Extracts from a Journal of a Voyage of Visitation in the Hawk, 1859 | Page 3

Twillingate, some at
Herring Neck, in each case by a clergyman, one by a Methodist
preacher, one by a fisherman; but all had been admitted into the Church
(at Twillingate, or Herring Neck) except this youngest. They left us
about 10.30 P.M., after attending our family prayers in the cabin.
Friday, July 8th. Little Harbour Deep.--Before four o'clock, two of my
men, with a boy from shore, went to Grandfather's Cove
(Grande-Vache) to invite the families (Randalls) living there to our

services. Though so early, one of the families had gone to their fishing
ground before our men arrived. The others gladly accepted the
invitation. This being the first day of missionary work, or services, on
board the Church-ship, I had to instruct my friends, Mr. Johnson and
Mr. Tucker, how to arrange and deck the large cabin for the
congregation. The day, happily, was very fine, so that we were able to
put several of the many packages and boxes on deck.
The congregation, in the morning, consisted of only the two families
(Wiseman and Randall) and our captain. In the afternoon (4.30 P.M.),
our crew also attended. One girl was hypothetically baptised, and four
children received. The elder Johnson said the prayers and baptized; the
younger read the lessons. I addressed the little congregation both
morning and evening. There is something of both pleasure and pain in
these quiet services; pleasure, in hoping that God, in his mercy, may
bless some word of exhortation, or some prayer, to the edification of
these forsaken ones; pain, in observing how by the people themselves
the prayers and lessons seem to be wholly not appreciated, or not
understood. Not one could read, several of them had never heard the
service before, so they rose up and knelt down as automatons; and
would, I doubt not, have been just as ready to kneel at the Psalms as at
the Confession, and to sit at either, or both, as when hearing the lessons
or sermon. After the service, one man bought a Prayer-book for his
daughter, and we gave them several children's books and tracts. I
examined the bigger children after the service; one girl, probably ten or
twelve years of age, could not repeat the Lord's Prayer or the Creed; a
second imperfectly; a third tolerably well. It was, indeed, pitiful; and
enough to fill the heart of any pastor, and specially their chief pastor,
with sorrow and shame.
After the second service, I accompanied my friends in a boat to the
head of the harbour, where it receives a small stream (the drain of some
lake, or of the bogs and mosses in the neighbourhood), which winds
and creeps between some magnificent mountains. While they were
fishing I wandered, climbing over the boulders, along the borders of the
stream, to enjoy the solitude and deep silence of the winding valley.
The absence of all living creatures, except mosquitoes and dragon-flies,

is a striking feature; and the occasional whistle or scream of some
sea-bird only renders the prevailing stillness more strange; grateful or
painful, according to the disposition and state of mind.
We returned to the ship soon after sunset, frightfully eaten by
mosquitoes. The fishers had all had plenty of bites, and realized a new
phase of "fly-fishing," but carried home among them one trout only.
The mosquitoes had got possession of the Church-ship, and paid us off
for invading their solitudes.
Saturday, July 9th. At sea.--We left Little Harbour Deep soon after
three o'clock A.M., with a fair wind, which died away outside, and we
did not reach our next place of call (Little Coney Arm) till five o'clock
P.M. There new delay and difficulty awaited us. We fired two guns, but
no person came off, and not a single boat could anywhere be seen. The
whole shore seemed deserted. Nevertheless, we discerned houses in the
harbour, and stood towards the entrance; but finding the water shoal
suddenly, the captain let go the anchor, and sent a boat in, with the
mate and three of my companions. They brought word, to my great
mortification, that nearly all the inhabitants had gone to fish in other
parts of the bay, and that but one old man, with the females and
children of three families, remained. Him they brought off to be our
pilot. Unfortunately, in getting again under way, we went to leeward of
the entrance, and immediately after the wind dropped altogether. The
tide then drifted us into Great Coney Arm, and every tack took us
farther to leeward. It seemed almost certain we should be carried to the
head of the Bight, to spend the Sunday in a solitary place; but by
keeping a boat ahead, with four hands, sometimes of the crew,
sometimes of the clergy, we maintained our ground