46 Our North Land. 



commodious church, and all other characteristics necessary to com- 

 parative happiness. 



There is a wide difference between the condition of these trader- 

 evangelists and their slave subjects, the Christianized Eskimos. 

 The latter live in rude huts made of flattened poles, with sort of 

 turf or thatched roofs, without floors, except of the earth, without 

 furniture, and in the midst of filth and dirt. Notwithstanding, I 

 would be doing an injustice not to say that their condition is much 

 better than that of their brother natives who have not been subjected 

 to the influences of Christianity. 



The very best of feeling exists between them and their masters, 

 the missionaries. This is due to the honourable dealings of the 

 latter, and equally to the good nature of the Eskimos. There 

 are about two hundred natives residing at Nain ; and, to the great 

 credit of the missionaries be it said, every one of them, of sufficient 

 age, can read and write in their own language. There are two 

 reasons why they do not learn to speak English : one is, that the 

 Germans speak but little or no English themselves, the other, that 

 they are of opinion that to learn any language but their own is 

 degrading; and, despite all the Moravians have done, they have 

 not been able to drive this out of their stubborn heads. There are 

 about forty-five Eskimo huts, besides the frame buildings belonging 

 to the missionaries. These are clustered together a short distance 

 from the mission, or indeed close to it, on a little plateau about 

 thirty-five feet above the level of the harbour and at the foot of a 

 range of hills over one thousand feet high. 



I have said that I attached myself to Brother Jannasch. This I 

 did wholly from a selfish motive — that of pumping him, so to speak, 

 concerning Nain, and the Moravian stations generally. With this 

 affable gentleman as my guide and informant I first visited the 

 burial-ground. It is an enclosure of about an acre, well protected 

 by a neat picket fence, about three hundred yards from the cluster 

 of dwellings, accessible through gates, from which, leading at right 

 angles all over the yard, are pretty gravelled walks. Upon entering 

 one is struck with the cleanliness of the place. Each grave is 

 marked by a small wooden tablet, about 8x14 inches in size, two 



