ls from the United States hover about
the coast during summer; the accursed "fire-water" constitutes a
primary article in their outfit, and is bartered freely for such
commodities as the natives may possess. These adventurers are
generally men of loose principles, and are ever ready to take the
advantage of their customers. The natives, however, are now so well
instructed that they are more likely to cheat than be cheated.

The Esquimaux inhabiting the northern parts of the coast differ in
every respect from their neighbours of the south. They have acquired
a knowledge of the Christian religion, together with some of the more
useful arts of civilized life, without losing much of their primitive
simplicity. The Moravian Brethren, those faithful "successors of the
Apostles," after enduring inconceivable hardships and privations for
many years, without the least prospect of success, at length succeeded
in converting the heathens, collecting them in villages around them,
and at the same time not only instructing them in things pertaining to
their eternal salvation, but in everything else that could contribute
to their comfort and happiness in the present life. There are four
different stations of the Brethren; Hopedale, Nain, O'Kok, and Hebron.
At each station there is a church, store, dwelling-house for the
Missionaries, and workshops for native tradesmen. The natives are
lodged in houses built after the model of their _igloes_, being the
best adapted to the climate and circumstances of the country, where
scarcely any fuel is to be had: the Missionaries warm their houses by
means of stoves.

The Brethren have much the same influence with their flocks as a
father among his children. Whatever provisions the natives collect
are placed at their disposal, and by them afterwards distributed in
such a manner as to be of the most general benefit; by thus taking
the management of this important matter into their own hands, the
consequences of waste and improvidence are guarded against, and the
means of subsistence secured.

In years of great scarcity the Brethren open their own stores, having
always an ample supply of provisions on hand, so that through their
fostering care the natives never suffer absolute want. The Brethren
have also goods for trading, which they dispose of at a moderate
profit; the profits accruing from the business are thrown into the
general funds of the institution. It is said they carry on trade in
every