e not been delayed by the absence of the Indians a hunting we
might have reached the Factory to-day, the 20th. They came in from
their excursion at the time we were taking our breakfast, but without
much success. They had killed an Arctic fox that supplied them with a
meal, and a few ducks which they brought to our encampment, among which
was the Eider duck, so remarkable for the beautiful softness of its
down. In the evening one of the Chipewyan Indians, sent me some dried
venison; and the next morning early we arrived at Churchill. The
Esquimaux, Augustus, who accompanied Captain Franklin to the shores of
the Polar Sea, came out to meet us, and expressed much delight at my
coming to see his tribe, who were expected to arrive at the Factory
every day. He had not seen his countrymen since he acted as one of the
guides in that arduous expedition, and intended to return with them to
his wife and children, laden with presents and rewards for his tried
and faithful services.

JULY 25.--The servants, with the Officers, assembled for divine
service, and laborious as is the office of a Missionary, I felt
delighted with its engagements; and thought it a high privilege to
_visit even_ the wild inhabitants of the rocks with the _simple
design_ of extending the Redeemer's kingdom among them; and that in
a remote quarter of the globe, where probably no Protestant Minister
had ever placed his foot before. The next day a northern Indian leader,
came to the Fort with his family; and upon making known to him the
object of my journey to meet the Esquimaux, he cheerfully promised to
give up one of his boys, a lively active little fellow, to be educated
at the Native School Establishment at the Red River. He appeared very
desirous of having his boy taught more than the Indians knew; and
assisted me in obtaining an orphan boy from a widow woman, who was in a
tent at a short distance, to accompany his son. I told him that they
must go a long way, (Churchill being about a thousand miles distant
from the Colony) but that they would be taken great care of. He made no
objection, but said that they should go, and might return when they had
learnt enough. This was a striking instance of the confidence of an
Indian, and confirmed the opinion that they would part with their
children to those in whom they thought they could justly confide, and
to whose kind tuition they were persuaded they could safely entrust
them. The Company's boats were going to