Kalli, the Esquimaux Christian | Page 2

high a northern latitude. His tribe was met with by the late Sir John
Ross, during his voyage in 1818, and was by him called the Arctic
Highlanders.

Cape York
It appears that, when the expedition under Captain Austin's command
was passing Cape York, in August, 1850, after its release from the ice
in Melville Bay, natives were seen from the "Assistance". Captain
Ommanney went with the "Intrepid" (one of the vessels comprising the
expedition) to communicate with them, when it was ascertained that
H.M.S., "North Star," had passed the winter in the neighbourhood. The
fate of this vessel was then a matter of anxiety, as by her instructions
she had been cautioned to avoid passing the winter in those regions.
The tribe thus discovered consisted of only three families, residing in
their summer huts at Cape York. As no steamer had ever before found
its way to these seas, it was interesting to watch the impression upon
the singular beings now visited, when they descended into the
engine-room. The large furnaces and machinery astonished them. The
latter, on being put in motion, made them take to their heels with fright,
and they ran out of the engine-room on deck as fast as they could.

Kallihirua on board the "Assistance"

It was after this first interview that the report was raised of the
massacre of two ships' crews in 1846. Captain Ommanney,
accompanied by Captain Penny, with his interpreter, immediately
returned to Cape York, and had a long interview with the natives. They
most emphatically denied the whole statement, adding, that no ship had
ever been on their coasts except the "North Star," and passing whalers.
Then it was, that Kallihirua consented to show Captain Ommanney
where the "North Star" had wintered, and to join the ship, for the
purpose of being useful as an interpreter, in the event of their meeting
with any natives during the search for the missing expedition under Sir
John Franklin. Parting (for awhile, as he supposed) with his immediate
relatives, and with the only people whom he knew on earth, he threw
himself into the hands of strangers in perfect confidence. Having
arrived on board the "Assistance," he put off his rough native costume,
submitted to the process of a good washing, and, being soon clad in
ordinary European clothing, which was cheerfully contributed by the
officers, the young Esquimaux with much intelligence performed the
duty of pilot to the place where the "North Star" had wintered.

The Esquimaux Graves
On entering Wolstenholme Sound[3], Kallihirua, or, as he was
familiarly called, KALLI, directed Captain Ommanney and the officers
to the late winter-station of his tribe, the spot having been abandoned in
consequence of some epidemic, probably influenza, which had carried
off several persons. On entering the huts, a most distressing sight
presented itself. A heap of dead bodies, about seven, in a state of
decomposition, lay, one over the other, clad in their skin-clothing, as if
suddenly cut off by the hand of death. The survivors, from fear of
infection, had left the remains of their relatives unburied. It was an
affecting scene in such a remote and desolate region, separated from all
communication with the human race. Near the huts was the
burial-ground, with several well-formed graves of heaps of stones. On
one lay a spear, which one of the officers of the "Assistance" took up,
to bring away. Some of the crew were examining the graves to see
whether they contained any of our missing countrymen. Seeing this,

Kalli ran up to the officer, and, with tears and entreaties, as well as he
could make himself understood, begged him and the men to desist from
the work of desecration.
[Footnote 3: For Wolstenholme Sound and Cape York see the annexed
map.]
[Illustration: Map of Western Arctic]
[Illustration: THE ARCTIC REGIONS OF AMERICA London.
Published by the Society for protecting Christian Knowledge.]

Kallihirua's Family
Poor Kalli's lamentations were quite heartrending. His feelings were, of
course, respected, the graves were at once built up again, and the spear
replaced. Captain Ommanney learnt afterwards from Kalli, that it was
his father's grave, over which the spear had been placed by friends of
the deceased. They have a tradition that in a future state the means of
hunting are still required, and, because in this world the search of food
is the chief object of life, the hunting-lance is deposited on the grave.
The young stranger subsequently lived on board the "Assistance". He
was placed under the care of the serjeant of Marines, who instructed
Kalli in the rudiments of reading and writing, and to whom he became
much attached. By his amiable disposition he made himself welcome
and agreeable to all the expedition, and, as, in consequence of the state
of the ice,