A Canoe Voyage to Northward 



evening to be among old friends with whom I had 

 long been acquainted, though I had never been here 

 before; that I would always remember them and the 

 kind reception they had given us; advised them to 

 heed the instructions of sincere self-denying mission 

 men who wished only to do them good and desired 

 nothing but their friendship and welfare in return. I 

 told them that in some far-oif countries, instead of 

 receiving the missionaries with glad and thankful 

 hearts, the Indians killed and ate them; but I hoped, 

 and indeed felt sure, that his people would find a 

 better use for missionaries than putting them, like 

 salmon, in pots for food. They seemed greatly inter- 

 ested, looking into each other's faces with emphatic 

 nods and a-ahs and smiles. 



The chief then slowly arose and, after standing 

 silent a minute or two, told us how glad he was to see 

 us; that he felt as if his heart had enjoyed a good 

 meal; that we were the first to come humbly to his 

 little out-of-the-way village to tell his people about 

 God; that they were all like children groping in dark- 

 ness, but eager for light; that they would gladly wel- 

 come a missionary and teacher and use them well; 

 that he could easily believe that whites and Indians 

 were the children of one Father just as I had told 

 them in my speech; that they differed little and re- 

 sembled each other a great deal, calling attention to 

 the similarity of hands, eyes, legs, etc., making telling 

 gestures in the most natural style of eloquence and 

 dignified composure. "Oftentimes," he said, "when I 

 was on the high mountains in the fall, hunting wild 



[ 137] 



