Kalli, the Esquimaux Christian: A MemoirMurray, T. B. (Thomas Boyles)
Religion
Kalli, the Esquimaux Christian: A Memoir
Murray, T. B. (Thomas Boyles)
Eskimos; Kallihirua, approximately 1834-1856
"I received your kind letter by the December
mail, and am very sorry to hear of your illness. The
weather here is very cold, I feel it more than at
Cape York. I have begun to skate, and find it a
pleasant amusement. There is a lake a little
distance from the College, called, 'Quidi Vidi,' on
which we practise. The Bishop is very kind and good
to me. College here is not so large and fine a
place as St. Augustine's: nor are there so many
students. I hope that all my kind friends at
Canterbury are quite well. Please remember me
kindly to Mr. and Mrs. Gipps, and all at St.
Augustine's. With kind love to yourself,
"I remain, yours affectionately,
"KALLI."
Kalli's Illness and Death
With respect to the fatal attack under which he soon sunk, it has to
be mentioned, that he had gone out to bathe with one of his
fellow-students at St. John's, on Saturday, the 7th June. From
continuing too long in the water, which was very cold, he caught a
chill, and showed many symptoms of inflammation for some days. On
Wednesday, good medical assistance was called in, but his constitution
had received too violent a shock. The Surgeon had fears from the first
that his patient would not recover. It has been observed by medical
men, that Esquimaux have but little stamina, and generally fail under
the first attack of serious illness. Kalli was kindly watched and
assisted by the Rev. J. G. Mountain, and Mrs. Mountain, and his
fellow-students. He got rapidly worse. On the Thursday he seemed
utterly powerless, and could not lift up his arms, nor put them out of
his bed. He was very restless during the greater part of Friday night.
"Soon after ten o'clock on Saturday morning, June 14th," said the
Bishop of Newfoundland, "his gentle soul departed. I saw him
frequently during his illness (three times the last day), and he
always assented most readily, when I reminded him of God's gracious
goodness in visiting him; and that it would be better for him to
depart, and be with Christ. It was remarkable that his English was
more clear and distinct in his illness than I had ever known it; and
though he said but very little, he seemed to understand better than
ever before. The last seizure was so sudden and violent, that he did
not articulate at all. He expired, whilst I was commending his soul to
his faithful Creator and most merciful Saviour."
He is stated to have died of "melanosis of the lungs," a disease in
which the whole substance of the lungs turns completely black. It is
very slow in its first advances, but fearfully rapid in its latter
stages. The Bishop had the chest examined after death, and sent a copy
of the Surgeon's report to the Warden of St. Augustine's.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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