THE ESKIMOS AND THE MISSION 



of the Bible would put many a more civilised person 

 to shame. 



There is not a very extensive literature at the 

 disposal of the Eskimo with a taste for reading ; the 

 Bible is the chief book, but besides it there are trans- 

 lations of The Pilgrim's Progress, Christy s Old 

 Organ, Jessica's First Prayer, a book of short read- 

 ings in natural history and general knowledge, the 

 various school books, the hymn-books used in the 

 church and the newspaper ! The Eskimo newspaper 

 is by no means a daily ; rather it takes the form of 

 an annual budget, printed by the missionaries at Nain 

 during the winter ; but it tells the people something 

 of the doings of other lands, and it helps to stir their 

 loyalty as British subjects. I see by the copy that 

 reached me by post the other day, that even the 

 Eskimos are beginning to write articles, and doubt- 

 less they enjoy the conundrums that fill up a space 

 at the foot of one of the columns. The people like 

 their newspaper, and I think that it deserves its title, 

 though it be an unwieldy one in these days of crisp 

 writing : Aglait Illunainortut (The Paper for Every- 

 body). Far away from those who read these lines, 

 shut in their lonely land by the great ice-barrier, the 

 missionaries are standing at their posts ; and by their 

 quiet labours, it seems to me, they are working out 

 the saving of a nation. 



I lay my pen aside, with my mind still full of the 

 memories that are so vivid to me. Brown, smiling 

 faces pass before me ; familiar names sound in my ears ; 

 bright eyes look into mine ; musical voices sing out- 

 side my window ; gruff shouts echo as the boys come 

 sliding down the hill ; Jerry and his bandsmen march 

 along, waking the village with their trumpet notes ; 



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