Kalli, the Esquimaux Christian | Page 6

in a space of hundreds of miles
around him, had only three families (probably twelve persons) to count,
makes one of a multitude of more than ninety thousand of his
fellow-creatures, in a building of glass, covering only eighteen acres of
ground!
[Footnote 5: This was the case on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 1851. The total
number of visitors on that day alone was 109,915.]
He was taken to see the Horse Guards' Stables. On seeing a trooper
mount his charger, (both being fully accoutred,) Kalli was puzzled. He
could not account for the perfect order and discipline of the animal, and
the mutual fitness of the man and his horse, the one for the other.

St. Augustine's College
In November, 1851, Kallihirua was placed, by direction of the Lords of
the Admiralty, at the suggestion of the Society for the Propagation of

the Gospel, in the Missionary College of St. Augustine's, at Canterbury.
This college, built on the site of the ancient monastery of St. Augustine,
was established in 1848, for the reception of students intended for the
work of the sacred Ministry in the colonies and dependencies of the
British Empire, as well as among the heathen. The College, to which
the Queen gave a charter of incorporation, owes its origin chiefly to the
munificence of A. J. B. Beresford Hope, Esq., who purchased the
ground, and gave the site. The College Chapel was consecrated on the
morning of St. Peter's Day, June 29th, 1848, when seven prelates, with
the Archbishop of Canterbury at their head, were present.

College Studies
Kallihirua remained a student of the College, attending to the
instruction given him, and conducting himself well and properly in all
respects. Under the kind auspices of the Rev. H. Bailey, the learned and
judicious Warden of the College, who took the greatest interest in him,
he availed himself, as far as his powers admitted, of the advantages of
the institution. He appeared rightly to understand and value the
blessings of education in a civilized community, and received with
reverence the simple and saving truths of the Gospel. It was hoped, that,
should he willingly and intelligently embrace the Christian faith, he
might at no distant period convey the "glad tidings of good things" as a
missionary or catechist to his own benighted friends and countrymen.
In September, 1852, the Warden, in a letter, informed the author, that
Kallihirua had been in good health all the summer. "We consider him,"
said he, "a youth of intelligence, and quick observation. His progress in
reading is necessarily slow, though he can manage words of four or five
letters, he is fond of writing, and succeeds very well. He is very devout
at prayers, and attentive to the religious instruction given him. I think
he will one day be of essential use to a missionary in some northern
region. He is grateful to you for your kind offer of books, and will write
a letter of acknowledgment."

His Reverence for Sacred Places
It was but a short time after his settling at St. Augustine's College, that
one of the students took him to see Canterbury Cathedral. The reverent
regard with which he had been taught to look upon a church, as a place
where prayer was made to God, manifested itself in his inquiry, when
entering the nave, "Whether he might cough there?" This tendency to
cough, arising from an ailment, the seeds of which had probably been
sown long before, was often observable; and he was very susceptible of
cold.

Illness from Changes in the Weather
In the spring of 1853 he suffered much from the variableness of the
season. The mode in which he described his state to a friend is very
simple and affecting. The original letter, which was entirely his own,
both in composition and handwriting, is here copied verbatim. It
commences with his signature:--
"E. YORK, St. Augustine's College. April, 1853.
"My dear Sir,
"I am very glad to tell, How do you do, Sir? I been England, long time
none very well. Long time none very well. Very bad weather. I know
very well, very bad cough. I very sorry, very bad weather, dreadful.
Country very difference. Another day cold. Another day wet, I
miserable.
"Another summer come. Very glad. Great many trees. Many wood.
Summer beautiful, country Canterbury."
Should any reader be disposed to look with the smile of a critic on this
humble but genuine effort, let him bear in mind the difficulties which
poor English adults have to encounter in learning to read and write; and
then let him judge of the obstacles in the way of one whose existence
had been spent with his native tribe, on fields of ice, and in dark

snow-huts.
In all attacks of illness he was attended