The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1921-02-17
IN FAR AWAY BRAZIL.
Rev. w. Is. Sherwood Writes Inter-
estingly of His Travels i'm South
America.

America.
Rev. w. b. Sherwood, of Little
Rock, who has been working for the
past two years as a missionary in
Brazil, writes the following interest
ing letter to The Herald:
Nearly two years ago when l left,
there were lots of folks scattered over
Dillon county that 1 loved to think
of as friends. Before leaving 1 had
powerful good intentions to write.
was just going to write about near
IL everything. Since getting here it
has often come to mind, but only to
be put off to some better time.
have actually written little two or
three times, but 1T didn't look right
or sound right. The truth is l don't
know how to write for a paper. l
didn't do it when 1 was there, and
discover that travelling two weeks
on the Atlantic Ocean and getting
sick as dog, even if you do land
in beautiful Brazil, doesn't make a
writer of fellow. There is one thing
that sea voyage did for me. 1t made
me appreciate Christopher Columbus,
those Pilgrim fathers, the early mis-
sionaries and anybody that made
long voyage not for the love of travel
ling but to do good. Maybe they liked
it. didn't, and don't yet. I'm now
aboard boat on my way from Rio de
Janeiro to Bahia and it doesn't get
much better. You don't want any
thing to eat and don't want what
you have got. You don't love any
body and nobody loves you. Nobody
is very nice. 1 would hardly be writ
ing this If we had not stopped here
(Ilheos) to unload dried meat and
take on chocolate beans. In Rev.
21:1 it says And the sea is no more"
/ used to wonder what that means. !
/ now believe it means just what it
says and think what a great blessing
is in store for us. I'm, not joking |
about this.
Setting here looking out at the !
hills reminds me to tell you some
thing about this country that l had !
to unlearn. L used TO think of South
America as low, flat, swampy coun-
try with mosquitoes and fever every
where and heavy forests with vines
up the trees so thick you
couldn't get through. Yes, and an
of snakes and other var
.
how l got hold of this idea unless it
was because lived in South Carolina !
and when l went north I found
and so got the idea that
South meant flat. Anyway if you have
any such idea of South America you
need TO throw it away. It's wrong.
I've travelled up and down the coast
ard from Sac Paulo nearly clear
acrpcc Rrazil within r,i1ac Of tho
Bolivian border. That's a trip of five
days by train and one on a river. In .
this / found very little low, marshy
land. 1t is high and rolling, and along
the coast very mountainous. Some ,
OF the prettiest mountain scenery !
ever saw is between Rio de Janeiro /
and Sac Paulo by train. For two
hours out from Rio one large Amer |
lean made engine was pulling and
another pushing, and up and around
and through mountains we went. I'm
going across the country. After two
days we came to a long run through
heavy forests where hardly anybody
lived and there were mosquitoes.
This was river swamp (Parana riv-
err. Having crossed we passed into
a high, rolling country with few
" SSS, Soou 81 DDS, many Cdtlle, Ieu
soil, which L hear is rich. Another
days run brings you into another
river bottom, but all about On hills
No it's not flat because it's South.
It's high, rich and beautiful coun-
try with fewer mosquitoes and snakes
than l was used to in South Carolina.
Upon the whole it is a most delight
full place to live. This is our summer
and nearly every where I've been al
little cover at night has been neces-
sary. Before leaving home 1 recall
saying that judged that it was very
hot away from the coast. It's the op-
posite. It's cooler in the interior.
But I've talked too much and said |
tco little, not mentioned nay work, |
but maybe I'll write again sometime. |
My chief work has been keeping in |
touch with the native preachers in |
the state of BahIa,-writing them. III
have been studying the languageI
some. / an talking in p' NIic little. |
The people say better than I thin.
They ought to know but I'm afraid |
they don't. Upon the whole my work
has been much like a housekeeper's