THE ESKIMOS AND THE MISSION 



the chilly air nips the fingers, he leads his little troop 

 of bandsmen from house to house, delighting the 

 populace with the blare of the trumpets. He likes 

 to encircle himself with the bombardon, to lend a 

 solid foundation to the harmony ; but if one of the 

 men is away he is quite able to take the cornet or 

 horn or whatever it may be, and leave the bottom 

 notes for Benjamin's trombone. It is hard work, 

 but the bandsmen are happy; the morning frost 

 may settle on their heads, the moisture may freeze 

 inside their trumpets in spite of shawls and stockings 

 wrapped round them, the mouthpieces may stick 

 to their lips with the cold ; but they are Eskimos ; 

 winter weather does not easily daunt them or numb 

 their fingers ; and, besides, to play a trumpet in the 

 band is one of the greatest honours that an! Eskimo 

 knows. Good character comes first in the choosing 

 of the bandsmen. 



Several of the old customs of the Moravian 

 Church have taken firm root among the Eskimos, 

 and though in England they are lost, in Labrador 

 they go on from year to year unchanged. Nature 

 has hemmed the land of the Eskimos in with a 

 broad barrier of ice; the marvels of these modern 

 times, which are causing other countries to move 

 with giant strides, leave the northern Labrador 

 practically untouched ; the years circle with a same- 

 ness that marks a little world; the people them- 

 selves are slow to change ; and so the customs of 

 years ago still prevail. The men and women sit 

 apart in the church, the men on one side, the women 

 on the other ; the various sections of the congrega- 

 tion children, single men, single women, married 

 people, widows all have their special festival days, 



