ionaries speak of the Creator and Redeemer
of men; this made a great impression upon her, and though a child, and
surrounded only by the heathen, it constantly occurred to her mind,
"It is he who made all things and knows all things; he, therefore,
knows me and can help me." Often she told the missionaries, that when
she was at Kilanok, she would go out to a mountain and weep and pray
to Jesus, particularly when any thing painful happened to her. After
her father's death a man took her for his third wife, which placed her
in the most painful circumstances, as he was a rude wicked wretch, a
sorcerer, and a murderer. In the year 1787 he died, and she was left
with two children completely destitute, for every one hated them on
his account. Her children were so dreadfully beaten that they both
died in consequence; but though they were thus cruelly treated in her
presence she durst not interfere, as the savages in ridicule
pretended it was the Torngak that bid them, and threatened her also
with death. At last Rebecca, one of the baptized, had compassion on
her in this disconsolate situation, and brought her to Okkak. Here the
missionaries soon perceived such an earnest desire after salvation as
they say they had never before seen in any Esquimaux, though she at
first spoke but little. In 1789, she was baptized, and soon after was
a partaker of the holy supper. She lived in constant communion with
her Saviour, for she had learned to know him as her comforter, her
counsellor and help, and often said, "He is indeed my Father; wherever
I go, and wherever I am, he is with me, and I can tell him every
thing." Esther was the first converted person among the Esquimaux who
continued faithful unto the end, without allowing herself in any thing
sinful, and though often asked in marriage by unbelievers, so far was
she from listening to such proposals, that her reply was, "I would not
disturb my present enjoyment even to marry a believer." For had she
married, she must have gone in summer with the other Esquimaux to the
distant places where they procured their furs and skins, while in her
present state she could always remain at the settlement, and enjoy
the privileges of a Christian church. She learned to read and write,
so that she wrote letters with her own hand to the sisters at Nain. In
June 1792, when she was taken ill, she sweetly repeated, "Whether I
live I am the Saviour's, whether I die I am the Saviour's--living or
dying I am t