yet, in spite of

our efforts, we were hurried close to a h ig h bold shore.

The current was rapid, and the lofty surg es dashedtog ether so furiously that we thoug ht ourselves cer

tain of a watery g rave. The women’s boat writhed in

the billows l ike a worm. But 111 a quarter of anhourall was hushed into a perfect calm, so that we couldrow on four or five miles. We pitched our tents in

Okeitsulc to wait for the two boats,which weremissing .

We were completely dreriched with rain.

The 4th, the two separated boats were still prevented by strong winds from g aining the station. Theycame up, however, the next day,having l ikewise been

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!M A VERY Tnnensruous mm, [17465

not so satisfactory, as the m1ss1ona11 es could have wish »

ed. On their return to their winter habitations, however, most of them came of their own accord,and conv

fessed their deviations with an open heart, so that theirteachers knew not whether they had more reason to

g rieve or rejoice over them. It was indeed necessaryto ex clude some for a t ime from the assembly of the

baptized , but as they humbled themselves and re

formed, they were re adm itted before the ensuingsprinm This affair operated benefic ially on the rest of

the baptized, and a new l ife appea1ed to be infusedinto their publ ic meeting s: At the earnest desire oil

many, the sing ing hours were beg un ag ain, which hadbeen intermitted, on account of their lang our for it

is a princ iple among the Brethren, to set aside even a

useful instituti on, when it no long er answers its end,or deg enerate

‘

s into a mere custom. An unbaptizedwoman,who was discarded ' as a seducer, returned a

few weeks after h’

er dismission, and beg g ed the m1s

slonarles with suppl iant tears, to treceive her ag ain.

l t is‘

true,”

said she, I am yet void of g race, and

have merely g leaned a little outside knowledg e latelybut still I cannot bear to stay among the heathen the

disquietude of my heart follows me every where, and

embitters all my pleasures ; and the revil ing s, which .

I must daily hear ag ainst you and the ‘ believers, are

intolerable to me. The poor woman was admittedupon a new trial .

.This was a very tempestuous year, and the missmn

aries, as wel l as the Greenlanders, were several timesinvolved in c ircumstances of imminent dang er. Two

Brethren, who had g one out to seek wood,were once

wind-bound eig ht days on a desert island, severalleag ues from home, and had to bear the brunt of three

'

hard storms,without a tent to cover them. Yet in all

th is boisterous weather, only one Greenlander, calledGideon, was drowned, being overset in his kajak.

It was observed, that he was never perfectly cheerf ul,but that there was always something pensive and

shy inhim, thoug h no stain of immorality appeared in

ADDITIONAL ASSISTANTS. 93

dUCdZw . Ih , his funeral discourse,the Green

were t urg ed to seek, a true a cquaintance withJ esus, that they mig ht

‘lead a l ife of uninterruptedcal led suddenly out of this world, .as

countrymen were, might'

be found

st eady to enter with perfect joy into the presence of

their Lord . The melancholy acc ident, and its wplain«c omment,caused considerable emotion among st them

all

The continual - increase of the flock of Greenlanders,and the consequent aug mentatmn of labour, rendered

some additional assistants ne cessary. John Soerensenand Chr istian Boernike were nominated to th is oflice.

They eng ag ed with a Whaler,Capt. Idze A lders, and

in the short space of ten days after their sailing fromthe Tex el, they came in sig ht of Cape Farewell .Apri l 5 th, they reached the latitude of Go dkaab, but

d id not dare to.

approach the land on acc ount of the

stormy weather, and were therefore oblig ed to g o 60

leag ues farther north, as hig h as Wyde-bay, beforethey could leave the vessel. The captain desired themto

' wait for another opportunity, as he feared theyavould be murdered by the savag es on the coast,who

b ore a bad character ; and no colonies were yet plantedin that district : but as the weather was serene, ctheyventured out in theii° ownboat,which they had ’boug ht ,inHolland, and coasted southward under the shore.

In the evening , however,as they were e rossing a broadc reek, a strong east-wind suddenly sprung\up, and

threatened to drive them out into the wide'

ocean. Byd int of rowing they succeeded, after much fatig ue, in

reach ing , a lonely island,on which they spent two daysand three nig hts intheir wet clothes, suffering under a

severely cold atmosphere. What g reatly ag g ravated

their distress was, that in l ig htening their boat duringthe storm, they had by mistake thrownoverboard their

implements for Striking fire. They had a scanty portionof bread and cheese,and some bottles of wine ; butas the cold f roze and burst them, they were forced toeat snow. At nig ht they lay iu-a hole dug inthe snow,

T‘

wo ASSISTANTS ARRIVE .

~covering themse lves w ith the sai l of their boat. April10th, they could ag ain set sai l, and ~

passed Bruyne Bay'

and the‘

Kin of Seal, and on the nig ht of the 12th,reame to the first Greenland house in ‘

Omena/c, whichwas inhabited by forty persons; They were rece ivedwith the utmost friendship, and feasted with fish and

W ater. But as this territory is infamous for severalmurders comm itted 0 11 nav ig ators, they watched bytheir boat

‘

all nig ht. The next day they touched at

Naparsok, where they ag ain met with a hospitablereception from the natives. A fter being once more

endang ered by a strong s outh-wind, they arrived on

the I8th in New H errnhitt, to the g lad surprise of

their Brethren.

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96 PROGRESS or THE GOSPEL . [17411

were feeble,and unable to withstand the div ine power ofthe,Word

The operation of the Spirit of God was very perc eptible in the l ittle company of the baptized, and

thoug h distressing c ircumstances occurred, yet,’

on the

whole, the1 e was g reat cause for joy and amazement atthe ti ansformation of a w ild brutish set of people intoa quiet, wel l. ordered family of Christians. In the

public meeting s, the divine efficacy of the Gospel w as

powerfully manifested . Also at small assembl ies for

devotion, incidental conversations, and especially when

baptism was administered, that promise, where two or

three are g athered tog ether in my name, there am I

inthemidst of them,was abundantly verified . Besides,the improvement of the talents perceived in some of

the baptized for declaring to others the fruits of theirex perience, tog etherW ith then unexceptionable deportment, accredited the doctrine of the atonement, and

added g reat‘

weig ht to the testimony of the mis

Slonarl es.

Finally, the happy departure of a number offlGreen

landers ev inced, that the labours of the Brethren hadnot been devoid of success. Even some of the un

baptized had benefited so much by the preach ing of the

Gospel, that,at the close of life, they could breathe theirlast, if not with perfect joy, yet free from the fear of

death .

Notwithstanding all this, an essential 1 equisite

for a true Christian cong reg ation was still wanting to

the company of bel ieving Greenlanders, namely,b

the

Sacrament o f the Lord’

s

b

Supper. The Bretlnen had

h itherto hesitated to suder the Greenlanders to partic ipate in this privileg e. For althoug h they acknow

ledg ed, to the praise ofGod, the g 1ace displayed m the

conduc t of some of the baptized, yet the frequent VlClSsitudes inc ident to the life of a Greenlander, caused a

secret diffidence to arise, whether the permane

their -

communion with our Sav iouron. However,inthe course of the 1a

objection appeared to be removed .

A CHURCH SENT’

TO GREENLAND .

among the baptized manifested such a deep knowledg e Oftheir own sinfulness,such an unshakenconfidence inthe

merits of their Redeemer, and such a heartfelt attachment to their brethren, that at the close of this year,the missionaries were encourag ed to permit the three

firstG1 eenlanders to partake of the Holy Communion.

The baptized and catechumens also showed lessrepug nance to a permanent settlement in one place,without which no lasting fruit or proper order could beex pected. This chang e in their sentiments was partlyowing to their becom ing more sensible of the love,which their teachers bore them , since,notwithstandingthe accumulation of labour, one of the Brethrenalwaysdevoted his time to their service, went out to sea withthem, and v isited them in their habitations, inorder

to take all possible care both of their temporal and spi

ritual welfare. When they removed to their winterdwel ling s, g reat difficulties arose in various ways forwant of room, partly on account of the new reg ulati

enforced by the Brethren. The latter . had, indeed,larg ed their habitation, but it was stil l too small for thereception of their cong reg ation. On this account,theywere for some time reduced to the necessity of holdingpubl ic discoursesand baptisms inthe Openair,which wasvery inconvenient both for teachers and hearers,as incaseo f unfavourableweather,theywere obl ig ed either to dropthe meeting s, or keep them in separate houses. How

ever, this , defect was shortly aftern remedied by the

erection of‘

a spac ious house and church, which was

broug ht about 111 the fol lowing manner.

The accounts hitherto received from Greenland hadcaused so much Joy in all the Brethren’s cong reg ations,and the complaints of the m issionaries had such an

effect upon the synod held at Z eyst, that some wealthymembers resolved to g et a la1g e timber-house framed inHolland, under the direction of the missionary JohnBeck, and sent it to Greenland m a sh ip commanded.

by CaptainGerrisen. Some Brethren voluntari lyoffered to g o thither in order to set it up, and the “

old

“Venerable ChristianDavid also joyfully seized the opVOL . 1 1 . H

98 A new CHURCH consecnarsn. [17417

portunit’

y to e iccompany them, inthe capacity ofmaster

bui lder. He had built the first but for the BrethrehinGreenland, and the first school-house for

'

ltheGreen:

landers, and l ittle ex pected, when leaving the country,‘

that'

the former would ever be inhabited, or the latter

g row too small. He therefore prized his g obd fortune,to witness the accompl ishment of this work

‘

of God.

Their voyag e as far as“Cape Farewell was ex pedia

tions, but inDav is’s S traits,inconsequence of contrarywinds, s torms, thick fog s, and floating ice, they wereforced to heat about nearly four weeks, and did not

make the harbour till J uue 19th . Matthew Stach and

John Schneider returned inthe vessel to Europe, after

being present at the lay ing Of the foundation stone of the

new house.

The building was carried‘

on so expeditiously, thatthe wal ls were completed on the 7th of Aug ust, and

notwithstanding a heavy snow, which‘

fell in this andthe preced ing month, so much was g ot under cover onSeptember l 6th, that the Holy Communion couldkept in one of the rooms,with the Greenlanders.Owing to the dispersion of the latter in the fish ing

1

season, the two remaining teachers were oblig ed, froquently to desist from their work to Visit them. Most,

however, did not neg lect to come“to the missionaries,

and were filled with joy,that they should shortly have achurch . Indeed, the rumour of a house of dimensionsh itherto unknown in Greenland, allured many of the,natives to the Spot, and the Brethren g ladly embracedthe Opportunity to preach that g ospel to them, for tiredpublic declaration Of which; they took pains to erect so

larg e a bu ilding .

On the l 6th of October, the new church was con

secrated. The missionary, John Beck, preached a

sermon on the occasion, and among'

Other thing s re

m in'ded hisauditory of the unpromising a

‘

spect of affairsin the beg inning of the mission, when the most-that

could be donewas,to pray behind . the rocks with tearsto the Father, in the name Of his Son, for the con

versionOf the Greenlanders. That these prayerS1’

were

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l OO ONE HUNDRED -

TwnNrY [1747 .

were divided into thirty companies. Nine men wereappointed to preside at these small

‘

assemblies of their

«

Sex ;“and fifteen females at those of the women. All

rejoiced at the reg ulation. The new people“were

thankful, that they were inc luded, and it was evident

that blessing rested upon it.”

A'

school was beg un for the instruction of those,who appeared to have any talent for sing ing ; and as

two of the Brethren,who -came to ass ist at the building,understood something of music,they taug ht a fewGreen

land boys to play some tunes by ear, by which means,

the sing ing of the Greenland cong reg ation was ren

dered more l ively and ag reeable. Two Brethren, also,from among the natives, were chosen to

'

hold a -,dis

course now and then; at wh ich however one of the

teachers was always to be -

present. These two assistants, and a

vmarried woman,were the first,who were

favoured to partake of the Holy Communion. Uponbeing told, that they should s oon be admitted to thisfavour, they were so overcome with shame and joy,that they could only declare the ir willing ness to devotesoul and body anew to the serv ice of their Saviour,and wait with ch ild-l ike hearts to ex perience, how g loriously he would reveal h imself to them at th is closetfellowship, as they called it. On the precedinn aythey were confirmed with imposition of hands, and

during their enjoyment of the Lord’

s Supper, thev

were so overpowered, that the tears rol led down thei rcheeks abundantly. They declared afterwards, that it

was,as if their bodies would sink into the dust, and

theirg

s

‘

pirits fl y upwards, and that their only thoug ht

was : “ Oh, how is it possible, that our Saviour can'

love poor men so ex ceeding ly !”

The cong reg ation was increased this year by fiftytwo persons, who were added by holy baptism and at

the close of the year, it consisted in all o f 126 baptized, exclusive of eig ht,who had departed to the

church above, sinc e 1 74 1 . One of"these, called Noah,when on his death-bed in the year 1743,prayed beartily for the conversion of his brother. The latter after

raw-.VISITS OF e REENLANDERS. 10 11

wards came ‘

to lthe settlement and was baptized thisyear. His sister had joined us the year before. On

the other hand Rosina, Noah’s widow, who had

since his death, l ived chiefly among the heathenwithher mothery lost the g race which

'

she had once ex pe

rienced, and was at last prevailed upon to quit thispart of the country, and remove farther to the south.

Her daug hter E lizabeth,whom she had left with the

m issionaries to be educated, was shortly after, stolenaway by some of her mother

’s relatives. This inc ident

was the more distressing , as th is little g irl was not onlybaptized,but the most ag reeable of all the Greenlandchildren and when catechised, often astonished the

m iss ionaries by her correct and affecting answers.

Only one couple were married Three of the

baptized died, one of whom was the infant son of

Kaja-ruak,wh ich had been baptized the day beforeits departure.

1748.—Meanwh ile the darkness,wh ich hung over the

heathenGreenlande1s,seemed to thicken, in proportionas the l ig ht among those under the tuition of the

Brethren increased .

’

l he m issionaries frequently v isited them, but found no ears to hear ; and to some

they had not courag e to speak at all. The reasons

alleg ed for their unwilling ness to accept the ofler of

g race were various. One woman declared, that thewater of life was a refreshment to her, but that she

was not able to retain it, her heart being l ike a vessel

full of holes, which let every th ing run‘

throug h. On

th is subject one of the m issionaries writes . Oh, how

are we abased on account of the g race imparted to‘

our Greenlanders ! Defective as some of them are,

yet the difference between them and the savag es is

unspeakably g reat.”

As long as the heathen had plenty, and could liveaccording to their appetite, few came to v isit the

Brethren. But in spring a long continuance of nu

favourable weather drove many to apply to thei1 bel ieving counti ymen for assistance, and furnished the

THE HERRING FISHER]?

missionaries with“

an opportunity to declare to them

the unspeakable riches of the k ing domof God. Som’

e

times a voice with in Make haste and rescue thysoul,

”would impel a young mind; to forsake father

afid mother, and fol low Jesus . If the parents came,and attempted by promises and threats to prevail upontheir ch ildren to return; the Brethren left both partiesat ful l l iberty ; neither persuading any one to stay,nor suffering any one to be carried off by v iolence,whowished to reside in the Settlement, from a sinceredesire to be converted .

In the beg inning of spring ,whenthe Greenlandersresorted to the islands, the m issionaries, when visitingtheir own people, had frequently an opportunity to

address the heathen ; and our Greenlanders, who as

sembled for edification in the absence of their teachers,often broug ht the latter the joyful news, that strang ersattended their meeting s, and ex pressed their intentions to join the cong reg ation.

The journies of the m issionaries were,particularlyin th is year, attended with g reat hazard.

In May continual~

south winds drove larg e quantitiesof floating ice towards the land, and into all the bays;wh ich remained blocked up fora whole month. The

Brethren on their return from 'Kookoernen were so

hemmed in by two larg e sheets of ice’

near their dwe lling , that then del iverance is only to be ascribed to amiraculous prov idence.

A fewdays after the Greenlanders ventured to g o inseventeenboats and Several kajak

'

s onthe herring fish:ery,and Frederic Boehnisch accompanied them. After

running various risks for the first four leag ue‘

s, theyhad open sea. But in a short time it was filledwith ice and the women

’s boat, inwhich the missionary

sat with “

some Greenlanders, was crushed between twomasses . They hastily jumped out on a c ircular pieceof ice,which was whirled round under their feet. Ahhowever Were so fortunate as to g et on another sheet,wh ich lay near it, from whence their companionsrescued them in a short time. Towards Whitsuntide

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104i

FIFTEEN'

COMMUNICANTS. [1748

settlement and the colony, were employed« three days

in ' separating the blubber . from the flesh, wh ich the ‘

Greenlanders are‘

fond of'

eating ; a nd they i

thankedt

God for his g ifts.Before this inc ident,they had removed into their Win-w

ter quarters, and had broug ht several new families from‘

different places,so that inOctober,the number of inhab itants inthe settlement, amounted to two hundred andthirty. To these were added,towards the end of the year,several,who

'

had been led to serious reflections concerning their state,

‘

at the time of the» awakening in Kan

g ek,eig ht years before ; whence it appeared, that whenthe Gospel has once taken root in the hearts evenof

ig norant savag es,it seldom ceases to g row and flourish,till it has produced the fril its of rig hteousness.With these people they renewed the private meet

ing s for edification, and ev ident blessing rested upon

their endeavours. By continual practice they learnedto know,wh ich t ruths they oug ht, in g eneral,chiefly toinforce, and how to adapt their ex pressions to the ca

pacity of each individual .We shall add some reflections of the missionaries, at

the c lose of the year, ,ou the g race resting on the baptized and communicants of their cong reg ation, for toinsert all their ex pressions of joy Would cause needless

pro lixity.

This evening , (the‘ last in the old year) we had an

ocular demonstration, that our Saviour has owned our

testimony. At the close of the discourse,the names of

thirty-five persons ,

were read, who have been baptizedth is year,and can declare from experience, that He has

g ranted them to feel the power of his blood. Besidesthose, thirty-three persons have been received into theclass of candidates for baptism. But the most pleasingsig ht to us,was nineteencommunicants,fifteen of whom

attained to this favour during the year,and inwhose eyesit was leg ible,that they had tasted in the sanctuary today, how g rac ious the Lord is.

Each d iv ision“ of the cong reg ation afterwards stood'

up, when their names were read, were briefly ex hort

afiMSJ A YrO

'

UNG WOMAN TAKEN BY roncs .1 105 '

fired to faithfulness,

~

and blessed by the sing ing of a”

verse suited to their several c ircumstances.At midnig ht we all fell prostrate at the feet of our

Redeemer, and after thanking the Holy Trinity forthe preservatieh, tuition, g race, and lov ing -k inde

ness,which We 'had ex perienced during the past year,recommending ourselves and all our Brethrenf particularly those among the heathen,to our Lord

’

s further

superintendence and g racious influence, about threeo’c lock in the morning ,we retired

'

cheerfully to rest.”

Among the baptized were seven children of believ

ing parents, and also a young woman, to whoma par;.

.ticular inc ident happened shortly before her baptism.

Having g one in company with another to Kang ek, a

savag e took her away by force, intending to corn

pel her to marry him, according to-the custom of the

Greenlanders. Her companion was unable to rescue

her,there being many inthe neig hbourhood,who boasted that they were not afraid of any European. .He

was therefore oblig ed to leave her with them,and itwas

three days,before he could acquaint the missionariesw ith the event. As soon as they heard of it, theyhastened to her assistance, and arrived at the spot,the

same evening . One of them ran into : the~ house,,in

which she was confined,and said to her How earnest

. thou here ?”Ans. That man keeps me by force.

”

Art thou inclined to have this manP” No, but bedrag g ed me hither by the hair of my ,

head. Thentake your thing s and follow us, for

~ '

vvé'

are come’

to

fetch you. Just at th is moment aperson came into thehouse with a g un. The perplex ed savag es said to her :Make haste and beg one, lest we be. all shot.

” Theywere assured,that

r

no injury, shoul d be done them, butzcharg ed never to attempt to lay h ands onour people,

[as we should certainly find them out,were they removed

r to ever so g reat a distance. All‘present were quiet,

and only insisted on our speedy departure. Thus theersoni alluded towas broug ht away the samenig ht,withigut hav ing received any . ill usag e, ex cept the ‘

customwary beating from the old women,to inforce her consent.

106 A REMARKABLE DREAM. [174-8.

ferg ot to mention, that g reat doubts were enter

tained,whether it would be“

possible for a ship to air.

rive this year, as the shore had seldom been blockedup with such quantities of ice. However, inthe be

g inning of June, it was so far broken up by a strongnorth wind, that two sh ips found it practicable to, run

into the harbour.

Christian Dav id and a joiner returned in one of

these ships to Europe, after having built the church,and in so far completed the rest of the dwelling s, thatthe Brethren cou ld move into them on the 2nd of .

April.1749. In the first half of the next year nothing

particular oc curred, and what is said of the primitive believers, Acts ix . 31 . mig ht with justice beappl ied to theGreenland cong reg ation The c hurchhad rest and was edified, walking in the fear of

the Lord, and in the comfort of the HolyThere was but ' l ittle intercourse with the heathen,as few native s of the south v isited the islands. Some0M acquaintances now and then came to the set

tlement butm ost e f them were as yet spiritually dead,and g enerally replied to the ex hortations of the miss ionary Our

‘

ears .are not fitted for that matter,noth ing abides with us .

”

Others,who had wrestled forsome time with t he d isquietude of their hearts, at lasttook refug e to the C ross. Of the latter class was thelate Kajarnak

’s brother-in-law,who came to us and said:

Now 1 am quite weary of living among the savag esI will devote my self to our Sav iour, and dwell with thebel ievers.” Th is man had been awakened in the year1739, by Samuel

’

s testimony and ex ample, heard theword o f God g ladly, loved and willing ly served theb?Iievers, but c oul d never before resolve to forsake thfimcustoms of his forefathers . During a sharp fit of sickness last year, he had a remarkable dream. He fanciedhimself on the s ummit of a hig h and steep hill, andthat on one s ide of it there .

Was a pleaaantplace,whatthe believers were happy ; on the other, a frig htf

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108 '

FIRST CAPELINS APPEAR. [1749

g ravel and rendered this mansion, otherwise so g loomy

and frig htful, a blessed chamber of repose, for those,who die in the Lord. On Easter-Sunday morning , thecong reg ation assembled in the chapel

‘

before sun-rise :they then proceeded to the burying -g round,prayed

'

a

part of the L itany, and called to mind,with few wordsand many tears,all the mercies shown to l the Green

land cong reg ation, and especially to those,who had

departed inthe last year.

OnMay l g th, the m1ssronary Beck set off on the

herring fishery with most of the cong reg ation, in~twene

ty-two women’s boats and a g reat number of kajaks.

In about two hours it beg anto snow so thick,that theycould not see twenty paces before them but the k indang els conducted them so, that no person sufferedharm, or was separated from the company. As all the .

tents could in g eneral be pitched conveniently inthesameplace,the usual meeting s were notintermitted,andthe cong reg ation had an opportunity of experienc ing ,that the presence and the blessing of the Lord is not

c onfined to place,and that the only requisite ~for the ac

ceptance of devotion is, that it be performed in spiritand in truth.

During the l sermononWhitsunday, writes the missionary, a strong emotion was perceived. We had a

numerous and,very attentive auditory,thoug h the snow

fel l in g reat .quantities upon

“

us ; for the church at

Pissilrsarbz’

lc has no roof but the firmament ; its wallsare the snow-wh ite mountains ; the pulpit is a

' larg estone ; and a le dg e of rocks the substitute for benches.After the discourse I g ave the ' Greenlanders a dinnerof rein-deers’ flesh. Two of them,who had been g uilty'

of some indiscretion inmy absence, appeared ashamedof their bad conduct. With one of them,who had

g rown shy towards me, and associated with bad com

pany, I had some conversation, inwhich I representedto him what pain our Sav iour felt for his obstinate

fistrang ement. He burst into tears,and I wept with

im.

On the r28th, the first capelins came near the shore.

MATTHEW STACH ~RETURNS . 109

were dilig ent in catch ing them. In the eveningourse

‘

, I endeavoured to impress it on the minds of

Greenlanders,that the g race of our Saviour is noti confined to

“

particular solemnities, but often comes,

when and where it is least ex pected ; that he seizesone at sea, another on the land, another while ,

fish ing ,o r hunting , and others on the ice-mountains, or in thethickets : that whoever is only sensible of his need,andapplies to Him for rel ief,will find arms open to receivehim, and a heart ready to forg ive all his transg ressions.

On the 8th of June, a g reat many heathen attended

the sermon on John i i i . 17— Q 1 . Shortly after, seme .

who had been to catch seals, broug ht us the melancholy

‘

intellig ence, that the youth Bartholomew was

m issing . I commissioned several to search for him,

who,aftermuch trouble,found -him sunk‘

and suffocated

ine bog , over wh ich he wished to have carried his

kajak . They laid him in a g rave, and erected a monu

ment,on a rock near the spot. He came r to us last

year ; and M a short time made such prog ress in spi,

ritual knowledg e and experience, that we judg ed hima fit subject for baptism, since which his conduct hasbeenmuch to our satisfaction.

Onthe 12th,we set out on our returnwith song s of

praise, and had fine weather til l we arrived at New

H errnhut,where our people received us with joy,and thanked the Lord for all the g race imparted to

us inthe desert.

After th is expedition, the Greenlanders staid mostlyat home, till they went to the Sound, on the seal‘

fishery,.

in September. In the interval,Matthew Stach

with some Greenlanders whom“

he had taken

board the Irene,CaptainGerrisen, at a

the bays were so beset with ice, that

dered, how such a lig ht-built vessel haden able to make her way,in a thick fog and strong

'

nd, without sustaining ,the smallest damag e. The

eve-mentioned natives, hav ing ex pressed a strong0 yearsaterials

1 10 anac'

rron or A STORE-HOUSE . £1749.

for ’bu‘ildmg our chapel : their names were, SimonArbaliik and Sarah Pussimek, a married pair ; JudithIasek, a young woman Matthew Kajarnak, and

Arg usmak, two youths. The journey had proved a

g reat blessing to them . One of the youths,who wasunbaptized,

‘

had baptism administered to him inH ern

haag , and was c alled Johanan. About the samet ime,the other four were admitted to the enjoyment

.of the

Holy Communion. As apprehensionswere entertained,that the hot weather and long deprivation of Greenland diet,mi g htprove detrimental to their health,itwasthoug ht proper,that they should returnhome before thecommencement of summer. However,numerous obstac les arose,wh ich prevented their removal till it was toolate int he season to th ink o f it. InMay, the miss1ons .

ary t ravelled wi th them to H errnhut. In the same

month Sarah died happily, and about five week s after,.

her husband Simon followed her. They were both ]

interred 'in the‘burying g round at H erm hut.

’Thisdispensationwas no small g rief to the Brethren,

'

~who

entertained strong hopes, that th is couple,who had:’before

‘

been so useful,mig ht now render them impor

tant serv ice. Nor did they know how to g et the other

threef who enjoyed g ood health;back ag ain to .theircountry.

‘

Towards autumn, ' the m issionary travel ledw ith them back to ‘

Holland, in hopes of finding a vessel

sail inglfrom thence to Greenland .

th is journey on foot,without any on

to“'be savag es. Fortunately the I rene

from New York, and as'

the captainling ness

‘ to take them to ~Greenland,with h im to London, in the beg inningThere they were presented to Georg e :H .

the royal family,at Leicester'

House.

They then proceeded in the‘

Irene t o "Pe

zvisited the cong reg ationat“Bethlehem and

and the c onverted'

Indians in,America,who

letters by them to the Greenlanders.who had 5

the native

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1 12 DEATH or NATHAN. [17 /l9.

Her proposal was ag reed to, and'

she, assisted by theother

,sing le women,b uilt this autumn the first sing le

sisters’ house inGreenland.

.The manner,inwhich affairs '

are conducted duringthe winter, has been ex plained in former years“ We .

shal l therefore only observe that JohnSoerensen, whocame to Greenland in the year 1746, and who besideshis labour , in ministering the Gospel, devoted h imself

particularly to the manag ement of the ex ternal economy , and the maintenance of order in the cong reg a

tion,was married, on the Qd of Aug ust, to the sing lesister Catherine Paulsin. As M ichael Ballenhorst,whocame two years ag o, had acquired a suffic iency of the

Greenland lang uag e, he was appo inted catech ist. Thesame Brother took upon h imself the care of the boys’

schooly and of the sing le men among the Greenlanders.Among the latter were some young men of g ood capa

c ities,who besides their ownoccupations,which requirelong practice,

-h ad learned to read well, write a g ood

German hand, sing , and play on some musical instruments. And the state of their m inds afforded hopes,that they m ig ht one day be employ ed as assistants in

preach ing the Gospel .Among those,who d ied this year, was Nathan, a

cheerful youth. It was thoug ht by most, that he had

perished at sea, as his kajak was found, but not his

body. But some years afterwards it was discovered,that one of the natives had murdered him, becauseanother baptized Greenlander had restored a seal to’

its rig htful owner, which this savag e had forciblyseized. The cruel wretch mal ic iously cut the innocentyouth to pieces, as an inhabitant of the same placewith his enemy,not being able to find the proper objectof h is reveng e. Since this horrible event, more in

stances have occurred, in wh ich our Brethren have

g one out to sea and never returned. In such cas

is always doubtful,whether they be drowned, or

by the heathen.

Among those of the unbaptized,who died th iswas a woman,who left an orphan child,

A GENERAL '

FAMINE. u" 113

it to the careof the ' head of;the family, in“which"

she

l ived at the time of her death . A savag e at K ang ek

claimed a rig ht to'

the ch ild, hav ing maintained the

mother. during her preg nancy. But as the‘ last

‘

foster

father, a baptized man, had prov1ded both for the

mother and her dfl'

spring , the savag e was oblig ed to besatisfied.

r

1750.~ The weather th is Winter was unusually inclement,tempestuous

‘

and snowy ; and towards Easter, sucha keenfrost set in,as the oldest inhabitants had never ex -r

perienced,whereby the harbour,which is six miles broad ;in the narrowestplace,was so firmly frozen,thatno water

"

was to be seen till April,notwithstanding the hig h tidesand strong current. The Greenlanders, therefore,wereex posed to g reat perils, when they went out to s

‘

éek

forprovisions ; yet fortunately,none were lost. AboutEaster therewas a g eneral famine. The bel ievers suf

fered least, as they had not only learned to pray, butto work and to be g ood economists, so that they couldalways reserve someth ing for the needy, of whom

many took refug e in the settlement. Those fromKang ek were called to account for having buried an

old man alive. They pleaded ln excuse, that they haddone so at the request of his daug hter, because he hada putrid hand, and could providenoth ing . The Gospel

was declared to these as wel l as to the other heathen,who came for food ; but alas ! .by such opportunitiesseldom any g ood was effected. They -indeed admiredthe order among their countrymen, but uponbeingasked, whether they would also surrender ' themselves

to our Sav iour, and follow the example of the bel ievers,who, according to their own confessions, led a happy

‘

l ife, and felt the pressure of the t imes less than the

other Greehlanders y they had recourse to their usualexcuse : Sanieisseg alldar pog ut kissz

'

en qj orna/rau, We

should have no objection to conversion,were it not so

difficult.” It was ev ident on various occasions, thatthoug h their understanding s were convinced of the

truth,’

their hearts would not embrace it. Many of

them ran‘

off as soon as Christ was spoken'

of, andV

'

OL . II. I

11d s'

ronns 1we 'UPrEOE.“

WINTER. E1750.

g uardad‘

as carefully ag ainst uneasiness of mind, as a

timorous man g uards ag ainst an infectious disease, orthmspells of a. sorcerDuring the summer theBrethre’

nhad almostdailyrisits,thoug h few came from a desire to hear any thing , but

merely to boast of their success in hunting . Amongother Visitors was Kainaek,who spread a report, that he

would set fire to the Brethren’

s building s, because theyhad-taken a

_ woman under their protection, whom- he

wished to compel to be his wife. When charg ed withsuch ,

a desig n, he demad it, yet. lay continually inwait,till he had. anopportunity to kidnap the Womanalludedto. As she was not received among the catechumens,it was difficult for the Brethren to meddle inthe affair.

They, however, sent a messeng er after him, to desirehimnot to treat the woman ill, as he had threatened.

As it was afterwards reported, that both sides weresatisfied,nd farther interferencewas thoug ht necessary.

The Greenlanders remained tog ether till after

Easter, and celebrated the usual festivals with mutualedification, Afterwards, most of them repaired tothe' Sound, where they were visited dilig ently ; andtwe boats went to the herring ‘ fishery, accom

pan tach. Owing to the arrival ofthe ship, this Brother was oblig ed to leave his charg e,

for some tlme under the inspection of the nationalassistants. In this year, the Greenland trade was madeover to the Royal Incorporated Company ofMerchants ;and orders were at the same time received from g o

vernment, that the Brethren, instead of having their'

provisions, conveyed free of expense, should henceforward pay a reasonable freig ht. By this means theywere at once relieved from the necessity of beingtroublesome to those inoffice, ex empted from numerousdelays,and enabled topursue their ownplan to g eneralsatisfaction.

During the remainder of the summer, the Greenlanders were employed in putting up the necessarystores for winter. The following account of a visit IS

g iven by a missionary :

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1 16 SEVERAL MARRIAGES. [1750.

thahmakeany hypocritical professions. All,however,expressed a desire to be admitted to these meeting s.Besides, such measures were taken as mig ht tend to

preserve among the Greenlanders an orderly and be

coming deportment, suitable to their profession. Anumber of reg ulations to th is effect were compiled,with the assistance of themost reputable heads of famil ies, wh ich should always be recommended to the

attentionof the Greenlanders, and particularly of newinhabitants, when moving into their winter houses.Whoever acted contrary to them, received a reprimandsu ited to the nature of h is offence, and they easilycomprehended, that these rules were not enforcedfrom caprice, but .

tended to the'

maintenance of

g eneral‘

order,\ and to remove opportunities for sin.

Once a party of young Greenlanders beg anto box , according to their national method

.

of striking each other

on the shoulders, till one of the parties submit. Itwas

represented to them, that th is diversion, thoug h perhaps not exactly wicked, occasioned much levity , and

was improper in Christians. They understood the

admonition,and promised to do so no more.

Thirty-six Greenlanders attained th isyear to the cujoyment of theHolyCommunion,and two couplesweremar

ried. The baptism of several boys and g irls,who had notarrived at years of discretion, at the same time withtheir parents, was reprobated by the synod of the Bre

thren, as it appeared improper to confer th is g race uponthose, who had not been baptized shortly after theirbirth, and yet did not fully know on whom t

lieved, what baptism is, what benefits accrue 1t,‘

and what oblig ations it imposes. The practice was of

course discontinued.

Besides the two marriag es above-mentioned, fourcouples, who had married among the savag es, but had

since become members of Christ’s body, and partakers

of the Holy Communion, received the solemn benedic-ltion of the church, with a View to their liv ing for thef uture in Christianwedlock, in a manner wel l-pleasingto God.

AN UNBABTIZ ED MAN DIES. 1 17

A Very remarkable, occurrence happened to the wifeof a Brother married this year. Shortly after her bap.

tism, her brothers made an attempt to‘

carry her off ;but were prevented by a m issionary, who took her

under his protection. The Greenlanders immediatelyseized him with an intention to take away his life. To

prevent his murder, the woman leaped into the boat,and called out to the savag es, to sail away with her.

They did so, and the m issionary instantly dispatcheda letter after them

‘

to his step-brother, Paul Molzau,

factor ‘

at Godhaab, to have them arrested, and the

young woman released . This factorwaited for them at

K ang ek,wh ich they passed ontheir way to the south,butcould not find the woman, as she was concealed under

some sk ins intheir boat,and ordered under painofdeath,not to discover, by the least motion, the place of herconfinement. However, When they had sailed aboutfourteen leag ues farther, she prevailed uponher brothersto land, and permit her to g ather bilberries. Hav ingg ot ashore, she stole away, and hid herself among therocks. The savag es soug ht for her two days withoutsuccess,sometimes leaping over theVery cleft, inwhichshe lay concealed ; but at last finding all their attemptsfruitless, sailed away. It wasnot till after a sol itary andperilous journey of many leag ues, over mountains andvalleys, that she met with one of the bel iev ing Green

landers, who conducted her to the colony in safety.

Her behav iour as a housewife was ex emp lary, and she

was an useful assistant among her countrywomen.

Towards the close of the year,anunbaptizedmande

parted this life, who had joined the Brethrenlastwinter.

A frig ht was the cause of his coming . Last year,as hewas carrying off a boy,whom he had adopted, fromthesettlement, ag ainst his wi ll, the boy Was drowned notfar from the coast. This dispensation broug ht him to a

sense of his error.'He therefore resolved to chang e

h is l ife,c ame,in the sequel, toNewH errnhut with hiswhole family,and died infirm rel iance onthe atonementof his Redeemer.

( 1751.

MezinWhile,‘

thé‘

t’

rouble attending the con

théfii is‘

sio'

n,Was perc‘

feptibly'

‘

onthe decreaset Ferwas frequent occasionfor admonitions andthe Greenlanders in g eneral resembled

e example has frequently moreihfiueiité upon

'

the'

untoward; than the reprimands of

their teacher also ir‘rlproVed ineconomy and dil i

g ence; and rd laid anabundant blessing ontheir labour.

'

One Sunday, in a'

sern'

mn held on the

wards f' “'

Lacked y'

e any‘

thing the preacher took an

ity to remark, that in a place, where it Waserly deemed impossib

' le for two families to subsist,of three hundred persons lived tog ether,

wire,if thequestionwere put Lacked'

ye any thing ?”

must a’nswer‘ inthe neg ativ That thoug h many diedof starvatim], almost every year,inplaces esteemed t he

st productive, they had always wherewith to assistneedy. The; God seemed ts entice themto bel ieve,the multiplicity of his favoms, that He, to use their

e‘

wfi elf

was their g reat Provider, and theychi dr

‘

én.

InJanuary and February, when there is commonlytheg reatest scarcity, such an immense flock of willocksv isited the islands, that they could be driven on shore

and caug ht With the hand . The consequence of this

superfl ui’

ty,was pretty much j’

the same as that of the

manna intheWilderness. The Greenlanders onSaturdayevening , broug ht home such quantities of them, that

their bodies and kajaks were hung with forty or fiftya-pieCe.

'Many Were consequently enticed to set out

again, early‘

on Sunday morning , in search for more.

But in"the evening they broug ht back only weary

limbs, and their failure was represented to them, as a

silent reproof, for‘

not being contented with y esterday

’s plenteous supply,but breaking the Sabbath out of

an inordinatedesire formore.

At the Sacrament onGood Friday, the assembly 0

cominunibants ‘Consisted exactly of a hundred perso

A family had g one out, without the knowledg e

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120 RETURN FROM m HERRING FISHERY. [1751 .

cept one old man, who was drowned, and a boy who,haifing

‘tfour small seals in his kajak, and aim ing at a

fifth, nverset the boat,‘

and‘

was drag g ed out of the

water, almost l ifeless. The communicationbetween themissionaries and their charg e was soon afterwards cut

off by the floating ice. The return of the latter wasrather disorderly. Some of them had g one to seek reindeer, thereby depriv ing themselves of many opportunities for spiritual enjoyment ; and Peter was so c

_

ba

g rimed by th is disorder, that be separated from .

the

company. Observing afterwards the pain,wh ich thisstep g ave the missionaries, he took it so to heart, thatbe excluded h imself for a time from the meeting s ofthe communicants.After their return it was found necessary to speak

with the Greenlanders individually, in order to asoer

tain the state of their hearts, and what had occurredintheirabsence,wh ich requ ired amendment that theym ig ht beg in the winter so as to proceed in their usual

peaceful course,‘

without any impediment. As private

resentment had been suffered to g ain g round in some'

of them, while separated from us, all sorts of banef ulconsequences were apprehended ; but ,

it was found,that in g eneral the Holy Spirit had operated in theirhearts without interruption, amidst a variety of nu

common o ccurrences, and that many had g ot a deeper

knowledg e of their sinfulness than before. Some of

them related, how they had long ed after the society of

their teachers, and felt anxiety in the company of the

the Savag es. Those who had committed a fault ao

knowledg ed it, and desired forg iveness. Wherever anobdurate or lukewarm spirit was observed, that personwas excluded from some meeting , which he used to

prize g reatly, till he was broug ht to serious reflection,and it was evident, that he desired to have his trans

g ressions washed away by the blood of Jesus.It g ave the Brethren g reat joy, to see a spirit of con

fidence and open-heartedness, continually on the ing

crease among a people naturally reserved, subtle, and

slow to acknowledg e an error. Oct. 15th,the Holy

DEATiL OF J QNATHI

ANPAND

I

SQPHIA. 121

nionwas celebrated,after an intermission of five

On the subsequent solemn. memorial days,which were duly observed, the m issionaries had cause

for(rejo icing at the hung er of the Greenlanders after

the bread of life, and especially at the appropriate andaffecting observations,wh ich they made in the privateconversations, held with each before the Holy Sacra,ment. Onone occasion,part of the diary of the Indiancong reg ationat Rio de Berbz

'

ce, in South America,wascommunicated.

The catech ist, whi le eng ag ed in the chace, heardthat aGreenlander,whosewife had just died, intended toburyhis infant daug hter alive inher g rave,hav ing no oneto nurse it. He sent one of the baptized to the Green

'

lander to request that the ch ildm ig ht directly be g iventohim. His wish was compl ied with,and he returned homerejoiced at hisnew acqu isition, g ot it baptized,and g aveit into the charg e of a Greenland sister, to be nursed .

It Was however a weakly child, and only lived a year.

In th is year eleven Greenlanders died, we trust,hap

pily ; and among st themJonathanand Sophia,two of the

most useful assistants. The national name of the formerwas Kajo. He was a very sing ular man, humble,courteous, and cheerful, and of all the ' national assistants,the person, in whom the missionaries could place mostconfidence. At bidding him a final ad ieu, they all wept

heartily. About two hundred persons attended his fune 1

'

ral,among whom not many dry eyes were to be seen,forJonathanwas universally beloved and respected by, the

Greenlanders}Sophia loved her nation tenderly, and was a g reat

‘

benefactress to the poor. Possessing herself an ex peri

mental acquaintance with our Sav iour, she was alwaysready to del iver her simple testimony from the fulnessof her heart, and confirmed it by a walk worthy of the

Gospel . One of those who , died this year had beenbaptized shortly before, and had afterwards been mar.

ried. Just before he ex .pired, _

he cried out several

times, with his arms ex tended Ah,what blessed

“lama

'

os as . smémsr.

‘

[fi st

néss isfit‘ tohave a happy heart

“! NowI shall be SoonWith1my Savic

'

rurMrs. Drachart, the wife of the Danish ml ss1onary,

died onNew Year’s Day . Towards the end of last '

after she had come to the settlement, shewas th a v iolent

'

fever On the first day of

this year, she became delirious,‘

but towards eveningshe g rew quite composed, and fell g ently asleep intheth irty-sixth year of her ag e. Her rpse was depositedin a tomb at NewH errnhut. This unex pected incident,tog etherwith a precarious State of health, induced herhasband to take his leave of the colony and mission.

Bes ides he had two children, whom,according to the

request of their mother, he wished to be educated in

one of the Brethren’s schools ; and as the oldest

m issionary,Matthew Stach was called,with his .familyfromGreenland to Labrador, theDanishmissionary embraced the opportunity of travell ing With his old ao

quaintance to Herrnhut.1

He there committed his

ch ildren to the charg e of the Brethren, being nudetermined, whether to return to Greenland, or ac

cept of a situation in his native country . But hewas

so del ig hted with Herrnhut, that he could not resolveto shift his residence from thence, and upon his most

earnest request obtained leave to stay there, after hav

ing prev iously procured h is dismissionfrom the Honour

ab le Col leg e of Missions. He is sti ll remembered with

g ratitude inGreenland,both by natives and Europeans.His l ively d iscourses had such aneffect uponthe servants

of the Company,’

and the sailors,many of whom,when

they came to Greenland, little ex ceeded the natives inspiritual

'

knowledg e, that he had always among them a

company of such as thirsted after salvation, and~whose

deportment tended to facilitate the ex ecution of his of‘

fice'

among the heathen. He had also the pleasureto see

,

the fruit of his endeavours among the Greenlanders, hav ing arrang ed matters at first, so as to have

them all collected in one place, and accustomed him .

self to care both for their bodily sustenance and Spiritual advancement. From many instances of the last

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CHAPTER IV.

From 1752 to 1758. B ishop dc Watte'ville holds a Visitation in

Greenland. H is V0 ag e. E x traordinary Severity of the Winter.— Particulars of is Visit. -Ravag es occasioned by a Canto ,

g ions D isorder . Obituary . 1753. Visits in Kang ek His

tory ofi Kainaeh. J ourney of two Native Assistants to the North .

Sing ular Adventure of a Greenlander . 1754. Infection com

municated by some Whalers in the Harbour,which swept away thirtysevenPersons. Celebration of E aster . Conclusion of the Year .

1756 . Consolatory Refl ections . Famine. Triumphs of the

Gosp el. 1757 . Visits to Kang eh. M i scellaneous Occurrences.

Benevolent Infl uence of the Gospel. Declarations of the Green

landers .

175Q .—A NUMEROUS

“

company of Greenlanderswas thus g athered to Jesus Christ by the preach ing of his

Gospel,moulded into a spiritual cong reg ation by the

operation of the Holy Ghost, and furnished with such

prov isions for its g ood disc ipl ine, both within and

without, that amidst all defects, it m ig ht in truth be

called a l iv ing , flourishing , fruit-bearing plant, of the

heavenly Father’s planting . It was now the anx iouscare of those,who were interested in its g rowth, andwhose warmest antic ipations looked forward to its

maturity ; to watch lest the droug ht mig ht wither upits verdure, or some m ildew blig ht its fruitag e. A

synod held at Barby in Saxony, in 1750, thoug ht

it necessary to depute one of the servants of the church,

to v isit the m ission,with power to confirm its reg ulations, or to reform them, if needful, according to the

model establ ished in other missions ; but particularlyto ex amine whether any irreg ularities had crept in,

which end could not be effectually answered by writtencommunications.

BISHOP WATTEVILLE ’S vrsrr.

Bishop Johannes, or John de Watteville, who had

just returned from a Visitation in North-America and

the West Indies,“

undertook th is commission, and

desired for his companion, the ml ss1onary, Matthew

Stach,who was then at Westminster. This Brotherhad sued invainto theHudson’s Bay Company for leaveto preach the Gospel to the American Indians, belonging to their factories ; and he was now eag erly waitingto see, what would result from the commerce wh ichsome Eng lish .merchants, members of the Brethren

’s

church, intended to set on foot with the Esquimaux of

Labrador. But as several difficulties intervened to

defer this undertak ing , he accepted with joy of an

intermediate vi sit to his loved Greenland,and hastenedto join his travelling companion at Barby. Findingthat he had already set off from thence, he ventured to

make all speed after him by way of Stettin, and beingfortunate enoug h to cross the

'

Baltic in as many hours,as he had been days on the passag e in the precedingautumn, he found the Greenland sh ip still in port,thoug h just ready to sail .They embarked, April 28th, on board the Brig itta,

Captain Lars Petersen, in company with Mr. Brunn,who was appointed missionary at Godhaab in the place \

of Mr. Drachart. But the bishop’

s own account of

the voyag e, rendered as concise as possible, will bemost satisfactory.

May l st, a larg e fl eet of ships ran out with us fromHelsing or ; we counted six ty-four. We steered alongthe Swedish coast, and on the 2d entered the north

sea, leaving the Catteg at beh ind us. We met withimmense shoals of herring s,heaped tog ether inthe sea,

l ike l ittle waves. The ath we saw the coast ofNorway,and passed Lindesness. The 9th we passed Fairhillisland

'

near Shetland, and at noon we saw the isle of

These three last days we had a fine eastewmd,

wh ich we advanced at least 1 50 leag ues. The

we passed the place, where the sunken land of

lies. There is always a very hollow restless sea

and a fog commonly hang s over the place, on

,HI$-

,Vorasse, [175Q.

whichdagcount s dread being overtaken.by astorm

initsy icinity. 21st,being Whit Sunday,we hada hard stormfrom the,north-east,which continued alltil ? three, holidays, with only a few hours occasionalintermission; however it sped us on in our course.

The “wi th. we passed Cape Farewell, and enteredDavis’s S trait,

‘ sMay‘

n5th we saw the’

first ice, and sailed betweensome

u

loosepieces. The 27th the wind which hadh itherto been in our favour, turned round UPOD US,

or was“

‘

very slack. We ,tacked backwards and for-i

wards, incommoded at the‘

same .time by a fi g SO

thick, that we often'

could scarcely $566 the ship’

s

len th before us. When the fog'

dispersed on the 181:of line, we found ourselves running upon a hug e

island of ice; and were 0 i ed to alter our tack. The

a propitious south-wind

gsprung up,but we could

not tak'

e'

advantag e of it, as We were the nex t morning

'

beset with ice, in every direction,ex cept the south.

On the‘

filth t he ice closed inuponus on[all sides,and‘

we veered round in it til l noon. Among the rest,we saw one i ceberg very similar in shape and size tothe isla

'

nd Hween between Seeland and Schonen. Atleng th we ag ain saw open water to the south-west,The

'

captain, by a bold push, sailed throug h the fields

of ice, and kept on the tack with contrary wind,mist ,and snow, till the 1 1 th,when the ice, which at first layonly to the north-east, beg an to hem us in on theW. and S.W. Perceiving an opening to the S.E . bee

tween two hug e fields, we made an attempt to force~

a passag e throug h . From 4 P.M. till 10 at nig ht wewere sai ling between these vast islands, and manythousand smaller pieces of ice,unti l weat leng th workedour way throug h a very narrow channel into more

Open space ; yet we encountered smaller fl oes the

whole nig ht,and part of the nex t day . It is c ertainlyvery providential, that there is scarcely any nig ht inthe strait about th is time.

“ June 12th in the morning we first saw land, andabout nine we could descry the tops of the mountains

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198 PARTICULARS onHIS vrsrr. ( 1752.

returned with their hands and faces frozen. A vio

lent hurricane, accompanied with lig htning , nearlyovel threw the Brethren’s house and chapel , the building rocked and cracked l ike a sh ip in a tempest.

About the same time, their new and larg est boat,which was drawn on shore and tied to a post, was

shattered almost to pieces by the waves, in a storm

of unparalleled fui y. They and the Greenlanders ventured in to save i t, till the waves rose above theirheads. Many savag es in other places perished bycold and hung er, and 0m Greenlanders were in

dang er of a similar fate. The Brethren admitted one

company after another into their rooms to warm them

selves thoroug hly,and distributed dried fish and'

peas

among the poorer families. At the instance of the

m1ss1onar1es the more wealthy Greenlanders assistedin rel ieving their distressed brethren; and this, addedto what l ittle their own ex ertions could procure”kept them from starving , unti l the disruption of the

ice in March, left the sea open to their necessary

pursu its.Bishop Johannes was ag reeably surprised by the

flourishing appearance of New H errnhut, rising like a

g arden of the Lord in a frig htful wilderness. The

country consisted entirely of bald rocks, th inly interSpersed with spots and veins of earth, or rather sand ;but the land adjacent to the neat and reg ular tenementof the m issionaries, where, formefl y, there g rew not ab lade of 0 1ass, was clad in the most beautiful verdure.

Wh ile heb

was surveying the prospect, the Brethren;Boehnisch, Soerensen, and Ballenhorst, came sail inghome from theK ookoernén. All the missiona1 ies beingnow assembled, the bishpp, who had previously read

their diaries, held frequent conferences wi th them on

the affairs of the cong reg ation. He also edified the

Greenlanders,both by his discourses,which one of the

Brethren translated afte1 him by sentences, into thenative tong ue ; and by the conversations,which he hadin private with every individual . It was a heart feltdel ig ht to him, to assist at the baptism of three adults,

PARTICULARS or m s VISIT.

'

1 629

soon after his arrival . He took a l ively interest inallthe

‘

avocations of his brethren; joining in their v isits totheir d ispersed flock, or to the neig hbouring savag es

attending them occasional ly on their ex peditions to c ut

turf, and collect fire-wood and birds’ eg g s, whichformed a principal part of their sustenance durin

gthe season,‘

and mak ing frequent e x cursions in th

v icinity of the settlement, to g ain a knowledg e of the"

countryOne of these excursions was to Kannez

’

sut, abouttenmiles distant,on the other side of Baal

’

sRiver . It

is,”he writes, a tract offirmland,rising into rocky h ills

rather than mountains,with larg e plains, rivers,pools,and fine g rass-plots between. About this time it isinfested with a vast swarm of mosquitos, thoug h theyare

'

by no means as troublesome as in St. Thomas, oron the banks of the Delaware. Our Brethren had formerly their best rein-deer ' hunt in this district ; buts ince the Greenlanders have procured so many g uns, arein-deer is now a rarityfi There is a g ood salmonfishery here, and the Brethren have some times taken,

from four to six hundred salmon-trout in their net, atone draug ht.

” On another occasion, after v isitingKang ek, he returned throug h Nepz

'

set Sound, a narrow channel, between the main land and the islands,into which the tide enters on both sides, and carries1n

\many seals with its rapid current. The water is so

shallow, that the bottom is almost every where visible,wh ich renders it an ex cellent place for fishing . On

'

this account, a g reat number of Greenlanders residehere in summer and autumn and it has been observed,that since so many new people have settled '

in‘

the

neig hbourhood,the seal-catch ing has become much

more productiv e and commodious.

By the advice of the b ishop, the services of thoserGreenlanders,

’

who on account of their ex emplary con

duc t, had been selected as assistants, were put intoEmore frequent requisition. They were entrusted witht he oversig ht of the

'

cong reg ation,whenabroad in sum

mer, and were desired to keep a meeting every eveningVOL . II. K

1 36 .OONTAc rous DISORDER.

inthei1 tent,both for our ownpeople,and for such hearthenaswished to attend ; a charg e whic h they acceptedwith will ing ness and hum il ity .

In a farewell love-feast with the missionaries, the”

conversation turned upon the exped ien'

cy of planting a

new,settlement, further to the south . Almost all their

Greenlanders had come from that quarter. The haps

pily departed Kajarnak, by the visit, wh ich he made

there after his baptism drew after him a train of three

or four hundred people, who all fo 1sook their nativecountry to l1ve m New H errnhut. Yet, as the nativehelpers declared, they felt, and frequently ex pressed

?

an ardent desire, that the Brethrenwould carry the

Gospel into their own country, wh ich was the most

populous part of all G1eenlaud . Bnt these were

pious wishes,wh ich at that time they saw no possibil ityof accomplishing .

After a stay of two months, equal ly ag reeable to himself and to the objects of his v isit,Brother deWatteville

prepa1ed for his return ; but while the vessel wasdetained by contrary winds, he had the pleasu1 e toi

complete a revisionof theGreenland hymnbook,beg un;by his 1 ecommendationz' it contained the litanies and.liturg ies of the church, and upwards of a hundred.hymns.

Immediately after the departure of theship,Aug ust

Ff" th,a sickness broke out among the natives, attendedw ith v iolent head-ache, and pains in thritic stitches. By this disorder, many awakene

.then in the neig hbouring islands, and thirtybaptized, among whom Were some of the most

assi stants, were transplanted into eternity . Th

g es made their own reflections on the occasicould not conceive why the mortal ity was theamong the Nookleets.

* At last they satisfie

selves with the rema1k, that it was probably,they bel ieved,and thoug ht too much of the Savi

Nook,sig nifies in Greenlandic,a point or 1201136 1: of land,as that onwhich New

'

Herrrz/iut is s1tua tecl.

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182 i v 1s1'

r s IN KANGEK. [1753,

suing the verse to the end,and then, during the wordsThe soul of Christ thee sanctify,

'

he slept so softlyaw that it was scarcely to be perceived, that thespirit had quitted its fl eshly tabernacle. His name

will never be mentioned among us without awakeningour most tender affections, while it will always revivethe powerful recollection of our loss. But we cam

g ratulate him on his rest with all our hearts.

I-Iush l— stir not up the friend of Chris t,Wake not the soul his bride ;

Some vision causeth her to smile,She views his open side.

"

753’

1754 .-During the two following ears con

sider‘

able accessions were made to the num er of the

baptizedw The former of these years was remark

able for the addition of sixty-seven new people to

the cong reg ation, and in the latter year, nearlySixty of the baptized alone, out of a number of be

tween three and four hundred persons,were called intoeternity.

The other sheep, not yet in the fold, were not

forg otten by the Brethren. InKang ek they g enerallyfound some of the savag es,who heard the word withattention, and g ave their assent to it, thoug h but few .

had such hearts and ears, as the Lord requires for the ,

reception of his doc trine. The Brethren .remarkingthat when they used this ex pression He hath re

deemed us, it was mostly understood by the heathens} :as if Christ had died for the Europeans only, theywere oblig ed to substitute for y ou but, as theLutheran catechism observes, this also requ ires believing hearts. An old g rey-headed man lamented,that he was past learning ]

these thing s ; but he wastold, that he needed no systematic knowledg e ; to g oto the Saviour as a

“

lost creature, just as he felt him;

self,and“

to ask him for abs

ilution from sin, and fulness

of g race, did not require retentive memory, or/ that

H ISTORY or KAINAEK. 195“

torture his brains with intense reflectionnothing avas necessary but the cry of unaffected dis

tress, and the uprig ht desire for del iverance.

On another ‘v isit to Kang ek, the Brethren lodg ed

.with the ir o ld acquaintance Kainaek. One of them,at t he c lose of a serious discourse, into which theyhad entered with their host and his wife, thus addresse d them After all I am persuaded,that you belong”to our Saviour, and that he will certainly take possess ion of you and yours,and baptize you with his blood.

”

On this the woman said Hannese, do you bel ievet his of us in g ood earnest ?

”Yes, repl ied the

m issionary, and till'

this is the case, you wil l find norel ief from your inward d isquietude. They bothbeg an to weep. About a month after .this inc ident,the Brethren Soerensen and Ballenhorst returned one

dreadful day from Kang ek,bring ing with them Kainaekand his whole fam ily. The aspect of the travellerswas frig htf ul,

' for they were mailed in the ice,which had g athered on them from the frost-smoke.

The strand soon swarmed with people rejoicing in

the arrival of new candidates for ; the king dom of

G od.

Kainaek was one of the first Southlanders, who‘

be:

c ame acquainted with the Brethren. As he was of a

g ood family, his three immediate ancestors having all

‘ been renowned seal-catchers, it was long before he

x could resolve to rel inquish his fanc ied dig nity, and

submit to the ig nominy of the cross. He was con

tinually roving from the north to the south, and from

the south to the north ; but he could never fly froma restless heart,fly where he would. It was this person,who has been a lready mentioned as having chastised

young Kuanak so cruelly. He also lay inwait for thel ives of several of the baptized, and threatened to set

the Brethren’

s house onfire, because they protected a

woman,who fl ed to them to avoid marrying by'

compulsion. Afterwards,however,he accomplished his ,des ig n of carrying away this person, and she

‘

happily

1 84 J OURNEY To THE NORTH . C1753,1754“

proveth the'means of his hearing the Gospel several

times with h enefit. After many internal strug g les, hebeg g ed repeatedly to be baptized, and thoug h circumstances prevented h im from c hang ing his abode for

the present, he and his wife were at leng th made partakers

' iof this favour. . As soon as they could leavetheirw inter houses; hemoved.

to his teachers Withmost

of his d omestics, who were upwards of twentyiin

number.

~

B e‘

.was as r emarkable after his baptismf orh is qu iet manners, ashe had before been for his un

g overnable wi ldness, and became a sincere discipleof rJ esus.

iThe conversion of this man'

made much noise amongthe savag es, and the Brethren had a larg e number ofeag er hearers,who prepared to fo llow h im. Not a

week“

inwinter, and scarcely a day passed in summer,wi th6ut~ the v isits of strang ers from the neig hbourhood,or ‘ frequently also from places more remote.

_One of

the native assistants,‘ Daniel, was stimulated by a

strong d esire, to invite his'

brothers and acquaintancein the north ' to the enjoyment of salvation. The

Brethren feared the dang ers, to which he would beex posed in such a journey, but they yielded to h isearnest so licitations,and dismissed himwith the blessingof the cong reg ation, in company of Jonas another

ass istant. They travelled 305 m iles to . the north,and

“

declared with boldness the messag e of atone

ment to all they met,and particularly to their relations.In some places they found hearts prepared for the

reception of the Gospel, but they had l ikewise to sutl'

er‘

then reproach of the cross, and experienced what it

was to be separated, by a long absence, from theirBrethren, in the midst of unbelievers . We were,

”

said .they, l ike !ig norant children among st them, andwere estrang ed to their ways and customs. Theybroug ht back with thein several of their relatives.The brother of one of them was on his way to the

s ettlement with his whole family, when he fel l into'

the hands .of . a. pirate, probably an American,'

who'

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1361’

A Wear SEVERE wrnrmi. [1754.

c ity, the sailm s, fearing that they would be called toaccount for what they had done, conveyed him backto the sh ip. In the mean time Matthew Stach, who

was then m Gei many, being apprised of the c ircumstance, hastened to Amste1dam, to del iver h im froma situation so deg 1ading and irksome to a humanbelngbut he .came too

tb

late the object of his v isit was dead,and had been buried 1n the churchyard of Nieuendam.

Thel e was however reason'

to conclude, that the poorman had left his count1y voluntarily, and that thisvoyag e among strang ers, to a strang e land, had

pro ved a blessing to his soul for,before th is adventure,he had intended to return to the savag es. The fami lyhe left behind,went to their relatives, and wanderedwith them to the north.

17541. -The‘

winte1 was d isting uished by the excessivecold, which lasted h om Feb1 ua1y to Am“, and rose to

such a pitch,that 1t burst the windows and stones. Therewe1 e at the ssame tune immense floats of ice, wh ich1ende1 ed it next to . impossible for any one to put outto sea and when the inc 1easing famine drove the

G 1eenlande1 s to make the attempt, the sl ig htest variation of the wind involved ‘

them in 1mminent dang er

Lot,a behevmg native,who had retreated to an island,to escape the ice,was crushed between two larg e packs,when attempting to return home the .nex t day,and losthis l ife. The inlet was at leng th completely covered

w ith ic e, and a person mig ht walk on foot from the

islands twelve m iles ofi; to the colony.

Six Dutch whalers, belong ing to a fleet of fourteen,had run into Baal ’s Rivf r to avoid the ice fields, andlay at anchor for a fortnig ht a few mi les from the set

tlement.'

l he o ther vessels we1 e su1rounded and besetby the ice. This occur1ence was not of the most profitable nature for the Greenlanders,who are easily dazz led and led astray by novelties. Thus one of the

1 ecently baptized, hai ing been censui ed for some in

stance of misconduct, sufle1ed the sailors to take ad

vantag e of his resentment, so fai as to pel suade him to

g o wi th them to Eui ope and 1twas with much difficulty,

DISORDER AT newHanannu'

r. 137

that the sailors and he were d iverted from their in.

tention.

In other respects,both the crew and the masters be

haved 111 a very friendly manne1, attended the preaching , and were much pleased and affected with what

they saw and heard. They also broug ht a co1pse ashore,requesting the Brethren to g ive it Christian burial . Onthis occasion they d iscovered, unfortunately too late,‘

that a contag ious distemper pl evailed in one of the ves

sels. Multitudes of Greenlanders,both Christians andheathen, had roamed about in every com er of eve1v

ship, and had received foreig n provisions, espec ially

peas, which they eat with theb

g reater ex cess, as theirsustenance had for several m

b

onths been ex tremelyscanty. The d isorder first appea1ed among the se

vag es, but it was not long , before a rag ing sicknessbroke out among st our people, bring ing in its train,coug hs, ear

-achs, and pleuritic stitches. Scarcely a day

passed, in which it did not carry off some Victim. It

was sing ular, that the mortal scythe made its g reat

est havock among the baptized, and cut off the

most valuable assistants. What made the calam ity moreheavy was, that se

'

ve1 al of the most active heads of families we1e swept away, by which the number alreadylarg e, of widows and orphans,was g reatly aug mented .

The ca1e of p1ov1d1ng for these destitute people, andproperly dispos ing of the sucking addedco 11side1ably to the embarrassments of the missionaries, and heavily tasked the activity of the few 1 emain

ing Greenlanders,who were capable of bearlng their

pa1 t of the public burden.

Scarcely any of the Enl opeans eithe1 at NewH errn.

1211i, or the colony, escaped this yea1, without some

There i s nothing ,to which Greenland mothe1s are more averse,

than to s uckle the child of a strang er, lest their ownoffsp1mg should

have a rival 111 thei1 affections. In such cases there 1s no thoug ht of

compassion from a Greenland woman ; and the unfortunate father,who cannot bear to see the ling ermg death of his little infant,has no

resource but to bury it alive immediately ; It is therefore no small

proof of the power of divine Grace,that it overcomes even this bar

barous prejudice.

1 38 DEATH or BARZ ILLAI.

d isorder. Among the rest Mr. Molzau, the factor,strug g led with a severe sickness, from which,however,he recovered. Soon aitel ,be left the country with hisfamily, and returned to Copenhag en,

"

where he was

ag ain attacked by an illness, wh ich proved fatal to him.

He had resided th irteenyears atGodkaab ; he was a sincere Christian,and a firm f1 1end

'

of the Brethren. Mr.

Lars Dalag er, then factor at FredericaMob,came to

s upply hist

place.

Therewere also several,who departed th is l ife, prev ions to the attack of the contag ion. Of these a

youth called Chi istian, Was particularly lamented : hewas pos

ssessed of talents of a superi or order, soon

learned to read and write both his native lang uag e andthe Ge1man, and was of g reat service in copying and

translating . To these acquis1t ions, he added some

knowledg e of music . But whilst his teachers were

indulg ing the hope of h is future more ex tensive use

fulness, he was removed from them into the con

g reg ation above, by means of a l ing ering con

sumption.

His deathwas followed by that of Barzillai,a widower,the o ldest man in the settlement: He Was an intellig ent person,much respected by his countrymen, and

the head of a numerous family . While he was sti llliv ing among the heathen, he once asked one of the

m issi onaries : Hast thou seen the God of whom

thou speakest .9” The missionary replied ; I have

not seen him yet, but I love him with my whole hea1t ;and I, and all true believers shall once see him witlio ur bodily eyes.

” This confident avowal must have

left a deep impression on his mind, and occasionedh im much and anxious reflection for after h is baptismin 1747, he still very

”

frequently al luded to it. The

tranqui l and happy cou1 se of this old man, g ave

Brethren the l ivel iest pleasure but it was not tilllast sickness, that they discovered what lay hid inrecesses of his heart. For while he suffered underrack ing pang s of the col ic, hec heerful, and on

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1410 FAMINE AMONG THE GREENLANDERS. [1755-1757 .

0 my .peop le, remember now, that y e may know the

r ig hteousness of the L ord.

1755,56, 57 . As the first of these years, thoug hrich in blessing to the cong reg ation,was unmarked byany occurrences,which can lay c laim to the pen of the

annal ist, we pass it. over in silence.

I will g ive peace to this place, saith the L ord (j H osts,

Hag . i i . was the promise,which the Brethren re

ceived in the beg inning of 1756, a period sig nalized byso many commotions in different parts of the g lobe.

And it was not without its accompl ishment, either in a

secular or spiritual sense ; for God who, for twentythree years had g u ided and protected his lowly flock,and built them up into a l iving temple, to his h

'

onour,

even amidst the frozen rocks of Greenland, was still

present to comfort and bless them more abundantly.

In spring , a g reat famine caused severe distressamong the savag es. Mr. Dalag er, hav ing been to Kel

ling ut, a place g enerally abound ing with seals, lying fiftym iles to the south, to trade for blubber, returned witha lamentable account of people perisli ing with hung er.

He' broug ht back with him a little g irl, a poor outcast,

whom the savag es, unable to g ive her any food, had

twice laid in a distant cave by the'

sea shore, that theym ig ht not see her die of hung er ; but finding her sti llal ive, when they went to the p lace two days after, theythrew her naked into the sea. And as even the sea

would not be her g rave, a Greenlander touched withcompassion, laid her inanempty storehouse. Presentlyafter the merchant arrived,

'

and on hearing of the affair,ordered the miserable creature,who by this time wasworn away to a skeleton, to be broug ht. He clothedand fed her with his own hands, and sent her in a bagto the Brethren, undertaking to defray the ex pense of

her education. She lived for many years after this

del iverance, to the joy of her benefactor.By their ne y formed habits of forethoug ht and

“

prudent economy, the ChristianGreenlanders were pre

pared ag ainst the present dearth of every common

article of food ; and could even spare a part of; then

1755—1751 ] WAV-EBING or CONWRTS.

"

stock for their destitute countrymen, who under the

pressure of'

hung er,flocked incrowds to the settlement.Want, with its anxious cares, appeared to have bea

numbed the senses of these poor people, and rendered

their hearts more than ordinarily callous to rel ig iousadmonitions. A stirring , however, still subs isted amongthe neig hbouring heathen, thoug h not so universal lydiffused as it had been twelve years ag o. It was now

no'

more the practice of the native assistants to address

them on serious subjects, unless they were invited so

to do ; for they had long been acquainted with the

word of God, and were c loyed with it. When theyeven requested advice, their various sh ifts and evasions,too plainly attested the undetermined, vac illating dis

position _of thei r m inds. I have two w ills,”

was the

avowal of one of them, the one yielding ,the other

resisting ; these two wills are perpetually at variance,and as yet the resisting will always prevails.

”

The celebrated old d iviner,Kassiak, often pressedthem to v isit him, and instruct his family in the knowledg e of the truth. But when they sug g ested the

propriety of his setting them a g ood ex ample by turning with his whole heart to God, he replied : Myspirit indeed is T

never without some inclination to it,but my flesh is too weak .

”And a scholar of the

Ang ekoks, at the c lose of a long conversationwith a

Greenland assistant, lamented, that thoug h at one timehe had earnestly appl ied h imself to the work of con

version, he was now so far involvedi

i ii'

th'

e pract ices of

his profession, that he g reatly doubted,whetherformer convictions would ever take effect.

"To these melancholy instances of irresolution and

weakness, the open sincerity and sing leness of heart,w ith which many others soug ht the society of the believers, formed a pleasing contrast. Several children,who had forsaken both father and mother to fol lowJesus, were happily themeans of drawing their relations after them. A reputable Greenlander inPissihsarbih; who had been for many years acquainted with

4

1412 rareMeHs or rm: ooseam ( 1757.

the Brethren; but could not-resolve to leave his native

place, being at the capel in fishery,met accidentallywith h1s daug hter, who had

'

removed fromhim and was

baptized . He soon g ave her to understand how h ig hlyhe resented her cond uct, in withdrawing from her pa;ternal roof to

'

form a new connection but she met his

ang ry reproof'

s, by , modestly stating the reasons wh ichhad induced her to take this step, enlarg ed on the hap

piness oflthe believers, and concluded with tel ling him'

f‘ You too may share in this felicity ; but if you wil lnot, I cannot stay and perish with you.

” His‘

wrath

fel l at once, his heart was softened, and he beg an to

weep ; he repaired with his daug hter to the missionary, and declared, that so far from compell ing , her to

to leave the believers, as he had intended, he wouldjo in them h imself. Not long after, he came accordingto his prom1se, bring ing with him his two sons and the

rest of his He expressed his wish, that his childrenmig ht all be baptized, for they were young , and

:had a desirefto devote themselves to Jesus. As for him

self, he said,that he was in a very indifferent state,andcould not ex pect to make much profic iency in Christianity but that stil l he oftenrecalled to mind,what hehad heard of the Redeemer, and .had come th ither pur

posely to hear something more. He oftencame to eu

qu ire,whether the baptism of his eldest sonwould notsoon take place : I myself,” said he, dare not thinkof such a favour, being very bad, and old too ; yet I

will l ive and die with you, for it refreshes my soul totojhear of our Sav iour.

”

1757 .—A cold,stormy seasoninthe beg inning of the

p ex t year, ag ain locked up the shore and the islands of“the hay .with i ce, and putting a stop to all nav ig ation,produced anuniversal famine,more terrible in its effectsthan that of the preceding .year. One dismal account

fol lowed another, of chi ldren perishing with hung er,and of old

I

helpleSs people being interred al ive. In

March, when the distress was at - its ' heig ht, two'Bre

threa visited the savag es in Kang eh. Near a forsaken

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144 M ISCELLANEOUS occvnanncns. [17573

It was usual, informer y ears,for the number of inhabitants to receive an annual accession of thirty,six ty,oreven of seventy new people , but in the present, .no

more than seven strang ers jo ined them. Among these,were the two son of the f amous Ang ekok Kassiak, who

had heard the Gospel for many years, and .were now

determined to forsake Pag anism and sorcery. The

father was not averse to their resolution; be thoug htthem happy, but he could not dec ide upon fol lowingtheir example. He assig ned as a reason for his backwardness, that he was much too wicked a man to beconverted, and was apprehensive, that if he were to

l ive with his ch ildren in NewH errnhut, he should dishonour h is profession, and be driven away with ig nom iny. Nor was it in the power of the missionaries, byany remonstrances, to shake h im from his purpose.

On making their dispositions for the winter, thenumber of inhabitants amounted to l ittle short of 400.

Health and ex ternal pl osperity enl ivened all hearts.

They were richly prov ided wi th stores, havmg not

unfrequently, dui ing the summei , caug ht a hundred

seals m a day, and not one was lost at sea am idst the

peri ls of the pursuit. In one instance, a Greenlander,being beset by the we, and m dang e1 of being crushedto death, was oblig ed to jump upon a larg e flake ;and drag his kajak with a seal aftei h im for three

m iles, frequently breaking in up to the arm-pits.

Another time, a woman’s boat spl it in two. But four

kajaks instantly rowed up to the spot, and lashingthemselves two and two tog ether, conveyed the femaleparty safe to land. As

a

a missionary was g oingwith some Greenlanders in an umiak to the Sound,after they had rowed a cons iderable way, their boatbeg an to sink, and thei1 dang er was obse1ved bythose on shore, who immediately sent to apprizethem of their situation. It was only with the utmost

ex ertion, that they efi'

ected a timely landing . On un

loading the boat, they found a larg e hole m the bottom,which they sewed up, and put out ag ain to sea. A

widower, on the po int of a new marri ag e, went out

file;

DESTRUCTION or AN mums SETTLEMENT. 1415

~ to catch some fish f or his wedding -dinner. On hisreturn, he overset ; but as he was not far from land,he crept out of his kajak, laid himself fiat , upon it,and

’

committing himself to the mercy of the waves,was

’

dri'

ven by them to the shore.»

Among the accounts,which were every month readito the cong reg ation, and which supplied cheerfuland edifying subjects of conversation for the longevening s of apolar winter,were obituaries of Europeanchildren, letters and diaries relating to the enslavedNeg roes, and reports from

= Germany of the preservation of the churches amidst the troubles and devastations of war narratives, which g ave occasion to . a

variety of natural reflections, but all leading to thisg rateful conclusion, that thoug h they lived on a

b arren soil, under a rig orous and unkindly cl imate,y et they were blessed with a .m ild g overnment, andcould serve their God without molestation,

"

free from

so larg e a proportion of the many plag ues,whichdesolate the earth.

Nothing ever touched them so deeply as the ac

count of the destruction of the Indian settlement, at

Gnadenhiitten in Pennsylvania, by a party of savag es

inNovember 1755 . When they were told, that mostof the European Brethren and Sisters were massacred,but that the Indians had escaped to the cong reg ationat Bethlehem and that these poor refug ees, tog ether

with a multitude of other Unfortunate creatures,who

had lost their all, were hospitably received at that

place they were so affected,that they burst into loudweeping , and eag erly came forward to make a con

tribution for the relief of their distressed brethren.

One said : I have a,fine rein-deer skin, which I

g ive.

”

I,”

cried another, have a pair of

rein-deer boots,wh ich I will send them.

” And

added a third, will send them a seal, that they

See Loskiel’s History of the Mission among the North American

diam . Part II. p. 166 .

VOL . II.

" ’

SPEECH or DANIEL . [1757 .

may have someth ing to eat and to burn. Thoug htheir c ontributions, when turned into money, werebut of l ittle value,,

the missionaries did not choose to

.reject,what was so freely offered, and directed the

amount of ' the whole to be transmitted to the sufferers

in America, as a proof of -the power of v ital Christianity, to ennoble and expand the most uncultivatedhearts.

In harmony with this untutored expression of

awakened benevolence, were '

the artless declarationsand discourses of the native assistants. They weresimply uttered as they were simply felt ; and comingfrom the heart, it was no wonder, if they Went to theheart.» Few of

'

their effusions are recorded, and, of

the m, themost. strik ing parts are but ill ex pressedthe medium of a translation. The assistantWho ‘has been already mentioned, once spoke to the

m1ss1onar1es as follows I have been this summer

hunting rein-deer, and: while I was wandering aboutin the wilderness, I prayed our Saviour to lead and

g u ide me by his g race. For I know that I am a poor

and'

wretched man, if he is not continually near me.

Sav iour knows them all

therefore I,at all times,the holy Spirit directsJesus, and I feel that hethe po orest of men. Whenwe are sensible of

wretchedness,our eyes run over with tears ; but wwe raise our thoug hts to our Sav iour on the cross,

c leave to him, as‘

the' Nepiset fish to the rock,

retaining a sense of our unworthiness. Thesethe thoug hts ofm y heart.

” Another of the assistmade use, in one of his discourses, of thesimi le : It is with us, as when a thick mithe land, which hinders us from

'

seein

any object distinctly. But when the

we g et sig ht of'

one corner of the landand when the sun breaks forth we s

c lear

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CHAPTERv.

From 1758 to 1762. E x haustionof some Sources qf Increase to theCong reg ation. Reasons f or theE stablishment of a new Settlement.

Preparatory Occurrences. M atthew Stach and J oens and Peter

Haven receive an Appointment to settle the new Cong reg ation.

Their J ourney , and Arrival at New Herrnhut. They sail

several Families to Fisher’

s Inlet. Choose a suitable Place

Building— D ifi culties and Providential Supply . They recei ve

Visits f rom the Greenlanders,and reg ulate the Af airs

ifthe Set

tlement. Increase of the Cong reg ation at New Herrn ut.

of a Converted Female Native. 1759. Many NativesNew Herrnhut.—False Alarm. Arrival of a newM issionary .

Occurrences at L ichtenfels. Perilous E scapes. Storms. 1760.

g

Success of the Grein huntin

gand fishing . E idemic in the Sound. Death

the Greenunder,Daniel. A rief Account of his L ife.

1758. SINCE the year 174Q,whenthe g reat awakeing among the Greenlanders took place, the increasethe cong reg ationwas quick inproportion to thepopulation but,after the commencement of the

we are about to describe, the resources froit had

‘

chiefiy beenaug mented,seemed pretty nearly ehausted. Henceforward, not many Greenlanders we

to be expected from thenorth and Baal’s River . For

s ince the settlementofnew colonies inthe country,those

parts were prov ided with Danish missionari es and

most of the natives,who frequented the inlets near New

H errnhut, attended the chapel at Gotthaab. The

K ooh and Kang eh islands were properly the Brethren’s

preaching places. There were in that district,no 0010

nies nor missions ; and most of the southernGreenlanders were accustomed to take up their abode for a

year or two on those islands, on thei1 voyag es to and

from the no1 th, partly in order to rest, and pa1 tlyto collect necessaries for prosecuting their joum ey .

From these people, the Brethren had g ot most of theirconverts,owing p1 incipally to the ex el tions ofKwho was himself a native of the south. It willrecollected, that the B1ethren received every year “fi e

quent v isits from the south country people, to whom

the Gospel was not entirely unknown, and that theyfrequently invited the missiona1 ies into the south, as

they had an inclination to be converted,but could notsupport themselves at New H errnhut. Indeed the

Brethren were not desirous of a g reat increase of

that cong reg ation, as they felt that all their effortswould be inadequate to feed a larg er number of

souls, thanwas at present entrusted to their care. For

among heathen nations, when the numbers are too

great in a sing le settlement to be minutely inspected,isorder easily g ains g round, and their propensity to

their former savag e practices, is che1 ished by mutualcontag ion.

“

Their objections arose from the difference inthemode of catching seals,arising from local c ircumstances,

’

which oblig e emig rants to learn anew, and meanwh ilefi equently ex

pose them to want, for a leng th of time.

’

Those espema who reside onthe sea coastor an l slandseldom choose

)to chang e their residence to the main‘

land 0 1 an inlet.For these reasons,the Brethren,hoping that if set

tled m a place convenient for their support,many moreGreenlanders would submit to the discipline of the

L 3

.150 PREPARATORY OCCURRENCES.. [1758.

Gospel,had for some time been considering the pro

,priety of sending some m issionaries to Kang ele or

Karialc,forthem inistry of theword among thosenatives,who pass and repass there ; anarrang ementwhich wouldmake it practicable for such of the baptized,to remove

thither,who could not easily support themselves at

NewH errnhut. This proposal was taken into cousideration at the visitation in the year 1752, but notfound advisable.

Two years after, a trading factory was established at

Fisher’s Bay , thirty-six leag ues to the southward.

Many Greenlanders from that district, who spent the

summer at New Herrnhut,Were acquainted with the

Brethren; and some of them had actually fix ed theirresidence in the settlement, but most declared theirinability to subsist there, and invited the Brethren into

q

their country,where they promised to Jom them and

embrace the Gospel.It happened fortunately,after the establishment of

the factory there, that Matthew Stach and Ballenhorst,who were proceeding to Europe, were oblig ed to takesh ipping at the new settlement. Theytook a View of the country,and laid theirbefore the Brethren inof the Greenlanders. The nextwhenabout to leave Europe formemorial to Count Berkentin, the

Greenland trading company at Copoffer, of the Brethren to settle amongat Fisher

’s Bay ,if they could be of any service to

trade. Their overtures were accepted, but couldso soonbe acted upon.

Meanwh ile the missionaries‘

recewed most

invitations both from the natives and the colonibut since they had no one to spare for the

a proposal was made by JohnBeck, thenthat Matthew Stach, who had always expressedincl ination to carry the Gospel, to the south Gre

landers, should settle at F isher’s Bay , and ascert

whether any of the inhabitants were to be g ained

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£52 PREPARATORY OCCURRENCES. [1758.

the ir charg e, looked out for another situation, which

possessed the fol lowing conveniencesA spring that does 'not freeze to the bottom in

Wmter. 1

.2 . A strand,wh ich remains Open inwinter, and is

net at too g reat a distance from the sea, that those who

are accustomed to live near the sea, as is the case withmost of the south countrymen, may not be deterred bythe dread of starvation, from hearing the Gospel. Nosuch place was to be found in the inlet, ex cept Akone

mick, and thoug h they could there not catch a g l impseof the sun, owing to a screen of lofty mountains, yetthey chose the place for the sake of the Greenlanders,and,inJuly 24th,pitched their tents there.

Their first care was to raise a house of stones, in the

Greenland manner. As they could g et no assistancefrom the natives, who were bu ilding at the same time,

and one of the Brethren was oblig ed to spend some

hours d aily in procuring and dressing v ictuals, theirWork proceeded slowly. Besides they were inwant ofthe necessary utensils, not being able to bring them

either from Copenhag en or from New H errnhut.

They were forced to rol l the stones to the spot, carrythe earth in bag s, and fetch the sods by water fromanother place. They had broug ht some laths for theroof from NewH ernhut, but no timber neither couldthey find any for a considerable time in the sea, fit for

their purpose. But the wall being finished, it happened,just as they were g oing out in their boat 0 11 some business,. not far from the house, that they met with two

suitable pieces of timber, which, had they waited anylong er,would have been carried off by the nex t tide. In

short, it seemed as if an ang el had wafted these planksthither, at the time of their g reatest necessity,and they

gc

gived them joyfully, as a present from the hand of

o

Theirhouse consisted ofa room five yards square,and asmall apartmentto serve as a kitchen. The roofwasnearlysix feet hig h,without ceil ing ,and supported by two pil

lars ; the laths were covered with a double layer of sods,

PROCEEDINGS or MATTHEW STACH . 153

cemented with earth and to keep‘

out the rain, old tentsk ins were spread over the whole, the walls being linedwith the same. After they entered their new dwelling ,the winter set inwith rain

‘

and snow, and l ittle was tobe done out of doors.

Meanwh ile,theGreenlanders also bui lt a house,whichthey entered onOctober 14th . At first they found itdifficult to maintain themselves ; but afterwards discovered, not far from home, a strait throug h which the

seals ran into a narrow bay, where they found it praeticable to prevent their escape,and thus killed anumber.

They .were thereby enabled to furnish the factor withfourbarrels of blubber. All declared,that they had neverseen seals there before, and could not butacknowledg e,that the appearance of these animals was a special providence for their support.It was not long beforeGreenlanders came to v isit the '

Brethren,sometimes instig ated by curiosity, but mostlyby a desire to hear the Gospel. The g reater part of

them l ived near the factory, ,or on the other side of the

island . The distance of either place was at least six

miles over rug g ed c l iffs and val lies ; yet they came frequently, espec ially at Christmas, the

'

men by water,and the womenby land, in order to hear the

'

word ofGod, returning home ag ain by nig ht. The

'

missionaryl ikewise v isited the heathen. Their desire to hear of

Jesus, made the way easy to him, thoug h, in itself,difficult and dang erous. On one of his excursions, hisfoot slipped,

'

and he tumbled headlohg"

down the h ill,but fortunately received no hurt, as he fel l into a

wreath of snow. In this labour, the Greenland Brethren assisted them, not without success.Besides some Widows,their ch ildren,and a few sing le

women, two families came with an intention to fix theirresidence at the settlement. They heard the Gospelnot without profit ; but contrary to the g eneral observation, thati Greenland women are more eag er

‘

for

hpiritual thing s than the men, the latter were, in the

nex t year, ag ain seduced into heathenism '

by theirWives.

154 NEW concnnoar i ou . [1758.

The smal l beg inning of a Greenland cong reg ation

was reg ulated in the same manner as New H errnhut.

The sermon on Sunday, and other publ ic meeting s,were held in the Greenlanders’ house ; but the HolyCommunion, and the meeting s of the baptized, in the

Brethren’s house, inwhich the school was also kept.It was matter of joy, that while they were praying the

l itany f0 1 the fi i st time, during the rehearsal ot the

Lord’

s prayer, such emotion was raised in every heart,that the tears trickled down their cheeks.On account of the above-mentioned seduction, the

cong reg ationwas only increased by the birth of one

infant, and was, on the other hand, dimmished by the

untimely death of a young man called Joel, who

pe1 ished in the sea.“ It is sing ulai ly affecting ,

”writes

the m issionary,“ to have seena brother lively and Vig 0 1

ous, and a short time after, to hear that he has fallen a

p1ey to the waves, l eav ing his body to be tossed about

in the rag ing ocean, as food for the fishes. I could nottell what was thematter with me yesterday. I ascendedthe hil l several times to look at the sea,

» without knowing why, althoug h I had frequently been uneasy about

Joel because heventui ed beyond thereach ofh1s abilities.

He was of a cheerful and uprig ht disposition, and,whenaddressed on the subject of the Atonement, his tears )

testified heart-felt emotion. He assisted me dil ig ently intranslating . His lastwork was a passionhymn,inwhich ,

he ex pressed lively joy at the words : Had I of him a ,

v ision,—my heart would tel l me soon,— it was no ,

apparition, but God my flesh and bone.

But to returntoNewH errnhut. The preaching of theGospel,both public ly and privately,proceeded with

‘

spi

rit ; v isits from the heathenwe1e not unfrequent. Especially a g reat many from the south were there in sum

mer, v isi ting their relations, some of whom displayedcomplete apathy to relig ion, others forbade their relations to l isten to the Gospel, because, as they said, examples frequently occurred of young people, who hadonly once 0 1 twice lent an attentive ear to the preach

ing of the Cw ss, being bewitched,and deprived of rest”;

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156 A CONVERTED FEMALE NATIVE . [1758.

rocks.'

Just so oug ht we to cl ing to the personof

J85115.The habits '

of savag es and the vicissitudes of theirlives are necessarily so uniform, and the c ircumstanceslead ing to their conversion, with all its consequences,so nearly alike, that a detailed narrative of them wouldbe quite uninteresting to the g eneral reader. We shall,therefore, only insert one short spec imen of the l ifeof a departed sister, beg inning with.

her conversion.

Maria Barbara came to New H errnhut with herfather, when she was only twelve years old. She was

soonthoroug hly awakened by the Gospel, and baptizedin the spring after her arrival,with the approbation of

her parents. But they afterwards chang ed their m inds,and g oing to the south, attempted both by force . and

fraud to carry off their daug hter. As she stood firm,and implored our protectionwithmany tears, they wereobl ig ed to g o without her, and she enjoyed a peacefull ife till 17 54,when her father and sister paid another

v isit to these parts, and attempted. to snatch. her awayby stealth ; but she was quickly relieved from theirdev ices, as both died shortly after their arrival . How

ever, she had stil l a kinsman,who did his best to seduce

her, till he was removed by death. She then led a

quiet and happy life,free from all apprehension. Abouta year ag o she broke her leg , became a cripple, and at

last fell 1nto a consumption. All her bodily affl ictionswere borne with ex emplary resig nation, in ex pectationof a speedy release,which translated her into the man

sions of eternal bliss, on the 6th of January.

”

The dying declarations of almost all, who departedthis year,were hig hly satisfactory to the m1ssionaries.The following is an ex tract from a letter written by

one of those sisters,who v isited Germany onher deathbed, to a dear friend in Europe

I am sensible of my insufficiency, but feel thatour Saviour lovesme. Therefore,with all my indig ence,I will adhere to him. If He had not soug ht for me, I

should still have remained indarkness. When I con

r VISITS or THE NATIVES. 157

sider this,my eyes fill with tears.‘

My dear Saviour !I have no otherjoy but in thee alone.

This winter I have been very weak in body, andoften had . Spitting of blood, but I have been very

dear A. C I now s end you the last k iss out of

my heart. My body is e x ceeding ly decayed _by . sick

ness,but I rejo ice g reatly in the prospect of that bless.ed moment, when our Saviour wil l call me I shall

then see his wounds, for I am redeemed with his prescions blood. Althoug h I should have been willing to

tarry a l ittle long er with my sisters, yet I leave all toour Sav iour. My g reatest desire is toI love

,him,and shal l love him without ceasing . I now,

my dear A . C ., fee l myself too weak to proceed, but,with

'

iny eyes overflowing with , tears, I once . more sa

lute all the sisters that are with you.

Your dear JUDITH.

1759.—'Frequent opportunities were ag ain afforded

this year of proclaiming the Gospel to quite strang e

heathen since many Southlanders, . as they passed byon their journies from the north, v isited their relationsand acquaintances inNewHerrnhut. From the end of

June to the beg inning of Aug ust, scarce a day passedwithout some (if those g uests. Ig norance lay on. theirminds in its darkest shade yet,thoug h their demeanorwas wi ld, rude, and restless, some of them always at

tended the public preaching of the Gospel. Besides,the conversation of their believing countrymen seemed

not in vain. At least by the means of the latter,what they had not rig htly apprehended in the public

discourses, was more c learly ex plained to them. The

following is a strik ing instance of the impressionmadeby the testimony of a converted heathen. We quotethe words , of the missionaries

After the sermononSunday,several Southlanders,who had frequently heard the Gospel, v isited us. We

asked, if they had ; ever before heard of our Saviour P' One said : “No ; but

“

,we have heard of one

158 ' FA'

LSE ALARM. [1759.

that is called God.

’ Then, as we were about to récommend the atonement of Jesus to their attention,he said to a Greenland assistant, that stood by : Do

thou Speak to us ; our ears are incapable of understanding the Europeans.

’

The request was quite ag reeable to our Gr eenlandbrother,and he testified of Him,who had g iven h imselfup to

. death. for our sins, '

so .that it .was a joy to hear

him. He. often repeated : So dead and stupid as younow are,was I too formerly ; but « when I heard from

these my teachers, that there is a Sav iour, who has

purchased salvation for poor,miserable men, I rejoicedat the news, and prayed to him, and he g ave me open

ears and an open heart, to hear and to understand. And

now you may easily see,that I am happy and I can

Wish you noth ing better, than that you also may sub

mit to be made happy.

”The power of the most Hig h

accompanied his testimony,and many an involuntarys ig h escaped from the savag es during his address. Oneyoung man was so moved,that he beg an to tremble,and said r .

“ I would g ladly come to this Saviour,butmy people always keep me back .

”

But when they were asked,wh ether they would notlive a winter here, they made various excuses for in

stance,that therewere not somany rein-deer hereaboutsas in the South ; that they had eaten none for a longtime, and cou ld not overcome their long ing after th isflesh but that,when they had eaten their fill,theywould come ag ain, and hear of their Redeemer.Shortly after, the inhabitants of NewH errnhut,and

its neig hbourhood experienced a false alarm. A Greenlander of D isko-Bay ,who had beenwith a whale-fisherto Amsterdam,and returned this year,spread a rumour,that next spring many ships would come, and k ill allthe Europeans, with all the Greenlanders that were

found in the settlement. This report drove many heathenout of the neig hbourhood of the mission. Abouttwenty boats full of Southlanders, who had come intothese parts,hastened back ag ain almost all inKang ele

accompanied them, and only four strang ers remained

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160 OCCURRENCES AT LICHTENFELS. [1759.

lying uponher face,weeping and praying . Being askedthe reason,she answered : I was the last time ex cludedfrom the Lord’s Supper, and now I fear g reatly, that Ishall not have leave to g o to it the next time. I wouldnot be deprived of it any long er : therefore I prayedtp our Saviour.

”

This year, John Beck and his wife returned from

their v isit in Germany, and broug ht with them an

acceptable present to the Greenlanders namely, a

translation of the four Evang el ists, harmonized, and a

small collection of hymns,wh ich he,with the assistanceof other Brethren, had translated, and now g ot printedafresh. With him came a new missionary, Henry ,

Huckel, fromMoravia,who was to superintend the con

cerns of the young men. At the same time,Matthew

Stach and—Joens Haven, came on a visit, from the new

cong reg ation at F isher’s Inlet, in order to concert mea

sures for its improvement with the other m issionariesespecially with Frederic Boehnisch,who was soonaboutto visit Germany,with his wife. The Danish missionary, theRev. Mr. Bruun,who came in the year 1752,to Gottkaab, intended to returnwith his family, in thesame ship. His farewell with the Brethrenwas friendlyand affecting ,and heparticularly requested them to treathis successor inthe same manner,as they had constantlytreated him. They assured him,that his request shouldbe complied with . On his arrival with the ship at the

colony of Z ukkertop, he learnt that his successor,who

was to come from Disko,was not l ikely to arrive. He

therefore sent off his family to Copenhag en,and returnedto Gottlzaab. The nex t year he was rel ieved by the

Rev“ Mr. Greg ersen, and was afterwards appointedminister of Slag else inZ eeland.

With respect to the smal l cong reg ation at L ichtenfels, on Fisher

’

s Bay ,,there was but l ittle appearance

of any increase til l the end of th is year. Many South~landers, indeed, stopped there on their journies, and

Lig ht-rock, so called from its being environed with naked

rocks.

occunanncas AT L IGHTENFELS .

heard the word of God their Creator, and of the

redemption obtained by his blood,w ith astonishment,and not altog ether w ithout emotion,but none,of them .

could be prevailed upon to stay; However,the m i ssmn

aries were g lad that they had g ot some intell ig ence of

the Gospel, and knew where to seek for it,_when they .

wanted comfort.

Among the rest, the practising Ang ekok of that

neig hbourhood, paid them a v isit, with his wife. Bothl

pro tested that they were desirous of being converted,and were only sorry, that the m issionary would not

bel ieve them. Unfo rtunately, he had g ood reason

to doubt their sincerity, knowing that their only desig nin keeping up a connection with him, was

‘

to deter

their enemies from reveng ing a murder, to which theyhad been accessary, and to mak e the Greenlanders

place confidence in them, as being such as . loved‘

what is g ood, thoug h they busied themselves continually in forh enting d iscord . In g eneral it was apparentthat the Ang ekoks cultivated the acquaintance of the

missionaries, in order to collect various opinions con

cerning supernatural thing s,which they m ig ht retail tothe g aping crowd,and thus g aina reputationfor wisdomequal to

-that of the Europeans.

The Greenland assistants were more ex pert indetect

ing them than the missionary .

’When the latter once

enquired of an old Brother, why he would not speakwith anAng ekok, concerning the way of salvation, herepl ied : It answers no g ood end to;

-. speak on such

prec ious subjects to these people,who are ful l of deceit,and make use of every thing as poison.

”

‘

Onthe otherhand,when v isiting the east side of the island, Stach

.met with two people,whose words ev inced, that“

where

falls on g ood g round it never fai ls tolast,thoug h it may be hid for many y ears“

unary, this time, onlyWife and ch ildrenat home

,T he

‘.My husband formerly placed confidence

but now he minds thant h e more.' When

n, he say s Ah l ‘

i

pray to our Sav iour

16?j PROGRESS or CONVERSION. [1759.

for me. But I,poor woman, arh myself ve1y ig norant.

I have indeed heard someth ing from the l ittle minister, (Mr.Drachart ) at Godhaab ; but wh ither isit fl ed !

’ As she said this, the tears ran down her

cheeks. We felt uncommonly comfortable with these

people, and reminded them anew of the compassionateheart of our Sav iourA powerf ul emotion was also observable among the

Greenlande1 s at the factory, and they came dilig entlyto L ichtergfeis to hear the word of God . Two fam ilieshad determined to remove to the settlement, but werediverted from thei1 purpose, by v iews Of temporalemolument and some who had l ived there last winter,went away at the instig ation of their wives, whocould not l ive 11) abundance

:

and jollity, as among the

heathen.

One man died shortly after inInnulrsuk,praying earn

nestly fer the pardon of his sins. He had prev iouslysent messeng ers to h is relations in L iclztertfizls, desiringthem to take his corpse, and bury it with the bel ievers.H is lastwords had made such a deep impression on his

w ife,that after some time she came full of ang uish tothe B1eth1 en, and beg g ed, with tears, that favour of

which she had deprived her husband. Her request was

g ranted. Meanwhile another family came qui te unex

pectedly from a d istance of twenty—fom m iles to the

settlement, and were received before the end of the

year into the number of cand idates for baptism .

Am idst all their outward and inward poverty, g racand l ife were perceptible among st the l ittle flock of th

baptized. They could not indeedhut, and the Brethren were forced to send

thither ag ain; neither did they meet with immsuccess in pioviding necessaries, being as yet

quainted with the country. But their heartscomforted ; they tasted the sweetness of the

of God, and l ived tog ether in obedience, lovepeace.

.

One of the missionaries relates, that once

evening meeting ,on'

Sunday,when he had done

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STORMS.

InNovember there was a v iolent storm,wh ich madetheBrethren

’

shouse tremble as it'

therehad beenanearth

quake, thoug h it was very low, situate under a hi ll, andhad wal ls a yard and a quarter thick . In the surround

ing country, many Greenland houses were unroofed;numerous boats shattered and carried into the air,and eig ht men lost at sea. Our people had found itpossible in due time to secure most of their articleslying on the shore, from the overwhelming v iolence of

the waves.

* Both before and after the storm, ballso f fire were seen in the air in several places. One of

them that fell close to a house, had beg un to set fire

to it. Similar phenomena were observed just beforeChristmas, at mid-day, while the sun shone in un

c louded splendour:The l storm split and tore open the ice, but at the

same time blocked up'

the holes with snow ; and wh ile

Peter Rudberg , one of the Brethren, was crossing a

pond the nex t day, the frozen snow g ave way under

him, and he fell into the water. Having a belt round

h is body, his fur coat ex panding on the surface, heldhim up, till he could reach the bottom with his longleaping staf f. He then threw h imself backwards upon

the firm ice, and succeeded in g aining the land .

1760.—The new year did not remove the distress

occasioned by the scarc ity of food ; for the frost was

so keen til l towards .the end of May, that the sea was

ice-locked as far as the eye could reach from the

summits of the h ig hest mountains. Cries of famine

resounded from all quarters. Our people sufiered

least ; yet even they were oblig ed to support l ife withnoth ing but a few crow-berries left on the g round during

it During another tempest, which took place on the 22d of

September, 1757,without rain or snow, the fl ashes of lig htning were

more frequent and vivid than they'

had ever been seen before by the

oldest inhabitants, yet not the smallest rumbling of thunder was

heard,uhr could any traces of the effects of the fl uid be discovered .

Some imag ined that they felt the shock of an earthquake,l ~ The infl uence of this storm must have been very ex tensive, as

it was remarked that during itmany ships were cast away inthe North

Sea,Catteg at,and Baltic .

success or THE M ISSIONARIES. 165

the r winter, and some smal l fishes. The m issionariesthemselves, being

“

reduced to g reat straits, could afford

little relief tot he indig ence of the Greenlahders.

~However, .. thef v isits for propag ating . the 'Gospelsufiered no intermission, thoug h they seemed at first

to bring forth l ittle fruit. Near the factory, indeed,the m issionary . found the Greenlanders very desirousto hear

‘

; and when he had preached in one hou

followed him into -another. They also fr

tended the sermon at L ichtergfels ; yet no lasting impression seemed to be made. Their case was just -asa Greenland woman once described it I know nothow it is we always will be converted, and yet nothingcomes out of it ; we stil l prefer other th ing s beforeour Saviour.

”

The v isiting of the Greenlanders on the east sideseemed to prom ise more fruit . They also frequentlycame to the settlement. Among the rest,

f ’writes

the missionary, three women v isited us. During myaddress to them,I ex plained one of our most beautifulhymns. They learned it by rote, and said, This wewil l take home

'

with us.

’

Heathens l ikewise often came from other parts of the

country to Lichtenfi ls, who at least showed a l ik ing“ for

the Gospel . One man who had been at the sermon,returned very much pleased, and said to his wife : Itl

is ,very ag reeable to hear such th ing s. If the Brethrenl ived nearer the sea, I would instantly move to them,and become a bel iever.

” Another,"

i

whbse daug hterhad been received among the catechumens, was asked,what he thoug ht when he heard such discourses con

cerning our Sav iour. He repl ied I think that I am

g ood for nothing ; but as my chi ldren have '

a g reat:

desire to hear such th ing s, I will not hinder them ;

an~d. perhaps I shall sometime follow them hither, forvindeed it is very ag reeable to b e: here, because thel

people love one another so muchfi’

But'

bare hearing , Visiting , and prom1smg ,was net“

all. The year of release for the heathen. m f these parts :

also, was come ; and ' the'

seed l‘

wh ich had been-t sqwnu

165 DEATH on COUNT zruzeuno’

ar . [1760.

in’

hope beg an to spring up. The only fam ily that

came last “year,became partakers of holy baptism, on

the celebrationof Christ’s manifestationto the Gentiles,January 6th. There was some resemblance betweenthis fam ily, and

'

that of Samuel -Kajarnak. Both con

sisted of a father,mother,son,and daug hter ; both camefrom the south,were quite ig norant, and. yet g ot the

start of those who had long sat under the sound of

the Gospel. They had a son born inMay, who, elevendays afhen it was baptized, returned to its Creator.

With its remains, a hil l was d edicated as a buryingplane.

At Whitsuntide there was a baptism of a sing lewoman, who came from the east side of the island,and had l ived here all the winter. She del ivered on

this occasion, a joyful confession of herfaith, and a fter;wards received the wash ing of reg eneration, during a

powerful sense of the divine presence, attended withabundance of tears, shed by all present. She was

called,Ag nes .

A short time after a ship arri ved, and broug ht theag reeable news,that nex t year they should be f urnishedwith r

a d welling house, and a chapel . These tiding sconfirmed their: hopes, that th is work of the Lord,

beg un in g reat weakness, would be attended with

prosperity .

But their .joy was soon after clamped by the painfulintellig ence, that death had removed the Ordinary of

the Brethren’

s church, Count Zinzendorf, from h is ex ~

tensive sphere of usefulness on earth . This distressingevent took place on the 9th of May at H errnhut.

Their sorrow was the keener, as they were sensiblethat . the Lord had not only made use of this ex tra

ordinary man, as ah instrument for restoring the Brethren

’s church, and for the promulg ation of spiritual

life in the Christian world, but also in a particularmanner for the conversion of the heathen, a projectwh ich he had

[

cherished from his infancy. They knewthat he had furthered arid supported the m issions byhis prayers,by his wise counsels,by h is personal activity,

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CONGERGATION AT NEW 11113 3 1111 0 1 . [17611

OpepC

alr g'

and the G reenlanders according ly made anaddi tion to their dwelling house, enlarg ing it to

twenty-fire yards in leng th, and five in breadth . Theunmarméd s isters and widows bui lt each a house forthemselves ; and fourteen families besides some sing lepersons,.

moved into the g reat house, inwhich the pubIIC meeting s were held.

M of'

the baptized children g ave the missionaries

great j oy .

‘

A little g irl once said To be sure,-our

Saviour . must be very lovely .

” Upon being askedth e reason, she replied I have always such a pleasant feeling when I hear him sung or spoken of.

”

Speak ing of her mother, who was in a discontentedstate, s he said, My mother is sick, her heart

pam s her. This woman aflbrded a strik ing proofthat insmcerity may d iscover itself even among nationsesteemed the most stupid, and that the Spirit of Godoften

.

makes use of the most trifl ing inc idents torecla1m backsliders. Being instig ated by malice andenvy, she was continually finding fault with others,and at , leng th absented herself from the meeting s.

When.

spoken .to on this subject, she answered withsarcast1c

’

humih ty, I am indeed umvorthy .

”She

moreover attempted to seduce others, and upon re

icei vmg a severe reproof from an unbaptized woman,remg ved with another whom she had made her

part1san, to their heathen neig hbours. They immed iately requested her to tel l them something of ourSav1our, but she, finding her inab ility, g rew uneasy

' there, . and went with her daug hter to a number of”

savag es eng ag ed in a merry-making . The ch ild immed iately beg an to cry , and beg g ed to be carried backto the bel ievers. By this . means she was broug ht torepentance,went home, confessed her falseness to them issionaries, and then to the . Greenlanders whomshe

‘ had offended, beg g ed their pardon with manytears, and was ag ain received into their community.

InNewH errnhut and the adjacent country, therewas little opportunity for spread ing the Gospel farther,as all the inhabitants, excepting four famil ies,had fleefrom Kamg c/r and K oo/roem en, being frig htened away

NATIONAL; assts'

rau'

r s’DISCOURSES . 169

last year’s y umour. For the s ame“

c au se no South;landers visited th is cong reg ati on ; but some, on thei rjourney from the north, called there, . onefhrrsily,abesides several s ing le persons Were awakened,

3 anni remained in the place The merchant also,-‘

on his

return from K elling eit, where be shad been onb usi‘

ness.

broug ht back1 two widows and «four children,who had

'

entreated h im, to take them to the irbrothers and s istersinNewH errnhut: They were both. wives of one,man,

who, as: well as his eldest son,

'

was lost in his kajakBut thoug h the increase of inhab itants was very

the spiritua the cong reg ation . was

truly enlivening . Week and Easter were

d isting u ished as day s,of'

pecul iar blessing . Itwas trulyl del ig htful to hear ithe

‘

close and affecting addresses of

the national assistants,who pourtrayed in l ively. coloursto their believ ing and unbeliev ing countrymen, theirown poverty, and the all-sufficient riches of the Atonement.

'

We shal l insert a few frag ments. After firstdwel l ing at larg e upon his own ig norance, beforeheknew any thing of Christ, one of them said : Ah !if our Saviour had not sent teachers to us, whohave made ‘ known to

“

us his passmn, what wouldhave become of! us ? But now we can enjoy h is

g race, and be happy if we will . Our Saviour “

hasnot called us hither f to no purpose ; he wil l be near

us and make us happy. As Eve was formed out o f

Adam’

s side, so are believers formed out of“

the Side“

of Jesus, flesh of his flesh, and boneof his,bone.

”

Another beg an thus : Dear" Brethren,

‘

you know

that our Sav iour endured g reat pams‘ fot our -sakes

and that his sweat was as it were g reat drops‘

of bloddfall ing down to the g round . A woman when she

bears a chi ld, hath pain, but certainly it is not to becompared with what our Sav iour endured for us. Now

if he l ived ih'

our hearts, what a happy l ife should welead 1 And it is our ownfault that we h ave made. such

h small '

ex perience of it, & c .

”Another declared, that

quently ex amined the situation of ' his own hehrt,f; and that when he found it cold and dry, he instantly

'betook himself, as a needy sinner, to the wounds of

170 ARRIVAL or BOEHNISCH . [176 1 .

Jesus. He compared his heart to a 1amp,'

which must

have a zsufliciency of oil, in order to g ive l ig ht and

warmth to r the house.

Another said,among the rest We knowwel l what

pain we feel when a person under our authority is notobedient. By this we may conceive what pain it must

g ive our Saviour, when we wil l not obey him, thoug h

he . intends noth ing but our g ood. Oh ! How happywould i t ‘ be for us if we always attended to the HolySpirit ;

'

whose delig ht it is to g uide us to our Saviour.

Of ourselves we cannot enter into communion with

Twelve persons died th is year, all of whom, in theirlast moments, manifested, with diflerent deg rees of

ai dour, a joyful hope of a happy futurity.

On the first of Aug ust th is year the missionary Boehnisch with his wife, arrived ag aininGreenlandafter their v isit inGermany.

J

r They had a very perilous passag e of elevenweeks from Copenhag en to New

H errnhut. When in the neig hbourhood of the

sunken land of Bus, they were scarcely '

able to

make six leag ues in three weeks, and had in the

sequel to encounter five storms, the most dang er

ous of which overtook them near Statenkfl k. On the

other hand, the ,north and west winds,which detainedthem so long , had cleared their course of floating ice,so that,with the ex ception of several hug e mountains,wh ich lay at some distance,~ there was no obstacle toOppose their entrance into Baal

’

s River . Unfortu

nately before they could s

rum in, a sudden calm ensued,and the sh ip, carried by a rapid tide of flood, was inthe utmost dang er of being stranded onthe K ookoernen

The authenticity of‘ thvese discourses may be relied upon, as the

missionaries were present at their delivery,and immediately took themdowninGerman. InCrantz

’

s work they are g iven at leng th,but theyhave beenpurposely curtailed.

1 With them Crantz went over, in order to take a view of thecountry, and from his own observation, and ,

the records laid before '

h im, to compile a history,which, to use his ownwords,may be de

pended onas just and true.

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ln spnncn Or A GREENLANDER .

Daniel the Greenlander, entered the room. Now,

’

said we, here comes a Greenlander, whose words ;

you wil l understand.

’ We desired him to make the '

matter plain to them . He according ly addressed themin a pretty long d iscourse, wh ich displayed a g reat

lm owleg e of his subject, and breathed a warmth of

Christian feeling not”

easily to be surpassed . ThOUg h

delivered in .the presence of the merchants, it flowedfrom the Greenlander’s heart with uncommon freedom

of u tterance, and threw the heathen into v isibleag itation.

* Perhaps the subsequent stay of a widowwith her two daug hters in the settlement,may be traced

to’

this discourse. Also, a fortnig ht after, two other

famil ies broug ht their capel ins into our storec house, as

a token that they intended to live here.

”

It g ave the Brethren g reat joy to see K ang ek and

K ookoem en,wh ich they c onsidered as the outer court

of the cong reg ation, ag ain replenished, after they- had

stood empty for nearly seven years. Some came from

time to time to v isit them, and their wi ll ing ness to hearwas ev idently onthe increase. Some stayed altog ether,and the Brethren inherited the rel icts of others. Thus,in autumn, a dead man was broug ht to them from

K ookoernen, who had desired to be buried near the believers,because he had intended inhis life-time,to l ive inNew H errnhut. His two wives also came with theirch i ldrenat the same time . He had ordered the concu

bine to stay“

with the Brethren, but his real wife to joinher friends in Kariak . However, when the latter sawthat our Greenlanders were solic itous to provide also

for her and her son, she chose to remain here. On the

other hand, a widow, who had taken refug e in her dis

tress to the baptized, was dismissed for having privatelysent off her son, who promised well, with some v isitingsavag es, fearing lest he should be baptized

“ Upon hearing ,”the missionaries write, that an

old man had died inK oo/roernen, whose children had

Those who wish to read the speech at leng th,may refer to the

former version of Crantz’s work, p. 330. It is too long for insertion

here.

W1 .) vrsrr or sosnnnsnn ro‘ KANGEK. 173

n betrayed .a . wish to jo in the Brethren, two ofassistants went th ither to learn their m inds. They

were stil l undetermined, as it is a custom o f the

Greenlanders to remain a full yea1 on the spot

where any of their relatives die, to bewail their loss,ex c ept some infectious distemper prevails the1 e ;but Daniel reasoned them out of their supeisti tious

notions, and broug ht thei1 fami ly, consisting of sin

persons, with h imb

to the settlement. It was ev identthat the Spirit of God had already beg un a wo1 k of

g race in their souls. In December, John Soe1ensen

went with some G1eenlande1 s to K ang e/r. His wordsfound acceptance, and Daniel assisted him faithfully inex patiating on the happiness resulting from connectionwith our Sav iour. Several of the heathen were much

moved. Among the rest a sing le man, called Kig utikak,resolved, as soonas his kajak was finished, to jo inthe Breth i en. This man, hav ing his feet frozen, hadthem cut off. He now creeps along upon his knees,but can g et in and out of his kajak without assistance,and g ain a suffic ient l ivelihood, nay, even g oes better'

c lothed than many of his neig hbours.

”

The m issionary, on his return, broug ht four women

w ith him, who intended to remain a few days in thesettlement, in order to hear more of our Saviour. A

short time before Christmas the father of one of themcame w ith his two b1 0 thers, to fetch his d aug hter

away. She made ea1nest 1 emonstrances, being desirousto be conve1 ted. When she found that all he1 en,

treaties were unavai ling , and they were p1 ope l ing to

take he1 away by force, she 1 ah into the chapel andimplored our pl otection. l he fathe1 and his b1 0 the1s

were cal led to her, and the former took g reat pains to

persuade he1 to g o with him. He assured her that she

should only stay over the winter with 1nim and that in

spring , he himself would come to New H errnhut, and

be converted . His assurance was confirmed by his

two b1 0 thers, who p1omised her fine new c lothes andthe l ike. But noth ing was to be done With he1 ; shewept, and when

’

they seized her, in order to carry her

AWAKENING AMONG THE nnArfiEN.

efi; she beg anto shriek and tremble, so as to move the

compassion of all the byeastanders. She was asked if

any one had persuaded her to .come to the settlement,or to stay there and upon answering inthe neg ative,was asked ag ain

° “Why then will you not g o withyour father P” She replied, Because I wish to be converted .

” Now,”

said the‘

missionaries to her relations, you see that we do not entice your daug hteraway ; she may return whenever she pleases, but youmust not require us ,to force her away, or persuadeher to be g one, when she wishes to belong to our Se

v icar. But what if you yourselves would remain andfollow her example ? You would never repent of it.

The father, after some consideration, said : If mydaug hter stays, I wi ll stay too .

”But his two brothers,

who also seemed ag itated,said “We will first g o to theNorth to our

”

eldest brother, and at our return, we willlive here.

”The father then sent them to K ang ek, to

fetch his g oods and his son but his daug hter went outof the way, till they were g one, lest they should carryher off by surprise.

About this time a number of savag es came on a visit

from the‘

K ellz'

ng ez'

t islands,which lie about twenty leag uesto the south . It was perceptible, that there was an

awakening among the heathen there. The factor alsobroug ht from thence a boy,who manifested a deg ree of

doc il ity far above the g enerality of his countrymen,and soonmade rapid prog ress inthe knowledg e ofChris

tian truth . He

'

had been used by the heathens as a

k ind of comedian.

At the conclusion of the year it was found that

twenty-five souls, among whom were fifteen ch ildren,had been added to the cong reg ation,and that th irty-onefrom among the heathen, had come to the settlement.Sixteen persons had departed th is life. No one was

lost at sea ; but Jonas, a l ively, sweet-tempered child,about three years old, lost its l ife under a g reat fl oe of

ice, driven on shore, behind which some Greenlandershad seated themselves to bask in the sun. They hadall left the ice, and the mother was x

g one-to fetch

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F701 L‘

ABouas or THE BRETHREN.

and g entle operation, thoug h at the same time With l

demonstration of the spirit and of power.

”

As to the .spread of the Gospel about Lichtmfels,the :Brethren could not at th is time do much by expressvisits, but were oblig ed to rely ch iefly on thefortuitousVISltS of the heathen. For the natives onthe east-side ofthe island had e ither come to the settlement, or movedto a g reater distance and the others who l ived near it,had all turned back into their heathenish courses, not

withstand ing their continual pretences, that as soon as

the Brethren settled in these parts, they would immediately be converted so that what our Sav iour says ofthe king dom of heaven The first shall be last and thelast first,

”was strictly appl icable to their case.

The labours of the Brethren among them were how

ever not altog ether in vain. A spark had found its

way into'

the heart of one here and there, wh ich,weak as it was, shone in darkness, and g ave rise to

reflection. Thus x the desire discovered by the abovementioned Makkig ak, oh his death -bed, for fellowshipwith the Brethren,among whom he also ex pressed a

Wish to be buried, affected many heathens in In

nuksuk, .in such a m anner as to induce them to make

more frequent v isits, and lend a more attentive ear to'

the Gospel, not without blessing . In a conversationheld w ith some who had been very devout duringthe sermon, tears stood in their eyes, and one of

'

them said : It will not be m my power to stay awaytrom y ou much long er, as I see plainly that it is not

enoug h to hear of our Sav iour now and then, but that

it is better to hear of Him every day, and to see the

happiness of his people.

”On the contrary, thoug h

others discovei ed strong symptoms of conviction, theyb 1 oug ht toi ward various ex cuses fo i postponing the

totalb

surrender of their hearts One had 1 elations to

v isit. Another sing le man went away because, havingl ived a long time with Europeans, he was unwi ll ing toaccommodate himself to the Greenland diet. Another

alleg ed the usual plea, that he did not understand the

VISITS or Z SOUTHLANDERS.

mode of catch ing seals here but t hat if he were older,and his sons capable of providing their own mainte

nance, he would come. However, it was ag reeable tohim, that one of his daug hters l ived with us, and

“

was

baptized. But, said he, I myself am a poor man

that I know, as Hannese, (Beck,) has often toldOnce some Greenland sisters went to the factory to

see some women,who did not g o to the dance with therest, and had often desired to be v isited . An old sickwoman, lamenting her fear of death, received f oranswer .Thou mayst wel l be afraid, because thouknowest not what wil l become of thee after death. We

were afraid too, before we knew our Sav iour. But

since we have believed on him, and he has del iveredus from the fear of death, and

'

we know that after

death we shal l l ive for ever with Him, our dread isvanished.

”Ah said the woman, “ ye are happy;

”

and des ired them to tell her more g ood th ing s.

On the Qc of June,”writes a m issionary, “ w e

were v isited by g reat numbers of Southlanders,but theyare in g eneral

'

ex ceeding ly savag e, and fl ee every op

portunity of hearing the Gospel as they would fire.

Their young people espec ially are abominably dissolute. In the evening a number of them repaired to

the factory, intending to have a sing ing and dancingmatch with the heathen of those parts, who mig ht bedisposed to enter the lists ag ainst them. The rest pro

ceeded the next day to the north .

Another family of Southlanders,relations ofAug ustus, came hither, under g reat apprehensions for theirdaug hter, whom a man that has already two wiveswishes to take by force, and threatens to kill t he fatherif he withholds his consent. Our sisters concealed her

rsuer, who came in quest of her during thenet finding her with her parents, went ofi

morning . The g irl would g ladly stay with

I am g ood for noth ing , which is as ambig udua asWe are all poor sinners, and In

better, as a penitent co

GROWTH or .THE CONGREGATION. [17Gb

us, and the ' father also but the mother and her eldestson al e averse to it. A Greenland b1 0ther beg an to

ex postulate with the latter upon the impmpriety of his

conduct , but he fell into a rag e, and the old womanth1 eatened to repay the brother £0 1 his ofliciousness.

His wife soon after g etting a bo i l on her fing er,wewith d ifficulty reasoned. them out of the notion that

she was bewitched .

July ath. Some Southlanders told us, that last yeartwo women

’s boats came to them from the east side, 1

order to ex chang e pelts for knives,needles, and other

ironw are. They were very tal l people, and theirlang uag e was unintel lig ible .

We addressed the Southlanders concerning the Crea~

tion,the Fall, and the Redemptionof man.

23

They dis

played ex traordinary devotion. One of them accompa

nied every th ing that was said with animated g estures ;when, for instance,we spoke of the wounds of our Sa

v icar in his hands,feet,and side,he always po inted withh is fing er to the place. He declared moreover,that he

and his wife should l ike to remain here, but that hecould not f ree himself from the rest, and was con

sequently not his ownmaster.

The preaching of the Gospel, and the frequent v isitsamong t he heathenhad been so effectual this year, that ?the inhabitants of L ichteryfels were increased by th i1 tyone new-come1 s, and thirty four persons we1eThis 1apid g i owth of their cong i eg ation caused the

Breth1en to sig h for more assistants thoug h they hadat present no 1oom to lodg e them. Their G 1 eenlands l

house was not only too small, but also in a vei y ruinous

condition: a piece of the wall fel l down twice, and the’

hung ry ravens had picked the seal skins which coveredthe roof, so ful l of holes, that the m in penetratedthroug h in various places. Besides, it was often so

covered with drifted snow, that they could walk over

the top of it. They were, the1efore,frequently oblig edto drop

'

the meeting s. In winter, indeed, they couldbe held i n the

Greenlanders

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GREENLANnHYMN.

Finally, a G1eenland hymnwas sung , composed byJohn Beck for this day of festiv ity, of which we shall

subjo in a spec imen,with a l iteral interpretation.

Kaulersmniarit Kaumarsukset

Tikkiumet Illing ut,Nalekablo pissitsomarpatit.Aug ling nut Ikkiminut

’

:

Ardlag ut Innuit tersanetut

Mattorsimag alloarei Tartub

M ahnakulle kaumarsok

Illing nut nuilerpok .

2

Uitit kennerniardlutillo,

I‘

nnuit ornig matit,

Illaeg eng niaromavlutillo,

Tipeitsuksinnarauit.

Umlello pig innaUng g ormyput,Illaetit Akullug it illing nut.

Auang a,Kauang alo,Ping a ussoraellug o

The Brethren hav ing now g ot a more suitable dwel l- 1ing

-house, and the‘Greenlanders ,a spac ious church,"

the preaching of the Gospel, and all the other meeting s ,

could be held,without interruption, and it was per

ceptible that the Lord del ig hted to dwel l in this place,to walk among st his children, while assembled in it,

and to let the‘

lig ht of his countenance shine'

uponh

them .

‘

In the’

meeting s during the week, instead of a dis

cou1 se upon a text, a p0 1 t1on of the Evang el ists, or of

the Epist les was sometimes read and ex plained. The

Greenlanders we1e uncommonly attentive, and, besidesthe

‘

blessing of fellowship, also reaped this advantag e,that they often confe1 red with each other, inte1 1og ated

the missionaries on a variety of subjects, and beg g ed

1

Shine qu ickly,for the lig ht

Is come to thee,And the Lord will bring thee

To h is blood, to h is wounds

Formerly,men were here

Shut up in darkness ;But now the lig h t

A rises upon thee .

2

Open th ine ey es and look round

about

Howmen came to thee ;Andwould g ladly be in fellowshipwith thee,

Because thou art continually ,

joy ful.Some boats make readyAnd steer in fellowship their ,

course to thee,From thenorth and from the south

From the eas t, with song s of

praise.

SEVERE WEATHER. 181’

for information on such po ints as they had not rig htlyapprehended .

On Easter Monday, says the diary, we held a

love-feast of ang marset w ith our,people. It happened

that‘

whilst we were reading the events commemo~

1rated in this season, we came to our Saviour’s appearm

ance at the sea of Tiberias,where he made a meal ofof fishes with his disc iples, and ex amined Peter con

c erning h is love. It made no smal l impression upon

the G reenlande1s.

In the meeting of the baptized, the L itany was

read throug h, and an ex planation g iven of each sing lepetition, and of the unknown words used in ex p1essingit The1r hearts and ears were all open.

On those occasions, when ”accounts from other

m issions were read, our Brethrenand Slsters were filledwith joy at the relation of the g race which prevailedamong the neg roes in the West India islands,and the

Indians inNorth and South America. They all staid

at home in order to m iss no thing .

”

As to the unbaptized and catechumens, a missionaryuses the ex pression, Some are as if they were alreadybaptized .

”

One of them was once found sittinghis kajak, in a smal l creek, and weeping ,

A GreenlandBrother ask ing him what was the matter, he repl ied :Alas ! what a wretched man am I, when I consider,

what ou1 teachers tel l us of 0m Saviour, and the hap

piness of those who know him , and that my heartshould be empty yet !

”The faithful shepherd soon

took compassion on this old man as he was soon

after made partaker of Holy Baptism .

”

The weathe1 was this year unusual ly severe, as itcontinued to freeze keenly til l the latter end of May,d many of the natives Were reduced to eat d istress.the south particularly, the scarc ity was so g 1 eat that

ith hung e1 , the country being quite blockedand at the same time covered with a deep0 0 11 as the water eleared, some heathen

sail out of Fishei ’s-inlet, to a merriment,

rtakenby a sudden g ust of bad weather,N 8

18? POVERTY or THE NATIVES. [176 1.

which g ave them g reat difficulty to make the shore. Asthey had taken no tent with them, they were oblig edto Spend two days and a nig ht in the most rig orousweather,with only the heavens for their covering . Some

g ot so stiffened and b‘

enumbed,that they were with difficulty recovered by the usual process of beating and

drag g ing them about. A baptized woman to whom

they related their distr '

esses, used the opportunity to

g ive them some inforinatibn concerning theyhappmess of

bel ievers who love our Saviour.

111,135c k inthe beg inning of the year,they met

‘

with such success in prov iding necessaries, that somtimes. in calm Weather ten seals were caug ht in a

day . But the cold and ice increasing towards spring ,they also were reduced to g reat straits. After theevening meeting ,

”Writes a m issionary, I passed

throug h the g reat house, and saw what the Greenlanders Were eating for supper. The poverty of some of

them pained me to the heart. . Two widows and theirchi ldrenwere feeding ona piece of se

‘

a-weed,and yetdidnot utter a sing le complaint. Indeed,we ascertainedthat at the time they had nothing to subsist upon,butwhat muscles and weed they could g ather at lowWhena man happened to catch a seal, all in the

shared in his success. But when it was divideabove seventy parts, the portions were but veryespec ially since at this season only young sealsbe cau g ht. Thenext day we d ivided some angamong them,wh ich we had collected insummer. Be

destitute ‘

of a proper repository,we could not 81

many of these capel ins,and the Greenlanders had of

g reat quantities df th'

em(

spo iled by the rain, havingstore-house like that at NewH errnhut.

”

On the other hand, in Summer and autumnexertions of the Greenlanders were richly blessed,that the merch ant had enoug h to do

‘ during the winto fetch the blubber

‘

wh ich he boug ht of them, and

barrel it‘

up. He declared his satisfaction, thathe Brethren settled here, he as larg e a q

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DIARY OI? J UNE .

'

neig hbourhood; but after some time withdrew ag ain.

We were g lad of the opportunity offered, to directth is poor straying sheep into the fold of JesusOne g reat cause why deprav ity g ained g round

among the heathen near the settlement, in spite of the

efforts of the missionaries, was the number of'

South;

landers who, on their route to the north, took up theirabode among st them . Many v isited the mission,but fewseemed to derive any benefit from what they heard .

On the Qfith“

of June, (we quote from the diary,)we had so many v isits from the Southlanders,that our

chapel and rooms were never empty the whole day .\

We endeavoured,b oth I II the meeting s, and in con

versation, to recommend to them, in the most lovmgmanner, the mode of salvation throug h Christ, buttheir hearts were l ike rocks, and they had their usualexcuses always at hand. Our Greenlanders tried to

g ain over their relations, but to no purpose. When,after the'

painful prospect oi'

such a barrenfield, weturn our eyes to the del ig htful little g ardenwhich theLord has planted here, our hearts swel l with shame

and thankfulness.On the 29th,most of the southlanders left us. One

boy,however,remained,and onthe 3oth,another sing leman offered h imself for a member of our community .

On the 6th of July,another'

horde of Southlanderswho had arrived at the factory, v isited us. One ofthem recommended his brother to our care,who wishedto remain here. Being asked why he would not stayh imself, he replied : I have boug ht a g reat deal ofpowder and shot, wh ich I must first spend in the

south, inshooting reind eer, for there are many there.

’

Another wished to eat his fill of bear’s flesh ; a thirdwanted to buy a new boat ; and all wished to bel ieve;only not at present. Thus the saying of Christ is ve.

rifled :‘ One buys a piece of g round, his neig hbour,

a yoke of oxen, another marries a wife, and all neg .

lect the season of g race.

’

“ On the 8th, they broug ht a person hither, il l ofthe pleurisy. We g ave him what medic ine we .had,and it had the desired effect. The patient

’s three

1762-3 SOUTH LANDERS FROM »

,THE FACTORY. 185

wives also came with their little children, and h is fa

ther. who IS an ang ekok, seemed very thankful for

our services. We recommended to them the physic ianof souls, but apparently to little purpose. If we

could come to the south, they said that they wouldbe converted . The Southlanders have broug ht alongwith -them an infectious distemper, which beg in

s to

prevail among st our people.

”

“ Onthe 13th and 14th,we were ag ainv isited by theSouthlanders. By having associated with the Europeans,they were, on their return, much more pol ished thanbefore, but had no incl ination to hear any th ing of

their Redeemer. Two of them, however, attendedto the account g iven them of the incarnation, death,and resurrection of our Sav iour. They also came to the

meeting , and resolved to dwel l in the neig hbourhood.

Sept. 8th,many of ourGreenlanders came home torepair their Winter houses. Two famil ies had, a short

time before, rebuilt the old ruinous house, calledAkonamiok, just opposiste to L icktefl éls, in order to

winter there ; and thoug h it was evident at first, that

they had no inclination for any th ing g ood, yet at lastsome of them were g ainech . Two fam il ies, whichcame hither in spring from the factory, built near

the Southlanders,who are afraid of l iv ing with us, lestsome of their people m ig ht believe, and be baptized.

After some weeks,we were informed of another reason.

An ang ekok‘

told our Nicholas that a report prevailedall over the south,that we Europeans,_by our prayers,broug ht about the death of all those who once jo inedus, and afterwards went away ; and that h e h imselfknew many instances of it. Nicholas answered, that

we did not‘pray for the death, but for the l ife and sal

gvationof the Greenlanders.

November 14th,many Southlanders were here from”

the factory.hThey did not attend the sermon; but

Greenland assistants held them a discourseouse,whic

merchant

186 ‘

TRICKS or AN ANGEKOK. [176Q .

be done with them. However,during one of his pretended trips to heaven or hell,he was so sadly scared by the

report of a g un, as to be almost unable to proceed.

It seems, upon the whole, as if Satan had sent the most

indefatig able of hi s servants’

into these parts. Theyseem never to be tired, even after repeated nig htsof g ormandizing ,danc ing , Jug g l ing , and other d isso

lute practices ; so that even such heathen as beforehad Some sense of decency, are now carried away bythe v iolence of the torrent. They, however, make

nO ' impression'

on our baptized, who seem only to

manifest the g reater g ratitude for their del iverancefrom the power of darkness ; neither could we trace

any marks of the contag ionhav ing spread as far'

as o ur

Settlement ; for even the ch i ldren, when a c ompanyof dancers are passing by, shun their sig ht, and

seem as much frig htened at their Cries, as if enemies

were on their march .

”

Many of the untutored natives made a curious mistake concerning the word God. When the Danish nameGudwas used,they understood theSame word inGreen

landre,wh ich sig nifies rivers, and Wondered that theBrethren insisted so much upon the existence of rivers,wh ich no one ever doubted . Owing to th is acceptation(if the Word, a savag e was

_quite indig nant at beingasked by one of the baptized,whether he believed in

God, and replied : Why should I not believe inthat ? I ha

’

ve heard his vo ice meaning the rush ingsound of a torrent.

Wh ile a m issionary was once letting out the sh

early inthe morning ,he happened to hear extranarily sweet sing ing in a tent, and found that the

of the family Was performing his morning devotionshis people. He beckoned for Us to come,

”

writetniSSionary, and we stood still,l istening to

melody,with hearts exceeding ly moved, and

in our eyes. What a chang e, thoug ht I,Wroug ht here

' These people were but twosavag e heathen, and now they are sing ing of

accord,so'

SWeétly to theLamb once slain.

”

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188 NUMEROUS DANGERS. [176023

Godhg db. They also built a turret for a bel l,broug htfrom Copenhag en, repaired their o ld boat, dug a wel l,rai sed a marshy spot, laid it out for a g arden, and

enlarg ed the wall round their house. Another labourwas. to seek for turf onthe island,and drift-wood in thesea. In these employments they were much retarded

in '

the middle of summer by snow and ice, and were

ex posed by thick fog s to many dang ers, not to mentionthat both fuel and food were scarcer in F isher

’

s Inlet,than inBaal’s River,rein-deer and cyder-fowl being seldom found there. However, they beg an to catch some

larg e cod, and the Greenlanders found a place abound-i

ing‘

with hal ibuts. The latter met with g reater difficulties th is year in col lecting provisions, than the last;being unable to sell above one half of the blubber to

the merchant, yet it amounted to more than he'

couldcollect from all th is neig hbourhood besides, thoug h

comparatively populous.

Numerous dang ers of various k inds befel them . We

shall insert a spec imen.

Wh ile some womenwere eng ag ed inseek ing foreg g s,they saw something wh ite lying in the sea,and paddledup to it, supposing that it was a piece of ice, whichwould serve the purpose of cool ing their water. Uponapproach ing nearer,they discovered that it wasan enorm

ous wh ite bear. Some that had never seen a bear before,were frig htened, and screamed out ; but the beast laystill,not attempting to swim after them . They broug htsome Greenlanders with g uns,but be was g one.

A short time after the widows moved into theirhouse, one of them was roused in the. nig ht by the

crack ing . of t he roof. She awoke the rest, and . badethem lie close to the wall . They had scarcely doneso, before the roof burst in the m iddle, shattered

most of their furniture, and . only left al passag e near

the wal l, on wh ich the cross beams rested . Throug hthis opening they a ll crept out unhurt.

The only fatal acc ident befel Ludwig , a boy who

lost his life in the waves He was baptized this year,was. dilig ent in learning ~to read, and was taug ht ta

DEATH or SUSANNA. 189

sing by a Greenland assistant,who decla1ed that he of:ten

t j

spoke feeling ly of the state of his . heart. His behaviour was ing eneral exemplary, but he was inclinedto be headstrong , as appears from his last act, he having g one after his father ag ainst his mother

’

s wi ll Ob

stinacy and d isobedience a1e p1evailing v ices amongthe Greenland youth . They proceed from too g reat

indulg ence on the pa1 t of their parents, and we accord

ing ly improved the opportunity afforded by the melancholy fate of th is boy, to 111g e the propi iety of g 1eater

st1 ictness, wh ich would p1event many perplex ities andtroubles.

”

Besides Ludwig , six souls passed into eternity'

The comforts of a bel ieving hope to a dying Christianwere most forc ibly e x emplified on the death-bed of Su

sanna. She was born at Innulcsuk, a place six m ilesd istant from L ichtergfels, and after the death of her pa

rents, was cared for by one of her relations,with whomshe jo ined the Brethren in the year 1760 . The doct

rine of redemption quick ly found its way to her heart,as she was endowed With a calm sensibil ity,and profitedby every opportunity. Her character was remarkablysincere she concealed noth ing ,but soug ht adv ice about

every thing wh ich appeared suspicious to her,and actedacco rding ly. She was so patient, that evenwhen witho ut victuals f0 1 whole days,none heai d her uttering a

complaint. Owing to he1 g reat wil ling ness 1n carryingbu1dens during the 1 ein deer hunt, she had over st1ain 1

ed herself, and broug ht on a spitting of blood,whichcontinued during he1 stay in c htenfi ls, and caused

her death . About a month befm e her end, when he1

d isease returned with increasing violence, she per

ceived that her dissolution was at hand, and frequentlysaid to he1 sistei s . Oh ! how g lad am I that I have

a Saviom . It I could not 1 ely upon him here, I shouldbe afraid of death .

" D ining the bani 'al of a child,she looked throug h the w indow at the funeral procession, and afterwards ex claimed Oh that was

11 fine . how sweetly you sung)

! You will sing at my in

neral in the same manner.

’ Being askedb

a few days

EXCHANGE or vrsrrs. £1769 .

before herd epartnre, whether she shou ld not l ike to

stay a little long er on earth, she answered : Do not

say any more about that,wi lling ly let me g o to Our Salv iour.

’ And whenthe other replied to her injunction5 Go then in peace she added : Oh, how I long for

Jesus Oh,m ig ht he only come quickly and takeme to

himself.’

During the nig ht preceding her death, sherequested those who waited upon her to sing severalverses, and accompanied them with a feeble v0 1ce,

ex pressing by the sweetness of her aspect, thesel ively feeling s of joyful ex pectation,which her falteringorg ans refused to utter. Just at day

-break she“

raisedherself up, but immediately after sunk into the arms

o f her attendants, and ex pired. She was twenty-foury ears of ag e, and,

”

says the m issionary, is the first of

the flowers planted and blownin this little g arden. TheLord has now transplanted it into his celestial parad ise,where it shall flourish inimmortal beauty, and be one

reward for the travail of his soul. To Him be g loryfor ever. Amen.

Meanwhile in the cong reg ation at New H errnhut,the Brethren and the natives, during the winter, ex a

chang ed frequent v isits. Of one of their excursionsthe missionaries write as follows

After we had v isited several houses, and conversedwith their inhabitants, we waited upon an old, friendlySouthlander, called Kukillang oak . In his dwell ing we

met with some of our baptized, who had been withthe factor

’

s clerk to fetch blubber. They were followedby a company o f heathen, who came h ither with a

g reat shout, betokening a cl1alleng e to a danc ingmatch. But seeing us stand ing , and hearing no echo

to their cry, they withdrew to another place . Most

of the young people ran after them, but the old

folks staid at home ; and I kept a d iscourse to them .

April l st,we v isited some other houses, and their inmates received us k indly.

-But being informed thatour assistant Daniel would keep them a discourse, anold woman beg an to make such a noise, that wewere forced to put her out o f doors. At .our return

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INEFFICACY or MORAL ‘

S-UASION.

place 3“

but he hoped that God would sparehis life tillhe attained to conversion. Similar to this were the

sentiments and declarations of numbers.

Many Southlanders also passed by ontheir route northward, but very few pitched their tents at New H errn

hut, and fewer sti ll attended the preaching of the word,fearing to be disturbed in their heathenish course. We

here take an Opportunity to observe that the m inds ofheathens seldom requ ire much preparation for the re

ception of the Gospel . Comparatively few savag es

seem entirely destitute of some obscure notion of the

ex istence of a God, of their own corrupt state, and of

the necessity of conversion. They are g enerally in

some measure conv inced, that a chang e must be

wroug ht in them, in order to secure permanent sa

tisfaction and happiness. A d issertation on God and

his attributes seldom seems to strike them as a novelty.

If you inculcate a chain of moral precepts, they e itherl isten with silent indifference, attempt to illustrate thesubject by adverting to their own supposed g ood qual ities, or ward off censure, by canvassing the conduct

of others. Neither is any k ind of arg umentationcalculated to impress their m inds. But speak to them

of salvation throug h the meritorious death of Jesus,and you touch a string which v ibrates in unison withtheir feel ing s, you press the spring which unlocks all

the susceptibil ities of their m inds ; they seem to ex ultwith the rapturous surpi ize of one who has made an

important discovery ; or whose‘

eyes have been restored

to sig ht ; and embrace the idea with the eag er fond

ness of such as have found’

what can alone replenishthe void which they felt in their souls. The youngespecially, whose m inds are not rendered callous andobdurate, frequently attend to the doctrine of reconci

liation, with an emotion which presses tears from

their eyes ; while the old, in whose hearts Satan hasfortified his throne with the strong bulwarks of pre

judice, are frequently only chag rined or enrag ed, and1

fly from the sound of the Gospel l ike stricken deer.Some, however, cannot escape the arrows ' of conv ie

17 6s THE CONGREGATION AUGMENTED. 193

tion till, after long wandering s, they final ly have 1 e.

course to the Physician of souls.Thus,out of the last numerous company of South

lenders, who passed by the settlement, ( there we1e

nearly thii ty boats full only two sing le women could1esolve to remainwith the BrethrenOn the other hand, a man joined the Brethren at

NewH errnhut,with a family consisting of eleven per

sons, chiefly adults,who had lived near L ichtenfels,andreceived instruction there , and before the end of thewintei , the g reater pa1 t of the inhabitants of the neig hhom ing island Kariak,who had oftenheard the Gospelwith blessing ,were compelled by the ice to dese1 t theirhabitations, and twenty one of them took 1 efug e in

NewHerrnkut. Among the f0 1mer, were some who

appeared to turn a deaf em to the inst1 t1et1ons of the

m issionary. One old mang ave his son a severe reproof,who had thi own away his ang oak,with these wordsThis ang oak

“ is now of no m0 1 e use to me ; hereI will c leave to 0m Sav iour, and put my trust in him .

”

The wife of another bore him a child,which he wishedto have baptized . On its being intimated to him, that

the Brethren baptized no childrenwhose parents had

not eng ag ed to have them broug ht up in the Christian,

relig ion, he came,

with his w ife, sister, and brother-in:law, all of whom

'

aflirmed, that it had been their intentimi from the first to stay in the settlement, and that

they shou ld consider the baptism of the ch ild as atokenthat they were not slig hted. Upon this assurance,

’

their request was g ranted . Bef0 1e the end of the year,the father a lso was baptized, and most of his relationsnumbered among the candidates for baptism .

1 Thus, forty persons fiom among the savag es we1e

admitted as inhabitants of the settlement,and forsouls joined to the cong reg ationby holv baptism, amongwhom were nine boys and six g 11 ls E ig hteenpersons

is a sort ofamulet It was in this instance the dried

which IS supposed by the Greenlanders to preserve

hildren frommisfortune.

ARRIVAL '

OF NEW ASSISTANTS .

‘

werea’

dthitté'

d‘

to thefhol'

c inmunion,and three coupleswere married .

Of‘

the‘

occurrences a t L ichtenfels during th is year,we sh al l say no more, having already g iven an account»

at them. Yet Crantz,'

as an'

eye-witnes

‘

rs,still observes;t hat when he attended the catechizatibns, and the

preparation'

fo’

r baptism or the Lord’s Supper, not

only the answers and ing enuous declarations of the

Greenlanders,but the g race wh ich prevai led, and the

emotionwhich Caused tears to rol l downtheir swarthyand rejoiced him, so as to make his

heart leap,and his eyes overflow. The peace of God

wh ich he felt during the adm inistration of'

baptism’

and‘

the holy communion,was beyond description and

the expression of joy wh ich animated the broad,honest features of"the natives, such as no subsequentscenes could obliterate from his memory.

Of the Greenlanders at NewH errnhut, it may stillbe mentioned, that during their dispersion in the sum-2

mer, both young and old were preserved frbm spiritualand bod ily harm, thoug h many had been overset or

drawnunder water by seals.In the beg inning o f the 'year they .had g ood suc

cess, caug ht a g reat many sea-fowl and seals, and

in April, a sea-cow,which is seldom seen inthese parts.

The capelin-fi shery was much spo iled by the rainy weather, wh ich also h indered the m issionaries in theiremployments and as the month of Aug ust had nearly

passed without any news of a ship,they became ratheruneasy. However it arrived safe o n the 2

Aug ust. In it came two new assistants, Henryand John Boehnisch . By the former,

place inL ichtergfi ls was supplied, and the

in New H errnhut, as Jens Haven returned to Eurwith Crantz .

T he Greenlanders had but indifierent success

catching seals in the Sound, especial ly as an epide

seized them,wh ich hindered many from providingthemselves. During the continuance of the disease,they were v isited by the missionary, who g ives thefollowing account of it.

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196 ACCOUNT or DANIEL .

some'

ef ithem blood, who soon recovered and hearingon themorning of the 94th, that Matthew had departed

I took'

the corpse along with the widow and

her t children, inmy boat to NewH errnhut.”

Most of the sick recovered but the constitutions ofSomewere so broken by their malady,,that they diede ither att he

‘

end of this year, or the beg inning of the

nex t. We have only room to relate a few particularsconcerning the l ife of the las t.This was the invaluable Daniel, that blessed preacher

among h is nation. He was born at Tunnuliarbz’

lr in

the.

South, about the time that the late Rev . Mr. Eg ede

arrived in Greenland . His father, a wise and richGreenlander, had five sons and three daug hters, and,like most of the Southlanders, led a roving l1fe, residingone year in the South, another

'

at Kang ek, a th irdat D is/co, and '

so on. On one, of h is ex peditions he'

was visited,while inKang ek,by the Rev . Mr. Drachart.

On receiving the . first tiding s of redemption throug h‘

the‘ blood of Jesus, Ag usina,; which was Daniel’s

name before his baptism, received such an impression,that be determined to become our Saviour’s property,and take up his abode with the bel ievers. However,

he could not at this time leave his father, but was'

obl ig ed to follow the latter on his pereg rinations In

the autumn of 1746 they returned to Kang ek, and as

he was then the eldest son, and had a family, be assertedhis independence, parted from his father, brothers, and

s isters,and removed to the colony at God/zeab. He

now became a g enuine believer in Jesus, and was baptized by Mr. Drachart in

‘

New H errnhut J anuary 25 th,1747 . Hitherto Daniel had constantly resided at God

hac‘

zb, but as his father’

s brother l ived with the Brethren,and was baptized, he had a desire to come to New

H errnhut. The Brethren denied his request severaltimes ; but as he insisted upon a removal, he beg g edpermission of the Danish missionary, who g ranted itwithout reluctance, joining him in the prayer, that hemig ht in New iH er mkut become more thoroug hly

g rounded inthe faith.

A'

CC‘

OUNT or DANIEL . 197i

Soon after‘ his arrival in‘

the settlement, he was ad »

mitted to the Holy “

Communion ; and after his wifehad beenmade a partaker of this g race, the blessing of

the church was imparted to them for their mam ag e .

In the year 175 1,he fel l into temptation,but the prayersof the Brethren that his faith m ig ht not fail, .nor the

enemy have reason to rejo ice in ~ the dowhfal of‘

his

simple soul, prevai led ; for the transitory error seemed

in the sequel to render him more assiduously vig ilant.As soon as he partook of the ’ first time of the Lord

’

s

supper,a desire sprung upwithinhim to publish the g ladtid ing s of salvation and he was accord ing ly soon after

received into the company of assistants. Out of the

abundance of his heart, . his mouth overfl owed earlyand late. The heathenwho heard him g ladly, always

”

manifested a particular esteem for him, and an extra-a“

ordinary veneration for his words . He would of his

own accord, address quite i g norant savag es, and in

the course of a friendly conversation, endeavour to ,

clear up their innate ideas of God, and the immortalityo f

’

the soul, in order to impress them w ith a sense i of

their c ori'upt state and the necessity of redemption ;and then with a burning heart, and frequently withtears in his eyes, he would tel l them of the sacrificeand the love of Jesus. Whi le absent from

‘

the settlement, if he heard that a company of Southlanders hadarrived“

there, he would hasten home, show them every

part of the place, and explain to them the desig n of

so many of their countrymen liv ing ~ tog e ther.'If they

shunned the public meeting s, he v isited them in the irtents, and imperceptibly let fall something tending to

their everlasting peace. When, during the fishingseason, he was obl ig ed to lodg e for a nig ht in a strang e

place, he was g enerally requested to keep a d iscourse.

On these occasions, say the ag ents of the factory,who used to cal l him by way of

'

d istinction the Manof God, he would take o ff his cap, fold his hands,sing a ferir verses, pray, and discourse to the heathen

without any concern at the presence otVEuropeans,and all this in such a manner, that the poemnatives

198 ACCOUNT or DANIEL . £1762 .

could not refrain from tears, nor from speaking aboutwhat they ,

had heard til l a late hour of the nig ht. In

w inter, when the time hung heavy on his hands,,he

would place h imself in his kajak, and g o a visiting j n

places inaccessible to the missionaries, or, where he

knew that an awakened soul was, to be found. His

testimony to the heathenwas on all occasions l ively,intrepid, and eng ag ing ; and his public d iscourses toh is brethren, simple, affectionate, and impressive. He

g enerally spoke by simil itudes, and had an ag reeablemethod of applying them to the heart.

In the year 1758, he requested .the permission of

the m issionaries to take a journey to the north, in

order to show his father and brothers the way of l ife.

The Brethrenendeavoured t o dissuade him from it, in

consideration of the many dang ers that were to be

apprehended both for his soul and body ; but as he

insisted upon g oing , they at last dism issed him, in

company of another national assistant,with the blessingof the cong reg ation. eig ht weeks they both re

turned safe and happy, hav ing sufl'

ered much reproach

and ridicule, but at the same time proclaimed the

Gospel to several hundred Greenlanders. Their miss ionwas not without fruit f or all the relations of our

late brother, excepting his father and brother, whowere already dead, followed him,were baptized, pros

pered in the cong reg ation, and have now, we’

liave

reason to believe, by a happy departure, entered the

realms of everlasting joy .

Till a very short time before his death, the mi ssi onaries

'

reaped noth ing but pleasure from this dear manbut to use their own expressions, A trivial c ircumstance opened the door for self-complacency, at the

g reat and ex cellent g ifts which Daniel really possessed,thoug h he h imself appeared unconsc ious of .thembefore.

”Since then analterationwas observed,which

induced some deg ree of alarm on his account. Inshort, he was perceived to be in‘

a very critical situation.

His g ifts were diminished, and his discourses were notattended with their usual power.

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200 ACCOUNT or DANIEL . ( 1769 .

he lost his speech, and desired the blessing of the

church for h is departure. This was imparted by them issionaries with imposition of hands, and a farewel lk iss, accompanied by a strong perception of our Sa‘

viour’s presence, and a flood of tears from all who

witnessed the affecting scene, Scarcely had the Bre

ihren reached home, after performing this last duty totheir dying convert, when a messeng er arrived to

"

in

formthem that he was just expiring . They therefore

hastened back, and ushered the soul of this h ig hlyfavoured witness of Jesus, into the presence of its

Redeemer, by sing ing some verses expressive of the

bl iss of those who die in the Lord . His brothers;sist ers, and other relations who were present, far fromindulg ing in the frantic expressions of g rief, usual on

such occasions among the heathenGreenlanders, con

ducted themselves l ike children of God. They however embalmed his memory with many tears, andso did we too,

”say the Brethren, for we have lost in

him an inestimable present from the Lord, a’ man

whose heart was warm with love to God,anaffectionatebrother, a faithful assistant, an ornament of the con

g reg ation,and a man of God approved both to Christians and heathen. Yet why do we say lost? ~He is

g one to those blessed mansions, where we hope soonto join him, and rejoice with him eternally.

”

It,

was

remarked that his joyful spirit had left a sweet smileon his countenance ; and his remains were carried to

the tomb on December 4th, by six Greenland assistants, followed by a

'

numerous procession of natives and

people belong ing to the factory. A funeral sermonwas preached by the missionary on the text, Blessedare they which have not seen,and yet have believed.

”

nor

CHAPTER V‘

I.

Reasonsf or adding this C/zapter . Situation and Descriplionof NewHerrnhut S ituation and D escriptionof L ichtenfels

pDomestic

ate.—D gfierence between the heathen

Visiting the Greenlanders. T/zeir

Green

'Gr Death, anal Schools

Lfar the Greenland Ckildren. Concluding Remark. Some Letters

LTHOUGH the various remarks interspersed throug hI‘ out the preceding narrative,m ig ht be sufficient to g ivea g eneral notionof the manner inwh ich the G1eenlandIcong reg ations are reg ulated ; yet, as it may prove tootroublesome to many of our readers, to combine these

scattered h ints into one summary View, it seems advisl able to g ive a brief connected account of the constil tution of our settlements in this inhospitable country.

But before we do this, we shal l pi emi se a very short3 description of the settlements themselves.

The settlement of NewHerrnhut 15 built on the

south-west side of a small peninsula, juttingthe shore of Baal

’s River, and i s situated between the

harbour and the colony of Godkaab, three m iles fromthe open sea. The outermost edg e of the abovemen

202 SITUATION or NEW HERRNHUT.

the strand is fenced by a dam of pebbles thrown up bythe waves,riseswith a g radual accl ivity, and ends in a

smal l val ley containing a rivulet,which is frozen to thebottom every winter. On the middle division '

of thestrand,abouta stone

’s throwfrom the water

’

sedg e,standsthe chapel,wh ich,with its two wing s and area, shows in

Greenland like a l ittle“

palace, thoug h it is only one

story h ig h,built ofwood,covered with boards and reeds,and pitched all over. In the m iddle of the roof there

is a small turret, with a bell. The whole buildingis seventy feet long , and thirty broad. Besides thelarg e room,which serves the purpose, of a church, it

contains four dwelling a’

ooms, and two anti-chambers,one of which is a dining -room, and the other a schoolroom for the g irls. The north-w ing contains an antichamber,a school-room for the boys,and a dwelling -roomfor the catechist. Under-g round is the k itchen,bakehouse, and oven; There is a draw-wel l in the k itchen,which is a g reat additionto the comfort of the house, asthe Brethrenwe

'

reformerly oblig ed to procurewating the winter, by melting ice and snow intheiring

-room. The south wing consists of a store-bonse,anda mag azine of wood . Not far off there is a sheep-cot,built in the Greenland style. Before the chapel is the

g arden,wh ich furnishes' the missionaries with lettuces,

radishes, turnips, cabbag est and leeks. A path leadsfrom hence to the sea-shdre, .where hhere is a shed toscreen their =two ‘boats and timber from the storms andsnow.

The winter-houses ofithe Greenlanders stand onithe

rocks ascend ing from the water’s edg e, on both sides

of the chapel ; and behind them aresmal l store-house’

s;containing their seal-s

’ flesh and blubber. The ir cape.l ins,sk ins for theira tentsf and o ther necessaries are kept

ina larg emag azine,covered with cedar shing les. Thishouse stands on a rock, and being of a Whit ish hue, isthe most conspicuous beacon to ships approaching theshore. Above it is the hay-loft for the sheep,and upon

the top of the g reat house,a turf-loft.In summer—the‘

tents of the Greenlanders are'

pitched

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2044 WOMEN’S BOATS.

Behind the chapel, the Brethren have raised a bog gg yplace for a g arden. Part of their dwel ling has beenconverted into a sheep cot, by the side of which there£3

i s a store house of boards. Bef0 1e the chapel are thehouses of the Greenlanders,and at no g reat distance, theburying L ichtenfels, they have the advantag eof hav ing a rivulet, which is never frozen o1 dried

‘

upfi"?

In our Greenland cong reg ations all the famil ies keeptheir own children, till they are old enoug h to be 1 e

moved into the choir-houses, which have been 1ustituted here in conformity with the g eneral system of

the Brethren’s church . Since the adult sing le womeri

and the widows cannot prov ide for themselves, they

g ene1ally depend upon some family, to whom in return

they perform all the serv ices they can. Neither canany sing le man keep house, but must assoc iate himselfwith some fam ily or other. In this way, thoug h the

Greenlanders are not very prol ific, a fam ily may become

pretty numerous, especially if its head be an able prov ider. Among st our people the averag e number 15 eig htor nine persons and in g eneral a prov ider, that i s,one who catches seals, canprocure a maintenance forfour or five individuals.

‘

In the summer season,when theGieenlande1 s moveabout ln search of provisions, each family l ives apart.The poor, who can prov ide no tent for themselves, al etakenm by others and ag ed parents g enerally lodg ewith their married child l en. Some widows with theirch ildren have a tent for themselves. When several

famil ies l ive in one tent, each carries on a separate

house-keeping , and has a separate fire-place.

Thewomen s boats aretheirmost ex pensivemoveables;and themost difficult to keep inorder ; because theymustevery year be covered with fresh skins, and the framework requires continual repairs. Consequentl each

family can afford to keep only one. Among ourGreen‘

landers, therewe thirty-two famil ies that havewomen’

s

boats : the others borrow from their friends. On the

4“ The th ird settlement of L z'

tclzténau will be noticed hereaften .

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE GREENLANDERS .

'

hand,every manmust have h is kajak,with all the

sary implements ; in order that evenif l1e be unableto catch seals, he may at least procure some fish and

fowls fo r his sustenance.

The main difference between the manner of vlife of

the heathen, and that of the baptized Greenlanders is,that the latter do not rove abou t the count1y for a cir

cuit of many miles, but keep c lose to the miss1onartes;in order to enjoy their g uidance and inspe

' It

mig ht indeed‘be supposed, that they co

hood with most ease in the places to which they havebeen accustomed in early l ife. But ex perience shows

that those Greenlanders who have a far g reater abund

ance both of fish and g ame, in their places of resortthan our people, are before the end of the winter ré

duced to poverty, wh i le the baptized who have beenoblig ed, by leav ing their former habitations, to learn a

new method of fishing ,are such economists, that theycanmaintain themselves comfortably, spare somethingfor others, and dispose of a part of their substance intrade. Besides it will be acknowledg ed by all, that if

they were suffered to roam about the country in the

manner usual among the natives, the powerful temptations to whi ch they would be ex posed among their heathenish relations and acquaintances, mig ht soon choke

all the spiritual instruction they had received ; and

their deep-rooted prejudices and superstition recoveringstreng th, would confound their faint notions of the

truth. The missionaries are therefore oblig ed to keepthe new converts as much as possible tog ether, that

they may be in somemeasure under inspection, and bymutual conversation have an opportunity of g rowingin the knowledg e of Christ. All the heads of famil ieshowever, are allowed to choose the place to whichthey will g o in quest of provisions ; but beforethey set out, must inform the m issionaries where

they intend to fix their temporary residence, that theybe the more conveniently v isited . It is usual

sit them several times during . their absence i’

rom

the settlementw None are allowed to g o away beforeEaster, that they may enjoy that festival infel lowship

£06 VISITING THE GREENLANDERS.

and they have now become so habituated to this reg uélation, that they seldom th ink of setting ofi till a con

siderable time after Easter,having g radual ly learned anvalue the blessing of living tog ether. That they may

“

not be oblig ed to g o away before the proper time for

want of the nec essaries of life, every precaution con~

sistent with the l iberty of every individual to dispose of

his property as he th inks fit, is taken, lest they squan

der their g oods, ba1ter them for useless articles, or

suffer them to spo il . To th is end, a larg e storehouse was

built for them,where each stows h is dried capel ins, fishand seals’ flesh, and f1omWh ich during the winter theyfetch two or three times every week what they want for

present use. Whoever catches a seal inwinte1, according to the laudable custom of all Greenlande1 s, div idesi t among the inmates of the house inwhich he l ives;In the month of May,

“

when the capel in-fishery beg ins;the Brethren take care that those who intend meanwh ile to catch seals among the islands, reso1 t thither in

g ood time, that they may send back their women’

s

boats the sooner, and that thus the pom,who have 11

women’

s boats of their own,may be enabled to provfor themselves. One of the mi ssionaries always se

companies them on the‘

fishery, and c atches capelinh imself, that in case of necessity, he may have some

thing to distribute among the needy. He also keepsthem meeting s, and watches over the flock, that orde1

may be preserved, that no heathenish ex travag anc

may creep in, and that none remain behind fromb

theinatural carelessness, or lose their time with huntinrein deer, a sport to which they are much addictedNothing g ives the missionaries g reater tnouble thanthemaintenance of the poor, as the hori ible custom o

the Greenlanders to desert helpless widows and o1phanshas compelled many of these disti essed people t

seek refug e among the Brethren. Indeed, if any tem

poral advantag e must be confessed to have an influencin induc ing heathenGreenlanders to join the believersit is the prevalence of honesty and g ood order m on

ng i eg ations,where every one is sure of his property,7

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GENEROSITY OF THE GREENLANDERS.

assisted by the rest. Others a1e bad economists andtheseareg enerally also defic ient 1n g enuine Christianity.

Yet in g ene1al i t is matter of wonder, that so manycan support themselves and their fami lies, and have

such a surplus remammg , that the factors nowhere

purchase such quantities of blubber as in“

ou1 cong re

g ations, over-burdened as they a1e with poor. Even

intimes of universal famine, ou1 people have g enerallyso much to spa1e, that they can relieve the wants ofo thers,and even receive whole fami l ies into their huts.

On anaverag e, the inhabitants of New H errnhut have

furnished yearly about one hundred and forty barrels ofblubber,wh ile the neig hbouring heathen, fewer indeedinnumber, but who have a much less number to maintain, could not produce more than half that quantity,thoug h their residence so near the coast g ave them a

much better opportunity for collecting 1t.

There is only one collection made in the Greenlandcong reg ation, namely that for oil. All who have

caug ht seals voluntarily contribute eve1y autumn, a suf

fiolent quantity of blubbe1 or train oil, to supply the

lamps ln their chapel . In th is cont1 ibution, the g enerosity of the G 1eenlandei s 18 the more commendaable,when cont1asted with thei1 natural covetousness. We

oug ht also to acknowledg e the libei ality of manyfemale house-keepers, who

a

use the g reatest frug al ity,that they may have the mo

"

1e to d istribute among the

sick and needy. Such cha1 itable acts a1 e g ene1ally cv 1

dent fruits of g enuine conve1 sion, as they a1e pe1

formed without ostentation, and the doctl ine of g ood

works 13 much seldome1 dwelt upon than that of faith,in the discourses of the missiona1 ies. Sometimes thecharity e x ei cised during the winter, 1 emains undiscove1ed till the spring , when the poo1 inform the m is o

siona1 ies how they have beenIn g eneral, the Brethren suffer the Greenlanders to

follow thei 1 national pursuits,in as far as is consistentwith their profession, without rest1 aint, always endea

vouring to render the natives as serv1ceable as possibleto the g overnment to whom they belong . It 15 at the

ACCOUNT or THE M rssroNAnms. 909

same time hig hly needful to take care, lest the Green

landers should entertainthe suspic ion,that‘

under colourof

y

introducing Christianity, the missionaries seek to

deprive them of their liberty ; for this idea would at

once prevent them from attending to the preaching of

the Gospel .Before we attempt g ivmg an account of the eccle

s iastical constitution of the Greenland cong reg ations,it will be necessary to premise a few observations concerning the missionaries, and their employments and

maintenance.

In g eneral, each settlement is superintende’

d by a

missionary and two deacons,who assist him both in his

temporal and spiritual incumbenc ies. These three

persons are married . Their wives not only manag e

their domestic concerns, . but are also the principallabourers among their own sex , hav ing , under the di

rection of the missionary, the spec1al inspectionof all

the females, that all slander and jealousy, to whichthe Greenlanders are ex ceeding ly prone, may

-be effectually prevented. Besides these, there are two un

married assistants, one of whom holds the office of

catechist, keeps the boys’

school,and has the particularinspection of the sing le men the other

'

is calledassistant to the , mission, attends princ ipally to its

economical affairs, and oug h t to understand somethingof masons

’

; carpenters’

, and smiths’ work, for the necessary building s and repairs. He also assists the Cate

chist, and makes it a point to inure the young men to

habits of reg ularity and industry.

Th is apparently larg e number of missionaries wil lce ase to be matter of surprise, when it is recollected,at they have no salary,and except the provisions sentthem from Europe, must maintains themselves by

hunting and fish ing that they must keep their chapel,glwelling

-house, and boats in repair, and during a short:

de fire-wood for a long and dreary winter.

to be observed, that fewer could scarcelythe s ouls committed,

to their charg e.

“

In,

‘2 10 .ACCOUNT or THE M ISSIONARIES.

the summer, espec ially, all are fully employed ;besides their other occupations, they are oblig ed frequently to visit the Greenlanders. It wil l readily beconceived that these ex cursions are not tours of pleasure, but that they are connected with many difficult ies and dang ers, the sea being very boisterous, and

the weather subject to sudden chang es not to mentionthat they seldom meet with a sate harbour, and are

frequently forced to drag their boat a considerable distance over land. In winter, when they are mostly at

home, they have suffic ient manual labour, in repairingthe houses and col lecting provrsrons .

For occasional relax ationfrom the ha1dships of theirtoi lsome vocation, and to recruit their powers for mo rev ig orous ex ertions, they may by turns vi si t Germany,and spend the winter in some of the Brethren’

s cong re~

g ations in that country.

Besides an annual supply of the prrncipal necessariesof l ife, they always receive copies of the accounts of

the work of God both among Christians and heathen,which are c irculated throug hout our Europeancong reg ations, transm itting every year in return a d iary of theirm issions, that they may maintain a close fellowshipwith their European brethren, and with them rncrease

in the g race and knowledg e of Christ. The reading of

these accounts constitutes their principal entertainmentduring the long winter evening s.

‘

They beg inand con

clude every day with sing ing and prayer,besides a shortfami ly prayer at noon.

Their house keeping is conducted rn common,under

the d irection of a deacon, who annual ly sends h

a l ist of the principal articles wanted, whichboug ht in Copenhag en. All fare alike, and none

peets any salary,presents, or perquisites. No one thi

h imself above bodily labour, and what one pror ides,rest enjoy. However, as iand hunting cannot supplywho have so l ittle time to

g reatest‘

part of what is an

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919 NATIONAL ASSISTANTS.

possible. Here'

we cannot find terms sufficiently strongto ex press our g ratitude for the

'

well-timed g enerosityofmany benefactors,espec ially in this favoured country,who,by their munificent donations and contributions,have in a very critical moment, borne up this work of

God,when sinking under the pressure of a debt,whichwas g radually and rapidly accumulating from year toyear.

'We now bel ieve that He who has beg un the

g ood work wil l not fai l to carry it on. We trust that

as the field of our mrssronary labours widens, the number may increase of such Brethren as are willing torisque their all for its successful cultivation, that the

Lord will continue to stir up both ourselves and those

of every denomination, who wait for the coming of his

k ing dom, to a more cordial participation ln th is workof his own, and that he wil l hasten the fulfilment of allhis blessed intentions with reg ard to the heathen world.

Let those who assist in this important work, reflect,that in return for their benevolent ex ertions, they wil lbe remembered in the prayers .of all those whom they .

have helped to rescue from the chains of darkness, and

that above all, they will be remembered by Him Whohas said : What ye have done to the least of these mybrethren,ye have done it unto me.

”

Our readers will have noticed in the preceding chapters of this work, that the Brethren are accustomed to

trainup some g enuine converts,who combine a uniformly,

ex emplary behav iour with the possessionof other necessary qualifications and Christian g races, for assistantlabourers among their countrymen. In the year 1752,these were formed int

of national assistants, one of whom

each house. With them the missionaries haveference twice aweek,and receive informationconc

It may be proper to g ive notice here, that any personsto contr1bute towards defraying the ex pences of the Brethr

sions,need only forward the money to the secretary, the R

Latrobe, of Fetter-lane, London, when they may rest

it will he applied in the most advantag eorts manner,bytig able benefactor to t

he heathenworld.

D'

IFFERENT Mnnrrues.

4,t heir

”

people, both' in the country and -at home,-the

fiy

‘

education of the children, the domestic order inpar1

ticular famil ies, and the'

g eneral life and conversation1 of all the inhabitants of the settlement. In return, the

Brethren g ive the needful ex hortati’

ons and instructions,which the assistants communicate to the fami lies .ih

"w hich they live. They are particularly useful to the

missionaries, by g iving them information concerningsuch new-comers as are not y et cand idates for baptism,

and concernrng the Visiting heathen, whom they are

encourag ed to address whenever they find it practicable,'

on the way of salvation. Arrang ements reg arding theinternal affairs of the cong reg ation,are

‘

not discussed inthe presence of the Greenland assistants, but ina con

ference of the missionaries themselves ; and are after

wards made known to the former. Other advantag es,«wh ich result from the coh operati

'

on of? these assistants,have been noticed before. Out of their number,servants of both sex es are appointed,

«whose business it' is to keep the chapel in proper order, to place the

benches, trim the lamps, and fulfil all the duties ofchurch-wardens. These services they perform withouty remuneration, or precedence of rank.

Every day in the week, at srx o ic lock in the morning ,a short meeting is kept, called the

‘

morning blessing ,which all the baptized attend . At eig ht, there 1s a

meeting for all the inhabitants of the settlement, inwhich a tex t

‘

of scripture is explained or applied. It is

“b eg un and concluded with s ing ing , and seldom lasts,more than half an hour. After this the men follow

‘

r‘

their usual occupatron on the sea.

A bout nine, the ch ildren have a meeting for cate

chisation. From thence they proceed to school, the

g irls toamarried m issionary,and the boys to the catechist,whose school is also frequented by

,some young men,

who either wish to improve in reading and writing ,or to assist in teaching the young er children. In the

evening ,whenthe men are returned from the sea,thereis another meeting , inwhich either a

the text for the day rs delivered, er a

2 141 SINGING or THE GaEENLANDEus.

sung . After th is meeting , the communicants remainin the chapel, and receive a short e x hortation. OnSundays, the sermon,wh ich is held either onthe Gospel

‘

for the day, accord ing to the usag e of the Lutherans,or on any other suitable tex t, is in the afternoon, and

d iffers from another hortatory d iscourse, only in beingrather more systematic, and somewhat long er. The

m issionary del ivers it standing beh ind the table, as

there is no pulpit, that all who on these occasions

g eneral ly crowd the chapel and adjoining rooms, mayhear distinctly.

It has beenmentioned before, that the Greenlanders,especial ly the women and ch ildren, often sing hymnsat their work, both in and out of doors . Formerly,those who had g ood voices, received instruction in

sing ing ; but th is is no long er necessary,'

as most of

them sing well, know most common hymns by rote,

or can learn them out of the hymn book . The same

solemn harmony, so often admired by strang ers in the

sing ing wh ich constitutes aprincipalpartof thedevotionalex erc ises of theBrethren,prevails also in our Greenlandcong reg ations. Indeed, many who have heard both,have declared, that in th is respect, the Greenlandersex cel the Europeans. The men have g enerally coarse

voices, and therefore do not ex ert them, but the tones

of the females are mel low and clear, and melt into such

perfec t harmony, that at a distance, their united performance sounds l ike the melody of one powerful voice.

Its only fault is its sinking ,especially in long metre ;b utthis is remedied by an instrumental accompaniment.Their musical band is very small, consisting on

two or three v iol ins, a couple of flutes, and a

4“ From an interesting journal of a visit to South Africa, lately

published by the Rev . C. J . Latrobe,whose reputationas a musician is

well known, it appears that the same cause has produced the same

effects upon the savag e natives of one of the most southern, as well

as one of the most northern ex tremities of the habitable g lobe. He

describes the sing ing of the Hottentots as delig htfully sweet and

harmonious. Nothing , writes he, could be more easy than to’

form a chorus of the most delig htful voices, in four parts, from

among this smooth-throated nation.

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2 16 BRAINARD ’

S PREACHING.

cerning that pi ous and indefatig able man, and it isalso observable throug hout

”

the whole of his account,

that as long as he continued the usual method of

preachiug y and endeavoured to convince the Indiansby arg uments, he could effect nothing ; but that as

soon as he benefited by the ex ample of h is neig hbours ;of whose success he was an eye

-witness, and ventured,without any preface, to preach the Saviour and his love,to the benig hted natives, such an ex tensive awakeningensued, that both he and all the m inisters of h is per

-

suasionwho w itnessed it, were astonished, and led

to ascribe g lory to God. We shal l only quote two

passag es from his work, in confir mation of the aboveAug ust 3d, 1 745, I preached on Rev . x x i i.Whosoever will, let him take . of the water of l ifefreely.

’ Althoug h I could not treat that subject, inthe method otherwise usual, yet the Lord g ave me

boldness and freedom, to set before my hearers in a

somewhat pecul iar manner, our dear Redeemer, as. a

most benig n and compassionate Sav iour; so that a realawakening was plainly perceived.

”In h is g eneral

remarks on this work of g race,p. 800, he says, But

th is g reat awakening , and surprising so lic itude of the

souls,was never occasioned by any terrifying sermons

but,what is ex ceeding ly remarkable, whenever in myd iscourses '

I dwelt strong ly on the moving scene ofa

Sav iour dying on the cross, on ‘ his meek behaviourunder suffering , on the unspeakable riches of his sal

vation, or on the k indness with which unmerited g raceis freely offered to all needy, sorrowing , and distressedsouls, there appeared immediately an extraordinaryawakening among st the hearers.

The Greenlanders in g eneral possess very little of

that purely theoretical knowledg eof Christian doctrine,which m ig ht fill their hearts with vanity, to the seclu-4

sion of g enuine piety ; or sug g est speculative ideasm ore curious than benefic ial . Indeed they have l ittle

The Translator, not having Mr. Brainard’

s book at hand,was

oblig ed to render these quotations into Eng lish, from the Germera

of Fresenius.

METHOD or‘

BAPTISM . Q 1?

gfipportunity for acqui ring it, as the m issionaries g ivethem little more than a simple delineation of the

leading features of C hristianity, well knowing that

what puzzles the understanding , is by no means adaptedto reach the heart. They are not forced to learn verymuch by rote, as their reluctance to the task mig ht inmany produce fretful stupid ity, aversion to the truth,

”

or secret murmuring . Ambitious emulation is neveremployed as a spur to learnmg ,and the German pro :

verb;‘ themore learned, the more esteemed,

’

does not

hold among them, with reg ard to spiritual s cience.

Nevertheless,most of the baptized are masters of some

share of doctrinal knowledg e. In this respect thereIS a striking difference between those who have joinedthe Brethren at an advanced ag e, and those who were

baptized as children,_

or in their youth kept at school,and trained

v

up by the missionaries : for all -the childrenin the settlement have a daily catechisation,which the

adults have no leisure to attend, can in g eneral read“

well, and consequently are better able to comprehend

and to retainwhat they hear.

In the candidates for baptism,

'

th'

e' m i ssmnaries look

for a salutary sense of their ownwretchedness, joinedw ith ‘ a love for our Sak r, and a confidence inh is merits, more: than

‘

a g reat deg ree of intellectualknowledg e:Holy baptism is

"

administered either to the children'

of Christian parents, or to adult persons.As to the baptism of ch i ldren, the father unmediately

.notifies the birth of his ch ild to the missionary,andso l icits its baptism: The solemn transaction g enerallytakes place in the next ensuing

’

meeting of the wholecong reg ation; except the infant be a iling , in

'

which

base it is baptized directly in the ” house or tent of its

parents. The m idwife, frequently accompanied by theinother, bring s the child qu ite naked to them issionary’s

dresses it ; and after the missionary has

the cong reg ation, and espec ially the children,discourse, she presents the child to him he

n/ a shert‘

prayer,,withl imposition of hands;

2 18 CANDIDATES FOR BAPTISM .

and then baptizes it into the death of Jesus, with the

usual for .mulary The infant is then carried to some

of the national assistants,who as sponsors also impartthei1 blessing to it with imposition of hands and the

whole transactionis concluded by sing ing some su itableverses.

In summer, when the parents l ive at some distancefrom the settlement m tents, they bring the ch ild themselves to be baptized , but in case of necessity, one of

the m issionaries g oes to them, and at the same time,v isits the neig hbouring heathen.

The Brethren, of course,do not baptize the ch ildrenof the heathen,not evenof those who l ive in the settle?ment,since the future education of the ch ildren cannot

be l eg arded as sure, till one of the parents, if not both,are baptized, or at least received among the candidates 1

for baptism. Ch11d1 en of baptized pal ents, wh ichthoug h young ,may be supposed to have lost what is ;

usual ly termed their innocence, are not baptized tillthey arrive at years of discretion, and have received the '

needful instruction. With the last-mentioned class,and'

with all the adults, the Brethrenproceed as followsWhen they are fully satisfied that it is the firm intent

tion of any individuals, old or young , to remainwiththe believers, and are assured by the national assistants,that they have frequently ex pressed a desire for baptism,dilig ently attended the public meeting s, laid asidetheir superstitious customs, and conducted themselvesdiscreetly, both among Christians and heathens ; and

when i t also appears from frequent conversations withthem,that they long to chang e their unhappy state for

a better, a m issionary speaks with them, in order to

prove the truth of their expressions, and of the testimony of the assistants. Their request is thenconsideredin a conference of all the missionaries and their w

'

and if no material objection appears,they are rec

among the candidates for next cog ati on day, and recommen the Lor

From the time that theyor candidates forbaptism,

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QQO THE HOLY COMMUNION.

The depth of the 1mpressionmade by holy baptismupon the Greenlanders,may be best understood fromthe fact, that of all who have been

\

baptized by the

Brethren, only two have relapsed into heathenism .

With reg ard to adm ission to the Holy Communion,them issionaries proceed still slower. Speculative knowledg e is not required inthe candidates,but anex perienceof the g race of God,a deep sense of their inward povertyand weakness, and a hung er after the bread of l ife.

Having received a competent idea of this symbolicalrepresentation of the close fel lowship of Christ and h is

church, they are permitted to be”

present, as spectators,at the celebrationof the Lord’s Supper. The solemnitybeing ended, they are placed before the cong reg ation,confirmed, and assured of speedy admission to the par

ticipationof th is g race ; and in case nothing intervenes,wh ich oug ht to retard their enjoyment of the ‘Com

munion,they are adm itted the next time.

A few days before each Communion,the missionarieshave some conversation with all the communicants,individual ly, in order to learn the present state of theirm inds, and whether their desire for the Holy Sacramentbe unabated . In case any c ircumstance has occurred,which mig ht prevent any individuals from enjoying theSacrament, the impediment is if possible removed, or

they are advised not to approach the Lord’s table . The

Holy Communion is c ommonly held ‘

once a”

month.

After a short discourse, a public penitential confessionis made in prayer, kneel ing , and afterwards absolutionis pronounced in the name of. Jesus Christ. Then thebread is consecrated, and distributed by two m ission:aries, during the sing ing of some suitable hymns. The

communicants remain standing , and after the blessedbread ’has

‘

beendistributed,they all kneel downtog ether,and at

'

the words : Take,eat ; this is my body 1”they

partake tog ether at once,adoring the Lord for his g oodness,in silence. Then some verses relative to the

Sacrament being sung ,the wine l ikewise is consecrated,and distributed during the sing ing of some hymns relative to the passion of Christ. L astly,all the communi

MARRIAGE E NCOURAGED . QQL

cants g ive each other the kiss of peace, in token of theirj oyful compl iance with the last precept of their dyingRedeemer.

On the following morning , the communicants assemble ag ain in the chapel, and

o

sing a litui g y, ex pressive of

g ratitude for the g race wh ich they have 1 ccc ived .

Indiwiduals who fall into erro1, whose conduct dis

credits thei 1 profession, or who are at variance with anyof their b i ethren, receive an ex hortation or reprimandfrom the m issionaries . Should this prove ineffectual,they are ex cluded f1om the participati on of the HolySacrament. In case of apublic offence, they me some

times publicly dismissed from the cong reg ation, till theymanifest a s1neers desire forforg iveness,and by obtainingnew g race, are enabled to lead a life conformable to the

precepts o f the Gospel .The B1ethren 1n Greenland, as wel l as in Europe,

prohibit any famil iar 1nte1course between the sexes, assuch communication m ig ht easily lead to the most dis

ag 1eeable and d isg raceful occurrences. Mai riag e,when

connected with no impropriety, is neve1 discourag ed .

Indeed widowers, who have smal l ch ildren,and youngmen, who have attained the ag e of twenty, and are

capable of maintaining a fam i ly, cannot remain longsing le,without detriment to their affairs. In the choiceof a wife, the latter are adv ised by their parents, and ifthey have none,by the missionaries. Each 1s at l ibertyto make the first advances himself , but they m g eneral

prefer to have some‘ prewous conversation with their

teachers,who propose to the young man ' to alter hisstate. If he expresses a desire,formarriag e,he is asked,whether he has fi x ed his cho ice upon . any individual .If he has, it is g ladly approved of, unless connected

with c ircumstances,wh ich mig ht render it detrimentalto his temporal or spiritual welfare, or it be the con

trivance of persons who have no rig ht to meddle in hisaffairs . If he has not fixed upon any person,a p1oposalis made to him, wh ich he 18 always at l iberty to reject.If he acquiesces in it, proper time is takento considerthe matter m

o

aturely, and when the manhas come to a

resolution, it i s communicated (

to hisw intended spouse.

QQQ S lCKNESS .

The consent of the women is sometimes very difficult tog ain.

'

For thoug h they, upon these occasions,no moreimitate the unseemly and frantic actions of the heathen,such as pul ling off the hair and running away in a

phrenzy, y et they often start whimsical objections, org ive a fl at denial, after wh ich all persuasion is fruitless.

When the parties have come to an ag reement, they are

betrothed inpresence of their relations. The1r lutention is thenmade known to the cong reg ation, and theyare recommended to its prayers.

° After some time theyare j omed in holy matrimony by the m issionary ; after

which, both husband and wife take leave of theirformer associates, and receive their g ood wishes fortheir future prosperity.

No inter-marriag es are allowed by the Brethrenbetween the believers and their heathen countrymen ;and no man is perm itted to marrymore thanonewoman,or to put away his wife. Evenwith respect to marriag escontracted by persons m a state of heathenism,and notinthe most orderly manner, the marriag e bond is heldindissoluble,and conjug al fidel ity enforced . No marriedwoman is received into the Brethren

’s cong reg ation,

without her husband’s consent, ex cept she has been putaway, as the Brethren abhor all means of acquiring prosely tes,which would be subversive of divine as well ashuman reg ulations.When married people from among the heathen are

baptized and admitted to the Holy Sacrament, theyare blessed with imposition of hands before the wholecong reg ation; wh i

'

ch ceremony is esteemed equivalentto the form of Christian wedlock. The Greenlanders ‘

style it receiving the blessing of the church .

When the Greenlanders fall sick, the Brethrenmustbe their physic ians, and administer medic ines suited totheir complaint. Bleeding is frequently a successfulremedy in catarrh,which is very frequent among them,

owing to their manner of l ife, and in their re

markably , plethoric constitutions, is g enerally attendedW1th considerable fever. Of the cheerfulness and con

fident hope of the Greenlanders during sickness, the

preceding narrative contains sufficient evidence. In

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THE GRE ENLAND SCHOOL S.

lI

happily departed children. Then, Luther’

s catechism ,

the four Evang el ists, and the Acts of the Apostles,.

as translated by professor Paul Eg ede, if the childrem

c an procure them ; also a small hymn-book translated .

by the Brethren, tog ether with a history of our Saviour’

s ;

passion, and his last d iscourses, according to the B ar

mony of the Four Evang elists, printed at Utrecht,1759. The Latin letters have been introduced among

“

them, being the plainest and most easily formed ; and .

some of t he children have learned to write them with .

considerable neatness. At the conclusion of theirdaily school hours, t hey learn some verses out of the

hymn-book, or some scripture tex t,which is g eneralchosenfrom among such tex ts as are the most frequentsubjects of d iscourses in the chapel.

In the afternoon no school is kept, as the m issionaries are then otherwise eng ag ed, and , the ch ildrenassist their parents in domestic affairs. The boys mustalso have some time to practise rowing the kajak, or i

darting the harpoon. During the summer, when the

children g o abroad with their parents, the school isientirely discontinued. Yet notwithstanding these in

termissions, their prog ress is surprising ly quick . some 1

learn to read well in one winter, and others have

learned the larg er half of the creed in a sing leNo compulsory measures are employed, and

they g row weary, noth ing but kind persuasion wil lencourag e them to proceed . In conc lusionwe would ‘

only observe, that the striking contrast between theibel iev ing and heathenGreenlanders, would be an em

cellent remedy for that chill ing scepticism, wh

doubts of every thing that a biassed and pollutedcannot comprehend, and which denies the efl icac

the Gospel to chang e and to ennoble the minds andmorals of mank ind. Such a transformation as appin the converted natives of th is inhospitable desert,scarcely fai l to convince any candid m ind ; a

from astate, seeming ly little raised above that

brute creation, to a participation in the same f

which fill the capacities, and ennoble the funde

L ETTER or 11 GREE’NLANDER. 995

mg s t of themost illustrious individuals'

in tlie'

Christiancommunity ; from impat ience of any kind of restraint,to theobedience

'

of faith, and veluntary'

submission to

their .teachers ; from t he deepest ig norance and mo ststupid listlessness, to considerable mental cultivation,and a l ively sensibility ; from inflexible obstinacy andself wi ll, to a docile and complying disposition; froma

'

reveng eful to a forg iving spirit ; from an insuperableincl ination for a roving l ife, to a repug nance to leave,the settied abode of the missionaries ; in short, from

the unbounded libertinism of lawless savag es, to'

a .

voluntary and hearty acquiescence in every reg ulationwhich characterizes a well ordered family of Christians,The following short letters, from individuals among

the natives to their friends, may possibly interest Suchreaders as can rel ish the artless expression of thefeel ing s of Greenlanders, poor indeed in knowledg e,but rich in g race ; or who wish to examine the struc

ture of a lang uag e,wh ich mig ht reg arded a‘ litel

curiosity. What follows is ‘

the produc tion of a

arried man, living at L ichtenfiels.

1 Assarsara J ohannes Assor My dear Johannes, fullof love l

ARLAa ' tersané'

auit, K ano Howmuch thou didst love

g aktilrsomik assag z'

ng ma,.

me, when thou wast

puiorsz’

nnazmg ilam here with us,I "

cannot

3 forg et ;Harnimap i/csam

'

k tunm'

ng ar Because .thou‘

g avest foodto my soul,

Awam'

ir, Tok When thou concerning theSa

'

v iour’sbloodand deathand wounds often didstinstruct /me.

tsivz'

t kiblilc These thy words did pervade my heart in such a

manner,That since that time Ino

th ing besides can relish.

LETTER OF A GREENLANDER .

Ad la i tipez'

tsug‘luérrfissinnaa N0 other thing canrejoice

me,Annazzrsirsub .Tolrlroazt,An But theRedeemer

’

s death,72503110, ‘Auello,I kkesalo his passion, his blood

and his wounds

K zssz'

mz'

lc 'tipeitsuktissinnau These alone can yield meang er. joy .

Umaetz’

mnut aj ulerso‘

mut ad. For my poor heart, I alsoJami/rpzomang ilang a, noth ing else wil l have,

Tamersa m anag er/fa. This suffices me entirely.

t

Asarsei Assarsig alo Han That in company with thynessNullzeng oalo Ieen and my belovedHannese

Zug ik tamaung a pzrsorzg a, (Beck) and his wife, Iillissz

'

mauet; came to this place, thouknowest already. f

Annaursz'

rsublo pekirog amm And since accord ing to theg a.

’

wi ll of the“

Sav iour, itwas so to be,

Turmzrsarang a Olrauszksam He g ives me words also to72270 K oissz

'

marszmnut; the baptized ones,Taimatog Nellzirszmnut ok And likewise, that to the

allu/ctitarang a tussarnar heathens I speak such

semi/r: mamarz‘

arnomz'

g lo words,as are pleasin‘

g to

Umreteinnut. hear, and relish ing . to

their hearts.Imang oa/r nellyung nr

cersitso A l ittle I wil l however aomarpaukit, quaint thee,

K annog e’

tomz'

le o/causekar What words I make usepung a,Nellurszmnut o/ral when to the heathens

lulcuma. speak .

Ima : Arlag ut illivsz'

sutNel’Tis in this manner

lursung oulung alo Aj ortul merly I was just as

Ziartorsursung a, are, an ig norant a

wicked manS ullilo illorme . uamm

’

lr:mm And to this hour I haveg itsolcang ilang a. my inner parts nothi

g ood of myself.Annaurszrsimale tg

'

arm'

ar But the Redeemer h

pang anenm'

vlung alo; soug ht and found me,4.

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928 . LETTE R or A GREENLAND nor .

Tazrrsoma Kmart Sanelo ti

peitsug luarpog uk,Assarsuserpug lo taursomun

Uautz’

ng nut l illelrsz'

llunug lo,

Sulluelrsauvut .nam'

arpauvut

Annaarsz'

rsivm Kentersa

ne'

.

Assussialc nuwnelcau,

Nullz'

areelc mg mmg nulr An

fl aursirsoma llo innullaar

uni/r pinnialclraz‘

tz’

g eelclu

Xaumarsome karsomepung a A. K .

‘

The fo llowing was written by a Greenland boy, to“

the son of one of the m issionaries, who was at the timeat school in Europe.

Assarsara J akzmg oak

AKSUT Umwttz’

g oamne Inm

ning ar’

baukit.

Nellung innama aksut assagang ina,

Taimaz'

tomiktok alcsut assau

au/rz'

t.

Hg lékketit maima pialra,

Annaursz'

rsuble Annia, Tok

lroallo, Iklcz'

lo Ullut mm

g ullug z'

terlceig innarpalra

Tuklsiarbz'

g irsara.

Nuttamz'

k Saimaunerminik.

Before his eyes we bothl ive contented

And the love of us both

towards him increases“

Towards each other we

are friendly (or soc iable) .And all that we have to

transact, we do .it before

our .Saviour’s eyes.

It is indeed ex ceedingag reeable,

When married people to

g ether before our Sav iour l ivehappy,and provea help to one another 111

all th ing s.I that live at Lichtenfels, A. K.

My dear l ittle Jacob

I MUCH inmy heart saluteJthee.

Because I know that thou

much lovest me,

Even so I much love thee.

Thy letter I have here ref

ceived,And when I read it, it ré

joiced me.

But on our Saviour’s suf

fering s,deathandwounds,I think daily and hourlyAnd I pray to him,That new g race he would

g ive me,

LETTERS or GREENLANDERS. 929

And my heart inflame.

Nang le kissimi/mma summilf[m eet ilekuma,

Nung allug z'

t Umaettimnenei

j ong ardlutalo, tipeitsukti

Taimatog Aniasusz’

a erlcei

niaraulro;Uang apz

’

vlung a taima aktz'

k

somik ( mm'

armet

Uang ale sumz'

k ak/cinniaisau

am I lliortinm’

lrE klrarsau

Tipeitsulclz'

nieissauara.

Ky cmna/cau Annaursirsub'Assasusia,

Ang nerumet Innung nut ta

mrmut adlanullo.

owang a. I am E .

Assarsamnut Katteng utimnut To my dear brother J acob,J a/comu t, in the E uropean-land.

Kabluncet-Nunametumut.

The nex t is a l iteral translation of what was dic tatedby anag ed couple.

Althoug h our eyes overflow with -

tears, (which wasreally the case, as soon as they beg an to dictate,) our

hearts are nevertheless happy. Our Saviour has made

us to be of one mind ; and he has also warmed our

hearts ; now our constant prayer is, that they maynever g row c old ag ain. By his blood he can preserve

them burning —We suppose thou knowest that our

Sav iour has broug ht us and our family to L icktertfl ls.

At our first arrival we found no people here, the landwas destitute of every thing , and we had no meetinghouse.

.But -now I rejoice that there are many here,Q 3

WhenI am alone,or whereever I am,

He to my heart is continually near, and makes mej oyf ul .

Likewise when on his suf

fering s I reflect,How he on my account so

much has endured

Then I do not know whatreturns to make him for

what he has done forme.

To l ive to» his joy I in'ly de-ss1re.

Worthy of'

praise(or thanks

g iv ing ) is the Saviour’

s

love,It is g reater than all, to

wards all men, in all

places.

£30 LETTERS or GREENLANDERS.

Whom our Sav iour has washed with his blood and we

g ive you thanks that you have sent us a house, in whichwe fl an now daily hear of our dear Sav iour, and holdour meeting s. Althoug h we are still very deficient,yet we feel that our Sav iour oftenmelts our hearts, as

the sun melts the , snow. And - then it is as with the

lamp,whenfresh oil is poured into it, it burns brig hter,and can enkindle others. If we happen to ' be withheathens, who stil l walk in darkness,we tel l them that

our Saviour has redeemed them also with his blood,and that if they would bel ieve in him, they m ig ht beas happy as we and the other believers are. We

also tel l them, that he has del ivered us out of dark

ness, and broug ht us into his l ig ht ; and that we now

have his bleed ing form every day before our eyes.

Yes ; we represent him to ourselves ‘

as wounded all

over his body,‘

his hands pierced w ith nails,and his sidetransfix ed with a spear, from whence blood and water

fl ow, for the cleansing of our souls. In th is manner

we discourse to our countrymen. For since we have

learned to know ourS aviour in this l ig ht, we love himwith our whole hearts, and rejoice in him.

”

From a Greenlander inL iclztenfels

I have no brethren and sisters according to theflesh, but I have much rejoiced, when informed byletters, that I have so many spiritual brethren and sisters that belong to our Sav iour.

Now I will tel l you how it went with me lastyear, both with reg ard to my m isery and happiness.

I was very heavy, when my l ittle son lay ill so long .

I besoug ht our Saviour to take him to h imself. He'

did so, and I thank him for it. At that time, Irecollected, how much afraid I formerly was ofdeath. But since I know that our Saviour has brokenthe sting of death, I rejoice in the prospect of the timewhen he wil l be pleased to cal l me. Whilst here, Ibeseech him to let me sit at his feet, as Mary Mag dalen /did, that I may hear words of l ife from him ;

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CHAPTER VI'

CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY;

Introductory Remarks . The Narrative is continued. DeathB rotherBoehnisch.

—Heathen Greenlanders,Fisheries,Casualties.

H istory of L ichtery‘els. National Assistants . Chang es among the

'

M issionari es. Sta te of New Herrnhut. South Storms.

E scapeof a M issionary f rom Dang er. Scarcity at L ichtenfels.Happy Course of that Cong reg ation. Voy ag e of M atthewStach.

Snow. D iseases, Accidents, and Deaths. Visitors at New

Herrnhut.—Kassiah. Arrival of M issionaries .— Increase of

the Co‘

ng reg ation. Chang es in the Colonies . Death of FredericVth . Visitors at Lichtenfels . Remarkable awakening at NewHerrnhut. Tolcko. Immeneh. Rapid Increase of the Cong re

g ation. Returnof Henry Hue/rel . Awakening at L ichtenfels.Visits of the B rethren. f irewood . Accidents and Deaths.

Death of Matthew Stach. Appointment of a g eneral Superintend

ant. A third Settlement established at L ichtenau. Out-Places .

Epidemic . Prog ress of the dif erent Settlements. Visits f romthe East Coast. Sing ular Elopements of several Greenlanders .

Dang ers of the M issionaries and Natives . Voy ag es of the Bre

threa Grillich and Rudolph. Scarcity of Provi sions . Voy ag e ofB rother Kleinschmidt. Greenlandic New Testament. Hard

r

Winters . Accident at Kang elr. Conclusion.

WH ILE perusing the preceding pag es, some of our

readers must have remarked that no attempt of the

United Brethren to convert the heathen, has been be

g ununder more unpromising c ircumstances,prosecutedthroug h a more appalling variety of obstacles, difficulties, and privations, or in spite of them all, been at

tended with more abundant success than the mission inGreenland . Every one interested in the cause of the

heathen, will have observed with joy, that a people,whose country, habits,and manners of l ife, seemed to

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. Q3 }

lude the maintenance or the operation of Ch ristianionaries among them, or any capability of being

to a Christian community, have exhibitedtwo flourishing ,wel l-reg ulated cong reg ations,a strik

ing ex emplificationbf the truth, that with God nothingis impossible .

It doubtless contributed very much to the success of‘

the first missionary endeavours of the Brethren, thatthe poor emig rants from Morav ia, could not supplymen of much intellectual acquirement, but such as in

lieu of this, were armed with a l ively faith, sound

sense, and a constitution inured to hardships and toi l.Neither have the Brethren, in their s ubsequent laboursamong the . heathen, found it expedient, to employ m

the capacity of m i ssi onaries, men of much l iteraryknowledg e, who cannot easily conform their manner

of life to the c ircumstances, or sympathize with the ignorance of the savag es, and who mig ht be incl ined tosubstitute their own projects for the sug g estions of theSpirit of God, or combine some preparatory process

with the use of the simple weapon of the ir spiritualwarfare, the doctrine of reconc iliation.

Indeed, it appears from the g eneral prog ress'

of Christianity, both throug h the c ivilized and heathen world,that God delig htsz to manifest the g lory of his streng th

in the weakness of his instruments, that his presenceis not felt,to use the words of Scripture, in the whirl

nor inthe fire, but in the still small vo ice.

” We

t mean to assert,~that intellectual attainments can

be advantag eously broug ht into‘aé

‘

uoa'

by t he

m issionary. Where Satan' has fortified his

with the bulwarks of systematic superstition,lished his throne in the minds“ hs,\well as the

his subjects, it may frequently be necessarythe powers of learning and arg ument to

from his strong holds. Hitherto, howhas not been the lot of the Brethren to eng ag e

spec ies of warfare ; nor do they possess suffic ientfor its successful prosecution. Meanwh ile they

unspeakable joy, the triumphs of the cross

28 14 DEATH or BROTH ER Bonns i scn. [1763.

or er the empire of Satan, where it is supported by re

g ular schemes of mytholog y, and defended by the cun

ning of a wily priesthood, as for ex ample, in Hindestan in wh ich country all the energ ies of a cultivatedunderstanding may be advantag eously used, and are

at present successfully employed by different denominations of Christians in this ex tensive field of m issionary ex ertion.

But we find that we are dig ressing , and now resume

the narrative of the Brethren’

s m ission in Greenland,wh ich in the last chapter was brou g ht down to the pe

rioi where Crantz ’

s H istory of Greenland terminates .

In carry ing it on to the present time, our materialsare princ ipally obtained, for the first five years, from a

Continuation of the H istory, publish ed by Crantz himself, and subsequently from the diaries and letters of

the missionanes, of wh ich spec imens may be seen in

the Periodical A ccounts of the Brethren’

s M ission,edi ted by the Rev . C . T. Latrobe .

The beg inning of the year 1768 is rendered memor

ab le by the death of Frederic Boehnisch, who had la

boured for thirty years with manifest blessing , in thecong reg ation at Nare H errnhut.

He had, during the prosecution of his arduous

duties in the spring and autumn of the precedingy ear,by more than usual ex posure to the inclemencyof the weather, contracted a disorder, which di scovel edi tself by a constantly increasing weakness, and g radu

al ly underm ined his constitution. A fall from a rock,

wh ich happened to him in July, increased his malady,and hastened his d issolution, wh ich took place on the

Q9th of that month . At his burial, the tears of the

assembled cong reg ation of Greenlanders testified theiraffection - for the deceased ; and many lamented that

they had not benefited more by the instruction of one,

who had for thirty yeam x been so uniformly and so

zealously attenti ve to their spiritual and temporal lnterests . After the death of Brother Boehnisch,Matthew

Stach,who had been recalled from L ichtenfels, at theex press desire of the deceased, and arrived two days

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236 H ISTORY or LICHTENFELS. [17652

whom they concealed between two 1ocks from the

seal ch of the m issionaries. He was howeve1 found the

day afte1, broug ht back to the sound, and g iven incharg e to a steady G 1eenlande1, to whom he promisedobedience. The seal fishe1y of the Greenlanders was,owing to the mi ld weather, attended with less dang erand more success than usual . However, one sing lefemale under the care of the Brethren, lost her life.

She fel l from a h ig h rock wh ile g athering sea-weed;into the water, and was unfortunately eng ulphed and “

carried out of sig ht by the waves, before any assistancecould be procured. Also, in June, a woman

’

s boatfrom the factory, ladenwith herring s,

'was overturned

in a heavy sea. The factor immediately dispatchedsome sailors to its assistance, but before these could i

reach the spot, five unfortunate females who were in

the boat, had found a watery g rave. Three of theirbodies were found ; and a discourse held at their interment, on Rev . XX . 18 “ The sea g ave up the dead, .

Which were therein, . proved a consolation to those i

who could not procure the benefit of christian burialfor

‘

the remains of their deceased relations .

InL ichlery‘els, the cong reg ation had increased more

in the five years which had elapsed since its format1on, than that at New H errnhut in the

yeai s afte1 the ari ival of the Breth 1 en

Many G 1eenlande1s, awakened by the

the m issi onari es stationed at New e r

themselves afterwards to c ktenfe ls,there ; wh ile the heathen showed most eng erne

the Gospel in the v icinity of the new settlem

Many of these were much affected by the g ood u

of salvation, and a few joined the believers. Am

the new converts was a woman Whose ch ildrenlived in L iclztergfels, wh ich she had often vis

the blessing of her heart, but was for a londeter1ed by her husband from coming to the Br

At last her husband determ ined to become

of the cong reg ation himself. Upon he1

L ic/zterJ Z/ Zs, she said, “ I cannot ex pl ess wl

l'

763 .] . IIISTORY or c nf

rnnra .

6287 .

when my husband said, steer'

the ,boat to K aumar

so/r,’

(Lichteyyfelsg

‘

My heart was filled with joy, andmy eyes with tears. Now I am here at last, whereI have long ed to be for so many years.

The unremitting assiduity of the national assistantsin their labours among the heathen, during the fishery,was very commendable. They observed some emotionamong their hearers , but the fruits of their laboursdid-not immediately appear. Onone occasion,a strang e

heathen, wh ile fishing in company with the Green

landers from L ichtenfels on a fine moonlig ht nig ht,evinced how strong ly the sublimity ofnature can impressthe belief in the ex istence of a God . The heathen

'

hl

luded to,suddenly raising his eyes,with anair of sing ularastonishment, to the starry heavens, ex c laimed It

must indeed have beena Nalleg arsoak, (a g reat Lord,)who made these thing s. Ye s,

”

said one of the

Greenlanders, it is a mig hty Lord who created thesun and the moonand the stars,and th is same Lord diedona cross for the salvationofmen.

”And,

”added he,

at the end of the world, when all these thing s whichnow astonish you, shal l be burned with fire, this Lordwill take the bel ievers to a blessed place,where theyshall rejoice with him for ever. Should you therefore,not like to become a believer ? The heathen g ave no

answer, but seemed merely to shudder. at the idea of

an’

universal confl ag ration.

Among a number of Southlanders who, on their

journey to the north, fix ed their temporary residencenear the settlement, many showed a s trong desire to

remain there, but were withheld, either by their relations, or by the allurements of a roving and dissipatedl ife.

\Some attended the meeting s, and one man, with» stand ing every temptation, took up his abode amongthe Brethren.

During the baptisms,which occurred frequently thisyear,and at the solemncelebration of the Holy Commu.

nion, the presence of the Lord cheered the heart of hiscong reg auon and the conversations held with the eommunicants every month, evidenced their g rgwth . in

ass I nse am . [1763 .

g race, and in the knowledg e both of themselves and

of their Redeemer.

The discou1 ses of the national assistants were often

s triking ly impressive. One of them ex pressed himselfas follows How deep our fal l must have been,wemay learn from the suffering s of Jesus ! When God

created the v isible world,he used only one word, Let

it be,’and it was ; but our redemption could not be

accompl ished by a word. To restore us poor creatures

he had to descend from heaven, live and sufi’

ei as man,

tremble and g roan and sweat bloody sweat, and at lastex pire in torments, that he m ig ht redeem us by hisblood. Can any one therefore retrain h om lov ing ou1

Sav iour; and devoting soul and body to his service P”

The missionaries hav ing once asked the company of

national assistants assembled in conference, whether in

c ase

'

all the EuropeanB rethren were ' forced to leaveG r ,eenland or, l ike the anc ient Normans,were cut off

from all communication with Europe by the ice, the1 native B1eth1 en would continue to l ive as a cong re

g atien of Jesus ? The assistants repl ied,“ We have

o ften thoug ht on this subject, and are of opinion, thatthoug h the d isc iples of Jesus,after his death,went eachh is ownway, most of us would still combine to per

petuate the reg ulations and the faith which we havereceived from our teachers .

Whenthe Greenlanders beg an to inhabit their Winterhouses, the missionaries kept a discourse uponthe textHow lovely it is when brethren live tog ether in

unity !” It moved the whole cong reg ation to tears .

T he d1ffe1ent families were afterwards v isited, and the

national assistants were exhorted to enforce domesticorder and strict attention to the education of the

c h ildren. Family devotion, espec ial ly in bad weather,was strong ly recommended.

The fishery of the Greenlanders was much h1nde1edby storms,which did considerable damag e to their boatsand other utensils. Towards Christmas, however, theyc aug ht a

‘

few seals. It deserves to be noticed, thatthe catechist, Mey er, acquired such ag ility in the

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are soU'

rH STORM . [1764.

The cong reg ation at New H errnhut, received this

year no inc1 ease from without. Most of the heathen

had moved out of its neig hbourhood, and the passingSouthlanders were as deaf to the Gospel as the rocks

which they inhabited. The islands were v isited fromtime to time, and the natives resident upon them

seemed to hear the Gospel with pleasure, but they all

made some excuse for delaying to join the Brethren.

One of them said that he was quitewilling to chang e his

present abode forNewH errnhut, especially as his aunt

had a g reat l ik ing for the Brethren, but that he wasd etermined first to fetch a number of tent-poles whichhe had left in the south . E ig ht Greenlanders whocame from K oo/roernen, attended the meeting s dil i

g ently, were much affected at tak ing leave, and pro

mised,with much apparent sincerity, to return.

Meanwhile, the internal course of the cong reg ationwas h ig hly satisfactory. All the festivals of the Christian church were duly solemnized. On one occasion,the re admission of five G1eenlanders to the fellowshipof the bel ievers, produced g reat emotion in the con

g reg ation. On the memorial.

day of the first establishment of the Brethren’3 missi on in Greenland, seven

adults we1e baptized. The celebration of Christmaswas attended with peculiar blessing to the children.

They had a love feast on Christmas eve, during whichthey we1 e catech ized, and astonished all the auditorsby the c learness and correctness of their answers.

Shortly before the new year, two boys who had had a

quarrel, came to the catechist, in order to complain of

each other. He ex horted them rather to complain of

their ownwickedness to our Sav iour, and implore his

g race. They both 1mmed1ately knelt down,and prayedvery affecting ly to God, that he would enable them to

beg in the new year with new hearts, and forg ive all

that was past. After rising , they kissed each other,and being fully reconciled, returned to their several

homes.

In the spring of the year, a rapid succession ofstorms from the south, frustrated and endang ered

ESCAPE or A .MIssronaax FRQ M .DANGER. 2411

almost every attempt both of the Greenlanders and

Europeans to procure sustenance at sea. No Eyder

fowl were to be shot, as these birds only approach the

land is a north wind. Several crops of turf were

soaked and spoiled by the rain in summer ; the halfdried hay was scattered by the wind,and the produce

nfwthe Brethren

’s g arden almost entirely destroyed .

The Greenlanders could neither catch fishes nor seals,hell“ and the herring fishery was spoiled by the ram1 111111 One of their tales, if true,would afford matter forhem the sectators of sea-monsters. A baptized Greenlander

related, that while fish ing , he had heard a loud voice'3Wh“

under the waves, l ike that of a man overturned in hisand at the same time observed someth ing of a red

r fl ounc ing about in the water. What canthis havebeen but a mermaid ? Many escapes are recorded of

both Europeans and Greenlanders in their excursionsby water, in every respect similar to those which have

molt been already related. One fine day in March, thelorslnp catechist Huekel, set off on a hunting ex pedition ac

lecon companied by the assistant Boehnisch. They had

scarcely reached the hill called Riperberg , when theyravenwere met by a v iolent storm. Boehnisch,who was on

hig h g round, and saw it coming from a distance, imme:hildren. diately set off onh is return; and had advanced as far

gwlich as the harbour, when he found h imself unable to prowdiwrs ceed, and took refug e under a rock. When this ceased

to be a protection, he ag ain g ot up,walked on,‘

passed

lhada the missionary’s house, and proceeded. along the road

the colony. The storm, meanwhile, took the cate

To save h imself from being throwny the drifting snow, or dashed ag ainst

he laid himself down on h is belly, crawleda whole hour, till he met with a c revice inand then buried himself as deep as possible

snow. In this s ituation he lay four hours, tillarm abating suffered him to proceed to the settleHis clothes being soaked with,

sweat, were so

ed by the frost, that he could s carcel

as the Brethren learned that he had,

R

9153nrocks

them

SCARCITY AT LICHTENFELS.

alone,they Set out with some Greenlandersand found him lying m an ex hausted and

allhost l ifeless state, at the bottom of the bill. ThisZ eal of ‘

the Greenlanders on th is occasionwas hig hlypraiseworthy . Many,on1eceiving the first tiding s of hismisfo 1tune, rran

’

seek ing him all ove1 the country,in themost dreadful Weather and when the missionariesapproached the settlement after their 1

'

s11ccessfu1

search, they found that half the cong reg ation had come

Out to meet themwith shouts of joyful cong ratulation.

In Api il the kajak belong ing to Amasa,tized Greenlander,was found shattered and fl u

the sea Its owner was never afterwal ds hea1d of.

The Brethren conjec tured that he had been enticedaway and slain by

'

a certain Southlander, who had frequently v isited NewH errnhut,and showna very f1 1endly disposition, but had comm itted sevei al atrociousm'

11rder ”s‘

in the south . The missionaries had every reason to believe that Amasa was prepared for his suddenand untimely end .

In September, G1 eg 0ry a baptized man was over!

turned m a storm, and perished before his companionscould come to his assistance. He joined: the Brethreninthe yea1 1762, and since that time his course of l ifehad been uniformly pleasing ; as he always = conductedh imself like a g enuine but unassum ingJesusInL ichtenfels, both in th is and the fo

the Greenlanders ex perienced a strikingtween the scarc ity of the temporal andthe spiritual

‘

g ifts ofGod. The Wintei of 176s’

evei e as the preceding year had beenmi ld,th

’

e unbelieving Greenlanders died of hung er, and

inhabitants of the Brethren s cong reg ation sufie'

much want ; yet the economy of the latter, to'

g etwith the '

a'

ssistance of the Brethren and the merch

at the factory saved,them from the deplorable

their neig hbours. The spiritual course: of the

g atien during these years was -verymissionaries, and seemed constantly

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24144 snow. ACCIDENTS,DISEASES, AND DEATHS.

the’

snbw d rifted insuch immense quantities into the

hollows between the rocky ridg es which surround L ick-1

leaflets, that in the'

morning the c ircumadjacent countrypresented a complete level to the eye and,what is stillmore remarkable, some Greenlanders who were fishinga few m iles off when the snow fell,were d renched witha heavy shower of rain. In‘ May, there were frequentand violent storms,which g reatly disturbed the occupa

tiona of the Greenlanders. The Brethren,as usual, accompanied the latter on the herring fishery,partly inorder to care for the spiritual security of theirfiock,partlyin order to catch some fish for the relief of the poor intimes of scarcity. Owing to the continual and heavyrains, both they and the Greenlanders had very littlesuccess.

Inwinter, the missionaries had sufficient employmentin building an oven, caring for their flock, and occa

sionally hunting .

' The missionary Stach,wh ile eng ag ed

in the last-mentioned pursuit, in‘

company of the as

sistant Rudberg ,was overtaken by a storm. Budberg ,being prov ided with snow-shoes,was driven l ike a shipunder sail with g reat rapidity to the settlement. But

Stach,approaching too near the brink of a precipice, fel lheadlong into the valley below ; fortunately he pitchedin a snow drift and x escaped unhurt.

One of theGreenlanders met with a curious acc ident.Thoug h well ex perienced inall the sh ifts and evolutionsof an accomplished seal-catcher, after having struck a

seal, he suffered the l ine which ties the bladder to theharpoon to twine round his arm. The flying animalconsequently overturned his kajak and drag g ed him

underw ater and no sooner had he, by the ex pert and

strenuous use of the pautik (oar) ag ain reg ained the

surface, thanhe was pulled down onthe other sidethat it was not till he was nearly exhausted by repe

exertions that he manag ed to recover his position.

Another having hature returned the attack, and tore his kajak.

h is companions with the g reatest difficulty an

succeeded inpartially stopping the holes withand conveying his sinking boat to land.

vrsr'

roas i— ARRIVAL or . 11 1ssroNAmE s. 9 15

Other acc idents “ from seals, snow, and storms were.

1n 1this year . none of themlfatal.

died of pleuritic maladies, Spittingand: other cliSorders. . It is im

a detailed account'

of .theiru dyingto say, that the death-bed scenes

ex ception, added to :the many .incontrofiertible testimonies of the power

-of the Gospel, a ndmontributed to cheer and invig orate the minds,of .

«the“missionaries.

The commencement of the year 1765 broug ht l a

number of strang e Greenlanders, p rincipally from the

south, intothe neig hbourhood of NewH errnhut. Theyall took up

«their winter quarters inK ang ek, and fre

quently vis ited the settlement; .Th '

ey Were g enerallywilling to listen to the Gospel ;

‘

but some ewere so

b old as to declare openly that they did not wish to be

converted, but to remain heathens. Among the rest,

the old sorcerer Kassiak came to v isit h is son,whowas

baptized. Hisuniform reply to the ex hortations of theBrethren,that he would reflect upon his awful state andupon the ex pediency of being prepared to meet, his

G od,was, I am too old to learn. Let the youngpeople be converted, that they may become wiser and

better. If I were to be converted I should join yourcompany, because I see that

“

your profess ion and yourconduct ag ree ; but I am now too old, and must g o on

in my old way .

”The m issionaries also dilig ently

v isited the natives ; and had reason to hope that theircontinual ex hortation and instruction~ ~were not. unat

tended with blessing . On one of his visits BrotherSoerensen observed a mother suckling her two children,one of whom was fourteen, and the other twenty-two

“years of' ag e. None of the heathen could be prevailedupon to come and l ive atNewH errnhut.

Three new mi sslonaries arrived with the ship thisyear,; namely Gottfried Grillich, JohnGeorg e Flue

g el, and Joseph Neisser. The Greenlanders in New

Harm /mi, as well as those in L ichtenfi ls, found it veryd ifficult to procure a maintenance; owing to the un

11 8

21 6"

INCREASE or THE CONGREGATICN. E1 766 .

seasonable weather ; and the Brethren found it almostimpracticable to collect a suffic iencj of hay for theirsheep. i hey therefore k illed fourteen of them, 1 ei

d ucin;Df their flock to fifteen. The natives in K ang éhs

and its v ic inity,“

were driven by hung er to devourtheir shoe soles, tei1t sk ins, and other more loathsome diet, to wh ich the believ ing Greenlanders werenever forced to have recourse. Insummer and autumn;however, the productiven

’

ess of the fishery enabled theGreenlanders to dispose of a considerable quantity of

blubber to the factor Two of them perished at sea,bythe overturning of their kajaks under unfavourable Ci r:

'

cumstances . They had both previouslyg iventhem issionaries much satisfactionby their qu iet and orderly con‘

drict’

IJre schools were kept as usual,with th irty boys,and forty g irls ; and the monthly celebrationof the sacrament was always a real refreshment,both to themissionaries and their flock. The national assistants becamemore and more active and useful . Many of their disicourses, of which l iteral translations are g iven in the

diary ofNewHerrnhut, but wh ich are much too longfor insertion here, ex h ibit such specimens of patheticex postulation, eloquent expression, and appropriate appl ication of simil itudes,as would not disg race the pag esof an European divine.

Of all the converts who departed th is year, the dyingexpressions and deportment were such as to leave veryl ittle doubt upon the m inds of the m issionaries that theyhad ex chang ed th is vale of tears for a place in the

mansions of eternal bl iss.

In the nex t yearnothing unusual occurred, excepting the increase of the cong reg ation

‘ by fifteen '

pe'

rb

sons, six of whom were g ained by Matthew Stach,during

'

his v isit to the south, six were the relat ions ofthe assistant Abraham, who had followed him from a

d istance to the settlement, and three had Come from

the neig hbourhood. One old manwas baptized on his

death bed, and d ied i n firm reliance uponthe merits ofh is Saviour. Three of the believing Greenlanders founda watery g rave, while eng ag ed in seal catching , and

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CHANGES IN [1761

the believers, came back this year of h is own accord.

H e had fbeen one of the two ex amples oa'

baptizedGreenlanders relapsing into . heathenism,

“

and his unex

pected appearance in the meeting caused a wonder

ful emotion. Many shed tears of joy, and compared

h is return to that of the Prodig al Son. He said thatthroug hout the last winter, his consc ience repeatedlystung him for breaking the awful contract wh ich he hadmade at his baptism ; that he had been much importuned by his relations to stay, but not being able tostifle his conviction, had at last reso lved to come to

New H errnhut, and sol ic it the pardon of the m issionaries. Some of his relations followed him to the settlement, to see whether he were well received, and ap

peared pleased with the step wh ich he had taken.

The weather this year was unusual ly favourable tothe fishing and hunting of the Greenlanders ; and the

herbs in the missionaries’ g arden rivalled those of Ger

many in size. The catching of birds.failed, owing

' to

particular c ircumstances ; but the capture of some

dolph ins was an abundant compensation. Only one

disastrous accident occurred. A Greenlander from

the colony, while in his kajak, was shot dead by a

loaded g un, which another person was reaching to,

him from the shore.

The arrival of the ship occasioned several alterations in the Danish colonies. The factor, Mr. ‘Lars

Dalag er, h’

av ing previously obtained his dismissionfrom the company, removed to Finland, to superin

tend the trade there. In him the Brethren lost a

well-tried friend. He was succeeded by Mr. Sturm,

from Z ak/tartan. and Mr. Olsen, of Holsteinburg h,returned into his old situation in the former factory.

With the Godkaab ship, Brother Joseph Neisser returned to Europe, in order to have a wound ' in his

neck cured, which could ‘

not be properly treated in

Greenland .

E ig ht children and fourteen adults were baptized,.

three Brethren and five Sisters were admitted to thefirst enjoyment of theHoly Communion,four pairs were

: DEATH or FREDERIC v.

t

c 249

and eleven persons departed th is life. Short .

sketches of the l ives of the latter are g iven in the

diary” but as th'

eyie x hibit

‘ l ittle ‘

that"

is uncommon,we shal l omit them entirely. Of the spiritual courseof the

‘

cong reg atiomf we need only mention that it

proceeded in blessing . The church . had rest, and

was -

edified,and walking in the fear of the Lord, and inthe comfort of the Holy Ghost,was multiplied.

Meanwhile the cong r n at L ichtenfiels was unex pectedly rej oiced in 1766, by the return of

Brother Matthew Stach, from his journey to the south .

A short time afterwards he accompanied theGreenland

ers,who had sailed with him fromNewH errnhut, backto

'

their homes. By the ship which arrived this year, theBrethrenreceived intell ig ence of the demise ofFrederic

V .;King ofDenmark,and thesuccessionofChristianIII.to the throne. The Greenlanders wereconvened forthe notification of this mournful event, reminded (

i

f allthe blessing s which they had enjoyed under the benig ng overnment of the deceased monarch, and inforimedof the request of his successor, to be remembered intheir prayers. They then fell down upon their kp

ees,

and the missionary implored the continuance o theD iv ine blessing on that royal house, ‘

which had set

such a brig ht example to all other‘

Europeanpoten tes,in being the first to encourag e and support th

deavours of pious Christians, to rescue their he

brethren from chains of darkness. At the close of

every sentence, the ‘ cong reg ation responded, Bearus g racious Lord and God.

”

With the same ship, the catech ist Huekel went ona

v isit to Germany, on account of the increasing inl

dis’

position of his wife. He held his farewell discourse,on“

1 John, iii . Q ., and afterwards recommended the con

to God. The Greenlanders testitheir affection for him by their tears. His placesupplied by Brother Zacharias and his wife fromH errnhut, whose infant daug hter was soon after:zed; This was the first baptism of a child, bornuropea

‘

nparents, inL ichtenfiels.

counsa or THE ~ ooncnnearron. [17672

th, the wife of the missionary Balenmoved by death, from her active labours in

g ation, to that rest wh ich remains for theod. She had beenconfined a whole year bydisorder, accompanied with very troubleoms.

mens of the internal course of the cong rel

shall briefly state a few of the most strikingoecu

five years old,was frequently observed l yingW1th u ~the g round, and thanking

'

the Lord,

that wh ich he had had some time bei'

ore,

’

had

been made the means o f his salvation. He’

also frel‘

quently exhorted his l ittle brother to remember thecovenant

/made at his baptism .

A sick'

g irl, inwhom the operation of the Holy Spiritand an ardent long ing for conversion iof heart

' had been

observed for some time,was baptized on her death-bed.

Three days after the transaction, she d eparted happilyImmediately after her death, a strang e heathen came to

the missionaries, and requested to be baptized, declmg , with tears in his eyes, that he was determ ined todevote soul and body to Christ. He was permitted tostay in the settlement.A woman newly arrived at L ichtenfiels was fre

quently heard weeping and bemoaning her wretched

condition. She seemed comforted and . enlivened bythe assurance of the missionaries that such persons ashave the

( deepest sense of their own sinfulness, are the

most successful petitioners at the throne of g racIn the

‘

month of September, many Greenlanders .

were afilicted with a v iolent pectoral complaint,' which

was the means of removing several into another world.

One of these was Joseph, a married man. He was of a

melancholy temperament; and when asked by the mis_

sionary onhis death-bed,whether he could look forwardto h is approaching end 'with

'

joy, he answered,On one occasion, however, whilst the m issionary wasdiscoursing to him concerning the love of our .Saviour,

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952 REMARKABLE AWAKENINGA T NEWHERRNHUT .[1767 .

onNovember Qfith,Balenhérst returned from a v isit tethe lodg e,and immediately set out on another, in com

pany of brother Flueg el,tb Inna/rank,where he found a

g reat number of attentive hearers. Sickness prevailedamong st them, and seemed to have been sent to pre

pare their m inds for the more cordial reception of the

Gospel . When the m issionaries were indisposed, or

p therwise employed,Ithe national assistants were d il i

g ent in their attendance upon the heathen . By thesereciprocal v isits of the Brethren and the heathen,eig hteen individuals in the course bf the year took uptheir abode inthe settlement, with a firm determinationto be converted. Of the impression made upon thei r

hearts by theGospel,the reports of the national assistantsafforded suffic ient demonstration; and some

'

of them

Were received into the number of candidates for baptism.

At the close of th is year, the inhabitants of L ichtenfelswere ex actly two hundred innumber.During the winter, the Greenlanders suffered from

scarc ity of provisions, and were often ex posed to g reat

perils among the driving ice. The youth Noahat sea. He was a fatherless orphan, who had be

educated by the Brethren,and had g iven themmu

satisfaction.

A Greenland Brother and his wife repaired to t

south, to perform the last duties to a distant relatwho, having perished among the ice,been driven on shore by the waves, and there

buried by the natives. Ontheir arrival at the spfound that the fox es and ravens had anticipateand devoured the body. After their return,thelander, who was one of the native teachers,h imself as follows, in a publ ic discourse : Ah !

m iserable was our state wh ile we were heathens.my late journey, I never had just ideas concerniubut now I understand ful ly how much our SaViou

done for me, inbring ing me to the society of his

For his merc iful leading , in this respect, I wil

him to all eternity.

”

r

The awakening above described, among the

110mm. 253

terj els, fell far short . of that which took

the course, of‘

zthe year 1768, in the vic i.New .H errnhut. Its orig in and

'

p rog ress

briefly described. A Greenlander from the

Kookoem en, named Tokko, in whose eyes a“

severe ;

sickness had lefti a troublesome weakness, committedhimself to the care of Mr. Braseng eon, at the time on a visit in The

Brethren seized'

the opportunity of proclaiming to himthe g lad, tiding s of the Gospel . It soon found entrance

into his heart, and also made a powerful impressionupon some of his family and friends who came.to v isit‘

him. Having received a radical cure, he ag ain betookh imself to the islands but scarcely had theGreenlanders.

forsakentheir winter houses, whenbe repaired with hiswhole family to New H errnhut, inorder to share in theblessing of Christian fel lowship. Stimulated by his example,two fami lies speedily followed him from Kang ek,and another Greenlander, at the head of a family, desired permission to accompany the bel ievers onthe,

her

ring fishery, which request always betoke’

ned ani nten

tionto join the society of the Brethren. Also the abovementioned Millortuarak, who had for twenty yearsbeena friend of the Brethren, and never heard the Gos

pel without emotion, at leng th resolved to fulfil h is re

peated promise,‘

and came after the herring -fisherywas over to New H errnhut, with all his connections,which, with the other new arrivals, added thirty tothenumber of that cong reg ation.

Another wonderful commotion, whie—h took placeamong the heathen os

'

ssug bz’

k,who had so long sleptthe sleep of death, was still more striking than that

just described, and spread as far as L ichtenj é ls. Themanner ‘inwhich itwas broug ht about is somewhat extraordinary,

"

and will be best explained by a short extractfrom the diary. The substance of the missmnaries

’

ac

count is as foll,ows ° On'

the 6th of March manystrang ers from the colony, Kang ek, K elling ez

’

t, and

Pissug bz’

k attended the sermon in the chapel . The at

tendance/ of visitors from the lastamentioned place was

[1768.

Occasioned by an uncommon occurrence. Anold'

and far-famed Ang ekok, called Immenek, who had fora series of years heard the Gospel both tion) as andthe native teachers, Was this wintel , while busily en

g ag ed.

1n his professi'

onal pursuits,so appalled by'

a frig hta

ful v i sion, that be determined to renounce everyspecies of jug g lery, and proclaimed to his countrymenthat thetricks of

'

the Ang ekoks were barefaced impo

sitions,’

and that all who needed spiritual aid shouldbetake themselves to the only true God. In his dream,the last judg ment and the fate of the damned hadbeen p1esented with many ho1 riblé c ircumstances ‘

to'

h is imag ination, and affected him so much, that he

retired to a lonely place, and spent a number of daysin sorrowful meditation. No one could tel l what hadbecome of him. During his seclusion,a

'

cc0 1ding to hisown account, a man appeared to him and said : It

IS t1me to a1 ise out of thy sleep. If thou Wi lt g o to‘

the bel ievers thou shalt be del ivered. from the power off

the evil spirit who now possesses thee, and be saved

h orn eternal damnation. Inconsequence of this advicebe resolved, that on the first approach of summer he

would remove to the Brethren. In the mean time hesent his step

-son and three men of his family to' New

H errnhut, to request that two Brethren m ig ht be sentto him, inorder to instruct h imself and h is peoplé

-in‘

the word of God. These messeng ers be dismissed withthe fol lowing injunction

“Go now and hear the ag ree;

able words, and bring some of them back tome.

”On

the same occasion he decla1ed, that if none of h is

fami ly would accompany him, he would g o a‘

IOne téi

NewH errnhut. They all,however, declared that theywould share his fortlme, whatever it m ig ht be. His

four deputies attended the meeting s d ilig ently, remain-eed after all the othe1 visitors had left the settlement,v isit

'

ed all the houses,and were very assiduous in learning vel ses, in orde1 that, as they said, they m ig ht havesomething to take back to Immenek On the 1c

they set out on thei1 return. According to thei1 request, two assistants ac

’

companied them. Five days

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occunnnucas [l768.

Inthis '

way the sectarian spirit which;seemed ready toc reep in, even among st Greenlanders, was nipped inthe bud:

'

One married man who could not withstand the

attractions of heathenish merriment,nor be convincedof the advantag e of remaining in the cong reg ation,resolved to leave the settlement. His wife wept bitterly, and tried every means to induce him to in

vain. They therefore went away, but had scarcelytravelled as far as K ang ek,when they acc identally metwith some national assistants, whose persuasions hadsuch aneffect uponthe husband

’

s mind,that be resolvedto return immediately.

In g eneral, the internal course of the cong reg ationg ave the m issionaries much joy, and afforded manyunequ ivocal sig ns of increasing spiritual ity. Twentychildren and tenadults were baptized, fourteenpersonswere admitted to the holy communion, four pairs weremarried ; and the “departure of six teen favoured individuals, in as far as human judg ment could determine,translated them from ’

a l ife of hardsh ip and toil,to thatplace where having sown in this world in tears, theyshall reap a harvest of never-ending joys.The Greenlanders were very fortunate ih their seal

fi shery, and sold 150 barrels of train to the factor. In

April they caug ht several wh ite fishes,which they prizeh ig hly,both on account of their flesh and the sinews inthe tail, which they use for thread. The herringfishery inJune turned out very well, thoug h interrupted

'

by storms. In December the whole cong reg ation

hav ing g one to the islands to catch awks,were sudden

ly overtaken by a

'

v iolent g ale from the north,whichdrove along thick drifts of snow and threatened to cut

off their return to NewHerrnhut. All, however, suc

c eeded,after running many risks, in g aining the settlement during the nig ht, ex cepting some boys, who

were snowed up in their kajaks. It was apprehendedthat they had been frozen to death. Next morning ,however, they were found, after a long search, and

VISITS OF THE BRETHREN.

ed every,appearance of l ifeless corpses. After

shak ing and beating , some deg ree‘

of animationand . by a thbroug h warmmg over a

with the use'

of some stimillating’

c'

or

to perfect health.

“

arrived on July l st," Henry

Greenland, after a stay of two

He -broug ht along with him h isia widow, and Anna Schutertin,

‘

a sing lewoman. The latter was made inspectress of the youngwomen and g irls, and t he former married to the missionary Ballenhorst.

To return’

to L ichterytels. The V1s1ts of the miss1orr

aries inthe adjacent country, and of theGreenlanders

int he settlement, tog ether with the constant preaching"

wf theWord,kept up the awakening which had beenbeg un the last year. Concerning a v isit in Innwksulq,

‘

the missionary writes : I was received with cordialwelcome by the natives, and, in speak ing with them

indiv idually, found inmany a real desire to becometheSav iour. At tak ing leave, they earn

repetition of my v isit. The catechistthe Graederj iord, and instructed thewel l as his slender knowledg e of their

They appeared particularly deted with the hymns wh ich he sung or read to them,desired that they mig ht be visited by some one who

better acquainted with the lang uag e. In'

Kellz'

ng ez'

t

other places, the national assistants were very

proclaiming the Gospel to their countryx patiating on the happiness of bel ievers.the inhabited parts of the neig hbourhood,

to the settlement, solely for the purthe Gos They enquired when the

ive, and carefully countedhese festive celebrations.s were, after receiving the

n of. the missionaries, numerously attendedDuring the PassionWeek and Easter holi

assistants broug ht many pleasing accounts of

958 SCARCITY or FIRE woon.

the blessing s enjoyed by the st1ang ers dai ing theirattendance ln the chapel . The result of all this visiting was, that as soon as they had col lected a suffi

ciency of seals and other provisions, several famil iescame with all their g oods and; chattels to L ichtezgfels,and increased the number of its inhab itants with si x typersons. Seve1al of these had never seenan Europeanhouse, and consequently never been in a mi ssionestablishment before ; but most were such as had had

fite'

quent intercourse with the Brethren, and frequentOppertunitie

'

s of hearing the Gospel . Those who re ;

mained in the neig hbourhood v isitedinautumn, and celebrated Christmas withheving count1yme

‘

n. They we1e v isited in return,

and ag ain invited to the settlement. The missionarySd eiensen who came in summer from NewH errnhut,made a tow 111 the neig hbourhood, accompanied bythe Brethren G1 il lich and Flueg el, partly in orderto instruct the natives, and partly to collfor the sheep. They we1e every wherewith hospitality, and heard with attention.

The G1 eenlandel s th is year, owing to the favourableweather,were enabled to procure a plentiful supply ofthe edible p1oducts both of the land and sea. The

scarc ity of drift-wood forarica to seek a substitute in the bushes,farthest extrem ity of the bay,where the

'

S11

power thanon the opensea-coast,g row to a c

size. The collecting of them was attended

trouble and dang er ; for it was necessary todown the almost perpendicular ledg es of

fence the shore,and to cut them into smal l piecrooked shape would otherwise have made

to g et a sufficient quantity into the boat.was

,rendered sti l l more harassing , by

swarms of fl ies who had established themthe bushes, and who defended ‘tbei

such vig our and effect, that the eyeswere swol len up withtheir bites.

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260" APPOINTMENT or A GENERAL '

SUPERINTENDANT.

of Ch1 isti‘

anDoctrine,wh ich have beenprinted ; besidessome smaller pieces inmanuscriptEver since the coasting voyag e of Matthew Stach to

the South, it had been in contemplation to beg in a

new settlement near Cape Farewell, in a station wheremany heathens resided , but several years inte1vened,before c ircumstances proved favourable to the ex ecutionof th is plan. At leng th in 1774, the missionaries JohnSoe1 ensenand his wife, and the sing le brother GottfriedG1 illich were ent1 usted with this difficult commission.

It was a fortunate concurrence, that about the same

time, the Greenland Board of Trade resolved to foundan additional colony in the south, under the conduct

ofMr.Anders Olsen,a friend of the Brethren for their

prospect of deriving reg ular supplies from the European

settlements,’whence alone they could ex pect them in

the first years of their labours, must else, in so remote

a situation, have been ex tremely dubious. After

a tedious and stormy voyag e, the party, consisting of

our m1ssmnaries, and some families of ChristianGreen

landers,who occupied four larg e boats, arrived in the

island of Onartolr. Here they found a tepid, spring ,which irrig ated with its streams a verdant meadow .

g round, diversified with flowers of the g ayest'

colours,a captivating sig ht for Europeaneyes. But this island,not being adapted

‘

to the pursuits of the Greenlanders,another spot was selected for a winter residence, a fewmi les d istant,

’

oh the Ag dluitsokfi orde. Besides theirownc ompany, the Brethren had the spiritual care of

upwards of thirty baptized people, belong ing to the

Danish mission, who followed Anders Olsen to the

South ; and their daily meeting s were frequented byabout ninety of the Pag an inhabitants of the country,whom curiosity had attracted to the new settlement.With in a c ircuit of a few miles, nearly a thousand

Greenlanders resided, to whom they preached the wordof Atonement with visible blessing for as early as the

ensuing summer, they had the pleasu1e to 1 eceive fou1

teen adults into the

NEW COMMERC IAL REGULATIONS . Qfi l

baptism. «The name of uL z'

cktcnau was g iven to the

infant settlement.Several new commercial reg ulations were made in

1776 by the Directors of the Greenland Trading Company , which were calculated to secure the interests ofthe natives ag ainst the rapacious avarice of European

dealers, and'

fix ed an advanced price of blubber inbarter. But the benefits resulting from hence to the

trade of the Greenlanders, were not without a corres

ponding disadvantag e. A cotemporary order directedthat the Greenlanders should divide themselves intosmaller parties during the winter; instead of l iv ing tog ether inone place anarrang ement which occasionedmuch additibal labour and anx iety to the m1ssmnar1es,and was, in' many respects, h ig hly prejudic ial to the

spiritual welfare of their flock. To obviate the want

of reg ular instruction, they were necessitated to maintaina v isiting correspondence. with the different stations,situated, for the most .part,

’

at the distance of tenmiles'

or upwards from the settlements, besides appointingone or two native assistants to reside with each com

pany. At two of the most considerable of these out

p laces, houses were afterwards bui lt for the acc ommo

dation of a m issionary and his wife, during the winter,in order that the ministries of rel ig ion and the education of the

’

childrenmig ht be more fully provided' for.

The ' utility of this plan was obvious, but insurmountable obstacles arose wh ich led to its

,abandonment.

By deg rees, the converts themselves became aware

he injury done to their souls-” s hy their disper

smn. and long absence from their teachers ; many on

this account, refused to leave the settlements in future,and the g reater part of those who had removed to the

several prov ision-places, returned in a few years.

reg ulationabove mentioned,being still enforced,the Green

ianders, thoug h they mig h t justly claim the rig ht of choosing their

place ,of abode, have, by the advice of the missionaries, and to

'

satisfy the merchants, ag reed to a partial distribution in these out

p laces, where, however; they have not t he benefit of a residentmi ssmnary .

262’

A DESTRUCTIVE EPIDEMIC.

‘

In 1777, both cong reg ations were deprived by deathof their oldest m issionaries, John Beck. and M ichaelBallenhorst. The former of these venerable labourers in the v ineyard of Christ,was the last who remainedinthe country,of the five Brethren,towhose meritoriouszeal and activ ity, the foundation of our missionary suc

cess inGreenland, is,under God, to be attributed. In'

addition to his pastoral duties, which he discharg edwith exemplary faithfulness, be translated the entireNew

'

Testament, with several portions of the Old, intothe native tong ue and only a year before his departure,assisted brother Konig seer, in revising a version of the

Harmony of the four Gospels .

A destructive epidemic ag ain spread its ravag es

throug h the country in 1782 . At New H errnhut,the d istress rose to such a heig ht, that there w as

scarcely a suffic ient number of healthy persons to burythe dead . Numerous fami lies were plung ed into thedeepest misery by the death

‘

of their most xeflicient prov iders, and a multitude of motherlesis infauts 'were

thrown upon the public'

compassion.

' The number of

deaths in this place from Apri l'

to Aug ust,amounted toone hundred and twenty-five,

‘

and the . mortality?wasnot even then at an end. L ichtmfi 'ls was visited somewhat later by th is dire pest, but with equally fatal vi

rulence. Under this burden of calamity, the 'Breth ren had, however,the consolation to see the suf

ferers look forwards to their dissolutionwith a cheer

ful resig nation, spring ing up from the assured hope f

everlasting blessedness;Meanwhile, the new establishment at L ichtenau w

rapidly increasing ,and beg an to wear the appearancea reg ular settlement.

‘ AnEuropean house wa

for the m issionaries, and .the temporary buildihad been run up in the Greenland style, forbrationof d ivine worship, soon requireDuring the second winter,nearly two hundred persresided at L ichtenau, and within seven years fromcommencement, this cong reg ation numbered two hdred and five baptized persons among its members.

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264 DEATH :os BROTHE R x om esnsn.

landers. T yhe described their country as extremelybarren, scarcely affording g rass enoug h to stuff theirboots. The eastern ice bl ink appears, from theiraccount, to be a vast cong eries of enmmous frozenmasses, projecting in many places to a considerabledistance into the sea , during the whole summer, the

avalanches burst from the summits, and thunder downthe sides of this g lacier ln almost 1111 1nter1 upted succession. The drifts of we are invariably swept along theircoast by a powerfu l cu1rent setting in h om the east,

so that it is obv iously impossible fo1 any vessel to land .

In summer the ai r is of a warmer temperature thanon

the west side. No herring s are found. Sledg es drawnby dog s are in common use, as in Labrador.Brother Konig seer departing this life m 1786,was suc

ceeded 1nhis office,as superintendant of themission,byBrother Jaspar Broderson, a student of theolog y, whohad already l ived several years in the country. He

resided by turns at the three settlements,.entering withhis whole soul into the multifarious eng ag ements

which devolved upon him, but devoting particularattention to imbu ing the m inds of the young

-withcorrect notions of the Christian faith. Being firmly

persuaded, that the best service he could render to his

flock, would be to extend their acquaintance with theinspired volume, he

.

emplo ed his leisure hours in

translating select portions of,

the historical part of theOld Testament, and of the prophecies of Isaiah. Be

s ides this, he compiled a new col lection of hymns forthe use of the Greenlanders ; and having broug ht a small

printing p1ess with him from Europe, he struck off a

few copies for immediate c irculation, till a larg er 1m

pressioncould be printed 1nGermany.

But the mission did not long enjoy his useful

services. A severe fit of illness, in Apri l 179Q, so

weakened his constitution, that he could indulg e nohopes of 1 ecove1y in this roug h climate, he thereforereturned to Europe with his family m 1794 . Both theGreenland cong reg ations and his fellow labourers weredeeply affected at parting with him , for they h ig hly

H ISTORY or ABIA. 265

valued the unwearied dilig ence with wh ich he attendedto their interests, and would willing ly have kept himlong er among st them. In the preceding year, the mis

John Soerensen, also leftGreenland, being inthe eig htieth year of his ag e,forty-sevenofwhich he hadspent in the service of th is mission.

It has already beenmentioned in the former part of

this Work, that in case of family quarrels among st

the natives, one of the parties, but more commonlythe man, sometimes runs away into the wilderness,and l ives and dies in voluntary seclusion from humansoc iety. Some such incidents are recorded of baptizedGreenlanders. Abia, an inhabitant of L ichtenfels, hadsuddenly disappeared, inNovember 1785, and as h is

empty kajak was found some time after, cast on the

shore, the g eneral belief was, that he had perishedat sea. Nearly ten years afterwards, a Greenlanderaffirmed, that in a solitary excursion to catch eiderfowl, he had seen the long -lost Ab ia, sitt1ng on a hill,and had conversed with h im. He told him his name,and enquired after his wife and ch ildren, adding , that

he had withdrawn from the society of men,merely on

h is wife’s account. The first winter had passed veryheav ily, but time rendered his sol itude more bearable,and he now felt_ perfectly at ease. Hav ing providedh imself larg ely with powder and shot, when he went

away, and using it sparing ly, he had still a store re

maining . He thoug ht much of his chi ldren, and of theSav iour, and trusted in his mercy. He had alwayscherished the wish to speak with one

’

li'

ufii‘

an being and

only one before his death that wish was now .satisfied,and he would never ag ain suffer h imself to be seen

’ byAfter mak ing this solemn declaration, he bec

koned the intruder to be g one. He was covered withrein-deer pelts, coarsely tied tog ether, and had on a

cap of hare-skin his boots had the appearance of beingnetted.

M inute and consistent as this statement appears, themissionaries however express some doubt

'

wheth'

er‘ this

interview, which rests on the testimony of a sing le

9266 ANOTHER ESCAPE INTO THE WILDERNESS.

person,"

may not have been. the delusive presentationof a dream. There is not the same g round for distrust,with reg ard to another convert,Peter,who eloped fromthe same settlement, into the desert, and is said to

have been seen several times in the summer of 1797,but could be induced by nopersuasions to return.

An abortive project Of the same k ind is related inthe diary of New H errnhut for 1808, and the passag emerits our notice, as being an ag reeable proof of thesincerity and open-hearted disposition of the converts.

One of the native Brethren from K ang ek, called upon

the missionaries to confess, as he said, his abominableintentions; He stated, that onaccount of many quarrels which had lately occurred in his family, and of

wh ich he owned his’

own inconsiderate lang uag e to havebeen the cause, he had resolved to forsake them, and

escape into the wilderness. With this intention, he setOH

'

in ' his kajak,and spent some nig hts in a lonelyplace : But,

”continued he, as I was about to pro

ceed‘

to a stil l g reater distance, I thoug ht, Oh ! howhappy are those people whom the LOrd himself re

proves and chastens whenthey are g oing astray Oh !

that I were one of them ! As I was rowing along ,“

all at once the sea seemed to assume a most dreadfulappearance, and with all my exertions,

"

I could'

not

g et forward. My kajak appeared to be fix ed’

to thebottom, thoug h I was inthe deepest part of thebay .

I 'wes frig htened,turned about, and immediately rowed

to the shore. Here I passed a sorrowful nig ht, and assoon as it was day,returned with shame and repentance

to my fami ly. Now I thank our S

that he del ivered me from the

Never more will I follow the impbut He ’shall be my only Lord and mast

Thoug h: many imperfections and bl

the

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GREENLANDERS SURROUNDED BY THE ICE .

from the apprehensionof perishling by hung er,and theyat leng th made their way throug h the ice, thoug h at

the risko f their l ives,to the 'main-land. But here theyfound themselves at a considerable distance from the set

tlement, and had to perform a fatig uing journey over

h ig h hills,and down abrupt valleys, before they arrivedat New H errnhut, hav ing been absent a whole month .

Dang erous as these excursions were '

to the missionaries, they were at the same time absolutely necessary, their comfort during the winter depending on

the drift-wood they collected, as the quantity Of wood

found inGreenland, in a g rowing state, is v ery insignificant. A scarc ity of th is article could not thereforebut occasionthe g reatest distress,aswas the case inNew

H errnhut, in 1798, when the shoals of loose ice wh ichobstructed the fiords, prevented them from laying intheir usual stock of fuel . During the three coldestmonths, they were oblig ed to have recourse to the

d isag reeable ex pedient of heating their rooms by trainoil lamps,after the manner Of the Greenlanders, reserving the l ittle wood they had left

'

for cul inary use.

Thoug h the pursuits of the natives inure them to

hardsh ips, and their uncommon dex terity enable theinto brave every shape and front of dang er, even theyfrequently fall v ictims to the rig ours of their ung enialcl ime,and are still more frequently del ivered from situations of the ' utmost peril, they scarcely know how.

Two Greenlanders belong ing to L icktenau; return

ing from catching seals,found their passag e impededby a new coat of ice, w ith which the intense frosthad almost instantaneously overspread the surface of

the sea, of such a thickness, that their oars were

soon rendered useless, and they saw no hope of ex

tricating their kajaks from the frag ments which jammedthem in on every side. Their desperate situation wasnoticed from the shore, but it was impossible to

come to their assistance. At last a rising g ale drovethem out of sig ht, tog ether with the ice-field inwhichthey were embayed, leaving their friends to suffer all

the tortures of the most exquisite suspense'

' Fortun-a

VARIOUS ACCIDENTS.

ately, however,‘

they reached a pier? of Old“

ice, the

only one remaining in the bay,where there was barelyroom for themselves and their kajaks. On to this theyscrambled, and repo sed themselves as well as theycould duriug the pierc ing cold ,o

'

f the nig ht . In the

morning ,.the new ice had become so firm that it wouldhear their weig ht, and they walked home in safety .

The very nex t year, a larg e party in a woman’

sboatmet with a similar disaster, in the same place and ac

companied with nearly the same c ircumstances. Beingovertakenby a hurricane, and unable to make the land,they took refug e on amass of floating ice, drawing uptheir boat after them with g reat difficulty. Thus situated, they drifted out to sea with the wind, and were

‘

already passing the last island, when the fury . Of the

storm abated, onwhich they ventured to launch theirboat and g ained the land.

Caleb, a native assistant of Lichtenfels was about thesame time oblig ed to spend two days and a nig ht in the

‘

open eat when the winter’s cold was most intense. At

nig ht-time he drew his kajak upon the ice, and sleptin it in a sitting posture,wh ile the thermometer stood

at zero “

of Fahrenheit. Onhis return home, he merely ,

complained of th irst, thoug h he had tasted no food

during the whole time of his absence. But such pri

vations are of common occurrence among these hardynat1ves.

Another Greenlander had nearly lost his l ife by an

unex pected attack from an animal of the whale tribe,to wh ich he had approached too nearWith his kajak .

The fish by a sudden spring seized the fore-part of the

skin-boat with h is jaws, raised it completely out of the

water, and after upsetting his enemy retreated into thedeep. Two

'

persons who happened to be at no g reat

distance, hastened to the spot, and h elped him to re

cover his balance, so that he escaped without any otherinjury thanthe alarm 1nsp1red by so unusual a rencontre.

But what peculiarly claims our attention in th isbrief review o f the hardships and casualties to whichl ife is subject inthese arctic reg ions, is the imminentrisk incurred by the missionaries themselves in their

270 REMARKABLE PRESERVATONS.

passag e to and from their stations. The voyag e of

Brother Grillich to Europe onbusiness of the mission,'

is one out of s everal instancesonwhich we found '

this

remark . He left Greenland in October 1798,with a

ship belong ing to J uliafl akaab, but after plying.

aboutfbr five weeks, in the lower part of the strai t, the .

vessel was so much damag ed by the drift-ice, that shewas oblig ed to return. InFebruary 1799, he ag ainset sai l in the same ship,but the quantity of drift-iceat sea was g reater than before, and hampered: them

perpetually from the 18th to the 25th"of that month .

At leng th the captain finding the ship so clog g ed and

damag ed that he could not hope to Save her, resolved“

to quit her x w ith'

all the property on board. Onthe last mentioned day, therefoae, the whole ship

’

s

company beg an their march over the Ice, dra g ing a

boat after them . They spent two nig hts in t e Open

air, and had no means of quenching their th irst, butby drinking melted vsnow Onthe th irdmorning theycame to open water, inwhich they launched

b

theirboat, and sailing five leag ues, ag ain reached the

barren coast of Greenland. Scarcely had they landedwhen a most tremendous storm arose with snow and

sleet, so that had they been still at sea, they must allhave perished. But they were now 111 a very disastroussituation,without any food or covering for the nig ht.On the fol lowing day, however, it pleased God to send

them a favourable wind, with which they sailed fiveleag ues and reached the colony at Fredericskaab 1n

safety. After a further detention of a month in th is

place, Brother G1 illich once,

more reached L ichterzfels,and finally arrived in the October following at Cophag enwith the ship from Godhaab.

. Some years afterwards, in 18044, the m ission’

ary C. F.

Rudolph and his wife ex perienced a still more remarkable preservation in

'

an attempt to return to Europe,after a servi ce of twenty

-six years inGreenland.

They left L icktenau,June 18th, and Went on boardthe same evening at J ulianahaob, the nearest Colony.

The ship’s company consisted of twenty-six per

'

sons, in

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127

12 SHIPWRECK.

fill ing fast with water, and perceptibly g oing down on

her s tarboard side, till, by the time the boat washeisted out, only the larboard g unwale appeared

above water. The captain and all the sailors hav ingleft the sh ip, my wife and I were left alone 1

above

our knees in water, hold ing fast by the shrouds. At

last Captain Kiar of the stranded vessel, came to our

assistance saymg I cannot possibly forsake these

g ood people.

’ By his friendly aid we g ot intothe boat, and had our hammock and bed secured.

Several tons of ship-biscuit, and other necessaries,with all the papers and letters on board, were alsolowered into the boat.We now left the wreck, being about twenty-eig ht

m iles distant from L iclztenau, and about a leag ue fromthe neig hbouring headland

i

of'

Nunarsulc. ‘ Our boatwas heavi ly ladenwith menand

' bag g ag e, and had al

ready taken in much water. The sea broke over us“

continually, and the steersman fearing“

that the boatwould sink, made for the nearest island. It proved to

be a roug h pointed and naked rock, deeply ex ca

vated in many places by the dashing of the breakers.

After ascending to some heig ht, however, we founda smal l spot covered with low g rass. We now

endeavoured to land our provisions, but the waves

beat frig htfully ag ainst the rock, and tossed the boatup and down so furiously, that she broke from her

mooring s, and was hurried out to sea. E ig ht menimmediately pushed off in the smal l boat in the hope of

recovering her. They succeeded in overtak ing her,and four of them instantly leaped on board ; but thefury of the storm, which wh irled the waves l ike smokethroug h the air, baffl ed all their efforts to reg ain the

landing -place ; they were driven to the other side of theisland among st heaps of ice and foaming breakers, and

we now beheld with horror, both our boats crushed to

pieces nor did we entertain the least doubt that all theeig ht sailors had perished, as it appeared impossiblethat they could g et over the ice to shore,while the ,

waves rose so hig h. All our hopes now vanished, and2

su 1rwnn'

crc. $273

e company g ave themselves up to loud cries and‘

ions,. se'

eingf n0 1

other‘

prospect than that of

by hung er on this naked rock. In

ning we lay downto rest,close tog ether,withoutcoyering . We were wet throug h, and lay in a

water ; for as i t ramed heav ily and incessant lythe whole of th is and the following day and

wed down in torrents from the Summit of the

'

rock.

1

Aug . Q6, we saw three menwalking on the shore,opposite to the spot where the boats had been wrecked,and concluded that these were the only survivors of theparty. They fix ed the only oar they had saved in the '

g round, as a sig nal, and tied a handkerch ief to it.ii Aug . 27,the captains, their mates,and the g reatesb

part of the crew,prepared to make an attempt to g ain“the shore, by walk ing across the ice. By leapingfrom piece to piece, and drawing them nearer when=tthey were at too g reat a distance, w ith leather thong s

‘

gand hooks, they, with the utmost difficulty, aecom-r

plished their object. -We would willing ly have'

ven

tured along with them but having fasted for two da’

ys,‘

we were consc ious that we could not bear 1

the fatig uesof such

.

a journey. We were now alone on the rock,with the ship

’

s cook, whom weakness l ikewise prevented from following his comrades. In th is dreadfulsituation, our only hope and trust was in the Lord,ourAlmig hty Sav iour. We were comforted in believ ing .

thatHe watches over his children,and that without Hiswill,not a hair of their head shal l feil~ te-;the g roundWhenever the sun shone, we employed ourselves indrying the few th ing s we .had saved from the wreck ;butw e were at last , so enfeebled by hung er, that wewere scarcely able to do even that, having nothing to .

support l ife but fresh water,c ollected in the holes andcrannies of the rock. All day long we looked out-too ;

wards the opposite shores,» in the hope of descrying the

fi reenlanders coming ‘

to our rescue ; but no"

Greenlanders came, and we g ave way to the dreadful saspi

pion,that the ship’

s crew had perished onthe road; TheVOL. 11

2741 surrwnr’

ex .

thoug hts bf ending our l ives onthis barren rock, andlying here unburied ; to g l

‘

ut the maw of ravens and

See-fowl, wh ich were constantly hovering around us,

aiad Seemed impatient for their prey, troubled us for a

short interval ; but the consolations of our Saviour suppo

l

r

l

ted us, and we soon felt entirely resig ned to his

W1

At leng th, on the Qd of September, Sister Rudolphhappening to raise herself up from the hard couch on

wh ich they soug ht repose for their emaciated limbs,espied two Greenlanders in their kajaks mak ing

-

tofi

wards them, and hail ing them . A new l ife instantlyseemed to animate their limbs ; they cl imbed to the

summit of the rock, and shouted with all their mig htto make themselves heard. It appeared that these

Greenlanders, who, according to‘

promise, had been'

d ispatched by the captain to bring them off, had beenroving about the island the whole day, and seeing no

person upon it, were just about to return, concludingthat they w

‘

ere dead. From them our m1ss10nar1es re

ceived a few herring s and some seals’ fat, after beingwithout food for nine days. But as the Greenlandershad no boat with them besides their kajaks, they wereobl ig ed to remain upon the rock

'

ti ll the evening of

the nex t day, when a Woman’s boat arrived for them.

On the 4th they came to an‘ island where they found

the g reater part of the'

ship’s crew, and the p arty s he

had beenwrecked in the two boats,with the exceptionof one man. These latter had suffered—extreme hardsh ips, as was evident ih t heir appearance ; for theywere quite emaciated, and had larg e red

'

spots m theireyes

They arrived at the colony of J il lianshaab, on the

8th, and-after recruiting their streng th, proceeded in a

few days to Licktém u, where they were received Withthe most affectionatewelcome, and ~with héartfeit g ratitu

’

de' fo God, who had so wondrously wroug ht

"out

their del iverance. Having remained here till the folalowing May,they set out ina Greenland boat for L ick:tenfals, where they arrived,

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976 sevens ,PRIVATIONS .

In 1807, we received the last reg ular supplies.This was sufficient, in addition to what we had sparedfrom ”former

'

years, to maintain us for a considerabletime ; and as we hoped that the interruptionoccasionedby the war would ‘

not last long , we felt 11

but when both the colonists and our,

Brethren at NearH errnhut and L ickienfi ls beg an to suffer, we even

helped them out of our store, to various necessary artifcles, of which, however; we afterwards felt the want.Inthenorth,,

there was yet some trade,by wh ich partialrel ief was obtained ; but here, nothin could be hadfrom that source. Yet we thanked od, that there

still ex isted the means of supporting life, thoug h Wesuffered many privations, such as of beer, coffee, sug ar,and wine, and afterwards of butter and salt : we made

the latter last as long as possible, by bo il ing our fish in

salt water ; and thoug h what was sent to us in 1810,did

not arrive here till 18 12,we have to thank- our HeavenlyFather for hav ing g iven us our daily bread. At last,we were the only people that had any tobacco. We

had‘

likewise some seeds left, and g ot a smal l supplyof g arden-stuff. The Greenlanders broug ht us scurvyg rass in ex chang e for tobacco. The latter article,however, became at last so scarce, that a pound cost

7s. 6d.

”

Some of the colonies had to endure stil l g reater privations, the inhabitants be ing reduced to the necessityof supporting l ife, by smal l herring s, muscles,and even sea-weed f them left the country,chiefly on. thi s account.

In this d istressed condition, they continued till the .

year 181 1, when. the British g overnment g enerously.

afl'

orded ;'

the Danes every facility for supplying their,

Greenland colonies, by permitting D anish vessels, furnished with

.

a proper l icence, to sail thither. Thishumane measure at once relieved them from theirpresent and from stil l more . g loomyforeboding s reg arding the future.

Whilejthis .reg ulation

‘

continued in force, the missionary J fl n

‘

Conrad Kleinschmidt. whose wife had

KLEINSCHMIDT GOES TO EUROPE ;

recently

’

departed this'

life, resolved to bring four'

of

his ch ildren to Europe, and m this v iew, left L icktenfi lsinan umiak, July 15th, 18 12, the day onwh ich, nineteenyears before,he had arrived 1nGreenland.

“ The

morning ,”he writes, inhis journal, was uncommonly

clear and beautiful . The sound of seve1al wind-instruments, uponwhich some of our Greenlanders, stationedonan eminence near the shore, played various tunes,was heard by us to a considerable distance andwh ilemy mind was occupied, and somewhat oppressed by a

variety of considerations relating to the difficulties I’

was in, and l ikely to encounter hereafter, I derivedg reat encourag ement from the behaviour of my littledaug hter Catherine E lizabeth, who afterwards departedthis l ife, at Leith in Scotland . She seemed quitetransp0 1 ted, and all day long sung Hallelujah, as if

she was commenc ing he1 pilg rimag e towards heaven;and had a presentiment of what would be her happylot, at the end of th is voyag e.

’

A fter a perilous voyag e, they arrived on the 9 1st of

the same month, at New H errnhut, whence they set

sail, September 2d, in the Danish sh ip Freden, boundfor Leith. Owing to unfavourable weather, they

did

not lose sig ht of the coast till the 25 th,when a fairwind sprung up, which carried them swiftly round

Staatenhulr, and g ave hope of a speedy voyag e. Sud

denly, howev ,er a most tl emendous storm arose from

the north west, which rag ed for three days and two

nig hts without ceasing . On the evening of the 29th,when it was at its heig ht, a flash of T1g htn1ng struck

the sh ip, and threw down two sai lors, one of whominstantly expired. All on board we1e filled with the

utmost consternation, especially below deck,where noone could g uess the cause of this terrible shock ; and

the captain rushed out of the cabin,exclaiming , We

are all lost, and there is no ship near to save/

us l’h

Our mi ssionary, immediately turned to his poor terrifiedch ildren, and Said : We shall now altog ether g o hometo our Sav iour ; we wil l therefore prepare ourselves tomeet Him; and commend our souls to Him.

” UponT 3

278 TRAGICAL EVENT.

this,-they all beg an to weep aloud. One said, 0 yes,we will all g o to our Sav iour, if He wi ll rec eive us

another, Let ils return to L ichtenfels, or g o directlytoEng land

”a third, We wi ll pray to our Saviour

to help us . He comforted them, and represented to

them the passag e out of th is world, as pleasantlyas h is painful feel ing s would allow him. It was, however, soon discovered, that there was no appearance of

fire in the sh ip, and no farther mischief was done, thanthe «break ing of a window in the cabin. But the captain and thefirst mate, the latter of whom stood c loseto the two sailors at the time of the fatal accident,were so stunned, that for some days they were quite il l ;nor did the captain recover his spirits during the wholevoyag e. They had afterwards, ag ain to encounter'

hard g ales and contrary winds, wh ich so protracted

the voyag e, that ' they were put on short allowance of

water.

’

But this privation lasted only five days, as

they came in sig ht of the Scottish coast on the 8th of

October, and two days after, cast anchor in Leithroads. During their stay in th is place, where theyex perienced the most friendly attentions from s everalworthy friends of the m ission, Brother Kleinschmidt

’

s

daug hter Catherine, three years old, .but a childof an uncommonly l y and affect ionate spirit, d iedafter a short il lness.A most trag ical event occurred in Greenland during

h is absence. A party of ChristianGreenlanders,hav ingcelebrated Christmas at the. settlement of L ichtenau,were returning to one of the out-places, where theyresided,according to anorder of g overnment, intended ,

to promote the interests of trade. They set out in a

skin-boat,er umiak, in January, 18 13, when the thermometer was twelve deg rees under Reaumer

’s freezing

point. Before they had proceeded far. the fl oatingice encounterened them, closed uponthem,and cnushedtheir boat to pieces. The party escaped upon a larg efield of ice, and drove about for feuryand-twentyhours,when, during the nig ht, a violent stormzarpse,

from the north,which carried them put to seen Here

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280 THE wrnraas mommi es IN ssvamrr .

petent knowledg e of the lang uag e ; and, toensure the

g reatest deg ree of accuracy, the manuscript was sub

mitted to the“

rev ision of the other missionaries,in‘

each settlement, who were best qualified for the task.

Th is «arrang ement, .however, concurred with other

h indrances to delay the prog ress of the new version ;but we are happy to learn from the accounts of

the last year, 18 19, that the whole was finished,and . only waited : another final revision, before it

should be transmitted to Europe. Besides th is,BrotherMentzel translated a smal l duodec imo work, entitledJ esus, the Friend cg

”Children,

” being a short com

pendium of the Bible,written for ch ildren,and recom-f

mendedl

by a society of pious m inisters inDenmark for

d istribution among the Greenlanders of both missions.In November 1 816, an adult heathen was baptized

atNemH errnhut,and as an interval ot'

six teenyears hadelapsed since the last transaction of the kind, it was attended with a more solemn impression on all the

spectators. In the same place, the m iss ionary,HenryMentzel, was suddenly called home to his eternalrest, October 3 l st, 1816 . He had spent thirty three

years of his l ife in the active service of the -Green

land mi ssion.

All the recent communications of our m issionariesconcur in stating , that the winters have of late in

creased in severity and duration, while the summers

have become colder and more stormy, and the sup

pl ies of drift-wood less and less abundant. The in

tercourse between the different settlements met withunusual obstruction, from the g athering of ice in all

the inlets, and round the islands of the coast, whichformed an impenetrable barrier for a g reat part of theyear, and confined their ex cursions to very narrowlimits. A marked difference was, however, observedbetween the c l imates of New,Herrnhut and L ichtenau;that of the latter being warm in comparison.

In this place, the number of widows and orphans,destitute of every means of support, became so c on

siderable, that the missionaries found it necessary“

to

q

MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT. £8 1

solic it the benevolent assistance of their friends at

home, in favour of thei r sufl'

ering ,Greenlanders. A

supply of tobacco,which is the princ ipal medium of

trade‘ in that country, was earnestly requested. In a

letter of 18 16, the missionary Kleinschmidt"

thus de

scribes some afi'

ecting c ircumstances of the distressedsituation of his fl ock . Our poor Greenlanders hadto endure a severe famine in spring , in consequenceof the severity of the w inter. I t was a heavy timewith us, as they directed their eyes to us in all distress,and we could not help them as we wished. The littlech ildren especially ex cited our pity,

“

as they were'

lessable to bear hung er thanothers,and besieg ed ourhouse

every day, beg g ing for food. I boug ht 500 cod-fish"

,

besides'

a quantity of herring s, and distributed themchiefly among the ch ildren. Many of our people wereoblig ed to eat part of their tent-skins,for want rof other

sustenance. When our store'

was qu ite ex hausted;with what feeling s did we g aze onthe fam ishin‘

g crowdwhich surrounded us, unable as we were to procure

food for so many inthis Wi lderness But now the Lord’s

help appeared speedy and complete beyond our ex pec

tation. He heard our g roaning , and it . seemed

thoug h food rained from Heaven. The . cold abated,and an uncommonnumber of seals came to the shore,so that some were daily caug ht, and carried home .

”

We have the satisfaction to add, that in consequenceof an appeal made by Mr. Montg omery, to the British

publ ic, donations, amounting to upwards of 12201. in

money, and several valuable pa‘

rcels‘

offi reedles,knives,iron hooks, & c ., have been received . The money;converted into tobacco, was last year aiready trans

mitted, with the“

rest of the articles, for the rel ief of“

the w idows and orphans of the three settlements,who felt and ex pressed the deepest g ratitude for thisseasonable supply.

The letters of last year,which arrived unusually early,contained an account of a melancholy acc ident at Kan

g elr a larg e number of Greenlanders having”

beenseized with a violent and fatal illness, in conseQuence

QSQ snurmnur s or THE MISSIONARIES.

of their eating of'

the putrified brains of a walruss,no lessthan thirty-two persons were carried off by the sickness which ensued, ina very short time. TheBrethrenhad the pleasure to perceive that the g reater part wereable to rejo ice in the prospect of their

’

disso lution, andthat those who had fallen into deviations, turned .in

their last hours, as true .penitents, to the Sav iour of

sinners. The friends and neig hbours of the deceased

could not be otherwise than deeply affected by th isawful occurrence.

Our Brethren themselves were all in g ood health andspirits, enjoying undisturbed peace with one another,

and with the g entlemen of the Danish m ission, and;

happy in the many percept ible proofs of'

His presence,who, thoug h unseen, dwells and reig ns in the midstof his people. Thoug h the

'lukewarmness and indifference of some of the young er part of

'

their flock, especially in the out-places, caused them no smal l nus asiness, yet they had in g eneral rich cause to thank the

Lord our Saviour, for the honour wh ich He put upon

their testimony. The witness wh ich they bore that, byHis suffering s and death, He has made an atonement

for sin, and provided a ransom by wh ich mank ind maybe delivered from their thraldom, was rece ived by theGreenlanders with thankfulness and joy ; and amidstall

‘

their weakness and insuffic iency, th is encourag ed

them to persevere, v'

Vith zeal and fervour of"Spirit, intheir blessed work. We could not desire a more affect

ing pic‘

ture of the happy and peaceful life of themission-Karies and their flock, thanthat presented by the following extract from a communicationof Brother Gorcke

During the Christmas holidays, and in the ensuingseason, an extraordinary spirit of love and compunc

tion of heart was perceivable throug hout the wholecong reg ation, and it was evident, both in old and

young , that the Spirit ofGod was leading them,morethan ever, into all truth. Whenwe spoke with themindividual/Ly, their declarations and expressions

“Wereremarkab ly serious, and filled our hearts with joy .

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CONCLUSION.

me so to do, thirty seven years more, to have my share

of the g race and mercy, which He thus richly bestowsupon this cong reg ation of conve1 ted Greenlandersand as my dear wife is entirely of the same mindwith me,we both wish to spend and to be spent in thishappy place.

”

With such dispositions, our missionaries, thoug h

suffering the pressure of far heavier affl ictions thanany they have to endure,mig ht well console themselveswith the sacred words of promise, He that g oeth

forth and weepeth, bearing a prec ious seed, shalldoubtless come ag ain 1 ejoi cing , bring ing his sheaves

with him.

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988 APPENDni .

Here they determined to fi x their residence, and erected their

house which they had taken with'

them ready framed. Er

hard meanwh ile proceeded with the ship farther to the north,for the purpose of trade. H e found that he could make himself

tolerably well understood by the E squimaux ; but as they wereafraid to come onboard on account of the g uns,he suffered them

to persuade him to land in a bay between the islands in an nu

armed boat with five of'

the crew. None’

of them returned, and

as the ship had not another boat, no search could be made for

them . The captain, having waited several days without beingable to g ather any information respecting their fate, sailed back

to Nisbet’

s Haven,and calling on board the missionaries, repre

sented to them, that after the loss of h is boat and the best part

of his men, he could not accomplish the voyag e home withouttheir assistance. Under such circumstances they could not refuse ‘

h is request ; but they left the place with reg ret, and consoled

themselves with the thoug hts of returning in the following year.

On their arrival in Eng land it was not deemed advisable'

to

renew the attempt, until intellig ence should be received of the

safety of Erhard and h is companions ; and as on the return of

the ship;‘

several of their dead bodies were discovered, and the

deserted house was burnt to th e g round,both the'

trade and the;mission were for that time abandoned .

In 1 764, Jens Haven, who had laboured for several years as:a missionary in Greenland, and had recently returned with

Crantz to Germany, proposed to resume this enterprise. W ith

this intention, he came to Eng land, and was introduced by the

Brethren in London to Hug h Palliser, esq. the g overnor of

Newfoundland,who freely offered him his support,and g ave himthe necessary letters of recommendation. InMay of the same

year he arrived at St. John’s ; but he had to meet with manyvex atious delays, before he reached ' h is destination, every shipwith wh ich he eng ag ed refusing to land for fear of the Esquimaux .

He was at leng th set on shore in Chateau Bay, on the southern

coast of Labrador ; here,however,he found no sig ns of popula~

tion, ex cept several scattered tumuli, with the arrows and 1m

plements of the dead deposited near them . Embarking a ain,he finally landed on the island of Q uirpont or Q uiveron,of?the

‘t The g overnor himself arriving shortly after at his station, issued a proclamation inhis favour,which refl ects no lessc redit onhis ownjudgment thanon the disinterested zeal of our missionary . Hitherto,

”he says, the Es

quimaux have beenconsidered inno other lig ht thanas thieves and murderersbut as Mr.Havenhas formed the laudable plannot only of uniting th

‘

esepeole with

'

the Eng lish nation,but of histructing them in theChristianreligwnrequire,by virtue of the

lpower deleg ated to me,that allmen,whomsoever it

may concern, lend‘

him a the assistance intheir power.

Anrannrx . eg g

north-east ex tremity of Newfoundland,where he had the firstinwrview with the natives.

The 4th September,”he writes in his journal, “

'

was the,

happy day when I saw an Esquimaux arrive in the harbour.

I ran to meet him, and add ressed him in Greenlandic . He

was astonished to hear his own lang uag e from the’

mouth of an

European, and answered me in broken: French . I requestedhim to return and bring four of the chiefs of his tribe with him,as I wished to speak with them . He according ly ran back withspeed, shouting out, Our friend is come.

’ Meanwhile, I puton my Greenland dress, and met them on the beach . I toldthem, I had long desired to see them, and was g lad

'

to findthem well. They replied, Thou art indeed,our countryman}?The joy at this meeting was g reat on both sides. After the»

conversation had continued for some time, they beg g ed me to

accompany them to an island about an hour’

s rowfrom the‘

shore,adding ,that there I should find their wives and'

children,who would receive me as a friend. By g ccepting this offer,it wasevident that I should place myself completely in their power,butconceiving that it would be of essential service to our Saviour

’

s

cause,for me to become better acquainted with these savag es,I simply turned to H im, and said,I will g o with them in Thyname. If they kill me, my work on earth is done, and I shall

live with Thee ; but if they spare my life, I will firmly believethat it is Thywill, that they should hear and believe the Gospel.The steers-man and another of the crew, landed me on the '

island,but immediately pushed off ag ain, to see at a safe distance

what Would become-of me. I was presently surrounded by thenatives, each of them pushing forward his family to attract -mynotice. I warned them not to steal any thing from our people,and represented to them the dang er of it. They told me that

the Europeans were also g uilty of thieving , to which I replied,that

'

if they would only inform me, of the dehnqnenn. he should’

be punished.

The nex t day,eig hteen of them returned my visit; ascording:

m '

of the

vernor Palliser ; but; they,

d it to them, supposing it to“

he

means be~

persuaded tb abcept off

to all I said, with ' the g reatest :

990 APPENDIX .

In their bartering concerns with the crew, they constitutedme thearbiter of their differences ; for,said they, you are our

friend. They beg g ed me to come ag ain the nex t year,w ith

some ofmy Brethren,and were overjoyed when I promised thatI Would. I told them also, that on my return, I would speak

to them of thing s which were of the g reatest importance to their

happiness,and instruct them in the knowledg e of God. One of

them asked if God lived in the sun. Another enquired,whether

it would make him more prosperous in his affairs, if he believed

in his Creator. I replied,there was no doubt of it, if he at

tended to them with proper dilig ence ; but the happiness of a

future life, was infinitely preferable to present prosperity, andthis mig ht confidently be ex pected by those who trusted!

in God

while here,and lived according to his will. When I was about

to take leave'

of these interesting people, the Ang ekok Segwllz'

a

took me into his tent, and embracing me, said, We are at

present rather timid,but when you come ag ain,we will converse

tog ether without suspicion.

’

On the third day the Esquimaux left the harbour altog ether,and after a short stay at Q uirpont,Haven returned to Newfoundland. Sir H . Palliser and the Board of Trade ex pressed

their entire approbation of his proceeding s,and their wish for

the early establishment of a mission on that coast. He there

fore”

made'

a second voyag e in the ensuing year, accompanied

by Christian Laurence Drachart, formerly one of the Danish

missionaries in Greenland, and two other Brethren. Having’

arrived at\Nv oundland,theywent on board his Majesty

’s ship,

Nig er, Captain Sir Thomas Adams, and landed July 1 7, in

Chateau Bay, lat. on the south coast of Labrador. Here

the party separated ; Haven and Schlotzer eng ag ing with ano

ther vessel,to ex plore the coast northwards ; they did not,however,accomplish any thing material in this ex pedition,nor did

they .meet with a sing le Esquimaux the whole time. Drachart

and JohnHill remained in Chateau Bay, and were fortunate

enoug h to have the company of several hundred Esquimaux ”for upwards ofa month ; during which period they hadportunities of intercourse.

As soon as SirThomas Adams had received intellig ence t

they had pitched their tents at a place twenty miles distant,sailed thither,to invite them, in the name of the Governor,Pitt

’s Harbour.

the kajaks hailedand the crew retu

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992 APPENDIX .

teresting to notice some particulars reg arding the ex ternal features of the country and its inhabitants, which we collect from

the descriptions of Haven and Drachart, who may justly‘

be

termed the first ex plorers of this northern reg ion.

' The peninsula of Labrador ex tends from lat. to lat.

But thoug h its northern ex trem ity,Cape Chidley,lies nuder the same deg ree of latitude with Cape Farewell,the south

ernmost point of Greenland, the rig our of the climate even ex

ceeds,if possible,that of the latter country. This is no doubt

owing to the vast tracts of land covered with snow and ice, or

with immense forests,lakes, and morasses, which impart a prodig ious severity to the north, west, and south winds that blow

iriL abrador while on the other hand, their ch illiness is miti

g ated, before they reach Greenland, by the intervention of

Davis’

s Strait.

The south coast is inferior in fertility to the Isle of Q uirpont ;but the ex pansive vallies are enriched with veg etation; and the

bay s are wooded with trees,fourteen inches in diameter. Inhis“

second voyag e, Haven found the islands in lat. 56° rocky and

bare, but the continent bore various sorts of pine, many of

whose stems measured a foot and a half, in thickness. He also

found larch,willow, aspen, birch, with many kinds of shrubs,some of which were unknown to him .

All the quadrupeds of Greenland, he continues, which I

could enumerate to the natives,ex ist in Labrador,and in g reater

numbers. I saw black bear and wolf skins ; but the g reatest

curiosity was the hide of an animal which haunts the Green-3

landers in their dreams. They h ave the same name for it,‘

the

Amarolc,and they tremble while they describe it. It is of a dark

g rey colour,about the size of a larg e dog .

The air and the sea are stocked with all the species common

to“

the opposite side of the Strait ; every inlet of the coast indeedswarms with shoals of the finest fishes, especially cod. Seals

make“

their appearance six or eig ht weeks later than in Green

land.

In stature,complex ion,dress, and g eneral habits,the natives?coincide almost entirely with the kindred branch of Karaler:

The face is rather more round and fleshy. The dress of the

women differs in the leng th of the hinder fl ap, which reaches,

almost to the g round . They also wear boots so hig h that theyreach above the hips, and so wide that half a bushel of corn

mig ht be poured into them with ease. They aremade of these

dimensions for the purpose of carrying ch ildren; but the cori

trivance is an awkward one, and sadly spoils their g ait, as the

boots require holding up with both‘

hands.

APPENDIX . 298

.The tent poles are fi x ed without the aid of any croSs.beam,and covered with hairy skins. Their conveniences for sittingand sleeping are still more rude than those of the Greenlanders,consisting merely in furs,spread on the bare g round.

Their furniture is poor, but cleanly. They use Europeankettles,but their water tubs are made of whalebon

'

e, and of an

oval form . Owing to their deficiency in tools, their huntingweapons are of a very roug h cast. Besides the five darts o f the

Greenlanders, they have another wh ich they cal

with three spikes, ten inches in leng th,used for striking birds.

Their kajaks are from 20 to 22 feet long , and nearly two feet

broad. The pautik, or oar, is almost three feet long , but nar

rower than those of the Greenlanders. They are very inexpert in rowing and g uiding their vessel, thoug h fewer accidents

occur than inGreenland, perhaps on account of the superig r

size of their boats.

The lang uag e is essentially the same with the Greenlandic,not varying from it more than the dialect spoken at D isko andBaal

’

s River differs from that of the southern colonies. Thus ;

SOUTHLAND. NORTHLAND. E SQUIMAUX.

Kind Inlet, Kina I blit, Kena Eulet, What is your name ?

Te/celarpolr, He visits.

Family names, as well as names of places, animals, and im

plements with which both nations have nlong been acquainted,are the same. Only such objects as have more .

‘

recently fallenunder their notice, are ,

disting uished by different appellations,wh ich are, however,in both

‘

lang uag es,ex pressive of the nature

of the thing sig nified. Thus, the Greenlanders call a musket

aulez'

sz'

ut, something which propels ; the Esquimaux ,putusz'

ut, a

hollowed tube.x

They have adopted several French words—into their convers

ation,which they repeat without knowing their meaning ; and

the French have collected a score or two of words,which theyuse in trading with the savag es, consisting partly of corrupt

French, partly of corru

gt Esquimaux , and partly of unknown

terms,probably borrowe from the Canadiansavag es ; e. g . kutta,a knife (from couteau), memelr, to drink (from iInek

'

,water),frialcag ua,peace,probably of Canadian orig in.

L ike the Greenlanders, they consider themselves as the onlycivilized and virtuous nation in the World. When Mr» Dra

chart spoke of the depravity of all mankind, they would allow

this to be true only of Kabluna'

t,or foreig ners ; as for themU 3

5294 APPENDIX .

selves,they maintained that they were honest Karaler. Have

you, then, he asked, no wicked thoug hts.” No. But

when you think we will murder the Kabluna'

t, and seize their

boats and g oods ; are not these bad thoug hts ?” Yes.

”Do

you you not thenwish to be ~freed from your wicked thouglts

and deeds ?” We do not know.

”They wondered w en

they heard that the Greenlanders had been washed from their

sins in the blood of Jesus, and thoug ht they must have beenvery bad people. And when he told th em of eternal punish

ment, they ag reed that the Kabluna'

t,who did so many wickedthing s, m ig ht g o to hell, but it was different with themselves,who were g ood Karaler.

The,notion of aDeity was not at all strang e to them. Thou

speakest of Torng arsuk,”

said they to Mr. Drachart,after hehad been enlarg ing on the power and providence of God. On

h is putting the question,whether they believed that Torng arsuk

had made the world, and all th ing s, they professed their entire

ig norance of the matter. But, said anAng ekok, Torn

g arsak ajung z'

lalr, the g reat Spirit is g ood and holy.

”Another

added, aj ualrang z'

la/c nothing is impossible to him .

”

A

third said, Saimavok,he is g racious and merciful.”

For some time they listened with delig ht to the instructions oftheir newfriends,but their interest in them soon subsided. The

aversionwhich they afterwards showed to the mentionof relig ious

doctrines, arose from their fl ig hty, chang eable humour, and

their stupidity, or rather incapacity to fi x their attention on a

subject quite foreig n to them, and inwhich they could not dis

cover a sin le practical use. For the same reason,it cost Mr.

Drachart infinite pains to make them c omprehend the purport

of the g overnor’

s messag e to them ; indeed, he found, both

in this instance, and when making enquiries relative to the

nature of the country, that the only possible way of g ainingh is end,was to propose every thing to them in the form of short

questions ; and,when they stole away to their tents, to follow

them thither, and point out the individual objects,of which hewas solicitous to g ather information.

It was with the utmost difficulty that they could be induced

to visit the harbour where the shils lay . To Mr. Drachart’

s

assurances of friendship, they replied, laug hing , Yes, yes,we know you will not kill us, for you are a teacher ; and g ave

him their hands in token of amity. But when, after much per

suasion, they had accompanied him to the bay, they absolutelydeclined g oing on board the commodore

’

s vessel,and landed on

the shore. .Whenever they were admonished to abstain from

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7296 APPENDIX.

fund theirbooty,eveni s a knife which they beg g ed as a keepsake. The nex t time the rog ues picked his pocket,they thoug htproper to do it secretly. But no sooner did the old men per

ceive that he had m issed something ,than they assembled aid the

young savag es inthe ho ix se,‘

and ordered the articles in question

to be restored. The thief immediately stepped forwards,with

out the least marks of shame or fear :‘

There,”

said he, are

your thing s ; you perhaps need them yourself.”

In their frequent journies backward and forward, between

the station of the ships and the Esquimau x , our missionaries

had to contend with formidable obstacles, having frequently to

spend several nig hts tog ether sleepless, without a morsei of

food, and ex posed, under the open air, to the rain and wind .

One dreadful nig ht is thus described in their journal.5‘ September 12 . In the evening , a violent storm,with rain,

arose. A shallop was driven to the shore,and ran a-g round on

the rocks. By the offer of an ample reward,we persuaded the

savag es to lend us their assistance in bring ing it off. Eig ht of

them put on their sea-dress, waded into the water up to the

arm-pits,and toiled at it upwards of an hour,without being able

to set it afloat. Our ship, meanwhile, wore away from the

sh ore, and left us alone with the natives. John Hill and the

ship’s surg eon eng ag ed to follow the vessel in a small boat,and

make some arrang ements with the captain for~ their safety ; but

their boat was dashed ag ainst the ship’

s side by the waves,with

so violent a concussion,that it overset. Fortunately they caug hthold of a

‘

rope which hung over the side of the vessel,to which

they clung , until those on board could draw them them up.

Drachart and Haven now betook themselves to the stranded

shallop, but they were destitute of provisions, and the rain fell

in torrents. The Esquimaux came and represented to us, that

the boat could not possibly float before the tide returned in the

morning ,and invited us to lodg e for the nig ht in their tents.

W e judg ed this to be the most elig ible planwe could adopt in

our present situation. Immediately, the ang ekok Seg ullia

plung ed into the water, and carried us on his back to the

beach . He then led us to his tent, g ave us dry clothes, and

spread a skin on the floor for us to sit on. The tent was

crowded with people. They several times asked us ifwe were

not afraid we answered, We are certainly ig norant of~what

passes in your minds, but you are our friends, and friends do

not use to fear each other.

’

To this they rejoined, We

Karaler, and are now convinced that you are not Kablana

'

t, but well-disposed Innuit, for you come to us without

weapons. They set hefbre us fish, water, and bread, which

APPENDIX . 297

retired to rest. But Seg ullia now commenced his incantations,which he beg an with

’

sing ing s ome unintellig ible stanzas, to

g ether with his wives . He then muttered over some charm,threw himself into every imag inable contortion of body,at times

sending forth a dreadful shriek,held his hand over Drachart’

s

fl ee, who lay nex t to him ; and rolled ~about on the g round,

u ttering at intervals loud,but only half articulate cries, of which

we. could merely catch the words, Now is my Torng ak come.

’

Perceiving that Drachart was awake, and had raised h imself a.l ittle on h is arm,as often as be ex tended his hand over h is face,he kissed it. He now lay for some time as still as death, after

which he ag ain beg an to whine and moan, and at last to sing .

We said we would sing someth ing better, and repeated manyG reenlandic verses,of which,however, they could comprehendbut very little. It was in

'

vain that we endeavoured to composeourselves to sleep for the rest of the nig ht ; we,therefore, fre

quently arose and went out of the tent ; but Seg ullia appeared

to view our motions with suspicion,/ and always followed 'us

when we left the tent. In the morning he thus addressed us

You may now tell your countrymen that you have lodg ed withme in safety. You are the first Europeans who ever spent a

nig ht under my tent. You have shown me, by your fearlessbehaviour among st us, that we have nothing to dread from you.

’

111 return for our accommodations,we distributed g lass beads,fishhooks,and needles,among s t his people.

”

A letter of Haven to one of his friends contains a shortmemoir

of a‘young Esquimaux ,named Karpik,which is too interesting

to be omitted .

During the interval wh ich occurred, between the visit of

.Haven and Drachart, in 1 765, and the foundation of a mis

sionary settlement in Labrador, the old quarrels between the

natives and the Eng lish traders were renewed; and as no one

was present who could act as interpreter,and ex plain the mutual

g rounds of difference, the affair terminated in bloodshed. Nearlytwenty of the natives were killed in the fray,among whom was

Karpik’s father ; he himself,with another boy,and sevenfemales,

were taken prisoners, and carried to Newfoundland. One of

these women,of the name of Mikak,and her son,were broug ht

to Eng land, where they recog nised an acquaintance in Mr.

Haven, who had formerly slept a nig ht in their tent. Kar

pik was detained by Governor Palliser, with the intentimi ofcommitting him to the care of Mr. Haven, to be trained up forusefulness in a future mission to his c ountrymen. He did not

298 APPENDIX.

arrive m‘

Eng land till 1 769,at which time he was about. fifteen

years old:"

O n Mr. Haven’s first visits to him, he appeared averse to

livingici nder his ' care ; but h is affections were soon. g ained by

the Sbenevolent attentions of h is friend, and he willing ly con

sented to accompany him to h is residence.»Here h is natural

wildness showed itself without restraint ; nor was his g uardian at

all solicitous to impose a premature check upon the sallies of an

undisciplined imag ination, but soug ht,on every opportunity, totouch his heart; That, however,was of a stony hardness.Being told that the g reat God and Creator of all thing s,wished to make him happy, he appeared to wonder at -the

assertion, but replied, without the least emotion, That is

rig ht, for I am a g ood creature.

’

H is chief failing s were pride and obstinacy. It had been

the'

first concern of Mr. Haven, to have him freed from the

scurf which he had contracted, and decently clothed,for which

the little savag e testified the deepest g ratitude. But in a few

days after, he conceived a sudden passion for a hat and coat

embroidered with g old . It was in vain to remonstrate that

this finery would be of no use to him, and that he oug ht to

employ his thoug hts in learning to know the Lord, Who'

dwells

in Heaven. Poor clothes,’replied he, will not teach me

that ; my countrymen, who are clad meanly enoug h, die and

know nothing of the God in~Heaven,of whom you say so much .

The king wears fine clothes, why, then, should not I ? Ican still become acquainted with God and love him.

’ Mr.

Haven answered,that“

he oug ht to be contented with his coat,if it only kept him warm, and that he had no money to procurehim a g audy dress. Then g o to the king ,

’rejoined Karpik,

i

‘and g et some money from him.

’ Well,’

replied his g uar

dian,“

w‘

e will g o to h im this minute ; but if the king enquires,what has Karpik learned ? can the read and write ? is he ao

quainted with the God ‘ inHeaven? and I am forced to answer

he has learned nothin‘

g the king will say, take him on board

the man of war, there let him serve my oflicer, and clean

shoes for seven years, until he has learned something ; you

know how those youths are treated !’This address produced

an immediate effect ;'

he clung‘

round Mr. Haven, and pro

mised to stay with him,and be obedient.

Mr. Haven still found his patience frequently put to the test

by repeated instances of this capricious humour,until at the end

of three weeks a chang e became visible. Karpik g rew throug ht

fuly and took g reat /interest in relig ious instruction. But the

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300 APPENDIX.

tized inGreenlandic at his own request,and on the 4th OctoberGod took his ransomed spirit to w

its eternal home.

But we return to the h istory of the mission. The preparatoryviStis of Haven and Drachart cleared the way for the ultimate

settlement of a mission of the Brethren at NAIN in 1 77 1, a

g rant of the land necessary for the purpose having been obtained

from the Privy Council,and formally purchased by themissionaries from the Esquimaux ,who testified the hig hest g ratification

“

at the proceeding . Besides the two missionarieS‘

above-men

tioned, were two married couples, and seven sing le Brethren,the whole company consisting of fourteenpersons. Having taken

with them the frame of a house, they immediately beg an to erect

it,and,with the assistance of the sailors,completed it in less than

two months. A company ofBrethren inLondon,united to send

a ship annually to Labrador to supply them with the necessaries

of life, and to carry on some trade .with the natives. The mis

sionaries also found means to be of service to the E squimaux ,and to earn something for their own subsistence, by buildingthem boats,and making tools and other utensils.

Some hundreds of E squimaux , principally of the Nueng ua/ctribe,attended the preaching of the Gospel during the summer

months,but on the approach of winter they withdrew to various

parts of the coast. Thoug h they were, for the most part,verywilling to be instructed, no lasting impression appeared to be

made on their minds. The missionaries were therefore ag ree

ably surprised by the\ intellig ence, that Ananke, one of these

savag es, being on his death-bed in the beg inning of 1773, had

spoken of J esus'

as the Redeemer and Saviour of men, had con

stantly prayed to him, and departed in confident reliance on

his salvation. Be comforted,”said he to his wife, who beg an

to howl and shriek like the rest of the heathens,at his approach

ing end, I am g oing to the Saviour.”The Brethren had

been prevented from visiting him during his illness by the in

clemency of the weather ; but his happy dissolution had a fa

vourable influence on his countrymen,who ever after spoke of

h im under the appellation of, The manwhom the Saviour

took to h imself.”

As this settlement was found insufficient to serve as a g ather

ing place for the Esquimaux dispersed along‘

a line of coast not

less than six hundred miles in ex tent, especially as it afforded

but scanty resources to the natives during the winter season,

when they had fewer inducements to rove from place to place,it was determined to establish two other mission stations, the

one to the north and the other to the south of Nain. Accord

APPENDIX. 301

ing ly, in 1774, four of the missionaries undertook a voyag e toex plore the coast to the northward . Thoug h they attained theirobject, the consequences of this ex pedition were most l unfortunate. On their return, the vessel struck ona rock, where sheremained fi x ed till her timbers were dashed to pieces . After a

nig ht of the utmost anx iety, they betook themselves early thenex t morning to their boat ; but this also foundered on thecrag g y shore. Two bf them, the Brethren Brasen and Lehmann,lost their lives ; the other two, Haven and Lister, tog ether with the sailors,saved themselves by swimming ,and reacheda barren rock . Here they must inevi tably have perished, hadtheynot found means to draw their shattered boat on shore,andrepair it so far that they could venture into it on the fourth dayafter their shipwreck . The wind was in their favour ; and theyhad soon the g ood fortune to meet an Esquimaux ,who towedthem into the harbour ofNa in.

The nex t year, Haven and Lister, accompanied by BrotherBeck,ventured to make a second voyag e to the south, and pe

netrated as far as Nisbet’

s Haven, where the Brethren had fi rstlanded,and where the ruins of their housewere still seen. Here,

after some search, they found a spot near Arvertolr,better suitedfor a mission-settlement,than any yet discovered .

But before the directors of the m issions were apprised of this .

new station, they had commissioned Brother Haven to beg in a

new settlement at OKKAK,about a hundred and fifty miles to thenorth ofNaz

'

u. The land was purchased from the Esquimaux ,in 1 775, and in the following year Haven,with h is family,andthree other m issionaries, established themselves in the place.

They immediately beg an to preach theGospel to the neig hbours

ing savag es, and thoug h their success was not rapid, it was sufficient

'

to animate their spirits. In 1778 the six first adults of

this place were baptized, and many morewere added ina short

time.

InMarch, 1782, two of the missionaries ex perienced a most

merciful interposition of Providence when their lives were i

utmost dang er. Samuel Liebisch, one of the m issionaries at

Nain, being at that time entrusted with the g eneral direction of

the settlements in Labrador, the duties of his office required himto pay a visit in 01496276, inwhich he was accompanied by William Turner, another of the missionaries. They set out ontheir journey in a sledg e driven by one of their baptized Esquimaux , and were joined by another sledg e of Esquimaux , the

whole party consisting of five men, one woman, and a child.

A Labrador sledg e is drawn by a species of dog s not unlike a

wolf in shape ; like that animal, they never bark, but howl disag reeably .

802‘

APPENDIX.

All were in g ood spirits ; the morning was clear, the stars . shin

ing with uncommon lustre“

,and, as the track over the frozen sea

was in the best order, they travelled with ease at the rate of six

or seven miles an hour, so that they hoped to reach Claire/l:’

ia

two or three days. After passing the island in the bay ofNaz'

u'

,

they kept at a considerable distance from the coast,both to g ain

the smoothest part of the ice,‘

and to avoid the hig h and rockypromontory ofKig lapez

'

t. About eig ht o’

clock theymet a sledg e

.with Esquimau x turning in towards the land, who g ave them

some hints that itmig ht be as well to return. As themissionaries,however, saw no cause of alarm, and suspected that the other

party merely wished to enjoy the company of their friends a

little long er, they proceeded on their way . After some time,their own Esquimau x remarked that there was a g rown

-swell

under the ice. It was then hardly perceptible, ex cept on ly ingdown and applying the ear clo se to the ice, when a hollow, dis

ag reeably g rating and roaring noise was heard, as if ascendingfrom the abyss . The sky remained clear, ex cept towards the

east, where a bank of lig ht clouds appeared, interspersed“

with

some dark streaks ; but as the wind blew strong from the north

west, nothing was less ex pected than a sudden chang e of

weather.

The sun had now reached its heig ht, and there was as yet

little or no alteration in the appearance of the sky. But as the

motion of the sea under the ice had g rownmore perceptible,the

travellers became rather alarmed, and beg an to think it prudent

to keep closer to the shore. The ice also, inmany places, bad

They arehe t by the Esquimaux in g reater or smaller packs according to thewealth of t e proprietor . They quietly submit to be harnessed for

(

theirwork, and are treated with little mercy by the savag es, who make them dohard duty for but a small allowance of food. This consists chiefly of offals,old skins,entrails,rottenwhale fins,& c. or if theirmaster chances to be un

provided with these articles, he leaves them to g o and seek dead fish or musscels on the beach. Whenpinchedwith hung er,they will swallow almost anything ,and on a journey it is necessary to secure the harness during the nig htlest it should be devoured by the dog s, and a stop put to their ex pedition.

In the evening , after being unharnessed,they are left .to burrow in the snowwherever they please ; and in themorning they are sure to returnat the callof the driver, as they

'

then receive some food. In fastening them to thesledg e,they are not suffered to g o abreast, but are tied by separate thong s ofunequal leng th,to an horizontal bar on the fore-part of the vehicle : an oldknowing one leads the way, running tenor twenty paces a-head, directed bythe driver

’s whip, which is very long , and can be properly manag ed only by

anEsquimaux ; the others follow like a fl ock of sheep. If one of them re

ceives a lash,he g enerally bites his neig hbour,and the bite g oes round. Theirstreng th and speed,evenwith anhung ry stomach,are truly astonishing .

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304 APPENDIX .

immense waves. The scenewas tremendous and awfully g rand ;the monstrous fields of Ice raising themselves out of the ocean,

striking ag ainst each other, and plung ing into the deep, with a

violence not to be described, and a noise like the disch

innumerable batteries of heavy g uns. The darkness

nig ht, the roaring of the wind and sea, and the dashing of the

waves and ice ag ainst the rocks, filled the travellers with sensa

tions of awe and horror which almost deprived them of the

power,of utterance. They stood overwhelmed with astonishment

at their miIaculous escape, and even the pag an Esquimaux

pressed gG ratitude to God for their deliverance.

The Esquimau x now beg an to build a snow-house, about

thirty paces from the beach, and about nine o’

clock all of them

crept into i t,thankful for even such a place of 1 efug e from the

chilling and violent blasts of the storm. Before entering it,

they once more turned their eyes to the sea, which was now

free from me, and beheld, with hm ror m ing led with g ratitude,the enormous waves driving furiously before

b

the wind, like hug e

floating castles, and approaching the shore,where,with hideous

commotionthey dashed ag ainst the rocks,foaming ,and filling the

air with their spray. The whole company now took supper,and,.after sing ing an evening hymn,they lay down to rest about

ten o’

clock. The Esquimaux were soonfast asleep,but Liebisch

could g et no rest, being kept awake by the tumult of the ele

ments, and suffeI ing at the same time from a sore throat,which

g ave h im g reat pain.

The wakefulness of the missionary proved the deliverance of

the whole party fi om sudden destruction. About two o’

clock

in the morning , Liebisch was startled by some drops of salt

water falling from the roof of the snow-house upon his lips.

Thoug h rather alarmed on tasting it, he lay quiet till the drop

ping became more frequent, when, just as he was about to g ive

the alaim, a tremendous surf broke all at once close to the

house,dischaI g ing a quantity of water into it ; a second quicklyfollowed, and carried away the slab of snow placed as a door

before the entrance. The Brethren immediately cried out to the

Esquimaux to rise and quit the place. They jumped up in an

instant ; one of them cut a passag e with h is knife throug h the

side of the house, and each seizing some part of the bag g ag e,threw it out ona hig her part of the beach. While the m ission

ry Turner assisted the Esquimaux , L iebisch and the woman

and child fl ed to a neig hbouring eminence. The latter were

wrapt up in a larg e skin, and the former took shelter behind a

rock, for it was impossible to stand ag ainst the wind, snow,and

APPENDlX.

‘ S 5

s leet. Scarcely had the rest of the company joined them inthisretreat,when an enormous wave carried away the who le house .

In this manner were they a second time delivered from the

most imminent dang er‘

of death ; but the remaining hours of the

nig ht were passed in g reat distress and the most painful refl ec

tions. Before the day dawned,the Esquimau x cut a hole into a

larg e drift of snow, to screen the woman and child,andl the two

missionaries. L iebisch,however, could not bear the closeness of

the air, and was oblig ed to sit :

at the entrance, where they co

vered him with skins to defend him ag ainst the cold,as the pain

in his throat was ex treme. As soon as it was lig ht, they builtanother snow-house, about eig ht feet square, and six or seven

feet hig h ; yet their accommodations were still very miserable.

The missionaries had taken but a small stock of provisions

w ith them, merely sufficient for the journey to Olclcalc, and the

Esquimaux had nothing at all. They were, therefore,oblig ed

t o fidivide their small stock into daily portions,especially as thereappeared no hope of soon quitting this dreary place, and reach

ing the lhabitations ofmen. Only two’

ways were

ing this either to attempt the passag e across the wild and

unfrequented mountain of Kig lapez'

t, or to wait for a new Ice

track over the sea,which mig ht not be formed for several weeks.

They therefore resolved to serve out no more than a biscuit and

a half a day to each . The missionaries every day endeavoured

to boil so much water over their lamp as m ig ht serve them for

coffee. They were all preserved in g ood health, and Liebisch

very unex pectedly recovered on the fi rst day from his sore

throat. The E squimaux , too, kept up their spirits, and even

the sorcerer,Kassig iak,declared that it was proper to be thank

ful that they were still alive.

Towards noon of the second day, the weather cleared, and

the sea, as far as the eye could reach, was perfectly free fromice ; but the evening was ag ain stormy, so -thanthe party could

not stir out of their snow-house, which made the Esquimaux'

very low-spirited and melancholy. Kassig iak sug g ested, that it

would be well “ to try to make:

g ood weather but this them issionaries,of course,opposed,and told him that his heathen

ish prac tices Were of no avail. They were, likewise,so pressedfor provisions, that the Esquimaux ate, one day, an old sack,made of fish-skin; and the nex t, they

'

beg an to devour a fi lthyworn-bout skin,which had served them for a mattrass. At thefi rst of thesesing ular meals, they kept repeating , in a low hum

m ing tone,“ ‘You

'

were a sack but a little while ag o, and now

you are food for us.”The savag es, however, possess the con

wenient quality of being able to compose themselves to sleepVOL . IL

306 a rrnuni x .

whenever they please,and, if necessary,they will sleep for daysand nig hts tog ether. The temperature of the air having been

rathermild,occasioned a new:source of distress for the warm

ex halations of the i nhabitants melted the roof of the snow

house,and this caused a continual dropping ,which,by deg rees,soaked every thing with water, and left them not a dry thread

about them, nor a dry place to lie in.

On the six th day of their confinement,the floating ice,whichhad for some time covered the coast, was ag ain consolidated

into a firm field. The Esquimaux belong ing to the other sledg e,set out the nex t morning to pursue their journey to Oklcalr and

the'

Brethren resolved to return to Naz'

n.«Mark, their Esqui

maux driver,ran all the way round Kig lapez'

t,before the sledg e,to find a g ood track ; and, after travelling three hours, theyreached the bay, and were consequently out of dang er. Here

they made a meal on the remnant of their provisions ; and thus

refreshed, continued their journey without stopping till theyreached Naz

'

n,where they arrived at twelve o’

clock at nig ht.

It may easily be conceived,with what g ratitude to God the

whole family at Nain bade them welcome ; during the storm,they had entertained considerable apprehensions for their safety,thoug h its violence was not so much felt there, the coast being

protected by the islands. The Esquimaux , who had met the

two sledg es when setting out, and had warned the travellers,in

their own obscure manner,of the g rown-swell,now threw out

hints which terrified their friends,and especially the wives of thetwo missionaries. One of these Esquimaux , to whom L iebisch

was indebted for some article of dress, came to his wife for

payment. Wait a little,”

answered she ; whenmy husband

returns,he will settle with you ; for I am unacquainted with. the

barg ain between you.

”

Samuel and William,” replied the

Esquimaux , will return no more to,Na in. How, Imt re

turn what makes you say so After some pause, he replied,in a low tone, Samuel and William are no, more ' all their

bones are broken,and in the stomachs of the sharks.” He was

so certain of their destruction, that he was with difficulty prevailed on to wait their return. He could not believe that it

was possible for them to escape'

the tempest, considering the

course they were taking . All their Brethren, therefore, joinedthe more fervently in their thanksg iving s for this sig nal de

liverance.

The same missionary,Turner,made two inland ex peditions,in the spring and autumnof 1 780, in company of an Esquimaux

hunting party. On their way to the .principal haunts of the

rein-deer,they had to cross a lake fiftymiles long and about one

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808 APPENDIX .

their enticements prayed unavailing , their chief,Ke pik,threatsened to kill the refractory by his torng ak .

The same temptations and the same propensity to ming le

ag ainw ith their pag an countrymen, in those forbidden diver

signs,which, however innocent in themselves, were, from their

accompaniments, uniformly found to debase and brutalize their

‘

minds, ex isted in a g reater or smaller deg ree, among st the in

habitants of the two elder settlements. A kacke, or pleasure

house,which, to the g rief of the missionaries, was erected in

1 777, by ,the savag es, near Na in, and resorted to by v isitors

from Okkalr,has been described by the Brethren. It was builtentirely of snow, six teen feet h ig h and seventy square. The

entrance was by a round porch, which communicated with the

mainbody of the house by a long avenue, terminated at the far

ther end by a heart-shaped aperture,about eig hteen inches broadand two feet in heig ht. For g reater solidity, the wall near theentrance was cong ealed into ice by water poured upon it. Nearthe entry was a pillar of ice supporting the lamp,and additional

lig ht was let in throug h a transparent plate of ice in the side of

the building . A string hung from the middle of the roof, bywhich a small bone was suspended, with four holes driven

throug h it. Round this, all the women were collected, beh ind

whom stood the men and boys, each having a long stick,shod

with iron. The string was now set a-swing ing , and the men,

all tog ether, thrust their sticks over the heads of their wives at

the bone, till one of them succeeded in striking a hole. A loudacclamation ensued : the men sat down on a snow seat, and the

victor, .

after g oing two or three times round the house sing ing ,was kissed by all the men and boys ; he then suddenly made his

ex it throug h the avenue, and, on his return, the g ame was

renewed .

To discourag e these proceeding s as much as possible, the

missionaries directed their believing E squimaux to build them

selves houses ou the g round belong ing to the settlements, in

which none were permitted to reside who were no t seriously re

solved to renounce heathenism, and all its superstitions. This

reg ulation was carried into ex ecution in H opedale in 1 783 ; and

the same winter seventeen persons were adm itted as candidates

for baptism,of whom six were baptized nex t year.

Of the three stations,O/rlrak had commonly the larg est, and

Nainthe smallest number ofEquimaux ,resident during the win

ter. The preaching s were frequently verynumerously attended,

both at the former place and at H opedale, owing to the conflux

of heathen who came from the neig hbourhood. Some o f these,

from time to time, evinced a sincere disposition~ to receive the

APPENDIX . 9“

faith of Jesus, and were according ly baptized ; so that, thong h“

the unhappy trading voyag es before mentioned had entirelywithdrawn many bapt

ized families from the cong reg ation, thewhole number in the three settlements amounted, in 1 790, to

about eig hty persons, including catechumens.

A sing ular story, which circulated at Nain in 1 773, and

g ained credit with the Esquimaux , may be mentioned as anin

stance of that deeply-rooted inclination for the marvellous andsupernatural which rendered it so difficult, even for the Christian converts, to wean themselves from their attachment to former superstitious notions and Observances. It was reported that

the men in the north had at leng th killed Innulrpalc, with his

wife and children. This was a murderer of such monstrous

size, that,While he stood in the valley of Nam, he mig ht'have

rested his hand on the summit of the adjacent mountain. H is

dress was the white skin of the nennerlulr, an amph ibious bear,that hunted and devoured the seals, each of whose ears was

larg e enoug h for the covering of a capacious tent. This beast

did not scruple to eat human flesh,"

when he came on shore,where some affirmed they had seen him, and were vex ed when

their testimony was doubted. Indeed the Brethren in Off/fair

thoug h t they saw such a sea-monster one evening ,intheAug ust of

L786 which rose up to the heig ht ofa hug e ice-berg ,m themouth

of the bay, showed its white colour, and then plung ed down

ag ain, leaving a wh irlpool of foam . The Esquimaux , without

hesitation, pronounced it to be the nennerluk ; but as the de

scription is so vag ue, we may justly call in question whether

they were not deceived by some tumbling ice-berg .

W ith reg ard to their outwai d subsistence, the natives have

m0 1 e abundant and various resources than the Greenlander .s

Besideswhales and seals,the bays are stocked with larg e shoals of

cod and other fish,and the rivulets afford such plenty of salmon

trout, that the m issionaries at Na in have,__m favourable years,

taken 5000 in the space of a week. The land furnishes a va

s iety of fowl, hares, and rein-deer, which are sometimes found

in g reat numbers. in the interior, and the E squimaux have

killed 300 in a sing le hunt. Yet these supplies are so preca

1 ious, and so badly husbanded by this unthrifty race, that theyare not unfrequently reduced to the g reatest straits inwinter.

Towards the end of 1 795, for instance, a g reat scarcity of pro

visions was ex perienced in Na in, and five of the Esquimaux

were oblig ed to set out in sledg es to fetch the deer which thev

had killed ln the summer, and deposited under stones. In this

journey, which occupied a week, they could not have travelled

310 APPENDIX”

less than § 09,miles,with no . other sustenance than rawmeat andcold

. wager;InAugust, 1 799, the missionarles at. Nair: were surprised by

a visit from a native. of the most northern part of the coast, for

which they were indebted to awonderful accident. He had g one

out on the ice inthe January of'

1797,with ,three companions,

to hunt seals ;l

hut they were dri ven.out to sea, with the fragment on which they stood, by a strong wind,till

‘ they lost sig ht

of land.

‘

They must, iftheir reckoning was correct,have spentfour months on this floating voyag e, during which time. theysubsisted on raw seals,which they caug ht in g reat numbers,andwere at leng th carried to shore in a distant part of the south .

The simple and confidential manner of this Northlander faroun

ably disting uished him from his southern countrymen.

Amidst the discourag ing lukewarmness and deadness which

prevailed among st many members of their fl ock, and the open

deviations of several who had already been baptized,~

the Bre

thron had the pleasure to perceive that on some hearts the W ord

of Atonement had taken its natural effect,producing a thoroug hchang e of conduct and sentiment, and in the hour of partingnature.affording the true believer a firm g round of faith and

hope, Among st the foremost of. this class was the widow,Esther,who departed, at O/rlralr, in 1 792. Being at Nain, on a visit

.

with her parents, she heard of Jesus as her Creator and Re

deemer, and,thoug h quite a child,she retained a deep impres

sion,pf these saving truths. It became her practice, as she

afterwards related, to resort to a retired part of the .h ill, near

Killanek,her birth-place, and there pour forth her prayers andbefore her heavenly Friend. After the death of herbecame the third wife,of a manp f a, roug h and brutal

who was a murderer and sorcerer. The miseries

had to endure from this marriag e did not cease with

of her husband ; she was hated. on his account, andher

,two childrenso cruelly beaten that they died inconsequence.

At leng th,the baptized Rebecca, who pitied her in this distress,took her; with her to Olfkalc. Here her ardent aspirations forall

_the blessing s of Christ

’

s family were soon satisfied, and she

passed. the remainder of her mortal life inan increasing ly happycommunion with her God. He is my Father,

”she wo uld

often say ; wherever I am,He is with me ; and . I can tell Himall my wants.

”She was the first of the Esquimaux who kept

their profession of faith unblemished to the end. She constantlydeclined all offers of marriag e, whether frombelievers or heas

thens, that she mig ht continue, in summer as well as winter,with the Brethren. Her natural talents were considerable, and

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8m APPENDIX .

men, to which be contri buted all in h is power. Yet he once

more suffered hig h thoug hts to seducehim into such g ross im

proprieties that it was necessary to ex clude him for a time .from

the Lord’s table, until he came to a due Sense of h is miscon

duct. He died in 1798, after a short illness, at the ag e of

six ty years.One of the objects of the establishment at H opedale had been

to promote an intercourse with the Red Indians who lived in the

interior,and sometimes approached in small parties to the coast.

A mutual reserve subsisted between them and the E squimaux ,and the latter fl ed in the g reatest trepidation, when they discov ered any traces of them in their neig hbourhood . In 1 790,however,much of this coldness was removed,when several fami

lies of these Indians came to Kippolca/c, an European factoryabout twenty miles distant from H opedale. In April, 1 799,the

m issionaries conversed with two of them, a father and son, who

came to H opedale to buy tobacco . It appeared that they wereattached to the service of some Canadians in the southern set

tlements, as well as many others of their tribe, and had been

baptized by the French priests . They ev idently reg arded the

E squimaux with alarm, thoug h they endeavoured to conceal

their suspicions, ex cusing themselves from lodg ing in their tent,

on account of their uncleanly habits . At parting , they assured

the Brethren that they would in future receive frequent visits

from their countrymen ; but this has not as yet been the case.

In 1800, a most melancholy accident occurred at the settle

ment just mentioned . The m issionary Reiman,having g one out

alone on the 2d ofDecember to shoot partridg es, returned no

more, having probably lost h is life by the ice breaking under

h im. As the weather was remarkably fine, the Brethren and

E squimau x persevered in their search for him nine days,but allto no purpose ; for thoug h his footsteps were seen in several

places on the snow,they were lost ag ain on the ice,nor were his

remains ever discovered .

Towards the close of 1804, the indifferent success which had

hitherto attended the labours of the missionaries,owing to causes

wh ich have already been mentioned, the roving dispositions of

the natives, their lurking unbelief manifested by their addiction

to superstitious practices,particularly in cases of illness, and the

absence of a vital principle of g odliness among st those even who

led a moral and decent life, was succeeded by a new and a

brig hter period. A fire from the Lord was kindled atH opedale,

the very place wh ich before presented the g reatest discourag e:

ments,,and spread from thence to the other two settlements.

APPENDIX . 318

i

.When the Esquimaux of th i s cong reg ation returned from

their summer ex cursions,our m issionaries were delig hted to find

that they had not only beenpreserved from sinful practices, buthad made considerable prog ress in the knowledg e of the truth .

They had attained a sleeperO

insig ht into the natural depravity of

their hearts, and the wretched state of a person void of faith in

Ch1 ist. This constrained them to cry to Him for mercy and

there was reason to believe that some, at least, had found for

g iveness of their sins in His blood,”

by which their hearts were

fi lled with joy and comfort in believ ing . Out of the abundance

o f the heart, their mouths spake of the love and power of Jesus ;and their energ etic declarations made a serious impression on

the l est of thee

inhabitants. They beg an to see the necessity of

true conversion and earnestly soug ht for peace with God .

Even several of the children were similarly affected. The mis

sionai ies received daily visits from their people,who either cameto enquire, what they must do to be saved ; or to testify of the

g race of God,which they had already ex perienced. aw

While this heavenly flame was in fiall blaze at Hopedale, two‘

E squimaux , Siksig ak and Kapik, arrived there from New“

.

The former of them broug ht his wife with h im whom hef had

married from thence two years before, intending to return

her to her mother, and take another who promised to‘

second

h im in every heathenish abomination,and to leave the Christian

E squimaux altog ether. On entering h is own mother’

5 house,who likewise lived at Hopedale, he found the family eng ag ed in

evening prayer. They went onwithout being disturbed by his

ari ival ; and he sat down quite astonished at what he saw and

heard, not knowing what they were doing . On h is informing

them of the purport of his v i sit, the whole company beg an to

entreat him most earnestly not to part from his wife, but13

rather

to turn with his whole heart to Jesus . The m issionaries too,

added their ex hortations to the same effect, but he persisted in

h is determination. H is relations, perceiving“

that he was im-n

movably fix ed, resorted to prayer. The following day they all

assembled i n his mother’s house, and m his presence, joined m

fervent supplications for his conversion. His mother, among st

the rest,mttered the following petition O my Lord Jesus !behold,this 1s my child ; I now g ive him up to Thee Oh, ao

cept of h im, and suffer him not to be lost for ever l”

This

scene, so unprecedented and unex pected, had an instantaneous

effect on the young man; he was filled with concern f0 1 his sal

vation his whole heart seemed chang ed ; he desisted from his

wicked purpose, took back his wife, and became an humble eu

quirer after the truth, to whom the Lord afterwards showed

314 1

APPENDIX.

”

g reat mercy. 5 His cornpanion, Kapik, was also powerfullyawakened by the in

’

strumentality of his,relations.On their return to Nain, these two men, with energ y and

bohtlness, preached Jesus to their eountrymen. Some of their

friends heard them with astonishment,others,mocked and hated

them ; but the impression on the '

rest of the‘

inhabitants was a

pleasing and permanent one. We saw several of our people,”

say the missionaries, yielding by deg rees to conviction, and

beg inning to doubt whether their Christianity was of the rig ht

kind, and whether they had not been deceiving themselves and

others. .They came and voluntarily confessed their sins; some

with many tears, and in a manner ofwhich we had no instances

before. The more they reflected on their former life, the more

deeply were they convinced of the treachery of their hearts ; theywept onaccount of the deceit theyhad so oftenpractised,and con

fessed to us thing s of which we could have formed .no conception.

Thoug h we could not but feel pain on account of their former

hypocrisy, our g rief was balanced by the joy we felt at the

amazing power of our Saviour’

s g race, by which their hearts

were thus broken and softened. Our drooping faith and cou

rag e revived, and we saw clearly that with God nothing is

impossible”

The news of these events was carried to Oklralc by visitors

frem Nain, and was accompanied with'

the same happy effects.

Many of the heathenwho lived in the neig hbourhood, were so

astonished at these occurrences among their believing countrymen, that they resolved to move to one or other of the settle

ments. Even the northernEsquimaux ,who passed throug h the

place on their trading ex cursions, were struck with admiration

on beholding this g enuine work of God . They came frequentlyto converse with the mi ssmnarles, listened to the Gospel with

uncommon attention, and most of them « ex pressed their earnest

wish to become acquainted with Jesus as their Saviour. Theyex pressed their reg ret that they lived. at so g reat a

-distance,and

could not well forsake their?native country, but said that if the

missionaries would come . to them they would g ladly receive

instruction.

The ‘subsequent years of themissionproved that this awakening

was not. the momentary blaze of a meteor, scarce seen before it

is;ex ting uished,but a divine vfl ame emanating from the Spirit of

God, and» kept alive by His g racious influences. The labours

of the missionaries became from this time comparatively. lig ht,for their instructions were no long er listened to . as a task, butreceived with a vidity by willing hearers ; the schools.were dili

g ently frequented both by old and young ; and their reg ular and

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316 APPENDIX »

eruption and boils, which,however,thoug h painful and unplea

sant, were rather beneficial to their g eneral health . But on the‘

2'

4th of July,as a boat'

filled with our people was leaving Tile/le

rarsuk,one of their provision-places, to return to H opedale, se

veral of them, one after the other, were seized with a nervous

and paralytic disorder of a most dang erous and deadly nature,insomuch that during the nex t eig ht days, thirteen of them de

parted this life, of whom seven were communicants. Three of

them were fishing in perfect health in the morning , and in

the evening lay as corpses in the boat. Above th irty weretaken ill,and some broug ht to the brink of the g rave ; but now,thank God, the g reater number have recovered, thoug h a few

are still very weak. As late as the 12th September, we buried

an old communicant, called Luke. Terror and dismay seized

the people, but we confidently believe that thosewho departed

this life are now in the presence of H im whom they had knownhere as their Saviour,and to whose holy will they ex pressed full

resig nation.

By this afflicting dispensation we have now a considerable

number ofwidows and orphans depending entirely upon charity,and we cannot withhold from them occasional assistance. We

often commend them in prayer to the Father of the Fatherless,who will inmercy reg ard their wants.

”

As early as the year 1800, our missionaries learned from the

reports ofNorthlanders, who visited their settlements, that the

main seat of the nationwas on the coast and islands of the north,

beyond Cape Claudleig lz, and anx iously desired an Opportunityof carrying the Gospel into that quarter. On asking their v isi

tors whether it would be ag reeable to them to have a m ission

established ' in their country, they assured the Brethren that it

would g ive them the g reatest pleasure. The whole land,”

they said,“ would welcome them with one loud shout of re

joicing .

”Preparations were made by two of the Brethren in

1800, for a coasting voyag e to ex plore the country in that di

rection,but their plan was frustrated by unfavourable winds and

weather.

This project, however, thoug h suspended for a time,was not

abandoned ; and in 18 1 1, the missionaries were authorized to

fit out another ex pedition for the same purpose. The Brethren

Kohlmeister and Kmock,cheerfully eng ag ed in this difficult and

perilous enterprise,for which they both possessed eminent quali

fications. Having eng ag ed a Christian Esquimaux from H ope

da le,as a steersman,with his two-masted shallop, they embarked

at Ola/talc on the 23d of June, accompanied by four Esquimaux

families,besides that of their g uide,amounting in all to nineteen

APPENDIX . 3 17

persons. After . encountering various dang ers from the ice in

their passag e up the coast, which had never before been navi

g ated by an European, they doubled Cape Ckudlez’

g lz, and on

the 7th of Aug ust, came to'

anchor at the mouth of the

Kang ertlu/rsoak,orGeorg e River, in the Ung avw country, lying140 miles S. S .W. of the Cape, in lat. 58

°57

’north . Here

they staid some days, pitching their tents on a g reen slope,overg rown with shrubs, and flanked by a woody valley; which

possessed every advantag e for a missionary station.

A sail of six days broug ht them to the mouth of the Ko/rsoa/r,or South River,58

° 36 'north latitude. It is six or seven hundred

miles distant from Olclralc, and its estuary about as broad as the

Thames at Gravesend. Some way up the river, they arrived at

a well watered and fertile plain,half a mile in ex tent,which theyalso considered as well adapted for a settlement. Being satisfied

from the accounts of the natives that there were no other elig ible

places farther to the west, they now returned homewards, and

reached Oklra/c in safety on the 4th of October, after an absence

of fourteen weeks, having performed a;voyag e of from twelve to

th irteen hundred m iles.

We are sorry to say that no further steps have yet been taken

towards the establishment of a fourth settlement in Ung ava, a

delay wh ich has arisen partly from the distresses occasioned bythe late continental war,and partly from the following untoward

accident.

October 28th, 18 16, writes the narrator, the Jemimaarrived in the Thames from Labrador, after one of the most

dang erous and fatig uing passag es ever known. The shiparrived at the drift-ice, on the Labrador coast, on the 1 6th .of

July. Captain Fraser found it ex tending two hundred m iles

from the land ; and after attempting to g et in,first at H opedale,then at Nain, and lastly at Okkak, he was at leng th completelysurrounded by ice, and in the most imminent dang er duringsix days and nig hts,ex pecting every moment“ th”at the ship would

be crushed in pieces, till, after very g reat ex ertions, he g ot

towards the outer part of the ice. Nevertheless, he was besetby it for forty-nine days, and did not reach Ole/lair till Aug ust

29th . The very nex t day the whole coast, as far as the eye

could reach,was entirely choked up with ice ; and after lying at

Ok/cak nearly three weeks,he was twice forced back by it on hispassag e to Nain, which place he did not reach till Septem

We forbear g iving a more detailed account of this interesting voyag e,as

the particulars are already before the public, in a small work intitled J ournal

qf a

'

Voy ag e from Ole/l air, inL abrador, to Ung ava Bay edited by the' Rev.

C . I. Latrobe.

8 18 APPENDIX.

ber 22d. After staying the usual time, Captain Fraser praw

ceeded, October 3d, to H opedale but thoug h the weather was

fine,the lateness of the season, and the larg e quantities of drift

ice,'

left him little hope of reaching that settlement. He

tioned this opinion to the Brethren at Nain. However,Brother

Kmock and his“

wife, and the two sing le Brethren, K'

orner and

Christensen, who were g oing to H opedale, went on board, and

they set sail. But the same evening it beg an to blow ex tremelyhard, with an immense fall of snow, and very thick Weather, so

that they could not see the leng th of the ship,and being within

half a mile'

of a dang erous reef of rocks, they were oblig ed to

carry a press of sail to clear them, which they did but justaccomplish ; for the g ale afterwards

_

increased to such a deg ree,the wind being rig ht on shore, that they could not carry sail anylong er, and were oblig ed to lay the ship to, the sea often break-

i

ing over her ; and the captain was at leng th necessitated to bear

away for Eng land, October 5th. He ag ain ex perienced a g ale

equal to a hurricane,from the 8th to the 10th ofOctober,which

was so violent during the nig ht of the 9th, that the captain

momently ex pected the ship’

s foundering . She was at one time

struck by a sea, which twisted her in such a manner that the

very seams .on .her larboard side opened, and the water g ushed

into the cabin and the mate’s birth as if it came from a pump,

and every one thoug ht her side was stove in. However, the

Lo rd was pleased to protect every one,from harm ; and, con

sidering all thing s, the ship did not suffer materially, neitherwas any thing lost.

”

By this disaster, the only serious one which has befallen the

m issionary vessel in her annual voyag es during a period of fiftyyears, four zealous m issionaries were abruptly transported fromthe field of their activity, leaving their ex pecting fellow-labourers

inH opedale in a state of the mostpainful anx iety reg arding theirfate. They returned to Labrador in the following summer,thoug h not without encountering , the most imminent risks from

storms, thick fog s, and ice-fields, every one of which, seen

throug h the g loom, appeared fraug ht with death. They werehappy to find that their Brethren inHopedale,thoug h disturbed

by apprehensions for their safety, had suffered no want of pro

visions,having been supplied from the stores

The last year’

s vessel carried out a translation of the Acts of

the Apostles, published for the use of the Esquimaux by the

British and Foreig n Bible Society,which has before,at differenttimes, presented them with the

‘

invaluable g ift of the Four

Gospels in their own lang uag e, and g enerously offered to ,printa version of the remaining part of the New Testament,which is

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320 APPENDIX.

A LETTERfi om the lamUIMAUX J OSEPH,to the Cong reg ationsinEurope. T/ze orig inal is written by his daug hter, one of tireschool-children at Okkak.

tut, J esusimilc Kausilertut is

sing ming nut té g ulug‘

atilc tapsuma J esusib Kristusib annet

nermut aj ung inermut aldci/rsumag it kattang utig ek, titau

g apta, uvang alepiung itzmg a,ok/ciak

'

tasumana. I llag ektut

kattimaving et melliuting met

okkallazmg metta illale J esusib

aniatig ing matig ut assiolconata

naklmdlatolsapalc J esusib on

nering matig ut kappiaisug vik.

Sapting net tokkomut t'

oimai

mat aniang a to/clcotauning alo

erkareksariler permit inusipling ne illzmanenakoridlurg u lo

lczgjag idlalug olo,taipkoa . It

tuit J esusemut toratsainarlit,zwang ataufc ittolerutung a J e

susemut uniat tamaz'

ta tapso

mang et piksarsiniatsainapun

g a . Olrpertut illzmaita sallu

J osepse Ole/camiu/r. Joseph of Okkak.

J osepse oyung a L udwilc J esuszb ta sang ane J oseph g reets Lewis (amissionary,Lewissalutipag zt Kablunalo Iratang utwut iltu Morhardt, now in E urOpe,) in t he

presence of J esu s and all Europeans,who are my Brethren in Him and

believe onH im .

To the believers who dwell on

that side of the ocean that is

Opposite to us,who know Jesus,andwalk beforeH is eyes,whom' indeed we do not see,but who, by the spirit _

of

Jesus Christ, are made our

Brethren and Sisters, I am

poor and unworthy ; but

when the cong reg ation 15 as

sembled, then we are told

that Jesus,by H is suffering s

and death, has redeemed us

from all our sins, and their

heavy punishment, and that

Jesus has provided that we

should not be lost. This is

a comfortable doctrine, and

worthy of our thanks ; and

as it is indeed truth, we

therefore keep in memoryH is suffering s and death,and will praise and thank

H im for it all our lives.

Ah,that we were all lookingonly to Jesus ! I am g rowing old, and I will cleave toJesus, and every day fetchnew life and nourishment for

my soul from Him. I sac

lute all believers, and am

your poor

arrsumx . 8m

A TABLE,

E x hibiting the Number of Inhabitants baptized,& c. at the

Mission inGreenland, from its Commencement.

New Hannnnur .

VOL. I I.

APPENDIX.

L ITCHTENFEL S.

Number‘of New

Inhabitants. baptised .

Marri ag es. Deaths.

L ICHTENAU.

Total Number of Inhabitants at the .three Settlements,according tothe latest Accounts.

New Herrnhut 371L ichtenfels 318

Lichtenau 487

Total 1 176

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