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Cover of Journal of a Voyage from Okkak, on the Coast of Labrador, to Ungava Bay, Westward of Cape Chudleigh Undertaken to Explore the Coast, and Visit the Esquimaux in That — Inside the Classic

Journal of a Voyage from Okkak, on the Coast of Labrador, to Ungava Bay, Westward of Cape Chudleigh Undertaken to Explore the Coast, and Visit the Esquimaux in That — Inside the Classic

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Authors: Kohlmeister, B. G. (Benjamin Gottlieb), 1785?-1874, Kmoch, Georg Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2005 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Labrador (N.L.) -- Description and travel; Moravians -- Missions Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 30,189

Reading time 132 min

Text sections 4

For Journal of a Voyage from Okkak, on the Coast of Labrador, to Ungava Bay, Westward of Cape Chudleigh Undertaken to Explore the Coast, and Visit the Esquimaux in That — Inside the Classic, the stored edition analysis reports 30,189 words, 2 hr 12 min estimated reading time, and 4 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 21.2 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Labrador (N.L.) -- Description and travel,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #15436

Missionaries Kohlmeister and Kmoch recount their 1811 voyage from Okkak to Ungava Bay, blending navigational detail with encounters among Inuit groups. The journal reveals how Moravian evangelical aims intersect with practical seamanship and observations of landscape, ice, and indigenous lifeways.

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Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

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Edition quality

File: pg15436

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Outfit. Opinions of the Esquimaux respecting the Voyage. Description of the Company. Departure from Okkak. Arrival at Nungorome. 6

Departure from Nungorome Cove. Account of Solomon. Drift-ice. Cape Mugford. Waterfalls from the Kaumayok Mountains. Fruitless attempt to get out of the Ikkerasak, or Straits. 10

Quit the Ikkerasak. Account of the Kaumayok Mountains, and of Kangertluksoak. Public Worship on Sunday. Saeglek and its Inhabitants described. The Missionaries visit the Esquimaux at Kikkertarsoak. 14

Departure from Saeglek. Fruitless attempt to reach Nachvak. Retreat into Nullatartok Inlet. Slate Bay. Detention on account of the Ice. Arrive at Nachvak. 20

Reception at Nachvak. Description of the bay. The Esquimaux manner of spearing salmon and trout. Christian deportment of the Okkak and Hopedale Esquimaux. Jonas's address to the Heathen. Love of music general among these Indians. Departure from Nachvak. Danger in doubling the North Cape. Arrival at Sangmiyok bay. 27

Pass Cape Nennoktok. Visit the Esquimaux families at Kummaktorvik and Amitok. Description of an Esquimaux travelling bed. Mountains seen at Ungava. Netsek seal described. Greenland houses. Danger of being shipwrecked near Kakkeviak. 33

Arrival at Oppernavik. Account of Uttakiyok. His perseverance in waiting for the arrival of the Missionaries. Islands and bays between Kakkeviak and Killinek. Danger in the ice at Ammitok. Want of fuel supplied by robbing old graves. 39

Departure from Oppernavik. Pass the Ikkerasak of Killinek. Whirlpools. The coast takes a southerly direction. Meeting with Esquimaux from the Ungava country, who had never seen an European. Anchor at Omanek. High tides. Drift-wood. Double Cape Uibvaksoak. Distant view of Akpatok. 44

Chain of black mountains. The Dragon's dwelling. Changes occasioned by rise and fall of the tides, and dangers attending them. Uttakiyok's superstitious customs. Singular effect of the tide in the bay of Ittimnekoktok. Arrive at Kangertlualuksoak bay and river. Its situation. Transactions there. 50

Further transactions in Kangertlualuksoak Bay. The Esquimaux women frightened by reports of Indians. Ceremony of taking possession of this new-explored country, as belonging to the King of England, and of naming the river George river. Leave the bay and proceed to Arvarvik. Whales caught by the Esquimaux in the shallows. Storm at Kernertut. 56

Doubts expressed by Jonathan and the other Esquimaux on the expediency of continuing the voyage. Consultations. Resolve to proceed. Thunder-storm at Pitsiolak. Account of Indians. Esquimaux cookery and hunting feasts. Arrival in the river Koksoak. 62

Sail up the river Koksoak. Transactions in that region. Dangerous eddy. Meet Esquimaux. Address to them. Their joy and eagerness to have Missionaries, resident among them. Find a suitable situation for a settlement. Description of the country. 70

For these many years past, a considerable number of Esquimaux have been in the annual practice of visiting the three missionary establishments of the United Brethren on the coast of Labrador, OKKAK, NAIN, and HOPEDALE, chiefly with a view to barter, or to see those of their friends and acquaintance, who had become obedient to the gospel, and lived together in Christian fellowship, enjoying the instruction of the Missionaries.

These people came mostly from the north, and some of them from a great distance. They reported, that the body of the Esquimaux nation lived near and beyond Cape Chudleigh, which they call Killinek, and having conceived much friendship for the Missionaries, never failed to request, that some of them would come to their country, and even urged the formation of a new settlement, considerably to the north of Okkak.

To these repeated and earnest applications the Missionaries were the more disposed to listen, as it had been discovered, not many years after the establishment of the Mission in 1771, that that part of the coast on which, by the encouragement of the British government, the first settlement was made, was very thinly inhabited, and that the aim of the Mission, to convert the Esquimaux to Christianity, would be better obtained, if access could be had to the main body of the Indians, from which the roving inhabitants appeared to be mere stragglers. Circumstances, however, prevented more extensive plans from being put in execution; and the Missionaries, having gained the confidence and esteem of the Esquimaux in their neighbourhood, remained stationary on that coast, and, by degrees, formed three settlements, OKKAK, to the north, and HOPEDALE, to the south of NAIN, their first place of residence.

In consequence of the abovementioned invitation, it became a subject of serious consideration, by what means a more correct idea of the extent and dwelling-places of the Esquimaux nation might be obtained, and a general wish was expressed, that one or more of the Missionaries would undertake the perilous task of visiting such places as were reported by the Esquimaux themselves to contain more inhabitants than the southern coast, but remained unknown to European navigators.

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The journal opens with a precise description of the Ikkerasak strait, noting its deep, clear water, high rocky shores, and a current that sets from north to south. The authors record a whirlpool of “ten or twelve feet diameter” that spins with “considerable noise and much foam,” yet their skin-boat is only briefly caught. This attention to hydrographic detail—tide states, channel widths, and the behavior of ice—pervades the narrative, grounding the missionary journey in the practical challenges of Arctic navigation.

Catalog subjects label the work as Labrador geography and Moravian missions. The excerpts, however, show that the authors devote as much space to currents, landmarks, and the movements of Inuit families as to religious encounters. The journal’s structure follows the voyage chronologically, with each chapter heading naming a specific bay, cape, or settlement, reflecting a primary interest in place and passage.

Navigating the Coast: Hydrography as Narrative Backbone

The journal’s most sustained passages describe the physical environment in functional terms. When passing through the Ikkerasak, the authors measure distances (“about 1000 yards across”), note the direction of the stream, and explain how the ebb tide affects the current’s violence. They record that the eddies “never freeze in the severest winter” because of the constant motion, and that ice is drawn under and broken into fragments. Such observations serve both as a logbook and as tacit evidence of the dangers faced.

The transition from the Atlantic to Hudson Strait is marked by a shift in landscape: “the coast to our left had always taken a northerly direction. It now turned to the S.S.W. and is low, with gently sloping hills.” The authors contrast the “turbulent Atlantic” with the “calm and peaceful” waters of Hudson Strait. These details align with the catalog subject of Labrador geography, but they also reveal that the missionaries were attentive surveyors, recording what they saw for practical and perhaps scientific purposes.

Encounters with Inuit: Trade, Recognition, and Silence

The excerpts show the missionaries meeting Inuit groups at several points. At Omanek, three skin-boats approach “with loud shouts of joy and firing their pieces,” a greeting the authors return. Some of these individuals “had formerly dwelt in different places north of Okkak, and were known to the Missionaries in former times.” This suggests prior contact and a degree of familiarity, though the journal does not elaborate on the nature of those earlier relationships.

The catalog subject “Moravians — Missions” implies a focus on evangelism, but the excerpts contain no direct preaching or conversion accounts. Instead, the narrative emphasizes movement and logistics: the missionaries “did not hail them, but kept on our course” when a favorable wind allowed. The encounter is described in terms of recognition and mutual acknowledgment rather than religious instruction. Readers should note that the journal’s title promises a visit to “the Esquimaux in that unknown region,” yet the surviving text foregrounds travel conditions over missionary work.

The Material Culture of Travel: Boats, Tents, and Gear

The journal includes brief but telling references to equipment and daily life. The authors mention a “skin-boat” towed behind their vessel, with a man inside, which is caught by a whirlpool but rescued because “the towing-rope did not break.” This detail underscores the reliance on indigenous watercraft and the constant risk of loss. Elsewhere, the table of contents lists a “Description of an Esquimaux travelling bed,” indicating that the full text contains ethnographic notes on portable furnishings.

The missionaries also note that the Killinek people “inhabit an island to the right, after leaving the strait,” and that the Ungava families “pitched their tents on shore” at Omanek. These observations are terse but place Inuit mobility at the center of the landscape. The journal’s structure—chapter headings naming specific locations like Nungorome, Saeglek, Nachvak—mirrors the itinerary of a voyage that depended on local knowledge of anchorages and summer stations.

Readers approaching this journal should set aside expectations of a purely religious narrative. The catalog subjects of geography and missions are both present, but the text itself is a hybrid: part logbook, part reconnaissance report, part cross-cultural encounter. The authors’ attention to tides, ice, and landmarks makes the journal a valuable primary source for historical navigation, while the spare accounts of Inuit meetings invite careful reading for what they include—and what they omit. The incomplete excerpts leave many questions unanswered, but the surviving passages reward those interested in the practical realities of Arctic travel in the early nineteenth century.

That rain-soaked afternoon, Kohlmeister’s log of icy Labrador coasts made the quiet hearth outside my window feel immense. Reading his patient notations of ice and Inuit welcome, I found myself yearning for softer shores. Later, almost idly, I picked up Brittany & Its Byways — Key Ideas to Explore, and the gray Atlantic suddenly felt warmer, closer to home.