scarcely sufficient for two months. "Leaving the month. And even then he was reluctant Traverse des Sioux before noon on Monday," he to have his two hired men set out upon the says, we arrived at Yellow Medicine after dark journey; but they were "full of life, and anxon Saturday, October 23. The weather was not ious to go;" hence he finally consented to their so cool as when we were coming up the river; departure. They arrived at their destination but the smoke of the burning prairie, which made in safety; and on the 10th of December, hav. it warmer, affected our eyes very unpleasantly. ing purchased an additional yoke of oxen, they Our house was not so well prepared for our turned their faces homeward. On the 15th of reception, as I had hoped. It is sixteen feet by December, "notwithstanding several falls of thirty, and about fifteen feet high. It has a flat snow," they had traveled about fifty miles, half roof, intended for a composition of pitch, sand, the distance to Yellow Medicine. Then, how&c.; but this had been applied to only a small ever, disappointments and disasters began to part of it; as the workmen, having no experience thicken around their path. But the story must in such matters, were unable to use it according be told in Dr. Williamson's own language. "On to their instructions. The walls were covered on the 13th of December," he says, " commenced the outside with split boards; and as these would the most terrible series of cold and stormy days not exclude the wind, the space between the I remember to have known. To the end of studs was filled with mud, hay and sticks. This the month the thermometer at sunrise stood, was left rough and uneven at first; and it had on an average, at 6° below zero; or, omitting cracked in drying, so as to admit the wind. As the only three mornings when it rose above the the rain came upon it before it was covered, the average, it stood at 81° below; while the averearth was continually falling on the lower floor, age at one o'clock in the afternoon, which is between which and the roof nothing intervened at this season the warmest hour of the day, was but the joists. As there was no partition, the only 44° above. But this gives only a faint idea whole house constituted but a single room, with- of the severity of the weather. The only three out a stove or fireplace. Such as it was, however, mornings when the mercury was above zero, it we were glad to reach it." sunk as the day advanced, so as to be below in the afternoon, the snow falling at the same time; and two of them were the most terrible days I ever knew, the wind blowing a tempest, and drifting the snow so thick that at times a house could not be seen one hundred yards, and forming drifts in a single day and night not less than ten feet deep. From the 15th to the end of the month there was not one clear day; and more than half of the time the snow was either falling or drifting. In such weather we knew it was impossible for any one to make much progress, in traveling through a deep snow over a prairie, when persons must direct their course by trees several miles distant. We felt much anxiety concerning our men, therefore; for we had some reason to suppose that they were on a part of the road where for forty miles there was no human dwelling, or a single thick grove, in which they might find some shelter from the wind; and if so, it seemed to me that they and their teams must all perish."

In addition to the labor of preparing this rude dwelling for the approaching winter, it was necessary to send to Lac-qui-parle for a load of potatoes. While Dr. Williamson's team was absent for this purpose, and before he had finished his plastering, it began to snow; and the cold weather commenced immediately. And yet our brother wrote on the 19th of November as follows: "I have never for a moment regretted our coming here; nor do I know that any of my family do; though it not only cuts us off almost entirely from civilized society, but separates us, by making it necessary to send our children away to be educated. I believe here is the place where our Master would have us labor; and I hope it will be our pleasure to labor and to suffer, if need be, to extend his kingdom." In regard to the prospect of interesting the Indians in the truths of the gospel, he spoke hopefully. He found them more willing to listen to his message than those whom he had left at Kaposia; and therein his heart rejoiced. Miss Williamson commenced a school early in November; and though the number of pupils was small at first, she was encouraged by their apparent desire to receive instruction.

Unexpected Disasters.

Dr. Williamson intended to send a team to Traverse des Sioux, soon after he reached Yellow Medicine, for the purpose of procuring additional supplies. But such was the severity of the weather in November, that this plan could not be carried into effect till the last day of

Dr. Williamson hoped, however, that they had not left Traverse des Sioux. But in this he was disappointed. "It appears," he says, "that on the morning of the 15th they left the house of a trader, the only inhabited dwelling this side of Traverse des Sioux; and on that day they came about ten miles, and encamped where there was a sufficiency of wood for fuel. The storms detained them at that place till the 22d, by which time the snow had become deep; and two of our horses, through want of food and the severity of the weather, were unable to advance; so that they and more than half

Loss of Property.

of the load were left, it being expected that the | them; and, on exposing them, it was impossible horses would perish in the snow. From that to distinguish between the dead parts and the point to the next wood near the road the distance living." Mr. Jacques suffered much less than is twelve miles; and they were three days in Mr. Hunter; but the hardships which he endured, going thither. The feet of one of them had had left their marks upon him. Dr. Williamson become badly frosted the second day after they and his family, of course, greatly rejoiced to see left Traverse des Sioux, and those of the other them, though it was a sad tale which they carried met with the same misfortune at this time. This, to that lonely dwelling. with the snow banks, storms, and weakness of the teams, although they had abandoned all their load except about three hundred pounds, prevented their advancing more than about two miles from the 25th to the 31st. On the last day of last year, Mr. Jacques, who had previously proposed the matter to Mr. Hunter without being able to obtain his consent, made himself a small hand-sled, and told his companion that it was useless to try to bring the teams further, or stay with them, as they must in that case all perish together; and that he was determined in the morning to leave them, if he should be obliged to go forward alone. Next morning he bound their bedding on his sled, with such provisions as they supposed they might need before they could reach my house, his Bible, and the newspapers and letters which they were bringing from the post-office; and he then assisted Mr. Hunter to rise and walk, till he was able to go alone; and thus they set off, hoping to arrive the same day at an unoccupied house, built by a trader last summer. But, night coming on, they were unable to find the house; and they slept in a wooded ravine, where they were sheltered from the wind, but without fire. In the morning, the snow about them being about three feet deep, and not firm enough to bear up their little hand-sled, they left it with their bedding, Bible, and the mail which they were bringing us, everything, in fact, except the clothes which they wore, a few biscuits in their pockets, and an axe; and in two or three hours they made their way, less than as many miles, to the house where they had hoped to lodge the previous night. It being the Sabbath, they rested here till the next morning, making a large fire to keep from freezing, and spreading some hay on the floor for a bed. Leaving this house, which is near what are called Patterson's Rapids on the Minnesota, and fifteen or eighteen miles from Yellow Medicine, they arrived about eight o'clock in the evening, both very much exhausted, and having lost their axe in cutting a hole through the ice to get water. Had they lain out that night, as they were without bedding or fire, they must have perished; and it was their opinion that Mr. Hunter could not have continued to travel for more than an hour longer; and it seems astonishing that he was able to travel at all. More than three weeks had elapsed since his feet were first frozen ; and they were probably frozen many times subsequently; so that when he arrived, he had no natural feeling in any part of

Dr. Williamson sent for the horse and the oxen, which were abandoned by Messrs. Jacques and Hunter thirty miles from Yellow Medicine; but three were dead; and the rest were too weak to travel. The whole team, therefore, which left Traverse des Sioux on the 10th of December, consisting of three horses and four oxen, are lost to the mission. "In consequence of the losses of which I have written," says Dr. Williamson, "we shall be under the necessity of asking for some addition to our allowance; how much, I know not. The damage we receive from this terrible series of storms, cannot be much less than a year's allowance for my family; but as Providence has been pleased to subject us to loss and suffering, we are willing to bear it; and as the Prudential Committee could not shield us, we will not expect them to repair the injury, further than is absolutely necessary to enable us successfully to continue our labors. We have lived for the last six weeks chiefly on potatoes and hominy; and we expect to live chiefly on the same food for six weeks to come. We always eat it, however, with a good appetite; and I am sure that I was never more thankful, when I had a better diet; but it does not remove the cravings of hunger, as stronger nutriment would. And appearances seemed to indicate, at one time, that our supply of these would fail, before we could obtain more. When Messrs. Jacques and Hunter returned, we had less than a bushel of corn; and our potatoes were too few to last till the weather could be expected to moderate, and the snow melt enough to admit of our getting more from Lac-qui-Parle, which is the only place, nearer than Traverse des Sioux, where food can be purchased." Two days after the return of the hired men, a small quantity of provisions arrived from Lac-qui-parle, sent by the kindness of Messrs. Riggs and Adams. It was carried the whole distance of thirty miles on hand-sleds, the snow being too deep for horses to travel. Supplies will probably be furnished from that station, so long as they shall be needed.

It will be inferred, of course, that the Indians have suffered much during these storms. Indeed, Dr. Williamson felt constrained to give a cow to those in his neighborhood, though he needed her for his own use, that he might save them from starvation.

The latest intelligence from this station bears

date January 19. Dr. Williamson then wrote that he hoped to save Mr. Hunter's feet. He was obliged to spend several hours each day, however, in dressing them; and the injury was manifestly very serious.

Hope and Faith.

This sad chapter cannot be closed more appropriately than by the following extract from one of Dr. Williamson's letters: "Do not think we

have been either discouraged or unhappy. When the Lord took away some of our temporal comforts, he gave us more communion with himself. I never felt more able to pray for the Dakotas, or greater willingness to labor and suffer for the sake of extending Christ's kingdom among them; and but for our solicitude on account of Messrs. Jacques and Hunter, and others who might be exposed to the tempest, I should have been quite happy. In consequence of the distance to the place which the Indians occupy this winter, for the convenience of fishing, we can have no school; and owing to the same cause, with the severity of the weather, my audiences, even on the Sabbath, have been small. On the most of those who are present, moreover, the truth seems to make very little impression. Still we trust that He who suffered as well as labored for our good, and has made us willing to suffer as well as labor for this people, will yet employ us as instruments of blessing and salvation."

Tripoll.

LETTER FROM MR. WILSON, DECEMBER 28, 1852.

Visit to Homs.

site, the city is walled; not to resist cannon-balls, however, but simply to enclose a little spot which shall be exempt from the desolating tread of the desert war-horse, against whose terrible rider the gates must often be shut at noonday.

The houses of Homs are nearly all of one story; and this accounts for the large space covered, in proportion to the population. The walls of the houses are partly of black trap rock, as durable and hard as Boston granite, and partly of dried bricks. These mud-crowned walls in the summer months, assailed by the constant winds of the plain, cannot fail to keep the air filled with dust, much to the injury of the eyes. The streets are wider and better paved than in any other oriental city which I have seen. Nearly all the water used in the place is brought from the Orontes, upon the backs of animals, in leathern bags.

About one-third of the people are Christians; of whom some sixty families are Greek Catholics, and some three hundred families Jacobites, the remainder being Greeks. We were visited by a few persons; and of course we returned their calls. The character of the people does not differ materially from that of the same sects elsewhere, unless it be in the fact that these Christians are more on an equality than in cities on the sea-board. There are no Franks here; which fact would rather favor than hinder a missionary. The mass of the people are weavers or shoemakers; and from all that I saw, I am convinced the people are more industrious than in most cities of Syria. The schools are poor, as elsewhere; and the proportion of readers is probably about the same as in other cities. The people seem to be temperate; and the city, situated as it is, must have fewer corrupting influences than most others. The Syrians are quite poor; and on the whole they are a more This city, containing some eighteen approachable class than I have before thousand souls, is situated near the west-seen. They have close connections with ern border of a plain which extends to Sudad, distant one day to the south-east. the Euphrates. About two miles distant, The Greek Catholics are papists; which on the west, flows the Orontes, the larg- is about all that need be said of them, est river in Syria. The space between their general character being easily inthe city and the river is devoted to gar-ferred from this fact. The Greeks, much dens, orchards, vineyards, &c. The the most numerous sect, are sluggish, as water necessary to produce this oasis is Greeks are everywhere; yet we were brought in a canal from Lake Orontes, pleased to notice signs of life. Dr. some miles south-west. After the wheat Mishakah has sent books from Damasand barley are harvested, nothing green cus, and has long been in correspondcan be seen from the time-worn castle-ence with several in this place. One mound of Homs, north, east or south. young man, named Abdellah Zeidan. Like Emesa, which once occupied this acts as book distributer; and he seems,

IN October last, Messrs. Wilson and Foot made an excursion to Homs and Hamath, accompanied by one of the native helpers employed at Sidon. "A part of four days" was spent at each of these places. In respect to the former, Mr. Wilson writes as follows:

1853.

Armenians :-Letter from Messrs. Dwight and Johnston.

101

notwithstanding all the opposition he Turkish Armenia, he found a wonderful meets with, to be sanguine of success. prevalence of evangelical sentiments, He is still in connection with the church. If I am asked whether he is a converted man, I cannot answer confidently. He has a zeal which appears to be according to knowledge; but whether the grace of God has found an abiding place in his heart, is more than a short acquaintance can enable me to testify. He gave me glowing accounts of the number of persons who were inclined to Protestantism.

I was sorry to see a strong desire for the establishment of a consular agency in the city; and I gave no encouragement whatever to the plan. So far as the two cities are concerned, I should consider Homs quite as encouraging for the missionary as Tripoli; though the Christian population around Homs is small, in comparison with that near Tripoli.

and, for the most part, great readiness to listen to the truth. Out of this, he said, grows a necessity for four things; namely, preachers, teachers, houses of worship, and books. He generally found the Armenian people very simple-hearted, and ready to receive the word of God as their authoritative rule; but alas! they are, to a most lamentable degree, ignorant of its contents. In some places where he had been laboring for a few days, and was ready to leave, the people said to him, "You have come and preached to us the gospel; and now you are going to leave us! If you go, who will preach to us the word of life? Who will teach our children? Who will be our spiritual shepherd?"

This very year, said Mr. Hohannes, forty preachers are absolutely needed to supply all the open places in Armenia; and next year seventy or eighty will be For a description of Hamath, Mr. Wilson refers needed; and there will be a constant to a journal of Mr. Thomson, which was pub-increase of the work. Of course, he lished in the Herald for August, 1841. The does not mean to imply that so many are Christian population of this city is regarded as to be looked for from America; for his much smaller than that of Homs, and as offering a less promising field to the missionary. "The Greek Bishops of both places have the reputation of being swindlers and drunkards."

Report of Pastor Hohannes.

From almost all parts of the country the cry is becoming more and more urgent, "Send us preachers." Our beloved brother, Pastor Hohannes, has just returned from a long tour through Armenia. He brings us cheering accounts of what he saw and heard; and he has placed a written report of his tour in our hands, which will no doubt, in substance at least, be communicated to you. At a public meeting in the chapel at Pera, he presented a cursory view of his tour, which was highly interesting and instructive. He remarked that throughout

mind is chiefly on preachers trained up here. But when is there a prospect of our seeing so many of this description?

Of all the places which Mr. Hohannes visited, he puts Arabkir next to Cesarea in importance. "It has a large Armenian population; and they show a great deal of the refinement in manners of Constantinople and Smyrna. It is also a remarkable fact, that a large proportion of the Armenians there are able to read; and many of them have read the Bible and other books from the mission press; and they have profited by them." And there are thought to be at least one hundred and fifty villages in the district immediately around, the inhabitants of which are all Armenians, speaking the Armenian language.

Appeal.

Our souls are burdened when we survey the field which is spread out before us, and contemplate the numbers of the people in all directions, that are now ready and urgent to be taught the way of life. Who can tell how soon this harvest-time may pass away, and the people, instead of being deeply interested inquirers, may relapse into the hopeless indifference of infidelity! Now is evidently the time for action, if we intend to possess the field.

Twelve men have been pledged to us by the American churches; but where are they? The first of the twelve has