THE COMING OF THE SHIP 



men were wild with glee : I saw one brawny fellow 

 with a Winchester repeater letting off round after 

 round in his delight, until he had shot away enough 

 cartridges to account for dozens of prospective seals ; 

 he was as delighted as we, and that was his way 

 of showing it. 



One gets a trifle sentimental in Labrador; and 

 I never saw the ship come or go without a lump 

 in my throat. It means so much, both to us 

 and to the Eskimos, that everybody looks upon 

 it with real affection ; and it was with throbbing 

 hearts that we waited for the anchor to drop. 



The ship came slowly on and on, looking 

 strangely near in the clear air ; we could see the 

 fur-clad captain on the bridge, and the first mate 

 standing on the bow, just over the painted angel that 

 spreads her wings beneath the bowsprit. The mate's 

 hand rose ; there was a sharp clatter, and the anchor 

 plunged into the water. At the same moment Jerry 

 the organist raised his voice, and the people joined 

 in the famous old chorale, "Now let us praise 

 the Lord." 



" Gud nakorilavut 

 Omamut illun^nut." 



The Moravian Church uses it as a New Year's 

 hymn ; and I thought it fitted in rather well with the 

 coming of the ship, for that is by far the biggest 

 milestone in the round of the Labrador year. 



The Harmony was our first source of news after 

 the long winter, and, naturally enough, we used to 

 go on board all athirst for information and bursting 

 with questions. How the captain must have smiled 

 to himself at the perennial volley. 



