Chapter 2

"I took him with me," said the Captain, "to the Great Exhibition, the Crystal Palace, in Hyde Park. He beheld all the treasures around him with great coolness, and only expressed his wonder at the vast multitude of people."

Great Exhibition of 1851

This is natural enough. Many of our readers may recall the feelings of astonishment with which they viewed that large assemblage. On one of the shilling days, in October, 1851, ninety-two thousand human beings were collected together in the Crystal Palace at one time[5]. The force of contrast could perhaps go no further than in this instance. A young stranger who, in his own country, in a space of hundreds of miles around him, had only three families (probably twelve persons) to count, makes one of a multitude of more than ninety thousand of his fellow-creatures, in a building of glass, covering only eighteen acres of ground!

[Footnote 5: This was the case on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 1851. The total number of visitors on that day alone was 109,915.]

He was taken to see the Horse Guards' Stables. On seeing a trooper mount his charger, (both being fully accoutred,) Kalli was puzzled. He could not account for the perfect order and discipline of the animal, and the mutual fitness of the man and his horse, the one for the other.

St. Augustine's College

In November, 1851, Kallihirua was placed, by direction of the Lords of the Admiralty, at the suggestion of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in the Missionary College of St. Augustine's, at Canterbury. This college, built on the site of the ancient monastery of St. Augustine, was established in 1848, for the reception of students intended for the work of the sacred Ministry in the colonies and dependencies of the British Empire, as well as among the heathen. The College, to which the Queen gave a charter of incorporation, owes its origin chiefly to the munificence of A. J. B. Beresford Hope, Esq., who purchased the ground, and gave the site. The College Chapel was consecrated on the morning of St. Peter's Day, June 29th, 1848, when seven prelates, with the Archbishop of Canterbury at their head, were present.

College Studies

Kallihirua remained a student of the College, attending to the instruction given him, and conducting himself well and properly in all respects. Under the kind auspices of the Rev. H. Bailey, the learned and judicious Warden of the College, who took the greatest interest in him, he availed himself, as far as his powers admitted, of the advantages of the institution. He appeared rightly to understand and value the blessings of education in a civilized community, and received with reverence the simple and saving truths of the Gospel. It was hoped, that, should he willingly and intelligently embrace the Christian faith, he might at no distant period convey the "glad tidings of good things" as a missionary or catechist to his own benighted friends and countrymen.

In September, 1852, the Warden, in a letter, informed the author, that Kallihirua had been in good health all the summer. "We consider him," said he, "a youth of intelligence, and quick observation. His progress in reading is necessarily slow, though he can manage words of four or five letters, he is fond of writing, and succeeds very well. He is very devout at prayers, and attentive to the religious instruction given him. I think he will one day be of essential use to a missionary in some northern region. He is grateful to you for your kind offer of books, and will write a letter of acknowledgment."

His Reverence for Sacred Places

It was but a short time after his settling at St. Augustine's College, that one of the students took him to see Canterbury Cathedral. The reverent regard with which he had been taught to look upon a church, as a place where prayer was made to God, manifested itself in his inquiry, when entering the nave, "Whether he might cough there?" This tendency to cough, arising from an ailment, the seeds of which had probably been sown long before, was often observable; and he was very susceptible of cold.

Illness from Changes in the Weather

In the spring of 1853 he suffered much from the variableness of the season. The mode in which he described his state to a friend is very simple and affecting. The original letter, which was entirely his own, both in composition and handwriting, is here copied verbatim. It commences with his signature:--

"E. YORK, St. Augustine's College. April, 1853.

"My dear Sir,

"I am very glad to tell, How do you do, Sir? I been England, long time none very well. Long time none very well. Very bad weather. I know very well, very bad cough. I very sorry, very bad weather, dreadful. Country very difference. Another day cold. Another day wet, I miserable.

"Another summer come. Very glad. Great many trees. Many wood. Summer beautiful, country Canterbury."

Should any reader be disposed to look with the smile of a critic on this humble but genuine effort, let him bear in mind the difficulties which poor _English_ adults have to encounter in learning to read and write; and then let him judge of the obstacles in the way of one whose existence had been spent with his native tribe, on fields of ice, and in dark snow-huts.

In all attacks of illness he was attended with assiduous kindness by Mr. Hallowes, of Canterbury, the skilful surgeon employed by the College, who showed much hospitality to Kalli. One of Mr. Hallowes' family circle on Christmas-day was always the good-humoured broad-faced Esquimaux. At their juvenile parties, the youth joined cheerfully in the sports of the children, and he sometimes sung them some of the wild and plaintive airs peculiar to his tribe.

It is believed that Kalli never omitted his morning and evening prayers by his bed-side, and his utterance was full of devout earnestness. Mr. Bailey remembers once travelling with him to Deal, and while in the railway carriage, the youth quietly took out of his pocket a little book, which was afterwards found to be a collection of texts for each day in the year. For some time he was reading thoughtfully the text for the day. No notice was taken of this to him; and as for himself, never perhaps was any one more free from the least approach to ostentation.

Greenland Esquimaux Vocabulary

In the year 1853, Kalli rendered essential Service in the preparation of a Greenland Esquimaux Vocabulary, for the use of the Arctic Expedition of that year. The work was printed by direction of the Lords of the Admiralty, with a short Preface acknowledging the advantage of his assistance. Captain Washington, R.N., Hydrographer of the Admiralty, says in the Preface, "Every word has now been revised from the lips of a native. In the Midsummer vacation in 1852 Kallihirua passed some days with me, and we went partly over the Vocabulary. I found him intelligent, speaking English very fairly, docile and imitative, his great pleasure appearing to be a pencil and paper, with which he drew animals and ships. At the Christmas holidays, we revised more of the Vocabulary, &c."

A member of the Expedition afterwards visited St. Augustine's College and stated that the Vocabulary had been found to be of much service.

Visit to Kalli at College

The writer of this Memoir well recollects the circumstances of a visit which he paid with his family to St. Augustine's College, Canterbury, on a bright day, in August, 1853, when (it being the vacation) only three students remained in residence. These were 1. Kallihirua, 2. a young Hindoo by name Mark Pitamber Paul, and 3. Lambert McKenzie, a youth of colour, a native of Africa, sent to the College by the Bishop of Guiana. Kalli, who was the only one of these personally known to the author, did not at first appear. He had strolled out to witness a cricket-match in a field near Canterbury, but Blunsom, the College porter, said that he had promised to return by two o'clock, and that he was very punctual.

It is here due both to Blunsom and his wife, to say that they were most kind friends to Kalli, watching over him with the most thoughtful attention, and the tenderest care throughout.

As the Cathedral clock struck two, Kalli entered the College-gates. With hair black as the raven's wing, and eyes sparkling with good-humour, he made his appearance; and soon showed a desire to do the honours of the College. His dress was neat, like that of a young English gentleman, and he had a gaiety of look and manner, but far removed from foppery of apparel or demeanour. With true politeness--that of the heart--he accompanied the visitors over the Library, the Chapel, the Common Hall and the Dormitories of the College; each student having a small bed-room and study to himself.

His Amusements and Occupations

Kalli took great pleasure in exhibiting the carpenter's shop, a spacious crypt below the Library. Attention was there called to the wooden frame of a small house, in the construction of which, it appeared, he had borne a part. He said, when asked, that he should most probably find the knowledge of carpentering valuable some day, and that he should like to teach his countrymen the many good and useful things which he had learned in his College. He spoke little, and was evidently conscious of his imperfect pronunciation, but in answer to a question on the subject, he said he hoped to tell his people about religion, and the truths of the Gospel which he had been taught in England.

His amusements were of a quiet and innocent kind. He made small models of his country sledges, one of which, a very creditable performance, is in the Museum in the College Library, and a rough rustic chair, now in the College garden, is of his manufacture. He was fond of drawing ships, and figures of the Seal, the Walrus, the Reindeer, the Esquimaux Dog, and other objects familiar to him in the Arctic regions.

His sketches of animals and ships were very correct, and he used sometimes to draw them for the amusement of children.

When on board the "Assistance," he made a good sketch of the coast line of the region which his tribe frequented, from Cape York to Smith's Sound.

The use which he made of the needle must not be forgotten. For a year and a half, whilst at Canterbury, he went regularly for five hours a day to a tailor to learn the trade, and was found very handy with his needle. He proved to be of much use in the ordinary work of the trade.

Baptism of Kallihirua

We now come to an important event in the history of Kallihirua; his Baptism, which took place on Advent Sunday, Nov. 27th, 1853, in St. Martin's Church, near Canterbury. "The visitors present on the occasion," said an eye-witness[6], "were, the Rev. John Philip Gell (late Warden of Christ's College, Tasmania), accompanied by Mrs. Gell, daughter of the late Sir John Franklin; Captain Erasmus Ommanney, R.N. (who brought Kallihirua to England), and Mrs. Ommanney, Captain Washington, R.N., of the Admiralty, and the Rev. W. T. Bullock. The Rev. T. B. Murray, Secretary of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, who had been invited, was, in consequence of engagements in London, unfortunately unable to be present".

[Footnote 6: St. Augustine's Occasional Paper.]

"Towards three o'clock in the afternoon, small parties began to issue from the College gateway in the direction of St. Martin's,--that picturesque little church, looking from its calm hill-side over the broad Stour valley, and over the cathedral and the steeples of the town half emerging from the smoke. In the interior of this oldest of the English churches there is an ancient font, which stands upon the spot (if it be not the very font itself), where King Ethelbert, the firstfruits of the Anglo-Saxon race, was baptized more than twelve hundred and fifty years ago by Augustine.

"In the enclosure round this font sat Kallihirua, and his 'chosen witnesses' Captain Ommanney, and the Subwarden, Mrs. Bailey, and Mrs. Gell. The remainder of the church was quite filled with an attentive and apparently deeply-interested congregation, many of them of the poorer class to whom Kalli is well known either by face (as indeed he could not well fail to be), or as the comrade of their children in the spelling-class at school.

"After the Second Lesson, the Warden proceeded to the font, and the Baptismal Service commenced. Kallihirua, as an adult, made the responses for himself, and in a clear firm tone, which seemed to intimate that he had made his choice for once and for ever, that he had cast in his lot with us, and taken our people for his people, and our God for his God, and felt with an intelligent appreciation the privilege of that new brotherhood into which he was admitted.

"May his admission within the pale of Christ's holy Church be, (as was the prayer of many, beyond the walls of St. Martin's, on that day,) both to himself and to many of his race, an event pregnant of eternal issues! 'May the fulness of God's blessing,' to use the words of one of our most valued friends, 'rest upon it, and make it the first streak of a clear and steady light, shining from St. Augustine's into the far North.' The Christian names added to his original Esquimaux name, were 'Erasmus,' after Captain Ommanney, and 'Augustine,' in remembrance of the College.

"The service being concluded, an excellent sermon was preached by the Rev. J. P. Gell, on the text, Isaiah lxv. 1: 'I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.' Afterwards the same kind friend attended our Sunday evening meeting in the Warden's house, and gave us some interesting details of the missionary work (in which he had himself borne a part) in Van Diemen's Land. The drift of his remarks was to give encouragement to the principle of steady faithful persevering energy, undamped by early difficulties, and not impatient of the day of small things; and to show by convincing examples (especially that of Mr. Davis, a devoted missionary in that country) how such conduct is sure in the end to meet with a success of the soundest and most permanent kind, because founded on the spontaneous sympathy of the people, and on the blessings of the poor, 'not loud but deep.'

"Kallihirua had received a very handsome present in the shape of a beautifully bound Bible and Prayer Book, as a baptismal gift from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge."

It may be interesting to add, that the water used in the baptism was from the river Jordan, and that it had been brought from thence by Captain Ommanney himself.

In the _Gospel Missionary_ for February, 1854, was a pleasing description of the Baptism of Kallihirua: and this was the sound and practical conclusion:--

"Before we conclude, we may, perhaps, express the hope that our young friends will sometimes think kindly of their new Christian brother, ERASMUS AUGUSTINE KALLIHIRUA, and that they will pray that God will bless him, and make him to advance more and more in the knowledge and the love of His dear Son JESUS CHRIST. When they thus think of him who is now made their own brother by baptism, and is thus brought into the family of CHRIST'S people, let them learn to value the good things which GOD has given _them_ in such rich abundance. Let them be thankful that they were born in a Christian country, in which they have been taught from children to know the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make them wise unto salvation through faith which is in CHRIST JESUS."

Stanzas by the Warden

The following stanzas, written by the Warden on the occasion of the baptism, will be read with pleasure, especially by those who are aware how faithfully the amiable writer of them fulfilled his part in preparing Kallihirua, not only for the right performance of such duties as seemed to await him in life, but (what was far more important) for an early death.

THE BAPTISM OF KALLIHIRUA

"I WILL TAKE YOU ONE OF A CITY, AND TWO OF A FAMILY, AND I WILL BRING YOU TO ZION."--Jer. iii. 14.

Far through the icy bounds Of Greenland's barren shore, At duty's call, on mercy sent, The brave are gone before.

Beyond the haunts of men They urge their tedious way, When lo! a wandering tribe appears By yonder northern bay.

But who so wild, so lost In ignorance and sin! No God they know, no Saviour own, Is there a soul to win?

Yes, in that heathen race One heart at least is found That yearns for better things, by grace In unseen fetters bound.

Warm is the Christian's heart, Outstretch'd the Christian's hand, "Assistance" lends her friendly aid To reach a Christian land.

In this our calm retreat He finds a peaceful home, Is taught such learning as is meet, In store for years to come.

He learns to know and love His Saviour and his God, And now he is a brother dear, By faith in Jesu's blood.

O gracious Spirit! hear Our prayer with one accord; And train this new-born Christian heart In thy most holy Word.

Have pity on his race! And bring them still to see Their wretched state, and teach them all The Father, Son, and Thee!

To God the Father, Son, And Spirit, glory be, Who call'd, and saved, and sanctifies, The co-eternal Three!

Some of these verses were sung in the College Chapel on the evening of Advent Sunday, 1853.

Kalli at St. John's, Newfoundland

The time having now arrived at which, according to the opinion of the Bishop of Newfoundland, and the Warden of St. Augustine's, the qualifications of Kallihirua might be turned to some account, as an aid to missionaries in their efforts among the Esquimaux of Labrador, he left England, in the autumn of the year 1855, for further training at St. John's, Newfoundland. This step was taken at the expense of the Admiralty, who agreed to allow him 25 pounds a year for three years.

The following notice of his character appeared in the 'Occasional Paper,' published in St. Augustine's College at the time of his removal to Newfoundland. At every step of his short but remarkable course, such willing testimony always awaited him.

"Kallihirua, whose name is known as widely as that of his College, has arrived at another crisis in his eventful history. Having resided more than three years in College, he has been transferred to the experienced care of the Bishop of Newfoundland, with the view to his probable usefulness among the Esquimaux of Labrador. If integrity of moral principle, gentleness of spirit, docility of manners, willingness to be useful, and true Christian politeness, are essential requisites in a Missionary, then is Kallihirua certain to fill his place well, if only the right place is found for him."

Kalli arrived in St John's, Newfoundland, on the 2nd October, 1855, and, on the following day, wrote a letter to Captain Ommanney, telling him that he had suffered on the voyage from the motion of the vessel, which had caused severe headaches. He added, "St John's puts me in mind of my own country. I have already found a great number of kind friends, and feel so happy."

He was immediately admitted into the College of the Theological Institution for further training, and it was the Bishop's intention to have taken him in the summer of 1856 in the Church-ship to the coast of Labrador, with the view particularly of comparing his language with that of the Esquimaux on the American continent, who are included under the government, and consequently in the diocese, of Newfoundland.

That he was not unfitted for this task, appears from a passage in the preface to the Greenland-Esquimaux Vocabulary. Captain Washington observes: "On comparing the Labrador with the Greenland dialect of the Esquimaux, it was found that nearly one-half the words given by Mr. Platon were similar to the former. On going over the vocabulary with Kallihirua, generally speaking he recognized the Greenland word. When he did not do so, the Labrador was mentioned, which, in most cases, he caught at directly. These words have been added. There would thus appear to be even a greater degree of similarity between the Labrador and Greenland dialects than might have been expected, and it is evident that the Greenland dialect, as Mr. Platon states, is spoken by all the Esquimaux to the head of Baffin's Bay."

Kalli had some conversation with a Moravian Missionary from Labrador. The language was in most respects similar, though there was evidently a difficulty in understanding each other.

Death of Archdeacon Bridge

It may be mentioned, as a circumstance of melancholy interest, that, besides Kallihirua, the late Venerable T. F. H. Bridge, Archdeacon of Newfoundland, was to have accompanied and assisted the Bishop in this voyage, which it was proposed should have extended to the Moravian settlement. Moravian Missions have been established in Greenland for more than a century. But the expedition contemplated by the Bishop was more particularly designed to open Sandwich and Esquimaux Bays to the much-needed Missionary.

These projects it was determined, in the good providence of God, were not to be realized. Archdeacon Bridge was prematurely carried off, in the midst of his zealous and successful labours, at the end of February, 1856. "He worked himself to death!" said the Bishop. "His death was felt in the colony as a public loss."

Intelligence from Newfoundland

The author of this memoir had written to Kallihirua, whilst he was at St. Augustine's, and had received from him a letter shortly, and plainly expressed, which the Warden stated to have been composed and written by the youth himself, and which proved how anxious he was to do well that which was given him to do. The author afterwards often thought of the amiable Kalli, and was in hopes of soon hearing from him in his new abode in Newfoundland. But man proposeth, and God disposeth. A St. John's paper, _The Newfoundland Express_, taken up casually in July, 1856, conveyed the intelligence that Kallihirua had passed away from this busy anxious world to another, and, we humbly and reasonably hope, a better and happier.

A melancholy interest generally attaches to the history of individuals dying in a foreign and strange land, far from friends and home. The separation from all they have known and loved is, in their case, so entire, the change of their circumstances, habits, and associations, so great, that such a dispensation specially appeals to the sympathy of all Christian hearts.

Allusion to Prince Le Boo

Feelings of this kind are excited by the narrative of the early death of Prince Le Boo, a youthful native of the Pelew Islands, who was brought over to this country in July, 1784, and who, in the spring-time of life, after little more than five months' stay in England, fell a victim, to the small pox. In the memoir of that young prince, who died at Rotherhithe, and was buried in the church-yard there, in December, 1784, there are some points of resemblance to the case under our notice. The natural and unforced politeness of the youth, his aptness at conforming, in all proper things, to the habits and customs of those to whose hospitality he was intrusted; his warm and single-hearted affection for such persons, in whatever station, as showed him kind offices, his desire for mental improvement; his resignation and submission in his last illness to the will of God, these are features which remind us of the subject of our present memoir. Many are the tears which have fallen over the story of the young and amiable Prince Le Boo.