Up and down the north Pacific coast by canoe and mission ship

AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST
BY CANOE AND MISSION SHIP

THF. MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF THE METHODIST CHURCH

THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S FORWARD MOVEMENT

DEPARTMENT

REV. THOMAS CROSBY, D.D.

Born 1840. Died January 13th, 1914.
For fifty years Missionary to the Indians of British Columbia.

UP AND DOWN THE

NORTH PACIFIC COAST

BY CANOE AND MISSION

SHIP

BY

REV. THOMAS CROSBY, D.D.

\\
AUTHOR OK "AMONG THE ANKOMENUMS"

f HE MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF THE METHODIST CHURCH

THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S FORWARD
MOVEMENT DEPARTMENT

F. C. STEPHENSON, Secretary.
Methodist Mission Rooms, Toronto, Canada

£72

t. Canada, -19'K'. by
FREDERICK CLARKE STEPHENSON

TO

Irar IBtfr

MY FAITHFUL PARTNER IN TOIL AND
SORROW AND SUCCESS

AND TO

THE FRIENDS OF INDIAN MISSIONS
EVERYWHERE

M 8799

" They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the
stars forever and ever.'1

INTRODUCTION

THE story of missionary effort and enterprise among
the people of this or any other land is one of the most
thrilling and interesting that its history can reveal. What
deeds of heroism ! What struggles and loneliness ! What
sacrifice of personal comfort and ambition ! What inspir
ing faith and sublime hope ! What determination, in spite
of fearful odds! Enough here to make a romance that
would stir the heroic heart of a nation with pride in its
noble sons and daughters, willing to brave the hardships
of isolation, and the dangers among savage tribes, that
to those in darkness they may bring the Light of Life and
raise the less favored of the earth to the higher planes of
Christian civilization! Every story of true missionary
zeal and effort enriches the historic annals of a people;
and yet the whole missionary story of this land of ours
will never be told. Many a beam of revealing light has
flashed upon the dark corners of earth; later generations
knew it not, for its pathway was not recorded in their
histories. To have known it would have been to under
stand better than we do the heroisms of the past and to
be nerved for a nobler future.

There is but one native race in Canada, now rapidly
passing away, the North American Indian ; and the history
of the early years of our Canadian life cannot be written
without giving to the Bed Man a large place therein. At
times he was the trusty friend, at other times the treach
erous foe, of the settlers in the East and along the Great
Lakes. In the West he is gradually yet sullenly retreating

vii

1NTBODUCTION

before the progress of the White Man and his civilization,
and the day seenis not far distant when he must be
absorbed by that advancing progressive life or be pushed
into the Western Sea. The contact of the White Man
with the Indian has been closest and most intense where
it has been due to the desire of the White Man to Chris
tianize his dusky brother. No more uplifting and trans
forming results of such contact can be found than are to
be seen on the North Pacific Coast, from the borders of
Washington to the heart of Alaska.

The author should not be expected to make any apology
for giving this story to the public, since he has spent the
past fifty years in mission work on this western coast of
Canada. Beginning when paganism was rampant and
when but little had been done for the heathen Indian, he
has seen the work advance and darkness recede before the
dawning light, \\nti] to-day churches and schools under
Christian control are to be found in almost every Indian
village and white settlement on the Coast. To-day this
Province, that fifty years ago had scarcely a beginning in
religious development, has a population quite as well pro
vided for in religious and moral influence as any in the
Dominion. This has not been accomplished without heroic
effort on the part of many, and it is with the hope that
the story here told may lead others to devoted service to
the Master and may deepen the interest of the Church in
the Indian race that this book is given to the public.

W. J. SIPPRELL.

Vlll

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

To My Friends,—

For many years I have been listening to the requests
of lovers of missions that I would give in book form a
record of missionary work among the Indian tribes of
the Northern Pacific Coast of our country and of the
wonderful transformation in character and conditions
which the introduction of the blessed Gospel has brought
about. Believing that such a record will have the effect
of encouraging the missionary spirit and the missionary
hope in the Church, I feel that I can but accede to these
solicitations of my friends.

The following annals are from sparse notes and from
memory, supplemented by various missionary records; and
although I feel free to claim them to be correct, yet I am
sure that if any defect be observed, my readers will readily
overlook it. Not writing books but working for the spread
of. the Gospel among benighted peoples and striving to
extend the influence of the Kingdom of Christ in the
hearts of my fellow men have been my occupation and
object.

THOMAS CBOSBY.

IX

CONTENTS

CHAPTER. PAGE.

INTRODUCTION • Vii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

xni

T. THE COAST AND ITS INHABITANTS
II. DTEX, A PRINCESS OF ROYAL BLOOD
III. THE FORWARD MOVEMENT OF 1874
IV. FORT SIMPSON ... .35

V. SIMPSON DISTRICT ....
VI. MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL ORGANISATION . . 63
VII. EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL -WORK .

VIII. BELIEFS, TRADITIONS AND LEGENDS ... 97
IX. A COUNCIL OF PEACE .
X. CANOES AND CANOE TRIPS

XL OTHER CANOE TRIPS 135

XII. ALASKA 151

XIII. AN APOSTLE OF ALASKA 163

XIV. BELLA BELLA 181

XV. THE NAAS MISSION ... .195

XVI. OUR WORK ON THE SKKENA 213

XVII. Ox THE SKEENA AGAIN 231

XVIII. KTTAMAAT . . .247

x

CONTENTS

CHAPTER.

XIX. THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS .

XX. IN NEED OF A DOCTOR

XXI. MEDICAL WORK

XXII. THE INFLUENCE OF TOTEMISM

XXIII. SHAMANISM AND ITS EVILS ....

XXIV. " THE GLAD TIDINGS "

XXV. " THE GLAD TIDINGS " AT WORK .

XXVI. ON BOARD " THK GLAD TIDINGS" .
XXVII. INDIAN CHARACTERS AND TRIUMPHANT DEATHS
XXVTTI. A SUMMARY OF RESULTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE

Jlr.v. THOMAS CROSBY, D.I) Frontispiece.

PIONEER MISSIONARIES . . . . 18

TYPICAL INDIAN VILLAGE OK THE PIONEER DAYS . . . 18

" THE QUEEN OF SHEBA " . HO

GlBLS AT THE KlTAMAAT Ho.Ml. . 30

INDIAN FIRE BRIGADE, FORT SIMPSON . . . 12

THE CHURCH AND SCHOOL AT FORT SIMPSON 42

THE SIMPSON DISTRICT MEETING ... F»6

A\ INDIAN WEDDING PARTY . F»fi

THE CAROL SINGERS, FORT SIMPSON 72

THE MISSION HOUSE, FORT SIMPSON-
CROSBY GIRLS' HOME, PORT SIMPSON, 1913 .
A COUNCIL OF PEACE ...... • H^

THE DROWNING OF MR. WILLIAMS

CARRYING THE GOSPEL TO THE INDIANS — CROSBY'S CANOE .

PHILIP MCKAY

NEW BELLA BELLA — A CHRISTIAN VILLAGE .
A HEATHEN VILLAGE — AN APPEAL FOR THE GOSPEL . .
How THE INDIANS ox THE NAAS WELCOMED THE MISSION
ARY

xiii

ILLUSTRATIONS

AN Kv ANGEL ISTIC TRIP UP THE SKEENA RIVER . . .226
THE MILITANT MISSIONARY— DR. CROSBY AND THE MEDICINE

MAN 254

THE SCHOOL CHILDREN AT SKIDEGATE, Q.CJ. . . .270
MISSION BUILDINGS

PIONEER INDIAN MISSIONARIES 310

A MEDICINE MAX AND His PATH: NT

" THE GLAD TIDINGS " . 334

" THE THOMAS CROSBY " 334

.
STUDENTS OF COQTTALEETZA INDIAN INSTITUTE, CHILLTNVACK,

B.C. 386

XIV

THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST AND ITS
INHABITANTS.

Extent and Character of Coast Region — Lord Dufferin's
Description — Marquis of Lome on Climate — Vancou
ver and Queen Charlotte Islands — Position and
Resources — Aborigines — Their Houses —
Nations and Villages.

" 0 Lord, how manifold are Thy works!
In wisdom hast Thou made them all''

Up and Down the North Pacific
Coast

CHAPTEE T.

THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST AND ITS
INHABITANTS.

STRETCHIXG from Puget Sound in the State of Wash
ington to the westward bend of the great Alaskan peninsula
lie a thousand miles of sea coast, the only close competitor
of which is the coast of Norway, thousands of miles away.
Throughout its entire length the mountains of the Coast
Range rise abruptly from the sea, with only here and
there room for a village at their base,

A subsidence of the land during the glacial age has
resulted in the flooding of the ancient mountain valleys,
and has produced a maze of islands, channels and inlets,
which fringe or indent the coast. A straight line drawn
from the outermost islets to the headwaters of the fiords
would sometimes exceed a hundred miles in length, and,
following the channels themselves, the distance to be trav
elled after leaving the main Pacific is sometimes more
than three hundred miles before the head of tidewater is
reached. It is quite possible to travel, by ship, throughout
the entire length of this region by " inside " channels
without a vision of the open sea at more than two or
three points, and in doing so one views a panorama of
sea, mountain, waterfall, forest and glacier unequalled
in the tmrW.

3

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

This entire region is supposed to have been covered with
: iee during the glacial period, and the mountains every-
wh,3re show traces of its action in their rounded forms
and 'polished rock surfaces. For the same reason very
little soil is to be seen except in valleys and on islands
some distance from the main shore.

Of this coast, some six hundred miles in lineal extent
lie within Canadian territory, while the remainder, to the
north-west, belongs to the United States territory of
Alaska. Owing to the deeply indented nature of the coast,
the Canadian portion of it has a shore line of some seven
thousand miles. It affords almost innumerable harbors
and access by the deep inlets far into the interior of the
country.

Every traveller who has threaded this labyrinth of water
ways, teeming with varied marine life, and gazed upon the
magnificent mountains, covered with the finest forests in
the world, has expressed his judgment of this region in
terms of unqualified admiration. Among others, we may
be allowed to quote from Earl Dufferin, who visited the
coast of British Columbia in September, 1876. "Such
a spectacle as its coast line presents," says his Excellency,
" is not to be paralleled by any country in the world. Day
after day for a whole week, in a vessel of nearly two thou
sand tons, we threaded an interminable labyrinth of water
lanes and reaches that wove endlessly in and out of a net
work of islands, promontories and peninsulas for thousands
of miles, unruffled by the slightest swell from the adjoin
ing ocean, and presenting at every turn an ever-shifting
combination of rock, verdure and forest, glacier and snow
capped mountain, of unrivalled grandeur and beauty.
When it is remembered that this wonderful system of
navigation, equally well adapted to the largest line-of-
battle ship and the frailest canoe, fringes the entire sea-

4

ITS INHABITANTS

board of your Province, and communicates at points some
times more than a hundred miles from the coast, with a
multitude of valleys stretching eastward into the interior,
while at the same time it is furnished with innumerable
harbors on either hand, one is lost in admiration at the
facilities for intercommunication which are thus provided
for the future inhabitants of these wonderful regions."

The Duke of Argyll, when Governor-General of Canada,
accompanied by her Royal Highness the Princess Louise,
travelled along its Pacific coast, and describes the climate
as follows :

" No words can be too strong to express the charm of
this delightful land where the climate, softer and more
constant than that of South England, insures at all times
of the year a full enjoyment of the wonderful loveliness
of nature around you. Agreeable as I think the steady,
dry cold of an eastern winter to be, yet there are many
who would undoubtedly prefer the temperature enjoyed
by those who live west of the mountains. Even where it
is coldest spring comes in February, and the country is so
divided into districts of greater dryness, or of greater
moisture, that a man may always choose to have a rainfall
small or great as he pleases."

British Columbia west of the Coast Range, including
Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands, enjoys
an oceanic climate wonderfully like that of Great Britain,
except that the summers are very much dryer. A warm
ocean current, known as the Japan current, strikes the
western coast of North America just as the Gulf Stream
strikes the coasts of Great Britain and Scandinavia.

Vancouver Island is an important country by itself,
measuring 285 miles in length from Gonzales Point to
Cape Scott. Its greatest width is about eighty miles and
its area 16,400 square miles, or about ten million acres.

5

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

The western coast is indented with inlets in somewhat the
same manner as the coast of the mainland, and is more
mountainous than its eastern side. When communica
tion by rail across Seymour Narrows is established, there
is no doubt that a remarkable development will occur in
this part of the Province. The Queen Charlotte Islands
are also mountainous on the western shore, with a con
siderable tract of level land in the eastern part; and they
likewise only await the advent of the railway to become
the scene of the development of tremendous natural
resources.

In addition to what has been said of the resources of
the British Columbia coast, we must add that it is also
one of the most richly endowed regions of the world in
mineral wealth, including coal, iron, copper, silver and
gold.

British Columbia was at one time wonderful in its pro
duction of fur-bearing and food animals; and no story
of the development and history of the country with respect
to the coming of the White Man and his contact with the
native population would be complete without some refer
ence to the hunting grounds, the product of which was
one of the reasons for the contact of the Pale Pace with
the dusky Red Man. The days of these hunting grounds,
teeming with game, have almost gone, and yet among
mountains and along rivers there are still many animals,
constituting a paradise for the enterprising sportsman.

From the seaboard to the centre of the Province,
throughout its entire length, there exist numerous and
extensive valleys presenting most valuable arable and
grazing lands and destined some day to become highways
of commerce when railways have made them better known.

When we consider that British Columbia occupies a
position in relation to the Pacific, with its trade routes

6

ITS INHABITANTS

and possibilities of future commercial development, exactly
equivalent to that occupied by Great Britain on the
Atlantic, it is surely no great stretch of the imagination
to suppose that, with its magnificent resources in fish,
timber, fruit and minerals, and with a rapidly developing
interior which must find an outlet for its products through
British Columbia ports, this coast may support a dozen
or more large cities between Puget Sound and the Alaskan
boundary. As a centre of trade and civilization it seems
likely to take rank among the greatest commercial sections
of the world. The inflowing tide of immigration has not yet
affected the coast as much as it has the Prairie Provinces,
but the great inducement of its remarkable climate must
make it, when once rendered thoroughly accessible by rail,
one of the most thickly populated parts of the Dominion.
As it stands at present, 1913, it offers homes to thousands
far better than those they now occupy on the Atlantic
seaboard.

The region thus richly endowed, and of such glorious
promise for the future, has supported in the past an Indian
population as interesting, and in many respects as admir
able, as the land in which they dwelt. More numerous
and more concentrated than any other of the native
American races, owing to the comparative ease with
which a living could be gained on this coast, they
have developed mechanical and artistic skill to a degree
unequalled elsewhere. The varied nature of their occu
pations, divided as they were between sea and land, has
contributed to the production of a type of social life some
what less stoical than that of other Amerinds. In physique,
the Coast Indians are short as compared with those of the
plains and of the eastern forest region, with relatively
longer bodies and short, sturdy limbs. This fact has been
attributed to their life in canoes, but is probably more

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

inherently racial. Their faces resemble those of the
Japanese so closely that a newcomer to the Province has
at first some difficulty in distinguishing between them.
In general, however, they are larger, heavier in build, and
lack the physical grace which is characteristic of their
Oriental cousins. The more northern tribes were superior
in war, customs and language to those further south.

The Indian villages were generally situated on islands,
or at the heads of inlets, where the deltas of inflowing
streams afforded a level space, backed by hills and well
supplied with water and fish. The houses were arranged
in rows along the beach, with little or no space between
them, and were often placed on piles so that the tide, when
full, flowed underneath, and canoes could be unloaded at
the doors.

In the north, they consisted of a framework of massive
timbers formed by setting up posts at each end with
hollowed or mortised tops, upon which were laid large
trunks extending the whole length of the house. One
such timber under the eaves and one on a higher level
on each side of the centre line of the house supported
the roof, which was covered with slabs and cedar bark
held in place by stones and left open in the middle of
the ridge where a sort of double trapdoor, pivoted in the
centre and arranged to open on either side as the wind
required, allowed the smoke to escape.

The sides of the house were covered with cedar slabs,
hewn to a thickness of about two inches and often as much
as five or six feet in width, which were arranged horizon
tally, and mortised into posts set upright at intervals of
from ten to twenty feet. The totem or crest poles of the
families residing therein — who were usually four or five
in number — often formed part of the front of the house.

8

ITS INHABITANTS

Through the base of one of these totem poles a round hole
was sometimes cut, which served as a door to the house.

In times of war a more secure dwelling was constructed
by making an excavation five or six feet deep. The sides
were further raised by mounding up the earth taken from
the excavation. The whole was then roofed over.

The house within consisted of a single large room. The
interior dimensions were generally about fifty or sixty feet
square. In the early days the Indians slept on the floor
with their feet towards the fire, which was always in the
centre of the house ; but in more recent times they arranged
sleeping platforms along the sides of the room. These
were divided into separate compartments or berths, and
the bedding consisted of matting woven from grass, of
rushes or of the inner bark of the cedar tree, of skins, and
sometimes of the wool of the mountain-goat or of dog's
hair. The floor itself was of mud, with loose cedar slabs
laid down here and there.

Within the house, besides cooking and preparing or
curing food, work, such as weaving mats and baskets, bead-
work and carving in slate or ivory, was carried on. In addi
tion, the large floor space offered considerable opportunity
for gatherings of various sorts, such as councils, dances,
theatricals and sleight-of-hand performances. These were
engaged in especially in winter.

The houses of the northern tribes were much stronger,
more elaborate and more weather-proof than' those of the
nations to the south.

The various Indian nations on the coast, with the
territory occupied by each, may be briefly summarized,
beginning with the most southerly.

The Ankomenums, a branch of the Flathead race,
occupied the Fraser Eiver valley as far inland as Yale,
the Puget Sound shores as far as Olympia, and perhaps

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

southward to the Columbia River, also the south-west coast
of Vancouver Island and the shores of the Straits of
Georgia. They originally numbered thousands, where
only hundreds now remain.*

To the north of the Ankoxnenums were the Clayoquots
(Klaquets or Kwa-Kualth), who inhabited the islands
and shores from Cape Mudge, at the northern end of the
Gulf of Georgia, to the north-west extremity of Vancouver
Island, including Jervis, Butte, Knight's, Kingcombe and
Seymour Inlets and Johnstone Straits. They were about
two thousand in number, occupied villages at Cape Mudge,
Mamalelachie, Alert Bay, Green Point, Knight's Inlet,
Kingcombe Inlet and Koskemo, and extended as far as
Smith Sound on the main shore. The Bella Bellas, about
a hundred miles north at McLachlin Bay, belong to the
same race and speak practically the same language. Their
villages were Hyhise, China Hat (in part), Kitlope and
Kitamaat, thence up the inlet to Bella Coola proper, and
they are found at the North and South Bentick Arm
(Kimsquit) and at Taliome.

The Tsimpsheans (or Tsimsians) commence at China
Hat, where they are mixed with the Bella Bellas, who
occupy the coast to the south of that point. They are also
found at Hartley Bay (or Kithata), Kitkhatla, Metla-
katlah, Port Simpson and for some distance inland along
the Naas and Skeena Rivers. There is also at New Metla-
katlah, Alaska, a settlement of eight hundred Tsimpsheans.

The Tlinkets occupy the coast of South-eastern Alaska
from the Naas River to a point somewhat west of Mount

* The work accomplished among the Ankomenums by the
Methodist Church in the early days of the Crown Colonies of
British Columbia and Vancouver Island and up to the time of
the admission of the Province into the Dominion of Canada has
been described in a previous book, "Among the Ankomenums,"
by Dr. Crosby.

10

ITS INHABITANTS

St. Elias, where they border upon the Eskimos. They
included the Tongass, Stikene, Hanega, Keke, Huna,
Chilkat, Tagish, Yakutat, Yaktag, Ugul, and other tribes.
The languages of these different nations blend somewhat
into one another, as in later years the people have inter
married. It is probable that they all represent one original
stock, which became broken up by civil wars into distinct
tribes who developed different forms of speech among
themselves.

11

DIEX, A PRINCESS OF ROYAL BLOOD.

Fort Simpson— William Duncan—The Illegal Liquor Traffic
A Prayer-meeting and Its Results— The Bar-room-
Elizabeth Diex— Alfred Dudoward— C. M.
Tate — Father Pollard — A Call from
the North.

(< Rescue the perishing.

Care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;

Weep o'er the erring ones,

Lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.'3

CHAPTER TT.
DIEX, A PRINCESS OF ROYAL BLOOD.

PORT SIMPSON is about five hundred and seventy-eight
miles from Victoria, on the north-west point of the Tsimp-
shean peninsula, just to the south of the entrance to
Portland Canal, which has been recognized as the boundary
between British Columbia and Alaska, " Lach-wal-lamish,"
the Indian name for Port Simpson, or more properly for
the small island on which part of the village is built,
means " the place of roses."

It was formerly an old camping-ground of the Tsimp-
shean people while on their way from the Skeena and Old
Metlakatlah, where they resided original^, to the Naas
River for oolachan fishing. The Hudson's Bay Company
established their fort here about 1835, and soon great
crowds of Indians gathered around the post and built a
large village of between two and three thousand people,
It became not only an important trading-post but also a
distributing point to other places inland and on the coast.

Port Simpson is a desirable site for a large town or city.
It has a good, well-protected harbor and a climate mild in
the winter and cool in the summer. In nearly twenty-five
years of residence we saw very little ice in the harbor.
There is plenty of rain for all purposes.

It was to this place that William Duncan, lay mission
ary of the Church Missionary Society, came in 1858 from
England. He was induced to come by Admiral Prevost,
then captain of Her Majesty's warship, who had visited
. Port Simpson and seen the natives in their savage wild-

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

After five years' stay at Fort Simpson, William Duncan,
with most of his converts, fifty in number, moved south
some seventeen miles to the old village site of Metlakatlah,
and there built up a Christian community. Such centraliza
tion at one place involved calling the Indians away from
their own hunting and fishing grounds — the home of their
fathers.

The heathen people thus left at Simpson needed help.
They had formed the habit, with the Hydas of Queen
Charlotte Islands, of going to Victoria for cargoes of
whisky, which they took north in their large canoes.
While in the south they occupied encampments in the
neighborhood of the city, and were in fact being decimated
by the vices and diseases of civilization. From Governor
Simpson's time (1828), the Hudson's Bay Company had
refused to sell liquor to the Indians, but with the coming
of the miners in 1858 conditions had changed for the
worse.

The Tsimpsheaii and Hyda tribes, the latter under
" Captain John," a celebrated Chief, were frequently
camped in considerable numbers on the shores of Victoria
Harbor, and there came under the observation of Chris
tian workers. Under the influence of the vile liquors with
which they were supplied by unscrupulous traders, feuds
and murders were rife among them. An eyewitness of
these events in the early days describes them as follows:*
" An Indian's love of strong drink is so keen that he will
sell his wife or his children into worse than slavery to
obtain money to buy it. No sacrifice is too great, no price
too high to gratify his appetite for the inebriating bowl.
Several so-called ' importing ' wholesale liquor establish
ments were the headquarters, the manufactories, where
most of the vile liquid was made and sold by a bottle or

* Higgins, " The Passing of a Race."

16

DIEX, A PEINCESS OF EOYAL BLOOD

a thousand gallons at a time. Several large fortunes were
made from this awful traffic. The guilty parties were
immune from the visits of constables, and Justice was not
only blind, she was also so deaf that she could not hear
the plaintive cries of the wretched victims of man's greed
and rapacity as they rent the night air and seemed to call
down heaven's vengeance upon their poisoners. There are
men and women now living who can recall the awful
scenes of debauchery, outrage and death that were enacted
on the Victoria reserve and all along the island and main
land coasts because firewater was ladled out to the savages
in unlimited quantities. Is it any wonder that the grave-
digger found frequent employment at all the Indian
reserves, and that sometimes now when a post hole or
cellar is dug the bones of the wretched people who per
ished before the withering blast of the illegal liquor traffic
are turned up?" Such were the conditions that existed
for very many years among these wretched tribes.

The traffic in women for immoral purposes was another
evil that followed the opening of the mines. The awful
condition of the Indian women in the streets and lanes
of Victoria finally led to an effort on the part of some
Christians for their rescue.

Very many of the great events in the history of the
Church have been born of prayer, and so in this case it
was after much thought and prayer, at a meeting in the
house of the late William McKay, formerly of Prince
Edward Island, that the Avork for the Indians had its
birth.

After listening for years to the advice of the faint
hearted who said, " Nothing can be done ; they are too
low, too vile and deceitful," a number of such devout
souls as " Father » McKay, the late Sheriff J. E. McMil
lan, Mrs. A. E. Russ (whose husband was pastor of the

2 17

UP AND DOWN" THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

Methodist church at that time), and others, fired with love
for the perishing, went forth from that prayer-meeting to
rescue and save some of these lost sheep.

Their first attempt was made on the Songese reserve,
just across the bay from the city. Here in 1870 they
started an Indian Sunday School. A few of the scholars
knew a little broken English, but most of the work had
to be done by means of the Chinook jargon. Very soon
they were twenty-five in attendance.

It was here that Amos Shee-at-ston ; Sarah, his wife:
and a number of their friends were converted. They left
their old heathen houses and built nice little homes. A
great change came over the tribe, and a class and fellow
ship meeting was started.

Every time the workers went to the meetings they had
to pay twenty-five cents each to cross the ferry. The diffi
culty in getting to the work, and the fact that they were
not reaching some of the worst cases from the north, who
were strolling about the streets of the city, led to the rent
ing of an old bar-room on the corner of Government and
Fisguard Streets. Here the Sunday School was reopened
and carried on with great success.

Little did these earnest souls think that they were
kindling a fire that would spread to the great north with
wonderful and far-reaching results.

The Rev. William Pollard, who was Superintendent of
the Methodist Missions in the Province, writes regarding
this work, in December, 1871 : "We have had a gracious
revival among the Indians. . . . William McKay,
Mrs. Russ and some others commenced a Sabbath School
about a year ago, and Brother Crosby and David Sallo-
salton commenced preaching and holding prayer-meetings
every night. On October 30th a meeting was held which
resulted in nineteen experiencing religion/"' The work

18

Rev. Ebenezer Robson, D.D. Miss Susan Lawrence. Capt. Wm. Oliver.

PIONEER MISSIONARIES.

A TYPICAL INDIAN VILLAGE OF THE PIONEER DAYS,
lotem poles and native houses.

DIEX, A PKINCESS OF EOYAL BLOOD

was carried on in the old bar-room regularly. In June,
1873, Mr. Pollard writes : " Mr. Crosby, who was in charge
of the Indian Mission at Nanaimo, visited Victoria during
March District Meeting. Kevival services resulted in the
conversion of forty or fifty Indians, some from Fort Simp
son, Alaska, the Queen Charlotte Islands, the Naas, Bella
Bella and other places along the northern coast/"7

One of the most remarkable incidents of the revival and
its results was the conversion and missionary work of Diex,
a Chief tainess of the Tsimpshean tribe. This remarkable
woman was the daughter of a great head chief, and thus
a princess of the royal blood. In her girlhood she had
lived at her uncle's house in Fort Simpson, and had been
trained to observe the customs and manners fitting her
position. Like others of her rank she was not allowed to
go out unless attended by her slaves. Diex, who was a
handsome young woman, while out one day with her
attendants, espied several canoes approaching her uncle's
house. In wonder she gazed upon them, and as they drew
near she saw that they were filled with blankets. Sur
prised, she exclaimed:

" Slaves, what does all this mean ? Why come these
canoes here laden with these things?"

" Don't you know ?" was the reply.

" No," said she.

" Why," said they, " old Chief So-and-So's wife is dead,
and they are going to marry you to him. This is your
wedding day, and these are the presents they bring."

The young woman was filled with disgust, and her hot
Indian blood rose in indignation when she knew that they
would dare to marry her to this decrepit old man. Making
all possible haste, she fled at once to the fort, where she
remained for some time protected from the Indians.
There she contracted an alliance with a Frenchman named

19

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

Dudoward. Later she went to Victoria, where she lived
for some years, and was married to a man by the name of
Lawson, whom she survived.

One Sahbath morning in October, 1872, Diex happened
to pass by the old saloon, now hired by the friends for
Sunday School purposes, and heard the singing. She
asked a little girl, standing at the door, what they were
doing there, and whether she could go in. The child said,
" Yes, come in I" The next Sabbath she came at the same
hour to visit the school. On invitation she took a seat
in one of the classes. She had been taught some English,
and could read a little in the First Book of Lessons. At
this meeting one of the teachers led in prayer, and a
native also prayed in his own tongue with great earnestness
and power. Diex looked around, so she said, to see what
kind of book they were praying from. To her great sur
prise she discovered that they were not using a book, but
in their own simple way were telling the Heavenly Father
their great needs. On the afternoon of the same day she
attended school again and brought some friends from the
north with her. On this occasion she heard Amos Shee-
at-ston pray in Chinook, every word of which she under
stood, and was deeply impressed.

The following Wednesday evening the teachers arranged
for a prayer-meeting in her house. They found every
thing in readiness and several of her northern friends
present. That meeting proved to be the beginning of a
revival which lasted for nine weeks and resulted in the
conversion of upwards of forty Indians. Among the first
converts was Diex herself. She was soon afterwards bap
tized and given the name of Elizabeth. She was a woman
of commanding appearance and of great force of character,
and exerted a powerful influence over her people. No
sooner was she converted than she realized the power of

20

DIEX, A PRINCESS OF ROYAL BLOOD

Divine Grace in her soul and entered into the work of
bringing others to Christ. She was the means of leading
into the light quite a number of her own people who were
wandering in sin on the streets of Victoria.

Far to the north lay Fort Simpsorl, her former heathen
home, where lived her only son, Alfred Dudoward (Lap-
la-dalth). He was said to be a desperate and lawless
character, living in riot and debauch. To him her mother
heart now turned, and she longed to bring him the peace
and joy which she herself had found. Whole nights she
wrestled in prayer that her son might be induced to visit
Victoria and be led to Christ. Others joined her in these
petitions.

Some weeks after this a large canoe, containing Alfred
Dudoward, his wife and child, and some ten or a dozen
other natives, arrived at Victoria. To believers in prayer
this will appear as neither a remarkable coincidence nor a
chance circumstance but a direct answer to the effectual,
fervent prayer of this believing mother. Scarcely had he
and his wife taken their seats under her roof when she
introduced the subject of religion, and told them of the
" Pearl of Great Price " she herself had found. Her son
listened respectfully to what his mother had to say, but
intimated that he had no desire to share her religious
enjoyment, as that was not what he had come for. He
told her afterward that he and his people had come from
the far north for a load of whisky. The evening after his
arrival his mother attended class meeting alone, and the
greater part of the night was spent by her in conversation
with her family on the subject of religion and in prayer
to God for their salvation. Next evening Dudoward con
sented to go with his wife and mother to the meeting,
where he sat a silent spectator. He retired with a stub
born will but a convicted conscience. His wife was con-

21

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

verted. It was after much persuasion that he was again
induced to attend the services. He did so, however, and
before the meeting closed was on his knees crying for
mercy, and found peace through believing in Jesus. The
conversion of this couple was the first fruits of a rich
harvest of precious souls.

In July of that year, 1873, a camp meeting was held
at Chilliwack under the direction of the Kev. Cornelius
Bryant, then pastor of that mission. Dudoward, his wife,
and a number of other northern people attended and were
wonderfully blessed. In August of the same summer a
most wonderful series of services was held in the old bar
room.

In September many of the northern people wished to
return home and tell their friends what God had done for
them. This they did. some travelling by the Hudson's
Bay Company's steamer Otter, and others by canoes.
Before leaving, they urged me to come and visit them
at Fort Simpson. On arriving at their homes, they began
to sing and pray and repeat the Gospel stories as well as
they could ; and thus in story and in song, from hearts full
of new-found love, they told what a Saviour they had
found. This resulted in the sending of a strong invita
tion from Fort Simpson during the following winter to
the chairman, Rev. Wm. Pollard, desiring him to visit
them. This he did in February, 1874, and found hun
dreds of people hungering for the truth and eagerly
waiting for a missionary. Responding to their urgent
appeals, Mr. Pollard directed Mr. Chas. M. Tate,
then missionary teacher at the Nanaimo school, and
in later years so well known as one of the most successful
Indian missionaries, to proceed to Fort Simpson to teach
school and hold services until the newly appointed mission
ary should arrive.

22

DIEX, A PRINCESS OF ROYAL BLOOD

Though some of Mr. Duncan's friends thought the
coming of the Methodist Church into this field might
interfere with his work, nevertheless time has shown that
there was room for both Churches and that there was no
necessity for overlapping, as their fields of labor were
from fifteen to twenty miles apart. Throughout the years
there has been no encroachment by the Methodist Church
upon the territory occupied by the Church Missionary
Society.

THE FOEWAED MOVEMENT OF 1874.

A Visit to the East — E. R. Young — A Missionary Campaign-
Appointed to Fort Simpson — Marriage — Journey
i to the New Field.

Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to
every creature."

CHAPTER III.
THE FORWARD MOVEMENT OP 1874.

THE Chilliwack Camp Meeting of 1873, which was
attended with such blessed results, marked the close of
a period in my missionary labors. My first furlough was
granted after twelve years of toil. I was afforded the
opportunity of revisiting my home and friends and invited
to take part in a missionary campaign covering the Pro
vinces of Ontario and Quebec.

What a home-coming it was, and how it thrills the
heart with memories as I recall it now after forty years!
Twelve years before I had left, a mere boy, to go to lands
known only in name, and which seemed at that time " the
regions beyond/' Now I was going back to the old home
to relate the story of the years. What stories there were
to tell! Some of them sad and painful, recounting the
ravages made by sin upon the souls and bodies of men;
and yet some, too, of inspiring hope and strong faith on
the part of those who had come to know the power of a
Saviour's love!

Not the least interesting thing about the homeward
journey was the improvement in the means of transporta
tion. Twelve years before it had taken six weeks of con
stant travel to reach British Columbia from Ontario.
Then the journey was made by New York, Aspinwall, and,
after crossing the Isthmus of Panama, by steamer to San
Francisco and Victoria. Now the return journey was
made more direct and nearly all the way by rail. Then

27

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

the trip to British Columbia was considered quite as great
and arduous as to-day we consider a journey to China,
while the accommodations were by no means as convenient.
Now there stretched across the great continent the first
band of steel. Taking the Union Pacific train at San
Francisco and passing Salt Lake City, Ogden, Omaha
and Chicago, I found myself, after nine days, at home
in Ontario once more.

After a short rest among my friends — father, mother,
brothers and sisters in old Oxford County — I was called
by the Rev. Enoch Wood, Missionary Secretary, to attend
a meeting of the General Board of Missions in session at
Peterborough. There I met the Rev. E. R. Young, who
had spent six or seven years at Norway House among the
Cree Indians, a nation that lived under different climatic
conditions and differed entirely in language, physique and
customs from the Ankomenums of the Pacific Coast,
among whom I had spent twelve years.

At the request of the Board, Mr. Young and I together
visited most of the leading cities between Quebec and
Windsor, Ontario, in the interest of the mission work.
The results were most encouraging. The whole Canadian
Church became aroused. The meetings were carried on
in the old campaign style. We generally conducted the
regular services on Sunday and held week evening rallies
at each centre. The association of Mr. Young and myself
was pleasing both to us and to the people, as the difference
in our fields of labor afforded a variety of interest. Mr.
Young's work had been among the prairie and forest tribes
of the cold interior, dog-runners and fur trappers; mine,
among the seafaring and mountain nations of the coast.

During the campaign, services were held in most of the
Methodist churches of Montreal, closing with a great mis-

28

THE FORWARD MOVEMENT OF 1874

sionary breakfast in the basement of old St. James'
Church. On this occasion the place was crowded by the
leading Methodists of the city. The late Senator Ferrier
occupied the chair; addresses were delivered by Dr. Alex
ander Sutherland and the two Indian missionaries. It
was a most inspiring occasion and added materially to
the income of the Missionary Society.

Later, we attended a great gathering of Kingston Meth
odists at a missionary tea — the forerunner of the modern
missionary banquet — held in the basement of Sydenham
Street Church, and were afterwards hospitably entertained
in the home of our good friend, Mr. Arthur Chown.

A memorable Sabbath was spent in the city of Hamil
ton. The Centenary and other churches were filled to
overflowing and a gracious influence was felt at every
service. No more enthusiastic friends of missionary work
could be found than the late Senator and Mrs. W. E.
Sanford of that city. Their home was always open to
us, and from the beginning they gave enthusiastic and
sympathetic support to the proposed new mission to the
Indians of the North Pacific Coast.

During one of my visits to Hamilton it was my good
fortune to meet the young lady — Miss Emma J. Douse —
who afterwards promised to share the missionary's life
and labors, and who through the years that followed bore
as important a part in the work in the far north as the
missionary himself. Miss Douse was a teacher in the
Wesleyan Ladies' College and a daughter of the Eev. John
Douse, who himself had spent some years in mission work.
The fire of missions burned in her heart, and when we
learned that instead of returning to my loved field among
the Ankomenums we were appointed to the remote work

29

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

at Fort Simpson, on the borders of Alaska, six hundred
miles away from civilization, she offered no objection, but,
like a true, devoted follower of Christ, said she was ready
to go. From this time Fort Simpson was ever before
our minds, and all our plans had in view this new field
of effort.

Our friends in Ontario now began to send in special
donations towards the opening up of the new mission.
These were in addition to the regular subscriptions to the
funds of the Society, which had already been increased
some twenty thousand dollars by our winter's work. A
special instance of this occurred at an enthusiastic meet
ing held in the Centenary Church, Hamilton, which was
crowded to the doors. We had already spoken in several
of the city churches and they had given liberally towards
the General Fund. As the meeting was near ing its close,
while a collection was being taken, our kind friend, Mr.
Sanford, stepped upon the platform. After asking the
chairman's permission to introduce an important matter,
he intimated that he had a secret he would tell them if
they would raise a thousand dollars towards establishing
the new mission at Fort Simpson.

In a few minutes the required sum was promised. Mr.
Sanford then pointed to the corner of the church where
sat the staff and students of the Wesleyan Ladies' College,
and said, " The secret is that a young lady in that corner
is going out with the missionary." The enthusiasm burst
out afresh, arid " Fifty dollars from the Ladies' College "
was promised if the missionary would go and address the
students next day.

During the winter's campaign what might be called a
general " Forward Movement for Missions " took place.
We not only had good success with regard to finances, but
the services were often of great spiritual power and bless-

30

"THE QUEEN OF SHEBA,"
A grandmother of the old days.

GIRLS AT THE KITAMAAT HOME.
The result of Christian training.

THE FORWARD MOVEMENT OF 1874

ing. Souls were converted, and many decided to devote
their lives to God's service at home or in the mission fields.
These volunteers were not confined to the Methodist
Church. The Rev. A. B. Winchester, now resident in
Toronto, heard the addresses in Woodstock and afterwards
went to China as a missionary of the Presbyterian Church.
The Rev. H. J. Robertson, who was moved by hearing the
same addresses in Woodstock, devoted his life to missions
and is now in charge of the Presbyterian work among
foreigners in Winnipeg. Miss Lund, who was teaching
in Belleville, gave her life to Methodist mission work in
Japan. Among others who state that their first missionary
or ministerial impulse was received from the movement
of that winter are the Rev. J. H. White, D.D., now Super
intendent of Methodist Home Missions for British Colum
bia, and the Rev. W. H. Barraclough, who spent some
time as missionary to the Indians of the Fraser River and
afterwards was one of the earlier missionaries to the
Klondike gold fields.

As spring came on the missionary campaign drew to a
close and general preparations were made for our return.
Our marriage took place in April at the home of Mr.
Henry Hough, Cobourg. The ceremony was performed by
the Rev. Enoch Wood, D.D., assisted by the Rev. John
Douse, the bride's father, and her brother-in-law, the Rev.
George Browne. Mr. Douse was the last survivor of the
band of English missionaries who came out to join the
1 Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada. He served as
Treasurer of the Superannuation Fund for over twenty-
five years.

After some time spent in completing our arrangements,
we took leave, first of Mrs. Crosby's father and mother at
Lefroy, Ontario, then of the college friends in Hamilton,

31

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

and last of my own in Ingersoll. We then continued our
journey westward, via the Union Pacific Railway, to San
Francisco. The trip and the scenery were delightful. At
San Francisco we made a short stay, then went on by ship
to Victoria and from thence to Chilliwack, where we spent
a week at camp-meeting with the friends of my old field.

Our friends in Victoria, Westminster, Chilliwack and
Nanaimo were all intensely interested in the opening up
of the new mission and greatly inspirited us with their
words of cheer. The chairman, the Rev. Wm. Pollard,
having been up the coast and having had a warm reception
from the natives, still further encouraged us.

We took passage on the little Hudson's Bay Company's
steamer Otter, the only one running up the north coast.
There was not much business in this region at that time,
only a little at the Hudson's Bay posts and the Cassiar |
mines. The Company had a large store in the fort at
Simpson, and on that account we were told not to take any
large stock of provisions.

The trip was a very interesting one. We had on board
a number of miners, bound for Cassiar, many of them very
agreeable, jolly fellows. The Otter was a little ship with
no cabins or staterooms, and the miners had to sleep on
the deck. One of the officers gave up his room to the
missionary and his wife. If we did not hurry to bed in
good time we would have to step over a number of miners
rolled up in their blankets on the deck. In that whole trip
of nearly six hundred miles we had only five places to call,
most of which were Hudson's Bay posts. To us, as to
anybody who had never travelled that coast before, it was
most interesting to pass for days among those thousands
of islands. Often a group of mountain goats, gambolling
away up near the snow line, or a deer, swimming from one
island to another, would cause great excitement on board.

32

THE FORWARD MOVEMENT OF 1874

One day we called at Bella Bella, and after the captain
had landed some freight we took in tow a good-sized canoe.
While crossing Millbank Sound it was rather rough,, and
I accosted the captain, saying, " What are you doing with
that canoe hanging on at the stern ?" He remarked, " You
take care of your good wife, and you will find out soon
enough what the canoe is for/' When we got up into
Chatham Sound, eight or ten miles off Fort Simpson, he
had the steamer slowed down and his men draw the canoe
alongside. The bride and bridegroom were then told to
get on board and " paddle their own canoe/' An Indian
woman, who was returning to her home, steered the canoe
while we paddled and thus made for the shore. The kind-
hearted miners, the ship's crew and the good old captain
gave us a warm cheer and were off at once to Fort Wrangel
to land the passengers and freight for Cassiar Mines. The
steamer had all our goods on board and so, until she
returned, we had to camp at the fort for a day or two.

The sea was calm and we were soon ashore, three miles
south of the village. Here we met a canoe, the occupants
of which begged us to delay an hour or so while they has
tened to the village with the news of our arrival and made
ready to receive us. It was a delightful June morning,
serene on sea and shore. We paddled into a lovely bay
on Finlayson Island, and there sat down to wait. At our
feet were the deep blue waters and opposite, behind the
mainland shore, the rugged line of mountains which were
to grow so familiar through the years to come. Still a
little farther to the north and east stood Mount McNeil,
about six thousand feet high, where the natives say the
" big canoe " rested at the time of the flood. For genera
tions this old mountain was looked upon by them as the
place where the great Evil Spirit, " Tha-am-sum," dwelt,

3 33

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

and they would seldom pass along the shore at its foot
without praying and crying for help or mercy and, it may
be, throwing overboard food or other sacrifices to appease
his anger, especially in a storm. They believed he had
power to ward off disease and danger and give them success
in war and hunting.

FOET SIMPSON.

A New Language — Building Mission House and Church— Roof
off the Church— Church Work— New School House—
Our First Pentecost.

Come over and help us/'

CHAPTER IV.
FORT SIMPSON.

HAVING completed this wonderful trip by land and sea,
with its cities and prairies, with its forests and snow
capped mountains, with its islands and long, narrow
stretches of waterway, we landed from the canoe in front
of the Hudson's Bay Company's fort, and there shook
hands with hundreds of people, some fairly well dressed,
some in meagre clothing, others rigged out in gay-colored
blankets and shawls, and some with painted faces.

Our work here lay before us. We were welcomed by

Mr. Charles F. Morrison, the kind English gentleman who

was in charge of the fort, and also by Mr. Charles M. Tate,

our missionary teacher from Nanaimo, who had been hold-

• ing the ground for a few months until our arrival.

At that time the fort was well walled in with a fence of
solid posts about eighteen feet high. There was a tower at
each corner, with very heavy gateways nearly always under
1 lock and key. Outside the gates stood a number of large
cannon, ready to fire a salute of welcome to friendly visi
tors or a blast of warning to hostile Indians. Inside was
a little trading store, which was only large enough to allow
for one customer at a time. Long rows of heavy log build
ings stood on the east and west sides of the enclosure.
The building to the east was where the Company's goods
were kept ; those to the west were for men's quarters, work
shops, etc. On both sides of the fort gates were officers'
quarters. To the rear, on the south side, was the house
of the governor or chief factor. This arrangement of the
buildings left an open square Jn the middle of the
enclosure.

37

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

The old cannon in • front of the fort were now put in
use to fire a salute on the arrival of the missionary and
his wife. As we had no house, we were kindly allowed
to use part of the officers' quarters within the fort until
the lumber should come from Victoria and we could build
a home.

A day or two was now spent in going around to see th€
general condition of things. It was clear that at once
we must have a place built in which to worship. The
people themselves also talked much about the building oJ
a church, as the only place available at present was a
large heathen house, fifty or sixty feet square. Nearlj
all the houses in the village were of a similar character,
having a low, flat roof covered with slabs and bark, a fire in
the centre of the floor and a hole in the roof to allow the
smoke to escape. There was but one shingled house outside
the fort.

We were permitted to use Chief Scow-gate's house or
the island, where part of the village was built, for school
and church purposes. There were no roads or bridges
and we had to walk out to the island on the beach wher
the tide was out. We at once called a meeting in the
chief's house to decide about building a church. Thii
was necessary in order to secure supplies, as the steamei
was going south in a day or two. Some of the people a1
the fort said:

" You are not going to ask these poor people to helf
you build a church, are you? They have no money, thej
have heard that you have been in Canada and collected
lots of money ; and indeed they have' heard that you would
not only build a church for them, but also build them little
houses to live in."

I said, " How do you purchase those beautiful furs ?"

They said, "We trade blankets, muskets and ammuni
tion." 38

FOET SIMPSON

"Well," I said, "blankets will do for us." We had
learned enough about human nature to know that the more
you get people to give towards places of worship the more
they will value them when built.

Notice was given to everybody to meet in the chief's
house. The Indians crowded in from all parts of the
village. I had to speak through an interpreter, as we
were now face to face with the fact that we were among
another people, speaking a strange language. There seemed
hardly any more similarity between the Ankomenum and
the Tsimpshean than there is between the Chinese and
the English. We now told them that we had come to live
among them at their invitation ; we hoped to learn the
language, preach the Gospel and teach them, as well as
we knew how, the arts of civilization; but we had met
to-day to talk about church building. Through the kind
ness of an architect, Mr. Thomas Trounce of Victoria, we
had brought along plans of a building calculated to hold
about a thousand people.

I told them also that although some of our friends in
Canada had contributed towards helping to start the
mission, this money was all left in the hands of the
missionary authorities, and that we would like to have
them first do all they could towards building the church,
and then help would come from the Missionary Society.
I then laid down ten dollars for myself and ten dollars for
my wife, to start the subscription. Some of the people
seemed pleased and some otherwise, and presently the big
doors flew open and most of them went out as fast as they
could go. I said to the interpreter,

"What is the matter? Are they angry?"
He said, " No, I think they will come back by and by."
I said, " Let us sing, ' Shall we gather at the river/ " a
hymn that they had lately learned at the revival in Vic-

39

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

•

toria; and the few of us that were left around the little
table sang nearly the whole hymn. Soon many of the
people came back with blankets over their shoulders, some
ten, some five, some two, and others one. These blankets
were Hudson's Bay Company's trade blankets. The
Indians had to pack them away in boxes in order to keep
them clean, as they were their only cash in trade. They
were worth $1.50 each. Those who had no blankets
laid down a musket or some furs, until we had over four
hundred dollars donated that day towards building God's
house; and before it was completed the subscription went
up to one thousand dollars, with some aid from white
people. Many of them gave until it was a real sacrifice,
as they had given their last blanket.

After this spontaneous liberality the real welcome to
the missionary began. A number of very interesting
speeches were made by chiefs and leading men of the place,
which left no doubt as to their hearty appreciation of our
coming to them.

The converts from Victoria had carried on religious
services among their friends since their return, and by the
splendid help of the missionary teacher, Mr. Tate, who
had left for his work in the south by the return boat, much
good had been done. Our first class meeting was held in
a little room inside the fort. Mrs. Crosby taught the
school in the large house, while we got to work getting out
timber for the Church and clearing away a foundation
for the Mission House. Most of the summer was spent in
this way.

The lumber arrived in November by schooner. It was
all thrown overboard — as there was no wharf — rafted
alongside the ship and towed ashore. Without horses,
oxen or team of any kind, we had to get all the lumber
and timber up the hill and, soaked as it was with salt

40

FOKT SIMPSON

water, every piece had to be packed on men's backs. As
we had no carpenter, the Missionary had to lead the way
in superintending the building and, with the assistance
of an old French-Canadian, in showing them how to hew
and whip-saw timber and make shingles. A number of
the young men, however, were very anxious to work as
carpenters. We had great trouble to prevent them from
spoiling lumber by splitting or cutting the boards in the
wrong place, but they were quite gifted mechanically, and
on the whole very ready to learn. By dogged perseverance,
and through a dreadful amount of wet weather, we had
our little Mission House up, and got into it about a week
before Christmas.

We had services nearly every night in the week and four
or five times on the Lord's Day, in addition to visiting
the sick and giving out medicines. Most of our services
had to be carried on through an interpreter. We felt that
every effort must be made to get hold of this new tongue.
In this Mr. Dudoward, our interpreter, was a great help.
We had many a struggle before we were able to preach
and teach the people in their own tongue, but every mis
sionary should master the language the very first thing.
Our Watch Meeting was a time long to be remembered,
and was followed by several weeks of special services,
which were " times of refreshing." About a hundred
joined the Church on trial. During the winter several
died, one an old woman, who wished to have the rite of
Christian baptism. On being asked whether she had given
up all her heathen ways, she said, " Yes, and now I am
going to die and be with Jesus, and I wish the mark
before I go.9'

Our Sunday School was a great means of instruction
and help to the people; we had from five to six hundred
in attendance. Our Day School was well attended, and

41

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

was a great source of hope for the future. We had seventy-
five adults in attendance and about one hundred children.
Mrs. Crosby took charge of the Day School nearly all the
time with the assistance of Alfred Dudoward and Kate,
his wife, who were valuable helpers.

Up to this time both Sabbath services and School were
held in an old house covered with bark, but we had the
Church and a good School House up before long, by the
help of God and the liberality of Christian friends.

The following summer, with a first-class carpenter as
superintendent, we began the building of our Church, a
large frame structure with a spire at the front. During
the process of building word came from the Chairman that
the Missionary Society could not afford to put up the
spire, as shown in the plan. So the people met to talk
about it, and gave an extra donation of labor and goods
for the purpose. We went to the woods to get special
timber for it and also a raft of cedar blocks for shingles.
For a time it was most difficult to get shingles made, but
after a while we had the building all covered in, although
we had not lumber to quite complete it.

The time now came for the opening of the Church and
its dedication to the service of God. We found, when our
accounts were all made up, that there was a balance of
about four hundred dollars due on it. As we had received
word from the Mission Rooms that nothing more could
be expected from that quarter for the present, we talked
the matter over with the leaders and some of the people,
who urged that we call a public meeting. There were also
present at this meeting some of the Company's servants
and the owners of a sawmill, which was just being built
about seven miles away. I told the people we should like
to open the Church and dedicate it to the service of God,
but there was a debt of about four hundred dollars on

43

THE FIRE BRIGADE, FORT SIMPSON.

THE CHURCH AND SCHOOL AT FORT SIMPSON.

JFOKT SIMPSON

material, and how could we say that we gave this house to
the service of Almighty God when some one else owned
part of the building, in lumber, nails, paint, etc., not paid
for? We must have this put right before the dedication.
After a few little speeches the people brought their offer
ings of blankets, goods and money, enough to cover the
whole deficiency. Then " Grace Church " was dedicated
to the worship and service of God.

For some time after our arrival, with the assistance of
Mr. and Mrs. Dudoward, Mrs. Crosby had taught the
school, of about sixty or seventy adults in the afternoon
and one hundred children in the morning, in the large
heathen house, till it became a very serious strain upon
her health, and a better room was a necessity. The frame
of an old Indian house, about twenty-four by thirty-six
feet, had been purchased by Mr. Tate while he was teach
ing. The first lumber cut at the Georgetown sawmill was
secured to enclose this house, and we told the people we
wanted each of them to bring a board. There were no
sawed boards in the place at that time, but they brought
slabs of cedar of all shapes and sizes. We spiked them
down in the rough for the floor, and then with their native
adzes they smoothed them off, so that we had a fairly good
floor. We got poles for rafters, prepared some boards for
sheeting, got out cedar blocks and cut them into shakes
or long shingles to cover the roof, and thus had a better
house for our school work.

We were finishing our last row of shingles when the
steamboat, which had been away four months, arrived in
the midst of a snowstorm. When we got hold of our mail
bag we found, among the letters, a note with a cheque of
fifty dollars from a friend in Quebec, saying that it was
for some comfort and help for my wife, as a memento
of our last visit to them. I said, " Look here, my dear, I

43

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

am going to use this entirely for your comfort, for it is
solely for your comfort that the School House is being fixed,
and here is half enough to pay for the material." I wrote
to our friend that I had done as he had said and spent
every cent of it for my wife's comfort, explaining the
whole thing. Months passed away, when another cheque
came from the same friend for a like amount, and thus
we got the bills for our temporary School House paid.

The people crowded the new Church with delight, but
we had not worshipped in it long when, in the month of
November, 1876, during a terrific south-east gale, the
massive roof was swept entirely oft3, and for a time the
danger seemed to be that the whole building would go.
The wind caught in the tower and spire, and we had to
chop out the front of it to let the wind through and thus
save wrecking the whole building. While the storm was
raging, and shingles and boards were flying, some of the
poor people came running up the hill, holding up their
hands and crying and praying, saying, " You have taken
the roof, now spare the building. Oh, don't take all our
fine Church." In the midst of this excitement, we knelt
in thanksgiving to God that our lives were spared, for
we saw that some of the timbers of the Church had fallen
within about four feet of where we had been sitting at
family prayer in the little Mission House. Had those
timbers struck the house some of us might have been killed.

Some of the men then ran to the Fort to borrow ropes,
and others climbed up the main rafters, which were stick
ing up, and got ropes hitched to the front of the tower, and
thence, from one pair of rafters to another, back to the
gable at the south end, and then moored them down to
the stumps behind the Church.

After all was done that could be done to secure the
building, and the storm had abated a little, we all met in

44

FORT SIMPSON

the old house we had fixed up for a School Room. Some
of the men began to make speeches. One old man, acting
as though he were buckling his belt around him,, said,
" Long ago, when our canoe was split out at sea, we would
buckle our belts a little tighter; and with our hair tied
in a knot at the top of our heads, we would pull for the
shore, get into a quiet place and sew her up. Now God's
great canoe is split, and we must fix it." Then somebody
said, " No more long speeches ; let us get to work ;" and
they began to bring in their blankets, furs, muskets, ear
rings, finger-rings, bracelets (for they were very proud of
jewellery, like some other heathen people), and everything
that could be turned into money. The Hudson's Bay
officer in charge acted as Secretary.

We bought a large raft of cedar logs which had been got
for the Company's firewood and started with them to the
sawmill to get them cut for lumber to repair the building.
The canoes, each with a crew of two men towing a log,
raced to the mill, a distance of seven miles. The good
man at the mill came to see what he could do to help us;
and, as he was a clever mechanic, we soon found out where
the weakness in the first roof had been and how much
lumber it would need to repair it. As soon as it was cut,
he came back to help us in the work.

We had shingles made, and everybody soon became
interested in fixing up the Church. While the young men
were nailing shingles on the roof, even the old women
would come up the hillside by the Church and tie the
ropes to the shingles and say, " That is right, young men,
that is good, young men, work away and fix God's house.
Very good! Very good! (Sim-wil-am, sim-wil-am)/'

In three weeks after the day it was blown off we had
the roof on and held a thanksgiving service in the build
ing. Great indeed was the joy of the people that November

45

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

day when we met to give thanks to God for the restoration
of our fine Church. Some spoke, some sang, and some
cried for joy, while the blessed Spirit rested down with
great power upon us all.

The estimated cost of putting on the roof was one thou
sand dollars, and when the accounts were all finally made
up and the whole of the bills paid, we had sixty dollars to
the good. Miners and fishermen along the coast sent dona
tions to the Missionary when he was in trouble: special
subscriptions also reached us from afar; so that what at
first seemed our greatest trial became a means of grace
to us all. We now had a stronger roof on the Church
than ever, and all these difficulties which we had overcome
only tended to make the people love and respect God's
house the more.

The old patched-up Indian house served as a School
House only for a time. It was now decided that we must
have a new one ; so, after the people had subscribed towards
the new School House, we began to build, deciding to have
it not too far away from the other buildings. We found,
on account of the swampy condition of the land, that we
could not very well get our foundation posts down to solid
ground, so we put in mud-sills — large heavy cedar logs —
flattening them on one side to set our posts upon. We
built a large, fine building in the shape of a " T," the
back part of which was partitioned off by large folding,
or rather rolling, doors. This was all sealed inside and a
blackboard put around the whole interior. We thus had
a comfortable School Room for both adults and children.
When opened up it made a good lecture-room for week-
evening services. The whole of this building, even the
sash and doors, was made and built by the Indians under
the direction of the Missionary, as we had no carpenters.

Before the Church was completed, in answer to prayer,

46

FORT SIMPSON

and we think in a great measure to the fact that the poor
people had made such sacrifice for God's House, for in
some cases they had given all their earthly goods, a mighty
revival swept over the Mission. God is not slack concern
ing His promise, " Bring ye all the tithes into the store
house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts,
if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour
you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to
receive it." The story of this wonderful outpouring is
the story of a modern Pentecost. Once more we were
taught that it is " not by might, nor by power," but by
the gracious Spirit of God, that such a work is wrought.

The Missionary had gone, with his crew of Christian
helpers, about one hundred and fifty miles away to visit
a heathen village, when, in our absence, the blessed Spirit
came down in great power upon the people. As we were
returning we met some Indians in a canoe who were com
ing to tell us the news. As we approached them, a man
in the bow jumped up and beckoned us to stop paddling.
Our first thought was that something was the matter at
home, some one sick or dead. But he cried out in his own
language, " Jesus has come, Jesus has come. Many of the
people are converted. A great change in our village now."
The young man seemed to be overjoyed, and sat down
crying. The man at the stern got up and said, " My
brother can't tell you all about it, sir. I will tell you.
Soon after you left home the Spirit of God came down in
wonderful power. Old people have been converted, young
people have repented, women and children are seeking sal
vation. There is a great change among the Tsimpsheans
now." " Praise God from whom all blessings flow," we sang
together on that lonely, dismal channel, with the mighty
mountains on both sides of us. My boys said, " Now, sir,
we would like to pull all night. We want to get home

47

UP AND DOWN THE NOBTH PACIFIC COAST

and get some of that blessing/"' They pulled all that night
and all next day, Saturday, until midnight.

The Missionary's wife and the lady teacher welcomed
us at the door. They said, "We can't tell you what a
wonderful work God has wrought since you went away.
Nearly the whole village has been moved. One night hun
dreds of people came up and wished to get into the Church.
We advised them to go home and pray, telling them that
God would hear them in their homes ; but they said, ' No,
no, lady ; please let us into the Church. We think we shall
find Jesus in His own house.' So, taking a lantern, we
opened the door, and hundreds of the people crowded into
the Church, where many of them fell on their faces on the
floor, crying to God for mercy. For some time that scene
continued and many were blessed; then we advised them
to go home. On leaving the Church, as they were going
down the hill, although a terrible wind and rainstorm was
raging, they nearly all fell down on the ground as if they
were under a strange spell and began pleading earnestly
for God to have mercy upon them."

We now retired to rest, but were awakened early next
morning by a crowd of people singing. They had been
to the Sunday morning prayer-meeting; now here they
were, crowded around the Mission House. There was the
rough old conjurer; the man who said his hands were red1
with his brothers' blood; and the young men and women,
for many of whom I had prayed by name — but so changed !
Their very faces were altered. Here they stood around,
with tears in their eyes, singing " Jesus paid it all." Faith
fully we exhorted them to stand fast in the faith. No
one could doubt the mighty change that had taken place
in these hearts when he saw how earnest they were andi
witnessed their anxiety to carry the good news to other
tribes.

48

SIMPSON DISTRICT.

"School-um-text"— Wee-na-lke— Hall-obe— Backsliding Over a

Stovepipe — Growth of the Work — Simpson District

Organization — Band Workers — Dr. Carman's

Opinion — Sabbath Services.

What hath God wrought!"

CHAPTER V.
SIMPSON DISTRICT.

AFTEK the revival meetings recorded in the last chapter
many became intensely interested in the study of the Bible.
Every Sabbath morning after service the young people
who could read a little met in the Church for what was
called " School-Tim-text." They would find the text of
the morning in the English Bible and read it over and
over until they had it memorized in both English
and Tsimpshean. It was a joy to see with what pleasure
they went home, repeating the text as they went. Soon
some of them had memorized as many as forty or fifty
texts, so that when they were off at the fishing and logging
camps they would always hold service two or three times
a day, using these texts and what they remembered of the
sermon connected with them.

" Wee-na-lke," or old Susan, was a native Tsimpshean.,
and must have been about sixty years of age when she
was converted. She belonged to the Kit-an-doo tribe at
Simpson. She and a number of her children were con
verted about the same time in the revival. Among others,
she applied herself very earnestly every Sabbath morning
to learning the text. We often had as many as sixty old
people at the " School-um-text," after the morning service,
for the purpose of committing the text to memory in their
own language. Old Susan rarely missed, hence she had
a great many texts in mind; and a short time before the
Missionary left on a visit to the East she came to the

51

UP AND DOWN" THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

Mission House and asked if she might recite her texts. I
said, " Well, Susan, I will try and take time to hear you."
She opened out a little bunch of pebbles, tied up in a
piece of rag, and took one in her hand. Looking at it,
as if the shape of the pebble brought the text to her
memory, she began to recite, and thus, one after another,
picking up a new pebble for each, she recited forty texts
of God's Holy Word.

In our absence in the East she sickened and died.
Brother Jennings, who was in charge of the work, visited
her regularly, and sent us word that poor old Susan was
gone. She had a most triumphant death. As she lay,
suffering great pain, the Missionary would say, "Well,
Susan, you are very sick and suffering very much to-day."

" Oh, yes/' she said, " but when I feel so sick that text
of God's Word comes with such comfort, and that other
one " ; and, repeating the texts, she would say, " Oh, these
good words make me so happy, and seem to take away the
pain."

Day after day and night after night the precious Word
was her comfort. Surely in her case was fulfilled the
Scripture, " My Word shall not return to me void." She
thus passed away, triumphantly and peacefully, to the land
where there is no sickness. We missed her very much on
our return, but we are sure we shall meet by-and-by.

Hall-obe was a native of the Tsimpshean nation, one
of the old middle class and of those who had great respect
for Chief or superior. He was one of the early converts
to Christianity at our Mission, and sought baptism with
a number of others. His wife also joined him and was
baptized in the Church on a public confession of faith in
the Lord Jesus. They promised to put away all forms of
heathenism, God being their helper. He was baptized
" Enoch Wilson," was very earnest and devoted for some

52

SIMPSON DISTRICT

years, and really seemed to eiijoy vital religion. He might
have been sixty-five at the time of his conversion and was
among the class of most earnest, elderly people who
delighted to stay in the School Room after the morning
service to commit the text to memory.

He had been much troubled for some time with rheuma
tism, brought on by exposure to the cold and wet, and
by a life of wild dissipation. The rheumatism became
much worse as he grew older, and finally he had to walk
with crutches. So severe was it that it often kept him
from Church in bad weather, and then he would have his
wife bring home the text to him, for he loved God's Word.
We gave him remedies and he tried many kinds, which
he said helped him much. More than once he came to
the Mission House to ask if I had time to hear him recite
his text. He would recite fifty or sixty texts of God's
Holy Word that he had committed to memory in the text
school. He also often helped others to learn a text, and
thus assisted in services when they were off at distant fish
ing or hunting camps.

Poor old Enoch had his ups and downs, his trials and
failures, as others have. On one occasion he joined in a
semi-heathen ceremony of raising a stone to the memory
of a dead Chief. He subscribed some twelve dollars
towards the undertaking, money which he had saved for
the purpose of purchasing a stove. Speaking of it he
said: "When the monument came I got proud, and that
day I lost all my texts. I could not remember one of
them; they were all gone, and I have been unhappy ever
since. I am praying every day for God to give me back
His love in my heart, and also to give me my texts back
again."

The loss of a dear child was the means used of God
to bring him to Himself again. He became very happy,

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

»'

lived a Christian life, and treasured up more and more
of God's Word in his heart.

The Rev. A. E. Green, who was supplying at Simpson
at the time, tells this interesting and somewhat amusing
story of old " Enoch Wilson."

One day he and his wife were fixing up the old stove,
and trying to put the pipes together, but they would not
go. The poor old man was suffering from rheumatism,
his hands all bent with it, and his wife was urging that
he did not put the pipes together in the right way. He
tried again and again, but they would not come together.
He could not fix them, so he took up the axe, and broke
the stove all to pieces. Then he said he was tired, and
would lie down to rest. He covered himself up in his
old blankets in a corner of the room, and the Minister
was sent for. The messenger said, " There is great trouble
in Enoch Wilson's house ; he has broken the stove to pieces,
and some of the furniture/' The Minister went at once to
visit " lame Enoch, the class-leader," and when he reached
the house what a sight met his gaze! The stove, broken
in scores of pieces, was lying in the middle of the floor;
his poor wife had got another old lady in to sympathize
with her, and they were both sitting on the floor resting
their heads on their hands and crying over the broken
pieces. He asked what was the matter; they said Enoch
had got angry, and had broken the stove. He asked where
Enoch was then. Pointing to a bundle of blankets in the
corner, they said, "He is there." They started to sing,

" Come, every soul by sin oppressed,
There's mercy with the Lord,"

then prayed and exhorted Enoch to look to the Lord for
forgiveness. The poor old man uncovered his head, and

54

SIMPSON DISTRICT

began to cry,, and then to pray very simply, sobbing out,
" Come back, Lord, come back ; please don't leave me,
come back, Lord Jesus, and forgive me." Turning to his
wife he also asked her to forgive him. His repentance was
very sincere and his after-life witnessed to the complete
change that was wrought in his heart.

In spite of many afflictions and bereavements, he would
rejoice and praise God in the class-meeting in his own
house, when often, if he sat up, he had to be propped or
held up while he told his experience.

The greatest trial of all came in the death of the good,
faithful wife of his youth, who strangely enough passed
away first. Mournful, indeed, was his experience. It was
pitiful to hear him moan, " Oh, what will I do now ? She
who has been hands and feet to me so long and who cared
for me so well, she who would go to God's house and bring
back the texts of God's Word when 1 could not go, has
gone, has gone from me/'

Doctor Bolton, who had now come to our help and the
help of these poor people with his medicine, had been a
great comfort to Enoch for some time. Christian natives,
as well as the Mission people, now visited him regularly
and on the Sabbath would carry him the text as of old,
and sing with him such pieces as he delighted in. The day
came when Enoch passed sweetly away from his sufferings
on earth to the land of light. His last words to his friends
were, " Meet me there ! Meet me there I"

Within a few years from its commencement, our work
had extended to a large number of tribes on the northern
part of the Canadian Coast, and it was thought best in
1881 to organize these Missions into a separate district,
under the Chairmanship of the Missionary at Port Simp
son. The Port Simpson District reported at the follow
ing Conference, 1882, a work consisting of ten missions,

55

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

namely: Port Simpson, Port Essington, Kitamaat, Naas,
Kit-wan-silk, Kit-la-tamux, Bella Bella, Hyhise, Wee-ke-no
and Bella Coola, in charge of three Missionaries and six
native assistants.

There were regularly established Churches at Port
Simpson, Naas and Bella Bella, having a total member
ship of six hundred and seventy-five — of whom three
hundred and seventy-four were full members and the rest
on trial — seven local preachers and fourteen class leaders.
There were in all sixteen preaching places with a total
attendance of about thirty-four hundred; three parson
ages; and seven schools, having an enrolment of seventeen
officers and teachers and one thousand and twenty scholars.

The effects of the first revivals at Simpson passed over
somewhat as years went on, and, although many continued
very earnest and happy, there was a falling off, which
was very painful to us. We made this a matter of prayer
and asked also for the prayers of the Church as a whole.
In answer to our petitions, the Spirit of God came upon
us again in the year 1890, and the people were roused
once more to a renewal of consecration and desire to carry
the message to others.

For some time it had been perplexing to some of the
Missionaries to know how to get a large number of the
young people to do Christian work, which is of such great
importance to young converts themselves. Having heard
from Ontario some years previously of the Rev. David
Savage, and the great work he and his Christian Band
Workers were doing through that country, it occurred to
some of us that this was just the plan we needed to get
our young people to work. Hence in 1888 one or two such
bands were organized.

In the Missionary Report for 1888, Rev. W. H. Pierce,
the Missionary at Kitzegucla says, " Our Christian Band

56

THE SIMPSON DISTRICT MEETING. 1896.

AN INDIAN WEDDING PARTY

SIMPSON DISTRICT

is increasing, and God is raising up some young men to
carry the good tidings to those who sit in darkness/' In
the next Report he says, " We organized a band of workers
who were anxious for the conversion of their benighted
countrymen." About the same time the Missionary on
the Naas says,, " Our Christian Band has carried the Gos
pel hundreds of miles into the far interior." In the Mis
sionary Report of 1889, the General Secretary says of Kit-
wan-cool, " A most hopeful feature on this, as well as on
other Missions on the Simpson district, is the organizing
of the Bands of Workers, who have visited outlying heathen
villages and preached Christ to their heathen country
men."

In the Report of 1890 the Missionary at Essington says,
" The Band work which was begun last year is still carried
on. Most of the young people, several children, and some
of the older people are connected with it. They hold open-
air services."

The first of these Bands was composed of the most
earnest Christian workers at Simpson. Others were formed
at Kitamaat, Bella Bella and on the Skeena. They gener
ally carried on street preaching or open-air services in
their own villages, and also took trips with their Mission
ary, or sometimes alone, to distant heathen villages. They
were organized with a President and a Secretary. They
also carried a banner or flag with the name of their organi
zation, or Scripture texts, on it, such as " God is Love "
or " Seek ye the Lord while He may be found."

On nearly all of our Missions, the Bands were then
entirely under the control of their Missionaries. It was a
great pleasure to witness the earnest, self-denying zeal of
many of them. In all kinds of weather they would cross the
mountains from one river to another or travel by canoe,
toiling hard for days at the paddle, the pole or the tow

57

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

line, to reach the heathen villages that they might tell
their dying countrymen of Jesus and His love. Some of
them travelled hundreds of miles down the Coast to visit
the heathen villages of the Kwa-kualth nation. One could
not doubt that such work was a great blessing to them
selves, as well as to those to whom they went, and had
these young people kept faithfully attached to the Church
and under the direction of their Missionaries, they might
have proved to be a still greater power for good.

Rev. Dr. Carman, on his visit to our Missions, thus
describes these Bands of Christian Workers among the
Indians :

" Anyone visiting our Port Simpson District, with an
eye open to spiritual, intellectual, moral or social move
ments, must see that the bands of Indians within the
spheres of our influence are aroused and stirred by some
great energy that for weal or woe must powerfully affect
their character and destiny. When assemblies of scores
and of one, two, three or four hundred come frequently
together, say six or seven times a week, and sing and pray
earnestly, and rise into ecstatic fellowship, and talk and
sing of nothing but Jesus and His love, it must mean
something; and it must produce some results; and results
it does produce; for savage natures are subdued, heathen
customs are abandoned, and heathen gods, forsaken, fall.
Meekness takes the place of pride, and love of hate. The
change of spirit and life is quickly noticeable. No man,
till he has seen it, can form any idea of the moral, spiritual
and intellectual death of the pagan Indians. Oh, what
darkness! Oh, what blindness! Oh, what ignorance!
What utter torpor and vacuity of mind! One would say
it must take generations of time and toil to lift them any
where near the level of Christian civilization. And so it
must — by mere human devices and agencies. But who

58

SIMPSON DISTRICT

dare limit or restrain the power of God? And yet do we
not restrain the power of God when we fail in any way
to meet the claims of Missions upon us? And who dare
falter in his faith and trust before such a problem? And
yet do we not falter in our faith and fail in our obedience
when we are slow to commit ourselves in our several call
ings with all our powers to this Missionary work, and the
salvation of our race? It would not take generations to
effect this great work if the Church were in earnest. What
mine eyes have seen, what mine ears have heard, yea, what
I hear at this very moment of writing — for it is eight
o'clock in the evening, and the Essington band of workers
is making this end of the village lively with their songs
and prayers and shouts — is to me a matter of amazement.
Scores of young men and young women in these meetings
witness for Christ. I do not understand their language,
but when I listen to their testimony I hear the oft-repeated
name of Jesus, and many of their songs are in English,
and the theme is that blessed Name. Never to me was
the divine wisdom clearer and brighter in giving us a
Person, the God-man, to whom to look for salvation, and
not a system or an abstraction.

" These bands of workers were organized by the Chair
man of the District, I am told, with the approval of the
District Meeting, eight years ago, four or five years before
the Salvation Army or any of its members looked this way
at all. The Bands have their flags, drums, tambourines,
etc., and certainly are showy enough in their parades, and
demonstrative enough in their worship. They have not
used these instruments in the churches. Of course, doubt,
apprehension and controversy have arisen as to the pro
priety of such means at all ; but when it is remembered what
these people were, and witness what they are, much criti-

50

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

cism and severe judgment may well be deferred. There
will, of course, in the worship be demonstrative and voci
ferous jubilations, but there are also solemn and impres
sive lulls. And the reading of the Word, and the instruc
tion of the minister or teacher, are received with the
closest attention and deepest respect. Many have their
Bibles and pencils in hand, and do their utmost to catch
and retain the ideas given. I never elsewhere witnessed
such hunger for the truth of God. And to such a people
no one of a right mind could think of giving anything
else but the sincere milk of the Word; and as they are
strengthened in grace and knowledge the stronger meat of
holy doctrine. Speculate and theorize, decorate and criti
cize, invent and tincture elsewhere, but not here. And pos
sibly the kind of Gospel that carries converting power
with it here would do the same thing in other places.

" The readiness with which these people speak in their
meetings is an inspiration and a charm. They are very
democratic and great talkers in stories. In this they
differ from the habit of their native councils. One rises
while another is speaking, and that often seems a signal
for a speaker to stop and give another a chance. Often
< the experience ' is begun with a lively verse in singing, in
which all join, and sometimes it is closed in the same way.
They are sincere and simple-minded in their fellowship,
and have not yet learned the fear of man, that bringeth
a snare. If there be oddity, strange singing, or a mistake,
there is no staring, snickering or giggling all over the
house. But we are civilized, and these are just out of
savagery — and oh, how much remains to be done for them
and for us !

" A. CARMAN.
" May 14th, 1896;"

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SIMPSON DISTRICT

The intrusion of the Salvation Army into our Christian
villages, which superseded this work, entailed a great
expense and loss of energy.

We had at Simpson, about this time, nine classes organ
ized. It was a blessed sight to see fifty or sixty adults
coming forward to be baptized, after weeks and, in some
cases, months of preparation in special classes. A further
interesting experience was the presentation of infants for
baptism, the young parents decently dressed and the
children beautifully arrayed, in imitation of white babies
whom they had seen.

The sacredness with which they regarded the obligation
to attend the various services was very interesting. We
held an early morning prayer meeting on Sunday at six
o'clock in summer and at half past six in winter. We
often had sixty present, and everybody took part during
the hour. There was no time for long speeches. At ten
o'clock there was a teachers' class. At half past ten there
was a short ringing of the bell, and then at fifteen minutes
to eleven it would begin to ring again, and continue until
the minister had taken his seat. When the bell stopped,
, the doors were closed and service opened. It was very
seldom that anybody was late and everything took place
promptly on time.

We had Sabbath school at half past two, and at four
o'clock went out into the street for an open-air service,

while some went from house to house, to visit the sick,
singing and praying with them.

There was an evening preaching service at half past six,
with a testimony meeting at its close.

MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION.

The Organization of a Governing Council — The Composition—
Meetings Opened with Prayer — The Laws Enacted, and
Their Enforcement — The Indian Sabbath, and Its
Strict Observance — Heathen and Christian Mar
riage — Industrial Work and Exhibitions —
Sawmills — Newspapers — Christmas Carol
Singing — " Ashegemk " — Teaching
the People Self-reliance.

Where no counsel is the people fall, but in the multi
tude of counsellors there is safety."

CHAPTER VI.
MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION.

WITH a village of about a thousand people, where a
thousand little difficulties were constantly arising, it was
at once felt that we must have some kind of law or rule;
and as we had no Justice of the Peace in the place, we
suggested to the people the organizing of a Municipal
Council, remarking that it is the way the white people do
in small communities. They seemed pleased with the
idea. Some time after the Mission was opened, we met
for the election of a Council, and I suggested to the Chiefs
and the young men that we ought to have some of the
strongest characters in the Council. This might mean
some of the worst conjurers, the worst gamblers, the pro
fessed " man-eaters " and " dog-eaters," indeed, the most
knowing men of the place. We soon found that we had
many such characters in the Council of twenty that
was elected. All our Council meetings were opened with
prayer.

Later on we met to make laws with the understanding
that we should have an entirely Christian village. On
motion of a former conjurer, we enacted first a law against
gambling. Then one against conjuring was proposed by
a leading gambler, which meant no more rattling or demon
work of the medicine man. The Indians said, " The Mis
sionary must bring us good medicine now, as the old medi
cine-man must stop/' We also decided to allow no Sab
bath-breaking, no dog-eating, no whisky-drinking, no

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UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

quarreling, no fighting and no heathen marriages. These
laws were all put down in a big book, and fines or forfeits
placed at the foot of each of them.

The people had been used to Councils of War and many
of the old people had great respect for their Chiefs rul
ings. Thus, the Council had control of the situation from
the beginning. This body was judge as well as law maker.
It appointed watchmen to keep it fully posted about every
thing that was going on, and lest the conjurers or gamblers
might be tempted to break the law, a Committee was
appointed, with a Chief at its head, to go to the houses,
take away the gambling pins and destroy or take away the
medicine-man's rattles or charms. By this means much
of the temptation to break the rules was in a measure taken
away.- Of course this made some of the old conjurers and
gamblers very angry; but, when they were told that the;
or their friends had helped to make the laws, they quietly
submitted.

For many years before any Justice of the Peace, Indian
Agent, or other Officer of the law was sent to that part o:
the country, these people were governing themselves under
the direction of their Missionary ; and no more peaceful 01
quiet community could be found. The Sabbath was kept]
most sacred, marriage and the Christian home were estab-j
lished, drunkenness was kept out of the place, of fighting
we seldom had any. We have passed through the village!
at night, on numerous occasions, and observed that almosi
every family was engaged in family worship.

As one would naturally suppose, in such a communit;
some violated the law; and were punished. The fines o:
forfeits, as they accumulated, were spent in making
and bridges through the village.

A flag was hoisted every Lord's Day so that stranger,'
as well as villagers, when they saw the flag, were remind

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MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION

to keep sacred the day of rest. Canoes would not arrive
in the village or be allowed to go away, unless in case of
sickness or death or to relieve any who might be in dis
tress. This Sabbath law was most strictly observed for
years by our people, whether at home or abroad. In travel
ling to the mines, working for miners, they would per
sistently keep the Sabbath, although often tempted by a
promise of more pay if they would work on the Lord's
Day.

A party of white men, returning from Cassiar mines,
said, " A number of your Indian boys last spring showed
us that men can do more work in six days than they can
in seven. When we were leaving Fort Wrangel, we
engaged a party of your Christian Indians to take us to
the mines; another crowd of miners who were going
engaged a crew of heathen Indians. They started out
before we did. We soon passed them; and, when it came
to Saturday afternoon our crew looked out, about four
o'clock, for a good camping place. Some of our white
men urged them to go on. They said i No, we are going
to camp here for the Sabbath/ When they saw good
camping ground, they got ashore, chopped wood and pre-
J spared for the Sabbath morning. Early they had a prayer
meeting; at eleven o'clock they had preaching; each man
had his Bible with him, and they had a Bible class after
ward. They had service in the evening. During the day,
about noon, the other party came along, tugging and work
ing all day, and they hissed and cursed at us as they
passed, calling us Sabbatarians. Our boys retired early
i i for rest and were up bright and early next morning. The
il sfire was soon going, we had breakfast and off we started;
and how all those boys did work! It was not long before
i we passed the fellows who had worked all day on Sunday,
If I and we were in the mines a day ahead of them, clearly

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

proving to us that men who regard the Sabbath can do
more work in six days than others can in seven."

This condition of affairs continued, as we have said, in
perfect peace and quietness for some years, until a white
man came to the village and on Sunday morning was tak
ing his gun and a little canoe off to hunt, when the Church
bell was ringing. Some Christian men warned him not to
go, as it was the Sabbath Day, and it was against the law
of the village to go hunting on the Sabbath. He swore
and said that he was not going to be governed by a lot of
Indians; he would do as he liked; it was a free country
About four o'clock in the afternoon, a message came to th
Mission House to say that there was someone in distress
as a little boat could be seen going round and round anc
making no progress. A couple of men in a canoe wen
out and found that this white man had had an accident
His gun had burst, and torn one of his hands rathe
badly. Of course, he was reminded about the rude wa;
he had acted in the morning; and, when we dressed hi
wound, he promised to be a better man. It was too ba<
to think that our civilized white brothers were the firs
to come and disturb the peace of the village, as some o
them did, regardless of the sacredness of the Sabbath.

As the salmon canneries began to be established on the
Skeena, the Dominion Fishery Law was arranged to have,
the fishermen go out at six o'clock on Sabbath evenings 1
instead of at twelve. Our Christian Indians unitedly pro
tested against this arrangement and refused to go untill
twelve o'clock. This aroused the anger of some of the]
cannery managers, and they swore that, if the Indians
would not go, they would get someone else. The Indij
quietly left and went away up the river to fish and di
salmon for themselves, as they had done for generatioi
before. Next season the cannery men asked that a Parlia-

68

''MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION

mentary Order-in-Council be granted especially for the

Skeena, as their best fishermen would not fish on Sunday.

! This arrangement stood for years in the north, and they

» were not allowed to go out till twelve o'clock on Sunday

. night. In this way the Christian Indians really held the

key of the situation, and enforced the sanctity of the

Lord's Day.

t At one of our Missions a sloop had been anchored for
f several days, trading with the people. When Sunday
: morning came, the Captain was shaking out his sails, get
ting ready to start, when the people were going to Church.
; They begged of him not to go, but to come to Church, and
wait until the Sabbath was over, but he declared he was
going. With a fair breeze down the inlet, he started off.
All seemed to go well till he got about ten miles down the
inlet, when a squall came up. It was so furious that he
had to put back. His sails were torn to shreds before he
got back to anchor. In the same village, an old, heathen
man refused to obey the law, took out his canoe, and, with
his little boy, went a few miles down the inlet to gather
herring spawn. When they got their canoe loaded, a wind
came on, they were upset, lost all their load and their
canoe, and barely got ashore safely on the rocks.

At Eivers Inlet, where canneries and a sawmill had been
iestablished, a Christian Indian from Queen Charlotte
Islands refused to go out and fish early on Sabbath even
ing. The boss swore at him and was very angry. How
ever, he rested, went to Church, and, early next morning,
had his large canoe out and was packing down his things,
preparing to leave with his wife and babies. The boss
came down in a hurry, and said, " Dick, where are you
going ? Why don't you get your boat out and go to work ?"
" Oh," said Dick, " I am not going to fish for you any

69

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

more. You swore at me yesterday, and said if I would
not go to fish I might leave."

" Oh," said the boss, " there's money for you in the
office and you had better go and get it."

Dick put up his sail and left without getting his money.
About nine miles down the inlet, he came to a place where
they were putting up a new cannery. A white man had
just fallen from the roof, broken some ribs and was badly
bruised generally. They wanted to send him to the doctor,
and, as there was no doctor within three hundred miles,
they engaged Dick with his large canoe. He took with
him another man, started with a, fair wind, and, he said,
the Lord gave him a fair wind nearly all the way. He
was back in a few days, when he was paid a hundred dol
lars. He smiled and said it paid to keep the Sabbath Day.

At another place, an agent of the Government was sur
veying land some distance away from the village. He sent
a canoe for his mail on Sunday. It arrived at the village
when the people were in Church; but the watchman
arrested the men, took possession of their canoe and said
that they must wait for the Council wanted to see them on
Monday morning. Monday morning they were brought
before the Council, fined ten dollars and then sent on with
their mail. The Government Agent sent a letter back to
the Council and to the Missionary, wishing to know by
what authority his men with his mail had been interfered
with. The Council met and wrote a letter in reply, saying
that it was against their village law for anybody to work
on Sunday and that they had fined the men. If the agents
would come on Sunday, they would be fined also, as the
Council believed that our good Mother the Queen would
not want her servants to break God's law. They heard no
more from this agent.

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MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION

Mil

This so-called Mosaic law was carried out in all our
Missions, under the authority of Councils similar to that
established at Port Simpson. These Council laws were at
times broken by some of the villagers, when the guilty
parties were fined.

Ilt was very painful in after years, when the salmon
business increased along the Coast from the Fraser River
to Alaska, to see the Indians driven to the extremity of
working on the Sabbath Day, or losing their job, which
meant their bread and butter. This was all brought about
by white men, who did not care if they took every salmon
out of the water, and thus "kill the goose that laid the
golden egg." A few more hours of closed time each week
would have prevented thousands of people from working on
the Lord's Day, and also have helped saving the salmon
industry for years to come.

Heathen marriages were also done away with. Heathen
courtship and marriage were very much different from
ours. When a young man was going to be married, his
friends would give presents to the young lady's friends,
although the couple might not yet have seen each other,
or have known anything about it until the whole arrange
ment was made. This sometimes brought a difficulty to
us that had to be guarded against, as they now wished to
be married according to the rites of the Church. I sug
gested to them, as we had no license, that banns should
be published three Sundays in the Church, according to
the old English law.

Next Saturday night a couple came in and wanted the
banns published on the morrow. We took their names,
warned them against misconduct of any kind for the next
three weeks, and promised that, if no one objected, they
could then be married. The time came for the marriage,
no objections having been offered; the church bell was

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UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

rung; and the people gathered to see the new performance
in the Church.

After the ceremony was over and the people had gone, a
party ran into the Mission House very much excited and
said that I had done an awful thing to marry that couple ;
that another young man had expected to marry the girl,
as his friends had given large presents to her friends. Now
there would be great trouble if that property was not
returned.

" Oh/' I said, " you are a silly people. Do you think
if in my country a young fellow had given presents to a
girl, expecting to marry her, that he would kick up a row
because of a few paltry presents? No, he would go off
and try to get another girl, and be ashamed to say any
thing about it."

They said, " Oh, sir, you needn't talk about your people.
We must have these presents back or there will be trouble."

I said, " You have only yourselves to blame, as I gave
notice three successive Sabbaths, and no one objected in
any way; and now you come to bother me with this."

"Oh," they said, "we must have a Council Meeting
and have this settled up or it will cause great trouble."
Accordingly, that evening a Council was called and we
sat until nearly two o'clock in the morning to get the mat
ter properly settled.

The next Saturday night two couples came who wanted
their names published the next day. Speaking to the first,
I said, "James, you wish to be married to this young
woman (who had just come in accompanied by another
woman) ; you wish to be married in the Christian way?"

" Yes."

I said, " Now, James, I want you to answer me truth
fully this question, ' Did you think of marrying any other

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MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION

girl or have you given any property to any other party
than this young woman's friends?' If so, tell me."

He sighed and looked very serious and said, " Yes, I
believe I have."

" Well, then," I said, " leave the room, go away and
don't come near me with any property unsettled, as I don't
want to be councilling all night over you and your pres
ents."

They went away and came back about eleven o'clock
when they said all was straight and that they were ready
to be married. They were married two weeks from that
time and gave a great wedding feast, attended by the
whole village and accompanied with speeches and rejoicing.

I have married scores since then, but I was always care
ful to find out if more than one party had presents. After
a great revival, I married forty couples in one week. Many
of the poor, old people who had married according to
heathen customs and some who had lived together for
years wished to be married according to Christian form.
We kept a man and a woman in the Mission House for
days to act as witnesses. Christian marriages became a
settled thing, and the barter marriage, or the sale of girls,
was entirely done away with in that village and also in
other Mission villages.

In these days the question is often asked, i What would
Jesus do ?" The question should not so much be " What
would Jesus do ?" as " What would He have me do ?"
A Missionary, following the command of our dear Master,
would not first tell the people that their god is a bad one,
and his God is much better, but would first tell the heathen
people of their sin and loss by the fall and of the peace
and salvation brought within their reach by the atonement
of Jesus — of " the disease and the cure." Then, while con
stantly keeping before them the sweet story of Jove, he

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

would naturally show them how to work for a living; how
to take care of their food at the proper time; and the
necessity of cleanliness in their habits and homes. There
is no better teaching than the object lesson of a good and
well-ordered Christian home. If he is walking " in His
steps/' the teacher will naturally illustrate by the fields,
the sower, the harvest, the birds, the fish and by every
thing around us, and should be able and willing to show
how to build a nice little home, from the foundation to
the last shingle on the roof. Indeed, this is the only way
to win the savage from his lazy habits, sin and misery.
So soon as the Missionary gets the language of the people
— and every Missionary should do so — he should make an
effort to get them out of the wretched squalor and dirt
of their old lodges and sweat houses into better homes.

As soon as we were in our northern field, we had to
build our Mission House, and here we showed the men how
to take the block of cedar and make it into shingles. A
number of them also helped to build the house and Church,
which became a means of real education to them.

As we found the people were naturally of a mechanical
turn, we instituted, almost at the beginning of our work at
Simpson, an Industrial Show or Fair. The first Indus
trial Show was held December 7th, 1875, and, although
they had only about a month to get ready, it was a very
interesting affair. There were nearly one hundred articles
exhibited, and sixty prizes were given. The exhibition
showed much taste in articles of needlework, knitting,
beadwork and patchwork. The carvings and woodwork
showed ingenuity. One man had made a very good model
of a river steamer, another a model of a European house,
another of an Indian house, and there were several pieces
of furniture including a rocking-chair and two very nice
cots for babies. There was also a great variety of food-

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MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTKIAL ORGANIZATION

stuffs such as berries, bark, vegetables and fish. Among
the best exhibits were several drawings and paintings of
steamboats, and one of the Church, which was very well
done. Most interesting was an exhibit, by a class of
children, of proficiency in spelling and in the multiplica
tion table.

The show proved to be of great benefit and interest
to the people, and, when eventually given up, it was
only for want of funds.

We urged the Government Department to help us in
this work with prizes, but, though we continued the Indus
trial Fair year after year and the Indians themselves made
appeals, we could get no help. I gave, as prizes, all the
money, books and slates that I could get hold of. Here,
we claim, is where the Government could spend their
money in promoting industry, thrift and self-reliance, and
thus do a great deal of good. By giving a prize for the
best-built house, the best-kept house, the best garden
or farm (where ground can be had), the best blacksmith
work, the best tinsmith work, the best sash and door car
penter work, the best-built boat or canoe, the best-preserved
Indian fruit, and indeed for everything that would tend to
uplift or civilize, much could be done.

We went on with our industrial work, showing them
how to construct their own houses, roads, and bridges.
The sawmill that had been built started a new state of
things in that once heathen village. A great number
of families now began, out of their small savings, to put
up little " Christian " homes, of three to four rooms each,
and thus got out of the old heathen lodges or community
houses, where four or five families had often been herded
together. This entailed much work in measuring plots of
land, and in preparing plans for houses and streets. This
continued for some years until the village began to show a

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

quietly civilized appearance. Finally every heathen house
was removed and nearly every family, by their own indus
try, had a nice, little, separate home. We had no strict
model, everyone building according to his own taste or
ability. In later years a much better class of house was
built, and we could say we had a Christian village.

At first there were only trails running among the large
heathen houses, and the beach formed a highway when
the tide was out. Streets were now laid out, and neces
sary bridges built. One bridge, connecting the island with
the main shore, was five hundred feet in length. Indian
stores also made their appearance.

It was also agreed that we must have a settled burial
ground, instead of burying the dead in every little knoll
or leaving them in boxes along the mountain sides. A piece
of ground was marked out for a general grave-yard on the
island, " Lach-wal-lamish."

As other heathen villages became Christianized, they fol
lowed the example of Simpson in many of these matters.
Our people at Bella Bella built a wharf for their village,
and put down sidewalks. They had also two trading
stores. The village put a tax on dogs, as well as on the
people, to help to improve the village roads.

The people were also taught printing, and for years
printed the hymns for Christmas and New Year, transla
tions of prayers and the Commandments. We also pub
lished a little paper, called the Simpson Herald. The
first copy of it, Port Simpson print, dated September 27th,
1882, says, " The weather has been very fine lately, the
people are coming in from their salmon fishing and other
work. The Brass Band practises every evening. Marbles
are also in season, and the boys are having a big time.
We hope the young men will not forget to attend School
regularly, and be wise. An Industrial Show is to be held

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MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION

the latter part of October, when some valuable prizes will
be given. Intending exhibitors take notice. It is thought
that His Excellency, the Governor-General, may visit Fort
Simpson soon. Let everyone be ready." This was the
first paper published on the Coast, and was followed by the
North Star of Sitka, founded by Dr. Sheldon Jackson ; the
Northern Light, of Wrangel; the Akali, at Naas River;
and the Na-na-kwa, published by Rev. G. H. Raley, at
Kitamaat.

We soon found that there were a large number of young
men who needed some amusement. Although they played
football often on the beach, this was not thought enough,
so we organized a Fire Company, and in their dress and
parades and false alarms of fire, they took great delight.
As they became well practised with their buckets and hook
and ladder apparatus, they were a great help in case of
fire. By subscriptions, a number of band instruments were
purchased, and a Brass Band organized, which, after a
time, gave splendid music. Later on, a Rifle Company was
organized; they also had a Band, and built a fine hall. In
the holiday season they all dressed in their best costumes
and marched to music; this helped much to improve their
gait and physical appearance.

Christmas was the grand holiday of the year. For a
week or two before it, we had a great time settling old
feuds and misunderstandings. Nearly all of the Chris
tians wished to be at peace with one another, as they were
told Jesus came to bring peace on earth. In the mean
time, as a preparation for Christmas, from forty to sixty
people would gather at the Mission House for practice in
carol singing. They would meet in the Church in the
evening, about ten o'clock, and, after praying for God's
blessing and direction, they would start out through the
village, which was now all lighted up, the streets already

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

festooned with evergreens and the paths covered with white
gravel. The singers would be accompanied by half a dozen
watchmen, who would clear the way, that everything might
be quiet and peaceful through the village. It was interest
ing to see many of the very old people sitting around a
big fire, with lights and candles in the room, waiting, as
they would say, to hear the angels sing. They would keep
up the singing through the village until about four o'clock
in the morning. They would then return to the Mission
House, where coffee and cakes were provided; these they
seemed heartily to enjoy. This good old English custom
of carol-singing in connection with Christmas festivals,
was marvellously enjoyed by the Tsimpsheans.

What could be more appropriate or beautiful than that
we should continue to imitate that first Christmas carol of
the angels at Bethlehem; and that, as the Christmas time
came round, we should go into the beauty and glory of
the night, over the snow-clad fields and along the frozen
streets, our mouths filled with songs of gladness and peace
and brotherhood, echoing the music of that Eastern night,
so long ago, which has, ever since, made men's hearts grow
tender !

Three days before our first Christmas at Port Simpson,
a dear, little, white girl came into our home; and on
Christmas day hundreds of people came to the house to
see the baby and to shake hands with the mother. A great
feast was prepared by the people. In one of the large
houses four or five hundred people gathered, and they had
a great ceremony in giving the baby a name. Amid clap
ping of hands and shouting, they said she was to have the
name of King Legaic's daughter, "Ashegemk," — "The
Leg of the Sun or of the Moon/' that is, " Sunbeam," or
" Moonbeam." This changed also the names of the Mis
sionaries. Ever after they were called " father " or

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MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTKIAL OKGANIZATION

" mother ?? of " Ashegemk," as all people in high rank
were named after their first-born.

From the first, we tried to teach the people self-reliance,
or a practical gospel. They gave liberally, helped to build
their own Churches and Schools and made their own
houses, roads and bridges. They helped the Missionaries i&
carry the Gospel thousands of miles, and by this moans,
many of them became intensely interested in the conver
sion of the heathen tribes around them. Another prin
ciple of self-help was to teach the boys and girls, whenever
possible, to buy their own books, slates and other school
supplies. Some opposed this and said we should give these,
as they had no money to buy them, but we thought other
wise. To illustrate: — Johnny came to me for a book; I
said, " Johnny, go and get me some fresh fish for break
fast"; I got the fish and he got his book; thus Johnny
earned the book and would take better care of it; then
Johnny would run and tell other boys he had bought
his book. Others would bring us dried salmon or seaweed
in the winter time, and thus get books or slates. Of course
the very sick and poor had to be helped ; but, as we believe
in making men and women self-reliant, we kept the prin
ciple of self-help always before them. Much of the organi
zation into companies and many of the plans for work
were for enjoyment and amusement in order to have some
thing to do during the winter season. These, with all the
Church services and School work of different kinds, were
to take the place of their old dancing, feasting and revel
ling, which in the days of heathenism lasted for months,
when dog-eating and gambling and all kinds of savage
customs were carried on. Eeligion, or the Gospel taught
in a practical way, can fill up nearly all the wants of such
a people. Of course, some did not like to enter into all
this new arrangement of things at once.

79

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

After a time certain white men, and sometimes men in
authority, found great fault with these laws. They called
them Mosaic rule or Missionary rule, and tried to dissuade
the people from following them. Indeed, some had the
audacity to say that all the Missionaries had to do was to
teach religion. It is not out of place here to say that the
Missionary who cannot teach the Indian or heathen how to
build his home and cultivate his land, or is too lazy to do
it, is not a practical or successful Missionary. How can a
man teach religion and not teach industry, cleanliness and
thrift of all kinds, for the Bible is full of such lessons?

80

EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL WORK.

Development of School Work — Schools on the Skeena — Mission
Point — Trade in Girls by Vicious White Men — The Crosby
Girls' Home — The Woman's Missionary Society — Its
Origin — Mrs. Platt's Account of Its Early Opera
tions — Miss Hendry — Miss Knight — Boys'
Industrial School — Homes on Other Mis
sions — Sindow — Betsy — Tilly —
A Love Letter — Influence of
the Movement.

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness
of the firmament."

CHAPTEK VII.
EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL WORK.

IT has always been clear to Missionaries among the
Indians that the School work should be a very important
part of the Mission; indeed a Mission large or small can
not be successfully carried on without a School. Our first
School, as already described, was carried on in an old
heathen house with a mud floor. The roof was covered
with slabs and bark on which the grass grew a foot or
eighteen inches high; and often, as our work went on,
we found that the heathen people could be reached by a
School more quickly than any other way. In some cases
they would ask for a School, so that their children might
be taught to read and write, and they would call each
other " School people " in preference to " Mission people."
Our way to a heathen tribe was often through the School.

Growing out of our early operations in School work,
there is now a large Day School carried on at Simpson,
and others at Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands; Port
Essington; Kishpiax, above the forks of the Skeena;
Kitamaat ; Bella Bella ; Nanaimo ; Cape Mudge ; and Nita-
nat, at the south end of Vancouver Island. These are all
partly supported by the Government, or receive a grant
of $300 a year. It is over six hundred miles from the one
farthest south to the one on the Skeena, at the extreme
north. We have other Day Schools, such as Eivers Inlet,
Bella Coola, China Hat, Hartley Bay and Kitlope, which
do not receive Government aid.

83

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

Mention should here be made of our system of Boarding
Schools, among which are Coqualeetza Institute at Chilli-
wack; the Girls' Home at Simpson; the Boys' Home at
Simpson; and the Kitamaat Home. We have been desir
ous for years to have one of these latter institutions, or
a Boarding School, built near Bella Bella, which is in the
centre of a large population without such School facilities ;
and it is our opinion that the Government should help to
build and equip such an institution.

We had the first Day School up the Skeena at Hazelton,
and also for a time Brother Edgar and others taught a
School at Hag-wil-get. Edward Sexsmith also opened a
School at Kishpiax. Mr. Pierce and others at Kitzegucla
did the same. Indeed, in all our Missions it had proved to
be of the utmost importance that we should have Schools.
The Missionary, however, finds among a people that are
so constantly moving about that if he is to expect real,
good work it must be done by gathering a number of the
children together in a Home or Boarding School or Indus
trial Institution, where they can be kept constantly and
regularly at School and away from the evil influences of
the heathen life.

For these reasons, by the direction of the Missionary
Secretary and the late Hon. John Robson, then Premier
of the Province, I was advised in 1888 to take up a piece
of land for Industrial School purposes near the forks of
the Skeena. As the Government would not make grants
of land for Church purposes, we took it up under the old
Pre-emption Act. We then had to stake out our land,
record it in the Government Office, get out papers to that
effect, and put on the statutory improvements. It took
some years to do this. Finally we got the land surveyed
and a Crown grant or title deed for it.

For years the British Columbia Conference urged the

84

EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL WORK

General Missionary Society and the Woman's Missionary
Society to impress upon the Government the importance
of starting such a School. It was acknowledged that we
had a beautiful piece of land for the purpose and in a
central place for a large number of Indian tribes in that
part of the country. This land is about one hundred and
eighty miles from the coast, and there is yet no Industrial
School in all that region. As the Woman's Missionary
Society has been kind enough to make a small grant for
this purpose, and there are a great many children needing
such a School, it is to be hoped that this enterprise will
yet be pushed on to success.

The most trying part of our work was to see the people
sell their little daughters to wicked white men for the
basest of purposes. We went after them in the south to
the white man's house, and then to the magistrate to ask
him if it was allowable to have slaves bought and sold in
this country. Twelve or fifteen of these poor girls were
thus sold in a short time from one of our Schools. One
man bought a child who soon died on his hands, after
which he bought another one.

We had not been long at Simpson when it was evident
to the Missionaries that something must be done to save
;and protect the young girls of that coast from being sold
into the vilest of slavery. They would come, one after
another, and ask the Missionary's wife for her protection;
and thus one and another and another were taken into the
house until it was crowded and we had to enlarge it. A
good lady, giving us a twenty dollar gold piece, said, " This
is all that I have saved, but I will give it if you will build
an addition to the house." Lumber had become cheaper
than at first, and, by the help of a white man who came
to stay with us for a time, we put up in August, 1879, a
seven hundred dollar addition to the house on the twenty

85

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

dollar gold piece; and all the bills were paid without
asking anybody for money.

In the midst of all this, the Missionary's wife had been
writing to her friends, to her associates on the Staff and
to the student body of the old Wesleyan Female College,
Hamilton, with which she had been connected for six years.
She found a great many sympathizers, and indeed caused
quite a stir in the minds of the women in the East. It
was suggested that a new Mission House be built, and that
the Indian girls should take full possession of the old
house. This was decided upon, and a second Mission
House was built by the Missionary, the Indians helping
him, at a cost of about one thousand two hundred dollars.
This was all paid for by the donations from friends, with
out cost to the Missionary Society of a dollar. Thus was
established the first Crosby Girls' Home, which was suc
ceeded by the present institution.

On our return to Ontario in the winter of 1881 and
1882, the Woman's Missionary Society was organized in
the city of Hamilton. Mrs. Platt, in her Story of the
Years, thus describes its inception : " Dr. Sutherland sug
gested to some of the ladies not to wait for someone else
to do something, 'but to go to work and do it, Consult
your pastor; ask him to bring it before the ladies of the
congregation; do not wait to do some great thing, but
organize three members if you can't get any more ; arrange
for occasional meetings, especially meetings for prayer in
behalf of some existing interest, such as the Crosby Home
or the McDougall Orphanage.' ... At that memor
able evening in the Centenary Church, when addresses
were given by the Rev. T. Crosby, Mr. John McDonald, of
Toronto, and Dr. Sutherland, and while the offering was
being received, Rev. Dr. A. Burns, who presided, sug
gested that life memberships be given, and at once sub-

86

EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL WORK

scribed twenty-five dollars to place his wife's name first on
the list. Mr. McDonald increased his donation of one
hundred dollars to three hundred dollars, constituting his
wife and six daughters life members, desiring to have all
his family in this privileged class; he also made Mrs.
Crosby a life member: the Rev. John Douse immediately
added to Mrs. Crosby's name those of his other daughters,
Mrs. Geo. Brown, Mrs. H. Hough and Mrs. G. P. McKay.
Mr. Sanford, Mr. Dennis Moore and others followed until,
at the close of the meeting, it was found that one thousand
dollars had been subscribed, besides forty-one dollars in
collections."

Under the heading, " Our First Field," Mrs. Platt says :
" Charter members will remember the thrill with which
they listened to the story of Mrs. Crosby's Home for Indian
girls at Port Simpson. From the beginning of their work
among the Indians, the condition of the young girls, their
degradation and danger, had appealed strongly to Mrs.
Crosby; and when a little outcast came and announced
that she was going to come and live with her, she was not
turned away. Others came, until the house was full. For
several years these girls were clothed and fed at the Mis
sionary's expense ; and better still, Mrs. Crosby shared with
these defenceless ones the mother love of her heart, and
her own little children learned to talk Indian before they
could speak English. From one of Mrs. Crosby's letters
we quote the following : ( The care of these girls has been
thrust upon us. There are Indian villages where scarcely
a young woman can be found, all having left their homes
for a life of dissipation and shame, only to come back in
nearly every case to die a wretched, untimely death among
their friends. These girls, who are bartered to cruel brutes
of men, both Whites and Indians, for a mere pittance,
afterwards appealed to the Missionary to save them.'

87

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

" The first two hundred dollars raised by the Hamilton
auxiliary was given to the Crosby Home. In 1882,, while
on a visit to Ontario, Mrs. Crosby engaged our first Mis
sionary, Miss Hendrie, of Brantford, as matron. That
year an appropriation of five hundred dollars was made by
the Woman's Board, Miss Hendrie being the first one
engaged by our Society in that good work. . . . Previ
ous to the organization of our auxiliary we knew nothing
of the character of the work undertaken by Mrs. Crosby;
and it was indeed a revelation that such a state of things
could exist in our own Dominion and that one of our own
refined and cultured women had been called to spend her
life in such surroundings. From the atmosphere of a
minister's home, a graduate and teacher of Hamilton
Ladies' College, Mrs. Crosby had been transferred to a
heathen village, six hundred miles north of Victoria; and
for some years was the only white woman in the place.
What this life meant to Mrs. Crosby, and what her beauti
ful Spirit-filled life meant to these benighted people, only
the future will reveal."

Some years after, Miss Hendrie, our matron, having
been married, Miss Knight was sent out; and later Miss
Hart of Nova Scotia was assistant. The work went on until
finally the Woman's Missionary Society, under Miss Cart-
mell's direction, bought land and built a fine three-story
building. Here they have since housed and instructed
many an unfortunate girl. From time to time many
orphan children have also come to the Home.

It was during the early years of our Mission that work
opened up in Alaska, as recorded elsewhere, and Mrs.
McFarlane established her Home for girls at Fort Wrangel
on a similar plan.

It soon became evident that we must care also for the
boys, as we had several little orphan boys in the Girls'

88

EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL WORK

Home. An appeal was made to the British Columbia Con
ference, held in New Westminster., which resulted in dona
tions and subscriptions sufficient to enable us to build a
temporary home for boys at a cost of one thousand five
hundred dollars. We have now twenty or more boys in
the Port Simpson Boys' Home. We have been assisted by
benevolent people, by Sunday Schools, and by kind indi
viduals, giving fifty dollars a year to support a boy. Our
Girls' Home also received a small grant from the Govern
ment.

The Rev. and Mrs. G. H. Raley in later years opened up
a Mission Boarding School and Home for children at
Kitamaat. They received help from the Woman's Mission
ary Society and from friends. Some years ago the Rev.
and Mrs. C. M. Tate started Industrial School and Home
work at Sardis in the Chilliwack Valley, at first in their
own home, the Mission House. They obtained help to
build a fine Home, which was afterwards burned down.
This was replaced by the present beautiful large brick
building at Coqualeetza — the finest Indian Institute in the
Province. The Coqualeetza Institute is a monument to
the plodding perseverance and noble self-denial of Mr. and
Mrs. Tate.

Our work in the Home or Boarding School was of a most
interesting and encouraging character. Some of the girls
who joined us at Simpson have done very well as teachers
and workers. Others have married Christian Indians, have
helped to build up Christian homes, to civilize the people
generally and to aid in developing their own neighborhood.

The first child that came to us at Simpson, " Sindow "
by name, was a bright but mischievous little girl. We had
to do a good deal of correcting and teaching to keep her
from taking things that were not her own; but she became
truly converted and was afterwards married to a young

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

local preacher and evangelist. Together for many years
they did faithful work at the opening up of new Missions
until, in the year 1898, the Lord took away from this earth
Josephine Russ (Sindow), who went triumphantly home.

Another case was that of a woman who had for some
years lived a sinful life in the gold mines of Cassiar. She
heard about our Home when she was staying at Fort
Wrangel, came the one hundred and sixty miles, and
begged for admittance. We took her in and she stayed for
several years with us. She was converted and became a
most earnest Christian. She married a local preacher, a
steward of the Mission church, and they lived very happily
together for some time. Poor Betsy for years had desired
to visit her old heathen mother and friends on the Prince
of Wales Island in Alaska, to tell them about Jesus; and
at last, late one summer, she got a chance to go to see
them. So, with the hearty consent of her husband, and
with the idea that she would return in a few weeks, she
went away in a canoe that was going to that country.
While there she contracted a cold and became exceedingly
ill with consumption. Her husband got a large canoe,
took a good crew of young men, and started off to look
after her. He found her rapidly sinking. Delighted to
meet her husband and the Christian men who had come
with him, with joy on her face, she said, " Oh, how much
I have longed to see you, and I have been praying that
God would send some of you, in some way, that I might
get back among the Christian people at Simpson before I
die. I have told my friends in much weakness about my
Saviour, and I do hope that some of them will ' come to
Jesus.' "

The husband and his friends left with Betsy in her
feeble condition to return to Simpson, some sixty or sev
enty miles away. They got along very well to Tongass,

90

THE MISSION HOUSE, FORT SIMPSON,
Which Dr. and Mrs. Crosby made a refuge and home for many Indian:girls.

CROSBY GIRLS' HOME, PORT SIMPSON, 1913.

EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL WOEK

where they encountered a terrible gale of wind blowing
down the Portland Canal, and they could not cross. Here,
during these anxious days of waiting, poor Betsy passed
away in the arms of her husband, saying to him, " I thank
you all for coming to see me; I send my love to all the
Christian people at Simpson, and give my warmest love
to Mr. and Mrs. Crosby, who so kindly took me into their
home years ago, when I had been so bad and had gone so
far in sin, and told me of Jesus, the great Saviour, and
how He loved me. I have found Him to be my loving
Saviour all this time, since I gave my heart to Him. Tell
them I shall meet them in Heaven." Surely Quankwe, or
Betsy, was " a brand plucked from the burning."

Another girl, who came from the mouth of the Stikine,
had been sold to a man old enough to be her grandfather.
We had to take her to the Home and protect her, as she
said she would never live with him. She was a modest
i child, about fourteen years of age. We kept her for a
time in the Home, against much opposition from the head
tribe of the village. Finally, at the organization of the
Home by Mrs. McFarlane at Fort Wrangel, we transferred
" Tilly " to that institution in her own country. She was
educated, then married to an evangelist named Louis Paul,
a native converted under the Presbyterian Board. He was
drowned on a long canoe trip, and Tilly was left with two
children. She was taken from that Mission to the Home
work at Sitka, where she has for many years been one of
the most devoted helpers in that institution.

Another of our " Home family " was a young woman
who came from the streets of Victoria. She was converted
and became a very happy Christian. She was a good
singer, and quite a help to us when we opened up the
Mission at Queen Charlotte Islands, as she was a Hyda
by birth. She would often go on evangelistic trips with

91

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

the Missionary and his party. She married a young chief
of the Tsimpshean nation; they had quite a little family,
some of whom have gone home to heaven. Lucy often
spoke in the fellowship meetings with reference to the
happy meeting she expected to have in the home above
with her dear little ones who had gone before. She loved
to sing:

" Now I can read my title clear to mansions in the skies,
I'll bid farewell to every fear and wipe my weeping eyes."

In the spring of 1897, in the absence of her husband on a
trip on the Mission ship Glad Tidings, Lucy was called
away. The doctor and those who attended her in her
illness say that she bore to the last most glowing testimony
to the triumphs of grace.

There are many others of whom we might write who
married into Indian homes in the different villages and,
by their industry and cleanly habits in caring for their
homes and children, showed the marvellous civilizing influ
ence such work as ours may exert on whole communities.
Let this be its justification.

It was not difficult, in visiting around among the vil
lages, to pick out those Christian mothers who had the
privilege of the " Home " life and training. To us, who
watched them through the years, their influence was a
source of great encouragement and indeed an inspiration.
We may have had to mourn over one here and there who
did not do so well ; but, on the whole, the life of the people
was marvellously changed by this home-educating work.

Instead of a young man with his friends going with pro
perty and buying a wife, as was done formerly, many of
our brightest young men tried to make the acquaintance
of the girls in the Home. There was no doubt in our
minds that real, true love again and again developed

92

EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL WOKK

between the young people who thus became acquainted.
This acquaintance finally resulted in their marriage and
the happy life that followed. We taught them to consult
their parents, as well as the Missionary, at this time, and
also to pray much to the Lord for help.

Here and there some amusing little letters came to light.
This was a condition of affairs very different from that
which existed when the young people had nothing to do
with arranging their own marriages and in many cases
never spoke to each other before the ceremony. Here is
one of the letters: "Port Simpson, Miss S— - of the
Crosby Home, Jan. 6th, 1897, I have to take to write you
this opportunity to you to tell you about my heart to you
this time, because I want you very much with my heart.
Please if you finish read this letter, and you tell your
mother about this words, which I send to you, please if
your mother say words to you, and I hope you write to me

and explain to me about it. Well Miss S , if God help

me next year, and I write to you about my heart to you
again, I wish your mother kindness to me. Please if they
want what I spoke to you to get married to you, just the
reason I write to you this winter. That is all I wish to
; say to you dear loving yours truly affectionate yours from

Joseph M . Good morning young lady."

From the foregoing facts it will be seen that the crowd
ing of the Missionaries' home with these poor and desti
tute children was the means, through our Woman's Mis
sionary Society, of starting a work in the Methodist
Church of the Dominion, of which eternity alone will
reveal the importance. The influence upon the women of
our Church, the reflex influence upon their own homes,
the interest awakened among the young people, the workers
sent out by the Society to Japan and China, as well as
the many workers in our Homes, Schools and Hospitals in

93

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

our own Dominion, have been a great blessing to the whole
Church, and doubtless will be an increasing blessing to the
end of time.

In connection with this subject, as bearing upon our
Educational work and interest, we close this chapter with
the following letter from Mrs. Crosby, taken from The
Missionary Outlook of December, 1890. It gives some
interesting facts regarding the School work and the Home

" By the kindness of a devoted friend of the Crosby
Home, Mrs. Harrison, of Barrie, we are permitted to give
our readers the following letter. It came in acknowledg
ment of a parcel sent by our Mission Band. The many
friends of the Rev. T. and Mrs. Crosby will enjoy this
bright glimpse of the Mission life into which these earnes
laborers weave so much love and enthusiasm.

"A. P.

" ' PORT SIMPSON, November 26, 1890.

" c Dear : Your letter and parcel make me hasten

for they must be acknowledged at once. The things wil
come in very useful — the aprons and neckties and hand
kerchiefs — and please give our best thanks to all who
helped to make and send them. There are so many o:
them, and some of our little girls are quite too small for
the aprons, so I feel almost like taking some of them to
give to the village children, which I suppose would no
be against the wishes of the ladies, if they knew just al
the circumstances. There are so many children in the
village, and we have very little for them. We have to pre
pare for nearly two hundred. However, I am not sure
that we shall have a tree for them this year, and we wil
consult together and try to make the very best use pos
sible of the Barrie gifts. I will ask Miss Hart to mention
this in her quarterly letter, which should reach every
Auxiliary, and the Outlook may possibly hear from Por
Simpson soon also, as we have just formed an Auxiliary
among ourselves, with Miss Hart as Secretary, and Mrs

94

EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL WOEK

Bolton and Miss Ross and me each with an office. As yet
we have only three other names, but we intend to ask the
ladies at the Fort (three of them) to join us, and a few
of the Indian women will probably do so also.

" ' The Home children are all well. The boys have been

placed in the new building, under the care of Dr. and Mrs.

Bolton, which leaves Miss Hart' s family somewhat reduced.

> She has, I think, fifteen girls, and there are six little boys

; in the other house. One of the girls, who was a long time

, in the Home and afterwards lived with us about a year, is

helping Mrs. Bolton, who has a babe a few weeks old. This

< girl is very useful. Miss Ross, who came out last summer

• as teacher, has taken hold of the work vigorously. We are

v all kept pretty busy. The Doctor finds a great deal of work

in professional duties, besides the charge of the Home.

Then we have been without a Day School teacher since

last summer, and with so many children the School cannot

be given up, so we have had to manage as best we could

between us. Miss Hart taught for a time; at present I

take the morning session and the Doctor the afternoon.

" ' We had quite a lively time one evening last week.
The whole Mission community, numbering thirty-one,
including Baby Bolton and our own family, took tea with
us in the Mission House. We had three tables for tea;
but it was not much trouble, and the children were
, ' delighted and had a very good time, playing games, look
ing at pictures, etc. ; and certainly everyone looked as well
and neat as could be, and behaved very nicely. I was very
glad you saw Jessie and Grace last summer; they told me
about it. Gertie and Harold are growing so fast. I am so
thankful that they have all good health.

: ( Mr. Crosby reached home two weeks ago, after a trip
to Victoria, taking in the Missions by the way. He finds
plenty to do at home. There is a large number of people
here, and he will not likely be away much during the win
ter. The want of a teacher makes it more difficult for
him to get away. The services lately have been full of
interest, and many of the people seem much in earnest.
They are improving very much in their homes and living.
In sight of our windows is a very pretty two-story house

95

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

a young Indian has built lately and into which he has
removed his family. It would be a nice little house in the
street of any town of white people. You pray for us, I
know; do not cease to do so. I find a book, also, from
someone in Barrie; thanks to the giver. Mr. Crosby joins
me in kindest love and prayer that you may be comfortec
and borne up day by day.

" ' EMMA CROSBY.' "

96

INDIAN BELIEFS, TEADITIONS AND LEGENDS.

Beliefs — Sacrifices — Ancestor Worship — Transmigration of the

Soul — Naas Legends — Weeget, the Origin of Light, Origin

of Man, Philosophy of Death — Bella Bella Legends —

Death, Origin of the World, the Deluge, Thunder

and Lightning, Luganu and the Fish Hook,

First Possession of Fire — Bad Children

Punished, Origin of the Sun, Another

Version, Origin of the Moon,

Whispering Bay — Legends of

the Upper Skeena,

Knowing God, they glorified Him not as God.'J

CHAPTEK VIII.
[NDIAN BELIEFS, TRADITIONS AND LEGENDS.

THE general religious attitude of the Indians in the
leathen state has been described by one of our Mission
aries, as quoted in another chapter of this book, as "a,
'eeble and quite indefinite polytheism." It was not, appar-
;ntly, a coherent system, nor otherwise of a high order,
ither intellectually or morally. They had a vague concep-
ion of a supreme deity, known to them as ^The Great
vhief Above," but their worship was directed in most cases
ather to natural objects. The tree, stone, mountain, bluff
r rapid was worshipped as the stopping-place of God, or
s the abode of spirits.

The Tsimpsheans and Tlinkets also painted figures on
aountain sides or on formidable headlands, These might
ist for an indefinite time and they often visited them, for
eriods varying from four to seven days, to offer prayer
rhen they desired to obtain some special object. They
rayed also to the sun, the mountains, the thunder, or
jther mighty or awe-inspiring objects. They believed that
asting was well pleasing to the spirits, and that they
jrould have success in hunting, fighting, gambling, etc.,
•hile they fasted and bathed themselves. The Tsimp-
leans, like many others of the Coast tribes, offered by
le graves of their friends sacrifices and burnt offerings to
le spirits. In a storm, they prayed and cast offerings of
>od to the waves, if they were out at sea; or, if ashore,
icy bathed and sometimes took an emetic in order to
jurify themselves completely and thus please the rjeity

90

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

and calm the storm. They also whistled, prayed and waved
their hands in order to " raise the wind " in a calm.

Hunters prayed and fasted for days in the mountains,
bathing themselves and going through certain exercises in
order to ensure success. Men sometimes went through
days of fasting and absence from their families, praying,
bathing, rubbing and painting themselves, even for weeks
together, before going out to a hunt or on a war expedi
tion. They believed that the Great Being gave them all
the fish and food. They were often found in the woods
praying. It is likely that the great occasions of dancing
and feasting in the early days were part of their religious
worship.

The Tsimpsheans also believed in the transmigration oi
souls and held that a child may have the spirit of an]
ancestor, descent being reckoned on the mother's side
One may often hear them say, "That boy or that girl
has the spirit of so and so," who has long been dead, an<
sometimes a child receives the name of a dead ancestor,
who is then supposed to be reincarnated in the child.
Frequently, too, we have seen them go and weep by the
graves of their dead, telling all their wonderful and clevei
characteristics, wailing and repeating the story over am
over again. In all this a strong tendency to ancestoi
worship is apparent.

INDIAN LEGENDS.

The Coast Indians were very fond of legendary stories,
some of which seem to be quite recent and fairly correct,
while others have lost nearly all semblance of a natural
occurrence. Some of these, collected by Miss Jessie Crosby
— "Ashegemk" — when a teacher among the Indians, ai
here presented.

100

INDIAN BELIEFS, TKADITIONS; LEGENDS

The Origin of Light. /• ;

Weeget made his way to the Naas, where the people were
waiting for the oolachan. He changed himself into a
small leaf, which floated on the river. The servants of
the daughter of " The Great Chief Above " — Semoyget
Kilahagah — came down with a woven basket of curious
workmanship (baskets that would hold water were com
mon),, to get water from the river. The water in these
sacred baskets was never exhausted. With the water they
dipped up the little leaf and carried it away home to the
" Great Chief Above." The Chiefs daughter, in taking
a drink saw the leaf and tried to blow it away, but failed
and swallowed it. She became the mother of a child —
Light.

Weeget and Lolc-a-bola, or the Nasga Version of the
Origin of Light.

Weeget (Wigiat) or T-k-ames and Shimgeget (Shimgi-
giat) or Lok-a-bola were brothers, sons of a great Chief.
From infancy Weeget showed showed signs of a peculiar
jtemperament, remarkable characteristics and marked
lability beyond that possessed by the ordinary child. In
spite of his unusual intelligence, however, he was very
backward in learning to talk. His brother Lok-a-bola was
'younger than he and apparently less precocious. While
still young, Weeget was seized with a great desire to gain
possession of the ball of light, said to be in the possession
JDf the Great Chief of Heaven. One day he and his brother
Shimgeget went off to the woods, and in their wanderings
shot a hawk and a woodpecker with their bows and arrows.
They then took these birds and, having removed their
entrails, placed themselves inside of them. Weeget, in
tome mysterious way reducing his size, entered the hawk,

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. UP £tfEj OWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

while Shimgeget placed himself in the woodpecker. The
region which was inhabited by the Great Spirit was then
unknown. The entrance to this region was through an
aperture in the clouds, which was guarded by fire and
which opened only at certain intervals. Weeget and Shim-
geget determined to fly up to the opening and, watching
their chance, slip through. This they did, the hawk
going first, the woodpecker following close after. It is
said that the tail of the woodpecker was singed in passing
through, and that this accounts for the yellow spot on the
tail of that bird.

Having entered this higher region, Weeget extricated
himself from the hawk and transformed himself by some;
miraculous power into a child. He then found his way:
to the house of the Great Chief. After having played
around in the house for a while he began to cry and toj
beg for the ball of light to play with. As he could be
appeased in no other way it was finally given to him. He
amused himself for a considerable time, making his way
slowly and unobserved towards the main entrance of the
house. At last he watched his chance and ran out of]
the house, making his escape with his brother, as he had
come, through the clouds. Carefully carrying the ball ofi
light the two descended through space and alighted on
the river opposite Fishery Bay, a fishing camp fifteen
miles from the mouth of the JSTaas River. All was dark
ness, but across on the ice were some Lulak (spirits)
boiling oolachan on camp fires. Weeget called over to
them, asking if they wished light. They, however, paid
no attention to what they considered his jesting. Weeget
then burst the ball and forthwith the universe was flooded
with light.

102

INDIAN BELIEFS, TRADITIONS, LEGENDS

Nasga Version of the Origin of Man.

The Nasgas believed that man was originally the pro
duction of the mountain fish. The rocks were agitating
the question of giving origin to man but in the meantime
he was produced by the mountain fish. This, they say,
accounts for his being mortal ; had he been the production
of the rocks he would have been immortal.

The Nasga Philosophy of Death.

The ancient tradition was that after death there were two
roads open to the departed, one to the right and the other
to the left. The road to the right was red, smooth and
iver growing more beautiful all along; while that to the
.eft was dark, rough and ever growing worse the farther
me travelled along it. Those travelling the red road had
ibundance of fish to eat and water to drink, while those
HI the dark road had neither. The red road led to the
labitation of robins. Robins were, therefore, supposed to
>e enchanted and possessed of supernatural power. The
lark road led to a bridge, beyond which was the rendezvous
;»f the poor unfortunates, who were continually calling
Across for food and water to appease their hunger and
shirst. The ancients believed when the wood on their fires
teamed and cracked it was a sign that the departed spirits
!>n the dark road were calling for food. They would then
hrow salmon or grease on the fire to pacify them.

BELLA BELLA OR HAIL-TSUCK TRADITIONS.
Philosophy of Death.

The Hail-tsucks believed that the destination of the
tirits of the departed after death was a village below the
urface of the earth. There were four villages at different

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

depths. Mourners wailed and cried to the spirits or deities
that the departed might be well treated. They also burned
food over their graves that they might have sufficient in
their subterranean abode. Dancers and medicine men j
were supposed to have visited these lower regions. Corpses I
were cremated or put in cases or in boxes which were
hung in the branches of tall trees.

Thunder and Lightning.

Thunder was thought to be caused from the flapping of
the wings of an immense bird with gorgeous plumage. It
had a large glassy beak like an eagle's, and from this and
its eyes flashed fire, which was represented by lightning.
The Nanaimos said that a small lake on Mt. Benson was
the home of the Thunder bird.

Other Hail-tsuck Myths or Traditions.

The ancient traditions said that when the world first
came into existence the sky was very low and gradually
rose higher, and that islands at first consisted only of
floating kelp. Then rocks gradually formed, which ati
first were not stationary; these eventually became fixed;
and grew large. In their prehistoric days there was veryj
little soil on these islands and scarcely any trees. The
climate is said to have been intensely cold and much snowj
and ice abounded. The tides were said to rise and recede
very slightly in this prehistoric period (an intimation of
the glacial period or great ice age). Seals and sea-otters
were trapped before the aborigines learned the art of fish
ing. Their skins were used as clothing and for tents and
their bones and oil as fuel. (This would make it appear
as if they had at first Eskimo habits, which agrees with;
their tradition that they came from the north or north
west. )

104

INDIAN BELIEFS, TRADITIONS, LEGENDS

The Hail-tsuck Theory of the Deluge.

We have found among all the tribes of this Coast some
tradition of a flood. The tradition tells of the time when
the whole earth was submerged in water and only a few
natives escaped by moving their canoes to a high rock on
the top of the highest mountain at the head of Rivers
Inlet. It is said that around this rock was a fossilized
rope and this mountain was the only one not entirely
covered by water. Each of the other tribes relates a similar
story of some mountain in their own country, such as
Mt. Benson near Nanaimo, Mt. Cheam near Chilliwack,
and Mt. McNeil near Port Simpson.

Luganu and the Fish Hook.

In ancient times the raven was supposed to be enchanted
and possessed of supernatural powers, and, like other birds
and animals, had the power of speech by which it could
converse with men. A raven which was of a very enquir
ing mind determined to get possession of some useful
implements which at that time were the property of the
gods of the Sea and of the Four Winds only. During his
wanderings in search of these he came upon a house float
ing out at sea. In this house lived a man named Luganu,
who had invented the only fish hook in existence. Upon
entering the house the raven commenced conversation
with Luganu. He said, " I am delighted to have found
you at last, Luganu ; I have searched for you a long time.
You know you are my brother; we are of the same par
entage and I have come to take you to my home."

Whereupon Luganu replied, "Do not jest in that way;
we are not related. Just compose yourself and I will
prepare you something good to eat." He then took down
his hook from where it hung and, opening a trap-door in

105

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

the floor, lowered the hook and line and presently drew
up a large halibut, which he threw down on the floor with
a flourish. In the meantime he had heated some stones
on which to cook the fish, and this he now proceeded to
do. Meanwhile, the raven schemed as to how he might
further prevail upon Luganu to go -with him, that he might
eventually get possession of the coveted fish hook and line.
At last the repast was ready, and, having partaken of it,
the raven again broached the subject of Luganu accom
panying him to his home.

"But," said Luganu, "you have no canoe and we are
far from land. How do you suppose I can go?"

" Oh," said the raven, " that difficulty is easily over
come. I will carry you away on my back."

"But," said Luganu, "you will let me fall/'

" Oh, no," said the raven. " Just let me fly around
the house here with you and I will show you how well
I can manage it." So Luganu mounted the raven's back,
and he flew around with him, sometimes tipping him from
one side to the other as if to show him how impossible it
would be to let him drop. They started off, but the raven
had not gone far when he dropped his burden into the sea.

Thinking Luganu was well disposed of, the raven flew
back to the house to get the long-desired hook and line.
Before leaving the house, however, he thought he would
experiment a little and see if he could manipulate it as
Luganu had done. He accordingly opened the trap-door
and lowered the hook and line as he had seen Luganu do.
Presently he felt a weight — a fish, he supposed — and he
commenced to pull in his line ; but to his dismay he could
pull it in but a short distance; and then, cautiously look
ing down, he felt himself being slowly drawn into the
depths of the sea, not by a fish, but by Luganu, who had
found his way back by a submarine route to his house. He

106

INDIAN BELIEFS, TBADITIONS, LEGENDS

had suspected the raven and, upon seeing the hook and
line lowered, immediately seized upon it. Having dragged
his enemy down, he beat him severely, then drew him up
through the trap-door and threw him on the floor, as he
supposed, lifeless.

The raven soon revived and, though defeated, was not
disheartened. With continued scheming and planning,
however, all he was able to do was to scrutinize the hook
and line closely; and, having satisfied himself as to how
they were made, he departed. The hook was made of wood
and the line of dried kelp twisted together ; these the raven
proceeded to make, taking another animal into his confi
dence. The two started out to fish halibut together. The
raven, however, had poor luck and could not catch any,
while his companion caught a large number. The raven
became jealous and determined he would get even. His
companion at last ran short of bait, and in revenge the
raven suggested that he should cut out his tongue and use
it, claiming it would make excellent bait. This he did;
and upon their return to camp the raven claimed all the
halibut. His companion, for want of a tongue, could not
defend himself, and so lost his fish into the bargain.

The First Possession of Fire.

According to the Hail-tsuck traditions, fire was first
found in possession of Kumuqu, the Monarch of the Deep,
who lived in a house half a mile long and partly sub
merged in water, and who always rode on the back of a
great halibut. Various birds and animals had tried to
get possession of fire without success, owing to the fact
that the route leading to his place of abode was very diffi
cult to follow. The bear, the wolf and the humming-bird
had all tried this feat but had failed, and the deer finally

107

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

determined to make an attempt. Despite discouragement
and opposition from the other animals he felt confident
of success. He prepared himself first by tying stones to
the soles of his feet to prevent his falling on the slimy
backs and fins of myriads of fish, which formed the floor
of Kumuqu's house; and he also tied a piece of pine to
his tail. Having successfully reached the house, he entered
and, leaping to the fire, hastily kindled the piece of pine,
and then made his exit by the way he came. He was
ineffectually pursued by the servants of Kumuqu, the
Monarch of the Deep. He thus gained possession of fire.

A Tsimpshean Story of " Whispering Bay."

The Tsimpsheans were catching halibut and heard some
strange, whispering noises. They concluded that their
enemies, the Hydas of Queen Charlotte Islands, were in
the vicinity. They quietly and quickly "pulled for the
shore," whispered silence to all in the houses, gathered up
their chief effects and took to the woods. The Hydas
rushed in, smashed everything they found, and finally left
in their canoes. A poor old blind Tsimpshean was left,
hidden in a grease box, when the halibut fishers took to
the woods. After the Hydas left the others returned, and
the old blind man drew their attention to a sad, wailing
noise out in the bay. They went out and found a drown
ing Hyda, whom they rescued. Through the Tongass
Indians, as go-betweens, they sent word to the Hydas that
one of their people had been saved from drowning and
was cared for by the Tsimpsheans. The Hydas
offered to redeem their countryman by handing over a
number of slaves; but the magnanimous Tsimpsheans gave
him up freely, with the result that a peace treaty was con
cluded which lasted many years.

108

INDIAN BELIEFS, TKADITIONS, LEGENDS

Bad Children Punished.

About forty miles from the mouth of the Naas Kiver,
long, long ago, the Indian children were very cruel. They
used to catch fish, stick sharp-pointed pieces of wood into
their backs and throw them into the river again. They
enjoyed seeing the helpless creatures trying to get away.
The Spirit of the Mountain was very angry with the cruel
children, and to punish them shook the mountain so as
to cause an eruption. The lava flowed down the slopes
and destroyed the wicked little red-skins. It did not stop
here, but flowed on until it reached the Naas Eiver, and
for half a mile of its course filled up the channel. To-day
the lava wall may be seen on the south side and the ordin
ary rock wall on the north bank of the Naas, at the
Canyon.* That the eruption took place is a fact. The
lava is there to prove it. The assigned cause is quite
another matter. There can be little doubt that the lava
is of recent occurrence. The forest growth on the slope
of the mountain is all young and sparse, with the lava
showing in many places. Old Indians say that when they
were young people and travelling over the base of the
mountain, any object could be seen at a long distance, as
there were very few trees or other vegetable growth. The
coasts of British Columbia and Alaska furnish splendid
opportunities for the study of volcanic, glacial and water
action. The wonderful history of a mighty past is written
by the forces of nature over a stretch of more than a
thousand miles.

Origin of the Moon.

The Tlinkets of Alaska say that a long time ago it was
very dark when the sun went down into the big water. An

* The only recent lava flow known in British Columbia, accord
ing' to the Geological Survey. — Ed.

109

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

old woman who had a large family found it difficult to
get along with them, as they usually all wanted the same
thing at the same time. On one occasion she had a bright
large ball of transparent ice. Because of its shape and
clearness all cried for the pretty toy. She could not give
it to all nor divide it among them without destroying it,
so she hit upon a happy expedient. She went out into
the darkness and threw it up into the sky, where it has
been shining ever since.

Legend of the Upper Skeena.

The Upper Skeena people speak of a time when the
Hydas, the Tsimpsheans and some of the Tlinkets ail
lived a few miles below the Forks (Hazelton), They
point out a very nice locality as the place where they
resided. They state that there were thousands of people
and that they had great traps placed across the Skeena,
where they got all the fish they needed, The people
became so proud and wicked that the great wood sprite
scattered them; there came a great flood and took them
down the river. The Hydas were drifted on to the Queen
Charlotte Islands. The Kit-khatlas and the Tsimpsheans
remained near the mouth of the river. It is known that
the home of the Tsimpsheans was formerly on the Lower
Skeena during the summer, while Old Metlakatlah and
Naas were their winter residences.

There is also a legend about another great flood, so
great that it covered all the mountains. The Indians
point out the mountains where their canoes rested when
the waters subsided. This deluge tradition is found in
localized form among all the tribes of the Coast.

A conjurer on the Lower Skeena near to the homes of
the (rin-a-cun-geak tribe professed to have supernatural

110

INDIAN BELIEFS, TKADITIONS, LEGENDS

3ower and made his way up the north side of a mountain
>ack from the river where he was fasting to get his power.
The south-west side of the mountain was so smooth and
>ald that no mortal could stand on it. The old conjurer
s said to have made a large rope of cedar bark and let
limself down the south side of the mountain to the river,
lere the people saw him and wondered how he got there,
yi at once he seized the rope and pulled himself back
o the top of the mountain, which is about two thousand
eet high.

Ill

A COUNCIL OF PEACE.

Tribal Wars— Their Destructiveness — Liquor and Firearms —
The Hydas— A Battle at Port Simpson— A Treaty of Peace.

He maJceth wars to cease/

CHAPTER IX.
A COUNCIL OF PEACE.

WAES among the Coast races were of constant occur
rence from time immemorial, but became more frequent
;and deadly after the introduction of liquor and firearms
by the Whites. They were undertaken chiefly for the
purpose of procuring slaves. In these dark deeds the
Hydas were the principal offenders and were always a
j warlike race, boasting of valor and indifference to pain.
:Prom the earlier bone or shell-tipped arrows or spears,
ifchey protected themselves by complete suits of armor
inade from the dry pelts of the thick-skinned sea-lion,
!3ut from the later musket bullet they could get no such
! protection.

" After the introduction of firearms among them/' says

|;he Rev. B. C. Freeman, "the Hydas became the terror

;>f the nations, far and near. The wide seas were their

:iighway. Steel-edged tools, at first in the forms procured

ir'rom civilization and later remodelled to shapes adapted

o their own peculiar uses, gave these clever people facility

'n the manufacture of immense cedar canoes, forty, fifty

and even sixty feet long. With a fleet of these remark-

ibly seaworthy craft, they sped over the stormy waters to

he mainland on marauding expeditions, swooping unex-

>ectedly on some village, murdering or carrying into

lavery as many as possible, then fleeing again in their

anoes over the wide waters where few dared follow. With

heir pre-eminence in seacraft and daring, they became

eritable Vikings of the Coast, and ranged for hundreds

115

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

of miles up the coast of Alaska, down the western shore
of Vancouver Island, and as far as Puget Sound.

" In later years the bloodthirsty nature thus cultivated
"brought about its own retribution in fierce inter-tribal
wars, which almost decimated the race. In feuds origi
nated at their heathen orgies, whole families and some
times whole villages were wiped out. The same condi
tions as to feuds and inter-tribal wars existed also among
the other races of the Coast. When such a feud once
commenced, it might go on almost indefinitely, as after
the first mortal wound had been inflicted the killing must
be kept up till the loss of the opposing tribes should be
equal. A man of high class was held to be worth two men
of lower class, or four slaves. Any man was worth two
women of the same class, and so on, even to the mutilation
of an ear or a wound of any nature whatsoever. It was
not only e an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' but a
tooth of the same size and an eye of the same color. Insult
followed by the suicide of the insulted party still further
complicated affairs by requiring a life of equal value from
the tribe of him who gave the { shame.' ';

Such wars were among the most potent causes which
had reduced the Alaskan tribes to about one-tenth of their
original number since the time of the first Russian occu
pation of the Coast. These wars were aggravated by the
first New York and Boston traders, who supplied the
natives with rum and firearms. The Hudson's Bay Com
pany, who came afterwards, denied the Indians liquor
and did what they could to stop the wars for a time; but
were themselves obliged to strongly fortify all their trad
ing posts in order to maintain a foothold on the Coast.
Among the Indians there were to be heard awful stories of
massacre, of the scalping of men and the enslaving of
women and children.

116

A COUNCIL OP PEACE

Among those whose reminiscences included accounts of
those tribal wars was Henry Pool, or " Stand-up-on-High,"
one of the Port Simpson men. He related many stories of
the times long ago when the Hydas would come in great
crowds and fight with the Tsimpsheans, killing men and
also taking men and women and children slaves. Again,
the Tsimpsheans would go to the Hyda country, have
another big fight, bring back scalps by the score and hang
them by the camp fire.

He tells of a hard struggle they had some time before
the Missionary came. The people had been called together
to a great whisky or firewater feast. One of the Chiefs
had brought a canoe load of the vile stuff all the way from
Victoria. This feast was hardly over when a man of the
Kit-seese tribe shot a man of the Gin-a-han-gake tribe.
At this time there was a large crowd of Hydas in the place.
These people were at Fort Simpson trading, as they were
wont, their great canoes for grease and other kinds of
food, as well as blankets and other property. When this
shooting commenced, the Hydas were on the west side of
the Fort Simpson Island, or in front of the Gin-a-han-
gake tribe. A man of the last-named tribe shot a Kit-
seese man, intending it as retaliation for the Gin-a-han-
gake man who was shot earlier in the day. In so doing,
the ball went right through the Kit-seese man, and struck
and killed a Hyda man near by. The Hydas were now
insulted and enraged and ready for a fight. These were
said to be the proudest people on that great north coast.
At first they fired a volley of muskets at random. This
brought together a great crowd, representing nearly all
the ten tribes that then resided at Simpson. They com
menced firing in dead earnest on both sides and men were
shot down all along the beach. Some of the Hydas, who
had remained in their canoes, got away round the west end

117

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

of Finlayson Island, and some got away over the land;
but large numbers were killed. The struggle lasted about
four days. Some time after this the Hydas, to retaliate,
waylaid the Tsimpsheans some distance south of Simpson
and killed a large number.

Old Kah-shakes was a Tlinket Chief of the Cape Fox
tribe in Alaska, and was a strong character. A man past
middle age when we first met him, he had seen the old
heathen life from his childhood and had been in many a
bloody conflict in their early wars, both among the Tlinkets
themselves and between the Tlinkets and other tribes
along the Coast. He had doubtless taken many a scalp in
his younger days, and left the impression on one's mind
of a man who was a strong warrior and a great hunter.
He and his boys, or slaves as they were in the olden times,
brought many bear and other pelts to the Hudson's Bay
Company's stores at Simpson for trade. He was a decent,
old man to trade with ; and, when we first came among the
Tsimpsheans, his people were inclined, when they crossed
the line to Simpson, to attend Church. He always spoke
in favor of it, but only once in a while did he appear in
the Church himself. He was, however, always friendly
and would come and wait in the Mission House to get
medicine. Some of his children were in our Girls' Home
for a while before the Home in Alaska was established.
He was well-known along the southern coast of Alaska,
had attended many a big feast and potlatch and was evi
dently a man of high caste. We often met him in those
early days.

He came to the Mission House one spring morning when
a party of the Hydas from Queen Charlotte Islands had
been in the place for a few days, as they came every sum
mer to sell their new canoes to the Tsimpsheans. The
old Chief of the Cape Fox tribe, looking dejected and dis-

118

A COUNCIL OF PEACE

turbed, walked into the waiting-room and sat down. I
shook hands with him pleasantly and asked him how he
was. He commenced to talk, through a young man whom
he had brought as interpreter,, saying, " Han-kow, Han
kow (meaning Chief, Chief), I should like to speak to
you, sir. You are the great Chief who has brought peace
all along this coast; and I wish you, the great peace Chief,
would help me. You, sir, have seen these Hydas come
here. There are some in town now and there is a great
Han-kow in this village from Queen Charlotte Islands.
Nin-j ing- wash is his name. I always feel when I see him
that I should like to kill him. I feel angry at him; and
so I came to tell you, sir, that I hope you will make peace
between us. It has been a long trouble. If you will call
him up to your house, I will speak to him and tell him
my heart; I can't speak to him on the street. I want to
speak to him in your presence, sir. Call him quickly,
Han-kow/'

We sent for Nin-j ing- wash, a proud, ambitious Chief
from Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands. He was not the
first in the ancestral line — Skidegate was the Head Chief
— but he was perhaps second in order and was desirous of
being first. He must have been in his younger days a
large, fine-looking man ; and we are told that in those early
years he had "rushed things," got rich and given many
potlatches. He had amassed great wealth by the large
Dumber of slaves taken and sold; and, following that most
debased way of making money that some of his nation
sarried on, he sold his own " naturally pretty and attrac
tive wife" and also his slave women to a degrading life
Dn the Puget Sound and other places in the south. All
this he did to get property that he might spread it before
the people at these great feasts, to show how rich he was.

He came to the house at my call and we invited him to

119

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

a seat. I said, " Chief Nin-j ing- wash, the reason I called
you is that your brother Chief from Alaska, Kah-shakes,
has something to say."

Kah-shakes began by saying that he did not want to be
angry, for since the light had come so near to us we ought
to be good. He said that there had been great trouble
between the Hydas and his people for a long time. In
those great battles of former years, when so many people
were taken slaves and so many were slain, the Hydas had
taken at least one who had never been atoned for, and he
a great Chief of the Tlinket nation.

Chief Nin-j ing- wash said, " I am alone here now; there
is no Chief with me. Let this man go away and tell his
people and bring his Chiefs. I will go back to my country.
I think I return in one moon and a half, or less, if it
is good weather." It was a journey of seventy-five miles
over a treacherous sea.

We had them both sign a paper, or "make their cross,"
that the decision of the Missionary or his Christian Coun
cil should be final; and off they went. The time came for
their return and next day we met in Council. Nine Hyda
Chiefs were present, one from Masset, the rest from the
south, including Nin-j ing- wash, Skidegate and others of
their leading men. Kah-shakes and several of his people
were there; and six of our Christian men sat with us in
Council.

We opened that never-to-be-forgotten Council with
prayer. Then I rose to explain why we had met. I said
that the two leading Chiefs had promised on a former
occasion that, whatever our decision was, they would abide
by it; and I hoped that all the Chiefs and men present
would try to keep down any angry or bad feeling that
might arise in their hearts.

Nin-j ing-wash, the Hyda Chief, made the first speech.

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A COUNCIL OF PEACE

He said, " Long ago we were not the first to fight ; we had
come from our country to visit the Tsimpsheans and that
kind Chief, Sick-sake, had entertained us in his house;
the Cape Fox people came to fight in the night and killed
several of our people. .Then we went to have redress in
their country, killed some and brought back some slaves.
Then they came to our country again, showing that Kah-
shakes and the Tongass people had fight in their hearts.
The Foxes are bad."

Kah-shakes then arose. " I have not a bad heart or 1
should not have come to this God's servant to make peace.
If I had not a good heart, I should have thought over the
bad and have gone away and done something bad another
time. In our great war, which Chief Nin-j ing- wash has
spoken about, there were many killed and many taken
slaves. It is the way with our law, as the Chief knows,
that, if the same number is killed, scalped or taken on
both sides, peace is proclaimed by a good Chief putting
white eagle down on the heads of the contending Chiefs."

The Council, which proved to be of two days' duration,
was now fairly opened. One after another told of dark,
bloody conflicts in which many were butchered and women
and children taken and slain — in some cases where the
condition of the women was such that they should have
had the tenderest care. Often the feeling rose to such a
pitch that it seemed we should have a fight right there.
Then some one or other of our Christian men would rise in
a very dignified, quiet way and, by some kind words, pour
oil on the troubled waters. He would say, " Now, friends,
don't get angry ; you know this is a time of peace and you
have come to a great peacemaker." We closed each session
of our meetings with song or prayer.

I did not rest much those two nights; and sometimes
when the Chiefs told their heartrending stories of the ter-

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UP AND DOWN THE NOBTH PACIFIC COAST

rible conflicts and how their people were savagely slain,
I would rise to say a word to quell their rage or sit and
lift my heart to God for help. Much prayer was made
among our fellow-Christians of the village during those
days and it was a real comfort to see how much they were
interested in making peace between these once great
nations of proud people. Some of the Chiefs talked quite
calmly, others told most exciting and awful stories of
savage butchery. It seemed to us that the Foxes had been
the aggressors and had evinced a most daring, bloodthirsty,
warlike spirit in going all the way to the Hyda country to
fight with such a formidable people; yet the Hydas were
not behind a whit in their cruelty and violence. They took
all the slaves they could get and were noted slave traders.
It was clear that they had the best of the fray more than
once.

After hearing every one speak — and some spoke a good
many times — we proposed that they should settle the diffi
culty by appeal to the two laws. They must use the
Christian law of forgiveness, as we thought that no
blankets could settle this affair; and, according to the
Indian custom, they might pay to the Foxes fifty blankets.
Thus we hoped that they would be at peace.

Old Nin-j ing- wash, on behalf of the Hydas, rose and
said, " My Chiefs and I are willing to do what the good
Missionary Chief says."

Old Kah-shakes rose and said, " Do you think my heart
can be bought with a few blankets ?" and as he rose he
took off a fine, new overcoat, walked across the floor and
handed it to the Hyda Chief. Then he stepped back into
the middle of the room and beckoned to the Chief to come
to him. He took him by the hand, as if he were going to
shake hands with him, embraced him with the other arm
and turned round three times to the place where he started ;

in

A COUNCIL OF PEACE

;hen the two great Chiefs kissed each other. He went
;hrough the same ceremony with the eight remaining Hyda

hiefs and kissed them all with the exception of one. He
shook hands with this man and embraced him, but did not
iiss him. We asked him, after it was all over, why he did
aot kiss the last one. He said there was just a little in his
heart that he could not forgive, as that was one of the men
who had so savagely and brutally destroyed one of the
women of his tribe.

Every one then rose and shook hands with the others.
We had a short prayer meeting to thank our Heavenly
Father for bringing peace to so many hearts. All the
Chiefs concerned put their signatures to the following
paper :

"Fort Simpson, June 16th, 1878: It is hereby certified
by terms agreed upon this day between the Hyda Chiefs
af Skidegate, Gold Harbor, Masset and Clue, and also the
Cape Fox and Tongass tribes, that all of the claims of the
Fox tribes against the aforesaid Hyda tribes are satisfied
in full; and that there is now peace made in our presence
between the aforesaid peoples. Signed on behalf of the
Hydas, Chief Skidegate and Chief Nin-j ing- wash; on
behalf of the Cape Fox tribes, Chief Kah-shakes and Chief
jKad-da-shan. Witnessed by T. Crosby, John Ryan, and
!Chief Dudoward."

We trust that no trouble will ever rise between them
again, and that all concerned may have the blessing of the
Divine Master, who said, " Blessed are the peacemakers."

123

CANOES AND CANOE TRIPS.

" Dug-out " Canoes— Their Manufacture — A Disastrous Voy
age — Chief Sick-sake, Hat-lead-ex.

"Lord, if at Thy command,
The word of life we sow,
Watered by Thy almighty hand,
The seed shall surely grow!'

CHAPTER X.
CANOES AND CANOE TRIPS.

THE canoes on the North Pacific Coast were among the
finest of the native productions. They were what are called
:e dug-outs/' that is to say, they were mostly hewn out of
i single cedar log. In the south, the large ones were
isually called Chinook canoes. They had a " stub/3 or
i rather short stern, with a very high bow or neck. There
vas a variety of smaller canoes used for hunting and fish-
ng. There were also what they called spoon canoes. These
vere used for travelling on very shallow rivers. They
vere flat-bottomed and had hardly any rise at the bow or
tern. Sometimes these were dug out of cedar, but cotton-
rood was always preferred. The farther we went north,
he larger we found the canoes. The great war canoe
/as fitted with a very heavy bow and a heavy stern, and
arried easily fifty or sixty people. It was so shaped that
t would sail over almost any sea when properly managed,
^hen there was the very large Hyda canoe, which was a
eautiful model, with gracefully-shaped bow and stern,
nd was what, in English phraseology, would be called a

clipper." This was often from thirty to sixty feet long
nd of five or six feet beam.

The Hyda people of Queen Charlotte Islands made the
irgest and best canoes, as they had larger cedar trees on
le Islands than grew on the mainland on that part of the
oast. They used to bring the canoes over in great num-
3rs to Fort Simpson and other places to be sold or bar
bed for fish, grease and blankets. They were sold at

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UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

from $75 to $200 each. One of these large dug-outs,
seventy feet long by eight feet beam, was presented to
Lord Lome when he visited British Columbia during his
term of administration as Governor- General of Canada.

The medium-sized canoe was the best. It carried two
large sails. In early times the Hydas did not seem to have
the idea of ribbing the canoes, hence they would some
times split with fatal results in a storm on the sea. Later,
we taught them to rib them with small cedar sticks or
branches flattened on each side. In after years we showed
them how to steam ribs about three-quarters of an inch
thick by two and one-half inches wide. These were screwed
down on the inside of the canoe eighteen inches or two
feet apart. The bow and stern were well fastened with
natural crooks.

While in the south, in the early days, we were compelled
to travel by canoe; and in the north we found the same
necessity where the heavier seas and longer distances from
shore made it necessary to have a larger canoe. The canoe
we travelled in for almost eight years was about thirty
feet long with five feet beam and ribbed in the way above
mentioned. The ribs were screwed down with copper
screws and butted up to a piece running fore and aft on
each side of the canoe from stem to stern, about eight or
nine inches below the gunwale. On this strip the thwarts
rested, where the men would sit to work while travelling.
I had a good seat at the stern and a small, shifting rudder.
I could sit with my feet fastened to the ropes which were
attached to the rudder, and thereby steer in ordinary
water while reading or otherwise occupied. Oars as well
as paddles were provided, so that we could use either, and
there were two large sails which we also used as flies or
tents to sleep under at night. When everything was kept
in good order, the ropes well cared for and a good coat of

128

CANOES AND CANOE TEIPS

paint applied to the canoe once or twice a year, we could
live up to Cromwell's command, " Trust in Providence and
keep your powder dry." We took good care of her, often
getting up at a midnight hour during stormy weather to
haul her up or see that she was all right. This canoe
lasted so many years that the Indians called her the " ever
lasting canoe/' or " God's canoe to carry the Gospel of
light." The unribbed canoes were split by the sun and
rarely lasted more than a year or two.

Following a plan of itinerant evangelism, which soon
developed in answer to the calls which poured in from
outlying tribes, we made many trips to nearly all parts of
the Coast, obeying, as far as we could, the command to " go
into all the world." This also enabled us to make use of
native evangelists who were very zealous and eager to help
in this work.

For a number of years some of these canoes were used
by the Hudson's Bay Company to freight up the Skeena,
some two hundred miles. They usually took two tons of
freight and five men each. These boats all had to be ribbed
for this purpose, yet some of them would come to grief,
notwithstanding all the care. " Pacific " though the Coast
may be, it often becomes boisterous enough, especially if
there is a tide running against the wind. It can easily
be seen that a very large canoe, say forty-five or fifty feet
long, without ribs would be in danger of being split in a
heavy sea, unless great care were taken. This is especially
the case when the craft is new, before she has been soaked
| by the water.

One of the most painful accidents from this cause, and
one which brought bereavement and sorrow to several fami
lies, occurred on June 8th, 1877, when Inspector Williams,
of the Hudson's Bay Company, and a party of five Indian
men were all lost but one on their way from Queen Char-
9 129

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

lotte Islands. Mr. Williams had been over to Masset to
inspect the Company's post, books, etc. Before leaving
the Island, the Hyda people begged the party not to go, as
there was going to be bad weather, but our Simpson men,
expecting to meet the Indian Commissioner on his .visit
to that place, pushed out. They were carried out for many
miles by a south-west wind somewhat under the shelter of
the Island. When they got out near to what is called
" Rose Spit," the wind veered around to south-east. They
then saw that the weather looked bad and thought they
had better pull back towards shore. They lowered sail and
rowed hard, but in vain, for they were drifting farther
and farther out. The wind was now a strong south-easter,
which always means bad weather on that coast. Mr.
Williams said they had better put up sail, run before the
wind and try to make the Alaskan shore. He gave them
the course with his compass, as they could not see the land.
They did as he said, got up two sails, and soon were run
ning well up to windward. They had not run long before
a huge wave swept over them, and split one side of the
great canoe completely out; immediately another wave
struck the other side, taking it off also.

Matthew Hat-lead-ex, the only survivor, in describing
what followed, says, " We all got on the broken wreck, as
the thwarts and withes held the pieces together at the bow,
and the great bottom slab was still attached to the two
side slabs which looked like wings. Mr. Williams had
caught hold of one of the wings, and Chief Sick-sake was
clinging to the other. For some time Mr. Williams held
on with his head down on his arms. It was very cold ; and
after a time Mr. Williams said, 'Boys, pray'; he bowed
his head and we all prayed. Mr. Williams then threw up
his arms and dropped off and we saw him no more. We
could not see any land at this time. After Mr. Williams

130

CANOES AND CANOE TRIPS

•ank, we prayed again. Soon our Chief and guide got
•old and weak, let go his hold, and disappeared.

" After this, we succeeded in cutting in two a pole or
nast that was still attached ; and, with the ropes hanging
o it, we got the slabs of the canoe together. We lashed
»ne piece of the pole at each end and the planks were still
attached by the withes at the bow. Now we felt better, as
re had a raft; but one paddle and a broken oar were all
re had with which to pull.

" Darkness soon closed around us, and we prayed again
o God to take care of us for the night. Before daylight
Saturday morning, another of our number got weak and
ell off the raft. The wind was blowing hard at this time.
Towards sunrise the sea was calmer. The sun shone on
is and we felt warmer. With our paddle and our oar we
worked hard, but did not seem to make much headway, as
he tide was against us. The next night the wind blew
trong from the north-east, and seemingly drifted us farther
mt to sea. We prayed that night for God to help us.
Another day came and we remembered it was Sunday. We
*iad services three times that day on our raft." (This
:nan, the local preacher, was the weakest in the company
)hysically, and I believe it was his faith in God which
:ept him up and finally saved him.)

He said, " I spoke from the text, ( The eyes of the Lord
re in every place/ and urged my comrades to have strong
earts, for God's eye was upon us for good. That night
grew stormy and it seemed hard to keep our raft together,
still told my friends to have strong hearts as I yet hoped
lat God would bring us to land. Monday was a better
ay. We had prayer and singing on the raft. Monday
ight, far on in the night, one of our brothers got out of
is mind. He jumped up and shouted, ( I see a fire, let us
et ashore !' Either he cut the rope with a knife or the

131

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

ends of the raft parted, and there in the darkness I was
left alone on one slab of the broken canoe. I saw my
friends no more.

" The wind got round to the north-west. It was not very
strong, and helped me towards shore. Towards the morn
ing I thought I saw a bright light come down from heaven,
I had been praying, when something seemed to say, ( You
will be saved over there towards where that light is.' On
Tuesday morning I was drifted ashore on an island near
the place to which the light in the night seemed to point.
I crawled up among the rocks for the tide was out. When
I got above tide mark, as if God had put it there, I found
the bones of a deer with part of the skin attached; and
there, on the rocks, I broke the bones and ate the marrow/'

He continued, " Oh, I was so thirsty, and prayed to God
to give me water to drink. I crawled along a little further,
for I could not walk, and found a little water in the hollow
part of a rock. It had come there from the rain and the
sun had warmed it. I now prayed to my Heavenly Father,
thanking Him for saving me from the stormy waters, and
asking Him to please send me help to get home. I fell
asleep, and must have had a long sleep, for the tide had
come up and gone down again. After this, I crawled down
and found some shell fish which helped me much. I got a
little stronger and still moved along the side of the island.
That night I slept. Next day, Saturday, I got more food
from the beach and crawled a long distance, until I found
a small canoe pulled well up on the land. I got a flat
piece of stick or board to serve as a paddle, launched the
canoe and paddled along till I came to Old Tongass vil
lage, where I broke into one or two houses in hope of find
ing food, but there was none there. I then started to
padclle across to Cape Fox. While crossing the channel, a
steamboat came from the north; and my heart jumped

132

CANOES AND CANOE TKIPS

'or joy. I thought they would take me up. I lifted my
-tick and waved ; the captain or someone on the deck, took
>ff his hat and bowed, but the steamer went on, and my
ipirits sank very low. By hard paddling, I reached the
dllage at Cape Fox." (That is in Alaska, about seventy-
Ive miles from Masset.)

"There the people came out to see me, and were very
nuch excited when I told them about our trouble. They
iclped me into the house, and, as soon as I had got by the
ire, I fainted — and forgot everything. After a while I
•evived, and found the old conjurers with their rattles
•attling over me, and a lot of the people singing to the
tonjurers' song. They were shouting and saying, e Don't
rou die here ; don't you die here !' I said, ' No, I think I
vill not die; but if I do, you take my body to Fort Simp-
on, and do not be afraid. God will protect you/ Some of
he friends by this time had baked a cake in the ashes and
•jot some hot tea. I took it, and as soon as I had eaten a
ittle and drunk some of the hot tea, I fainted again. When
'. revived after some time, they were rattling over me
igain and shouting, ' Don't you die here ; don't you die
lere !? I think they were afraid that if I should die there
he Tsimpsheans would say that they had murdered our
•mrty. However, thank God, I did not die. I rested that
light, and on Sunday I spoke to the people from God's
JVord in Chinook. The next day they brought me over to
•ny home at Fort Simpson."

This awful accident cast a gloom over the whole village,
is the heads of three families, including our noble Chief
Sick-sake, were all taken away, and Inspector Williams'
'amily left fatherless in Victoria.

Before he went over to Masset, Mr. Williams had been
staying at the Fort. He was a very nice, friendly man.
V day or two before he left we attended a funeral together,

133

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

and, while I read the service at the grave, he held an
umbrella over me, as it was pouring rain. Little did I
think that was the last time I should see Mr. Williams.
Hat-lead-ex, poor fellow, seemed for some days more dead
than alive. His hands and thighs were cut through to the
bone where he had sat holding on to the broken piece of
the canoe. He was one of our first converts. The Chief,
Sick-sake, was a very kind man and a Christian, beloved
by all his people. A little while before this, he, with
twenty young men, went through a great storm to look for
the Missionary, who, with a crew of ten, was without food,
wind bound on Portland Channel. We felt that in him
we had lost a warm friend and supporter of Mission work.
Other sad tales of wreck by canoe splitting might be added
to this.

134

OTHEE CANOE TRIPS.

Big Jim— A Trip to Bella Bella— Wockite— Ebstone Jack-

W. B. Cuyler — Various other Trips — Adventures

on the Skeeaa — A Man Lost.

" Now the word doth swiftly run,
Now it win* its widening way"

CHAPTER XL
OTHER CANOE TRIPS.

WHILE we were yet working at our Church at Fort
Simpson, a tall, rough man came in, his wife and child
idth him, very poorly dressed. They looked very tired and
inkempt.

I said, " Good day. How do you do ? Where are you
rom? What is your name?"

He said, "They call me Jim, sir; my Indian name is
Jua-lth-nat. I am from near Millbank Sound/' (This
yould be about two hundred miles distant.) "I wished
o see you, sir; I was working a long way from my home,
town at Burrard's Inlet and New Westminster (about
our hundred miles from his home). I was there working
,t a sawmill. I was gambling and drinking, fighting and
tealing; and I was put in jail. A nice, little man (the
lev. T. Derrick) came to see me. He said, ' Jim, you
nust come to Church.' I said, ( No, I can't go to Church ;
'. am too bad. I get drunk, I gamble; no good for me to
jo to Church.' But he came to me again and said, ' Jim,
rou must come to Church.' I said, ' No, I can't go to
Church ; I am too bad, I steal, and have been in jail/ He
same the third time and said, ' Jim, you must come to
Church.' I thought the man was so kind I would go and
aear what he had to say. When I got there, he told me
;he wonderful story about the great God who made all
,hings, and about His only Son, who, he said, came down
>;o this world to save sinners just like me. I thought it
vas a wonderful story. I stopped my drinking, left my

137

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

j$jjfc!l

gambling, got into my canoe and started away to my
people to see them and tell them; I thought they would
like to hear the wonderful story that the good man told
me. When I got to my people, they were in the midst oi
a heathen dance and wouldn't listen to me ; so I have come
all the way to see you and hear more about this Jesus ; and
I want to learn to sing." (This man had actually come
six hundred miles to hear about Jesus; do you think we
show the same eagerness ?)

We opened the Blessed Book, and told Jim more of the
story; helped him to sing hymns, and, as day after day
passed, we instructed him. He got a number of hymns ofl
by heart, and constantly asked questions about the Gospel
story.

One day he came to the Mission House and said, " Now;
sir, I am going."

I said, " Good-bye, Jim, God bless you !"

He said he would like some nails.

" What do you want with nails, Jim ?"

He said, " I am going to build a Church."

I went to the Hudson's Bay store and bought him some
nails. Away he went, urging me to come and visit his
people soon and tell them the good news.

Some months later I started off in my canoe with an
evangelistic party of our people to visit all the tribes
between Simpson and Bella Bella.

In preparation for a trip of this kind, we call together
a number of people and ask for volunteers. The canoe is
got ready and provisioned. We take along a box of pilot
bread, dried fish, sugar and tea, potatoes and salt salmon;
and our native friends take a good quantity of sea weed,
dried herring spawn, dried salmon and halibut, and a good
supply of oil. The time comes for starting, everything
is in readiness, the canoe is launched. We have said good-

138

OTHEK CANOE TKIPS

bye to the folks in the Mission House, but a number of
Christian people are down at the beach to see us start. A
hymn is sung — it may be " God be with you till we meet
again" — a prayer offered for success on the trip and we
start southward. The first place we reach is Inverness, a
salmon cannery, where service is held. Then we put out to
Kit-kat-lap, where our first night is spent, and services
are held with the people, some of whom are delighted with
our coming, while others do not seem to care for it, as
they say they wish to keep their old way. Prayer meeting
and service are held next morning and we leave southward
bound amid rain and south-west wind. After a hard day's
pull, the next place is Kitthatta, Hartley Bay, having
visited two Indian fishing camps on the way. Service is
held here with very few people. Our next place is Kita-
maat. We do not find very many people at home, but hold
services at a number of fishing and hunting camps. We
press on southward, every day with more or less rain. At
night camp is made, with a fire ten or twelve feet long,
built of driftwood, piled high in order, if possible, to get
some of our garments and blankets dry.

Poles are hung up all around this great fire, and blankets
are steaming for hours, while one of the large sails is put
up on each side of the fire as a fly under which we sleep.
While supper is preparing, the Indians tell stories of wars
or great feasts or hunting expeditions. Then to service;
the Word is read and explained, hymns are sung and
prayers offered. Soon every one is rolling up in his steam
ing blankets and it is not long before all are asleep. Several
times during the night some lively fellow gets up, rakes
the embers together and throws on more wood. Early in
the morning there is a loud call for everybody to get up
and we emerge, steaming, from our wet blankets like men
coming out of a vapor bath. Still the weather is wet.

139

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

Breakfast and prayers over, a start is made southward,
leaving behind Kitlope and many hunting and fishing
camps.

We reached Hyhise, the first village of the Bella Bellas,
some ten miles inland, opposite where the present China
Hat village lies, east of Millbank Sound. Here we found
that Big Jim had built a little Church. There was no
sawed lumber in that part of the country, so he had gone
to the woods and split out cedar slabs about nine feet long
to make his walls, and covered the roof with slabs and bark.
He was having service every Sabbath among his people,
doing what he could by telling the few that would come
the story, as far as he knew it, of a Saviour's love. We
spent some time among them. The Chief, a young man
named Qunah, said he was very glad we had come and he
hoped the Bella Bellas might soon have a Missionary.

Leaving this place, on we went, bounding through the
Narrows with a tide of about six miles an hour. We made
Wockite that night. In the morning we met the old Chief
Wockite and I visited from house to house with Chief
Kneeshot, my leader, while the rest of the boys prepared
breakfast. A number of the people in the village seemed
very much pleased to have us come; but the old Chief
himself wanted to know why we were there. He didn't
wish either us or the Book. He said God gave him and
his fathers the medicine bag, the conjurer's rattle, the
feathers, the dance and the potlatch, and had given the
white man the Book; so we might understand they didn't
want our preaching or our prayer.

After breakfast, several of the Indians came to our camp.
One leading man said he was very sorry to hear the old
Chief say he didn't want the Missionary or the Book; that
the old man was going to have a big feast that day, and if
we should be invited, we had better go. We were invited

140

OTHEE CANOE TEIPS

to the feast and went, as we might have a chance to tell
the story after that was over. Very soon word came that
some of my crew with Chief Kneeshot had been invited
and wanted to know if they should go. I said, " Yes, we
will all go and, if there is a chance, you must all be ready
to give testimony of your conversion.'5

At eleven o'clock we all sat down on mats close around
the fire in the old Chiefs house. After all were seated, a
dish with water in it was passed around, so that each one
might wash his fingers. They were very particular about
this in those days. A dirty rag was passed around to dry
our fingers. While these preparations were being made,
loud conversation was carried on by different leading men,
one of whom would tell of the war between the Hydas and
the Bella Bellas long ago when slaves and scalps were
taken ; others, of wonderful hunting expeditions, struggles
with bears and the like. Then long, wooden dishes were
placed within reach of each one, and the courses, seven in
number, commenced. We had potatoes, dried salmon and
grease, sweet spruce bark, salmon, and finally wound up
with some very plain flapjacks made of flour and water.
A number of speeches were made which had to do with
their families and their intercourse of more recent date
with white people; they acknowledged the kindness of
their host and spoke of his family history and the great
ness of his relatives. We had been there from eleven
o'clock until four in the afternoon when they got through.

At this stage I said, " Chief Wockite, have you done ?"
and he grunted out an answer which I took for an affirma
tive. I got up and gave the people a short talk on the fall
of man and the redemption by Christ.

When I had finished, one of my boys, Robert, a young,
converted man from Tongass, Alaska, rose and said, " Chief
Wockite, you are a great Chief; I am pleased to say this

141

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

word to you. My uncles in Alaska were all Chiefs and
rny father's people were all great men, but they were all in
darkness until the Missionary came to Fort Simpson and
brought us the light. Wockite, see this tide!" pointing
to the rising tide, " bring all your people and all your great
power and try to push back this tide. Push away, Wockite,
push away ! You can't stop the tide ; it will come up all
around your village here and wash away all the dirt and
bad into the great sea. So with the Gospel, Wockite; it
is coming on; 'tis coming on; it has come all over Fort
Simpson and the Tsimpshean country; it came to us in
Alaska, taking away all the darkness and the bad; and
many of the Chiefs and people are happy now. All the
great Chiefs have taken the Book. Wockite, you can't
stop the Gospel any more than you can stop the tide; it
will come on, and reach to all the tribes of the Bella Bella
people, and the Gospel light will drive away all the bad.
So, Wockite, I am sorry that you said you did not want
the Book." Others of my men told a little of their experi
ence. After having other services with some of the fami
lies, we left this village, bidding the old Chief good-bye.

Not long after this, we heard the sad news that old
Chief Wockite and a number of his braves on their way to
a potlatch at a distant village were going round by Mill-
bank Sound, when they were caught in a great storm.
Their canoe upset, and all were lost. I need hardly say
that this event was partly the means of opening the way
for the Gospel to all the Bella Bella tribes, for they looked
upon it as a judgment from God because of the old man
refusing to have the Gospel in his village.

We also visited other bands of the Bella Bella people.
A trader who was among them said with a kind of sneer,
" What do you come here for, Crosby ? What do you think
you are going to do with this people ? I want to say to you

142

OTHER CANOE TRIPS

they are a different kind of people from the Tsimpsheans,
and you will never convert them and get them under your
influence and control as you have the Simpson people."

" Oh," I remarked, " I don't expect to convert them, but
I have come to preach the Gospel to them and that will
make as mighty a transformation among the Bella Bellas
as it has among other tribes."

"We spent a Sabbath at the principal village. In the
morning we had prayer-meeting at seven o'clock, as our
custom was at home. Some of the poor Bella Bella people
attended, and, after my men had led in prayer, I asked
them to pray also. They looked around at me and said
they did not know what to say, that if I would tell them
what to say, they would pray, so we had to "teach them
how to pray." We had service three times during the day.
I was asked if the Lord understood the Bella Bella lan
guage, and would understand them if they spoke to Him in
their own tongue.

Here also I met Ebstone Jack, a happy-looking fellow
who came to me all smiling, and said, " Oh, sir, I am so
glad you have come. I was down in Victoria a while ago,
and a good minister gave me this Bible," pulling out the
Bible and holding it up before me. " He told me that it
explained about God's love to us. I returned home, bring
ing the Bible, and I thought my people would like to hear
all I had heard about this book, so I showed it to them.
They laughed at me and persecuted me; I felt very bad,
and day after day I used to go up that mountain side all
alone where I had often gone before to offer sacrifice to the
great storm. I would kneel down upon the rock, open the
Book, and then say to God, ' Now, Great Chief, this is
Your Book ; I am all dark and wicked, but God's man told
me that this Book tells of Your love. Now, please, will
You not hear my prayer, and send us a teacher to tell us

143

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

what is in this Book?' Every time I prayed like that, I
came away feeling strong in my heart, and believing that
some way or other God would send us a teacher; and now
I am so glad you have come." The poor man almost danced
for joy, as the tears ran down his cheeks. He said also,
" I have been telling my people that God was going to
send a Missionary, and I asked them when we were eating
food in our feasts if I might not pray to God; but they
laughed at me, and asked if I was going to leave the way
of our fathers and become a Schoolman like the Simpson
people. Then they wouldn't invite me to feasts any more
and they cut my name out of their councils. They perse
cuted me, and called me bad names. They said I was-
crazy ; if I went that way, the witch power would take hold
of me and I would soon die and all my family for our
wise men, the conjurers, have great power. Now I am glad
you have come and I hope you will leave us a teacher for
our people."

From Bella Bella as a centre, we have travelled hundreds
of miles to visit the villages of that region, which included
Bella Coola, North and South Bendicaum, Hyhise, China
Hat (at a later period), Goose Island, Eivers Inlet and
Smith Sound, as well as the various fishing, logging and
hunting camps and canneries which were established later
at intervening points.

These were the stretches of water on which the sainted
"W. B. Cuyler afterwards truly laid down his life for the
people of that region. A more devoted man we nevei
knew. It was before the days of gasoline launches, and
the calls of steamboats were very rare, so he travelled
mostly by canoe or large fishing boat; and it was on on(
of those trips by boat in very stormy, disagreeable weathei
that he took a cold, brought on by working hard all da}

144

OTHEE CANOE TEIPS

and sleeping out at night, perhaps in wet blankets. From
this sickness he never recovered.

Accompanied by our brave Christian men from Simpson,
I made many trips to Port Essington, Lowe Inlet, Kita-
maat, Kitlope, Hartley Bay and Kit-khatla. It was on
the Rivers Skeena and Naas that we had the most trying
trips, especially in a severe winter. At the mouth of the
Skeena, we were in great danger more than once of being
jammed in the ice and having our craft crushed in the
floes. It was here that a Church of England clergyman
and his crew were all lost. The Naas was equally trying,
and many times we had to leave our canoe at the mouth of
the river and walk over the ice or over the mountains
twelve or fifteen miles to Lach-al-zap. On one occasion,
while ascending this river, about half way up we came to
nearly a foot and a half of water on the top of the ice, and
had to wade through it for miles. On another occasion, we
paddled to the village with our large canoe and spent the
Sabbath in blessed services. The people were so much
interested that they wanted the Missionary to remain
another day. We did so, had three more services and
started away on Tuesday morning over the ice, sliding the
canoe along. We soon found the ice was not thick enough ;
but we went on, each one hanging to the canoe. Presently
one broke through, we nearly lost our Chief and found it
impossible to go on. We pulled our canoe to shore and,
climbing over the mountain in the deep snow, got back to
the village, where we spent several days. Great interest
was aroused among the people and there was a revival of
religion in the village. The cold increased and the ice
became solid. After this, we had no trouble in putting our
large canoe on a sled and hauling her away down to tide
water.

Wo made a great number of trips up the Skeena with
10 145

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

the Hudson's Bay boats or freight canoes to the Forks.
These trips were made in company with perhaps twenty
canoes loaded with freight, five men being in each canoe;
and we had abundance of chance to preach and hold ser
vices on the way. Every Saturday afternoon a good camp
was chosen and all the boats unloaded so that the freight
could be dried and any leaks or other damages to the canoes
repaired. The whole Sabbath Day was spent in rest and
religious services. "We visited all the villages on our return
trips. Later on, we made an evangelistic tour along the
Skeena as far as Kishpiax, with from twenty to thirty
warm-hearted Christian Indian evangelists, when it was a
delight to see how the young men worked with paddle,
oars, pole or tow line, singing on the way, " We work until
we die," or " We'll work till Jesus comes." A full descrip
tion of this and other journeys must be reserved for a later
chapter, but we may here refer to some adventures con
nected with this and other trips.

There were some very dangerous places on the Skeena
River. The " Canyon " in certain stages of the water,
" Splashing Rapids," " Bee's Nest" and " Kitzegucla Can
yon " were the worst.

It was just at the foot of one of these rapids when I was
on one of my trips in the Hudson's Bay Company's freight
canoes that the following incident occurred: The men in
the canoes had poled as far as they could up the " riffle "
and, not being able to get a tow line ashore, let go the poles
and every man paddled for life to reach the opposite shore.
Arriving there, a man, ready at the bow with a rope, had to
jump ashore as soon as the canoe touched and whip his
rope around a stump to save her going down into the ter
rible whirlpools below. As each canoe was loaded with two
and a half or three tons of freight and usually carried a
crew of five men, the loss of life must have been appalling

146

OTHER CANOE TRIPS

if, by any chance, the man who jumped ashore missed his
fastening, for nothing could have prevented the canoes and
their crews from being swept into the maelstrom below.

While my canoe was waiting in still water on the right
hand shore and we were watching to see how the others
would manage, two canoes got over all right. The third,
with an old Tongass Chief who did not know the river as
Captain, was not so successful. The men had let go their
poles and were paddling for their lives. Getting too much
down into the wild water they would often miss their
stroke, as the waves were so high and they were sometimes
in the trough and sometimes on the crest. Suddenly we
saw a man's hat in the stream. Paddling with great force
on the top of the wave, he had missed his stroke, and had
fallen into the water. The next moment came the shout,
" Man overboard !" The old Captain was now landing on
the point and could not possibly come down from where
he was to rescue his man.

My Captain shouted, " All hands to your paddles ; what
do you say, shall we go and save the man?" The men
shouted, "All right" ("Ahm, ahm"), and out we
plunged, every man pulling for his life right into the wild
waters and into what seemed to be "the very jaws of death."
Now came a shout by the Captain, " Back water, or we shall
miss our man." Just at that moment, amid the whirlpools
and rushing waves, we saw our brother as he came up for
what must have been the last time, for, as he said after
wards, he was blind and could not hear a word we said.
A long pole was thrust against his breast and he seized it
with a death grip. A strong young man held the pole
and, with the assistance of another man who grasped him
by the clothes, their sinking comrade was pulled into the
canoe. As soon as we got him on board, we rolled him and
lifted him up and down to get the water out of him.

147

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

This took some time and when he began to revive I gave
him some Jamaica ginger. By the time we had finished
rubbing and working with him, we were far down the river
in calm water. During the day he seemed to be much
better, but was dull for some days after.

This all happened in much less time than it takes to
write it and I do not think any one of us would have been
ready a few minutes before to make such a terrible venture
for all the world.

Many a trip I made up that river. On a more recent
one, a man was lost. I was travelling in company with the
Upper Skeena people on their way from the salmon can
neries. We had over one hundred people in the company.
I travelled with them in order to hold services on the Sab
bath and in camp. The first Sabbath we had a blessed day.
We visited in camp all who did not come to service, for a
large number of the people were heathen. On Monday
morning it was raining, but some started early. After a
while my Captain and party got out and, just as we were
pushing from the shore, a shout came down the river,
" Canoe upset !" Crossing the river, we met with evidences
of it. We picked up a sack of flour, some mats and some
clothing, floating down. Another shout came down the
river, " Man lost I" I landed on the other shore and ran
up over a bar about two miles. There I found a poor,
blind man and his mother, sitting on the bank of the river,
with part of the broken canoe lying along the beach. They
were crying and told how it happened. A long tree was
lying out from the shore on the surface of the water with
its roots still fast. In trying to get past the outer end of
it, their canoe sheered in, when the strong current pushed
them under the log. The man at the stern was knocked
off and he and part of his steering gear were carried away.

148

OTHER CANOE TRIPS

He was seen no more. The other two caught hold of the
tree, and thus got ashore.

I need not say that was a day of great sorrow among the
party. All went ashore to camp. The friends of the lost
man prepared a feast on the bar of the river, and called
every one to it. Here we had a good chance to preach to
them and tell them to " prepare to meet their God/' The
same night a large party came up to the village of Kit-
sum-ka-lem, just across from us. I preached to them also.
Next morning I headed a search party of two canoes. We
went down the river about ten miles to look for the body
of the lost man, but did not find it.

149

ALASKA.

The Country and its Resources — Purchase and Military Occu
pation by the United States — Hootchenoo — Hostility
between Whites and Natives— Alaskan Trade
at Fort Simpson— A Taku Chief—
Kashah— Talh-lee— General
0. 0. Howard.

The morning light is breaking, the darkness disappears.'

CHAPTEE XII.
ALASKA.

ALASKA is an English corruption of the native word
" Al-ak-shak," which means " great country or continent."
It is indeed a great country with an area of over 596,100
square miles. It was formerly a Kussian possession, but
was purchased by the United States in 1867 for the sum
of $7,200,000. Mr. Seward, then Secretary of State, con
ducted the negotiations. There was a great outcry through
out the country over paying so much money for what was
considered a worthless, icebound piece of territory. In
derision it was called " Seward's Folly." Some time after
wards, on Mr. Seward's retiring from public office, when
1 he was asked, " What do you consider the most important
act of your official life ?" the answer was, " The purchase
of Alaska; but a generation or more must pass before the
; people will realize its value."

The Alaska Commercial Company pays the Government
an annual rental of $55,000 for the seal islands and a
royalty on the skins of $263,500. They paid into the
treasury of the United States from 1871 to 1880 over two
and a half million dollars for seals alone. Of sea otter
about $100,000 worth was taken annually, and other fur-
bearing animals, including several varieties of fox, mink,
beaver, marten, lynx, otter, black bear, wolverine, whistler,
reindeer, mountain goat and sheep, ermine, marmot, musk-
rat and wolf, were secured in great abundance. The fur
product alone amounts to $1,000,000 annually.

153

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

It is said there are no such fisheries in the world as
those of Alaska; the timber resources are marvellous in
extent and variety ; almost unlimited supplies of gold, cop
per and other minerals are found ; and yet in some quarters
the impression long prevailed that Alaska was not worth
the money paid for it.

After the purchase the United States Government made
the great mistake of establishing military posts all through
the southern part of the country. The result was that the
fifty thousand Indians of the country were far worse off
than before the purchase, on account of the degrading
influence of the soldiers and of the white man's firewater.
Some of the Whites thought that it would be better if the
Indians were exterminated, and they took a sure way of
doing it. At Sitka, the capital of the country, whisky was
sold by the gallon on the streets. For ten long years the
people waited for the Gospel but were still left in the dark.

A runaway soldier taught the Indians at the village of |
Hoot-son-oo how to make whisky from potatoes, dried
apples, rice, molasses and hops. A knowledge of this
Hoot-son-oo whisky spread until nearly every village had
its own still and, indeed, in some places almost every
second house had one. It consisted of two coal-oil tins ,
connected by a hollow sea-weed stalk or, later, by a tin
pipe. This " chain lightning stuff " caused fighting, death
and destruction almost everywhere for years, until the war
ships stationed on the Coast finally undertook to destroy
the stills and clear out the whisky. The doings of some'
of the men in connection with the warships and of the
soldiers at the different stations or garrisons were a dis
grace to any people. Wm. S. Dodds, the American Collec
tor of Customs, declares :*

* See Bancroft's " History of the United States."
154

ALASKA

"Nearly all the troubles that have occurred since the
time of the purchase may be traced directly or indirectly
to the degrading influences of liquor, as it was supplied
without reference to quantity. The excitement of a
drunken and lascivious debauch became the one object in
life for which the Indian lived and for which he worked.
Early in 1878 there were about two hundred and fifty
miners at Fort Wrangel, waiting until the ice should be
firm on the Stikine River or navigation should become
practicable. In his report, dated February 23rd of that
year, the Deputy-Collector of Customs says : ' While I was
at Stikine another thing occurred at this port that put to
shame anything that had happened heretofore. A gang
of rowdies and others had been in the habit of getting on
a drunken spree, going about town at midnight disturbing
everybody and insulting those who complained of their
doings. On February 16th these incarnate devils started
about midnight and, after raising a commotion all over
town, visited a house occupied by an Indian woman, gave
her whisky, made her beastly drunk, and left. Shortly
after their departure the house occupied by the woman was
discovered to be in flames. Before any assistance could be
j rendered the poor woman was burned to death. During
the last five months there was delivered at Sitka, from the
steamer which carried the United States mail from Port
land, 4,889 gallons of molasses, and at Fort Wrangel, 1,635
gallons, for the purpose of making up " hootchenoo," as
already explained. Nine hundred gallons were sold on
the streets of Sitka, and thousands of gallons were shipped
in by way of Port Simpson, British Columbia, until we
appealed to the American Government, and they placed a
couple of gunboats at or near Tongass, just on the border/ *
When we opened up our work at Fort Simpson, in 1874,
there were not many traders in Alaska, and the Hudson's

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

Bay trading steamers, which had formerly made regular
trips along the south-eastern coast of that country and
gathered up immense quantities of furs, had ceased to visit
those regions since the purchase and the military occupa
tion of the coast. For this reason the Indians used to come
in great numbers with their large war canoes from the far
north — from Tongass, Stikine, Taku, Chilcat, Hunah,
Sitka, Kake and Kussan — to trade at Fort Simpson. At
times we were visited by natives from all south-eastern
Alaska. Sometimes we would see the Hunah Chiefs with
a dozen or twenty braves or slaves in each canoe, laden
with furs. Then we would have the Taku Chief, a tall,
fine-looking man, who kept a large number of slaves, and
who, it is said, on leaving for the south on a trading trip
once shot a slave dead on the beach and then got into his
canoe and started off as if nothing had happened. When
at Fort Simpson the same man and a number of his
young men who had come with him, painted up and
dressed only in long blankets and print shirts, attended
service in the large Indian lodge, where we wor
shipped while the church was building. On Sabbath
night, at the after-service, when a number of our
people were giving their experience, and especially while
the large congregation were singing with great life and
power, " There's a land that is fairer than day," repeating
the chorus again and again, this heathen chief partly rose
from his seat and then settled back. He was won
derfully aroused, although he could not understand a word
that was said. Next morning he and some of his young
men came to the Mission House, bringing with them an
interpreter, and said to the Missionary, " You are the God
man! I and my men were at your Church house last
night, and I heard your people sing. I wish to tell you
that away in my country at Taku, in some of our great

156

ALASKA

i gatherings, when the Chiefs and people come from all along

j ;he Coast, we have great singing; but I never heard any-

; ;hing like the singing last night. It lifted me right up
is if I were carried away nearly to heaven. Then I would

j ;ome back again ; and oh, there was something in my heart

: ;hat I never felt the like of before."

We took this opportunity to tell the old Chief and his

: nen more about the " wondrous love."

It was from some of these people, on another occasion,
hat we heard that when they had been travelling and

; lunting in the interior they found some people who prayed
)efore they ate their food and who could read and write

; i little. They said that they had travelled about one moon
;o reach them. We wondered if they had reached the
Mackenzie or Peace Eiver, or come in contact with some
Deople who knew the Cree Syllabic writing.

, More than once we met chiefs from the Chilcat country.
3ne of these was Kadashak (or Kashah), who had been
it Fort Simpson many times before with his furs and
'.iis slave attendants. On the occasion when we became
icquainted with him he was accompanied from the Chilcat
country by a young chief, Kin-da-shon. At Fort Wrangel
ithey met some Tsimpsheans who were returning from the
Cassiar mines, and also Dr. Sheldon Jackson, who was on
his way to visit Fort Simpson. These took passage with
the Chilcats in their canoe to our village. On his arrival
Kadashak made his way to an Indian's house, where he
was entertained by one Samuel, who had learned a little
of the Good Book, so that he could spell out in English a
text here and there.

While the old Chief from Alaska was his guest, each
evening Samuel took down the Bible to read a little and
pray. Then the old man began to ask him questions which
be could hardly answer, so he said they would go up to

157

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

the Mission House and God's servant would tell them all
about it. They came, and I was introduced to Kadashak;
Samuel, who had learned some of the Tlinket or Alaskan
language on his trading trips to that country, acted as
interpreter. After talking a little, we read out of the
Good Book and told of man's fall, the redemption hy
Christ and the great love of God, te Who so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting
life." He listened with great attention and a tear stole
down his cheek. He looked sick and wan and his cough
indicated a pitiable condition of health, but still he was
a willing pupil and seemed very glad to hear the Word.
Before leaving, Kadashak begged the Missionary that a'
teacher might be sent to his people. *" The Chilcat people
are in great darkness," he said, " they die with their eyes
shut. Some souls are crying for the light. Oh, man of
God ! they cannot find the way out unless you come and
tell them. Tell God's people that the Chilcats are dying,
that their children are born blind and cannot find the
way." Dr. Jackson who was present at the interview,
promised that a Missionary would be sent as soon as
possible.

The trade was over and the day came for departure.
As the weather was getting stormy the Chief and his party
had to be off, and we bade them good-bye. Off they went
to the north, calling at Fort Wrangel, where they were
entertained by some of their friends. It was now evident
that the old Chief was getting worse; the cold fastened
on his lungs. The men hastened homeward, as they had
nearly three hundred miles farther to go. They got part
of the way up the Lynn Canal, now known as the great

* See " Kin-da-shon's Wife," and Jackson's " Alaska."
158

ALASKA

lighway to Skagway. A severe storm came on in that
>pen channel, with sleet, rain and searching wind from the
glaciers. The old man was getting worse very fast, and
;hey had to put ashore, build a fire and get him as warm
is possible.

As one of his party held him, the old Chief leaned on
lis arm and said, " I had much desire to reach home and
;ell my friends, but the Missionary at Fort Simpson said
:hat some day a teacher would come to our village, and we
were to be very kind to him when he should come." . . .
He said, " Tell my people these are the words of the ser
vant of the Chief Above, and these are my words, ' Be very
idnd to the Missionary/ Tell them what God's servant
said, 'God so loved the world that He gave ... so
loved — '" and the old man expired. They hastened on
then with the body of their good Chief, and great was the
sorrow, wailing and crying when they arrived at home and
reported that he was no more.

Old Chief Shakes, Toy-e-att and others from Fort
Wrangel, and the Foxes from the Cape also visited Fort
Simpson. Kah-shakes and Neesute from Tongass came
in turn with their loads of furs. Besides visiting them
;at their camps, we often had a special service in Chinook
for them when they were with us on the Sabbath Day, or
sometimes we got old Samuel or Talh-lee to act as inter
preter.

The personal history of the latter furnishes a good illus
tration of the condition of things among the Indians of
Alaska at this time. Talh-lee was the wife of Chief
Neesute at Tongass, Alaska. He died very suddenly. In
those days they said that those who died from sickness or
accident were bewitched. They consulted the old witch
doctor and he seemed likely to fasten the responsibility
for the death of the Chief on Talh-lee, his wife. She over-

159

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

heard and, in fear of being taken as a witch and tortured
to death, got a little canoe and stole away in the night.
She travelled all the way to Fort Simpson and there she
remained, never daring to go back. She became a devoted
Christian and was often very useful to us as interpreter
to the Alaskan people.

When they found that she had gone, they blamed an
old, helpless grandmother, who, they said, was the witch
who had caused the death of the Chief. They took her
to the beach, drove a stake into the ground and tied her
to it in a crouching position. No one at the risk of his life
dared to release her. As the tide rose she perished.

We had been in Fort Simpson over a year when one
Sunday morning the steamer California came in from
Sitka. She had on board General 0. 0. Howard, com
manding the Pacific Division of the United States Army,
with his Staff. He had been to Alaska on official business.
The usual quiet was somewhat disturbed, as the arrival of
any vessel in those days was quite an event and a vessel
with such a company aroused the whole village. A num
ber of Indians from Alaska, in their elaborate button-
trimmed blankets and painted faces, were in the village,
having come to trade at the Fort. These strangers at
once concluded that this American boat had come in to
intercept their smuggling into the north country. The
steamer anchored and soon a boat was seen coming ashore,
The handbell was now ringing for service and the people
were gathering in the large heathen house on the Island,
which we still used as a church, as our own building was
not yet complete. The boat made for this point, and on
to the rough beach stepped General Howard, that devoted
Christian soldier, and his Staff. He had dropped in on
his way south to join in our morning service. Two ladies
were with the party, one of whom was the General's wife.

160

ALASKA

These were the first white women we had seen since our
landing here. The strangers were given seats of honor,
the General on the platform facing the congregation.

The Daily Standard of Victoria alludes to this visit as
follows : " On the 20th, being Sunday, General Howard,
together with his officers and the officers and passengers
of the steamer, went ashore at Fort Simpson and attended
church. They were all greatly pleased to see so much
order and attention. On entering the large house used as
a church they were met by the Rev. T. Crosby of the
Methodist Mission and his accomplished and estimable
young wife, to whom too much praise cannot be given for
the great change for the better that has been brought about
by her in that place. While at church they were greatly
astonished at the interpreter, an Indian woman, who inter
preted for Mr. Crosby, word for word, all through the
service without any difficulty. At the close General
Howard, on invitation from Mr. Crosby, addressed the
people and led in prayer. The General was greatly
pleased with his visit to Fort Simpson and was heard to
say that he would not have missed going there and seeing
for himself the great change that had been brought about
by the simple preaching of the Gospel amongst the
northern Indians."

U 161

AN APOSTLE OF ALASKA,

Vil-um-elah, the Apostle of Alaska— Fort Wrangel in 1876

Native Missionaries — Dr, Sheldon Jackson — Mrs, McFar-

lane — Girls' Home — Lynching — Rev. S, Hall Young

— Organization of the First Presbyterian

Church — Extension of Mission Work

in Alaska— A Visit in The

Glad Tidings,

"Each breeze that sweeps the ocean,
Brings tidings from afar."

CHAPTEE XIII.
AN APOSTLE OF ALASKA.

\VIL-UM-CLAII was born at Fort Simpson and belonged
o the Kish-pach-lots tribe, of which King Legaic was the
eader or the Chief. " Clah's " mother belonged to the
ame tribe, hence, following Indian usage, all the children
>elong to the crest of the mother. His father was of the
nt-wil-geaots tribe of the Tsimpshean nation. The family
ill lived at Fort Simpson. " Wil-um-clah " means " an
;agle darting down on its prey and taking it ashore."
Jlah's crest was Lacks-geake or King of Birds (eagle).

Wil-um-clah's father was one of the Kish-put-wetheth
>r Blackfish crest. Clah must have been born about the
^ear 1848, or about the time an accident occured at Maeth-
;oo Point, near Fort Simpson, when the trees fell and
ailed a number of Kit-seese Indians. They date his birth
I'rom that sad occurrence.

During his boyhood he was compelled to go through all
;he terrible usages and customs then prevalent among the
Fsimpsheans — tattooing, fasting, dancing, and dog eating.
lie was driven into ice-cold water in the depth of winter
>y sticks in the hands of the Chiefs or head men, who every
uorning drove the youth of the tribe, like a troop of dogs,
o the shore and into the water. He took part in all the
lark deeds of his people which ruined so many of their
youth. He became a Dog Eater, belonging to this most
disgusting secret society, the members of which were
viewed with terror by the uninitiated.

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

Often after the feasts, carried on for weeks during the
winter, a party would start in canoes for Victoria to pro
cure a fresh supply of liquor, and while there would sell
their daughters to lives of shame to obtain the white man's
gold, wherewith to continue their unseemly doings or
raise crest poles in honor of their dead. Returning on one
of these occasions, while camped near Cape Mudge in the
Gulf of Georgia, Clah fell into the water, and was rescued
as he came to the surface for what seemed to he the last
time. A kind Providence snatched him from the jaws of
death to begin a work of which no one at that time had
any conception.

Some years later he with others went to Victoria, think
ing to make money. He spent several years there and took
unto himself a wife of the Tsimpshean nation, her crest
being the Wolf. Most of his time was occupied with heavy
work and his hard-earned wages were usually spent in.
liquor and revelling. He passed some time in jail. It
was about this time that the blessed revival, already
described, broke out at the Methodist Mission, Victoria,
in the old saloon building on the corner of Government
and Fisguard Streets. Although he was not converted
there, he attended the services. He returned the same
fall to Fort Simpson by canoe, and there he found a com
pany of converted natives who had arrived from Victoria
before him in the Hudson's Bay Company's steamer Otter.
Clah and his wife were both converted through the instru
mentality of these native workers, who held meetings night
after night in crowded houses, telling the Gospel story
and the history of their conversion in the bar-room.

In 1873, during the visit of the Rev. William Pollard,
Superintendent of Methodist Missions for British Colum
bia, Clah and his wife, with a number of other natives,
were baptized. Clah received the name of Philip McKay

166

PHILIP McKAY.
The Apostle of Alaska.

AN APOSTLE OF ALASKA

and his wife that of Annie. They became very earnest in
the work of God, as evidenced by their continued attend
ance upon the means of grace and the Day and Sunday
Schools. Clah was a diligent student in the School con
ducted by Mrs. Crosby in the old heathen house on the
Island. He became, like some others, especially fond of
committing Scripture texts to memory in his own lan
guage, and would often come with his Bible for explana
tions of particular passages. This helped to store his mind
with a great deal of God's Word. He was very fond of
class-meeting, and his experience was often noticed by his
teachers for its clearness, his life meanwhile bearing wit
ness to his quiet devotion to his Saviour. With other
natives from Fort Simpson, lie made several summer trips
to the Cassiar gold mines as a packer for the white miners.
It was on one of these trips that some of these intelligent
and rugged miners were convinced that it was better to
rest on the Sabbath Day than to work.

In the spring of 1876 John Ryan, Philip McKay (Clah),
Andrew Moss and Lewis Gosnall, all native Christians,
left Fort Simpson to go to the Cassiar mines; but having
reached Fort Wrangel, Alaska, they contracted to cut five
hundred cords of wood for the American garrison. While
thus engaged, they held religious services among the
natives of Wrangel, which was a centre for all the various
tribes belonging to that section of the Coast, as well as for
gold miners, traders and others.

The Indians at Wrangel had been noted for their quar
relsome disposition and bloodthirsty character. It is said
that many years ago the Stikines of that place took a ship
and butchered the whole crew; and they had often been
at war with the Tsimpsheans and the Hydas to the south
and with the Chilcats to the north. It was to such a com
munity as this and in spite of scoffs and jeers, that Philip

167

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

McKay and party commenced to proclaim Jesus to a
" dying world." It was in a house where white men and
native women used to dance, drink and debauch themselves
that these religious meetings were first held.

Wrangel was then the chief business centre of Southern
Alaska and contained about a thousand Indians and five
hundred traders and miners, with a garrison of about a
hundred soldiers. As has been said, Shakes Shu-staks and
Toy-e-aat, Chiefs of Wrangel, had visited Port Simpson
and had seen the effects of the Gospel there, but it was not
until our converted young men began to preach to the
Stikines at Wrangel that Missionary work commenced
among this long-neglected people.

In the garrison of United States soldiers were some who
did not help these Indian Missionaries as they might have
done. On the other hand, they received great kindness
from Captain Jocelyn, 21st United States Infantry, and
some officers and men who greatly encouraged the Christian
workers. These gentlemen supplied Bibles and hymn-
books, which had been donated by some of the Churches
in the United States. The Sabbath services were continued
all summer and until the dance house became too small.
The congregation then removed to Chief Toy-e-aat's house,
which was larger. During the summer of 1876 Captain
Jocelyn wrote a letter to me at Port Simpson urging me
to come and see what the boys were doing. He declared
that this band of native Christians was doing more good
and having a more blessed effect than his whole company
of soldiers; and at the same time offered in a most hospi
table manner to entertain me in the best way possible.

About the same time another letter came from the young
men themselves, written for them by a white man. This
is here given in full :

168

AN APOSTLE OF ALASKA

" FORT WRANGEL, ALASKA,
" August 27th, 1876.

"Dear Sir, — We reached this place about the first of
June on our way to Cassiar mines. We stopped on Sab
bath and found the people here in utter darkness as regards
the Saviour and His love. We held services on the Sabbath
Day and, as we found employment here for our party, we
decided to remain and work for the sake of Christ, trying
to lead the Stikines and Hydas living here to the truth.
We have held services every Sabbath and twice on week
nights and God is blessing our feeble efforts. Philip (the
leader) says, ' In July I went away to look for some salmon
and stopped all night at a Stikine camp. I read some
out of the Bible and the poor Stikines thought, when they
saw me pray, that some great monster was about to come
up from the ground/ In our first service George Weeget
opened the Bible and at Sunday School Philip McKay
opened the service. Our first meeting was led by Andrew
Moss, and John helped him. We all send our love to our
friends. Your brothers,

" GEORGE WEEGET,

"A. Moss,

"PHILIP (CLAH) McKAY,

" JOHN NEAS-QUO-JUO-LUCK."

I started on the journey of one hundred and sixty miles
with my canoe, and got in tow of a small steamer going up.
On arrival I found that many of the natives were con
verted and were attending services in the large heathen
house belonging to Chief Toy-e-aat. This was my first
visit to Alaska. At the opening meeting the Chief said,
" We welcome you, Missionary, to our place. Your friends,
the Tsimpsheans, used to be the worst people on the whole
Coast. On account of their fighting and bloodthirstiness,
we counted them as our enemies. Now your young men
are here teaching about Jesus, the great King of Peace.
Since you have come, you must stay with us."

169

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

I said, " No, I can't stay ; there is too much work among
the people in my own country."

" Oh/' he said, " your wife is there ; she can teach the
Tsimpsheans. Many of them have become good now and
they will help her."

" No," I said, " it is impossible for me to remain, but
I will keep one or more of the young men here until we
get a Missionary."

He said, " How many snows shall we have to wait ? We
have waited a long time; and not only we Stikine people
but there are thousands to the north and west of us who
need the light. How long do you think we will have to
wait? I am getting old; my people, many of them, have
gone down into the darkness. My heart is sick with fear
that if a Missionary does not come soon many more will
be gone."

It was touching to hear him and others speak for the
fifty thousand souls in Alaska. Could the Christian people
of America have heard their cry, as we heard it, surely
they would soon have sent a Missionary.

At that meeting the Captain of the garrison, some of
the soldiers and several white traders were present, and a
subscription of about four hundred dollars was taken i|
towards building a Church and School.

When I got home I wrote Dr. Wood of Toronto, but our i
Mission Board said they could do nothing with Alaska, as
we had more than we could do in our own country. The
Methodist Episcopal Board, New York, said they could
not do anything for Alaska; and then I wrote to General
0. 0. Howard, whose visit to Alaska and Fort Simpson
I have described. I said, " General, you will be glad to
hear what God is doing for Alaska. We want a Mis
sionary."

He handed my letter to Dr. Lindsly, of Portland,

170

AN APOSTLE OF ALASKA

Oregon, who wrote me a very kind letter, saying, " Hold
on to Alaska; you shall have a Missionary/'

We kept Philip McKay there, teaching school and con
ducting services, until the promised help should arrive.
His wife Annie joined him soon after to help as well as
she could.

About this time Captain Jocelyn was succeeded by an
officer who was not so kindly disposed towards the work.
Soon Philip and his fellow Christians began to see that
a piece of ground was needed in which to bury their dead
in a Christian way. They applied to the first Officer, but
the new Captain told them that the Indian style of burying
and burning their dead was good enough for them. He
bade them go away and burn the body — get rid of it any
how; the custom of cremation was fast becoming fashion
able in the country from which he came. Philip asked the
Captain if the people in his country painted themselves
hideously, put the body on a large fire and danced around
it half naked, poking it with sticks every now and then
and shouting and yelling in the most hideous manner until
the body was consumed. " This/' said he, " is the way
the Indians do."

"Ho/' said the Captain, "you shall have a piece of
ground."

Philip thanked him, and thus the first native Christian
bury ing-ground in Alaska was got from the American
Government.

Clah kept steadily on with his work and a number of
Indians professed conversion. The following summer a
young Missionary came up, and I was asked by letter to
go to Alaska and transfer everything to him ; but he proved
to be sickly and could not stay. Still Philip remained,
preaching and teaching as best he could, although he was
in delicate health.

in

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

Not long after that the Christians passed through severe
trials. A large number of drunken Indians arrived at Fort
Wrangel and a quarrel ensued, when good old Chief Toy-
e-aat and several of the best of the leading Christians
were shot.

The next summer., 1878, the Presbyterian Board of
Home Missions sent the Eev. Sheldon Jackson, D.D., on
a tour of inspection, with a view to the establishment of
Mission work in Alaska. At Portland, Oregon, he met
Mrs. A. E. McFarlane, the widow of a Missionary who
had labored at Santa Fe, New Mexico, and among the Nez
Perces Indians in Idaho. The brave woman was willing
to go to Alaska, and it was decided that she should accom
pany Dr. Jackson. On August 10th they reached Fort
Wrangel where they found, to their great astonishment
and delight, the School and religious services already
established by Clah, our Philip McKay.

Dr. Jackson soon left for the East to advocate the Mis
sion cause for Alaska and Mrs. McFarlane took charge.
Her coming to Wrangel had been an experiment; her stay
was a success. The military forces had been withdrawn
and she was alone with a few Whites and about a thou
sand Indians, without law or order. She became nurse,
doctor, undertaker, preacher, teacher, practically mayor
and administrator generally, for all came to her. Bur
dened almost beyond endurance, she kept writing for help,
for a magistrate of some sort or an ordained minister.
Such a thing as a marriage ceremony was unknown, poly
gamy was common and domestic complications were
appalling. Tribes around began to hear of her and came
for help. One old Indian of a distant tribe came and
said, " Me much sick at heart, my people all dark heart
and nobody tell them of Jesus Christ. By-and-by my
people die and go down — dark ! dark !"

172

AN APOSTLE OF ALASKA

The young girls especially appealed to her care. It is
thrilling to read how she fought to save them from being
sold by their parents to white scoundrels or to heathen
masters. She even rescued two girls from the horrors of
the "Devil's Dance." Finding them naked in the centre
of fifty frantic fiends, who with yells cut them with knives
and tore off. pieces of their flesh, she rushed into their
midst and, after hours of pleading and threatening them
with the wrath of the United States, she took the half-
dead girls to her own house, only to have one of them
recaptured and killed during the night. This work
developed into the well-known Eescue Homes for Indian
Girls in Alaska with which Mrs. McFarlane's name is
inseparably connected.

On one of my visits to Mrs. McFarlane's Mission in
Wrangel, she said to me one summer evening as I sat on
the balcony of the log Mission House, " Mr. Crosby, I
have many things I want to tell you, but I must tell you
this. Last fall, when the miners came down from the
mines, many of them had done well and had considerable
gold, and here they got into gambling, drinking and
carousing. One white man shot another and, as we had
no law, either civil or military, the miners united and said,
f We will have lynch law and hang this man to-morrow at
eight o'clock, as it will never do to have men shooting one
another/

"That night, about midnight, there came a knock at
my door. I called out, 'Who is there?' A man said,
( Excuse me, madam, but the man who is to die to-morrow
morning would like to see you/ I dressed immediately,
took my little Bible and hymn-book and followed the man
with his lantern along the winding path until we came to
a large log house. Here we entered. There were many
strong, intelligent-looking white men sitting around the

173

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

room. The poor man who had shot the other sat there
bound. He called out, ' Madam, excuse me for calling you
at this time of night, but I have to die to-morrow morning
and I thought you would have something to say about my
soul/

" What was I to do ? I was brought up a Presbyterian,
and my mother had taught us girls not to speak in public,
especially in the presence of men; but what could I do?
I opened my little Bible; I read the account of the dying
thief and told the poor man that if he would repent God
was just as willing to save him as He was the thief on
the cross. After I had talked a while, I said, opening my
little hymn-book, ( Let us sing now, men. I want you all
to join with me and sing this, u There is a fountain filled
with blood/' They sang heartily through the first verse
and until we came to the second, ' And there may I, though
vile as he/ As soon as they got to that part many of them
burst into tears and the singing broke down. The poor
man cried, f Oh, madam, that is the very hymn my mother
taught me to sing when I used to sit on her lap. If I had
been a good boy and done as that mother told me I wouldn't
have to die to-morrow morning/ x

The noble woman had the comfort of pointing the poor
boy to the Saviour of sinners.

Slaving was perhaps the worst feature of Alaska. Added
to that was the sale of young girls, especially in the min
ing centres. Eor a few blankets mothers would sell them
for a few months or for life. As the work went on this
for a time got worse, for, after the girls were taken into
the Homes and Schools and became bright, clean and
intelligent, they also grew more attractive and were more
.sought after by these white scoundrels. Some of course
married them, which was better.

174

AN APOSTLE OF ALASKA

The Rev. Hall Young was sent to relieve Mrs. McFar-
lane and took charge of the Mission at Fort Wrangel,
while she continued her Eescue work there for the time
being and afterwards in other parts of Alaska. Later the
Mission was visited by some of the leading men of the
Presbyterian Church in the East,, who organized the work
on a permanent basis. The money was subscribed for a
Church building and the new converts were handed over
to them. Afterwards they opened their large Industrial and
Training School for girls and boys at Sitka and Girls'
Homes at Hunah, Haines and Jackson.

Philip Clah continued his work until near Christmas
the following year,, when he became very sick. His father
and brothers heard that he was dying and went in canoes
all the way from Fort Simpson to bring him home., but he
said, ''No, I came to preach Jesus to the Tlinkets, and
I cannot go and leave them until Jesus calls me," Mrs
McFarlane said that literally with his last breath he was
' pointing them to Jesus. He passed away triumphant in
Christ. Our converted native men were indeed the instru
ments in God's hands of opening the way of the Gospel to
j Alaska.

On Clah's death his poor old father brought his body
to Fort Simpson, where he was buried. A small tombstone
was purchased by the aid of a few interested Christian
friends and erected to mark the last earthly resting-place
of one whom they described as "the first resident native
Protestant Missionary of Alaska, Philip McKay (Clah)."
He was really the " apostle of Alaska."

In 1879, when the first Presbyterian Church of Alaska
was organized, it consisted of twenty-two natives and six
Whites, which represented the outcome of Philip McKay's
heroic work. In Among the Alaskans Mrs. Julia McNair
Wright says, " Some of that holy fire which stirred the

175

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

heart of Paul when he entered heathen cities burned in the
soul of Philip McKay."

In 1887-1888 a Council of the various sects in the United
States agreed to partition the whole of Alaska among the
various Christian bodies. The Presbyterians took the
southern and the Methodist Episcopal Church the middle
portion, the northern portion being left for the Episco
palians, who began work in the great Yukon basin in 1887.
The Moravians had established themselves in the Aleutian
Islands in 1885, and the Congregationalists at Cape Prince
of Wales, about forty miles from the coast of Siberia, in
1873.

I had the pleasure of a visit to Southern Alaska in
November, 1895, when we travelled over one thousand
miles, calling at all the Missions. It was a delightful
privilege to visit so many devoted Christian workers and,
though it was a stormy time of the year, our Heavenly
Father protected us so that we got safely home, and had
the pleasure of knowing that God had blessed His Word
to the salvation of some souls. We had a number of
Christian Indian evangelists with us and Professor Odium
from Vancouver added much to the interest of the trip by
his lectures to all the white people who would come to
listen.

The Presbyterian Church is doing a grand work in
that country. They have six ordained ministers, seven
Churches, eight hundred and twenty Church members,
seven hundred scholars in Sabbath School, eight Day and
Boarding Schools, thirty-seven teachers and four hundred
and thirty-one pupils in Boarding Schools from eleven
different tribes — a great work, surely, from such a humble
beginning.

"How great a matter a little fire kindleth!" Surely
this was kindled by our Philip McKay.

176

AN APOSTLE OF ALASKA

Sow by all waters. Who shall know which shall prosper,
this or that, or whether they shall be alike good ?

When our evangelistic party on the little ship The Glad
Tidings reached Haines Mission on a Wednesday night
in the fall of 1895 we intended, as we put our anchor
down, to stay there only two nights and a day because, on
account of stormy weather, we had been longer on the
other parts of our trip than we had expected. On going
ashore we met the Rev. W. W. Worne^ who had not been
long out from Princeton College. As it was now night I
said to him, "We have come ashore and, if it is your
pleasure, would like to have a service with your people
in the school-room."

He looked at me as if he were measuring me from tip
to toe, and then said, " Well, you may have service if you
like."

As we talked a bright young lady stepped out of the
School and shook hands, saying, " I know you, Mr. Crosby,
but perhaps you don't know me. When you first came to
Wrangel to establish a Mission, many years ago, I was a
forsaken little girl on the streets. Philip McKay, the first
teacher, got me to attend his School; and when Mrs.
McFarlane came and organized her Home I was one of
the first taken into it. After a time some kind ladies
from New York visited us and one wished to take me
home with her. There I was educated, and I was also
baptized and received into the Christian Church. They
called me after Frances Willard, and now I am here as
teacher in this Mission School. I am so delighted, sir, to
see you."

She acted as my interpreter in the Tlinket language,
and we had a pleasant service.

The following day, as it blew a heavy south-easter, we
anchored our ship on the other side of the bay, thinking
12 177

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

our Heavenly Father had still further work for us to do.
There she remained until the following Tuesday morning,
as the gale continued the whole week. This gave Brother
Worne and me a chance to get acquainted, and he became
most friendly. He said I was the first Missionary who
had visited him, and asked if I would excuse him if he
submitted questions in regard to the work and what I
would do under certain circumstances.

We had services each evening and visited the Chilcat
village about three miles across the neck of land. Here
I met with a large number of the Chiefs and older men
whom I had seen twenty years before and who with their
friends used to come to trade at Fort Simpson. On the
Sabbath we had two services among them, Mr. Worne and
some of his pupils joining us in the morning service. We
then invited them over to the evening service at the Mis
sion and they came in crowds, with them some of the worst
gamblers and murderers in that part of the country. As
the service went on the blessed Spirit of God came down
upon us. After a short sermon, several got up to testify
to the power of grace upon their hearts, and some of the
most wicked seemed to be marvellously affected. One of
the roughest drunkards and gamblers in the country got
up and shouted, " I am the man the Missionary has been
preaching about; this is the man that has been the worst
in the country, and I do feel that I want to find the Saviour
we have just heard about."

By this time there was great excitement in the house
and many men and women were in tears. At the close of
this wonderful service Mr. Worne shook hands with me,
while tears ran down his cheeks, saying, " I am so glad
that Prqvidence kept you here." His wife, the matron
and the teacher all expressed themselves in the same way,

178

AN APOSTLE OF ALASKA

saying, "If it was only for the conversion of that one
man, it was worth your while to come."

Monday was a blessed day, when we had several services.
Very late on Monday night many of the Indians came to
the beach and some of the wildest, who had been drunk
ards, gamblers and murderers, were there on the shore at
our farewell prayer-meeting; as we bade them good-bye
we urged them to go to all the tribes and tell the Gospel
story to their people.

Tuesday morning at three o'clock, with steam up, we
started down the channel. A beautiful moon in the last
quarter, shining upon those lofty, snow-capped mountains,
and the glaciers coming down almost to the water's edge,
presented a sight never to be forgotten. We reached
Juneau in good time that afternoon. As soon as we had
supper and I had met the Eev. Mr. Jones of the Presby
terian Church, we marched up the street singing the songs
of Zion. Hundreds came to our open-air prayer-meeting
and the Presbyterian Church, where we had a most glorious
service, was filled.

Here I met a number of the smugglers who used to come
down to Fort Simpson to smuggle whisky into Alaska.
Some of them said they were glad to see me, although
many of them had never been in a Church for years.

"We spent the next day among the two tribes living near
the town and had service several times. On Thursday we
started away, but on Friday, on account of the storm, had
to turn back and tied up at the wharf at Douglas Island,
where the great Tredwell mine is situated. There we had
services among the natives three or four times on Saturday
and Sunday. The kind Manager allowed us the use of
the "Bees' Nest" Mine Hall, where we had the most
blessed services, both among the Indians and the white
miners. Professor Odium lectured each night to the men
at Newtown. 179

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

About eighteen months after this I had a very kind
letter from the Eev. AY. W. Worne, our Presbyterian
brother at Chilcat. He expressed himself as sorry that
he had not written to me sooner, and said they should
never forget our visit to them. He continued, " You will
remember my very conservative way of meeting you the
first evening you came to us, and yet how warmly we
became attached to you and your friends before you left.
We shall always feel thankful to God, who in His kind
providence kept you with us so much longer than you
expected to stay. The work went on and increased mar
vellously after you left, all through November and Decem
ber and away into January, until the poor people crowded
us so we had to send many of them away. Some of the
men expressed the conviction that now nearly all the
people in the Chilcat country want to find Jesus.

" In the midst of a terrible blizzard in the month of
January, one night about midnight, our School building
and premises took fire and were burned to the ground.
We, with all the children, had to run for shelter to a little
outhouse. A kind Providence stirred the hearts of our
friends, so that they came nobly to our help in the day of
trial, and now, by the grace of God, we are in one of the
finest buildings in Alaska."

180

BELLA BELLA.

Fort McLachlan— Fights with Indians— A Model Steamship-
Our Second Visit— Rev. C. M. Tate— China Hat-
Rev. W. B. Cuyler— Dr. R. W. Large.

I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance/'

CHAPTEE XIV.
BELLA BELLA.

BELLA BELLA, or Fort McLachlan, was the site of a
Hudson's Bay Company's Fort, built in 1833. Difficulty
arose between the natives and the Company, and the
Indians burned the Fort, which had been abandoned in
1839. The Chiefs' names were "Wacash," "Oyellow"
and "Wockite." In 1846 the Fort was one hundred and
twenty feet square, and there were two bastions mounted
with four nine-pound guns each. The Fort was also pro
vided with a quantity of small arms. The square was sur
rounded with pickets made of small trees, eighteen feet
long and about twenty-four inches in circumference. These
were mortised into square sills at the bottom and placed
so close together that you could not see between them.
There were double gates at the entrance, with a small
wicket gate. The tops of the pickets were mortised into
planks and fastened by spikes. About four feet and a half
from the top there was a gallery around the wall inside,
so that the watchman might keep a lookout. Inside the
entry a man was always stationed to let the Indians in
and out to trade, only one being admitted at a time. There
was a large house inside for the servants and another for
the Governor. Sometimes the Chiefs were allowed to visit
the Governor's house.

The natives here were called Millbank Sound Indians
and were scattered in a number of villages within ten or
fifteen miles of the Fort. They were said to be very
treacherous but very ingenious. On the occasion of a

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

visit by the Company's steamer Beaver a writer says:
"When we visited them with our steamship they watched
everything about us; and after awhile some of them
boasted that they could make a steamship from the model
of ours. In a short time they fixed up a large ' dug-out '
from the trunk of a cedar tree and worked away at it until
the model steamer appeared. It was thirty feet long,, all
in one piece excepting the bow and stern, and much
resembled our steamer. It was painted black, decked over
and had paddles which the Indians had to turn laboriously
to make it go. Seven men were at work and the vessel
triumphantly floated around us, going at about three miles
an hour — a steamboat without boiler or engines."

These Indians were said to be warlike, and in later years
were the dread of some of the Coast tribes, as well as of
the white settlers. It is said that at Whitby Island a
Colonel Eby was murdered in cold blood by them. This
happened years ago when some white man had wilfully
shot down one of their number. We can scarcely wonder
at their action, for Indian law is life for life. They think
that all white men are relatives, and if they cannot get
the murderer the natural way is to kill another white man.
The Bella Bella tribes are evidently part of the Kwakwalth
or Fort Rupert nation, the language of the one being a
dialect of the other. They lived by fishing and hunting.

At our second visit to Bella Bella I found a young,
aspiring chief who wished by wealth and strength to get
the place of Humpshet, the hereditary chief. The people
had spoken of the need for a Church building. He said
to me, pointing to a pile of property, blankets and furs,
" Do you see that ? I was going to Victoria to change
that for ammunition and muskets to fight that Chief over
there/7 pointing to a village about seven miles away.
" Now, sir, if you will bring us a teacher this summer, I

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BELLA BELLA

will give you those blankets towards building a Church;
but you must come this summer or else it will be too late.
We shall fight."

A day or two afterwards I visited the village of Hump-
shet, the King of Bella Bella, whom all the people delighted
to honor. As I sat for several hours with him in the little
council chamber attached to his great heathen house, every
few minutes someone would come in with a little food in
his hands, or in a little dish, for it seemed that no family
in the whole village would eat a meal without sending a
taste to their Chief, in order to show their great respect
for him.

I talked with him about a Mission for his people, and
told what the haughty, aspiring young Chief had said
about giving us the blankets if we would build a Church.
After talking to one of his wives, he pointed to a pile of
new trade blankets and said, " I will give those if you
will send us a teacher at once." I promised that I would
send them a teacher at once and expressed the hope that
he and his people would come to the central village and
live there. I had to do it in faith. There was no time
to send word to Toronto or to wait twelve or thirteen
months until the Mission Board should sit, to find out
whether they could have a Missionary or not. Under the
circumstances, by faith in God, we promised them a
teacher.

The people, seeing their Chiefs giving blankets, brought
in blankets and rings and bracelets, and some of them
furs. Their donations went far to help buy material for
our first little Church at Bella Bella. One woman, who
looked very poor, taking the ring off her finger, said, " This
is all I have that is worth anything in the world; and
if you take this, I will give it as my donation to the
Church." I was told afterwards that this woman took a

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UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

little canoe, paddled nearly sixty miles to a heathen vil
lage, where fcer sister lived, and brought her back with her.
When the teachers came they were both led to Christ and
lived happily together. Think of it, travelling one hun
dred and twenty miles in a small canoe to bring her sister
to Jesus !

As soon as I got home and could make arrangements
I sent W. H. Pierce, our native brother, to take charge of
the work until we could get a Missionary. That summer
Rev. Mr. Tate and his wife were appointed by the Toronto
Conference to the Forks of the Skeena, but owing to a
strange turn of affairs were not permitted to go, and they
were sent to Bella Bella to open up the new Mission there.
We at once got out plans for a Church and a Mission
House, and ordered our lumber at the Georgetown mills.
It was taken down by the Coast boat, thrown off into the
water and rafted ashore. After this we commenced in
good earnest to clear off ground and put up the buildings.
I never saw anyone more enthusiastic or more faithful than
many of the young people and some of the old ones, who
helped us to carry the lumber up the hill on their backs.
This was the commencement of what is now one of the
most successful Christian villages on the north-west Coast
of British Columbia.

Chief Humpshet and his people joined the Mission.
Here he found Christ and, years after, although he had
many struggles with heathen tendencies and some of the
heathen, he passed safely away, trusting in Jesus. Some
time after the young Chief Wockite from Millbank Sound
joined the village with all his people.

The Hyhise people joined with the Kitishtus, a band of
the Tsimpshean nation, and formed a village now called
China Hat (from a conical mountain near by). Here

186

NEW BELLA BELLA— A CHRISTIAN VILLAGE.

A HEATHEN VILLAGE— AN APPEAL FOR THE GOSPEL,

BELLA BELLA

we now have a Christian village, with Church, School and
teacher's residence. «

It was found very difficult to keep a regular Missionary
at Bella Bella. Mr. Tate remained four years and was
succeeded at short intervals by W. B. Cuyler, James Cal-
vert, Cornelius Bryant, K. B. Beavis and G. F. Hopkins.
Then Miss Reinhardt, our teacher there, had to take
sharge for one winter alone. Mr. Brett and his wife sup
plied for a time; then came Dr. Jackson, who remained
only a year and had to leave on account of sickness. This
is perhaps one reason why the Bella Bellas never heard
their Missionary preach in their own language.

They are a clever, industrious people and have made
igood industrial progress. The new village is a very neat
one with Hospital, Council Hall and Mission House. The
Indians own their sawmill, which has been a great help
[in improving the village. They also have a good wharf
land stores, where they do most of their own business.
iThey make canoes, boxes and mats. In later years they
have spent a good deal of the time at the salmon canneries,
where they do useful work as fishermen. With the excep
tion of the Hydas, the Bella Bellas are said to be more
jclever than the other Coast people in their own crafts,
such as making canoes, boxes and carving wood and stone.
A few years ago they made a very large canoe. It was
said to be seventy feet long with eight feet beam, and a
carrying capacity of from one hundred to one hundred and
fifty persons. A short ladder was necessary in order to
get aboard. As canoes gave place to launches and Colum
bia River boats, they became adepts at boat-building.

Eev. C. M. Tate did good work during his stay at Bella
Bella. He writes of his experience there : " We paddle our
own canoe out to Goose Island, where a large number of
Indians are camped shooting fur seal. Ocean breezes and

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

outdoor life give us good appetites and, although we have;
service almost every day, besides school, attending to the
sick and visiting, yet it seems like almost a holiday.
Whilst we listen to the songs of praise and stories o|
Christian experience, we think of the scenes of heathenism-
and sin that previous years witnessed on the same spot>
for gambling and witchcraft, conjuring and profligacy o4
the most cruel nature have been carried on here.

" We are right in the midst of manual labor about the
Mission premises. It is hard work to get out the old
stumps and roots, but we expect to have things cheerful
without and comfortable within in a short time. Several
of the Indians are building neat little houses this year;
This is the way to get them to live like Christian men.
We must see to Weekeeno and Hyhise (China Hat). We
should have native teachers at both places/'

Thus the Missionary reaches out to the regions beyond.
The motto, " Go ye," should ever be before the Missionary
of the Cross until all the earth is saved. When Mr. Tate
left Bella Bella he reported over one hundred converts
among the natives on that Mission.

These people are very superstitious and, like most others
on the Coast, very much afraid of death. Mrs. Tate, thei
Missionary's wife, speaks of this in one of her letters: " A:
child was very sick; I did not go to see it at once; a mar-
passed the house and told me it was dead. I slipped dowr
to the house and found that two or three people were
engaged in crowding a lot of blankets and clothing intc
a large square box. A great crowd of women were wailing
around. I requested to see the child; they told me it wafr
all right, it was dead. I thrust my hand between th<
clothing that they were putting in the box and felt th(
warmth of the child's body. I pulled the shawls, blanket*
and other things out. The people in the meantime were

188

BELLA BELLA

etermined that I should not take it out and tried to close
.own the cover. I managed, however, to get the child out
nd found its pulse was still beating. It was rolled up
lightly in five or six yards of cotton, of which I soon
,ivested it. They were filled with horror at my proceed
ings. I carried the child to the Mission House, scarcely
xpecting that they would allow me to do so, but to my
surprise they offered no objection. It did not live long, so
I had some of them prepare a coffin purposely for it. Their
iustom is to put the corpse in a deep box in a sitting
i>osture. Who can tell the hours of agony endured by
nany poor creatures thus buried alive I"

Continuing, Mrs. Tate refers to the happy deaths of
*ome of the children : " A little girl named Maggie, about
liirteen years of age, was taken away by death. Ever since
;he Mission had been organized Maggie was found in her
olace both in religious meetings and school. She had
Already learned to treasure and read her Bible and she
?requently expressed her love for and trust in Jesus during
ler illness. She was perfectly happy, for she said she was
•going to be with Jesus. The night before her death, she
jasked her mother how near it was to Sunday, for she
wanted to learn one more text before she died; but before
Sunday Maggie was in the presence of Him who is the
Word.

" Little Willie, aged about eleven, who died February
1st, had been confined to his bed for many months. During
the long, sleepless nights he delighted in singing the hymns
he had learned at school, ' Jesus loves me, this I know/
and ' Come to Jesus, He will save you/ As the end drew
near I was often surprised at the clearness of his ideas
about the way of salvation, as he had received but little
instruction.

''The most interesting was Jane, who died February

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UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

12th. She was about thirteen years of age. She
attended school very regularly, was foremost in her class?
and could read the Bible remarkably well. Early last fall
she told her mother that she would not be long here; she
said she loved Jesus very much and thought He would
soon call her to live with Him. She wanted her mother
to leave the old ways and think of Jesus' way. On one
occasion her mother expressed her regret that she was so^
poorly clad. ( Never mind, mother/ she replied, ( Jesus
will give me a beautiful dress by and by.' In January
she went to the hunting-grounds with her parents. She
got worse and they brought her home to the Mission House.
We tried all in our power to restore her health, but after
three nights of watching she passed away. One of her last
conscious acts was to take her Bible from under her pillow
and, kissing it, exclaim, ( Oh, how I love Jesus !' ''

Again the Missionary writes : " Some souls have been
brought to Christ. Some of the old people come frequently
to the Mission House for a chat with the Missionary and
tell of the terrors of heathenism. They were kept in fear
by the Chiefs and medicine men and, most of all, by the
surrounding nations, who were wont to pounce upon them
at their fishing camps, kill all the men and take the women
and children captives."

As Chairman, on my visit to Bella Bella I reported:
"A great change has taken place since my last visit.
Surely the blessed Gospel has done wonders for Bella Bella.
On Saturday the Missionary in charge and I took a trip
to the neighboring village, with about thirty people, in
canoes. We found the people in the midst of a heathen
feast. We went from house to house, singing the songs
of Zion and praying. Later on in the day we preached to
most of them in a large house."

Rev. W. B. Cuyler, in October, 1884, says : " We arrived

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BELLA BELLA

safely in Bella Bella on August 6th. A great work has
been done for these poor people. They show upon their
arms scars where in former days mouthfuls of flesh were
torn off; and, comparing the past with the present, we
conclude that the former days were not better than these."

In November, 1885, speaking of the death of Chief
Humpshet, he says : " The singing of hymns and the hear
ing of strange stories, the evidence of which they were
incapable of understanding, did not fully satisfy the
Indians. Their old system of feasting and dancing gave
something for their sensual natures; the new system
denied these and, so far as many had gone, did not satisfy
the soul's desires. We frequently sang, prayed and talked
to Humpshet and about four days before he died he was
completely broken down and wept like a child. Who can
tell the struggle going on in that Chiefs breast? Indians
regard the shedding of a tear as a great mark of weakness
on the part of man. Crying is the work of women/' The
Chief passed away, requesting with almost his last words,
the singing of " Come to Jesus."

It is now our sad duty to refer to the sickness and
untimely death of our dear Brother Cuyler. Here let me
quote from one of my reports, dated November 2nd, 1886 :
" I am just back from a trip to Bella Bella. I had hoped
to hear that Brother Cuyler was somewhat better, but the
dear brother had become so sick that he had to leave his
work and go south. Miss Eeinhardt had just heard that
he was not likely to be back, as the doctors said he must
seek another climate. It would be a sore trial to him, for
no man loved his work more than he and the poor Indians
loved him in return. We thought to take Mr. and Mrs.
Nicholas from Bella Coola to supply at Bella Bella. In
this case Bella Coola would be left. Our noble Sister
Reinhardt, who had been teacher at Bella Bella, said she

191

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

would rather stay alone all winter and carry on the work
until some one came from the East than let Bella Coola go
without a teacher."

Later, in the Outlook, Dr. Sutherland writes : " Letters
from the Pacific Coast convey the sad news that Brother
Cuyler has fallen in the battle. For several years he has
been in charge of the Bella Bella Mission, where he was
much beloved by the people. He was ' in labors abundant/
and it was through exposure in ' journeyings oft ' that he
contracted the disease of which he died. Brother Cuyler
was obliged to desist from active work in the early part of
the Conference year and went down to Victoria for medical
advice. For several months he had been residing in the
Nicola country; but, finding that his strength was failing,
he expressed a strong desire to return to his old friends in
Ontario. A start was made but, after one day's drive
towards the nearest station, he was unable to proceed, and
in a few hours fell asleep. His devoted wife was with him
to the end and in her hour of sore bereavement has the
sympathy and prayers of the whole Church."

From the reports of Rev. James Calvert we gather still
further news of Bella Bella : " Our week-night services are
encouraging; we hold nine services a week and practise
singing nearly every night besides. There have been four
deaths since my arrival, touching but triumphant. One
dear little fellow, the brightest scholar in the School, after
several months of sickness, fell peacefully asleep. His
education being complete, the Master called him away."

Mr. Calvert did not stay long, as his wife's health would
not permit it, and the Rev. G-. F. Hopkins took his place
at Bella Bella. In March, 1892, Mr. Hopkins writes:
" Two or three years ago a subscription was started among
the Indians here to build a new Church. Nothing further,
however, was done until, last fall. Mr. Thomas Hooper,

192

BELLA BELLA

rchitect, of Victoria, B.C., kindly presented us with plans
,nd aided the work in other ways. We got at the build-
ng. The main part is thirty by forty feet, and there is
,lso a pulpit recess sixteen by sixteen feet and a porch
ight by eight feet, which gives a tower eight by eight feet,
rowned with a four-square spire, the tip of which is eighty
eet from the ground. The whole makes a very neat and
•eautiful exterior. This replaces the first little Church,
rhich became the Council Eoom and School. The Indians
>f this place have acted as carpenters and, with the super-
ntendence of your Missionary, have done almost all the
rork. Our people promise to subscribe again after the
ishing season. We need about two hundred and fifty dol-
ars, which does not include lamps or stoves. The two
lative trading companies here gave money enough to pur
chase a forty-pound bell. It has a sweet, clear tone. The
>eople have built up a nice village, all European-shaped
louses. They have built for themselves a good strong
arharf, and the village of Bella Bella is said to be one of
;he prettiest along the Coast."

In association with our work at the Bella Bella Mis-
;don a branch was opened at Eivers Inlet. During the
Visits of the Rev. Mr. Tate to the Owee-Kenno tribe he
liscovered the wonderful rush of salmon up that inlet and
made it known to some white men. This led to the estab
lishment of the first cannery, where there are now seven.
In the summer we have a large field of operations there.
Heathen people and Christians for hundreds of miles along
the Coast, also Chinese, Japanese, and a number of white
men, visit and work at these canneries.

We have five Churches in the Inlet and a Hospital in
a central place. Mr. and Mrs. Brett, Mr. W. H. Gibson,
our long-tried and faithful Lay Missionary, and Dr. R. W.
13 193

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

Large, one of our most successful Medical Missionaries,
have in turn had charge of the work at Eivers Inlet.

At Bella Coola, which was once a branch of the Bella
Bella field, we have now a nourishing Mission with
Brother Gibson in charge. With Bella Coola are associated
the names of Dr. Spencer and Brother and Sister Nicholas.

At Kimsquit, up the north Bentick Arm, we havef
another little Church and still another at Namu, where
Mr. Draney's salmon cannery is situated, about twenty-
five miles south of Bella Bella.

The China Hat Mission, where the people are all pro|
fessed Christians, is composed of part of the old Hyhise^
and Kit-ee-stue villages. Some of the people speak th$
Tsimpshean language, while the remainder speak the Bella
Bella ; but they are all united in trying to serve God under
our long-tried and enthusiastic native teacher, Mr. G.
Edgar. This is a very nice place, well sheltered for the-
small craft on their way up and down the Coast. The
people mostly live by fishing, hunting and getting out
cordwood, with the exception of the summer, when they
go to the salmon canneries. There they earn good money
to help them through the winter. This part of their lives-
is not always the most conducive to spiritual health.

The success of the present Bella Bella village is mainlj
due to Dr. Large's judgment and enthusiasm in pushing
on the work. There is a wharf, a School, a Hospital, anc;
a well-organized village. It is still the centre from whicl
other villages are easily reached.

194

THE NAAS MISSION.

Early Visits to the Naas— Sick-sake— How the Naas got its

Missionary — Scenes of Mission Life — Back to

Heathenism— Treasures in Heaven—

The Band— Oolachan— A

Retreat.

" / will make you fishers of men"

CHAPTER XV.
THE NAAS MISSION.

THE mouth of the Kaas River is in latitude 55° north;
the course of the river is south, south-west, passing through
the Coast Range Mountains, which in many parts rise
directly from the edge of the water. Here and there are
low flats suitable for the growth of roots and hardier vege
tables. As one enters the mouth of the river the mind is
struck with wonder and admiration by the sublimity of
the scenery. It appears as if one were in a land-locked
sea, surrounded by high mountains, the peaks of which are
in some cases thickly mantled with snow. It is a scene
in which one can always delight.

My first visit to the Naas was made over the ice in the
spring of 1875. We found the people at a great heathen
dance in old Chief Claycut's house. Most of them were
covered with paint and feathers and wished to know what
I had come for. They didn't want any Missionary
troubling thejn. An old Chief said, " God gave you the
Bible, but He gave us the dance and the potlatch, and we
don't want you here." This was near the place where
shortly before that time a Chief had ordered some men
shot because they and their Chief put up a taller crest pole
than he had.

As we stood there by the fire, with the heathen dancers
rushing past us and brushing off their feathers and paint
on our clothes as much as they could, I said to them, my
Bible in my hand, " I came to tell you what is in this
Good Book, to tell you of God's love and His law, of heaven

197

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

and hell." I talked on in this way, partly through an
interpreter and partly in Chinook, for some time. Finally
the old Chief called to some of his men and told them to
bring his bed alongside the fire. It was a box-like thing,
standing about eighteen inches from the floor and contain
ing a feather bed. Then one of his wives brought half a
box of fish grease, containing perhaps four or five gallons,
and threw it all on the fire. This blazed up at such a rate
that it set the roof on fire. I said to my men, " What is
the matter? Are they going to burn the house down?"

They said, " Oh, no, this is done in honor of your com
ing. They always did this in olden times when they were
pleased at the arrival of a Chief; this is to show that they
now welcome you."

We had a good service that night, as we were privileged
to speak to a goodly number in that large heathen house.

My next visit was in the autumn. With a large canoe
and party we had visited all the villages on the river.
When we returned to the lowest village, Kiteeks, which is
about twelve miles from the mouth of the river, it was a
very cold night. I said to my man before I went ashore,
" We must get out of the river to-night or we will be caught
in the ice, as it is going to freeze. I'll just go ashore and
preach to this people, and we will go right on."

I went in to the large heathen house. Men were dancing
all over the floor, the old conjurer's drum was going, and
hundreds more were beating sticks on boards to keep time.
They were covered with paint and feathers, a grotesque
sight. They never danced promiscuously. When the men
would sit or fall down exhausted, the women would sally
forth and dance, they in turn falling near the fire or even
on it. The people would throw water on them to bring
them to.

I said, " Stop !" in a very decided voice. " I want to

198

THE NAAS MISSION

reach to you." I walked up and down in the house, giving
hem the Law as well as the Gospel.
Then I went out and, stepping into the canoe, we started

0 paddle down the river as hard as we could. We camped
or the night on the beach by salt water.

About six weeks from that time a party of thirteen men,
Qcluding the two Chiefs, came down from the Naas to
,sk for a Missionary. They said the people were all sorry
or the unkind way the Chief had treated me on my former
isit, and, from the way I left so suddenly the last time,
hey felt afraid that the Great One Above might be angry
ith them. The Chiefs had sent them down to ask for a
Missionary. A thousand people up the river were wanting

Missionary. I promised to visit them soon.

As it was getting near the Christmas holidays, I couldn't
eave at that time and during January the weather was too
.evere. With a party of ten I started away in February,
'.876. As the weather seemed mild and favorable, we
>xpected to reach Naas the same night or next day, but
,hat night the weather cleared up and became frosty, with

1 very strong north wind. Next day we struggled against
;;he storm up Portland Channel until it got so bad we had
!:o camp. In the night it was very cold in our camp on
die beach. Next day the wind blew terribly and the cold
.ncreased so that we had to move camp up into the woods
ind cut down trees to make a booth or brush-house to
shelter us from the wintry blast. Here we remained for
several days until our food was all gone; and so, in the
midst of the gale, the wind making water-spouts of the
waves on the Inlet, we started back home, assured that
iwe couldn't get up the Naas, as the river would be freez
ing over. On our return trip near a headland known as

Ten Mile Point, in a most miraculous way we were saved
when our mast broke away at the foot and came near cap-

199

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

sizing the canoe. Had we been upset here we must all
have been lost, for the rocks rose perpendicularly from the
water's edge and there was no way to get ashore. We
recovered the sail, got it fixed, and on we went, the waves
dashing over us and the spray every time forming ice on
our covering and clothes.

Within ten miles of home we met Chief Sick-sake from
Simpson with twenty-one young men in a large canoe,
plunging away bravely through the waves in the face of
that terrible gale to take food to the Missionary and his
party. They had become convinced at home, the night
before, that it was impossible for us to reach Naas, so they
had gone through the village collecting food. They had
got a hundred dried salmon, fish grease and other things,
and were bent on pressing their way even to Naas through
such a gale. We have been sometimes asked, " Have the
Indians any gratitude?" Here we saw it in its purity.
Where in any other part of the world would twenty-two
men be found to go against such a storm, so bitterly cold
and so dangerous, to look after a poor Missionary, without
anything of reward in view? Needless to say, as soon as
they met us, they whipped their fine large craft around,
holding up their paddles, with the flat sides to the wind, to
act as sails. We swept along until we got shelter at the
next island, where we soon had a fire. With thanksgiving
and prayer, we ate a good meal in old-fashioned Indian
style.

In the early part of March we tried the trip again. We
found the people all at home, and many of the Chiefs
spoke, urging that a Missionary be sent at once. One said,
" There are fifteen hundred people reaching away up the
Naas and on to the headwaters of the Skeena, and this
is the door to them all." They urged that we should not

200

THE NAAS MISSION

fail to send a white Missionary that summer. I left a
native with them.

Later on I made my way south to attend the Annual
District Meeting with a view to getting a Missionary for
the Naas people. The meeting was held in Victoria.
Business went on until Saturday afternoon, when the
Chairman suggested that there was now a chance to hear
from Brother Crosby about the work in the North. The
Naas people and their " Macedonian cry " were first
on my mind and heart. I told them the story of the open
door to that people. As I pleaded the Chairman said,
" Brother, you will pardon me, but I must say here that
word has come from the East that the Society is in debt
and not one dollar more can be spent this year for the
opening up of new work." A minister from a sister church
was in the meeting and sat with tears rolling down his
cheeks. Said he, " Mr. Crosby, I wish you were in Bristol,
England, to-night; you would get both the money and the
man if you would tell them that story." I said, " I can't
go to Bristol, brother, but I must have a Missionary."
After what the Chairman had said I felt almost broken
hearted; I sat down in one of the big seats in the church
and had a good cry. Then I left the room, went to the
parsonage near by, where I was billeted, and there, on my
knees, 1 told the Lord all about it.

I could not take any supper that night, but went out
and took a walk up one of the back streets, feeling oh, so
lonely. I felt as if every friend in the world had forsaken
me and, crying, I kept telling the Lord I must have a
Missionary. After I had walked some distance, I thought
of a cottage prayer meeting that used to be held in Father
McKay's house on Saturday nights. I went around to
that place and there 1 found a number engaged in prayer —
Presbyterians and Methodists. Episcopalians and Baptists,

201

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

white and colored. They were having a glorious time.
After a while the leader said, "We will change the exer
cises; some would like to speak." One or two spoke and
then I got a chance. I didn't go back over years of experi
ence but told them of the cry from the Naas for a Mis
sionary, of the experience I had that afternoon and how
my heart was nearly broken by what the Chairman had
said. By this time nearly everybody was in tears. An old
colored man jumped up and said, " Brother Crosby shan't
go back widout a Missionary. I'se give two dollars and a
half." Another brother said, " We must get it higher than
that, brother; I will give fifty dollars." Another gave fifty
dollars, another twenty-five dollars, and on the list went
until it ran up to over three hundred dollars. All at once
a young man, who had been teaching our School at
Nanaimo, said, "I'll go, I'll go." The late Sheriff
McMillan, a lay representative to the District Meeting,
took charge of the subscription list and presented the
man and the money to the District Meeting on Monday
morning. I need not say there was not a happier man
in the world than I was that day ; I was praising the Lord
wherever I went, shouting and happy for what He had
done. I met a young Yorkshire man whose father had
died and left some money in Nanaimo. I knew the dear
old man some years before. His son had just come out
to see about the estate. I said, " Young fellow, you missed
it you were not with us last night; we had a glorious
time." When I told him what had been done, he said,
"111 help; I will give fifty dollars for that."

Mr. A. E. Green, the young teacher at the meeting,
was forthwith sent, and the people of Victoria sustained
him that year and part of the year following, as well as
giving largely to the General Fund. After the Missionary
reached Port Simpson we made a trip together to the

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THE NAAS MISSION

Upper Naas, visiting and preaching in all the villages. A
site was chosen and presented to us by the Chiefs for a
Mission at Lack-al-zap (Greenville).

In December,, 1877, the Naas Missionary writes: "A
blessed revival has been going on at Port Simpson; the
Missionary from there, with fifty people, visited the Naas.
It was a time long to be remembered."

Again in February, 1878, he writes : " We were encour
aged and blessed in November by a visit from Brother
Crosby and fifty of his people, many of whom gave clear
testimony. . . . When we came here the young people
thought the Gospel could help them, but that there was no
hope for the old ; they said they had been too long in dark
ness. They brought a young man who was sick twenty-
six miles to the Mission. He wept when he saw us and
said he wanted to hear about Jesus before he died. We
told him to pray. He said, 'I can't; I don't know how.'
We pointed him to the Lamb of God. A few days ago an
old Chief came to ask a question. He said, ' The white
people are very wise; they know a great deal; the Indians
are very foolish. Why did not God make us all white, so
we could all be wise?' The old man seemed amazed when
we pointed him back to our common parentage, to the
origin of sin, and pointed him to Christ." Afterwards
the Eev. Mr. Green reported that this old man had become
a convert to Christianity and had begged for a copy of the
Word of God, which was given him. He drove a stake
into the ground to which he fastened it. In answer to
the question why he did this, he said he could not read,
but he knew the book was God's Word and he wanted to
have it near him, so he fastened it this way as a source
of comfort.

Later, we made a trip up the river, spending six days
at the upper village. Heathenism in its worst forms had

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UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

been carried on by the doctors and conjurers. We preached
to large congregations and pointed them to Jesus.

In April, 1881, Mr. Green reported thirty-nine taken
into the Church during the year. He said, " On the 6th
of last month twenty adults were baptized. On the same
day a love-feast was held, and the Spirit of God came down
upon the people. An invitation was given for all who
would consecrate themselves to the Lord to come forward.
The whole congregation pressed forward. The house was
full of cries and prayers. Several families, leaving
heathenism, have united with us during the winter.

" No sooner is an Indian converted than he becomes
anxious for the conversion of his heathen friends. A young
man from the interior, who last spring joined our Mission,
came one morning, with his Testament, saying, ( Please
find me that text where it says, " The blood of Jesus
cleanseth us from all sin." When I heard you preach
from it, it warmed my heart. Now I have heard that my
mother is sick and I want to carry that word to her.' He
went one hundred and twenty miles to tell his heathen
friends about Jesus.

"Twenty of our people started up the river on snow-
shoes, visiting all the villages for forty miles, praying in
every house and declaring to old and young what God
had done for them. Even those who before had perse
cuted the Christians opened their doors and invited them
to eat with them. One old man said, e My friends, you
know this river ; it flows to the sea ; it lifts and carries away
the old logs, taking all it reaches into the sea. Sometimes
the river is low; winter comes; the river is dry; the snow
is deep. Then spring comes, the sun shines ; the rain falls ;
the snow melts and the mountain streams rush down into
the river. It fills; it overflows its banks and carries away
old, dry logs that for years have been lying on the banks.

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THE NAAS MISSION

So it was with God's work. It flowed on, but not very
wide ; it did not reach us all. It was winter. Then sum
mer came, the sun shone and the good rain fell; the river
of God overflowed its' banks and reached me. I was a log,
but the Good Word lifted me. I am saved. I am on my
way to heaven. Blessed be Jesus P

" The children formed themselves into a praying band.
It was a lovely sight to see them going from house to house,
singing the songs of Zion and speaking of the wonderful
works of God. The oldest of the band was not over nine
years of age.

"A great heathen Chief died in the Mission village/'
continues Mr. Green, " and the heathen people rushed here
with their songs, dances and eagle feathers to carry on
their superstitious practices. This sorely tried our Chris
tians. It is strange to see how determined these heathen
are to get the Christians back to heathenism. If they
cannot get them by persecution they will try them by force,
or by kindness work on their feelings,

" A man and his wife came to stay at the Christian
village. They hadn't been there a week before the woman's
friends came in the night and carried her off, back to
heathenism. She, however, managed to escape and
returned to the Mission, but in a day or so a strong
party came and took her away again.

" A young man who had lived in a Christian village was
converted and had commenced to preach when his old
uncle, a Chief in a heathen village, sent for the young
local preacher. He showed him boxes filled with blankets,
furs and other property. Then, sitting down by the fire,
he said, f My nephew, you are my heir, you see my pro
perty; I have been saving it up all my life for you, so
that when you take my name you will be rich and a big
Chief. But you are going a different road ; you are poor ;

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

you have no good clothes; you have no boxes filled; you
won't dance, so the people don't give you presents. It is
true you have a little house at the Mission; but I can't
see your property. Come to me and I will give you all. I
have no child ; you are my son ; come and take all I have.'

'' The young man said, ' Yes, uncle, your words are true.
I am not rich; I do not have fine clothes or boxes filled
with blankets. The people don't give me presents since
I went to follow Jesus. I know you cannot see my pro
perty; but I have a treasure. Yours is in these boxes;
mine is in Heaven. You see yours now, but soon, you say,
you will leave it; and you won't see it again. I don't see
my treasure now, but it is yonder, and I shall soon have
it forever. I love you, my uncle; but you must do what
you like with your property. I can't leave the treasure I
have in Jesus.'

" The old man went away seemingly angry. These two
became reconciled on the following Christmas Day, 'the
day of peace,' and at the nephew's urgent invitation the
old Chief took dinner with him. He afterwards became
an earnest Christian and died happy in the Lord."

Still another instance is given by Mr. Green of the effort
of heathenism on the Naas to recover its lost ground : " A
Christian was called by his heathen relations to their
house, and he went; the heathen Chiefs came and were
given seats according to their rank; spoons were given
them, food placed before them and blankets put down at
their feet. They wanted the Christian to eat with them
and take the presents. This would be the formal way of
taking him back again into heathenism. He understood
them and spoke, asking, ' If you were to bring a dead
body into this house and put food before it and put a
spoon in its hand, would it eat? If you put blankets at
its feet would it take them ? No, no, it would not, because

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THE NAAS MISSION

it was dead. Friends, you bring me into this house, you
put food before me and a spoon into my hand, you put
blankets at my feet; but I cannot eat, I cannot take these
blankets because I am dead — dead to your old way. I
used to live in it, just as you do, but now I am dead to it
all.' He then preached Jesus to them.

" Another time a Christian young man's friends wished
to take him back into heathenism. He said, ( You see this
stone that rolled down this mountain side from the top
of the mountains. It was up there a long time and was
very strong — a part of the great mountain; but a great
power reached it, moved it, and it rolled down and came
into the river. Will it go back again? Will it roll up
there again? Will it go back to the old place? No, it
won't. So it was with me. I was with you a long time,
a part of your great, bad mountain ; but God's great power
came ; His Word loosened me, moved me out of the moun
tain of sin and rolled me down to God's new river. I can
not go back up the mountain to my old place. It is cold
there; the snow is there; but here down by the river it is
warm. Now God comes to shake you and to move you
to come to Him/

" A young man from a heathen village thus expressed
himself in a Class Meeting : ' Friends, I am nearly dead ;
it almost takes my breath away to see how you people live.
Oh, it is so different from the lives we live ! I am going
to ask my mother if she won't corne with me to live here
in this new way.'

" The Indians have much improved their village, hav
ing put down a plank sidewalk at a cost of ninety-nine
dollars and built a Band house at a cost of one hundred
and thirty-five dollars."-

In January, 1886, the Missionary in a letter to the
Missionary Outlook tells this story of the Mission: "A

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

young white man who had come to spend a few days was
converted and made to rejoice in the Saviour's love, and
oh, how happy he was ! The people also got very happy.
A man who had recently given his heart to God said, c My
wife often wakes me up and tells me, " George, we sleep too
much ; let us get up and pray," and, as we do so, our hearts
get warm and we feel as if we should like to go away
straight home to Heaven.' *

In January, 1887, the Missionary, Mr. Green, says: "It
gave great joy to the Indians to hear that they were to
have a new Church. They had already got out the founda
tion timber.

"We have had plenty of Band music during the past
six weeks. A teacher came from the Coast to teach them
to play their new band instruments, presented by friends
in England on my visit. They are proving to be good ones.
One of our men soon thought he could teach as well as
the teacher. We were all astonished at the progress they
made. For thirty-three days they had three sessions every
day. The Indians can now play 'The German Hymn/
* The Fisherman's Prayer,' ' Praise God from Whom all
Blessings Flow,' ' God save the Queen,' ' The Dead March
in Saul,' ' Onward, Christian Soldiers,' and c Around the
Throne of God in Heaven.'

" On Christmas eve we had a tree with presents for the
children. The Chieftainess, ' Long Arm,' had a beautiful
shawl and other things sent by a friend in London. She
spoke very nicely, saying God had answered her prayers
and had sent her a sign that the white Christians remem
bered her and her people, and that morning and evening,
every day, she would pray God's blessing upon them.

" During the Christmas time, and indeed any other time,
there is danger of the Indians going into debt for food
for the feasts. This is one of their great weaknesses.

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THE NAAS MISSION

" News was brought to our village that a white man and
three halfbreed children were without food and blankets
at the upper village, Kit-lach-tamux. We made the jour
ney on snowshoes through a storm, reached the village and
preached the Gospel. We found the old man, a daughter
and two little boys in a corner of their little log cabin with
a bearskin over them and but fragments of clothing. The
old man died. Before dying, he begged the Missionary to
take the children. He took them, baptized the boys, call
ing them John and George, and kept them both for some
time. John was soon able to care for himself. The
youngest, George, stayed on at the Mission. We also took
another boy and baptized him Fred. Boys such as these
were transferred to the Crosby Boys' Home at Port Simp
son or went to work for themselves.

" In the spring, when the small fish come into the river,
the gulls are so numerous as to resemble a heavy fall of
snow. The eagles soar high above the nryriads of gulls,
seeking their chance. In the water are seals and larger
fish after the small fish, all under intense excitement. We
have Indians from the interior, from Skeena Kiver, Alaska,
Port Simpson, Metlakatlah, and other places, making in
all about five thousand people, some Christians and many
not. Those who are heathen are known by their faces —
some red, some black. They are dressed in all kinds of
strange, fantastic costumes and present a wonderful sight
as they move about on the ice. We have man life, fish life
and bird life, all seeking to destroy the delicious fish.
In former years the people used to offer sacrifice to the
Great Spirit for giving them the fish, and the one who
caught the first fish would put it in his bosom and run
about, crying, ' Oh, you salvation fish, you salvation fish.'
When asked why they called them salvation fish, they said,
e Oh, years ago, many Indians were here on this river,
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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

starving to death before the fish came, hence as soon as
they did come we called them the salvation fish, for they
saved the people from death/ These oolachan fish are
called also ' small fish/ ' candle fish/ or, as above, ' salva
tion fish.' They are most delicious, and the grease obtained
from them is a wonderful help to health in that climate."

In 1888, Mr. Green, writing of the trials and triumphs
of his work on the Naas, says: "When Brother Crosby
was up here, I wrote about the death of our little boy.
Our loss is his gain. Indians from every village on the
river brought their sick to us when the fever was very bad.
Among them were the Chiefs from Kit-heeks. One family
brought five children very sick with the fever. They
stayed at the house of a local preacher who was married
to their eldest daughter. The daughter said, ( Father, you
don't believe the Gospel; but, when you all get sick and
think you are going to die and don't know what to do,
then you come to the Christians and ask them to help
you. God's servants give you medicine, God shows His
mercy and spares all your children, when so many around
you die. Then you all go back to the devil's work again.
I am a Christian, and I thought now you would give me
one of my sisters to serve God. She would live with me
and would become a Christian. Yes, I thought you would
give me Hath-kun to be a Christian.' ' Yes/ her father
replied, ( but Hath-kun is not willing to stay here.' ( Hear
what he says/ cried Hath-kun, ' I have wanted to be a
Christian for a long time but father would not let me.'
The father consented to let her join the Mission; she
became a Christian and was baptized.

" One of our local preachers said in Class Meeting, ' I
am so glad I am a Methodist. I was never so pleased with
this before. There is good in the other Churches. I have
no doubt, but they do not have Class Meeting. If ever so

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THE NAAS MISSION

happy, they cannot tell it in the meeting. God has helped
me very much while my child was sick. He has blessed
me much ; my heart is full ; and I thank God I am a Meth
odist, for I can open my mouth with joy and tell of His
love.' "

Rev. D. Jennings, writing from Naas Mission in 1889,
says : " I have seen many weep on account of sin, but I
never saw one weep as bitterly as a strong, intelligent man
at our principal Mission station wept on account of his sin.
He said he wanted to be a genuine Christian, not a half
hearted one.

" The Lord was present with us at the opening of the
new Church at Lach-al-zap."

Our work on the Naas is described by another mission
ary as follows: "About sixteen miles from the mouth of
the river is Fishery Bay, where we have a neat little
Church. Four miles above Fishery Bay, on the same side
of the river, is Lach-al-zap (Greenville), our headquarters
on the Naas. Taking this village as a centre, there are
several others at which Missions are established, extending
as far as Kit-wan-silk and Kit-lach-tamux, some forty
miles above Greenville.

" We have preached the joyful tidings of salvation in all
these villages. At one of the camps we found a medicine
man practising over a sick old man. The old medicine
man was physically and spiritually blind. He had a box
containing shot or small stones which he rattled over the
sick man, while he uttered his wild incantations. When
the sick man saw me he gave a piteous look as much as
to say, ' Help me.' As the doctor rattled, I gave the sick
man some medicine; this made him better by next day.
It was laughable to see the doctor finish up his practice.
He rattled near the sick man's mouth with great force;
put down his rattle; put his two hands on the sick man's

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UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

head and, with too much friction to be comfortable, drew
them down over his face, grasping the mouth, and pre
tending to take something away. Then placing his
closed hands together, as people do when looking at a
distant object, he blew into them with great force; and
thus took the disease away from the sick man. The doctor
said to the sick man, ' Has he given you medicine ?' When
he was told I had, he said, 'Good! good!' The doctor
then asked me to give him some medicine. I replied, ' You
are a doctor, take your own medicine ' ; but doctors do not
often do that."

The Naas was for many years a most successful Meth
odist Mission. The Eev. A. E. Green, our first Missionary,
was followed by the Eev. D. Jennings, the Eev. E. B.
Beavis, the Eev. S. S. Osterhout and Dr. Wm. Eush, each
of whom did faithful and successful work. Dr. Eush failed
in health and it was found impossible to supply his place.
The Church Misssionary Society has since taken over the
work and the Methodist Church has withdrawn from this
field.

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OUR WORK ON THE SKEENA.

Blind Jack— Our First Trip to the Forks of the Skeena— A

Unique Fishery — Native Bridges — Entertained by a

Conjurer — The Gospel in a Heathen Salmon

Camp — The Forks — Mr. Mathieson's

Work— The C. M. S. in the

Field— Later Visits.

" The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad
for them"

CHAPTEE XVI.
OUR WORK ON THE SKEENA.

IT was while still engaged with the native carpenters,
finishing the work on our Church at Port Simpson, that
a medium-sized man, a native, rather thick-set, walked
into the Church and nearly to the altar where we were
at work. He turned up his head, moving it quickly around,
and seemed to be looking at every part of the building. As
he came up, I said, " Good day," shook hands with him,
and said, " How do you do ? Where are you from ? What
is your name?"

He said, " My name is Jack ; I have come ten suns to
see you, sir. I heard you were building a great house for
God, and I thought I should like to see it."

I said to a young man, " Take him outside, around the
Church, show him the posts and everything."

He felt all around the buttress posts, came in again and
felt all around the altar. Then he said, " Sir, I am so
glad I have seen the Church."

I found he was quite blind, but of course he had seen
it in his mind. " Now," he said, " I hear the people give
you money to help to build the Church"; and I said
" Yes." He took out all his money, seventy-five cents,
and gave it. I found afterwards that his poor sister had
given him this to buy a shirt.

He seemed very happy, prancing around and saying, " I
am a great singer; I do all the bad songs in my village,
away far up in the interior, at the head waters of the

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

Skeena. But now, sir, I should like to hear some of the
songs your people sing/'

Mrs. Crosby got him by the little melodeon and played
a number of pieces that took his fancy. He went away
and they say he sang them all night in the big house.
Next day he came back. We told him the story of redeem
ing love; and he said he wished to sing some more and
be a good man. He sang again and got one piece after
another. He said he wished to be " filled up," so we
worked away to fill him up as well as we could with the
good Word and song. One day he came up to the Mission
House and said he was going.

"Well," I said, "good-bye, Jack; God bless you!"

" Well," he said, " I should like to have a Bible, sir."

I wished to know what he would do with the Bible.

He said, " I want to take it ; I will hold it up before my
people and tell them that is God's great letter that tells
of His love."

I gave him a Bible and then he said, " I should like to
have a handbell."

"Jack," said I, "what will you do with a handbell?"

" I wish to ring it through my village to call my people
to Church and tell them all you told me and sing the new
song."

I had some handbells I had got to lend out to the people
when they went hunting and fishing, as they all wished
to have a handbell to ring for Church services on Sunday
in camp. He got the handbell and, with the Bible under
his arm, he tinkled the bell and went away, looking very
happy. Months after this, I heard that Jack was ringing
his bell in his village in the mountains, calling the people
to Church and telling them all he knew — " doing what
he could."

About two years afterwards, a poor, forlorn-looking little

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OUR WORK ON THE SKEENA

woman stepped inside our house and crouched down by
the door. Seeing she was a stranger, I said, "Who are
you ? Where are you from ?"

" Oh, sir," she sobbed out, " my poor boy Jack, my boy
Jack, he has gone, sir, he has gone, sir; but oh, he was
so good, sir, and told us such good things. He has gone, sir,
he has gone. He was working on the Hudson's Bay Com
pany's boats, getting freight up the river ; he took cold, got
sick and died ; but before he went away he said, ' Go and
tell God's servant I am going to be with Jesus in that
happy place he told me about,' and oh, he was so happy,
sir." Then the poor mother, taking out the Bible from
under her dirty blanket, said, " Here is the book, sir. He
told me to bring it to you and to thank you for telling
him about Jesus and the home above." As we sat and wept
together, I thought that if all Christian people would do
as poor Jack did and tell all they know about Jesus, we
should soon have the world converted. It was a good while
before Jack's people could have a teacher, as the funds
were small.

For some time people kept calling on us, Blind Jack
among the rest, to begin work on the Upper Skeena; but,
as many other points, such as Naas, Essington and Kita-
maat, were opening up, and we were pushing buildings in
some of these places, we did not get away to the Upper
Skeena until the summer of 1878.

We left Simpson by canoe for our Mission on the Naas,
where we spent several days in blessed service. We then
left Greenville with an Indian, Robert McMillan, who had
volunteered to be my guide to the Upper Skeena. We
called and had services at Kit-wan-silk and at Kit-lach-
tamux, passing by canoe to the end of the celebrated
"Grease Trail."

This trail had been used for years by the Upper Skeena

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

people, who came down by hundreds to the Naas for the
oolachan fishing in the early spring. In those days they
had a great heathen dance in the month of February for
about a week at each village, before going to fish. They
would get down to Fishery Bay on the Naas River in the
early part of March to prepare for the small fish, which
generally came up the river about the middle of that
month. Here they would work in their primitive way
by putting red hot stones into boxes partly filled with fish
and water. When the grease was all rendered out in this
manner, they put it into large boxes made of cedar slabs,
without nails.

This work ended about the last of April when, with bor-j
rowed canoes, they would make their way up the Naas
River to the end of the trail, which was one hundred and
forty miles in length. / Sometimes, when they had a big
catch, it would take them weeks to " pack " their stuff
away. Some of the women were the greatest " packers "
among them and carried these great grease boxes, some
of them weighing from one hundred and fifty to two hun
dred pounds each. They started from camp in the morn
ing, mother and father, and even little boys and girls, each:
one with a pack on his back, attached by a rope to a strap
round the forehead. Even the dogs, if there were any,
had their packs also. They went a distance from their
camp, putting down their loads where they thought they
could bring up all their belongings during. that day by
making a sufficient number of trips over the same ground.
With hundreds of people scattered for miles along this
wonderful trail, there was a lively scene during the month
of the exodus or that of the homeward trip.

Robert and I started on the trail, with blankets and pro
visions. We each had a heavy pack ; indeed, it proved too

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OUR WORK ON THE SKEENA

much for me those hot September days. The first night
we reached a number of Naas people at their summer fish
ing camp by the canyon.

Here we saw some real, native ingenuity. They had
ladders made with poles and native ropes, extending some
twenty-five feet each from one ledge of rock to another,
then to a similar rock below; and thus they went down
one or two hundred feet till they reached the river. Here
one man would stand on a point of rock, where there was
a very rapid current. With a native scoop-net at the end
of a long pole he would haul out the beautiful silver
salmon, while his wife, that greater burden-bearer, would
fill a big basket with salmon and start up these wonderful
ladders. We watched more than one as they made the trip
to the top of the cliff, and I trembled as I watched lest
they slip or the ropes break.

It was a lovely spot to camp, covered with moss and
i wild berries. Here we were treated to a supper of deli
cious fresh salmon and the native blueberry. We closed
the day with a nice service among the people.

After a good night's rest, we were away bright and early.
It was hard travelling for me over this peculiarly shaped
trail, for these people who walk with toes in do not leave
a trail wide enough for a white man. Added to this was
the fact that the ferns and foliage were so high, and so
often leaned over the trail from both sides, that we liter
ally had to push our way through. When these were loaded
with the heavy dew, it was almost as wet as going through
a pond of water. This would continue till far on in the
forenoon, when the sun got high enough to dry up the
dew. Then our clothes, which had been wet through,
began to dry. My boots got so dry and hot during the
afternoon that my feet became terribly blistered and I
was usually glad when the time came to strike camp for

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

the night. After supper and prayers we lay down to rest.
Oh, how I would sleep, with nothing but the canopy of
heaven overhead!

Here I met with the first native bridge that I had seen.
One might call it a suspension bridge. It was made by
cutting down saplings six or eight inches through and
twenty-five or thirty feet long. These leaned over the
river, being made fast on the banks by means of piles of
stones laid on the butt-ends to keep them firmly in place.
These trees, fixed on each bank, might not reach more than
two-thirds of the distance across, but by withes or ropes
of roots other poles were fastened to the outer ends of
those extending from the banks, and thus the river was
spanned. Hanging from this by withes or pieces of bark
or rope, the bridge on which one had to walk swung about
level with each bank. It consisted of native planks laid
from one pole to another, with light poles on each side, of
which you could take hold.

I told my friend to go first. He did so with his pack
on his back and got safely over. Then he had to return
to take my pack. For the life of me I couldn't have taken
that pack over that swinging bridge; but when Robert
told me that these poor women would pack over their
grease boxes of more than one hundred and fifty pounds
and think nothing of it, I began to think that the proverb
is true, " It is nothing when you get used to it."

We passed a large fishing camp, and here we saw in the
shoal water of the river hundreds of beautiful salmon,
some of them with their fins and tails worn off in the
journey up stream. I was told they must have come all
the way up the Skeena River, then into the Kit-wan-cool
River, then into the lake and then up this river in the
mountains where we saw them. Here the Kit-wan-cool
people gather in the summer to dry berries and salmon.

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OUR WORK ON THE SKEENA

We had service among them at their camp and then
pressed on our way across the mountains.

The next point of interest was a large berry drying
camp. Here a great, rough frame shed had been erected,
perhaps one hundred feet long, roofed with slabs and bark,
but open at the sides. As we approached this camp, we
heard the song of an old conjurer, and when we came
up we saw him sitting with his back towards us, a long
spear and a scalping knife by his side. He was a wild,
rough-looking old man, his face all painted up and his
hair tied in a knot at the top of his head. As soon as he
heard our footsteps he sprang up and seized his spear.
Robert, my guide, called out in his own language, " It is
the Missionary coming; don't be disturbed."

" Humph/' the old man grunted out, " I thought it was
some of the wild men from the mountains. They are all
the time troubling us, and we have to be on our watch for
them."

He very shortly afterwards prepared us a dinner. First
he handed us a dish with water in it to wash our hands.
As soon as this was done and we were seated, he set before
us on a dish the greater part of a very large salmon which
had been broiled before the fire. The blessing was asked
and we started to eat, using our fingers of course — knives
and forks he had none. There was no salt, but we enjoyed
the salmon " straight."

The old man was really very friendly and Robert and
he kept up a rapid conversation in regard to all the news
of the day. Meanwhile our host was preparing further
for our comfort. There were yards and yards of dried
berries spread out very thinly on leaves and laid on very
slight racks or trays, made of split cedar, which in turn
were placed on a kind of frame. Great rows of them
extended the whole length of the house, some three or four

221

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

feet above the earthen floor. He took from one of these
scaffolds what seemed to be about half a yard square of
berries in the little dish in which we had washed our
hands, broke the cake of berries into small pieces, then
poured in some water and began to squeeze and knead the
berries with his hands until he had got quite a dish of juice
extracted. Still Robert and he kept up the conversation.
As I looked across at him, I saw him lay down the great
lump of seeds and refuse from the berries. He then took
a very large bone spoon and filled it with oolachan grease,
which he was about to pour into the berry juice. I called
out to Robert, " If that is for us, tell him to keep the
grease out of it."

" Oh," the old man said, " it is a very strange thing if
you can't eat grease with berries." It was a very common
thing for them to eat grease with almost every kind of
food.

After partaking of the berry juice, we had singing and
prayer together and a long conversation with the old man
about the plan of salvation and the wonderful love of
Jesus. He looked amazed and said, " Yes, if all you have
said is true, it was a wonderful thing for the Great Chief
Above to give His only Son." After asking him to tell
his friends when they came from the mountains what we
had told him, we bade him good-bye. We started on our
journey, quite refreshed by our intercourse with our old
friend, praying God to bless the word which we had spoken.

We soon reached Kit-wan-cool village, on the edge of a
beautiful lake of that name. We arrived there on Satur
day evening. The few people who were at home seemed
all excited on our arrival. We were invited into the
Chief's house, where we held service and preached to them
the wonderful story of love. A great fire was piled on in
the house and grease thrown on it to make it blaze up,

222

OUK WORK ON THE SKEENA

mtil the slabs of the old lodge roof took fire, and a young
?ellow had to rush up with a bucket of water to put it out.
lere we had more delicious, fresh salmon. We found sev
eral sick in the little village and gave them some of the
simple remedies we had with us ; but the old conjurer and
lis drum seemed more in demand than any medicine we
3ould give them. After conversation with some of the
eading men as to our plan for to-morrow's work, they
suggested that, if we had early service with them and
;hen travelled on towards the Skeena Eiver a half day's
journey, we would come to a large camp of their people,
who were fishing and drying salmon.

It was now time to retire. We lay down amid the din
of howling dogs, the conjurer's rattle and drum and what
seemed to be a score more beating time with short sticks
on boards to his weird song. We were soon asleep. Next
morning we rose bright and early and called the people to
service. Robert and I then had breakfast and started off
towards the Skeena River. We walked on and on but,
instead of getting there in the afternoon, as they had said,
it was nine o'clock at night and just getting dark when
we reached the camp.

Here were two very large houses and a great number of
people. I was a little distance ahead of Robert and, as
I came up, I put my head in at the door at the end of one
of the houses, when an old woman cried out, "Young-
men, where are your muskets?" Several of them rushed
for their guns; but, by the time they had them in their
hands, Robert popped his head in at the door and cried
out, " Stop ! this is a Missionary."

In a few moments crowds came in from the other house.
I slipped my pack off my back and, Bible in hand, com
menced to tell them of the wonderful love of God in the
gift of His Son to save a lost world. They crowded in and

223

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

crouched on the floor. We had no other light than the
dying embers of the fire, which was there more to smoke
the salmon which hung over it than to give light. As I
spoke on, all I could see was a mass of faces filled with
wonder and amazement. I continued talking for a long
time, as they seemed intensely interested; but, being very
tired, was about to stop, when a number with tears in their
eyes said, " Oh, go on, do tell us more ; we never heard
such a wonderful story; tell us more!" Some time after
this we closed the service, glad that we had come so far to
tell them of the Saviour's love.

Robert and I retired to the woods to sleep, thinking we
would have a better chance to rest there than in the smoky
houses, where there were hundreds of dried salmon hang
ing over the smouldering fire and the quarreling dogs upon
the floor.

Early next morning we got our breakfast, made a visit
through the camps, had prayer with some families and
then started up the Skeena. We were advised that, as the
river was low, we could travel better on the beach than we
could over the rugged hills and rough trail. We started
along the river shore; and now the blistered feet from
which I had suffered so much pained me more than ever
as the soles of my shoes had got so soft that they were
worse than moccasins would have been for walking over
gravel beds and boulders.

At last we got to the Forks of the Skeena, having visited
the Kitzegucla and other bands on our way. We were
graciously received by two old-time white traders as well
as by most of the Indians that were at home. While we
remained we had service with them night and morning.
A few miners arrived from Omenica and a number of
others were expected. At this place many of the miners
spent the winter. We also visited Kishpiax, where we

224:

OUK WOBK ON THE SKEENA

found a great many Indians engaged in fishing. Here we
had service at a large fishing camp some distance up the
river. We also called at Hag-wil-get, where the Catholic
priests had visited once in a great while. The people there
were very desirous to have a Methodist Missionary come
among them.

As I was about to leave on the return trip, the Kit-en-
makes or Hazelton people urged that we send them a
teacher at once. That fall we sent a young man named
Mathieson to teach at the Forks. Eegular preaching and
teaching were thus established up the Skeena, though in
the year before this visit the Rev. A. E. Green, then on
the Naas Mission, had made a trip to the Upper Skeena
and preached the Gospel at all of the villages.

Mr. Mathieson had been employed for a time as teacher
on the Naas; and while on the Skeena did good work and
seemed to have wonderful influence over the people at the
Forks. He got them to give up their heathen dancing and
gambling and many of them attended service. In his
School report to the Government, dated November 25th,
1878, he says : " Morning session, 10 to 12 ; afternoon, 2 to
4; evening, 6 to 9; total number enrolled, 120. Forty-
eight of these are grown people who can attend only one
session. Most of the pupils have made wonderful pro
gress; many, who did not know their letters, already read
pretty well in the First and Second Primer. We have an
average attendance of forty. But for the three great
heathen feasts held in the neighboring villages, the attend
ance would have been better. We closed for two weeks at
Christmas to enable the teacher to provide a more com
fortable School, but night session was continued. Owing
to the wretched condition of these people there was much
sickness during the winter. We hope the authorities will
furnish us with some simple medicine at their earliest con-
15 225

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

venience. All indications point to a prosperous future for I
this School, as there is a large population of children who
are willing and anxious to learn. A new School is much J
needed. As soon as we can get a grant of land from the!
Government, the lumber is all ready."

On account of some unforeseen difficulty, Mr. Mathieson |
left the work. Then for some time we tried to get a j
Missionary, and finally the Rev. C. M. Tate was appointed
by the Toronto Conference of 1880. He and his wifej
were proceeding to the Forks of the Skeena, but, finding
that in the meanwhile a Missionary of the Church Mis
sionary Society had been sent in there, they went to Bella
Bella, which was then urgently asking for a Missionary.

Hearing that another Missionary had been sent to the
Forks, the Chairman of the District directed me to make
a trip there, in order to explain why our Missionary did
not go, and thus keep faith with the people. I made the
trip by the Hudson Bay freight canoes. The Editor of
the Outlook, to which I contributed an account of this
journey, says that records of Mission work on the Pacific
Coast remind one of the heroic age of Methodism, when
"in labors more abundant " was the badge of the true
apostolic succession.

The following is an extract from that letter : " I am
just back from my three weeks' trip to the Forks of the
Skeena. By the kindness of R. H. Hall, Esq., Chief Officer
of the Hudson's Bay Company, I took the trip in their
freight canoes. Our party consisted of two boats and five j
canoes, with forty-four men in all. The weather was wet, j
with only one dry day in the whole trip, and the mosquitoes
made it lively by night, not to mention their depredations
by day. At several places we had to have ten or fifteen men
to haul up each canoe, and then it was hard work to get
them over the rapids, or 'make the riffle,' as the miners

OUR WORK ON THE SKEENA

say. There were also three portages to make, when most
of the freight had to be taken out and carried over. It
took sixteen days and a half from here to the Forks, a
distance of two hundred and twenty-five miles. The men
seemed always glad to attend the services; and I preached
at a number of the different villages besides visiting hun
dreds at their fishing camps. Many of the poor people
received the Word with gladness.

"As it was more than a year since we had promised
these people to get them another Missionary or teacher, I
told them that I had come to explain why Mr. Tate had
not come to his field. We had no desire to go into a field
where another Church was taking up the work; and so,
though we had secured a Missionary for that station, we
were obliged to send him to some other part of the great
field. The Missionary of that Church, who was there, said
to me, ' Mr. Crosby, we have no business here ; you had the
field before us.' Many of these poor people expressed
themselves as sorry that we were not going to take up
Mission work, for the present, among them, and asked if
we could not go to another village, Kishpiax or Kish-ka-
gas, where poor Blind Jack had told them something about
Jesus. Moreover, the Hag-wil-gets, three miles back of
the Forks, said the priest had left them for a long while,
and they begged us to give them a teacher."

The downward trip was a grand one. Poor Charles
Youmans and I made the trip together in a small canoe.
He was a trader, who had lived there for some time; and
was afterwards murdered by an Indian at mid-day in front
of his own house. Mr. Youmans was very anxious that
the Methodist Church should not leave the river, and he
took me on to the Kit-won-gah Reserve to show me the
land. As they had no Missionary, he begged me, as did
also many of the people, to start a Mission here and offered

221

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

to give me a large log house that he had used for some
time as a trading store. I was indeed sorry that I could
not promise him to do so. We two pressed on our way
down the river in our little canoe and in a day and a half
reached Port Essington. On the third Sabbath from home,
I preached at Essington to good congregations of Brother
Jennings' people, both afternoon and night. On Monday,
at 10 p.m., I reached home, having travelled from Essing
ton fifty-five miles, with a man and his wife in a very
small canoe.

Some time later our Naas Missionary made some trips
to the Skeena, of one of which he says : " Two days more
travelling over nice land brought us to a fishing camp of
Kishpiax people, two miles from their village. They were
catching salmon and received us very kindly, bringing us
wood (a scarce article-on the prairie), salmon and potatoes;
and, after expressing their thanks, said, ' You are the only
one who brings us the good Word. Come and live here
yourself, or bring us a minister.' One old Chief said.
' I will give you my house if you will come and live ir
my village. There is good land which we will give yor>
to build a Church on. We all want to hear of God anc
take the new way.' They pleaded very earnestly for som<
one to go and live with them and teach them the Gospel

" There were over four hundred people in the village
We met the friends of a young man who had accidentally
fallen into a salmon trap in the dark current of the Skeenj
River. They were in great trouble. We exhorted then
to cast their burden on the Lord. They said, i Oh, ou
friends are all dying ; bring us God's Word.' At the Fork
we visited from house to house and prayed with the people
These also pleaded earnestly for a Methodist Missionary
They said, ' You promised years ago to help us. You sen
us a teacher. He did well for a time and went away; the

228

OUR WORK ON THE SKEBNA

you told us you would send us another teacher. We have
waited but he never came.' I had to explain again to them
low our Missionary was on the way to them when he found
another Missionary had taken up the place. ' Yes/ they
said, ' several teachers came. There is not one left. We
mow we are bad, thieves and murderers, but we want to
be good. We have trouble among ourselves every day, and
we want peace.' Hag-wil-get, three miles from the Forks,
is visited by the Catholic priest sometimes, and they are
desiring a School and a Methodist Missionary."

Thus, during several years, we had frequent deputations
from the Upper Skeena.

229

ON THE SKEENA AGAIN.

Work Commenced by Native Agents — Death of Youmans — A
Macedonian Cry — Kit-wan-cool Jim — Sickness Among
the Tribes — Rev, J, C, Spencer — An Evan
gelistic Trip — MrSc Spencer's
Letter.

''And a great number believed and turned unto the
Lord/'— Acts.

CHAPTEK XVII.
ON THE SKEENA AGAIN.

IN the Missionary Eeport of 1883 the Missionary on the
Naas refers to the work on the Skeena as follows:

" In my last years report I mentioned that twelve people
of Kit-wan-cool had embraced the Gospel. They had a
native teacher but desired a white teacher. As we could
not promise them such, and owing to the persecution they
encountered from their heathen brethren, they, with some
others, came out of their tribes — left their homes and
travelled more than one hundred miles to Greenville,
where they secured a permanent home."

Many times during those years we were urged to go to
the Skeena, but shortage of men and means prevented us
from accepting the invitation. In 1885 our native Mis
sionary, W. H. Pierce, was sent to Kitzegucla. In the
early spring the Naas Missionary writes : " Brother Pierce,
who has just arrived from Skeena overland, reports two
hundred deaths from fever in that part of the country."

In the same year the Rev. A. E. Green reports a trip
made : " In company with Brother Jennings I visited the
interior and Skeena tribes. We found them in great
trouble; but have evidence that God guided us to them
and trust that His Word was a blessing to some. These
poor people from Kishpiax and Skeena Forks are now on
the Naas, preparing food. They have sent to me several
times during the last quarter, asking for a Missionary."

The Rev. Mr. Jennings in a letter in 1885 says : " I
began my journey of over five hundred miles to visit the

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

Indian villages on the Upper Naas and the Skeena Eivers.
At the Forks of the Skeena, Mr. C. Youmans, a white
trader, had been murdered a few months before." Con
cerning this occurrence the Rev. Mr. Green writes : " Poor
Youmans is gone. He was a well-meaning man. He had
a number of Indians hired to carry his goods up the
Skeena River from the Coast. While on this trip an
accident caused the drowning of a young Indian, one of
his crew. Youmans, who travelled overland, on arriving
earlier than the others at the Forks, where the young
man's father lived, said nothing about the drowning acci
dent. When the old man heard it from another source, he
became enraged and said to Youmans, f Why did you hide
it from me?' Youmans tried to put him off when the
Indian asked for compensation for the loss of his son.
This was according to the Indian law in those days — blood
for blood and a life for a life, or property to compensate.
In an unguarded moment Youmans said to him, ' Go and
ask the river for your boy/ The old man walked right
away and came back in a few moments with his arms
folded. He walked past Youmans, who was talking to
another white man on the street, and, when about two
feet away, whirled round and stabbed the trader in the
chest with a knife. He fell dead."

Our first work on the Upper Skeena was begun with the
aid of native agents. Edward Sexsmith, who had been a
native worker on the Naas River, under Mr. Green, was
about this time sent to Kishpiax, where he did faithful
work as a teacher; but they wanted a white Missionary.

In the Missionary Report of 1887 we find the following
concerning the work on the Skeena : " The General Mis
sionary Society states that for many years we have
abstained from occupying this region, in order to avoid
seeming rivalry with another Church; but as nothing was

234

ON THE SKEENA AGAIN

accomplished, the appeal of the people to send them
teachers became urgent. Brother W. H. Pierce was sent
to Kitzegucla, whence he writes, ' Our God and Saviour
is still doing great things for us. Nine have turned from
the darkness of heathenism to the light of Christianity/
The Hag-wil-get tribe still ask for a teacher as earnestly
as ever. One Chief and his son have promised to give a
room to a teacher when he comes. At Kishpiax village
Edward Sexsmith, one of our native teachers, is doing well
among them; thirty-five attending Night Schools."

In the Missionary Report of 1888 we read : " The Chiefs
at the Upper Skeena are earnestly asking for a white
Missionary."

Mr. Pierce writes : " God has given us a fresh baptism.
A man who was our greatest enemy now wants to be a
Christian. The people are coming out of their old ways
into the new light that leads to Heaven= One of our
village men was shot down, caused by the potlatch. By
the help of God we were able to stop them from having a
big fight,"

With regard to this trouble another Missionary writes :
" One of the Chiefs in Brother Piercers village was mur
dered the first day of February by Kit-wan-cool Jim. The
men were both heathen. A quarrel arose as to who should
take the Chiefs seat in the potlatch lately vacated by a
Chief who had become blind. The Chief named Neat-squ
wanted it and Jim wanted it for his son. A few weeks
after, two of Jim's sons died of fever. He said they died
because they were bewitched; that Neat-squ had ill-wished
them; and he announced that he would kill the Chief
for bewitching his boys. Meeting him on the trail carry
ing a box of grease, he shot him dead.

" Extravagant representations of this affair were made
to the Government, and a number of special constables

235

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

were sent up to take Jim. Instead of taking him alive,
as might easily have been done, a man named Green shot
him. This caused great excitement, expense and trouble.
While trying to take him, a warship also came up six
hundred miles to the mouth of the Skeena. This cost the
Government thousands of dollars, a totally useless expendi
ture."

The native Missionary at Hag-wil-get, Brother George
Edgar, pathetically refers in his report to the trials of
his work and to a personal sorrow : " A hard winter and
much sickness; one of our children died of the fever, but
God comforted us. My little boy was taken sick January
16th and died January 29th. The sickness was too strong
for him. He was a nice boy. We loved him very much."

Another Missionary writes : " The poor interior people
suffered very much this winter. A great sickness came
and in six weeks over two hundred had been swept away,
mostly children and young people. Some of these young
people died very happy, trusting in Jesus. I heard some
of them asking their heathen fathers and mothers to give
God their whole hearts, that they might meet them in
heaven. Over twenty Hag-wil-get people died of the fever.
On Christmas Day I held service in the Chief's house, and
baptized five adults and seven infants. Kishpiax School
people have taken up a subscription for the Church bell.
Fifty-two children are attending Day School taught by
our native teachers. Two head Chiefs and a number of
their people ask strongly for a white Missionary. Brother
Edgar, native teacher, has been working at Hag-wil-get
Mission during the winter. The potlatch and the wild
dances, such as dog-eating, have made it hard work."

The call was sounded loud and long for a white Mis
sionary to spread the Gospel among these poor people, but
apparently all to no purpose, for word came from the

ON THE SKEENA AGAIN

East that no one could be sent although the people had
asked many times for a white Missionary.

Brother J. C. Spencer was teaching the Mission School
at Port Simpson, and, hearing these loud calls for a
Missionary, he finally took his blankets and volunteered
to go, trusting in Providence to help him, as the Mission
Board said they had no money to spare. Some friends
from Self-Support Mission Funds supported the brother
that year.

In the fall of 1893, after a year of blessed revival effort,
when the summer fishing was all over, some of our warm
hearted Christian people at Simpson talked for some
time of taking a trip to the Upper Skeena, to carry the
blessed light and influence of the revival into that region.
They said, " We read it was so in the early Church — ' they
went everywhere.' ': At a prayer-meeting, the leaders and
officials of the Church spoke of making a start. Many
subscribed food and money for the trip. First, we thought
of taking canoes right through; but, as the Hudson's Bay
Company's steamer Caledonia was about to make her fall
trip and reduced fares were offered to our party, we agreed
to go by her.

We left on October 2nd and had services at Metlakatlah,
Essington and Aberdeen, either on the deck of the steamer
or on shore. At Essington, Brother Pierce, Brother Oster-
hout and two others joined us. When about forty miles
up the river, it was found the water was too low for the
steamer to proceed. While the boat was tied up waiting
for the water to rise, we had blessed services on shore for
several days by a large camp fire; and souls were blessed.
We had Bible Class each day, as well as services at night,
and we sang such hymns as "Whosoever heareth, shout,
shout the sound," " Oh, the blood of Jesus makes me white
as snow," or " Soldiers fighting around the Cross, fight
for the Lord." 237

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

We were anxious,, however, to reach some villages further
up, and, hailing a passing canoe, sent word up the river
to Kit-sum-ka-lem, and canoes were brought down. By
this means we reached Kit-sum-ka-lem and Kit-see-lash
for services on Sunday. On this trip I took a severe cold,
as we were saturated with sleet and rain all day. We spent
a most blessed Sabbath at Kit-see-lash with the people, a
little below the noted canyon of that name. Before we left
the steamer, the good Captain assured us that he expected
to catch us at Kit-see-lash on Monday, as he thought the
water would rise sufficiently from the melting of the snow
on the mountain. In this, however, he was disappointed.
Through this delay Brother Osterhout's plans were
changed, and he went to the Naas instead of continuing
with us to the Upper Skeena.

The water still kept low and the weather cold and we
were hardly prepared to continue the trip by canoe, as
much of our food and some of our clothing were left on
board the steamer. Still our party were enthusiastic and
determined to go ahead if the way opened up, Some said
if the Lord wished us to go and needed canoes, He would
find them. When He wanted an ass to ride upon, He knew
where it was and sent His disciples to get it. Special
prayer was made about this at an after-service on Sunday
night and at another lively, earnest prayer-meeting early
Monday morning. The idea seemed to take hold of the
villagers ; and, as if my magic, canoes, with paddles, ropes
and poles, were offered to us. Then the people brought
gifts of food, dried salmon, berries, potatoes, flour and
rice; and everything was got in readiness. While the
canoes lay at the river bank, the crowd gathered round us,
and again prayer was offered for blessing upon the trip.
The parting song, " God be with you till we meet again,"
was sung, and we were off on our journey up the rushing,
rapid Skeena.

ON THE SKEENA AGAIN

We pushed off against the powerful current, with snow
and sleet driving in our faces. Early the first day we came
to Kit-see-lash canyon, the greatest obstacle to navigation
on the Skeena. Here we had to make a portage. Through
the canyon and on we went, crossing and recrossing many
times in a day, using tow-line, paddle, pole or sail, as best
answered the purpose.

At our camps at night we generally had preaching. Most
of my crew, using their English Bibles, followed the
preacher most attentively. We wound up with a warm
fellowship and prayer-meeting. No difficulties seemed to
be so great as to cool the ardor of these Christians. If we
got into a difficult place, we were cheered by prayer, or
by the singing of such hymns as " There is a Happy Land/'
or " We'll work till Jesus comes."

The third day we reached Men-sken-eass, the Rev. Mr.
Thomlinson's Mission, a neat little village, with Church
and sawmill. We were most kindly received, Mr. Thom-
linson and his people with my party had a good service
in the Church, in which, however, I could not join. I
had suffered three nights with asthma, brought on by
cold, and was obliged to rest, The next day, Friday, we
were off again with a nice supply of fresh food, which the
poor people and their Missionary furnished.

That night we reached Kit-won-gah. We were invited
into the Chief's house, which was about forty by fifty feet,
and had several crest poles around it. In this village
many of the old-time houses remained. We were all
treated by the Chief to a good supper of fresh salmon
which we ate gathered around the fire in the middle of
the house. After supper service was held and souls were
saved. Next day Brother Pierce, with six of our people,
started on foot for Kit-wan-cool, about twenty miles from
the river, where they spent the Sabbath. The rest of us

739

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

remained at Kit-won-gah, visiting, singing and praying
in every house. On the Sabbath we had a great day
Service was held three times in the big house and twic<
out of doors. Several were led to seek the Lord. Man;
were attracted to the services in the big house by the stree
preaching and singing. Our people carried a banner wit!
" Come to Jesus " in large letters on one side and on th
other side, " Seek ye the Lord."

Monday morning, amid snow and cold and new, thii
ice on the river, we were off again, pressing our way ui
stream. A fresh supply of food had been given us, am
six more people had joined our party. About noon w
were joined by Brother Pierce and his band, whom w
heard over the hills singing, " We'll work till Jesus comes
and "We'll fight for the Lord." The echo was grand
resounding from hill top to mountain top. We could hea
the sound several times repeated until it died away in th
distance. We rejoiced to hear their report that severa
souls had been converted at Kit-wan-cool.

The next stopping-place was old Kitzegucla. Her
heathen dancing was going on. A wild dancer, almos
naked, ran among our Christian people, while they wer
preaching on the street, and threw a dead dog in th
midst of them. However, we had very successful service
in this village and visited some sick folk. One man gav
up his log house to us for the night.

The mountain scenery along the Skeena at that seasoi
of the year beggars description. Next day, on leaving th
village, we had to pass what the Indians call " death hole
or " dead place." This is a very dangerous crossing wher
a few years before a whole boat load of miners was losl
"Splashing Water" and "Bees' Nest" farther up ar
also very perilous places. Sometimes our boys at the to\*
line would have to wade up to their waists in crossing

240

ON THE SKEENA AGAIN

mountain torrent or other tributary; but not a word of
complaint was heard. That night we reached Hag-wil-get
Mission, at Mission Point, and had a wonderful meeting
in a log house. Next day we had good and well-attended
services at Hazelton. Some Chinese and white miners were
present. Some of the white miners who knew us said,
" Crosby, you'll kill yourself if you go on like this." We
had good services in the old Chief's house as well as out-
of-doors. Here the steamer Caledonia lands goods to be
sent by pack-train to the interior posts. We had great
services that night, the power of God " came down our
souls to greet, while glory crowned the mercy seat." The
following day we pressed on about twelve miles farther,
our boys often up to their knees in water at the tow-line,
and singing with all their might, "We'll work till Jesus
comes."

It was reported that if we went on to Kishpiax we would
not be permitted to land. As our party of thirty got ashore
on the beach in front of the large village of Kishpiax, we
commenced at once to sing and pray and preach. Hun
dreds of people gathered around us to listen, not a word
of complaint was uttered, and ere we were through our
open air service, a message came from the head Chief tell
ing us we were welcome to his house and to his village.
Here we spent a glorious Sabbath, and many poor souls
were brought into the light. Eternity alone will record the
result of that visit to those villagers. Some were present
from far up the river at Kit-tal-doo and Kish-ka-gas.

As the weather was getting colder, we did not think it
was wise to go to the upper villages; so we began our
return journey.

During that most interesting and blessed trip, we trav
elled about five hundred miles. Some of us had the grippe
lor three weeks out of the five we were away; but we
16 241

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

reached home, thankful for such a successful and happy
time. All seemed to rejoice that they had the privilege of
telling about Jesus and His love to those in the regions
beyond.

Our first white Missionary to the Upper Skeena was the
Rev. J. C. Spencer, who married Miss Hart, matron of the
Girls' Home at Simpson. On their wedding trip they
travelled by canoe two hundred miles up the Skeena, where
they spent over a year in work.

An interesting letter from Mrs. Spencer, dated Novem
ber 8th, 1894, gives the following account of their journey :

" It may be of interest to many whom I addressed last
year to hear something of this Mission and of our journey
here. We left Port Simpson on August 26th and came to
Essington on the Skeena River, hoping to get up to our
own Mission without delay ; but travelling on the river was
impossible, as the water was running so high that it was
not until after three weeks that we commenced our river
trip. Even then the water was very high; but we had a
good, strong canoe and a reliable crew of Indians, five in
all. I had rather dreaded this part of the journey, having
heard so much about the Skeena River. It has a fall of
eight hundred and sixty-five feet in the two hundred miles ;
from that you may judge it does not flow very quietly or
slowly.

" We made our start at two o'clock one morning, having
got everything ready the evening before, but too late to
leave on that tide, and waiting until daylight meant losing
the most of another day. The night was cloudy and
showery. I hoped to be able to sleep; but, though I had
the best place in the canoe, I found it very uncomfortable
and sleep out of the question. Daylight found us at the
head of tide water. At seven, we stopped for breakfast.
A heavy shower of rain did not add to the comfort of

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ON THE SKEBNA AGAIN

that meal and my sympathy for Missionaries who have to
do much travelling on the river began greatly to enlarge.
I thought I was realizing what some of their discomforts
were, but the rest of the party did not seem in the least
affected by the rain.

"Breakfast and prayers over, a little warmed by the
camp fire, but not drier, we embarked again on our way.
But travelling was slow. The canoes have to keep near
the shore to avoid the strong current. It is not often deep
enough for paddles, so long poles are used ; thus our canoe
is pushed along. When the water is deeper, paddles are
used. More force can be applied with the poles, but poles
and paddles are put down whenever there is a beach or
even a foothold along the water's edge. Then three of
our crew would take a tow-line and pull the canoe, the
other two remaining in to keep the canoe off the rocks;
this was the fastest mode of travelling. If we let our eyes
rest on the water, we would imagine that we were speeding
along at a most rapid rate, but one look at the shore told
us we were travelling at a snail's pace. I soon learned to
be thankful when we got along even at that rate, for so
often there would be places to mount where we could
scarcely hold our own for moments at a time although
every nerve was strained to the utmost to force our way
up against the water, which would almost seem to be pour
ing down on us and often would come into the canoe.
Then again we turned rocky points that jutted out into
the rapid current. Those were exciting times indeed;
paddles and poles were kept in readiness. It astonished
me to see the intense alertness of our men, one second
pushing with all their force against the rock with the pole,
the next paddling with every power till the next point was
reached; then down went the paddle, and the pole was
put into use again.

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

" But what I dreaded the most was crossing the river.
Sometimes they would cross in a comparatively quiet
place, but usually the water rushed with all its force. In
the power of those waters it seemed to me as if we must
be swept away with some of the whirling eddies long before
we reached the opposite shore or crash with such force on
the shore that nothing would be left to pick up. How
ever, neither of these things happened. On the whole, we
made a good trip for the time of year ; and I realized what
made it so expensive travelling on the river or getting
goods up. It cost us almost the price of our supplies to
get them up the river ; indeed, some things cost more than
their price, so that nothing that can be done without is
brought up.

" Our crew was very kind in pointing out all the inter
esting things along the river. One place they indicated
was a bold, rugged rock, rising perpendicularly from the
water. Here the people in olden times believed the river-
god resided, and in their coming and going offered sacri
fice that they might have his protection.

" But what impressed me most on the river was the great
amount of drift wood, heaps upon heaps. It seemed as if
forest after forest must have been washed down to supply
such islands of debris. I learned that every year the water
changes more or less. Often whole islands are swept away
and in other places new islands formed. Sand bars are
carried away and deposited in other places so that the
course of the river is ever changing.

" At noon, September 30th, we reached Hag-wil-get,
the village where I hope a Home for Indian children will
be built in the near future. I was very much pleased with
the place. We stopped here for dinner, went around a
little, saw the vegetable gardens and found that from this
place trails go out into the far interior, where there are

24:4:

ON THE SKEENA AGAIN

many villages and many people living in heathen darkness.
We were now ten miles from home; this is a part of Mr.
Spencer's Mission. A young man carries on the work here,
lives alone and seems happy and contented. We hurried
off so that we might reach Kishpiax before night. We
arrived here about six o'clock.

" Kishpiax, the largest village, is situated on the banks
of the river. A little elevation at the back of the town
reaches out till the snow-capped mountains cut the distant
view. On one side a high mountain, covered with all the
colors of the rainbow, reminded me of our woods at home.
In front is the Hag-wil-get mountain, one of the most
beautiful 1 have ever seen, and, on the other side, the river
winds around, being lost to view by its winding course and
the foliage on its banks. In the distance the clouds touch
the mountain tops, so that we seem shut in on all sides,
bringing to mind that Psalm, ' As the mountains are round
about Jerusalem/ and we can claim the promise, ' so the
Lord is round about His people from henceforth, even
forever/

" The people here live in large houses, many families
together, with a common fire in the centre of the building.
The cracks between the boards that form the sides and the
hole in the roof to let the smoke escape, supply the need
of windows.

" As we arrived in sight of the village, the people came
out of the houses and, when we landed, there were many
to bid us welcome.

" The blessed work begun last year is still going on
with new converts from heathen darkness every week.
The people generally are very much interested in the study
of God's Word. The School and services are well attended ;
indeed, the School is too small for the Sunday services
which have been held in an Indian house. Bedding, cloth-

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ing, skins and boxes are all packed against the walls;
boards are placed on sticks of wood for seats and when
they give out the people sit on the floor. A square of
about ten feet in the centre of the room is without flooring
and a large fire burns in the centre of this. For once the
dogs are put out; an occasional cackle tells that the hens,
like the beds, have been packed out of sight; but a more
reverent and interested congregation could not be gath
ered together than that found in these services.

" An Epworth League, in which all seem very much
interested, has been organized among our Christians lately.
Still, even the most enlightened minds know very little.
We need your interest and your prayers for our Indian
work."

246

KITAMAAT.

Wahuksgumalayou — His Early Life and Conversion — Perse
cution — Training and Baptism — A Trip to Kitamaat — Old
Frank — George Edgar — A Disturbance in School —
Bewitching the Oolachan — Miss Lawrence — The
First Church and Schoolhouse — Mr. Ander
son—Rev. G. H. Raley — Children's
Home — Na-na-kwa — Death of
Wahuksgumalayou.

" The people that sat in darkness have seen a great light/'

CHAPTER XVIII.
KITAMAAT.

KITAMAAT is a village at the head of Dean Channel,
about one hundred and forty miles south-east of Port
Simpson. The introduction of Christianity among the
Kitamaat people is inseparably connected with the name
of Wahuksgumalayou (Charlie Amos), who was born at
Kitamaat about the year 1853. The following account of
his life is largely quoted from the Rev. GL H. Raley's letter
to the Missionary Outlook in the year 1898. His father
was one of the leaders in a secret dance called the " Thig-
walla." We know but little of his early boyhood beyond
the fact that he was lively and full of fun and delighted in
sports. His frequent companion was Jessea, who became
afterwards the Head Chief of the Kitamaat tribe.
Together they became skilful in the pursuit of game and
in the use of the bow and arrow, fearless alike of grizzly
and cinnamon bears with which the Kitamaat valley
abounded.

When about twenty years of age, after much urging and
entreating from his uncle and the old tribal leaders, he
decided to be initiated into the mysteries of the secret but
peaceful "Thig-walla." He offered himself as a candidate
and underwent long-continued fasting, invocation and
other preparations, such as tattooing, painting and being
driven into the water on the coldest days and afterwards
beaten on the back with the ee devil's club •' or other prickly
rods to make him strong. All this was intensely trying to
both physical and mental powers; but he finally became
proficient in the art.

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

His religious belief was a feeble and quite indefinite
polytheism. In the storm he could hear the voice of an
angry spirit which needed to be appeased. In the mist
and twilight he could see dim shapes of superhuman beings
which foreboded evil. In the hootings of the owl he could
catch the sound of a death sentence. He, with others, held
that there was a large animal in human shape which
periodically visited the village, and cast upon people an
evil eye which bewitched them. He had but weak faith
in Shamanism. He believed that there was a power that
rewarded the good and punished the bad by sending them
to different places after death and also that there was a
greater medicine spirit than any of the medicine men had
yet possessed. For the coming of that beneficent spirit
he was constantly hoping. He felt the darkness but was
powerless, like one blind.

His entrance into the light was after this manner : About
the fall of 1876, he with others went south to Victoria
with furs which he intended to exchange for whisky and
blankets. Happily the purpose of his trip was changed.
While in Victoria, he heard the story of the Cross from
the lips of the Rev. Win. Pollard who, in tender, simple
words, such as a child mind could understand, related the
history of our creation, fall, redemption and hope of the
hereafter. While he listened, he became convinced of the
need of a Saviour and sought the mercy of God in Christ.
This was the medicine of the greater Spirit for which his
restless heart had long been anxious, medicine that did not
bewitch him but gave him the calm of utter peace, inspir
ing implicit trust in God the Father and a hope of immor
tality. Eager to repeat the good news to his fellow tribes
men, he determined to make the return journey to Kita-
maat, a distance of five hundred miles, with no unnecessary
delay.

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KITAMAAT

Instead of the proposed cargo of whisky, he carried back
with him " God's letter/' the Bible, a British ensign and
a paper signed by Mr. Pollard, stating that he had become
a Christian and recommending him to the kind encourage
ment of anyone who might be shown the letter.

On arriving at Kitamaat, he at once opened his heart
to the people, telling them of Jesus. For a few days the
savage feast and wild dances were suspended in order to
hear him; but, when a few converts resulted from his
preaching who objected to returning to the dance house,
a Council of the Chiefs was called and Wahuksgumalayou,
whose Christian name after baptism was Charlie Amos,
was ordered to desist and return immediately to his dance,
the " Thig-walla." To this he objected, saying that the
"New Way" was the better and he had finished his old
work. Thereupon they became enraged and persecution
began, a bitter struggle between light and darkness. All
evil was let loose on the little band of Christians. Some
times they were pelted with red hot stones by the fire-
dancers; at others, bitten by one of the Man Eaters. The
cedar roof of the large Indian lodge they occupied was
torn off. They were forsaken by their friends, and at last
took refuge and held their services in a den at the back
of a large house, the door of which was strongly barri
caded to prevent the entrance of the infuriated dance men.
The Tribal Council again met and Charlie Amos and his
associates were condemned to death by witchcraft. One
of the leading Chiefs passed sentence in a characteristic
manner. He took in the palm of his hand a bit of dried
cedar bark, powdered it to fine dust, then blew it away
and remarked, " Thus shall you, Wahuksgumalayou and
your family, and you, Wingohse and your friends, perish
and vanish from the earth. Your names shall not be
handed down. You, Wahuksgumalayou, shall be the laat

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

to perish and shall see all your friends pass before you.
This is all I have to say."

Charlie answered the Council respectfully that, while
he knew the words of the Chiefs were not idle threats, they
believed in the Great Father who would protect them and
set the time of their departure into the hereafter. Open
opposition ceased for a while but secretly the doctors were
at work with Indian poison and witchcraft. One after
another the early Christians died mysteriousty.

Early in the year 1877 Charlie built a small log Church
and a few more joined him. In the spring of the same year
he went with two canoes filled with men and women to seek
a teacher. They went to Port Simpson and were received
kindly by the Missionary, who promised to visit them.

For several months Charlie and others tarried at Port
Simpson at School. The difficulty of language retarded
his progress somewhat as he knew neither English nor
Tsimpshean and had to use the Chinook jargon. He was
one of Nature's sons; all her manifestations delighted
him; but none the less was he a child of God, beginning
to see that for his moral being there was a spiritual world,
an untold wealth of beauty upon which to feast his newly-
found sight. Shortly after New Year in 1878 he returned
to Kitamaat with his friends who had been with him at
Simpson and had learned much about the " New Way."

On my first visit to Kitamaat we travelled by canoe with
a crew of fourteen men. On our way down Granville Chan
nel the journey was pleasantly varied by the discovery of
some mountain sheep near the snow line. Some of our
young men begged that we go ashore, as the tide was
against us, and allow them time to secure one or two of
the animals, promising, if we consented, to paddle during
the night. To this we all agreed and, after pitching camp,
three or four of the stalwart young fellows shouldered

9 i9

» • ' -»

KITAMAAT

their muskets and started up the mountain. Before long
we heard the report of their guns and in two or three hours
they were back in camp with the skins and choice parts of
the meat of two sheep which they had killed. This addi
tion to our larder prove'd a very acceptable one.

On our arrival at Kitamaat we found a typical heathen
village, situated at the head of tide water, and were told
that there was also a summer village farther up the river.
The only shingled house was that of " Old Frank," a blind
trader. This man owned a schooner in which he made
periodical trips to Victoria, returning with cargoes of
goods, a large part of which was usually whisky. He
buried the barrels in the sand on the beach where they
were convenient to supply the people who came to trade
their furs for his goods and liquor. The older houses were
all built of large cedar slabs and roofed with slabs and
bark. The people generally were painted and wore
blankets.

It was some time after this that Charlie Amos returned
from his stay at Port Simpson. He was accompanied by
a native teacher, George Edgar, a Tsimpshean, with his
wife and two children. He was made welcome in Charlie
Amos' house and later built one for himself. His work
met at first with considerable opposition during which some
of those who had been at Simpson relapsed into heathen
ism; but some were faithful, as will be seen from the
following extract, quoted from the native Missionary's own
account :

"In Charlie Amos' brothers house (Noah Amos) wild
dancers came right into our School and Charlie and his
wife tried to stop them but they were too strong for us.
At last one of the men that eat dead bodies went to where
Magnus (George Edgar's son) was in his hammock asleep
and tried to get the boy and eat him alive. By the help

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UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

of God, Mrs. Edgar, who was young and strong, was too
quick for him, caught the boy in good time and held him
in her bosom. The wild man went to Charlie's little baby
and tried in the same way to take it. Charlie's wife took
hold of the man's head, for he had long hair, and knocked
him down ; Charlie came and helped her. There were fifty
or sixty people in the house and there was a good fight by
all for about half an hour, some on our side and some
on that side."

The opposition and persecution continued and the Chris
tians were again put under the ban. Charlie Amos, how
ever, rallied them once more. A noted witch professed
that she could drive the fish out of the river and threatened
to do so. This was intended to array the people against
the Christians.

When the bell was rung for the meeting by a boy, a Chief
tried to stop him. The boy exclaimed, " You may kill me
if you like but the bell must ring." A stalwart Christian
ended the struggle by rescuing both boy and bell.

Another illustration of the opposition with which we
had to contend, and which had a somewhat amusing side,
was furnished by an incident connected with our first visit
to Kitamaat. A Council had been called by the Chiefs,
to which I was invited. They proposed that, if I would
not pray the judgments of God upon them, they would in
turn prevent any evil to me and any interruption to our
services from the conjurer who was then in the mountains
preparing to destroy us. I promised that if they would
desist from their wicked practices on the next day, which
was the Sabbath, we would not offer any prayers against
them. They readily promised. I seized the opportunity
to challenge them with their want of power while our ser
vice was proceeding the next night, when the conjurer
with his crowd came rushing to the place, howling and

254

KITAMAAT

destroying property in his track, and declaring that he
would put a stop to the proceedings. This man, with his
tongue protruding, was the most diabolical-looking object
that one could imagine. He had a thick rope around his
waist to which his followers had been clinging. His object
doubtless was to let it be known in that heathen tribe and
on the Coast that the conjurer had more power than the
Missionary and his religious story. It was then that the
Missionary felt it necessary to assume the role of the
militant preacher; and, taking his position at the door,
boldly challenged the savage to come on, at the same time
suggesting what might be the consequences to him. To
the surprise of those assembled, the fellow was cowed and
slunk away with a scowl on his countenance, leaving us
to our devotions.

After this, the Christians had rest for a while. Chief
Jessea promised protection to the teacher and his wife;
and Brother Edgar, the native teacher, remained for the
greater part of two years and did valiant work for God.
He was succeeded by Chief Alfred Dudoward, who with
his wife also taught the Kitamaats for a time.

After an interval without a teacher, Miss Susan Law
rence, who was our teacher at Simpson, at the earnest
request of the Kitamaats volunteered to go to their help.
We consented to this; and she left in their canoe on their
return to Kitamaat in October, 1883, taking Patrick Euss
as interpreter. Our Miss Lawrence was thus the first
white Missionary at Kitamaat. On her arrival Charlie
Amos gave her his house to live in until they could erect
a little Mission House for which lumber had been brought
in their canoes.

A great revival followed in connection with Miss Law
rence's work; and Charlie now urged his native Christian
brethren to subscribe with him towards the building of a

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UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

Church in the village. There was no lumber except split
cedar to be had in Kitamaat. We chartered a sloop, and
a Hudson's Bay man and I had it loaded with lumber at
the Georgetown mill, a hundred and fifty miles distant.
Neither of us knew much about sailing a craft of that
kind and we had a slow trip during which our sloop scraped
the rocks several times with a rushing tide around us, but
we finally arrived in safety at Kitamaat. We took sub
scriptions among the people and these, with a small grant
from the Missionary Society, provided us with funds to
pay for the materials. Then we got the assistance of a
white man who, with the aid of the Indians, whipsawed
the scantling for the frame of the building. At last it was
erected and served for several years for Church and School
House until the present Church was built.

Before this the large majority of the people were still
heathen; and gambling, dog eating, potlatching and gen
eral pagan practices were carried on. The people of Kita
maat, above all others on the Coast, were under the spell
of witchcraft. On one of my visits I found them in great
excitement on account of the discovery of a " death box/'
This was a conjurer's box containing the limb of a child
or of some animal. Into this box the conjurer would
insert something connected with the body of one whom
he wished to destroy. As this article fell into decay with
the limb in the box, the Indian believed the victim intended
to be destroyed gradually decayed and finally perished with
his whole family. Their excitement was caused by their
desire to know who was to be the victim. Their distress
was finally removed, but it took days of instruction and
quieting to do it.

Gradually the influence of the Gospel increased, until
the greater number were walking in the Christian way. It
was during Miss Lawrence's time at Kitamaat that " Old

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KITAMAAT

Frank " was converted and the stronghold of heathenism
in the village practically broken up.

Miss Lawrence remained at Kitamaat, a sower in God's
field scattering precious seed, sparing not herself, nor
counting her life dear unto herself, that she might
win souls for Christ's Kingdom. She had a warm
place in the hearts of many whom she strove to help and
her memory is still precious to the people of Kitamaat.
Laid aside by paralysis, she afterwards spent many years
of invalidism in the city of Toronto before passing to her
reward.

A striking illustration of the faith of this devoted
woman and of her influence among the converts was given
on one occasion when all signs promised the swarming of
the small fish in the river. The taking of these fish was
important to them as a matter of food supply. The
day when the swarm was expected was Sunday; and
Miss Lawrence exhorted the Christian people not to
engage in the catch, assuring them that she believed God
would protect them and supply their needs if they obeyed
His commands. They resolved to do so. The heathen
Indians, however, made all preparations; and at midnight
on Saturday, when the fish were evidently coming in, they
set out and fixed their nets, a work which occupied a good
part of the Sabbath. These nets were soon filled with fish ;
but at night the black fish, a species of sea monster,
attacked the nets in their search for food, broke them and
helped themselves when the tide was in. The tide reced
ing, the remainder of the fish escaped with the broken
nets which were carried out to sea; and thus the heathen
lost both nets and fish. When the promised light in Miss
Lawrence's window indicated that the Sabbath was past,
the Christians repaired to the river, fixed their nets during
the night and on Monday were rewarded by a great catch
17 257

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

of the desired fish. This had a most remarkable effect on
the heathen who concluded that God must be on the side
of His people.

George Robinson also was lay teacher at Kitamaat for
some time and, among other things, taught the people the
art of gardening, which materially aided their advance
ment.

In 1893, the Rev. Geo. H. Raley was appointed to Kita
maat, which thus received its first ordained Missionary.
Mr. and Mrs. Raley arrived in August when the people
were nearly all away at the canneries. It was October
before the villagers, some three hundred and fifty in num
ber, had returned. School was opened in September. In
January most of the people left to hunt and make canoes ;
and it became apparent that a Children's Home must be
undertaken if the work of the School was to be effective.
Accordingly, a temporary building was erected in which
the children were accommodated during their parents'
absence. This work was instituted entirely on the faith
principle, without financial aid other than what the Mis
sionaries themselves were able to afford. The following
year Mr. and Mrs. Anderson took charge of the Home and
School and a new house was built to accommodate the
Missionaries. The Woman's Missionary Society took a
very helpful interest in the work of the Home which is
now established in much more comfortable and commodi
ous quarters. Soon after Mr. Raley's arrival a new Church
was built with the aid of carpenters from Simpson.

After the inception of the Young People's Forward
Movement, the Epworth Leagues of the Wingham District
undertook the support of the Missionary at Kitamaat; and
the quarterly magazine, Na-na-Jcwa, was thereafter issued
by Mr. Raley as a connecting link between the Mission and
its supporters. This journal, edited by the Missionary and

258

KITAMAAT

printed by the Indian children of the Home, proved a very
potent factor in contributing to the success of the Home
and of Mission work generally, as well as a valuable record
of their progress and of many facts relating to the Indian
life of the Coast.

Charlie Amos (Wahuksgumalayou) continued his ser
vices to the cause of Christ to the end of his life. He took
several long trips with the writer to visit other heathen
tribes for it seemed always to be his delight to point others
to the Lamb of God who had taken away his sins. He lived
to see the work extend among his own people and along
the Coast until many hundreds had professed conversion.

We sent him as a teacher to the Kitlope tribe, about
seventy miles away, where he proved a most earnest and
useful worker and was the means of leading some of these
people to the Saviour. He helped to build a Church among
them also. He ever stood faithfully by the Missionary,
who at times had to give strong words of warning — strong
medicine they called it — in order that the Indians' feuds
might be settled in a peaceful way. They would some
times object and complain but Charlie, never. He would
stand before them and with much earnestness would say,
" My brothers, we asked God to send His servant to us and
God sent him. We promised to obey his words. It may be
hard for us but, if his words be wise, we should listen. We
are like children ; let us listen to his counsel/'

For some time his health was declining but, when we
would ask him if he were sick, he would not complain.
The end came suddenly, upon a beautiful Sabbath in
August, 1897. He gave clear evidence of his readiness to
depart and be with Christ. In answer to a question, he
said, "Why should I be afraid? I am going into the
calm; I have been in the tempest. I am happy, all the
time happy." Thus he passed to receive the crown which
fadeth not away. 259

THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS.

Opening of Mission Work Among the Hydas — Gedanst (Amos
Russ) and his Work — How an Indian Boy is "Hard
ened " — The Operations at Skidegate and Gold Har
bor — George Edgar — The Decadence of the
Race — Visits to the Islands — A Council
Meeting, and the Plea of the Chiefs
for a Missionary — Rev. B. C.
Freeman's Report of
Results.

The multitude of the isles shall be glad."

CHAPTER XIX.
THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS.

WHILE we were in the midst of house and Church
building at Simpson, the people commenced to come in
from all parts of the Coast, seeking for light and asking
for a teacher or a Missionary. In 1876 a large party came
over from Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands, most of them
painted and in their blankets. They wanted to take me
back with them to see their people, most of whom, they
said, wished to have a Missionary. It was impossible for
me to leave my work at that time, and we thought that
the Church Missionary Society, who had Missionaries
along the Coast, should take that part of the Island, so
we urged them to make application to that Society. The
Church Missionary Society afterwards took up successful
work at Masset.

A year or two later, an urgent call came from the Skide-
gate and other peoples in the south. These Indians made
regular visits in the summer to Fort Simpson for business
purposes, both with furs for the Company and to trade
off their large canoes among the Indians for fish-grease
and other food. On these occasions they generally spent
one Sabbath or more with us; and we would have week
evening services especially for them and also special ser
vices in Chinook in the Church on the Lord's Day. When
they saw how the Tsimpshean people were improving and
how many of their children were beginning to read and
write, they began to urge for a teacher at Skidegate, Queen
Charlotte Islands.

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

The leader in this movement was Gedanst (Amos Russ),
whose early life is thus described by the Rev. B. C. Free
man : " He was a dirty, ragged Indian youth, fifteen or six
teen years of age, wandering aimlessly about the streets of
Victoria, expecting to return in a few months to his far-
distant home, when Miss Pollard, daughter of the Chair
man of the District, succeeded in coaxing him into the
class she had formed from the streets. But Gedanst was
a prince of royal blood, the favorite grandson of the most
powerful Chief of his race. He possessed an extraordinary
acuteness of intellect, which enabled him to grasp, in the
short time he remained at Victoria, principles which were
to turn his whole world upside down and a great strength
of will which enabled him to cling to his purpose though
the stars fell.

" The lad's previous life had been more interesting than
happy. Living in the same great house with his grand
father at Skidegate, he had been taken under the Chiefs
special care. No interference by his parents was tolerated.
To toughen his body, many a time had the grandfather
carried the child to where the winter storms were breaking
on the beach and thrown him into the benumbing waters,
tossing him out again and again, as often as the surf cast
him ashore, until the little limbs were so stiffened with
cold that they could scarcely move. Then, to revive cir
culation, the child's back was switched until the blood
started through the skin. At last the mother, disregard
ing the grandfather's authority, would come to the rescue ;
and, carrying the child home in a blanket, would rub the
half-frozen form back to life before the blazing fire.

" At Victoria, he attended a revival service in a deserted
saloon, where he learned and accepted those precious truths
of grace which were through him to leaven his nation.

"When, a few months later, he returned to his home

264

THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS

at Skidegate, it was as an avowed Christian. He was noted
among his people as a dancer; but now he would take no
part in any of their heathen orgies. The once favorite
grandson and popular prince was subjected to all the
persecution and ignominy of which his people could con
ceive. The tearful pleading of his grandfather came nearer
to effecting its purpose; yet Gedanst stood firm.

" Gradually persecution ceased and he began to take
the aggressive. Missionaries had come to Fort Simpson,
where Gedanst now came to live for a time and where he
secured a wife from the Girls' Home. On his return to
his former home, he won the consent of the old Chief to
his bringing a Methodist teacher to the village of Skide-
gate. It was now November, and a hundred miles of open,
stormy water must be crossed by canoe before Fort Simp
son could be reached. But, nothing daunted, Gedanst
called for a crew and found hearts as stout as his own
ready for the trip.

"Reaching Fort Simpson, they hastened at once to the
home of the Missionary and made known their errand.
Mr. Crosby could do nothing. The Missionary authorities
had been warning him, over and over again, that no exten
sion of the work must be made as the funds would not
warrant it; they must retrench. With tears in his eyes
he explained the circumstances. Again relief came
through courageous devotion. Mr. George Robinson, the
teacher of the Mission School, nobly volunteered to start
in the Indians' canoe next morning for Skidegate, trust
ing the God of Missions for support until an ordained man
could be sent. This was in the year 1883.

" Shortly afterwards Mr. Crosby paid a visit to the
Islands, a number were baptized and the people began to
feel they must have a Church built. They gave liberally
of their own means, in blankets and other goods towards

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

that object. It was very expensive building there in those
times, as there was no regular steamboat communication,
and it cost fifteen dollars a thousand freight to bring
lumber from Victoria.

"Mr. Robinson remained at Skidegate for nearly two
years. In the summer of 1885, he was succeeded by Rev.
G-. F. Hopkins. Three years later this Missionary was
compelled, by the decline of his wife's health, to seek a
change from this isolated appointment. In 1888 he was
succeeded by Rev. A. N. Miller, who in four years likewise
found a change necessary. An interim of a year followed,
during part of which a lay teacher, Mr. S. Lazier, supplied
the work."

The Rev. B. C. Freeman, to whom we are indebted for
the information we have quoted, arrived in 1893.

I also made visits to Gold Harbor, which is about four
miles distant from Skidegate. A few at this point were
inclined to take up with Christianity but a number were
bitterly opposed to it; and on my first visit to them, I
was told by some of them, who were gorgeously painted,
ready for a big dance, that the Skidegates might give up
the old way that God had given them, and become
School people, but they would never give up theirs. God
had given them the dance and the potlatch and the con
jurer's drum and the medicine bag and their Chiefs great
powers. He had given the white man the Bible; but all
these other things were the Indian's Bible and they would
never give them up. I said to them in reply that we had
not come to force the Bible upon them, but that we
believed it would not be long before the blessed Spirit
would direct their hearts to a better way. They were a
very proud people; but only a year or so had passed when
they sent us an urgent request for a teacher to live among
them. They saw that Skidegate was improving, and they

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THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS

felt that unless they had a teacher Gold Harbor would
be left behind. We had urged them, in preference to
building a Church at their own place, to move over to
Skidegate, where they could all be together and have one
School, as there were not children enough to have a School
at each place; but they strongly opposed my suggestion
and said they never intended to leave their own place,
that it was their town, and they must have their Church
and School built there, with a house for the teacher. They
were too proud to come together, although the population
of their villages had decreased so that some were almost
deserted.

Brother George Edgar, a native missionary, took charge
of the work at Gold Harbor, which had been commenced
by Amos Russ, and soon after sent the Chairman of the
District a report of the proceedings, which reads as fol
lows: "Oct. 15th, 1885. — The people here have a great
time one night. All the Chiefs and the old men and old
women and young people and children were come together
and giving their blankets and their head dress, and some
of their Chiefs blankets to build a Church house. Mon
day evening I was in my house, and D. McKay came in
and ask me if I let him ring the bell. He said, 'We be
going to have a Council to-night/ I said, ( Very well/
and he ring the bell, and all the people come into James
Watson's house, and when they are all ready, they call
me and I go in and sit down. They said, i We want you
to write our names down, to-night. We going to give our
blankets to-night because we want to build a Church house
here now.' I said, ' All right/ so I put all their names
down, and they all come in with the blankets, and we
get done at twelve o'clock at midnight. I count up all
the blankets, and it is all about four hundred dollars that

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

night. The first Chief, name James Watson, he giv<
twenty blankets, and his wife give one head dress, som<
Chief twenty blankets, some Chief ten blankets, and al
down to one blanket, and the next night all the people
come in again, and those that did not give their blanket;
at the first night, they all come in again and give all th(
blankets. Now I count all of it. All the blankets ii
about two hundred and thirty-six blankets and five heac
dress and one dance blanket and two other blankets anc
one large flag.

'* Now, dear sir, I am going to tell you what all the
Chiefs said, and what they want :

" ' Dear Sir, Mr. Crosby,

"'We are Chiefs at Gold Harbor; we want to say tc
you what we want. We want to have a good Church house
here at our place. We would like to build a good size one
We want forty-four feet by twenty-eight feet wide, because
we think some of the strangers will come and will be witt
us here; and we want eight pair windows, six pair square
windows for both sides, and two windows at the front
round top windows. The Church will face the water.

" ' We hope the Society will help us too. We want you
to tell the Society to help us, to send us a bell. We wanl
a good bell and large one. We hope all the good people
will help us too. We want to build a Church like Pori
Simpson Church, but we want good boards on outside,
rustic on outside, and we want you to bring the lumbei
over here as soon as you can, for we will be ready when
you come. We will be ready to make a place where we
are going to build ; we will make the road too, and we will
go and get some logs for a foundation, and everything will
be ready before you come. All our young men will go
and cut down tree and make ready the beams for founda
tion of the church, and we will take our axes and cut
down the tree and stick where we are going to build the
Church. Now, if you please, come over here as soon as
you can.

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THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS

" ' Now we sent our thanks from our hearts to you ; we
want you to help us all you can.
" ' We all Chiefs at Gold Harbor.'

" When the people come home I went to every house on
Saturday night, and I tell them to be ready on Sunday to
come to Church., and they all come in. In the morning I
preach to them about Lazarus raised from the dead. This
people here want a School all the time. We have a School
sing every night, but we have no hymns (books). I have
only three or four hymns. We have a Sunday School in
the afternoon. All the young men ask for Bible and
hymns. Sir, I think you better send to me about thirty
small hymns and thirty Bibles. I think they will buy
them because there will be money here in the summer.
I think the people here will do very well this winter. I
don't think they will be very bad; I think they will try
to do what's right. We have a good Sabbath Day, all
quiet in the place and in all the houses. They all come
to Church on Sunday, and on Tuesday and Friday we
have meetings, and they always come. Thank God for
lit. They come to my house and call, 'George, come and
sing; sing all the time, sing;' and I went in D. McKay's
! house and sing with them till ten o'clock every night.
1 One man came to me one day ; he said, f George, please tell
i me how to pray before I eat my food,' and I told him so.
Now, sir, I think God will work among this poor people
here this winter. I pray to the Holy Spirit to come down
and work mighty in the hearts of the people. May God
bless His work to Gold Harbor people. Pray for me, sir,
that God may bless me and my wife; and ask all my
friends to pray for us."

Brother Edgar reports also a number of conversions.
It was not long before lumber was secured and a little
Church and Mission House built.

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

The Clue people, some thirty miles down the Coast, were
the next to ask for a teacher. They said their people were
all dying; they had gone so much to Victoria that they
would soon have no people left, but if we would send them
a teacher they would stop this evil practice. It has been
a painful sight for a number of years to observe how these
Hyda women would go every summer — indeed some were
coming and going nearly all the time — to and from theii
life of dissipation and sin in order to get money for crest
poles and to give away in potlatches.

On the first visit we made to Clue we saw an exceed
ingly pitiful sight. On my way south we passed the
heathen villages of Cumshuah and Ninstinks, which had
hardly any people left. There remained a forest of crest
poles, as monuments of their pride and folly. Arriving at
Clue, we found what had once been a large heathen village,
many of the houses dilapidated and falling down, and
their former inmates dead. Other houses had beautiful,
new, large totem columns only recently erected. There
were about eighty people, but not more than three or four
healthy-looking women in the whole village. On the other
hand, there were sick ones in nearly every house. The
people received us very kindly, and were pleased to have
us visit the sick and pray with them. In the services they
were all very attentive listeners.

What a pitiful sight met us as we visited the crowded
little graveyard! We looked at the many different orna
ments, crests and little totems about their grave?, and
thought of the thousands of people who had once inhabited
those beautiful islands. We realized that we were among
a decaying race, almost all swept off into eternity by the
white man's fire-water and debauchery.

We met in Council with the people that night, and the
pathetic speeches uttered by some of them were most

270

THE QUEEN CHAELOTTE ISLANDS

touching. They said, " Sir, if you will come and give us
a teacher, we will stop going to Victoria. Victoria has
been the place of death and destruction to our people, as
you see we have no children left to us. All our young
women are gone; some of our young men can't find wives
any more; and we wish that you could help them to get
wives among the Tsimpshean people." Several of the
Hydas did get wives on the main shore.

It was arranged afterwards by the consent of the Chiefs
that they should move from Clue to a more sheltered place
on Louisa Island. They gave liberally of their goods.
Chiefs' costumes, copper and blankets, towards building a
Church, and by the assistance of the little ship The Glad
Tidings they got over lumber to build both the Church
and a new village on the Island. Before all this, we had
urged them to move to Skidegate and make one village;
but, as we found that this was impossible at that time, we
got them to move twelve or fourteen miles nearer and to
a better site. This was a step in the right direction. Here
they lived and, under a native teacher and a lay worker,
did good work and seemed happy until in 1897 they were
induced to move to Skidegate, where the Gold Harbor
people had already preceded them in 1893. There the
three tribes — afterwards five — lived together, forming one
nice Christian village. The Churches at Gold Harbor and
Louisa Island were taken down and moved to Skidegate.
They were used in enlarging the Skidegate Church and in
building a School for the united tribes. There are a few
families whose children are increasing and altogether they
have enough for a nice School.

As to the future, the increase or decrease of this once
great nation will depend very much upon their moral
living, and upon some of the unmarried men getting good
wives from other tribe?. Our duty is clear. We should

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

do what we can through the blessed Gospel and all civiliz
ing agencies to uplift and save the remnant of this nation.
If they are united and earnest in all good work, it will
help them very much.

After the commencement of the Church Missionary
Society's work at Masset, we had frequent applications
from a section of the people there, under the leadership
of Richard Russ, who wished us to establish Methodist
work at that point. We did not deem it wise to interfere
with the work already in progress; but Mr. Harrison, the
Missionary in charge, made arrangements to have one
Church of England and one Methodist service every Sun
day. This plan was followed for a time. The work at
that point is now satisfactorily re-united under the man
agement of the Church Missionary Society.

As to the results of our work on these Islands, we take
the liberty of quoting further from Mr. Freeman's book :

" The contrast between the former condition of the
people and the present seems almost incredible. Who
would have dared to predict, at the coming of the first
missionary to Skidegate, that in but nineteen years the
three antagonistic heathen villages would be peacefully
united in one Chirstian community, with their own Muni
cipal Council directing public affairs and administering
laws for the maintenance of public morality, and in every
way capable of a most favourable comparison with any
community of our own race similarly deprived of educa
tional advantages? Yet, such are the facts. In the light
of to-day, it is more than amusing, it is inspiring, to read
the prophecy of Mr. Francis Poole, C.E., drawn from his
experience with the Hydas thirty-eight years ago. He says :

" ' When the telegraph does come to Queen Charlotte,
Chief Clue will be the first to clip just one little bit of the
wire, which crime, if not punished on the instant, will

272

THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS

lead to a general robbery of the telegraphic apparatus.
The Indians will be sure to want to cut the wire all up to
make fish-hooks, fasteners, and rings for their own ears,
or their women's noses and under lips. . . .

" ( To effect a solid and permanent reform in these
savages, it is absolutely necessary to enlist the sympathies
of the heart as well as of the head. To reform them will
be a work involving prolonged time, formidable labor and
tried patience. The Queen Charlotte. Islander needs con
version, if ever savage needed it; but, to use a maxim of
the great Lord Stafford, "less than thorough will not do
for him!"'

"The telegraph has not yet come to Queen Charlotte,
but should it come it will be safe from the depredations
of Chief Clue and his friends. We have a body of native
constabulary quite capable of safeguarding it from any
evil designs of the Indians, nor are they likely to require
the wire for nose or lip ornaments. Neither do nineteen
years seem a ( prolonged time ' for the redemption of a
race from heathenism to Christianity, and from utter
helplessness to productive independence. What labour
should seem ' formidable/ or what difficulty great enough
to try our patience in view of such an end?

"In matters of local government, our community had
availed itself of the special provisions of the Indian
Advancement Act. A Council of ' seven good men and
true' looks after such public affairs as the maintenance
of the streets by statute labor; the control of the village
police; the allotment of building sites; the guarding
against fire; and the enforcement of by-laws against
breaches of the peace and other moral misdemeanors by
the infliction of fines up to a limit of thirty dollars.

"In commercial enterprise, the native joint stock com
pany, incorporated under the title, ' Skidegate Oil and
18 273

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

Trading Company/ opens for the people a field for inde
pendent labor in the manufacture of dog-fish oil and the
canning of clams, which has thus far proved very remun
erative. Besides their general store at the village, carry
ing usually from $1,500 to $2,500 worth of stock, they
have, a little farther along the beach, an excellent plant
for the manufacture of oil. A substantial and well-fin
ished wharf runs out, on piles, some three hundred feet
to deep water. The main building, forty by sixty feet,
contains in one part the two huge retorts, refining and
storage tanks, and steam hoist and car used in the process
of refining the oil; while in another part are the crates,
racks, hand-soldering machines and other apparatus for
canning clams. At the rear are the boiler and wood sheds,
the little blacksmith shop with its outfit, the water tank
with its half-mile-long flume, and three snug cabins for
the accommodation of the employees.

" All the work in connection with the erection and fixing
of the plant the Indians did themselves, and they are now
practically free from debt. Last year they put out about
nineteen thousand gallons of first-class dog-fish oil, and
some clams which they canned during the winter. Besides
the direct profit from the products, the Indians, thus inde
pendent, are able to secure fair rates for their labor as
fishermen, which could not otherwise be the case. Nearly
all the men and a number of women are shareholders in
the company and naturally feel a commendable pride in
the enterprise.

" In considering the condition of the people in these
matters, their industry, cleanliness, general uprightness,
morality and self-respect, one cannot but recognize some
power at work, enlisting the sympathies of the heart as
well as the head. Such power can be found only in the
Gospel of Christ, 'the power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the
Greek.'" 274

IN NEED OF A DOCTOR

Need for Medical Work — Two Bear Stories — A Gallant

Rescue — Trials of Missionaries'

Families.

"I was sick and ye visited me."

CHAPTEE XX.
IN NEED OF A DOCTOR.

THE physical condition of the people along the North
western Coast constituted an urgent call for medical assist
ance. Besides diseases due to dissipation and other causes,
cases of injury by wild animals were constantly occurring
on hunting expeditions, as the following story, vouched
for by Bishop Ridley, well illustrates :

Up in the mountains bordering on the Naas River, a
great Chief was out hunting, his little son his only com
panion. They had camped near the river, and were walk
ing one evening not far from the camp. The Chief
(Quakshan) was unarmed, as he was just about to settle
down for the night's rest. As he was passing around a
rock by a very narrow trail, he suddenly met a large grizzly
face to face. Unarmed as he was, it was not possible to
do anything but fight, as the monster attacked him at
once. Quakshan was an Indian of great strength, wiry,
brave, and hardened by experience and adventure. He
was ready of wit and quick in decision as well as action.
At once he grappled with the brute which now stood on
its hind legs. He put his arms around the bear, hugged
it close and, with his teeth, began to eat his way through
the hair and skin of the monstrous throat. As his face
was close under the bear's lower jaw, the beast could not
bite him. He was between the two fore legs, hugging
and being hugged, breast to breast, and for this very
reason the animal's fore paws were unable to inflict any
wounds. The hind paws were the only destructive weapons

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

the bear could use and the teeth of the Chief were his
only effective resource. They rolled and tumbled, under
and over, up and down, in desperate combat. The bear
tore and lacerated the man's legs and thighs in an awful
manner but it could not get its hind paws up to his vital
parts. All the while the intelligence, will, spirit and teeth
of the Chief were telling. Though sore and bleeding, he
chewed away till he made an opening through the skin
and tore the jugular vein almost out of the savage throat.
Both were bleeding but the grizzly's wound was now more
deadly, and only a little time was required to see the end
of the struggle. The moments seemed eternities but at
last with a growling groan the bear sank dead at his feet;
and the Chief was saved. With the aid of the little boy,
he managed to bandage his limbs, which were torn till
sinews and bone were almost scraped clean, the parts
hanging in shreds. Finally the Chief and his son arrived
at home. He got well and lived many years afterwards to
tell the horrible tale.

A similar case that came under our own observation
was that of Shu-we-le-hitk-cum-hil-hag (Henry Pool),
generally called Na-guads Puikes. He was one of the
Tsimpshean nation and one of the men who in olden times
would sit near the Chief at feasts so that he could give
advice to him. When we first met him, he was a strong,
able-bodied man, but thirty-five years told on him and in
age he became somewhat feeble and quite gray and patri
archal-looking. He was one of the old school — one of the
class who had great respect for their Chief and were
always ready to do him honor. All of that class were
always kind and respectful to those in authority, hence
they were especially kind to teachers and Missionaries
when they came among them. Though his name meant
literally " Stand-up-on-high," he was not one who wished

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IN NEED OF A DOCTOK

to be at the top, but a very quiet, thoughtful man. As age
came on, he was very much respected, especially after he
was converted and became a good, earnest Christian.

His son was Puikes or Flying Crow. Among the Tsimp-
sheans it was not common to address a man of rank by
his own name, but to speak of him as the father of his
first-born. Na-guads means father, so he was also called
Na-guads Puikes, or the father of Puikes. The mother
also is not addressed by her own name, but is called the
mother of her first-born. Naus is mother in that lan
guage, so she would be addressed as Naus Puikes, or the
mother of Flying Crow. When Na-guads Puikes was
seated by the camp fire, he would thrill the crowd by the
hour with his stories of the war and bloodshed of the old
heathen days.

Stand-up-on-high or Na-guads Puikes, together with
Naus Puikes and Puikes, his son, was on one occasion
hunting and fishing up the Skeena Eiver. This was really
the old home of the Tsimpsheans, and the old man had
hunted many a season on some of the tributaries of that
river. There he had slain many black bears and some
grizzlies also. On this occasion we well remember his
coming home with one arm broken, his thigh badly cut,
his knee cap injured and one eye nearly torn out. This
accident left serious marks on him, some of which
remained as long as he lived.

The old man had nearly all his traps out when the time
came to move down to the Coast. As they were about to
leave for the salt water, they packed everything into their
large canoe, left the old camp and started. Down the river
some distance they came to " Tsom-utes," a tributary of the
Skeena. Here Na-guads Puikes said to his son that, as
they had some traps up this stream, he would like to go
and see them again. They therefore agreed that they

279

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

would leave Naus Puikes with the big canoe and all their
belongings, and they two would go up the bank of the
stream to a place above the canyon or rapids at the mouth,
where they kept a small dug-out.

When they had found the dug-out, they paddled for
some distance in smooth water, working up the lake-like
stream, and examining a number of the traps on the way.
Soon they came to one containing a fine, black bear. They
killed him and got the carcass into the canoe. On they
went, taking up other traps, and not far from the bank
of the river they found another fine bruin. They had now
reached all the traps.

On their return trip they began to think they had made
a mistake in not taking two guns with them as Flying
Crow, the boy, had suggested when they left the big canoe.
The father had said he didn't think they were needed, so
they had only one musket between the two of them.

As they started down the river, the father said to his
son, "Puikes, as we are going down the stream, we shall
very likely see a bear or some other animal; if you see
anything, don't speak but give the boat a little shake."
They had not gone far when, according to the old hunter's
directions, the boy shook the canoe; and the old man saw
a movement among the bushes on the bank of the stream.
Seizing the flint-lock musket, he did not wait to get a
better view but blazed away at once. A little farther
down the stream, they got ashore; and their wise, old,
hunting dog was soon on the spot and told by his bark
that old bruin was still alive. Taking his powder and
shot bag the father told Flying Crow to keep back, as he
thought the bear was still alive. He now got up on a
little eminence to load his gun, but could not get the
ramrod to work; it was swollen by the wet. He pulled it
out with his teeth, got in the powder, but could not get

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IN NEED OF A DOCTOK

the ball down to it, as the ramrod seemed to be too large.
The dog was now barking fiercely., and he found the bear
and the dog were coming nearer to him. He was still
trying to press down the ball by jamming the ramrod
against a big log, when all at once the bear stood right
before him. He fired, and the gun kicked, but the powder
was so far away from the ball that little damage was done.
The grizzly monster was now upon him, although he struck
it as it came with his gun and jammed the muzzle into
its jaw. The bear now stood up on its hind feet, and got
hold of old Stand-up-on-high, who still pushed and
struggled until something caught his foot, and he fell
over. He had already been scratched on the face, and
one eye was nearly gone. The bear seized his arm and
broke the bone, got on top of him, grabbed hold of his
thigh with its teeth and cut and tore it badly. It also
seized his knee-cap, he thinks with one of his claws. Little
'Plying Crow, his son, now came up behind the old monster
with a big club, and, as he had no gun, shouted and
screamed. After he struck the old bear a few times, it
turned to look at the boy who was making such a noise.
The old brute let go its hold, and walked away. The Lord
had some more work for our friend, Stand-up-on-high,
to do.

The poor boy stood over his bleeding father. Na-guads
Puikes attempted to get up, but he fainted twice, and
the boy then tried to get his father down to the canoe.
He was a stout little fellow, and, by getting his father on
his back, he managed to partly carry and partly drag him.
One leg seemed strong but the other dangled about, and
the blood .flowed freely from his face and arm. He got
him to the canoe by a hard struggle, and again the poor
man fainted. The boy bathed him with water ; and paddled
away until he got to the head of the rapids. Here he had

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UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

to get his father out and pull the canoe up to a safe place.
Before they left the little canoe, the old man told Flying
Crow to throw away the two bears. He would not do
that; but skinned them and with pieces of the skin tied up
the wounds to stop the bleeding. Then he got his father
on his back again, and the old man, in telling it, says he
wonders how the boy ever brought him down over the
canyon and the rough beach. It seemed so far that it
looked as if they would never reach the canoe. He says
the Lord must have helped Flying Crow. He dragged
his father down the bank of the stream until they got back
to Naus Puikes, who said she had some misgivings that
something had happened.

They were still about a hundred miles from home. They
all prayed to God to help them and to keep the father in
life until they could get to a place of help. The mother
warned her husband, as he had taken upon him the new
name, that is, been baptized, not to take up the dance
song if the " bad spirit " came upon him to tempt him to
do so. They worked away almost night and day, stopping
only to warm a little water for a drink for the fainting
man, until they got to where there was a doctor on the
Coast. Then he was cared for and his wounds dressed.

Stand-up-on-high (Henry Pool) became a very useful,
good man, a great leader in our Temperance Society for
years, and a very sincere, devoted Christian. He would
often take charge of services when he was out camped with
others, and when no local preacher was near.

Some years later, he was one of a party camped at Port
Essington near the mouth of the Skeena Eiver. A strong
wind was blowing down the river against the tide running
up, and there was a high sea rolling. Two poor Chinamen
attempted to cross, and, not being very good boatmen,
were upset from their little skiff. Seeing the accident, our

282

IN NEED OF A DOCTOR

old friend, Henry Pool, and Albert Edward Neilson
(Chief Kneeshot) — with their wives, who were both feeble,
as all of them were rather elderly people — pushed out their
canoe, and, while a large number of white men looked on,
rushed to the rescue. They reached the Chinamen, who
were struggling for life, and who in some mysterious way
had tied their cues together and were hanging over the
upset boat, one on each side. They got them into their
canoe and safely to the shore, amidst the shouts and cheers
of the onlookers.

The incidents which we have narrated, together with
numberless cases of sickness, suggest the need which
existed for a resident doctor. For many years the nearest
physician was more than five hundred miles away. The
missionaries' families often lacked necessary attention;
and loved ones were buried when it was felt that medical
aid might have saved their precious lives.

The hardship of missionary life was never felt more
keenly, though we were called to be away so much from
loved ones and without mail for four or five months, than
when our sweet, healthy little girl became sick with brain
fever and lay in our arms for four or five days and nights,
passing from one convulsion to another. The little suf
ferer gave us such looks of thanks, when we cooled her
head or gave her something she seemed to like. We had
no doctor to call in, no one to come and talk with the
mother while our dear one passed away. She had been
so long in that dreadful state of suffering that we felt it
rather a relief when she was at rest.

While the lovely, little, waxen form lay in our home,
the Indians came in. There was no one else to come.
They all seemed sad, and some wept. One man got up
and said, "You are God's servant, you are wise; we have
come in to see you and the mother of the child, but what

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

can we say, what can we do ? I just thought I would like
to say to you some words, but what can I say? You have
the Book, and we have heard that the Book says, ' Of such
is the kingdom of Heaven/ 7 Just then no one could
have said a better word; and really the poor fellow, had
he been ever so learned, could not have said a sweeter
thing. When the mother came in, I told her what he had
said.

The day came for the funeral; and the Indians gath
ered round, some dressed in their best. Some of the young
people carried the little casket to the grave. Crowds fol
lowed to see us put all that was mortal away in the grave
on that Island on the far Pacific shore. The land had
been chosen as a graveyard for the people some time before.
As the dear mother leaned on my arm, while I conducted
the burial service for our little one myself, it did seem
very hard; and I wished so much that I could have had
some one else to take the service. When I had to say,
" Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," it seemed
as if my heart would break. The poor people around us
sympathized all they could and showed it in many ways.

Another day of sorrow and trial came, years afterwards,
when I had left home for a trip down the Coast, taking
two of the eldest children with me and leaving three most
healthy and strong children with their mother. They had
never had an ailment. The clay after we left, Mrs. Crosby
went to visit a family where a child was sick with what
seemed to be a bad sore throat. A day or two after hor
visit, our youngest daughter Mabel was taken ill with
diphtheria; the day following our sweet blue-eyed baby
of fourteen months was gone. Then Winnifred, three
years old, was the next. While she sat in her mother's
lap, she would ask where Mabel was. The mother said
Mabel had gone to heaven to be with Jesus. Then she

2-84

IN NEED OF A DOCTOE

said, " Mamma, I will go and be with Jesus, too, for I
want to be where Mabel is ;" and two days later our bright,
little girl was gone. She was a sweet little singer, and
the last time I had returned home from a long trip before
this, she met me at the door, and said, " Papa, I have
another hymn I can sing to you," and she began to sing,
" When Jesus comes to reward His servants, whether it
be noon or night."

I did not have to bury these dear children; other hands
put them away in the cold grave to await the resurrection
morn. In less than three weeks we returned. As we came
within one hundred and fifty miles of home, a party hailed
us from the shore; and, as we stopped the little Mission
Ship, the canoe came off flying a little, black flag. I
wanted to know from the people what kind of a flag they
had now, and they said very seriously, " Oh, it is for you,
sir; two of your children are dead and buried." As I
stood there in front of the wheel-house on the little ship
The Glad Tidings, my two daughters standing by my side,
I said to the man, " It can't be so ; my children were not
sick." About ten days before we had left Simpson; and
now they were buried. We ran all that night, and got
within thirty miles of home, where we called at a salmon
cannery. The manager there also told me that my chil
dren were gone. I had now to leave the other two
daughters with a lady some sixty miles from home.

Our youngest remaining daughter and the servant girl,
who were very ill when we got home, recovered. My dear
wife was at death's door for months; indeed, for a year
and a half we did not think she would get over it. The
family from which Mrs. Crosby took the disease lost two
children, and we lost two. They have never had diph
theria there before or since.

A few years later we had to lay another sweet babe by

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

her sisters. The children all had colds and in less than
twenty-four hours our baby had gone from us. This left
our home again lonely and our hearts sad. "Whom the
Lord loveth He chasteneth." The Indians, some of them,
had laid away children in the graveyard, and now how
kind they were! One in the prayer meeting said, "The
little one was so bright, so sweet." Every one who came
to the house felt we had got some of the life back that we
had once lost in the two that had left us so suddenly.

One of the Indians said in his prayer at the meeting,
"Lord, Thou hast Thy servant, our Missionary, and his
wife on the highest crest of the wave in the storm, and
they have often been in the storm before; 0 Lord, take
them into a calm harbor and keep them there, for Thou
dost love them." Another man, a good Christian, said as
he came in to visit us, " This is a sore trial, very sore ; you
have come far away from all who love you and all your
friends who could help you; you came to this land of
sorrow and trial, you came to us, poor, wicked, dark people,
to tell us of Jesus. He has tried you so much these four
times but do trust Him; He has all power; have strong
hearts ; He will help you and bring you to meet your dear
ones by and by."

I shall never forget the terrible trip we once had over
the ice to reach Greenville on the Naas. We had gone
with the little steamer, The Glad Tidings, to the mouth
of the river, and as the river was full of ice the Captain
took the ship back to a safe harbor, Naas Cove, while a
boy and myself, with a small boat, pressed our way up the
river. Thinking it was only float ice, and that by night
we should reach the village, we took with us only two or
three biscuits in our pockets and no blankets. We had not
gone far before we became jammed in the ice; but after
a hard struggle we got to the nearest land, which was about

286

IN NEED OF A DOCTOR

ix miles from the Mission. When we reached land, the
ide was rushing down, carrying ice that seemed to extend
ilmost solid from one side of the river to the other, with
nly a little passage along the shore. Here we camped in
vhat had been a small slab house; it had only one side
tnd part of the roof left. We built a fire of such pieces of
vood as we could find, and after eating a biscuit, we
>rayed and then had a song service for a while.

A canoe came down the river when the tide was nearly
nit, as that was the only time it could come through the
ce. It was now long after dark, but the men passed right
m after telling us that many of the children up the river
vere sick and dying. Among others, the little son of the
3ev. Mr. Green, the Naas Missionary, was dead.

We spent the night in the old slab house as it was impos
sible to go up through the ice in -the dark. The wind
)lew cold down the river. After crouching around the
)it of fire until bedtime, we tried to sleep but had to keep
nirning over to warm each side alternately, and thus
Dassed the night, terribly cold. Next morning we pressed
})ur way up the river over the ice and were glad that we
lad gone, as we found the Missionary and his wife in great
Dereavement and sorrow. When they told us about the
lear little boy and described the course of the disease from
the time it took hold of him until he passed away, it was
not difficult to " weep with those who weep," having passed
through such days ourselves. I shall never forget how
earnestly the poor Indians prayed for the Missionary and
his wife, in their sorrow, at the Sunday morning prayer-
meeting.

George Edgar, our missionary at Hag-wil-get, the Forks
of the Skeena, is one of our native Missionaries who did
good work, while the fever and measles were raging up
the river that winter, when scores of the little ones died.

287

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

Brother Edgar said, " Our good little boy has passed awa^
from us; he was the treasure of my heart, and now he is
in the arms of Jesus."

" Spokes," or Patrick Russ, was another of our native
missionaries. His wife Josephine was one of the firsl
girls that came to our Home. They were faithful worker*
at different posts for some eighteen years. They sufferec
the loss of several fine children; and later, while pooi
Patrick was a hundred miles from home, teaching on the
Skeena River, his dear wife, after a lingering sickness
passed triumphantly to the skies.

The Bella Bella Mission has also had trial upon trial
owing to the Missionaries leaving. Brother W. B. Cuyler
who had been sent there, was so consecrated, gave his life
so fully to the work and loved the Bella Bella Indians sc
much, that the poor people in return loved him, and nevei
ceased to speak kind words of him. He took some verj
hard trips in order to reach Oweekeno, Bella Coola and
Kimsquit, and thus brought on sickness which eventually
proved fatal.

It was always a delight to visit Mr. Cuyler at his home
and in his work. When we urged that he rest, as we sa\i
his health failing, it was hard to get him to do so. Finally,
by medical advice, he was persuaded to go away to the
interior. The people all sorrowed much when he left,
never to return. It was not long before Mrs. Cuyler and
the two children were left alone; the devoted husband and
father had passed away sweetly and triumphantly, to the
land where there will be no more parting. Only those who
have experienced it can tell how lonely it is to be thus left
far from home and friends. Our Indian Missionaries were
much more isolated in those days, some of them more than
our Missionaries in Japan or China at the present time.

288

IN" NEED OF A DOCTOR

The records of Kitamaat (1895) furnish another sad
ncident. The Missionary writes : " The saddest event
rhich has ever happened on the Simpson district occurred

- i Kitamaat on the 14th of May in the death of Mrs.

=: r. L. Anderson, the wife of the teacher. She was taken

p eriously ill, and died after nine hours5 intense suffering.

; ±s I was absent, there was no white friend near, and the

ii uperstition and nervousness of the few Indians who

i rere there prevented them from rendering any assistance;

i, nd thus to the husband's agony of separation and loneli-
.ess, was added the necessity for the performance of the

1 a,st sad duties pertaining to death and burial/'

: Grief was universal; and when we received the tidings,
ympathy and condolence were extended to the husband.

*' Mrs. Anderson was a favorite with all our Missionaries.

-:. ler unassuming demeanor and Christian kindness made
er very much beloved; and we have reason to hold her

ii [i most grateful memory, not only for personal kindnesses,
ut also for the self-sacrificing interest she took in all
ilission work. It is terrible to think how some of our
arly Missionaries got along with their little families,
"ithout any nurse or doctor save a poor Indian woman,
low our brave women did manage God only knows. Such

\ onditions, however, proved the urgent necessity of estab-

; shing Medical Missionary work.

Our Medical Missionaries, Dr. and Mrs. Bolton, whose
ibors have been so abundantly blessed, and who have been
ach a great help to many suffering and sorrowing ones in
ays of darkness and trial, were called to pass through

: ereavement themselves, when the death angel entered

: leir own home, and took away their sweet little baby
larjorie. The sad event occurred on the 20th of June,
896, at Port Essington. We need not say that our

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

brother and sister had the sympathy and prayers of all
the missionaries, as well as the kind sympathy and prayers
of many outside of our own mission band, in their hour of
trial; and we are certain that they have the sweet assur
ance that their beloved little child is safe in the arms of
Jesus.

MEDICAL WORK.

Dr. Bolton — His Arrival and First Report — The Port Simp
son Hospital — Marked Benefit — Branches at Essing-
ton and Rivers Inlet — Dr. Wrinch — Dr.
Large— The Work at Hazelton
— A Letter from Dr.
Carman.

:( Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my
'brethren, ye did it unto me"

CHAPTEE XXI.
MEDICAL WOBK.

Ix the preceding chapter, hy recounting many cases of
sickness and accident, we showed the urgent need of
Medical Missionary work on this Coast.

In the winter of 1887-1888, three students were just
completing their medical courses at Queen's University,
Kingston, Ontario. These devoted, young men, W. J. Hall,
0. L. Kilborn and A. E. Bolton, were ready to undertake
Missionary work.

Hall went to New York to work in the slums and later
went to Korea, where after a few years of service he died.

Bolton, who had been strongly influenced by the visit
of the early leaders of the Student Volunteer Movement,
during the sessions of 1886-1887, went to pursue further
studies in New York. While there he wrote to Dr. Suther
land, the General Secretary of the Missionary Society,
asking whether there was an opening for Medical Mission
work under the Methodist Church of Canada, as he pre
ferred to work under his own denomination. The reply
was to the effect that the Church had no funds for such
a purpose. This constant reply of want of funds was not
only heart-breaking to Missionaries, who had to listen to
many pathetic appeals, but had doubtless the effect of
retarding the progress of the great general work. Does
the responsibility rest upon the Church in this matter?
Dr. Bolton soon after returned from New York and com
menced practice at Portland, Ontario.

293

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

Dr. Kilborn was still disengaged when I arrived in
Ontario. I met him at Kingston, and after discovering
his desire to enter upon a Missionary career, suggested to
him that he was needed in British Columbia. He thought
British Columbia was not his proper field of work; but
mentioned Dr. Hall and Dr. Bolton as perhaps available,
with the result that we opened negotiations with Dr. Bolton
by letter and he at once applied to the Missionary Society
for appointment as a Medical Missionary.

Medical work had not been previously undertaken by our
Board of Missions; and there was considerable delay and
manifest reluctance in accepting his offer. In the mean
time, the Missionaries in the field promised substantial
contributions from their own salaries toward his support;
some contributions were also offered by the Indians; and
the British Columbia Conference, at its meeting in 1889,
formally asked for the appointment of a Medical Mission
ary. Dr. Bolton then proceeded to British Columbia at
his own expense; and thus began the work of the first
Medical Missionary connected with the Methodist Church,
Canada. No pecuniary assistance was received from the
Missionary Society during the first year.

On his arrival at Port Simpson on November 17th, 1889,
Dr. Bolton went earnestly to work. The results achieved
were from the first sufficient evidence of providential lead
ing in the matter, as well as of Dr. Bolton's zeal and
ability. As to the conditions met with and the nature of
the work, no better account can be given than that con
tained in his letter to The Christian Guardian,, written
after a year's experience in the field. This letter is here
given in full :

" Dear Sir, — Having now spent a year in Medical Mis
sionary work in the Port Simpson District, I venture to
address a few words to the friends of Missions among the

204

MEDICAL WORK

readers of the Guardian. First, my wife and I wish to
thank those kind-hearted friends, whose sympathy and
prayers upheld us and who extended a helping hand to us
in this work. It has been a busy year with us. Some
times I have had more work on hand than I could well
attend to, especially during the ravages of la grippe, in
March last.

" The winter and spring were spent here in Port Simp
son, where there is the largest Indian population on the
Coast. Being the chief trading post, it brings me many
visiting patients. During June and July, I made my
headquarters at Port Essington, on the Skeena, and found
a great deal to do among the Indians of the many tribes
who gather there during the salmon season. Part of
August I put in on the Naas, where the fishing continued
later. During September, there were not many of our
people home, but I had a great many patients from a dis
tance. They come to me from two hundred miles inland;
the same distance from the south; from Alaska in the
north; and from Queen Charlotte Islands in the West.

" Of course there is a great deal of sickness among this
people. Ignorance and uncleanliness are ever accompanied
by disease, while the travelling and exposure of their semi-
nomadic life add to the liability ; but a larger part of their
suffering is caused by hereditary diseases arising from their
impure lives and the wantonness of members of our own
race and color.

" To instruct in hygiene, to check the progress and
alleviate the suffering of seated disease, to soothe the dying
agonies, and at the same time to point to Jesus, the
Saviour, as the healer of the soul, have been my work,
together with preaching occasionally and helping with
class-meetings, Sabbath School, Day School and Boys'
Home. Under Providence, I hope I have done some good.
I have treated over fifty-four hundred patients. A great
deal of suffering has been relieved, and perhaps some lives
saved; but lack of proper means cripples us in the work.
So many surgical cases need antiseptic operations and
dressings, with warmth and good air; and other cases
need care and food such as they cannot have in their

295

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

homes. In cases of visiting patients, I have had as many
as a dozen here at one time, all lodged in tents on the
beach; or, a little better, roofed in by the guest house of
the Hudson's Bay Company.

" Let me instance two cases from among my list of visit
ing patients. One, an Indian from Masset, Queen Char
lotte Islands, came to me in July, suffering from syphilitic
throat, and each leg a mass of ulcers. I treated him some
weeks at Port Essington; and he paid his last dollar for
a passage to Port Simpson to meet me on my return from
the Naas. By daily dressings, I sent him home in Sep
tember quite recovered; and I heard a few days ago that
he remained well.

" A woman from the same place came over last Janu
ary, having a running sore, which proved to be deeply-
seated necrosis of the tibia. Notwithstanding the cold
weather, I operated in an Indian house and removed the
dead bone; and she made a good recovery.

"While we are thankful for some good results amid
such unfavorable circumstances, yet there are so many
such cases as the above that one cannot but feel deeply the
need for a Hospital at this place; and we are going to
have one. An interest is awakened among the few white
people in the vicinity; and a petition has been sent in to
the Local Government asking for aid and we have been
assured of a grant to help pay running expenses. The
Dominion Government should aid through the Indian
Department and I have no doubt will do so if the matter
is properly presented to them ; but we can all have a hand
in this great work.

" Are there among the readers of the Guardian men to
whom God has entrusted wealth, who will come to our aid
with handsome donations to provide a building? Many
more could give a little, and thus help to care for the
remnant of the predecessors of our race on this continent,
who have gained so little and we so much by our usurpa
tion.

" In regard to evangelistic work among the sick, I look
upon this as one of the most important departments of our
Mission work here. I would rather have the privilege of

296

MEDICAL WORK

a few words of exhortation and prayer with a single, dying
Indian, whose hold on this world is loosening, than to
preach to a Church crowded by his white friends who are
full of pride and the enjoyment of life. During the epi
demic last spring, when I was almost worn out in body
by overwork and personal sickness so that I could scarcely
walk from one smoky, ill-smelling house to another to see
whole families ill together, and when the work was ren
dered discouraging by the many, who were weakened by
previous disease, succumbing in spite of all my efforts,
nothing so cheered and encouraged me as the pleasure of
talking and praying with the sick, and seeing in some
cases the true repentance and faith which turned their
death beds into an entrance of glory. These privileges of
doing good would be greatly augmented by hospital accom
modation, where the sick would be constantly under such
influences; and as some might be expected to come to us
from heathen villages, where they could be instructed in
the Gospel, and perhaps find healing for soul as well as
body.

"Yours in the work,

"A. E. BOLTOX.
" Port Simpson, Nov. 17, 1890."

There was at this time only one other doctor within five
hundred miles.

The much needed hospital was finally erected at Port
Simpson in 1892. It was felt that a grant for this pur
pose could not be expected from the Missionary Society,
but the Woman's Missionary Society was asked for a
nurse, and sent Miss Spence, who rendered fine service
in that capacity, and remained for thirteen years in the
work. They afterwards sent other nurses. The building
was erected with the aid of five hundred dollars from the
Provincial Government and local subscriptions from both
Indians and whites.

The effect of this work on the physical condition of the
people was very marked. Many incidents of an encourag-

297

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

ing nature, some pathetic and some humorous, took place
in connection with it. The simplicity of the Indian mind
with regard to religion and civilization was often strik
ingly illustrated. One Indian declared that "the doctor
was wonderful man ; he could heal just like the Master."

In 1895, a branch Hospital was opened at Port Essing-
ton and kept open for the benefit of the Indians and other
fishermen during the summer months only. It proved a
great boon to the people gathered there during the fishing
season.

A second branch was opened in 1897 at Rivers Inlet,
two hundred and sixty miles south of Simpson. Here,
where many of the people had not been under the influence
of Missions at all, the conditions were awful; putrid sores
and cases of chronic disease were to be seen on every side,
and the people accepted these things as inevitable, not
knowing that they could be helped.

During this season, Dr. Bolton, by securing a pass on
the Coast steamers, tried to work the three Hospitals
simultaneously until the arrival of Dr. Jackson, who took
charge of the Rivers Inlet Hospital, but had to relinquish
the work on account of ill health.

These Hospitals were built largely by the labors of the
Medical Missionary, assisted by the Indians. The whole
work is a monument to the industry, devotion and endur
ance of Dr. Bolton, our first Medical Missionary.

In November, 1898, Dr. R. W. Large arrived to take
charge of the Mission at Bella Bella, where he established
a new Hospital; and the Hospital at Rivers Inlet was
turned over to him. It has since been used as a summer
Hospital in connection with the principal one at Bella
Bella. These Hospitals also serve the villages of Bella
Coola, North and South Bentick Arm, China Hat, Kims-
quit, Smith's Sound, Cousin's Inlet, and Swanson Bay;

298

The Hospital, Bella Bella.
Girls' Home, Kitamaat. The Mission House. Bella Coola.

Coqualeetza Indian Institute, Chilliwack.
The Hospital, Hazelton, on the Skeena River,

MEDICAL WORK

and are a blessing to hundreds — Whites, Indians, Chinese
and Japanese — who come to Rivers Inlet from all along
the Coast during the fishing season.

Another Hospital was much needed at Hazelton, at the
Forks of the Skeena. When attending General Confer
ence in Toronto in 1898, I met Dr. Horace C. Wrmch,
who then intended going to China where the numbers are
so great, I argued with him that he could find on the
Skeena River all that one man could do. He is a man
especially qualified for this work, being strong and having
a practical knowledge of carpentry and farm work. He
finally yielded to the call from British Columbia, and
began his work in Hazelton in 1900, where he has suc
ceeded and is succeeding beyond all expectations.

The following description of Dr. Wrinch's work is
drawn from his various reports:

"Leaving Toronto on July 17th, 1900, I reached Van
couver on the 22nd of the same month, and, after report
ing to the Chairman of the Indian District, went on to
Victoria. At Victoria I made myself known to the Super
intendent of Indian Affairs in British Columbia, and
secured from him a small grant of drugs for use among
indigent Indians."

After visiting the Medical Missions, under Dr. Large
at Bella Bella, and Dr. Bolton at Port Simpson and Port
Essington, Dr. Wrinch proceeded to the Upper Skeena,
His report published in 1906 contains the history of his
work to that date :

" To understand rightly the situation as we found it
on our arrival at Hazelton, early in September, 1900, it
is important to remember that the foundation for Hospital
work there had been strongly laid. The ten years already
spent by Dr. A. E. Bolton, at Port Simpson, with his
branch hospitals at Port Essington and Rivers Inlet, had

299

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

told in breaking down prejudice against, and in creating
a sympathy with, the Medical Missionary and his Hospital
throughout an extent of country not by any means limited
to the points actually reached by the visits of our pioneer
medical man.

" A very few weeks were sufficient, however, to show
that no Medical work could be satisfactory, either to
patient or Doctor, without provision for proper care and
treatment during acute illness. Patients would be brought
by friends from very considerable distances, in one case
a hundred and twenty-five miles, and would be virtually
laid at the Doctor's door. The giving of suitable care to
many of these would often mean much more than the
mere medicine or surgical treatment required; and so the
question of l How to secure a hospital ' became at once
the great problem.

" Every reasonable consideration, both as to securing
funds and accessibility, seemed to point to the vicinity of
Hazelton as the only right place for the Hospital. In
looking for aid, we approached the Provincial Government <
in the interests of the white people ; and the Mission Board
and the Indian Department at Ottawa, in the interest of
the Indians. We were told to see what we could raise ;
locally, then come to them and they would do what they
could. In this way, the sum of five thousand dollars was <
finally raised from these joint sources, and the work went
on with gratifying success."

Throughout his whole period of service, Dr. Bolton was
never recognized by the Church as a fully paid Missionary.
From the second year after reaching Port Simpson, he
received an annual grant of six hundred dollars from the
Missionary Society. This he voluntarily dropped, after
some years, retaining only a nominal allowance of one
hundred dollars a year until 1901. In 1902 he resigned

300

MEDICAL WOKK

from the Hospital management, to the great regret of all
those who had been associated with him in that work.
On leaving Port Simpson, he was presented with addresses
testifying to the high esteem in which he was held by both
Indians and whites. Apart from his Medical and Mis
sionary duties, in which he showed unremitting zeal, he
never hesitated to undertake any other necessary work, no
matter what its nature. His services, as a Justice of the
Peace, accomplished a great deal of good in combating the
various evils by which the Indians are beset, especially the
illegal liquor traffic, and won high praise from the Attor
ney-General of the Province and from other competent
judges.

The following letter on Port Simpson District Hospital
work was written by the General Superintendent, Dr. A.
Carman, during his visit to the District in 1896 :

" The Medical Missionary of the right stamp is a factor
of immense importance in Christian evangelization, espe
cially among the heathen; and certainly, as the world
views it, there is no more sublime consecration to the
'service of God and humanity than is made by the learned
and skilful physician when he gives his life and his powers
to save the bodies and the souls of pagan people. There is
little prospect of earthly reward and glory. When prose
cuting his work in a right spirit, he is most emphatically
following in the footsteps of the Great Preacher and
Physician, enlarging the knowledge of mankind and
bringing health and salvation to soul and body. The
Christian doctor of medicine anywhere has a glorious
office and dignity; but, when he yields up his professional
attainments and ability wholly and directly to Christ, he
has the means of usefulness, honor and eternal reward,
available to but few beside him. What is too good for
•Jesus, the Saviour of men? What is the use of singing
Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present
far too small,7 without such self -surrender? What is too

301

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

great a sacrifice? Thanks be to God, we have some noble
men with these qualifications of self-renunciation and
Christ apprehension already in the field. Why should not
the Church have more?

" Among these consecrated and faithful men, notice
ably, is our brother, Dr. A. E. Bolton, at work in this
capacity on this District among the Indians. After seven
years' practice, he enjoys the unqualified confidence of
the people, in whose language he now converses freely, and
whom he abundantly instructs and exhorts in the Gospel.
He has succeeded in erecting a good Hospital here in Port
Simpson, and a branch building at Essington. In these
he has a nurse and apprentice provided by the Women's
Missionary Society. He also visits the afflicted in their
homes, and, while without fees, must supply the Indians.

" Besides him, there is only one other doctor on the
Coast, that one residing at Metlakahtla, about midway
between Simpson and Essington, say twenty-five miles
from each place. For another, a journey of five hundred
and fifty miles must be made to Nanaimo or Vancouver.
Surely there is not overlapping here. There is abundant
room among the Indian tribes, and among all the races of
unchristianized men, for such toilers as Dr. Bolton and
his heroic fellow-laborers in Japan and China. Why
should Christian physicians stand all the day, all life's
day, idle? There are diseased and stricken men every
where to be healed. Is it not a noble ambition to go forth
to heal them, and preach to them the Gospel? It is not
without its significance that Paul, the apostle, had Luke,
the beloved physician, as his companion in travel, when
lie went forth on that Christ authorized and unsurpassed
evangelistic system, two by two, through the cities of
Asia Minor.

" Breaking down the old Indian medicine man with his
rattle and fierce garb and soul-trap, with his charms and
savage yells, the least we can do is to give the poor natives
our best substitute, especially when that substitute is one
of the most effective agencies in spreading the glorious
Gospel of the blessed God. The preacher, doctor and
teacher must go together or else the preacher must cover

302

MEDICAL WOKK

the whole ground. Even that is keeping Christian Mis
sions within narrow limits. Oh, for more brave, conse
crated, efficient workers! Oh, for tenfold ability and
liberality in the Church and among the people to enable
the Missionary Society to employ every laborer and occupy
every field ! There can be no question that if the Church
had filled up the measure of her obligation there had been
multitudes more converted to God.

" There is another aspect of this question which deserves
faithful consideration. Christianity is designed to save
the bodies as well as the souls of men; it has the promise
of the life that now is as well as that of the life to come.
Let us see how we are measuring up to our duty in this
regard among: the aboriginal inhabitants of the country
God has sriven us. The horrors of Armenia shock the
world. Turkish atrocities outrage the moral sense of man
kind. What about ourselves? What about the Christian
Britons' treatment of the Hydas, a noble race that less
than a generation ago numbered eight thousand, and now
numbers less than eight hundred with hardlv a healthy
woman of their own race amoner them ? Here is a splendid
tribe literallv decimated. What is the Turk doing?
Blessed are the poor paeans of the interior, out of reach

i | of the Capital. The white men wrong and purchase the
I Indian woman till, there is hardly a healthy progenitor
'left. Talk about the extermination of a race. Here it has

» pone on in our own land and under our own eyes, and who
has felt the burden and the shame? The white man's
traffic: the white man's drink: the white man's diseases:
the white man's indifference to the Indian's immorality,

1 darkness, disease and sin, have wrought it all and suf-

; fared it all to come to pa^s. Under Christian Missions
there seems some hope. What a field for Christian physi-

; cians to instruct the people and pluck men and women.

< vea, nations of men and women, as brands from the ter-

g rible burning! How dare the Church of God face this
state of things in our own land, and be indifferent or

„; illiberal to the cause of Missions? Gross darkness covers
the peonle; the remedy can come only by the Light of
Lifo. Thp Lord hasten the day. " A. CABMAN.

"Port Essington. May 19th.' 1896,"

303

THE INFLUENCE OF TOTEMISM.

Totemism— Tribal 'Subdivisions and Crests--Social Effects-
Marriage — Descent — Prostitution — Totem-Poles
and their Erection— Potlatehing.

20

" And they painted on the grave posts
Of the graves yet unforgotten,
Each his own ancestral totem,
Each the symbol of his household/'

CHAPTEE XXII.
THE INFLUENCE OF TOTEMISM.

TOTEMISM is one of the most widely distributed institu
tions found among the non- Christian races of the world.
It formed the basis of the religion of ancient Egypt, and
has existed in recent times, not only among the Indians
on the western coast of America, but in all the border
lands of the Pacific Ocean. It is therefore of great value
to the ethnologist; and nowhere can it be more completely
observed, or more easily studied, than in the isolated
Indian villages of British Columbia and Alaska. It is
not merely a system of rough crests and monstrous her-
.aldry, but is symbolical of a vaguely religious and very
definite social institution.

Indian society is said by a writer on the subject to
| consist of three classes or grades, which might be called
ithe nobility, the gentry, and the common people. In addi
tion to these, there were also numerous slaves. These classes
are organized into families (houses), clan-sections, clans,
tribes (communities or villages) and confederacies.

" A family or house is a portion or branch of a clan-
section. It has its own crest and sub-Chief, subordinate
to the clan totem and clan-sectional Chief, and of itself,
or in combination with other kindred families, forms a
complete clan-section. This does not mean that the vari
ous families inhabiting an Indian house always belong
to the same crest.

" A clan-section is a company of one or more families
laving the same totem and totemic name, and forming
me division of a tribe.

307

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

" A dan is the aggregate of kindred clan-sections, hav
ing the same totem, and totemic name.

"A tribe or land is a community of two or more dif
ferent clan-sections residing in one place, bearing a com
mon territorial name, and governed by the Chiefs of the
clan-sections in Council.

" A confederacy is an alliance of several tribes for offen
sive and defensive purposes, and is governed by the united
suffrages of the clans in public assembled/'

Mr. James Deans says : " The social standing of the
Hydery was represented by three divisions or crests.
First, the sexual crest; second, the clan crest; and third,
the secret society crest. Apart from these, there was the
totem." (By the latter he appears to mean the individual
crest or totem.)

" The sexual or family crest was inherited from the
mother, and passed through her from their grandmother
to all of her children. For example, if the mothers were
' bears/ all the children were the same. The girls, in turn,
when they became mothers, gave their { bear ' crest to their
children, the father's crest going for nothing.

" The clan or brotherhood crest was held by every mem
ber of the clan.

" The society crest could only be got and held by initia
tion into the order, and often cost large sums to obtain.

"The totems were any animals, birds, or any living
thing which crossed a child's path when first trying to
move about ; or anything a child tried to say, such as deer,
dog, or bear. This became his or her totem, that is/
guardian angel, through life. Totems, as far as I have
been able to learn, have long been in disuse among the
Hydas.

"Hydery crests were divided into two great clans, oij
brotherhoods, represented by the raven and the eagle

308

THE INFLUENCE OF TOTEMISM

These two large clans were represented by a number of
smaller crests, families or houses. For example,, the
Raven clan had eleven family or sexual crests, namely,
wolf, bear scannah or killer-whale, skate, mountain goat,
sea-lion, chee-moose, or ' snag-in-a-river/ moon, sun, rain
bow, and scamsum or thunder bird. The Eagle clan had
the following families, fourteen in all : Eagle, raven, whale,
frog, beaver, shark, moon, duck, codfish, wasco, owl, dog
fish, sculpin, and dragon fly. Each of these crests had its
respective dance, as well as musical instrument by which
it imitated the call of its individual crest animal. Their
dances also were in imitation of the walk of the subject
adopted.

" The degree or rank of the individual in the clan was
marked by the number of divisions in the crown of his
tall hat shaped much like a silk hat but taller, and much
resembling several short lengths of stove pipe, when three
or four degrees were indicated.

" The confederacies or nations are known generally by
diversities of language, more or less marked. As the lan
guages change very rapidly, being entirely unwritten, it
is probable that the clan divisions are older than those
marked by language. This agrees with the existence of
sections of the same clan among persons of entirely dif
ferent speech, who might be quite unable to understand
one another. Such persons, even though their respective
tribes might be at war, would feel under obligation to treat
each other as brothers. The clan system has, in fact, been
said to constitute a sort of free masonry among them."

Totemism thus affects the whole social and political life
of the people. Members of the same principal crest were
not permitted to intermarry. A learned Judge was once
on a visit to the Queen Charlotte Islands, trying to settle
a quarrel between Indians. A great deal about the bear

309

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

crest or totem was interpreted to him, until he finally
asked, " What has the bear to do with it?"

" Oh," said the interpreter, a Hudson's Bay Company's
man, in a sarcastic tone, " Judge, that's their law ; a bear
cannot marry a bear, a wolf cannot marry a wolf, an eagle
cannot marry an eagle."

This law was so strongly imbedded in the minds of the
people that " even now, though occasionally broken, such
action is against the general sentiment." This is regret
table, for while it is not a preventive of consanguinity in
marriage, it did prevent many otherwise most desirable
unions, especially in the present condition of the people,
reduced as they are in numbers. Owing to this fact, to
the polygamy of the chiefs, and to the immoral intercourse
with the whites, it has indeed become very difficult for
decent young Indians to secure wives. Young men often
could not marry girls for whom they had the greatest
respect and love. This often led to immorality and ruin
on both sides.

In the olden days marriage was merely a provisional
contract between the two parties, formed by an exchange
of presents between the families, and disannulled at any
time by return of the presents. Nevertheless, at the open
ing of our work at Simpson, since we could get no marriage
licenses, we arranged to marry by publication of banns,
according to the old English custom. When our first wed
ding took place under the new system, all seemed right
until the service was over. At the wedding feast, which
took place afterwards, there were many speeches made.
One or two young men expressed themselves as highly
pleased with the event and glad that the old custom had
been broken through and the new way of doing things
adopted.

I noticed that many of the older men seemed very

310

Rev. C. M.Tate Rev. A. E. Green. -Rev, G. H. Raley

A. E. Bolton, M.D. ^ Rev. ]. A. Jackson, M.D. Rev. J. C. Spencer, IV

l.W. T. Rush, M.D. Rev. R. W. Large. M D. Rev, tf. 0 V^nnch

PIONEER MISSIONARIES TO THE INDIANS OF BRITISH COL

THE INFLUENCE OF TOTEMISM

and sullen but said nothing. During the evening four
or five of these came to talk with the Missionary and
expressed great regret at what had happened. It appeared
that the young couple were of the same crest. According
to their law, they were brother and sister. They looked
upon the clan connection quite as seriously as we consider
blood relationship. We pointed out to them that the
marriage had been published on three consecutive Sun
days, and opportunity given to make any objections; but
that as none had been raised we felt warranted in pro
ceeding with the ceremony. After this they seemed to
feel that they had been in the wrong; but the feeling in
the matter was very slow in dying out. Afterwards, if a
marriage, arranged without regard to the old prejudices,
turned out badly, they took care to ascribe the trouble to
the fact that the young people were of the same crest, but
if one of the heathen marriages went wrong, they were
silent on the subject.

Under the crest system, the nephew became the uncle's
heir; that is, descent was from a man to his eldest sister's
son. The young man, who might be a mere boy, would
have to erect a crest pole to his uncle's memory, and enter
into possession of his house, name, title, wife and chil
dren and seat in Council, if a Chief. The result of this
was in many cases a very ''unequal yoking together," as
the uncle's wife might be old enough to be the bride
groom's grandmother and might have a family of chil
dren some of whom were much older than her new
husband.

Marriage among the Indians was practically binding
before the whites came and the old clan system worked
beneficially before the decimation of the tribes by drink
and debauchery; but great demoralization followed the
coming of the white race and temporary alliances became

311

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST,

\

common. The desire to erect elaborate totem poles, or

give potlatches, also led, especially among the Hydas, to
the wholesale prostitution of Indian girls in order to raise
funds for the erection of totem poles to departed uncles
and others. For this purpose they would sell their daugh
ters, wives and mothers into a slavery worse than death.
The women would go to Victoria, season after season,
until they died from the results of the awful lives they
led, and so was nearly extinguished one of the most intel
lectual and handsome native races on the continent of
America. At many places their deserted villages were
to be seen, marked by forests of crest poles.

Totem poles, crest columns or gayrings, were the most
conspicuous feature of the native houses. Mr. Freeman
says, " Immediately in front of these houses were erected
totem poles, fifty or sixty feet or more in height, and three
or four feet in diameter at the base. An immense cedar
tree was brought to the village with infinite labor, and
carved by professional craftsmen in part or all of its
length with representations of the crest of the person erect
ing the totem pole, or ' standard/ according to the literal
rendering of the Hyda term. It was frequently hollowed
out at the back to reduce the weight and difficulty of
erection. These poles were put up with great ceremony
and expense, to commemorate the name of the person who
erected them. They had no connection whatever with any
form of superstition or worship." The carvings on the
totem pole represented the crest or crests of the owner and
his wife, and perhaps of their immediate ancestors, accord
ing to the Indian method of reckoning descent which, as
already stated, proceeded through the mother's side.

Totem poles might be divided into three classes :
(1) Personal totem poles, erected by a man on his own
behalf.

312

THE INFLUENCE OF TOTEMISM

(2) Memorial poles, erected in honor of a deceased
uncle or other relative.

(3) Mortuary columns, used by the Hydas. These
were generally about twenty feet high, consisting of a
solid trunk which was hewn, tapering toward the base.
The top was hollowed out to receive the remains of the
departed Chief or Chieftainess, and closed by a carved
cover. The prevalence of this form of burial gave rise
to very unsanitary conditions in the Hydas' villages.

Totemism was often the means of bringing about war
and bloodshed among the Indians themselves, as it was
contrary to law to put up a totem pole higher than the
owner's standing or rank would warrant. Trouble was
often caused in this way. A man on the Naas, for
example, put up a longer pole than he should, and was
ordered by the offended Chief to take it down and shorten
it. On refusing to do so, he was shot by someone dele
gated by the Chief for the purpose. They were often at
enmity from this cause.

It has been said that no better description could be given
of the Indian people than that supplied by the name they
give themselves, "Alu-gigat." Truly they are a "public
people," for they have no private business, no private
rights, and no domestic privacy. Every right is holden
and every matter regulated by public assent on the part
of the united clans. This public expression of assent,
made by the clans and acknowledged by the individual,
is what they call " potlatch." Even babies are legitimized,
so to speak, in this way ; the naming of children is recorded
and their admission to tribal privileges signalized, by the
same means. Other specific occasions for holding a pot-
latch would be the initiation of a young man to a secret
society or to a conjurer's or chief's position; the giving

313

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

him a totem; the building of a house; or the carving and
raising of a totem pole.

"When a totem pole is to be erected, the people are invited
to attend from the various tribes for perhaps a hundred
miles around. They arrive a few days before the appointed
time, and, after having been received with elaborate cere
mony, are quartered in the various houses in the village
where they are entertained at the expense of the man who
is giving the feast.

On the appointed day all are assembled. A hole has
been dug six or eight feet deep to receive the base end of
the pole. In olden times a slave was killed and placed in
the bottom of the pit. That this had been done was indi
cated by the figure of a man, head downwards, carved
upon the pole. Ropes were attached to the pole to serve
as guys; and even the women and children with the older
men, took hold of these, while the stronger men, all lift
ing together with loud cries of " Hoo ! Hoo \" raised the
totem from the ground, supporting it by poles fastened
together in the form of shears. As it rose higher, the
ropes were brought into play to bring it to the perpendicu
lar and hold it in place.

An essential part of the potlatch is the distribution of
presents by the host to all who attend, according to their
rank or degree. In this way a man, who has been saving
up blankets and other goods for years in order to become
a Chief, may completely impoverish himself. It has been
said that the potlatch corresponds in Indian politics to an
election, the people signifying by their presence their
assent to the new dignity assumed by their host. If so,
it is an election in which the votes are paid for by the j
candidates for honors.

One of the worst features in connection with the pot-
latch is the wanton destruction of property which often

314

THE INFLUENCE OF TOTEMISM

accompanies it. In order to show his wealth, a chief will
often throw blankets and muskets into the fire or wantonly
destroy new canoes and other valuable property.

The word " potlatch " means simply " to give." One of
our Missionaries thus describes the scene presented by one
of these great heathen feasts : " A few weeks ago it was
announced in the daily papers that the Indians were about
to give a great potlatch, when so many thousands of
blankets would be distributed, so many tons of flour,
sugar, pilot-bread, and other things be given to feast upon ;
and a general good time was anticipated. On landing at
the village, we found some twelve hundred Indians con-
; gregated from a radius of a hundred miles or more. Their
tents were made, some of white cotton, some of cedar bark,
and some of cedar slabs. Into these places the hordes
were huddled until there was scarcely room to step. The
scene was disgusting in the extreme. Under cover of dark
ness this seething mass put on another aspect. Morality
among the Indians themselves, under these circumstances,
I is at a very low ebb ; but when a score of white men come
! in with a few gallons of fire water, and spend the night
! with the Indians, the scenes become indescribable. Men
and women in their drunkenness actually tear the clothes
off each other, and wallow about in reeking filth. The
picture is more like hell upon earth than anything of
which we ever heard."

Not only does the potlatch swallow up the sustenance of
an entire community, but the community itself. It con
sumes five clear months out of every twelve in simply
gorging, sleeping and dancing; the most that any of its
votaries can earn is all too little for it; the money that
ought to be spent upon the necessaries of life is mostly
squandered on this idol, which is feted and glutted to its
heart's content, while the poor, the aged, the feeble and

315

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

the sick lie in poverty, filth and rags, dying in many cases
for want of a little nourishment.

It is a pitiable sight to behold sick folk, invalids, deli
cate children and babies travelling to and fro, over fifty
miles of waste ice and snow, the thermometer perhaps
below zero, to attend a potlatch.

In places where the potlatch has ceased, the morality of
the people has risen to a higher standard, and, as a natural
result, the people, especially the children, are more num
erous and more healthy. On the other hand, in some of
the villages, where this fearful vice remains, the few chil
dren that may be found are full of disease, and few of
them live to grow up ; and even if they do, life is a burden
to many of them.

There is no doubt that the potlatch is the inciting cause
of three-fourths of the immorality that exists among
Indian women.

A few years ago a law was passed prohibiting the pot-
latch. This was as good as winked at by some of the
officials. The law remains in the Dominion statutes, but
is practically a dead letter. Surely there is some remedy
for this crying evil.

316

SHAMANISM AND ITS EVILS, OE THE MAKING
OF A MEDICINE MAN.

The Making of Medicine Men — Man-Eaters — Dog-Eaters —

Fire-Eaters — The Cruelties of

Witchcraft.

" The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations
of cruelty."

CHAPTER XXIII.
SHAMANISM AND ITS EVILS.

THE various grades of medicine men or conjurers were
organized into secret societies, initiation into which was
considered an honor, and was solemnized by certain pot-
latching ceremonies. The principal degrees of honor were
Fire-Eaters, Dog-Eaters and Man-Eaters.

The Man-Eaters were a secret society of medicine men
professing to eat human flesh. Sometimes they would
; exhume a body, tear it limb from limb, and stand before
I the public gaze professing to devour the flesh. The Man-
Eaters, when initiating a doctor, went through a most
; cruel ceremony. To get power, the candidate for honors
r would go to the woods and be there for weeks, clothed in
a bear skin, professedly fasting and having communion
with the spirits. He would then come down through the
village, and seizing hold of strong men's arms, tear the
flesh off to the bone. It is needless to say that these Man-
Eaters were a terror to all the people.

On my second visit to Kitamaat, years ago, several of
the young men had been converted and wished to have a
teacher come and help them. After many days of evan
gelistic work among them my party were getting ready to
leave when one, Joe, came down to our canoe, and said
he wanted to go to Simpson with us.

I said, " No, Joe, you must stay and help the other
boys to be Christians and carry on meetings."

Joe said, "Fd like to stay, sir, but the Man-Eater is
coming from the mountains and he'll bite me."

319

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

I said,- " Surely not, Joe, surely no man will bite you."

He rolled up his old shirt sleeve and said, " Look here,
sir; here is where I have been bitten many times," and
to our surprise we saw that his arm was all deformed by
old scars. I said, " You may go with us, Joe."

The Dog-Eaters, when making a doctor, had a revolting
ceremony. After the candidates had fasted for some time,
they would crawl forth, passing through the village, each
with a live dog in his hands, some tearing them limb from
limb and others eating the quivering flesh. The one who
could eat the most live dog was said to be the bravest
doctor.

The Fire-Eaters, after preparation by fasting in the
woods or mountains, would rush into the houses and upon
the roofs, throwing the boards and bark about. They
would spread the fire all over the floor, walk in it, and
profess to eat it.

The medicine man holds an important place in Indian
life. He attains his position and influence through a
process of preparation in accordance with long-established
custom. From his childhood, the young boy is told by
his grandmother, or the old men, that there is an unseen
" power " he can get from the spirits, especially if he will
get up courage to go to the dead house or graveyard. As
the young fellow is aspiring to be a mighty doctor, he will ;
do anything for this " power." There were periods of
fasting, the old people tell us, of eight or ten days at a
time.

On the night of the ninth day of almost superhuman
fasting and prayer for this one thing, " power," the young
candidate, nearly overcome by exhaustion, starts out as
if he had come from the other world; he believes he is
taken possession of by a mighty spirit. " By a power
uncontrollable the lithe, young body is thrown about the

320

SHAMANISM AND ITS EVILS

n*eat room, is doubled and twisted and knotted into a

mndred contortions like a fowl deprived of its head. He

s thumped against the earthen floor, and again flung

igh enough to touch the beams, backwards and forwards,

nto every corner of the house, no one daring to lay a hand

n him but keeping as far as possible out of his way.

Some one has run out and told that such a one is under

he power of the mighty spirits. Crowds come in to see,

10 one questioning the genuineness of this ' power.' Such

ights are not seen at the making of every doctor. The

>ld men say this ' power' is stronger and mightier than

heir kind. Again, the poor boy springs and strikes a

i >eam ; he falls foaming at the mouth. The sight is terrible

i:o behold. At length day dawns, and, as light comes,

vith his eyes wide open and with a wild expression not his

jpwn, he tears off the only little garment he had on him,

jumps to his feet, still uncontrolled, springs through the

loor, and dashes along through the place, men and dogs

ilike trying to get out of his way."*

When the fast is over and the old doctors or medicine
tnen have gathered in the house, while all the rest of the
oeople are kept outside, the youthful student is told to go
to the nearest place for salt water, keeping hid, of course,
pom any one, and drink; then take a feather and empty
his stomach, drink again and again; pray by himself in
secret; bathe; and so cleanse himself inside and out. He
then takes his place in the feast house; but he must not
speak to any one. If he still wishes to be a mighty doctor,
he will go to the mountains and fast for a long time, hold
communion with the spirits and live with the wild beasts.
He must tear and eat their flesh, while it is yet quivering
with life, and drink their warm blood to make his strength

* " Kin-da-shon's Wife," page 124, from which this account
Js adapted.

21 321

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

more fierce to do battle with all the spirits. When he
comes back, he is to commune with the old men, the con
jurers, the witch doctors and the wizards, as well as with
all the wise men of the tribe. He must again sit at feasts,
but not say anything, and visit the dead houses and
sepulchres, so that he may get his power.

Now, in his fast of days, a strong sensation has come
over him, such as he has never felt before, a current of
superhuman feeling; and he feels alive to superhuman
influence. As never before, he is let into all the mysteries
by the old conjurers and medicine men. They tell him,
if he keeps quiet and fasts, he will get greater " power "
than all the rest of them have. His family, the old par
ents particularly, are willing that he should give his life
in attaining it. If he dies, all right; but if he gets the
"power" and lives, it will be a great honor to them to
have such a mighty medicine man in the family, so no
sacrifice is too great to get their son into all such secrets.
He will have pre-eminence over other boys who may have
put themselves up as candidates, but showed no pro
ficiency, and got no "power."

Demonstrations by the older medicine men are mostly
given in the night, or in the twilight when there is just
light enough to see. AVhile the old medicine men are
carrying on their dark deeds, the young learner is still
to keep silent. At one village where I was staying all
night, there was a great gathering at a potlatch. They
assembled all the old conjurers and doctors together, as
a child had died, and they sent out word through the
village that they were going to bring it to life. Here was
the young aspirant looking on, and supposed to be let
into all the secrets. At another place, a Chief was said
to have died and was put in his coffin. Paid mourners
were all around. All the old medicine men were hard at

322

A MEDICINE MAN AND HIS PATIENT.

SHAMANISM AND ITS EVILS

work to bring him to life. In their excitement, dancing
and rattling around, foaming at the mouth, some of them
would fall down and faint away. By and by a groan was
heard from the box or coffin, the box burst, the death
bands were loosed, and the Chief sat up. This was all
a sham or play, as the Chief was not dead, and was put
in there to have them go through this play in order to
say that the conjurers had brought him to life.

In most cases in later years, the medicine man would
have a heavy rope of cedar bark fastened around his waist,
and three or four men would take hold of this to hold him
back or keep him in check. A man under such " power,"
with his long hair half way down to his heels, and matted
as if it never had a comb through it, presents a grotesque
appearance as age comes on.

Such a man will divine or tell fortunes, or, in case of
a sudden death, be called upon to tell who had bewitched
the departed one, He comes, at such times, with his
rattle and drum, and a few red-looking lines, made of
cedar or alder bark, around his neck and waiet. The friends
of the dead or dying man all crowd around, rattling on
boards to keep time with his weird songs. In a most
demon-like voice he calls out, "I have got him," and
perhaps gives the name of the wife, or her slave, or some
one in the room, saying, " That is the individual who has
bewitched the dead man, hence the death." The name is
no sooner mentioned than the friends of the departed rush
at the one indicated and tie him up to a stake and in some
cruel way torture their victim to death. In the case of
a poor girl, she is seized and bound, her feet close together,
her hands behind her back. Her garments are then torn
from her, while her friends disown her. Her own father,
it may be, brings what is called the " devil's club," which
grows in the woods and has very sharp thorns. With this

323

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

he whips the poor girl until her flesh is bleeding, and then
spits upon her. Others join in the torture until the victim
dies from their treatment. The old conjurer now gets pay
for what he has done.

Our Missionary at Bella Coola gives the following
account of such a practitioner : " Doctor Jack holds the
people in a constant state of superstitious fear. He is
believed to be able by a mere word or by charms, to cause
the speedy death of any person. A person who is jealous
of another pays the great magician (for such in reality
he is), procuring his services to effect the permanent
removal of the object of his hatred.

" Again, this man, who 4 gives out that he is some
great one/ is supposed to cure all manner of ailments of
body and mind. He enters the house of his patient, clad
in a long shirt, a dirty blanket, and a broad band made
of the inner bark of the cedar. He sings in a quivering
voice a weird song, while the beating of a hollow box fur
nishes his accompaniment. When he thinks he has per
formed long enough to claim a large fee, he clutches the
air as if to catch an object. Then he throws away a stone,
a bullet, or a piece of bone. This, he assures them, he
has extracted from the sick person's body, and that this
is what has caused the illness.

"His deceptions are so well carried out that not one
in fifty suspects that he and his friends have been duped."

324:

"THE GLAD TIDINGS."

From Canoe to Mission Ship— The Means Provided— William

Oliver — The Launch — A Page from the Log —

Work Commenced — Accidents.

" Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.'

CHAPTER XXIV.
"THE GLAD TIDINGS."

WE had travelled for about twenty years by canoe, twelve
in the south and about eight on the north Coast. We had
been exposed in all kinds of weather and on all kinds of
seas. Our Christian Indians had usually volunteered their
aid and by canoe taken us thousands of miles.

It was not until the Rev. A. E. Russ, M.A., then of
Victoria, came to visit our Northern District and to take
a trip with me among the Indians, that attention was
especially drawn to the particular difficulties and dangers
of our journeys in open canoe. During our trip, on the way
to the Naas, we had to sleep out all night, after our canoe
had been partly upset and all our goods and chattels wet.

During the night there fell three or four inches of
very soft snow. In the morning our feet, which were
outside of the fly or tent, were covered with snow. Mr.
Russ cried out, " Crosby, you must have a steam-boat ;
you will ruin your health and shorten your days in this
kind of weather with this kind of conveyance." This was
the first suggestion we had of a Mission steamer. It
seemed like a prophetic utterance.

About this time a subscription of five dollars was sent
to the Mission Rooms from one of the Eastern Conferences
for a Mission boat on the North Pacific.

In 1882, while visiting Ontario, Brother Russ and I
were a deputation to Missionary meetings in London,
Ontario. At the tea-table of a friend, Mr. Russ, in relat
ing some of the incidents of the trip we had taken together,

327

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

suggested that the Missionary should have a steam-boat.
The good lady of the house said she would give a donation
for such a boat; her husband also promised a liberal sub
scription. The need of a Mission boat was mentioned at
our meetings that and the following night. Next day, in
the city of London, over six hundred dollars was sub
scribed. Thus, without our pushing it, assured that if
God wanted a boat for the work He would have one, was
started a matter that roused the whole Church from one
end of the Dominion to the other. We moved slowly for
a year or more, and prayer was offered continually that
God would direct us in this most important project. God
was in it ; for there came donations from all parts from the
little child's one cent to the one hundred dollar subscrip
tion.

As the money had accumulated in the bank until now
there were several thousand dollars, I, as Chairman of the
Simpson District, thought it time to be looking for a
suitable boat. Speaking one evening in the Methodist
Church at New Westminster, B.C., I told the people that
God had given us money, and now we were about to see
if we could find a suitable boat ; that I was going to Puget
Sound to see if I could buy one there; and failing that,
we would have to build.

The day after I left for the Sound, a Scotchman named
William Oliver came to the parsonage, and said to the
Eev. Ebenezer Robson, then stationed in New Westminster,
" Does that man who was speaking last night want to
build a steam-boat? If he does, I should like to build
her for him." He had been a ship carpenter for many
years and had just been converted through the instru
mentality of Mr. Eobson. Having been lifted from the
lowest depths of sin, his heart was overflowing with grati
tude to God and he was anxious to give expression to it.

328

" THE GLAD TIDINGS "

" The Lord has done so much for me/' he said to Mr.
Robson, "that I should like to build that boat for His
work."

On my return to Victoria from Puget Sound, without
having found a suitable boat, word reached me about
Oliver's offer. I got out a model of the boat we thought
we needed and sent it to Westminster. Brother Robson,
3ne of the warmest friends of Missions in British Colum
bia, and the initiator of many a new project, took a lively
interest in the matter, and William Oliver was given the
desire of his heart — the responsibility of building our first
Mission ship. He secured another good workman to assist
trim and they proceeded to build the little steam-vessel
which was afterwards named The Glad Tidings. The
model and construction reflected great credit upon the
ouilders.

Later Mr. Eobson writes : " Mr. Oliver's services were
ihe means of a great saving. He worked at less than half
}f his usual wages. With Captain Crosby, Engineer
Oliver, and a native lad as deck-hand and cook, the ship
was manned. Oliver was to take care of the vessel."

The description given in her government certificate is,
( A Missionary yacht whereof Thomas Crosby is master."
Her dimensions were as follows: Length over all, 71 feet;
width, 14 feet; depth of hold, 8 feet; total tonnage, 40.02;
occupied by engine room, 15.87; register tonnage, 27.15.
The hull was built of the best Douglas pine for which our
Province is famed. The forecastle at the bow had room
for two men. Next to this was the freight hold. Amid
ships was the engine room, containing two capacious coal
junkers; a horizontal boiler, licensed to carry eighty-five
Dounds of steam; and a set of compound engines with
condenser, etc.; all complete and first-class, 323 nominal
lorse power. The propeller was about five feet in diameter,

329

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

and well under water. She drew eight feet light. The
cabin occupied the stern and was all under the deck. It
was lighted by a spacious skylight, and had accommoda
tion for eight.

As soon as her hull was finished, she was launched with
appropriate religious services. A bottle of pure water,
suspended over the bow by ribbons of white and blue, the
color of two temperance societies in the province, was
broken against the stem-plate by Miss Sophie J. White,
M.E.L., as she pronounced the name, Glad Tidings.

Miss White was the daughter of the Eev. E. White, one
of the first four Missionaries who came to British Colum
bia, and the man, above all others, who influenced the
writer to come to this country as a Missionary to the
Indians and who did more to encourage and help him
than any other man.

After the masts were stepped in and the rigging bent
on, the ship was taken from New Westminster to Victoria,
where, from the work-shops of Messrs. Gowen & Son, she
received her boilers and engines, which were said to be
the best ever built in the country up to that time.

As we lay at the wharf in November, 1884, waiting for
the finishing touches to be put on the engines of the new
boat, and Oliver and I were busy getting our outfit and
all in ship shape for our first trip north, we were visited
on board by that great man, Joseph Cook, from the city
of Boston, and some other friends. Mr. Cook had given
three of his famous lectures in the city of Victoria, namely,
"Fallacy of Unbelief," "God in Natural Law," and
"Does Death End All?" Accompanying Mr. Cook were
N. Shakespeare, M.P.; the Rev. W. W. Percival, Meth
odist minister; the Rev. Donald Fraser, Presbyterian
minister; and some ladies.

The following is a leaf from the log of The Glad Tid-

330

" THE GLAD TIDINGS "

ngs, giving a list of the visitors and travellers and their
tutographs :

"Health, Peace, Perfection.

" JOSEPH COOK.
' November 20th, 1884, at the wharf at Victoria."

:e May The Glad Tidings never go to sea without the
sresence of the great Captain on board.

" W. W. PERCIVAL."

" The Lord bless thee and keep thee.

"DONALD ERASER."

" Success to the Gospel ship.

" NOAH SHAKESPEARE."

Mrs. Cook suggested that we should sing " Rock of
A.ges." After this was sung heartily by all present, Mr.
Cook offered prayer for the success of the boat, for God's
blessing upon the Missionaries and Missions, and for the
wrhole Church. The Spirit of God seemed to rest upon all.

On November 29th, 1884, she started on her trip north,
calling at Nanaimo. Here she was heartily welcomed by
several of the old friends of the Missionary, including the
minister in charge, the mayor of the city, the member of
the Local Legislature, and the recording steward of the
Circuit. To show their kind thoughtfulness, the two coal
mining companies, in addition to their subscriptions, gave
eleven tons of coal as a starter for the Gospel ship.

The Rev. E. Robson, then stationed at Nanaimo, says:
" We held a Godspeed meeting in our Church, when many
earnest prayers were offered for The Olad Tidings and
the noble band of Missionaries. On the morning of the
twenty-fourth anniversary of the organization of our first

331

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

native congregation in British Columbia, several of us
went on board with Brother Crosby, sang ' Precious Name/
and then commended the good steamer, her heroic com
mander, and all on board to the strong protection and
tender care of Him, 'Who rides upon the stormy skies
and calms the roaring seas/ ''

Our first trip was successful, although the weather was
stormy, as is usual at that season of the year.

With such help as The Glad Tidings gave, and such a
force of workers, our Missionary work was destined to
march on apace. The little ship was a great saving of
time in getting around that very large District, six hun
dred miles long, which, including the numerous islands
and the inlets, multiplied into six thousand. Here were
found in the native villages the majority of the thirty
thousand Indians of British Columbia.

In 1887, on our way to Conference during very stormy
weather, some of the tubes of our boiler gave out. This
caused us great delay, as we had to stop again and again
to put in new tubes or plug up defective ones. So late for
Conference were we that our friends, both in the Province
and in the East, became alarmed for our safety. The
General Secretary in Toronto wrote : " Much anxiety was
caused by a despatch from Victoria, B.C., published in
several papers, to the effect that the Mission steam-yacht,
The Glad Tidings, was nearly a week overdue, and it was
feared she was lost. A private telegram to the General
Secretary conveys the gratifying intelligence that the
vessel arrived safely at Victoria during Conference, after
a stormy passage."

For years she not only carried the Missionaries to their
work but helped to convey lumber, and thus assisted to
build about thirty Churches and Schools and Mission
Houses in distant places. She also assisted, by carrying

332

" THE GLAD TIDINGS "

lumber, in building at least twelve or fourteen villages.
On account of the cost at that time, the natives were prac
tically debarred from getting lumber. To take lumber to
Queen Charlotte Islands cost fifteen dollars a thousand;
but, after The Glad Tidings ran, it was carried for four
or five dollars. Before her cabins were put on deck, some
years later, she more than once carried ten thousand feet
of lumber to help build up the Mission on these Islands.
Along the Coast, she would carry twelve thousand feet in
safety to the different Mission stations.

In November, 1891, while carrying lumber to help build
Churches on the Queen Charlotte Islands, she met with
her first serious accident. We quote from The Missionary
Outlook:

"The following letter from the Rev. Thomas Crosby,
under date of Feb. 13th, 1892, gives some details of an
accident which befell The Glad Tidings during a heavy
gale in November last :

" ' The Glad Tidings has come to us again from Hartley
Bay, where she was detained all winter by a serious acci
dent she met with in November last. She was ready to
start for Queen Charlotte Islands with a load of lumber
and a teacher for Clue. While at anchor, a gale came up
and blew so strong that, although two anchors were down
and steam up, she drifted ashore; one anchor was lost,
and the other dragged. She struck a rock and broke a
hole in her side. Just then the wind calmed down, and
Mr. Oliver, having cut her anchor chain, steamed out
again, although she was filling with water, and ran her
ashore on the beach in a safer bay. The same night the
wind came up again as bad as ever, and there she lay on
the shore, battered and bruised by the high seas, amid
pebbles and boulders. If she had not been well built, she
must have gone to pieces. As it was, her keel was chafed

333

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

and bruised and one side of her planking very much
injured.

" ' When the weather became calm, Mr. Oliver got the
lumber out, hauled her into the little creek, patched hei
up and ran her to Simpson. She had been full of water,
hence the cement covering came off the boiler, the bunkers
went down, lockers burst out, doors and skylights were
broken, clock and weather glass lost, lamps and dishes
destroyed and charts completely ruined.

" c I think it will take from five to seven hundred dollars
to fix her up again. I have already spent a week at George
town mills, getting a place prepared for her. She will
need a new keel and some planks; and we shall have all
the ballast to take out and must put in some new
machinery. Indeed, she needs a great deal of fixing up/ J:

Blocks or ways were provided at Georgetown mills. For
weeks we worked away at her in very cold weather, put
on a new keel and almost a new bottom, the repairs
amounting to over six hundred dollars. By the kindness
of our noble Christian friends, the children of the Sab
bath Schools and others throughout the Dominion, we
had enough to pay the whole bill without a special grant
from the Society; and our little ship, free from debt, was
floated again on her mission of mercy and love to all the
tribes along the Coast.

During the summer of 1892, by the recommendation
of the British Columbia Conference, a new boiler was pui
in our little ship and she was also fitted up with new sails
Our friends, as usual, came to our help; donations were
sent in; and, by the aid of the General Society, cabin*
were built on deck. The Glad Tidings was now more com
modious and healthy for the Missionary in his long jour
neys, as he was suffering from asthma, supposed to have
been contracted by sleeping in the close cabin below decks

334

THE GLAD TIDINGS
Our first Mission Boat on the Pacific coast.

THE "THOMAS CROSBY"
Of the Waterways Mission, British Columbia.

" THE GLAD TIDINGS "

ind by often having to get up at midnight in a storm to
leave anchor or give her more chain.

More than once we felt she was a child of Providence.
When out in gales, or when she dragged anchor, or when
ifche anchor chain broke, still our Father was at the helm
and all was well. We believe in the maxim, " Trust in
Providence but keep your powder dry," and we always
tried to keep ropes and blocks, engines and boilers, and
in fact everything in good shape, and then trusted in
Providence.

" Clouds may lighten, lips may whiten,

Praying looks be dark with dread;
Sails may shiver, true hearts quiver

At death going overhead;
Yet, though winds and waters wrestle,

Masts may spring and bulwarks dip,
Safely rides the struggling vessel

While the Saviour'* in the ship."

335

'•< THE GLAD TIDINGS " AT WOEK.

"he West Coast of Vancouver Island — Business Principles-
Rev. C. M. Tate in Charge — Rev. B. C. Freeman's
Voyage — A Poetic Tribute — The
Revival of 1893.

22

" The Gospel Ship is onward sailing."

CHAPTER XXV.
" THE GLAD TIDINGS " AT WORK.

THE Mission ship went on with her noble work of carry
ing light to the people who sat in darkness, visiting native
villages and logging, mining and fishing camps, both on
the mainland and all around the west coast of Vancouver
Island. On our first trip on the West Coast, we trans
lated into the native language the little hymn, " Come to
Jesus," and the people sang it with great delight as we
spent day after day among them. As we moved from
tribe to tribe, hundreds for the first time began to lisp
the Saviour's name. In all our trips after that one, the
jboat was called the " Come-to- Jesus steam-boat " by those
jpoor people on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

There were many interesting and amusing incidents
which occurred in connection with the little craft in her
Christianizing and civilizing work. A waggish fellow at
one of the ports where we used to call, cried out, " Good
[(morning, Captain Crosby. I am told there are always
two things, sure, on The Glad Tidings. I said, " What
|are they?" "Porridge and prayers," he replied. True,
we did not have many dainties, as, on most occasions, we
had to do our own cooking in order to keep down expenses.
•At one time in building a small church at the canneries,
at the mouth of the Skeena, we had struggled and worked
hard all the forenoon in the rain, mud and storm, getting
the foundation laid upon the hillside, while the little ship
was at anchor in the bay. We got the foundation in its

339

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

place about eleven a.m., when friend Oliver, putting his
hands on his breast, said, " Oh, I do believe there is noth
ing left but the prayers."

There were some people always in trouble about us, and
afraid that we would run without being inspected pro
perly. This matter, however, was always strictly attended
to at the proper time. It was once reported that we were
running with a wooden cylinder-head; and some one said,
" Crosby is foolhardy and does not know or see danger."
We always assured our kind friends that we had no more
desire to die before our time than they had.

For two years, as the Chairman of the District, I was
appointed to " The Glad Tidings Mission," as the boat
and its work was called, and given a roving commission
as Superintendent on all the Coast. It was during this
time that the boat did most successful work; and Missions
went on apace on that Coast. She was employed convey
ing evangelistic workers, building Churches, and carrying
lumber to help build and improve villages. We travelled
altogether as much as nine thousand miles each year.

Not only was every tribe on the Coast visited, but also
many a logging, mining or fishing camp. Usually the
men seemed glad to meet us, and listened to the Word,
as these camps were in some cases far up the Coast, and
were seldom reached by any other means. Not only did
they receive us kindly and listen to the Gospel proclaimed
in the bunk-room, but were always glad to receive the
papers and magazines that we brought. Sometimes they
gave a collection towards the expenses of the boat. Had
our Mission ship been kept going in this relation, she
might long ere this have been instrumental in evangeliz
ing every tribe of Indians on that wonderful Coast; and
the Bread of Life might have been given to every camp
of miners and loggers within reach of tide water, between

340

" THE GLAD TIDINGS " AT WORK

Puget Sound and Alaska. However, for want of men and
money I had to go back and take again the Port Simpson
Mission.

It was our custom, on all occasions, in order to keep
down expenses, to pay our own board on the boat, after
working our passage. Some were not pleased with this
arrangement, and would have liked to have the boat carry
them and board them as well. While we were on our
journeys, as often as possible, we took freight for the
Missions, Schools and Missionaries. By this means and
by taking an occasional tow and by other work, the little
boat earned nearly half of her running expenses. I always
maintained that the boat must be run 011 business prin
ciples. We were careful, as far as possible, to keep all
her bills paid up.

When I, as Chairman, had to return to take care of the
Simpson Mission, it was thought to be too much for me
to run the boat, manage the District, and attend to such
a large Mission. The boat by this time had been deeded
over to the Church. The Conference arranged that the
Rev. C. M. Tate, living in Victoria, should take charge
of her and run her along the Coast and round the west
coast of Vancouver Island, and that I, as Chairman, should
have her once a year to visit the Simpson District.

This plan did not work long, and The Glad Tidings
was sent back to the care of her old Captain. Afterwards,
under the Chairman of the District, she was used for a
time by the Rev. W. H. Pierce in travelling up and down
the Coast with an evangelistic party, Mr. Oliver acting as
Captain. Good work was done, and the poor people on
the west coast of Vancouver Island as well as in other
places received visits and were helped towards the Light.

The Rev. B. C. Freeman, Missionary at Skidegate,
Q.C.I., also made a good trip down the Coast and round

341

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

Vancouver Island. We here give some extracts from a
report of his trip : " As our people were nearly all away
at the fishing at Skeena River, I volunteered to my Chair
man, the Rev. T. Crosby, under whose charge the boat is,
for evangelistic work on The Glad Tidings. By Saturday,
June 22nd, we were ready to start. Sunday was spent
on the Skeena, where the Indians congregate for salmon
fishing from many miles up the Coast and from far 'in
the Interior. At Port Essington, the Rev. GL H. Raley
and wife came aboard for their Mission at Kitamaat, and
the Rev. Thomas Neville for Rivers Inlet.

" We spent a week or more on the Upper Coast. On
Monday, July 1st, Miss Shellvey, teacher of the Mission
School at Bella Bella, came on board from Warnock for
Victoria. We had a good run across Queen Charlotte
Sound, taking in tow two fishing boats, which were
delayed by a light south-east wind.

" We dropped anchor off Nahwittie village, about two
p.m., and went on shore immediately. Here I had my
first experience with undaunted heathenism. The people
crowded outside through curiosity, and it was a motley
crowd, in paint, blankets and filth, that collected on one
of the little platforms such as they erected in front of
their dwellings, on which to sun themselves. Then began
a struggle for their attention. Our singing pleased them :
but, when I began to speak to them they interrupted me
with ' Stop talking and sing ! The singing is good. Hi !
Hi !' So, we must sing again, and promise them more
if they would listen a little. Finally we offered a prayer,
and promised to return in the evening.

" Near sunset we went on shore again, taking with us,
from one of the fishing boats, a man with a cornet. The
cornet gathered the people, and this time they gave us
better attention. I spoke and sang and besought until

342

« THE GLAD TIDINGS " AT WORK

my throat was completely played out. It was affecting to
see them squatted about, some of them moved to tears, but
none daring to take the radical step. When I asked them
why they would not turn to the Lord, one man with not
a handsome face, covered with brown and red paint, with
tears in his eyes, said, ' We do not know how.' Again, I
did my best to make the way plain. Many seemed deeply
convicted, but more can scarcely be hoped for, until a
teacher can be sent to them. The Chief of the tribe,
Ya-koot-las, a young man of rather prepossessing appear
ance and address, assured me of the earnest desire of his
people for a teacher.

" I have detailed our experience here at considerable
length, as we found similar conditions almost constantly
at the heathen villages at which we called throughout the
remainder of the trip.

" Our next call was at Fort Rupert, another village of
the same tribe. The fifty people at home gathered readily
at the call for service. Afterwards, a Chieftess stood up,
thanking us for our interest in them, and expressing their
desire for a resident teacher, that their children might not
remain in darkness.

" Pursuing our course down the east side of Vancouver
Island towards Victoria, we called at Salmon River, visited
another Indian camp, and in the evening reached a lum
ber camp in time for service with the forty-five hands
employed. Thursday evening we made Cape Mudge; and
were warmly welcomed by Brother and Sister Walker, who
have charge of the Mission here. On Friday we had hoped
to reach Nanaimo, but a heavy wind from the south-east
compelled us to seek shelter in False Bay, where we did
a little work among the ranchmen that afternoon. Next
morning we ran to Nanaimo and took on coal. On Sun
day morning I had service in an Indian village just outside

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UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

the town limits ; next, among the drunken sailors on board
a big collier ship, the Rufus Wood, and then went to my
appointment at the Indian Mission, which is under Brother
Cairns' charge. We steamed to Victoria on Monday,
where we were delayed nearly two weeks, caulking decks,
repairing machinery, and taking on freight, before we
were ready to proceed to the west coast.

" It was the morning of Friday, July 19th, when we
finally cleared from Victoria, taking with us the Rev. and
Mrs. C. M. Tate for Nitinat Mission. Next morning we
ran across the Strait to Cla-oose, a village of the Nitinat
tribe, then under the superintendency of Rev. Mr. Tate."

On Mr. Freeman's trip, continued up the west coast of
Vancouver Island, he visited Dodger's Cove; the Oiat vil
lages; Ucluelet; Clayoquot Sound; two villages of the
Kelsemaht tribes; a A-houssat village, where the Presby
terian Church has now a successful Mission; Nootka;
A-hatchat; Ky-u-quot; the Koskimos; and, rounding Cape
Scott, went back to Nahwittie, and then on to Simpson —
a total run of one thousand eight hundred miles — preach
ing the Gospel everywhere, and being everywhere wel
comed.

The Rev. James Calvert, who was for a time in our
Indian work, and a great friend of our Waterways Mission
work, contributes the following stanzas:

She's only a tiny vessel,

Only a modest yacht,
And, when upon the billows,

She seems nothing but a spot;

Yet she takes the Indian tidings

Of salvation, full and free;
And he loves her for the message

That gives him liberty.

344

" THE GLAD TIDINGS " AT WORK

And when, bowed in sweet devotion,

He calls upon his God,
One prayer goes up for the tiny craft

Upon the ocean broad.

God bless the sailing preachers,

God bless the gallant crew;
And may they, like their noble yacht,

Be staunch and trim and true.

We have often had most glorious and never-to-be-for
gotten seasons of grace on board The Glad Tidings, at
family worship and at other times. When making evan
gelistic trips, we have had as many as twenty-five or thirty
Christian Indians on board, and in the services there was
so much of the power of the Spirit that we had a real
shout of " A King in the camp," and souls were saved.

Here we give an account of one of those trips, reported
in the Onward, February, 1893 :

"Dear Dr. Witlirow, — Other duties have prevented, or
your readers should have heard from me before this as to
the revival that so stirred our people, the visits we made
last winter to other tribes, and the blessings that followed
us wherever we went. After our return from Naas, as I
told in my former letter, a band of fervent workers joined
me and we set off for a trip south. JThis was in the latter
part of January. Our first stopping place was at Inver
ness, where we had a good service ashore with the few
people we found there. Next morning, after taking on a
good supply of wood, we went up the Skeena River to
Essington, where we arrived shortly before noon. Here
we had a two hours' service of song, testimony and conse
cration. Brother Jennings and two of his men joined us
and we left at two p.m. with the ebb tide. At the mouth
of the river we met a strong south-east gale and, though
under full steam, we began to drift; we had to run for
shelter to a harbor where we anchored for the night. We
took on a supply of water and then gathered in the little

345

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

cabin for prayer and thanksgiving for such a safe retreat.
All through the journey, as many as were not actually
engaged in the work of the ship spent the time in prayer
and praise and Bible reading.

" Next morning, long before day, we were up and off,
and soon met some Indians in canoes. We took them on
board and had service with them. That night brought
us to Hartley Bay, where Brother George Edgar is in
charge. The wind was still high and the glass going down.
We remembered that it was here our little ship was driven
ashore several years ago, so, after landing Brother Jen
nings and the rest at the village to go on with the services,
James, our seaman, Fred, the engineer, and I took the
boat to a more sheltered anchorage some three miles away.
The gale continued; but, through it all, a large canoe
came the next day to take me to the village and James
and Fred were left with the boat.

" That night was a time never-to-be-forgotten. The
power of God came down and many souls were saved. I
explained to the people that we were on an evangelistic
tour and they might help us, if they wished, with wood,
food, etc. At the seven o'clock prayer meeting next morn
ing, they came with their offerings of fish, grease and sea
weed ; some money was collected and wood promised.

" At ten a.m. the boat came round and we all embarked,
Brother Eobinson and three others coming with us. We
made up the river forty miles to Kitamaat, where we
anchored just after dark. As the anchor went down, the
Church bell began to ring. Soon we were ashore and went
singing through the streets to the Church. This is a
village of some three hundred people. We had brought
with us Miss Shellvey, a teacher for the School, who was
heartily welcomed, especially by Mr. and Mrs. Anderson,
the Missionaries. Our first service was a time of blessed
consecration. This was Friday evening, and we remained
here over Sunday.

" After our early prayer meeting Saturday morning, a
losr was given us, which we cut up and put on board for
fuel, also a good supply of water for the boiler. In the
evening one of our native brethren preached. Sunday was
filled with services, of which the people never seemed to

346

" THE GLAD TIDINGS " AT WORK

tire, and house-to-house visitation. In the evening every
one in the house came to seek the Lord. It is safe to
say fifty were blessed. Some children and adults were
baptized.

" Monday morning we were off at 8.30. A large
canoe came in tow with us. This contained about twenty
Kitamaats, who wished to visit their friends encamped
on the shores, hunting, fishing and logging. We had
service on board during the morning and about noon
reached the first camp where we had service ashore lasting
about two hours. Five souls professed conversion. We
married a couple and then were off again. Before dark
we came to another large camp, where we anchored and
went ashore at once for a meeting. Later we held a second
service, when the people crowded into the largest house in
the camp. Six souls took a fresh start for the Kingdom.
Here we had to part with our Kitamaat friends who
wished to visit other camps off our route.

" Next morning we were off at 6.30. The weather had
now changed; it was clear, with a north wind, which was
in our favor, and we made good time. We called at two
logging camps on our way and souls were blessed at each
place.

" That night brought us to China Hat, where we had a
blessed service with Brother Gibson, the teacher, and the
few people whom we found at home. Some old men pro
fessed to find Jesus. In the morning we had an early
prayer meeting, got some food from the people and said
good-bye. It was growing very cold, and the wind and
sea were so high, that it was all the little ship could do to
weather it as we rounded one point, but Fred kept on
good steam and the pilot was at the helm, while the rest
were holding a prayer meeting in the cabin. Soon we were
in calm water again and, with our colors flying to the
cold, north wind, we reached Bella Bella. As we came
round to the wharf singing, 'Whosoever heareth,' many
of the people stood ready to receive and to welcome us.
Brother Hopkins, we found, had gone away to visit a
place sixty miles distant but returned next clay as they
could make no headway against the strong wind. It was
fortunate he did so as the gale increased and the cold was
intense. 347

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

"We were kept at Bella Bella five days by the storm,
and had to give up our intention of visiting Bella Coola,
Eivers Inlet, and the people farther south. Our stay was
most blessed and good work was done. One poor, sick
woman told us she had long been troubled in her mind
and all she could do was to cry about her sins; but, as she
lay on her bed and heard the people singing, light and joy
came into her poor heart. Oh, how happy she was ! Some
days later she passed away.

" Tuesday it was thought best to start for home as the
weather was so unfavorable. After getting some donations
of food, we set out at 10 a.m., the Bella Bellas joining
us in singing, ' God be with you till we meet again.' In
the afternoon we reached China Hat, where we expected
to get a supply of wood; but we found the bay frozen over
with no chance to anchor and so went on. We passed a
logging camp, where we called the men out with the
whistle, and had service with them on board. Then against
a strong head wind we made Swanson Bay at 9.30 p. m.

" Next morning we were off about eight o'clock, but the
wind blew so fiercely that we made little headway for
several hours. At a camp near Work Island, we took on
board Chief Morrison of Kitamaat who was sick and
wished to come to Port Simpson to Dr. Bolton for treat
ment. We also got a supply of venison. In the afternoon
of this day we had to cross Wright's Sound, at the mouth
of Douglas Channel, where it blew a terrible gale with a
very high sea. However, the little ship did well, although
every wave that struck her covered her with ice. We
reached Hartley Bay that night, where we took on wood.
We rejoiced to find the good work still going on; some
of the most hardened had been converted. Some old
people were married and baptized.

" Next day we were off early. Prayer and Bible Class
took up most of the day. At four o'clock in the afternoon
we reached Standard Cannery at the mouth of the Skeena
where Brother Jennings, who had been a great help to us
in the Bible services on the trip, left us, as the river was
so blocked with ice we could not go up to Essington, his
Mission. Finding no convenient stopping-place for the
night, we pushed on; and about three o'clock Thursday

348

"THE GLAD TIDINGS " AT WORK

morning reached our own beautiful Simpson harbor, where
there was no vestige of ice notwithstanding the intense
cold. Roused by our singing, several of the villagers joined
us and we came singing up to the Mission House, where a
short service of thanksgiving was held.

"We have lately had The Glad Tidings put in order,
and made a trip to Queen Charlotte Islands. We expect
in a few days to start south to visit the Missions and some
heathen places. May the blessed revival power spread!
Some of our friends have sent on donations to help carry
on this work. Oh, that we were able to reach every tribe !
" Yours truly,

" T. CROSBY."

Sometimes when we met canoes full of people, we invited
them aboard, banked our fires, and let the boat drift on
the route they were going while we had a service with
preaching, prayer and testimony until the whole company
had come over to the Lord's side. Our cook then gave them
coffee and biscuits, after which they boarded their canoe
and went on their way singing and rejoicing. By this
time steam was up, the boat was headed round and on we
went looking for the next chance to (< catch men."

349

ON BOARD "THE GLAD TIDINGS/7

A Dissatisfied Passenger — Yachting — A Change of Anchorage
—Anchors Lost — A Breakdown — The Estelle — Oka-
mato — Rev. W. H. Pierce in Charge — Delayed on
the Way to Conference — A Stormy Passage
to Cape Mudge — End of the Little
Steamship's Useful Career — Wil
liam Oliver's Sacrifices for
the Cause.

Row can they hear without a preacher?"

CHAPTER XXVI.
ON BOAED " THE GLAD TIDINGS."

SOMETIMES men would take advantage of The Glad
Tidings to try to save a penny. On one occasion a tender
foot preacher, just out from the East to the woolly West,
wished to save his fare from the seat of Conference at
Victoria to New Westminster. He asked me if I was
going to the Boyal City.

Said I, " I am booked for there on Sunday night next."

"Well/' said he, "may I go with you?" (He would
have to pay four dollars on the boat, and supposed he
could get over on The Glad Tidings free.)

I told him he could go if he wished, but he would have
to work his passage, as we carried no deadheads. He said
he would be willing to work.

As soon as the little ship was on the way, I got a good,
heavy, old axe, and told my brother to throw up some
cordwood out of the hold and split it up. At that time
our engineer used to think he could make better steam
with the wood split up fine. My stout-looking friend
stripped off his ministerial garb and started on his job.
He stewed and worked at some of those hard, pine knots
and almost spoiled his boiled shirt.

We arrived in the embryo city of Vancouver which,
about that time, had lost the old historic name " Gas-
town," named after poor old Gassy Jack, and was known
as Granville. As we came up to the town, my friend
came to me in the wheel-house.
23 353

UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

" Say," said he, " the town is on the wrong side of the
river.5'

" How do you make that out ?" said I.

" Why, I am sure," he said, " New Westminster is on
the left side of the river."

Of course my friend had mistaken the Inlet for the
Fraser Eiver.

" Well," I said, " this is Granville."

"What! Did you not say you were going to New
Westminster ?"

" Yes," said I, " that is where I am going ; but I did
not say the boat was not going to Granville; and, if you
wish, you can get to Westminster the same way as I do,
by paying the stage fare or walking the nine miles across.

" Ah," said he, " if I had known, I would have paid my
fare on the other boat."

Our friend found out that on the Mission ship all
hands had to work at something and it was not the besl
route to take to save money. Others have tried to corm
with us to save expense and, after a trip, did not wam
to come again, as they said it was too hard work, hoisting
anchor at four in the morning, splitting wood and cook
ing our own food. By the way, I have seen many j
good dish of soup made on The Glad Tidings. A po
would be put on and rice and vegetables all boiled togethei
It was often remarked that soup of that kind would las
three or four days by adding a little water to it. Ther
were some who were of the same opinion as the fellow
who wrote to a city paper, saying that Crosby and hi
friends were having a nice time "yachting it" on Th
Glad Tidings at the Missionary Society's expense; but :
they had made the trip, I think they would have foun
by experience, as our brother preacher did, that yachtiri
on The Glad Tidings was not all it was reported to be.

354

ON BOAED " THE GLAD TIDINGS "

From the first, The Glad Tidings was a child of Provi
dence. Her very hull was consecrated by prayer and she
went forth with Godspeed to evangelize the thousands of
Indians on the Coast. Had the Church heen alive to her
usefulness, she should not have ceased her mission of
mercy till every tribe had been uplifted and saved. There
have been complaints against the boat, as against all good
institutions. Some have said they never saw a soul saved
by her, or a village she had helped to lift up and civilize.
They were like the old trapper and miner, who said he
had never seen a good Indian in the country, although
he had been in it for twenty-five years. A Missionary
replied that he had never seen any gold nuggets although
he had been in the country quite a length of time.

" I guess," said the miner, " you never went where they
were, so how could you see them ?"

"Quite true," said the Missionary, "I suppose the
reason you have never seen any good Indians is because
you do not go where they are."

These croakers about the little ship had evidently never
gone to see the civilizing and soul-saving work that she
was doing. At one time I am told that when on the south
coast she took a noted preacher and his wife from Victoria,
to visit the salmon canneries on the Eraser Eiver. They
had been tossed on the Gulf of Georgia a little while in
a blow, and as they got into the calm waters at the mouth
of the river, it was suggested they should have morning
prayers on deck. While engaged in this solemn duty, the
ship ran ashore on a sandbar. The preacher, not yet
through his prayer, sprang up and made a bolt to see
what was the matter. In telling about this, his wife said,
" I never saw my husband quit his prayers so quick in my
life."

At the anchorage at Swanson Bay, a nice cove about

355

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

one hundred and fifty miles south of Simpson, we had
anchored one evening in what we thought was about seven
fathoms of water, giving the boat about fifteen fathoms
of chain so there would be room to swing. We went to
bed and slept. When we awoke next morning the boat
was around a little point in another bay, anchored in
thirteen fathoms of water.

I said, " Oliver, how did you get the boat round here ?"

He said, " The Lord brought her around here as we
were evidently in the wrong place. This is what is called
the North Corner, and by the chart we should have thir
teen fathoms of water."

Her anchor had caught at that. It would seem a strange
thing that the boat had drifted around there, but the
anchorages on that coast are very treacherous. You may
put your anchor down seven fathoms and think all is
well ; but, if the boat swings out with the tide and a little
breeze springs up from the land, causing her to pull on
the anchor, it may slip off a ledge into deep water and
then she is gone. This is likely what happened that night,
and the returning tide drifted her into the north cove
where the anchor caught. In stormy weather we lost
several anchors by having them caught in bad places.

On one trip south, we took Dr. Bolton and others as
far as Eivers Inlet. This was the time when, among other
things, we had a dish of the celebrated porcupine and
salmon soup, made by our professional cook, George
Robinson.

It was on this trip south, in 1893, when we reached
Seymour Narrows, that our circulating pump completely
broke down. We anchored in Plumper Bay, took a small
boat and made our way up to what was called McDougall's
logging camp, near Otter Cove, a little to the north, to
ascertain if there would be any tug boat that way soon.

356

ON BOARD "THE GLAD TIDINGS"

" Mac/' the boss, said he expected the tug-boat, Estelle,
from Nanaimo in a day or two. After a good visit at the
camp we went back to the steamer, spent our time in paint
ing and cleaning up generally, and of course earnestly
prayed for some relief to come as we were about ninety
miles from Nanaimo and the tides were too strong to try
to sail.

The morning the tug finally arrived, our mate, at
family prayers, pleaded as only Jimmy Taffendale could.
The last sentence in his prayer was, " Now, Lord, please
do send us relief to-day." We had hardly got up from
our knees when the whistle of the tug-steamer blew and
she was alongside of us in a few minutes. Captain Smith
of the tug said he expected to have gone south from
Nanaimo, and would have been away for four or five days
longer; but the wording of the telegram, that they got
in Nanaimo the day before, changed his whole course.
We had confidence to believe that it was in answer to
prayer that the message reached them thus, and brought
to our relief the tug a week or more sooner than she might
otherwise have come.

He took us in tow, drew us up to his boom of logs and
then started with us hitched to the stern of the boom
about a quarter of a mile from the tug. He ran on that
night through Seymour Narrows and anchored in Duncan
Bay, just south of the rapids, where it blew half a gale.
Indeed, it blew so hard that in the morning he thought
it best to cross the Channel and get into shelter in another
small harbor. It was now Friday, and the men com
menced to say that we should get into Nanaimo Sunday
afternoon, in time to hear a sermon Sunday night.

I said, " That will never do, as our little ship never
travels on Sunday, and we must get there before then."

The captain and men said, "That can't be; we have

357

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

never made it in less time and we have a larger boom of
logs than usual this time."

The captain started out on Friday with the tide, cross
ing from Cape Mudge to the mainland shore along which
he ran. In the evening he whistled. I took my small
boat and went up alongside of the tug. After a chat, I
said, " Now, Captain, give us all the speed you can ; get
us into Nanaimo before Sunday."

He said they would do the best they could, but didn't
see how it could be done. I told him I would go aboard
The Tidings and pray for him and his men. We kept
praying and believing God would give us a good run. The
weather was fine, the tide seemed to be in our favor for
a large part of the night, and a little breeze came down
from the west and helped to push us along. The boom
was so lively during part of the night, on account of the
breeze and the tide, that we thought the logs would jump
out. As we were behind them we could see the motion
of them all. We had very little sleep that night but a
good deal of prayer. Next morning we found we had
made a good run and were now crossing below the south
end of Texada Island, with the breeze from the west still
helping us. About sundown Captain Smith called me
again.

He said, " Now, Mr. Crosby, when we get opposite the
mill stream at Nanaimo, I shall toot my whistle twice and
you must let go your hold on the raft and drop your small
anchor; I will take the boom into the mill and then come
and take you alongside the wharf."

They pushed on and about eleven o'clock at night we
let go our small anchor. The Captain was soon back and
took us alongside the wharf at Nanaimo just before twelve
o'clock Saturday night. Praise His dear name !

The next day we had a blessed Sabbath. It was noised

358

ON BOARD "THE GLAD TIDINGS"

about the city that Crosby and his praying crowd,, on
board The Glad Tidings, had been towed behind a boom
of logs, and that, on account of their prayers, the Estelle
had made the quickest trip on record.

Monday I met Mr. Haslem, M.P.P., proprietor of the
tug. He also owned the sawmill at Nanaimo. I asked
him what the charges would be and he said, " Oh, noth
ing. We may have to call on you some day to help us in
a fix." We were very sorry to learn some time afterwards
that this beautiful steam-tug which had done us such good
service went down, with a new Captain and with all on
board, near Cape Mudge not far from where she came
to our rescue.

Our little ship was used in various ways during my
absence inland on the Skeena River. On one occasion,
she had been enlisted by the kindness of good Captain
Oliver, to help Mr.' Duncan, the successful Missionary of
Old Metlakatla, who, with his people, on account of his
serious trouble with the officials of his Church and the
Government, left our shores and moved to Port Chester,
Alaska. Oliver made several trips with them, taking as
many as sixty loaded canoes in tow at one time. Port
Chester, or New Metlakatla, is about sixty miles from
their old home.

On one of our trips down the Coast, in 1894, we visited
all the villages and had most blessed meetings. At Inver
ness, Essington, Claxton, Lowe Inlet, Hartley Bay, Kita-
maat, Kitlope, China Hat, Bella Bella, Nanaimo, War-
nock, and Upper Rivers Inlet we held successive services.
Here we met people of ten different tribes, working at the
salmon canneries, from places as much as two hundred
miles distant on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Brother W. H. Gibson, our lay Missionary, was rejoicing
over souls saved.

359

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

A lot of our people from China Hat were at Warnock,
a cannery nine miles down the Inlet. Having left The
Tidings at the head of the Inlet, we arrived at the can
nery early on Sabbath morning by canoe. Here we found
many of the people in prayer meeting and spent an hour
with them, when most of them spoke and prayed. From
there they went to an open air service, while I went to the
mess-room, where the good lady of the house gave me
breakfast.

She said, " This is not the first service those people have
had; they were in Church at four o'clock this morning."
This was the result of the blessed revival of 1893.

They then went around the place for open air preaching.
We had service again at eleven, and then left for the head
of the Inlet by canoe. I was told afterwards that the
Indians kept up the services very late that night.

At 2.30 p.m. we preached to crowds in the Chiefs house
at the head of the Inlet. This very house we had seen
used for potlatching, dancing and gambling; now the
power of God rested on the people as they listened to the
Word. We left the after meeting in the hands of Brother
Gibson and hurried off to preach to the white people in
the Church. The day closed with a blessed meeting on
the mill side of the Inlet when we were led to say " What
hath God wrought !"

The following Sunday we spent at Cape Mudge, having
visited Nahwittie, Fort Rupert and other places. We
found the Missionary, Mr. Walker, and his family all well.
We had a blessed time with the people, held a nice service
in English with the settlers and baptized one child.

Brother Okamato, a native Japanese Missionary who
was travelling with us, visited all the Japanese along the
Inlet and held a number of services. Two young Japanese,
who accompanied us on the trip, professed conversion

360

ON BOARD " THE GLAD TIDINGS "

before they left the ship. When we got to Nanaimo,
Brother Okamato and his fellow-countrymen left for Van
couver. A note from him says, " Now a large number of
my people are staying in this city, but no workers. The
harvest truly is plenteous but the laborers are few. I
think the Lord is with me, preaching Himself. I believe
that many sinners should be returned to merciful Father,
praise the Lord. Hoping you praying for me continually
and my people, Amen." That was the last time I met
Brother Okamato. He worked a while in Vancouver and
then left for Japan where he died. He was one of the
most polite men and one of the most devoted Christians
I ever met.

In 1895, Eev. W. H. Pierce was appointed to "The
Glad Tidings Mission," under my direction as Chairman
of the District, and made several trips. He says, " The
scenes witnessed round Cape Scott, Cape Cook and Cape
Beale " (on the west coast of Vancouver Island) " were
never to be forgotten. The heathen dances, potlatches and
debauchery were awful to behold. In some instances
nearly the whole village was under the influence of liquor.
At the time of my visit, they told us they had paid six
dollars a bottle for whisky. The poor creatures know
that they are hastening to destruction but are powerless
to save themselves and beg to have a Missionary sent to
help them out of their terrible condition. At Nootka
Sound, a village where we spent Sunday, sixteen men came
forward at the close of the evening service and said they
were all ready to walk in the New Way if a Missionary
could be sent to help them. During the round trip we
reached over three thousand heathen Indians and held one
hundred and sixteen religious services. Altogether we
visited thirty-two villages."

The Glad Tidings travelled about seven thousand miles

361

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

during the year with Brother Pierce and his evangelistic
party.

It was in the following spring that Mission ship, The
Glad Tidings, started for Conference, leaving some of the
Missionaries at Simpson to take the Coast boat. We left
on April 30th, and had on board Brothers Jennings,
Pierce, Robinson and myself, with two Indians to assist
Captain Oliver. Ensign Edgecombe of the Salvation
Army also joined us so that we might show him some of
the heathen villages of the Coast, maintaining that these
offered more suitable openings for Army effort than Port
Simpson or any of our Mission stations. This was done
because they wished to commence operations at Essington
and Port Simpson, which they afterwards did.

We made a good run to Open Bay at the mouth of
Rivers Inlet. With a falling glass and a heavy fresh
breeze from the south-east, early on Friday morning we
started out into Queen Charlotte Sound. We were forced
to anchor in Shelter Cove abreast of Egg Island. The
weather cleared about noon and the Captain thought we
would start; but, as the tide was going down when we
hoisted anchor, the keel of the boat caught in a sharp rock.
He backed her at full speed but could not get her off. The
ocean swell on the rocks soon wore a hole in the side of
the keel. When the tide came up, she filled but by
means of rope we got her towed into a little bay, and
rowed ten miles for materials for repairs. We got her
ashore; and, when the tide went down we patched her
with strips of blankets, using some boards which we got
from our table and bunks. This accident caused a delay
of four days.

During that time, in the middle of our first night
ashore, an incident occurred which caused no little excite
ment in camp. Our Salvation Army brother evidently

362

ON" BOARD " THE GLAD TIDINGS "

could not stand fire, for a scream which wakened everyone
told that he had got his toes too near the fire and burnt
them. When we looked out, there was the brother run
ning back to the woods and some of the other boys crying,

Fire ! Fire !"

Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas from Bella Coola were also with
us. Mrs. Nicholas proved to be a real good Samaritan
to the party for any time, night or day, when we were at
work, often wet up to our knees, she would be there with
a good drink of coffee for all hands.

Meanwhile the Barbara Boscowitz, a Coast boat, had
gone south. She arrived in Victoria Tuesday evening
after some rough weather. Now arose a rumor that the
little Mission ship with all on board was lost, as there
were no tidings of her. We were sorry to find that this
report had been wired to the East, causing a sorrowful
excitement among all our dear friends in that part of the
country. The excitement can be understood from the
telegraphic despatch by Dr. Sutherland, Missionary Secre
tary, inquiring from the Rev. S. Cleaver of Victoria as
to the truth of the report. He received the following
answer, " Urge the Dominion Government to send a search
party for The Glad Tidings; nine Missionaries; Govern
ment steamer, Quadra, not available; steamer must be
chartered." Dr. Sutherland telegraphed to Sir Mackenzie
Bowell, Premier of Canada, as follows : f( Glad Tidings left
Port Simpson for Victoria, B.C., with nine Missionaries
aboard ten days ago and has not been heard of since." We
were sorry to know that so many of our friends had been
caused pain and sorrow by this delay.

When we got down the Coast, some of us who took the
steamer Danube, a coaster, met the steamer Maude, which
Captain Irving had kindly sent out with a search party, in
the Gulf north of Nanaimo, or about ninety miles from
Victoria. 3*63

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

The Glad Tidings was taken down, new plank put into
her, and other repairs made. In about twelve years the
good little ship ran on her missionary work 78,041 miles.
She was never insured. In the fall of 1897 we had her
placed on the ways, a new keel, rudder and stem-post put
on and a lot of new planking done. She was newly calked
and painted, the shaft taken up and lined, and everything
put in good running order. On her next trip to the north
she made as good time as she had ever done. Her builder,
who saw her timbers when the plank was off, said that
they were all as sound as ever; hence the little craft might
be said to be in almost as good shape as ever and ready for
all work.

On one occasion we left Departure Bay, bound for the
north, having taken aboard ten tons of coal and some
twenty tons of freight. This made a pretty solid ballast
for the little ship. I was left with two Japanese as deck
hands, one of whom could speak a little English and the
other none. Captain Oliver had left us at Nanaimo as he
wished to make a trip to Clue, Q.C.I.

We had no sooner got out of the Bay than we put up
sail, as there was a light south-east breeze blowing. This
was a fair wind and we made straight for Cape Mudge.
The weather to the south-east looked threatening, and the
glass was going down which indicated wind. By the time
we got our coal in the bunkers and trimmed, the wind
had fanned up to a good, stiff breeze. Our mainsail lay
square over, and had to be braced back to save her from
jibing as we had taken in the foresail. The jib kept well
filled and this, with good steam, rushed us along at a fine
rate. We must have made between nine and ten knots.
Indeed, before we got our coal all trimmed, we had to
put some down between decks, as it did not seem wise to
leave much of anything on deck. The boat was now

364

ON BOARD " THE GLAD TIDINGS "

dancing on the waves, as she often did in a lively sea;
but as ropes and blocks, rudder bands and sails were all
strong and good, and engines and boiler were in perfect
trim, we felt perfectly safe in the hands of our loving
Father. We soon passed " The Sisters," which is said to
be half way; and it did not seem to be long till we were
off Comox and on towards the Cape.

By this time the breeze was a good stiff one. I kept the
wheel, while our English-speaking Japanese, who said he
was an old sailor, was getting used to things and under
direction making everything on deck fairly secure. The
other poor 'boy was pale and seemed almost helpless.

On we sped at a furious rate until we came to within
about ten miles of the Cape, where the tides meet from
north and south. We now lost our fair tide, which had
helped to keep the sea comparatively smooth; and, with
the tide rips, we were facing seas almost mountains high.
Things seemed to be going all right when, in a moment,
our small boat got loose from the davits. Our sailor
Japanese got round to it as quickly as possible. I had
to leave the wheel in charge of the seasick boy while the
sailor and I, just in the nick of time, got a rope round
our boat, had her over the wheelhouse and lashed to the
rail on the other side of the ship. The waves were now
washing the decks; had one of them caught the boat
another swing would have taken her overboard, davits and
all. I was back to the wheel again in a moment.

The way the mountain waves rolled over us beggars
description. We literally had to go through or under
them. We reefed our jib but kept our mainsail as full
as we could for I knew that with such a heavy tide run
ning against us we needed all the power of steam and sail
we could get. We bore well in under the Cape so as to
keep out of the tide and worked our way around until we

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

<rot inside. No mortal men were ever more pleased to get
into smooth water. It was just about dark,, and a heavy
rain pelted down on us. We made our way around into
Quathiaski Cove where we found the steamer Boscowitz
anchored. The crew hailed us to know where we had
come from. When we told them we had come from
Nanaimo, they said, " Can it be possible ?" They had
tried to get out three times but failed as the wind was
so heavy.

It was just to the south of Cape Mudge that the staunch
little steam-tug Standard went down. She was on h,er
way north to the Skeena River cannery, laden with freight.
Only one man, Murray, was saved, by clinging to a door
which had broken adrift from the sinking ship. He was
found in an exhausted condition on the beach next morn
ing. This was about 1892.

It was in crossing these waters near the Cape that the
fine, staunch, little tug-boat, Estelle, which came to our
help at Seymour Narrows and towed us to Nanaimo, was
lost. Poor McDougall, at whose logging camp I had
preached some time before, was one of the missing ones.

This spot, Cape Mudge, was not only noted for its
stormy water, but for its fierce and bloodthirsty men.
The Cape Mudge, or Yuk-wil-toe, people lived there. The
people of the whole northern Coast, after they got through
Yuk-wil-toe Narrows or past Cape Mudge, felt themselves
comparatively safe as they had passed what they called
the " death-hole."

It was near Cape Mudge in 1861 that a number of
Hydas, followed by the gunboat Forward, turned to fight
the gun vessel. The Yuk-wil-toes joined the Hydas, not
for any love they had for them, but perhaps because they
thought there would be some booty. However, a few
shells, belched out from the war vessel among their canoes

366

ON BOARD « THE GLAD TIDINGS '

and into their camp, made them ready to hoist the white
flag and glad to stop fighting.

In the spring of 1906,, Rev. B. C. Freeman, then sta
tioned at Port Simpson, wrote : " The Mission yacht,
The Glad Tidings, launched in 1884, was finally aban
doned as a wreck three years ago in Shusharty Bay, where,
little more than a year ago, I saw her hull lying rotting
on the beach. My eyes swam as I thought of all that she
had been to the work which is dear to us; of how many
times she had gone up and down that coast carrying hope
and cheer and news from the outside world to workers
on isolated Missions; of how we had felt in the early
years of our work at Skidegate, when, after months of
lonely and disheartening effort, we heard the Indians
wildly shouting ( Steamboat P and, best of all, when The
Glad Tidings loomed around the point and noiselessly
dropped her anchor in the Bay. Here at last had come
sympathy and help, brotherly hand grasps and warm
hearts.

"What light and life literally she had carried to the
benighted towns and villages ! How often had that cabin
rung with praise and thanksgiving as Mr. Crosby, with
a band of devoted converts, travelled hither and thither,
daring the winter storms of the Pacific in the little
seventy-foot craft, enduring hardships as a good soldier
of Jesus Christ, bringing healing to the bodies and souls
of the nations, till at last his rugged frame broke under
the strain. To eke out the small grant from the Mission
ary Society and the uncertain income from personal sub
scription, it had been necessary to run the boat as
economically as possible. Porridge and prayers were said
to be the bill-of-fare. When good Captain Oliver, who
built the boat out of love to God, and ran her out of love
to humanity, had been working hard all the morning at

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UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

needed repairs, he turned suddenly to Mr. Crosby, and
putting his hand suggestively on his vest, said, ' I think
it is about time for prayers.' But they were such prayers
as reached the heart of the Engineer Jimmy, and led many
another to remember the little stuffy cabin as the Bethel
of his spiritual life.

" Now she lay on the beach, left high and dry by the
tide in this sheltered bay like one ignobly cast aside. She
had not gone down in the stress of the tempest. Her
enemies had said she was not seaworthy — though as
staunch a craft of her size as ever ploughed the deep, for
Oliver wrought with his heart in the building of her.
She had traversed the boisterous Hecate Strait many a
time, had faced the Naas wind when the mail steamers
hesitated, and had repeatedly braved the winter storms, as
when, in the winter of 1893, she spread the influence of
the great revival of the north all up and down the Coast.

" Again and again had she gone around Vancouver
Island to the benighted tribes on the west coast, daring
the tempests of Cape Flattery, and rounding Cape Cook
and Cape Scott safely, alike in winter and summer, for,
as the Indians said, God wa,s with her. She had been a
terror to evildoers, checking the whisky traffic on the
Coast, where it lingered in out-of-the-way places not
visited by the other boats. Now she lay here on her side,
bleaching in the sun and the rain, where not a sea big
enough to break up her rotting timbers could come into
the land-locked harbor."

This is the sorrowful account of the loss and abandonment
of our little Missionary steamship, which had done us such
good service in the more rapid carrying of the message of
salvation to the thousands whom she enabled us to visit on
that stormy north-west coast. Our old comrade, Captain
William Oliver, felt the loss of the vessel as keenly as our-

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ON BOARD « THE GLAD TIDINGS "

selves. To work with her and to assist in her grand object
had been the pursuit of his life since the day of her launch
ing. When it was evident that all this had now come to
an end, he at once determined that a new boat should be
procured to take the place of the old one. What did the
devoted man do ? With his own money he had a new vessel
built, under his direction, on his own original model, and,
christening her Tlie Udal, he set out once more on the
great work so dear to his heart of carrying the mission
aries of the Cross on their Gospel errands along the Coast.
This was in 1908. By a sudden most deplorable and
unforeseen accident, after she had been in commission
only about a year, she ran upon a reef and sank in forty
fathoms of water. This was his own personal loss; and
to this very serious loss was added the grief of a second
great disappointment. But the good man was not defeated.
The British Columbia Conference bought a new small
boat, the Homespun, for this evangelizing work upon the
Coast, and Captain Oliver was put in command. Now
the third boat, The Thomas Crosby, has taken the place
of the Homespun. This splendid, seaworthy • vessel, built
to stand the roughest seas, enables our workers to carry the
Gospel message everywhere on the Coast. We do not hesi
tate to describe the devotion and self-denial of this man
as its most remarkable character deserves. At the recent
General Conference in Victoria, the Rev. Dr. White,- Sup
erintendent of Missions on the Pacific Coast, in introduc
ing him to the Conference, referred to him as the only
one whom he had known since the act of the poor widow
with her two mites who had actually given up his whole
living for the promotion of God's work in the hearts of his
fellow countrymen. We can only pray that he may be
spared for many years to the work which has been and is
the delight of his life.

24

INDIAN CHARACTEES AND TRIUMPHANT
DEATHS.

Weeske-sha-nates — Lucy Olth — Neas-now-ah — Sick-sake — Naas
River Indians — Mee-deekes — Su-daltih.

"Therefore are they before the throne of God."-
Revelation.

CHAPTER XXVII.

INDIAN CHARACTERS AND TRIUMPHANT
DEATHS.

AT Simpson lived Adam or " Weeske-sha-nates." He
was well up in years when the Gospel came. As a heathen,
lie had always been one of the most active and daring, a
leader in the dances and a great singer of the heathen
songs. He seemed to delight in the various rites, and
painted in the most fantastic way. When he became a
Christian, he showed the same earnest zeal. He was one
of the first converts and his religion was of a practical
kind. His happy experiences and earnest prayers were a
blessing to hear.

He was always ready for any good work. For several
months in the summer he used to go to Kinneemush about
twenty miles from home to a salmon fishing camp, where
he had a small garden. A number of people camped there,
and some would also come from the heathen villages along
the Naas to catch and dry salmon. It seemed to be Adam's
work to shepherd this little flock every summer. We found
one season that he had kept the service going three times
every Sunday for thirteen weeks. During most of the time
he preached from the same text and they said he had some
thing new to tell them every time.

Adam loved his Bible ; and conscientiously gave a tenth
to God's cause. By faithful study, this old man became
well acquainted with parts of Bible history, and especially
with the life and sayings of Jesus. He was among the
first to take down his heathen house and fit up his home

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

after a civilized fashion; but he used the largest room for
class and prayer meeting and held it sacredly for that pur
pose, while he and his wife managed to keep themselves
comfortable as best they could in the rest.

Between the afternoon and evening services on Sundays,
he loved to gather around him a few old and ailing people,
who had been unable to reach the Church, and explain to
them the text and as much of the morning sermon as he
could remember.

In the winter of 1881 he began to fail, but not until
about six weeks before he died would he give up his work.
A cold fastened on him and he could not get out. When
the Missionary and his wife visited him, he told them from
the first that he thought his work was done. All he
regretted was that he had not heard of Jesus sooner, that
he might have had a longer time to work for Him. He
would sometimes say, " My body is very weak but my
heart is strong; don't think, my friends, that my heart
is weak." To the last he would ask on Sundays for the
precious text of God's Word and with his trembling fingers
would trace it out until he had learned it.

The end drew near and he was still joyful in the Lord. )
It was Sabbath morning, the church bell was ringing for I
morning service and the people were making their way to!
worship in God's house, as Adam's redeemed spirit was
sweeping through the gates of the New Jerusalem. Thus
passed away one dearly beloved by all. " The end of that
man is peace."

Lucy Olth was a niece of old " Mee-deeks," the song
maker, and she had, as a child, lived long in the dark.
She was one of the first to be baptized and to join the
Mission. She was a quiet, inoffensive, good creature, and
often ready, as she saw her uncle do, to go with the Mis
sionary to carry the word to others. One of the last trips

374

INDIAN CHARACTERS

she made was to the Naas River to the heathen villages,
to tell of God's grace and the wondrous revival we had in
1892. We had to travel on the ice about fifteen miles
with a large party. We called at all the camps on the way
and preached, prayed and sang with the people. Our trip,
however, was a very difficult and stormy one, as we had
to row and walk and wade through deep water by turns.
We pressed on, however, through slush and snow and rain,
sometimes up steep elevations and sometimes down deep
ravines. Everywhere we met with kind help from the
people visited, who did all they could to assist us; and we
preached Christ's Gospel to them at every point.

On our journey we came to where the water from an
overflowing mountain tributary covered the ice on the
river for about a mile. The leaders marched right through
this water, some of them nearly up to their waists. Poor
Lucy and the other sisters of the party managed to get
through as best they could. When we came to the bank
of the river lower down, we met a large heathen party
going up, and some of our young men went out on the
ice to meet them. They had a large canoe in their party
and thus could make their way over the ice. The next
sight that presented itself to our view was the heathen
party bowed by the side of the canoe in reverence while
the Christian young men were leading in prayer. The rest
of the evangelistic company were with the Missionary on
the shore, where we all engaged in earnest prayer for the
salvation of the poor heathen people on the ice.

After we got home, poor Lucy had a cold, which seemed
to fasten upon her ; the next year she was obliged to remain
in her house instead of going to the religious services she
seemed so much to enjoy. As the fall wore away and
Christmas drew near, it was a most precious thing to visit
the home of Lucy Ward. All who came to her bedside

375

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

testified that it was a place which seemed near to the gates
of Heaven; and, as Lucy bade us good-bye and urged all
her people to meet her in Heaven, she passed sweetly away,
giving a glorious testimony to the grace of God which had
kept her in His love and favor all these years.

Neas-now-ah was a young chief of the Kil-oo-tsaue tribe
of the Tsimpshean people. The Chief in line, or Chief-
ess, was a woman, as there was no male at that time to
take the place; but Neas-now-ah came second in order of
heredity. When a boy, he was initiated into all the rites
and ceremonies of paganism and well-drilled, according
to the custom of a Chief of his tribe, in all their secrets.
We are told that, a little while before the Mission com
menced, he, with his whole tribe of young warriors, was
fighting with the Kit-an-dock tribe on the Queen Charlotte
Islands. From the first, we saw in him a promising, young
man who showed a desire to attend the services and a lean
ing towards Christianity. However, being a Chief, he
had much pride to contend with, and he had married a
wife from a heathen village. They had several children.

When he became a Christian and was baptized as Moses
McDonald, he often assisted the Missionary with counsel
and advice, and made speeches and addresses, generally
wise and on the right side. On one occasion when the
Missionary left to visit Ontario, he with some others of
the Chiefs and people met to send their words to the
Christians in the East. Moses said : " I wish to tell the
people how happy I am; how I thank God for the light
that has come to Fort Simpson. It looks like this to me, —
There are two mountains, one little one and one big one.
Not much sun on the little one, for it is hidden from the
sun by the big one, but not much snow on the big one, for
the sun takes it all away. That seems like us. A long
time ago it was very dark and cold but now see what God

376

INDIAN CHARACTERS

has done. It seems to me all light now; all the frost and
darkness are going; and oh, how I do thank God that He
has sent us a good Missionary here! You see a young
tree always bends with the wind ; but lie is like a big tree,
he never bends, he never changes. I send my warm heart
to all our friends in the East, who sent us the Missionary
with the blessed Light."

Moses, like some of the other Chiefs, had a struggle
with his pride in connection with their great feasts; but
he left a dying testimony that his peace was made with
God. Nearly all the villagers turned out to follow him to
his last resting place, showing the great respect in which
he was held by all.

Sick-sake was a noble Chief of the Kit-wil-gotes tribe
of the Tsimpshean nation. He was a fine man, naturally
of good disposition. He was always ready to entertain
strangers and hence, for years before the Mission was
started, his large house was the home for visiting tribes.
For some time before the Church was completed, he gave
up his large heathen house for use as a place of worship.
He had a great and good influence over the young people
and, when the organization of the young men into a Fire
Company was started, Chief Sick-sake was one of their
first leaders.

He was the Chief who, on one occasion when the whole
village was in great trouble and excitement as to the safety
of the Missionary and his party, they having gone on a
Missionary tour, took his large war canoe and twenty-one
young men, and started away in the face of a terrific
storm up the Portland Channel. They bravely battled
with the waves until they found the Missionary and his
suffering party, and gave them the food and other good
things that had been collected by the Christian people the
night before.

377

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

This was the Chief who was chosen to accompany Mr.
Williams of the Hudson's Bay Company on his fatal tour
of inspection when all but one were lost off the Queen
Charlotte Islands. It is said that, after they all sang and
prayed in the terrible storm, poor Sick-sake, who had been
hanging to one of the broken slabs of the canoe, slipped
off into the great eternity. While the report of the dread
ful catastrophe caused great sorrow throughout the entire
village, no one ever doubted for a moment the safety of
our brother, who we believe went home to the better land.

A Missionary on the Naas says, " Eleven have been
called away by death but our loss is their gain for they
all left a blessed testimony behind them that they loved
Jesus. He was their support in death, and they have gone
to be forever with the Lord."

One young man, who stayed a short while in our village
and learned about Jesus, while going home with his par
ents was taken sick in a heathen village. Against his wish,
the father called in the old medicine man who doubtless
hastened the poor boy's death. He died in their midst,
saying, " Father, forgive me and wash my sins away in
Christ's precious blood," and so his ransomed spirit passed
from that dark village to a mansion in the skies.

An aged woman died very happy in Jesus. On her
death bed she saw what appeared to be four white women.,
who had come to carry her to her son on the other side of
the river. This little son had died when very young. It
was quite a trial for her at first to leave her seven chil
dren, but grace was given and she said, " Jesus will take
care of my children," and passed away, speaking sweetly
of Heaven.

About two weeks later a poor old woman, Susan McKay,
died rejoicing that she was going to be with Christ where

378

INDIAN CHARACTERS

there would be no more pain or trouble. Just as she was
passing away, she said, " Oh, Jesus, take my hand."

A poor old woman, feeling ill, wished to take a steam
bath. This is a favorite remedy with the Indians and is
made by digging a pit in the ground on a hillside. The
place is completely covered with brush, earth and blankets.
Stones are heated and put on the floor and the steaming
process begins, the woman herself having been covered
with wet blankets and placed over the hot stones. The
entrance is closed from without. The woman should have
remained there about fifteen minutes, but her husband, a
poor deaf old man, entirely forgot her. The neighbors
heard her screams but of course supposed her husband was
with her. When the old man, remembering, went to her
release, she was literally cooked, the flesh falling from her
bones. She lived only a few minutes but during that time
prayed to God to forgive her sins and to receive her spirit.

Another case on the Naas was that of Martha Wesley,
who had been a Christian for some time and died in great
peace. She partook of the Lord's Supper the night before
and was very happy, saying, " Yes, the blood, the precious
blood of Jesus washes all my sins away ; I am saved by the
blood " ; and passed triumphantly to the land of light.

An old man, Jacob, the father of James MacLellan, our
native teacher, passed away simply trusting in Jesus.
Some people profess to believe that the Gospel may save
the young but is useless for the very old. These cases
overthrow that theory.

In the first week of the year 1887, the mother of Moses
McKay died in great peace. She had asked us to take
care of her little boy and teach him about Jesus.

Abraham Lincoln, one of our local preachers, died very
happy. He prayed aloud before he died, " Oh, Lord, Thou
art the Way of Life, and Thou wilt lead me through death.

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UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

I have been very bad but Thy mercy has reached me.
Where I am going, I know; I see the place where I shall
be at thy right hand, my Saviour."

Jessie Calder, daughter of Queen " Long-arm," a girl
about seventeen years of age, had been at our Mission
about nine years. She had attended the day and Sunday
School; and had given her heart to God. She was very
ievoted and attentive to all the services. She died trust
ing in Jesus. Her death caused great grief, not only to
her own family but to many people along the river. She
sntreated her father and mother not to weep, saying, " I
shall not be lost to you; I know you will come to me in
heaven; I shall be with my Saviour." Then it seemed as
if God opened the other world to her view, for she called
the names of Christians long dead, and said, " I see them."

Among the remarkable characters developed during our
work on the North Coast was Me-dee-kes, a native Tsimp-
shean, one of the Gin-aham-geak tribe at Port Simpson.
He was one of the fruits of the first great revival, and was
truly converted at the age of about seventy years. Although
he was thought too old to get much book learning, yet
tie had a great deal of native shrewdness and sagacity and
tvas very highly respected by all the people. He was one
3f the men next in order to the Chiefs, and, although he
had been brought up a heathen in all particulars, yet he
had great esteem for those in authority, and was always
very respectful to the Missionary or teachers. He was
truly a peacemaker, and enjoyed some of its blessedness.

For an old man he was a fine singer. The people had
called him their great singer. He used to set some of the
songs for their dances in heathen times. He was a large
man physically and had a good deal of life in his nature.
We asked him once how the Indians got their songs long

380

INDIAN CHARACTERS

" Oh," said lie, " some got them in their dreams, but
mostly we got them from things around us. We would
get a song from the whistling of the trees when the wind
was blowing, from the rippling of the stream upon the
mountain sides or from the roaring, dashing waves on the
great, salt seashore, from the great storm or tempest or
from the singing of birds and the voices of different kinds
of animals. There is song in everything."

We have seen this large man get very happy until his
big face would literally shine.

In special services or our Christmas and New Year's
week of prayer, we used a number of hymns that the
people knew well in English as well as those in their
own tongue. The young people were inclined to get
the new tunes. Me-dee-kes said, " Don't be in a hurry
to get new pieces : let us get the old ones fixed in our
hearts. I like 'Jesus the Water of Life/ and 'There's
a Land that is Fairer than Day.' ):

He often accompanied the Missionary on trips to other
tribes and was a great help to the young men on such
occasions. He would talk to them for hours by the camp-
fire, telling of the old wars and the terrible trips they
made to the far south to capture slaves. Then he would
recount the war with the Hyda people of more recent
years and the troubles they had with the Tlinkets far
away in Alaska. On one occasion we ran sixty miles in
a large canoe in a terrible storm. The young men said,
" We have Me-dee-kes with us and he is such a wise cap
tain." There was no fear, although the waves dashed
over us at times with great force.

On an evangelistic trip up the Naas River, with about
forty people, we found him a great help, and the wise,
kind, earnest way in which he talked to the Naas Chiefs
and leading men was a great blessing to them all and the

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UP AND DOWN THE NOKTH PACIFIC COAST

means of leading some into the New Way. Our trip was
i very successful one; but on our return we got into a
^reat storm at the mouth of the river. It was not thought
safe to pass a certain point and so we camped for the night.
We had blessed services in the camp, but there were some
}f the young people who were inclined to complain.
Me-dee-kes contrasted our present mission with the ter
rible trips that he and others had to take when he was
i young man, when they were all heathen. He told about
;rips of war and bloodshed when sometimes they were
successful and at other times lost greatly in numbers and
3restige. This kind of talk made them feel more thankful
:hat the Gospel light had come.

When Me-dee-kes, with a number of others, received
Christian baptism, he asked that he might have the name
)f one of the great Chiefs of the Methodist Church, who
lad been instrumental in sending the Gospel to his people.
Flie name of Enoch Wood was given to him, the name of
:he then Missionary Secretary of the Church. This pleased
rim much. As the people had often spoken about this
iged servant of God the Indians had gone so far as to
lave a letter of appreciation written to the great man
vho had looked after the Missionaries so long.

During many years of humble walking in the New Way,
le was among those who often stayed after the morning
;ervice to commit the text to memory. Me-dee-kes would fre
quently come to the Mission House to sit and ask questions
ind would give us some very important information in
•egard to the life of the Indians when they were all heathen.
J.e often spoke of the kindness of the good Christian white
)eople in sending them a Missionary. Indeed, he, like
nany others, used to act as if the Mission House were a
lome to him. As years passed on he complained of being
11 and was a little lame from inflammatory rheumatism

888

INDIAN CHAEACTEES

'n his feet and legs. Notwithstanding this, he delighted
to be in the house of God and especially at prayer services.

His lot was not, like some others, to linger long on a
bed of sickness. One day we were called very suddenly
>y a messenger who said, " Enoch Wood, Me-dee-kes, is
dying. Come quickly." We ran with all haste to his house
and had just time, as we knelt by his side, to hear him say,
nodding his head, " All is well ; Jesus is with me. Take
care of my poor wife. Speak stronsr words to my sons
and nephews. Good-bye, sir"; and this humble, devoted,
old Christian was gone to be " forever with the Lord."
The whole village was in sorrow at his sudden death which,
[ think, must have been due to heart failure. We had no
doctor, and it was at such times that we longed to have

Medical Missionary. At the great funeral, for nearly
;he whole village turned out, a special translation of the
lymn, " I love to think of the Heavenly Land," was sung
jy hundreds of people on their way to the cemetery and
at the close of the service was repeated around the grave.

The name Su-dalth, which means " New Woman," was
very nroperly applied to the vigorous and talented Chief-
ess whose official name was " Neas-tle-meague." In that
day, among many of the northern tribes, a woman was
usually looked upon as a slave. Sometimes, however,
when the male successors to a Chiefship had died out, a
woman was called upon to take the place. So it was
with the subject of this sketch. She was a strong, deter
mined character. In the wars of earlier times she was a
aerson of considerable influence. After she was converted,
she was generally very calm, dignified and deliberate, and
was often a great help to the Missionary in counsel and
advice among the people.

We were told that a little while before our Mission was
opened at Port Simpson. slip and her tribe were fighting

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UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

with a tribe on the Island across the bay. The bullets
were coming rather fast, which made things a little warm.
Some of the men ran into the house and were met by this
woman Chief dressed in her blanket trimmed with pearl
buttons, her face all painted up red and black, her long
hair hanging down her back, and her scalping knife in
hand. Flourishing her knife she shouted, " Get out, you
frightened dogs, and fight, or I'll make you go."

She had no children of her own but adopted several
to whom she was very motherly and kind-hearted. She
had several slaves and soon after the mission commenced,
one of them was drowned ; for a long time she was very
sad about it.

After her reception of Christianity, she was a faithful
attendant on the preaching of the "Word and prayer and
class meetings. A class met in her house for a number
of years. It was she who sheltered the devoted Okamato.
the Japanese evangelist, in his service to his fellow-coun
trymen. As the Mission work went on, she, like others,
became very much interested in the wellbeing of the
heathen tribes around and urged the young people off on
trips with the Missionary to carry the Gospel to distant
places.

On one occasion, when nearly everybody was away from
home fishing at the Naas River, a rare occurrence for those
days happened. A strange minister visited Simpson. We
were desirous to take a trip with him to the Naas, and
we called on Neas-tle-meague to have her advice as to
how to get a crew. She said that she would be Captain.
She got a lame man and several young boys and off we
started. She steered the canoe like a brave through the
rough waters and we got safely to Naas although we had
to camp in the snow one night, and more than once got
well drenched with the waves. Her influence in the several

384

INDIAN CHARACTERS

religious services held for some days among four thousand
people camped on that river was a great blessing; and the
simple story of her conversion, told to the crowds who
heard her, was also a blessing to many. It was on that
memorable occasion that the Rev. Mr. Russ baptized Chief
Mountain. Brother Russ and others never forgot that trip.

Often when we were leaving on a Missionary tour,
Neas-tle-meague with a crowd of people would be on the
beach. After the singing of a hymn, " Whosoever heareth,"
or the like, and the offering of prayer for our safety, her
voice would be heard above the rest counselling the crew
to be wise and cautious in crossing dangerous places, and
to be kind to the Missionary. She would then add,
" Sumoigetgelahug lemone sum," meaning, " God will
take care of you and help you." After being away for
weeks, we often found her the first one on the beach to
greet us with a warm welcome, and she would join with
others on such occasions in singing, ee Praise God from
Whom all Blessings Flow."

It was more especially at times when domestic difficul
ties arose in the village that " Victoria Yonge " (which
was her Christian name) proved a great help. Her good
sensible advice was like the casting of oil on troubled
waters. Being a woman she did not always sit in council,
although, on account of being a Chief, she was often
requested to do so. Whenever she knew that there was
likely to be a tie vote on any important question, she would
be there; and, after nearly all the men had spoken, she
would speak in her dignified way. She was always listened
to with great attention by all as her voice rang out a note
of warning to those whom she thought to be wrong. She
earnestly pleaded that they would listen to the advice of
a woman, although she being a woman did not stand for
much, and let their decisions be for truth and right.
25 385

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

We have already said that she was fond of children. She
was always very much delighted to be at the Christmas
tree gatherings of the Sunday School children and it was
a pleasure to listen to her good, motherly advice to them
and the kind encouragement she gave to the Missionary
and the teachers. More than once, to encourage the chil
dren, she marched with them in their Band of Hope pro
cessions on New Year's Day. She was usually very kind
to the sick and poor, indeed the poorest slave would be a
welcome guest at her house, especially if sick or in need.
For some years she was at the head of a visiting commit
tee whose duty it was to find out all the sick and poor,
especially in the winter, and carry them food and such
things as they needed from the Mission House supplies
and a poor fund provided by the people.

She was generally glad, when she had the means, to help
in any benevolent object. When our first church was
built, as she had no money, her donation was a musket
and some furs; and, as the years passed by, she generally
gave something to the Missionary cause and other Church
collections.

On a number of times, she with other leading people
addressed large congregations at our missionary meetings.
The last one she attended is thus described by the Rev.
Ebenezer Robson, then Chairman of the Simpson District
and Superintendent of the Missions: "We had a very
good Missionary meeting. The speakers on the platform
were two leading Indian men, Victoria Yonge, Dr. Bolton
and myself. As the meeting went on, Victoria was called
to speak. She sat still in her chair and commenced her
address in a most quiet, easy, dignified manner. She went
on to say, 'How thankful we should be that the Gospel
has come to us ! It has wrought a great change in our
homes and lives. We used to be at war and in trouble;

386

INDIAN CHARACTERS

now we live in peace. But there were some things that
we had in olden times that I would like the young to know.
In the old days, the young people always paid great respect
to the old people and to those that were in authority.
Since our young people have gone among the whites so
much, some of them have become rough and careless and
are not nearly so respectful to the Chiefs and their Mis
sionaries as they should be. Now we are at the Missionary
meeting. I hope that all will unite in helping the Society
all they can. Now come on, all you strong, young people,
you who say you are so good. You have been earning lots
of money;' and, pulling out a piece of paper wrapped up
tightly, she laid it on the little table by her and said,
' Here is my ten cents. I want to help the Missionary
Society all I can/ She continued to urge the congregation
to give what they could to help spread the Gospel in return
for the blessings that they had received through the Mis
sionary Society. Shortly after, Dr. Bolton spread out the
little paper on the table and found that it was ten dollars,
the giving of which must have involved a great sacrifice
on her part, for she was very poor at that time. Before
the next Missionary meeting came round, she had gone
home to be forever with the Lord."

The Rev. S. S. Osterhout, referring to her death, says,
" Several adults have died, all of whom left bright testi
monies of divine- presence with clear and certain hope of
heaven. Victoria Yonge, a Chief ess of considerable dis
tinction and influence, who gave to the Missionary fund
last year the sum of ten dollars, was among the number.
We are certain that to-day she does not regret that she
erected this beautiful little monument to her faith in
Christ and love for the Church which led her from the
thraldom of heathenism into the liberty of the Gospel."

Oh, the thought of meeting such a trophy of grace in

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UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

the land of light and glory ! She always made one so
welcome at her home here. When she lived in her old
heathen house, she seemed like a queen in her palace; and
when she had a comfortable Christian home, she was so
gentle and polite, always offering her hest. What a wel
come she will give us when we reach the House of Many
Mansions !

388

A SUMMAKY OF KESULTS.

Prominent Visitors— Dr. Carman on the Work at Simpson-
Professor Odium's Testimony — Farewell
to Simpson.

"And when fhey were come, and had gathered the
church together, they rehearsed all that God had done
with them" — Acts.

CHAPTER XXVIII.
A SUMMARY OF RESULTS.

DURING the years of our operations at Port Simpson, a
large number of prominent visitors looked in upon us in
the course of their travels in that part of the country.
Among these were Lord Dufferin, Governor-General of
Canada; Rev. William Pollard, Chairman of the British
Columbia District; Rev. Sheldon Jackson, D.D., Super
intendent of Education for Alaska; Dr. I. W. Powell;
Rev. Amos E. Russ; Gen. 0. 0. Howard of the United
States Army; Rev. Alexander Sutherland, D.D., General
Secretary of Missions; Rev. John Betts; Sir Mackenzie
Bowell; Rev. James Woodsworth and Rev. Dr. Carman,
General Superintendent of the Methodist Church. These
all made highly gratifying references to what they had
witnessed and to the wonderful change which had been
made among the tribes of that north-west Coast by the
introduction of Christianity.

In an address before the Toronto Conference, shortly
after his return in June, 1896, Dr. Carman said;

" In the good providence of God, I come among you
again, brethren, in gladness and gratitude, from a land
of both the wonders of nature and the marvels of grace.
The Western Coast of British Columbia has scenery of
mountain and ocean in grandeur and profusion unsur
passed on the globe. One might well think that Omnipo
tence had disported itself, had shown what could be done,
in lifting these vast ranges to the sky and cleaving them
asunder with inlets, rivers and channels, that puny man

391

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

might go among them with his ships and gather the enor
mous wealth in their ledges or in the waters at their base.
For surely all our engineering had not made way over
these rocky barriers or secured the treasures in and
around them, had not the living God prepared the earth
for the habitation of the sons of men. By these channels
of the sea and these passages through the walls that gird
in the floods of the great deep and lift their parapets and
munitions into the sky, one is reminded of the processes
of human thought and of the deep and immovable prin
ciples that direct and control the lines of reason and even
the tides of passion, as they press their way either through
personal experience, or by the pathways of science, or on
the tracks of human history.

"When going by our great transcontinental route, the
Canadian Pacific, I observed that that wonderful road fol
lowed the valleys of the rivers through the mountains;
ascended by the tortuous course of one river, and descended
by the loops and bends of another. ' God has been here
before man/ my spirit exclaimed, ' or man had never been
able to go through it all/

" Oh, how our God has made the passes through the
mountains and the harbors in the seas ! And how, by the
glorious and eternal principles of truth that lie at the
foundation of all science and all religion, and lift their
parapets against all error, has He marked out a course
for the moving thoughts and flowing passions of living
men ! Would that we were as wise in religion and science
as we have been in engineering and commerce to use the
routes and roads of God. ( His lines have gone out into
all the earth, and his words to the end of the world/

"But I did not arise to speak so much of the wonders
of nature and the analogies of mind as of the marvels of
grace. Having visited our Port Simpson District on the

A SUMMARY OF RESULTS

north-west British Columbia Coast I may speak of what
I have seen and heard. ' What we have felt and seen with
confidence we tell.' Surely our devoted Missionaries, men
and women,, have blessed reward and proof of their toil.
.It is an inspiration to be among them, to think their
thoughts, to share their conflicts, to breathe their spirit.
They sometimes call us the great men; but before God
they that sacrifice and toil are the great ones and this will
appear in the final reckonings.

" To dwell among men in remote regions where you can
not get two mails a month is in itself, an inspiration. You
are a world in yourself, possibly an intense world if true
to God and humanity, the intensest kind of world — a
mighty work to do and a little time and space to do it in.
This is the kind of work the brethren and sisters have been
doing. Thanks be to God for such men and such women —
buried, indeed, crucified with Christ in a way, as long as
true, dead to the world but surely alive to God, to the
salvation of souls, and, according to their loyal judgment,
to the interests of our cherished Methodism.

"When in some of the fellowship meetings, I often
wished I could transport them to the Metropolitan Church,
Toronto; Grace Church, Winnipeg; St. James, Montreal—
perhaps they do not need it — Centenary, St. John; or
Brunswick Street Church, Halifax. To see from fifty to
two or three hundred Indians present, most of them ready
to speak for ' Jesus/ the one word I could understand in
Tsimpshean, to hear their brief and earnest testimonies,
to witness that no ' bore ? had much of a chance — for the
rising of one was a hint to the man on the floor to sit
down ; to listen to Indian men and maidens prefacing their
testimony with sweet song — some songs and voices that
would take a dollar a ticket in Montreal or Toronto; to
behold their promptitude and their energy in religious

393

UP AND DOWN THE NOBTH PACIFIC COAST

meetings, and, what was better still, to learn of their con
sistency of life, was surely a comfort, a strength and a
joy. And it ought to be so.

" I confess that some of my notions have been changed —
I think corrected. I used to think the Indians necessarily
a fading, failing race; that they must die and pass away;
that there could be no self-propagating church, no self-
sustaining and propagating Christianity among them.
Brethren, do we not dishonor the Gospel of God? Is it
not to save the bodies and the souls of men, the races and
the peoples? Our vices will destroy the races. Our
drunkenness and dissoluteness will destroy the races,
peoples and nations. But I believe Jesus Christ can save
them, body and soul, tribe and nation, family and people.
I have seen it in Port Simpson and Port Essington and
other places. Nothing will do it but the Gospel. Nothing
will do it but the converting grace of God. But, thanks
be to God, that can do it and does it.

"Where men are regenerated, born again, truly born
of the Spirit, live in families under divine ordinance,
there is salvation for the man, the family, the tribe, the
race. There can be no doubt of it. Boys and girls are
playing in the streets of Simpson and Essington according
to the prophecies of Jeremiah while the heathen Indians
are perishing apace. The Hydas, once eight thousand
strong, are now only eight hundred, and why ? They have
perished because they have taken the vices of the white
men without the salvation of their religion. Talk of
Armenia ! Here is a greater wrong and a greater outrage
— whole tribes decimated by the vices of our civilization
that might be saved by the energies of our religion."

Professor Odium, M.A., at present of Vancouver, a well-
known literary and scientific graduate of Victoria Univer
sity and a former Missionary to Japan, accompanied us

394

A SUMMARY OF RESULTS

and some of our workers on one of our trips to Alaska in
The Glad Tidings. He writes the following letter record
ing his impressions of the trip and the country and of the
methods which were used in the work of evangelization
among these tribes :

" 1710 Grant St., Vancouver, B.C.,
"July 18, 1910.

" Dear Dr. Crosby, — Knowing that you are preparing a
book for publication on your work in British Columbia,
especially among the Indians, I hasten to compliment you
on a purpose so suitable to your lifelong labors, and 1
congratulate myself and the Methodist Church on the
prospect of seeing so timely a book in print.

" You will remember that I spent three months on the
Coast of British Columbia and Alaska during the autumn
of 1895 and had the opportunity and great privilege of
visiting, in company with yourself in The Glad Tidings,
all the Indians of the Coast from Vancouver to Sitka,
Chilcat and Juneau. While on that trip I had the closest
insight into the Missionary work carried on among the
Indians on that Coast.

" At no time in my life did I witness Christian methods
adopted among the heathen of any land which so power
fully appealed to me as did the methods and spirit of your
engagements during the time I was with you. Never in
all my Christian experience was I personally affected in
my religious life as in the midst of your work and the
labors of those with you. You will remember that our
company was made up of ten workers on that most inter
esting missionary and old-time revival trip.

" Seldom is any man so favored as I was during that
delightful voyage for, on the journey, I met and conversed
at length wkh two of the strongest and most successful
missionary workers in the history of Western Canada.
These were Dr. Crosby and Mr. Duncan. Your respective
headquarters were Port Simpson and New Metlakatla.
The history of either of these two would fill a large book
and make most interesting reading.

" Among my extensive notes I find many references to

395

UP AND DOWN THE NOETH PACIFIC COAST

specific cases of the hurtful presence of the white man and
1 have this to say in a general way: The most debased
heathen life I have yet witnessed has been the direct result
of the white man's whisky. The lowest representatives of
humanity in all my observations were those who were
under the curse of drink. When the white man comes
with his drink curse to the poor Indian, then down goes
the red man as low as the very beasts that roam over the
mountains — yes, as low as the drink-cursed white man
himself.

"At Chilcat, Sitka, Juneau, Wrangel, Port Simpson
and all other Indian centres, I found the greatest blot not
heathenism, but the white man's drunkenism and libertin
ism. I was quite in sympathy with the plan adopted by
the Government, by which Missionaries were appointed as
magistrates. In this way they were able to make the white
whisky smuggler keep at a safe distance.

" Sometimes I feel sorry that advanced years have taken
you from the kind of work we did together during our
1895 trip. Dear Dr. Crosby, your labors in my presence
brought me nearer to the heart of God and nature than
1 had ever approached before.

" You remember how you and Captain Oliver used to
plan to have me lecture at the different centres. Miners,
fishermen, cannerymen, loggers, merchants, naval men,
Government officers, and others, who would not go to
any Christian service, were quick and ready to attend a
lecture on a scientific subject. How you and the good
Captain made me toe the mark on all occasions ! At this
distance 1 wonder how you managed to make me so willing
to consent to your expressed desire.

" Here are some of my topics : e All rivers run into the
sea, and yet the sea is not full/ ' The Voice of Nature/'
' Praying by Plants and Animals/ ' The Balancings of
the Clouds/ ' The Fountains of the Deep/ ' Converging
Lines of Force and Governing Laws in the Eealm of
Nature/

"When the Chairman was appointed, he was asked to
call on someone of our party for a short prayer. We
usually had a hymn or two before the lecture; then, when

396

A SUMMARY OF RESULTS

the lecture was over and the usual collection to keep up
steamer supplies taken, hymns and prayers followed.

" It was frequently a positive treat to see how you
caught the white non-Christians by these apt methods.
They were invited to a lecture on science. To this they
would come, and they got what they came for. In addi
tion thereto they got much else. You will remember that,
at all of the centres we visited, there was a revival among
the Indians and, in most cases, among the whites.

" By the way, you were not at all of my lectures. There
was one given at Douglas City in a dance hall and gamb
ling saloon. I got permission to give a talk on science
and was on hand when the time came. The men came in
from their gambling tables and wheels of fortune to hear
me talk. 1 saw piles of bills and stacks of gold left on
the tables. Every man but one walked out of the saloon
and across the hall into the dance room where I talked.
He stood at the door so as to keep one eye on the money
and the other on me, but no man gave me a more devoted
listening attention than that watcher.

" These gamblers, men and women by the way, gave
no signs of resentment when I introduced to their atten
tion the Master of all geology, of all chemistry, of all
astronomy and of universal law. I was most heartily
applauded by that strange audience and on quitting had
a hearty vote of thanks.

" Among the Tlinkets we met Sitka Jack, Billy Diek-
enson and others. Here was a group of bad Indians in
very truth. Fortunately our little steamer had to lie up
for repairs and we were detained for a week. Many of
the Christian workers and their work at that place seemed
to be dead or so nearly so that little life was manifest.
The Missionaries had the Indians I have named and others
as their deadly enemies. Death had been threatened, and
boldly attempted on several occasions. Chilcat and Yen-
dastachy, just across the peninsula, were two centres of
Indian villainy and straight into Chilcat you, dear Doctor
Crosby, descended. Of course a part of your working
band went along and war was carried into the enemy's
eamp.

397

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

" At the same time the official in charge of Haines Mis
sion handed over to you his station for the purpose of
carrying on a short revival service. Ah, me ! How the
fire burned ! How the Missionaries and their co-workers
received the fire ! How the Spirit captured the place and
all hands turned into the work with wonderful zeal !

" Then the fire reached Chilcat and Yendastachy. Mrs.
Dickenson came and heard. Billy Dickenson came and
heard. Sitka Jack was helpless in the grasp of the mys
terious force. Billy and his mother broke down and sobbed
like children and prayed for mercjr. A light sprang up
in the darkness and only those who were there could have
any idea of the wonderful effect of that glorious light.

" Those were grand days, and nights too. The winds
and waves conspired to make us stop at that place of safety
long enough to see a most glorious work accomplished.
Let not the critic sneer and say these were only Indians.
In answer I would say that I would place Billy and Sitka
Jack ahead of the average white man in pride, strength of
will, clearness of intellect, and grasp of nature and human
experience.

" I had the pleasure of sitting up nearly all night with
Mr. Brady and his family at Sitka. Here I found one of,
the Christian pioneers of Alaska who had suffered much
because of his fearless Christian life. I was glad in after
years to learn that he had been honored by being made
Governor of Alaska.

" My conversation with Mr. Duncan of New Metlakatla
forced me to realize that he was a most remarkable man,
pre-eminently fitted for his noble Avork. Men were ye,
more than the salt of the earth. Teachers, legislators,
executive officers, fathers, protectors and most faithful
guides were ye, each according to his calling and station.

" It may be a surprise to you to know that between your
self and Captain Oliver I was impelled to give over a
score of lectures and in the neighborhood of one hundred
short talks.

" During that short, thrilling experience I learned much
from the Coast Indians. Tinder the influence of the white
men, apart from the Missionary, the Indians were rapidly

398

A SUMMARY OF RESULTS

sinking into debasement and dying out. But, under the
help and protection of Christian teachers, they hegan to
increase in numbers and to improve in health and
physique.

" Even the streets, houses and dogs in the Christian
villages were blessed and improved by the presence of the
light of the new life. The man who tells me that the
native in his natural state or in co-relation to the white
man who is non-Christian is in a better and higher state
than when he is surrounded by true Christian Missionary
influences, is ignorant or is a wilful liar. This statement
T make after visiting four continents, and examining
through long years.

" The Indians of the Alaska and British Columbia coasts
are, in my humble opinion, Asiatic and largely Japanese.
If so, it 'is odd to read history. Here it stands ! The
Japanese, long since, came over the waters and possessed
the whole Western coast of North America. Then came
the white man and conquered the country, possessed it and
made laws to govern its people. Then the modern Japanese
came in large numbers to join their brethren who formerly
were the undisputed owners. But. lo, the new-comer, the
white man. says him nay, and makes so much objection as
to limit the incoming numbers.

" The imagery and language of the Indians are simply
marvellous. I am safe in saying that few, if any, natives
on earth, are so saturated and gifted with imagery and
ornate speech. They are true children of nature and are
as independent of artificial aids from Caucasian civiliza
tion as it is possible to be. The forest, seashore, and open
ocean give them all they need for food, shelter and
clothing.

"They are the most natural congregational singers I
have ever heard, outside the Anglo-Saxon Christian con
gregations, one of whose chief characteristics is song. One
noted singer was asked how he came to learn to sing before
he was taught by the white man. He answered in a man
ner thus: 'I went into the mountains and heard the
torrents singing their war songs and I learned to imitate
them. T went out into the ocean in my canoe and heard

390

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

the hissing noise of the wind as it tore the heads off the
wild billows, and I tried to do likewise. I walked by the
sea, heard the gentle lapping of the quiet waters and felt
that I could sing a love song. When the birds were matins,
and chirping their songs of sweetness, my voice would
break out in strains of praise. All nature and her chil
dren sing, cry, talk, chant and voice the Great Spirit; so
T tried to do as they did. I got time from my paddle
stroke and from the swinging of the tall trees.' So it is.
One may learn much from those whom he would teach.
And these noble red men taught me much on that memor
able trip.

"But that which remained, uplifted, mellowed and
blessed my life was your grand, your noble and big Chris
tian example. Would that I could say all I would ! Then
much would be said. That most excellent devoted man.
George Reid, and Captain Oliver, and many others ! How
it would please me to make detailed reference to their
devotion, unselfishness, and high usefulness.

" But I must close my letter already too long. In doing
so, let me say that amon<r the many agents who elevated
the Missionary undertaking in my estimation were the
wives of the Missionaries and other women who were
devoting: their time, lives and talents to the uplifting of
the Indians whom I visited; and no Christian woman in
all my travels seemed more richly endowed and better
suited for furnishing a lovelv home and life model than
vour own beloved wife. In the Church and in the home,
Mrs. Crosby was just such a wise, gentle, thoughtful and
apt woman as must exert a quiet and yet powerful influ
ence in the hearts and homes of those who were -permitted
to come within her reach. In so manv ways she was a
friend, an adviser, a guide and a mother to the Tsimp-
sheans. If her influence reached as effectively to others a?
in my own case, then happy were they who came into her
sweet Dresence during the vears she labored with you in
Port Simpson. My dear Doctor, fare you well.

" Your admiring and loving friend,

" E. ODLUM."
400

A STJMMAEY OF RESULTS

I may be permitted to close these annals with the fol
lowing letter which I wrote to Rev. Dr. Withrow for
Onward in October, 1897, giving a general record of the
results of nearly twenty-five years of labor at Port Simp
son and among other tribes of the northern Pacific Coast.
This was on the occasion of my retirement from that part
of the work, owing to increasing bodily infirmities, though
T continued on other Indian fields for some ten years
longer. This made a total service in the Indian work of
some forty-four years.

In submitting this letter, Dr. Withrow saici: "We have
received from our veteran pioneer Missionary on the Paci
fic Coast the following interesting letter.

" Brother Crosby, who is the President of thcTBritish
Columbia Conference, has now been appointed to the
Indian Mission on the east coast of the Vancouver Island,
with his residence at Victoria. He is also to have the
superintendency of The Glad Tidings missionary steam
yacht and will, we doubt not, as he has for many years,
cruise up and down six hundred miles of Coast, visiting
the Missions, most of which he planted, confirming the
churches and aiding the Missionaries in their work.

" ' The Glad Tidings Mission ' is a part of the author
ized work of our Church. We cordially commend its sup
port to Leagues or Schools which may remit their contri
butions either through Rev. Dr. Sutherland, Missionary
Secretary, or to the Rev. Thomas Crosby, 109 Quadra St..
Victoria, B.C.

"Brother Crosby writes thus:

"'My dear Dr. Withrow, — For some time I thought I
should write a few lines for the readers of Onward in
regard to our removal from the north to this city. A
strong attachment has naturally grown up between us and
the people of Port Simpson, in whose language we have

401

UP AND DOWN THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST

preached the Gospel for nearly twenty-five years, whose
new homes we have in most cases planned for them, while
we have taught from childhood all the young people, and
baptized and received into the church hundreds of con
verted men and women. As we came away, many of them
promised to take good care of the four little graves we
left in the Indian graveyard on the Island. That little
plot is very sacred to us.

' ' In the twenty-five years of our residence amongst the
dear people we have seen many changes. There have been
wonderful developments in the fish, lumber, and mineral
industries on that part of the Coast and trade has greatly
increased. But we think the most wonderful improve
ments have taken place among the natives themselves, in
their advance in Christian civilization. Instead of their
old heathen practices, they have now a fire company, a
rifle company, a temperance society and a Christian band
of workers, each with a hall built for themselves. In
addition they have their reerular Church, together with two
Homes, good Schools, and an efficient Hospital. There
is also an excellent brass band for the village. The old
heathen lodges have given place to neat, comfortable
homes. A long time before any agent of the Government
was stationed among them, they had their Municipal
Council, under which their village was governed and order
preserved.

" ' There has been a great change also in the number
of workers in the Mission since we first started. Then in
the frequent absence of the Missionary, his wife had to
take charge of the services; now we have a noble band of
local preachers and band workers among the Indians,"
besides the Doctor and his helpers in the Hospital, the
ladies in the Girls' Home, and Brother Richards and his
family in the Boys' School. Altogether a more noble com
pany of workers could not be found anywhere and we were
happy in our work. After Conference we had a farewell
Sunday with the people, not soon to be forgotten. At the
close of the evening service, while the large congregation
sang, " On the happy golden shore, meet me there," nearly
all held up the hand as a pledge that they would try and
meet us in Heaven. It was a solemn time.

" c TVe remained a fow days after Brother Robson

402'

A SUMMAKY OF RESULTS

arrived. Then, in our little ship, The Glad Tidings, with
my books and some of our effects on board and Charlie
and Fred as our crew, Mrs. Crosby, our boy and I set out
for Victoria, visiting the Missions on the way.

" ' The first Sabbath we spent at Rivers Inlet, where
there were about four thousand people at seven canneries.
Here Dr. Bolton has put up his third Hospital, where he
and his helpers care for the bodies as well as the souls of
the people. We were pleased to meet Dr. Jackson and his
wife, who had just then arrived from Toronto. May God
bless them in their large field !

" ' The following Sabbath found us in JSTanaimo, where
we attended services in the gaol in the morning, preached
to Brother Hall's people in Wallace Street at 11 a.m., and
at 2.30 p.m. held service in the Indian camp, where
Brother Wellwood is doing good work. This is where I
commenced my work thirty-five years ago. At night I
spoke at the Chinese Mission, Dr. Lou interpreting. Dur
ing this trip we held sixteen public services, married two
couples, and baptized sixteen children.

" ' From the commencement of the mission at Port
Simpson in 1874, there have been built on the District
over thirty Churches, or preaching places; one Girls'
Home; one Boarding School for Boys, with others also
projected; and three Hospitals. About fifteen hundred
Church members have been gathered in and we are reach
ing some ten thousand people with Gospel light. The
Simpson District, as now divided, includes Port Simpson,
Naas, Queen Charlotte Islands, Upper and Lower Skeena.

"'The new Bella Bella District extends from Lowe
Inlet at the north to Cape Beal and round Vancouver
Island, a coast line of over one thousand miles. Hence,
as our friends will see, the good ship The Glad Tidings
is much needed yet to reach all the inlets and bays where
the regular steamers do not go. We have had her repaired
somewhat since we came down, which has been a consider
able expense, and we do hope our friends will come to our
help to pay the bills.

" ' Pray for us that every tribe may soon be reached by
the Gospel. " ' Yours very truly,

"'THOMAS CROSBY.

'" Victoria, Oct. 1st, 1897.'"

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