over the most savage minds, which it were otherwise difficult to obtain.  Of this we have a most remarkable instance which occurred in the beginning of the present year.  Having received accounts that a dead whale was found at Comfort Harbour, about seven miles south of Nain, the brethren, Jans Haven, Lister, Morhardt, and Turner, resolved to go thither, accompanied by some Esquimaux, in the hope that, by procuring the blubber and the fins, they might be enabled to contribute somewhat to the support of the mission, while they would assist the starving natives at this season in obtaining a supply of provisions; and at the same time, they would have an opportunity of commending the Saviour to these poor benighted heathen.

They accordingly set out, under the guidance of an Esquimaux, Mannmoima, whose house they reached February 17th about mid-day, where, on account of the stormy weather, they were forced to remain.  “If,” says Jans Haven, in his diary, “our European sisters had only seen us here they would certainly have pitied us.  We were forced to creep on all fours through a low passage several fathoms long to get into the house, and were glad if we escaped being bitten by the hungry dogs, who take refuge there in bad weather, and who, as they lie in the dark, are often trodden upon by the entrant; who, if he escapes this misfortune, is compelled to undergo the more disgusting salutation of being licked in the face by these animals, and of crawling through the filth in which they all mingle.  Yet this house, notwithstanding our senses of seeing and smelling were most woefully offended, in such frightful weather, was of equal welcome to us as the greatest palace.”

When Haven here began to speak of the Saviour, the Angekoks began to exercise their enchantments.  One man laid himself on his back, and allowed his left leg to be fastened to his neck by a string like a bow, while a woman who sat by his side, performed upon it with his right as if playing on some musical instrument.  The lady was then asked if they might hope for good weather, and if the whale would be driven away? but the company appeared to be divided; and while some thought these operations were under the influence of Torngak, others thought they might be directed by Jesus Christ, and asked the brethren to pray that there might be good weather, and that the whale might not be driven away.  Haven answered, “We only pray, Lord be gracious to us, and open the eyes of poor ignorant people, that they may know how necessary it is for them to be washed in thy blood—­but we are assured that he will do nothing but what is good to us, because he loves us.”

Next day, the missionaries, accompanied by eleven Esquimaux, attempted to reach the whale; but when they were about an hour’s distance from the house, they perceived from a mountain near where the whale lay, that the ice was broken, and encountered such a violent storm of wind and snow that they were forced to return; while the frost was so intense, that often their mouth and nose were frozen to their skin coats, so that they had to break the ice before they could breathe, and their eyes were so closed that they had to force them open with their fingers.