314 THE LIFE OF E. J. PECK 



most parts of the earth are his, and the Eskimos 

 who live therein. The salvation of these people 

 is dear to Him, and there is not the shadow of a 

 doubt that He wills us to hold on here and spread 

 the knowledge of His saving name in these Arctic 

 wastes. So great is this conviction that God 

 has put into my heart the desire to formulate a 

 scheme, the outlines of which have long been in 

 my mind. This scheme touches the difficult prob- 

 lem of Eskimo evangelization in the Polar regions. 

 This work we have hardly commenced yet. Now 

 the Lord in these latter days wills us, no doubt, 

 to push it on." 



And what, the reader asks, was the scheme 

 that Mr. Peck had formulated ? It was to have 

 a mission vessel with which to reach the distant 

 Eskimos and to be independent of whaling ships 

 altogether. With God's help an out-and-out Chris- 

 tian crew would be got together for this mission 

 vessel, so that each member should be a living 

 witness for Christ wherever he touched port and 

 came into contact with native races. 



The gift and maintenance of such a ship as this 

 is not much for which to ask the Church of England. 

 Arctic exploration seems always to claim Christian 

 sympathy and support as well as that of the general 

 public. The very heart of the nation becomes 

 stirred with the exploits of Franklin, or McClintock, 

 or Nansen. But these things, noble as they 



