AMONGST THE INDIANS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4684, 7 April 1924, Page 3

AMONGST THE INDIANS.

MISSION WORK IN BRAZIL. SPREADING THE GOSPEL. It has nut been given to many men to traverse the entire length of the mighty Amazon River, which stretches for over 3000 miles, and whose head waters-are chartless and have to be covered in a dug-piit cahbe. This arduous feat has been accomplished by Mr Fred. C. Glass, who is at present visiting Wellington. Mr Glass tir-t entered Brazil as a mining engineer, but when be discovered the benighted state of the natives he felt constrained to undertake the work «>f spreading the Gospel. As a missionary Mr Glass has covered an-enoi-mous area of country, and has accomplished journeys which would hav3 daunted any but the stoutest heart. Mr Glass is a representative of the Evangelical Union of South America, an international organisation whose headquarters are in London. Its missionary enterprise is devoted to Peru. Argentina, and North and South Brazil. The union has about 80 missionaries in the field, and they possess a farm of ten square miles near Cuseo, the ancient capital of the Inca Empire. This farm is devoted to the protection and elevation of the Indian tribes, of which 300 are khown to exist in Brazil alone. In the city of Cuseo, which ,is 10,000 ft. above sea level, are old buildings just as they stood in the days of Pizarro. ■‘My r work,” he said, “has lately been divided" between circulating the Scriptures. amongst the Portuguese and pioneer work amongst the Indians on the Amazon and its branches. The Amazon region has the largest area of unmapped territory to be found any-< where in the world to-day. Probably tl.iore are between 300' and 400 Indian tribes in that region. One can travel in: the Amazon in a 6000-ton liner for 2000 miles, while another 1000 miles can be done up a tributary. The populafion. of this region is between 300,000 and 400,000. The Indians are a splendid type of humanity. The men give themselves a coat of paint now and. again, but this is the limit if pctsonal adornment. Neverthess the natives 1 came across were perfectly trustworthy, and I can only describe them as nature’s gentlemen. * Ffrom a missionary point of view, the greatest work has been done by the British and Foreign Bible Society, which has enabled the Bible to be sold 1800 miles from the coast. There are thousands of homes in the \ interior where the only book to be found is the Bible. It is hot too much to say that it is by far the best read book in Brazil.. The Bible has had a great influence upon .the lives of the people. During the past few years I have circulated 200,000 copies near the equator, and the demand still ex- . ce<*ds the .supply.”