SOUTH AMERICA.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 December 1916, Page 7

SOUTH AMERICA.

A MISSIONARY'S VIEWS WORK- AMONG" NATIVE,Interesting observations concerning his experiences during the niw& years he spent in missionary efi'ort in 'Paraguay were made "by Mr. Allan Smith, who is spending a furlough in Xew Plymouth, in the course of 1 an.interview." South America is an amazing country with wonderful potentialities, said Mr. Smith.- The main industries were grain growing, sheep and cattle-raising, also butter and jlieesc making. Extensive oil-wells had been exploited,- and had been commandeered by the Argentine navy.' In the northern provinces sugar was produced. Apple-growing had been carried on to a certain extent, but with .small success, owing to tne heavy cost of transit. " XEW AUSTRALIA."• ' ; Jlr. Smith said he had met members of the "Xew Australia" .party who founded a new communal colony in Paraguay, 23 years Ago. Tile people had not prospered, and. their condition presented a striking testimony of the failure of the 'communal system. ''ldeals are all right for angels, but we ;ire not angels," one of the unfortunate settlers explained to the missionary when com-menting-on-the .present—state.-of. the colony. ' PARAGUAYAN NATIVES. The natives of Paraguay were similar to the in complexion. They were indolelit, yet hospitable, aud had considerable mental capacity. ftlany of them had been educated in the universities of Berlin, Paris and Londqn, and were highly accomplished. Paraguay enjoyed a sub-tropical climate, and the'country was well watered and productive. The national religion was Roman Catholicism. COLON 1 ISIXiG EI'FORTS: , Jfr. Smith said big work in 'Paraguay had been of an evangelical nature, and ho did not come into direct contact with the MK-ivilisei natives. An Anglican colonising mission, under the Rev. W, 'B. Grubb, had been engaged for 20 years laboring among the Lengua Indians at Gran Chaco, in North Argentine. The work was fraught with danger, for the Indians wjrc ferocious and addicted to cannibalism. Notwithstanding this, marked results had been accomplished. In'--Paraguay the ..work of the. missionaries was considerably interfered withtwing to the frequent revolutions, but the missionaries had been encouraged in witnessing the changed lives of the natives that had come under their influence. The Anglican mission had- established a village, with black-smith's-shop, carpenter's shop, ft store and a .school. ~ No native was allowed to enter the. village naked, and ic was a triumph of the Gospel. to hear a number of erst-wbile cannibals singing wellknown hymns in their own language.

A MAGNIFICENT PAST.Evidence of a magnificent past was to l>e found in the ruins to he seen on the shores of Lake .Titicaca, on the borders o£ Peru and Bolivia, resumed the visitor. The basement of the old snn-temple resembled that of some great modern public building. Some .of the stones measured 38ft long and ISft high. There were the. ruins .of hanging gardens, bridges and aqueducts, of solid masonry to be seen. It was a sad thing to recall that all this spoke of a wonderful civilisation which had been swept into oblivion by the advancing hosts of Europe. The descendants of these people of a past age were the Cliecua Indians, a strong, stalwart type with'a sullen cast of countenance such as one would find on a man, who had left a better past behind him. In their halyeon days, these Indians were men of intelligence and endurance, but under the yoke of their foreign oppressors they 'had been forced into the mines of Bolivia, and treated so cruelly as to he reduced in numbers and physique.

A TRAGIC HISTORr,. The history of South America since the advent of European colonisation has been one long tragedy, concluded Mr. Smith, as he went on to tell of the low moral state of the people and the prevalence ot disease. He could not oll'er any opinion as to the future, but felt that some day the country would have a brighter, and better outlook than it had at -present.