The herald., 1918-01-31

I UNIFORMED persons often
ask why IL Is necessary to send
missionaries to South Ameri-
ca, where all the countries are
Christian. Replying To this query, in
the Missionary Review of the World,
Rev. DR.. Gerhard J. Schilling Of
BuenOs Aires says there are millions
Of souls in that continent who have
never yet heard of the Christian faith,
and other millions who have very
wrong idea Of il.
Few American Christians, he con-
tinucs. have any definite idea of the
number and condition of these I'M
evangelical multitudeS. Their num-
bers are not known. In the United
States Ii Is estimated that there are
260,OOO Indians and many mission
boards in North America which carry
on work among the various tribes.
Contrast the conditions in the southern
continent. In Ecuador, for instance,
out of "A population of l,2JOO0O, the In
dians number $4,000. These are very
low in the scale of civilization, and
the majority of them are absolutely
unevangelized. Moreover. 100000 Of
the Indians in that republic have new
er rs yet been politically subdued.
They still roam in the forests, killing
game with their poisoned arrows and
bringing down birds with their long
blowpipeS. Any approach to them is
unsafe, and no one seems willing to
expose his life in an effort To win them
to Christ.
Half the People Indians.
Look At Peru. The last census re-
veals the fact that $40 per cent Of its
population of 2,592OOO are Indians
Some of these have heard of the Chris
tan faith and some will even salute
a church when they pass, but 1000,
600 of them could not give reason
for the faith that is within them.
In Bolivia we and 500 per cent of
the people Indians, or 920.S64; of the
4S8,01S of "miNed population" returned
In the last census. almost all have lit
tie of Spanish and much Of Indian
btbOu III llItH Wits. ENO we Ndll SultlN
add 100000 Indians as the Bolivian
contingent.
No man living can tell how many
indians live in Brazil Baron de San
ta-Anna Merry, authority on the ques-
ton OF Indians in the Amazon valley,
actually gives the names Of 373 tribes
In that region. | venture to say that
there are from 100000 TO 5000, 900 of
indians in Brazil
In addition to these millions there
are the unnumbered Guarantees and
Lenguas, $4,000, as Rev. w. b. Grub
estimates, In Paraguay and the Gran
Chaco of Argentine. There are the
Patagonians of the South and the Au-
racanians Of Chile.
The manner of living among these
Indians is as varied as the area In
which they dwell. Begin with the
sOuthernmost, the OnaS of TERRA del
Fuego. Although they are exposed for
months during the rains To frost and
snow, they go about almost naked, and
entirely So in their poor habitations,
which often take the form of caves
dug into the side Of hill. Many of
ilsp.a are polygamists, and all show
tie respect for the government.
M ago Chilean army officer
PNned among them was found
Dcrced by - arrows pointed with
splintcrS of glass.
A much sturdier race are the Arau-
canlanS. Among all the abOrigines of
the region now called Chile. they only
have never beep conquered. neither
by the lncas who extended once their
empire rs far as Maule, or by the
Spaaiards who had TO withdraw from
them.
Kill the Babes and Aged.
The Indians Of the Gran Chaco, the
northwestern reserves Of Argentine,