viii PREFACE 



linger over those two years, much as we should 

 like to do so. We would, if we could, dwell once 

 more upon his loneliness, as illustrated by such a 

 fact as that not till one year and twenty-eight days 

 were gone by did he hear of the death of his little 

 daughter Annie. We should naturally wish, if it 

 were possible, to inquire into the growth of the 

 Church among the people of his adoption, upon 

 the stories of new converts, upon the appointment 

 of an Eskimo teacher. But these things are for- 

 bidden by space. All that can be done is to tell 

 in very few words the story of the necessary abandon- 

 ment of Blacklead Island as a base station for 

 European workers. 



In various parts of the book the difficulties of 

 communication with Cumberland Sound have been 

 abundantly brought to the reader's notice. As 

 a rule there was one annual ship from Scotland, 

 but of the certainty of her safe arrival after the 

 tempestuous and icy voyage of the Arctic Seas no 

 one could feel assured. Every summer there was 

 great anxiety in the minds of the missionaries until 

 their stores and necessaries for the coming year 

 were safely stowed away. 



In 1904 there proved to be only too much ground 

 for anxiety. On August 31 a ship was sighted. 

 This proved to be the Neptune, which had been 

 sent out by the Canadian Government under Com- 

 mander Low to visit these regions. She brought 



