The Substance of a Journal During a Residence at the Red River Colony, British North America | Page 3

and the weather being fair, all were summoned to
attend on the quarter deck. We commenced the service by singing the
Old Hundredth Psalm, and our voices being heard by the crews of
several ships, lying near to us at anchor, they were seen hurrying on
deck from below, so as to present to us a most interesting and
gratifying sight--
"We stood, and under open sky adored The God, that made both 'seas,'
air, earth, and heaven."
There appeared to be a solemn impression; and I trust that religion was
felt among us as a divine reality.
JUNE 22.--The ships got under weigh to proceed on our voyage; and as
we passed the rugged and broken rocks of Hoy Head, we were
reminded of the fury of a tempestuous ocean, in forming some of them
into detached pillars, and vast caverns; while they left an impression
upon the mind, of desolation and danger. We had not sailed more than
one hundred miles on the Atlantic before it blew a strong head wind,
and several on board with myself were greatly affected by the motion
of the ship. It threw me into such a state of languor, that I felt as though
I could have willingly yielded to have been cast overboard, and it was
nearly a week before I was relieved from this painful sensation and
nausea, peculiar to sea sickness.
Without any occurrence worthy of notice we arrived in Davis's Straits
on the 19th of July, where Greenland ships are sometimes met with,
returning from the whale fishery, but we saw not a single whaler in this
solitary part of the ocean. The Mallemuk, found in great numbers off
Greenland, and the "Larus crepidatus," or black toed gull, frequently

visited us; and for nearly a whole day, a large shoal of the "Delphinus
deductor," or leading whale, was observed following the ship. The
captain ordered the harpoons and lances to be in readiness in case we
fell in with the great Greenland whale, but nothing was seen of this
monster of the deep.
In approaching Hudson's straits, we first saw one of those beautiful
features in the scenery of the North, an Iceberg, which being driven
with vast masses of ice off Cape Farewell, South Greenland, are soon
destroyed by means of the solar heat, and tempestuous force of the sea.
The thermometer was at 27° on the night of the 22nd, with ice in the
boat; and in the afternoon we saw an iceblink, a beautiful effulgence or
reflection of light over the floating ice, to the extent of forty or fifty
miles. The next day we passed Resolution Island, Lat. 61° 25', Long.
65° 2' and all was desolate and inhospitable in the view over black
barren rocks, and in the aspect of the shore. This being Sunday, I
preached in the morning, catechized the young people in the afternoon,
and had divine service again in the evening, as was our custom every
sabbath in crossing the Atlantic, when the weather would permit: and it
afforded me much pleasure to witness the sailors at times in groups
reading the life of Newton, or some religious tracts which I put into
their hands. The Scotch I found generally well and scripturally
informed, and several of them joined the young people in reading to me
the New Testatament, and answering the catechetical questions. In our
passage through the Straits, our progress was impeded by vast fields of
ice, and icebergs floating past us in every form of desolate
magnificence. The scene was truly grand and impressive, and mocks
imagination to describe. There is a solemn and an overwhelming
sensation produced in the mind, by these enormous masses of snow and
ice, not to be conveyed in words. They floated by us from one to two
hundred feet above the water, and sometimes of great length,
resembling huge mountains, with deep vallies between, lofty cliffs, and
all the imposing objects in nature, passing in silent grandeur, except at
intervals, when the fall of one was heard, or the crashing of the ice
struck the ear like the noise of distant thunder.
When nearly off Saddle Back, with a light favourable breeze, and about

ten miles from the shore, the Esquimaux who, visit the Straits during
summer, were observed with their one man skin canoes, followed by
women in some of a larger size, paddling towards the ship. No sooner
was the sail shortened than we were surrounded by nearly two hundred
of them: the men raising their paddles as they approached us, shouting
with much exultation, 'chimo! chimo! pillattaa! pillattaa!' expressions
probably of friendship, or trade. They were particularly eager to
exchange all that they apparently possessed, and hastily bartered with
the Eddystone, blubber, whalebone, and seahorse teeth, for axes, saws,