DESCRIPTION OF CHURCH 81 



timber above the foundations, which were of 

 rough stone imbedded in and plastered with clay. 

 The main aspect was that which most churches 

 bear in greater or less proportions a tower rising 

 high over the entrance ; a nave forming the main 

 body of the church, lighted from clerestory win- 

 dows ; and narrow side-aisles behind columns, 

 and below roofs intaking to the upper walls. 

 There was a small vestry in the rear, but no 

 transept, and so the pulpit stood on the right 

 of the congregation at the head of the nave. 

 There were seats in the nave, and bare forms 

 against the walls in the side-aisles, while in a 

 space in the nave at the rear stood a simple, 

 antique-looking font, which I thought the most 

 beautiful thing in that strange place of worship. 

 The whole was impressive, since it was obviously 

 the outcome of the rude labours of necessity of 

 men who wished beyond all else to advance the 

 faith of God to the outermost corners of the 

 world. A large wood-burning stove stood at 

 either end of the nave, for heating purposes in 

 winter, and from those stoves unconcealed gal- 

 vanised smoke-funnels ran overhead to find an 

 exit finally in the roof; the whole being one of 

 those harsh, incongruous necessities that one 

 finds in out-of-the-way places and which are 

 most disturbing to one's sense of good taste. 

 The church, well packed, could seat two hundred 

 people. All hymn-books were printed in the 

 Cree language. The whole interior of the church 

 was kept in some degree of preservation with paint, 

 paint that, alas ! in effect was almost vivid rather 

 than gravely peaceful ; again, no doubt, a 



