A NEW VENTURE 207 



on to Peterhead, and there made use of their time 

 in making preparations, in prayer, in gaining in- 

 formation and also in open air preaching. Of 

 the last Mr. Peck says, " The attention was very 

 marked, and we have reason to believe that God 

 blessed the Word to some souls." 



During these days of waiting Mr. Peck was 

 interviewed by a representative of the Sentinel 

 newspaper. The report of this interview occupied 

 a whole page and contained a vast amount of 

 interesting matter, but as it was taken up almost 

 entirely with a retrospect of work on the shores 

 of Hudson's Bay, it is not necessary to reproduce 

 it here. It is mentioned here only as additional 

 evidence bearing upon the fact which has become 

 abundantly evident of late years, viz., that the 

 work of foreign missions has more and more 

 assumed a position of importance in the eyes of 

 the general public. 



It was not until Monday, July 9, that the two 

 missionaries signed articles at the Customs House 

 and so became members of the ship's company. 

 The vessel, which was called the Alert, a whaling 

 brig, registered to carry 129 tons, was only 

 ninety feet in length and twenty-one in breadth. 

 The crew numbered eight men, exclusive, we presume, 

 of the chaplain and surgeon. She was not chartered 

 to carry passengers and so Mr. Peck signed for 

 the voyage as chaplain and Mr. Parker as surgeon. 



