Читать книгу In the Wake of the War Canoe - W. H. Collison - Страница 11

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"God said 'Let there be light.'

Grim darkness felt His might

And fled away."

—Ebenezer Elliott.

After labouring amongst the Tsimshean tribes for five years at Fort Simpson, Mr. Duncan determined to form a Christian settlement at Metlakahtla, some eighteen miles south from Fort Simpson, to which to move the converts and their children, away from heathen influences. Metlakahtla had been the old home of the Tsimsheans, their winter encampment, from which they had moved to Fort Simpson after the Hudson's Bay Company had built the fort there. It was well suited for such a settlement, being sheltered from the coldest winds, surrounded by numerous islands, and plentifully provided with fish and game. To this site Mr. Duncan removed with some fifty Christian adherents, in the spring of 1862. Their departure caused great excitement amongst the numbers thus left behind, and, whilst we cannot but commend the missionary's plan to build up a Christian community, which should be a model and stimulus to all the tribes around, yet we would add, that the Indians in the Fort Simpson camp should not have been left as sheep without a shepherd. Adequate provision should have been made for their continued care and instruction, before undertaking the inauguration of the new settlement. Subsequent events have testified clearly to the correctness of this view, as will be proved in a future chapter.

Shortly after the arrival of this little band in their new quarters, they were surprised one day, whilst engaged in preparing sites for their dwellings, to see a fleet of canoes, all well filled with Indians and their effects, approaching from Fort Simpson. They were alarmed also, as they had heard that the smallpox, that dread disease, which has long been the Indian's worst enemy, had broken out in the camp, after they had left it. As the new arrivals approached the shore, a parley was held, when it was found that they had no stricken cases amongst them, and, as they asserted, no infection. This tribe, called the Giatlahn, had been encamped by themselves on the farther side of the fort, and had early established a quarantine amongst them. But seeing the disease spreading rapidly amongst the other tribes, and with the invitation of the missionary still ringing in their ears, they resolved to flee, and follow the Christians to the old camping ground. This, then, was the cause of their flight, and, after due consultation, and an agreement to obey the laws of the new settlement, they were permitted to land and take up their quarters on the eastern shore of the site. This new accession added some three hundred to the numbers of the little band. It proved a veritable city of refuge to those who had thus availed themselves of it, as, so rapidly did the affection spread amongst those remaining at Fort Simpson that no fewer than one-fifth of the entire number were swept away by the dread disease.

By establishing a strict quarantine the new settlement was protected from a foe more deadly than ever Indian warrior had met on the war-path. Rules and regulations and sanitary laws were introduced for the benefit of the community, and a sawmill and trading store established to supply their secular needs. As there was no representative of law on this wild northern coast, the missionary found it necessary to accept a commission of the peace, and in order to preserve the peace and protect the settlement he organised and swore in a body of Indian constables. That this was necessary was clear, when we remember that all the tribes around were as yet heathen, uncivilised, and unevangelised. And, to make matters worse, whisky schooners were beginning to sail up and down the coast laden with the deadly "fire-water," which they bartered with the Indians for their furs. Whisky feasts generally followed the visit of one of these vessels to a camp, and such feasts always ended in a fierce and free fight, where firearms and other deadly weapons were turned by the intoxicated Indians upon their friends and fellow-tribesmen.

Some of the chiefs and medicine men early began to oppose the efforts of the missionary. They were jealous of the influence he was gaining with their people, and realised that their craft was in danger. But the head chief, Legaic, a man of much influence, who had been the leader of the opposition and had threatened the life of the missionary, at length surrendered to the call of the Gospel, and abandoning his position of head chief, came and joined the Christian settlement at Metlakahtla. He was shortly afterwards baptized by the name of Paul. The Mission sustained a loss in its early history by the resignation of the Rev. F. L. Tugwell and his wife, who had been sent out to reinforce the Mission. They had been nearly two years in the work when Mrs. Tugwell's health failed, and they were compelled to return to England, but not before Mr. Tugwell was privileged to baptize nineteen adults and four children, the first-fruits of the Tsimshean Mission gathered into the visible Church of Christ. Mr. Tugwell's resignation left Mr. Duncan single-handed just at the time when he was embarking on the new scheme of establishing a Christian settlement, and the presence of an ordained missionary and his wife was indispensable. Mr. Duncan had come out unordained and unmarried, but with the understanding that when he had acquired the language and otherwise tested his fitness for the climate and the work he should accept ordination. But the necessity for so much secular work led him to decide to continue as a lay agent in the Mission, consequently an ordained missionary became a necessity. Several attempts of the Committee to supply this want had failed from one cause or another. And as the openings and opportunities throughout the mission field were many and the labourers were but few, the Committee found it difficult to meet the many calls for men.

It was this condition of affairs which led them to arrange for a day of prayer in 1872, that more men might be led to offer themselves for service in the mission field. As this was in obedience to the Divine command, "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth labourers into His harvest," it was destined to succeed. My attention was attracted to the notice in the columns of a daily newspaper, and it aroused an old desire. I communicated my desire to the secretaries of the Church Missionary Society, and they replied, inviting me to London for an interview. After due examinations I was accepted, and entered the Church Missionary College at Islington. Here I made the acquaintance of the students, many of whom have since become well known through their labours in the mission field. Amongst them were Hill, afterwards consecrated as Bishop of Sierra Leone, who, with his wife, died shortly after their arrival in that diocese, which has well been named "the white man's grave"; Binns, now Archdeacon, who has laboured so long and successfully in East Africa; Lloyd, who continues to reap where he has so successfully sown in China; Bambridge of India, Williams of Japan; Cavalier, now secretary of the Zenana Mission; Keen, who went out first to the North-West America Mission, where he laboured for some seven years, and then, when compelled to return to England on account of his health, took up duty in London for some years. He afterwards volunteered again for the mission field, and, having been appointed to the North Pacific Mission, laboured amongst the Haida Indians of Queen Charlotte Islands for some eight years, and then at Metlakahtla amongst the Tsimsheans, where, in recognition of his services, he was appointed a Canon. Hall also, who joined the North Pacific Mission in 1877 and laboured amongst the Quagulth tribes for some thirty-two years, reducing their language to writing and making translations. All these and many others were in the Church Missionary College during my time, and, though far sundered afterwards in the mission field, yet we have always rejoiced in one another's successes, and sympathised with each other in times of trial.

At length, the period arrived to which the outgoing men had long been looking forward, when we should each receive his commission in the valedictory instructions, prior to embarking for our respective fields of labour. The rule of the Church Missionary Society in regard to young men proceeding to the mission field is, that they shall go out single and ascertain their fitness for the climate and the work, and also acquire the language, before receiving permission to enter the state of matrimony. But, in my case, this rule was reversed. The secretaries intimated to me that, as there was no lady missionary at Metlakahtla, it would be advisable that I should find a helpmeet to accompany me to the field. But little was known then of British Columbia in the mother country, much less of the most northerly part of the province. This was illustrated when, advised by the Secretary of the Church Missionary Society to have my life insured, I applied to a leading insurance company, and, though approved by their own medical officer, yet the directors declined to insure me, as they knew nothing of the country to which I was proceeding. Fifteen years afterwards, the same company's agent met me in Victoria, and urged me to take out a policy.

On the 1st of July 1873, at a public valedictory meeting held in London, the Hon. Secretary, the late Rev. Henry Wright, read the Committee's instructions to the outgoing missionaries. Some of my former fellow-students were commissioned to proceed to Africa, some to Palestine, India, China, Ceylon, and Japan. I was the only missionary whose instructions were to proceed to the western shores of "the great lone land," as Captain Butler had termed it in the volume of his travels just then published.

My instructions were as follows: "You, Brother Collison, have been appointed to the North Pacific Mission. Though last upon our list, it is not least in our hearts' affections. God Himself has marked it out as a field of special interest. We trust you will regard it as no small proof of the confidence the Committee have been led to repose in you, that you have been selected for this field....

"The Committee cannot refrain from expressing their satisfaction, that you are to be accompanied by one who, from all that they have heard, they have reason to believe will prove a true helper to you in your work, and a true mother to the infant church at Metlakahtla....

"They would only add that they look for the blessing of our faithful God to accompany you both on your way, and to bless you. You are not going to one of the dense populations of the earth, but you are followers of Him who said, 'What man of you having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?' and they pray that you may be abundantly partakers of His Spirit, and sharers in His glory."

Our marriage took place on the 19th of August, and we spent a few days in visiting friends, and arranging and making preparation for our embarkation. My wife, to whom reference had been made in the dismissal instructions, had, as a deaconess, nursed the wounded on the battlefields during the Franco-German war, and was present at the surrender of Metz. She was, together with another lady helper, seized with typhoid fever, which carried off her companion, and well-nigh proved fatal in her own case also. She had also rendered valuable services in taking charge of the Protestant patients during the epidemic of smallpox which took place in Cork. She afterwards assisted in the establishment of the first hospital for incurables there. She was thus well prepared to take her part in mission work amongst the Indian women, with whom she soon gained a remarkable influence, and was enabled to correct many abuses, which even those who were Christians still retained amongst them. She was the first white woman to take up her residence amongst the Tsimsheans at Metlakahtla, and afterwards the first amongst the then fierce Haidas of Queen Charlotte Islands, where her skill in ministering to the sick, and in dressing the wounds of those injured, tended in no small degree to bring them under the influence of the teaching of the Gospel of Salvation.

On the 10th of September 1873, we embarked from Queenstown on board the steamship Idaho of the Guion Line. We encountered some stormy weather on the Atlantic during the equinoctial gales, and one of the shafts was broken, which occasioned a delay of many hours in substituting a new shaft, which fortunately we had on board. We were some sixteen days in making the passage to New York, which was about as long again as the ordinary time. The Bishop of Zanzibar, the late Dr. Tozier, was a fellow-passenger, taking the trip across the Atlantic for his health. On our first Sunday out, he preached, taking for his text St. James ii. 17, "Honour all men," &c. As the sea was rough, the Bishop was unable to stand alone, and two of the sailors were called to stand, one on either side, to brace up the preacher. But the Bishop, being a tall man, and both the seamen below the average height, it taxed all their efforts to keep him in statu quo. It resembled so much an intoxicated man being assisted by two others more sober than himself that I fear the congregation benefited as little as we did from the sermon.

We remained over a Sunday in New York, where we enjoyed a pleasant reunion with some friends. I was invited to preach in the evening, in a Brooklyn church, and much interest was manifested in our mission. At an informal meeting held afterwards, a number of young men intimated their desire to offer themselves for the missionary work of the Church, and their names were recorded. They were anxious to obtain my future address, in order to communicate with me, but, as I was unable to inform them of the facilities or dates of mail service in connection with my proposed destination, I could not accommodate them.

We visited Chicago (which shortly after was overtaken by a great fire), and witnessed many interesting incidents there, illustrative of the intense pressure of American life in the cities. The Union Pacific Railroad had but lately been connected with San Francisco, and much of it was as yet in the rough. As the bridge over the Mississippi was only in process of construction, the passengers had to leave the train and walk over a temporary bridge, as it was considered unsafe to remain in the cars. As it was almost impossible to obtain a meal at any of the stations, owing to the rush of passengers, and there were then no dining-cars, I determined to endeavour to procure a little hot water occasionally, with which to prepare some tea.

At a rough-looking station near the Rockies, where the train stopped for ten minutes, I made my way to a wooden structure exhibiting a sign which induced me to believe I should find what I required. Nor was I disappointed, as I was quickly served with a jug of boiling water. But I was scarcely prepared for what followed. A number of hard-looking characters were seated around a table engaged in gambling. With these the man who had served me was evidently in partnership, as no sooner had I paid him than he sprang to the door and, closing it, demanded that I should take part in the game which was being played. The others also joined with him in demanding that I should put down my money, and, as I made a rush for the door, another of them sprang forward to intercept me. I succeeded, however, in opening the door sufficiently to enable me to press my foot between it and the jamb. Failing to dislodge me, one of them then threatened to shoot me, and was drawing his revolver, when I suddenly thought of the boiling water with which they had provided me. Instantly raising the jug, I threatened him with the contents, which threw him off his guard, and, seizing the opportunity, I pulled open the door and escaped. I was followed by a volley of oaths on the "down-easter" who had thus defeated them in their object. This was to detain me till the train left, when I should have been at their mercy. They well-nigh succeeded, as the train was moving when I reached it, and I boarded it with difficulty. There was neither law nor protection in the western wilds in those days, and many a crime was committed of which no account was taken.

We found, on reaching San Francisco, that we should have to wait nearly a fortnight, as there was but one steamer plying to Victoria, Vancouver's Island, which made two sailings monthly. Consequently, we had ample time to see the "City of the Golden Gate" and to study the conditions of life there. It was the month of October, and during the day the weather was excessively warm; but the nights were rather cool. I was struck by the variety and abundance of luscious fruits which were on sale in every street at low prices.

I visited the Stock Exchange, where men appeared to be beside themselves in their keen competition to effect the best bargains. Shouting, jumping, and apparently threatening one another, it sometimes required all the efforts of the salesman to command attention with his hammer. Then, as now, this city was noted for earthquakes, and one large brick building which had been erected for the purposes of a marine hospital was standing split from roof to foundation as the result of one such shock. It had just been completed, but they were about to pull it down again as it was unsafe. I did not dream then that in the destruction of the city afterwards by earthquake and fire one of my sons should pass through that terrible ordeal unharmed. But so it happened. He was acting as chaplain to the missions for seamen in that port when it occurred, and he had several narrow escapes.

We embarked on the Prince Alfred on October 5th en route for Victoria, Vancouver's Island. Our steamer was neither large nor powerful, and as the weather was squally there was quite a swell from the Pacific. As the wind was on our beam the steamer rolled heavily, and most of the passengers were sick. Amongst those who were exempt from sea-sickness there were three young men, who amused themselves by making sport of those who were suffering. On the second day out, when seated at luncheon, it became very rough, so that several who had ventured to take their seats at the table were compelled to retire. Our three heroes were evidently enjoying themselves at the expense of the sufferers, and their laughter rang around the dining saloon. Suddenly the vessel rolled heavily, and one of them lost his balance, and in falling backwards he clutched at one of his party, who in turn, in order to preserve his balance, grasped hold of the third. Instantly all three fell over together, dragging the table-cloth with the soup after them. Amidst peals of laughter from all sides, in which the captain and officers joined heartily, they gathered themselves together and rushed to their rooms, where they secreted themselves for the remainder of the day. When they reappeared they were evidently careful not to make light of their fellow-passengers again.

In six days we reached Victoria, and found on inquiry that there was only one small trading vessel plying north from Victoria, and she was due to sail on the 1st day of November. We were welcomed by the Very Rev. E. Cridge, who was then Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, and Senator Macdonald. The Dean invited us to be his guests until the steamer sailed. The trip up the coast occupied nearly nine days. Being the last trip of the year the steamer called at every trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company along the coast. As every such trading post is situated in or near to an Indian camp, we were thus enabled to obtain a fair knowledge of the character and condition of the various tribes. At one encampment to the north of Vancouver's Island a French Roman Catholic Mission had been established for some time, and as our steamer anchored off the village the missionary came on board. Having been introduced by the captain, I inquired from the good father as to what measure of success he had achieved in his Mission.

"Success!" he exclaimed. "Why, I can do nothing amongst them. Only yesterday they stole the blankets off my bed. I have laboured amongst several tribes of Indians in the interior, but I have never found any so bad as these. And," he added, "we are about to abandon the Mission." This they did shortly after, and in 1877 the Church Missionary Society entered on the field amongst the Quagulth tribes, the Rev. A. J. Hall first occupying Fort Rupert as his headquarters, and afterwards Alert Bay.

At some of the encampments we saw the medicine men, in their paint and cedar-bark crowns, performing their incantations over the sick. At Bella Coola a medicine dance was in progress, and a weird scene it presented as they danced around in a large lodge, chanting a wild dirge, in which time was kept by beating as a drum a large cedar chest, over which a dried skin was stretched, whilst the woodwork was decorated by fantastic figures, painted with their colours.

We reached Metlakahtla, our destination, on Sunday at midday, and anchored in the harbour off the village. This was the first Mission station north of Nanaimo along a coast line of over five hundred miles, with the exception above mentioned, and there was but another station some fifty-five miles further north, and near to the boundary of Alaska. At each of these two stations there was but one missionary, so that we at once saw there was a wide field of labour awaiting us. Our good captain had informed us that, as it was Sunday, we would probably have to remain on board till the following day, as the rule of the Mission was that no goods or passengers should be landed on Sunday.

After casting anchor, we could see a large congregation of Indians emerging from a rough building standing on the shore, which I afterwards learned was meant to serve the purposes of a guest and market-house, but which was now being used as a temporary church. Shortly afterwards a boat put off from the shore, which on approaching the steamer we saw was manned by two white men. They were on a visit to the Mission, and learning that we were expected by this, which was the last trip of the steamer for the year, they volunteered to come off for us. On reaching the shore we received a hearty welcome from Mr. Duncan, whilst hundreds of the Indians pressed forward to greet us. As they were clean, and dressed in holiday attire, they presented a pleasing contrast to the tribes we had seen in their paint and blankets along the route. There were about four hundred and fifty Indians then at Metlakahtla, many of whom had been baptized; the rest were catechumens. We were present at the evening service, which was well attended.

The language sounded strangely in our ears, and the responses were repeated by all as with one voice. There were no books in the native language, but the hymns and responses were sung and repeated from memory in their own tongue. Many of the Indians possessed English Bibles, and were able to find the text when given out. This was read by the preacher in English, and then translated into the Tsimshean. Though ignorant of the language, the day following our arrival found me hard at work. In a long, low blockhouse, constructed of logs, and but poorly lighted, I took up school work—first, in the morning, with over one hundred children of both sexes; and again in the afternoon, with some one hundred and twenty women, including the senior girls, who had been present in the morning; whilst in the evening we had the building well filled with men from seven till nine P.M.

As the cold weather had set in, we had two wood fires some distance apart, on hearths elevated about a foot higher than the floor around. Over the fires, and about five feet above them, were constructed funnel-shaped chimneys of sheet-iron on a wooden framework, but before the draught in these could draw the smoke, the wind blew it through the room, which proved most trying to the eyes.

It was this educational work which enabled me to acquire the language quickly, with the correct pronunciation. At first, the calling of the school roll was always accompanied with considerable merriment at the teacher's expense. The majority of the pupils were as yet unbaptized, and were consequently enrolled by their own old heathen names. As I endeavoured to call these out, "Wenaloluk," "Adda-ashkaksh," "Tka-ashkakash," "Weyumiyetsk," and scores of other names even longer and more difficult, peal after peal of laughter arose from my pupils. But I did not mind. It served to show me my deficiency, which I made haste to correct. Gradually, this hilarity subsided, and I knew I was overcoming the difficulties of the pronunciation of the language. I also was enabled to undertake a part in the charge and care of the sick, and in this my wife was enabled to render valuable assistance, especially in cases requiring surgical aid, and in female complaints.

Not long after our arrival, an Indian hunter was brought in badly injured by a bear.[4] He had been coasting along in his canoe, accompanied by his son, a boy of some ten years old, when suddenly a large black bear was sighted near the shore. Paddling stealthily till well within range, he then took aim and fired, but only succeeded in wounding the bear, which quickly disappeared in the forest. Springing ashore, he hastened in pursuit of the wounded animal, which he tracked by the stains of blood on its trail. He had just succeeded in loading his flint-lock musket, when suddenly the bear sprang upon him from behind a fallen tree, where he lay in wait. The force with which the bear assailed him had dashed the gun from his grasp, so that he was completely at the mercy of the infuriated animal. His son, who had followed his father with axe in hand, rushed to his help on hearing his cries, and together they succeeded in despatching the animal. But what a state he had left the hunter in! His left eyebrow was torn away, and his upper lip ripped open. His left forearm was broken, whilst the flesh hung in strips from the shoulder. His thigh was also badly lacerated. We were enabled to dress his wounds by putting in some stitches where necessary, and using adhesive plaster for the lighter wounds. His broken arm was also set, and steps taken to arrest the inflammation. Notwithstanding the high fever which followed, this patient recovered, and appeared grateful for the treatment he had received. He abandoned heathenism, and with his wife and family joined the Methodist Mission at Port Simpson, where, after a course of instruction, they were baptized. But he never completely lost the marks of his life-and-death encounter with Bruin. Many such accidents occurred from time to time amongst the Indians, and as the teachings of the truths of Christianity had led them to abandon their belief in the Shaman or medicine man and his charms, it became one of the duties of the missionary to attend to, and endeavour to alleviate bodily suffering and disease.

Mr. Duncan was just then engaged in the erection of the new church, a building designed to accommodate some twelve hundred worshippers. The Indians at Fort Simpson were not wholly neglected, as native evangelists from Metlakahtla sustained weekly services there. In this good work I was also glad to engage, and it was at Fort Simpson that I delivered my first address in Tsimshean, just eight months after my arrival in the Mission. Heathenism was then in possession at Fort Simpson, and sometimes the weird and fanatic cries and howling of the medicine men could be heard miles from the camp, as we approached.

An incident occurred about this time at Fort Simpson which will illustrate the effect of the influence of these Shamans in the Indian camps. An Indian had incurred the displeasure of a medicine man in some way, which caused the medicine man to set his witchcraft in operation against him. So fearful were the Indians of this that, once under its spell, they abandoned themselves to their fate. They became dejected, lost all courage, and usually succumbed under the first attack of sickness. But this Indian was a man of more than ordinary courage and spirit. He determined to obtain the upper hand of the medicine man. One night, when the latter was engaged in performing his incantations over a sick man, this Indian on whom he had cast his spell stole round to the rear of the lodge where he was operating and shot him dead through an opening between the planks of the wall. He was seized by the tribe, delivered up to justice, and taken to Victoria, where, after due trial, he was found guilty and condemned to death.

Knowing well the cause which led this Indian to shoot the medicine man, and that he did so simply in self-defence, we united in signing a petition to the Governor-General of Canada pleading for mercy for the condemned man. I happened to be in Victoria as the time drew near for his execution, and visited the Chief Justice on the arrival of every mail to inquire whether a reprieve had arrived. I had been disappointed several times, when one morning, as I approached his residence, the door opened and the Chief Justice stood in the doorway waving the long-hoped-for document. "A reprieve! A reprieve!" he cried; "it arrived by this morning's mail. Your Indian's life is spared." And then he instructed me to proceed direct to the city prison and inform the governor. I did so, but found this officer unwilling to surrender his prisoner unless the reprieve was lodged with him. Accordingly I returned to the judge, and he accompanied me to the gaol, where, after deliberation, it was arranged that a duly certified copy should be made out and given to the governor of the prison. This was done at the court-house, after which I visited the prisoner. I found him in the condemned cell, an abject picture of misery. When the jailor admitted me, he stood and stared at me as though expecting something.

"Would you like to be free again?" I asked him. "Would you like to see your wife and join your family again?"

He continued to stare at me, and then, as though my words had revived in him memories of his friends, he replied, "Why do you mock me? Don't you know I have only a few days longer to live?"

"Do you believe that the same power which condemned you to die could pardon you and restore you to freedom again?" I replied.

A ray of hope seemed to flash across his mind, and it was reflected from his dark eyes as he sought to read my meaning, but remained silent.

"You are pardoned," I said; "the great chief who speaks for the Queen has sent the paper which sets you free. I have seen it, and that is why I am here. The steamer leaves for the North to-morrow morning, and I shall come for you. You will meet your wife and friends again."

And as the truth burst in upon him he bowed his head, and the tears fell fast on the stone floor of his cell. His whole frame shook with emotion as I grasped his hand and requested him to be ready in the morning.

I longed to tell him of the greater pardon prepared for him, which only awaited his acceptance, which had been purchased for him at a great price. And silently I prayed that it might be his also.

The following morning at six o'clock I called at the prison. He embarked with me, and on the journey informed me that he would not return to Port Simpson again. He disembarked at Metlakahtla instead, and sent for his wife to join him. Afterwards his brothers also joined him there. This was prior to the establishment of the Methodist Mission at Port Simpson. He eagerly accepted the good news of the great salvation, and was baptized, as also his wife and brothers. But he was seized with pulmonary disease, probably contracted during his imprisonment, and rapidly became weaker. In one of my visits to him at this time he presented me with a swansdown cap which he had prepared with the assistance of his wife from a swan which his brother had shot.

"I cannot give you much," he said, "but I ask you to accept this. You brought me the good news of my pardon when in prison, and now you have taught me of a greater mercy, which I have received. So I am not now afraid to go when the call comes, for I am ready."

Thus he passed away, but not before he had the happiness of seeing his wife and brothers all admitted to the membership of the Church of Christ.