"On the day after, twenty-six men arrived, and requested me once more
to pay them a visit before my departure. I begged the Captain to lend
me his boat, which he readily did, as he wished to go along with me;
the pilot, surgeon, and six sailors, all well armed, accompanied me.
The captain had dressed himself in his most gaudy apparel, but of this
the Esquimaux took no notice. They asked me if I really intended to
come again next year? I said, Yes, if they did not murder me as they
had my countrymen some years before--they startled, looked to the
ground, and remained silent. I continued, 'I believe you did it
through ignorance, but now that I can speak to you, I hope you will
never do the like again.' They promised unanimously that no one should
ever receive the least injury from them again. I said farther, 'When I
come back I shall tell you things of the greatest importance, of the
God that created you, and that redeemed you; and if you will but
believe on him, then shall we live happy together.' One of them asked
if God dwelt in the sun? I replied, 'God made the sun, and them, and
me, and all things.' Another asked me, if he believed in this Creator,
if he would be more successful in his business? I answered, there was
no doubt of it, if he was diligent in his employment; but that the
future life was of infinitely greater importance than the present, and
_it_, those who believed on him, trusted in him, and lived according
to his will, should enjoy. Some of them begged me to read again the
letter that I had read yesterday; and when I wished to take leave, one
of the chief persons among them, the Angekok Seguliak, took me into
his tent, and embracing and kissing me, said, 'We are timorous now,
but when you come back again we shall meet one another without fear,
dread, or suspicion.' Another came with his drum and began to dance
and sing, repeating often, 'Our friend is come! this makes us glad!'
When he concluded, he asked me to answer him. I sung, while my heart
was touched, this verse in the Greenlandish language, 'Jehovah, Lord
of hosts--the true God--thou art the Creator of all nature--the
Preserver of the world--What was ruined thou hast regained by thy
blood, and by thy blood must sanctify--consecrated to thee we fall at
thy feet.' When I had finished, they said, we are without words to
express our admiration. They took their final departure on the 7th,
but no sooner had they left the harbour than they began to steal. I
offered, if they would give me a boat with four men, to go again and
speak seriously to them, but no one would go with me."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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