him; and a third subjoined, "Saimavot,"--he is gracious and merciful.
They, however, could form no idea of what he said to them of a Saviour
and Redeemer; he was obliged to explain that word to them by
parables, when they would ask if this mighty Personage would be their
good friend, for they could conceive of him in no other way than as a
great lord who was to come and deliver them from the Kablunat, and
assist them against the northern Kraler. With the fickleness so
natural to savages, they would listen attentively to the first
instructions, but when it was often repeated, they would say, as both
ancient and modern Athenians, "we know all that already, tell us
something new," or like the Greenlanders, sometimes profess to believe
it, and the next moment declare they neither understood nor cared
about it. With those who had patience, and were so disposed, the
missionary went over every doctrine about which they spoke in a
catechetical way, and endeavoured by short questions, to see if they
comprehended it, and tried to allure them to make further inquiry.

During their whole intercourse, the Esquimaux showed themselves very
friendly, and were particularly glad when they saw Jans Haven again;
some of them recollected many things he had told them the year before,
and praised him for keeping his promise of returning, and others
boasted of the good they had heard of him from their countrymen. The
brethren could go any where among them with the utmost security; but
they were under the necessity of submitting to their curiosity, and
allowing them to handle every thing they saw, even when they perceived
this liberty to be attended with danger; yet even now, such was the
influence of their friendly behaviour, that very little damage was
incurred. In one tent, they searched Drachart's box, and carried every
thing off, taking also his hat along with them. Without uttering any
reproachful complaint, the missionary went to some of the older