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St. Martin's Church, Canterbury _To face page_ 39

KALLIHIRUA THE ESQUIMAUX.

Kallihirua, notwithstanding the disadvantages of person (for he was
plain, and short of stature, and _looked_ what he was,--an Esquimaux),
excited a feeling of interest and regard in those who were acquainted
with his history, and who knew his docile mind, and the sweetness of
his disposition.

Compliance with the precept in the Old Testament, "Love ye the
stranger[1]," becomes a delight as well as a duty in such an instance
as that about to be recorded, especially when we consider the
affecting injunction conveyed in the Epistle to the Hebrews, "Be not
forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained
angels unawares[2]."

[Footnote 1: Deut. x 18.]

[Footnote 2: Heb. xiii 2.]

Her Majesty's Ship "Assistance"

Erasmus Augustine York, whose native name was Kallihirua, was brought
to England on board Her Majesty's ship "Assistance," Captain Erasmus
Ommanney, in 1851. Captain Ommanney was second in command of the
expedition under the orders of Captain Horatio Austin, C.B., which was
dispatched in May, 1850, in search of the missing vessels of Sir John
Franklin, the "Erebus" and "Terror". Franklin had quitted England on his
perilous and fatal enterprise in May, 1845.

Much interest was attached to the young Esquimaux, who was considered
to be about sixteen years of age in August, 1850. He was one of a
tribe inhabiting the country in the vicinity of Wolstenholme Sound, at
the head of Baffin's Bay, in 76 deg. 3' north latitude, the nearest
residents to the North Pole of any human beings known to exist on the
globe. He was the only person ever brought to this country from so
high a northern latitude. His tribe was met with by the late Sir John
Ross, during his voyage in 1818, and was by him called the Arctic
Highlanders.

Cape York

It appears that, when the expedition under Captain Austin's command
was passing Cape York, in August, 1850, after its release from the ice
in Melville Bay, natives were seen from the "Assistance".
Captain Ommanney went with the "Intrepid" (one of the vessels
comprising the expedition) to communicate with them, when it was
ascertained that H.M.S., "North Star," had passed the winter in the
neighbourhood. The fate of this vessel was then a matter of anxiety,
as by her instructions she had been cautioned to avoid passing the
winter in those regio