although they pitied, and were disposed to be kind to
me, I could not bear to complain to them, or to make my story a subject
for missionary reports and speeches. You see I had a little pride still,
but I do not know whether it would not have yielded to the dreadful need
for a friend of my own race, if events had not brought me one whom you
know, Mr. Strafford.

"Although the island was large enough to have maintained the whole
Indian population by farming, it remained, when I came there, entirely
uncultivated, and hunting and fishing were still the only means the
people had of supporting themselves. The consequence was, that at times
they suffered greatly from scarcity of provisions, and this naturally
brought disease. The year after my marriage was a bad one, and the
women and children especially felt the want of their usual supplies. A
great many of them left the island, and tried to find food by begging,
or by selling mats, and baskets, at the nearest settlements. The misery
of these poor creatures attracted attention, and people began to wonder
why, since they were Christians, and had received some degree of
teaching, they were still so ignorant of the means of living. The answer
was easy. The missionaries who had taught them were as ignorant as
themselves of these things; and, indeed, had not thought it necessary to
civilize while they Christianized them. Mr. Strafford had then lately
arrived in the country. He held different views to those of the
missionaries, and, pitying the forlorn condition of the islanders, he
offered to come and help them. Almost the first sensation of gladness I
remember feeling, from the day I left my father's house, was when I
heard that a clergyman of our own Church was to be settled among my poor
neighbours."

CHAPTER X.

"Mr. Strafford had been some little time on the island before he saw me.
I had seen him, however, and I dare say you will understand how the
expression of his face, the honest, manly, kindly look you have often
admired, filled me with indescribable consolation, for I felt that there
would be near me, in future, a countryman on whose counsel and help I
could rely, if I should be driven to extremity. I waited without any
impatience for the visit which he was sure to pay me. Mary, my best
friend, had lately married a young Indian, who had spent much of his
life among Europeans, and who was now employed by Mr. Strafford to teach
him the Ojibway language, and,