Journal of a Voyage from Okkak, on the Coast of Labrador, to Ungava Bay, Westward of Cape Chudleigh: Undertaken to Explore the Coast, and Visit the Esquimaux in That Unknown RegionKohlmeister, B. G. (Benjamin Gottlieb)
Religion
Journal of a Voyage from Okkak, on the Coast of Labrador, to Ungava Bay, Westward of Cape Chudleigh: Undertaken to Explore the Coast, and Visit the Esquimaux in That Unknown Region
Kohlmeister, B. G. (Benjamin Gottlieb)
Labrador (N.L.) -- Description and travel; Moravians -- Missions
14th. We left our unpleasant anchorage, and returned to a place where
the skin-boat had lain during the night, as it was sheltered from the
South wind, which had risen considerably.
15th. Our people went out to hunt reindeer, and returned in the evening
with two. The wind shifted to the west, and blew with violence. We spent
again an uneasy night.
16th. Brother Kmoch went on shore and returned with a parcel of stones
for examination. We now began to feel some anxiety on account of the
great loss of time we were suffering here by contrary winds.
17th. About eight o'clock we set sail, the wind having come round to the
S.E. with a cloudy sky. We passed several nameless islands, at the
distance of about a mile from the shore. In the afternoon, it began to
rain hard, and after having sailed about twelve miles, we cast anchor
near a long point of land, called _Kernertut_, by which we were
sheltered from the wind, which had again turned to the South-west. The
sky however was clear, and the beginning of the night pleasant, with
beautiful appearances of the Aurora Borealis. Most of our people, and
with them Uttakiyok, had gone in the skin-boat higher up the bay, but it
was too shallow to admit of our following them. Only Jonas and his
children, and the two boys Okkiksuk and Mammak, were left with us on
board.
During the night the wind veered round to the N.E. and blew a gale,
which increased in violence till day-break.
18th. The sea now rose to a tremendous height, such as we had never
before experienced, and by the change of wind, we were exposed to the
whole of its fury. The rain fell in torrents. We lay at three anchors,
and the boat was tossed about terribly, the sea frequently breaking
quite over her, insomuch that we expected every moment to be swallowed
up in the abyss. With much difficulty we succeeded in lowering our
after-mast. Jonathan and the rest of our company on shore, were obliged
to be passive spectators of the dreadful scene, waiting the event in
silent anguish. They quitted their tents, and came forward to some
eminences near the beach, where, by lifting up their hands, and other
gestures, they expressed terror, bordering on despair. Frequently the
boat was hid from their view by the waves, which ran mountains high.
They expected every moment that we should break loose from our anchors,
and the boat be driven on the rocks. The length of our cables was here
of the greatest advantage to us. About noon, the rope by which the small
boat was fastened, broke. She was immediately carried up the bay, and
thrown, by the violence of the surf, on the top of a rock, where she
stuck fast, keel upwards. It was impossible to render us any assistance,
till the tide turned, when the raging of the sea, and the wind, began to
abate. As soon as it was practicable, Jonathan and the other men came to
us in the skin-boat. He seemed quite overcome with joy, and, not able to
utter a word, held out his hand, and shed tears of gratitude that he met
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