COMMENCED 1732.

MORAVIAN

Brethren's Society for the Furtherance of the Gosamong the Heathen (" S.F.G.").

FORM OF BEQUEST

Benefaction. W the" B.r.O." are indirectly contribution. to the qHi.ion Fund of the Moravian Chureh, with which tbil Tl'ading ooncer

pnrdY mlllllionary purpose i. organically connected. Though lte barterwith tile E,lr.imoee baa ne'rer fuUy supported the Labrador Milllion, yetto donatloDa and legadee to .. B.F.a.," the General 1I188loD Fund hu

century an.d • quarter been relleeed of almOit the entire OO8t of the

Libridor. Al~red circumateneee, bo"'e1'er, haTe combined to make tb'be Labradol MiNion & more direct charge npon the Oenen.l Mission ronHiieretofore, and BubBcription. for thil intereet.ing- field of )liasion w: r

lpeclj Iy lolicited.

Th. T,.. ••urer, Rev. WM. CHAS. BATT, andj32' Petter l!

Th. Secr.ta'Y, Rev. C. J. KLESBL. Londo

Cbequ••, Poet om.,. and Poet. I Orde... to ba <'Iro...d .. U I nLondon and Smith. Sank, Ltd.-

lilt 60Slltl among lilt J;tallltn

2 N. N., tU ,i", .,,4 HflUalA kJ Uu Tu..uuB.:u. frw I

fJ, Hi,., of THE BRJ:TnRJ:trf'a SOCIETY FOB TH" Fe~CllI or TIIII OOlPKL .UIOI{O rn& H ....rnD I

./ PotmM, kJ h, paid ""tAi,,tiflw ..y dle'III'_ owl of INCA parI of my pw,DMl "tau /U ffUJf6, ... trw ,.A ... objict; for vAieA~ IA; rHnpl of 1M IlIifl

.1uUl J, .. If4flcUrt' li,eluw" to ..." EzRMtor,.

o

E­::>

<

Tht Missionary Ship af t~t Sot itly far the Furtherante af the Gaspt! (S.F.G.)

So. ns. VOL.X. SEPT., 1918. Perce ad.

AUSTRALIA (N. Q u e e ns land).

REPORT OF W EI PA MISSION ST ATI ON FOR THEYEA R ENDING DECEMBER 31st , 1917.

Oharacterutia,

I;\,OTHE R year. in pass ing, has borne evidence 00 the

fact that the Aboriginal is not a national asset . Norwill he for long, in his pure -blooded condition at least,be a liability.

The record of six births against sixteen deaths,which givee a net decrease of ten , makes a hig gap in oursmall community. All told, we could now muster abo ut 230 .

Practically all of thes e are resident on the Reserve and drawratione for longer or shorte r periods under some form or other ,either when engaged in communal work or as sick, aged orinfirm, as school children, or in the form of barter for sandal­wood or beebe-de -mer.

The exceedingly high price of galvanised iron has pre ventedus from coping with the demand for more houses for the ever­increasing number of th ose who wish to settle down and own ahouse and garden. The result is that practically every house onthe station is occupied by two or three Iamiliee. and thus it hasbecome a matter of possessing, not a house, but a " bunk ," andhaving a share in the garden.

ATSrRALlA.

On the whole , the conduct of the community has been good .The peop le occasionally hold an " Assize Court," in the Ionu ofa disc ussion on misdemeanours and a punishing of a del inquentby spearing, and such" Courts" have a salutary effect. Whe remora l suasion fails they often will be effective. As Superintenden tof the station we have on a few occasions had to enforce d iscip lineby the cutting off from the benefits of the station for awh ile of thisor tha t person

Of reall y serious crime there has been none. the most ser iousbeing adultery, which to the Native mind is ha rd ly a crime. UD­

less with it there goes a marked preference for the illegal partyas against the lawful husband or wife, as the case may be.

Lest it be thought, because of what 1 have just said. that ourpeople a.re abso lutely unciv ilized, I would mention the fact th atabout thirty families are gardening on thei r own account Wh ichmeans that the Aborig inal is lea rn ing to look ahead a li t tle andto su ppress his natural indo lence .

Spiritcol,

In the na ture of th ings it is much more difficult to measu re aweigh and tabulate results in this than in some other sect ions.For whe reas there we may use our eyes even more than our earsfor this the car gathers more information than the eye, whichsame may he, and often is, far less reliable. Speaking gen era llysuch visible evidence as we have is not very encouraging. For.whi lst there are many who claim to be Ch rist ians, but few ra tetbeir Christianity highly enough to spend much time seek ingafter it . un less with it there is coup led some temporal ga in .This applies specially to the men and the older women . Theyoung women whom we have educated are a grand exception.They are the most hopeful element. I t is Dot that there is anyantagonism to Christianity. nor much absolute indifference, butjust the natural native indolence. When this is 80 far subd uedthat a person attends Divine eervice, the attention and generademeanour are remarkably good.

Services are held morning and evening, all Sundays, and onWednesday evenings, and every morning a short service beforecommencing the day's work. On the generally recognisedChurch Ieetiva la special efforts are always made, in the formof special singing and scriptural repetition by the children.

As Weipa bas a specia l interest in the work at Mornin g tonIsland . in that th ree 01 the Mission famil ies who have pa rt ie]peted in the work there had first of all laboured lor awhi le here,and two of the mifl!linnary children were hnp rized hem, and somof the We ipa people had assisted in the work there duri ng thtwo first years, we decided in .Iuly to give the peop le an oppo r­t unity of shewing their practical Christianity orhaving a sharin the first church building which. might be erected there.Accordingly a treasury-box was made, and placed for a mont h inthe chu rch as a silent appeal to receive such contributions athose who had a little money might be disposed to give. The

1918] REPORT OF WEIPA MISSlO.Y STATIOK. 223

'result , 12s. 3d., was not a large sum, unless measured by the factthat a man's weekly pocket money, when he is working, is six­pence, and that from it he has to buy Lis tobacco and as much ofhis clothing as he can.

Edncational.

For yet another year this work, in common with all the otherwork of the station, has been conducted under .difficulties, byreason of our having no teacher and no assistant for the indus­tria l work. Thus the writer and his wife have been obliged tosque eze the sch ool-work in between the various other duties asbest they could . Consequently, I am afraid that our schoolwould now not bear an inspection and comparison with otherschools more favourably situated.

The two female assistant-teachers, ex-pupils, now married,have again rendered good servic e throughout the year. By themand the bigger girls a fair amount of sewing and knitting wasdone for the Red Cross.

Other educational work includes Sunday-school, a weekly sew­ing class for all the women, followed by religious instruction,and the weekly drill of the" Boys' Brigade."

Health.

We ar e too far removed from civilisation to have a visit froma med ical officer, and consequently we have to do the best we canfor the sick and wounded . We had sixt een deaths during theyear . Measles was the active cause in seven of these, though ineach case there was some other predisposing cause. Another wasan accident case-a lad brought to us from a neighbouring cattle­station with a fractured ankle, which, hy the time the poor fellow.reached us. nothing but an amputation could have saved. For thatwe had no appliances, and so we had to confine ourselves to try­ing to draw the poison out and relieving various symptoms asthey appe ared by su ch remedies as we possessed.

As indicated above, we had an epidemic of measl es, whichlingered on from eptember to l\"ovemher. On account of mostof the children being down with it , the school had to he closedfor just over two weeks. In many of its subjects it has left "aweakness which shews its elf in a tend ency to •. catch cold ,. veryeasily .

We have a never-failing succession of minor ailments-lung,stomach, and eye cases .

In a goodly number of cases relief has been giv en to sufferersfrom toothache, from our own and oth er stations . by extraction ofthe troublesome 'member. .

Indu stria l.

1st. Communal. According to our ability, i.e., to th e ex tent ofavailab le funds , we emplo y men at the gen eral work of the stati on- ag riculture. fencing, building, and tile general rep air of wearand tear and the rava ges of the elements . Two new works were :the making of a small underground concr ete tank, and the

Euwrs Bnowx.

OUR MISSION DURING 1917.

SURINAM .

Sl/RINLlf.224

By Bishop J . Taylor Hamilton, D.O.

Weipa, February 25th, 1918.

--~..--

making of a new jetty to replace the old one, whicb had been iexisten ce seventee n years and had now become unsafe. For thecommuna l effort tbere are about sixteen acres under cultivation.All the crops raised are for local consumption, there being nmarket for an~' produce available for us.

2nd. blliivldual. Several of the )'ounger people, husband andwife working toge ther, now make quite a feature of ga rdeningfor themselves d ur ing the rainy months, when alone such is pos­sib le for them . Some of the prod uce thus raised they sell to thestation, in order to purch ase cloth ing and other desired objects .

As of recent years , severa l tons of sandal-wood were collected,bit by bit, and brough t in for sale to the station. \Vith themoney thus ob tained the individual buys food, clothing, c~c. ;and, the wood bei ng so ld from time to time at Thursday Island ,the station funds benefit by any profits there may be. The sameapplies to beebe-de-mer fishing, which a numbe r of men in com­pany di d a lit tle at.

Gen61',d R emarks.

The seasons were good: no destructive floods in the rainseason, but a good, well-distributed full oC rain, whilst an occa­eional shower of rain dur ing the dry season kept the grass gro w­ing well all the year, and the stock in good condition.

The concrete dam pu t in the station creek the previous yearstood us in good stead, giving us a plentiful supply of water allthe year.

) Iuch to our regret , from neither Chu rch nor State were wehonoured with a vieit,

As th is may be my last report of the work of this station, my;last words shall he a declaration of humb le and hearty tha nks toHim \Vho has blessed us here through all the years of our ser­vice and has graciously permi tted us to sene Him amongstth is people.

Til, Sill/at/elll 1'1 General,

IN this Dutch colony the influence of the war made itself

felt to a greater degree last year than hitherto. Its com­munications with the outer world were very aeriouslaffected, with all tha t this means for expor t and impor

trade. The British and French lines ceased to make Paramarib

1918] OUR JfISSION IJURING 1917 . 225

a regular port of call. The Royal Dutch West Indian Mail dis­continued its service. Finally the colony became dependent onsteamers coming from New York at irregular intervals, and onsmall coasting vessels which linked it with neighbouring lands.The importation of provisions became very uncertain andirregular, and the mails unreliable. Happily the fertility ofthe soil guarantees safety over against conditions of actualfamine ; provided normal weather is providentially granted andprovided labour applies its energies. Indirectly, therefore, thelaming of the means of transportation overseas may not havebeen wholly without its good results, if it has taught thecolony to be more self -dependent, and has spurred on itsworking men and women to open up the resources that are athand . Repeatedly were efforts made by Governor Staal tostimulate owners of small tracts of land to produce the greatestpossible quantity of maize and rice and root crops; and thosewho heeded his exhortations, or who could offer for sale bananasand cocoa-nuts and other products, found themselves well off.Planters on a larger scale made various experiences. The cocoaharvest was good, but this product brought lower prices thanusual. Coffee was very abundant. but for a long time had nomarket. The sugar plantations suffered from lack of labourers.Para rubber seems to have suffered from a disease of the trees.On the other hand, the quantity of wild rubber gathered wasvery considerable.

For the Mission the interruption of the connection withHolland was most unfortunate, involving as it did the inabilityof our Society in Holland and auxiliary societies of friends tosend financial aid, the absence of which must seriously affectthe accounts of the Mission Province. As hitherto, since 1914,it continued to be impossible for missionaries to go on furloughand to send their children home for education. In view of theever-increasing cost of the necessaries of life, a small additionwas mad e to the salaries of the native missionarv workers whohad been receiving the lowest compensation-in -the individualinstance a small enough aid in the struggle for existence, yetconstituting a large enough burden for the Province, when manytimes multiplied. In order in some way .to alleviate the wantamong the poorest classes in Paramaribo, during the school

~l~~i~~~s J~~~r~~l:~~lhl;G~~{~l~h~ ~Jo;'i~e o1~re~~n;r:i~~e:e~~mt~o;~dof mission workers, and with the aid of the mission business.The firm also provided dinner on certain days of the week fora certain number of children attending our schools in thecity.

On May 25 the venerable Br, B. Heyde died, who many yearsago had been in the service of the Mission, and who to the endshowed an interest in it and in the people amongst whom hislot was cast; and on March 26th the aged assistant missionaryLucas Muringen passed away , after a service of more than fortyyears in various capacities.

SURl.\'A.Jf,

Slati,tica! Yola,The statistical reports of the" Old 1llission .. show a member

ship of :!7,S73 at the cloee of the year 1917, a decrease of16;jThe" Xew ~Ii8sion," on the other hand, had, we believe, a neincrease in membership, though the exact figuree of the 'Missionin the Rushland have failed to reach us, The lIission amonthe Java-ieee in particular could rejoice in the bepusm of con­verts as in no previous year, thirteen having been baptised a*one time at Leliendaal : and the )Iission among the British EnsIndians registered progress, in the completion of the new statioat Alkmaar, on the Commewijne. Moreover, though the decreein numbers in connection with the" Creole ,. Mission is to bfldeplored. in the inner life of the congregations the past yeawas a good ye-ar in certain respects. For example. the establish­ment of orderly family life through legal and ecclesiaeticamarriages was marked b)' an advance over previous years. Thdecline in the total membership is ascribed to the removal 0

names from the lists, especially in connection with the congrega­tions of Hust en Vrede. Salem, the Xorth Church in Paramaribo,and Sharon. on account of change of residence, or carelessness iregard to religious duties.

In general the movement to the cit), from the" districts" waless pronounced than usual: now and again people made threverse move in order to Iive more cheaply,

Relig;ou8 life .,Id t~~ war.It cannot be said that our membership as a whole has sough

to learn the meaning of God's providentiel leadinge in connec­tion with the cares induced by the great struggle of our timeEspecially among the young people in a number of districtreligious life seems to pulsate very weakly, whilst on the Olliehand there is a strong tendency to cast off restraints. In thecity costly amusements draw crowds. There seems to he adrift towards new religious organisations, in the hope, possibly,of escaping discipline, On the other hand. superstition andand even idolatry have here and there raised their heads in ashameless way, And yet it would be ungrateful on our par:.were we to omit to mention that the Spirit of God has beeeffectivelyjat work in the hearts of SOllie, Now and again, fromvoluntary confidences and from testimonies given by the sick 0

dying, it if! very evident that spiritual life is there,One district which caused special anxiety was the region 0

the Para, In externals the Pam people are well off. Theacquired means by the sale of land to a ",Bauxite Company,'and hy the sale of foodstuffs, for which there was a grea

~h~~~~~gre~~~i~~e: ~~~: :\~ ~;l:C~;i ~'l~::rf~;ei:n~i::.e~~d,whilst Hr. Hiwat managed to remain among that people, hirelationship to them became very trying. Along the line 0

railway the two villages Onverwacht and Aeeembo, which Io

1918] OUR MISSIUX DUHIXG 1917. 227

one congregation, lived in constant strife with one another, 011

account of boundary questionee-a strife that threatened to dis­ru pt the congregation of 453 souls :

fi·nanC6.

The balance on the accounts of the Province was somewhatunfavourable. Expenses caused Il.r the war weighed heavily,and led to a deficit , which was increased by the school accounts;for the contributions usuall y received from Holland in further­ance of our schools were not forthcoming. The state of thefinances causes grave concern.

City Jliui01t Wvrk.It was una voidable that the efficiency of the City Mission for

the social uplift and economic benefit of unfortunate classes inin the city , should have been affected by the fact that itsmanager , Br. Vogt. had of necessity to be placed in charge ofthe school work of the :\Iission, our Inspector of Schools,Br. Schuetz, finding it impossible, though a neutral, to returnfrom furl ough in Holland. Nevertheless. progress was made,especially in connection with the establishment for broom-makingand the weevmg of Panama hats. An institute was also foundedfor the care of orphans, during the period between their leavingthe Homes provided for them and their finding employment thatgives them support. The services rendered to the soldiers ofthe garrison are growing in significance.

The variou s hostels-c-for example, the Home for the candidatesfor service in the schools and the Home for appreutices-c-con­tiuue to do good work, and approve themsel ves more and moreas avenues of miseionory influence. But the pr oblems connectedwith th e cost of living and the securin g of reliable help in con­nection with them, became very acute at times,

.E"'d/#JatiQnal TFurl,.

Xo change was made in the Dumber of our schools during1917; but what had already begun to be observed became stillmore apparent, vie., the decrease in attendance at our city schoolsand the increase in attendance at th e schools in the countrydistric ts . The explanation is a twofold one. On the one handthe State schools are growing more popular with BOrne of ourfamilies, and on the other hand the school opened a few yearsago by the African ;\lethodist Episc opal Church has a specialpower of attraction for others-possibly because of the libertiesallowed there. One consequence of the twofold tendenc y is thatwe have gradually been left with a superabundance of assistantteachers on our hands, whilst the old problem remains ofsecuring a sufficient number of teachers with higher qualifica­tions to take charge of the schools in the country districtsOwing to the absence of aid from Holland, the school accountsclosed with a deficit of $2 ,800 (£ 583).

As in 1916 , five candidates pursued a preparatory course withHr. T. Miiller. in order to fit themselves for the study of theologyprope r later on.

The Church Crmftrmce.The Church Conference, which met on October Sud, was com­

posed of ~8 ex-officioand 13 voting members, and five adv isorymemb ers. Th e proportion accord ing to races wal'>::?5 E uro peansan d ~1 nat ives. The first day of the Conference week wasdevoted to the review of the educational work with our teache rs,a nd in the evening a reception for the teachers was held in thegarden at the rear of the Primary School. Other evenings weredevoted to a su rvey of efforts in connection with evangelieatio nthroughout the Pr ovince, to a "family evening," 10 a ., Mieeiouevening," and to a djscuaeion of social problems. The gather­ings sometimes took place in the large central church. someti mesin the gardens. On the las t-men tioned evening Br. S. Beckspoke in the large church on the food prob lem of the colony,and Dr. Vogt gave an address on the International Character ofCh ris tianity. On this occasion the attendance was especiallylarge, and all classes of societ .... were well re presented. Amongstothers, the Governor. attended by members of his staff, honouredth e speakers with his presence. The week of Conferences wasclosed with a social gathering of roieeicnarj.. workers in one ofthe beautiful gardens of the ~Iission.

Th e ".Neu- JIiU IOII."During the year 1917 much that was of interest transpired in

connection with the ., Xew ~Iission." For the work among theJ avanese contract lnlourera it marked n time of advance, four,teen ad ults and five children of former non -Christians beingbaptised, whereby the number of Javanese Chr istians has rise nto filL The more numerous the Chr istians become and the morethey strengthen each other by holding together in Christianfellowship , the greater aignificance attachee to their being bandedtogether. A helping hand of rea l value is thus held out to ne wconve rt'S. who must reckon with the hostil itv of their .'.Ioham·medau Iellow-countrymeu. The two Javane~e evangelists ap ­proved the mselves faithful, and the work in the Xickerie districtshowed the beneficia l effect of an energetic and devoted leader oftheir own race being once more stationed in their midst,

1'IIe .Ellst Indian Jfiuion .For the East Indian Christians the great event of the ~'ear was

t.he open ing of the new atnt ion at Alkmanr, 011 the Eommewij ne.a centre which includes a small orphanage for Eaet Ind ianch ildren. Th is advance was made possible in part by th eemployment of means set free some years ago by the sale ofChini, in the Himalayan Field, and in part through gtmero uagi fts rece ived frOID friends of the ~lis8ion in Denmark. HereBr. Legene. a Dane by birth, is stationed. From Alkmaar, Eas tIndians, contract labourers and famil ies settled on small t racts

228 SU RINAJf. (SBP T.,

1918] OUR NISSIO i\' DURIAG 1917. 229

of land received from the Colonial Government at the expirationof the contract period , can be reached in very large numbers,for thousands of them live and labour along the Commewijne.Br. Leg ene's field reaches to the Cottica and the Upper Comme­wijne. For the development of this field the stationing ofSrim an , probably our most experi enced East Indian evangelist,at Kroonenb urg, on the opposite bank of the river, is of greatimportance.

Unfortunately the East Indian work in Paramaribo experiencedsomething of a setback. But one of its outposts, that atGron ing en, on the Saramacca, was developed by the erection ofa home for the native evangelist, Ilemraj, on land acquired fromthe Govern ment near the station of the Creole Mission. In theNicker ie district the East Indian Christians built a small meet­ing -house on their own initiative. If somewhat primitive, itanswers all present needs So that, while this division of thework cannot report marked progress, it has not been a time ofstand still . Five adults and the . child of one of these, werebapti sed- and this in the face of the keen opposition of theBrah mins and at times also of the Roman Catholic priests.

Tile Bushland Mi ssion.

In the Bush-Negro congregations ten adults and one childwere bap tised as 'converts from heathendom, besides additionsthrough th e normal g rowth of congr egations. A number ofyears ago Kwakoegron was estab lished as the centre forevange lisation amon gst the tribes of the Upper Saram acca.It seemed to be strategically situ ated. lyin g as it does where therailway touches that riv er . But the spot proved very unhealthy.And the re have been shiftings of population among the Matuarisand othe rs, movements chara cteristic of these tribes. All thisled the Provincial Board to decide on a tran sfer of the centre ofinfluence farther up the riv er. A new house was built for theE'vangeli!'it in charge of th e upper reaches at Kwattahede. Adebt st ill rests on this , as also on the building at Groningen.On the Upper Surinam River a new church was built at NewAurora, und er the supervision of our ' energetic ordained leaderof the Upper Surinam work, Br , Marius Schelts, of Ganzee. Thischurch at New Aurora marks a real advance, especially as its

. cost has been practically covered bv money raised by the localcongre gation, •

R eoieu,

Our esteemed Superintendent, Bishop Voullaire, closes hisreview of the year 191 i in Surinam with the se words : - " Toil,labour , many unpleasant experiences, and but little success­these things charact eris ed the veal' 1917. But the Lord haspermitt ed us to work on, and "has ever and agai n g iven usp~00f8 tha t He has not forgott en us. With thi s last fact inview we humble ourselves before Him with hear ts full ofg ratitude."

--...--

SEMI -ANNU AL REPORT, BETHEL,OECEMBER 31st, 1917,

ALASKA.

ALASKA.

230

Chan,q" in ihtl Staff

~N the months under review several changes in the ptrlonne

of the :\lission were made. In view of Br. and Sr. Holt:meier's re turn to the States, BOrnearrangement had to bemade to man the mill in their absence. Locally it was

therefore arranged that Dr. and Sr. Schwalbe be stationed atBethel, where he could attend to both boats and saw-mill and ithe ' winter have the general management of the station. ,became apparent to us that under this arrangement it wouldunnecessary to have an extra man for the mill. Funhermorthere was the doubt of the health of Dr. and Sr. Holtmeier evbeing such as to enab le them to endure the rigours of this coladamp climate. For some time past it had been a matte r of grayconcern for them. Such being the apparent facts, it WAS deemedwise that they should retire from the service of the Alas k~rission and seek the Lord's lending elsewhere.

With the first steamer there came to us Br. and Sr. A.Scheel. It was a Scheel, but not the one we had been l Oll

expecting. Their coming was a surprise to us. (We did, how·ever, hear of their coming, b).. wire, before their actual arrivalBr . &:heel bad been assigned to the Bethel saw-mill tentative lj]the final decision being left to the local Conference. As we haB.arranged otherwise, and as Br. ami Sr. Schwalbe had alreadmoved from Quinhagak to Bethel, it was decided to sendSr. Scheel to help Hr. Stecker at Quinhagak, hoping that Hrmight get an insight into the Mission trade operationsand eventually be able to take charge of that phase of our work athat station. As you will note from the Quinhagak report, thcould not be done this year . Xo teacher was forthcoming to fthe vacancy caused by the marriage of Miss Marie Stecke r to Br.Drebert. Consequently Dr. and Sr. Scheel have taken cba rgethe U.S. Government school at that station. Workers comi gto this field of the Church 's activity need to be of a willing diposition and a cheerful heart. Conditions change, workers hayeto be shifted: but eventually every enthusiastic and whol ­hearted worker will without doubt find his or her special n idiso that, when the time comes that conditions of age, or health, °

1918] 8f:.Jfl-.i.\'.vr.ct. REPORT, BETllEL.

circu mstance demand the re turn to the "i outaide," they lind itra th er sad to separate themselves from the work, the fellow.worke rs, the people and the country they ha ve learn ed to Ion-.

PrfJ8ptlrGU' 1rm".' The native people far from the scenes of battle and bloodshed

have had a pleasant and prosperous summer. Health hall beenfai r, and fQ0(1 enough. For several weeks during th e summerthe river was extraordinarily high, doing considerable damagefarthe r up in the way of destroying fish-wheels and dragging offthe nets of the uncautiou s. Here at Bethel the water was levelwith the top of our wharf, so that when th e BCOW loaded withwood tied up to the wharf we looked up to the load instead ofdown upon it. For the unl oaders certainly a cheering sight!Th is same flood brought much timber down from tho upperreach es of the riv er. It was an interesting sig ht to see tbepeople, natives and others, tying their ropes to whatever logseemed solid and then towing it in to the nearest shore later tocalled the logs so gathered into a raft. We, too, enjoyed thisbenefit of the flood, in 80 far HS we had no difficulty.. at all inproc uring our firewood. The nativ es at and near Bethel werejus t about finished with the main run of fish when the water roee,but to the up-river people it occasioned a distinct loss and hard­ship . It not only took their fish-wheels and nets, but madefishing impossible just at the time th e fish were passing them.However, we have heard of no serious wont on account of it. Inthis country there is such a varied fish harvest that, if one fails,there is still bope that the next will make up th e 1000s of the first .

• For ins tance, here at Bethel dog food WS9 becoming very scarce.Duri ng a recent mild spell one of th e nativ e men, whil e outhunting, came upon an open spot on a near-by creek. An open,slug gi sh stream at this time of the year indicates 'black fish . Inmild spells these fish gather in tremendously large :<c1l0018 in aemail compass, and actually melt the thickest ice. The ice thiswinte r is ' probably about four feet thick. The Bethel nativesout of the above discovery harvested several tons of black tish.

Surely tile native people had abundant reason for thnnkfulness :the natura l resources fair, and the opportunity for earning aconti nuous one. \Yith the increasing white population there ismore demand for native labour. It used to he so that the manrunn in g the saw-mill would of a morning find twice the numbernecessary for a crew waiting; now, especially toward the close ofthe season, he can hardly complete a working crew,

huill str ial .l/lui(J11 1VQrx.

In runn ing the mill Br. Schwalbe met no insuperable difficul­ties. He was fortunate to lmve a kind and help ful neig h bour, amecha n ic experienced in steam engineering and in saw-milhng,whom on occasion he could consult. Th e saw -mill had a shortbut successful season. Besides this and the other routine work

AL.lSK.4

about the place we had a cabin built for all invalid widow. Mn;,Roemer. whose husband. a white man, died a few years ag o,Thev had a r-abin about ...ix milt'S from Bethel. hut that was toofa r -for her son to come to school, nor could we hope at tha tdieu..moe properly to look after them. .

We also started a cabin for the use of the reindeer her tlerawhen the)' come for supplies. We WNe not able to finish this.but even in it" unfinished eoudition it has been forced into useb,Y a family thai had no other place to go to

Temporal work, during the summer has really been .. t I

numeroull" to he drawn out into a report. Hr. and Sr. Holtme i rspent several weeks at Qui,'t"illill,lotok. superintending the bui lllingof .the chapel there. Dr. -hwalbe. with his good-natu red crew,was Lus~" deliveri ng the wood, lumbe r and frt!ight to the ocherstations. Some of us etayecl at ho me. Wa wer e all busy. Th erewere no .. slack ers ! ..

&h ool and Chufen Work,

T he Government has two eu thueiastic teachers at Bethe l. Th e

r~~i;(;~~ith ~;:.r~~d~ ~~~u~I:~~i~I'\I: ~~~~;:~i~;'~h:raCi;~i~:~~~p rogr amme, which \1"a8 given befo re a completely filled ch urchOn the followinq evening another t reat was in store for thchildren when. at a community celebration. each 00)-. gi rl andbabe received candy, a toy, and some usefu l article. The mOM !for this was donated by the white population of the towu

The services haw been conducted a-.. usual. and the averaattendance has been good. Considering that the attractionwhich might keep the people away are increa s ing . we ha vreason for encoura zement in that we are so well holding our ownAt most of the evening services we huve enjoyed special music.The teachers were ever ready to help. and also several of theminers helped in tbt' choir or sang 8OIu~. A fair proportion oftbe miners had been coming to our Sunday evening eervi athis winter. Xat ura lly we are gla<1 to have our tellow-peoplewith us . It hea rtens us, and we believe that by the grace a ndpower of the go ....pel they will also receive ins piration Ior theno blest an d beet.

P rQpQlled neso }J(Jardin,1J S rhool.

That our work is held in h igh es teem hy most of th em is beingma de very plain to us now. For some yea rs pas t we have beenentertaining the hope that we might eome day ope n a Board ingSchoo l of larger proportions than attempted heretofore on theLower Kuskokwim. There are orphans whose lot i ... a mise rableone who would find a centra of refuge there; there are child renof herders and the more ambitious natives who would he glad tosend their chi ldren to an efficient, practical, and cbamctebuilding school. White men who have married in this cou nt ryhave s poken to us, hoping that we might be persuaded to opensuch a school. But where were the means? There were none.

1918] SE,IU-ANNUAL REPORT ~F QUIGILLIN& OK . 233

.lIis8ionary Tours.

Owing to conditions of health and other circumstances, not asmany missionary visitation trips have been made as we shou ldmake and would wish to make . The natives know that we comeas often as we can, and so are always patiently eager for ourvisits . Our evangelist, Br. Robert Egsak, however, has beenable to make several trips. He remains an earnest and tactfulworker. Among the tundra people he is welcomed more heartilythan any othe r messenger of the gospel. We look forward to aspiri tual awakening among th em. They are realising that thereis a greater light than theirs and a more joy-filled rel igion thantheirs. If we h-d 1110re men of Br. Egsak's type, greater goodcould be accomplished at less cost .

May it come to pass as we have reason to believe it will thatthere be a brother who will be ab le to devote most of his tim e tothe tra ining of native helpers and evangelists, and through thembegin to develop the idea of a self -supporting Native Ohurch.

A RT H UR F. BUTZIN.

We must wait. The time would come, we believed . It has come.Last summ er a "strike" was made in the Good News BayMining Distri ct. The extent of the gold is not great. hu t thereseems to be an abundance as far as it goes. We made bold tolay our aims and purposes before several of the men, and theystartled us with their enthusiasm and liberality . As far as wehave approached the men of the country we have met with th ekin dest response. \Ve will not make any definite statement now,but we believe that the day is dawning in which our hope for awell-planned and well-fu rni sbed Boarding Schooi is to be realised .We are well awar e that the uncertainties of the war make newund ertakings especially difficult; but the response we arereceiving makes us optimistic enough to believe that it will bedone, and, when complet ed, that it can be supported and main ­tained by the financial aid we will receive in the KuskokwimValley.

EXT RACT S FROM THE SEMI -ANNUAL REPORTOF Q U IGILlI N GO K, JUNE TO DECEMBER, 1917.

The semi -annual report of the mission work at Quigillingok,Alaska, has been received from Br. and Sr. Drebert. Its lengthmakes it impossible to reprint the whole, but the main featuresupon which it dwells are chronicled as br iefly as possible inthe following paragraphs:-

Progress.

The last year has shown marked progress in the little villageof Quigillingok. A nice, roomy chu rch-building has taken theplace of the temporary and small meeting-room in the mission­house. Five new houses have been erected, and a number ofothers have been much improved .

ALASK.J..2H

I n the heart and home of the missionary, of course, thepresence of Sr. Drebert. who has come to share hi s toil" andanxieties, marks the beginning of a new era of happy missiona rylabour .

When Br. and Sr. Do-ben returned to Quigillingok ear ly inJ uly, Dr. Holtmeier and family accompanied them . Althoughthey could only remain for seventeen days, all work ing togetherwith the help of three natives, we could get the church-build in gwell under wav. LIller, Dr. Sam. Stecker came, aud rema inedto assist in the "temporal work and in teaching during the winter.

The aud itor ium in the new church will seat from :!50 to 3UOpeop le. It is furnished in a very simple style c- benches witho utbacks, which we have muda convertible into school-desks andforms, and a borne-made tab le serves as the pulpit.

An effort \'I'"a8 made to comp lete the building h~' the l Zth otAugust, aud plans for its dedication were made accordingly.The church was not comp leted, howeve r. and, as many of thenatives had not come back from the fishing camps, this eventhad to be postponed until Octobe r. The l~th of Aug ust prove.:to be a g reat day, nevertheless. .. On the morn ing of the 12th.the good boat ..l[oravlan and the scow hove in sight, and reocbeQuigtllingok at 9 o'clock, But who might be along? As the~

drew nea r we recognised Br. Kilbuck, then Sr. Drebert'e fath e[Br. Stecker) and her sister Anna. With the latter were SrSchwa lbe and her lit tle daughter, and Br. Schwalbe in the pi lot­house. Such a lot of company ~ It made us very happy! \r henall had come ashore, we were led down into the cabin of thJ /Qrm:ili/;, where a rea l surp rise awaited us. There, u nder ablanket, was Sr. Drebert'e brother Sam uel. just arrived fromSeatt le. This was a day never to he forgotten! When they lefton Monday it all seemed like a dream to tis. Since then only onewhite man, a fisherman, has visited us in Quigillingok."

When the church-build ing was finally completed, the serviceof dedication were performed by Hr. Dreber t alone on October.:!l s t. I t proved to be a great day for the peop le.

Other important improvements at the station are the buildingof a sma ll warehouse for groceries. nets, &c., the conversion 0

the meeting-room ill the mission-house into two comforta bleliving-rooms for the larger mission family, and a water- tan k fostoring rain-water in Bummer. There is no good. water !iuppl',ami the people hu ve to de pen d upon rain-water in summe r anmelted snow in winter for their domestic supply. In oddit ioito these things, also, the station now has its own gasoline boatThis has been made poss ible by equipping the sail-boat with ,second-hand engine. Now the miss ionary finds it possib le to ussail. gasoline power, or both. On a recent trip from Bethe l i~

proved capable of hauling four tone of freight.At Bethe l we took up our vegetables Irom our gar den to talte

with us. Pot atoes and cabbages were fairly good, cauliflo wevery good, hut i~ had evidently be-n a poor year for carrots andbeet". The !aUN were wry small, but had large tops .

1918] SEJ£I.A.YXUA.£ n EP OR T OF <(UrGILUlWOK. ~:15

.l.'ducail"Olllll ltot".We are keeping school again under very much the same con­

ditions as last year, except that we have four ti mes as much roomto do it in . We starte d to teach on November l st. The firsttwo days we did not get mnch more done than to clean thechildren '8 heads and to cut the ha ir of those who neede d it.Each one was given a half -piece of BO..'l.P to take home for thei rown use. The attendance on the first day was 35, the next dey-to, and this has been about the average during the two months.Once there were 57 present. There is no compulsory attendance.They all come of thei r own free will. Su rely, they deserve tohave a well-equi pped schoo l with at le ast aile or , i f possible. tworegular teachers. The first ha lt-hour of each day we use forsinging and sim ilar exerc ises. At these times Sr. Drebert playsthe organ for us. She also has a sewing class for the olde r girlsevery Friday afternoon. Twice tbe gi rls have scrubbed tbechurch floor and all the benches. The older boys also come forindustrial work on Fr iday a fternoon s, when they saw and sp litwood for chu rch and school. Twice a week we have eveningschool for the young people and older schoo l chi ldren. Inaddition to teach ing them English, it is our a im to teach the m toread and write in Eskimo, 80 that they may be able to read thehymns and Scri pture passages and to write letters for the' benefitof their parents and older friends.

Economic Conditio",.

In spite of high prices, the people were hetter off this year thanlast . Foxes a nd cod-fish were plentifu l. Enough fish weresecured to last through the winte r, both for people and dog s.The supply of seal-oil was scarce, as. the sea l were not plentiful inthe spring. Belugas (a cetacean of the dolphin fami ly, ten feetlong , a nd whi te when adult, sometimes ca lled the white whale),too, were few-a d isappointment to the missionary, who had hada net made especially for the purpose of catching them . As aconsolation, however, Hr. Drebe r t adds, "Since foxes are soplenti ful, we are not sorry tbat they did not get any belugas. for,if th ey (the natives ) have too much meat and oil, many of themwill Lieat home all winter doing nothing; which. of course, isnot cond ucive to either hea lth or godliness. There are, however,some really poor people living here-eighteen widows. some ofthem with a number of chi ldre n with no one to take care of them.

Cllurclt S~rl'ic" .

On Tbankagiviug Day. as usua l, we had two services -c-thesermon and collect ion in the mcrnjng, and the Lovefeust in theaftern oon. This latter gave us the oppo rt unity-of us ing our new(tin) Loveteast CUpB [or t he first time. As there are only 100 ofthem, some of the people hal] to wai t until others were served.Helper Dick spoke at th is serv ice. . The morning collectionamount ed to ~li.OO (£ 3 Ius. IOd.). Thi s is an improvement on

- "'-*-

..YJf'AJiAGUA.236

By Blsho p J . T aylo r Ham i lt o n , 0 ,0 .

1711 Superi"imrimi on Tour,

t".lI E Provincial Board' was able to do its work undis tur

throughou t the whole year, and communications wi

. I Bethlehem (U.S.A.) could be maintained reg ular] .The Superintendent, Dr. Grossmann, paid th ree exte ­

aive visits to various stations: from January 31st to Febr u

NICARAGUA.

-From 171,M (ff (lf ;tm.

last year's Thanksgiving collection, but does not show muchsacrifice on the part of 80 many people. Th e Christian wa)' 0

giving does not appeal to the m. If each one could disp lay hisg ift high above the heads of the congregation, 'In would haverealised much more. (This trai t is not peculia r to either Alaskaor the Eskimo.v- The Editor.)

Again we had a rea ] tree for our Christmas celebrat ion.Helper Dick brought it with our first winte r mail fr om Beth el.On Christmas Dav we had the sermon in the morni ng and tlie'children's exercise at 4 p-m, as it was dark at that time . Fothe first time the more advanced child ren had recitations. andthey did ver)' well. The singing, too, was very good. Two neChristmas 80ngs had been learn ed , and a nu mber of the older.scholars sang" :\Iorning Star." We felt fortunate in hav ing awhite man for a visitor at the Christmas entertainment, a fisher.­man living 40 miles from here .

..UedicII[ Wor.c, and Natif!1 Au/liancl.Far from the other stations Br and Sr. Drebert find that all

the sick people along that part of the coast depend upon themfor medical attendance. He writes, .. Whenever we can, we gto see the patients. Sr. Drebert accompanies me on most ofthese visits. because when I am not at home she will be depe ndedupon for any medica l help which these people need. Our faith!uhelper, Noah Kongak, has been sick with consumption aUsum mer, and has not been able to walk for t wo months. Wemiss his help. His faith has remain ed stea dfast, and he is notafraid of death.

.. Sam uel. a young man. has kept services all summer for tlpeople at the fish camps. and now during the winter he bas goto the neighbouring villages several times to preach the Word ofGod. He has done all this of his own accord and witho ut paHe is a bright and earnest young man, hail won the esteem ofmissionaries and the respec t of the people . Some day we hoto have him for our helper."

REPOR T O F THE MI SSION FOR 1917.

1915] RJ:.'PORT OF THE snssrax FOR 1917 . 23i

:!Sth to Tweppi, Yulu. Wounta Haulov er , and Prin enpulke : from:\fay Srd to 30th to Yulu. Teebapeuni , and Pearl Logoon ; andfrom November Hhh to December Iflth to Karawala, Kru. LittleSandy Bay, Rio Grande and Pearl Lagoon. IIi connection withthe second visit he conducted a very important Conference ofnat ive workers at Yulu from May 13th to 20th, the first of thekind held in this field. Fifty-six men participated-missionaries,lay p reachers, Sunday - school teachers. sch oolmasters, and,. helpe rs "-all th e stations being represented except PearlLagoon and Sangsangta .

R4in!Qt"ummt,.

The missi onary force was increased by the arrival of Dr. andSr. David Haglund on September ~7th, Dr. Haglund having beenordai ned by Bishop )Ioench at Xezareth, Pa. , on th e 9th of themonth, and by the ar rival of the wives of Hr. &hramm and Hr.Bishop, the former couple having been united in marriage atBeth lehem, Pe., on April l l th, and the latter at Winston-Salem,KC., on June 26th. Br. and Sr . Haglund were stat ioned at OldBank, and Br. and Sr . Schramm at Kcrewela, where they tookthe place of Dr. Lewis ami wife, who retired in September, th eBishop s following the Schramms at Wada. On the whole th ehealth of the missionaries was a. cause for gre at thankfuln ess .Sr. Zollhoeler, who has moved to Hluefielda and aaaista in the,,:ork among the women th ere, had to und ergo an opera t ion,however , and Br. Wils on had two serious attack s of malaria.

Lay ';orkln.

With ou t the hearty co-operation of lay workers it would havebeen imp ossible to carryon the extensive missionary undertakingsin Nicarag ua . And even with this aid the present situationentai ls a severe strain 0 11 every missionary and on those who arerespo nsible for the over sight of 'he field. Br. Fisher had chargeof th ree full stations. and Dakura was added to the already heavyburden of Br. Deune ber ger ; nor was it possible to find anassistant for Br. Heath on the Upper Wa15.gkB. In 1909,5,795membe rs were in the care of thirteen foreign couples and fivenative min isters at fifteen stations. At the close of the yearunder review only ten stations had resident ministers, eight bein gforeign and four native, and the membership had grown to 7,10i .In HlO9 our Day-ech oole had not yet been re-opened. At the endof 1917.1 ,19;) sch olars were in attendance. The Sunday-schoolshad 1,764 children under instruction in IgOr!; now they have3,102. Th e following licensed lay preachers were at work at theclose of las t year and- in receipt of some compensation-in thecase oC all but one generously contributed by frie nds in th eunited Sta tes : Peter Watson , at Tasbupauui ; J oseph Rigb y, atKarawn la ; S E . Ramsay , at Ebenezer; Joseph Jiminez, atWasak in; Theopbil us -Iotham, at Tuberus; Henry Vaughan, atTwappi ; Willi am Lockwood , at Kruta : and Willi am Allen ,

.\"lCA IU t,'UA .23~

at Bilwnsknrma. The following lay preachers have been licensedand serve without compensation: George Xash, at Cotton Tree,on the Hluefields River : Henry Sinclai r, at ~Iahogany Creek ;Henry Fisher. at Marshall Point. nea r Pear l Lagcon : and JoeDowns, at Brown Bank, near Pearl Lagoon. The members 0

the "Preacbera' Class." at Bluefields continue to render veryvaluable aid at Hama Key and in the town itself and in itsvicini ty-also without compensation. They are George Hodgson.Harry Coe, Peter Hooker, Obadiah Hall , and J oe Harrison. Andin some of th e Ind ian outposts the" helpers" stated ly cond ucservices and are in charge of the Sund ay-school. The re is gre atreason to thank God for all this co-operation, though at someplaces there is st ill lack of leaders who can read. This is

h:~h:liilr~ith~n\i~:f::t :l:~~e~heT~~:l~'~~~~h:~'7::ddlilti~xto the miss iona ries themse lves were employed in the Day-schools,at various places.

E~'a 1ige!illtic Effortl/.

In addit ion to the evangelistic tou rs made, with more or leefrequency, up the rivers of the country, special mention maymade of a visit paid by the Ern. Taylor and Danneberger to thevillages in Honduras whi ch were visited some years ago by theBrn. Theodore Heinke and Fisher . This latter visit was still helin cherished remembrance and ensured a cordia l welcome.

Eeonomic lind Finallcial Comfitiolls.

Economically it was in man)' respects a trying year. Thgreat hu rricane which swept des tructively over Grand Cayman,Cuba and Jamaica was felt along the uppe r part of the coost amidest royed some plantations. Floods ru ined plantations on thlow-lands of the Wewe, Wounto, and Prinzapulka districts. Xterrific thu nderstorm hu rst over Blueflelds on September 19thand lightning struck the steep le of our central chu rch, but with­out causing a fire. On Novembe r 10th a d isastrous fire brokout in the business section of the town, and for a ti me our mainmission property was~ in danger; but, as so frequently beforeGod grac iously turned the flames aside and delivered the ~Iission

in a most wonderful way.Financially, the people as a whole have not been well olT, all

money was the reverse of abu ndant, whilst the impor tat ion 0flour, &c, became increasingly scanty. A certain firm on thecoast had to d ischa rge Ind ian labourers, and in this man nemembers of I ndian congregations lost emp loyment. But tilgold mines drew labou r not only from these congregations bualso from Bluelields, and various mahogany camps and ban anaplantations needed men. The tendency is, moreover, to ind ucethe men to remain when they have gai ned experience. as is qu it6natural. T his is, however. morally det rime ntal, as they haveleft their fami lies in the home village . Plans are being madecare for their religious wants as far as can be done . But thi s is

111181 Rf.'PQllf OF Til}; I[JSS!O .Y FOR 1917. 239

no easy matter with the means of transportation as they are. Itgoes without saying that the environment ~f our.people at many,if not most, of these places of employment IS decided ly har mful.

l'rogt·en .

Xot witbstand ing the adverse times, there has been somereaching out of influence. Tuberus, on the Wnwa River, wassup plied with a resident evangelist, Theophilus J otham, of YUIll.The village is growing, quite a Dumber of houses having beenbuilt and Sumus of the Wnspuk region haviug removed thitherfor the sake of the Gospel. The evangelist has taught the peoplehow to saw timber, and preparations were being made to erect achape l. The Kruta region, in Honduree. has received anevang elis t in the person of William Lockwood, of Karate, whohas opened a Day-school and also conducts Sunday-school there.The" helper," William Allen, has been stati oned at the neigh ­bour ing village of Bilwaekerme, where a meeting house was built

Building Operat iol/s.

Xor has the year been without building operations. AtKarawala the mission- house was re-built, the old house havingbecome dilapidated. Places of worship were built at MarshallPoint , near Pearl Lagoon, and at Suhi, near Sangsnngtri, andthese were dedicated on ~1a)' ;2;')thand July Ist respectively. AtWcun ta Heul over, Slain , and Taebapeuni the people have com­menced to collect for the reconstruction of their churches. InPrinzapu lka a vestry was added. where the missionary may alsolodge when he makes his periodic visits. At the Xew Port, CaboGraci as , a room was als o secured for a similar purpose.

Rttr0!lr i8sioll and Groldh .

On the other hand retrogression has to be chronicled in oneinstance, viz., at Kru -c-or La Cruz, as the place is now culled-upthe Rio Grande. All the Indians have removed from this placeto a poin t thirty miles farther up the river, since all the land hasbeen taken for banana plantations. Tn order to reach the Sumusami :\li sk itos whom we formerly served at La Cruz, it will benecessa ry later on to place an evangelist at their new centre.Over aga inst thi s it is the more eatisfnctory to note that Ebenezer,Wasak in, Prinzapulka, Kiha, Tuberue, the New Port (CaboGracia s), Bilwaekamm. and Suhi are grow ing in import ance.Our indefat iga ble missi onaries have everv right to OUI" prayerfulsympathy and steady support, and should be reinforced as soonas poss ible. The middle coast and Wangks districts in particularare far too thinly manned . Anti the region of the gold minesclamou rs for gospel messengers for the sake of the whites as wellas of the labouring people .. The Fore ign Ladies' Bible Class[Eng lish ) has been maintained in town, and . wherever oppor·tun iry has offered, th e endeavour has been ruade to serve theSpauieh-speeki ng population with the Word of God as in formeryears.

StatiltlcS.

~nCARAatu.240

In Bluefielda and up the rivera and along the coast tracts havbeen distributed, with the aid of the Young JIen's Union, muonthe quite large number of Chinese traders. in lieu of the abil itto speak to them in their own language; and not infrequen'tthey may be seen reading this Christian literature. At deebeds and funerals the missionaries have also tried to bring thpeople into touch with the way of salvation.

During the rear HH7, 81 heathen were baptised and 1perBons added to the membership by contirmation. Wmarriages were celebrated. At the end of the year there we262 candidates for baptism and" new people." There was again in the membership of 100, bringing it upto a total of 7,1 7of whom 15a were under discipline. this last being 3 ernnumber than in 1913 and H114,but slightly larger than in m~:drn~~I~~rsh~;~~~:ri~c~:8~r~i~;n~~~e~e~::If;r~i:t~71~~inBluefielde and Rama Key together number 1,615, over agalll1,564 at the end of the previous year.

Roman Catholic tlnd oth,r P,·opagallda.

That we have to reckon with the aggressive work of the lwCatholic propaganda becomes increasingly plain. Certainand" isms" are also insistent in their attempts to get a halupon the people. And the influence of the so-called "Spiripeople" has by no means come to an end among the Indiansthe upper coast.

Liurary .1f.fforlJJ.

Notwithstanding the demands made upon his time in t eextensive district of the Upper Wanks River. Br. G. R. Heathas found it possible to devote attention to literary work. HISnew primer for the schools, in Mlskito and Spanish. is at prese ubeing printed in the United States, Dr. \\'. H. Fluck kin,dlgiving attention to the reading of the proof. A :\Iiskito Catechiefor use in connection with the instruction of candidates fabaptism has been prepared by Br. Grossmann.

J£rdical· Work.

The medical services rendered by our missionaries in reg iondevoid of qualified practitioners continue to be 80 great that ~li'public almost appears to think that every ,\Ioravian missionamust be ipso facto a medical man. It is indeed a blessing tha anumber of the Brethren have received a degree of meditraining, and that quite a number of missionaries' wives bexperience 3S fully qualified nurses before leaving the homelan .What tbey do is a boon to the people of Xicaragua of all clueand races.

1918] RLAZI.YG .A TR.l.IL. 24'Fin{/nc~.

The total cost of the )lis~ion was '1 i,2G7 t£3,5ni). an increaseof about $000 (£ l Si ) as compared with the previous year, butabout 8800 (£lGG) less than in the )'enr 1913, and more than..3,000 (£ 625) less than in the year 11110. The receipts withinthe Province itself were 2,583 (£538) in spite of the hard times,a higher Bum than in any of the past eight years.

BLAZING A TRAIL.

By MRS. L. T.... YLOR" of Capt Gracia' a Dios, Nicantgul."11 oros, senora, hasta la vista." " So long, Sky Pilot."" Goodbye." "Aisabe Parain." Xo wonder webegan to feel somewhat like" Tommiea .. entrainingfor the front, with this babel of farewells ringingin our ears, as, saddled and Looted and spurred, we

swung our horses' heads round till they faced the flamingtropical sunset, and waved our adieus to the litt le group ofSpaniards, Americans, English and Indians who had accom­panied us and the motor-boat which had brought us the firstlap of our journey. Behind us lay the northern mouth of thebroad river Wangks, in an unwonted languorous mood thatsunny April afternoon, and before us stretched miles and milesof firm golden Leach, with the blue waters of the bay breakingin gentle murmurs on our right, while on our left alternated thedense foliage of mangrove bushes and the exquisitely poisedstateliness of cocoanut palms, whose wonderful balance andgrace has to satisfy us for the lack of architectural beaut}' ina land or wooden structures, unrelieved by the occasional dome0Tspire for sight of which we exiles long inexpressibly at times.

On and on we rode. till the surf turned pink in the rosy lightof the setting sun, and the vivid tropical colourings stood out inall their true value as old Sol smiled his "Goodnight" andblinked at us behind the fringe of palms. Then, in the coolnesswhich followed with the afterglow, we urged on our horses, inorder to make the best of the brief twilight which still remainedto us, e'er darkness and silence enveloped us and left us withnought to guide but the light of the burning stars overhead andthe steely hue of the water at our feet. It Wag but half-pastBeven when we reined in our horses at our first resting place,

",'leA IUGeA_

h ut so still was the night that I felt it incumbent upon me rapolog ise to my hostess for ar riving at such an inopportune hourFortunate ly.uravcllera in these isolated parts are eo rare tha t nsuch apolog y was really necessary, and after a little rest anrefreshment we again mounted our horses, and pushed 011 to thnext ra nch, for in the dry season, whe n the suu'e rays arefierce, n ight is the best time for t ravelling in these regions, pa .tic ulerl v when ODe has a wee mite of three pillioned on one'ssaddle.' By nine p_m. we were sleeping the untroubled sleep fthe physically exhausted, hut early next morning Iouud us agaiin th e saddle, fast eating up the miles that st ill lay betw een uand our destination, Kr uta, a little village which enjo ys II

;i~c:d01 i~~:lc~;~::l, ~~~~n1i~:~~::e~I:~~:~\~i~~~f~t~n~1O~~and a few bamboo dwellings hudd led toget her in the he terd

r~~~Ol~la~~~:~~~~ ~{~v~~t~~;rf:i~l~c..i~:al~:~a~~ ,~n:~~~~~Hw~~Rweep at the thought of such neg lected opportun ities, for thplace would make an ideal spot for a fashionable seas ide re sortThe lig hthouse is built on a sma ll peni nsula, and the waves mall:orchestral music on both sides. Su relv no one but a native mcou ld have bad the audacity to build titeir houses at right an glinstead of parallel to all this loveliness ; but the sea, to them, 8

sa m uch an everyday occurrence as the sun itself. Hence. pc _haps, the ir u tter indiflerence to a "sea front " for thei r tow .,r0 were welcomed with exp ressions or joy at the sight of III

husband, who is of course a Iairly frequent visitor, and almoswith incredul ity whe n they saw me and" the little white a llas they affectionately ter med our baby girl, and we were soonassig ned quarters in a native hu t - the very best the villagafforded, although, it goes without snyin z, it lacked some ofnecessary qualifications for a seas ide hotel, In fact it was some­thing of a cross between an aeroplane and a ekyecreper, for iwas suspended like ~Ioha.mmed's coffin somew here between eert 1

and heaven. on slender rough-hewn poles, and approached byseries of rickety steps of the kind which one generally aseoc iatwi th an amateur Iowlhouse. One had to take lessons in the aof ascen ding" to one's dwe lling gracefully, and the desce nt waseven more perilous; indeed, one was obliged to negotiate thossteps em pty-handed, and, since the kitc hen was beneat h thehouse, the preparat ion of meals had moments of excitement, athe coffee and sug ar and other ed ib les had to he han ded froabove by someone for whom the yawning chasm beneath ha d uterrors. The fluor of the house was boarded (a luxury in a villagwhere even the native catechist's house is floored with hamlwhich requ ires the skill of a Blondin to t ra verse without mis hapbut the boards are laid so far apart that when a strong" nor therblows one solves the prob lem of cr inoline ski rts witho ut the aiof a hoop, and the atmosphere inside that hut may be descri beas " breezy," to sa)' the lea st of it. Moreover. the kitche n wainnocent of a chimney, and no! mere ly the savoury odours of the

1918} HLAZISG A TRAIL. 243

d in~er-to-be but dense fumes of wood smoke found their W<IV

through the interstices. unwelcome heralds of a meal in progress.The cracks in the floor also complicated one's toilet operations,for the natives were so anxi ous not to lose a moment of our visitthat they arose betim es, which in Nicaragua means somewherearou nd four a.m., and dispensing with allY idea of regular callinghours would come knocking at the door of our combined bed­sit ting-room long before I was awake , and I had to hl1stletbrou gh my dressing behind the shelter of a mosquito net, inrnv haste dropping the foloap ami a few' hairpins, which wouldglide th rough my fingers and slip down the crack s on to theheads of the aatoniahed nntivea assemliled in the kitchen beneathto watch the preparation of the" white folks'" breakfast.

At the earliest possible moment I would begin to hold a levee.ami all sorts and conditions of people would crowd into the littleroom. sq uatting Oil their haunches, and gazing with undisguisedadm ira tion and wonder at the t.raneformation we had effected hvthe aid of a small hoar-load of comforts in the shape of foldingchairs, cots, &c., which was all we had allowed ourselves wit hwhich to face a fortnight of life with 8 primitive people. Howthey plied us with qu estion s, ranging from detailed particularsof our ancestry from th e year 1 to eager queries as to when the"nations would again have one heart" (peace) ; arid when atlength their curi osity was satisfied , and they knew more aboutme and min e than I fel t I really honestly knew myself, the ywould "it silently watching m~' every action, and covertlynudg ing and remarkin g to one another whenever somethingunus ual appealed to th em.

Of course, th ere were long talks with those who were alreadyChrist ians, and still loncer talks with others who would fain treadthe nar row way, hut who had not yet been able to bring them­selves to the sacrifice of much they would have to give up, ifthey made their stand Cor their Saviour : but throughout allthese conversations there seemed to be a genuine search for theGospel truth. they had but glimpsed as yet. When one cameto talk with the real heathen one's heart ached. at the depth ofthe ir ignorance , and one realised how utterly futile was aile hri effortn ight to bring these wanderers safely within the fold. Therewas one particularly pathetic old lad)', who for man)' month shad soug ht admission to the Church, but whose partner hadturned a deaf ear to all her entreaties that be would go throu ghthe Corm of civil and church marriage with her. At length ,however, the exhortations of ou r native catechist. and the woman 'simpor tunity prevailed, and whilst we were in Kruta the old 1;1(1ytalked and thought of nothing but how she could get ready forthe marriage service and the subsequent confirmation of herhusband and herself. There were great difficulties to encounterin the way of rai~ing sutlicient money to pay the civil marriagefee charged by the Government, and when this had been over­come she spent long hours in earnest consultation with meregarding the provision of a suitable dress. I really began to

I

X]('AllAG[',-I..'"be afraid she was 80 obsessed hy the outward forms and symbolthat perhaps she did not thoroughly understand the solemn itof the VO\V8 she was taking; but when finally the confirmatitook place. and In)' husband's hand was placed upon her head lbenediction, the old lady covered her face with her hands anher whole frame shook with sobs, not the hvsterical wailwhich the heathen give vent in moments 'of emotion, biievidently the outcome of the reaction, after months of suspelisand uncertainty us to whether she would ever prevail upon he~

husband to comply with the Church's requirements.Whenever it was announced that eervicee would be held, th

little church was crowded to its utmost capacity and again 0

longed to bring the scene before the folks at borne. Here oncomes face to face with religion stripped of all its ritual. '[lieworshippers gather together in a tiny bamboo structure, calleby courtesy a church, but with nothing but its emptiness offurniture to distinguish it from any other dwelling. A rough}made table stands at one end, and a somewhat insecure three­legged stool upon which the minister is supposed to maintainhis equilibrium. All around the building a ten-inch unplanboard provides a bench where t.be men and older Christianwomen sit, but the children, and even grey-haired old warnewho hare not yet become members, sit or kneel on the bawooden floor, often with the sun '. rays streaming directly ontheir wrinkled old faces. Sometimes they are so worn aweary and-yes, I will euy it-tio uncomfortable, that they jufall asleep as they sit; and yet they come, because they lovehear the Gospel, and they drink in the words of the preacheas though their very life depended upon what he was sayin .From the surrounding villages also they Bock to hear him,tramping weary miles in the blinding glare of the Run,and nevertasting food till sundown. when they reach their homes onmore. And what of their lives in the remote villages from whicthey come? On one occasion, at their earnest invitation, \visited some of the people in one of these outlying preacbing­places. Situated on the right Lank of the Krute River, whictidivides Xicarague from Honduras, Wulpa Tara, as the place iscalled. is a fairly large and well- populated village. It was tlifirst time a white woman and child had visited them, and thpeople were ull m fit~ to welcome us on our arri val. W0 helservice in the largest house in Walpa Tara. and it was barelyjbig enough to bold the crowds who eagerly Backed to hear themessage. During the service I noticed a mother with a littrnuked child in her arms which wo.a Buffering from bronchitisand the hernia which so often acoompanies this disease amongsignorant peoples I sought ber out after the meeting and ex­plained as simply as possible how she could remedy the troublebut was scarcely prepared for the sequel to what I bad merelregarded as an act of common human kindness from one motheto another. Word went round that I must be a doctor, andimmediately I was surrounded by a pitiful group of eage

1916J BLAZING .A TRAIL. 245

mothers with sick , wan children, and found myself prescribingin a manner which surprised me. But their ignorance was sopathe tic- it needed no M.D. after one 's name to enable one tosee at a glance that one child only needed some camphoratedvaseline and a button on the back of the frock that was open toall th e winds that blow- just a little common-sense would savemany a life; but, alas! there is no one to exercise it. Our pro­gress to the river-side was retarded over and over again by othervillage rs who begged for" just a little medicine," and we hadto tear ourselves away, leaving hope and comfort in some hearts,we tr ust, but with the sad consciousness that a lifetime's workwas not enough to free these people from the degradation whichseemed to clutch at us as we passed.

Before being allowed to leave, however, we were conducted insolemn and dignified state to the house of the head-man of thevillag e- one of our most earnest Christian workers and a memberof the church at Kruta. He was just completing the erection ofa ne w house, which was still partially open to the public gaze,altho ugh screened somewhat by a thick growth of banana andmimosa trees , which formed a kind of open-air conservatory ontwo sides . Here our host dispensed fried chicken and coffee, tothe strains of "Everybody's doing it," played on his Victrola;and as I ate and listened the thought came home to me that thetrader has stolen a march upon us out here in the long grass in~-icaragua. It used to be that" trade followed the missionary,"but now, alas! the trader is getting ahead of us. and giving tothe Moskito man n veneer of civilisation while yet he knows notthe God of the Christians. Oh, it is easy to shrug our shouldersand say that a gramophone can play Sankey records as well asthe vacuous ragtime of third-rate music-hall comedians; but whois to teach the Moskito lad to discriminate between the two? Heretu rn s to his heathen village from the mahogany camps withmoney in his pocket and enough English to purchase a gramo­phone and understand th e ribald jests which it screeches at himthrough the idle hours of an evening spent in what h calls hishome. But who is to give him the fond associations which willteach him to choose rather the appealing tones of Gipsy Smith'srende r ing of " Saved by grace " ? Not his mother, whose storiesand quer ies I could only repeat to a ladies' meetin g' with batedbreath and avert ed eyes. Our Sunday-schools of the southerncoast have so stored their scholars' minds with beautiful hymnsthat they gather delightedly round a gramophone to listen to thefamilia r Sankey tunes to which they will quite contentedly humtheir own translation of the words ; but for the Walpa Tara boysthere is no Sunday-school. People of the Home Churches! doyou realise that th e uncensored records of the trader are givingto the Moskito young man a very strange idea of life as it is livedby the" In glis nanni " (E nglish ) ? And not merely the gramo­phone, but every phase of civilisation of which th ey see but adisto rte d glimpse. is adding to our weight of responsibility. Icould cite many instances, but one or two will suffice. Up in

- - ....- -EDITORIAL NOTES.

Whi ist in the harbo urs of Xew York and ltridcctowc she pu nin a good deal of work and passed through some interesting and ,

BD ITOR IAL ~OTt'S.216

the gold mines. where Sunday is just like any other work day,electricity, gasoline and ice machines are fostering in the Moskitoman a distaste for the drudgery of work accomp lished by th epower of h is own strong arm, and he watches the blasting atgreat rocks, and on returning home with a sto len piece, 0

d yn amite will Cashion his own han d grenade with which to blastthe fish in lagoon or river. He thus obtains a maximum of foodwith a min imum of labour, for the fish die in shoals and float onthe surface of the water; but this process cuts off the neighbour­hood' s supply of fish for months to come, and an)' medic almissionary here can tell you stories of times whe n the dyn ami tehas fired prematurely aud the man been maimed for life. In onof the mahogany camps recently a gang of Moskiw men weredeputed to assis t in laying the ra ils for a lig ht rai lway, and af ter­wards helped to hoist the locomot ive into place. After manymishaps, and having reduced the engineer almost to the verge ofinsanity by the ir total incapacity, they at leng th had the sat isfac­tion of seeing the fussy litt le second-hand engine pant its wa)along the lines : and as it disa ppeared around the first henthey looked at one another and at the nasembled crowd forapprobation, exclaiming" La, the th ing we have created." Andthere is no one in the camps to teach them otherwise c- nomemor~' of home to keep them straight. Civi lisation, scie nce,invention, materialism-the.... are all staking out their cla ims inthe mind and heart of the ~Ioskito man! And here and the rthe missionaries are blazing a trail; but it is for you at home tosend us the men and the women and the means to "makstraight in the desert a highway for our God," Who throughHis Son Je sus Christ is alone able to "reconcile these thingsunto Himself ."

I·.S was stated in the Ed itorial Xotes in our ~Iarch-,\ pr i l

issue, the J[,mnony reached the port of Xel'l'" York onJ anuary l st last. and at that t ime it was su pposed thatshe would shortly return thence to St. J ohn 's, New­Iound lond However, fur one reason or another eh

was delayed in ;\eu· York harbour until ~[arch :2uth, after whichshe sailed for the West Indian Island- of Barbados, arr iving aBridgetown , the capital, on April ;,th. On Apri l 20th she left

that port for St. John's, which was reached on 1lay 12th.F inally , on July :1rd she sa iled from 81. .Iohn'a on her firsttrip to our stations on the Coast of Labrador.

1918] EnITORl.AL NOTES. 247

in part, trying experiences. For instance, during a severe gal eon February 26th a barge broke loose in the harbour of NewYork and collided with the Harmony. damaging her stem.Ex tensive repairs becam e necessary, and this was one of thereasons why the ship was delayed so long at that port.

The n, too, whilst lying in New York harbour our vessel wasvisited by several memb ers of our Church in America. who seemto have been very favourably impres ed with everything theysaw on and about th e ship. And, in Barbad os, the ministers ofour various congr egations, together with their familie s and manyof our members, repeatedly found their way to the ve sel; whilstthe captain gave addresses at all our stations on Labrador, itspeople. th e work there , and the adventures of him self and theHarm ony in tho e nor thern waters. Much interest seems tohave been ar oused thereby in th e work of our Church in thatmiss ionfield .

Ou r readers will be int erest ed in the extra cts which wepub lish in this issue of our magazine from some of the earlyletters received from Labrador this summ er. From our intro­ducto ry note to one of th ese lett er ' it will be seen tha t Bish opAlber t Martin , who sinc e the year 1889 has been the Super­intendent of this North ern Mission, has relin quished th at post infavour of Dr. W. W. Perr ett. This has taken place entirely onhis own initiative, and Dr. Martin is now resident at the stationHebro n, where he will find more time , along ide of his minis­teria l duties, to continue th e revision of th e Scriptures in th eEsk imo language which he has been workin g at for someyears past.

We are under th e painful necessity of l)l:ingin g to the noticeof our readers the resignation of another of our missionaries, whofor a considerable number of vear s has laboured in a climatevery different from that of Lahr~dor.

In the closing sentence of his Report on the Weipa mission­station, in ~[orth Queensland, Dr. Edwin Brown .states that thismigh t be his last report of the work at that station-and sincethose words were written our brother has indeed severed his con­nectio n with the Mission, and is at pre sent, so far as we know ,doing work of some other kind elsewhere in Australia. Seriousdifferences of opinion had arisen between Dr. Brown and th ePresb yte rian Board of Missions, under whose immediate juris­diction he was working in the first instance, and these have ledto the very regr ettable steps which have had to be tak en by bothpartie s to the dispute. If at all possible, a place will be foundfor Dr. Drown in one of our own mission-fields in tropi cal land s.

Dr. A. B. Romig, the Treasurer of our lUis ion in the EasternWest India Province, writes in a letter recently to hand thatthe church at Emmaus, St. Jan, which was razed to the

ground during the hurricane of October, 191(;, has not yetbeen re bu ilt, although the bulk , if not, indeed, the whole, ofthe money requ ired is already in hand. " I canno t get thecement," he wr ites, "ordered from the United States-the agen ts

. always sa)' that food-stuffs must take precedence." In this wayalso, and in th is out-of-the-way little place, the effects of th eg reat ,..a rid -war are making themse lves felt. \re sympathisedee ply with our members and frie nds at Emmaus in this tim e ofwaiting, and of worshipping in a tempo rary building so un likethei r former beautiful, large stone church.

l:-:&PT.,EDITORIAL -VOTES.

all Wed nesday, J une Izt h, Br.II. W . Weinland and his wi[had a marve llous escape in a serious railway accide nt when ontheir re turn journey to California after some months of fur loug hwhich they had been spending in the Eastern States. The t ra inin which they were travell ing was totally wrecked and severa lpassengers were killed, whilst many others were inj ured more orless seriously. Ou r missionary and his wife were bad ly shakenb ut were otherwise unharmed , we are thankful to say. "WateRover Thy messengers Ly land and sea," we pray in our Lita nyevery Sunday !

218

The Superintendent's Report of our Surinam )'fission, fromwhich Bishop Hamilton has compiled his Notes as given 0

page :!:!-t of this issue of our magazine. was written early inMarch of the p resent year . As will be seen from the opeui nparagraph of this Report, the importation of provision", waalready in UI1j ver)· uncertain and irregular. but so ferti le jsthe soil of the Colony that it was confidently expected aet ual!famine would be averted. provldtd norm ,.l Wl!flt!l~r conditions pI".railed and local labour t,urted iLui} 8".t!ielmay_

Unfortunately, us we gather from a Trin idad newspaper, til,!)GUI1rrli,m, of ~Iay 30th, altho ugh the colonis ts hall put fort llstrenuous efforts to help themselves, abnormal rains during thra iny season had so flooded certain important dist ricts in thColony that lar ge q uantities of ground provi sions, corn, and rihad been destroyed and Iur tber cultivation seriously reuml ed .

Our readers will not ice that this issue of our quarterly mag a­zine is not any more as full)' or as tru ly an A nnual &port of our.Mission work as was the case even with the September numberof last year. This is in part d ue to the war, but also to the dee thof the late Bishop B. La Trobe, wl:o, while he was alive and st ill amember of the Mieeion Board, did his utmost to furnish us withofficial repor ts of at any rate some of the ~li8sion fields. As willbe seen, Bishop Hamilton , who is the representative of theAmerican P rovince of our Church on the Board, from his presen tplace of abode in the United States has supplied us with Reportsof the Xicaraguan and Sur inam Mission s, of which he was. and"ti ll is, the official correspondent.

l'l~) .1/./'>OELLANF.OlIS IXTHLLI(;J:X{'J; J i g

Stan'ation was s aid to be "t' lr illg: the p u rer cla .. s of th e popu­lation in th e Iace, and the ontloak for th e imm -diute futu re wasvery g rave inde ed.

--....--M I S C E L L AN E O US INTELLIGENCE.

NO T ES FRO '" L ABRADOR .

'

HF. following extracts from lett ers received fromLabrador on May 15th last will be of inte rest toour readers. As will be seen from the dates efflsed.these letters were Iour months on th e way,

Br. w. ". , Perren . who is now th e Superintendentof th i! nort hern ~f i~sion. in place of Bishop A. ~lartin , writes on

Ja nuary 3rJ {rom his station, Hopedalei-c-

CAridm ru Futi."!;,, at Hop,rJtd~ ,

" Without venturing to gueea what sort of a Christmas youhave spent at home, I will just tell you that we and our peoplehave spent a very happy, joyful time together, The children,and in fact th e adults too, thoroughly enj oyed an other visit from'Father Ker iernas, ' for which we are greatly in deb ted to our kind

~~J~:s~~n~" ;~e:~y'~he;t:v~~lO\~:n~~:d:~~.r t~~?e \':~done our utm ost to conce ntra te our th oughts on tbe meaning ofChr ist mas and the great influence it has on our lives, and, whilenot Iorget t iug either the national or the individual struggles thatare taking place, we have endeavoured to gain courage, strength ,and comfort {rom the fact that Christ .Jeaus came and still comesto brin g peace.

"Though we were not a Cull cong rega tion. we had a largerpropor t ion of our mem bers present than we had on th e two pre­vious Christmas Festiv al s. Th e b 3) ' S froze ever abo ut December9tb , 80 that th ose of our people who bad gone into the bays forsealing and trapping were able to return to the stati on b)' ice.Two families from a sea-ward sealing post were not 80 fortunate .Ahou t a week before Christmas th ey started fur Hopedale, hopingby a roundabout journey to reach here in good time. The secondday out th ey ran short of previsions. and, th e journey ac rose theland pro ving more di fficult than the)' had a nt icipa ted. ther gotbenighted long before they reach ed th eir goal. The only t hin gfor tbem to do wee to make a urge fire in th e woods, and tr y tosatisfy th eir h unger with the thought of what th ey mig ht be eat­ing if th ey had reach ed th e next house: Dar daw ned at last andthey pas sed on to a friend 's log-cabin, wher e th ey were suppliedwith th e necessaries of life. The ice there W38 very thin, and , theweat her turning somewhat milder, they decided it would be wiseto wait a day or t wo be fore proceeding . Open water not being

2,';0 JI1SCELLAXEOC:S IS1'ELLIGRXCE.

far away, they also thought they might kill a few seals. In thihowever, they met with no success. One of the men brok ethrough the thin ice and let his host's rifle drop into the sThey eventually reached here on Xew Year's Eve ...

1'11, Spiritual Ol,tlook.

,. And now a few words about the spiritual outlook of the waramong our people. I have no doubt many a minister in thhomeland would be glad if be were taken into the confidence ofmembers of his congregation as we in the Miselon-field areTheir JOJs and sorrows. their struggles, their victories, and theifailings would often be helpful to him in his work in llicongregation. Since our people returned to the station I hachad many interesting heart-to-heart talks with some of them,and I rejoice to know that the Holy Spirit is undoubtedly work ­ing in many hearts, True, one sees and hears much that is noencouraging-much that is in fact very diecouragiug-e-and in eweak moment one almost feels like crying out: 'Lord, who hatlfbelieved our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord resvenled ? ' But, again, '\Ohen one hears of the internal amexternal battles that are fought, when one knows the ternptn;tiona our people are exposed to, and when one takes into consideration the fact that one is dealing with a primitive people, oncannot but admire the faith and courage that are displayed andthe perseverance with which some cleave to their Saviour anstrive to walk in the narrow way. But one longs to see adeepening of the spiritual life, and an enlarged grasp of thepresent blessings of salvation by faith. So many of our peoplseem to have their own cut-and-dried theories and beliefs, amare 80 firmly grounded thereon, that it is difficult to get them tadvance and take hold of new ideas. And I cannot help thinking that a great deal of their conservativeness is attributable tthe \-ery elementary education they receive. Years ngo, whenstation was etaffed by three or four missionaries, the childrencould and did receive more attention; but to-day that is im­possible. It is not through lack of desire or willingness on themissronary'a part, but from sheer inability to undertake all he·sees might be done.

" Another thing, too, that helps to keep some of them narrow­minded and possessed of one idea is their nomadic life. Th ewinter is what one might call the educational term, Loth for thchildren in the school and the adults in the church services.But some of our people seem to he nearly always on the move,The station is' home'; but this or that family takes a trip intoone of the bays for perhaps two or three weeks to cntch rock-codfor dogs' food, and to be nearer the indispensable firewood. whichis 'yearly getting more and more difficult to obtain here. Thus:they lose the benefits of the church and school; yet there are somany left at the station that the missionary does 110tfeel justifiedin leaving the many for the few. The two OT three weeks spentin visiting the Settlers seem to make f;ueh a hole in the winterthat one is always working at high pre-aure to keep up with tb

1918] JII8CELLA.NEOUS INJ'HLLIG1':NCE. 251

work . I am glad to be able to report that the general health ofour people has been good since the summer, no serious casesof illness having occurred."

On January Oth, Br. B. Lenz , who is stationed at Makkovik,the southern most of our stations, writes as follows ;-

Work among the White Settl ers.

" Ye~ terd ay evening I came back from a five days ' trip up theKippo kak Bay, where a middle-aged mother lies sick withrheum atic fever . She contracted this painful illn ess at thebeginn ing of December, and, bein~ ignorant of the natur~ of it,would often, when the fever was high and she felt too hot III bed, 'get up find lie down on the floor to cool herself! Of cour se, thismade things worse and the pain cru el to bear . There was thenno cha nce to come for medicine, as the bay was only just be­ginning to freeze over. When at last. at Christmas-time, theice was strong enough, there was so much loose snow thatnobody could attempt to make a long journey with comatic anddogs, a man walked here on snowshoes, and arrived on the thirdday. The woman had then been without sleep for twelv e daysand nights. Two of her relatives here undertook at once to takeher some medicine. which br ought the sorely needed relief andsleep. But a week later a comatic arrived from there with thenews that she had had a serious relapse. As travelling con­ditions had improved meanwhile, I set out next day to go andsee her. One of our settlers here willingly placed 1limself andhis comatic and dogs at my disposal, and in two days' time wereached the sufferer. God again blessed the means employed,and she soon found relief and sleep again. We hope she maynow steadily recover. Many of our people here find it hard tosubm it to the absolutely needful precautions which such amalic ious sickness requires of them.

" When once up that deep bay, I used the opportunity alsofor visi ting the other families living here and there in Kippokak.There are nine houses there, mostly several miles apart from eachother I always consider it a privilege to visit these isolatedhomes and to be perhaps the bringer of some cheer to lonelysouls,. and of encouragement to walk in the ways of God. "

Br. H. Asboe, who is at present in charge of th e hospital atOkak, sends us th e following notes, written on February 21st,1918 :-

Okak Ho~pital Not e8.

"We are in the throes of real Labrador weath er now, and havebeen for the whole of thi s month . January was rem arkably mild,and the brook between the church and the hospital was stillrunni ng; and when the frost did actually come we experienced·rather an anxi ous tim e here in the hospital. as the streamdr ained Ii') and literally flowed und er our building. All anxi etywas, however , soon removed when the very severe frost set inand the br ook dr ied up. Still , we had quit e a pond of waterunde r the hospital , 4 ft. deep in place s.

252 JIISCJ:LLAJ.YEOUS IXTRLLIGE.YCF..

"The work in the hospital has not been slack, alt hough thehealt h of the people has been simply splendid so far this winte rand promises to continue so. ~Ios\ of my cases that have require,constant attention have been surgical. A medica l visit was paidto Hebron in .Iau uary, during very mild weather, which neces ­eita ted our having to trawl hath ways acrose cou ntry. This wasa most fortunate experience for me personally, as it had been. Ill)"wieh to do so for a long -t ime. T he land dOt'S not lie hig h ;iuuch of the ground we passed over was bcrren-c-splend id feedingground for deer, which we uct uall ...· sighted. The men decla redthe eompan,y must have consisted of over 300, but I could novouch (or the truth of th is. The weather was unfavourable­heavy mist hanging oyer everything made sighting a difficulttask. Faxes were numerous. While passing over the land we8UW 17 in one dar, mostly red. The people are doing well witfaxes. F rom Hebron we brought a sick man here; it was a cas 'needing special and immediate attention, blood-poieouing havingset in in the midd le finger of the right hand . The day afterarrived I am putated the offending member, and the man wasg reatly relieved. In th ree weeks' t ime the wound had comp letely

~~:~~I~Sge :~et:k:t~~8~'tf~n~: here in the hospi tal still, wait in

N o idle days ill OJ.:aJ.:."Wedo not spend id le days in Okak. There is the missionar­

up to his eyeb rows in work with the innumerable week-nig hserv ices, und the school and confirmation candidates in additionThere is the store' keeper, who is harassed with the mate r iawants of the communit ; and then there comes the doctor-c-orather, we ought to sa the one who is acting as doctor- whohas to deal with the results often of too much indulgence imate ria l things. Here in Labrador, at any rate, we do not sufle(rom tedium f!it~. The intense colt! does not permit of uny suclth ing. But we are not oblivious of the fact that thousands oour b rethr en at home have been driven to this stage, as thiweary and awful' confliet , th e war, d rags on. In somedegree Oil

folk over here have had occasion to realise what awfu l su'tIerinthis conflict involves. By means of some war slides ki nd ly lenus. our Okak people have seen something of what war reallmeans. And they are ewe-struck.amazed. They are clamourinto see the slides again and to listen to the exp lanation of each ouin their own tongue . .. .

" Our Eve ning Engli sh Classes for the young men and gi rls­twice a week each party in turn-are going ahead well, and 'IV

feel q uite encouraged. The numbers keep up well. Now anagain I sbow the m mag ic lantern views of different coun tr ie..Th e grammar part of our language is far too much of a mystcrfor them. The ir interest Iies more in a desi re to learn the na meof "things.' One realises continually that bnt little nchieve manmay be expected: these young fellows and gir},; shou ld ha \"ebeen taught a little English long ago; we are begiuuing at thwrong end."

hiu 2,. 6d. POIlag, 6d.

DR

THE FALL OF TORNGAK, OR,

Mission on the Coast or LABRAD R.By Rev. J . W . DAVEY.

Containing 18 Maps , and Letterpress IN ENGLISH-also Index to Stations. Bound in Cloth.

hiu 2. 6d. Pod",_ 64.

THE MIR:R:CLE OF M:R:POON Ior, From Ns.tive Oamp to Ohristia.n Vllia.re.

By Rev. A. WARD.

A HISTORY OF WESTERN TIBET,ONE OF THE UNKNOWN EMPIR S.

By Rev . A H . FRANOKE.

l'riN 2, 64. POI",' 6d.

fiRE If SNOW: Stories of Early Missionary Enterprise.By Rev. J . E . BUTTON, M .A.

Priu 2' . 6tl. Po'/ag_. 5d.

THE BREAKING OF THE DAWN,or, MORAVIAN WORK IN JAMAIO

hiu 4" pod fr_,.

THE NEW MORAVIAN MISSION f:¥IlAS

MORAVIANCOMMENCED 1732 .

.n. t. th. BrUbrtn's SO,IUll for tbt furtbtran

tbt 60Silti among tbt Iitatbtn

fully ,..nlv~d by

The T,..••u,..'. Rev. WM . CHAS. BATT. andI32 , P~tter L.

Th. Secr.t.ry. Rev. C. J. KLES8L. London,

C h eque., P oet om.. . a nd Poa tel O ..d . ... t o b. ol'O • • • d "UnionL ondon end Sm i th. Ban k, Ltd,-

Ben factions to the "B.F.G." are Indi rectJl contributions to the 0Id.,kln P'und of tbe MoraYiln Cb • with which thill Trading ooooern

purdy mllriOfllUl pur~ M organically oooneet«i. Tboe gb It. t.rtet t

• lh the a.lr.lmON bq neTer fulll.al'ported the Labradol- Mf.1on.l

to d...~ and Iegaciel to ...".G.," tbe Guen.l }Ii_Jon 'IIDd w..C5U.", MId a qll&rter been reUeQd 01 a.I_t t.b.e en ire ooM. of thel.brwJor. Al circullMtancea, bow...... llau combin.I to m.h f.be::~ 1. I"IIdor MMdoa • mtlre direc& oOarp up9 t e General JliMioll ,.

... f ee, &'-:riptionl rOf tht. illtelrettillg' field of Ki.ton W

~l'" _HoiLed.

FORM OF BEQUEST

Brethren's Society for the Furtherance of the Gosp.among the Heathen ( H S.F.G," ).

'Jf N. N'. do ,11)# and D'flUath to tM T RliU.Sl ' R BN. for auaJ, hnng of THE B k ZT ll k :l.S ' S SOQIBTT FOR TH" FuaT

.IN<D OF T H " Gospu .UIO. G TH" HliU.TBU tAlof p~, ,. if pc" UI;~"

.. y UNu'. ovt .f 11IM PMt of .., pw....J HleU .. ...,• -f........~... ; f ~ 1M ,_ofIMMiJ T.

.... n#t:t_t tlV<'w,' ~ s.t.t.n