chapter in their own tongue. They understand English very well, and so had the advantage of me in that I knew little Eskimo. It was very affecting to hear them sing their favourite hymn, "Alas, and did my Saviour bleed." Through our former missionaries they are acquainted with Methodist hymns. We always enjoyed a service with them, and they were very regular in their attendance when service was held near them. As I spoke from the words, "But he was wounded for our transgressions," the people wept. story of the sufferings of Christ completely melted them. Some were led to find rest and peace in Jesus.

The

The number of the Eskimo is decreasing. Many were killed in the fierce wars with the Montagnais; others have fallen victims to rum. A large number were carried off by smallpox.

The Indians of the interior of Labrador are called Montagnais, or Mountaineers, and Nasquapees. The former range the country between Hamilton Inlet and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They are akin to the Crees of the Gulf, and speak the same language. The latter are no doubt of the same race, but take their name from the interior, called Nascopiland, or Height of Land. One of my interpreters was an Abenaki called Joe Peter. A few weeks after I settled in Hamilton Inlet Joe visited me. I found that beside his native language he spoke French, Cree, Eskimo and English. I kept Joe a few days with me in order to learn a little of the Indian language, sufficient to enable me to greet them. Joe once procured a Bible, and when the priest came he asked to see it, and Joe innocently gave it to him, never to see it again, for the priest spoke severely to him and kept the book.

Possessing a good stock of Bibles which had been given me by the agent of the Bible Society in St. John's, I said, "Now, Joe, I'll give

you one, if you will promise to read it." His face brightened as he assured me that he would, and read it to the other Indians also. I gave him the Bible and a number of tracts. In the winter I was driving with dogs and comatique over Moliac Pond and found Joe camped by the side of the Pond. Over the entrance to his wigwam floated a piece of canvas. Raising this, with a good stoop I entered, and was greeted with cries of "Theneitin," which means, "How are you?" In the centre, on a bank of sand, there was a fire, and around this were spread boughs of spruce on which Joe and his two daughters were seated. We were invited to take a seat, and so we squatted in tailor fashion, and then began to talk. I asked for his Bible, and reaching over to a parcel packed in the side of the tent, he produced a small box which he had made to contain the Book of books. After answering a few questions for him I read and explained the fifteenth chapter of Luke, and then prayed. Bidding him "Yama," that is, "Good-bye," I took my departure, having a long distance to go that day.

At North-West River I met a tribe of Indians for the first time. They are of average height and are very lithe and active. Their features are better formed than those of the Eskimo, the profile being more even. That which seems to arrest attention most is the remarkable sparkle of their eyes. The Indian women reminded me of the gipsy girls often seen in England. They are fond of rich and rare coloured ribbons, etc.

The Indians are a nomadic tribe and live principally by hunting and fishing. In the summer time they travel from place to place in their canoes. There is a complete canoe route between Hamilton Inlet and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and also between each of these and Ungava Bay in the far north. In the winter the Indians remove to the forest,

where they hunt the marten, beaver, otter, lynx, deer, bear, rabbit and partridge.

was

They travel from place to place on snowshoes, and will go a distance of fifty miles in one day. When travelling, the women carry the loads on their backs. Small birch sleighs are used by the men, and their baggage is well and closely packed and lashed on these sleighs. In former times, when rum freely used among them, the men would get drunk, and when drunk they were violent. To keep them from harming themselves, or anyone else, the women would slip a seal-skin, such as they lash up their things in, over them and then lash them up, and, binding them on the sleigh, haul them along. This is a splendid straight-jacket for drunkards.

Having reached the head of the Inlet at Travaspene, some twenty miles up the Grand River, I heard of the illness of Louis, the Iroquois interpreter, and resolved to visit him. Joe Mishelin, the planter at whose house I was staying, resolved to go with me, so we harnessed up the dogs next morning, and after a drive of some sixteen miles reached Goose Bay River. I found Louis looking very ill, and I quoted the first few verses of the fifth chapter of Second Corinthians, and applied it to his case. "Ah," said he, "me feel it," and putting his hand on his chest he said, "My body weak." I told him of the home where the inhabitants never say they are sick. As I explained how Jesus had opened up the way to this home and had gone to prepare a place for us, the big tears stood in his bright eyes and rolled down his weather-beaten face. I read the fifteenth chapter of Luke and explained it and then sang a few hymns. It was now four o'clock, and as a little snow was falling we agreed to spend the night with them. After an earnest talk with Sam he accompanied me on a visit to the other Michewops. We

visited some four tents, and talked, sang and prayed in each. We were very hospitably entertained at tea time, and the best the camp contained was set before us. After tea all the Indians assembled in Louis' house, and I sang and explained hymns to them, and closed by reading and explaining the third chapter of St. John. The people expressed their pleasure, and the interpreter said, "That's what we like to hear." Promising to see them the next morning, they all retired about eleven o'clock, and I lay down with a bear-skin for a mattress, and the best coverlet that could be found. The loud murmur of voices engaged in talking over what they had heard kept me awake for awhile. O how I prayed God to save them, and with these thoughts fell asleep.

The following morning I made a hurried call at each tent, and after breakfast they all gathered on the shore to bid me "Yama "—"Goodbye."

I never lost an opportunity to speak with them, and to open to them the Scriptures. A few weeks before I left the coast a number of them came and camped near my place at Lester's Point. Here in the forest shade I sang, read, talked and prayed with them. I believe that some of these shall come from the north and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God.

The most numerous on the coast are the settlers who have intermarried with the Eskimo. The Rev. Mr. O'Hara found the number of these to be about eight hundred. "There are," he says, "Roman

Catholics, Wesleyans, Baptists, Presbyterians and Lutherans; and American, English, Dane, Norwegian and Russian nationalities. To

carry

on religious work is very difficult owing to the immense distances which have to be traversed. This task was undertaken by the Methodist Church, and entrusted to me to

accomplish as far as I could. The population comprised within the Mission, including the Indians, was about thirteen hundred. These are the permanent settlers, but in the summer season thousands of Newfoundlanders visit the coast for the purpose of fishing.

I reached the scene of my labours on August 12th, 1884, and was kindly received by the chief officer of the Hudson's Bay Company at Rigoulette. Through his kindness I opened service on the Sabbath in one of the Company's stores. We had a large attendance and enjoyed the Master's presence. Some who did not attend were surprised to learn that the preacher did not dance and jump and knock the table over. "He bain't a Ranter, then," said one. "These Ranters that comes on th' shore mak' an awful n'ise."

From this point I worked my way around the Bay, visiting from house to house, and holding services wherever convenient. Leaving the Bay I visited the fishing stations along the coast. By means of the steamship Hercules I reached the north side of Hamilton Inlet and held services among the Newfoundland fishermen in many places.

After a fortnight's absence I reentered the Bay, having held fifteen services, all of which were well attended, and some of them crowned with divine blessing. The people having invited me to visit them in their winter quarters, and having promised to convey me from place to place with their dogs and comatiques, I decided to go forth in the name of the Lord. I could truly say that I did not know whither I went. I provided myself with every requisite skin clothes, snow-shoes, and sleeping-bag. The latter was made with seal-skins, lined with undressed deer-skin and blanketing. I had also plenty of material in the form of day-school books, etc., Bibles, Sunday school literature, and a

choice assortment of tracts. The latter were the gift of the late Sparks Green, Esq., of Brigus. I crossed the Bay to Double Mere, and from that point travelled around Hamilton Inlet-literally preaching from house to house. I encountered some rough weather, but reached home safely about ten o'clock on New Year's Eve.

My plan was to gather the children together and teach them. This was difficult at first as the children were so bashful and timid. Even boys in their teens cried at first and refused to stand up for lessons. All this soon passed away, and they looked and longed for the visit of the missionary. After teaching and catechizing the children a preaching service was held. All these services were seasons of grace.

Travelling in the fall of the year is attended with much hardship and danger. Let one incident suffice for many that could be given. One morning three of us left the head of Double Mere with a team of dogs and comatique. We kept the south side of the bay, and soon found the ice bad. The shores were high and the cliffs precipitous. We had to chop with the axe niches for our feet, and in this way climb around the shore for a long distance. This delayed us, and caused us to be benighted miles away from any house. We entered the forest and camped for the night. The worst was that we had nothing to eat, and not even a kettle to boil water. We prepared our camp and made a good fire. The forest was dense, and through the trees the stars peeped down upon us. We made the best of our condition, and joined in the hymn,

"I sing the almighty power of God." After reading a portion of Scripture we joined in prayer and found God very near. I agreed to take turns with the men and watch. I slept soundly in my sleeping-bag until midnight, and then lay awake to

On the 17th of June the ice broke up in the Bay, and then I prepared to visit the Newfoundland fishermen on the coast. I held twenty-three preaching services,-one on the deck of a vessel, two in the open air, and the rest in houses and stores. Visited many vessels and the families of the fishermen. Owing to the weather being stormy we did not get further south than Independent Harbour.

Here a painful event had happened. It appears that when the men arrived on the coast it was the Sabbath. Some of them, eager to secure the best places, were tempted to put out their killocks for mooring their traps. One young man, at whose father's house "prayers" had been held every year, vowed that because of this no "prayers"-meaning service-should be held. Every Sabbath he would push off in his boat and go for a "cruise" to one harbour or another. This boat had now become his coffin, for it was lost with him and another young man and a little girl on board. Never shall I forget the deep impression which this made upon the minds of the fishermen, and at the

close of the service strong men wept as they requested prayer to be made for them.

A few days after I reached home the coast was swept by a terrific gale. It raged from Saturday night until Tuesday. A large number of vessels were wrecked on the shore of my mission and some sixty lives lost. The steamer was kept busy taking the shipwrecked crews off the coast. Many valuable cargoes of fish were lost. The winter began under a cloud, and owing to the steamer not calling in the Bay I was cut off from the outside world for over nine months. This winter was spent in travelling, teaching and preaching as before. God was pleased to own the labour, and at several places souls were saved. This cheered us amid the great difficulties, discouragements and hardships incident to this work.

During the second winter I had a team of dogs of my own and hired a man as driver. In the fall of the year we met with many severe snow storms. Two days before Christmas Day, seeing the sky looked dark and ominous, I feared a snowstorm, and so resolved to force a march. We reached Vally's Bight about noon and pressed on. We found that the ice had been broken up, and it was very rough around Charlie's Point. We had not proceeded far beyond this when we were driven into camp by the storm. We remained in camp until two o'clock in the morning, when seeing the wind had changed to the northwest and fearing the drift, as we were on a lee shore, we pressed on again, and after a hard tramp for six hours over rough ice reached Lowlands Point at eight o'clock. Here we breakfasted. Shortly after we met with a large seal, killed it, and buried it in the snow.

We found the travelling worse as there was a crust on the snow. We travelled all day and at six o'clock in the evening-Christmas Eve-we

were driven into camp again by another snow-storm. We were now ten miles or more from the house we hoped to reach. Our provisions were exhausted, and we had only ten raisins and a piece of cheese. After treading down the snow and chopping off a few branches and spreading them on the snow I lay down in my sleeping-bag too weary to wait for the fire to burn or the kettle to boil. I had walked some thirty miles on snow-shoes and had travelled from two o'clock in the morning.

It was about seven o'clock in the evening when we camped, and I slept until eleven o'clock. When I awoke I found myself covered with snow which had fallen from the trees. We decided to move on, and at once left our camp. The place where we camped was a point of land in Mulligan Bight, and so we named the point "Raisins and Cheese."

At

We found the snow deeper as we entered the Bight and the cold was very severe. It must have been at least forty degrees below zero. It was lower than that next day. We reached the house of Mr. J. Campbell at two o'clock on Christmas Day in the morning. On our return trip we were overtaken by another storm, and in this case I had to set the compass and steer our way through a blinding north-east snow-storm. length we made land. My driver was confident that we had gone too far. This is the way persons are deceived, and many perish often through making this mistake. They imagine that they travel faster than they really do. "Well," said I, "before we go any further we must have something to eat." We opened the comatique box, and after refreshing ourselves we struck a match and upon looking at the compass found we were on our right course. Just as we started the flash of a light was seen and with the cry of "House, dogs, house!" we threw ourselves on the comatique, and were soon out of the pitiless storm.

Space will not admit of further incidents of travel. The travelling in the spring is much easier and far more enjoyable. A small team of dogs will then travel a long distance in a day. I became so familiar with these dogs and their strange names that I missed them very much when I left the coast. For some eight months I had travelled with them in all kinds of weather and from place to place around the extensive mission. I can understand the attachment of the circuit-rider to his horse.

In drawing this imperfect sketch of missionary work in Labrador to a close I would commend this part of the Lord's vineyard to the sympathy, support and prayers of all our Methodist people. Whilst we do not ignore what others are doing for the elevation, education, and salvation of the people on this coast, we claim for Methodism the rightful share of honour. Eternity alone will

reveal the result of the toil and travel of those years, but the Lord was pleased to give visible results, and we rejoiced at the end of the two years over some forty converted souls. Shortly before leaving the coast I climbed a mountain and surveyed the coast far and near. 0 how my heart went out towards the people on these desolate shores! I looked upon the distant mountains, with their ice-bound peaks flashing back the light of the sun, and wished for the time when the inhabitants of the land of the Himalayas, and the Andes, the Rockies and the swarthy tribes of Africa, and the inhabitants of all lands, with the tribes of this shore, shall be all blessed in Jesus, and shall call Him blessed. The words of that inspiring missionary hymn sprang to my lips, and leaping on to the highest point of rock I raised my hat and sang with all my soul: