THE BIBLE IN BRAZIL
Colporter Experiences

By
HUGH C. TUCKER
Agent of the American Bible Society

New York Chicago Toronto
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY

London & Edinburgh

Copyright 1902 by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY (August)

To the memory of my sainted Father and Mother this volume is 
lovingly dedicated


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DIGITAL EDITOR'S PREFACE

   Things have changed dramatically in the 100 years since Hugh 
Tucker labored in Brazil. This is due in large part to those like 
Tucker and his colporteurs who courageously and with much 
perseverance sacrificed so that Brazilians could have access to 
the Scriptures.

   When I came to Brazil a bit over 10 years ago, Catholic 
publishers and bookstores, as well as numerous Evangelical 
publishers and bookstores made the Bible readily (and cheaply) 
available to anyone who wanted a copy. In fact, though it was 
published by a Presbyterian publisher, I bought my Portuguese 
copy of D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation of the 16th 
Century in a Catholic bookstore! Finding such a profoundly 
Protestant work in a Catholic bookstore is still a rare 
exception. But, it shows some of the depth of change that has 
occurred in Brazil and in the Catholic Church's position on 
distribution and study of the Bible and related literature.

   Hugh Tucker gives us a rare glimpse of the past in a context 
which shows that ministry outreach has had (and still can have) a 
profound impact for good.
 
   This digital edition is dedicated to Tucker and his 
colporteurs who worked and suffered so that the Bible and 
Christian literature would be readily available to Brazilians 
wanting to personally know the truth of God's word. It is also 
dedicated to the many missionaries who have served in Brazil--
especially my South Brazil Conservative Baptist colleagues.

Terri Williams
São Paulo, Brazil
October, 2000

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THE LAST FIFTY YEARS (1950-2000) IN PERSPECTIVE

   A book such as The Bible in Brazil is important because of the 
data it presents. But it is also important as background material 
for the introduction of Protestants into Brazil. It was Bible 
distribution that opened the door for Methodists, 
Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Baptists to get a foothold 
in a country in which one could not exist if s/he were not Roman 
Catholic.

   To set the parameters: the use and influence of Bible 
distribution begins in mid-19th century. The colporteurs who 
spread across Brazil selling Bibles opened the doors for the 
planting of Protestant churches. Growth was slow and the number 
of churches planted were few until after World War II. At this 
point the number of Bibles distributed exploded due to the 
increased number of missionaries and the widespread distribution 
of the Bible through the publishing work of the Brazilian Bible 
Society and the Imprensa Biblica Brasileira.

   Ever since the Bible began to be distributed in Brazil, the 
people accepted it as their birthright (we're Christians). The 
opposition came from the hierarchy which, from the rise of 
Catholicism in the West, had objected to the people 
"interpreting" the Bible for themselves. And this is of course 
what happens when people read God's Word and the Holy Spirit 
activates them.

   Thus the critical date for change in Brazil is not when the 
Bible began to be distributed, but in the mid-1960's when Vatican 
II encouraged Roman Catholics to read it. This openness received 
a great thrust forward when Roman Catholics, as a result of 
Vatican II, began to publish inexpensive Bibles in Brazil. Before 
that the Mato Soares Roman Catholic translation of the Bible sold 
for 3 or 4 times what the Brazilian Bible Society Bible sold for. 
And the latter in the Nordeste (Northeast) in 1950 cost almost a 
month's wages!

   Yet, as late as 1990 the CEB's (Church Base Communities) which 
were led by priests and encouraged to do Bible study were not 
permitted to "interpret" the Bible text. Only to study it and 
find applications for their own realidade (contextual situation).

   At least one of our Baptist churches in northeast Brazil got 
its start by people reading a Bible that had been rescued from 
the Parnaiba River where it had been thrown by the local priest. 
Some dear colporteur (only God knows his name) went through the 
area selling Bibles. When the local priest discovered that some 
of his people had bought them, he gathered the people of Uruçui 
together and demanded that they bring him the Bibles. He took 
them and promised to get Catholic Bibles for them. He never did, 
however. What he did was have a great "baptismal" service in 
which he threw all the Protestant Bibles in the river.

   Downstream some men were swimming. They saw something kind of 
floating in and on the water. One of them rescued the Bible. He 
took it home and dried it out. Neither he nor any of the other 
adults in the poor bairro (neighborhood) could read. But a small 
girl, about 12 to 13, could read some. And so the crowd gathered 
at night and she read, starting in Genesis.

   Some time later Pastor Jonas B. Macedo, founder of the work 
with which we Conservative Baptists later began to cooperate, 
went through the area and preached in the main praça (square) of 
Uruçui. When he got done, someone told him that in such and such 
bairro there was a group of people that believed just as he did. 
Jonas went and talked to them. The upshot: he baptized the whole 
group and founded the First Baptist Church of Uruçui!

   Let me add another experience from Rio de Janeiro. In the 
first half of the 1960's I was working with a group on developing 
a primer for alphabetizing (teaching literacy to) adults in 
Brazil. Our primer was later adopted and, with a few changes, 
used by the Brazilian Departmento de Educação e Cultura which 
printed and distributed millions of copies in their attempt to 
reduce adult illiteracy in Brazil.

   The Minister at one point told us why our Protestant program 
had much more success than the government one. As a matter of 
fact, the government had spent millions of dollars in a 
nationwide thrust to alphabetize Brazilian adults with very 
little positive results. He affirmed that the reason adults 
learned with us was that those who took our classes did so 
because they wanted to read the Bible! He was right, of course, 
but it was refreshing to see a very highly placed politician 
recognize the fact.

Richard J. Sturz
Aurora, Colorado
October, 2000 

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PREFACE

   THE object in writing this volume is twofold: first, to try to 
reveal more clearly to the Christian people of the United States 
and England the conditions which surround 17,000,000 of immortal 
souls on the American continent; and in the second place to give 
some idea of what the Church of Christ is doing to save these 
people, and of the real progress the work is making. It is my 
purpose in considering the first proposition to give special 
emphasis to the ever enlarging opportunity and responsibility of 
the American and British and Foreign Bible Societies in the work 
of saving the Brazilian nation; and in considering the second, to 
give the prominence justly due these societies for the very 
important and pioneer part they have taken in what has been done 
up to date for rescuing these millions.

   It is furthermore hoped that in narrating the experiences of 
the fourteen years during which I have travelled extensively as 
Agent of the American Bible Society for Brazil, such information 
may be given concerning the people, the present condition of the 
country, its unlimited natural resources, and vast possibilities 
as may interest the general reader, awaken investigation, and 
lead to a more definite knowledge of this so large and rich a 
portion of the "Neglected Continent."

   The Monroe Doctrine would seem to imply that there rests upon 
the people of the United States a political and commercial 
responsibility for the highest welfare of all the countries on 
the American continent. The inquiry at least should suggest to 
the pious mind the thought of the tremendous responsibility that 
rests upon the Christian people of the United States for the 
deliverance of the Brazilians from the Roman yoke of bondage and 
the awful tyranny to which they have become enslaved.

   Great Britain has large and ever increasing interests in 
Brazil which imply a corresponding responsibility in the moral 
and religious elevation of the nation.

HUGH C. TUCKER.

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CONTENTS

I       THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE

II      RIO DE JANEIRO

III    ALONG THE RAILROAD: In the Provinces of Rio de Janeiro and 
Minas Geraes-Juiz de Fora-Ouro Preto.

IV    AMONG THE COLONISTS:  78 Suburbs of Rio de Janeiro-Nova 
Friburgo- Freedom of Worship-Impartial Officials.

V     OVERLAND TO BAHIA: Espirito Santo-Our Lady of the Grotto-
The Priest's Bible-The Diamond District-Bitter Opposition 
Overcome.

VI   BAHIA: "Away with the Heretics "-A Discomfited Priest-" The 
Africa of Brazil "-A Characteristic City-Henry Martyn-Burning 
Bibles

VII  TENT LIFE: On Muleback through Minas Geraes-Pioneer Work 
bearing Fruit-The Black River-The Niagara of South America.

VIII DOWN THE SAN FRANCISCO: Emancipation Proclamation-Born Jesus 
de Lapa-An Evangelical Official-A Bible burning.

IX   PERNAMBUCO:  Power of Social Influence-Dutch and Portuguese-
Parahyba-Ceara-Reading under Difficulties.

X    THE AMAZON:  Pará-River Towns-The Indians.

XI    SAO. PAULO: First College in Brazil-Anchietu-McKenzie 
College-Italian Colonists.

XII   SOUTHERN PROVINCES: A Faithful Colporteur-A Coasting 
Steamer-By Wagon and Horseback-The Bible or the Almanac.

XIII RIO GRANDE DO SUL: A Fine Climate-Early Settlers-German 
Influence-Liberal Ideas.

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I
The Country and People

   BRAZIL has an area of about 3,280,000 square miles, its 
greatest length is approximately 2,600 miles, and breadth 2,500 
miles. Topographically it may be divided into three sections; a 
higher region of plateaus, ridges or mountain ranges; broad open 
valleys, occupying that portion of the country south of the 
parallel of Cape St. Roque; and the vast Valley of the Amazon. In 
so extensive a territory as this, with so diversified a surface, 
there is naturally a considerable variety of climate. Great heat 
prevails throughout the northern division, lying near the 
equator, and its year may generally be divided into the wet and 
the dry seasons, while the elevation of the central and southern 
divisions, further removed from the equator, allow greater 
variety of climate. Beyond the tropic again, in a small section 
of the country, a temperate zone is reached, with its four 
seasons, though not so distinctly marked as in central Europe.

   Brazil has a seaboard of 4,000 miles; it has many thousands of 
miles of river navigation, and about 2,700 miles of railroads, 
chiefly in the central states. In only three of the twenty states 
is there anything like a connected system. To traverse the great 
interior and carry the Word of God to the inhabitants spread over 
this vast region, great dependence must be placed on the faithful 
pack-mule.

   In an effort to thus compass the land one must encounter the 
heat, sickness, privations, and hardships consequent upon a hot 
and malarial climate, and upon slow and inferior means of travel. 
Such a work necessarily involves also a large expenditure of 
money. When these difficulties have been overcome and the people 
have been reached, many obstacles arise from their intellectual 
and moral condition. Official statistics show that only about 
fifteen per cent of the entire population can read, and it is 
painfully depressing to one engaged in offering the Scriptures to 
every person, to hear about three-fourths of them say:  "I don't 
know how to read."

   Another obstacle is the religious superstition of the people 
concerning the Bible we offer them, and the belief so strongly 
inculcated by the priests that they have no right to read even 
the version accepted by the Roman Catholic Church. The opposition 
to our work from that Church and the priesthood is most violent 
and constant. But among the educated and many of those who can 
read, there are still other mental conditions which furnish great 
hindrance to a wide dissemination of the Scriptures. For many 
years the more enlightened people have been turning away from the 
superstitions and corruptions of their religious training, and 
not having the Truth to enlighten and guide them, but with French 
philosophies and the French novel at hand, they have become 
positivists, freethinkers, spiritualists, atheists, and one knows 
not what. Corrupt in moral life and vitiated in mental tastes, 
many have become enveloped in a dense cloud of incredulity and 
absolute indifference. They laugh in scorn at the very idea of 
offering them the Bible. Sin of every kind is prevalent on every 
side. One of the most common forms of evil is the lottery. 
Gambling has become epidemic, and hundreds will spend their money 
for a lottery ticket, or a chance in some other form of gambling, 
who complain that they are too poor to buy a Bible. The Roman 
Catholic Church fosters this mania; it is not uncommon for her to 
establish by government permission lotteries for the benefit of 
her church buildings and other charitable institutions.

   But another view of the case may help the reader to a more 
intelligent appreciation of the problem and the work to be set 
forth in this volume. Who are the 17,000,000 inhabitants 
scattered over this great territory under such intellectual, 
social and religious conditions? We may answer the inquiry by a 
few remarks upon the races here mingling together. Let us first 
consider that element of the population which we may designate as 
the whites.

   By the fortunes of discovery and conquest Brazil began to be 
settled by the Portuguese early in the sixteenth century. The 
attention of the higher classes of Portugal at that time was 
taken up with India, Brazil having been discovered by chance as a 
Portuguese fleet was endeavouring to make its way to that country 
by the Cape of Good Hope. As in so many other cases, for years 
adventurers and criminals composed a large element of the 
Portuguese settlers. The famous priest, Vieira, said in one of 
his eloquent discourses, "the settlers who are sent out are 
criminals taken from the dungeon, and perhaps put on board in 
irons;" while Southey adds that, "the train of hungry dependents 
who accompanied the Governor of a Captaincy were perhaps more 
prejudicial to the community than even these convicts." With some 
splendid exceptions, in general the principle of official 
morality was to the last degree relaxed, and the principle of 
honour in private life seems to have been debased by punctilios, 
and perverted till it became a motive or a pretext for the 
blackest crimes. It is true that the Governors were all charged 
to take care that the lives of the Portuguese should be such as 
might tend by the force of example to convert the savages; and 
there was a richly endowed religious institution for 
counteracting the corruption of morals.  But as the civil 
officers often became avaricious and immoral and the Church 
contented itself with the husk of superstitious ceremonies and 
the chaff of superstitious works, and supported its empire by the 
boldest arts of impudent imposture, there was little check put 
upon the tendencies and temptations of these early settlers in 
the new world.

   From the time of the first settlement to 1808, when John VI. 
arrived in Brazil, removing the seat of the Portuguese Monarchy 
from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, the white population had gradually 
increased, but at a very slow rate.

   The first European settle in Bahia was Diogo Alvares, a young 
man of noble family, who was the only one of a shipwrecked party 
to escape death.  He succeeded in rescuing from the wreck a few 
kegs of powder and a musket, and became known as "Caramuru,"--a 
man of fire.  The people were filled with fear, but he soon made 
the chiefs understand that he would kill their enemies, and in a 
short time became the sovereign among them.  The chiefs counted 
it a great fortune if he would accept their daughters to be his 
wives.  When he had the opportunity of embarking on a French 
vessel to Europe he succeeded in persuading the King of Portugal 
to colonize the delightful country where he already had a 
numerous family growing up.  Many of these settlers, building 
towns and villages along the coast, followed his eample in their 
social and domestic intercourse with the natives, and not a few 
of the best families of Bahia delight to trace their origin to 
this man.

   The first person to take charge of a Captaincy in Brazil was 
Martin Affonso de Souza, who with a considerable party succeeded 
in establishing himself on the coast of what is now the State of 
São Paulo. He succeeded in making a treaty with the chief of the 
Gyayanazes through a shipwrecked Portuguese, who had been living 
among the savages, and to whom the chief of this tribe had given 
his daughter for a wife. This colony prospered from the 
beginning, and many other settlers of a better class were from 
time to time brought out. Among the first settlers in one of the 
Captaincies north of this were fifty fidalgos and men of royal 
birth, two of them having been banished to Brazil because of 
their atrocities and cruelties in the spice islands of the East. 
It is said of a fourth colony that it was headed by Pedro de 
Campo Tourinho, who was of a noble family, and that he was 
accompanied by his wife and children and a large body of good 
colonists. Another expedition was shipwrecked on the coast of 
Maranhão. One man who survived was a blacksmith. From the wreck 
he extracted pieces of iron with which he wrought, and thus made 
himself a great personage with a number of neighbouring chiefs, 
from whom he obtained their daughters for his wives. From many 
similar historic incidents recorded of colonial times, it is 
evident that all classes from the convict to the family of noble 
blood, from the vilest wretch to the man of high moral and 
saintly character, were represented among the early white 
settlers of the country. Reference should also be made to the 
numbers of Jews, who by the Inquisition of Portugal in 1548, were 
banished to Brazil; the coming of the French from 1555-1615, and 
again from 1710 to 1712; the Dutch invasion from 1624-1654, and 
other smaller elements.

   With the arrival of the royal family began a most rapid and 
continued influx of Portuguese, which greatly increased the 
population, not only of the city of Rio de Janeiro, but of the 
entire Brazilian coast and of many interior districts. With these 
came also a large number of other foreigners. The whole face of 
the country underwent a great and rapid change. The fashions of 
Europe, the festive ceremonies of a court, caused antiquated 
customs to give way, and new modes of life were adopted. All 
business assumed new aspects, foreign commercial houses were 
opened and artisans began to establish themselves in many places. 
Then came the printing press, schools and libraries, all of which 
brought a more cultured class of colonists. The Prince Regent 
began to bestow honours upon native Brazilians who had so kindly 
received the royal family: great excitement sprang up and 
thousands, by most degrading sycophancy, were soon seeking 
titulary distinctions. A great battle was waged, so to speak, 
between the Brazilians and the newly arrived Portuguese. Those 
knighted would not return to the debasing employment of 
agricultural and commercial life, and thus has developed during 
the nineteenth century a serious defect in Brazilian character. 
To secure government position, "to be clothed with a little brief 
authority," and secure a support for which very little service 
has to be rendered, men resort to all manner of intrigues.

     We turn now to the red men of Brazil. While the same 
interest scarcely attaches to the aborigines of this country as 
has been generally manifested in the Incas of Peru or the 
Montezumas of Mexico, they form an important element in the study 
of the history of Brazil and the Brazilians. They are for the 
most part of a copper colour, of medium height, rather heavy set 
with muscular chests, thick, straight, black hair; black eyes and 
broad faces. In disposition they are generally apathetic and 
undemonstrative. The tribes arc not habitually and widely 
nomadic, nor can they be said to be permanently settled. Each 
tribe in a general way keeps within certain limits, unless driven 
out by a superior force. As the country is well watered and 
abounds in the plantain, banana, yam, mandioca root, a great 
variety of vegetable palm, etc., as well as great quantities of 
fish and game, they have never felt the necessity of that mental 
effort and exertion which tends to civilization. It is evident 
that they knew the use of fire for roasting, boiling and drying 
food before they knew the white man. They used fire also for 
making signals when hunting in the forests, and its use for 
warming the body was common. Their method of producing fire was 
by the friction of two pieces of wood.

   Their moral and social characteristics show faint evidences of 
the existence of the family, marriage customs, etc. The most 
generally prevailing religious belief among them seems to be that 
there are three great or chief gods, the Sun, god of the animal 
kingdom; the Moon, god of the vegetable kingdom, and Ruda, god of 
love or of all reproduction. Besides these they have a multitude 
of subordinate and inferior gods for various purposes. Their 
burial custom of depositing at the grave the bow and arrow and 
vessels in which they prepare food, would indicate that they have 
some idea of immortality in the "happy hunting ground" of the 
future. The curious custom, observed in some tribes when a person 
dies, of hanging a certain number of his friends and relatives, 
as nearly as might be of his own age, in order that he might have 
suitable company in the next world, would also indicate this 
belief.

   On the whole many of the aborigines of Brazil have been found 
warlike, ferocious, vengeful and bloodthirsty. It is stated that 
some of them were cannibals, and ate their enemies with great 
ceremony: some made war for the purpose of obtaining human food: 
while others ate their relatives as a mark of honour and 
distinguished consideration.

   There was at first considerable friendliness between them and 
the whites, resulting in the introduction both of the arts of 
civilization and many vices hitherto unknown to the savages. Then 
followed efforts on the part of the Europeans to enslave them, 
resented by the chiefs and resulting in a series of the most 
cruel and bloody encounters that have ever taken place between 
civilized man and savage. The Jesuit missionaries did much to 
ameliorate this miserable and inhuman state of things. Through 
their efforts and the civilizing influences of the Europeans 
thousands have been gradually absorbed into the mixed population, 
and whole tribes have disappeared. It has been a process of 
absorption and extinction.

   The importation of negroes to Brazil began in a general way 
with the arrival of the first white settlers. As early as 1548 we 
read of a certain garrison in Brazil which was composed of 90 
Europeans and 30 slaves, some of whom were negroes. It is stated 
also that in 1516 a slave was offered for a hatchet. With the 
growth of the country in colonial times the importation of blacks 
constantly increased, and the slave trade continued until 1850. I 
have seen the statement accredited to a Brazilian author, that 
"it was considered cheaper on the farms to use up a slave in five 
or seven years and purchase another than to take care of him." 
When the slave-trade was abolished it is said that the selfish 
interest of taking better care of them was greatly increased. The 
number of blacks given in the census of 1872 was 1,954,452, or 
19.68 per cent of the entire population. A Brazilian writer has 
said that the negroes form the most robust race of Brazil, and 
that a larger percentage of them preserve themselves pure from 
intermarriage than of either of the other races.

   The features which differentiate them to-day from the North 
American negroes are doubtless due to the vast differences in the 
social, intellectual, and religious influences and conditions 
under which they have been living. They were so numerous in Bahia 
as early as 1690 that a traveller might have supposed himself in 
Negroland. They were brought from India and Africa and were 
preferred to the natives of Brazil, because they were stronger 
and more industrious, and were not so easily tempted to make 
their escape, being deterred by the savages around them. The 
priests have generally been considered the friends of the slaves, 
and their system of religion has accommodated itself with 
wonderful facility to the superstitious and idolatrous tendencies 
of the negroes, as well as of the red men. Our Lady of the 
Rosary,-the peculiar patron saint of the blacks,-is sometimes 
painted as a negress; but while it is true that the mass of the 
blacks have become Roman Catholics, or rather baptized pagans, 
yet many of them still follow the superstitions and fetichism of 
their African ancestors.

   The condition of the blacks had its mitigations and 
ameliorations through the long period of gradual progress and 
improvement that characterized Brazilian civilization from the 
beginning of the nineteenth century to the final and complete 
emancipation of slavery in the year 1888. But their history in 
Brazil under its very best colouring is a rather dark picture. 
Since their liberation they have drifted largely from the 
plantations to the towns and villages, and many are killing 
themselves with drink. Their number is certainly not increasing 
rapidly if at all.

   The official census taken in the year 1890 gave the following, 
whites 6,302,198; blacks 2,097,426; Indians 1,295,796, and mixed 
races 4,638,495. It is generally believed that thousands of 
quadroons, octoroons and other degrees of mixed bloods were 
classified as whites. It is not improbable therefore that a 
strictly correct report would very materially decrease the 
returns for the white column and increase that for the mixed. If 
we estimate the population at 17,000,000, at the close of the 
year 1900, I suppose a fairly correct estimate would be, whites 
6,000,000, blacks 2,200,000, Indians 1,300,000, and mixed races 
7,500,000. Of the Indians it is estimated that about 500,000 are 
partly civilized, leaving 800,000 yet in the wild or savage 
state. In a general way there is free intercourse and marriages 
are frequent between the whites, blacks and mixed races, and 
these occasionally intermarry with the domesticated Indians. They 
all mingle together under one government, enjoying much the same 
social and religious privileges, and are at peace so far as any 
colour or race distinctions are concerned. There are class 
distinctions in society, but they are governed more by wealth, 
position, and influence than by colour. With a limited few there 
exists a strong race prejudice, or perhaps I had better say a 
conviction that it is better for humanity that the races exist 
separate from each other. At any rate the amalgamation of these 
three races has been going on in Brazil for four hundred years 
under climatic, social and religious conditions not conducive to 
the development of the highest moral tone of character. The 
influences of priestcraft, the convent, slavery and other 
conditions have tended to give much seclusion to the family life, 
or rather to the female portion of the family. Some think, and it 
may be true in a measure, that this seclusion is traceable to the 
Moorish manners, relics of which have existed in Portugal and the 
colonies. The official statistics of 1890 show that 2,603,489 
persons, or nearly one-sixth of the population at that time, were 
born out of wedlock. Certain Catholic institutions have an 
opening in the wall next to the street, with a kind of wheel 
arrangement where these illegitimate and abandoned babes may be 
deposited to be taken in and cared for by the Sisters of Charity. 
The official statistics above referred to show that 12,265 of the 
population living in the year 1890 belonged to this class.

   It is painful to mention such facts as the above, but the 
Church of Christ must know the spiritual needs of this people. 
There are very many pleasant and delightful things to be said 
about the people in general, as there are many exceptions to 
these lamentable defects. They are generally warm-hearted, 
hospitable, and generous in their nature, and show great 
deference to the stranger who comes into their midst. After 
fifteen years' residence and labour among them it gives me very 
great pleasure to record the very cordial reception, hospitable 
entertainment and thousands of kind attentions I have received 
from all classes throughout the entire country. What opposition 
and violence I have suffered has been occasioned by my message of 
life and salvation, the Word of God. These noble elements of 
hospitality and generosity under gospel influences become 
prominent and potent in the development of Christian character. 
The Gospel is finding a fruitful soil in Brazil, and already the 
results show the development of some splendid Christian 
characters.

   The moral and intellectual conditions are such that the 
Evangelical work must begin on the very lowest plane. There seems 
to be in the average Brazilian character as we see in most Latin 
countries an absence of the sense of sin. Immoralities are 
practiced without shame, falsehoods are perpetrated with the 
boldness of genuine veracity, and crimes are committed without 
fear of punishment. The three most prevalent forms of sin are 
mendacity, sensuality, and gambling. These are peculiar to no 
classes or grades of society, but are common everywhere: they are 
indulged in without shame or fear by persons in every grade of 
political, professional, commercial and social standing. So 
general is this insensibility that there is no public conscience 
to cry out against these evils: there seems to be no moral 
sentiment to be scandalized by these atrocities. Well may it be 
asked what has the Roman Catholic Church been doing in Brazil for 
these centuries? There can be no doubt that her false system and 
the corrupt lives of her priests have in a very large measure 
tended to plunge the Brazilian conscience into this awful abyss 
of spiritual blindness.

   The first work of the Gospel and the missionary then in this 
country is to instruct the mind by undeceiving it, arouse the 
conscience from this dreadful apathy, enlighten the 
sensibilities, and teach men that they are living in sin and 
incurring the wrath of God day by day, though they may stand well 
in society and in high favour with the Church.

   There has been accumulated in Brazil during the latter half of 
the nineteenth century a wealth of testimony to the fact that the 
Written Word of God, the Bible, is a most potent agency for 
awakening Brazilians out of their spiritual slumber, arousing 
them to a sense of their awful doom, and leading them to Jesus 
Christ, the only Mediator between God and man, the only Saviour 
of sinners.

   A few further considerations of a rather his torical nature 
may be of interest to the reader, and serve to show how the Bible 
has been shut out from the Brazilians by the Roman Church, and 
also how the even small efforts made by Protestants to circulate 
it have been opposed by the priests.

   The Holy Scriptures were opened and read on an island in the 
bay of Rio de Janeiro by French Huguenots in the year 1555. About 
a year later at the solicitation of Coligny, who has been termed 
the patron of this colonization enterprise, and at the request of 
the Genevan clergy, Philippe de Carguilleray took charge of the 
reenforcements for the colony, and Calvin with his elders in 
convocation appointed two preachers to this mission. On their 
arrival a room was prepared and one of the ministers preached 
that day. Orders were given that they should have prayers every 
evening after work was done, and that one sermon be preached 
every week day and two on Sunday. Doubtless the colony was well 
supplied with copies of Lefevre's New Testament, which at that 
time was being circulated in France by the thousands.

   In 1553, seven Jesuits had been sent out to Brazil to 
strengthen and extend the work of the Roman Catholic Church, and 
Loyola, recognizing the importance of their mission, delegated 
new powers to Nobrega, who was already in charge. This mission 
was full of that hostility of the Roman Church which sought so 
vigorously, in Europe, to suppress the Reformation. In the 
uncultivated soil of the New World it found favourable conditions 
for the growth and full development of the traditional features 
of the Council of Trent, so recently enacted in 1546, whose 
decrees taught that the Christian faith was contained partly in 
the Holy Scriptures and partly in the traditions of the Church, 
declared the authenticity of the Latin Vulgate, forbade all 
private interpretation of it, and ordered that no copies be 
printed or circulated without authority, under penalty of fine 
and anathema.

   Through the treachery of Villegagnon, these Jesuits soon 
obliterated, in a most brutal manner, the Huguenot colony, and 
furnished a striking example of what was desired to be done in 
all the world with those who dared to assert the authority of the 
Holy Scriptures as the only rule of faith and practice, and to 
teach and practice the same. Under the influence of those 
decrees, virtually prohibiting the circulation and the reading of 
the Scriptures, and establishing the authority of the traditions 
as containing the Christian faith, began a juggling with the 
credulity of mankind which has led to the invention and 
multiplication of fables and legends as monstrous as the wildest 
fictions of romance.

   Robert Southey, in speaking of how the monastic orders vied 
with each other, wrote: "It would be impossible to say which 
order has exceeded the other in Europe in this rivalry, each 
having carried the audacity of falsehood to its utmost bounds: 
but in Brazil the Jesuits bore the palm."

   Of the seven Jesuits sent out in 1553 one was Anchieta, who 
became their leader, and about whom the greatest number of 
legends and fables were invented. He has been styled by some "the 
Thaumaturgus of the New World," being the head of all the 
inhabitants and having authority over the elements and animals of 
America as the first Adam had in Paradise. He was also called the 
Vice Christ, and belief in his miracle-working virtues was 
carried to such an extent that after his death water that had 
been poured over one of his bones is said to have worked more 
than twelve hundred miracles, and that a few drops of it turned 
water into wine. One of the censors of the press at Lisbon said, 
that, "so long as the publication of the book in which these 
assertions are made is delayed, so long will the faithful be 
deprived of great benefit and God himself of glory." This 
Anchieta was a leading spirit in the destruction of the 
Protestant colony and in putting an end to that early effort to 
introduce the Bible into Brazil. He thus sowed the seed of bitter 
opposition to the Bible which has produced during these centuries 
such a widespread rejection of the revealed Will of God, and a 
consequent harvest of absurd traditions, superstitions and 
ignorance in matters of religion. Southey, writing in 1810 of the 
extravagances to which these superstitions were carried in 
Brazil, says, "Let the Roman Church appeal to its canons and its 
councils as it may, its practices were those of polytheism and 
idolatry." Romanism has had an almost undisturbed career of 
nearly another hundred years in this country since the above 
statement was made, and a study of the situation to-day 
abundantly justifies the declaration that its practices are 
polytheistic and idolatrous. These are the legitimate and 
inevitable results of that prohibition it has placed upon the 
reading of the Bible. It has never made an attempt to give the 
people of this country the Word of God, but on the contrary has 
constantly and most violently opposed and persecuted all efforts 
made by the Bible Society to circulate the Scriptures. It is a 
significant fact that the Bible was not enumerated among the 
books that might be admitted into Brazil while this country was 
under the dominion of Portugal.

   In Protestant countries the pulpit is constantly exhorting the 
people to the duty of reading the Scriptures: here in Brazil the 
missionary has to begin by persuading the people that they have 
even a right to read the Bible. Pascal has said:  "Mahomet 
established his authority in a prohibition to read, and Jesus 
Christ His in a command to read." The Pope of Rome has 
established his authority over the Brazilian conscience by 
prohibiting the Bible, Jesus Christ now comes to deliver the 
nation and establish His authority over their souls by commanding 
them to search the Scriptures which testify of Him.

-----

II
Rio de Janeiro

   THERE is perhaps no spot on the earth where the grandeur, 
beauty and harmonies of surrounding nature stand out in such bold 
contrast to the littleness, loathsomeness, and incongruity of the 
religious character and ideas of the people as in the city of Rio 
de Janeiro.

   The former has been described in glowing terms by many well 
known writers. The harbour is one of the largest, safest, most 
beautiful in the world: "a miniature summer sea, sleeping within 
the embrace of granitic mountain chains, upon whose bosom rest a 
hundred fairy isles, and around whose shores, dimple a hundred 
tiny bays." The coast is mountainous and picturesque in the 
extreme, its rough outline giving rise to the name "The Sleeping 
Giant," while one peculiarly prominent cliff was a half century 
ago popularly known as "Lord Hood's Nose."

   The city itself spreads in a kind of crescent shape around the 
western side of the bay, its environs extending along the 
beaches, and running up on the hills. The effect of this 
scattered disposition of the houses, especially at night when the 
clusters of lights appear on the hillsides, Mrs. Agassiz found 
"exceedingly pretty." Add to this the wonderful flora of the 
tropics, with its marvellous light and shade, the curious spires 
of the churches, the variegated colours of the houses, set in the 
background of brown and grey peaks, lighted up by the shiny water 
of the bay, and the whole scene forms a most entrancing picture.

   In 1897 during a visit from Bishop Galloway of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church South, a party of us held a sunrise prayer 
meeting on the summit of Mount Corcovado. He describes it as 
follows: "But the episode which will have the longest and most 
vivid remembrance was the sunrise prayer meeting Saturday morning 
on the summit of Corcovado. Arrangements had been made for a 
special train on 'the Cog road,' and never did a happier company 
climb that or any other mountain on earth. We left our homes 
shortly after four o'clock, and at five were in the car ready to 
make the glorious ascent. A marvellous piece of engineering is 
that road, climbing to the summit, 2,300 feet above, in about 
forty minutes. It is impossible to conceive a more beautiful 
picture than that presented as we ascended the mountain, except 
the one which called forth rapturous exclamations as we stood 
upon the heights. Around every curve we had a new view of the 
gas-lighted city below us, with the waters of the bay, dotted 
with islands and ocean steamers, shimmering under the flashes 
from electric dynamos. Above us the skies were cloudless and the 
stars shone with a brilliancy only seen in the southern heavens. 
The morning was perfect, and the joyous company of forty-four 
stood on Corcovado before the sun began to peep through the 
distant hills. But we had not long to wait before the crimson 
streaks appeared, announcing the royal 'bridegroom coming out of 
his chamber.' Below us the city was yet in darkness, except as 
the shadows were relieved by the lamps of the streets, and off to 
the right the billows were breaking on the surf-beaten shore. A 
hymn was sung, some appropriate Scripture passages were read, and 
while prayer was being offered the sun swept through the gates of 
the morning and flooded mountain peaks and distant hills with 
flames of gold. He rose between two mountain peaks, and as the 
bright beams flashed upward and then down upon the shimmering sea 
at our feet, it looked like a massive cathedral window through 
which the light streamed in splendour. Off to the left were the 
Organ Mountains-happily named-and as the sun's rays fell on each 
peak they had the exact appearance of the gilded pipes of a grand 
organ, which seemed to play the musical accompaniment, while the 
whole company joined in joyous song. Oh, it was a moment of 
rapture! The stars had never seemed so bright. Venus appeared 
twice her ordinary size, and shone like a sun. And it was not 
until the king was well up above the mountain that the queen of 
the morning withdrew from view. All through the night she had 
waited for her lord's coming.

   "An hour was given to song, prayer, and testimony. Some of the 
native brethren spoke with deep emotion and genuine eloquence. 
With streaming eyes one brother looked out on the bay, which was 
a very sea of gold, and referred to the fact that from those 
waters he was once almost miraculously rescued; 'but,' said he, 
'I have been more wonderfully delivered from the depths of 
iniquity, and to-day my feet are planted upon a rock-yea upon a 
mountain summit.' Another learned a lesson from the powerful 
engine which pushed our car up the steep mountain side, and said, 
so God's grace had been pushing him onward and upward, until he 
had reached a mount of vision. At length we all knelt in silent 
prayer for a moment, and solemnly received the benediction. Down 
the mountain we came, singing hymns that waked the distant echoes 
and called the cottagers to their doors and windows. We sang the 
'Sweet Bye and Bye' in two languages at the same time, but to the 
same tune. As I listened to the familiar notes, I said in my 
heart:  'So the praises of God may be sung in every tongue, and 
yet in perfect harmony.' As we saw the darkness which shrouded 
the city below us lift and float away before the light of the 
morning, every heart prayed that so may the shadows be driven 
from this beautiful land by the bright shining of the Sun of 
righteousness."

   It was the 4th of July, 1886, when I landed in Rio de Janeiro. 
For fourteen months I served as pastor of an English speaking 
congregation at the Cattete Methodist Episcopal Church South, 
also conducting a boy's school. On September 7th, 1887, the 
anniversary of Brazil's independence, corresponding to the other 
date in my own country's history, I entered the service of the 
American Bible Society, and since then my special mission has 
been to give to the Brazilians the written Word of God, for so 
many centuries a sealed book.

   On that September morning, I went into the building at No. 79 
Rua Sete de Setembro (Seventh of September Street) in the centre 
of the city, climbed two flights of stairs, and entered a large 
room with three windows opening into the street, the office and 
depository of the Brazil Agency of the American Bible Society. I 
found a desk, a few chairs, a row of bookshelves against one 
wall, and a number of boxes of books from New York. A colporteur, 
Sr. Manoel Joaquim T. Paulo, had been looking after affairs for a 
few months since my predecessor the Rev. Wm. Brown sailed for New 
York. The second floor of the building was occupied by "The Rio 
News," whose editor, Mr. A. J. Lamoureux, showed me many kind 
attentions, and has during these years rendered me much valuable 
help in the efforts to organize and carry forward the work of 
Bible distribution.

   For seven years that upper room was the office and general 
depository of the Agency; all the boxes of books handled were 
carried up and down those two flights of stairs on a man's head, 
the usual method of carrying heavy loads in Brazil. It is a 
curious sight, for instance, to see four men going through the 
streets with an immense piano on their heads. Rents were high and 
we were not prepared to open a store on the street, so there we 
remained. But, as our work enlarged and circumstances changed, we 
found it necessary to seek a ground floor and have an open store 
with the Bible on the counter and in the show-window. This 
publicity of our work has been the occasion of many interesting 
conversations and the sale of hundreds of copies of the precious 
Words of Life. In a country where the Bible has been for 
centuries a forbidden book, it is a matter of no small import to 
have open day by day a store for the sole purpose of selling it. 
Rents, license, and other expenses may seem a very considerable 
outlay, but experience has proven that it is a wise investment. 
Hundreds of passers-by have stood at the show window and read the 
open book; some of all classes have come in to buy; others have 
returned to read what might be on the next page when the leaf was 
turned; and many have gone away to meditate on what they have 
read.

   Another advantage of the open store is the aspect of 
permanency and prominence it gives to the Bible cause. It has 
become a kind of centre or headquarters for Christian workers in 
the city and for those passing through.

   The commercial feature of the work of the Agency has been of 
great value in bringing the Bible Society before the people. The 
very fact that the books have to enter through the custom house 
and pay a small duty; pass through the hands of steamship 
companies, over railroads, and through commercial agencies; be 
picked up by pack-mules and transported for hundreds of miles 
through the interior, all this has been a most effective form of 
advertising. Again the handling of from 50,000 to 75,000 copies 
of the Scriptures annually becomes a matter of some commercial 
importance. Hundreds of letters pass through the mails annually, 
the envelopes bearing the stamp, "Agencia da Sociedade Biblica 
Americana." One result has been to arouse inquiry as to what it 
means; another to break down prejudices and awaken serious 
thought. If men will give their money and time to carry on such a 
business in a legitimate way, surely the Bible must be considered 
of great importance in the United States and England, even if it 
has been despised in Brazil. As I have watched the whole movement 
in all of its bearings, especially for the last seven years, I 
have been more and more impressed with the importance and 
significance of the open Bible store. It would be a blessing to 
have one in every large city of the Republic.

   Of course, much depends upon the man at the counter. The man 
who has been in charge most of the time, is Sr. João de Silva 
Pereira. Before his conversion a common labourer with very 
limited education, he has proved, both during service as a 
colporteur and in charge of the salesroom, a most faithful and 
efficient worker. In the year 1892, I had an interesting visit 
from a man who had come a five days' journey on muleback, and 
then nearly two hundred and fifty miles by railroad, to hear the 
preaching of the Gospel, receive Christian baptism, and make 
profession of his faith in Christ. He was a brother of João. The 
latter had been on a journey and was taken sick while working in 
an interior town in the State of Minas Geraes. He received much 
attention from a young man, who, on learning his name, remarked 
that he knew a person of the same name who lived a long distance 
from there. The colporteur recognized the name as that of his 
brother, whom he had not seen for thirty years. He at once opened 
communication with him and sent him a Bible and some religious 
papers from the depository. The man, then perhaps seventy years 
of age, came all this distance to learn more of the way of truth. 
He was baptized and received into full membership in one of the 
churches of this city. He told me that he had been at work among 
his neighbours, many of whom were anxious to know more of the 
Gospel.

   This may be said to be the fruit of one Bible sent by mail 
five days' journey beyond the railroad. No colporteur or preacher 
of the Gospel had ever visited that community.

   On another occasion he addressed a letter to the keeper of the 
jail in an interior town, whose name he did not know, and sent 
him a copy of one of the Gospels. He received a kind reply with 
an expression of desire to know more about this interesting book, 
and sent a Bible with some tracts and Gospels to be distributed 
among the prisoners. The following is one of the letters he 
received:

"FRIEND SR. João:
   "Together with your letter I received the hymn book and the 
New Testament to be delivered to the prisoner, Carlos Antonio 
Vieira, which I did immediately and for which he is very 
grateful. I also distributed the papers among the prisoners; they 
were not sufficient for all but I distributed so that all could 
read them. For lack of time I have read but little in the Bible, 
the treasure of which you made a present to me. From the little 
that I have read of the passages marked I have been much 
benefited. When I read, I call together all the family to hear, 
and sometimes people from outside have heard. As I have many 
nephews and relatives here, some of them are accustomed to come 
at night to hear the words of our Redeemer. I hope to relate to 
you ere long the effect that this may produce.
   "Accept the good wishes of your brother,
               "VENANCIO DA SILVA PRADO."

   Later I had the pleasure of baptizing this man and receiving 
him into the Church. About the same time there came a letter from 
a lieutenant in the same place, expressing his great pleasure in 
the reading of the Scriptures. These are but illustrations of the 
many ways besides selling over the counter that Sr. João has 
employed to circulate the Scriptures and to lead men to Christ.

   While we have sought to circulate the Bible from the counter, 
we have at the same time had colporteurs constantly at work in 
the city, going into the markets and through the streets, and all 
round about the suburbs, seeking in every palace and hamlet to 
offer the inhabitants the written message of salvation.

   I have observed, however, that the native colporteurs were 
inclined to confine their efforts in this and other large cities 
principally to the markets and sections inhabited by the middle 
and lower classes, while the chief merchants, bankers, doctors, 
lawyers and others were being neglected. Accordingly one of our 
best qualified men, Mr. F. C. Glass, to whose work reference will 
be made elsewhere, undertook a canvass of the larger 
establishments and offices in the centre of the city. The results 
have been most gratifying, and the sales far beyond what we had 
expected. His experiences and the conversations had about the 
Bible would make a thrilling little volume.

   In this connection I may refer to the courteous acknowledgment 
of a copy of the Bible presented to President Prudente Moraes on 
the occasion of his inauguration, expressing his thanks for the 
favour conferred.

   Not long since I was talking with a photographer about the 
Bible; he said he had once been in the United States, and what 
impressed him most on his arrival in New York in 1851, after a 
long voyage, was that a man from the Bible House came on board 
and offered to supply all on the vessel with the Scriptures in 
their own languages. He says that he remained in the country but 
a short time, but that he has ever since been a reader of the 
Bible, which has had an influence over his life for nearly fifty 
years. Though he had not formally left the Roman Catholic Church, 
he had long since abandoned its unscriptural practices. As our 
interview was about to end, I handed him my card showing that I 
was agent for the Bible Society in Brazil. He was delighted to 
recognize me, and was so grateful for the Bible which was placed 
in his hands so long ago that tears of joy ran down his cheeks. 
His locks are frosty with age, and he may not long remain on 
earth, but I trust that that Bible may yet be of greater comfort 
to him.

   There are a number of Roman Catholic churches, convents and 
charitable institutions of note in and around the city. Our Bible 
distribution is carried on under the shadows of their many towers 
and about their great walls. Many of the multitude of priests 
about the city are active in their opposition to and 
denunciations of our work. One day a colporteur, Sr. André 
Cayret, while crossing the bay on the ferry, went among the 
passengers, offering his Bibles; a priest among them was greatly 
aroused, and came up asking the price of the books. The 
colporteur had not observed that he was opposing their sale. When 
told the amount he took the money from his pocket, handed it to 
the colporteur and took charge of the Bibles and Testaments. He 
then warned all the passengers that they were evil and dangerous 
books, and said that in evidence of his desire to destroy them, 
he had paid his own money for them, and that he was going to 
throw them into the water, which he did without giving the 
colporteur even a chance to try to get them back.

   I was preaching once in the theatre of a small town in the 
north of Brazil, and had among my auditors a girl who had 
recently bought a New Testament from one of our colporteurs. 
Later her father moved to Rio de Janeiro. She became a teacher in 
one of the Mission Schools, was converted and joined one of the 
Protestant churches. She never goes to church without her Bible 
in her hand. A few months ago, as she was passing along the 
principal street of this city, she chanced to meet a priest who 
had been a great friend of the family, and still manifests much 
interest in them. As she stopped to shake hands with him, she 
passed the Bible from her right to her left hand. He said, "What 
book is that you have?" She replied by turning the back to him 
with the word " Biblia" on it in gold letters. He exclaimed, "Oh, 
my child, you must not read that book; throw it away." Of course, 
she did no such thing, but tried to make him realize its 
priceless value. He is said to be one of the most enlightened 
Brazilian priests, and this incident took place in broad daylight 
in the most frequented street of the city of Rio de Janeiro.

   But let us turn now to another item in the work about Rio. 
Some time ago application was made to the American Bible Society 
for a grant from the fund for printing the Scriptures for the 
blind, sufficient to print the Gospel of John in Portuguese. A 
contract was made to have the work done in the Institute Benjamin 
Constant, at Rio de Janeiro. On the completion of the book I at 
once announced it in our Protestant mission papers and sent out a 
little circular asking for the addresses of the blind who could 
read. There appeared immediately in one of the Roman Catholic 
papers of the city the following notice:  "It is with deep regret 
that we here relate a grievous fact that occurred in the 
Institute Benjamin Constant for the blind. This establishment, in 
charge of Dr. Brazil Silvado, to whom we owe much, not only as 
regards public order and safety (he having recently been the 
Chief of Police for the city), but also for the founding of the 
model school 'Fifteenth of November,' was visited a number of 
times by a Protestant pastor, who, after much palaver, ordered 
printed some five hundred copies of the Gospel of John (mutilated 
and savouring of the reformers) according to the point system for 
the blind. We do not know whether the said pastor paid, or is 
going to pay for the work, but we may take it for granted that he 
will pay for it, because the name of Dr. Brazil Silvado is a 
guarantee; however, let the unfortunates who have lost their 
sight be upon their guard, for it is designed to make them a 
present of a book condemned by the Holy Church.

   "We do not think this act of the Protestants very generous or 
courteous; they wish to take advantage of the fact that there 
does not exist a variety and an abundance of literature in the 
point system for the blind, and also to take advantage of these 
our brothers. Since they have not accomplished anything among 
those who can see, they now endeavour to extend their propaganda 
in an establishment for the blind.

   "It is with great sorrow that we mention these facts, 
especially since they occurred in an establishment directed by 
Dr. Brazil Silvado the founder of the school 'Fifteenth of 
November,' but the exceptional gravity of the notice justifies 
our fear. It behooves the Catholic associations, and more 
particularly the well deserving Society of St. Vincente de Paulo, 
to visit and interest themselves in the blind, deaf and dumb, 
etc., and in general all those who suffer and have need of 
comfort and consolation. We are here ready to receive of all 
charitable persons, offerings, be they ever so small, for the 
purpose of printing and distributing gratuitously for the blind a 
true copy of the Gospel of John."

   Two weeks after this appeal had been made the same paper 
announced that four dollars had been subscribed for this purpose, 
and half of that was promised by the editor.

   Before taking from the printing office of this establishment 
the last hundred copies of the Gospel, I sought to know how many 
of the blind desired to read it. There were in the school some 
eight or ten professors and some seventy odd pupils. I was 
greatly delighted to have about half of the teachers and pupils 
come up and ask for copies; many of them seemed very grateful, 
and expressed most hearty delight at the thought of now being 
able to read some part of the Word of God for themselves. Since 
then I have had several applications for copies from students in 
the school, and we are getting applications from all sections of 
the country from those who have been taught to read in this 
institution.

   I presented copies of the work to six of the principal and 
most liberal daily papers of the city; and each of them made 
public acknowledgment and gave very complimentary notices of the 
book and of the American Bible Society. This served to bring the 
work to the attention of the public as could not have otherwise 
been done.

   One day, just as I passed out of the door of our Bible store, 
my attention was attracted to a blind man on the opposite side of 
the street being led by a boy. I had gone but a few steps when 
the inquiry arose in my mind, whether or not he might be able to 
read according to the system for the blind, and I was led to turn 
and follow them. When I asked him if he knew how to read, he 
replied that he did, and that he had been taught in the Institute 
for the Blind in this city. I asked him if he had any books to 
read. He replied, "yes, two or three," and that if I desired one, 
he could get it for me from the Institute. To my inquiry whether 
he would like to have another book, one of which perhaps he had 
known nothing; he replied that he would, and led by the boy he 
followed me into the store. I handed him a copy of the Gospel of 
St. John. He at once began to read and expressed great surprise, 
it was so new and wonderful to him. As he read aloud, sitting 
near the door, the people passing in the street were soon 
attracted by the sight, and one after another stopped to listen, 
evidently never before having seen a blind person reading. By and 
by I asked him to read the ninth chapter, which gives the account 
of the opening of the eyes of the man born blind. About twenty-
five persons had gathered around him. He was greatly delighted 
and interested in the story, and the hearers seemed as much 
interested now in what he was reading as they had been at first 
in seeing him read. After a time he went on his way rejoicing, 
carrying with him his treasure, and saying that he had several 
blind friends whom he would tell about this beautiful book. I 
have never had more grateful expressions from any persons than 
have come from the blind who have received copies of the Gospel 
of St. John.

   The following story strikingly illustrates how God works 
through his written Word. Twenty years ago a negro slave living 
in a small village at the foot of the Organ mountains, which 
overlook the city of Rio de Janeiro, was sent to clean away the 
trash that had accumulated under a shed adjoining the house. 
There was a barrel filled with old papers which he was ordered to 
empty, and as he was throwing them out, he discovered an old 
book; opening it he saw the name of Jesus Christ, and concluded 
that it must be a good book. The title page reads: "O Novo 
Testamento, isto é o Novo Concerto de Nosso Fiel Senhor e 
Redemptor, Jesu Christo." He hid the book under his coat until 
the day's work was done. He was a devout Roman Catholic, and had 
learned to read for the purpose of reading the prayers of the 
church. At night he sat down by a dim light in his cabin, and 
there he remained the whole night reading that wonderful book. No 
sleep came to his eyes, but, as he told me, many times tears 
flowed down his cheeks, though he could not tell why. Night after 
night he would read, and many times the reading would make him 
weep. This was kept up for seventeen years. He kept the book with 
great care and reverence, and would never allow anything to be 
placed on top of the box where he kept it; he regarded it a thing 
so holy that he would never allow the dust to collect on the box. 
He had images and saints, but this book soon became to him more 
sacred and holy than they. For seventeen years he kept wondering 
day by day what was the real meaning of all the wonderful things 
he was reading from that book.

   A few years ago he happened to be in a small village near the 
Bay of Rio, where he met a black woman who was a member of one of 
the Protestant churches of Rio. As soon as she knew that he had 
read the New Testament she began talking with him about it. He 
asked many questions, and she gave answers and explanations. He 
says that in this conversation, as with Saul of Tarsus, the 
scales fell from his eyes, the love of God filled his soul, and 
he then and there found a peace and joy for which he had been 
longing seventeen years.

   Shortly thereafter he returned to his cabin in the mountains, 
and for two years saw no one of this faith. A year ago one of the 
colporteurs of the American Bible Society passing through that 
section for the first time, chanced to meet him; from the 
colporteur he received some instruction and bought a Bible.

   While conducting a little service in the dining room of a 
hotel at a village in the mountains, my attention was attracted 
by the intelligent interest and hearty appreciation manifested by 
an old black man who sat near me. After the service I had a 
conversation with him, and he related to me the story I have 
told. I shall never forget the joy and brightness expressed by 
that black face. It was marvellous to hear him tell the story of 
that Testament and of his conversion. He had obtained a wonderful 
knowledge of the Word of God just from reading that book. The 
next morning, as I was leaving the hotel, he made me a present of 
his precious treasure, saying that since he bought the Bible with 
larger print, He did not need the Testament, and as it might be 
of service to me he would give it up for the good of the cause.

   This Testament was printed at Chelsea, England, 1817, by 
Tilling & -nes (the first part of the second name has been 
destroyed by some means). The name H. Hayne is the first on the 
flyleaf, then comes that of Manoel Florianno de Souza. The name 
of the old man who gave it me is Francisco Manoel Lago. I have 
seen it recorded somewhere that from 1820 to 1836 a few copies of 
the Scriptures in Portuguese were sent from England to English 
merchants residing in Rio, and by them were given to people 
coming in from the country. I have found an occasional copy of 
these early consignments still in existence; some of them have 
wrought wonderful results, and I think it quite probable that the 
Testament now in question may have found its way to Brazil at 
that early date, perhaps eighty years ago.

   We might go on multiplying incidents and observations of the 
work in and about Rio sufficient to fill a volume. This chapter 
however would not be complete without a reference to other 
features of the evangelistic work in close sympathy with that of 
the American Bible Society. Missionaries of different Boards, 
pastors of various denominations have been most efficient 
colabourers, while not a few laymen have been loyal supporters of 
the work. I mention first my colleague in Bible distribution, the 
Rev. João M. dos Santos, agent of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society, also pastor of the Evangelical Fluminense Church, an 
independent movement started by a Scotchman, Dr. Robert R. Kalley 
in the year 1855, and with a membership of 587. Mr. Santos, a 
Brazilian who was educated for the ministry in England, has been 
agent for the Bible Society since 1879. During this period he 
reports 46,234 Bibles, 96,411 New Testaments and 229,137 separate 
Gospels and portions of Scripture put into circulation. For the 
fourteen years of my connection with the American Bible Society 
Agency, he has kept an open store in an important street in the 
centre of the city. We have all the time been near neighbours, 
and our relations have been most cordial. On account of his 
pastorate he has not been able to travel extensively with his 
colporteurs.

   The churches and missionaries connected with the various 
missions have at all times entered heartily into the work. 
Independent Christian workers about the city have done much for 
Bible distribution and not a few foreign merchants, business and 
professional men have given substantial support in many ways, 
while government officials have shown their good will in various 
ways. The United States diplomatic and consular representatives 
have been most courteous and attentive.

   The Young Men's Christian Association, under the direction of 
Mr. Myron A. Clark, who was sent out by the International 
Committee, was organized in the office of the American Bible 
Society Agency in this city in the year 1893. This movement has 
prospered and the Association has a magnificent building in the 
centre of the city. The relations between our work and theirs 
have all the time been most cordial and helpful.

   The Bible Society owes a debt of gratitude to all the 
Evangelical papers published in this city and throughout the 
country; they now number about a dozen.

   On the inner circle of office work there have been at times 
vexations and hardships. To an American, many of the Brazilian 
ways of dispatching business in the Custom-House, Post Office and 
other Public Departments, in railroad and steamship offices, 
banks and commercial houses are indeed a mystery. Often one 
cannot help having the conviction that Public Departments exist 
principally for giving employment to the largest number of 
employees. The delays and the time required to get through with 
the red tape ceremony and the tedious route of a multitude of 
secretaries in dispatching the simplest paper are enough to try 
the patience of the most forbearing; then after spending many 
days, buying a number of revenue stamps and paying so many fees, 
to be told, when you ask for your paper, "só amanhã," (only to-
morrow) will they be ready, is trying in the extreme.

   South American Republics are famous for revolutions, and 
Brazil, the youngest of them all, is not without a small share in 
the fame. The most notable in her short history of ten years is 
the naval revolt which lasted from September, 1893, to March, 
1894. We in Rio were in the very midst of the fight and witnessed 
almost daily attempts or pretences at bombardments and 
engagements. The roar of cannon and rifle were familiar sounds 
every day for six months. All transportation and travel was 
largely impeded, and of course, our Bible work suffered somewhat. 
The war vessels frequently took their anchorage at a certain 
point in the bay to fire at a cannon planted on Castle Hill. Our 
Bible store and office was in the direct line of fire just behind 
the hill, and several times the shot tore up the roof and walls 
of our building; once a six inch shell bored through the wall, 
exploded, and the pieces made holes through the inside dividing 
walls. At another time a ball piercing the roof struck a 
bookstand and damaged a number of books; fortunately no one in 
the place was hurt.

-----

III
Along the Railroad

IN THE PROVINCES OF RIO DE JANEIRO AND MINAS
GERAES-JUIZ DE FORA-OURO PRETO.

   TURNING now to the great interior it is my purpose to take the 
reader with the faithful Colporteurs over a number of the long, 
and at times, perilous, journeys that we have made by sea and 
land to accomplish the mission of the American Bible Society to 
the inhabitants that dwell beneath the Southern Cross.

   The reader should bear in mind that the sequence of journeys 
is geographical rather than chronological, and in beginning the 
account of each journey, it will be well to consult the map.

   My first journey through the Provinces of Rio de Janeiro and 
Minas Geraes as agent of the American Bible Society was begun on 
November 24th, 1887. The Central Railroad, known also as the line 
of Dom Pedro II., commenced in 1856, the first section being 
opened to traffic in 1857, starts from the city of Rio de Janeiro 
and extends first across a low and somewhat marshy land for about 
forty miles to the foot of the Serra do Mar.     Along the way 
one gets a fair view of a Brazilian forest of small trees and 
undergrowth, matted together with parasites, forming almost a 
compact mass of green, in which may be seen many orchids of 
various kinds. The next section, reaching up through the Serra do 
Mar over into the valley of the Parahyba river, a distance of 
some twenty-five miles, is in many respects one of remarkable 
interest. Its construction is a notable feat of American 
engineering skill and perseverance, with its steep grades, sharp 
curves and numerous tunnels, cut mostly through solid rock and 
varying in length from three hundred to seven thousand three 
hundred feet. Mountains, hills and valleys, flowing streams and 
dashing cataracts, wild forests and coffee plantations, mingle in 
a panorama of indescribable interest and beauty, through which 
the American "horse," as the great Baldwin locomotives 
constructed especially for this difficult and steep grade, were 
first called, goes snorting along, carrying the passengers at the 
rate of about fifteen miles an hour. In a distance of twenty-one 
miles there is a rise of about 1,335 feet, while from the summit 
to the city of Barra do Pirahy on the banks of the Parahyba 
river, a distance of more than ten miles, there is a fall of 210 
feet. This city is a centre of railroad traffic, lines branching 
off to the city of São Paulo, a distance of 298 miles from Rio de 
Janeiro, to the city of Entre Rios, at the mouth of the 
Parahybuna river, about fifty-five miles distant, and thence 
about forty miles to Porto Novo da Cunha, where it connects with 
the Leopoldina Railway, while another branch follows the 
Parahybuna river through the interior of the State of Minas 
Geraes.

   Here I met one of our colporteurs who had been spending some 
days in canvassing the town and vicinity, and was convinced that 
this might prove to be an important point for offering the 
Scriptures to the thousands of persons coming from and returning 
to the great interior. The passenger trains going each way 
usually stop at this point twenty minutes for meals and to change 
engines, thus giving a colporteur time to offer the Scriptures to 
all who may be on board. At certain seasons of the year when the 
passenger traffic is always large we have had a colporteur devote 
almost all his time to offering the Scriptures to passengers at 
this point, and hundreds of copies have been purchased by persons 
scattered for many miles through the interior of the country.

   We have found by experience that the offering of the 
Scriptures in the railroad trains is an important feature of the 
colportage work, and sometimes the colporteur has made good sales 
by boarding a passing train from our station to another and then 
returning by the next train in the opposite direction.

   On the journey from Barra do Pirahy to Entre Rios, we sold a 
few copies of the Word to fellow-passengers, and had some 
interesting conversations on the subject of religion.

   At the town of Entre Rios, while our train was being divided 
into two sections for the two different branches, standing on the 
platform, I sold fourteen copies of the Scriptures and had an 
interesting conversation of a few minutes with a young man who 
lived some miles in the country. He urged me to visit him and to 
preach the Gospel in his community, assuring me that I would find 
there a warm welcome.

   From this place also hundreds of copies of the Scriptures have 
been distributed during these fourteen years. The surrounding 
coffee districts, the macadamized stage road from Petropolis to 
Juiz de Fora, the bifurcation of the railroad into two valleys, 
all combine to indicate the importance of this town. In former 
times the stage ride over this macadamized road referred to was 
one of the finest and most interesting in Brazil. With the 
building of the railroad, this has largely fallen into disuse and 
decay, and the old stage coaches are being thrown aside and going 
to decay in the tropical sun and rains. They however did good 
service carrying the colporteur and his Bibles, and enabling him 
to place copies of the word of life in the hands of many. The 
ride of about fifty miles up the valley of the Parahybuna river 
from Entre Rios, 860 feet above the bed of the sea, to the city 
of Juiz de Fora, about 2,200 feet above the sea, is one of much 
interest. The hills covered with coffee trees and forests, 
valleys of cultivated fields and pasture lands, the old farm 
houses and slave quarters, the huge grey and brown rocks jutting 
out here and there and rising sometimes to four or five hundred 
feet above the road, the waters of the Parahybuna rushing along 
and now and then leaping and dashing over precipices and through 
great gorges, all combine to divert and greatly interest the 
passenger as the train bears him winding around sharp curves and 
up steep grades through tunnels on to an elevated plateau.

   At Juiz de Fora, 170 miles from Rio de Janeiro, we stopped for 
a few days' work and to replenish our supply of books, and found 
that the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, (preceded, however by 
the colporteur of the Bible Society) had begun work.

   This growing city has been one of the most important centres 
of our fourteen years' work, and has considerable commercial 
importance. The surrounding hilly country forms one of the rich 
and extensive coffee producing districts of Brazil, and is very 
favourable to the growth of corn, beans, and other products, as 
well as to cattle and stock raising, and there are several 
important manufacturing enterprises located in it. The population 
at present numbers about 15,000 souls. American enterprise, 
taking advantage of the power that for centuries has been going 
to waste in the cascades of the Parahybuna river a few miles 
distant, has recently put in an electric power plant, and the 
well furnished stores, neat and comfortable private and public 
buildings, electric lights, water supply, drainage, street-cars, 
shops, factories, etc., make it stand in striking contrast with 
the description given by Capt. Richard F. Burton so recently as 
1867: "Juiz de Fora is a single dusty or muddy street, or rather 
road, across which palms are planted in pairs. The dwellings are 
low and poor, mostly door and window, as the phrase is." In this 
development much is due to the influence and efforts of a 
Brazilian "of rare enterprise, pluck, perseverance and determined 
will;" and also to that of the German Colony located there by the 
União e Industria Company in the year 1860; the number of 
colonists was 1,318.

   Our colporteurs have from time to time extended the work along 
the railroads in three directions and have traversed the whole 
country round about, going on foot and on mule-back from this 
centre. During my first visit to the town, I secured from among 
the Protestant believers a man who did several years of valuable 
colportage work, travelling for thousands of miles with his pack-
mules through the interior; and the Methodist Church located here 
has furnished two other colporteurs who have given a number of 
years to the work; and others also who have worked for less time. 
Many boxes of the Sacred Scriptures have been unloaded from the 
trains at this place and the books scattered for miles in every 
direction. The Methodist missionaries following in the tracks of 
the colporteurs, have gathered up the fruits in a large measure, 
and there is now in this section of the State a large and most 
prosperous Presiding Elder's District, composed of seven pastoral 
charges with a church membership of nearly 1,000. The colporteurs 
would go out in all directions, sowing the seed, talking with the 
people and reading to them the Words of Life, then return to tell 
the preachers of the marvellous interest awakened and of the 
desire upon the part of many to know more of the Way of Life; and 
the missionaries at this station bear me witness that their work 
has developed and is still extending along the lines opened up by 
these pioneers of the Bible Society. Experience has demonstrated 
the wisdom of beginning such work in the important centres of 
commerce and education and extending outward to the limits of 
civilization. And, while marvellous results have been seen in the 
small towns, villages and country settlements, there has been a 
corresponding development in the city of Juiz de Fora.

   In no part of the country have there been more rapid 
developments from the labours of Gospel workers than through this 
section of the State of Minas Geraes; and it should be recorded 
for the encouragement of all persons who have contributed to the 
cause of the American Bible Society that the colporteurs have 
been the pioneers and the constant companions of the preachers in 
the extension and development of this work, and have laid the 
foundation for the educational work of Granberry College and 
other institutions.

   From Juiz de Fora the Central Railroad extends along a valley 
for a distance of about thirty-five miles across the plateau 
which gradually rises until it reaches the station of Mantiqueira 
about 2,810 feet above the level of the sea at the base of the 
Serra de Mantiqueira. It is quite noticeable that coffee planting 
in this region is much less extensive than it is farther down on 
the plateau, and almost disappears as we go up the Serra. This is 
due to the colder temperature and the frosts. In the region round 
about Mantiqueira and the next railroad station above the pasture 
lands are magnificent, and cattle raising is quite an industry. 
Since the railroad has reached this section, milk and butter are 
being shipped daily in increasing quantities to Rio de Janeiro, a 
distance of more than 200 miles. The very large increase in the 
consumption of milk and the national or homemade butter has been 
very noticeable during the last ten years, especially in the city 
of Rio de Janeiro.

   The ascent of the Serra from Mantiqueira to Barbacena, a 
distance of about twenty-five miles, and a rise in altitude of 
about 775 feet, winds around the hillsides furnishing constantly 
changing views of most magnificent scenery; this rise of 775 feet 
being made almost entirely in a distance of about ten miles. On 
our first journey over this section we sold a number of copies of 
the Scriptures to fellow passengers and to persons at the 
different stations; some of the copies sold were taken long 
distances to homes far away among the hills and mountains. Many 
looked on and seemed to think our efforts to get men to buy 
Bibles a very strange proceeding. One very old man living a long 
distance from the railroad bought a copy to take home with him, 
saying that he could not read much but his children could. We 
were much impressed with his seeming sincerity of heart and 
desire to know the truth of God. The priests were active among 
the passengers trying to induce them not to buy our Bibles, 
telling them that they were false and dangerous books. At another 
time while passing over this same section of the road in company 
with a colporteur, an evangelist and two missionaries, we had a 
most interesting and somewhat novel experience. We began talking 
with the passengers and offering them the Scriptures, and were 
awakening considerable interest throughout the train, when a 
priest was suddenly aroused, went to the conductor of the train 
and made complaint that we were annoying the passengers; several 
of the more devout followers of his way joined with him in the 
complaint. It was far from our purpose to create any disturbance 
among our fellow passengers, and as we could only carry on such 
work on the train by permission, we had to comply with the 
conductor's orders and cease our selling; fortunately we had 
supplied nearly all who desired to buy before he interfered. I 
have several times been thus forbidden to sell books on the 
train, but in almost every case have found that some priest or 
religious fanatic had brought pressure to bear upon the conductor 
to stop me.

   At this time we had a conversation with a very devout fellow 
passenger who was on a pilgrimage of more than 100 miles to 
fulfill a promise of some ten years standing to the famous image 
of Nosso Senhor de Congonhas. He told me this story: his little 
three-year-old boy had on one occasion thrust his hand into a 
kettle of boiling syrup and was so badly burned that they thought 
the little fellow would die from the effects. The father prayed 
to this image, of which he had a consecrated picture in his 
house, and made a vow that if he would cure the child, he would 
go on a pilgrimage to his temple and burn the child's weight in 
wax candles before the altar. He was a poor tiller of the soil 
with a large family, and said to me that he had been working hard 
for ten years and saving up a little money each year until he at 
last had enough to buy the large box of candles, pay the priest 
for blessing them, and pay his own and the boy's expenses of the 
trip. He showed me the boy's hand which was so deformed that he 
had never been able to make use of it. I thought if a great 
miracle-working image couldn't do a better job of healing than 
that it would be just as well to let nature have her course. The 
man's fidelity in paying his vow was certainly worthy of 
commendation. I thought if he could but be brought to the 
knowledge of the Truth in Christ, what a noble Christian he might 
become; so I sought to point him to the great miracle-working, 
healing, loving Jesus. He bought a New Testament and promised me 
that on his return to his home, he would read and study it. When 
the gleaners in the mission field reach the community in which he 
lives, doubtless there will be some good news to report, for the 
soil seemed ready for the seed.

   Just before we reached the station of Sitio, from which starts 
the Western Minas Railroad, we sold a Bible to a man who lived 
several miles beyond the terminus of that line. A few years 
later, while spending a night at the town of Lafayette further 
along the Central Railroad, I met the same man who had become a 
devout believer from the reading of that Bible. He was greatly 
rejoiced to know that the missionaries of the Southern 
Presbyterian Board were beginning permanent work in that section. 
They now have a prosperous school and church work in the town of 
Lavras, and from this centre the work is extending in all 
directions through the country. A mission station has been opened 
also at the famous old town of São João del Rei, and the 
influence of the work is being felt throughout that section. This 
has been long considered one of the most fanatical and difficult 
places in Brazil for doing evangelistic work. The colporteurs and 
workers have had some lively encounters with the priests, and 
have made narrow escapes from the hands of enraged fanatics. But 
darkness and superstition are giving way with the entrance of 
light and truth. On one occasion one of our colporteurs argued 
with a priest for about two hours in the presence of a large 
number of men; and it has been said that the truth of Scripture 
set forth by the colporteur before so many attentive listeners 
did a great deal to awaken interest and start investigation.

   Returning to the line of the Central Railroad the town of 
Barbacena, 230 miles from Rio de Janeiro, located on an elevation 
of about 3,600 feet above the sea furnishes an excellent 
illustration of the observation of Burton that "in Brazil, cities 
founded by ecclesiastics occupy the best situations, hills and 
rises, commanding fine views: the laity preferred bottom lands, 
near gold and water." The extensive views are enchanting as one 
looks from the heights down over hills and valleys in the 
distance; and the pure, cool atmosphere is most exhilarating. We 
are not surprised that this place has become a great resort for 
convalescents and invalids, and a centre of boarding schools. 
Humboldt said that taking Barbacena as a centre and radiating for 
a hundred miles in every direction there was to be found the most 
salubrious and most perfect climate in the world. We have sold 
here a number of Bibles at different times and the Methodists are 
carrying forward regular work. Not long since at the request of 
the missionary in charge I sent to the jailer at this place a box 
of Scriptures, most of which were distributed among the prisoners 
and soldiers, several of whom have been converted.

   From Barbacena we pursued our way to Miguel Burnier from which 
point a branch line was under construction to Ouro Preto, the 
Capital of the State of Minas. Adventurers and speculators were 
already following up this new enterprise, and as we entered the 
hotel that stood near the station we were at once asked what was 
our business. The surprised and perplexed expression on the faces 
of the curious crowd surrounding us when we told them that we 
were distributing the Word of God was most marked. They seemed 
never to have heard of such business as that, and as they learned 
more of the nature of our mission they expressed much doubt as to 
the wisdom of undertaking such work in that section. During the 
evening and early the next morning we sold several copies of the 
Scriptures. A number of persons would not buy because they 
thought the reading of our books would be contrary to the 
religion of a famous image whose temple is located at the town of 
Congonhas, about ten or twelve miles from Miguel Burnier, and 
which has a wonderful influence over the masses of the people. In 
the early history of Brazil the ecclesiastics found no better way 
to build a town than by setting up a Growing Stone, a Healing 
Cross or a Miracle-Working Image. These images are often called 
"Apparecido" or "Apparecida," from their "appearing" in some 
cave, or wild forest, stream, or on the seacoast. It is supposed 
that "The Lord of Matosinhos" appeared near this place of small 
shrubs, from which event the brotherhood of Bom Jesus of 
Matosinhos had its origin. The main temple or church, the seven 
chapels, oratorios, wooden figures seated around a table 
representing the Last Supper, the image of Judas and the great 
knife with which the pilgrims give him a dig as they pass by, the 
Agony in the Garden, the rough wayside cross of hardwood bearing 
a rude figure, dedicated to Our Lord of Matosinhos with an 
inscription showing that it began to work miracles about the year 
1700; the gigantic figures of the Prophets, the carved work in 
wood and stone, the paintings of various kinds, the instruments 
of the Passion, the miracle-room with the large number of wax 
figures and hundreds of memorial tablets, representing the 
miracles performed by the image; the side chapels of St. Francis 
de Assisi, St. Francisco de Paula and others, the two pulpits, 
the two boxes and two open confessionals, the representation of 
the Trinity and the Burial of Christ, the altar tomb, covered 
with a board, which when removed shows a full-sized effigy of Our 
Lord of Matosinhos, with angels kneeling around and praying, 
which is the grand object of the pilgrimage and where the 
pilgrims prostrate themselves and kiss the hand of the image with 
great devotion; on another side the cradle of Bethlehem, above 
the fine silver chandeliers :-these are some of the many curious 
things, in crude shape representing a strange mixture of truth 
and falsehood. The surprising fact is that not only the poor and 
ignorant but many of the more enlightened and wealthy Brazilians 
still make pilgrimages, perform vows, devote offerings and render 
worship to this image. It would be difficult perhaps to say just 
what proportion of the pilgrims are really devout and sincere in 
their performances, and how many go simply for a frolic and 
pleasure. There can be no doubt that with many in Brazil, these 
things have long since become largely a social custom, and this 
class of persons enter into the ceremonies with little or no 
religious sentiment, but there are many others who are devout and 
sincere in their faith and performances.

   Shortly after our arrival at the station of Miguel Burnier, I 
obtained permission from the proprietor of the little hotel to 
preach at night in the dining room. Much curiosity was expressed 
by a number of hearers that crowded into the little room and 
stood around the low windows and outside the door, but they 
listened with much attention. It was with great difficulty that I 
conducted service in the Portuguese language, and I was not a 
little confused by one man who spoke out in a very loud voice and 
disputed the statement when I referred to Christ's having been 
tempted by the devil. This was the first time so far as we could 
learn that any Protestant had ever attempted to preach in the 
place.

   The next morning the colporteur and I obtained permission to 
travel on the construction train, and we started over the 
mountains to make our way to Ouro Preto, thirty miles distant. 
The train took us twenty-four miles and we had to make the 
remainder of the distance on foot, through mud and rain carrying 
on our backs our baggage, with our Bibles and Testaments. The 
books, being of considerable size, were about as much as two men 
could carry under the circumstances over such a road and we were 
forced to call a boy to our assistance. We managed to keep the 
books dry for the most part, but reached the hotel in the city of 
Ouro Preto muddy, wet, and tired, a sight to behold. We were not 
surprised that our appearance attracted much attention as we 
walked through the streets to find a hotel. The ride over the 
mountains on the flat car furnished a good opportunity for 
appreciating the magnificent views to be seen in almost every 
direction. From the heights over which we passed, the valleys 
below, the extensive plains, hills and distant mountain ranges, 
with the clouds hanging like lace curtains from the windows of 
heaven and touching their summits, combined in scenes too vast 
and grand for painter's brush or poet's pen; they must be seen in 
their reality to be fully appreciated. The only inconvenience we 
suffered on the occasion was from the jolting of the rough car 
over the newly constructed road as we sat on coils of lead piping 
instead of cushioned seats and fought the sparks and cinders that 
showered upon us from our puffing engine. Umbrellas were of 
advantage only for a while until they were so badly burned as to 
no longer protect us from the falling coals; it seemed for a time 
to be literally raining fire. As the road descends amongst the 
hills of Ouro Preto the great rocks jutting out and dipping in 
all directions give signs of tremendous volcanic action. We 
reached the city late in the afternoon, and with great difficulty 
found lodging in a small hotel, as the town was crowded in honour 
of two important events: the freeing of about 200 slaves with 
some Emancipation Fund that had been raised throughout the 
Province; the jubilee of a Catholic priest of the city.

   We remained in the city for two days talking with the people 
on the streets, in the shops and stores, and in a short time sold 
the fifty-two Bibles and Testaments which we had been able to 
carry on our backs from the end of the railroad.

   A few days after we left I had a letter from a man, who become 
much interested in the Gospel, informing me that the priests had 
instigated the city authorities to arrest and imprison us for 
selling false and dangerous books; the officer duly authorized to 
make the arrest arrived at the hotel about an hour after our 
departure. So far as we could learn this was the first attempt 
made in the city to circulate among the people the written Word 
of God. A few of the copies sold were to men who lived at long 
distances, in the country and who had come in to attend the 
festivities. I was much interested in one very old man who stood 
at the door and listened attentively to what I was saying to a 
number who were gathered around me in a little store; he said if 
he could read he would certainly buy one of the books. I asked 
him if he had a family and if any of them could read. He replied 
that some of his children could read, and so at this suggestion 
he bought a Bible; a few hours later I saw him leaving the town 
with his Bible under his arm, seemingly in haste to get home 
where he could hear more of its wonderful and new truths. The 
scene in that humble country home among the distant hills that 
night when for the first time the members of that household were 
reading and hearing the wonderful words of life, must have been 
one which angels would delight to witness. One of the New 
Testaments was sold to a carpenter who had a small shop in a 
dirty little street at one side of the town. The book was laid 
away, I believe in a tool box, and soon became covered with dust 
and trash. Later, when things were being overhauled about the 
place, this book was discovered and was about to be thrown away 
as a useless thing, when a young man, who had been working in the 
shop for some months, asked that it be given to him. He began 
reading it diligently, was converted, called of God to the 
ministry, and is now an active and efficient preacher of the 
Gospel. If no other results had come of the efforts of that 
occasion, the conversion of this young cabinet workman was worth 
far more than all it cost in money, time labour and discomfort to 
reach the city and dispose of the copies of the Scriptures which 
we had been able to carry on our backs through the mud and rain. 
Since this beginning of Gospel work, the city of Ouro Preto has 
been the scene of considerable activity in preaching and 
scattering the truth; a number of people have been led to Christ 
and the influence of the work has extended in all the region 
round about. As the city was until recently the capital of the 
State of Minas Geraes, it had more or less importance as a centre 
for evangelistic and Bible work. Since the railroad reached this 
point, we have shipped considerable quantities of Scriptures 
there to be picked up by the pack mules and carried sometimes 
several hundred miles through the interior.

   The mining interests, from which the Province, Minas Geraes 
(General Mines) takes its name, gave rise to the founding of the 
city of Ouro Preto (Black Gold). Its location among the hills is 
one of singular interest, a number of peaks towering above the 
place, the highest being nearly 5,900 feet above the level of the 
sea, or about 2,500 feet above the city. "Now it has the sun of 
Italy, then the fogs of England." The roughly paved streets 
ascending and descending the hills are narrow, crooked and 
irregular; carts and carriages are of little or no use, the 
freight being carried largely on packmules. I saw these little 
animals winding up and down the streets, some loaded with great 
building timbers twelve or fifteen feet long, others with stones, 
lime, etc.; water was delivered from two barrels which balanced 
each other on the pack-saddle. A little mule came up in front of 
our hotel with two flour barrels swung across his back; a small 
door or window had been cut in the end of each barrel from which 
a boy supplied us with bread. Since the completion of the 
railroad to this point, enterprise has changed and improved some 
of the streets and now carts are more used.

   It was in this city in the year 1788 that a plot, led by 
Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, a dentist, was formed for 
establishing a Republic in the Province of Minas and surrounding 
captaincies. The spirit of liberty and independence so prominent 
at that time in the United States and France was wafted to this 
provincial capital amongst the hills of the interior of Brazil, a 
young Brazilian who met Jefferson in France being one of the 
principal channels of communication. The leaders of this 
patriotic movement numbered twenty-five or thirty, and there were 
no less than a thousand suspected as being in sympathy with the 
conspiracy. One of the conspirators, who owed the Treasury a 
considerable sum, revealed to the Governor the plan in hope of 
obtaining a remission of his debt with a pension and decorations. 
Public indignation afterwards drove him to the Amazon valley 
where he was left to starve. These leaders were captured and 
sentenced, some to be hanged, decapitated and quartered, with 
exposure of heads; others to be hanged on a gallows taller than 
usual; their property was confiscated and their children and 
grandchildren declared infamous; others were exiled for life, a 
few were temporarily banished and two were flogged. The Province 
of Minas may well be proud of this popular movement as there can 
be no doubt that it led finally to the Independence of Brazil on 
the 7th of September, 1822, and found its fullest realization in 
the establishment of the Republic for the whole of Brazil on the 
15th of November, 1889, just a century from its beginning. The 
Government has decreed the 21st of April a public holiday in 
honour of "Tiradentes," the leader in that first movement for 
liberty and independence in Brazil.

   In April, 1891, two missionaries from Juiz de Fora station and 
an evangelist accompanied me on a trip to this quaint old 
historic city among the hills for the purpose of making the first 
attempt to publicly preach the Gospel there. The mayor being a 
liberal-minded man and desirous that the Republic, not yet two 
years old, should make a good impression, readily granted us the 
use of the town hall. The evangelist, an Englishman, eloquent in 
the use of the Portuguese language, was greeted on two successive 
occasions by large audiences of men filling to overflowing the 
town hall. On the first occasion there was some disturbance 
outside led by two priests; on the second occasion a priest in 
the audience arose and contested some of the preacher's 
statements. The preacher replied, proving his point with 
Scripture, and was sustained by a majority of the auditors.

   In the latter part of the year 1892, we made an effort for the 
second time to extend our Bible work along the railroad from 
Miguel Burnier and throughout the upper valley of the Rio das 
Velhas (River of the Old Women). A local tradition says the river 
took its name from three old Indian squaws found squatting upon 
its banks by the first explorer through that region, who struck 
the stream in 1701 at what is flow the town of Sabará. My wife 
accompanied me on this trip, and at Barbacena we met a colporteur 
whom I had sent to visit several Italian colonies in that 
section. We had good sales of the Scriptures in the city and I 
preached once to a large audience of attentive hearers. We had 
with us a small organ, made especially for such evangelistic 
work, which my wife played and the music attracted many who 
remained to hear the word. At the little hotel one morning she 
was playing hymns, and all the people about the hotel and some 
from the streets came in to hear. I took occasion now and then to 
read a passage from the Scriptures and talk to them. One 
gentleman, who had come a long distance to visit his son who was 
in school, said he had desired for some time to hear the Gospel. 
He brought his son and four others from the school to hear 
something of the Word. He gave his son a Testament and told the 
others to buy. Those boys returned to the school carrying two 
Bibles and a Testament.

   From Barbacena we went to Sabará, where we made good sales of 
Scriptures and from which we went out to visit several 
neighbouring towns, villages and settlements. One trip which was 
especially interesting was to Santa Luzia, a town about sixteen 
miles away. The journey had to be made on mule-back. Early one 
morning the native preacher, our colporteur, wife and I, all well 
mounted on our little mules, and with the little organ, books, 
etc., on the pack-mules, started on the trip. The road was very 
rough, and lay through a very hilly, mountainous region. We first 
ascended a very steep, rocky hill; from the heights we had 
charming views of the winding valleys, dotted now and then with 
distant villages. We soon descended to climb another rugged hill, 
and so on for the entire distance. About midway we stopped beside 
a clear stream to eat our lunch and rest our animals. When we 
reached the town we found very poor accommodations at the little 
hotel, but the proprietor was very attentive and kind. Much 
excitement was awakened by our coming. Many seemed really afraid 
of us, and would close their doors and windows as we passed along 
the streets. We secured the use of a small room at the hotel for 
services. The music and singing attracted quite a crowd, and gave 
me an opportunity of preaching to them Jesus. We called at the 
stores and shops and sold a number of copies of the Scriptures. 
We had opportunity of visiting only two or three families. Some 
received us kindly, and showed much interest in learning the 
truth. The priest was much opposed to us. We saw torn up in the 
streets a Gospel and a New Testament the result of his 
opposition. He told the people our books were false and full of 
lies. Some threw stones, and cried: "Away with these 
Protestants." We left with them words of instruction such as we 
were able to give, our prayers, the memory of the music; and, 
best of all, many copies of the Holy Scriptures.

   Another trip was to Bello Horizonte, a small town of a few 
hundred inhabitants. We rode up to the only establishment in the 
way of a hotel there was in the small town. Very soon we were 
informed that we could not be admitted, as we were Protestants. 
No kind of persuasion could change the verdict, so we were left 
without shelter or a place to get a dinner. The native preacher 
knew the son of an Englishman who had a small store in the town. 
Though a Romanist he showed himself friendly, invited us to rest 
in his house, and at the proper hour had for us a good dinner. 
Much excitement was awakened throughout the town by our presence. 
The priest had told them that we must not be allowed to stop in 
the place. After a prayer to God to open the way for success, to 
give his Word entrance, we started through the streets with our 
hands full of books. Very soon we found some who were inclined to 
buy; we went on from house to house, talking and offering the 
Scriptures. Much to our surprise, in a few hours our supply was 
nearly exhausted. When we returned to the house of our host 
several gentlemen came to talk with us. We talked with them for 
quite awhile and sung a hymn or two. Music never fails to please 
the Brazilian ear. Just a little before sunset we mounted our 
mules to return to Sabará. Our friend offered to do his best to 
lodge us for the night, but we saw he could not care for us 
without great discomfort to his family, and as we could not 
secure a place for preaching, and needed a fresh supply of books, 
we decided to return.

   Since our first visit to this fanatical little village, it 
has, by order of the Government been chosen as the site of the 
new Capital of the State. Skillful engineers and workmen in a 
very short time have converted it into a well laid out city of 
wide streets and broad avenues, with a beautiful park adorned 
with a lake filled from a fountain whose clear waters shoot up 
about twenty feet. Besides stores, shops, hotels, residences and 
many other new and modern buildings, a magnificent palace for the 
Governor of the State and commodious buildings for the different 
State Departments have been erected, and a very extensive 
Legislative Department building is now in course of construction. 
The city is brilliantly illuminated with electricity, and has 
railroad connection with the central line. The present population 
is estimated to be about 14,000. The location is well chosen and 
the climate most excellent for the development of a healthy and 
prosperous city.

-----

IV
Among the Colonists

SUBURBS OF RIO DE JANEIRO-NOVA FRIBURGO-
FREEDOM OF WORSHIP-IMPARTIAL OFFICIALS.

   THE territory embraced in our second journey lies north of the 
city of Rio de Janeiro and includes that section of the Provinces 
of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Geraes traversed by the Leopoldina 
Railway, which now has an extension of 1,280 miles, in operation. 
The contract for the Mauá Railway, the first constructed in 
Brazil, was given April 27, 1852, and the first section from Mauá 
to Raiz de Serra, a distance of about ten miles, was opened to 
traffic in December, 1854. The beauty and interest of the ride 
from the city of Rio de Janeiro across the water, a distance of 
fourteen miles to Mauá may be readily imagined from the 
description already given of this wonderful Bay. The change from 
the heat and the dust of the dirty narrow, crowded streets of the 
city as the Petropolis "barca" or steamer pulls out from the 
wharf and glides smoothly over the calm waters, passes the scores 
of ships at anchor, and on into the stiff sea-breeze blowing 
fresh from the ocean, is most refreshing and exhilarating. As we 
go sailing among the islands, leaving behind the great city 
surrounded by mountains, "distance lends enchantment to the 
view." The railroad runs along a flat section of sandy soil, 
among low hills, then across a marshy land of miasma and 
mosquitoes to the foot of the Serra; here the train is broken up 
into small sections, each with a separate engine to push it up 
the mountain by means of a cogwheel working on the central rail. 
The road winds around the hillsides, climbs up the heights, 
crosses bridges over dashing cataracts and gurgling streams from 
one side of the gorge to another, and finally reaches its highest 
point above the level of the sea, having ascended 2,595 feet in a 
distance of 3 3-5 miles. There is a slight descent from this 
point to the city of Petropolis amongst the hills. The ascent 
through the mountain gorge, the wild forest and huge cliffs, 
ravines, dashing streams, spreading lowlands traversed by the 
railroad, the extensive bay, dotted with scores of islands, the 
city on the other side of the water, encircled by the Tijuca and 
Corcovado range of hills and mountains, present a noble panorama 
perhaps unequalled by any in the world.

   The city of Petropolis, "the summer paradise" for the 
inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro, dates from about 1844. Formerly it 
was the summer home of the Emperor Don Pedro II.; his palace, "a 
far gayer and more cheerful looking edifice" than the one in Rio 
de Janeiro, stands in a central position surrounded by extensive 
grounds. The Foreign Diplomatic corps still reside here for the 
most part throughout the entire year. It is a city without a 
rival in Brazil. Through the midst of the town run the pure 
waters of the Piabauba river and its small tributaries; the high 
banks, "encased in lively green grass, and crossed by black and 
scarlet bridges, shaded by feathery Brazilian cedars" and other 
trees. There are many magnificent residences with beautifully 
kept grounds, a few well furnished stores: and since the removal 
of the State Capital to this place a number of public buildings 
have been erected and there are churches, school buildings, etc. 
The city is well lighted with electricity, and there are several 
manufacturing establishments which make use of the power from the 
numerous waterfalls. These skillful improvements, agricultural 
and industrial, are due almost entirely to the enterprise and 
energy of the German and Swiss colonists. The colony was founded 
by the provincial government in 1846, and in a few years numbered 
8,200. Some of the early settlers grew wealthy and moving farther 
out, became coffee planters on an extensive scale. The general 
aspect of the whole region round about bears the impress of these 
colonists; and Petropolis itself is more European in appearance 
than Brazilian. The flower gardens are gorgeous, and there are 
numerous walks and drives among the hills along the winding 
valleys, "here with the virgin forest seen in profile from a 
partial clearing, there deep with gathered shade, twined and 
corded, throttled and festooned with all its llianas, tufted with 
wonderful epidendra and air-plants, bearded with gigantic mosses 
of grotesque shape, and rich in every vegetable form from the 
orchid to the cardamon, from the simple bamboo and palm to the 
complicated mimosa, from the delicate little leaves of the myrtle 
to the monstrous aroids and the quaint, stiff candelabra tree."

   Our first efforts to circulate the Scriptures in this section 
met with little encouragement. The great majority of persons 
residing there were of the wealthier and higher classes, who 
generally seemed so fully satisfied with the things of this world 
that they cared little to hear of the invisible and eternal. A 
few Protestant Germans and others bought Bibles. But things have 
wonderfully changed about Petropolis during these twelve years. 
The city has been made the Capital of the State, and with this 
removal the population has considerably increased; the Government 
officials and employees together with others have become 
residents, and as might be expected, citizens from all parts of 
the State come to the Capital on business. As a result it has 
become a much more important centre for Bible distribution than 
formerly. Our colporteurs have from time to time made a thorough 
canvass of the city, which has a population of about 15,000 and 
have extended the work far out into the country in every 
direction. Formerly the Presbyterian missionaries carried on work 
with more or less regularity in the city, but more recently, when 
the Methodists decided to establish there a boarding school for 
girls, the work was all turned over to them. In this step the 
Presbyterian brethren gave a beautiful example of that spirit 
that should characterize missionary operations in all fields. The 
Methodists have secured both school and church property in the 
city and the work has developed encouragingly. The missionary in 
charge of the church has followed up the work of the colporteurs 
along several lines and the influence is spreading in all the 
region round about. One of our colporteurs spent several weeks in 
making a thorough canvass of the community just after the 
Methodist Conference had held its annual session in the city in 
the year 1899. The growing work and the presence of this body of 
workers seemed to have made quite an impression in the place even 
upon the minds of some of the more worldly and fashionable 
people. The colporteur was more successful than any one had been 
on former occasions, and sold many copies of the Scriptures to 
all classes, even in the homes of the wealthy.

   From Petropolis the work has extended across the country to 
the small town of Theresopolis, located among the mountains, 
which has a climate thought by many to be superior to that of 
Petropolis. The seed of the Gospel has been sown and the fruits 
are being gathered already before the completion of the railroad 
constructed from Rio Bay to that desirable section of country.

   We may now return to the city of Rio and take another ride of 
four miles across the Bay, landing at Santa Anna, where the 
Leopoldina railroad system proper starts. The sandy and marshy 
lowlands over which the road runs to Cachoeira at the foot of the 
Serra, and the section traversed by the branch to Macahé and 
Campos, resemble very closely the country and scenes along the 
Central and Petropolis roads.

   In the early part of the period of which we write one of our 
most faithful colporteurs, André Cayret, spent much of his time 
in Campos and the region round about, and sold large numbers of 
Scriptures in that city, and the neighbouring towns, villages and 
country settlements. He was a Frenchman by birth, trained in the 
Catholic religion and forbidden by priest and parents to read the 
Bible. In his boyhood, just before leaving France, he saw an open 
Bible in a show window from which he read some verses. He was so 
much impressed that he afterwards obtained and read a New 
Testament but it was only after he came to Brazil that he was led 
into the fuller light and could claim Christ as his personal 
Saviour. He was one of the most devout and earnest workers I have 
ever known. He began work for the American Bible Society about 
1879, and was the most successful salesman of the year. Some of 
the points he visited had not been heretofore explored. He met 
with all kinds of treatment and with very fair success in the 
towns in which he laboured; travelled to a considerable extent on 
the railways in the Province of Rio de Janeiro, thus coming in 
contact with a large number of people, and putting the Gospel 
into the hands of many who take it to places where neither 
missionaries nor colporteurs have yet been. He received some very 
ugly treatment and was threatened with imprisonment and all sorts 
of punishment. On one occasion he came into the depository and 
filled a coffee sack, in which he was fond of carrying his books, 
with Scriptures to go out into this section of country along the 
Leopoldina railway from Niteheroy. Before he left we went into a 
side room and knelt before God in prayer. Not many days after he 
returned with his sack about as full as when he left. I said: 
"Well, Sr. André, not much success this time?" "Oh, yes," he 
replied, "I did a good work, thank God." 'But your sack seems 
still to be full." "Yes, but this time it is full of images, 
saints and idols. I carried the Word of God into the homes of the 
people, they read, were enlightened, and gave up all these 
idols." He had a large quantity of them, some of them of 
considerable value, being made of silver.  While on a trip in one 
of the Southern Provinces in 1892 he was taken sick, and, worn 
with age, exposure and toil, he lingered only a few days and then 
peacefully passed away to his reward. He died far away from home, 
leaving a faithful, good wife, an adopted daughter and a large 
number of friends to mourn his departure; but he was not entirely 
among strangers: The Presbyterian missionaries and friends in the 
city of Curitiba kindly administered to him during his illness, 
and then laid the body of God's servant to rest, awaiting the 
resurrection. He was Gods instrument for placing in the hands of 
thousands copies of his written Word, and he pointed many to the 
"Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world."

   The city of Campos, located near the mouth of the Parahyba 
river, has a population at present of about 20,000 inhabitants. 
The active work of the Presbyterian mission in this city runs 
through a period of a number of years. More recently the Baptists 
have established themselves here and from this central point they 
have followed up the work of the colporteurs, extending their 
efforts in many directions along the river, railways, and country 
highways. The workers here have cooperated actively with us also 
in circulating the Scriptures.

   We may now continue along the main line of the Leopoldina 
railway from Cachoeira at the foot of the Serra do Mar to Nova 
Friburgo, a distance of about sixty miles from the city of Rio 
and at an elevation of 2,722 feet above the level of the sea. The 
scenery along this ascent is somewhat of a repetition of that 
described on the ascent to Petropolis, though the view of the Bay 
and its surroundings is a more distant one. The highest elevation 
reached on the way is about 3,475 feet above the sea-level in the 
Serra do Mar. Here we find was located the third foreign colony, 
properly speaking, in this country after the arrival of the 
Prince Regent of Portugal at Rio de Janeiro, March 7, 1808, and 
perhaps the first after the decree of December 1815, elevating 
Brazil to the dignity of a kingdom. It was authorized May 6, 
1818, by decree of Dom João VI., who had been crowned February 5, 
of that year. The colonists were Swiss and Germans, and in a few 
years numbered about 3,000, the first having arrived in the year 
1820. The decree explicitly promised to each of the first hundred 
families, lands, horses, cattle, seed and provisions, or its 
equivalent in money, for the first two years, and in addition a 
stipulated sum for daily wages during the same period. A 
Brazilian writer in 1875 states that when the first colonists 
arrived they found nothing prepared for them and were compelled 
to live for a time crowded together under temporary sheds where 
they suffered great deprivations. During my first visit to this 
section in the month of March 1888, as I was on my way to attend 
Sunday morning service at the Protestant church in the village of 
São José, I overtook a feeble old man who, supported by his cane, 
was making his way slowly to the house of God. In conversation I 
learned that he was, so far as any one in the community knew, the 
only surviving member of the first colonists. In consequence of 
neglect by the Government, large numbers of them abandoned the 
colony and sought employment and homes in the agricultural 
centres of the Provinces of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Geraes, 
while others obtained a living by returning to Rio and enlisting 
in the regular army. However, in the year 1832 and later, others 
came from Europe and settled round about Nova Friburgo, and to 
these colonists is due in a large measure the agricultural 
developments and improvements of that section. The city of Nova 
Friburgo, with a population of only a few thousand inhabitants is 
located in a narrow valley between high hills at an elevation of 
2,700 feet above the sea level; and since the railway has 
facilitated access from Rio de Janeiro, it has become quite a 
popular resort for the summer. The German Lutheran church has 
sustained a regular pastor in this place since the early 
beginning of the colony; and this pastor, following a large 
number of the colonists who moved further down the valley to find 
a more fertile soil and larger tracts of tillable land, 
established a second church which has been kept up for many 
years. In the course of time the younger generations began to 
complain that they did not understand the German language 
sufficiently to appreciate the services, and so the pastor 
decided to change, and now for some fifteen years or more he has 
been preaching almost entirely in the Portuguese language. While 
our efforts to circulate the Scriptures were confined to the 
Protestant element we met with no special difficulties, but just 
as soon as it was known to the priests and to the more fanatical 
devotees of the Roman Church that we were offering the Scriptures 
to the Brazilians, then opposition began to manifest itself. My 
companions in the work on the first journey through this section 
were a Presbyterian missionary and the colporteur already 
referred to. We sold considerable numbers of Scriptures along the 
railway, in the towns of Nova Friburgo, Cantagallo and other 
smaller places. In the village of São José where is located the 
second German church above referred to, we visited the Catholic 
priest, who received and entertained us very kindly. He seemed to 
have accumulated quite a sufficiency of this world's goods and 
was living in ease; he showed no opposition to our work and 
manifested little concern for the spiritual welfare of the 
people. In the town of Cantegallo the city authorities gave us 
permission to sell books without a license, and the missionary 
secured the use of the theatre for preaching: a large number of 
persons came to hear. One small boy, into whose hands one of the 
invitations, marked "entrance free" had fallen, said to me, "Who 
pays for the play? I see the entrance is free." He had never 
before heard of a free performance in a theatre, nor had he heard 
of any thing free in the name of religion, since the priests 
always charged high fees for every performance such as mass, 
baptisms, marriages, funerals, etc.

   As I was passing along the streets one day offering the 
Scriptures at every house, I saw through a window a woman seated 
at a table with a few children around her; she seemed to be 
reading and teaching to them the Bible. I offered her a book and 
was rejoiced to hear the reply "I have a Bible, thank you." She 
herself was a Protestant and employed as a teacher in the family. 
Some of those children have since grown into beautiful, active 
Christians, and that teacher has become a worker in connection 
with one of the missionary societies operating in this country.

   We have during this period of years made a number of trips 
through that section and have each time sold a larger number of 
copies of the Word. The missionary who was with us on the first 
visit, has since located at Nova Friburgo, and is carrying on a 
very encouraging work. The work has provoked much opposition upon 
the part of the priests and has given rise to some lively 
discussions in the papers. A number of most striking instances of 
the power of the Written Word to convince and lead men to Christ 
have been recorded from that section, and the influence is 
deepening and spreading in all directions; calls are constantly 
coming from beyond for the preachers to extend their labours 
further and further that others may hear the good news of 
salvation. From among the converts several young men are now 
studying for the ministry in the Presbyterian Church, and other 
valuable lay workers have been developed. They all delight to 
bear testimony to the value of the pioneer work done among them 
by the American Bible Society.

   We left the city of Nova Friburgo by train and went slowly 
winding around and climbing over the hills. I had a long 
conversation with our conductor. He admitted that the Bible was a 
good book but said the people do not need it, they know what is 
right and what is wrong; it is only necessary for men to believe 
in the true God, deal honestly and justly with his fellowmen and 
be hospitable. He laid great stress on the virtue of hospitality; 
and said when a man knows these things he doesn't need to know 
more. This man, seemingly a moralist, very kind and hospitable, 
is a striking representative of a very large class in this 
country. They tell us they never kill anybody, never steal 
anything and never lie, deal honestly, recognize that there is a 
God, and are always hospitable and charitable; consequently they 
think they are at peace with their Creator, and that all will be 
well with them in this life and in the life to come. It seems 
almost impossible to make them realize that they are sinners. We 
next stopped at the small town of Sumidouro; and, following what 
I have thought to be a wise plan, I first called on the priest 
and offered him a Bible. He had but little to say, and seemed 
quite satisfied with his surroundings and the condition of the 
people. He said the only difference between our Bible and his was 
that his had notes and explanations while ours had none. As we 
canvassed the town I met a soldier of the great Italian General, 
Garibaldi, who had heard the Gospel in Italy. He had wandered off 
to Brazil and settled in this town among the hills. He gave us a 
warm welcome into his humble home and there we had very 
delightful conversation about things pertaining to the Christian 
warfare and the Captain of our Salvation. In the afternoon I went 
along a country road leading from the village and by the roadside 
I sold a Bible to an old grayhaired man. When I was returning to 
the town about sundown I saw him sitting outside his cabin door 
with his family and two or three neighbours all gathered around 
listening as he read aloud the wonderful Words of Life. I did not 
dare to disturb them, but prayed that the Spirit might help them 
to understand the truth. At night I preached to a number of 
attentive listeners in a room hired for the purpose. Among the 
auditors were the members of this household and at the close of 
the sermon, I had an interesting conversation with the old 
gentleman and others. A negro boy came up and asked what I 
charged for confessing a person. I asked him what he wanted to 
confess. He said that about fifteen days before he had confessed 
to the priest all the bad things he had done; but since then he 
had done a number of evil things, and if it would not cost him 
too much money he would like to confess them all to me that I 
might obtain pardon for him. I tried to point him to Christ, but 
he seemed so ignorant and so fixed in his idea of confessing only 
to a priest, and thus with money buy absolution, that he could 
not grasp the truth. We left in that town more than a score of 
Bibles, talked with many persons of Jesus and his salvation, 
preached to them the Gospel and prayed for them. As we journeyed 
by train the following day we sold more than twenty copies of the 
Scriptures, and had several interesting conversations with 
fellow-passengers.

   We passed along the railroad into the State of Minas Geraes 
again and were once more in the valley of the Parahyba, this time 
at Porto Novo on the dividing line between the two States, and 
where a branch of the Central Railroad ends and one of the 
Leopoldina begins. This State of Minas Geraes which we enter a 
second time is one of the most important of the Republic. It has 
an area of 3,184,099 square kilometers and a population of about 
3,200,000, or nearly one-fifth of the population of the entire 
country. We shall have occasion to enter this extensive territory 
on several other journeys from different points, and the reader 
will bear in mind that it may, very properly speaking, be divided 
into four sections; the first is the extensive plateau below the 
Serra de Mantiqueira, of which the city of Juiz de Fora, 
mentioned in the first journey, is the chief commercial, 
agricultural and industrial centre; the second is the highland 
and mountainous mining region above the Serra, with Ouro Preto, 
as the principal centre; the third is the great Sertão, or inland 
region of elevated plains and hills extending to the west and 
southwest; and the fourth is the spreading valley of the San 
Francisco reaching northward. The climate of the first section, 
though warm and at times damp, is by no means so hot and humid as 
that of the lower sea-coast region; that of the second is 
temperate and considered one of the most healthy in the world; 
while that of the third and fourth is variable.

   The Parahyba river which we now cross, rises in the state of 
São Paulo in the highland region near the coast about 3,000 feet 
above the sea level and flows in a northeasterly direction, west 
of the Serra do Mar, a distance of 635 miles and empties into the 
ocean. The plateau declines somewhat as it extends eastward to 
the Serra do Mar. The chief industry of this part of the valley 
and the plateau is coffee raising. The climate is warm and the 
soil fertile, and here we find some of the most productive coffee 
farms of the State. A ride through the country on horse-back or 
even along the railway on the train will give one a very good 
opportunity to observe the different phases of coffee raising. 
There are two periods when the trees present a most interesting 
aspect: the first, when they are in full blossom. In the early 
morning, after a refreshing shower, or while the heavy dew still 
lingers, as one rides along the rows of low, bushy, coffee trees 
all covered with small white blossoms, from the scene so 
enchanting to the eye, there arises an aroma that fills the whole 
atmosphere with its sweet perfume. A few months later, when the 
atmosphere is cooler and the rains have ceased for a season, the 
scene changes, and we find that the little flowers have turned 
into beautiful red berries. We may now see the men, women and 
children with their baskets gathering the precious fruit to be 
spread out for drying on the large cemented inclosures about the 
farm house. When we realize how interesting and profitable this 
coffee industry has been for years throughout these regions, we 
are not much surprised that the planters have confined themselves 
to this one crop, and greatly to their own disadvantage, have 
until recently, neglected almost entirely all others. Now that 
the production has greatly increased, not only from Brazil but 
from other parts of the world, and the price consequently been 
much reduced, the farmers have begun to realize the necessity of 
planting other things besides coffee; and they are finding that 
their fertile lands readily produce corn, beans, rice, potatoes 
and other necessary articles of food.

   The Gospel work through this section was begun a few years ago 
by our colporteurs, who first visited the towns and villages 
along the railroad. In these places we encountered much 
opposition at times and there was often little to encourage our 
efforts, owing to the war waged upon us and our Bibles by the 
priests. However, God now and then gave us signs of good being 
done and evidences that the darkness was giving away. After the 
work had been going on for some time, I made a second trip 
through this region, and at the town of Santa Luzia, where we 
went for the first time, I had an experience quite characteristic 
of what frequently has happened to us. On arriving in the town 
with a colporteur and a good supply of books, we secured lodging 
in a small hotel. We called on the municipal authorities then 
present in the town. They were slow to give us permission to sell 
the Scriptures, but finally after considerable explanation they 
consented. We started through the town from store to store, from 
house to house, and frequently stopped persons in the streets, 
offering to every one the Word of God. Very few were at all 
inclined to buy. By and by I saw an opportunity to hire a hall in 
which to preach to the people. A large audience filled the place 
and numbers gathered in the street around the door and windows. 
Curiosity seemed to be the motive that had brought most if not 
all of the hearers out that night. When I had concluded my 
sermon, the public school teacher of the place arose and asked 
permission to speak. I said only with the consent of the people. 
They all with united voice, said they were willing that he should 
speak. If any trouble should arise I wanted the responsibility to 
be on them. He began by saying that the Bible of these 
Protestants was false and that he wished to show to the audience 
wherein it was false. He then drew from his pocket a little book 
which I recognized as being a volume with a mixture of Bible 
stories and Roman Catholic interpolations, written by a German 
priest, approved by Bishops and Archbishops of Europe and Brazil 
and translated into Portuguese by the Bishop of Pará. He declared 
this to be the true Bible, since it was so fully approved by the 
Apostolic Roman Catholic church, and said he would proceed to 
read a passage and compare it with a similar passage from the 
false Protestant Bible. He asked for one of ours which was 
quickly handed to him. He chose the story of Jacob and the flocks 
of Laban, and read from his book the following which is a literal 
translation: "Jacob remained for the space of twenty years 
keeping the cattle of Laban. He (Laban) in various ways went on 
diminishing the remuneration agreed upon; God, however, blessed 
Jacob more and more every time, so that he became extremely rich. 
He married and had many servants, sheep, camels and asses." He 
then opened the Bible and began looking through the New Testament 
for the story of Laban and Jacob. After he had been turning the 
pages for some five minutes or more and was becoming much 
confused, the colporteur, kinder of heart toward him than I, took 
the Bible, and opened for him at Genesis xxx and xxxi. He then 
began reading the story which evidently did not sound just as the 
priest had told him it read from the false Bible. When he came to 
the verse, "Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, 
and hath given them to me," he stopped and exclaimed with great 
surprise, "how is this?" After some effort he seemed a little 
more composed and proceeded to explain that his true Bible stated 
that Jacob's prosperity was due entirely to God's intervention 
and blessing, while the Protestant's false Bible taught that his 
success was due entirely to his own chicanery and shrewdness. The 
audience who had listened attentively to the reading were at a 
loss to see on what ground he made the distinction, and some said 
it must be because the priest had said so.

   He made another failure, and then asked for the statutes of 
the American Bible Society, and said the Society was not 
authorized to distribute Bibles in Brazil. I then handed him a 
copy of the Constitution and bylaws of the Society and a copy of 
a resolution of the Brazilian government which I had had printed 
in pamphlet form for circulation and which reads as follows: "Rio 
de Janeiro, May 4, 1868. Most illustrious and Most Excellent 
Senhor.-There was presented to His Majesty the Emperor, the 
complaint of Torquato Martins Cardoso against the president and 
the chief of police of this province, prohibiting the sale of 
sacred books on the ground that they were considered contrary to 
the doctrines of the Apostolic Roman Catholic Religion.

   "And his August Majesty, having heard the judicial Council of 
State, with whose opinion he agreed by his imperial and immediate 
resolution of the 22 ultimo, was pleased to order to be 
communicated to your Excellency:
   "1.	That it is the strict duty of this presidency to 
respect and maintain the individual liberty, guaranteed by 
article 179, §§ I., 5 and 24 of the Constitution.
   "2. That the chief of police cannot proceed against the 
reclaimant except in the cases expressed in articles 277-278 of 
the Code, and then not arbitrarily but by legal procedure.
   "3. That it is not lawful for an officer of the Imperial 
Government to utter or maintain the intention of proceeding 
arbitrarily in case of a deficiency in the laws of the country.
   "I communicate this to you for your information and due 
execution.

   "May God keep your Excellency. Signed Martins Francisco 
Ribeiro Andrade. President of the province of Sergipe.

CONSTITUTION.

   ARTICLE 5.-All other religions will be allowed with their 
domestic or private worship in houses set apart for this purpose, 
without any exterior form of a temple.

   ARTICLE 179. I. No citizen shall be compelled to do or not to 
do anything except by virtue of the law.

5. No one shall be persecuted because of his religion as long as 
he respects that of the State and does not offend public 
morality.

24. No kind of work, culture, industry or commerce shall be 
prohibited to the security of the citizens so long as it does not 
oppose the public customs.

CODE.

   ARTICLE 277.-To abuse or ridicule any religion whatever 
established in the Empire by means of papers printed, 
lithographed or engraved, that should be distributed by more than 
fifteen persons or by means of discourses spoken in public 
meetings, or at the time and place where the worship takes 
place.-Penalties of imprisonment from one to six months and a 
fine corresponding to half that time.

   ARTICLE 278.-To propagate by means of papers printed, 
lithographed or engraved, that should be distributed by more than 
fifteen persons or by means of discourses spoken in public 
meetings, doctrines that directly destroy the fundamental truths 
of the existence of God and the immortality of the soul.-
Penalties of imprisonment from four months to one year and a fine 
corresponding to half the time."

   My adversary was greatly taken aback by such documents and the 
audience looked on and listened with amazement. He was compelled 
from the documentary evidence to admit the existence of such an 
institution as the American Bible Society and that it was not 
contrary to the Constitution and laws of the Empire that the 
representatives of the Society should carry on the work of 
selling and distributing the Bible through the country. He then 
said to the people that I was not an authorized minister of the 
Gospel nor the duly accredited representative of the Bible 
Society. I produced my certificate of elders' orders in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which had been translated into 
Portuguese and duly recognized and registered by the Imperial 
Government, and also the certificate of my appointment as the 
authorized Agent of the American Bible Society for Brazil. It 
seemed useless to continue the meeting longer, and so I proposed 
that we dismiss the audience, at which suggestion my assailant 
seemed greatly relieved.  A number lingered to ask questions and 
some to buy copies of the Bible. When we returned to our hotel a 
soldier in full uniform frightened us by knocking at our door; we 
were much relieved and greatly rejoiced when he informed us that 
he wanted to buy a Bible.

   The next morning we went on with our canvass of the town and 
sold a number of Scriptures. By and by we were accosted by an 
official of the Municipal Council who demanded to know by what 
authority we were selling books through the streets. I replied 
that we had the verbal permission of the highest authorities that 
were present in the town when we arrived there. He informed us 
that we were violating the laws of the township, and since we had 
no written authorization for our work, he was commissioned to 
arrest and imprison us for the offence. He then drew from his 
pocket the papers to this effect, all duly signed and stamped. 
All such documents to be of value had to have a certain amount of 
revenue stamps; so far as I could judge not one was lacking in 
this case. We had no alternative but to gracefully yield to the 
arrest and be led away through the streets to prison. Our enemies 
rejoiced, ridiculed and sneered at us as we were marched on to 
the jail. When I had had time to reflect a little, I called to 
mind another document which I found very useful in those days: it 
was the passport of my American citizenship. I called the 
official's attention to it and threatened to appeal to the United 
States Minister at Rio de Janeiro if they did not release me. 
They seemed to recognize that I might be in the right and thought 
perhaps it might turn out to be a serious matter. Finally they 
consented to take the case before the president of the town 
council, who in the meantime had arrived from a journey on which 
he had been for several days. When we appeared before him, the 
official made his representation of the case, and I then made 
ours, showing in the first place that we were not merchants or 
peddlers in a business sense, but that we were messengers of the 
Lord Jesus Christ engaged as we believed in our King's business; 
and in the second place, that we had taken the precaution to 
explain the nature of our mission to the authorities and obtain 
their consent. The president, who was a fair minded man, very 
soon gave his verdict in our favour, and ordered our release. The 
official who had us in charge, plead with him to make us at least 
pay for the revenue stamps used on the papers for authorizing our 
arrest. The president answered that he had nothing to do with 
that, that he considered our arrest illegal and demanded our 
immediate release. Of course we at once had our liberty and went 
about our work. In this experience we began to feel what it means 
to suffer and to be persecuted for the sake of the Gospel. When I 
came to thank the president for his kindness and informed him 
that it was my purpose to leave the colporteur to make a thorough 
canvass of the town and community, he advised me to secure a 
license to prevent any further disturbance. As the amount 
demanded was small, I acted on his advice that the colporteur 
might have full liberty and protection after I left him.

   By this time the priest, who had instigated all this 
opposition, appeared on the scene and openly in the streets 
denounced us and our Bibles, saying that we were devils and that 
our Bibles were false, that they were the work of the devil and 
full of lies. A crowd gathered around us, at the railroad 
station, and as the priest stretched out his arm and with 
extended finger just over our Bibles, denounced them as false and 
dangerous books, threatening with excommunication any who might 
buy and read them, we sold several copies to anxious enquirers 
after the truth. The next day, after I had left to meet another 
of our workers at a central point in this section, the 
colporteur, who was not well, sat in the door of the hotel and 
sold more than sixty copies of the Scriptures to persons who came 
for the express purpose of buying.

   The work has continued to go forward and the fruits are being 
gathered by the Christian workers. Just ten years from that time, 
I was preaching one night in a rented hall in the new Capital of 
the State: a stranger came in and took a seat near the door, 
listened attentively, and when I gave an opportunity for those 
desirous of salvation to come forward, he was the first to give 
me his hand. After the meeting in conversation I learned that he 
had bought a Bible on the occasion above referred to.

   A colporteur passing through this section in 1899 wrote: "I 
arrived here at an early hour this morning, not thinking it wise 
to spend Sunday in São Paulo, where the padre is much stirred up, 
as well he might be. The two days that I spent there God blessed 
my work in a very remarkable manner, and I had good reason to be 
astonished, considering how little I really knew of the language. 
I canvassed the large city of five or six thousand inhabitants 
from end to end, and did not encounter one individual who had 
enough faith and confidence to defend the Church of Rome against 
her condemnation by the Word of God. The people are getting 
awake, thank God. I surprised a few of the city fathers by 
telling them that they need not seek for the secret of the 
present unhappy decadent condition of Brazil in the price of 
coffee, heavy taxation, or bad government, but in the latter part 
of verse five of the twentieth chapter of Exodus, and they one 
and all admit it, some very sadly.

   "I feel that we are on the eve of a great outpouring of the 
Holy Spirit, for men and women are being stirred up to perceive 
the real truth of things in a manner which needs some other 
explanation besides that of the Protestant missions in Brazil. 
What I have seen and what the people tell me leaves me no doubt 
that the circulation of the Scriptures is a big factor in this 
coming revolution of ideas, and that the Word of God is being 
especially blessed to open the eyes of the blind, and to be a 
light unto these benighted people. I enclose a list of sales in 
eight days: 39 Bibles, 81 Testaments, and 237 Portions. Forty-two 
Gospels were given away, chiefly to the numerous prisoners and to 
the soldiers of the city prison."

   At the town of Ubá I met two colporteurs, who gave interesting 
accounts of their trip on mule-back across the country from Juiz 
de Fora; they had sold a number of copies of the Word, especially 
in rural districts, and were greatly encouraged with the 
prospects of the work to be done among the tillers of the soil. 
We had a season of prayer together that night, asking the Lord to 
direct our work in the city of Ubá. The following day we had good 
success and arranged to have preaching in the theatre at two 
o'clock on Sunday and in a private house at seven o'clock Sunday 
night. The Sabbath morning was fair; great numbers attended mass 
in the Catholic Church. With us it was a time of prayer and 
preparation for the hour when for the first time we were to 
preach the Gospel publicly in that place. At the appointed hour a 
large number of hearers, principally men and boys, gathered to 
hear the sermon. I was much impressed with the very close 
attention and good behaviour of three men who sat on the front 
seat very near me. At the close they went quietly out and entered 
a house adjoining the theatre. Some one then called my attention 
to the fact that two of them were Sons of the priest of the town 
and the other was the sacristão (sexton and vestry keeper) of the 
church, who had been sent by the priest to hear what I had to say 
and then to report to him. Very soon the priest appeared from the 
house where he had been secretly waiting to hear their report, 
and in the public street began in a very loud and excited manner 
to denounce the Protestants and their Bible; he sought to incite 
the people to persecute and drive us out. No one seemed disposed 
to molest us, and I wondered that he had so little influence over 
them. Very soon I learned that he had a very bad name in the 
community; for besides being the father of several illegitimate 
children, he had married one of his sons to one of his daughters, 
and when the people complained about it, his answer was that they 
had different mothers. Public sentiment protested so strongly 
against this act that he was forced to secure for the couple a 
separation, there being no such thing possible as divorce.

   This was the beginning of evangelistic effort in that section; 
the work has been followed up by frequent visits of our 
colporteurs who have always had good sales of Scriptures.

   From Ubá we continued our journey along the valley following 
the line of the Leopoldina Railway, did good work in the small 
town of Rio Branco, and very soon began to climb the Serra de São 
Geraldo. The highest point reached on this Serra by the railway 
is about 2,333 feet above the level of the sea. From these 
heights there are magnificent views of the Rio Blanco (White 
River) valley. Near the town of Rio Blanco two Englishmen, who 
had not succeeded well in their coffee planting enterprises, 
began a few years ago to plant sugar-cane and more recently the 
industry has spread extensively throughout that valley.

   We were now starting on our journey for places not yet visited 
by colporteur or missionary. The second day one of the 
colporteurs, a new man, (the son of a Catholic priest) asked me 
to turn aside from our route to a farm where lived some relatives 
of his. I thought this might be an open door, or call of the 
Spirit, since the people had never heard the Gospel. About three 
o'clock P. M. we came to the house, and were cordially welcomed 
by the lady of the house. The gentleman came in about five 
o'clock, and a dinner of black beans, rice, farinha (a kind of 
meal made from the root of the mandioca), mush, salad, chicken, 
and coffee was served in primitive style. When the gentleman was 
asked if we might preach to them that night, he replied that he 
was not able to pay for it. The colporteur replied: "You don't 
have to pay for it." He said: "But I always have to pay the 
priests a big price for all they do for me." The colporteur 
responded: "This is a minister of the free Gospel of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and it won't cost you anything to hear." Here was 
the invitation: "He that hath no money," etc. The family, the 
servants, a few travellers, and ourselves made a congregation of 
thirty-five or forty. Save the two colporteurs, not one of them 
had ever before heard a Gospel sermon. Several seemed to 
comprehend in part, at least, the truth, and were more deeply 
interested.

   Sunday morning at the mass the priest told the people there 
were some wolves in the town selling false Bibles and preaching 
lies; said they were stopping in a house of ill-fame, were 
unworthy the respect of decent people, and ought to be driven out 
of the town. He warned them against going to the services and 
said he would excommunicate every one who attended. He did us 
"much evil. The Lord reward him according to his works," and have 
mercy on him in his ignorance. Notwithstanding his prohibition 
and threats, some fifty or more persons came to hear the Gospel. 
I read to them the history of the Philippian jailer and his 
conversion, and preached to them for thirty-five minutes from the 
inquiry: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" and the reply. The 
hearers gave good attention and showed much interest to know more 
of the way. In the afternoon a young man came and asked me to go 
to his cousin's house, and preach at night to forty or fifty who 
were anxious to hear more of the Gospel. At seven o'clock I 
started to the house where the people were to assemble. The young 
man met me, and said the gentleman and his wife had become much 
disturbed by the threats of the priest to excommunicate all who 
attended the services, and had concluded not to allow me to 
preach in their house, but said they were willing for me to meet 
the people who had assembled. We did not have a formal service of 
song, prayer, etc., but I sat in my chair in the midst of about 
forty men and women, and for the space of an hour conversed with 
them, telling them of the truth as it is in the Scriptures. 
Greater good may have been accomplished than if the service had 
been a more formal one. Some asked questions, showing they were 
concerned to know more of the truth.

   Within fifteen days we sold 383 copies of the sacred 
Scriptures, and I preached in four important towns, centres of 
much traffic and influence, where the Gospel had never before 
been preached, besides other smaller places. Some souls came to 
the knowledge of the truth and found peace, and many more were 
left with the Word and our prayers that God might lead them to a 
knowledge of salvation.

   Several months after this trip I received a letter from one of 
our colporteurs who was returning through that section, in which 
he said the farmer, above referred to, and a number of other 
persons were very anxious to have me return and preach to them 
again. Being so much occupied that I could not go, I wrote to one 
of the missionaries requesting him to go, but he also had too 
much else to do. During the next year this same colporteur made 
another visit to the family and found a number in the community 
so deeply interested that he wrote a most urgent letter asking me 
to go there and visit them. Again I could not find the time to do 
so, and again urged the missionary to go. Several months passed 
before he found the time to go, but finally went. He found this 
man and several other persons deeply interested in the Gospel. 
They had been reading the Bibles constantly. During the first 
visit seven persons asked for baptism and membership in the 
church. Several months later a second visit was made to that 
community and nineteen persons professed their faith in Jesus 
Christ and asked for admission into the church. A young man in 
this community who was studying for the priesthood, became 
interested in the Bible through one of our colporteurs, was 
converted, became a preacher, and is now a most successful 
teacher in one of the Protestant colleges.

   There are many thrilling stories of the power and influence 
the reading of the Word has had and is still having throughout 
this region. One of the missionaries relates an interesting 
incident of a Bible left at the house of a farmer, the reading of 
which led to the conversion of several members of the family. It 
was then lent to a second, then to a third, and finally to a 
fourth family, in all of which like results followed. A lady 
heard of a missionary at work in a town not far away, and came to 
hear him preach and invite him to the farms. He made several 
visits there and at last organized a church with twenty-four 
members. He regards this as the fruit of one Bible left in the 
community by one of our colporteurs.

   Touring through the regions north and west of this a few years 
later, one of our colporteurs wrote: "At Rio San Francisco we had 
really a wonderful and blessed experience. After selling quite a 
number of books, we were preparing for a start when Senhor Carlos 
Mariano Pereira called on us and told us that this place had 
never before been visited by a colporteur or preacher. He is very 
much interested in the Gospel, and has been a subscriber to the 
"Expositor" for some years. We met several people who spoke of 
him, and we found he was the "little leaven" which had leavened 
considerable of the lump. With great pride this dear old man 
showed us a Figueiredo Bible from the British and Foreign Bible 
Society which had been in his possession sixty-five years, and I 
judge from its appearance and from the old gentleman's 
conversation that it had been well read. The title page bore the 
date of 1821. We preached at his house to a very attentive 
audience which filled the front hall, and there were a great 
number outside also.

   Starting early next morning we arrived late Saturday night at 
San Miguel, but waited till Monday before attempting any work, 
when we canvassed the place in about five hours. Our fame had 
preceded us, and everybody we met said "Livro Protestante." I 
called on the padre (priest), who seemed at a loss to combat my 
denial that the New Testament was a Protestant book, and my offer 
to prove its identity with that approved by the Bishop of Coimbra 
and Santa Fe. A man who was listening became much enraged, and 
vowed that we should do no preaching there. In spite of all the 
opposition we sold forty-eight New Testaments and Portions. About 
seven in the evening a mob, headed by this man, came to our 
ranching place with evil intent, but being forewarned we locked 
the door and blew out the light, while the proprietor, with his 
two Sons and other friends, determined to resist the mob and 
protect us and their property. So God raised up men to be 
instrumental in our escape. By five A. M. we were away, thankful 
indeed to God that he had delivered us out of the hands of our 
enemies. As usual, this exhibition of lawlessness can be traced 
directly to the priest, who called the people together before we 
had gone a dozen yards from his house, and who, as we afterward 
learned, advised them to commit our books to the flames.

-----

V
Overland to Bahia

ESPIRITO SANTO-OUR LADY OF THE GROTTO-THE
PRIEST'S BIBLE-THE DIAMOND DISTRICT-
BITTER OPPOSITION OVERCOME.

   THE territory embraced in three journeys includes the State of 
Espirito Santo and parts of Minas Geraes and Bahia. The State of 
Espirito Santo lies on the sea-coast north of Rio de Janeiro. It 
is about 245 miles in length from north to south and about 
eighty-five in width from east to west. The land along the 
seacoast is for the most part low and sandy; the Rio Doce (Sweet 
River) divides the State into nearly two equal parts, and about 
its mouth along the coast and for some distance interior there 
are many lakes and the land is marshy. This section is covered 
with tropical growths peculiarly adapted to the soil, such as the 
Guriry Palm, a great variety of plants of the genus myrtus and of 
cactus. Through the interior both to the north and south of the 
valley of the Rio Doce the lands are much higher and become 
mountainous or hilly, and with this elevation the climate and 
vegetation change considerably; along the coast it is damp and 
hot, while in the highlands it becomes dry and milder. Fevers, 
dysentery and other diseases common in the tropics are frequent 
in this section. There are a number of small rivers which rise in 
the mountains and flow eastward into the ocean, very few of which 
furnish navigation except for canoes, barges or small boats of 
very light draft. The Leopoldina Company has a few miles of 
railroad in operation in the southern portion of the State, and 
there is a line from Victoria, the capitals which extends about 
fifteen miles into the interior; both these lines are to be 
extended and others are projected. From this it will be seen that 
the transportation of our Bibles through this State must be 
carried on principally by means of pack-mules. Victoria, the 
capital, a city of about 8,000 inhabitants, is on the island from 
which the State takes its name. On the 23rd of May, 1535, Vasco 
Fernandes entered what he thought to be the mouth of a river, and 
the day being the Sunday of the Holy Spirit, he gave it the name 
of River of the Holy Spirit. As the land on which he first placed 
foot proved afterwards to be an island, it took the same name, 
which was later given to the province. The early settlers built a 
village and gave it the name of Nossa Senhora da Victoria (Our 
Lady of Victory) before they had even fought a battle with the 
wild tribes. There is no other town in the State of more than 
three or four thousand inhabitants.

   We first reach the city of Victoria by steamer from Rio de 
Janeiro, a distance of about 265 miles. As our steamer winds 
along the narrow inlet the characteristic cone-shaped hills and 
bare rocks rise in irregular heights to the right and left. On 
the top of one of these great stones stands the Church of Our 
Lady of the Assumption, or as most generally called, Nossa 
Senhora da Penha, founded by the Jesuits about 1565. The history 
of the transportation of images from European countries to Brazil 
and the combination of Roman Catholic traditions and inventions 
with the pagan worship of the Indians whom the priests have 
sought to Romanize rather than to Christianize, would be in a 
large measure the history of Brazil until within the last fifty 
years. The savages were awed by the ceremonies and by the 
mysteries which were preached to them, and one may readily 
imagine the condition of the people who have been for three 
centuries under the influence of such superstitions. Our efforts 
to circulate the Bible among them met with great difficulty. Only 
a very few out of each hundred of the population could read, and 
fewer still were sufficiently free from the influence and 
dominion of Romanism to even listen for a few minutes to what the 
colporteur might have to say about the Book of God. However, we 
have several times thoroughly canvassed the city of Victoria and 
extended the work in every direction throughout the province, and 
on the whole a considerable number of Scriptures have been put 
into the hands of the people. The reading of the Word has 
awakened in some a desire to know more of the way of salvation 
and at different times missionaries have been invited to 
establish work in Victoria and other places. A few visits have 
been made in response to these calls, but as yet no one has been 
able to establish any permanent work. The population being small 
and scattered, the climate for the most part hot and damp, the 
roads very rough and difficult, the means of travel and 
transportation meagre, and the people generally backward and 
indifferent, it may not be surprising that the missionaries have 
established themselves in more populous and inviting sections. 
Our colporteurs still continue to make their journeys among the 
people and leave with them every time copies of the Scriptures, 
hoping that some souls may find the light and that by and by the 
mission work of the churches may extend into this State also. On 
one occasion one who had spent several months labouring amidst 
the difficulties of that section, wrote me as follows: "I have 
been sick, but have not on that account ceased working. I have 
gone through sunshine and rain selling Bibles, Testaments, and 
Gospels. I was in the State of Espirito Santo where I sold a 
number of books. The people are ignorant but not fanatical. The 
priest of São Lourenço did all he could to persuade those who had 
bought Bibles to tear them up and burn them; and even tried this 
with a poor man to whom I had given a book, because he desired to 
read it and had no money to pay for it." This same man in one 
month's time had sold seventy-two Bibles, fifty-one New 
Testaments, and sixty Gospels.

   Some thousands of German and other colonists have settled in 
the province of Espirito Santo. Some of them have prospered and 
are still doing well; the progress of others has been retarded by 
want of roads, the unfavorable nature of the soil and the 
climate. In the year 1890 a German colporteur spent three months 
visiting the colonists; lie had large sales and was greatly 
encouraged in his work, and has since made another successful 
canvass of those communities. Many of these colonists are 
Protestant, and their presence has had a somewhat enlightening 
and liberalizing influence among the few Brazilians. Protestant 
worship has been greatly neglected, but the younger generation 
furnish a fruitful field for missionary effort, and through them 
access may be had to the Brazilian element of society round 
about.

   Two of our colporteurs in the year 1898 visited the interior 
of Espirito Santo, and reported encouraging sales notwithstanding 
the bitter opposition of the priests. The style of argument found 
most effective in dealing with the opposition they described as 
follows:

   1.	Which is the most important, the Word of God or the word of 
the padre. Generally the answer was: "The Word of God."

   2.	If the Bible is incorrect and false why do not your priests 
produce and distribute a true and correct edition? No reply.

   3.	Why do not your priests take the trouble to explain wherein 
they are false, and prove by comparison and otherwise that they 
are so? Silence.

   But more effective still was their testimony as to what the 
Word of God had accomplished for them individually.

   As they left the railroad behind they met many people who did 
not know what the Bible was. One asked if they wrote it 
themselves. Another wanted to know if it was a religious book, or 
if it was against religion. One man said he believed it was 
"positivisto," while in another case a sale was effected only 
after assurance that the book was not "republicano." There were 
of course, exceptions. One man in Bicudos, had a Testament, and 
in the same place there was a poor old school-master, who 
recognized the book and desired to possess one, but had not the 
money. When presented with a Testament he expressed such 
gratitude as thoroughly to convince them of his desire for light.

   One interesting fact connected with the work in Victoria is 
that the Bible presented to the public library (open every day 
free), is placed upon the reading table so as to attract the 
attention of all who visit the place. This same library takes two 
evangelical papers.

   In 1891, I made a long mule-back journey northward through the 
centre of the State of Espirito Santo into the State of Bahia. My 
companions for the journey were the colporteurs Sr. Leopoldina da 
Costa and Sr. Antonio Marques, a young man just starting in the 
work; the former was a man of considerable experience. Starting 
from Ouro Preto we visited a gold mine at Passagem. The 
Englishmen in charge received us kindly and were very courteous. 
There were about five hundred men at work, crushing on an average 
of four thousand tons of stone per month, from which they 
extracted about one hundred and twenty pounds of gold. in all the 
region round about Ouro Preto and Passagem are to be seen the 
remains of once very extensive gold mining enterprises.

   About the year 1699 an explorer through this region discovered 
gold in the Rio Vermelho (Red River) and the miners soon 
thereafter built a village, which by a royal letter from D. João 
V. dated April 23, 1745, was raised to the rank of a city, with 
the name Marianna, in honour of the Austrian princess who sat 
upon the throne of Portugal. As we entered this town of Martanna, 
every thing presented an old and dilapidated appearance, the 
streets being very rough and badly paved, with grass and weeds 
growing between (119)

-----

VI
Bahia

"AWAY WITH THE HERETICS"-A DISCOMFITED PRIEST-"THE AFRICA OF 
BRAZIL"-A CHARACTERISTIC CITY-HENRY MARTYN-BURNING BIBLES.

   WE had started out to make the journey to Bahia overland, but 
it now became necessary to turn aside from the most direct route 
and make our way over 400 miles to the seacoast in order to get a 
fresh supply of Scriptures. Almost the entire distance lay 
through a region that had never been visited by colporteur or 
Protestant missionary. As we descended the Serra, we travelled 
for a time through a section where diamond mining had once been a 
lucrative pursuit; but now the inhabitants were for the most part 
poor, and many of them ignorant and superstitious. When we had 
reached the lower lands and valleys nearer to the seacoast, the 
soil was fertile and the people far more prosperous.

   After four days' travel from Diamantina, we came to the town 
of St. John the Baptist, located in a narrow valley near the head 
waters of an eastern tributary of the Jequitinhonha river. The 
town and suburbs has a population of about 6,000 souls. We 
reached the place early in the afternoon, and began at once a 
canvass of the town. In a very few minutes the whole place seemed 
wild with excitement, and there was every indication that the 
people intended doing some violence to us. A great crowd gathered 
in the public square, and had we been disposed to try to get 
away, escape would have been impossible. The two colporteurs 
stood firm and showed wonderful courage in the midst of so many 
threats. Presently the priest came out and began to speak: all 
quieted down for a moment. He then read a letter from the Bishop 
of Diamantina, in which he warned the people against us and our 
false Bibles, and said we ought not to be allowed to stop in the 
place. This added fuel to the fire, and the people began to cry, 
"Away with these heretics, kill them, kill them." Many armed 
themselves with sticks and stones and guns. One man standing in a 
doorway, raised his gun as though to fire the first shot. Just 
then one of the colporteurs asked for a word more before they 
proceeded to put us to death. He said we had come to them on a 
mission of love and mercy, to bring them the book telling of 
Jesus's love for them, and how he died to save men, that we had 
done them no harm, and moreover, if they were determined to kill 
us, we were ready to die for Christ who gave his life for us. He 
furthermore said that he wished to show them that our Bible was 
not false, and he challenged the priest, who ought to have a true 
Bible, to bring his out and compare it with ours. It appeared 
that the priest did not have a Bible. The colporteur then took 
from my saddle-bags a small Coimbra Testament, approved by the 
Roman Church, and offered to prove by that that our Bible was the 
same. The priest cried out, "that also is a work of the devil, 
and of the Protestants." One or two men who could read were 
standing near: they took the Testament and read the introduction, 
showing it to be approved by the bishops and Pope. Brazilians are 
always easily convinced by reading a thing, readily believing 
whatever they see in print. In an argument, if you can show one 
the chapter and paragraph justifying your statement, he succumbs 
at once. This element of Brazilian character is one thing that 
gives the written Word such an influence in Brazil. These men at 
once began to say "the priest is rejecting a book authorized by 
his own Church;" others drew near and read the same words, and 
very soon one man said, "I want one of your Bibles, and I will 
see for myself if it is true." In a few minutes they cried out 
against the priest, who was compelled to turn his back and retire 
from the field of battle. Then one after another said, "I want 
one of your books," and in perhaps less than ten minutes, the 
thirty-two copies of the Scriptures that we had in hand and in 
our saddle-bags were sold to the crowd, who just a few minutes 
before were ready to beat, stone and shoot us. The change was 
wonderful: it seemed a miracle: surely the hand of God was in it. 
We then retired to the little stream over a hill just outside the 
town where our packmules were resting. One of the men went to buy 
provisions before we moved on, as we learned that we had now to 
traverse a long uninhabited region. While we were waiting for 
him, there suddenly fell upon us a mob of about thirty or forty 
persons, armed with sticks, swords and pistols. They surrounded 
us so quickly that it seemed as if they had dropped down out of 
the skies. They were raging wild with excitement, and we thought 
surely this time we would be murdered. I breathed a silent prayer 
to God for help and deliverance, and then received the courage, 
inspired by God's Spirit, to ask them to be quiet for a moment 
and give me an opportunity, (before they killed us), to say a 
word to them of Jesus and His love. I took the Testament approved 
by the Catholic Church, and read, "For God so loved the world 
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 
Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." Then for 
about twenty or thirty minutes, standing with uncovered head, in 
the burning hot sun, I talked to them of God's great love. The 
mob at once began to quiet down, some dropped their stones and 
sticks, others put up their swords and pistols, and all listened 
attentively; many seemed deeply moved, and some with tears in 
their eyes, came up, and throwing their arms around us, said, 
"How is this? We have never heard such things before." There 
could be no doubt that God had sent His Spirit to deliver us and 
to deliver them. We had a glorious time. A few, however, were not 
satisfied, and the priest of the town was raging mad. We knew 
that efforts were being made to organize another and stronger mob 
to attack us in the night. We sold to those around us more copies 
of the Scriptures, and having secured provisions for the journey, 
we decided it was prudent to move on, and leave them to the 
guidance of God's Spirit in reading the Word. Several persons 
plead with us to remain and explain to them more of the truths of 
that wonderful book, but we felt persuaded that it was best to 
leave them. As we bade them good-bye and ascended the hill, 
looking back over the town, we wept, and we also shouted glory to 
God, who had given His Word entrance into that community, and who 
had so marvellously delivered us from the wrath and violence of 
our enemies.

   It has been about ten years since this took place, and my 
heart has longed many times to return and know something more of 
the results, but the opportunity has not come; no missionary or 
preacher has yet reached that section.

   We there were told that the Bishop of Diamantina, having 
learned the route we proposed taking, had written letters to all 
the priests along the way, and sent a special messenger on 
horseback to go ahead of us and deliver them. This explained how 
it was that in every place, the people were already advised of 
our coming and were warned against us and our Bibles. I then 
recalled a visit I had had in Diamantina from a man who showed 
himself very friendly and greatly interested in the route we 
should decide to take from that place; he proffered much useful 
information about the roads, etc. I ascertained later that he had 
been sent to us by the Bishop for the express purpose of knowing 
our route so that he might send his letters of warning to the 
priests. Of course, at the time of the visit I did not suspect 
anything wrong.

   Before we left the bounds of that Bishopric, we passed through 
one of the most fanatical villages we had yet visited; about the 
only man who dared to speak with us, or rather, allowed us to 
speak to him, refused to even look at or handle a Bible. He said 
that he was afraid to touch it, that really he had just as soon 
take hold of the most poisonous snake as to touch that book; he 
believed if he were to take it in his hand, he would fall dead on 
the spot; and, trembling with fear, he asked us to move on.

   When we reached the lower lands and larger valleys, the soil 
was more fertile, the trees larger and the whole aspect of the 
country changed. In the town of Philadelphia, or Theophilo 
Ottoni, is 
a German colony, which has made its impress most distinctly on 
the whole country. The Lutheran pastor showed a truly evangelical 
spirit, and I learned that he frequently preached in Portuguese. 
One of our correspondents in Bahia occasionally consigned to him 
small quantities of Scriptures for sale and distribution among 
the Brazilians. I afterwards shipped Scriptures to him from Rio.

   From that town we still journeyed on muleback to reach the 
little railroad that would take us to the seacoast. We took the 
shorter and more direct route through a section inhabited by wild 
Indians who had recently been enraged against the Government for 
cutting a road through their territory. Just two weeks before 
they had killed a white man. We were advised to pass their 
villages at night, and to do this we had to travel over long, 
uninhabited sections of wild forests in the daytime. For three 
days and nights we scarcely slept, and when we reached the 
railway, both men and animals were well tired out. During this 
latter part of the journey, we had but few Scriptures for 
distribution. About the last we sold were a few copies at a small 
village; when about two miles away, I heard some one shouting 
behind us, and looking back, saw a negro man running toward us in 
great haste. He came up with the perspiration streaming from his 
face, and said his master was asleep when we passed through the 
village; but awoke soon after we left, and hearing of the books 
we were selling, greatly desired one, and that he had sent him in 
great haste to overtake us and buy one. Fortunately we yet had a 
few left and were able to supply him.

   During this journey of six weeks we had travelled about 560 
miles; visited twenty-eight towns and villages with many 
intervening settlements, scarcely any of which had ever before 
been visited by colporteur or missionary, and sold nearly 700 
copies of the Scriptures, many of them to persons who had never 
before seen or scarcely heard of a Bible, and preached to 
hundreds for the first time. The return journey I was obliged to 
leave to the colporteurs. Bahia and its vicinity call for a 
separate account.

   Mrs. Agassiz has very well said that on arriving in Brazil 
"one should land first in Bahia, for in its aspect it is the most 
national and characteristic of the cities." She speaks of its 
quaint and picturesque character, and then says, " On first 
disembarking, you find yourself at the foot of an almost 
perpendicular hill, and negro bearers appear at your side to 
carry you up the steep ascent in a curtained chair." Since 1865, 
these "cadeiras," borne by negro slaves, have given way to an 
elevator, and electric cable cars.

   The bay, whose real name is Bahia de Todos os Santos, All 
Saints' Bay, so called by the Portuguese navigator who first 
discovered it, most probably on All Saints' Day, is said by many 
to be one of the finest in the world. The city was founded about 
the year 1550, with the name of San Salvador. The King of 
Portugal sent out the first Governor-General Brazil ever had, 
with instructions to build a city in the Bay of All Saints, to be 
called San Salvador. It was to be "strong enough not only to keep 
the natives in awe, but also to resist the attack of any more 
formidable enemy." Six Jesuits accompanied this expedition, the 
first to set foot in the New World. Xavier had already gone to 
the East, and now the souls of the Brazilians concerned João III. 
Bahia remained the seat of government until 1763, when the 
viceroy was instructed to move it to Rio de Janeiro, and was the 
centre of Brazil's political, social and religious history in 
colonial times. The story of the first settlers, the struggles 
between the Portuguese and the French, and against the Spaniards, 
the Dutch invasion, are all interesting chapters in the history 
of this really quaint and wonderful old city, if indeed a city of 
350 years can be called old. From external appearances it might 
be a thousand years old. Its religious history is a most 
remarkable and painful one; the coming of the first Jesuits, the 
first nunnery, Bishopric, and Arch-Bishopric in Brazil, all 
indicate that it has from the beginning been a stronghold and 
principal centre for Roman Catholicism. But the intellectual and 
moral condition of the inhabitants in the city and throughout 
this great State is a sad commentary on this Church.

   This was for a long time the great centre of the importation 
of African slaves, and the negro element is so large as to 
occasion the denomination of Bahia as the "Africa of Brazil." 
Thousands of these blacks are worshipping to-day the fetishes and 
wearing the charms which they and their ancestors brought over 
from Africa. The population of the city of St. Salvador is about 
175,000, and it is the second city in size in the Republic. 
Notwithstanding its quaint and ancient appearance, there are many 
modern improvements in the way of manufacturing establishments, 
street railways, electric cars, railroad station, and other 
buildings. The city is well lighted with gas and has a good 
supply of water. The railroad extends from the city to Joazeiro 
on the banks of the San Francisco river, a distance of about 370 
miles. There is also a system of river and seacoast navigation 
from this point; all of which are advantageous to efforts for 
circulating the Scriptures throughout the country. The State 
claims to have about 755 public schools, 332 for boys, 265 for 
girls, and 158 for both boys and girls; there are also a number 
of private schools. The city has a number of technical schools, 
such as a Lyceum, Academy of Fine Arts, a Normal School for young 
men, and a Normal School for young women, a Law School, Medical 
College, a Roman Catholic Theological Seminary, etc. There are a 
number of daily papers and other periodicals, and several 
libraries.

   However great may be the need of the Bible to the inhabitants 
of this immense State, it must appear from the statements above, 
that the illiteracy and superstition so largely prevailing, 
together with the hostile influence of the Church, with the 
masses of the people, are by no means favourable conditions for 
the circulation of the written Word. It is not to be wondered 
that Henry Martin, who on his eventful voyage to India nearly a 
century ago, touched at this point, after viewing with his 
spiritual sight the condition of the people and conversing in 
Latin with priests and friars, should have sighed and said, 
"Crosses there are in abundance; but when shall the doctrines of 
the cross be held up?" a very pertinent inquiry, which only began 
to have its real answer about fourscore years later.

   From the first attempts of evangelical Christianity to teach 
the truth in that city, a few Bibles found acceptance. On my 
first arrival the Baptist and Presbyterian mission stations were 
already well established and had reached out to a few 
neighbouring towns and villages.

   The first words of testimony I heard from these missionaries 
were to the effect that the extension of their work in the city, 
but more particularly outside, was due to the work of the Bible 
colporteurs; and they offered every encouragement and promised 
cooperation in our efforts to carry the Bible to the far 
interior. Thousands of copies of the Word of God have been sold 
within the city limits during the period of which we write.

   Our first journey in the year 1888 was from the city of Bahia 
across the bay and up the river by boat about forty-eight miles 
to the city of Cachoeira. Thence we travelled by the Brazil 
Central Railway along the valley of the Paraguassú river for a 
distance of more than 150 miles.

   The story of the next week is one of hardship. We supplied 
ourselves with mules, buying them from a man who had brought to 
the coast a cargo of dried beans and coffee. As the public road 
to Lençoes was very circuitous, we took a shorter path through 
the forest. We crossed a river in a leaky old canoe that 
threatened every moment to swamp us, then got tangled in the 
midst of a great swamp surrounded by a dense forest. The mules 
fell with their loads in the mud and water, and we had to wade a 
considerable distance to firm land. The nights were full of 
discomfort. One evening we searched for hours for some water, 
until the words of David, "O that one would give me drink of the 
water of the well of Bethlehem," acquired a new meaning. Sleep 
gave partial relief, and in the morning a cock's crow led us to 
where we could slake our thirst. One afternoon we were followed 
by three onças, or Brazilian jaguars, but were spared from any 
attack. There was naturally little opportunity for Bible work, 
but a few copies of the Scriptures were left at some huts.

   We heard at two or three places that our coming had already 
been announced in the town of Lençoes, and that the priest was 
stirring up much opposition to us,-not very inviting news after 
the long, toilsome and dangerous journey. A man coming from the 
town warned us of the danger awaiting us, and said the priest was 
organizing a mob for the purpose of driving us out of the town, 
and that most probably they would kill us. I felt assured in my 
heart that we had come thus far in the name of Christ and that 
our mission and work was for His glory.

   About one o'clock P. M., October 19th, we came near the town. 
While still in the woods I called the men to a halt; we 
dismounted, knelt before God and made prayer unto Him. I felt in 
my heart surely He was present, and in the spirit we were ready 
to enter the town and undertake the work we had come to do. As we 
passed out from the woods we found ourselves on the brink of a 
hill, from which we looked out over the valley. On the opposite 
side from us and back of the town lay a great range of barren, 
rocky hills, or mountains. Just at their base nestled the town of 
one-story houses, there being just now and then one of a story 
and a half or two stories. It seemed as though every inch of soil 
along the banks of the little river, and extending some distance 
up the hillsides, had been upturned, sifted, and washed in search 
of diamonds. Very few are found now, though a number of persons 
keep at work.

   The first thing we did was to rent a small house, there being 
no such thing as an inn or a hotel where we could stop. I had 
been told that the priest in the town was much opposed to the 
Protestants and their work, and that a number were ready to do 
any meanness in the way of persecution that he might suggest. I 
visited the justice of peace and the chief of police, the two 
principal authorities in the place, explained to them the nature 
and object of our visit, and obtained of them the privilege to 
sell books in the streets. They were both kind, and made no 
objection to our work. I asked the chief of police about a room 
for preaching, as it was contrary to Brazilian law to preach in 
the streets, and he kindly offered to procure a suitable room for 
the service. Very soon the news of our presence was noised 
through the town. It was now late; we had our dinner, and sat 
down for a little rest, intending to begin our work the next 
morning. Very soon they began to stone the house. The stoning 
continued for nearly an hour and was mingled with words of 
mockery and scorn. At last one of the colporteurs decided to go 
out and offer them some tracts. He said to them we had come on a 
mission of good-will, exhorted them to take these tracts, go home 
and read them, and come to see us on the morrow. The plan worked 
admirably. Not another stone was thrown or a word of mockery 
heard. Quietude reigned in town. We had sweet worship and went to 
sleep.

   As soon as we opened the door of our house the next morning 
persons began to come in- some to buy books, others to ask 
questions, and more to see what sort of looking creatures 
Protestants are. The entire day was occupied in talking to the 
people and selling the Scriptures. It was indeed a busy day. The 
chief of police came in the afternoon to tell me he had arranged 
a large room for the worship, and said he would send soldiers at 
night to keep order. At eight o'clock, when the door was opened, 
and we were ready to begin worship, the house was soon full, and 
many stood outside. We sung some hymns and prayed. I read 
passages of the Word, and preached to them on the subject of the 
sacred Scriptures the main doctrines and truths therein set 
forth, and their importance to all men. God certainly blessed us 
on that occasion. I announced preaching for Sunday at midday and 
at eight o'clock at night.

   Sunday morning I awoke with this text in mind, "Thou shalt 
worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." In my 
slumber I had reviewed a sermon previously prepared on this 
subject in English, but never preached in Portuguese. The 
experience was a most glorious one; I saw so very clearly the 
adaptation of the thoughts to these people, who, bowed down to 
images and idols, are greedy after gain, and live only to satisfy 
every human passion and lust. At the midday service and at night 
we had large and attentive audiences. Quite a number showed some 
interest in the Gospel, and some came to talk with us after 
services. We had most excellent order and good attention. The 
soldiers kept under control those who were disposed to disturb 
and persecute. This act of the chief of police is a thing little 
known in Brazil. At night, when I was ready to sleep, I felt the 
day had been well spent.

   In the interior of Brazil it is customary in all the small 
towns and villages to have one day in the week as the Feira 
(market day), when the country people bring in their produce and 
marketing. Often this is Sunday, but fortunately for us it was 
Monday at this place, and we had the opportunity of selling the 
Scriptures to many who live in the country some distance away.

   In the house of the justice of the peace I found a young negro 
Christian, who was born in Bahia, but went as a boy to Africa, 
where he joined the Wesleyan Church. He had been to England and 
New York, and hearing of his father's death had returned to 
Brazil to care for his mother. He was respected by all, and 
joined in our services most heartily. The colour distinction of 
the races is scarcely recognized in Brazil. The fact  is, it is 
hardly recognizable-that is to say, it would be almost an 
impossibility to draw such a distinction, there is such a mixture 
of the races.

   A few days later, I left the colporteurs to carry on the work 
and return to the city of Bahia by a more circuitous route in 
order to reach a larger number of towns and villages. From time 
to time other journeys have been made by colporteurs through the 
interior of that State, and the missionaries in the city of Bahia 
have had many calls to come and explain more fully to the readers 
the wonderful truths of the colporteur's book.

   The work, however, has not been carried on without much 
opposition, as the following story from one of our colporteurs, 
José C. da Silva, well illustrates. He had been two days in a 
small town named Villa de Giboia, when the priest sent a member 
of his family with a well-armed force to attack him, which they 
did, compelling him to deliver up all his books to be burned in 
the public square. He was unable to obtain redress from the 
authorities, because the priest himself was considered the chief 
authority in the place. They took from him and burned, forty-
seven Bibles, fifty New Testaments, and 100 Gospels. Among them 
was his own Bible, in which he had placed a sum of money, equal 
to about fifty dollars, for safe keeping. This also was burned. 
He had no recourse but to return to the capital and report to the 
chief of police. The chief told him that he had no power to force 
the priest to indemnify him, but he would see that he was secured 
against any new attack. The colporteur published a full report of 
the incident in one of the daily papers and returned to the work. 
Doubtless it will finally result in the furtherance of the Gospel 
in that part of the country. I was afterwards told that the 
priest was really the mayor of the town and a member of the State 
Legislature.

   It will be remembered that two of our colporteurs in the year 
1891 continued the overland journey from Rio into this section 
and reached the city of Bahia. At a town called Victoria they 
sold three Bibles. They left also a few tracts, and copies of an 
evangelical paper which had been given them for distribution. At 
least one of the purchasers became interested in the Bible, and 
afterward wrote to the editor and subscribed to the paper. In 
September, 1897, just six years later, a letter was received in 
Rio de Janeiro from that gentleman, stating that he had been 
reading the Bible together with other persons, and that twenty-
four of them had banded themselves together to study the 
Scriptures, and were meeting regularly to worship God as best 
they knew how. He begged that a preacher be sent at once to 
preach Christ to them and instruct them more fully.

   From all points of this great country such calls are frequent. 
The representatives of the Bible Society in past years have been 
sowing the seed, and now the call comes for the reapers to gather 
the harvest.

   A recent number of an evangelical paper contained an open 
letter from a Brazilian, in which he directs special attention to 
the nameless heroes in the history of the evangelization of this 
country. He says: "Thou knowest, my friend, and all the 
missionaries and evangelists testify to it in the recollections 
of their travels, that in nearly every case where the preacher of 
the Gospel goes for the first time, in whatever community of our 
country, he meets already one or more persons who receive him 
with sympathy, and who for some time, in fervent prayers to God, 
have begged his visit. One owns and reads a Bible; another knows 
how to sing hymns; many have read evangelical tracts. Who did 
this work? No one knows. Along there some time ago passed a 
colporteur; a poor, fiercely persecuted believer from another 
community to that place, or at least took refuge there for a 
time-a nameless one, indeed, prepared the way for the preacher. I 
know of cases, my friend, in which the congregation was already a 
reality, and already the house of prayer was erected when the 
missionary or evangelist arrived."

   If the world does easily forget her nameless heroes, our 
church ought not to forget hers, of whom she has a great number 
in this land. And I do not believe it is asking too much that in 
the history of the conquerors or the heroes who have names to be 
recorded, a chapter dedicated to the nameless heroes, the humble 
colporteurs of the Bible Society would be one of the most 
interesting of the book.

-----

VII
Tent Life

ON MULEBACK THROUGH MINAS GERAES-PIONEER WORK BEARING FRUIT-THE 
BLACK RIVER- THE NIAGARA OF SOUTH AMERICA.

   THE general direction taken to reach this district was by rail 
from Rio de Janeiro to the city of São Paulo, a distance of about 
300 miles, and from thence northward by rail to Campinas, a 
distance of sixty-two miles, and then by the Mogyanna railroad to 
Jaguara, the first station just across the Rio Grande, a distance 
of 318 miles, since extended to Araguary, 175 miles more. This 
system has in operation 741 miles of road, and is doing much to 
open up and develop one of the most fertile sections of the 
country. The work through the State of São Paulo will be 
described in another chapter. So then our story begins from the 
banks of the Rio Grande and carries us northward for six weeks on 
muleback by a circuitous route of about 400 miles to the Rio 
Preto, which flowing into the Paracath river, forms the largest 
western tributary to the head waters of the great San Francisco. 
We descended the Rio Preto, Paracatú and San Francisco rivers 
almost all the way in canoe to the Atlantic ocean, a distance of 
1,500 miles, and returned from thence by ocean steamer to Rio de 
Janeiro, a distance of 1,000 miles.

   We began the real work of the journey at Jaguára. At this time 
there were perhaps seventy-five or 100 persons living about the 
place. I had brought with me a full outfit for travel, consisting 
of a tent, traveller's bed, wearing apparel, a small supply of 
canned foods, a few simple medicines, a quantity of books, etc. I 
had instructed our colporteur, Sr. Lourenço d'Almeida, to secure 
the necessary animals and harness for the journey, and had 
previously shipped on a large supply of books. On landing at the 
station I was disappointed not to find him waiting for me. I had 
secured a letter of introduction from my friend, Dr. Orville 
Derby, to a well-to-do farmer who lived very near the station, 
and soon made my way to his house, where I was cordially received 
and well entertained. I found him to be a very liberal-minded 
man, and one who seemed ready for the new order of things that 
was to take place in the very near future, such as the liberation 
of the slaves, the overthrow of the monarchy, etc. But the 
Colonel, as everybody called him, was too advanced in years to do 
much active service for his country. He had freed all his slaves 
several years before, and had very comfortably and wisely 
adjusted himself to the new conditions. We had long talks 
together about the Bible, and I read and explained to him 
passages of the Word.

   He bought a Bible, which I handed to him with a prayer that it 
might prove a great blessing to him in his declining years. There 
were about the plantation a number of children, for whom, as I 
learned upon inquiry, there was no school; a state of things of 
frequent occurrence through the interior of the country.

   Early the next morning while waiting for my colporteur I 
started out to offer the Scriptures, and sold ten copies, two of 
them to men who lived a long distance away, and who had come to 
the railroad in ox carts loaded with produce. Down by the river 
side I visited several boatmen in their mud huts, one of whom was 
quite sick. I selected and read to him what I thought to be a few 
appropriate passages of Scripture, and talked to him of Jesus the 
Saviour of men. It all seemed new to him and he grew deeply 
interested. The Spirit was present, and as the poor, sick man 
began to grasp some knowledge of the truth his face brightened, 
and his heart rejoiced. Several others standing by listened with 
great attention. This was the first opportunity these men had 
ever had of hearing the Word of God. It must not be inferred from 
this statement that this was the first time that the Bible had 
crossed the Rio Grande. Several years previous to this two of the 
colporteurs of the American Bible Society had penetrated into 
that interior region on foot, sending their books from place to 
place by pack-mules. They would go on long journeys and be absent 
for several months at a time, and on their return to the nearest 
mission station, which was Mogy-Mirim, they would relate their 
thrilling experiences and work to the missionary, and urge him to 
go with them and preach the Gospel to the many who were anxious 
to hear and who were reading their Bibles. Many times they would 
tell also of the opposition and persecutions encountered. At the 
town of Uberaba José Tonelli, an old soldier of Garibaldi, had 
been stoned and left by the roadside for dead.

   It was principally through the influence of Felippe Weingeter 
that the Rev. John Boyle, a pioneer missionary, whose grave makes 
dear to the Church of Christ that whole interior region, was 
induced to go on an evangelistic tour and inspect the work being 
done by these men. He turned over to native workers what he had 
wisely planted in and about Mogy-Mirim, and with his family 
settled in the far interior, at what he deemed a convenient 
centre from which to make evangelistic tours in many directions 
through the Provinces of Minas Geraes and Goyaz.

   The work has prospered from the very beginning and a number of 
small congregations have sprung up throughout that extensive 
region.

   On the second morning two men rode up accompanied by several 
pack-mules. I asked one of them if he did not wish to buy a 
Bible; he thanked me and said he had a Bible, and I was agreeably 
surprised to find that this was my colporteur, whom I had never 
before seen; the other was the servant who was to do our cooking 
and look after the animals. Our troop consisted of nine animals, 
one for each of us to ride, and four for cargo, which consisted 
of a tent, a few cooking utensils, a small quantity of 
provisions, wearing apparel and our supply of Scriptures.

   We left the railroad station about 2:30 o'clock, March 30. The 
way was through a rough and hilly section, sparsely inhabited. As 
the sun seemed to touch the tree-tops of the western hills we 
camped where the grass grew fresh beside a small stream. We 
passed the town of Sacramento about nine A. M., the next day, and 
left copies of the Scriptures. Very soon we were on the plains, 
almost uninhabited. At times we seemed to be in a great sea of 
prairie grass, "planted with island groves," extending to the 
horizon. At four o'clock of Saturday we came to a convenient 
place and pitched our tent beside the water for rest on Easter 
Sunday.

   The morning was bright and lovely, the shower having cleared 
the air. I talked to my men of our Lord's resurrection, and we 
felt a touch of the resurrection power. In the afternoon an ox 
cart came by, and one of the men stopped and asked us for a cup 
of coffee. As the servant gave it to him I preached to him Jesus 
Christ and the commandments. It seemed to him strange, but he 
became interested and tarried quite a while. I read to him the 
commandment on the Sabbath, and gave him a copy of the Gospel. 
When about to leave, he said he would overtake his ox cart and 
rest for the remainder of the day. We passed the evening 
pleasantly, reading and singing hymns, and the day was a happy 
one. I had my opportunities, though I was only with these three 
men on the plain. Where there is one man there is an opportunity. 
Our Saviour preached to the woman at the well of Samaria.

   Monday morning we were up at three o'clock, and before 
daylight, while the moon yet shone brightly, we started on our 
way. At a house beside the road, where we stopped to breakfast, 
the man of the house became much interested, and as we began to 
load the animals, he said to me: "Read more to me and let the 
other men load the animals." Some of his neighbours came in, and 
he had me to read and explain passages to them also. He and 
others bought copies of the Word.

   From thence until night we journeyed across vast plains upon 
which scarcely any vegetation grows, except the prairie grass two 
or three feet high. Now and then, near the small streams, where 
were a few trees, we saw birds and animals such as the ostrich, 
parrot, tatou and fox. Late in the afternoon we began to despair 
of finding water for the animals and ourselves. One of the men 
suggested that one of our little pack-mules, if put in front, 
would find water if there was any near the road; so we all 
followed the little mule. After about one-half hour he turned 
aside from the road; we all followed, and very soon he led us 
down beside a small stream, where we found good grass for the 
animals and a pleasant camping ground. The next morning we 
resumed our journey at an early hour.

   About one P. M. near a village I met a man and talked to him 
of the Scriptures. He became much interested, and though he could 
not read, bought a copy, saying he had a friend who could read.

   At first he seemed surprised that Jesus Christ should have 
lived and died for sinners nearly nineteen hundred years ago, and 
the truth was just now being made known to him and his friends. 
He was slow to believe because of this fact. It is true the Roman 
Church pretended to exist in this country; but the truth is not 
preached, and the people know nothing of the real truth of the 
Gospel. Let the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ think on the 
questioning in this ignorant man's mind. If Jesus died nearly 
1,900 years ago to save sinners, and gave the command "go ye into 
all the world and preach the Gospel to' every creature," what has 
the Church and ministry been doing all these years, that men to-
day, for the first time are hearing the good news? How long 
before there will not be one man on earth who has not heard the 
story? If all the energies and forces of the Church were brought 
to bear to accomplish this one end, how soon it might be done!

   At Bagagem we had a cordial welcome from two Presbyterian 
missionaries, the Rev. John Boyle and the Rev. G. W. Thompson, in 
company with whom I came to Brazil. They had recently moved to 
this town, and were preaching in a number of towns and villages 
in this section. Sunday afternoon I preached at Estrella do Sul 
("Star of the South"), a small town named for the second largest 
known diamond in the world. This gem was found by a negress in 
the year 1853, who presented it to her owner to obtain her 
freedom. After being cut at Amsterdam it weighed 125 carats, and 
was valued at $10,000,000 to $12,000,000. A few years ago it 
belonged to the Pasha of Egypt.

   We sold many copies of the Scriptures in Bagagem, and on April 
18th set out for Paracatú, about one hundred and sixty miles to 
the north. We travelled for several hours over hills and 
highlands, and at evening came to Carmo, a village of a few 
hundred inhabitants, said to be a very fanatical place, where 
there is much opposition to the Gospel. The next morning a heavy 
rain continued until near midday, and during the morning we made 
a canvass of the town, succeeding in selling seventeen copies of 
the Scriptures, notwithstanding the opposition of some who were 
very bitter against us.

   After a pleasant Sunday by a beautiful little stream, we came 
on Monday to the Paranahyba river, which we crossed in canoes, 
the animals having to swim across. From the river we ascended a 
great serra into the highlands, or watershed, between the north 
and south, east and west. We continued on this great highland 
until within a few miles of Paracatú. We saw very few people 
during the time, but met two tropas of pack-mules loaded with 
leather, on their way to the railroad.

   Passing over this extensive highland and coming to the serra 
on the north, we had a view of one of the most extensive and 
beautiful valleys I have ever looked upon. We stopped for a 
while, that our minds and souls might drink in the inspiration of 
such a scene of grandeur and beauty, then descended into the 
valley and pitched our tent beside a stream. The next morning we 
found that three of our animals had strayed off or were stolen, 
and the entire day was spent in searching for them, but in vain, 
while both Mr. Thompson and I were badly lost in the wild woods 
of this great valley. There were few inhabitants in this valley, 
and they very poor, but we hired an ox cart. A short time before 
midday we found the strayed animals beside the road, some eight 
or ten miles from the camp.

   The soil of this valley is reasonably fertile, and produces 
the finest pasture I have seen in Brazil. 'We came to the city of 
Paracatú late in the afternoon of April 27. This place, of 
perhaps 5,000 inhabitants, is the largest town of this interior 
section, and is situated beside a small stream that, with others, 
forms the head-waters of the great San Francisco river. Great 
quantities of gold have been dug from the hills and banks of the 
river, and after a heavy rain a great many persons are employed 
in gathering up the dirt washed down from the mountains, which 
frequently contains considerable quantities of gold.

   The people of Paracatú received us cordially, the authorities 
gave us permission to preach in the streets, and we spent nine 
days there. During the daytime we offered the Scriptures for sale 
and conversed with many who were interested in the Gospel. For 
seven successive nights we preached to large audiences gathered 
in the public square, at that time quite a new and unusual thing. 
I inquired how it was that we were granted this liberty and met 
with so little opposition, and learned that the vicar of the town 
was an old man, who had grown very wealthy and was no longer 
specially interested or concerned with the religious interest of 
the people. While we were circulating the Bible and preaching to 
his people he was quietly taking his ease in his comfortable 
house, surrounded by servants and all the luxury to be had in 
that far interior town. From the very first visit of a colporteur 
and missionary the work has prospered in that place.

   During our stay there I had seen almost every day a man 
dressed in a black and purple robe that hung down below his knees 
going through the streets. In one hand he carried a rod, on the 
end of which was a little silver figure of a dove, while in the 
other was a tin plate over which was spread a beautifully 
embroidered white cloth; he would ask each person he met or who 
would come to the door when he knocked, to kiss the image of the 
dove and to put money in the plate. On Sunday afternoon our 
colporteur came into our room in a great state of excitement, 
saying that he had just witnessed a very disgusting scene of 
idolatrous worship and blasphemy. Looking out I saw what was 
known as the procession of the Holy Spirit. The old priest and 
his assistants, accompanied with a band of music and quite a 
multitude, composed principally of the lower classes and street 
urchins, all with bare heads, were carrying the rod with the 
silver image of a dove and something like a banner on which was 
painted a dove. They were constantly sending up great quantities 
of fire rockets; the boys specially seemed to be having a grand 
time and there was not the slightest evidence of serious thought 
or conviction with any one in the crowd as to the real meaning of 
the Holy Spirit. I then learned that the man with the rod, during 
the past week, by having people pay for the privilege of kissing 
the image of the Holy Spirit, had been collecting money to defray 
the expenses of the procession; that the amount collected was 
considerable, while the expenses were insignificant. It was by 
such methods as this that the priest had enriched himself.

   On the morning of May 7 we left Paracatú for the Rio Preto 
(Black River), about sixty-five miles to the north. The country 
through which we passed was flat and swampy. Recent rains had 
swelled all the little streams and filled to overflowing the 
pools and lakes, so that travelling was exceedingly difficult and 
dangerous. Wild birds and animals were numerous; the malaria from 
the lakes and swamps was abundant, and there were but few 
inhabitants along the way. After two and a half days of travel we 
reached the river and were entertained at a farmer's house while 
we disposed of the animals, and made preparations to descend the 
river. Some of the slaves and others were much impressed with the 
singing, and asked for copies of the hymns, especially of a hymn, 
"The Precious Blood of Jesus." As they could not read, I was 
curious to know what they would do with them; I thought, however, 
as one boy among them could read, they perhaps would have him 
teach them the words. The next day I found they had sewed them up 
in a little sack of cloth, and with a string had fastened them 
around their necks. Their idea was that they were now saved; that 
those copies of hymns contained the whole doctrine of salvation, 
and that it was only necessary to be in possession of a copy in 
order to be saved. We spent what time we could in giving them 
further instruction in the truth. We bought of the farmer a large 
canoe- the body of a great tree hewn out. It was nearly thirty 
feet long, two feet six inches deep, and about three feet wide. 
We gave our boat the name of Boas Novas (Good News). Our baggage 
consisted of three hundred and sixty-three copies of the 
Scriptures, a supply of provisions, cooking utensils, our 
bedding, and valises. We employed two men-one a pilot, the other 
an oarsman.

   On May 12 we began our voyage down the great valley of the San 
Francisco river. The muddy banks of the Rio Preto were densely 
covered with trees, bushes and vines; multitudes of land and 
water animals and birds interested us. The parrots, monkeys, 
alligators and water hogs were the most numerous. When I saw the 
dense mat of forest, these wild birds and animals, and the muddy 
stream, I thought I could see the appropriateness of calling it 
the Black River.

   We descended this river about sixty miles, to its mouth, and 
did not see a human being, or scarcely a sign of an inhabitant. 
We entered the Paracatú river, and for a distance of forty-five 
miles saw only one man. The first village we came to had about 
125 inhabitants, not a white man among them. They received us 
kindly, and the chief officer of the village arranged for us to 
preach, himself inviting all the people. It was a strange 
proceeding, especially in Brazil, to hear the officer, about 
dark, calling aloud to the people to assemble to hear the Gospel. 
I think nearly every man, woman and child in the place came as we 
preached to them salvation by Christ. Although the people are 
poor, and only a few can read, a number bought copies of the 
Scriptures. The next morning, when we were in our canoe ready to 
leave, about twenty-five of them came down to the river and asked 
us to once more sing for them some of our beautiful hymns. We 
stepped on shore, under the shade of the trees, sung, prayed and 
spoke a few words to them, and received from each a warm shake of 
the hand and an expression of a hearty appreciation of our visit. 
Along the Paracatú river we visited a few settlements and came 
next into the San Francisco river. The first place visited was 
San Romão, a village of about 8oo inhabitants, where we had 
little success.

   In the afternoon of Sunday as we were in our tent on the bank 
of the river, a number of men came to visit us. We talked to them 
of the Gospel of truth and light. One man invited us to his house 
and arranged for us to preach. Many came, and we had a precious 
service. Early Monday morning we went into the streets, and sold 
more than twenty copies, some to men who lived a long distance 
away. I have since learned that at least one of these copies was 
fruitful of good results, the reader of it and several of his 
friends have become believers in the religion of Jesus Christ, 
and are begging for some one to go to their community to preach 
to them more fully the Gospel of salvation.

   On our way to this town we had spent the night with a man 
living on the banks of the river, whose heart was attentive to 
the Word. He bought a Bible and besought us to return soon to 
visit him again.

   About seven or eight years after this I had a letter from a 
Presbyterian preacher, who had been on a journey through the 
large territory opened up by the colporteurs and Mr. Boyle 
through western Minas and the State of Goyaz. He said that a man 
with whom he had spent the night on this journey had travelled 
more than 120 miles on horseback to hear the preaching and to 
plead with him to go and visit his community. Re told the 
preacher of our visit, the night we spent with him, and said he 
had been reading the Bible for all these years. He had read it to 
his neighbours and a number of them had become believers and 
wanted to see and hear a preacher.

   While resting on this Sabbath I witnessed what I have never 
seen in any other place nor heard tell of before, the worshipping 
of the ass upon which Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem. We 
were quietly resting and reading under the shade of a great tree 
by the river side, when suddenly we heard the noise and crude 
music of a crowd that was marching out of the town along the road 
leading to the river. I soon saw in the midst of the crowd a 
small donkey, all decorated, and upon inquiry was told that they 
were worshipping the animal in commemoration of the fact that 
Jesus rode into Jerusalem upon an ass. They told me that that 
animal was never used for ordinary purposes, but was kept as a 
sacred animal and object of worship.

   The section of country drained by the San Francisco river and 
its tributaries, is estimated to have an area of 250,000 square 
miles. The river rises in the Serra das Canastras, at an altitude 
of more than 2,500 feet above the level of the sea, and flows 
first in a northerly direction, then eastward and empties into 
the Atlantic ocean about midway between the cities of Bahia and 
Pernambuco, about 1,740 miles from its source. Numerous 
tributaries, increase the volume of water, and there are rapids, 
cascades, and cataracts, especially in the upper and lower parts 
of the river.

   From the Pirapora falls, near the mouth of the Rio das Velhas, 
in Minas Geraes, to the Sobradinho rapids in the State of Bahia, 
a distance of about 800 miles, the river is easily navigable by 
vessels of very light draft. In recent years the government has 
completed the work of opening a channel through the Sobradinho 
rapids and thus another section of about 120 miles is now open to 
navigation as far as Boa Vista. When I passed down the river in 
the year 1888 this work was just being completed. It is doubtful 
if the section from Boa Vista to Jatoba, a distance of about 150 
miles, will ever be made navigable, though at certain seasons of 
the year canoes and small barges do go up and down these 
cascades. In the section from Jatoba to Piranhas, a distance of 
about sixty-five miles, are the famous Paulo Alfonso Falls, said 
to be second only to the great Niagara of North America, and 
claimed by some not to be surpassed in picturesqueness by any in 
the world. The volume of water, a little less than that of 
Niagara, is first poured into a narrow channel between two 
natural walls of granite; and then it is divided into three great 
falls, increased to four in the rainy season when the volume of 
water is very great.

   The principal fall forms a curve, and about midway the waters 
are dashed against the north side of the channel and, broken into 
foam and spray, go leaping madly down the precipice into the wild 
depths below. This channel is about fifty-three feet wide, and 
the height of the entire system of rapids, cascades and cataracts 
is about 270 feet. Then comes a series of rapids making the river 
unnavigable until we reach the town of Piranhas, from which to 
the ocean, about 100 miles, there are no obstructions. The river 
thus easily furnishes 2,400 miles of navigation, especially in 
the rainy season; in the dry season this might be lessened 
somewhat. The valley or valleys drained by this system of rivers 
form an extensive region of fertile lands capable of very large 
agricultural productions, while the hillsides and plains are well 
adapted to stock raising. Almost the entire section lies between 
10° and 20° south of the Equator, and comprises about 200,000 
square miles of territory. The river is noted more for its width 
than for its depth, and like the Nile overflows its banks in the 
rainy season, from November to March. The average width of the 
river in the extensive navigable section above the falls is about 
1,100 yards, while the mean depth away from the sand banks does 
not exceed a few feet. The overflows during the rainy season 
enrich the soil and planting begins as the waters abate. The 
population in this region is calculated to be about 1,500,000 but 
it is estimated that 20,000,000 souls and more could be easily 
supported there.

   Sugar-cane, cotton, rice, corn, potatoes and indeed most of 
vegetables and fruits belonging to sub-tropical and temperate 
regions may be easily grown in great abundance. The lumber trade 
is susceptible of large development; and granite for building is 
abundant. Those who have studied this region from scientific 
standpoints tell us that it is rich also in mineral resources.

   Our next objective point was the town, or city, as it is 
called, of Januaria, so named in honour of the sister of the 
Emperor, Dom Pedro II. The distance travelled was about ninety or 
100 miles, and we visited a large number of villages and 
settlements along the way, meeting for the most part with a 
cordial reception and selling a large number of copies of the 
Scriptures.

   The site of the town of Januaria on the left bank of the river 
is an extensive flat sandy plain, with a range of hills some five 
or six miles to the northwest, while to the east in the distance 
rises the Serra de S. Felippe. The total number of houses was 
about 750, built of adobe and mud with tiled and thatched roofs; 
many of them with dirt floors and no ceiling, and nearly all of 
one story. The chief of police, who seemed to be the highest 
authority in the town, was very kind to us; gave permission to 
sell our books in the streets and promised us every protection. 
The population numbered about 7,000 souls. This is the great 
commercial and social centre for all that upper valley region. It 
is distant from Rio de Janeiro about 650 miles and from Bahia 
about 620 miles, but the importations, which are chiefly dry 
goods and salt, come via Joazeiro, about 650 miles distant by the 
river. The mails come mostly by packmules from Ouro Preto, the 
capital of Minas Geraes. We rented a small house in which to 
lodge for a few days; one large front room with windows opening 
on the street proved very suitable for preaching. We very soon 
began our work of offering to the inhabitants the Word of God, 
and I was struck at once with the very liberal spirit shown by 
the people in general, many buying Bibles without hesitation.

   In the course of the day several persons referred to a visit 
made to that City more than twenty years before by a Spaniard who 
sold a few Bibles, and then I understood why it was that the 
people seemed more liberal and open to the Gospel than I had 
found them in any other place along the river. In all this period 
no Gospel messenger had returned to visit them, but the fruit of 
Thomas Goulart's visit and the reading of the Bible was visible 
on every hand. The local mind had indeed been greatly unsettled, 
and many were anxiously seeking some solid ground to rest upon. 
When invited to come and talk with us privately about the Gospel 
several gladly accepted, and there was some real earnest 
spiritual work done that Saturday night in our quiet room. God 
did richly manifest his presence as we tried to point the 
inquirers to "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the 
world."

   It is a painful reflection that another twelve years has 
passed by and no permanent evangelistic work has been established 
in the place, but I rejoice that plans are on foot at the Bahia 
mission station to establish work there soon. We sold 126 copies 
of the Word during our short stay in the place. As I was walking 
along one of the main streets one day my attention was attracted 
by a peculiar noise. I drew near to the house from whence it 
proceeded, and found that it was a school. The teacher sat at one 
end of the room with about half a dozen children around him, all 
trying to read from one book, while thirty others were scattered 
over the room in groups of five or six, and each group had only 
one book: all were reading and spelling aloud, in a sing song 
tone that would remind one of a nest of bumble bees. The door 
stood open and I looked in for a moment. As I started on my way a 
boy came out and asked about the books I had in my hand; he 
carried one in for the teacher to see and then ran home to get a 
few coppers to buy a Gospel. In a very short time his example was 
followed by a number of his schoolmates, and the next day as I 
passed by I found them all studying and reading from their New 
Testaments and Gospels.

   One man, who lived several leagues away, bought a few copies 
of the Scriptures to sell to his friends. I have recently heard 
that some of these have been read, and that there are some thirty 
or forty persons grouped together as a band of believers, who are 
asking for a preacher to visit them from the Bahia Station.

-----

VIII
Down the San Francisco

EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION-BOM JESUS DA
LAPA-AN EVANGELICAL OFFICIAL -A BIBLE BURNING.

   IT was Sunday, May the 27th, and just at nightfall the mail 
courier arrived at Januaria from Ouro Preto, bringing the news 
that on the 13th the act of the absolute and unconditional 
abolition of slavery had been signed by the Princess Isabel at 
Rio de Janeiro, who was on the throne during the temporary 
absence in Europe of her father, the Emperor.

   A procession was at once organized, and the crowd marched 
through the streets with an old band of music, sending off 
fireworks and shouting at a great rate. The slaves about the 
place were hearing of their liberation fourteen days after it had 
been secured by imperial sanction. The people in even so remote a 
section from the court as this were not surprised to learn of 
this, for a law of gradual emancipation had been in force for 
several years, and the growing abolition party was strong and 
active in the government. A few had already freed their slaves, 
and many were thinking and planning for the new adjustment; but 
as men never seem fully prepared for such changes it is not to be 
wondered at that the whole social order of the country was 
disturbed by it, especially through the agricultural sections. 
Many rejoiced, others quietly acquiesced, and some murmured, but 
no one offered resistance. There can be no doubt that the act has 
had a most beneficent effect upon the social and economic life of 
the nation; but it is questionable if the condition of the blacks 
in general has been much improved; they have drifted largely to 
the towns and villages, and are rapidly dying from the use and 
abuse of rum. Since the colour line or race distinction is made 
little or nothing of in Brazil, there is no reason why these 
blacks and their children might not become the beneficiaries of 
whatever wholesome social influences and educational advantages 
the country affords for the poorer classes. A few are being 
absorbed into the new social order, but the mass of them seem 
destined to extermination through indolence and rum.

   As we journeyed down the river for several days after the 
announcement of this emancipation act, we saw numbers of the ex-
slaves with little bundles of clothes on their arms leaving the 
homes of their former masters and wandering about as if in search 
of shelter and food. They were in a poor condition to begin the 
struggle of life for themselves, and there was no provision made 
to help them. Those who were disposed to work, however, soon 
found employment on other farms, and only a faithful few remained 
to work for their former masters.

   The next stage of our journey was to Carinhanhas, a distance 
of 100 miles. This is a town of about 1,500 inhabitants in the 
State of Bahia just across the dividing line from Minas Geraes. 
The entire district or county of which this is the principal town 
has a population of more than 10,000.  We stopped at several very 
small villages and a few country settlements along the banks of 
the river, whose inhabitants were living in great poverty and 
ignorance. Their mud huts with dirt floors and thatched roofs 
were of the crudest and most inferior quality. We occasionally 
found a man who could read and generally succeeded in leaving a 
copy of the Scriptures with him.

   About sixty miles from Januaria we visited the almost deserted 
village of Morrinhos and the ruins of a very large Catholic 
church, whose two massive towers, like those in the cities of Rio 
de Janeiro and Bahia, are fairly well preserved and may be seen 
from a distance.

   The village once numbered thirty or more houses, but most are 
now in decay and ruins while the street leading up from the river 
bank to the old church is given up to weeds and grass, as indeed 
is the entire village. One wonders why and how and when this 
massive old church and its dependencies were built. It is 
generally believed that it owes it origin to the piety of one 
Mathias Cardozo who, in the early history of Minas Geraes, came 
from the city of São Paulo and settled in the wilds. He is 
supposed to have begun the work of construction and his son 
Januario, who sent to Bahia for carpenters and masons, completed 
it. Much of the work was done by the Indians. Below the altar is 
a broken slab of slate with the inscription "Here lies Januario 
Cardoso de Almeida." There is no date. About forty years ago a 
man died in the village at the age of 113 years, who said the 
tomb was there when he was born.

   A few miles down the river from this deserted village we came 
to a section where there was considerable cultivation and on an 
elevation was a large, white, new two-story house, the first of 
the kind we had seen in that part of the valley.

   On reaching the town of Carinhanhas we first visited the chief 
of police and other authorities of the town council and obtained 
permission to sell our books through the streets. The priest of 
the town was the most violent in his denunciations of us and our 
Bibles of any we had met on the river, and we were surprised that 
many of the people showed some spirit of liberality and some 
desire to hear the preaching of the Gospel. During the canvass of 
the town I found that there were two Bibles already in the place, 
left there more than twenty years before by the Spanish 
colporteur above referred to and these Bibles had been read by a 
number of persons. We obtained a house, a large number responded 
to our invitation and we had a most interesting time preaching to 
them Jesus and his salvation. There were few who could read and 
we sold only eight copies of the Scriptures in the town, but the 
missionaries at the Bahia Station have lately had interesting 
communications from that place and very earnest calls to go there 
and establish work. It seems that quite a number of persons have 
continued the reading of the Scriptures and are seeking to follow 
Christ.

   From this point the course of the river is quite straight so 
that a canoe will float down at night with little difficulty. We 
spent a number of nights in this way, occasionally bumping 
against the bank, but seldom having sleep much disturbed. The 
river also abounds in fish and we feasted on them purchasing from 
the fishermen at very insignificant prices.

   In April, when the dry season sets in, the people from the 
hill-sides and mountains move down to plant their corn, rice, 
beans, potatoes, mandioca, etc., along the flat banks of the 
river where there is a deposit of white sand. There is no 
breaking up of the ground needed; it is quite sufficient to make 
a hole with a sharp pointed stick, drop the seed in and cover it. 
The soil underneath the deposit of sand is very fertile and 
furnishes sufficient moisture for the growth of a crop with the 
aid of comparatively little rain.

   Many of them build booths or shelters of palm and other 
branches of trees; some make no shelter at all, but simply take 
up their abode for four or five months under the spreading 
Gamilleira or other trees. They generally sleep on a kind of mat 
made of coarse reeds woven together, have very few cooking 
utensils, no tables or chairs, eat from a tin pan or gourd with 
the hands, knives and forks and spoons being of little use to 
them and their clothing is reduced to a few simple articles. 
While the crops are growing they engage in fishing, cutting the 
fish in thin slices, salting and hanging it on poles in the sun 
to dry. At the beginning of this season the traders come up the 
river in canoes with supplies of salt, dry goods, etc., which 
they barter to the planters for the beans, rice, dried fish, 
hides, etc., that they may have ready a few months later. Just 
before the rains set in the traders begin to collect their pay 
and load their vessels for the homeward voyage and are ready to 
be borne down the stream by the first freshet. The planters 
gather up a portion of their crops, dried fish, and other things, 
and at the beginning of the rainy season, about October, return 
to theIr huts in the hills and mountains, where they spend the 
time in comparative ease and idleness until the next planting 
season, doing little except as they kill a few wild animals and 
have the hides dried for the river trade.

   These very fertile lands some day will be made to yield more 
abundantly for man's comfort and to enrich their owners. I saw 
stalks of cotton growing without cultivation to the height of 
seven or eight feet, from which I gathered beautiful white boils 
which I submitted to a competent person in Rio de Janeiro who 
pronounced it a very excellent quality of raw cotton. The 
possibilities of this valley are really unknown, and doubtless it 
holds much wealth and comfort yet to be developed by man.

   The next stage of our journey from Carinhanhas was about 
eighty miles to the famous Bom Jesus da Lapa (Good Jesus of the 
Grotto). As we came near the village we had a splendid view of 
what is popularly known as the "crouching lion," but which one 
writer has termed "a headless sphinx." It is a great stone about 
six or eight hundred feet long, about two hundred and fifty feet 
wide and two hundred feet high, lying upon a dead level. It is 
remarkable for perpendicular lines resembling pinnacles, and the 
sides jagged, like the flying buttresses of a Gothic temple, are 
cut up into angles sharpened by the weather. Deep black cracks, 
at altitudes varying from ten to thirty feet, run horizontally, 
forming gigantic courses of masonry. The south-western end is a 
vertical precipice, with a long broad, yellow stripe, where the 
stone has been removed. The colour of the mass generally is grey 
slate, with fine crystals of the whitest limestone. In the 
southwest end is a natural grotto about eighty to one hundred 
feet in length and varying in width from twenty-five to fifty 
feet.

   The entrance has been closed with a strong wooden door which 
is fastened with a ponderous lock. Six stone steps lead up to 
this door and just inside there is an apartment like a kind of 
vestibule and ten steps built of brick, lead up into the Holy 
Grotto. Near the entrance the ceiling is flat and over the altar 
it is somewhat arched, though it is irregular throughout, and in 
many places there are numbers of stalactites, also several 
stalagmites, one near the door being of considerable size. The 
altar is at the farther end of the cave on a raised platform. The 
image of Bom Jesus da Lapa, not more than two feet in height, is 
incased in a gaudy shrine. There are said to be a number of 
graves under the rickety and decaying wooden floor covering the 
part round about the altar. The irregular walls are thickly hung 
with figures of hands, feet and other parts, as well as some of 
the whole body, representing cures of wounds, bites of snakes and 
poisonous insects, all manner of diseases and deformities 
performed by this miracle-working image. There are also figures 
of animals that were likewise supposed to have been cured of 
poisonous bites. The devotees made vows that if healed they would 
make such figures of hands or the body and present them to the 
image. These figures hang as so many testimonials of the 
faithfully performed vows.

   It was a Saturday afternoon when we called on the priest to 
ask permission to visit this remarkable shrine. He was reported 
as not feeling well and was asleep; but some one told us that he 
did not care to have us profane the place. We finally found the 
sexton who kindly showed us through the temple. He pointed out a 
recess to one side where it is said the hermit was buried. Many 
pilgrims and worshippers at the shrine have carried away the 
dust, until a great hole has been dug in the floor; they say this 
holy dirt will cure all manner of wounds and sores. At one point 
the water drips almost constantly from the ceiling and the 
devotees call it miraculous water, and carry it away in bottles 
to the sick for healing and for restoring strength.There are two 
stories on record as to the origin of this image. One, that it 
was brought from Spain by a rich Spaniard, who took up his abode 
in the grotto, in penance for his sins; another that it appeared 
to a monk who inhabited the grotto with some tigers.

   One priest affirms that the crucifix is about 400 years old, 
which dates back to the discovery of Brazil, and that it was 
worshipped by the red men before it was discovered by the Roman 
Catholics.

   Pilgrimages to the temple were not large or very frequent 
until about 1860; from that date they began to increase, and it 
is estimated that as many as 25,000 persons have gone annually to 
worship at this shrine. It is believed to possess extraordinary 
healing power, which accounts for the almost incredible 
statement, that in a region so sparsely settled 25,000 pilgrims 
come annually to worship. These poor devotees have contributed 
from $8,000 to $10,000 a year in votive offerings to the image; 
the iron box at its feet is ever ready to receive all 
contributions.

   Bom Jesus da Lapa in the year 1874 owned three farms well 
stocked with cattle and horses, a number of slaves and had 
$50,000 in cash. Before the emancipation act of 1888 it had freed 
all the slaves, but is still in possession of the farms, and 
always has plenty of ready cash on hand. The annual election of 
the board of administration for the brotherhood is an occasion of 
much contention and political wire pulling, since it is generally 
believed that each member fills his pockets during the year. A 
project was on foot a few years ago to build a hospital in the 
village to cost not less than $40,000. The priest in charge is 
the chief administrator of the whole affair; at the annual 
festival in August he invites his special friends, priests, to 
take part with him in the ceremonies and always sends them away 
with a full purse.

   On our arrival in the town which has from 1,200 to 1,500 
inhabitants, we asked of the chief of police permission to sell 
our books in the streets and to preach if we could make suitable 
arrangements; he kindly gave permission to do the former, but 
said we could not preach without the vicar's permission. We very 
soon made a canvass of the community, and to a very few who could 
read we sold nine copies of the Scriptures. As we stood very near 
the famous image asking questions of the sexton, he discovered 
the two books I had in hand, and when told what they were he 
bought a Bible, and after reading a few verses he carefully put 
it in the drawer of a small table just under the shrine.

   We have heard several times since from the place and have 
learned that our efforts were not in vain; several persons have 
read the Scriptures and are anxious to have the missionaries open 
work there.

   The next section of our voyage was a distance of about 185 
miles to Cidade de Barra. One night we went ashore and pitched 
our tent on a spot where the undergrowth had been cut away. 
Mosquitoes and miasma were abundant, but the men made up a good 
fire to frighten away the wild animals and snakes; we were so 
tired that when we had contrived protection from the mosquitoes 
we slept so soundly that no one remembered to keep up the fire. 
By and by we were awakened by the noise of some seemingly 
gigantic animal, breaking through the bushes. Soon his huge body 
was discovered and as we fired at him he bounded away with a 
yell. The boatmen built up the fire again and we slept, though 
not very soundly. Presently a howling wolf appeared on the 
opposite bank of the river, hungry for human flesh, but the broad 
waters were our protection. We had many interesting experiences 
along the way where we stopped to offer the Scriptures and to 
talk to the people about Jesus. I was astonished at the absence 
of all progress in these western out-stations of the Great Bahia 
Province, whose chief city was once the metropolis of the 
country, and whose seaboard is now one of the most prosperous and 
populous portions of the empire. Every thing that we see denotes 
poverty and neglect.

   Some of the seed sown has already sprung up; a missionary, 
hearing of some who were reading the Bible, and who desired to 
learn more of the way has planned to follow up the work. We shall 
expect to hear by and by that the charge of ignorance, poverty 
and neglect, and the absence of all progress, can no longer be 
made against the inhabitants of that section; but instead 
enlightenment, holiness and prosperity will characterize the 
valley of the San Francisco.

   The Cidade de Barra has a population of about 6,000 and shows 
more signs of life, enterprise and learning than any place 
visited since we left Januaria, about 400 miles up the river. 
This is destined to become some day an important place, located 
as it is in the centre of a district with large possibilities for 
agriculture and stock raising, where the Rio Grande empties into 
the San Francisco. It is distant from the city of Bahia about 460 
miles, and has the honour of being the birthplace of the Baron of 
Cotegipe, who was for some time prime minister during the latter 
years of the empire.

   On entering the town we first visited the chief of police to 
obtain permission to sell our books and to preach. His reply was 
you have the pleasure of talking to one of the same belief. I 
have for several years desired to see a minister of the Gospel, 
and thank God he has come at last.

   He soon furnished us rooms for lodging, secured to us ample 
protection and opportunities to carry on our work, and sent a 
soldier to accompany us through the streets. This was a new 
experience, going through the streets as a Bible colporteur 
attended by a soldier in imperial uniform; quite a contrast to 
the incident recorded of my arrest in Santa Luzia, when the same 
uniform was present to conduct me away as a prisoner. The soldier 
seemed really to be a hindrance rather than a help so far as 
sales were concerned. As the people knew we intended preaching at 
night, they declined to buy that day, saying they preferred to 
first hear the preaching and what we would have to say publicly 
about the Bible. A large audience assembled and filled the room 
to overflowing, with still a large crowd in the streets. Being 
under the police protection everything was quiet and orderly and 
many persons remained to talk after the service. We had a most 
interesting time during the few days spent there, and sold in all 
twenty-nine copies of the Word of God.

   Upon further inquiry I found that the chief of police had 
obtained his Bible seven years before from a brother of his 
living quite a distance in the country, who had bought it from 
the colporteur passing through that valley some twenty years 
before. He gave good evidence of having read and studied the Word 
to good purpose. The brother likewise, from all we could learn, 
had been truly converted through reading the written Word.

   One day, as I passed along the outskirts of the town where a 
crazy man was chained like some mad beast to the limb of a great 
tree, I came to a little mud hut where the rickety door stood 
ajar. A feeble voice invited me to come in. There lay an aged man 
in a hammock. I at once began to tell him about the book and the 
precious Saviour therein revealed. 'With feeble and trembling 
hand he took from a little old box at his side a small copy of 
the New Testament and handed it to me, saying, "I know all about 
it; for nineteen years I have been reading it, and trying to 
follow its teachings." He told me how he had been so wonderfully 
led into the light and joy of salvation through the reading and 
prayer. He said, "I am an old man, sick, and will soon die, but I 
thank God I have learned that my soul does not have to go to 
purgatory, where my release must depend upon the good fortune of 
having money or friends to pay for mass to secure my deliverance; 
I have the assurance from this book and the witness in my heart 
that my spirit will go immediately into the presence of my 
blessed Saviour."

   By this time our stock of books was running low, so we decided 
not to make long delays at any of the places to be visited in the 
remaining nearly 700 miles that lay between us and the sea. The 
most important villages and towns visited were Porto Alegre, 
Pilão Arcado, Remanso, Santa Sé, Casa Nova and Santa Anna. We 
sold in these places forty-three copies of the Scriptures, 
conversed with a number of persons and preached a few times.

   At Santa Anna a government commission was just finishing a 
channel through the Sobradinho rapids. The little steamer, 
Presidente Dantas, was going down the river to Boa Vista a 
distance of 135 miles and the chief invited us to a free ride, 
which we gratefully accepted.

   The town of Joazeiro is well situated on a bank about twenty-
five feet above low water level where the river has seldom been 
known to overflow its banks. The river at this point is about 
2,500 feet wide, and quite deep, thus affording abundant room for 
the many boats that are destined some day to ply its waters. As a 
commercial centre it will be perhaps the St. Louis of the San 
Francisco. It is already connected with Bahia by railway, a 
distance of about 370 miles; the distance from the city of 
Pernambuco is about 550, one-third of which is covered already by 
the San Francisco railway and there are seventy-five miles of 
easy navigation down stream, open to vessels of light draft.

   This will become some day an important centre for the 
evangelization of the thousands that inhabit this great valley 
and its water sheds. Our time and supply of Scriptures were 
limited, so we sold only a few copies of the Word and talked with 
a number of persons about the Gospel. During the last ten years 
our colporteurs have visited the place several times and numbers 
of Scriptures have been sold which are bringing forth gracious 
results.

   We went down the river seventy-five miles by boat to the 
village of Boa Vista, where we sold eighteen copies of the 
Scriptures. There we engaged a large canoe to carry us over the 
rapids, a distance of about 155 miles to Jatobá, just above the 
Paulo Affonso falls. This was by far the most exciting and 
dangerous part of the voyage. At times the curves were so sharp 
that the turn could only be made in the rushing waters by men 
standing in the bow of the boat with long poles which they thrust 
against the rocks, and with a strenuous effort would keep us in 
the curving stream. Finally one of the men failed to manipulate 
his pole at the right minute and the mad waters drove us with a 
crash against the jutting stones. It was with the greatest 
difficulty that we managed to get safely to land. We patched up 
our boat and reached the village of Cobrobó by constantly bailing 
out the water. There we secured another bark and went on our way 
down the wild and dangerous rapids to Jatobá.

   In the region between Joazeiro and Jatobá there are many 
islands, upon which the Jesuits years ago erected a number of 
large churches, some of which are now in ruins. Burton writes of 
this section, "We now enter the headquarters of the extinct 
Jesuit missions, a land of ruins, strange in a country so young; 
and we see with astonishment that more than a century ago the 
neighbourhood was much more advanced than it is at present. The 
Jesuits certainly taught their converts the civilization of 
labour, and now the village Indians have allowed their chapels to 
fall, and are fast relapsing into decay." The images from many of 
these ruins have been removed to the Church at Boa Vista, which 
now boasts the largest collection of these objects of worship to 
be found in any church in all that section. I was specially 
impressed with the magnificent proportions of four of those 
temples, dedicated respectively to Santa Maria, Santo Antonio, 
São Miguel, and São Felix. Bats, lizards, pigeons, spiders and 
other insects are the only inhabitants of three of them. When we 
came to the last one, our boatmen all went into the old church to 
pray and cast their money in the box. This image is said to 
preside over that section of the dangerous rapids, and only those 
obtain a safe passage who pay and pray. They took great interest 
in showing us the richly incased image, hoping that we might be 
induced to follow their example. They were much alarmed, and for 
awhile it seemed as if they would refuse to attempt a further 
journey with us unless we contributed something to the image. 
They gave a sigh of relief when we had landed safely below the 
last rapids.

   We landed safely at Jatobá and secured lodging for the night 
at the principal hotel in the place. Our beds were hammocks in a 
long room that accommodated about a dozen men. From Jatobá to 
Piranhas below the Paulo Affonso falls, a distance of about 
seventy miles was made by rail, and from there by boat to Pão de 
Assucar, about twenty-five miles. Saturday night, late, we landed 
at the town of Traipu. My presence in the town was soon noised 
abroad; the priest spoke at mass against me and a mob was 
organized to kill or drive me out of the place. It was with 
difficulty that I made my escape Sunday afternoon, and took 
shelter under a great spreading tree some distance down the river 
on the opposite shore from the town. The voyage from Penedo to 
Aracajú was made at night in a great tempest and for several 
hours our small vessel without a cargo was blown about upon the 
raging waves almost as if it had been an empty gourd. I felt that 
it was a kind Providence that saved us from a watery grave.

   At that time two colporteurs were working in Aracajú and those 
from the State of Bahia had extended their work into this region. 
So much interest resulted from this labour that a station of the 
Presbyterian mission had already been opened at Larangeiras, a 
city of about 5,000 inhabitants, which became afterwards a centre 
of our Bible work. There was the usual opposition on the part of 
the priesthood and one priest made special efforts to gather up 
and destroy every Bible that he could lay hands on. He collected 
quite a box of books and one day invited all the town to witness 
the burning. He made a bonfire in front of a great wooden cross 
standing on a hill overlooking the town, and threw the books in 
one at a time, naming one Wickliff, another John Knox, Luther, 
Wesley and so on until he had gone through the list of prominent 
Protestant leaders and reformers. The first effect of this was to 
make a deep impression upon the people of the priest's authority 
and power. Some, however, were disgusted and there followed a 
reaction, from which time the cause of truth has prospered. In 
every case Bible burning, which has been frequent throughout 
Brazil, has done much to advertise the sacred Scriptures and thus 
many have read and examined the book which was said by the 
priests to be so pernicious.

   The voyage down the coast from Bahia to Rio on one of Her 
British Majesty's Royal Mail steamers was a marvelous contrast to 
the voyage in the dug-out "Good News" on the San Francisco. This 
entire journey occupied four months, from March 27th to July 
26th. We travelled the first 680 miles by rail, then about 400 
miles on horseback to reach the point where the real Bible work 
of the journey began, though many copies of the Scriptures were 
distributed as we passed over these highlands. Then came about 
1,590 miles in canoes, save a short run by steamer, and when we 
reached the seacoast we were about 900 miles from Rio, making the 
total for the four months 3,570 miles.

   We visited about fifty towns and villages, besides numerous 
intervening country settlements, many of which had never before 
been visited by missionary or Bible colporteur. We preached to 
hundreds of persons who had never before heard the Gospel and put 
into circulation about one thousand two hundred copies of the 
Scripture. The experiences and observations of the journey have 
enabled us to plan and carry forward for twelve years aggressive 
colportage work through the great interior of Bahia, Minas 
Geraes, Goyaz, Pernambuco and other States.

-----

IX
Pernambuco

POWER OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE-DUTCH AND PORTUGUESE - PARAHYBA - CEARA 
- READING UNDER DIFFICULTIES.

   AUGUST 29, 1889, I embarked on Her British Majesty's Royal 
Mail steamer, "Atrato" for Pernambuco, to begin a journey through 
the northern provinces and up the Amazon River. Our run from Rio 
to Bahia, a distance of thirty-five miles was made in exactly 
forty-eight hours, and was said to be the first run made in that 
time.

   We next anchored at the port of Maceió, a city of about 30,000 
inhabitants. It is well laid out, lighted with electricity, has 
street cars, and is connected by a railroad with the interior and 
the city of Pernambuco.

   Several years previous to my first arrival there the place had 
been visited by the colporteurs; and such was the interest 
awakened by the reading of their Bibles that the Presbyterian 
missionaries from Pernambuco were induced to establish regular 
work in the city, placing a native preacher in charge. One of my 
first efforts to carry forward the work was to send a colporteur 
from Sergipe, who made a journey across the province to 
Pernambuco by one route and returned by another. The work has 
gone steadily forward, and has spread throughout the entire 
state. These visits of the colporteurs have been seconded by the 
missionaries and their helpers, and more recently the Baptists 
have established a mission station there, and are meeting with 
good success.

   The distance by sea from Bahia to Maceió is 270 miles, and 
from Maceió to Pernambuco 120 miles. We anchored off this latter 
port on the morning of September 3rd, and waited for day. Our 
steamer was of too deep draft to enter the harbour and as the sea 
was very rough, disembarking was dangerous and expensive. An 
Italian trader, engaged exclusively in the exportation of goat 
skins, and I were the only passengers to be landed. A row boat 
with half a dozen oarsmen came near and we climbed down the side 
of the ship by a rope ladder, dropping in as the boat swept by on 
the crest of a passing wave. This process had to be repeated 
several times in order to secure the two passengers and the 
baggage. Then came the row of two miles over the waves until we 
swept through the passage in the coral reef and were soon in calm 
water in the harbour.

   The real name of the city of Pernambuco is Recife (reef), 
taken from a most remarkable coral reef that extends for many 
miles along that part of the coast at a short distance from the 
shore. In front of the city this reef is about thirty feet wide, 
flat on the top, and its perpendicular sides present very much 
the appearance of an artificial wall. The entrance to the port is 
through a break in the reef, but a sandbar makes it impossible 
for any but light craft vessels to cross except at high tide. The 
city itself is built on two long, narrow peninsulas, formed by 
two small rivers and the ocean, and connected by iron and stone 
bridges. In the oldest part of the town the streets are narrow 
and crooked, but on the other and larger peninsula the blocks of 
houses are larger, the streets wider, there are tram cars and 
good stores. It is not as picturesque as Bahia or Rio de Janeiro, 
has a more modern air than either, but looks also more cleanly 
and prosperous.

   The most easterly city on the Brazilian coast, and located at 
a convenient distance between northern and southern ports, 
Pernambuco has a commerce of very considerable importance and is 
the great sugar export market of Brazil.

   With a population of about 190,000, the city offers a 
promising field for colportage; but to find the man with the 
peculiar gifts necessary has been a matter of much concern for 
more than ten years. At different times men have done good work, 
and a considerable portion of the inhabitants have had an 
opportunity of purchasing the Word of God. Some thousands of 
copies have been sold, and the reading of many of them has been 
blessed to the enlightenment and salvation of a number of souls. 
One of the most successful attempts was made in 1900, by Mr. F. 
C. Glass and Mr. G. F. Shiflersmith, who were sent up from Rio 
for a few months. A native Christian, Sr. Manoel C. Alves, was 
engaged and trained by them for the work; he still continues in 
that field. One of the three sold in fifty-five days 740 copies 
of the Scriptures, another in thirty-two days 504 copies, and the 
third in twenty-five days 401 copies; the general average for 
each being about fifteen copies per day. It is noticeable that 
the native colporteur has not done as well since the two 
foreigners removed to another field. One of the men wrote me 
shortly after their arrival in the city: "So far we have sold 100 
Bibles, 125 Testaments, and about 160 Gospels, in about nine 
days. I suppose that seventy per cent of all the Bibles and 
Testaments were sold after first encountering a blank refusal to 
purchase. It takes more angling, so to speak, to land a Bible 
than the cutest trout will need. Otherwise we have not yet met 
with more opposition than we have been accustomed to in the 
south."

   Later the other wrote: "So far we have met more ridicule than 
real opposition, though many seem ready to insinuate that we are 
liars and deceivers, to be avoided and shunned. It is very 
difficult to persuade a man to reason fairly and justly, but they 
seem to base all their arguments on the superstitious fables and 
slanders and malicious misrepresentations of the priests. They 
even deny the New Testament of their own Church, approved by the 
Pope, insisting that the New Testament is a book of the new sect, 
as they call the Protestants here." These men did systematic 
work, canvassing from house to house, and their reports show that 
one man in one day sold fifty-seven copies, another fifty-six, 
another thirty-four and so on. The success of the two men from 
Rio was due in a measure to the fact that they were foreigners. 
Our native colporteurs are usually men of limited abilities, and 
apt to be easily overcome, discouraged, and driven away in the 
face of a little scorn, opposition, and indifference from the 
people. Another fact also that militates greatly against the 
native colporteur and his work is the contempt in which converts 
from Romanism are held by the masses generally. Many think it is 
all right for the foreigner, who was born and brought up in the 
Protestant faith to follow that way and even engage in the active 
work of propagating his religion. But for a native Brazilian, who 
was brought up a Roman Catholic to apostatize and become a 
Protestant is intolerable; such are held in great disdain, and by 
some are considered unworthy of respect. It is difficult for the 
foreigner to realize fully the position in which the native 
convert is placed when he abandons the religion of his country 
and of his ancestors. Rome's assumption of the claim to be the 
only true Church with an infallible head, a regular and 
uninterrupted transmission of ministerial authority through 
bishops and priests, and an elaborate form of ceremonial worship, 
has through centuries maintained a firm hold upon the minds of 
the masses. Many religious rites and ceremonies have become 
social customs, inseparable from the real social life of the 
people. For one to abandon these is in a great measure to 
ostracize himself from his people. The reader must bear in mind 
that we are not discussing the principle of the employment of 
native workers, but simply stating some facts. We believe that 
Apostolic precedent and the tendency in modern missions are 
decidedly in favour of recruiting workers in the countries to be 
evangelized; and both the missionary and the Church at home must 
learn to have patience with them and to sympathize with the many 
difficulties that confront these men of God.

   A few years ago a native colporteur, who was on his way to the 
State of Parahyba attempted during the voyage to do some Gospel 
work among the crew and second class passengers; but some of the 
officers and others on the vessel, who looked upon him as a 
despised apostate, bribed men to give a false testimony against 
him, causing his arrest and imprisonment on the ship's arrival at 
Pernambuco. A telegram was sent to the chief of police in Rio de 
Janeiro, inquiring if the man was in the employ of such an 
institution as the American Bible Society. I gave full 
information as to the Society and its work, and also concerning 
the colporteur, upon the receipt of which an order was issued for 
his release. But before this was accomplished the vessel had 
sailed for other ports while the colporteur was left behind, 
losing his passage.

   The city of Pernambuco, notwithstanding the efficient work 
done by the two men above referred to, is, like all the cities of 
Brazil, waiting for a systematic and thorough canvass by 
efficient colporteurs.

   Another and in some respects more difficult problem to be 
solved was that of reaching the nearly 1,000,000 of inhabitants 
scattered through the entire province. The territory to be 
traversed is in width from north to south about 125 miles and in 
length from east to west about 635 miles. A number of towns and 
settlements along the seacoast and the larger rivers may be 
reached by boats. Railroad enterprise has in recent years had 
some development, and there are now about 450 miles of road in 
operation, extending from the city by three main lines in 
different directions. The longest of these lines is not more than 
165 miles, which is only about one-fourth of the entire length of 
the state. From these statements it will be readily seen that the 
colporteur in order to reach a very large section of the State 
with his books must resort to the indispensable pack-mule, and, 
as the custom in that section is, go himself on foot.

   Efforts to distribute the Scriptures and to preach the Gospel 
have revealed the fact that the people through the great interior 
of this state are among the most fanatical and violent in their 
opposition to the truth to be found anywhere in Brazil. History 
records that the Dutch were very cruel in their treatment of the 
Roman Catholic priests during the invasion; those residing in the 
conquered provinces were required to take the oath of fidelity, 
and those entering without a safe conduct were to be imprisoned. 
Finally the members of every monastic order were commanded to 
quit the Dutch possessions within a month, and repair to an 
island from whence they would be conveyed across the ocean.

   When the Portuguese regained possession of that section, the 
Roman Catholics and their religious orders at once entered anew 
upon their work; they most naturally remembered with much hatred 
the cruelty of the Dutch, and took occasion to instill into the 
minds of their converts and followers a spirit of revenge towards 
the adherents of the Reformed religion. Nearly 250 years have 
passed since these sad scenes were enacted, but I think there can 
be no doubt that the Protestant efforts to circulate the 
Scriptures and to preach the Gospel in that region to-day 
encounter the consequences of a mistaken religious zeal, which in 
the one instance was characterized by cruelty, and in the other 
by vengeance.

   The colporteurs have pushed the circulation of the Scriptures 
up and down the coast, along the railroads, and in many 
directions through the rural and remote districts. The 
missionaries cooperating with them and following up the interest 
awakened by the reading of the Word have preached in a number of 
places and have permanently established work in several towns and 
villages. These efforts have been carried on amid much opposition 
and at times violent persecution.

   The party of three, to whose work in the city of Pernambuco, 
reference has been made, following instructions, made a journey 
into the northern part of the State; one of them wrote the 
following interesting account of their visit to two important 
towns: "On Monday we left early taking a big box of books and our 
helper, Manoel Alves, to try two of the largest and most 
fanatical towns in the interior of the State.

   "We reached Timbauba at midday, and by two o'clock had 
obtained permission of the prefect and started work: we met no 
open opposition, but it was hard ground. We had a number of 
lively and interesting conversations in some of the principal 
stores, sometimes with quite an audience, and every time we came 
off more than conquerors. We left there Wednesday noon, having 
sold 170 books, seventy-three of which were Bibles and 
Testaments. We also left quite a number of persons convinced of 
the truth of the Word.

   "Wednesday night we reached Limoeira, another good-sized town, 
said to be more fanatical than the other. Next morning we started 
selling without a license, as we could not see the authorities 
until nine o'clock. We had scarcely begun when an official met us 
with a warning not to sell until we obtained a license. So we 
stopped and Brother Glass went to see the authorities. They 
conferred with each other and put every thing they could in his 
way, but he would not be put off. Just then in came the official 
in a rage, saying that there were a whole lot of those fellows, 
and that they had already sold a number of books and they ought 
to be fined for it. The delegado took the list of articles, and 
after looking it over said that books were not included, so they 
could do nothing at all but let us go on selling.

   "We put Sr. Manoel right into the principal part of the 
street, partly to see how he would 'stand fire,' as we were sure 
the opposition would be greatest there; this was his first real 
testing, and he stood it like true steel. Almost at once a crowd 
gathered, yelling and insulting him. They pinned cotton to his 
coat tails, told him that I had already been taken to prison, and 
insulted him in ways quite unmentionable, but he actually laughed 
them right out of their own game. He went up to one old man, who 
was standing in front of his store hissing and yelling, and said, 
'Well this is a fine spectacle; an old, gray-bearded man like you 
out here in the street yelling like a schoolboy.' The old fellow 
turned and slunk away inside.

   "The mob evidently concluded that it was not worth while to 
follow a man who laughed at their insults, and let him go. Within 
a stone's throw of the place he sold three Testaments in one 
shop, and a little farther on a Bible, besides giving a good 
testimony of the truth of the books he had. All during the day he 
showed splendid courage and had splendid success.

   "A few minutes later the same mob met me a little farther down 
the street and repeated the same thing. I was in a large store, 
and closing my bag of books I put it on top of a box behind me 
and turned and faced them. I just simply looked at them, praying 
inwardly to the Lord, and every time I caught the eye of one of 
them he turned away like a whipped dog. But the worst of them, a 
fellow who was leading a goat by a string tried several times to 
reanimate the crowd, but every time he failed. I never felt the 
power of the Lord so sensibly with me before.

   "The crowd had gathered into groups of five or six about the 
store, and then the Lord opened my mouth, enabling me to talk 
very straight and plainly to them. I told them that I did not 
care for their insults, but I did pity their dense ignorance. I 
told them that if they had ever read these books that I was 
offering, or if they knew anything about them, they would never 
think of doing such things as they were doing. I challenged them 
to go and bring the priests' Bible to compare with mine, but no 
one cared to do so. After a good talk about the Word and the 
reason of this propaganda, during which several of them were 
visibly impressed, I left them, and there was no more 
demonstration at all.

   "We sold twenty-three Bibles and Testaments and a goodly 
number of Gospels and would have sold more, but a number of 
people who really wanted the Bible were afraid to buy it because 
of the rabble. A few months ago a young man who had accepted the 
Gospel there had his room broken into by a mob and all his books 
and clothing destroyed. But the truth of God is at work, and we 
believe will triumph there as in so many other places."

   One of our colporteurs went more recently to visit a town in 
the interior of the State and was offering his books to quite a 
number of persons who had gathered around him in the street. One 
of the number took two of the Bibles in his hand and the 
colporteur, supposing that he was going to examine them, went on 
talking to the others. Soon the man stepped up and handed him the 
two Bibles torn all to pieces, and said that he had been to the 
priest of the town to know if they were true and good books. The 
priest after looking at them for a little while told him that 
they were bad books, and that every one of them ought to be 
treated as he was treating those two, as he continued tearing 
them to pieces. He sent the man back with them to the colporteur. 
Another priest, who is a representative from that district in the 
State Legislature, was present at the time and gave his sanction 
to the performance and to the advice to have the colporteur 
murdered. The priest told the man that the colporteur ought to be 
killed, and that it would not be a crime to put him to death. The 
crowd around was aroused, became excited, and it was with great 
difficulty that the colporteur escaped from the place alive.

   Many more incidents of opposition and violence to the 
propagation of the Gospel in that State might be recorded, but 
these may suffice to give the reader some idea of what the 
labourers and the converts have to suffer for their Master's 
sake. It is gratifying, however, to record that the efforts thus 
far put forth have been fruitful of good results. Many have been 
converted to Christ and His love through the reading of the Word, 
and the missionaries and native workers have already gathered 
quite a number of interesting groups of believers in the city and 
throughout the neighbouring country. The great interior of the 
State, stretching back into the fertile valley of the San 
Francisco river, inhabited largely by a fanatical and ignorant 
people, absolutely under the control of a correspondingly 
fanatical and ignorant priesthood, remains yet to be canvassed by 
the colporteurs and visited by the ministers of the Gospel. It 
will require much faith, zeal, and courage to do the work, and 
the workers will doubtless have to endure much opposition and 
persecution to evangelize these thousands.

   At the time of my first visit to the city of Pernambuco I sent 
two colporteurs and an assistant to make the journey on horseback 
across the country to the city of Parahyba, the capital of the 
State of Parahyba, while I went in company with the Presbyterian 
missionaries and two native students for the ministry by train 
northward to Timbauba, a distance of about seventy miles, then by 
horseback twenty-five miles to Pilar. Returning we reached the 
village of Timbauba at one P. M., and after securing something to 
eat, I visited during the remaining hours of the day about fifty 
houses or rather huts. The ignorance and poverty prevailing were 
appalling. I succeeded in selling eight copies of the Scriptures, 
and talked with a few who showed some real interest to know the 
truth.

   At the time of my visit a severe drought, such as is of 
frequent occurrence in that section, was prevailing throughout 
the State, and poverty and suffering abounded on every hand. Many 
refugees from the interior were gathered about the streets, and 
all who could obtain passage on the steamers were leaving for 
other parts along the coast. The conditions were then most 
unfavourable for selling the Scriptures, but we were able to give 
a few copies to the poor. The two colporteurs who had been five 
days on the journey from Pernambuco reported that they had not 
sold a single copy, and a trip into the country round about 
Parahyba met with little success. I spent a few days in the city 
attending the Presbytery, at which there were present three 
missionaries, four native preachers and a few elders. I have 
never known personally a body of Christian workers labouring amid 
greater difficulties; but they gave evidence of heroic faith and 
zeal, and their reports showed that divine blessings were resting 
upon their efforts. In the midst of this poverty and wretchedness 
great sums of money were being extorted from the poor people by 
various devices, for the erection of a great church.

   During the last ten years at different times our colporteurs 
have gone to offer the Word of God to the 600,000 souls composing 
the population of this State. They have laboured under great 
difficulties and encountered much opposition and at times violent 
persecution. One of them a few years ago was seized, beaten, and 
driven out of several interior towns, and at one time narrowly 
escaped death at the hands of enraged fanatics. At another place 
a priest seized a Bible from his hands and tore it to pieces in 
the presence of many witnesses; this was license for them to fall 
upon the poor fellow, and he fared badly for awhile at their 
hands. Finally he appealed to the Vice-Governor of the State, 
from whom, because of his intimate relation with the priest, he 
received no sympathy and little protection. A few of the Bibles 
scattered from time to time throughout the State have been read. 
The Presbyterian workers with heroic devotion and untiring zeal 
have followed up the work, and their efforts have been greatly 
blessed of God, and in addition to the church in this city with 
100 members, the work has been organized in other places and 
there are regular services at more than ten points throughout the 
State. The pioneer work was done in a large measure by the 
colporteurs and their Bibles as all the workers delight to 
testify.

   From that point I sent one of the colporteurs through the 
country on horse-back, crossing the States of Pernambuco, and 
Alagoas, to his home in the State of Sergipe. He reported better 
success on the return trip than he had met with in coming over. 
In company with a second colporteur I embarked on a small 
coasting vessel for the north, and after a stormy night we 
entered the port of Natal in the province of Rio Grande do Norte 
early in the morning. This city is located on a river about two 
miles from the seacoast. The entrance is through a narrow and 
dangerous passage in the coral reef, which extends from 
Pernambuco to Ceara. Shortly after our arrival we had a season of 
prayer together, and then went to visit the city authorities for 
the purpose of obtaining permission to circulate our books. They 
were kind and interposed no objections. In a few hours I sold ten 
copies and the colporteur eleven. The people seemed more 
favourably disposed toward the Gospel than we had found them in 
the neighbouring province and we met with very little opposition 
while we remained there. I obtained the use of the theatre and on 
a Sunday afternoon preached to a large and attentive audience. 
One young girl heard the preaching, was deeply impressed, began 
to search after the truth, and is now a teacher in one of the 
mission schools in Rio de Janeiro, and an active worker in the 
church.

   The colporteurs have visited this city of about 12,000 
inhabitants and extended the work through the State. To record 
incidents of their experiences would be to repeat in a large 
measure what has been said of the work in Pernambuco and 
Parahyba.

   The Presbyterians following up the interest awakened by the 
reading of the Bible have established a very prosperous mission 
in the city, and are extending the work to other parts. The Bible 
and evangelistic work seem to have made a deep impression upon 
the people generally. I was recently making a voyage with an ex-
Governor of the State, who is now a prominent Senator in the 
Federal Government. Having learned that I was travelling in the 
interest of the circulation of the Sacred Scriptures, he of his 
own accord sought an interview with me, and took occasion to 
assure me that he had been reading the Bible for some time, that 
he did not hesitate to declare publicly that he was no longer a 
Roman Catholic. I found him to be in the position of many in 
Brazil; they are reading the Bible, have discovered that the 
Roman Church, which they have been taught to regard as a great 
mystery and as possessing all truth, is not what it claims to be. 
But it is so interwoven into the social and political life and 
customs of the country that they find it most difficult to break 
away entirely from all its practices. Then too the Protestant 
movement is so small and so despised by the masses of the people 
that men of position and political ambitions are often unwilling 
to sacrifice their interests for the time being and subject 
themselves to that social ostracism which they must suffer in 
order to take a positive and public stand on the side of the 
evangelical cause. The circulation and reading of the Bible is 
producing all over the country a marvellous change in the 
intellectual attitude of thousands towards the Roman Catholic 
Church and the real truth of Christianity. What is greatly needed 
is a deeper work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of men that 
they may be truly converted and regenerated.

   A few years ago a young man, Sr. Antonio Marques, went from 
this province to Pernambuco where he became interested in the 
Gospel, was converted, came to Rio, into the office of the Bible 
Society, and asked me to direct him to some place where he could 
get employment. I was impressed with his spirit and sent him at 
once into the streets to sell Bibles: shortly thereafter he made 
the long journey with me which is recorded in chapter four. On 
this journey he gave most decided evidence of having a call to 
the ministry. I interested friends in him: he studied for awhile 
in the Granbery College at Juiz de Fora, and afterwards went to 
London for a time. He is now a successful minister of the Gospel.

   After finishing our work in and about Natal we rowed out in a 
small boat through the narrow passage in the coral reef to take 
shipping in a large vessel that stood in the open sea. The sea 
was very rough and it was with great difficulty that we succeeded 
in getting on board. We very soon began a canvass of the ship's 
passengers and crew, and sold several copies of the Scriptures. 
Among the passengers was a Christian gentleman, Mr. Crenshaw, a 
flour merchant from Richmond, Virginia, who showed much interest 
in our Bible work. Before we parted he gave me a contribution 
with which to make a gratuitous distribution of Scriptures to 
persons who might be too poor to buy. The distribution requested 
was made, and the fruits of the reading have been gathered in 
several instances of persons in the States of Ceara, Piauhy, and 
Maranhao who have come to the light and united with the 
Presbyterian churches through that section.

   The next State visited on the coast was Ceara. Forteleza, the 
capital, a progressive city of about 40,000 inhabitants, is 
located on a slightly elevated plain which is reached by a 
gradual ascent from the ocean's edge. For several years the Rev. 
D. L. Wardlaw, a Presbyterian missionary, had a small book store 
on a much frequented street, in the city, and our Bibles were all 
the time prominently kept on sale. In this way many copies of the 
Word have gone into the hands of the people, and the Bible has 
been well advertised and the workers have been diligent in 
following up the work of the colporteurs as far as they have been 
able. Many interesting incidents of the work here might be 
related, but I must tell the reader of a blind man, who heard the 
Gospel and was converted. He would then go out every day with a 
New Testament and sit or stand on the street corners with it open 
in his hand, passing his finger over the page as if reading. This 
would attract the attention of persons passing by, and when they 
stopped to inquire what he was doing, he would say, just see what 
a beautiful passage from God's Word. In this way he interested 
many in the Gospel, directing them to the store where they might 
buy Bibles, or to the church where they might hear the preaching 
of the truth.

   On the voyage from Forteleza to Maranhão, my next port of 
disembarking, one of our fellow passengers was a Roman Catholic 
priest, who had been for several years a missionary among the 
Indians in the southern interior of Brazil and was then on his 
way to the Amazon valley to take up mission work. As we went 
about the ship offering the Scriptures to the passengers and the 
crew, he discovered the nature of our mission and began at once 
to oppose it in strongest terms. Some were influenced by him not 
to buy, while his opposition, I think, inspired others with a 
desire to know what there was in this book to so enrage the 
priest against us. At the dinner table his language became very 
offensive and his conduct disgusting, until the captain, who sat 
at the head of the table, reproved him, and finally told him that 
if he did not cease using offensive and insulting language he 
would be prohibited from coming to the table with the other 
passengers. My heart was so deeply moved for this poor deceived 
man, that I sought him out alone on deck that night and tried by 
the help of the Holy Spirit to show him the way of salvation. He 
finally became serious, and when we parted late at night for 
sleep he asked me to let him keep my New Testament until morning. 
The next morning when I went up on deck the first sight to greet 
my eyes was the priest reading the Testament. He confessed that 
he had never read the Sacred Scriptures in Portuguese, and that 
he had never before seen or heard of the translation that I had. 
He became so deeply interested that I gave him a Bible. In a few 
hours thereafter I left the ship, but had occasion to return on 
board before she left the port, and there sat the priest absorbed 
in his Bible. A passenger told me that he had been reading for 
several hours. It is rarely the case that we can induce a priest 
to examine or read the Scriptures.

   Maranhão, or São Luis was the next point after Ceara at which 
we stopped for work. About half of the capital cities in Brazil 
are most commonly called by the name of the State, though their 
legal names are different. For instance, one seldom hears the 
name city of Sao Salvador, but it is always Bahia: scarcely any 
one speaks of Recife, but always Pernambuco. São Luis is thus the 
capital of the State of Maranhão. Founded about 1612 by a 
Frenchman who named it in honour of Luis XIII., it was formally 
called the "Athens of Brazil," and notwithstanding the signs of 
decay and lack of modern enterprise, has still an air of 
refinement and culture.

   In all our plans and work for colportage in this State and the 
neighbouring State of Piauhy, we were greatly aided by Dr. G. W. 
Butler, the Presbyterian missionary stationed at this point. In 
no section of the country has our Bible work for the last twelve 
years been more strongly supported and helped forward by the 
missionaries than in these two States: indeed much of the time it 
has been almost if not entirely under their supervision, and they 
and their helpers have taken an active part in circulating the 
Word. From the city of São Luis the Bibles have gone out in every 
direction through the country and along the rivers and the sea 
coast.

   The following incident well illustrates the difficulties under 
which persons in this country sometimes read the Bible, and the 
power it has over their lives. A short time before I started on 
this journey to the north a young man in Rio de Janeiro, who was 
at one time my Portuguese teacher, was dying of consumption. I 
visited him several times during his illness, and he gave very 
satisfactory evidence of being at peace with Jesus. He had told 
me that his mother lived in Maranhão, and that she was a 
Christian, that she had read the Bible and had taught it to him 
at times, and now in his last hours he was appropriating to his 
own comfort and eternal peace what he had learned from his 
mother. A day or two after I arrived in the city the mother, Dona 
Balbina Duarte, called on me to learn something more of her son's 
last illness and death. She was in great distress of mind, having 
had no definite information about his death, and not knowing that 
he had departed trusting in Christ. She was much comforted in the 
messages I gave her: and when I referred to his faith in the 
truths of the Bible, which he had learned from her several years 
before, she wept for joy. She then told me that she had bought a 
Bible from one of our colporteurs, and as soon as her husband 
knew that she had it he forbade her to read it. She became so 
much interested that she would hide it away while he was about 
the house, and then when he was out she would read it. He learned 
from the servants and the children that she was reading the book, 
and several times treated her very roughly and beat her for 
disobeying his prohibition. She then conceived the idea of 
reading it at night while all were asleep. To do this she would 
hide her Bible, a box of matches, and a candle cut into small 
pieces under her pillow. After all the household was soundly 
asleep she would light one of the bits of candle and hold it 
closely down by her side that the light might not shine across 
her body and disturb her sleeping husband, and thus she would 
seek out of God's Book his messages for her soul. If her husband 
seemed to stir out of his slumber or move she would quickly blow 
out the candle and lie perfectly quiet as if soundly asleep. She 
told me that she had thus spent many a night. Now she rejoiced, 
not only that she had found Jesus precious in her own soul's 
salvation, but moreover that she had been able to teach her 
eldest son sufficient of the truth to lead him to Christ. She 
sorrowed that he was dead, but praised God for the testimony of 
his faith in Christ as a personal Saviour. There are many 
throughout this land of the Southern Cross who are under similar 
circumstances searching after the knowledge of God, and who are 
endeavouring to communicate the new-found truth to others about 
them. Other children of this godly woman have grown into 
beautiful Christian characters, and are bringing up their 
families in the knowledge and fear of God.

   From the city of Therezina in Piauhy the supplies of 
Scriptures, that I sent forward during my stay in Maranhão and 
afterwards, have been scattered through the city and the country 
round about. Shortly after the colporteur's arrival in that city 
he reported to me that there was great poverty in that section in 
consequence of the drought that had extended through from Ceara. 
In view of Mr. Crenshaw's contribution, to which reference was 
made above, I wrote authorizing him to make a free distribution 
of Scriptures according to his own judgment to some of those too 
poor to buy, who might be able to read. He went on a journey up 
the river, where many of the sufferers had gathered along its 
banks to sustain life by means of the little water that remained. 
A few years later a missionary was exploring that interior 
country and discovered that one of those Bibles had gone a 
distance of about 120 miles further inland: the man who carried 
it with him had read it, and through its teaching he had found 
Christ as his Saviour. He had also been instrumental in teaching 
a number of others the way of salvation, and they were begging 
for some one to come and teach them the way of God more 
perfectly. The liberality of one man in making the contribution 
abounded unto the salvation of many.

-----

X
The Amazon

PARÁ-RIVER TOWNS-THE INDIANS.

   OCTOBER 15th I embarked on the U. S. steamship "Allianca" at 
Maranhão for Pará. On board I met General H. Clay Armstrong, of 
Auburn, Ala., who had been United States Consul at Rio de Janeiro 
for four years, during which time he had been a hearty supporter 
of the English-speaking congregation at the Methodist Church in 
Rio: indeed he was a warm friend of all the missionaries and 
their work. By his deportment, fidelity to business, and upright 
walk he won the esteem of all who knew him. A title of high honor 
was conferred upon him and upon the United States Minister for 
the same period, Hon. Thomas J. Jarvis, of North Carolina, by the 
Emperor of Brazil. Mr. Jarvis was also a hearty supporter of the 
work in Rio, and a friend to mission work, giving liberally and 
encouraging the work of the Gospel.

   The city of Pará, or properly speaking, Belem, is the most 
northerly city of Brazil, and is located on the eastern bank of 
the Guajarabay, or as many say on the south side of the Pará 
river, about eighty miles from the ocean, so that only in a 
general way can it be described as at the mouth of the Amazon.

   The population at the time of my first visit was about 80,000, 
but it has since grown to about 100,000. The central streets are 
narrow but well paved with stone and lighted with gas. It is 
humid and warm during the day, though the nights and mornings are 
pleasant. During the summer it rains almost every afternoon, and 
in the winter at all hours of the day. Once while I was there it 
did not rain for two successive days and the people began to 
complain of the heat and to remark how dry it was getting. In the 
suburbs there are many beautiful and commodious residences, and 
the city is fairly well served with a system of street cars. 
There is but one railroad from the city, with an extension of 
less than fifty miles, but the facilities for steamboat 
navigation are almost unlimited. The main stream of the Amazon 
alone is navigable for 2,500 miles and the territory drained by 
this wonderful system is about 4,200,000 square kilometers, or 
half the entire territory of Brazil.

   After a careful study of the situation I estimated that less 
than 750,000 of the inhabitants of the two Provinces of Para and 
Amazonas could easily be reached by the colporteurs from this 
point. These are found largely in cities, villages, and 
settlements along the banks of the rivers and at the most liberal 
estimate not more than 200,000 of them can read and write.

   To get a further insight into the conditions for Bible work I 
made an excursion over the railroad above referred to, which 
extends mostly through the dense forest, with here and there a 
settlement or village. The town of Bragança, the terminus of the 
road, which gives the name to the line, has a population of about 
10,000 inhabitants. I sold on this short trip twenty-five copies 
of the Word and preached once at the station of Benevedes to a 
good congregation gathered in the house of a believer, who had 
recently moved out from the city of Pará.

   Here I had my first experience of the great Pará forest with 
its trees, many of them one hundred feet in height, with trunks 
four or five feet in diameter; the vast quantity and quality of 
plant-life, struggling in a dense mass upward for light, sun and 
air; the orchids, lichens, and vines, many of them sending their 
roots down a hundred feet to the ground, at the bases of the 
trees upon which they thrive; the parasitic plants whose foliage 
towers above and is greater than that of the trees which they 
have scaled, the luxuriant lianos continually reminding one of 
the rigging of a great ship; while the surface of the ground was 
covered with a tangle of creepers and trunks, and decaying 
vegetation of all kinds. "The tropical forest is not only grand 
and solemn, it is also graceful and beautiful." 

   The well-known American botanist, Mr. E. S. Rand, at the time 
of my visit had been living for a number of years in Pará, 
gathering his notable collection of orchids, with more than 
20,000 specimens of 800 species, and almost endless varieties, 
said to be the third largest collection then known to botanists.

   Pará is the commercial centre of the rubber traffic, the chief 
industry of the Amazon valley. The yearly exportation of the 
crude material from this section amounts to some 40,000,000 
pounds. Since the city of Manáos, a thousand miles up the river 
in the State of Amazonas has been made a port of entry, ocean 
steamers load the rubber from that point and this has lessened 
the exports from Pará. Other products that figure in the exports 
are Brazil nuts and cacao, the bean from which chocolate is made.

   This commercial intercourse of Pará, with the outer world, the 
presence of foreign merchants, traders, bankers, the coming of 
foreign vessels, has had in some measure a liberalizing influence 
over the people, though the efforts to circulate the Bible and to 
preach the Gospel have met with the opposition and persecution so 
common in other parts of the country. Besides the cities of Rio 
de Janeiro and São Paulo there is perhaps no other in Brazil in 
which so large a number of Bibles has been distributed in 
proportion to the population. Frequent consignments have been 
made direct from New York, and we have shipped large quantities 
there from Rio, and occasionally supplies have gone direct from 
London. Colporteurs have in part done the work of distribution, 
and the missionaries residing there have also been very active in 
circulating the Word. The oldest of the missions is that of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, established and still served by the 
Rev. Justus H. Nelson. An independent Baptist missionary, the 
Rev. E. A. Nelson, has also been very active in Bible 
distribution and in evangelistic work; indeed there is no 
missionary in Brazil who, in the same length of time, has put 
into circulation so many copies of the Holy Scriptures. At one 
time he wrote direct to New York, "Mr. Tucker sent us from Rio de 
Janeiro about 500 Bibles, but they are all about gone, and I am 
writing to ask for more. A Brazilian brother who has been working 
for us has succeeded splendidly. I went up the river to Santarem 
and in thirty days sold all the volumes of Scriptures I took with 
me, 539 copies." One notable feature of his work has been the 
number of Hebrew Bibles sold, and latterly a number of Hebrew New 
Testaments. About the city of Pará and on the Xingú river quite a 
number of Jews have gathered, who have been the purchasers of 
these Scriptures. Each of the missionaries above referred to have 
extended their work to Manáos and other points in this great 
valley.

   After having studied the field and the conditions as best I 
could in Pará for some days, I started on a journey up the Amazon 
as far as Manáos. The ride on one of the steamers of the Amazon 
Navigation company through the channels and among the islands 
until we entered the Amazon proper was very interesting and the 
scenery at times picturesque, with its small round islands of 
green; the tall trees and thick undergrowth; with its network of 
vines and parasites; the border of lilies and other aquatic 
plants; the monkeys playing among the branches and vines, and 
occasionally a huge snake exposed to view on the limb of a tree, 
while many birds of brilliant plumage were flying from island to 
island. Now and then we saw a few huts and small spots of land 
under cultivation; again we saw the rubber gatherers with ax and 
tins making their way into the forest to tap the trees and gather 
the milk to be boiled for transportation. Turning from the 
scenery to my Bible work I made a canvass of the boat's 
passengers and crew, with the result of the sale of a number of 
copies of the Scriptures. There was considerable reading and 
discussion on board that day, and the next day some who had 
refused copies were induced to buy, as they saw how deeply 
interested and delighted others were with what they had read. The 
second day out we were on the broad Amazon, seemingly at times a 
real sea of fresh water. As we steamed up the river we called at 
an occasional village or country settlement. Each opportunity was 
improved to offer the Scriptures, and a number of copies were 
disposed of along the way. When near the banks of the river the 
large turtles and alligators attracted much attention. After 
three days we reached the town of Santarem, at the mouth of the 
Tapajoz river, about 500 miles from Pará. There I found a number 
of American settlers, who had come to this country several years 
ago from the United States and was given a warm welcome to the 
hospitable home of the Rev. R. T. Hennington. One of the first to 
visit me was Dr. J. Pitts, son of the Rev. F. E. Pitts, formerly 
of the Methodist Church in Tennessee, who made a missionary 
exploration tour to this country in the year 1836. Another with 
whom I had most delightful conversation and fellowship was the 
son of a Presbyterian minister in the State of Pennsylvania, and 
still another was the brother of Rev. F. E. P. Jennings of 
Arkansas. All these and still others among them showed a deep 
interest in my Bible work. Dr. Pitts offered his house for 
preaching, and for seven successive nights I spoke to large and 
attentive audiences, composed largely of Brazilians. The interest 
grew from day to day, and I sold many copies of the Word. When 
the Roman Catholic priest of the town knew that I was about ready 
to leave he waked up and began most vigorously to warn the people 
against reading the false Bibles; told them that they must burn 
many fireworks to drive away the devil and purify the air of the 
lies that I had preached. He urged them to make confession and do 
penance for having attended the preaching. When I was safely on 
board the steamer that was to take me about another 500 miles up 
the river, and the whistle blew for us to steam away, he and a 
few of his followers came out in front of the church, which 
occupied a prominent site overlooking the river, and sent up over 
my head such a volume of fireworks as I have never seen and heard 
on so insignificant an occasion in the daytime. On my return a 
few weeks later I was told that he remarked to the people, after 
it was all over, that then they could all go home in peace; the 
devil was gone and the lies he preached had been burned up, and 
that they must destroy all those false Bibles. Scarcely any who 
had attended the preaching and bought Bibles took part in this 
send-off that he gave me. Many gave evidence of having been 
deeply impressed by the truth preached, and I left with them 
thirty-four copies of the Scripture.

   From Santarem to Manáos we had a very pleasant voyage. To the 
passengers and crew, and at the ports where we called, I availed 
myself of the opportunities to offer the Scriptures, and a number 
of persons bought copies. One of the engineers of the vessel was 
a Wesleyan local preacher from Trinidad, West Indies. He became 
much interested in our work, and kindly offered to take some 
copies with him for distribution on their journey of more than 
fifteen hundred miles up the Madeira river. The forty copies sent 
by him may prove the beginning of a good work reaching towards 
the Andes. This brother had been for seven months in the employ 
of the navigation company. On this trip I was thus enabled to 
send a few copies of the Scriptures many hundreds of miles up 
three of the large tributaries of the Amazon.

   The time on board passed very pleasantly; when not engaged in 
conversation and efforts to induce some person to buy the 
Scriptures I was reading or enjoying a rest in my hammock on the 
deck, interested in the wonders of nature that abound along the 
banks of the river. At Santarem one day my attention was 
attracted by the screams of a number of boys in the river who 
were running for the shore. A large alligator had attacked them 
while they were in bathing. The men ran down and finally 
succeeded in shooting his eyes out, and then harpooning him, 
brought him to shore. He was thirteen feet two inches long, and 
measured four feet four inches around the body; his mouth was one 
foot four inches in length and one foot in width.

   At night I usually slept in a hammock on the deck. During the 
three months spent in northern Brazil and on the Amazon I slept 
very few nights on a bed. In many houses there were no beds, the 
hammock being in general use.

   I spent a week in and about the city of Manáos, which is 
located at the mouth of the Rio Negro. It had then a population 
of about 14,000 inhabitants, but there were then many signs of 
coming prosperity and the population has since grown to more than 
40,000.

   A study of the situation convinced me that Bible distribution 
in the State of Amazonas must be mainly along the rivers. I had 
good sales in the city, preached a number of times, and had 
profitable interviews about the work and the prospects with a 
missionary, who was at that time one of the Bishop Taylor self-
supporting men. This city has since been visited several times by 
our colporteurs and others who have sold many copies of the Word. 
The missionaries have followed up the work in a measure, which 
has given good results, especially in the city.

   One of the chief sections of the country inhabited by the wild 
Indians is the great interior highlands and the valleys of the 
Amazon and its tributaries. Much of this territory has never been 
explored and no one knows how many souls there are waiting yet to 
be Christianized and civilized. Persons who have been among some 
of the tribes and over parts of the country, estimate them at 
from four hundred thousand to two millions. Judging from the 
extent of the territory and some facts given recently by German 
explorers, a reasonable estimate of the number of Indians 
throughout all Brazil would be nearly a million and a half. These 
explorers reported the discovery of seven new tribes of peaceable 
and industrious Indians in the hitherto unexplored valley of the 
Xingú River. If all the unknown regions were carefully explored 
it might be revealed that we have even more than a million of 
"dusky relatives" in these wilds who have never yet seen the 
light or felt the influences of Christianity and modern 
civilization.

   The Government of Brazil through the Roman Catholic Church has 
made some effort to civilize and catechize some of the tribes on 
the borders of civilization. Such are the systems and methods, 
however, that it remains a question with many whether more harm 
than real good has not been done from a moral and religious 
standpoint. Certainly many of the vices and immoralities of the 
coast cities and towns have been introduced among these tribes 
along with the efforts at catechizing and civilizing them. Be 
this as it may, it is a fact that the greater part of these 
people know nothing of the true God and His Son Jesus Christ as 
revealed in the Holy Scriptures. They never use the word Father 
in connection with their deities, but always Mother-Mother of the 
living, Mother of vegetable life, Mother of reproduction and thus 
the Mariolatry of Rome, Mother of God, found an easy 
introduction. They seem to have no conception of Satan; their 
gods may be displeased and consequently punish them. There are 
evidences that they believe in immortality. When a corpse is 
buried they deposit pots Containing food; the arms of the dead 
also accompany him (the bow and arrow and such like) that he may 
provide himself with game. In the valley of the Amazon some 
tribes bury their dead in their huts, with the hope that while 
they are asleep they may be visited by the spirits of those who 
loved them. These facts and others go to prove that they have 
some faint ideas of a future life; but far from the Christian's 
knowledge and hope of a blessed immortality. I was told that many 
of those who had been taught to work were bought and sold by the 
rubber-gatherers and others negotiating in that country just as 
the African slaves used to be. One man said to me that he had 
seven Indian boys employed on a small boat on a trip up one of 
the rivers and was offered about $150 apiece for them.

   The thought of continuing my journey on up the Amazon into the 
wilds among these red men was enticing. I was now about 1,000 
miles from the seacoast, and another 1,500 miles and more of 
navigation was possible, but my supply of books was nearly 
exhausted, and besides it was time for me to start on my return 
voyage of 3,253 miles to Rio de Janeiro, where the monthly 
reports of colportage work were to be made out and forwarded to 
New York, supplies of money and books to be sent to the 
colporteurs, supplies ordered from abroad, and other 
correspondence attended to. The voyage down stream to Pará was 
made in much less time than the one up to Manáos. Just as I was 
ready in Pará to embark for Rio de Janeiro a telegram was 
received announcing the overthrow of the Monarchy, the banishment 
of the Imperial family, and the establishment of a provisional 
form of Republican Government. I witnessed the entrance of the 
Provisional Governor into the state palace and the going out of 
the Monarchical President of the Province. There was considerable 
excitement, but no violence. The change was made with some 
ceremony as though it had all been prearranged and agreed to by 
both parties. We took the ex-President of the Province and 
gathered up others along the coast together with their families, 
servants, monkeys, parrots, etc. on board our ship bound for Rio. 
One of these ex-Presidents remarked to me that he had been sent 
by the Emperor as President of the Province, and that he was a 
Monarchist at that time, but when the telegram came announcing 
the Republic he became at once a Republican, (fiquei 
republicano). There were many who thus easily and quickly changed 
from the position of loyal monarchists to that of staunch 
republicans. It was the boast of all that the overthrow was 
accomplished without the shedding of blood.

   I left thus several hundreds of copies of the Scriptures 
scattered through the north of Brazil, picked up twenty-two 
letters awaiting me at Pará and started to Rio with a purpose and 
plan to push forward the circulation of the Scriptures along the 
lines mapped out in my study of the situation. Something has been 
done in the twelve years since that time, but by no means all 
that I have desired.

-----

XI
São Paulo

FIRST COLLEGE IN BRAZIL-ANCHIETA-M'KENZIE
COLLEGE-ITALIAN COLONISTS.

   THE State of São Paulo is about ninety-five leagues wide from 
north to south and 170 from east to west, and has an area of 
299,876 square kilometers. The greater part of it is elevated, 
but not mountainous except in the southeast. The climate is in 
general temperate and agreeable, and, except in the lowlands near 
the seacoast very healthy. The soil is rich and productive and 
besides an excellent quality of native timbers, produces many 
European plants, but the great agricultural products are coffee, 
sugar, cotton, tea, rice and corn. Cattle, horses, mules and 
swine form important items in the trade of the State. Minerals of 
various kinds exist in different sections, though the mining 
interests are not well developed. Except Rio de Janeiro, this is 
the best served with railroads of any Stat in the Republic. The 
finest railway in the country is that under English management, 
running from Santos on the seacoast to Jundiahy through the city 
of São Paulo. At this point it connects with the Paulista, going 
on to Campinas, and the interior.

   In many respects this is the most advanced State in the 
Republic; and while much of this advancement is due to natural 
conditions the character of the early settlers has had great 
influence. The Paulistas, as they are known, are descended from 
European colonists. These early inhabitants were bold, 
enterprising adventurers who thought no hardship or toil too 
great to be endured in their search for gold and slaves and later 
generations have inherited something of this spirit. The early 
educational efforts of the Jesuits have also been a factor in the 
development of the people.

   The first college in Brazil was established in 1583 by 
Nobrega, the chief of the Jesuits, on the plains of Piratininga. 
As the first mass was celebrated on the feast of the conversion 
of St. Paul, they gave the college his name. The spot has become 
famous in Brazilian history, and both the city and the State have 
the name of São Paulo. One of the first teachers was the famous 
Anchieta, who taught the savages Latin, and learned from them 
their language. As there were no books he wrote for each one his 
lesson on a separate sheet. He composed a vocabulary and a 
grammar of the dialect of these natives, parodied into hymns in 
Portuguese many of their profane songs, and devised terms for 
teaching them the principles of the Catholic faith. Had the basal 
principles of this remarkable and heroic teacher been chosen in 
accord with the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ, the intellectual, 
moral and religious condition of Brazil to-day would doubtless be 
vastly better than it is. There can be no doubt, however, that 
this early movement exercised a most beneficial influence over 
the social system of Brazil, especially in the life and character 
of the Paulistas.

   The capital of the State, distant from Rio by rail about 300 
miles, may also be reached by taking steamer down the coast to 
Santos and from there by rail. On an October morning of 1890 in 
company with a Presbyterian missionary, the Rev. J. B. Rodgers, 
now in Manila, and a colporteur, Sr. André Cayret, I started on 
the coast trip. To save time we took train to Santa Cruz on the 
Central and then went across the country on a small tram car to 
the seacoast where we anticipated catching a steam launch which 
would land us at the village of Mangaritiba in time for the 
coasting steamer. We were, however just one hour too late, and 
after a short time spent in Bible work among the fishermen at 
that village, we engaged a canoe to take us to Mangaritiba, on 
the chance of finding the steamer. For an hour and a half we made 
good speed; then a calm set in and our men had to take the oars, 
a novel and not especially pleasing ocean experience. We had 
failed to supply ourselves with provisions after breakfasting at 
10:30 and were not prepared to appreciate the disappointment when 
at eight o'clock at night, after seven hours of tossing on the 
waves, we landed and were informed that there was nothing like a 
hotel in the village, and that no one could furnish us anything 
to eat at that hour of the night. After considerable effort we 
succeeded in obtaining permission from one of the fishermen to 
occupy a small room in his mudhut. The only thing in the shape of 
a bed in the room was half a dozen poles placed upon a piece of 
wood stuck into the wall and resting in a fork driven into the 
ground, the mattress being a kind of mat made of coarse grass and 
reeds plaited together, and the covering a thin spread. One of us 
took the bed, and the other two tried to sleep on a similar mat 
spread on the very uneven dirt floor. It was hard work, but the 
next morning we ate heartily of a breakfast prepared by the 
fisherman's wife, sold quite a number of Scriptures in the 
village, and engaged boatmen to take us on down the coast to the 
town of Angra dos Reis, as our steamer had gone. At 9:30 A. M. we 
rowed out to sea and from then until 6 P. M. we were tossed about 
by the heavy swells. The colporteur suggested singing as a remedy 
for sea-sickness; we got out our Portuguese hymn books and did 
our best for awhile, and there seemed for a little to be some 
virtue in the remedy, but at last it was of no avail. Whether the 
difficulty was in the inefficiency of the remedy or in our 
ability to keep up the singing, I leave the reader to say.

   We spent five days in the town of Angra dos Reis where we made 
good sales of Scriptures and preached several times to audiences 
of 400 or 500 persons in the theatre. From there we ran down by 
steamer to the town of Ubatuba, with a population of a few 
thousands and found a very interesting congregation of about 
seventy-five members who had bought a house and modelled it into 
a church. A Bible had been left there on a colporteur's visit; 
someone became interested in reading it; he heard of a missionary 
who was being persecuted and driven out of a town not far away, 
sent for him to come and preach in his town, was converted and 
opened his house for worship. By and by a church was organized 
and truly it might have been designated as the "church that was 
in Faustino's house." We visited two members, who were 
respectively ninety and eighty-three years of age. They had 
enjoyed the knowledge of the Gospel only a few years, but were 
full of joy and hope. On entering the house of the jailer, one of 
the first things to greet my eyes was his Bible, hymn book, and 
other religious works in the oratory where once he had kept the 
images that he so devoutly worshipped. The Bible entered and 
drove out the idols.

   On another occasion I made the voyage from Rio to Santos and 
began work from that point. In recent years, this has become a 
very important port and at several different times there has been 
tentative evangelical work. Now there is a movement which 
promises to be more lasting. I was warmly welcomed by Mr. William 
Porter, manager of the coffee house of Hard, Rand & Co., and 
comfortably entertained by him and his Christian family. If all 
American business men and their families residing abroad were 
devoted servants of God, they would be a mighty influence and an 
incalculable blessing to the missionaries and their work. I 
preached in their house and he opened his offices in the city 
where I preached in Portuguese to a goodly number of Brazilians. 
A small contribution box kept in the family was opened on Sunday 
and their offering, amounting to about ten dollars, was given to 
me for the Bible work. The city is noted for its wickedness and 
religious indifference, and my friends thought I had a zeal 
without knowledge when they saw the size of the box of Scriptures 
I was confidently expecting to dispose of during my short stay. I 
sold thirty-six copies one day, eight copies in about two hours 
another morning, and so on until my supply was all gone. During 
these years our colporteurs have frequently visited Santos and 
have generally sold a number of Bibles. The seed has been sown 
and we shall hope to see some day a large harvest of souls 
gathered from that field.

   After leaving Santos the railroad runs over a swampy and 
almost unpopulated country for a distance of thirteen and a half 
miles to the foot of the Serra, then climbs a deep mountain 
gorge, ascending 2,600 feet in five miles, by means of four 
stationary engines, placed at intervals of a mile and a quarter. 
The scenery is majestic and wild, one ravine more gloomy than the 
rest, being called the Boca do Inferno (Mouth of Hell).

   At the time of my first visit the city of São Paulo had a 
population of about 65,000 The increase for the last ten years 
has been phenomenal and the census of 1900 gives the entire 
municipality a population of more than 250,000. Modern 
improvements, enterprise, and educational developments have in a 
measure kept pace with the growth of the population and made it 
more like a modern European or American city than any city in 
Brazil. The city has always played an important and leading part 
in the history and development of the country, and the Paulistas 
have always been among the most prominent of Brazil's leading 
statesmen, educators, agriculturists, and merchants. They are 
sociable, intelligent, and more kindly disposed toward the 
investment and development of foreign capital and enterprise than 
the people have been in other sections of the country. Foreigners 
have not been slow to recognize the natural resources and 
advantages possessed by this province. They have generally been 
kindly received and their influence has done much socially, 
commercially and politically for the advancement of the people. 
Protestant missionaries have been less kindly welcomed than any 
others; but the value of their work is now being appreciated and 
the Protestant element is becoming a recognized and highly 
appreciated factor in the intellectual and religious life of the 
people.

   The early missionaries recognized the advantages offered for 
establishing their cause in this centre; and their work has 
prospered from the beginning. The most thoroughly equipped 
Protestant educational institution in the Republic is the 
American school and McKenzie College of the Presbyterian Church, 
with a charter from the University of New York, presided over by 
Dr. Horace Lane. The native self-supporting churches have reached 
a very gratifying degree of development from this point and are 
spreading the Gospel throughout the State. Some of the more 
important centres being Campinas, Piracicaba and Botucatú. The 
Methodists have likewise a prosperous congregation, but for lack 
of a proper church building, their growth is being greatly 
retarded. The Baptists have more recently begun work also in the 
city. These all take an active part in Bible distribution. This 
is the most highly favoured of all the States as regards the 
distribution of Christian forces, having by far the largest 
number of missionaries and native workers, and being the centre 
of more educational work than has yet been done in any other 
State. All these labourers have during these years most heartily 
cooperated with the Bible agent and colporteurs, have followed up 
the fields sown by them, gathering up the fruits, and bearing 
witness to the value of Bible distribution and the power of the 
Written Word to enlighten and lead souls to Christ.

   The editor of one of the Missionary journals in the United 
States not long since wrote: "Among the many evidences of direct 
divine interposition in the evangelization of Brazil, there are 
none more noticeable than the almost miraculous results attending 
the simple reading of the Bible, without note or comment. There 
are scores of cases on record of individuals converted by the 
perusal of copies of the Scriptures which had come into their 
possession, and several of our important churches had their 
origin in the conversion of individuals by the unaided study of 
the Bible and their subsequent reading of the same to their 
relatives and neighbours, until whole neighbourhoods had accepted 
the Gospel before ever hearing or seeing a Protestant preacher."

   The following is a case in point, similar to many others which 
have from time to time appeared in our missionary magazines:

   A member of the church in São Paulo had a brother who was a 
seller of lottery tickets and annually canvassed large sections 
of the country on horseback, going from house to house with his 
wares. Before he started out on one of his journeys, his sister, 
with a prayer for God's blessing, put a copy of the Bible in his 
saddlebags. It remained unnoticed for some time until, being 
storm-stayed for some days at a plantation-house he brought it 
out, and as a matter of curiosity showed it to his hostess. As 
soon as the lady had glanced over its pages she became deeply 
interested in it, and said, " Why, this is just the book that I 
have been longing for for years." She not only read it eagerly 
herself, but kept calling the attention of other members of the 
family to passages which she thought especially beautiful or 
important. Finally she began to ask the owner for some 
explanation. He, however, replied that he did not belong to that 
religion, and did not pretend to understand it, but that his 
sister who had given him the Bible did. "Then I will send at once 
for your sister to come and teach us about this new religion," 
she replied, and accordingly addressed a letter to the sister 
urging her to come and explain to them this new and strange book, 
signing herself, "Your sister in the Gospel."

   The lady went as was requested, and upon her arrival was 
delighted and embarrassed to find more than sixty people gathered 
in the large dining-room of the plantation-house to hear her 
explain the Gospel. She did the best she could for two or three 
nights, and then wrote to her pastor that he must come at once or 
send some one to preach to the people. A young native preacher 
was sent, and he conducted services for several successive nights 
with large and most attentive audiences. The result was the 
organization of a Presbyterian church, which now bears the name 
of Itatiba, and numbers fifty communicants. The young man who 
introduced the Bible into that community also became converted, 
and he has been for years a most faithful and successful 
colporteur, selling hundreds of Bibles and penetrating in many 
cases far into the interior where no minister or missionary has 
ever been.

   Little nuclei of Christian believers have thus been 
established all over the country, in the most unexpected places, 
and naturally without any reference to the location of the 
organized churches or settled pastors.

   The wife of a missionary writes thus of what one copy of the 
New Testament accomplished: "Some years ago, Rangel visited Santa 
Cruz do Rio Pardo, but found no one desirous of possessing the 
Word of God. After much persuasion he induced one woman to buy a 
New Testament. He offered some tracts to the husband, who would 
have refused, but the wife urged him to take them, so as not to 
seem rude. This woman after a few months, found the Saviour, but 
the man continued indifferent, refusing to read the Bible. One 
day, as she was sitting in her hammock, reading her Testament, 
her husband came and sat down by her. She read aloud for awhile, 
and then, saying that she must go to see about something, handed 
him the book. She went to her room, and remained there, pleading 
for his conversion, while he continued reading for several hours, 
declaring as he closed the book, that he was convinced, and, as 
his after life showed, converted.

   "This man-a self-taught physician-had, on account of his 
intelligence, good judgment, and pleasing manners, long been one 
of the most influential men of the community. After his 
conversion, whenever called to visit a sick person, he would, 
before inquiring into the symptoms, first read a chapter of the 
Bible, saying that it was important to cure the soul before doing 
anything for the body, and that Christ was the great physician of 
the body, as well as of the soul. Since following his system he 
has had remarkable success in the treatment of all kinds of 
disease.

   "The daily testimony of this man and his wife, together with 
their earnest efforts to spread the knowledge of the Gospel, 
resulted in the establishment of a church, of which the first 
thirty-nine members were gathered within two years. In 1889, the 
membership was seventy-one. In one trip through the district in 
which this church lies, Sr. Braga received fifty-eight persons 
into communion."

   As the reader may readily infer, the work in this State, while 
it has been blessed with such a marked degree of success, has 
likewise suffered much opposition and persecution. While Catholic 
prelates in Baltimore in 1884 recommended that the Holy Bible 
should have a conspicuous place in every family library, and be 
frequently and lovingly read, and Roman Catholic authorities in 
China and Japan are doing something to provide the New Testament 
for their adherents, in Brazil they burn the Bible as if it were 
a breeder of pestilence. There is now in the possession of the 
Bible Society a remnant of a Portuguese Bible literally snatched 
from the flames into which it had been cast in Batataes, São 
Paulo, by order of a Roman Catholic priest and rescued by the 
Society's colporteur, who had sold it to a man only a few days 
before. The interesting fact is that while this burning of Bibles 
is frequent, it invariably leads to a larger demand and increased 
sales. In illustration of the truth of this an interesting work 
has since sprung up in that very town of Batataes. The colporteur 
has several times visited the place and sold considerable numbers 
of Scriptures and the missionary and native worker stationed 
there have also from time to time disposed of a number of copies.

   A few years ago one of our colporteurs was sent from Rio de 
Janeiro by rail to begin work as soon as he entered the State of 
São Paulo. The first place visited was Cruzeiro, the station on 
the Central railway, whence begins the railroad running through 
southern Minas Geraes. The people living immediately around the 
station number only a few hundred: but the town of Cruzeiro a 
short distance away numbers a few thousands. From there the 
colporteur wrote: "On Monday I sold ten Bibles, four Testaments, 
and five Gospels more than on Saturday. The priest has torn up 
five Bibles and four Testaments. The street was perfectly white 
with the leaves of the Word of God. He said much against me, but 
I went and offered him a Bible and he was very angry, saying, I 
was a false man. I told him he was a Pharisee, deceiving the 
people, and that God was waiting to bring him to judgment for the 
way he had torn up His Word. He said he was ready to give account 
for what he had done, and meant to search for others that he 
might destroy them also. Many of them he cannot get as the men 
have taken them home to their farms.

   About seven years later I sent another colporteur, Manoel P. 
de Lacerda, to go over the same ground. He was blessed with very 
large sales, and wrote frequently of the readiness with which 
many purchased the Scriptures, and even spoke of the eagerness of 
some to read the Bible in this section where the priest had torn 
up so many only a few years ago. From the next station on the 
railroad, he made visits to a number of neighbourhoods round 
about, and found some persons who had been reading the Bibles 
sold by the former colporteur. The priest did not destroy them 
all; and those remaining were bearing fruit in the enlightenment 
and salvation of souls. Sr. Lacerda, recently visiting that 
section wrote: "As regards my work here (in the State of São 
Paulo) I am more satisfied, for I see every day the love of God 
being manifested in many ways. I was on a small farm near 
Cachoeira and there I met a young man who was an enemy to the 
Gospel, and who said the Protestants were false and enemies of 
God. I spoke to him openly of Jesus Christ and His love, of His 
doctrine and will, and of our obligation to Him. After a long 
time he showed that he was becoming interested, but insisted that 
he had the true Holy Scriptures. He finally sent to get it from a 
person to whom he had lent it; and what was my surprise when I 
opened the book and showed him that it was not the word of God. 
It was a little book written by the Sellician priests, who are 
the Jesuit Inquisitors under another mask. After further 
conversation he said to me that he was convinced that the Bible 
is the Word of God, and that the Protestants are right. He bought 
a Bible, as did also another young man who had heard the 
conversation.

   These statements show that it is not without much effort that 
the Scriptures are sold in Brazil. Many have to be persuaded that 
they have even a right to read the Word of God; others have to be 
convinced that the little Catholic books they have are not the 
inspired Holy Scriptures, and with nearly all we have to labour 
hard and long to prove to them that our Bible is not false, but 
that it is genuine, the true and revealed word of God. The work 
of a colporteur is by no means a light and easy task. To do 
successful work one needs to be well instructed in the Holy 
Scriptures and in the arguments necessary to refute such 
objections and opposition as we meet with constantly: and he must 
likewise be a man of strong faith and earnest prayer, a man of 
courage and consecration.

   When I first went to São Paulo, my attention was attracted to 
the large numbers of Italian immigrants to be seen on every hand. 
They were already coming in considerable numbers to the State 
even before the emancipation of the slaves: but after the 
emancipation act, the coffee planters contracted for them in much 
larger numbers. They had been arriving in Brazil at the rate of 
10,000 or 12,000 annually, and the year of the emancipation 
104,000 came: in the year 1891 more than 132,000 were admitted. 
Within the last twenty years about 1,000,000 Italian immigrants 
have entered Brazil, and the great majority of them have located 
in the State of São Paulo, proving valuable substitutes for the 
slaves who when freed began at once to leave the plantations and 
drift to the towns and villages.

   In our colportage work we have given special attention to the 
distribution of Scriptures among these people in their own 
language; and our efforts have been fruitful of good results: 
many of them have been converted and a few valuable workers have 
risen up among them.

   At the time my attention was first directed to them, I had a 
most interesting visit and work at the immigrant station, where 
were one thousand and eighty-three Italians, just from the ships. 
I went to the station-house in company with Sr. João Bernini, our 
colporteur in São Paulo, himself an Italian. The people were 
drawn to him at once by the fact that he could speak their 
language, and he doubtless had a peculiar interest in them 
because they were his own fellow-countrymen. The meeting and the 
manner of his address to them were deeply interesting to me. I 
knew nothing of their tongue, and could do little else than pray 
while he talked to them out of the Scriptures. Many of them 
became interested, and those who had money bought copies of the 
Scriptures; to those who had no money we gave copies. Near by the 
station is a police post. Just as soon as the people began to 
collect around us, three policemen came up to know what we were 
doing. I apprehended they were going to interfere with us and 
while Sr. Bernini continued talking to the Italians, I undertook 
to explain to the policemen our business. I showed them copies of 
the Scriptures in their tongue. Two of the three became 
interested and bought copies. Very soon they returned to their 
house and continued reading, gathering around them some of their 
own people who knew the Portuguese language. During the time we 
were there one family came up, in which only a bright-eyed little 
girl of about eleven years could read. They were very poor, but 
seemed anxious to learn more of the Gospel. We gave the little 
girl a copy of the Scriptures, and told her to read it to her 
parents. A similar case was one in which only a boy of twelve 
years could read; his mother gave him money, and he bought a 
copy. The last I saw of these the girl and boy were reading to 
their parents and others who had gathered around them.

   Some of the fruits of this sowing have already been gathered 
into the Protestant churches scattered over the State while some 
have gone back to Italy carrying the knowledge of the truth with 
them. The Italians are still coming into Sao Paulo in large 
numbers annually, and might give the State great trouble should 
there be an occasion for their uprising. At present they are 
industrious and seemingly quite contented. We distributed 
thousands of Scriptures among them in their native language, some 
of our colporteurs in ordering Scriptures, asking for as many in 
Italian as in Portuguese.

   The city of São Paulo has become a dumping ground for the 
Jesuits expelled from the Philippines and Cuba. The monasteries 
and churches are full of them, and more are continually arriving. 
The newcomers are terrible fanatics, and are a real menace to the 
nation. Their influence is seen in the following from one of the 
colporteurs: " I am sending you another small order for books. 
The padres are making a very active contrapropaganda here, and 
doing all in their power to keep the people from buying the Word. 
It is only lately that we have met with such tremendous 
opposition, as though the padres had all been specially advised 
to warn the people. The lines are getting more finely drawn every 
day, and it is interesting to follow the rapid developments. The 
anarchists also, of whom there are very many here, are busy with 
their propaganda. We meet them everywhere, and they are nearly 
always rank atheists, thinking that all religion is as foul and 
false as the Roman Catholic. However, the Lord is still with us 
in the distribution of the Word and in testimony to its saving 
power." On the other hand a Christian lawyer in the city has 
recently become deeply concerned about the circulation of the 
Scriptures among his people, and has opened a small book store at 
his own expense with a view to the sale of Bible and Testaments.

   Fairly systematic and regular canvassing is carried on in most 
of the towns and villages and country settlements, but still 
there are many districts remote from railroads and main 
thoroughfares where little or nothing has been done. In the 
western part of the State there is an almost unexplored region 
inhabited by wild tribes of Indians. As yet there has been no 
opportunity for an effort to give them the Written Word. These 
red men, so near, will furnish a magnificent field for the zeal 
and enterprise of the native church which is developing so 
rapidly into a self-supporting and self-propagating institution.

   We recognize the many advantages the Bible work derives from 
the enlightenment and education of the Paulistas, but it is 
abundantly evident the Bible itself has helped to produce these 
favourable conditions. We must bear in mind also that by no means 
has all opposition disappeared. The Roman Catholic Church and 
priesthood are just as persistent in their efforts as they have 
ever been to prevent the circulation of the Written Word of God. 
The more enlightened and liberalized condition of the people may 
prevent them from much physical violence, but their denunciations 
of us and our work, and their threats to excommunicate all who 
read the Bible, are in a measure more bitter. Fondness for 
outward show is unquestionably a prominent Brazilian 
characteristic. It is marvellous how much they are influenced in 
matters of dress, social customs and religious practices by those 
things that make brilliant and great displays before the eye. 
This has been utilized by the clergy to entice the masses to 
their churches, and to dissuade them from buying and reading the 
Bible, by giving prominence to repeated popular festivals, 
processions, pilgrimages, and gatherings where crowds, 
ritualistic performances, and the like could not fail to impress 
the people.

   In this connection mention should be made of a translation of 
the Book of Psalms into the choicest Portuguese language, 
preserving the blank verse style of the original, by a talented 
Brazilian scholar, Sr. Saraiva, an ex-priest, who was for several 
years professor in the McKenzie College at São Paulo. We 
anticipate a large circulation of this little book. It is a 
notable fact that the spirit of praise is wanting in the Roman 
Catholic worship. Doubtless this book of Psalms will do much to 
show the people the spirit of real devotion and praise. It will 
be another of the uplifting influences that have emanated from 
the city of São Paulo to be felt throughout the entire country.

-----

XII
Southern Provinces

A FAITHFUL COLPORTEUR-A COASTING STEAMER-BY WAGON AND HORSEBACK-
THE BIBLE OR THE ALMANAC.

   THE territory embraced in the journeys now to be described 
includes the southern provinces of Paraná, Santa Catharina, and 
Rio Grande do Sul, and the great interior province of Matto 
Grosso. This latter forms the extensive highlands or table lands 
of Brazil, reaching towards the Andes: it is drained on the one 
side by the Amazon and on the other by the La Plata rivers.

   It was on a Sunday morning in Nov. 1888 when I sailed out of 
Rio bay on board a national coasting steamer, bound for the 
Provinces of Santa Catharina and Paraná. Our voyage was one of 
the stormiest that I have ever made. Our passengers were all 
dreadfully sea-sick, as Brazilians generally are, in which misery 
I took an active part, as I generally do. We called at Santos, of 
which port we have already spoken, and at Paranagua, to which 
reference will be made later on. The storm continued for three 
days, and so did the sea-sickness. I made some effort to offer 
the Scriptures to all on board, but no one was in the humour for 
buying, and I was really too much taken up with internal 
disturbances to enter heartily into the work. I think about the 
only passage of Scripture that could have been fully appreciated 
just at that time was, 'and there was no more sea;" I am 
confident that many longed for such a land.

   The distance from Rio to Desterro, the capital of Santa 
Catharina, is 485 miles. This city, now called Florianopolis, has 
a population of about 25,000 inhabitants, and is located on a 
large island, distant from the mainland about two miles. The 
channel between the island and the mainland furnishes a safe 
harbour for vessels, unless in case of a storm sweeping along the 
coast.

   Our colporteur, Sr. Pedro Di-Giovanni, who had been at work 
there for a time, came on board to take me ashore and gave me a 
warm welcome to his bachelor's quarters in a small rented house 
near the shore. He has worked in several districts, and is well 
known and highly esteemed by many of the missionaries and native 
Christians. He has been longer in the service than any other man 
that we now have, has never demanded a large salary, has all the 
time been very economical, and often has paid his own travelling 
expenses out of his small earnings. I adapted myself to his style 
of living and travelling while with him. We spent several days 
together in the city, and sold a good many Scriptures, being for 
the most part kindly received, while a number of persons showed 
much interest in the Gospel. The President of the Province at 
that time was known to be a warm friend to the Protestant cause 
and had frequently heard the Gospel in the Presbyterian Church in 
Rio de Janeiro. He received me cordially, and we had a most 
interesting conversation on the religion of Jesus Christ and the 
circulation of the Bible. I found that he hesitated to declare 
publicly his faith because of social and political interests. 
After recent experiences of opposition and persecution in other 
parts it was quite refreshing to find the people generally so 
kindly disposed toward us and our work. There was not a 
missionary at that time in the State, and only one or two had by 
chance visited Desterro in passing up and down the coast. Upon a 
further study of the spirit of the people I found that German 
Protestant influence had done much to remove prejudices and 
enlighten many; the fact also that no active and aggressive 
missionary work up to that time had been attempted in the 
Province was a consideration. I met one of the seven German 
Lutheran pastors, who were serving the colonists located in 
different sections of the Province and learned that they were 
making no special evangelistic efforts to reach the Brazilians, 
but were confining their work exclusively to the German 
colonists. Very little had been done in the way of circulating 
the Scriptures among these colonists and their children, who are 
growing up in large numbers and settling in the country. Here was 
work that we must evidently undertake sooner or later.

   The interest manifested by many in the city to know more of 
the Gospel led me to hire a suitable room where I preached twice 
to large and attentive audiences, the only disturbance being that 
made by a few bad boys in the street. I was impressed that this 
was a favourable place to locate a mission station. The 
Presbyterians who have since opened work in the city have been 
very successful, although their efforts have provoked some 
opposition, as might be expected when the Romanists see that the 
Protestants mean to carry on continued and aggressive work.

   A few towns and settlements along the coast and near the 
rivers may be reached by small vessels, and there is one railroad 
sixty-five miles long from the town of Laguna on the coast, but 
apart from these the Bible must be carried by pack mule to the 
285,000 souls scattered over the State.

   The colporteur and I decided to try first a journey along the 
coast. As a matter of economy our colporteurs always travel 
second class on the trains, and second or steerage on the 
steamers. I have made it a rule when travelling and working along 
with them to take the same fare that they do, though sometimes it 
is hard to the flesh, and perhaps in a measure prejudicial to the 
health. In the present instance we embarked on a small coasting 
vessel one afternoon, and there being no second class we took the 
steerage. As soon as our vessel was fairly under headway we were 
called to dinner: each man was given a tin plate or pan, a cup 
and spoon; the fejuada, (black beans and dried salt beef seasoned 
with a bit of fat bacon) sprinkled over with mandioca meal, was 
dished out plentifully. All sat around on deck with pans in hand 
eating, and finished up the meal with a cup of black coffee. We 
made a canvass of the ship and sold a few copies of the 
Scriptures. Some showed interest in the Gospel, and we had 
occasion to explain to them more about the book and the way of 
salvation. When the hour for retiring came I went below to view 
the prospect: the sight was repulsive and the odours unbearable. 
It would be difficult to describe fully the rooms, or rather the 
one large apartment, with a few bunks, and hammocks, the filthy 
bedding, the sea-sick passengers, the heat and the odours. I 
quickly returned to the deck and began looking around for some 
sheltered spot where I could rest for the night. Drawing on my 
mackintosh to shield me from the cold and drizzling rain, making 
my pillow a coil of rope, I soon fell asleep and but for the cold 
wind and rain might have passed a fairly comfortable night. Fresh 
air with wind and rain
was preferable by far to filth, heat and bad smells. The next 
morning we had a cup of coffee and a bit of coarse stale bread 
just before we reached the town of San Francisco on an island of 
the same name, and with a population of about 3,000. There we 
disembarked and secured lodging in a second rate hotel. We had a 
most interesting time offering the Scriptures and talking with 
the people. Quite a number bought copies, and many expressed a 
desire to have us remain longer with them: but after finishing 
the canvass we continued our journey to other parts. The 
Presbyterian mission has now a most interesting group of 
believers in the town. From that point we took a small launch up 
the bay and along a small river to the town of Joinville, a 
German colony founded about 1851. There were at the time of my 
visit more than 10,000 persons in the district, of whom one-third 
were Romanists and the remaining two-thirds Lutherans. I found 
among them churches, schools, a printing press and weekly paper, 
shops, factories, etc. This colony has proven a great success. I 
found that they were poorly supplied with Bibles, and as our 
stock in the German language was small we had to leave the work 
to be done at a later date. When a colporteur with a good supply 
did visit them he had large sales. I spent a Sunday there, a day 
never to be forgotten. It was painful to note early in the 
morning that this was the great market day: the colonists began 
coming in large numbers with the produce from their farms and 
gardens: buying and selling went on at a lively rate all through 
the village. At ten o'clock few gathered in the church for the 
usual weekly worship: I counted nine men and boys and thirty-four 
women and girls. I was not sufficiently acquainted with the 
language to understand the sermon, but the whole service seemed 
rather a perfunctory performance, in which there was little 
evidence of the Spirit's presence. Doubtless these German 
settlers are models of industry and thrift for the Brazilians, 
but I fear they have done but little to give them a true 
conception of the real character of the religion of Jesus Christ, 
as set forth in the Bible.

   Another of the famous and most successful of the ten or more 
German colonies located in this State is farther south and in the 
valley of the Itajahy river. This colony bears the name of Dr. 
Blummenau, who founded it a half a century ago. The colonists 
have prospered in many ways: their agricultural school and their 
libraries have proven great blessings to them; they have many saw 
mills, sugar and other factories, have constructed a number of 
bridges and have built many miles of road. This colony was 
awarded a prize of 10,000 francs at the Paris Exposition of 1867 
as being one of the institutions of most benefit to humanity. We 
have shipped supplies of Scriptures direct from Rio, which have 
been distributed among the colonists who comprise about three-
fourths of the population of the district.

   From Joinville we went inland a distance of about forty miles 
to the village of Oxford. We travelled in a covered wagon drawn 
by five horses; the road was macadamized; the houses along the 
way were well built, and fenced in, having nicely cultivated 
flower gardens; there were occasional stores, blacksmith shops, 
school houses, churches, etc., by the roadside and the whole 
aspect of the country was more German than Brazilian. At 
different places along the way I made such entries in my note 
book as the following, "here we sold one Bible and two New 
Testaments," "there we sold fourteen copies of the Scriptures," 
and so on. From Oxford we walked two and a half miles to the 
village of São Bento, and carried as many Scriptures as we could: 
the way was dusty and the sun hot, and our burdens seemed to 
increase in weight all the time. But we had good sales, and felt 
amply paid for the toilsome effort. The German pastor bought 
three Bibles and gave me an order for a number to be sent him 
from Rio.

   At Oxford we found another wagon that took us quite a distance 
further interior. At the terminus of this stage we secured 
animals and started out on a route that led us to the borders of 
a section inhabited by wild Indians. The trading station where we 
stopped was owned by a Russian. A number of Indians were about 
the place. We sold two copies of the Scriptures: the Russian at 
my request kindly interpreted passages of the Word to several 
Indians present. They seemed very much interested, and desired 
him to continue. From that point our journey was in the direction 
of the Province of Paraná: we had to cross Indian territory. As 
we journeyed along two settlers met us and warned us to turn 
aside and go into Paraná by another route, as the Indians were 
very angry with the whites at that time. A party of white men in 
an encounter with them had killed about twenty or thirty, 
including a number of women and children. We were told that some 
of the Indian women knelt before the armed men, pleading to be 
spared, but they were most brutally murdered. We hastened a 
retreat and took another road, though a somewhat longer one: 
distance and travel were preferable to the prospect of falling 
into the hands of the enraged red men. There was little or no 
opportunity for Bible work through this section, and in order to 
save time our guide had prepared food before hand, so that we 
would not have to stop to cook anything. The food generally 
prepared for such occasions consists of dried beef or chicken 
cooked and mixed with a good quantity of farinha, (the dry 
mandioca meal) and sometimes black beans are included. This is 
put into a sack and may last for several days. The second or 
third day out I called the guide's attention to the fact that the 
meat was no longer good. He remarked, "I am surprised, this has 
been cooked only five days, and I was calculating that it would 
be good for at least eight." For my part I suffered hunger that 
day: we fortunately arrived early the following day where we 
obtained fresh food.

   After crossing into Paraná the first place visited was Rio 
Negro, a village of a few hundred inhabitants, surrounded by 
quite a large agricultural population. There we sold Scriptures 
in several different languages, colonists of several 
nationalities having settled in that district. Among them was 
quite a colony of Polish emigrants. A small Catholic church on 
one side of the village had been given up entirely to them, and 
an Italian priest, who was reported to be seeking gain, had 
compromised with them on a form of worship and the mass. He of 
course mumbled his ceremonies in Latin, and they nearly all with 
books in hand insisted on singing wierd and dirge-like music with 
words in their own language. The scene was a striking one as I 
stood at the door and looked in that Sunday morning. There was 
the priest in all his robes with his acolytes dressed in white 
and black, all bowing and bending around the brilliantly 
ornamented altar and images: through the centre of the church, 
running more than half way back, was a tier of low benches 
without backs upon which were seated all the women and children: 
each woman and large girl was dressed in a white waist, a gay and 
varied coloured skirt, with a fancy coloured handkerchief tied 
over the head. The men were dressed in white shirts, with pants 
stuck in their big boot tops, a broad leather belt about the 
waist from which hung a pistol or a big knife, and a satchel 
swung over the shoulder; they stood in the spaces on each side 
and in the rear of the church encircling the women, as if they 
were on guard or were there for protection: they as well as the 
women took an active part in the weird and mournful singing. 
There were very few Brazilians present, and they stood on the 
outside. We met an occasional German Protestant in that section, 
and were impressed with the liberalizing influence their presence 
was having in the community.

   From that village our journey was northward to the town of 
Lapa, and thence onward to Curitiba. We spent a number of days 
along the way, travelling on foot, on horse-back, and in a wagon. 
We arrived at a river which had overflown its banks and swept 
away the bridge, leaving only the large cross beams, which had 
been fastened more securely to the abutments. We had to crawl 
over on these, carrying on our backs our baggage, saddles, and 
books, and our animals were made to swim across the angry stream. 
We stopped that night at a small hut near the river where a 
family was living in great poverty: they seemed to take much 
delight in giving us shelter, though we had to furnish our own 
food and do the cooking: we took occasion to divide with them as 
they apparently had little or nothing to eat. How they manage to 
live I could not discern. The only thing I saw them take, save 
what we gave them, was the mate, usually denominated the Paraguay 
tea, which all sipped through a quill from the same gourd, 
passing it around as the Indians do the pipe. Our room was small, 
with a rough board floor, mud walls, and a wooden roof: our light 
was a tallow candle moulded in a piece of bamboo, or large cane: 
one side was split down for a few inches, broken to a right angle 
and stuck in the wall, thus serving for candle-stick: as the 
candle was consumed the bamboo was broken away a little at a 
time: our beds were a few poles strapped together and resting on 
cross pieces of wood, supported by a fork on one side, and by 
being driven into the mud wall on the other. We read to the man 
and his family passages of the Scriptures and talked to them of 
Jesus and His salvation. When I asked him if he would not like to 
have a Bible, he went to his room, brought an Ayers' Almanac, 
which is printed in Portuguese and distributed gratuitously 
through Brazil, and said that he had some months previously made 
a trip to the seacoast, that a merchant had very generously given 
him the book, that he had not yet finished reading it and it 
would be useless to have another book until he had read all that 
was in this one. He wanted to know if I considered the almanac a 
good book.  I was much taken back, and really had nothing to say 
against the pamphlet, for I remembered how fondly, when a boy, I 
read the jokes in Ayer's Almanac. He had been kind in giving us 
shelter and mate and I left with them a Bible as we bade them 
good-bye the next day. This journey led us through a region from 
which is gathered large quantities of the mate. This Paraguayan 
tea is simply the leaves of a forest tree or shrub which grows 
without cultivation, gathered while green, dried over a hot fire, 
and then broken or ground up in mills. It makes a refreshing 
drink whose tonic influences extend over several hours. It is 
taken freely the first thing in the morning, in the middle of the 
afternoon, and in the evening after dinner. The mode of drinking 
it is from a little egg-shaped gourd usually about three or four 
inches in depth and about three in diameter. This is filled with 
the dry leaves from an opening at the smaller end, then boiling 
water is added as much as it will contain, a long tube about the 
size of a lead pencil with a kind of perforated bulb serving as a 
strainer is inserted in the gourd and the tea is imbibed through 
this. It may be the section of a cane or reed, while some are 
made of metal, and the finer ones of silver. These gourds and 
tubes are many times beautifully and artistically ornamented for 
the wealthier people. The gourd holds only a few swallows, and 
after being emptied is again refilled and handed in turn to each 
person composing the company. The host always samples it before 
passing it to the guests. The mate is pretty generally used by 
all classes in Southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the 
Argentine Republic, and it is exported to many other ports of 
South America. Some efforts have been made to introduce it into 
other countries.

   At the town of Lapa, in a number of villages and country 
settlements on the way to Curitiba we sold many copies of the 
Scriptures in several different languages, precious seed that 
must bring forth its fruits some day: indeed the missionaries 
have already extended their work along that line and are 
gathering in numbers of believers.

   Curitiba, the capital of the state of Paraná, a city of 20,000 
inhabitants, situated on a plain more than 2,500 feet above the 
level of the sea, and about seventy-five miles from the coast, is 
a comparatively modern and well built city. A railroad from 
Paranagna, with several short branches, has now nearly 200 miles 
open to traffic. At the time of my visit there was a well 
established Presbyterian mission in the city, with a successful 
school. We spent several days in the city and were very 
successful in our sales of Bibles. The field was so large and 
inviting that I left the colporteur to carry on the work. In 
consultation with the workers there plans were formed for 
extending the distribution through the State, which plans have 
been largely carried out, and different colporteurs have from 
time to time gone to almost every section of the State scattering 
the seed. The missionaries and native preachers have all the time 
most heartily co-operated in these efforts, and we have 
distributed the Scriptures through the State in the Portuguese, 
German, Italian, Polish, English, Arabic, and other languages. 
This field has been the scene of much active Gospel work and of 
gratifying results during the last ten or twelve years.

   In the city of Curitiba I was admiring the vast proportions of 
an unfinished Roman Catholic Church on a prominent site, and 
inquired of a gentleman near by why the church had not been 
completed. His reply was that once the stone and material for 
finishing it were all on the ground and the money largely in 
hand; but just at that time the Emperor proposed to visit the 
city: they decided to use the stone and the money to complete a 
portion of the macadamized road from the sea coast for the 
occasion, and since that time they had not been able to secure 
the funds necessary for the work. This appreciation of the 
Emperor's visit stood in striking contrast to the sentiments I 
heard in a Republican speech one night in the city about two 
months after the overthrow of the Monarchy. The young statesman 
was most unkind and unjust in his remarks about the Emperor and 
the Imperial family: and what was more surprising was that a 
number of his auditors approved of the ingratitude and the unjust 
criticisms. 

   The railroad through the serro from Curitiba to Paranagua is a 
clever feat of engineering skill. The road winds around and up 
mountain sides, over deep chasms and through tunnels, and is said 
to have been the scene of many horrible deaths during the naval 
revolt of 1893-4, when revolutionists were carried in numbers on 
the train to the higher points and hurled alive into the depths 
below.

-----

XIII
Rio Grande do Sul

A FINE CLIMATE-EARLY SETTLERS-GERMAN INFLUENCE-LIBERAL IDEAS.

   THE incidents and observations in Bible work to be recorded 
under the head of this journey are confined to the Province of 
Rio Grande do Sul, the extreme southernmost State of the 
Republic, and formerly belonged to the La Plata Agency. I have 
visited this section twice, first in the year 1895 and again in 
1899.

   The distance from Rio de Janeiro to the bar at the entrance to 
the Rio Grande do Sul harbour is 780 miles. I first made the 
voyage on a small Italian steamer, and we had a rough and 
uncomfortable time for three days and a half until we cast anchor 
off the city of Rio Grande do Sul. Our passengers were few and 
the crew was small, so that little could be done in the way of 
Bible work. The captain, however, proved to be a Methodist and a 
member of the Church in Montevideo, a novel surprise in this part 
of the world, and we had most delightful conversations together.

   The state of Rio Grande do Sul has a milder and finer climate 
than any other section of the country, partly due to the general 
altitude, which is about 2,000 feet. It embraces about 142,000 
square miles-almost as large as the States of Tennessee, Kentucky 
and Missouri, or nearly three times the size of England. The soil 
for the most part is very fertile and easily cultivated. The vast 
plains are adapted to cattle raising, and the fertile valleys and 
hills to a variety of agriculture. Fruits and cereals of tropical 
as well as of colder climates thrive. There are extensive forests 
of large trees, easily accessible for lumber, and medicinal 
plants are numerous. In different parts such minerals as gold, 
silver, iron, copper, coal, ets., are found.

   Quite a number of navigable rivers empty into the great lake 
which extends from the city of Rio Grande do Sul, on the 
seacoast, about one hundred and sixty-five miles to the capital, 
Porto Alegre. Railroad construction is comparatively easy, and 
perhaps no other State of the Republic is better provided with 
means of transportation; and certainly, if present projects are 
carried into effect, it will soon be far ahead of any other State 
in this respect. The general prosperity is indicated by the 
marked increase during the later years of exports over imports, 
and a notable improvement in the finances of the State.

   This is one of the most recently settled States of the 
Republic. The first Portuguese settlers landed in the year 1715. 
In 1740 large numbers of young married people came from the 
Azores, and the Rio Grandenses are proud to-day to say that they 
sprang from the Azorians. This may. readily be believed when 
their sturdy, industrious habits and other excellent qualities 
are observed.

   These first families were soon followed by 4,000 more, who 
found a fertile soil and a congenial climate for their 
development. The census taken in 1814 showed a population of 
70,656; that of 1862, 392,725, of whom more than 50,000 were 
slaves; that of 1890, 897,455, and it is believed now by many 
that the population is about 1,200,000. Since 1824 German 
immigrants have come in in large numbers, and it is estimated 
that there are now 200,000 or 250,000 Germans in the colonies, 
not to mention the thousands who have been born in Brazil, and 
who have become Brazilian citizens. There are perhaps 150,000 
Italians colonized in the State. The colonists have settled on 
what seems a very wise plan; they all have titles to their lands, 
are there to stay for the most part, and seem prosperous and 
happy. What is so well known as to the religious, moral, and 
intellectual condition of the Brazilian in other parts may in a 
general way be applied to the inhabitants of this State, though 
there are conditions and influences which have altered the 
situation in these respects. The Azorian origin of the first 
settlers; the agricultural and cattle-raising occupations, 
scattering the people in rural life instead of congregating them 
in towns and large cities; the large influx of Germans, 
especially of the Protestant Lutheran faith; the superiority of 
climate, and other influences have had a liberalizing and 
stimulating effect upon the intellectual and moral life of the 
people. The French naturalist, Augusto de Saint Hilario, in 1821, 
observed that decadence and unbelief in Roman Catholicism was 
very marked and Sr. Alfredo Verelo, a native of that State, in a 
very important work has recently said that they had made rapid 
strides and that even before the great revolution the Roman 
Church no longer exercised that spiritual government over the 
people which in other times was so strong and intense, and adds 
that the Rio Grandenses are the most emancipated of all the 
Brazilians. They are doubtless turning rapidly away from the 
corrupted Roman Church, but a more important question just now 
for us is, Unto what are they turning? Positivism and many forms 
of unbelief are finding rich fields for their growth, and great 
numbers are perfectly indifferent as to any form of religious 
belief.

   They are making fair progress in education. It is affirmed 
that they will soon have throughout the State about 1,800 public 
schools, though this seems hardly possible, since they have at 
present only 746. On my recent visit I witnessed the conferring 
of diplomas on a class of about twenty young women who had just 
finished the course in the normal school in Port Alegre. In 
travel through the State, I always found the people liberal and 
very frank in their conversation on matters of religion and 
education. I met with nothing in the way of persecution, or 
specially of scorning at the circulating of Holy Scriptures and 
at the Christian religion. I was impressed that the people 
generally are very accessible and ready to hear. I need not 
emphasize their needs, since the needs of Brazil are so well 
known to the Church. There are a million of people practically 
without the Gospel and the means of grace. In that mild climate 
and on that fertile soil the population is rapidly increasing, 
and the wise administration of the State government is inducing 
large European immigration. Now is the time for the 
evangelization of a section that is destined to be the home of 
millions.

   The city of Porto Alegre, the capital of the State, is located 
on an elevation at the head of Lagoa dos Patos (Duck's Lake) or 
rather on the Guayiba estuary which is formed by the waters of 
four rivers emptying into this inland sea. The view from the deck 
of the vessel as one approaches the city is picturesque and 
delightful, with the ranges of wooded hills, the banks covered 
with farms and country houses nestling in luxuriant foliage, and 
the distant view of Porto Alegre crowning the hill. The lake is 
an important body of water about 150 miles long and thirty miles 
at its greatest width. It varies in depth from thirty to 140 
feet, and would permit ocean steamers to go up to the city of 
Porto Alegre but for the very shallow water on the extensive bar 
or wide channel in front of the city of Rio Grande do Sul 
extending toward the ocean over a distance of some miles. This 
may be improved by dredging but as yet little has been really 
accomplished in this way.

   I was impressed on my first arrival that the community 
furnished a rich field for Bible distribution, and while I was 
awaiting the arrival of a delayed colporteur I improved the 
opportunity of making an effort in that direction. My custom was 
to go, early in the morning, into the streets with as many 
Bibles, Testaments and Gospels as I could carry. I usually sold 
out by nine or ten o'clock: then returned for breakfast, a rest 
and some reading. In the afternoon I would go again loaded down 
with Scriptures, which I generally disposed of by five o'clock in 
the afternoon, when I returned for dinner. Occasionally a second 
supply had to be sought, and some times I made large sales in the 
market. I was much encouraged by the wide-open door for the 
entrance of the truth and found the people ready to listen to 
words of explanation and commendation of the Bible. In passing a 
house one day I saw a number of army officials at the window. 
When I offered them the Bible they began to make fun of religion. 
I made no reply till they had said their say, and then entered 
into conversation with them, which resulted in the sale of 
sixteen copies before I moved from the window. Incidents of like 
character occurred almost daily while I was in the city.

   The entries in my note book show each time I went into the 
streets for work such as the following: sold twelve copies of the 
Scriptures, sold twenty-six copies, sold eight copies, sold 
twenty-two copies; one day the sales reached forty-six copies. I 
left the colporteur to carry on the work, which he did very 
successfully for a time. From this central point thousands of 
copies have gone out into all directions through the State, and 
the reading of them has stirred up much interest. Both the 
Methodist and Episcopal Missionaries and their helpers are 
following up the colporteurs, establishing regular services in 
many places and gathering in the fruits. On my second visit to 
the State I made a trip on horseback one hundred and twenty miles 
to get an insight into the needs of the Italian and German 
colonists north from the city of Porto Alegre and was gratified 
to find that the work done by our colporteur in these colonies 
some years ago had developed into regularly organized churches.

   With some aid from abroad the people have built comfortable 
churches, and in the lack of well prepared and ordained ministers 
one of the Italian colporteurs of the Bible Society, Rev. Matteo 
Donatti, is now serving in the pastoral office. The people 
generally seem to be industrious and prosperous, and I had hoped 
to secure from among them an Italian colporteur who would be able 
to visit all the colonists and extend the circulation of the 
Scriptures among them more generally.

   On the same occasion I travelled westward by river steamer and 
by rail, more than two hundred miles inland to the town of Santa 
Maria da Bocco do Monte, where I established one of our 
colporteurs who has carried on a most successful work through 
that region. The mayor of the town was very kind and granted us 
permission to sell the Scriptures without paying for a license. 
The first day's work showed fourteen Bibles and sixteen 
Testaments sold. A few years ago a man across the border in the 
Argentine Republic secured a Bible from a colporteur, was 
converted through the reading of it, and when he came over and 
settled in the State of Rio Grande do Sul he heard of a 
Presbyterian Missionary in the State of Paraná. He made the long 
journey of several days crossing the State of Santa Catharina, 
finally reaching the Missionary in Paraná. I believe he made the 
trip the second time, and after being more fully instructed in 
the way he was baptized and received into the communion. He has, 
at different times) secured small supplies of Bibles and 
scattered them in the region round about Cruz Alta. Our 
colporteurs have made two visits to that section and have sold a 
number of Scriptures. At the time of my second visit to the city 
of Rio Grande do Sul the Convocation of the Episcopal Church was 
in session, and I was invited to a seat and given a special hour 
to speak on the Bible cause. Our work has the cordial support of 
all the members of the Convocation, some of whom have rendered 
valuable aid to our colporteur in that field, and have done me 
many favours as the agent of the Bible Society. I had most 
pleasant interviews with the preachers privately and enjoyed 
their Christian fellowship. They are an aggressive body of men, 
and are happy under the efficient presidency of their new Bishop, 
Rev. L. L. Kinsolving. I had the pleasure during my short stay in 
the city of witnessing the interesting ceremony of laying the 
cornerstone of the church which they proposed to build for their 
growing congregation, and by invitation I spoke a few words on 
the occasion. I also received many kindnesses from the Rev. A. W. 
Greeman, P. E. of the Methodist Episcopal Church, under whose 
supervision the Methodist work was at that time.

   In the German colonies and in a few towns there are twenty-
seven German Lutheran pastors, most of whom are engaged during 
the week in teaching German schools, many of which are subsidized 
by the German Emperor. A number of them serve several churches, 
and rarely minister to any one congregation more than once a 
month. Much of their strength is consumed in these day schools. 
They are formed into a synod, and are now connected with the 
State Church of Prussia, a union which I am persuaded has very 
great political significance. The work of the pastors is confined 
to the Germans, but few of them have learned Portuguese and 
perhaps none have a sufficient command of the language to preach 
with facility to the Brazilians, had they the time and the 
disposition. They are not even following up that German element 
which is constantly passing out of the colonies and becoming 
absorbed in the Brazilian population. Their very presence exerts 
an enlightening and liberalizing influence in the State, but they 
are by no means a direct, aggressive force among the natives. A 
few years ago their Synod in session resolved to buy the 
Scriptures needed for their work from the American Bible Society 
and they have purchased from us considerable quantities of German 
Scriptures during the last two or three years.

   There can be no doubt that the large and increasing German 
population in the States of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catharina, 
and Paraná is becoming a predominant element in the agricultural, 
commercial, political, social and religious life of that 
important section of Brazil. My observation is that they are 
pretty generally contented with their surroundings, and that 
there is no thought among them of creating any political 
disturbance or rebelling against the Brazilian Government. They 
are law-abiding, prosperous, and happy and seem quite willing 
that civil affairs should continue as they are. Of course I 
cannot say what Germany's designs may be with reference to these 
colonists and the desirable territory over which they are spread. 
It is a well known fact, however, that all the native born 
Germans among them, and a large majority, if not all, of the 
Brazilian born Germans are thoroughly loyal to Germany, and 
should the issue ever arise the German Emperor may depend upon 
their sympathy and support. It is of the highest importance that 
the Bible Society should see that they are kept well supplied 
with the Holy Scriptures. The agent endeavours to keep at work 
among them at most one German colporteur. Protestant Mission 
enterprise should do everything possible to encourage their 
thorough evangelization. The younger generations spreading out 
and mingling with the native Brazilians form an important element 
to be looked after and utilised in building up an evangelical 
Protestant Church.

   The work of the Bible Society in Southern Brazil meets with 
most cordial support among Brazilians, Germans and Italians; the 
Protestant Missionaries, native-workers and German pastors all 
delight to cooperate with us in the glorious work. Each visit of 
the agent to that section has seemed to awaken new interest. 
Shortly after my first visit there a young Brazilian, who seemed 
deeply impressed with our work and plans wrote the following to 
one of the evangelical papers: "Behold here comes breaking 
through the horizon of Brazil the Sun of Reformation, the Bible, 
and already the darkness of libertinism declines. 'The Bible,' 
which, in the language of the philosopher Robert Boyle, 'is among 
books what the diamond is among stones,' comes here seeking its 
place of honour in Brazilian literature. The Bible that has 
traversed eighteen centuries, reforming, regenerating, and 
civilizing societies, presents itself in the nineteenth century 
to the great Brazilian Republic, and offers its services in 
favour of regeneration. Brazil needs this divine code, whose laws 
are the only means of saving the country from the abysm of 
anarchy which seems to be approaching. Only the Bible will be 
able to deliver it, only the Bible will be able to regenerate the 
character of our citizens, and when those regenerated demonstrate 
in their lives the power of the Book of books, then inevitably 
the wave of reformation will increase more and more in volume 
until it spreads all over vast Brazil.

   "There is no doubt that the Bible will encounter gigantic 
obstacles and elevated barriers, but notwithstanding she will 
conquer.

   "As when the king of day rises slowly on the horizon, black 
night begins to fade away, so when the Bible shall arrive at its 
zenith; that is, when it shall be known by all Brazilians, the 
darkness of superstition and incredulity will fade away. Victory 
will not delay long. The Bible will soon be 'the rule of faith to 
the Brazilian family, and not only the rule of faith, but also 
the code from which parents will learn the sound morality of the 
Divine Saviour, and will teach their dear children that they may 
know how to love their Creator, their neighbour, and their 
country. Dear reader, do you wish to see peace in your home? 
Bring into it the Book of books, and dedicate some hours to the 
reading of the same, asking at the same time the blessings of the 
Omnipotent. If you will do this you will have peace in your home; 
and where there is peace there is prosperity. Read the Bible, for 
it is the written Word of God."

   I have no doubt that these sentiments are finding an echo in 
thousands of Brazilian hearts.

   The only remaining district from which we have to report is 
the great region embraced in the State of Matto Grosso, whose 
highlands are drained on the north by tributaries of the La Plata 
river. It is about 1,379,651 square kilometers in territorial 
extent and has a population of about 120,000. The city of Cuyabá, 
with a population of 15,000 is the capital; there are several 
other towns with from 3,000 to 6,000 inhabitants. A great part of 
the State is almost unexplored territory, and is inhabited by 
Indians yet in the savage state.

   The means of communication from Rio de Janeiro is by a 
national line of ocean steamers, which go down the coast 1,101 
miles to Montevideo, and thence up the La Plata and Paraguay 
rivers 1,650 miles to Corumba, from that point to Cuyabá, the 
distance of 441 miles is made by vessels of lighter draft; thus 
the entire distance from Rio de Janeiro to the Capital of Matto 
Grosso is 3,192. The reader may recall that on the journey up the 
Amazon we went to Manáos, 3,253 miles from Rio de Janeiro. The 
same Steamship Company navigates the two routes, the total of 
which is 6,445 miles or more than one-fourth of the distance 
around the globe. I suppose there is not another line of steamers 
in the world making such distances to reach two points in 
national territory. We may add to this sum another 700 miles of 
navigation from Manáos on the Amazon to the Santo Antonio falls 
on the Madeira river, making a total of 7,145 miles. To complete 
the circle over land, or rather by ascending a series of 
waterfalls and continuing navigation we make a distance of about 
1,175 miles more on the Madeira and Guapore rivers, and then 
about fifty miles on horseback, which brings us to the terminus 
of navigation by the Paraguay river route. The entire distance of 
the circle we will have made is 8,370 miles, equal to one-third 
of the earth's circumference.

   Until recently the State of Matto Grosso was included in the 
La Plata Agency; since it was transferred to the Brazil Agency we 
have made several consignments of books for distribution in that 
territory. No permanent mission work has yet been established 
there, though one of the men sent out by the Christian Alliance 
did work there for a while, and another, Rev. W. C. Cook, has 
just completed the journey across country from Goyaz to Cuyabá, 
where he remains for the present. The Scriptures distributed in 
that region are producing like results to what the reader has 
seen recorded in other parts of the country. Time and opportunity 
have not yet been favourable for me to visit that State, but the 
few scattered inhabitants are not being entirely neglected, and I 
trust that I may even be brought to them some day to do more in 
giving them the Word of Life.

END