Opportunity being afforded them to
reply, some of the native helpers and others expressed their pleasure
that a visitor had come from Europe, and their gratitude that
Christians on the other side of the ocean had sent missionaries to
their forefathers, and still maintained teachers among them. They
also asked questions and gave their opinions on very various topics. I
promised to convey their salutations to "their angayokaks in London
and Herrnhut." This meeting lasted about two hours, and was, as
elsewhere, an arduous time for the missionary who acted as my
interpreter. It seemed easier to him to render into Eskimo my own
address given in English, than to interpret all the speeches made by
the natives in reply.
Inspection of the premises, stores, archives, &c., continued
conferences, and other businesses filled up the remaining days of the
week during which the "Harmony" lay at anchor near the station.
Meanwhile the disembarking and embarking of her outward and homeward
cargoes went on, and when she was ready to sail we were ready to go
northward with her. In the intervals of daily duty I enjoyed pleasant
walks and talks with one or another member of the mission band in the
extensive plantation behind the station, the growth of more than a
hundred years of careful cultivations, Not till Saturday did we find
time for more distant expeditions, when grand views rewarded our
ascent of two hills to the north and south of the Nain Bay.
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