n themselves in Greenland, they
answered, that they depended on the labour of their own hands and God's
blessing; and that not to be burdensome to any one, they would build
themselves a house and cultivate the ground. It being objected that
they would find no wood to build with, as the country presented little
but a face of barren rock. "Then," replied they in a true Missionary
spirit, "we will dig into the earth and lodge there." "No," said the
Minister, "to that necessity you shall not be reduced; you shall take
timber with you for building a house; accept of these fifty dollars for
that purpose." With this and other donations, they purchased poles,
planks and laths; instruments for agriculture, and carpenter's work,
together with several sorts of seeds and roots, with provisions. Thus
equipped, says Crantz, they took an affectionate leave of the Court
where they had been so hospitably entertained, and embarked on the 10th
of April, on board the King's ship, Caritas, Capt. Hildebrand. The
congregation at Hernhutt had already adopted the custom of annually
compiling a collection of scripture texts for every day in the year,
each illustrated or applied by a short verse from some hymn. This text
was called the "daily word," it supplied a profitable subject for
private meditation, and a theme for the public discourses. The daily
word on the morning of their embarkation on a mission which so often
appeared to baffle all hope, was, '_Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen._'

"We view Him, whom no eye can see,
With faith's keen vision stedfastly."

In this confidence they set sail; nor did they suffer themselves to be
confounded by any of the unspeakable difficulties of the following
years, till they and we at last beheld the completion of what they
hoped for in faith.

They sailed by Shetland, April 22nd; and, after an expeditious and
agreeable voyage, entered Davis's Straits in the beginning of May. Here
they encountered a field of floating ice, while enveloped in a thick
fog; but the next day a terrible storm arose, which dispersed the ice
and freed them at the same time from their fears. On the 13th they came
in sight of the coast of Greenland, when a violent tempest of four
days' continuance, preceded by a total eclipse of the sun, drove them
back more than sixty leagues. May 20th, they cast anchor in Ball's
River, after a voyage of six weeks; and joyfully welcomed the sn