Next day [Aug. 13th] they left George River, and after beating about till the 17th, they cast anchor near a point of land, Kernertut, where they expected to lie in safety [the whole of the crew, except Jonas and his children and two boys, had gone on shore in the skin boat;] but during the night, the wind blew a gale, which increased in violence till daybreak; the sea rose to a tremendous height, and the rain fell in torrents. Notwithstanding the shallop had three anchors out, she was tossed about dreadfully, the sea frequently breaking quite over her, insomuch that they expected every moment to be swallowed up in the abyss. Jonathan, and the rest of their company, were obliged to be passive spectators from the beach, where they waited the event in silent anguish, looking every moment when the vessel should break from her moorings, and be driven on the rocks. About noon, the rope by which the small boat was fastened brake; she was immediately carried up the bay, and thrown, by the violence of the surf, on the top of a rock, where she stuck fast, keel upwards. When the tide turned, the raging of the sea and the wind began to abate, and Jonathan and the other men, as soon as it was practicable, came to the assistance of the distressed and worn-out brethren. He was quite overcome with joy, unable to utter a word; he held out his hand, and shed tears of gratitude at meeting with them alive, for he had given them up as irremediably lost. The little boat was brought down from her pinnacle, to the great surprise of all, without material injury.
Since leaving George's river, the expedition had made little more than fourteen or fifteen miles, and were at least seventy or eighty, as far as they could judge, from the river Koksoak, the western boundary of the Ungava country, which they had fixed upon as the final object of their voyage. The season was far advanced, and the Esquimaux represented to them, that if they proceeded farther, it would be impossible to return to Okkak before winter. In this dilemma, the missionaries, unable to decide, retired to their hut, and after weighing all the circumstances maturely, determined to commit their case to Him in whose name they had entered upon this voyage, and kneeling down entreated him to hear their prayers in their embarrassing situation, and to make known to them his will concerning their future proceedings, whether they should persevere in fulfilling the whole aim of their voyage, or give up a part and return home.—"The peace of God," add the missionaries, "which filled our hearts on this memorable occasion, and the strong conviction wrought in us both, that we should persevere in his name to fulfil the whole of our commission, relying without fear on his help and preservation, no words can describe; but those who believe in the fulfilment of the gracious promises of Jesus given to his poor followers and disciples, will understand us when we declare, that we were assured that it was the will of God our Saviour, that we should not now return and leave our work unfinished, but proceed to the end of our proposed voyage. Each of us communicated to his brother the conviction of his heart—all fears and doubts vanished—and we were filled anew with courage and willingness to act in obedience to it in the strength of the Lord." When they made known their determination to Jonathan, and the reasons which swayed them, he without hesitation replied, "Yes! that is also my conviction! We will go whither Jesus directs us. He will bring us safe to our journey's end, and safe home again." With renewed strength and spirits, the missionaries set forward, and their companions, who had been wonderfully refreshed and invigorated by their success among the seals and the rein-deer, willingly followed. They encountered a severe storm, and escaped many hidden dangers, as they coasted along a dangerous and unknown shore; but, guided by His hand in whom they trusted, they had the pleasure of reaching the mouth of the Koksoak, August 25th, 58 deg. 36 m. N.L. about 700 miles from Okkak—Cape Chudleigh half way. To the west the country is called by the natives Assokak, the coast turning again W.N.W. The Koksoak here is about the breadth of the Thames at Gravesend, and with its various windings, much resembles that river for twenty-four miles inland. As they sailed upwards, they were hailed by the natives in their kaiaks, with "Innuit, Innuit! man, man;" and when they hoisted their colours there was a general cry of "Kablunat, Kablunat! Europeans! Europeans!" About one P.M. they cast anchor close to an encampment, containing fourteen families, some from a distant district called Rivektok. At first they appeared shy, but upon receiving a few trifling presents became quite familiar; and as many of them had never seen a European, walked round them, and inspected them narrowly to see what manner of animals they were, having previously received some account of them from Uttakiyok's brother, who had joined them. Proceeding farther up the river, accompanied by most of the men and some women, they arrived at a bay, which by the winding of the stream appears like a lake surrounded on all sides with gently rising grounds, well planted with woods of moderate size, chiefly birch. Behind the woods are some low hills. This place they named Unity's Bay.
Here they found another good situation for a missionary settlement—a fine slope, extending for about half an English mile, bounded on each extremity by a hill, on both of which they erected high signals. Juniper, currants, and other berries, were growing in abundance—and some rivulets of water at no great distance. This spot they named Pilgerruh, Pilgrim's rest. The view of the interior was in general flat, with a few low hills and ponds in some places full of wild geese; the largest trees were not more than eight inches in diameter, and fifteen or twenty feet high. The Esquimaux informed them that farther up the trees were larger. The inhabitants were poor, and miserably equipped in comparison of the Esquimaux near the brethren's settlement; as those who accompanied the expedition, and who, from their intercourse with the Europeans, had obtained many conveniences by barter, and from the teaching of the missionaries had acquired a knowledge of the gospel. These advantages the latter did not fail to expatiate upon to their heathen countrymen; and once the brethren met with Sybilla, Jonathan's wife, surrounded by a company of women under the shadow of a skin boat, set on edge, exhorting them with great simplicity and fervour to hear and believe the gospel. Even Uttakiyok occasionally engaged in advocating the same cause, explained as well as he could the reason of the Brethren's living in Labrador, and exclaimed, "My friends, let us all be converted to Jesus." Having finished their observations on this quarter, the missionaries resolved to return, as, from the account given by their able and faithful conductor, Uttakiyok, whose information they had hitherto found correct, the western coast on the opposite side of the bay was bare and without any proper landing place, and at this season of the year uninhabited, the Esquimaux being generally employed in the interior in hunting the rein-deer; they, therefore, Sept. 1., left the river and shaped their course homeward. The natives shewed the greatest reluctance to part with them, and called after them, "Come soon again; we shall always be wishing to see you." Several of them, and among these their disinterested friend, Uttakiyok, followed them for some miles, repeating their entreaties for their speedy return, and promising to settle beside them when they came. At parting, they presented Uttakiyok with their skin boat and several useful articles, as a recompense for the important, essential, and affectionate services he had rendered them. On the 4th October they reached Okkak in safety, after an absence of three months and ten days, having performed a voyage of from twelve to thirteen hundred miles. An account of their expedition was transmitted home,[I] but circumstances prevented the mission from being undertaken for several years.
No very remarkable alteration took place at any of the different stations, during the two succeeding years. The increase of their number was gradual, and their advance in the Christian course quiet but perceptible; and at Okkak they had the pleasure of readmitting, upon their repentance and acknowledgment of their sin, the members they had been forced to exclude for their misconduct during the past season; and it is not the least among the mercies of God towards the brethren, nor one which ought to be passed over in silence, the benefit which their congregations derive from the kind and judicious, yet firm administration of church discipline; in a majority of instances it answers the ends for which it was instituted—the brother is gained instead of being driven away to associate with the world, and to nourish a spirit of dislike, if not of hatred, towards those with whom he was formerly in fellowship—a melancholy consequence when this ordinance of the Saviour is not attended to in the spirit of love.
In 1812, the superintendant, Burghardt, was called to his reward; he had been able to fulfil the duties of his office till within three days of his departure. He was obliged to take to his bed on the 24th of July, and had appointed the 28th to confer with his brethren on various subjects, but when that day came, he was so much exhausted, that this was found impracticable. He had done with active service upon earth. He now lay quiet, in peaceful expectation of the happy moment when his Lord and Master would call him to rest. About three o'clock in the afternoon, he breathed his last in a most gentle and peaceful manner, in presence of the family gathered around his bed. "During this transaction," the missionaries add, in their letter announcing the event, "a powerful feeling of divine peace prevailed among us, and many tears were shed by us who are left behind, to follow the example of this devoted servant of Jesus. He had attained to the age of seventy nine years."
His removal brought forward, in a very prominent point of view, the unwearied diligence of the Moravian missionaries, who unite so much active exertion in temporal affairs, with such devotedness to spiritual exercises, and, in a pre-eminently apostolic conduct, exhibit the import of the injunctions, "not slothful in business,"—"fervent in spirit,"—"serving the Lord." "In consequence of this vacancy," they continue, "and the age of two others of us, who are fast approaching their seventieth year, we are not able to do any great things by manual labour; however, we contrive to perform what is absolutely requisite, and intend, with the Lord's blessing, to prepare for the building of a new church, as the present is much too small, and gone to decay, We thank you for your readiness to assist us with the necessary help."
Next year, 1813, brother Schreiber arrived to succeed the late lamented Burghardt as superintendant, and brought with him two efficient missionaries. The general course of the mission for some time continued pretty uniform, the meetings were always well attended, and so great was the desire of the people to be present, that some came at the hazard of their lives; especially the sisters, who, when they had no boat of their own, would venture across bays some miles in breadth, sitting behind their husbands on their narrow kaiaks. The number of printed books circulated in the congregations, and now constantly increasing, kept alive the desire to learn to read and understand the holy Scriptures. The schools were thronged by young and old.
It has sometimes been asserted that the sacred writings are ill adapted for school books; that they are above the capacity of children, and do not possess those attractions which little stories, extracts from entertaining writers, histories of our own and other countries present.[J] Without entering upon any argument, it may be sufficient to remark, that at no time did our native Scotland produce a more intelligent, acute, and moral race, than that generation which was educated in schools where the Bible and the Shorter Catechism were the chief, if not the sole, medium of their instruction. At the Moravian settlements the same effects flow from a similar mode of tuition, and the mind that has been early exercised in searching out the meaning of the Divine Oracles of truth, comes well prepared to estimate the realities of life, and form a true and correct judgment upon common topics and matters of daily occurrence: they have been taught that the present ought to be improved with a reference to the future, not only in spiritual but in temporal matters, and the natural consequence is, that the converted Esquimaux and their children become at once an intelligent and a provident race. So long as they continued heathen their intellect in general appeared incapable of comprehending any thing beyond the immediate and grosser cravings of nature, but now they understood and could converse upon more rational subjects; then no arguments could induce them, not even their own necessities, to build store houses, but now they willingly assisted the missionaries in erecting these buildings for public use, while in some of the settlements they erected new ones for themselves. Along with reading, the natives were taught writing and arithmetic, in which many of them made no inconsiderable proficiency. Yet, notwithstanding all their care and watchfulness, the brethren were not without their trials from the members of their congregations, and they, commonly sum up their accounts of the prosperous state of their people with some such conclusion as this:—"We must after all confess that much imperfection is yet seen, and some of those living here are not what they ought to be. The enemy is not idle, but endeavours to sift those who believe on Jesus; and we grieve to be obliged to mention, that even of our communicants there are who have fallen into temptation and sin. This shall not damp our courage, but we will continue to direct them to Jesus."
Hitherto little interruption had taken place in the communication between Labrador and England; the vessel had sailed in safety amid enemies and storms, and although in some voyages had been in jeopardy, and in others detained, had always made it out to visit all the stations; but in 1806 the Jemima was not only prevented from reaching Hopedale, but carried four of the missionaries on an involuntary trip to England. The ship arrived at the drift ice on the Labrador coast on the 16th of July, which Captain Fraser found extending about two hundred miles from the land, and after attempting to get in first to Hopedale, then to Nain, and last of all to Okkak, he was at length completely surrounded by it and in the most imminent danger during six days and nights, expecting every moment that the ship would be crushed to pieces, till after very great exertions he got towards the outer part of the ice. Nevertheless he was still beset with it, and did not reach Okkak before August 29. The very next day the whole coast, as far as the eye could reach, was entirely choked up by ice, and after laying at Okkak nearly three weeks, he was twice forced back by it on his passage to Nain, which place he did not reach till Sept 22. After staying the usual time the captain proceeded, Oct 3., from Nain for Hopedale with fine weather; yet, on account of the lateness of the season, and a great deal of drift ice, with but little prospect of reaching that settlement. This circumstance he mentioned to the brethren at Nain, notwithstanding which, however, Brother Kmoch and his wife, and two single brethren, Korner and Christensan, who were going to Hopedale, went on board and they set sail; but the same evening it came on to blow exceedingly hard, with an immense fall of snow and very thick weather, so that they could not see the length of the ship, and being within half a mile of a dangerous reef of rocks, the captain was obliged to carry a press of sail to clear them, which he did but just accomplish, for after that the gale increased to such a degree, the wind being right on shore, that he could not carry sail any longer, and was obliged to lay the ship to, when the sea broke often over her, and he was at last forced, seeing every attempt to reach Hopedale vain, to bear away for England. He again experienced a gale equal to a hurricane, on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of October, which, during the evening between the 9th and 10th, was so violent that the captain expected the vessel would have foundered. She was at one time struck by a sea that twisted her in such a manner that the seams on her larboard side opened, and the water gushed into the cabin and into the mate's birth as if it came from a pump, and every body at first thought her side was stove in; however the Lord was pleased to protect every one from harm, nor was the ship very materially damaged, neither was any thing lost.
Winter set in severely on the Labrador coast, but this proved an advantage to the missions, as those at Nain were enabled to forward supplies by sledges to their brethren at Hopedale, who, although curtailed of some of their comforts, acknowledged with cheerful thankfulness that they had suffered no essential deprivation. The Esquimaux were also deprived of their usual supply of food by the early winter, which prevented them from taking many seals, either by the net or in kaiaks; but, as not unfrequently happened in their times of extremity, they were successful in killing a whale, which preserved from suffering much from famine, and for which they joined their teachers in returning thanks to their heavenly Father. Their number was reduced by the death of a venerable brother, Sueb Andersen, who had served the mission forty years, as well as Christensan, who had been carried to England; but nevertheless, besides their usual daily labour, they were able to erect for their own use a building containing rooms for holding provisions and fuel, and a bakehouse.