With the Harmony to Labrador: Notes of a visit to the Moravian mission stations on the north-east coast of LabradorLa Trobe, Benjamin
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With the Harmony to Labrador: Notes of a visit to the Moravian mission stations on the north-east coast of Labrador
La Trobe, Benjamin
Indians of North America -- Missions; Inuit -- Missions; Labrador (N.L.) -- Description and travel; Moravian Indians -- Missions
At 10 we are again summoned to the house of prayer by the bell. Mr.
Dam is the preacher, and is evidently moved by the thought that this
may be his last sermon in Eskimo for many a day. A hymn and a prayer,
fervent and brief, precede the giving out of his text, Rev. i. 12-20.
The sermon is listened to attentively by old and young, of whom
considerably more than a hundred are present. Old Zippora is, as ever,
at her place at the end of the bench. Blind though she is, she often
walks miles to church over uneven ground or hummocky ice, when away at
the fishing places. She seems to take her part in the worship of the
sanctuary thoroughly, whether in response or sacred song, or as
listener with animated face and at times an overflowing heart. While I
am looking, her fingers seek the corner of her apron, and lifting it
she wipes the tears from her sightless eyes.
But the eloquent flow of words, mostly unintelligible to me, comes to
a close. A hymn is sung, and the New Testament blessing pronounced.
Then the procession from the missionary benches files out through the
schoolroom into the mission-house and the people disperse to their
homes. Mere mounds they look as I see them from my window. But they
are Christian homes, whence rises prayer and praise.
I was mistaken. The congregation had not dispersed, for the choir
wished to give me a specimen of their powers. I returned to the church
and listened to a fair selection of sacred music, including a long
piece (Psalm xcv. 6, 7), well sustained by a choir of about a dozen
men and women, and two or three instrumentalists. When they ceased, I
spoke a few words of thanks and farewell.
Dinner was as usual very literally "the mid-day meal." Soup was
followed by a joint of reindeer venison, which was a treat to me, as
beef or mutton would be to my hosts. The vegetables had been grown in
the mission garden. After coffee I went over to the ship for the
afternoon service aboard, rowed by four Eskimoes, Thomas, Clement, one
of the organists, Daniel, and Heinrich. In their endeavour to converse
with me they brought out some amusing scraps of English, and little
Heinrich informed me his name in my language was "Harry."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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