THE CROWD AND THE SINGING 



managed to get the middle seat on the front row. 

 Among the people on the floor between the benches 

 I saw big Josef, the mightiest hunter (and therefore 

 the richest man) in Okak ; in heathen times he would 

 have been a sort of king among the people, because 

 he is both the tallest man and the best hunter among 

 them ; but he seemed quite happy on the floor. 



We sang a well-known hymn, and the place shook 

 with the delightful noise. I can see the picture as 

 I write, and I think that of all my memories of life 

 among the Eskimos the most inspiring is the memory 

 of that crowd of faces, all wrinkling with pleasure 

 and perspiring with the warmth and the tremendous 

 harmony that filled the room. I seem to hear the 

 music now ; the women's clear voices trilling out 

 the tune, with the altos and tenors and basses blend- 

 ing admirably with them. Eskimos always sing 

 well, and fall into the parts of the music uncon- 

 sciously ; their voices are sometimes harsh and gruff, 

 but they are natural singers. Strange that they have 

 no music of their own ! Weird rhythmic chantings 

 are all the music that the heathen Eskimo knows ; 

 but the soil is there in the people themselves, and 

 music has taken root and flourished among them. 



That was the first of many happy mornings ; and 

 though the novelty of the thing was a big attraction 

 in the beginning, the people still came when the 

 novelty had long since worn off, and morning by 

 morning, when nine o'clock struck, our benches were 

 packed with an eager crowd. 



I soon found out what the people liked best ; 

 new hymns were the great attraction. Sometimes 

 one or other of the missionaries would translate a 

 fresh hymn, and I had a busy day printing it on the 



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