McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

TEACHING BY
ILLUSTRATION

Containing a variety of Illustrations (and some
extracts) from Literature, History, Biography ,
Current Events and Personal Reminiscences.

With an Introduction by The Right Rev.
BISHOP E. GRAHAM INGHAM, D.D.

Cloth, 3s. 6d. net.

Bishop Ingham says : —

" Next to my Bible, I should like to have this book near
me when I am preparing a sermon. . . . The teacher
who labours to make his Master's message grip men's
minds and souls, will find in it much to help him."

FIRST REVIEWS.

" I trust the book will be widely welcomed, and help
in its useful measure in quickening that vital implement
in our work— the power of the pulpit." — The late Dr. Hartley
Moule, Bishop of Durham.

" It needs but to become fairly generally known, and
ts future is assured." — Archdeacon R. C. Joynt.

"This book ought to be of value both in calling our
attention to the matter, and in supplying us with material
for its pursuit." — Dr. Tait, Principal of Ridley Hall,
Cambridge.

THE REV. J. B. MCCULLAGH.

McCULLAGH OF
AIYANSH

BY

J. W. W. MOERAN, M.A.

Sometime Vicar of St. Simon's, Southsea
Author of " Teaching by Illustration," etc.

MARSHALL BROTHERS, LIMITED
LONDON EDINBURGH NEW YORK

Ml 5 I

PROLOGUE

THIS book is not so much the history of a Mission as
it is the story of the man who was the life and soul
of the Mission. It is primarily a biography, written with
the purpose of portraying the character and gifts of James
Benjamin McCullagh, and of showing how he applied
his talents to the pioneering enterprise and subsequent
development of the work he had undertaken.

As the greater part of his life was spent in a far-distant
and out-of-the-way corner of the world, he was neces-
sarily known only to a limited number of people. Those
who enjoyed the privilege of his friendship and were
acquainted with the marvellous work he accomplished will
ever remember him for the inspiration of his personality
and example and also for the attractive winsomeness of
his delightful humour and joyous temperament. The
aim of his biography is to make him known to a wider
circle, in the hope that others too may be inspired and
helped by the story of his faith, his courage, his un-
ceasing labours and the full use he made of his splendid
gifts.

The privilege of attempting to do this has been
entrusted to me by his widow.

It will be seen that the story is told, as far as possible,
in the missionary's own words. His letters and journals,
together with a few booklets and articles written by him-
self and published during his lifetime by the Church
Missionary Society, and also a collection of sketches
penned by his hand with the obvious intention of being
some day published, have supplied an abundance of

5

6 PROLOGUE

material for preparing and linking together the incidents
and events which show the strength and beauty of his
many-sided character.

I desire to express my indebtedness to the Church
Missionary Society for giving me permission to draw so
freely from Mr. McCullagh's writings published by them.
Mr. C. B. Robinson and the late Mrs. Foquett preserved
for many years the missionary's journals and very many
of his private letters, all of which were generously placed
at my disposal. Without such help the book could not
have been written.

To Mrs. McCullagh I owe more than I can say for the
way in which she has enabled me to understand many
things about her husband which otherwise I should never
have known. By what she has told me in conversation,
and by allowing me to read some of the letters he wrote
to her, I learned much about his inner life.

I should like also to acknowledge my great obligation
to the Archdeacon of Kingston (the Ven. R. C. Joynt)
for the invaluable help he has given me by reading the
book in MS. and afterwards in correcting the proofs.

The work has been to me one of absorbing interest, as
well as a labour of love.

J. W. W, MOERAN.
Laverton, near Bath,
January, 1923.

CONTENTS

CHAP.

I A Great Renunciation

II Westward Ho ! .

III The Land of the Setting Sun

IV Tkaganlakhatqu .
V The Dawn of a New Day .

VI Early Morning Clouds

VII The Language and Education of a People

VIII The Red Man as a Heathen

IX The Red Man as a Christian

X The Art of Healing .

XI Indian Fishing Camps and Salmon Rivers

XII A Forward Movement.

XIII The Realization of a Splendid Dream

XIV Gathering in the Heathen.

XV The Church Militant .

XVI Vengeance and Reconciliation

XVII Through Deep Waters

XVIII The Salvage of a Derelict Mission

XIX The Shore End of the Net

XX Sunlight and Shadows on the Naas

7

PAGE
9

16

21

26
32

36
4i
50
62

7°
83
93
105
112
116
125
134
141

149
T 55

8

CONTENTS

CHAP.

PAGE

XXI

Fighting a Forest Fire

. 164

XXII

Burned Out

. 169

XXIII

Relapse and Revival .

. 181

XXIV

The White Man .

. 187

XXV

With Voice and Pen .

. 194

XXVI

The Flood .

. 204

XXVII

Sunset ....

. 211

XXVIII

Character and Service
Epilogue

. 223
. 231

list of illustrations

Portrait ...... Frontispiece

The Coast of British Columbia, showing Aiyansh and District

Translating the Bible

Nishga Chief wearing State Blanket

The Rev. J. B. McCullagh in the Dress of an Indian Medicine
Man ........

Early Spring on the Naas .....

Indian Bridge across the Naas . . .

Holy Trinity Church, Aiyansh ....

Building the New House at Aiyansh . . .

New Mission House at Aiyansh ....

The Rev. J. B. McCullagh

Mrs. McCullagh, with Jean, Nancy and Pat .

21

4i
58

76

84

9i
106
178
192
196
205

McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

CHAPTER I

A Great Renunciation

AMONG the noble characters who have spent their
lives in the service of humanity are men whose
work is known because they held high positions in the
State or in the Church. They had the advantage of
family traditions or influential friends, a University degree,
the interest which wealth can always purchase ; or, if
these things were wanting, great opportunities came their
way ; the conditions or circumstances of their lot helped
to make them famous. Their deeds of philanthropy or
the achievements of their genius are written in large type
on the pages of national history or public events. Other
men, equally endowed by nature, equally faithful in the
use they made of their natural gifts, have fulfilled the task
allotted to them in some humble sphere of labour, and
have died in obscurity, the outside world knowing little
or nothing of their unselfishness, their fidelity, or the
splendid influence of their example, by which those who
knew them were inspired and uplifted.

It is also true to say that some men need the stimulus
of popular approval and encouragement. They could
make a fine display on the stage of publicity, all their
efforts being seen to advantage in the glare of the foot-
lights ; but without such an incitement to action their
energies are not aroused. They fail to respond to the call
of humble duties ; they do not shine in places remote
from the observation of onlookers ; they settle down to
lives of ease and pleasure if they see no prospect of
becoming known to fame.

9

io McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

On the other hand, there are men gifted head and
shoulders above the common order of their fellows ; con-
scious of their power to win celebrity under circumstances
favourable to renown ; but they can never stretch out
beyond the reach of their limited opportunities, and of
these they make the noblest use, expending the very
best of all they are and have to the utmost ; willing to
endure the reproach of ignominy for Christ's sake,

Content to fill a little space,
If God be glorified ;

choosing rather to be unknown if thereby they can help
others to rise from the depths of moral shame and de-
gradation to the heights of noble living and heavenly
aspirations.

To those who enjoyed the privilege of knowing him
the Rev. J. B. McCullagh has left behind him the fragrant
memory of a character strong and tender, true and brave :
an intellect superior to most men ; and the example of one
who never courted popularity ; who only sought to make
his work known for the purpose of enlisting the sympathy
of those able to help him in his beneficent schemes for the
religious and moral advancement of the Indian settlement
at Aiyansh, which he loved more than any spot on the
earth.

During one of his furloughs, after thrilling a crowded
audience at Exeter Hall with one of his eloquent and racy
speeches, he said : " I would far rather go back to work
among my Indians at Aiyansh than do this sort of thing
in London.' '

James Benjamin McCullagh was born in County Down,
Ireland, in 1854, ms father being the agent on a landed
estate near Newry.

At quite an early age he gave evidence of the qualities
by which in after years his character was so strongly
marked.

On one occasion, at the country school where he was
being educated, he was accused of some offence which he

A GREAT RENUNCIATION n

knew had been committed by another boy ; but he refused
to tell the name of the real culprit. The master, a harsh
and brutal man, said he would flog M Jimmy " unless he
confessed, or else named the wrong-doer. This he refused
to do ; so the master began to beat him. Not a sound
came from the lips of his innocent victim, who had made
up his mind that he would not cry : nor did he. Jimmy
went home, but said nothing of what had happened until
the evening came and his mother went to bath him as
usual. To her horror she found the child was covered
with bruises caused by the beating he had received. At
once she called her husband to come and look at the boy.
Mr. McCullagh, naturally, was greatly incensed when he
found what had been done. The next morning he went to
the school to make his complaint ; and it is a satisfaction
to be able to record that shortly afterwards the master was
dismissed.

In writing of his boyhood, long years afterwards,
McCullagh said :

" As a boy my out-of-school time was invariably spent
where some mechanical operation was going on ; now
in the village forge, prying into everything ; now in the
carpenter's shop (my favourite place) ; now in the sad-
dler's, the shoemaker's, the garden, greenhouse, etc., etc.,
so that there is hardly an operation, apart from com-
plicated mechanism, of which I do not carry a fair text-
book in my head. They used to say to me, ' Oh, you'll
never be anything ; you keep changing about too much ;
you'll only be a jack-of -all- trades ! • and behold ! that is
the very thing I, unconsciously, needed most to be."

It was from his mother that McCullagh, as a child,
received his first religious impressions. Throughout his
life he always spoke of her with deep reverence and love,
gratefully acknowledging how much he owed to her wise
teaching and saintly influence.

At the age of ten years he was taken to a missionary
meeting. The story there told of the condition of the
heathen world — its cruelty and misery and ignorance of
God, and its need of a Saviour — made a deep impression

12 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

on the boy's mind. He felt that he must take his share
and do something " to give light to them that sit in dark-
ness and in the shadow of death."

So the next day he started with a collecting box, knock-
ing at the doors of all the people he knew and asking for
contributions to the object which had awakened his
spiritual sympathies and fired his generous impulses.
He continued doing this for some time, and occasionally
went such long distances into the country as to lose
his way. But these journeys were too limited in scope
to satisfy the boy's enthusiasm for the cause he had
espoused. Even at that early age he possessed a fertile
imagination and was resourceful in devising schemes for
carrying out the purpose on which his heart was set. So
he begged from his father three lambs whose mothers had
died ; burrowing a hole in a haystack to serve as a warm
home for the little creatures, he made a leathern bottle
with which to supply them with milk. His intention was
to nourish and feed them until they should grow into
sheep ; then he would sell them and with the purchase-
money buy a donkey on which to ride further afield in
his journeys to obtain funds for his beloved missionary
work. Alas, however, for the success of his scheme ! the
lambs died, and the boy had to learn thus early in life the
lesson so often enforced in later years, that even the
noblest and highest work can be checked for a time by
difficulty and discouragement.

Side by side with his interest in foreign missions
another strong desire grew in the lad's mind. From his
earliest years he had a longing for the Army ; he was a
born soldier. When he was old enough to decide on a
profession there was only one which had any attraction
for him. His father's death crippled the family finances
so much that his education was left very incomplete, and
the purchase of a Commission had to be abandoned.
Rather than be balked of his purpose, young McCullagh
enlisted as a private soldier. Although in many depart-
ments of knowledge he was entirely self-educated, yet his
natural ability and faithfulness to duty took him easily

A GREAT RENUNCIATION 13

from one step to another until he was promoted to carry
the colours as a sergeant.

But his love for the Army and his devotion to military
duties were not allowed to absorb the finer instincts of
his nature. The religious aspirations of his childhood had
not been quenched but rather grew in depth and vigour
with his ripening manhood. By the grace of God and
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit he developed into
an earnest Christian man, with the definite purpose of
consecrating his talents and energy to the service of his
Redeemer. This nobler ambition took shape in his mind
and grew alongside of his desire to excel in the military
profession. It led him to start a Bible-class among his
comrades, in which he infused into many a young soldier
a zeal for God and the love of Christ. His passion for
souls at that time was so great that he endeavoured to
train some of these young men for service in the Church.
Several of them are now working in the mission field.

Then came the climax of his military career. It was
in the year 1883, when McCullagh was 29 years of age.
The regiment was at that time stationed at Malta. One
day his commanding officer sent for him and said :

" I have the pleasure of informing you that you are to
receive a Commission in the Army — an honour to which
you are entitled by your social gifts and education, and
which you have richly deserved by the faithfulness and
efficiency you have always shown in the discharge of your
military duties."

But God had another plan for His servant. On the
very day when the Commission was offered to him he
received a letter from the Committee of the Church
Missionary Society, asking him if he was willing to give
up the Army and go out to work among the Red Indians
of British Columbia.

We have no record of the struggle of conflicting emo-
tions that must have been waged in the young soldier's
heart ; but we can easily imagine how severe was the test ;
and we know the result. The alluring prospect of a life
he loved, holding out the promise of worldly advancement

i 4 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

in a sphere for which he knew himself to be endowed with
exceptional gifts, was refused ; and in its place he accepted
the humble lot of a lay-missionary to a tribe of degraded
Indians, with the certain prospect of toil and privation,
and the probability of an obscure grave in a far-distant
and lonely part of the world.

It was a great renunciation, but it was one he never
regretted. Here it may be said that the old passion of
his early manhood was never quite killed. It was kept
under and lay dormant until something aroused it to
reassert its former hold on the mind and imagination.
In after years McCullagh could never hear a military band
or witness a parade of soldiers without the old ambition
surging up in his breast.

I remember well one day during the Great War, as we
walked together through the streets of Great Yarmouth
and a troop of cavalry came along. McCullagh stood still
as they passed by, drawn up to his full height with a
gleam of fire kindling in his clear blue eyes. " See them/'
he exclaimed, with outstretched arm, " the brave bonny
lads. How splendid they look ! Oh ! " he added with
emotion, " I never can see these boys going by but the
old longing comes over me, and I feel as though I would
give anything to leap into the saddle with them, or march
with them in the ranks and go out to take my share in
fighting this great conspiracy against the peace and civili-
zation of the world."

About this time another important step in his life was
taken in his engagement to Mary Philippa Webster, a
daughter of the English Chaplain at Malta. They were
married a few months afterwards before leaving England
for their future home in British Columbia.

Some preparation for his work in the mission field being
necessary, McCullagh was sent by the C.M.S. for a few
months to the Training College at Cheltenham, where
he lived in the house of Mr. T. Lyon, one of the College
tutors. Writing in April of last year (1922), Mr. Lyon
says :

Mr. . McCullagh proved himself a most desirable addition

A GREAT RENUNCIATION 15

to my family circle. He was almost my own age, and soon
became my companion. My wife and I feel that we owe him
much. Our three children learned to love him, and they hold
his name to this day in affectionate remembrance. He conducted
the children's services at the Mission Hall in Trinity parish, and
in doing this he showed himself to be eminently fitted for the
spiritual side of the work that was to be his, and many survivors
of that period remember most gratefully the unsparing and
indefatigable way in which he also worked gratuitously for the
uplifting of some of the poorest people in Cheltenham. At the
Training College he threw himself with characteristic whole-
heartedness into the studies, the sports, and the social life of his
fellow-students. He gave himself no airs on the strength of
his seniority ; he was utterly devoid of affectation, and the
younger men with whom he was brought into constant touch
received him into their brotherhood as one of themselves. The
teaching staff of the College soon realized that he was a man of
very exceptional ability and of the most intense purpose. For
nearly forty years it has been my lot to labour there, and during
that time I have encountered no student who turned his oppor-
tunities to better account than J. B. McCullagh, and I am only
repeating in my own case the opinions of the other members
of the staff who were then my colleagues and of whom I am the
sole survivor. On the rare occasions of his return to England
he never failed to get into personal touch with us, to our intense
pleasure. Our memories of him are the happiest, and I regard
him as one of the finest embodiments of Christian manliness that
it has ever been my privilege to encounter.

CHAPTER II

Westward Ho !

" A ND so you are going abroad again/' said a frier d

XJL to me, as we walked up and down the platform
of a London railway station.

" Yes," I replied, " I am off to British Columbia."

" British Columbia ! " he exclaimed. " I know the name,
but that is about all. Do you know what sort of a
country it is, and what you are going to do there ? "

"As to where it is, and what the country is like, I
really do not know any more than one can find out from
the map," I replied ; " and as to what I am going to do
there, I am going out as a C.M.S. missionary to the
Indians."

This explanation was met by an amused look of
astonishment, a long low whistle, and " Well, I never ! "
M But there," said he, changing his tone, " you were always
that way inclined."

" And how long are you going to stay out there ? "
asked another friend. To which question I could only
answer, " Can't say ; years, I hope."

This was in June, 1883, as the young missionary and his
wife were commencing their long journey to the Far West.
Leaving Liverpool, a voyage of eight days brought them
across the Atlantic and up the great St. Lawrence River
to Montreal, where they booked their places on the train
for Vancouver, at that time the western terminus of the
Canadian Pacific Railway. The rail journey lasted from
six to seven days, and even then it was made easy by
the many modern conveniences and comforts of the
American railway carriages.

16

WESTWARD HO! 17

McCullagh was gifted with keen powers of observation,
an intense love of nature and the genius for describing
in picturesque and graphic language the wonderful sights
unfolded to his vision in the grandeur of mountains and
the beauty of forest and river. Thus he wrote of the
Rocky Mountains, as he saw them for the first time from
the " observation car " attached to the train while the
magnificent range was being surmounted : " Mighty
wooded slopes, proudly towering battlements, cold blue
fields of ice, and snow-capped peaks surround you and
impress you with wondering awe. Rushing torrents,
foaming and dashing in the sombre depths of yawning
cafions, now to the right of you and again to the left,
thrill you with their thundering roar. From over the
giddy precipice above leaps forth the overflow of moun-
tain lakes replete with irresistible energy and dazzling
self-abandonment ; and there, in columns of ascending
spray, behold the colours of the rainbow, bright and
clear."

Having crossed the Rocky Mountains, they found
themselves in British Columbia, and, skirting the Fraser
River, reached Vancouver, then the youngest city of the
Dominion of Canada. Here the overland journey ter-
minated. By a saloon steamer they crossed the Straits
of Georgia to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia,
situated on the southern point of Vancouver Island.
Desiring to get north as soon as possible they took passage
on board the Otter, a small steamer combining a very
primitive passenger accommodation with a general cargo,
including coals, timber and oxen. The Otter took the
" inner passsage," that is, the course between the main-
land and the island of Vancouver, a distance of some
300 miles. The whole coast of British Columbia is em-
broidered with islands, on many of which in those days
no white man had ever yet set his foot. Eventually
they reached the Skeena River, where the salmon fisheries
were in full swing. At the wharf a motley crowd was
assembled — Chinese, Europeans, Indians and children.

Leaving the Skeena on the seventh day of their voyage

B

18 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

they soon reached the well-known Indian town of Met-
lakahtla.

" We thought we were going to be stationed at this
place, but on landing discovered that our final destination
was to be at the head waters of the Naas River, farther
north among the Nishga Indians. Accordingly we began
to make preparations for this last trip. The first thing
necessary was to get together some bedding, provisions
and cooking utensils. All the bedding we could get just
then, however, was a few Indian trade blankets and a bark
mat ; while the provisions consisted of tinned meats and
other kindred things, ship's biscuit, coffee, tea, etc. As
for cooking utensils, we had to learn to do with very few.
Then we hired a canoe, engaged a crew of Indians, and,
having stowed our belongings as best we could, started
on our journey. The Indian canoe of British Columbia
is cut out of one solid piece of timber, generally a cedar
tree, and as these trees grow to very large dimensions, the
canoes can be made proportionately large and shaped
gracefully.' *

Early the next morning the missionary and his party
set out from Metlakahtla, and in the afternoon reached
Port Simpson, an important trading post of the Hudson
Bay Company, meeting with a warm welcome from the
officer in charge of the station.

" About four o'clock we again resumed our journey,
and camped for the night some ten miles farther on.
Drawing into a little bay, we pitched our tent upon the
shingly beach and, lopping off a number of small branches
from the adjacent cedars, spread these over the stones
inside our tent, laying our blankets on the top. The
branches made a very good spring mattress, but we were
awfully hard up for pillows. A bag of rice, however,
made a good pillow for my wife, while something rolled
up in my ulster coat to give it bulk, with the help of a
small bag of potatoes, made for me a bolster. Of course
we had supper — boiled potatoes, tinned corned beef, and
tea ; while the Indians discussed smoked salmon, sea-
weed, ship's biscuit and coffee. How strange it all seemed

WESTWARD HO! 19

to us, but how delightful ! But it was not quite so
delightful towards morning, when the tide came fully in
and its little lapping waves washed under our spring
mattress. I always make a point of pitching my tent
well up the beach since then ; there is nothing like ex-
perience.

" Breakfast in the rain ; but then the rain of British
Columbia is one of its most agreeable features. Of course
you are prepared for it, not with an umbrella, but with
a ' gum ' suit. Gum boots, which come up to the thighs,
and are held up by a strap round the waist, a long gum
coat, and a gum hat. With a suit like that on you can sit
in your canoe all day and enjoy the rain.

" But how shall I tell you about canoeing on the Naas ?
It is a mighty river as far as it goes, with a grand estuary,
five miles across in some places, up or down which there
is always a strong wind blowing. It was blowing up on
this occasion, and the billows were rolling onward with
foam-crested tops. Directly we got into the race there
was no more laughter and joking among our crew. It
was grand to see the captain's keen eye and set face, to
watch him wield the steering paddle, now turning the
canoe off a point to avoid the surging of too big a wave,
and then bringing her up again with a swing to bound
forward like a thing of life.

" The tide affects the river for more than fifteen miles
up, and for this distance the navigation is easy. There
are many shoals and sand-banks, however, to be avoided,
and one night we were left high and dry on one of these.
Having sailed right on to it, we stuck fast ; and, as the
tide was running out at the time we had to remain there
until it came in again and floated us off.

" Above the tide- water you must work along the bank
with poles, the men standing in the canoe and using these
ten or twelve feet poles with splendid dexterity. Some-
times it is more convenient to use a towing-rope, that is,
when skirting long reaches of sand or gravel on which
the men can walk easily.

" About seventy miles up the river there is a great

20 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

' rapid ' or ' rapids,' to navigate which requires con-
summate skill and knowledge of the various currents, etc.
Ascending the ' rapids ' we had to work by stages, that is
by putting out two or three men with a rope, who take
up a position on the nearest and outermost rock and there
haul up the canoe to that point ; then by putting them out
again, and so on. There must, however, be a couple of
men in the canoe beside the captain to keep her off the
rocks with poles.

" On one occasion, when half-way up the ' rapids/ our
towing-rope broke and down we were being swept broad-
side on to a sharp jutting rock. A young Indian in the
canoe also broke his pole in endeavouring to stop her,
but just as we were about to be precipitated upon this
rock he vaulted out backwards and came down astride it,
making a buffer of himself, and holding the canoe like
a grappling-iron turned her bow up-stream and so saved
us.

",' Snags/ that is, fallen trees, whose roots have been
caught in the river bed and whose tops float just beneath
the surface, are very dangerous. If you strike on one
of these your canoe may be split from stem to stern.
Falling trees, when the water is high in summer, are also
dangerous. Once we were resting in the shade of a large
cottonwood tree, our canoe tied to its roots, when, almost
before we could cut ourselves clear, the bank began to
crumble away, and the tree became very shaky. Pre-
sently down it came with a crash like thunder, sending
up a column of water which nearly swamped us."

Here we must break the thread of our story and make a
digression into the history of the country and its people
before resuming the personal narrative of the missionary's
life and labours.

THE COAST OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, SHOWING AIYANSH AND DISTRICT.

CHAPTER III

The Land of the Setting Sun

BRITISH COLUMBIA was so named by Queen Vic-
toria in 1858. The colony, as a province, had
previously been known as New Caledonia, having been
discovered more than half a century before. Two sons
of Britain shared the honour of its discovery. In 1792-3
Alexander Mackenzie crossed the Rocky Mountains,
travelling from east to west. Simultaneously with his
arrival at the coast, Captain George Vancouver, R.N.,
having explored the island to be named after him, reached
the mainland, his ships terrifying the natives, who fled
from the beach on the approach of what they considered
to be a new species of sea-monster. British Columbia
was the land of the Red Man until the fur-trader and the
explorer came and took it from him.

It is a country possessing wonderful natural assets and
magnificent scenery. The timber resources of its vast
forests are almost unlimited ; and their value is greatly
increased by the water-power stored in its numerous
rivers near ocean navigation. Until recent years maritime
commerce between the British Isles and the Pacific
coast was at a serious disadvantage compared with
Canada east of the Rocky Mountains, The distance by
Cape Horn from Liverpool to Victoria, British Columbia,
was 14,558 miles, as against 2,456 miles from Liverpool
to Halifax on the Atlantic. It was this difference in dis-
tance which caused the lop-sided development of the
American continent. The cutting of the Panama Canal,
however, reduced the distance from 14,558 miles to 8,512.
There is no finer country in the world for growing fruit.

21

22 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

In 192 1 British Columbia produced for export trade
3,027,000 boxes of apples. In 19 10 she won the highest
fruit prize in the Empire, the Hogg Memorial gold medal.
At the Imperial Fruit Show of 1921 she carried off seven-
teen medals, or more than all the other provinces com-
bined. 1 For many months of the year it is a land of golden
sunshine. " Vancouver Island has been called the
Madeira of the Pacific ; British Columbia is the Riviera
of Canada."

The Red Indian of the North American continent
belongs to a race in which it is impossible for the white
man not to take a deep interest. He has sometimes
been honoured by an exaggerated sentiment and in-
vested with a halo of romance far outshining his real
attributes. Fancy pictures have been drawn of him as a
very noble savage, emulating the white man in deeds of
heroism and chivalry. Pope's redskin was one who
" sees God in clouds or hears Him in the wind," while a
modern writer asks : " Breathes there a man with soul so
dead, that he has never wished to be a Red Indian ? "
Certainly most of us who were boys fifty years ago when
we devoured Fenimore Cooper's stories would have given
a great deal to see an Indian chief in his war-paint and
feathers, paddling his own canoe or smoking the pipe of
peace in his wigwam. However, those were the Indians
of fiction, the creature of the novelist's imagination,
ideal, not real characters.

None the less for that, the Red children of the forest and
the prairie still remain one of the most interesting and
romantic races in the world.

British Columbia has been inhabited by many tribes
of Indians for centuries past. On the banks of the
lakes and rivers inland their encampments were pitched.
Others dwelt near the sea or on some of the many islands

1 Most of these facts and figures are taken from a lecture on
" British Columbia, the Awakening of the Pacific," delivered
by Mr. F. C. Wade, K.C., the Agent-General for British Columbia,
on December 7, 1921, before a crowded gathering of the Society
of Arts.

THE LAND OF THE SETTING SUN 23

which fringe the coast, gaining a precarious livelihood by
hunting and fishing, and latterly by trading with the white
men who were attracted to the country by the valuable
furs and the unlimited quantity of salmon procured for
them by the natives. These Indians are not all alike.

The Haidas of Queen Charlotte's Islands are a very fine
race, as white as the average European. The Nishgas of
the Naas River are tall, well-proportioned, flat-nosed,
bronzed, some of the men wearing a beard or moustache.
The various tribes speak different languages ; but since
the country was opened up by the white man's invasion,
they have learned to converse freely by means of a kind of
lingua franca called " Chinook," a conglomeration of lan-
guages both European and aboriginal.

Without going into details, it is necessary to state for
the better understanding and appreciation of the work
accomplished by the Christian missionary, that these
tribes were all, more or less, addicted to cruel practices
and debasing customs, giving evidence of the depths of
moral degradation into which human nature, left to itself,
inevitably sinks. Dog-eaters and cannibals ranked very
high, and were invested with the insignia of a noble order
by their fellow- tribesmen.

One of the most demoralizing customs of all was the
Potlatch. This consisted of a series of feasts or tribal
banquets, usually held on the accession of some one to the
chieftainship, pandering to the vanity and pride of the
chief himself, impoverishing his family and destroying the
virtue of his women.

And yet these people were not lacking in some of the
finer instincts that distinguish the children of civilized
lands. Among them was often to be found a craving for
God. Where this is so, God does not leave a people to
themselves. Wonderful are the ways of His Providence.

In the year 1856 Captain (afterwards Admiral) Prevost,
R.N., commanding H.M.S. Virago, returned to England
after a surveying expedition along the seaboard of
British Columbia. He had been much impressed with the
character and intelligence of the Red Indians. As an

24 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

earnest Christian man, he was glad to observe that they
were not idolaters, but believed in two Great Spirits, one
good and one bad, and he greatly feared the result of their
contact with the undesirable elements of the white man's
civilization.

On his arrival in England, Captain Prevost pleaded the
Red man's cause before the committee of the Church
Missionary Society with such telling effect as to infuse
into their hearts something of his own burning zeal and
Christ-like compassion for the people that had aroused his
interest and sympathy. As the result, when Captain
Prevost returned to the North Pacific in 1857, m command
of H.M.S. Satellite, he carried on board a young school-
master named William Duncan, who was honoured in
becoming the first Christian missionary to the Indians of
British Columbia.

For about five years Duncan remained at Fort Simpson,
the station to which he was appointed, learning the
language, establishing schools and preaching the Gospel.

During these years a scheme took shape in his mind,
growing with the intensity of a strong conviction and
maturing into action in 1862. Duncan realized that if the
Indian was to be saved — saved from the backward influ-
ence of his old tribal customs, and from the worse evil
of the white man's vices, he must be taken right out of his
old surroundings and away from the contamination of
irreligious and unscrupulous men. So in the early
summer of 1862 he invited all the Indians near Fort
Simpson who desired to lead a better life to follow him.
At first about fifty responded; these were soon joined
by nearly 300 more, and with this beginning the Chris-
tian settlement of Metlakahtla was founded.

The success of Duncan's scheme was great beyond
words. Some twenty years later McCullagh records his
first impressions of the place thus :

" Here we were astonished and delighted to find the
Indians well housed and clothed, leading civilized and
Christian lives, under their missionaries, agents of the
C.M.S. The largest church in British Columbia, built by

THE LAND OF THE SETTING SUN 25

the Indians themselves, with the monetary assistance of
friends in England, graced the centre of the village. We
also found schools there and a fine mission-house in which
the Bishop and some of the missionaries lived."

This effort was followed by others more or less striking
in their results, to say nothing of the faithful and devoted
missionaries of the Wesleyan Methodist Church who
established stations on the Naas River and elsewhere.
In 1864 the Rev. R. A. Doolan joined Mr. Duncan at
Metlakahtla, and on the suggestion of the latter went on
to establish a permanent mission on the Naas River.
Having gathered together about fifty Indians, he planned
a settlement similar to Metlakahtla, at a spot named
Kincolith or " the Rock of Scalps." The work there was
carried on by a medical missionary, the Rev. R. Tom-
linson, until 1878, when he left to open a mission higher
up the river near the heathen village of Gitlakdamiks.

Then occurred one of those dramatic incidents which
prove that " truth is stranger than fiction," illustrating
the marvels of divine grace, whereby the Spirit of the
Lord works on the conscience of untutored men and
moves them to become the instruments of His Provi-
dence.

CHAPTER IV

Tkaganlakhatqu

AT this time Tkaganlakhatqu, of the Wolf tribe, was
second chief of the Nishgas, whose head-quarters
were at the village of Gitlakdamiks, near the head- waters
of the Naas River. He had gained for himself a great
reputation for courage, being a fierce and hot-tempered
man. This chief had a proud, ambitious and vindictive
disposition, quick to resent an injury, implacable in
avenging an insult. In a recent tribal feud he had gained
notoriety as a " brave," being fearless in the pursuance of
revenge, and having shot remorselessly those who had
dared to outrage his family pride. And yet he was warm-
hearted, generous and loyal to his friends.

Tkaganlakhatqu was held in great honour among his
tribe, being the chief member of the Ulala or cannibal
degree of the Alaid. He was also a " medicine man,"
famous for dreams. He owned the finest wilp (Indian
tribal house) in the village, and he had four wives.

When Mr. Tomlinson visited Gitlakdamiks, this great
heathen chieftain secured the honour of being his host,
thereby incurring the envy of the other chiefs.

After several visits Mr. Tomlinson appeared one day
with a couple of canoes laden with lumber, his intention
being to build a school-house in the village. When the
people of the place became aware of his purpose, in a
moment they were up in arms against him and demanded
how he dared thus challenge the ancient customs, social
and religious, of their proud race.

On being summoned to meet the assembled chiefs, he
went to the council-house and took his seat in the presence

26

TKAGANLAKHATQU 27

of a hostile crowd. It leaked out that the presiding
chief had a double-bladed dagger concealed under his
blanket, and that he intended to use it. An Indian
friendly to the missionary slipped out quietly, and at the
critical moment Tkaganlakhatqu returned from fishing.
He was at once informed of the danger to his friend. He
went straight to the council-house, flung wide open the door
and strode in, "a noble figure, with his head thrown
back, his eyes aflame, his nostrils dilated, and his mane of
coal-black hair falling down his neck." Throwing one
arm over the missionary, he turned to the presiding chief
and exclaimed : " You have a dagger concealed in your
blanket ; if you would flesh your blade, flesh it here/' at
the same time baring his own breast, and adding : " If
you are man enough, strike me. You dare not ? Then
learn, and let all here know, that he who would strike the
white man must strike me first." Turning to the mis-
sionary he said : " Come with me." Not a word was spoken
as they both went out together, Tkaganlakhatqu pushing
Mr. Tomlinson out of the house, while keeping his own
body always on the side from which danger might come,
and challenging several who had raised their rifles to
fire.

The missionary spent the following night in the house of
a friendly Indian named Giekqu. There he sat thinking
over what he should do. There was the lumber he had
brought up from the coast for building a school-house.
He did not want to take it all the way back again. Then
an idea came into his head. He remembered that about
two miles down the river was a large flat, thickly strewn
with fallen timber and overgrown with dense bush.
The place was called Aiyansh, 1 or " The Valley of Eternal
Bloom." To float the lumber down the river and use it
for building on that piece of land would not be defeat ;
only a change of plan, and it might serve some useful
purpose in the future.

The next morning he began to carry out his plan ; the

1 Ai = eternal, and yansh = foliage, bloom, leaf. Hence the
title, " The Valley of Eternal Bloom."

28 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

school-shack was soon erected all alone on the river
bank, and Mr. Tomlinson returned with his canoes and
men to the coast. In the heathen village of Gitlakdamiks
the empty house was treated as a great joke, a standing
monument to the defeat of the Christian faith. " But
that house solved the problem and saved the situation
in a way that no man expected."

For some years it stood among the trees, unused except
by the birds and rats. Then one autumn there came
along from the northern gold mines a renegade white man,
an evil-disposed person, who had deserted his wife and
children and formed an alliance with an Indian woman.
Taking up his abode in the village, he said he wanted a
piece of good land for farming. He soon heard about
the missionary's scheme and, desiring to curry favour
with the tribe, he announced his intention to claim (as he
was by law entitled to do) the piece of land on which the
school-shack stood. He would then become its legal
owner. " I will use it," he said, "as a storehouse for
potatoes and turnips ; and then if that psalm-singing
missionary ever comes here again with his Bible and
Prayer Book, he may whistle for his school-house."

With the exception of one man the people of the village
were greatly pleased and exultant. Tkaganlakhatqu,
when he heard the news, was strangely moved and very
much perplexed. He sat by his fireside all night, with
his head between his hands and his elbows on his knees,
smoking the pipe of reflection. He remembered the
missionary as his friend ; and the instinct of loyalty
in his heart cried out against any betrayal of that friend-
ship. But he was not a Christian ; he and his fore-
fathers had done very well without the white man's
religion. " What did the boys of this generation want
with a school ? Why did not the missionary take his
lumber back to the coast ? " He had often reasoned like
this before ; but as he now thought of the boastful talk
and evil intentions of the renegade white man the smould-
ering fires in his breast leaped up into the hot flame of
a generous indignation. That night he made his decision.

TKAGANLAKHATQU 29

" With the first glimmerings of dawn was heard the
sound of an axe-man hard at work. Hark ! did ever
anyone hear such chopping and crashing ? What can it
mean ? So thought many of the Indians as they rubbed
their eyes and sallied forth in the early morn to see what
was going on. Around Tkaganlakhatqu's house they
gathered in astonishment. And no wonder ; for there
he was on the roof hewing right and left, levelling his
house to the ground. Nobody dared to question him as
to what he was doing ; and so they watched him until,
having completed his work of destruction, he chose the
best pieces of timber from the wreck and arranged them
in the form of a raft on the water. Then flinging his
bundle of blankets on the raft, together with some food,
his rifle, and an axe, he sprang on board, seized a pole
and pushed off from the shore with a yell and a whoop,
being whirled away by the current from the astonished
gaze of wives and kinsmen.

" Let us follow him. He reaches Aiyansh, pulls up
before the weather-beaten little shanty, draws his boards
ashore, arranges them close by in the form of a tent,
closes up one end and lights a fire before the other ; and
there he makes himself comfortable as only an Indian
can ; toasting a piece of smoked salmon, he eats it,
washing it down with a draught of water from the stream.

"As he stood in the dusk of the following evening on
the river's bank, he saw a canoe going past the place,
making for the village above. Hailing it, he called out :
' Hau ! Tell that white trash to come and make a
potato-house of this now — if he can ! '

" The white renegade never responded to the chal-
lenge !

" In about a week one of Tkaganlakhatqu's hunting
chums, feeling lonely without his companionship, joined
him. This man was followed after a few more days by
three other Indians, who took up their abode near the
little school-house, building huts for themselves and their
families with such materials as they could scrape together.
Then Tkaganlakhatqu's first wife came to him in his

30 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

exile ; the other three never went near him. The heathen
party made many attempts to get him back to the
village; but he would not yield. He and his faithful
followers became as it were outcasts and were a laughing-
stock for the heathen. From being a man of great
importance, Tkaganlakhatqu was now counted as one
dead by his tribe, and his nephew took his chieftainship.
It would be difficult to account for his unflinching attitude,
in the face of opposition and temptation, merely as the
obstinacy of one who was too proud to yield. He and
those who joined him had made what was for them a
supreme sacrifice in coming out from their own people ;
they had done this in defence of what they believed to be
right and honourable. And in their untutored way they
were seeking for God, like men struggling to find a path
out of a thick dark forest into some clearing where they
could see the light of day.

" Picture to yourselves the situation ; a little band of
five believers, unable to give a reason for the faith that
was in them, standing firm against the aroused hostility
of nearly five hundred foes, erstwhile their friends and
brethren ! Without the support usually accorded to
converts by the presence of a missionary, they fought a
' retiring action,' and won the initiative by taking up a
new position.

" Thus the Christian settlement of Aiyansh, which in
time eclipsed the heathen village, had its beginnings."

The white missionary had gone back to his old station
to work among the Indians on the Skeena River ; he
never again revisited the upper waters of the Naas.
A native teacher was sent, however, to form the nucleus
of a Christian church. After a course of instruction
from him, Tkaganlakhatqu and his four Indian comrades
were baptized. The native teacher remained with them
for two years ; but they needed some one better qualified
to establish them in the faith and knowledge of God.
And He who knew their need was preparing his chosen
servant to come and guide their feet into the light of His
full salvation.

TKAGANLAKHATQU 31

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform.

In a far distant island of the Mediterranean Sea His
messenger had been waiting ; ready to say with the
prophet of old: " Here am I, send me " ; and one day
towards the end of that summer of 1883, a canoe was
observed coming up the river, propelled by Indians
from the coast. As her prow touched the bank at Aiyansh
Mr. McCullagh and his wife stepped ashore and received
a glad welcome from the small community located
there.

They had held the fort with courage and patience, and
their faith was to be rewarded with a richer harvest of
blessing than they had ever dreamed of. The advent
of God's messenger to that lonely spot was to be followed
in the years to come by a wonderful transformation,
whereby the Indian tribe on the Upper Naas River was to
be purged of heathen rites and the degrading customs
of many centuries and to learn the way of Redemption
and Righteousness through the power of Jesus, its
crucified and risen Saviour.

CHAPTER V

The Dawn of a New Day

BEFORE they could feel themselves at home in their
new environment, the missionary and his wife had
plenty of hard work to get through. The bare necessaries
of life were not wanting ; but there were none of the
comforts to which the white man is accustomed. Their
lot was rough, demanding manual labour, endurance,
courage and the stimulating tonic of a cheerful outlook.
What McCullagh once wrote in describing others might
equally well be applied to himself and the brave quiet
woman who had given up her home and loved ones to
share with him the noble enterprise on which he had
adventured :

There is no grander specimen of humanity in the world
than the Anglo-Saxon backwoods settler — with one exception,
namely his wife. If you want to know a really noble man, and
to see one of the greatest and most important works in which
man can engage, look in upon the backwoods settler and see
him at work — subduing the earth.

The first thing necessary was, of course, a dwelling ;
and so the building of a log-house was at once com-
menced. This occupied six weeks, they living meanwhile
in one of the Indian's huts. The house was barely
completed by November when the snow began to fall.
Even then it lacked doors and windows ; but patient
toil, ingenuity and resourcefulness overcame all obstacles
and discouragements.

" Early in the winter my usefulness as a ' settler '
was sadly impaired by an accident (which I always think
of as an axe-i-dent) — a deep cut in the ankle with an

32

THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY 33

axe, which placed me on crutches for many a week to
come. But this did not prevent my falling in love with
the beautiful snow-clad winter, the crisp frosty days,
bright moonlight nights and delightful zero weather.
Never before did I feel such joy in nature, a joy that
has never left me in all the years following. And this
happy frame of mind led quickly to the acquirement day
by day of that experience of backwoods life which enables
a man to adapt himself easily to his environment. I
discovered, as need after need arose for such conveniences
as go to the making of a house, that I possessed the
mechanical gifts of Bezaleel in a moderate degree. The
house gradually assumed an air of comfort ; moss and
mud packed in well between the logs kept out the snow
at any rate, if not the wind. Articles of furniture and a
variety of fittings mysteriously materialized ; the interior
was lined, two rooms partitioned off and papered ; and
sundry little attempts at ornamentation indulged in, so
that within a year the house seemed really comfortable
from the point of view of the simple life. The fare
was extremely simple, too ; from 1883 to 1887 we only
had a piece of fresh beef once. Canned meats I could
not relish, although one had to eat them in order to live.
Fresh salmon there was in abundance, but even that
loses its savouriness when dished up for every meal.
I must confess that I often used to dream greedily of
beef-steak and mutton-chops. The great thing in cir-
cumstances of this kind is to keep up your heart ; life
does not consist of meat and drink. Half the hardships
we meet with can be overcome with a smile ; therefore
one should never take them too seriously/ 7

Certainly the missionary and his wife could not be
accused, at that or any other time, of luxurious living.
During the first few months their bed was dried grass,
their bedstead the floor, while boxes served for tables
and chairs.

M At night we were invariably entertained by the rats,
who frolicked about us in pairs. Although these creatures
had not yet come into contact with civilization, they

c

34 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

were not at all shy ; in fact, they resented my vocal
efforts to scare them by staring rudely at me from some
point of vantage. I had therefore to get a long stick
and keep it by me at night for the purpose of poking
them ; but nothing short of killing had any effect. Fre-
quently I used my gun at them. They are called ' bush-
rats ' because they live in the ' bush,' or ' bush-tailed rats '
because they have bushy tails like Persian cats."

There were other kinds of work to be done, difficulties
of a different order to be faced and overcome. The
language had first to be learned, and time was needed
for that. 1 The Christian missionary and his wife were
there for a more arduous task than that of the ordinary
settler. Their real purpose was not to subdue the earth
and replenish it, but to uplift their fellow-men and women
out of their ignorance and the superstitious practices and
degrading customs of heathenism.

The little band of nominal Indian Christians who
formed the settlement of Aiyansh in its infancy had
advanced but a short distance on the road of their new
endeavour when Mr. and Mrs. McCullagh came to live
amongst them. It must not be supposed that they
walked straight out of the pagan darkness of the past
night into the full daylight of Christianity.

" At first they hardly understood what they intended
to do ; but being directed no doubt by the Spirit, they
embraced Christianity and appealed for a missionary.
Thus our God overturns, overrules, and even makes the
wrath of man to praise Him. I need not dwell upon
the difficulties of commencing work under such circum-
stances. Suffice it to say that with continued Scripture
instruction and preaching the Gospel a marvellous change
was accomplished, and many were added to the little
flock. In no one was that change more manifest than in
Chief Abraham (the name adopted in his baptism by
Tkaganlakhatqu). When I first knew him he was
anything but tame and gave me no small amount of
trouble. He seemed to think that I had come to Aiyansh
» See Chapter VII,

THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY 35

to be taught by him instead of to teach him ; he had no
principles, no conscience and no scruples ; and yet he
and those who were with him thought that, having left
the heathen village and given up their heathen customs,
they had attained to the highest point of perfection.
Of course I had to bend his will to mine to begin with,
and in conquering him I practically captured all the
others. I had not been among them very long when he
organized a general meeting against me and my teaching,
and Sunday was the day chosen for putting it into prac-
tice. I called him and the other men into my room that
same afternoon and spoke to them, telling them that, as
they evidently did not want a teacher, I would not waste
another day's precious time among them ; and that I
would pack up and be off the following day. I would not
hear one word in reply from any of them, but left the
room when I had finished speaking. They wanted a big
wau-wau (council) that evening, but I would not listen,
and so about 10 o'clock at night I received a message to
the effect that if I would reconsider my decision and be
content to remain with them they would obey me in all
things in the future ; my word alone would be as the
Queen's law to them ; and should I feel inclined to order
Chief Abraham, or any of them, to walk into the river
they would do so at once ! "

CHAPTER VI

Early Morning Clouds

GRADUALLY the infant Church at Aiyansh grew in
numbers. From the heathen villages of Gitlak-
damiks up the river, and Gwinnahat farther down the
stream, inquirers came to the settlement, and some stayed
to learn more fully the way of life. As the missionary
acquired a better knowledge of the language, he visited
the chiefs, endeavouring to conciliate them by friendly
overtures, but never leaving out of sight the one great
object for which he had come to live among them ; never
losing an opportunity of trying to win them for Christ.

This was much resented by the Indians in general,
and by the medicine-men in particular. Of these latter
McCullagh wrote : " They had also perhaps a personal
objection to me. I think they found the way I looked
them in the eye rather disconcerting, and I am sure they
felt it very awkward to tell me lies. Moreover, I would
not stand any nonsense from chiefs or big men. Those
who tried to bluff me never had the heart to repeat the
experiment ; neither would I flatter them by useless
wau-waus (handshakings or feasts) ; therefore they de-
clared I was alugt, nigi ami (fierce and no good)."

Their hostility at length became serious, imperilling the
missionary's life. Only a man of exceptional qualities
could have survived the danger by which he was threatened
at one time. In McCullagh were combined an unshaken
faith in God and an utter fearlessness of man. Without
these two moral characteristics an early grave would
have been the end of his high adventure for Aiyansh, as
the following incident will show.

36

EARLY MORNING CLOUDS 37

Late one night he was sitting at his table writing, when
his ear caught the sound of stealthy footsteps and a low
muttered conversation outside the log-house. He knew
this could only mean mischief, but he thought it wiser
to remain as he was, waiting and watching to see what
would happen. Presently the door was softly opened
and an Indian cautiously stepped in. Probably he had
counted on his intended victim being in bed and asleep.
But no ! there was the white man sitting at his table,
writing. For anyone lacking the gifts of self-control or
resourcefulness in the face of danger, certain death could
have been the only issue of the treacherous purpose of that
midnight intrusion. But McCullagh was the man for an
emergency : already he understood the Red man's
nature. He knew that if he made any hurried movement
or betrayed the least sign of fear or nervous apprehension,
that would be the signal for the Indian, standing silently
inside the door, to spring on him and plunge into his heart
the knife that lay concealed under his blanket. So look-
ing up quietly he said in steady masterful tones, " Stand
there until I have finished what I am doing." For some
minutes he continued writing, while he prayed for Divine
help and turned over in his mind the best course to take.

His knowledge of the Indians had taught him that there
is one thing more than all else of which he stands in awe
and before which he quails ; and that is courage. So he
quietly passed the blotting-paper over his writing, arose
slowly from his chair, and confronted the Indian. " I
know quite well," he said in measured tones, " why you
and your friends outside are here. You have come to
kill me because I try to show you the trail that leads to
the Great Spirit. It is a fine thing, is it not ? for a party
of Indian ' braves ' to come in the darkness of night and
murder a white man in his sleep. It needs some courage
to do that. If you are brave enough to do it, why don't
you take out that knife you have concealed under your
blanket and strike me as I stand here ? See ! I open
my breast for your blade ! Strike, brave Indian,
strike ! "

38 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

The Indian looked at the tall upright figure before
him ; he looked at the bare breast and into the face of
the white man. And there he saw no tremor on eyelids
or mouth, but two clear blue eyes steadily reading his
thoughts and dominating his will. He felt as though he
had no power to raise a hand ; he dared not draw that
hidden knife. His courage melted away. He felt afraid.
Slowly he backed out through the door and closed it
after him. Then the missionary heard once more the
undertone of voices outside and the shuffling movement
of feet until they died away in the darkness of the night.
And by his table he knelt down and poured forth his soul
in thankfulness to the Lord who had heard his prayer
and stood by him and strengthened him in his hour of
need.

When the first convert at Aiyansh died, a site was
chosen and consecrated for a burial-ground. The body
of the Indian who had " fallen asleep in Jesus " was
carried out there and committed to its last resting-place
with the comforting words of the Church of England
Service for the Burial of the Dead. Soon after this,
tidings were brought to the missionary that a company
(eight in number) of the Ulala or cannibal section of
a semi-secret society called the Alaid had come from
one of the heathen villages and were inquiring for the
whereabouts of the bury ing-pl ace. There was no need
to explain the meaning of their visit. McCullagh under-
stood in a moment, and he determined to frustrate their
vile purpose. Seizing his rifle he hurried off by a short
cut through the brushwood to the place where the grave
was. Snow had fallen and covered the ground with its
white shroud. Drawing a wide circle in the snow round
the grave, as guardian of the dead, McCullagh stood in
the centre. He had not long to wait before the Ulala
party appeared. Calling on them to halt and raising his
rifle in readiness to fire, he addressed them : " Stand
where you are and come no nearer while I speak. I
know what your object is in coming here. You want to
dig up and eat the body of my friend, Simass, buried

EARLY MORNING CLOUDS 39

beneath the ground on which I stand. I will die over
his dead body before I suffer you to outrage it by carrying
out your loathsome purpose. The first man among you
that crosses the circle I have marked I shoot ; and you
know that I shoot straight/'

The Indians looked at the stalwart white man standing
before them with his rifle raised. In his face they read
blazing indignation and stern resolve. No one among
them dared put his foot across that fatal circle. A few
words of hurried consultation between themselves were
followed by retreat. As they disappeared from view, and
McCullagh heard the sound of their snow-shoes growing
fainter on the frozen snow, he threw his rifle down and,
kneeling on the mound of earth that marked the grave, he
thanked God for directing and sustaining and delivering
His servant in the discharge of a duty which he knew
had to be done if he were ever to wean the Nishgas as a
tribe from the revolting customs of their heathen ancestors.

McCullagh, I believe, never set down these two incidents
in writing. Probably his humility forbade his thus
recording things which might seem like glorifying himself.
But we who heard them from his lips, as we gathered round
the fire one autumn evening during his first furlough,
have never forgotten them. His vivid description of
each event made a lasting impression on the memory.
They are chronicled here in order to show what kind of
man he was. How splendid his courage ! How inflexible
his will in doing what he felt to be right ! How conscious
he was at all times of the presence of God ! How unshaken
was the faith by which he looked up into the face of his
Lord in every time of need and danger ! But the best
of men, including those whose faith and courage shine the
most brightly, are subject at times to periods of depres-
sion. It can hardly be otherwise, especially when re-
fined, spiritual natures are compelled to live in daily
contact with debased human beings.

McCullagh was no exception to this form of trial.
" My first experience/ ' he wrote, " of Indian heathenism
lay very heavy on my heart. I sometimes imagined

4 o McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

that I was a second Ezekiel, taken up by the Spirit and
set down in another valley of dry bones. Indeed, it
seemed to me easier that God should have made dry bones
live than that those up-river Indians should become
disciples of Christ. Dry they were too, but in addition
they seemed to be embedded hopelessly in a mass of
fossilized degradation. Even those who had come out of
heathenism to put themselves under instruction in the
way of leading a better life did not all at once give up
their old ways of living. Some of their habits were
indescribably filthy/' The missionary's soul revolted
against such things ; to himself and his wife they were
sometimes almost beyond endurance.

One day a feeling of despair seized him ; but like the
prophet Elijah he made his complaint to the Lord.
Casting himself on the ground, he cried out, " O Lord, why
hast Thou brought me here ? These people sicken me
with their vile habits. How can I ever win them for
Thee unless I learn to love them ? And instead of
loving them I loathe them."

" And then," he adds, " as I remained on my knees
in the forest, I seemed to see the Cross of Calvary and
the Figure of Jesus there. And I seemed to hear His
voice saying to me, ' I loved these people well enough to die
for them. Canst thou not love them well enough to live
for them ? ' And in the strength of that vision I aruse
from my knees with a new feeling in my heart for the
Indians. I had begun to love them "

CHAPTER VII

The Language and Education of a People

ONE of the most important tasks to be accomplished
by a missionary if he is to succeed in preaching
the Gospel to a heathen people, is to acquire a knowledge
of their language. This was easier for McCullagh than
it would be for most men. He was naturally endowed
with exceptional linguistic gifts. Before going out to
British Columbia he had mastered several European
languages. Philology was always a favourite study with
him. One of his hobbies in later years was to trace
affinities between root-words in the Indian tongue and the
etymology of those old languages from which the modern
speech of civilized nations derives its origin.

" All my conversation with the Indians was, of course,
at first carried on by means of an interpreter — a man
whom I had brought up with me from the coast, who
could speak a little English. But I did not make any
progress with the language until the following spring,
when I set myself to acquire it with some purpose. Just
then my interpreter failed me ; he evidently did not want
me to know the language ; thinking, I suppose, that my
ignorance would be his bliss in the way of paid labour.
However, I employed two old Indians who did not know
a word of English to do some fencing work in the garden
with me. One I kept on my right, the other on the left as
we worked ; the one on the left having been informed by
many signs that on no account was he to speak, but rather
to do everything the other man told him to do. Thus
with an open ear on the right, and an open eye on the
left, I began to put things together, that is, to associate

41

42 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

certain actions with certain sounds, and then to pronounce
those sounds myself. Many a time have my Indian
companions rolled on the ground with laughter at my
attempts to pronounce some of their words, but I always
succeeded in the end. Whenever I got real hold of a word
I always wrote it down phonetically, with the meaning in
English opposite (my book and pencil were always with
me), and so at the end of six weeks I essayed the writing
out of a short sermon, much to the delight of the Indians
in general, especially those who had been helping me.
These assumed at once a most amusing air of importance :
they had done what the interpreter could not do, they
had taught the white man to speak Nishga. But pride
always goeth before a fall ; they had so credited them-
selves with everything else, that they had to be credited
also with my mistakes. I did not make many, it is true ;
but one mistake is enough to mar a whole sermon. Un-
fortunately, in this case, the word for ' bread ' and that for
' woman ' are very much alike, and when in my discourse
I had occasion to speak of the crumbs which fell from the
table, instead of saying ' kuba gum anak ' (little scraps of
bread), I said ' kuba gum anag ' (little single women),
utterly spoiling the effect of my laboured first effort.
But I persevered and, entering into a compact with the
Indians small and great, we agreed that they should
always tell me if I made a mistake in pronunciation,
idiom or grammar. Of course they did not know any-
thing of grammatical rules, but they could tell me if the
talk ' walked right/ Then I would make notes of all
the criticisms and comments made, correct my pronun-
ciation, idiom or grammar, as the case might be, making
sure, if possible, not to fall into the same errors again/'

In the end McCullagh acquired a reputation among the
Indians of knowing more about their language than they
knew themselves, and of being able to speak it as cor-
rectly and fluently as any one of them.

For him to know the Nishga tongue, however, was not
enough. He could indeed converse with people and
preach sermons to them ; but he knew that if ever they

LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION OF A PEOPLE 43

were to become settled in the Christian faith they must
be able to read the Bible. And for this purpose he set to
work and reduced their language to writing. M I gave
eight solid hours a day for one year/' he writes, " to the
making of a Nishga-English Grammar on Ollendorff
system ; and it was grand in those far-away days when
I began to feel my wings ! — when, instead of stumbling
along amid the intricacies of the Nishga Grammar, I began
to fly/'

The letters of the English alphabet were insufficient to
give the phonetic equivalent of many of the Indian words ;
so he added to their number, incorporating several Greek
letters and thus making up the full number to thirty- two.
Then he taught the people to read. The young Indians, he
soon found, were keen to learn the vernacular, and when
he started to print the Grammar on his typewriter,
" they gathered round like flies round a sugar-barrel/'

Let us here anticipate the results of McCullagh's efforts
to educate the people. During the winter months, when
the boys were not needed by their fathers to help in the
fisheries, he collected as many of them as he could get,
boarded them in a tent near the mission-house, and
regularly taught them to read and write. He did this,
hoping in time to train them for setting up the type of
the printing-press which eventually became so important
a feature of his work. Some of the boys proved sharp
and intelligent ; others were not so bright. It was all
very strange to them to try and learn things of which
neither they nor their fathers before them had ever heard.
One boy named Gaigiat became quite discouraged.
" The book did not speak to his eyes as he expected it
would do." His idea of reading was, that if one were to
hold a book sufficiently long before the face, the writing
would by some occult process convey the meaning to the
eyes ; but that there was any work to be done in learning
to spell was incomprehensible to him ; consequently it
was a very difficult matter to get him to learn the Nishga
alphabet and to plod through the spelling of syllables.
He could not see the use of learning letters and bits of

44 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSM

words which in themselves meant nothing, or, as he put
it, " did not tell him any news." " He had no joy in his
lessons, and was always glad when they were over, and he
at liberty to scamper about the rocks at play."

One day the missionary called him in and lectured him
on his apathy and indifference in learning to read. He
seemed very much bored and appeared to think himself
unfairly treated in not being taught to read without any
trouble to himself.

" Taking a sheet of paper I wrote in large letters (he
had already got to the fourth spelling sheet) am mi dum
gint Gak al habesqu al yuksat kin (feed the rabbits with
grass this evening), and handing it to him, said, ' Spell
out those words, beginning a-m am, m-i mi, and so on.'
He got to the end. - Now,' said I, ' pronounce them
without spelling/ This he did with evident growing
amazement, until at last, looking up at me, with eyes
actually starting out of his head, he broke into an hysteri-
cal kind of laugh, and throwing up his feet, rolled off
the box where he was seated, and out at the door like a
bale of goods. On going into his tent later, I found him
for the first time really intent upon his lessons. ' Well/
said I, ' how are you getting on now ? have you done
what the paper told you to do ? ' His reply was, ' I
have been very foolish, chief/ ' Well, it is something
gained to know that/ I rejoined ; ' add the fear of God to
that, and you have the beginning of wisdom/ u

This was the turning over of a new leaf in Gaigiat's
education, and before long he had learned to read
intelligently and to write neatly.

The question of the education of the Indians was a
difficult one. " When the people are in their villages,"
writes McCullagh, " school is open daily, and nearly all
the children attend, and are instructed in reading, writing,
geography and arithmetic. Unfortunately the breaks
occurring in the spring and summer, owing to the migra-
tory habits of the people, tend to retard the progress
which might otherwise be made. Still, notwithstanding
these drawbacks, we make considerable headway. To

LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION OF A PEOPLE 45

overcome this difficulty I have kept all the boys back as
far as I could, during the past ten years, by boarding
them in my own house and clothing them. By doing
this their parents have been satisfied to leave them with
me. These boys are the joy and crown of my labours.
They stand out conspicuously among all the Indian boys
of the country for alertness of intellect, more than average
intelligence, discipline, good conduct, mechanical ability
and general efficiency for the life that lies before them."

In 1891, eight years after he went out to Aiyansh, the
progress of the people's education was so far advanced
that McCullagh was able to circulate among them an
occasional newspaper, entitled Hagaga, cyclostyled in
the vernacular, on one side only of a large sheet of paper,
containing items of interest general and personal, and
embellished with drawings in the way of instruction and
humour.

The success of this system of educating the people in
their own language before teaching them anything more
than conversational English was very marked. A mar-
vellous instance of this occurred about the year 1891,
when he first began to distribute spelling-sheets and
reading-lessons among the boys.

" One of our little boys," he writes, " meeting with some
hunters from a distant tribe, taught them the rudiments
of spelling in the vernacular, and gave them a few copies
of our little Hagaga. These young men were very much
taken with the idea of learning to read and write in their
own language, and persevered with the lessons the winter
through in their own village, using pieces of split wood
for slates and burnt sticks for pencils. About a year
after this, not knowing what had been going on mean-
while, I was much astonished to receive letters from men
of this tribe in rapid succession, stating their intention
of coming to live at the Mission, that they had already
' repented to God/ and wanted to be further instructed
and baptized. And so they came and had their desire
fulfilled." These young men remained for some time at
Aiyansh and eventually became consistent Christians.

46 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

But the crowning glory of the Nishga people's education
began in 1893 when a printing-press arrived from Eng-
land. Nothing could illustrate more clearly McCullagh's
gifts of patience, perseverance and manual skill than the
way in which, without assistance from anyone, he taught
himself the art of printing. Thus he described the process
in one of his letters home :

" Very few amateurs, I imagine, have begun printing
under greater disadvantages than those which beset me
at the commencement of my mounting the hobby. The
first time I obtained more than a passing glimpse of a
printing-press was when I unpacked the cases containing
one sent out to me by the Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge in 1893. The parts were there in perfect
order, I had no doubt, but the question was, how to put
them together ? I had attempted to solve many a
problem in my time, but this was pons asinorum at last.
However, by the help of a cut in Webster's Dictionary,
I eventually got it into working order. The type I dis-
tributed easily enough, but there were many things of
the use of which I had no idea, e.g. composing stick,
setting rules, marble slab, a kind of stone pestle (of the
use of this I am still in ignorance) and a few other things.
I began composing therefore on the bed of the press,
within a frame laid thereon, setting up each word in my
fingers, and then transferring it to the frame, frequently
spilling it, and sometimes knocking down a whole
line ! Every now and then, as I straightened up my
aching back or turned around my stiffening neck, I
exclaimed, ' Well, this beats all other kind of work in the
world ! '

" My task was a hard and tedious one. But joy ! at
last the frame was filled and the type tightened. Then
getting roller and ink ready, I pulled with nervous im-
patience my first proof.

" Without waiting to give a look at the sheet, I took it
in for my wife to see, waving it triumphantly at arm's
length, thinking, if I did not shout, ' Eureka.' But, oh !
the consternation, the mortification, the humiliation !

LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION OF A PEOPLE 47

it was printed backwards and could only be read in the
looking-glass.' '

Having served his apprenticeship to the art of printing,
alone and unaided, he began to teach his Indian boys.
At first they were slow in learning ; but the more intelli-
gent among them succeeded in the end. In 1900 McCul-
lagh completed his revised translation of St. John's
Gospel into the Nishga language. In due course the
other three Gospels were translated and printed. A
school Primer, a Nishga Grammar, a Nishga-English
Grammar, a Dictionary, an Old Testament history in
Nishga and an English Prayer Book with Hymns, all
passed through the printing-press before many years were
over. The Primer was published in 1897 by the Society
for Promoting Christian Knowledge for use in the day-
school at Aiyansh ; it includes a translation of Psalms i.
and xxiii., St. Matthew v. 1-12 and 1 St. John ii. i-n.
The same Society also published an undated volume
entitled: " A Nishga version of portions of the Book of
Common Prayer," containing various Canticles and some
extracts from the Scriptures. Although these two volumes
are preserved in the Library of the British and Foreign
Bible Society, the Bible Society itself never published
anything in the Nishga tongue. In his annual letter for
1895 McCullagh stated that the Bible Society had con-
sented to print the Nishga New Testament for him ;
and indeed this great and generous Society has always
taken a keen interest in his work and would gladly have
done for him what they are doing for other Missions all
the world over. That they never actually published
anything for McCullagh during the early years of his work
is probably because he wished to educate his Indians in
the qualities of self-dependence and self-culture by making
them responsible for printing and binding the books he
translated into their language. He believed in the
practical utility of Industrial Missions, and he put this
principle into practice whenever it was possible. During
his last furlough (1914-1916) the Bible Society promised
to give him the Epistle to the Romans in the Nishga

48 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

language. After his return to Aiyansh he set to work at
once and had just finished the translation of this Epistle
when the great flood came and destroyed it, together
with many other valuable manuscripts.

As the people grew in their capacity and desire for
receiving knowledge, he used to give, during the winter
evenings, lectures on various subjects ; as, for example,
" astronomy, agriculture, carpentry and building, the
care of domestic animals and poultry, electricity applied,
physiology, the generation of disease, the importance
of sanitary arrangements in and about the houses of a
village, the use and care of tools, the principles of steam
and water power, law and justice, and many other things
too numerous to mention." Also in 1907 he wrote as
follows in The Story of a Great Transformation:

" From the pictorial papers and periodicals which I receive
monthly I generally cut any illustrations of interest and, together
with typewritten explanations in the vernacular, paste them
on a large sheet of printing-paper, so that the Indians are always
able to gain a little variety of knowledge in this way. Thus
they know all about airships, flying machines, X-rays, wireless
telegraphy, damming the Nile, bridging the Zambesi, new ships,
people of other lands, their habits and customs, and so on, ad lib."

In 1909 the Hagaga was revised under a new name and
form, entitled " Hagaga, the Aiyansh Parish Magazine and
Indian's Own Paper." It was printed in English, the
printers being four of the old Mission boys. The Maga-
zine consisted of eight pages of three columns each. It
was brimful of useful information about educational and
sanitary problems, the Government of the country, and
many other matters ; one page (sometimes two) being
reserved for the children.

The Editorial notes of the first number (June 1909)
begin thus :

" There are a few young men and women, boys and
girls, in our villages now who can read easy English, so
that we feel they ought to have a little paper of their
own to talk to them about those things that make for their
welfare.

LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION OF A PEOPLE 49

" The Hagaga is therefore brought to the front again,
and we hope it will do something to help to open the
doors of truth and righteousness of life, so that the hearts
and minds of the rising generation may enter into a purer
air and follow a higher life.

"When a man makes a garden he has no need to plant
weeds ; they grow of themselves without any help, and
have to be pulled up or cut down. But the things he
uses for food — wheat, oats, beans, peas, potatoes and other
vegetables, as well as fruit, have to be planted and watered
and taken care of. Whenever a man sows good seed in
his garden a crop of weeds is sure to come up at the same
time, as though they wanted to choke out the good seed.
So that he has to work for the good and against the bad.

" Now this is what we hope the Hagaga will do : it will
try to cut down and pull up the weeds of cunning, craft,
guile and lies which are always on the grow, seeking to
hinder the ripening of the good seed of truth and love,
peace and joy. And we are sure that every true-hearted
man and woman will be glad to see that which is good
increase and grow, and all old evil things pass away.

" We hope all the young folk, and all the old people too,
will help to make this little paper go well. Every one
ought to push it on by placing an order for it. The price
is sixty cents a year — very cheap."

To raise a tribe of degraded savages in the course of a
few years, to teach them in their own tongue, and after-
wards to educate them so as to make them capable of
receiving such moral instruction as this, printed by their
own hands in the English language, is of itself a fine
achievement for one man. It will be reckoned all the
more so if we bear in mind that it was only one depart-
ment of the many-sided work McCullagh was enabled to
accomplish.

CHAPTER VIII

The Red Man as a Heathen

THAT McCullagh possessed literary talents of no mean
order is evident from the accounts he wrote at
intervals describing the development of his work. Some
of these have been published in booklet form by the
Church Missionary Society ; others have appeared as
articles in the Church Missionary Review. In addition
to these he sent home to his supporters in England,
periodically or as some special necessity arose, journals
recounting the progress of the Christian Mission to the
Indians. Often he burned the midnight oil in writing
letters to his personal friends in the old country, many
of which, happily, have been preserved, especially those
relating to the earlier years at Aiyansh. Unfortunately
most of those written in later years have not been kept.
He was undoubtedly conscious that he possessed the gift
of a flowing pen as the natural outcome of an active brain
and a fertile imagination ; and at one time he seriously
intended writing for publication a book in which he could
plead the cause of the Indians and show how the Gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ is the one hope of their salvation
morally, socially and spiritually. In April 1899 he wrote
to his friend Mr. C. B. Robinson : "On my return from
the Conference at Metlakahtla I start (D.V.) to print the
New Testament and to write the book I mentioned in my
last letter. I have a mind to pitch my tent in a pine
grove on a hill near by and ride there in the early mornings
(on a cayuse I have who rejoices in the name of Joe) for
four hours' slick writing." But in April 1900 he wrote
again to the same friend : " The book is not at all satis-

50

THE RED MAN AS A HEATHEN 51

factory. I write and rewrite, and still I am in the un-
satisfying scribble stage. I digress so often and perhaps
go in too much for moralizing. At every hand's turn I
find some popular misconception, or what appears to
me as such, peeping round the corner, and I can't resist
the temptation to ' go for it.' However I'll ' get there '
by and by if I live, and every year that passes now will
add fresh interest to the pages of my book."

But he never did " get there," partly, as he himself says
in another letter, owing to the financial risk of such a
venture. The materials, however, of this work, which
never saw the light of publication, survive in the form
of " Sketches," some of which were actually printed in
small type by their author. Three of these are here
recorded by which it may be seen how intimate was
McCullagh's knowledge of old Indian habits and how
keen were his powers of observation. No one was better
qualified than he for recording manners and customs now
fast dying out. Incidentally they show how difficult
was the task before him in breaking down the long-
established practices in which the Red man was steeped
and from which he must break away in the process of his
conversion to the Christian faith.

r. A TYPICAL INDIAN CHIEF

" My first introduction to the great Chief Sgaden was
in the late summer of 1883, just after my first arrival at
Aiyansh. It was a sunny afternoon, and, standing on
the river bank with my interpreter beside me, we watched
a small fishing canoe, poled by one man sitting in the stern,
come gradually up to where we were. The Indian in the
canoe was an oldish man with broad, flattened features on
which a proud, haughty expression was stamped for all
time. His headgear consisted of an old piece of red
cotton wound around his head and knotted in front ;
an old open-breasted, smoke-mellowed calico shirt and a
pair of worn-out ' china ' pants completed his costume.

" ' Who is he, Frederick ? ' I whispered.

52 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

" ' He one velly gleat chief ! ' responded Frederick, with
an impressive smack of his lips.

" Then he proceeded to inform the occupant of the canoe
that the white man had been inquiring who he was. This
started Sgaden on his own account. He smote upon his
breast, pointed to his heart, put out his tongue and flicked
it with his finger, and then pointed to the surrounding
country.

" ' He say one gleat man, big chief, more dan all chiefs ;
no oder man chief enough to speak him ; him velly stlong
heart, all same one tongue speak for all country lound
bout hea\ You come make eat 'long him tomollow ? '
said Frederick, with an air of great importance.

" Accordingly I took two friendly Indians with me on
the morrow and repaired to his house, which was in a vil-
lage about two miles away. This village, as is the custom,
stands on a river bank, and was composed of about forty
large houses or compounds with low-pitched roofs.
Erected before the house of each chief (for there are many
chiefs in a village) was an immense wooden pole — a whole
tree — carved with the figures of queer animals and human
faces, and surmounted by the carved image of some bird
or animal showing the crest and tribal division of the
chief.

" Presently we reached my host's house, and found him
standing at the door ready to receive me. Without any
greeting he led me in and, spreading a bearskin on the
floor, motioned me to be seated. I sat down, as did also
my two companions, while the old man, who had laid out
all his possessions as for an exhibition, went round ex-
amining his goods critically as though he had seen them
for the first time in his life.

" Opposite to us, on the other side of the hearth, sat
Mrs. Chief, washing a pair of her husband's moccasins
in a wash-hand basin. Having wrung these out, she
emptied the contents of the basin into a hole in the
hearth, and then, taking a smoke-dried salmon, held it
before the fire to toast. This being done, she broke it
up into small pieces, which she deposited in the basin and

THE RED MAN AS A HEATHEN 53

set it before us. My companions began eating and
motioned me to do the same. ' Dear me/ thought I,
' I am in for it this time ! ' Picking up a piece in my
fingers, I looked at it, wondering if I could bolt it, and
calculating, with my left hand on the pit of my stomach,
the possible results. But there was no way out of it, I
must not give offence, so I played with that piece of
salmon, touching my teeth with it now and again and
smacking my lips. I never do things rashly if I can help
it, but on this occasion I tried, by closing my eyes and
deafening my ears, to shut out for a moment all conscious-
ness, and then a hurried bit of chewing, a big gulp down,
and all was over. My friends had cleared the basin by
this time, so the old lady took it and began to prepare a
second course. This consisted of seaweed, salmon roe
and fish oil, and was mixed all up together in the basin.
Laying this in front of us, she served out a horn spoon
to each, and then began to lick her fingers one after the
other, for she had been mixing the dish, you know !

" That was the only time in my life that I can remember
wishing for a cold in my head — a good stuffy one ! It
would have been too rude of me to hold my nose with
one hand, while with the other I plied the spoon. But
what was to be done ? Eat I must, and that quickly.
So, taking up a spoonful, I took it in very small doses,
whiling away the time until the dish had been emptied
by my friends. Our hostess then took the basin and wiped
it out with her finger, which she carefully licked, as also
the spoon ! Preparations were then made for another
course — berries dried upon leaves were taken out of a
box and put into the basin with water, and squeezed up
into squash by our chief ess. How she did enjoy drawing
her tongue across those hands every now and then !
Dear old lady, she gave my spoon an extra lick by way of
courtesy, before laying it down for my use again ! These
mashed berries would not have been half bad if she had
not poured a lot of that awful fish oil into the basin with
them. While we were discussing this dish our host was
standing in the doorway looking out for somebody, who

54 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

turned out to be a young man in a blanket. Him he
ordered to fetch a bucket of water — a bark bucket — and
to mash up a lot of red and yellow berries in it. This
he did, kneeling in front of us, and then proceeded to whip
the whole into a foaming mass with his hand. Long
wooden spoons were served out for this course, and the
enjoyment to be derived from this particular mass con-
sisted in drawing into the mouth the contents of the
spoon, and then expelling them into the same again,
repeating the process three or four times, and finally
swallowing the delicacy.

" After lunch the chief took me round and showed me
all his treasures, to which he was evidently anxious that
I should add something.

" In due course I returned the chief's invitation, had
quite a spread for him, and watched him eat my good
things with pleasure. But I was not prepared for the end
of it, viz., stuffing his pockets with all that was left on
the table. How could he be so rude as to leave aught of
that which had been set before him ? Such is Indian
politeness.

" After I had settled down in Sgaden's country I found
him very much opposed to the Gospel. Whenever I went
into his house to preach, he invariably started chopping
wood to make a noise. Once he sent a message to me to
caution me not to say too much against heathen ways. I
was but a leaf in his country, and he had only to blow
with his mouth to send me flying back again to the
sea !

" In 1898 Sgaden made a profession of repentance and
faith in Christ, was baptized by Archdeacon Collison and
lived for some time at Kincolith. But he again re-
turned to his heathen surroundings after a few years, and
died virtually a heathen in 1904.

" He would listen to no Indian preaching, neither would
he sit still while family prayers were being conducted in
any house where he was. His pride was sufficient to
clothe a whole tribe with arrogance, and as he lived, so
he died."

THE RED MAN AS A HEATHEN 55

2. THE INDIAN HA-ALAID

" There is among the Nishgas a Society called the
Alaid, a semi-secret Society, consisting of four degrees of
mysteries, to be initiated into which is the ambition of
every Indian who can afford it. Originally this Society
was composed only of chiefs and leading men, but now
that articles of property can be acquired by any indus-
trious Indian from European trading-posts and stores,
it is open to every one who can give the required feasts
and presents to the tribe. Anyone not belonging to this
Society is classed as Um-giat — unmade, rude or raw-made ;
from ' urn,' the makings of; and ' giat,' man — so that
Umgiat is, literally, the makings of a man. On the other
hand, those who have taken their degrees are styled
' shim-gigiat/ from ' shim,' real, fact, made ; and ' gigiat,'
the plural of ' giat ' — literally made men, real men, i.e.
chiefs. The ' Umgigiat ' have no special position at all
in the tribe, while the ' Shimgigiat ' are classed according
to the number of degrees they have taken. The first
degree is Milthat (plural Gamilthat, sons of being) ; the
second Lulthim (dog-eaters) ; the third Ulala (cannibals) ;
while the fourth is Hunanalthit (destroyers) . The fourth
degree is only open to members of the third, the third to
those belonging to the second, the second to those in the
first, while the first is open to anyone who can afford to
give a big feast and who makes a distribution of property.

" You must now allow me to introduce you to a young
Indian just out of his teens. He is a hunter and a fisher-
man, splendidly built, pleasing to look at, as brown as a
berry, keen-eyed as a hawk, and rejoicing in the name of
Dozqum Gaik (Black Feather). He has been working
hard for the last four years and laying up the fruits of
his labour. He is now worth about a hundred blankets,
four or five dozen cups and saucers, five bags of rice,
twenty boxes of ship's biscuit, a small barrel of molasses
and a quantity of tobacco. Just notice his gait as he
walks, observe the elasticity of his step and the way he
holds up his head ! Why should he not hold up his head ?

56 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

Is he not lord of a hundred blankets, each measuring
six feet by four ; and the coveted prefix ' Shim/ is it not
within measurable distance of his name ?

" The happy hum of summer is hushed throughout
forest and glade ; the ground is strewn with the recent
glory of autumn ; the snow-line is nightly creeping lower
and lower down the mountain sides, the harsh sound of
the rapids is heard from afar on the still frosty air ;
another week and it will be winter. Dozqum Gaik is busy
in his uncle's house preparing for the long-anticipated
feast. A goodly pile of fragrant cedar logs stands near
the door ready for the hearth, half a dozen eagles, with
the assistance of Black Feather's rifle, have filled yonder
bark bag with their fine white down, while the kindness
of the neighbours has multiplied the number of pots
beside the door. All is ready for the feast. Pots of rice
are boiling, Black Feather's female relatives are to the
fore in force, the blankets are piled up near the entrance
ready for distribution, and in the corner the lord of the
feast is putting on a coat of paint, to which he adds a
kilt or jingling apron, and a pair of leggings, finally en-
folding his body in a coloured blanket. The guests
begin to pour in, each bringing his or her dish and spoon,
while a man at the door points out the place of everyone,
uttering the word ' Git ' (there it is).

" The principal chief's place is at the end opposite the
door, while on his right and left sit the other chiefs,
according to rank, with their heirs (i.e. their nephews)
squatting in front of them. The guests sit all round the
house in four ranks, the ' Umgigiat ' near the door. The
food is served out first to the chiefs and last of all to the
1 Umgigiat.' The feeding over, Black Feather's uncle
addresses the chiefs, standing out in the light of the fire,
his blanket gathered across his breast by his left arm,
while his right is extended towards the nobles — " Now,
ye chiefs ..." He introduces his nephew, whose good
things he flatteringly deprecates, while recalling to mind
former famous feasts given by those whom he is addressing.
Black Feather then comes forward and, taking two

THE RED MAN AS A HEATHEN 57

blankets off the pile, gives them to the Min (First Chief) ,
to each of the other chiefs and their heirs he gives one,
to the leading men he gives half a blanket each, while
the ' Umgigiat ' come in for one-sixteenth each. Thrice
happy day for Dozqum Gaik — the smiles of his guests and
their reiterated title of ' Nat ' almost turn his head, he
is giddy with elation, and already looks forward to creating
a greater sensation a few years hence when he takes the
' Lulthim.'

" Bang ! Bang ! Something has struck the roof of the
house, and Black Feather falls to the floor as though he had
been shot. In a moment a dozen stalwart men have cast
aside their blankets and stand around him in their paint
and kilts. Tearing his blanket from him, they roll his
apparently lifeless body into an elk-skin, which four of
them hold at the corners, and sway it to and fro to a slow
drumming and singing on the part of the others. The
drumming grows more rapid, the sing-song more jerky,
and they toss him up and catch him again as they whirl
round the fire in the centre of the floor. Now a few of
them have got the bark bag of eagle-down, the contents
of which they throw up by the handful, assisting its flight
with their breath.

" See ! they are enveloped in a cloud of whirling,
eddying feather-flakes as, circling round and round in the
firelight, they toss Black Feather higher and higher to-
wards the large opening (chimney) in the roof. Closer
and closer they mingle together in the cloudy maze, then
a final toss and out of their hands goes the elk-skin, to
come down limply on the floor. Black Feather is gone !
Tossed up to heaven ! *

" There they stand looking up at the starry sky as seen
through the opening in the roof, while smothered ex-
clamations of awe and wonder escape from the lips of the
f Umgigiat,' and the chiefs sit on in quiet dignity. The
party then breaks up, and each person goes home in
silence. Four days have elapsed since Black Feather

1 The vanishing operation is, of course, a cleverly performed
trick.

58 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

was tossed up to heaven, and the guests are again
assembled in his uncle's house, where they are seated as
before, enjoying a second edition of the feast. Around
the fire stand the painted and kilted members of the
' Milthat ' looking up at the opening in the roof and calling
upon ' Miltham Kila ' (God of Miltha) to restore to them
the missing youth. One of their number takes a large
wooden spoon filled with fish oil, which he presents aloft,
crying out, ' Alu kwilth Ye, dum gibin t'kon ' (Walker
abroad, you will eat of this), after which he deposits the
huge spoon with its contents on the fire. Suddenly the
flames leap forth, ascending in a fluttering stream through
the aperture above, illuminating the interior and exterior
of the festal hall.

" Thud ! Bump ! Something has fallen upon the roof,
and out rush the dancers, uttering the peculiar yell of the
' Milthat.' Presently they return with Black Feather
in their midst, whom they lead around before the guests.
Then putting him again into the elk-skin, they sway and
toss him as before, and again cause him to vanish in a
cloud of eagle-down.

" The next morning Black Feather is seen sitting on a
rock on the opposite bank of the river quite naked, while
all the inhabitants of the* village stand before his uncle's
house looking at him. Through this crowd a party of
naked ' Gamilthat ' urge their way with a dancing step,
cross the river and bring him over. Through the village
they lead him four times, a hungry-looking creature (for
he has not eaten anything since the first night of the
feast), and then conduct him to his uncle's house, where
for four days the members of the ' Milthat ' continue to
drum and rattle over him. During those days a wreath
of teased alder-bark is hung outside the house, and
nobody is allowed to pass by the front ; they must go by the
back. A third edition of the feast brings the ceremony
to a close, and then Black Feather goes into retirement
for the remainder of the winter. If you go into his
uncle's house you will observe a corner screened off by a
bark mat, behind which someone is evidently at work.

NISHGA CHIEF WEARING STATE BLANKET.
These blankets are of great value and are now unobtainable.

THE RED MAN AS A HEATHEN 59

It is Black Feather in seclusion, whiling away the dreary
hours in making and repairing his hunting and fishing
appliances.

" There will be, perhaps, a session of the ' Lulthim ' in
February, at the feast of which he will be liberated. But
you will not find him then the beaming youth of the
summer before ; there will be a hard look of the world on
his face, his smile will strike you as a little cruel, his look
cunning and crafty, while the whole demeanour of the
man shows that he has been morally ruined. He has
imbibed quite a store of selfish, worldly and debasing
principles from the instructions of the old ' stagers ' who
initiated him into the mysteries of the first degree. Don't
let any of my readers suppose that these ceremonies are
got up for the amusement of the Indians. What the
Universities and other noble institutions are in the esti-
mation of the youth of England, such are these customs
in the estimation of Indian youths.

" The ' Lulthim,' or second degree, is much the same as
the ' Milthat,' except in one particular. At a certain
stage of the dance one of the old members catches a dog,
kills it on the spot and throws its body to the man who
is being initiated. This person takes the dog and tears
out its yet warm and palpitating heart with his teeth,
gorges on it like a ravening wolf and smears his face with
the blood.

M The ' Ulala,' or third degree, consists of eating human
flesh instead of dog's. In olden times a slave, generally
a woman past work, was handed over by the chief of the
Ulala to be torn to pieces by the dancers. Now they
content themselves by biting pieces out of each other's
arms, cheeks, shoulders, etc. The winter before I re-
turned to England (1890) they made a lay figure, covered it
with stiff dough, and ate that as a substitute for flesh.

" The ' Hunanalthit,' or fourth degree, consists in a
man's accumulating as much property as he can, then
giving a feast and a dance, at which he works himself up
to a pitch of frenzy when, with a club in his hand, he
runs amuck through the village, destroying some article

6o McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

of property in each house, afterwards making a restitution
from that which he has laid up. A greater honour than
this no Indian can attain to !

" Such then is the nature of a little bit of Red Indian
heathenism ; such is the nature of the darkness the
Church of Christ is called upon to dispel."

3. THE AVENGER OF BLOOD

" The ' Shegit ' is the avenger of blood whose duty is
to kill the person, or any relative of the person, who may
have slain a member of the family to which he belongs.
Any member of the family can take upon himself the
office of Shegit if he chooses. A son, however, would
only avenge his father's death in a case where a father had
no nephew, but a father could and would take up the
case of his son.

" On one occasion I had a narrow escape from the
Shegit : — There was a medicine-man who threatened to
take the life of a youth by witchcraft in the event of the
boy's assuming the title of a certain vacant chieftainship
to which he, the medicine-man, asserted a prior claim.
Notwithstanding, the boy's family helped him to take
the dignity, and after that he sickened and died. His
mother then took a gun, loaded it, handed it to the youth's
father, and pointing towards the door uttered the word
Shegit ! Out strode the man, gun in hand, going in the
direction of the medicine-man's village. The next day
the body of the ' doctor ' was found stiff and stark on
the snow ; the Shegit had taken the required vengeance.

" About a week after this event the relatives of the
murdered medicine-man came to me to report the cir-
cumstances of the crime, and saying that they would not
perpetuate the feud if the Queen's law could be set in
motion. I wrote informing the Indian Agent of the
murder, and in a short time fourteen specials were de-
spatched to arrest poor Shegit. In attempting to carry
out their instructions they shot him and nearly brought
a hornet's nest about, not only their own ears, but the
ears of every white man in the district. The Indians,

THE RED MAN AS A HEATHEN 61

however, held a council at which they fixed the blame
of Shegit's death on me, because I had given infor-
mation to the authorities. Whereupon Shegit's father
and other members of the tribe set out for Aiyansh.
Arriving there, they found that we had gone down
to the coast for the annual Conference, and that we
would be back again in three weeks' time. Those
three weeks they waited patiently for my return.
Meanwhile, we were at Metlakahtla waiting for the
steamer by which we expected to return to the Naas
where our canoe was. One day, however, near the
end of the time, I made one of a boat's crew to go to
a place called Inverness for some necessary things,
and was utterly astonished on coming back to find that
the steamer had called and left for the Naas in my absence.
This appeared to be a great inconvenience, as she would
not touch there again for a month to come. We thought
ourselves very unfortunate until we reached Aiyansh and
found that the ' Shegiting ' Party had left for the interior
the evening before. They had waited the three weeks
and given me two days' margin to make up for possible
delays ; but when I failed to turn up at that time, they
concluded that I had got wind of them, and would, there-
fore, not come up at all, so they left !

" Some may think my escape was owing to chance, good
fortune, or the like ; but I attribute it to God's good
providence.

"lam now on very good terms with this family, and
the old father always comes to see me when passing
through my district."

CHAPTER IX

The Red Man as a Christian

" T T THEN we speak of ' believers ' it is necessary for
VV people to understand exactly what is meant.
Let us imagine a large mountain. Those who dwell on
the mountain know all the peaks, passes, valleys and
slopes and have names for them. This mountain is
Christianity, and the people are, we will say, English
believers. Imagine now a people who never saw a
mountain ; up out of the bowels of the dark earth they
came into the day ; standing afar off, they wonderingly
gaze at the blue hazy immensity rising up to the sky.
They see it clothed in the glory of a heavenly light ;
they see it in its entirety, but they know nothing of its
wealth of detail, its lovely crags, charming glens and
sparkling rills ; they only hope to reach that mountain
and live there some day. These are Indian believers
just emerged from heathenism."

By this metaphor McCullagh described the mental
attitude, the moral outlook and the unformed character
of the Indian while yet in the infant stage of his new life
in Christ.

Among the early converts of the Nishga tribe one man
stood out prominently above the others ; he was also
pre-eminently typical of the rest of his tribe who re-
nounced heathenism for the Christian faith. This was
Tkaganlakhatqu, who had been baptized by the name of
Abraham, and was henceforth generally known as Chief
Abraham Wright. Before his conversion he was recog-
nized as a great chief and allowed to be the bravest and
fiercest Indian in the country. There were in his char-

62

THE RED MAN AS A CHRISTIAN 63

acter many noble traits and also many weak points.
" I often found him," wrote McCullagh, " a great hin-
drance to the spread of the Gospel among the heathen.
He wanted everything to be done by force and with an
imperial hand ; he could not understand why anyone
should be at liberty to reject God's Holy Gospel. He
would put all such revilers in irons and keep them there
until they repented ! Nevertheless, there ran through
his disposition a large vein of tenderness and magnanimity.
He would die for the cause of truth in the whole much
more readily than he would comply with some of its minor
requirements. But that was because he could grasp the
idea of the Kingdom of God as a whole better than he
could comprehend the why and the wherefore of sub-
ordinate details in their relation to the whole. Under
given circumstances Abraham would certainly have
belonged to the ' noble army of Martyrs ' ; indeed, it
was not his fault that he was not one ! He was a very
graphic preacher and very fervent in prayer ; as for
singing, he put his whole heart and soul into it, and indeed
all his throat and lungs too."

His progress in grace was very remarkable. The
natural man remained always ; but as the spiritual man
grew, the evil instincts and base qualities of heredity
became less and less marked, while the noble qualities
of courage and generosity became refined and sanctified
by grace, proving the truth of that old inspired utterance,
" The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth
more and more unto the perfect day." 1

Two incidents in his life illustrate this. They are thus
described by McCullagh in the annual letter he wrote in
1905 for private circulation among the friends of his work
at home :

" Shortly after I first came to Aiyansh I saw Abraham
training a dog to draw a sled upon the ice in front of the
Mission-house. The poor animal was of course anything
but clever at this work, and tried Abraham's temper and
patience so sorely that he belaboured the unfortunate
1 Proverbs iv. 18.

64 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

brute most unmercifully with a stick, and continued to
do so even after the dog lay quivering and senseless upon
the ice. The sight of this so aroused my indignation
that I strode down the bank fully determined upon giving
Abraham exactly what he had given the dog ; but by
great grace I was enabled to confine my castigation to
words only. These, however, were so effectual that
Abraham expressed immediate regret for what he had
done, and promised never to ill-treat a dog again.

" As a sequel, and by way of contrast, let me add the
following incident : A few years ago the council con-
demned some distempered dogs to be destroyed, and
Abraham and Jonathan were deputed to carry this order
into effect. Away they went accordingly, Jonathan
carrying the rifle and Abraham leading the dogs. ' Now
then/ said Jonathan, ' just hold this one out a bit while I
put the muzzle to his ear/

" ' Wait a moment, my son/ replied Abraham, ' not so
fast; let us pray first/ And, kneeling down on the
shingle, he began, ' O God, the Creator of all things that
live, these poor dogs are Thine, the work of Thy hands.
We do not willingly or wantonly destroy the life that
Thou hast given them. But as a matter of necessity we
are compelled to put them away on account of the children,
lest they should contract an evil disease from them. Have
mercy upon us, therefore, for we do not seek to dishonour
Thee in this matter/ ' Now/ he added, turning to
Jonathan, ' you can shoot/ *

The same law of conduct governed his actions in
other ways. As his character developed so did his in-
stincts become refined and his impulses controlled. It
will be remembered that, of his four wives, there was only
one who cared enough for him to join him when he first
renounced his old heathen life. Her name was Esther.
She was getting old at this time and soon became rather
blind and less capable of the drudgery which was the usual
lot of an Indian's wife. Her husband therefore began to
think of putting her away for a younger woman. McCul-
lagh was told of this privately ; so, one day, while speaking

THE RED MAN AS A CHRISTIAN 65

to Abraham, he said, " I hear you are going to cast off
your wife." Abraham made no answer. Then his
spiritual friend and mentor went on to say, " If you were
getting blind and your wife thought she would leave you
on that account, how would you like it ? Would you not
think she was a bad woman ? " After a pause Abraham
said, " You are quite right I will not cast her off."

" Some time after this," McCullagh wrote, " I wanted
each man to have his marriage solemnized in church,
and every one agreed to do so. But on the day when
the ceremony was being performed Abraham declined at
the last moment to marry Esther, although the poor old
woman had prepared for it and was looking as tidy as
possible. This showed me that he still cherished the idea
of putting her away, so I said to him, ' You have still that
intention in your heart ; why don't you put it into prac-
tice ? We will have a special wife-putting-away ceremony
next week ! '

" Time passed away ; Abraham did not cast off Esther,
and I had quite forgotten that the marriage had not been
solemnized in church ; a certain number were being
prepared for Confirmation with a view to the Holy Com-
munion being administered. The day for the first Com-
munion was drawing nigh, and I was astonished to find
that Abraham did not think he would communicate.
Questioning him elicited nothing, and I was puzzled to
know what was keeping him back. However, a week
before the time he came to me and, after much hesitation,
asked, ' Chief, can you marry me to-morrow ? * Ah ! here
was the reason of his hanging back. ' What do you want
to be married in such a hurry for now ? ' I inquired. ' I
want to be present at Communion,' he replied, with an
audible tremor in his voice, ' and I would like Esther to
be with me/ And so it was done as he desired."

It can easily be understood that even a brave Indian
like Abraham stood considerably in awe of the white Chief,
who spoke to him so plainly and who would make no
compromise with his faults and failings.

" I happened to be in my dispensary one morning,"

66 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

wrote McCullagh, " when Abraham and a new convert
came into the waiting-room. Not expecting me to be
there so early, their conversation was loud and free.
Abraham was giving his companion hints as to how he
should behave, especially with regard to the missionary.
' Smile,' he said, ' always smile when you speak to him,
and say " Ahm " when he tells you to do anything. It is
better to meet a grizzly bear than come near him when he
is angry ! You can always tell ; if you see two little red
spots in his cheeks, then get out of his way as fast as you
can ! Mind you never go to sleep in church, because he
will stop preaching and call on you to wake up, and you
will be ashamed. He is very warm-hearted when preach-
ing — he kicked the front out of the pulpit a few Sundays
ago ! ' Here I thought it was time to cough ! ' wad
some power the giftie gie us, to see oorsels as ithers see
us ! ' "

It will be remembered that Abraham had first left his
native village in order to defend a school-house at Aiyansh.
This was afterwards put into a good state of repair by
McCullagh, and one winter was used by him as a hospital.
There were five patients in it, and Abraham and Esther
were in charge of them, when suddenly, one evening, the
whole place was in flames. It was just possible to get the
patients out safely, but their belongings were all burnt,
and so were Abraham's possessions. The heathen up the
river, seeing the flames, came down to ascertain what was
on fire. Their presence seemed to excite Abraham, and he
began talking loudly to himself.

" There is among the Indians a custom which consists
in shaking eagle's down on a person's head in order to
pacify him, and if the putting on of this down be accom-
panied by an invitation to a feast, the person dare not
refuse the invitation.

" Before Abraham was aware, then, two heathen chiefs
were shaking the downy eagle's feathers over his head,
loudly inviting him to a feast that very night and, having
done this, the whole heathen party returned to their
village to make preparations for this dance and feast,

THE RED MAN AS A CHRISTIAN 67

which they intended to be the means of drawing back
Abraham Wright into heathenism. Soon after their
departure Abraham came to me and asked my advice.
' Take no notice of their invitation/ I said. • Yes/ he
replied, ' I would if I thought I should soon die, but I am
ashamed to break the custom of the feathers ! ' ' Well/
I said, ' if you must go, go in the strength of the Spirit,
and take two Christian friends with you.'

" So about ten o'clock they started off for the heathen
village, but before reaching it they had to traverse a long
valley at the end of which stood the heathen houses.
While going through this valley they could see the flames
shooting out through the opening in the roof of the
principal chief's house, where the feast was going to be ;
they could hear the loud hau-hauing of the men, the shrill
voices of the women, the tom-toming of the boys and the
excited barking of the dogs. This foretaste of the
temptation into which they were about to enter took the
heart out of them. ' Let us pray ! ' cried Abraham ; and
down the three Christians fell upon their knees in the
snow, praying God to deliver them out of the snare. How
long they remained praying they could not say, but I
should judge more than fifteen minutes. Rising to their
feet, calmed and strengthened, they resumed their journey
but were astonished now not to see any light in the village
before them, nor to hear any sound ; a dead silence seemed
to have fallen on the place.

" Wonderingly they went on, passed through the village
and returned without seeing anyone ; in every house there
was darkness, the dogs had all been called in and the
fires extinguished for the night. They came and told me
all this on their return, but it seemed inexplicable to me.
What could it mean ? Next morning, however, we heard
the reason of it all. It appears that when the preparations
for the dance and feast were at their height, the wife of
the principal chief stood forth and addressed her husband,
advising and cautioning him to have nothing to do with
any attempt to draw back Abraham into heathenism.
* Hitherto/ she said, ' you have held your chieftainship

68 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

without any molestation from the white man ; you have
never suffered the indignity of being brought before a
judging-man (magistrate). Why then will you run the
risk of getting into trouble now you are old ? Leave
Abraham alone, you do not live by him.' This speech
caused the chief to cover his mouth with his hand, in
which attitude he pondered awhile ; and then, turning to
the young men, he said, ' Quench the fires ! Away, go
every one to his own house ; let there be no more words
to-night.'

" This was taking place while, not a mile away, the three
Christians were on their knees in the snow, praying. I
never knew anything have such an effect for good upon
Abraham as this little experience of God's love and care.
He seemed to think that God had remembered his pas-
sionate defence of that same house years before and had
defended him when its burning brought him into a snare."

Abraham was very keen on learning to read his own
language, and he made good progress. He developed the
gift of preaching, knowing many parts of the Bible well
and effectively, pointing his sermons with illustrations
drawn from the common incidents of Indian life.

McCullagh commissioned him to lead a band of open-
air preachers to a heathen tribe at their fishing-camp. He
became a pillar of strength to the Christians at Aiyansh,
and during the absence of the missionary on furlough
in England he was able to take charge of the mission
with conspicuous success. He tried hard to become
civilized in his manners and in the way he conducted
the affairs of his household, showing what a real power
the Gospel of Christ has to uplift a man socially as well as
morally and spiritually. His devotion to McCullagh
evoked a glad response from that warm-hearted man, who
felt able to write of him years afterwards in these words.
" From being a poor benighted heathen, having no hope
and without God in the world, he is now a dear brother
in Christ, whom I respect and love, and who, without any
exaggeration, I can truly say, deeply loves me."
Abraham's name will appear again, incidentally, in one

THE RED MAN AS A CHRISTIAN 69

or two later chapters ; but this seems the most fitting
place in which to insert a brief record of his decease : 1
" Abraham's death was triumphant ; with his last
breath he sang, ' Lakhaim Zabi-Vl'l amit ge ' (My heavenly
home is bright and fair), and then, waving his hand to
his friends, he passed in through the gates."

1 He died in October 1901, his wife following him a month
later.

CHAPTER X

The Art of Healing

THE Medical Mission Auxiliary of the Church Mis-
sionary Society was inaugurated in the year 1891,
and has proved itself of inestimable value as an adjunct
to the spiritual work of the Church in heathen countries.
But when McCullagh first went out to British Columbia
the medical side of missionary work was almost an un-
known quantity. And yet nothing was more important
for most missionaries than to have some acquaintance with
medicine and surgery.

" From the first," he wrote, " I found that my effici-
ency as a missionary to the Indians must depend largely
on a practical knowledge of medicine and of the treatment
of disease. Now, to begin with, I knew absolutely nothing
in this line beyond a bowing acquaintance with physiology
and anatomy. However, that was not a bad foundation
on which to begin the study of drugs and the symptoms of
disease. I therefore provided myself immediately with a
supply of medicines, a medical dictionary and a couple
of good medical works and, with these to guide me, my
study and practice went along determinedly, hand in
hand. The Indians took it for granted that, being a white
man, I knew everything there was to be known under the
sun ; and this expectation I had to live up to as best I
could. A clinical thermometer is a wonderful little instru-
ment, not only for the information it imparts, but also for
the professional air it gives to one's diagnostic prelimin-
aries, and for the confidence with which it inspires the
wondering Indian patient. The same may be also said
of the stethoscope. With the aid of these, coupled with

70

THE ART OF HEALING 71

downright study of my books, I found myself effecting
cures. I gave myself up to this work without stint or
grudging. It filled me with joy to be able to remove pain
or suffering in any degree.

" As a backwoods missionary one forfeits all that the
world can give in the way of social pleasure, convenience
and comfort ; but it is ample and sufficient compensation
to have the joy and satisfaction of helping those who
really cannot help themselves in times of trouble, sickness
and distress, to say nothing of leading them out of the
darkness of heathenism into the light of Christianity."

Before long, annual grants of medicines were supplied
to McCullagh by the Dominion Government. There was
a certain amount of risk to be run by the novice in
practising medicine and surgery among a people who
understood nothing of the real nature of disease or the
necessity of obeying the directions of their medical
adviser.

For instance, the Indian would carry home from the
dispensary a bottle of medicine with instructions to take a
large spoonful in the morning and another in the evening.
In his house he would sit down and look at the bottle.
It puzzled him to know why he should take only a small
quantity at a time, until he thinks he has solved the
problem — " If one spoonful can do me good, half the
bottle may cure me at once." And forthwith he has two
or three swigs, to be followed by the rest of the bottle
before he goes to bed, and in half an hour he comes back
to the missionary to complain that he must have given
him the wrong stuff, for " it made him feel so sick ! "

McCullagh's sense of humour shows itself in the follow-
ing incident : Shagaitkshiwan was one of those who were
early drawn to the Aiyansh settlement for instruction.
At first he was very unsatisfactory, being a wild sort of
man, and for many years the missionary had to keep him
back from baptism.

" He used to gamble the clothes off his back at the
heathen village where he was wont to go and stay for days
together, coming back to the mission again like the

72 McCULLAGH OF AIYANSH

prodigal son. I could not get him to learn anything ; all
instruction seemed so irksome to him. At first I com-
pelled him to attend with the others, but he set me at
defiance by putting his fingers in his ears, and sitting
there with his elbows on his knees. For several evenings
he did this, and then he went on a hunting expedition.
It was winter, and having to make his way up the side of a
hill, he kept the forefinger of his right hand in the muzzle
of his rifle to keep the snow from getting into it. A
twig, however, caught the hammer, and bang went the
gun, blowing Shagaitkshiwan's finger off. He came home
in a very sorry plight and sent for me to dress his wound,
thus providing me with my first surgical operation. He
caused quite a deep feeling of sympathy by his woebegone
appearance and asked me if the wound would be very
serious, to which I replied, ' Yes, very ; you will never be
able to put that finger into your ear again/ "

After this, Shagaitkshiwan took a turn for good, giving
up his gambling habits and manifesting a real desire to
learn the truth. In a couple of years he had quite aban-
doned his wild ways and was baptized by the name of
Moses, after which he was always called Moses Wan.
Henceforth he led a humble Christian life and showed
considerable ambition to be a civilized member of society.

Sometimes a patient would forget to take his medicine
during the day, but when the evening came he remem-
bered the omission and thought he would make up for it
by taking three doses at once. The humorous side of the
red man's ignorance sometimes displayed itself, as the
following story shows :

" Once an old chief paid me a visit, saying he had heard
that the white man had medicine which could make people
young again ; he would like me to give him some !
1 Well,' said I, ' I have nothing that will make a man
young again, but I may be able to give you something to
strengthen you.' Yes, that would do very well, that was
what he meant. ' Now/ I said, ' you must go and stay
in A's house until to-mo