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Tals ab $ : eal Syshinho) tet (bint Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2021 with funding from Columbia University Libraries https://archive.org/details/ourworkinfarawayOOwate OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS Sei A STUDY-BOOK FOR MISSION BANDS AND JUNIOR CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR SOCIETIES By MABEL W. WATERS WOMEN’S BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ROOM 818, 156 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK Programme for Meeting on Presbyterian Missions Singing— “The Church’s One Foundation.” Scripture Reading— (I. Samuel 3:1-19 1.) Prayer. March— “Onward Christian Soldiers.” (Children carrying pasteboard crosses and singing) Roll Call. Offering. Prayer after Offering. Singing— “Stand up, Stand up for Jesus.” Lesson Story. Singing— “Fling Out the Banner.” Questions and Answers on Lesson Story. Talk on the Boards—(Illustrated by chart, enlarged on black board.) Singing— “Brightly Gleams Our Banner.” The Lord’s prayer. 1 The Bible in the Mission Band. LESSON I.—PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONS THE CHURCH. The Mission Bands and Junior C. E. Societies of which you girls and boys are members, form part of the missionary organ- ization of the Presbyterian Church. This Church is one of the branches of the great Church of Jesus Christ. These branches, or denominations astheyare called, are together working and praying for the glad day when all men shall accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, and His Kingdom shall come and His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. The Presbyterian Church is a famous Missionary Church carrying on more than one-fourth of all the missionary work of the world. It believes that it has a divine message given to it by Christ, and that this message is to be preached and taught and made known the whole world over. So to whatever part of our own dear land this message has not yet been carried, and to all heathen lands and the islands of the sea, the Presbyterian Church is sending its missionaries to bear the glad tidings of the Gospel. The division of the Presbyterian Church to which you belong is known as The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and is doing its share in this great missionary cause. From Port Barrow on the *Athantie™Ocean, the mission station nearest the North Pole, to stations in southern Chili, South _ America, the blue banner of our Church is floating to-day. It waves from the destitute portions of our own land in the West, to the even more needy countries of the far East; and wherever it is found, there the people are being told of God’s wondrous love, and salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. To understand how its missionary work is carried on, you will need to know something of its government. GOVERNMENT AND BOARDS OF THE PRESBY- TERIAN CHURCH. An individual church is composed of the minister or pastor, the church members, and the congregation. Its officers are the minister, the elders, and the deacons. The elders and the dea- 4 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS cons are elected by the church members. The elders help the pastor in the spiritual affairs of the church, and together they form what is known as the session. The deacons have charge of the poor of the congregation, and distribute the money given for that purpose. There are also trustees, men elected by both church and congregation to manage the business affairs. There are four courts of the Presbyterian Church, and the Session of an individual congregation is the first of these. The next higher grade is the Presbytery, which is made up of all the ministers and one elder from each congregation in a cer- tain district. The presbytery has oversight of the churches within its limits, and settles any questions which the churches cannot decide. The next higher court is the Synod.. This includes the presbyteries within a certain area, generally those in a state. It governs all the presbyteries belonging to it, and judges matters brought to it by them. The fourth and highest court is the General Assembly.. It is composed of commission- ers from the presbyteries. This means that each presbytery elects a certain number of its ministers and elders, and sends them to the General Assembly, which meets once each year. In this way every church of the denomination in the country is represented. The General Assembly settles matters brought to it by the presbyteries and synods, and is the final, or highest, court of the church. , It appoints eight Boards, or groups of men, each of which has charge of a certain part of the work of the church. These are: The Boards of Foreign Missions, Home Missions, Mis- sions for Freedmen, Aid for Colleges, Education, Publication and Sabbath School Work, Church Erection, Ministerial Relief. BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. The first of these—the Foreign Board—is one in which Mission Bands and Junior Societies are especially interested. This Board has charge of missionary work in foreign lands. It appoints and sends out our missionaries, provides for their sup- port, has oversight of their work, and manages the executive work at home. WOMEN’S BOARDS. In connection with the Assembly’s Board are six Women’s Boards of Foreign Missions, with headquarters in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco, and Portland, OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 5 Oregon. They aim to interest all the women and young peo- ple of the church in sending the Gospel to the women and chil- dren of heathen lands. Each of these Boards appoints one member to what is known as the Central Committee. This Com- mittee helps the Boards in deciding what share of the work , each one shall have. It has a general secretary, at the head- quarters of the Assembly’s Board, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City. This secretary is appointed by both the Assembly’s Board and the Central Committee, and through her they carry on their communications. Your Bands and Junior Societies belong under the New York Board, which is called The Women’s Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, and has its headquarters also, at 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The officers of this Board are a President, Vice-presidents, Secretaries and Treasurer. The Secretary for Mission Bands and Junior Societies you should especially know about, for she is your Secretary, having oversight of all the Bands and Junior Societies belonging to the Board. She corresponds with your Presbyterial Secretaries and so keeps in touch with all your work. When a new society is reported she sends a card of welcome from the Board; enters the name of the society on her list, and reports it to the missionary magazines. She corresponds also with your missionaries and others connected with your Special Work in China, India, Japan, Africa, and Laos. She plans new methods of work; gives fresh suggestions to your Leaders; secures interesting literature: and twice each year edits the “Foreign Post” which brings the latest news from all your missionaries and work. She attends the meetings of the Executive Committee of the Board, the Manag- ers’ Meeting, and the Annual Meeting; and at all of these reports the work and progress of all the Mission Bands and Junior Societies of the entire Board. Another officer, of whose work you should be familiar, is the Treasurer of the Board. The money sent for foreign mis- sions by all the societies belonging to the Board goes finally through her hands; and is given by her to the treasurer of the Assembly’s Board, and sent by him to the fields for which it is given. It is important that you should understand just how your gifts should reach the Board Treasurer. They should not be sent directly to her by the treasurer of your Band or Junior Society, nor to the treasurer of the Assembly’s Board. Your treasurer should make out a draft or money order for the amount, and send it to the treasurer for foreign missions of 6 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS your Presbyterial Society. It should be inclosed in a note stat- ing the name of your society, and the special work for which you wish it applied. The Presbyterial Treasurer will then send a receipt to your treasurer, and will forward the money to the Board Treasurer. If possible, send the amount in even dollars, keeping the extra cents to add to your next gift, as this will be a help to the Board Treasurer and your Presbyterial Treasurer in making out their accounts. The address of both the Board Treasurer and the Secretary for Mission Bands and Junior So- cieties is Room 818, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City. SYNODICAL SOCIETIES. The members of all Presbyterial Societies in a Synod com- prise a Synodical Society.. It has officers corresponding to those of the Board, and a special Secretary for Bands and Jun- ior Societies. This Secretary keeps in touch with all her Pres- byterial Secretaries in regard to the Home Mission work of their Bands and Junior Societies. She sends her Annual Report to the Secretary for Young Peoples’ Societies of the Womans’ Board of Home Missons, whose headquarters are at 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City. PRESBYTERIAL SOCIETIES. The Women’s, Young People’s, and Children’s Missionary Societies in all the churches of a Presbytery, form what is known as a Presbyterial Society. Its officers also correspond to those of the Board. It has a special Secretary for Bands and Junior Societies, who has oversight of all these societies in her presbytery. She also corresponds with the Board Secretary for Mission Bands and Junior Scieties, and sends to her an Annual Report of this work. MISSION BANDS AND JUNIOR C., E. SOCIETIES. Every individual Band and Junior Society has its officers, and also a Leader, or Superintendent, to have oversight of its work. This leader corresponds with her Presbyterial Secretary for Bands and Junior Societies, and once a year sends her a full report of her society. OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS y THE FOREIGN FIELDS. he how is the work carried on in the Mission Fields them- selves: In the first place, the Assembly’s Board has 17 of these Fields; in India, China, Japan, Korea, Siam and Laos, Persia, Western Equatorial Africa, Turkey, Syria, the Philippine Islands, Mexi- co, Guatemalia, Venzuela, Brazil, Chili, United States of Colum- bia, and among the Chinese and Japanese in the United States. A MISSION. Each Field is divided into a number of Missions. Just as a “Board” means a group of men appointed by the Church to have charge of a certain part of its work, so a Mission means all the foreign missionaries under appointment by the Foreign Board, who are within a certain part of a Field. The Missions are named from their positions in the Field, as the North India Mission, or the Western Africa Mission. A STATION. These Missions are also divided and their divisions are called Stations, and consist of all the foreign missionaries appointed by the Board within certain districts prescribed by the Mission. MISSION WORK. The work itself is of various kinds. The preaching of God’s word by our missionaries, foreign or native, whether it be a personal talk with only one individual, an address to a small group of people gathered together in town or country, or a ser- mon to the hundreds of persons who often attend the services of our mission churches, is known as Evangelistic Work. To this work also belongs the care of the churches, the Sabbath schools, zenana visiting, the oversight of the native Bible women and other helpers, and all the many ways in which missionaries and native helpers alike are trying to win men, women, and little children to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. Missionary physicians, both men and women, carry on what is called Medical Work, They make personal visits in town and 8 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS country, and have charge of mission hospitals and dispensaries. Trips made through the country districts by the missionaries are known as Itinerating tours. There is both evangelistic and medical itinerating, and in this way many places are visited where the natives have never before heard the Gospel message. Our Missions have all grades of schools under their care, from kindergartens to colleges. Also training schools and classes for native teachers; theological seminaries for preparing natives for the ministry; and classes for medical students and nurses. This is called Educational Work. In many Stations are printing presses where Bibles, Testaments, and other literature is pub- lished in the native language. FOREIGN AND NATIVE MISSIONARIES. Foreign Missionaries are those men and women who are appointed by the Board of Foreign Missions, and sent out by it to our Mission Fields. Ordained ministers and other missionar- ies, both men and women, have charge of the evangelistic and educational work, and the missionary physicians and their help- ers care for the medical work. Much work is also done by the wives of missionaries, who are of invaluable assistance. Native Missionaries are the men and women trained by the Missions to help in carrying on the work, as ordained ministers, evangelists, teachers, Bible-women, physicians and nurses. The love and devotion which they show to the work, proves not only their appreciation of what the Gospel has meant to them, but also their longing to bring these same blessings to all those who are still in need of them. OUR SHARE IN THE WORK. What now is our share in this missionary work of the Pres- byterian Church? Surely it is a part of the work of the Church in which, as loyal Presbyterians, everyone must help, from the tiniest member of the Little Light Bearers, to the men and women who in the home land or on the foreign field, are bear- ing the burden and responsibility of the work. We must all do our part to hasten the time when there shall be no place the world over, where the Gospel message has not been made known. It is for this very reason that you girls and boys are gathered OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 9 in Mission Bands and Junior C. E. Societies that you may learn to love this great cause; to work and pray for it; and give towards its support. You have missionaries and shares in the work at special Stations, assigned to you by the Board, that you may have much to interest you. The following lessons will teach you about these missionaries, and the countries in which they are laboring. QUESTIONS ON LESSON STORY. 1. To what Denomination, or branch of the Church of Jesus Christ, do you belong? 2. Why is it a famous missionary Church? 3. What is the name of your division of the Presbyterian Church? 4. Is it doing its share in the great missionary cause? 5. Of what is an individual church composed? 6. How many courts has the Presbyterian Church? Name them. 7. What is a Church Session? A Presbytery? A Synod? A General Assembly? 8. What are the Boards appointed by the General Assembly? 9. How many of these Boards are there? Name them. 10. In which are you especially interested? 11. How many Women’s Boards of Foreign Missions are con- nected with this Board? 12. Under which one do your Bands and Junior Societies belong? 13. What officers has it? 14. Which two should you know about especially? 15. Why can you call the Secretary for Mission Bands and Junior Societies your Secretary? 16. What can you tell about her work? 10 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 17. What is the work of the Treasurer of the Board? 18. Through whom should you send to her your gifts for for- eign missions? 19. What is a Synodical Society? A Presbyterial Society? 20. What are Mission Bands and Junior C. E. Societies? 21. How many Mission Fields has the Assembly’s Board of Foreign Missions? 22. What is a Mission? A Station? 23. What is Evangelistic Work? Itineration? Medical Work? Educational Work? 24. How are Bibles, Testaments, and other literature obtained in the native language? 25. Who are Foreign Missionaries, and what is their work? 26. Who are native Missionaries and what do they do? 27. As loyal Presbyterians, how must we share in this mis- sionary work of our Church? 28. What part is assigned by the Board to your Mission Bands and Junior Societies? Programme for Meeting on China Singing— “Children’s Mission Hymn.” 1 Scripture Reading— “The Great Commission.” Prayer. Roll Call. Singing—““There are Lands far away o’er the Sea.” 1 Lesson Story. Recitation— (Rhyme said to the Kitchen God before burning him) 1 Questions and Answers on Lesson Study. Offering—(Prayer for God’s blessing on their gift.) Singing— “The Children’s Coronation.” . The Lord’s Prayer. 1 ‘China for Juniors.”’ LESSON II.—CHINA COUNTRY. Away around on the other side of the world from where we live is a great country called China. By its own people it is known as The Middle Kingdom, the Flowery Land; the Celest- ial Empire; the Hills of T’ang; and Far Cathay. It is a very old country, with records reaching farther back than the time of Abraham. It is also very large—five million square miles—about twice the size of the whole United States with Alaska. There are many great rivers, two of which—the Yang-tse Kiang and the Hoang Ho—are among the noted rivers of the world. Canals are numerous, and in many parts of China, the rivers and canals take the place of roads. The Grand Canal, built hundreds of years ago, is one of the two famous public works of China. The other, the Great Wall, was built 220 B. C., as a defence for the northern frontier against the nation’s ene- mies, In the northern part of the country is the Great Plain. Here the land is very fertile and covered with hundreds of small farms, where the farmers work during the day, returning at night to their adobe villages. The climate is like our own in New England, and wheat and other grains are raised. In Central China, the climate is mild and moist. Southern China is like our Florida. and here is raised the rice which, with salt fish and vegetables, is the ordinary food of the people. They have many valuable plants and trees not found in our country; among them the tea plant, camphor tree, bamboo, varnish tree, wax tree, soap tree, tallow tree and li-chee. The southeastern portion of the land is hilly, while splendid mountain ranges, with snow-capped peaks, are found in the south and west Besides farming, the Chinese have many other industries, among them the making of beautiful silks. Multitudes of men, women and little children are employed in the culture of the silk-worm. Hundreds of children also help in the gathering of tea-leaves. The principal exports are tea, silk, medicine, fire-crackers, and straw braid. The largest imports are cotton goods, kerosene and opium. 14 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS PEOPLE. There are between three hundred and fifty and four hundred millions of people in this great land. You girls and boys can scarcely realize what this means, but perhaps you may under- stand it better when told that if all the people in the world should march in a single line, every fourth person would be a Chinese. Now, how do all these millions of people live? They are gov- erned, as they have been for four thousand years, by Kings or Emperors. There have been seven great families of kings, or dynasties as they are called. The Chow Dynasty, the Tsin, the Han, the T’ang, the Sung, the Ming, and the Manchu. In “China for Juniors” we find the following items of interest about each: “Confucius lived during the reign of the Chow family. One of the Emperors of the Tsins built the Great Wall. The Han Dynasty lasted from about two hundred years before the birth of Christ until two hundred years after it. About this time ink was invented by the Chinese, who were now printing books on paper made from the bark of trees. During the T’ang Dynasty the Chinese were the most civilized people on earth. Every school-boy feels the effect of the Sung Dy- nasty, for it was at this time that a little book was made which has been ever since the first one that a boy studies. When the Ming family began to reign America had not yet been discov- ered; but during their reign Columbus did discover it, and the last Ming king died just about the time that the Pilgrim Fathers came over to New England. The Manchu family is the last one that we need remember, for the very good reason that the Manchu family is still on the throne.” In 1875 Kwong Su, a little boy five years old, became Emper- or, and the Empire was placed under a regency of two dowager empresses. One ot these, the Dowager Empress Tse Hsi, the Emperor’s aunt, has ever since, until her death in November, 1908, been the real ruler of China. She ruled until the little Emperor became of age, and finding afterwards that he wanted to introduce customs which she did not approve, she deposed him and resumed the government. In 1898 the Emperor had ordered all the children in his country to be gathered into schools, and taught more as girls and boys are here in our land. There were to be higher schools and colleges for the sons of the nobility. His aunt would not have these new cus- toms, and most of the Chinese people were afraid of them. OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 15 It was largely these changes that caused the people to fear and hate the foreigners; and just because our missionaries were foreigners, five of them and three little children were murdered in our Station of Paotingfu, in June, 1900. In October, 1905, four others, and the little daughter of one of them, were murdered in our Lein Chow Station. Since then, however, many of the reforms the Emperor desired have been carried out. The Government now has good schools. In November, 1908, word was received the world over, that both the Emperor and the old Dowager Empress were dead; and no one could find out just how they died. And now China has another baby Emperor—little Pu Yi—who was only two years old when enthroned December second, 1908. The coun- try must be ruled for him until he grows up, and this is being done by his father, Prince Chun. Think what it would mean for that great land, and for the Church of Jesus Christ, if only se eae Emperor, when old enough, should become a Chris- tian! China’s people live in tiny villages, larger towns, and great cities. Their houses are built of wood, stone, brick and adobe. They are one story high, with concave roof, overhanging eaves, and earthen floor. The roofs are of tile, thatch or earth, and the windows seldom have glass, but are usually of paper pasted over lattice work. The houses of the wealthy are built around a court yard on which the doors and windows open. These houses have fine carvings and paintings, and other handsome furnishings; while the houses of the poor are almost hovels, with only one room, and that one dark, damp and dirty, and shared with the pig and the chickens. In North China each house has a stone platform about two feet high, called a kang, underneath which a fire is lighted for both heat and cooking, the heat being carried through it by a flue into the chimney. Here the family cooking is done. The men and women of a household, except among the very poor, eat separately. They sit at small, low tables. The rice is eaten with chop-sticks, in the use of which they become very expert. When night comes they use the kang for a bed, spreading out their pei-wa, or comfortables, to lie upon, and putting others over them. They sleep in the same clothes they wear during the day. Both men and women wear loose, flowing trousers, and double-breasted coat, buttoned at neck and side. In cold weath- er they wear several of these coats, one over the other. The girls and boys dress like their parents. 16 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS The children learn to help with the work of the house. The boys are taught to read and write. The poor little girls seldom have this advantage, but are frequently hired out to service. Sometimes they are even sold, unless they are betrothed, which means engaged to be married. There is now a strong movement in China against what was one of the most cruel practices of the country—that of foot- binding. Until lately all the little girls of the better class, when they reached the age of five or six, had to suffer the terrible pain of having their feet bound. A cotton bandage, two or three inches wide, was wound tightly about the foot in every direction, and every few days was drawn tighter and tighter until at last the poor little foot, all out of shape, was small enough to fit a shoe three or four inches long, and sometimes even less. The girl herself became crippled for life. In many places now this cruel custom is being given up. The girls and boys of China are much like you in many ways. They too have their times for work and times for play, and greatly enjoy their games. One sad thing, however, prevents their ever being happy as are you Christian children. Instead of knowing of the loving Heavenly Father and His tender care, they spend all their little lives in fear of evil spirits. They are taught that these wicked spirits are everywhere, in the sky, the air, the trees, and even in the beautiful flowers. The men and women fear them as much as do the children. Let us see what the religion can be, that it causes the people to live in such superstition. RELIGION. There are three principal religions of China: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Every Chinaman considers himself a Confucianist, but he can also be a Buddhist and a Taoist at the same time. Confucius was a wise man who lived in Shantung, at the time of the Prophet Daniel. His religion taught the people to live a good, moral life, but told them nothing about God, and had no hope of Heaven. It taught a great deal about Ancestral Worship, in which they already believed. Tablets twelve or fifteen inches high are to be found in every house. On these tablets are carved the names of the ancestors, and each day the family burns incense before them; sometimes paper clothing for use in the next world, if there is one; and at other times, OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 17 money. Every house has also a second shrine—a picture of the kitchen god—which is pasted over the fire place. The family is careful to pray to this idol every day, and to offer him sacrifices, for they believe that he sees and hears all that goes on in the house, and at the end of the year carries a report of each one of them to his brother, the “Venerable Man of the Sky.” Once a year, a week before New Years, the kitchen god is taken down, and while prayers and incense are being offered, he is burnt and so started off on his journey to his brother! Then on New Years Day a new kitchen-god is put in his place. Nearly two thousand years ago Mingti, who was Emperor at that time, had a dream which caused him to send to India for books and teachers. The people of India worship Buddha, whose religion teaches the transmigration of souls. This means that after a man dies his spirit passes into some other person, or even into some animal. The result of Emperor Mingti sending to India was that after a few years over three thousand Buddhist missionaries had come to China, and Budd- hism became one of the religions of the country. The religion which makes the people the most unhappy is Taoism, for this is demon worship. It has a great number of gods; the god of wealth, god of war, god of thunder, of small- pox, and of all other troubles. Whenever anyone is ill it is believed that some god is angry, and time and money is spent in trying to make him good natured again. There are temples all over the land, filled with idols of these spirit-gods and their great gods Confucius and Buddha. Here the men and women come to worship and offer sacrifices and incense; and one of the earliest lessons taught to little children is just how to behave when taken to the temples to worship. Do you not long to send them Christian teachers who will tell them of our loving Father, the only true God, and of His dear Son who died for them? When our Saviour had finished His life here on earth, and was about to return to His Heavenly Home, He gave His disciples this last great commission, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” There is no one country in “all the world” where there are so many people still worshipping idols, as China, and who will never know better until we obey our Lord’s command and carry them the Good News. We have many missionaries already doing so, and your own Miss Dickie is one of them. Let us consider what their work is in this far away land. 18 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS MISSIONS. Dr. Robert Morrison, sent out in 1807 by the London Mis- sionary Society, was the first Protestant missionary to China. He made the first translation of the Bible into Chinese. There are now seventy-two Protestant societies working in China, having in all about 3,500 missionaries. _ Our Presbyterian Church has eight Missions, with the follow- ing twenty-nine Stations: I. South China. II. Hunan. III. Central China. Canton. Siangtan. Ningpo. Lien Chou. Hengchow. Shanghai. Yeung Kong. Chenchow. Hangchow. Shek Lung. Changteh. Soochow. Taouen. IV. Kiang-an. V. North China. VI. East Shantung. Nanking. Peking. Teng-chou. Hwai-Yuen. Paoting-fu. Chefoo, Shunte-fu. Tsing-tau. VII. West Shantung. VIII. Hainan. Yi-hsien. Kiungchow. Ichou-fu. Nodoa. Tsinan-fu, Kachek. Wei-hsien. Tsining-chou. These stations have a total .of 271 missionaries, men and women, of whom 39 are medical missionaries, and about 780 Chinese evangelists and helpers, 42 of whom are ordained min- isters. There are 114 churches, with over 19,300 members. 7,289 scholars are in Sabbath-schools; 6,327 in our 306 boarding and day schools. The Central China Mission is the one in which you girls and boys are especially interested, for one of its Stations is Ningpo, where your missionary, Miss Dickie, lives. You will want to know more about this Mission. OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 19 CENTRAL CHINA MISSION. It has four principal Stations: Shanghai, Soochow, Hang- chow and Ningpo, and many Out-Stations where the work is carried on by native helpers. Shanghai is a large city of 500,000 inhabitants, situated on the Woosong River, 14 miles from the sea. Our mission work was begun there in 1850. This Station has the largest Mission Printing Press in the world. Soochow, with a population of 500,000, is 70 miles west of Shanghai, and our mission work began there in 1871. It has out-stations, but there are many places not far from the city which the missionaries have not yet reached. Hangchow is at the southern end of the Grand Canal, 156 miles northwest of Ningpo. It has 500,000 inhabitants, and around it a population of 1,500,000, with no other missionaries than ours working among them. Our work was started there in 1859, NINGPO. Ningpo is the Station of which you want to learn the most, as this is where the money is sent that you girls and boys give toward mission work in China. It is from this city and about her work here, that you receive the interesting letters from Miss Dickie, to which you look forward so eagerly in each issue of the “Foreign Post.” Ningpo has 300,000 inhabitants, and is situated on the Ningpo River, 12 miles from the sea. The field covered by this Station is 200 miles long and from 20 to 100 miles wide. The land to the west and south of the city is a beautiful plain, very fertile, and with many canals running through it. Our first missionary to Ningpo was Dr. D. B. McCartee. He arrived in 1844, and soon opened a dispensary in a large Taoist temple. We have now eleven missionaries, and you will see there is much work to be done when it takes so many people to’ carry iteon: There are ten Churches, with nineteen regular preaching places, and twenty-two Out- Stations. Think how busy this must keep our three ministers and the ordained native ministers! The other native helpers also preach. So do our missionaries’ wives and the other ladies of the Station, and there is teaching to be done in the eighteen Sabbath- schools with their 975 scholars. What a busy day Sunday must be! Every day of the week is full of work, with the six day-schools to be carried on 20 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS with their 114 pupils, and the three boarding-schools with 285 scholars, besides all the evangelistic and medical work. MISS EDITH CHRISTINA DICKIE. Let us now see what your special missionary, Miss Dickie, is doing; what sort of a home she has in Ningpo, and how her time is spent. You know her so well through her letters, and some of you even from having met her personally, that you do not need to be told much about her. She is a dear friend to you all, and we hope you remember in your Band and Junior meetings, and in your own prayers at home, to ask God’s richest blessings upon her and her work. She went to China in the summer of 1906, and was appointed to the Station of Ningpo, as special missionary for Mission Bands and Junior C. E. Societies. She has a home of her own, with a pretty garden around it, and not only lovely flowers but also fresh vegetables and fruits. From one side of the house the river is to be seen. After settling her home, Miss Dickie began studying the Chinese language, which is very difficult to learn. She now knows it sufficiently to be able, when on her itinerating trips in the country, to preach to the natives who do not understand English. Sometimes she makes these trips in a house-boat on the river or canals. She has a Bible-woman who goes with her and helps her. On Easter Sunday, 1907, the Sabbath-school for heathen chil- dren in Ningpo, which had been discontinued for a year or more, owing to the lack of anyone in the Station with time to give to it, was reopened. Miss Dickie has entire charge of it, and some of the Christian girls of the boarding-school act as teachers for the little ones. Besides all this work she helps with the women’s training classes. Think what a busy life she leads, and how tired she must often become. She never writes of this, however, but only of how happy she is in her life and work there in Ningpo. What is it that keeps her so happy, and willing to remain in China, so far from her loved ones in America? Is it not because she has the joy that comes from obeying the Saviour’s command: “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every crea- ture?” Many hundreds of years before Christ gave this com- mand, a promise was given by God, through his prophet Isaiah, OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 21 that China should some day become a Christian nation. This was the promise: “Lo, these shall come from far; and lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.” The “Land of Sinim” is another name for China, and now Miss Dickie and all our missionaries there are helping to make this prophecy come true. mall eel eet eee Tk oe ee ne PAE rel ty BE EE wm & Wh — SO MPNAMARWNY QUESTIONS ON LESSON STORY. . Of what country are we studying? Is it a large country? How many people live in it? What are the three religions of the land? What is one of the first lessons taught to little children? Who was the first Protestant missionary? . In what year did he go there? . What was one great work he accomplished? . How many Missions has our Presbyterian Church in China? Name them? . In which one are you especially interested? Why? Name the four Stations of the Central China Mission? In which of them is the largest Mission Press in the world? To which of these Stations do you send your money? . Locate Ningpo, and state its size? . When was our work first started there? . How many miles of country around belong to the Station? . How many Out-Stations has it? - How many Churches? Sabbath schools? Day schools? Boarding-schools? . Who was our first missionary to Ningpo? . Who is your special missionary? . When did Miss Dickie go there? . What can you tell of her life and work? . What should you all remember to do for her? . What is the Great Commission given by the Saviour te us all? Programme for Meeting on India Singing—“Some one must go to the far-off lands.”! Prayer. Scripture Reading— Ps. 115 (in concert.) Roll Call—(Responses: Names of rivers, mountains and cities of India) Lesson Story. Singing— “I Love to Tell the Story.” Offering. Prayer after Offering. Questions and answers on Lesson Story. Singing— “What can we do for Jesus?” 11 The Lord’s prayer. 1 ‘‘Missionary Ships.’’ 11 ‘‘Missionary Songs and Hymns.”’ LESSON III—INDIA COUNTRY. You are now to learn of another great country—India. Though much smaller than China, it is still very large, equal to all Europe, except Russia, or the United States east of the Mississippi. It is nearly 2,500 miles long and 2,000 miles wide. The country lies near the middle of the southern part of Asia, and is bounded on the north by the Himalaya Mountains, one of the most wonderful of all mountain ranges. The word Himalaya means “the abode of snow,” and the great, towering, snow-capped peaks, rising from a plateau over 15,000 feet above sea level, make part of the most magnificent scenery of the world. Below these mountains are the Northern Plains, where great crops of grain are raised. On these plains are most of the cities and towns of India, and multitudes of villages. There are no hills and no forests, and after the hot winds of summer have burned and withered everything green, the country looks dreary and bare. To the south of these plains is another moun- tain range—the Vindhya; then comes a very fertile valley through which runs the Narbada River. South of this plain and divided from it by two mountain ranges, the Eastern and Western Ghants, is what is called the Deccan, or South Coun- try, surrounded on three sides by the Indian Ocean. There are many large rivers besides the Narbada, among them the Brahmaputra, the Ganges, and the Indus from which the country gets its name. This river was first called “Sindhus,” or ocean, as the people who discovered it mistook it for the ocean. Later it was called “Hindus,” which accounts for the country also being known as Hindustan. Finally it became the “Indus,” which it still remains. India has three seasons of the years, the cold, hot, and rainy, corresponding nearly to our winter, summer, and autumn. The climate of the plains is tropical, and the Deccan and cen- tral parts of the country are never cold. Further north the nights are sometimes frosty. The cold season begins in October or November, and from then until March it seldom rains, and the weather is beautiful with almost constant sun- shine. By the end of March it begins to grow warmer, a strong 24 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS west wind sets in, which by April becomes a hot wind and, to- gether with sun, burns up all the green grass and other vege- tation excepting the fruit and forest trees. While this hot wind blows, the missionaries and other Europeans try to stay indoors during the middle of the day, and do their visiting and outside work early in the morning or in the late afternoon and evening. By June the heat has become intense, but about this time the “monsoon bursts,’ as the people say. This means that the rain has begun, and for the next three months there is rain nearly every day. Snakes, centipedes and scorpions, seldom seen at other seasons, are to be found at this time, and many natives die from snake bites each year. Then the weather becomes much cooler, the grass grows fresh and green, flowers bloom, fruit is abundant, and the beautiful cold season has returned. Grains of all kinds are raised in the north of India; coffee and spices in Ceylon; tea on the slopes of the Himalayas. Tropical fruits of all kinds are abundant; the mango being to the people of India what the apple is to us here in America. The most common food of the people in the south is rice; in the north different varieties of millet, and grains belonging to the pea family. India exports great quantities of tea, rice, wheat, flour and coffee. Also jute, cotton, hides, lumber and other products. PEOPLE. This great country has nearly 300,000,000 inhabitants, or more than one fifth of the population of the world. No one knows just who were the original inhabitants, but probably they were Negritos, a few of whom are still to be found. It is known, however, that from time to time great hordes of different peo- ples from Central Asia swept over the Himalaya Mountains, and took possession of the land. The Aryans, whose home was probably south of the Aral Sea, were the greatest in- vaders, and the larger part of the population now is of Aryan origin. These people ruled for many years, but in 327 B. C., Alexander the Great conquered Porus, the greatest of the Aryan lords, and carried the Grecian standards far into the country. For the next nine or ten centuries there were invasions by Parthians, Scythians, and Huns, Arabs, Afghans, and Tartars, and Mongolians with their fierce Mohammedan religion. The Mongols by the sixteenth century had conquered nearly the OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 25 whole of northern India, while the Hindus ruled in the south. One of the famous Mongol Emperors built at Agra the Taj Mahal, one of the most magnificent buildings in the world. In 1613 an English trading company established itself at Surat, on the west coast. This East India Company came sim- ply as traders, but soon were forced into a civil and military organization. An awful mutiny occurred in 1857, when the Sepoys—the native troops of the Company—rose in rebellion all through northern India. There were terrible battles and sieges, but the natives had no competent commanders, while the British generals were splendid men and in the end won a complete victory. The East India Company was then dissolved, and Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. Many of the native states were allowed to retain their own rulers; but they have to keep loyal to the British, aid them in time of war, adopt reforms in their government, and can not become larger without the consent of the British. As the natives are neither united nor warlike, the British are able to keep them under con- trol. The head official, called the Viceroy, is appointed by the Crown. High-caste Hindus are well educated and intellectual, but the vast mass of the people living in villages, are poor, ignorant and degraded. They all have black hair and eyes, dark skin, and regular fea- tures, are of medium height, and those in north stronger than those in the south. The southern villages are picturesque, built in palm groves, with low mud houses having thatched roofs, and often covered with vines. These houses inside are dirty and comfortless. A few coarse-woven mats are on the floor, and here the wife and children sleep while the husband has a rude bed. A spinning- wheel, a few cooking utensils, a box for clothing, and a stool or two comprise the furniture. Each village has its head man. Around these villages are farms, usually owned by the head man and rented to the people, who work them during the day and return to their homes at night. The women bring water from the wells outside the villages, grind the grain, cook the food, spin, weave, and make their clothing. A town is a large village and has a magistrate and petty court. The houses are built like those in the villages, but are usually set in a courtyard the rear of which is to the street, and consists of mud walls with windows set high to prevent anyone from looking out. They have earthen floors, and no chimneys. 26 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS The cities and large towns have some very magnificent pal- aces of marble and stone, but the houses are mostly of brick. They are built around a courtyard on which all rooms open. There are no windows on the outside, only a blank wall with a door for entrance. The wealthy Mohammedan women are never seen on the streets, and to no one even in their homes, excepting their fath- ers, husbands, or brothers. They leave their homes seldom except to attend family feasts, when they go in closed car- riages. They embroider, work on lace, and a very few read their religious books; but they lead sad, monotonous lives, shut up year after year in the zenana, as the women’s part of the house is called. The poorer women are servants to the rich or are wives of working men, and live as do the women of the villages. The Hindu brings his wife to his father’s home, where in all things she must obey her mother-in-law. The Mohammedan usually takes his to his own home, but she has no easier time. Neither does the Buddhist wife, though her husband comes to live with her parents. The dress of the women, called the sarree, is simple but graceful. Sometimes a tight fitting under jacket is worn, but excepting for this the entire dress is one piece of cloth six to nine yards long. One end is wrapped around the waist, gathered into folds in front, and secured by tucking under; the other end is drawn across the waist over one shoulder and arm and brought to the waist at the back. They also wear what is known as the chuddar, a cloth wound about the head and shoul- ders. They wear all the jewelry they can secure, on their toes, ankles, fingers, wrists, arms, neck, nose, ears, and hair. The men’s dress consists of two cloths; one wound about the waist and falling over the knees, the other thrown around the should- ers and then drawn about the waist. The poorer men often leave off this upper cloth, while high-caste Hindu gentlemen wear a richly embroidered jacket over it. They all wear large cloth or silk turbans upon the heads, and sandals or deco- rated slippers on their feet. None of the women, even the wealthy, wear anything upon their feet excepting rings and anklets. The older girls and boys dress like their parents; but little children, until about eight years old, have no trouble whatever about their clothes, because, like the little Africans, they do not wear any! High-caste babies are very cunning with their rings and anklets, and sometimes a string of beads around their waist. OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 27 There are two classes of Hindu children—the caste and the out-caste. Caste children are well cared for, but the out-caste girls and boys are usually dirty and unkempt. Their elder sis- ters and brothers go with their parents to work, and the little ones are left to look after themselves—the girls to carry around the babies, and the boys to watch the cattle. Indian children have few indoor playthings, but are all fond of out-door sports, the boys playing many of the games you are familiar with in America—marbles, hop-scotch and others. The girls play tag, hunt the button, jack straws, and a number of games set to music. They are also taught to cook well, to keep house, and how to perform the ceremonies and feasts. They are not wel- come in the home—these poor little girls—and are often so neglected that they die soon after they are born. They are not allowed to attend school as are the boys, who begin their educa- tion early. The smaller villages have no schools, so the boys walk to the nearest town. The majority of Mohammedan girls are secluded when very young. Shut up in the zenanas, with few amusements, they lead hard unhappy lives. There is one thing above all others, which makes the life of the Hindu girl so cruelly sad, that it would have been better for her had she been allowed to die, as so many are, as a baby. This is widowhood. The little girls are married when between five and ten years old, and often to middle aged and even old men, who soon die and leave them widows. Then they are con- sidered the cause of their husband’s death and can never marry again. Kindness is never shown to them; they are cruelly treated by the other members of the family, even though they may be only five or six years old; their pretty jewelry is all taken away, and they have only coarse clothing to wear. Only the plainest food is given to them, and they have no place at the family feasts. Think of it—you girls and boys with your happy Christian homes—just think of it, there are nearly 22,600,000 of these poor little Hindu widows, and 80,000 of them under ten years of age! This cruel practice is part of one of the false religions of the country, and neither the girls and boys of India, nor the grown men and women, can be really happy until these heathen relig- ions are done away with, and the religion of Jesus Christ reigns in all that great land. Will you not work and pray more earnestly than ever before, that this time may be hastened? 28 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS RELIGION. The chief religions of India are Hinduism, Buddhism, Mo- hammedanism, Demon-worship, and Parsi-ism. Hinduism is a series of forms used for the worship of the god Brahma. The priests are called Brahmans, and teach that four classes of men were created by Brahma. I. The Brahmans, or priests. II. The Kahatriyas, or soldiers. III. The Vaisyas—farmers and mer- chants. IV. The Sudras—mechanics and servants. This is what is known as Caste. Each of these castes has now many sub- divisions, and below them all are the Pariahs, or outcastes. A Hindu may neither eat nor drink with those of a lower caste. If the shadow of a low-caste man falls on a Brahman’s food it must be thrown away. A man always belongs to the same caste as his father, and can never rise above it, but if he breaks its rules he becomes an outcaste. This makes the high-caste men proud and selfish, and prevents the low-caste from ever trying to rise in life. Widowhood and this caste system are only two of the many evils of Hinduism. In Benares, considered the most sacred place in India, are five thousand Hindu temples, each a its hideous idols. The Vedas are the Brahman’s sacred ooks, About 500 B. C. there lived in India a young prince known as Gautama Buddha, which means “the enlightened.” His father wished him to become a soldier, but he loved to spend his time thinking over great questions about life and death. For six years he lived in a mountain cave, where he was often cold and hungry. Then he began preaching to the people and taught them some good lessons for this life, such as kindness to every living thing, and that they must not kill, steal, lie nor use strong drink. But he did not know God, so could teach the people nothing about Him, nor tell them anything about the life to come. He taught instead, that if they obeyed these com- mands their souls would pass at death into some higher life, and at last g0 into an eternal sleep—Nirvana—which means “blown out.” If they failed, they would be born into some lower form of animal or bird. He did not tell the people to worship him, but the Buddhists do worship him and everything connected with him. When the Hindus conquered India, the savage fines they found there were mostly Demon- worshipers, and the few of them still remaining in the land, are so yet. They believe the earth to be filled with evil spirits living in trees, plants, streams, OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 29 and rocks, and that offerings and sacrifices must constantly be made to them to prevent their harming the people. Mohammed was a native of Arabia, who lived about 1,300 years ago, and said he had received a new revelation from God. He claimed that God commanded him to force all men to obey him; so he and his fierce Arabian followers started out to fight and to kill all who would not become Mohammedans. Their battle cry was, “There is one God, and Mohammed is His pro- phet.” This religion soon spread over western Asia and parts of Europe and Africa. About one hundred years after it began it was carried to India, but never ruled over the whole of the land. Their sacred book is the Koran, which Mohammed said was a direct gift from God; but we know well that such a cruel, wicked religion never came from our Heavenly Father. Parsi-ism is the religion of the Parsis, or Persians who were driven into India by the Mohammedans. They are the Fire- worshipers of the East, and though there are 150,000 of them in India, their religion has little influence in the land. Is it not sad, girls and boys, to realize that nearly the whole of the 300,000,000 people of India, even the little children, are believers in these false religions? Not quite all, thank God, for by His blessing upon the labors of Christian missionaries who have gone there to carry them the Gospel, there are now 1,000- 000 native Christians. We will learn where in that distant land our missionaries are working, and what share your Bands and Junior Societies have in this great cause. MISSIONS. The first Protestant missionaries to India were Bartholomew Ziengenbalg and Henry Plutschau, sent out in 1705, by the Danes, The first English society to send missionaries there was the Baptist. This society was formed through the influence of Wil- liam Cary, and he was sent as their first missionary, reaching India in 1793. Henry Martyn was the pioneer American missionary, and began his work at Dinapur, far up the Ganges river, in 1806. Presbyterian missions commenced in 1834, when Rev. John C. Lowrie, afterwards one of the Secretaries of the Board of Foreign Missions, began at Lodiana our first mission station in India. 30 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS There are now about one thousand Protestant missionaries working in that land, belonging to more than eighty different Societies and Boards. There are nearly as many native minis- ters. Our Presbyterian Church has three Missions, the Punjab, the Northern India or Farrukhabad, the Western India. These Missions have the following twenty-eight Stations: Punjab Mission Northern India Western India beurre Mission Mission Sabathu Allahabad Kollhapur Saharanpur Mainpurie Islampur Jullundur Fatehgarh Ratnagiri Ambala Fatehpur Sangli Lahore Etawah Miraj Dehra Landour Vengurli Mussoorie Jhansi Ferozepore Etah Khanna Cawnpore Hoshyarpore Morar PUNJAB MISSION. There is no need to tell you in which of these three Missions you are especially interested, for you will see at once that Hosh- yarpore, your Station, belongs to the Punjab, which is the larg- est of the three, having eleven Stations and eighty-two Out- Stations. It is also the oldest, seventy-five years having passed since it was first established. In 1834 work was started at Lodi- ana, by Rev. John C. Lowrie, D. D., our pioneer missionary to India. Lodiana was at that time a military cantonment of the East India Company. In the eleven Punjab Stations, all sorts of missionary work are to be found: Churches and Sabbath schools, hospitals and dispensaries, orphanages, leper asylums, and all grades of boarding and day schools, from kindergartens to colleges. This work is being carried on by 69 foreign missionaries, of whom 7 are physicians. These missionaries are assisted by 307 native Christian workers, 32 of whom are ordained ministers. The 23 Churches have a membership of 6,163, while 4,299 pu- pils are in the Sabbath schools. OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 31 One of the most interesting Stations, not only of the Punjab, but of any of our Presbyterian Missions, is Hoshyarpore, to which your Band and Junior gifts for India are given. HOSHYARPORE. This Station was opened in 1867, and has ever since been car- ried on entirely by native missionaries. The first to begin the work was Rev. Guru Dass Moitra, who was succeeded the fol- lowing year by Rev. Kali Charan Chatterjee, D. D. For all these past forty-two years he and Mrs. Chatterjee, assisted in later years by their daughters, have had complete charge of the Station. Dr. Chatterjee’s parents were high-caste Hindus, so their children by their birth became of this same class—Brahmins— and from this caste, Dr. Chatterjee inherited very high social and professional position. He was graduated from a college in Calcutta, founded by a missionary named Dr. Duff, and it was through Dr. Duff’s influence that he was led at the age of twenty to become a Christian. On graduating he became head master of Jullunder Missionary School, and afterwards a professor in the Men’s College, Lahore. In 1868 he was ordained, and sent to Hoshyarpore, where he is pastor of the strongest native Church in India, having a mem- bership of between eight and nine hundred. Besides the pas- toral work of this large Church, he preaches once each week to an English, and twice a week to Hindustani congregations. He holds evangelistic meetings for non-Christians, and sup- erintends a Reading Room situated in one of Hoshyarpore’s busiest streets. Besides his city work he travels through the large districts belonging to his Station. This district is in the north of India, on the foot-hills of the Himalaya moun- tains. There are eight Out-Stations, each with its native work- ers, but as Dr. Chatterjee is the only missionary, he has to visit and help them all; examine those whom they have taught; admin- ister the Communion and preach both in these Out-Stations and other places visited during his itinerating tours. There are now five organized Churches in this district. The whole Christian community numbers 3,106, of whom 1,942 are Church members. 32 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS MRS. CHATTERJEE. Rev. Golak Nath, noted for being the first Braham conver- ted in our Presbyterian Mission, and also for the wonderful influence he and his family have had in winning others to Jesus Christ, is the father of Mrs. Chatterjee. His ten sons have all become influential men, and two of his three daughters mar- ried into royal families of India. The third daughter married Dr. Chatterjee, and it is from her that you now receive the interesting accounts in your “Foreign Post,” of the Hoshyar- pore Orphanage which your money helps to support. Many of you are already familiar with this Orphanage, which was started in 1888, and know of the splendid work Mrs. Chat- terjee 1s accomplishing among the little Hindu and Mohamme- dan girls. It is a happy Christian home for orphan girls and also for the children of the poorer native Christians of Hosh- yarpore. Of the 63 now on the roll, 23 are orphans, 9 are half orphans, and 31 have both parents living. These little girls learn cooking, plain sewing, knitting, lace making, and drawn-thread work. They are trained to habits that will fit them for the life they will live as wives of village workers and teachers. The school work takes them as far as the fifth class of the Urdu Upper Primary course, and besides the regular subjects of this course, there is very thorough in- struction in the Bible. Also reading and writing in Roman Urdu. Miss Lena Chatterjee was a great help to her mother in the care of this. Orphanage, and had besides two day-schools in the city, one for Hindu girls and the other for Mohammedans. You will, some of you, remember the good letters she wrote about her work. On the 15th of November, 1907, she was mar- ried to her cousin, Kanwar Rughbir Singh. He holds a gov- ernment position as sub-judge, and is called Kanwar, which means prince. He is an earnest Christian, and we may be sure that wherever he and Mrs. Singh may be sent, they will do good work for the Master. Mrs. Chatterjee has now three native teachers to help her in the work and care of the girls. They were all famine orphans, rescued and educated in the Orphanage. Dr. Dora Chatterjee, another daughter, graduated from the Philadelphia Medical College, and returning to India took charge of the Denny Hospital, Hoshyarpore, which was opened on February 2nd, 1902. When Dr. and Mrs. Chatterjee first OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 33 went to Hoshyarpore they lived in a house in the center of the city. They afterwards moved to the new Mission house where they now live, and the old Mission house is used for the Hos- pital. It is a two-story building, the lower floor being fitted up for the dispensary, while up stairs there are eight beds. Dr. Chatterjee has done fine work in both hospital and dispensary besides looking after the Orphanage girls, and having an out- side practice. On September 29th, 1909 she was married to Mr. Mangat Rai, of Abbottabad, and is much missed not only in her home, but in all Hoshyarpore. Her place has been taken by Miss Magie Ghose, a graduate of the North India School of Medicine, at Lodiana, and who has had several years of exper- ience in hospital work. Can you girls and boys realize what it means for Dr. and Mrs. Chatterjee to give their whole lives to this work, when both are high caste Brahmans? They had everything that the highest social and religious life of their country could give them. But when they accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, and found the joy of love and service for Him, the great aim of their lives became to win as many as possible of the men, women and little children of their land, to this same faith in the Saviour. Knowing well that neither the Brahman nor any other heathen religion can ever make the people happy, or save them from their sin, they are living and working there in Hoshyarpore. The Holy Spirit is blessing their labors, and from the little children of the Orphanage, to the oldest men and women reached by Dr. Chattetjee’s preaching, many are being led to the same Master they so lovingly served and honor. QUESTIONS ON LESSON STORY. What country are you now studying, and where is it? How does it compare in size with China? What is the number of its inhabitants? What can you tell of the life of its girls and boys? . What are the religions of the land? . . Which is the hardest for the little girls? Why? An P-wnN eo 34 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS . What country sent the first Protestant Missionaries to India? . Who was our first Presbyterian Missionary? . How many Missions has our Presbyterian Church in India? 10. LY. LZ 13: 14. 15: In which are you especially interested? Why? Which was the first Station of the Punjab Mission? When and by whom was the Hoshyarpore Station begun? When did Dr. and Mrs. Chatterjee begin work there? Of what interesting work has Mrs. Chatterjee charge? What can you tell about this Orphanage? Programme for Meeting on Japan Singing— “I Think when I read that Sweet Story of Old.” Prayer. Scripture Reading. 1 Roll Call. March— (Each child drop offering into plate when passing desk.) Prayer after Offering. Singing— “Saviour, Like a Shepherd Lead Us.” Lesson Story. Map Exercise— (Placing of gilt paper stars on Mission Stations.) Questions and Answers on Lesson Story. Singing— “Once Again, Dear Lord, We Pray.” 11 (Sung softly.) The Lord’s Prayer. 1 “The Bible in the Mission Band.” 11 ‘'China for Juniors.”’ LESSON IV.—JAPAN COUNTRY. Japan is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. It is an island empire, made up of five large islands and four thou- sand small ones. Hondo, Yezo, Kyushu and Shikotu, four of the largest, form a crescent bending toward the west. The smaller ones stretch far to the north and to the south from this crescent, with Formosa, the other large one, at the extreme southern end, and only two hundred miles from the Philippines. The country has an area about the size of our State of Cali- fornia. A range of mountains runs down the middle of Hondo; splendid mountains with snow-capped peaks. Between Hondo and Shikotu, and Hondo and Kyushu lies the Inland Sea, and around all the islands are numerous bays and inlets. The Japan Sea separates the country from Korea, China and Russia. The climate varies from the intense cold of the northernmost islands to the tropical heat of Formosa. The scenery is magnificent with great mountains, charming valleys, exquisite flowers and shrubbery, and surrounding all, the beautiful blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. No wonder the people delight in their lovely country. Of all its beauties they think most of Fujiama, a great mountain ris- ing in one unbroken curve from sea level to a height of 12,365 feet. They consider it sacred, and every summer thousands of pilgrims take the long hard journey to the summit. Another of the wonders of Japan is Nikko, with its superb trees and mag- nificent temples. It, too, is on Hondo and the people love it the most of all their sacred places. The region is believed to be filled with fairies, giants and demons; and the children’s fairy tales nearly all begin, “Once upon a time, in the Nikko Moun- tains.” The Japanese are so devoted to flowers that they call each month by the name of the flower, shrub, or tree that blossoms at that time. They have special days, or Flower Festivals, when they visit the places that are celebrated for certain kinds of blos- soms. The most beautiful Festival is that of the Cherry Blos- som, in April, and the most noted place to visit at that time is Uyeno Park in the city of Tokyo. Besides the flowers, many delicious fruits grow on the island; 38 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS oranges, figs, grapes, pears, and persimmons as large as apples. Sweet potatoes and other vegetables are raised, but the princi- pal crops are rice and tea. The people may almost be said to live upon rice, tea and fish. They eat eggs and chickens, and are beginning to use beef and mutton. The industries peculiar to Japan are silk and tea culture, and the manufacture of wonderful bronze, lacquer, and porcelain wares. PEOPLE. The Japanese are not a very old people. Their real history begins about the time that the Angles and Saxons invaded Eng- land . They have many old myths and traditions, one of which is that their first Emperor was a son of Amaterasu, the Sun God- dess. For this reason every Emperor has been called the “Heav- en Child,” and considered divine. Niphon or Nippon, which means “Source of Light,’ is the name they give their country; while Jih-pun or Japan, came from China and means “the place the sun comes from.” You see the two names are quite similar, and the land is known as the Land of the Rising Sun, or Sunrise Kingdom. The population is 50,000,000. The country is ruled by an Em- peror whom foreigners call the Mikado, but who is generally spoken of as the Tenshisama, or “Heaven Child,” by the Japa- nese. The people for years were divided into three great clans, each with its chieftain, much as the Scottish people were at one time. There was the Fujiwara Clan, or “Blue Wistaria;” the Minamo- to, or “White Gentian,” and the Taira, or “Red Butterfly.” First one of these clans would be in power, then another, and another for they were constantly fighting. The Emperor was the real ruler, but the clans did about as they pleased and had great control over the people. The land was divided into small states, governed by feudal lords, called Daimios, Two or three hundered years ago an officer of the army, bear- ing the title of Shogun, usurped the chief authority. From that time until 1868 the Shoguns were the actual rulers of the coun- try, although the Mikado was the nominal head. For some time before 1868, however, the Daimios had wished to dethrone the Shogun, and restore the Mikado to power; so that year they raised an army, fought several battles, and gave the Mikado back his rights. He moved from Kyoto, his old capital, to OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 39 Tokyo, which has been the capital ever since. The Shoguns had admitted foreigners into the country, but the Mikado’s party hated them and not only refused to allow them to come into the country, but forbade any Japanese who had once left the land to return. America, England, France and Russia all tried to get in, but no one succeeded until our Commodore Perry came. He sailed right into Yeddo Bay one night, in his big battleship, Mississippi, and brought to the Mikado a letter from the President of the United States! The day the letter was delivered, July 14th, 1853, is said to be the birthday of New Japan; for the Mikado and his advisers were wise enough to accept the letter, and from that time on have become more and more progressive and favorable to foreign institutions. They now have a repre- sentative government, which means that the people elect representatives to help the Mikado in governing them. There are mail and postal systems, telephones, telegraphs, railroads, newspapers, schools and colleges of all grades, and a fine army and navy. They had a war with China in 1894, and another with Russia in 1904-1905, and were victorious in both. The Japanese are small of stature, with black hair and slightly oblique black eyes. The men cut their hair like Euro- peans, while the women wear theirs very elaborately ar- ranged. It is done by a hair-dresser only once or twice a week, and to keep it in order they sleep with a little wooden pillow six inches long and two inches wide, under their neck. They not only live in a beautiful country, but every thing they have about them, their homes, clothes, and all their belongings are lovely. Men, women and children all wear a sort of gown, called kimono, cut straight and very narrow, with a sash around the waist. On their feet they wear a sock of white or dark blue cotton goods, something like a mitten wth a finger for the big toe. When going out of doors they put on wooden shoes, fastened by a thong that passes between the big toe and the others. The little girls and boys are so bright and pretty in this costume that when play- ing together, especially in their kindergarten games, they make very lovely pictures. Japanese houses are but one story high. The better ones have tile roofs, others are covered with shingles, while those in the country are mostly thatched. The walls are nothing more than large, light, paper-covered doors’ or partitions that slide backward and forward on grooved sills. In the day 40 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS time they are shoved back, and the house all open to the lovely gardens outside. There is scarcely any furniture; no chairs, for the people sit on mats, and at night spread comfortables on them to sleep upon. The floors are covered with these mats, which are two inches thick and six by three feet wide. The people have tiny tables only a foot high, and eat off of beautiful china. They use chop-sticks as the Chinese do, and are very skillful in their use, holding both in one hand. They are fond of excursions and picnics, and delight in their Japanese music. They have many games, and the children play some of those familiar to you American girls and boys. Kite-flying is the favorite, with kites not flat like yours, but bowed, and each with a couple of strings stretched across it, which make a humming sound in the wind. The children are very happy, even little girls, for they are loved and cared for and given a happy life as long as they re- main children. The boys start in at the kindergarten very young; at six go to the “elementary school” for five years; after that to the higher school; finally to the Imperial Uni- versity at Tokyo. The girls are now allowed to go as far as the end of the “elementary school,’ that is until they are about fourteen years old . This is all the education the gov- ernment will give the poor little girls, and it is only lately it has allowed them this. The religions of the land teach that women have neither brains nor souls, and so it is not wise nor safe to give them much schooling. The girls are taught housekeeping, and how to arrange flowers in the choice vases to be found in every home. They must be always very polite, and never fail to show perfect submission to their grand- parents, fathers and brothers, and then to their husbands and fathers-in-law, and finally to their sons! So even in Japan where, more than in almost any other heathen nation, little girls are loved and cared for, it is only while they re- main children that they are really happy. Shall we not do all we can to hasten the time when Japan shall be a Christian nation, and its men, women and little children ail know the blessings and joy of the Christian life? RELIGION. Shintoism, which was the early faith of Japan and is still believed, teaches the worship of the Emperor and has many OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 41 other gods. Confucianism also has a large following. You will remember, from your lesson on China, that it is named from its founder, Confucius, who taught some good lessons for this life but could tell nothing about the life to come. Buddhism, brought first from India, is still another religion of the country; teaching that at death the soul passes into some new born human being, or even into some animal; that it may be thus reborn thousands of times; and that at the end it goes into Nippon, which is a kind of eternal sleep. All three of these religions teach Ancestral Worship, and each house has a Butsudan, or Buddha shelf, and a Kami- dana, or god-shelf. On these are kept the idols, to which daily offerings are made. There are thousands of temples and shrines all over the country, and millions of idols, especially of Buddha. In Kyoto there is a Children’s Temple, with many small wooden Buddhas; for just as in China, so here in Japan, even little children are taught to worship idols. These false religions can bring the people neither comfort in this life nor hope for the future. The Gospel of Jesus Christ alone can bring them peace and joy. Our Lord and Master has Himself given us the command to preach this Gospel the whole world over, and it is in obedience to His command, that our missionaries are laboring there in Japan, as also in so many other lands. Let us see what they have been able to accomplish, and in what way you girls and boys are helping them. MISSIONS. Christianity was first carried to Japan by Portuguese Roman Catholic missionaries in 1549, but they tried to interfere with the government and were expelled from the country. From this interference in civil affairs, the Japanese came to hate and fear Christianity, and laws were passed forbidding anyone to profess it, on pain of death. Dr. Hepburn, sent out in 1859 by our Presbyterian Church, was the first Protestant missionary to Japan. When he and Mrs. Hepburn first reached the country, the old hatred to the name of Christianity was so strong that it was some years before they could openly preach the Gospel to the people. They made a home out of an old Buddhist temple in the city of Kanazawa, and here the people first saw what a true 4? OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS Christian home was. Dr. Hepburn was a medical-missionary, and soon his skill and kindness in treatment won hitn many friends, and helped greatly in preparing the way for the preaching of the Gospel. After a time the Hepburns moved to Yokohama, and there in 1872 the first Japanese Church was organized. Five Protestant Churches besides the Presbyterian are now working in Japan, and there are about 51,000 native Christians. Some years ago all the missionaries of our own and the other Presbyterian Churches decided to unite and form in Japan one Presbyterian Church, called the Church of Christ in Japan. This church has thirty-five self-supporting churches and forty churches assisted by our Missions. The Church membership is about 15,000. Our Presbyterian Church has two Missions—the Eastern Japan and the Western— with the following eighteen stations; Eastern Japan Mission. Western Japan Mission. Yokohama Kanazawa Port Arthur Tokyo Osoka Shimonoseki Hokkaido Hiroshima Kure Kyoto Korea Yamaguchi Yamada Fukin Wakayama Darien Tanabe Tsu EASTERN JAPAN MISSION. There are three principal stations in this Mission. Hok- kaido is an island, of 30,371 square miles, one-fifth of the whole empire, with a population of 1,516,000. Its other name is Yezo, so you see it is one of the four large islands that form the crescent. This station has work in three cities. Sapporo, the capitol, is 350 miles north of Tokyo, and work was begun there in 1887. There is a fine girls’ school—the Hokusei Jo Gakko—with one hundred and seventy-five pupils. In Otaru, 25 miles northwest of Sapporo, work was started in 1894, Here also is a school—the Seishu Jo Gakko—with about fifty girls, and one hundred children in the kindergarten. The pupils attend family worship, have daily instruction in the Bible, OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 43 belong to the Sabbath-school, and the older ones attend church. About 100 miles northeast of Sapporo is Asahigawa, where work began in 1900. Here the missionaries train and have oversight of the native evangelists; and from here visit monthly the other cities. They also carry on evangelistic itinerating in the surrounding country. Another of the three stations is Yokohama, on Yeddo Bay, a few miles from Tokyo, and the seaport of the city. It is the oldest of all our Japan Mission Stations. You will remember it is where Dr. and Mrs. Hepburn made their home in 1859, soon after reaching the country. The work of the Church of Christ, our Presbvterian Church of Japan, there in Yokohama, is now under the care of a Japanese pastor. TOKYO. This is the station which you can claim as yours, for it is the one to which you girls and boys send your money raised for mission work in Japan. Here Mrs. McCauley has the two day-schools of which you hear in the “Foreign Post.” Tokyo is on the island of Hondo, at the head of Yeddo Bay. It is a large city of 1,299,941 inhabitants. Our work be- gun there in 1869, now requires twenty missionaries to carry it on. There are churches and Sabbath-schools, both in the city and the Out-Stations; a Bible Woman’s Training School; a Red Cross Hospital; a Leper Home; evangelistic itineration; educational and literary work. The Meiji Gakuin, for young men and boys, has a preparatory school, college, and theo- logical seminary. The girls’ school—Joshi Gakuin—with pre- paratory, intermediate and advanced departments, has two hundred and thirty pupils. For children, both girls and boys, there are two primary schools and a kindergarten, and of these your missionary has charge. MRS. J. M. McCAULEY. The reports Mrs. McCauley sends of her work, and the kind letters she writes you, make her seem a very real and near friend to you. You will enjoy learning more about how and where she lives in that big, far away city of Tokyo, and mrt other work she has besides the two schools you know so well, 44 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS For one thing, she has charge of the Rescue Home. This is where she brings young girls who need some kind friend to care for them and help them so that they may grow up into good Christian women. The Bible is taught every morning and evening, and an hour and a half is given each day to school work. The girls are also taught cooking, sewing and knitting. This Home is in Okubo, a suburb of Tokyo, and here Mrs. McCauley lives, so as to be like a mother to the girls under her care. She helps too, in advising the work of the Leper Home. But the hours she spends in her kindergarten and two pri- mary schools, are the hours of all her busy days that are of special interest to you. A Japanese kindergarten is just about the prettiest sight to be found in any country. The tiny chil- children in their bright little kimonos, are like lovely flowers or butterflies. If these dear children while so young, are taught of Jesus and His love, they will never be able to re- member the time when they did not know Him. There are between 450 and 500 little girls and boys in the two primary schools—the Tsukiji and the Shiba—to which you send your money. The Tsukiji is for very poor children. The homes of many of them are only fishing-boats, and their parents can not pay more than two and _ one-half cents a month for their tuition. The teachers visit all the homes, each teacher going to those of her own class. In this way they find out the circumstances of each one and are often able to help in cases of need. The school lasts but four hours a day, one of which is given to Bible study. The pupils are always polite and obedient to their teachers, and the school is very orderly. The Shiba school is about three miles from the Tsukiji, so Mrs. McCauley has a long way to go from her home to the first one and then the other. The head teacher of each school is a Church officer. They are good, faithful men, giving their time and strength to the work, and each has one or two teachers under him. The kindergarten is connected with the Shiba school. The parents of these children are able to pay more tuition. They send their girls and boys with the clear understanding that they are likely to become Christians, and with full consent. The school has both a senior and junior Christian Endeavor Society among its pupils, with meetings held once a week. Mrs. McCauley has oversight of both schools, and visits both each day, OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 45 Think what it means not only to the children, but to their parents as well, to have them in these Christian schools. Mrs. McCauley says that each child becomes a little evangelist when he goes home, for he tells his mother all that has hap- pened that day in school. He tells his father also, his grand- mother, and all in the family; and often, by the blessing of the Holy Spirit, the wonderful truths of the Gospel sink deep into their hearts, and they too, are won to a saving faith in the Saviour. Will you not remember this when you pray for Mrs. McCauley and your schools in Tokyo? And will you not ask our Heavenly Father so to bless the gifts you send towards this work that more little children may learn to love and accept Jesus as their Saviour, and that through their in- fluence many of their parents also may be won to Him? Dearly as the Japanese love their beautiful country, the time comes for each one when he must leave it, to go—unless he be a Christian—he knows not where. Shall we not tell these people that we know of a still more Beautiful Land, lovelier far than fair Japan? A Heavenly Country, where all is joy and gladness; where there is neither sorrow, pain, nor death; and no night, for the Lamb is the light thereof, and it is endless day. That the dear Lord has gone to this Heavenly Home to prepare a place for all who love Him; and that if only they will accept Him as their Saviour they shall live with Him for ever and ever, and rejoice in beauty greater than any their eyes have ever seen or their hearts imagined. This is the glorious news that our missionaries— your Mrs. McCauley among them—are spending their lives proclaiming there in Japan; and by your prayers and Als gifts you have a share in the work QUESTIONS ON LESSON STORY. Where is Japan, and of what is the country composed? . With which of our States does it compare’in size? What is the number of inhabitants? What can you tell of the customs and life of the people? . What are the religions of the land? . What building in Kyoto is especially for children? An kwon 46 ie.) Le 12. 133 14. 15. 16. Ay: 18. 19. . In what way do the pupils become little e-angelists in OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS Who was the first Protestant Missionary to Japan? . When did he go there and how was he received? . What is the Church of Christ in Japan? 10. How many Missions has our Presbyterian Church? Name them. In which are you especially interested? Why? What are the three stations of the Eastern Japan Mission? How large a city is Tokyo, and where is it? How many churches has it? Sabbath-schools? Boarding and day schools? How many Missionaries have we there now? Which one of them do you call your missionary? Where does Mrs. McCauley live, and what is her work? Which two day schools do you help to support? What can you tell of their work? their homes? Programme for Meeting on Africa Singing—“The Morning Light is Breaking.” Scripture Reading in Concert— John 10: 1-16. Prayer. Singing— “I Gave My Life for Thee.” Lesson Story. Recitation— “Christian, Harken! none has taught them,” 1 Singing—“There are lands for away o’er the Sea,”!1 Questions and Answers on Lesson Story. Roll Call— (Responses: Animals of Africa.) Singing— “From Greenland’s Icy Mountains.” The Lord’s Prayer. 1 “Africa for Juniors.” p. 62. 11 ‘‘China for Juniors,” LESSON V.—AFRICA. COUNTRY. In the Eastern Hemisphere, south of Europe and southwest of Asia, lies one of the five grand divisions of the earth. This is Africa—and it contains nearly one-fourth of all the land surface of the globe. It is five thousand miles long and in its broadest part, nearly five thousand miles wide. About two hundred mil- lion people inhabit this great land, but when compared in size with China or India, it will be found to be far less densely popu- lated than either of these two countries. In shape Africa is somewhat like South America, and almost completely surrounded by water. The Atlantic Ocean sweeps its entire western coast; the Indian Ocean and Red Sea its east- ern shore; and it is bounded on the north by the Mediterranean Sea. Around the entire coast is a flat strip of country. anywhere from fifty to two hundred miles wide. Its greatest width is along the northern coast. where it stretches far inland, and here is found the Sahara Desert. The low coast land is very unhealth- ful, not only on account of the extreme heat, but because of the large amount of moisture in the air. Foreigners find it very try- ing, and are obliged to be most careful in order to keep well and be able to carry on their work. Back of this low strip of land the country rises, sometimes abruptly and again more grad- ually, to a height of three or four thousand feet. thus forming nearly the entire continent into a great table land or plateau. This plateau is not a perfect level. In some places it rises into mountain peaks so high that their tops are continually covered with snow and ice. The two largest of these are Kilimanjaro and Kenia. Towards the middle of the plateau the land is de- pressed into numerous hollows which, filled with water from springs away up among the mountains, become beautiful lakes. The African name for lake is nyanza. Some of these lakes are the source of Africa’s three greatest rivers. The Nile flows from Albert Nyanza and Victoria Nyanza and empties, two thousand or more miles to the north, into the Mediterranean Sea. The Zambesi, whose source is also Victoria Nyanza, travels in a southeasterly ‘direction to the Indian Ocean. The Congo, rising in Lake Tanganyika and flowing to the west, empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The fourth largest river of the OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 49 country is the Niger, which has its source in the highlands of the western portion of the land, and enters the Atlantic some dis- tance north of the Congo. Nearly the whole of Africa is in the torrid zone, as the equator runs through almost the center of the country. The Sahara, somewhat to the north of the equator, is the hottest part of the land, and there is-another desert called Kilihari, where the heat is also extreme. Not all of Africa is hot as this. On the slopes rising from the low lands, on the plateau and in the mountains, the climate is delightful. There are two seasons of the year,— the wet and the dry. The rainy season lasts from about the middle of September until the middle of May, wich an interval of dry weather during December and January. The remaining months from May to September are the dry season. There is much to make the natural scenery exceedingly beau- tiful. Splendid mountains and lakes; rivers with wonderful waterfalls and cataracts along their courses; tall graceful palms and other varieties of trees, many of them thickly festooned with vines; and soil so fertile that there are few fruits or vegetables known. which could not be raised somewhere in the country, Gorgeous birds are found in the forests. among others the bright scarlet parrots, so gay among the green of the foliage. No country is more enjoyed than Africa, by the hunter of wild animals. There he finds the elephant, zebra, rhinoceros, hippotamus, lion, tiger, giraffe, all varieties of monkeys, and many other beasts. The rivers are full of crocodiles; ostriches and antelopes are found on the plains; camels in the deserts. There are dangerous snakes and reptiles of many kinds, and insects, one of which, the white ant is especially troublesome. This ant destroys anything made of wood, often eating away the piles on which the houses are raised. In the south of Africa rough wagons, drawn by oxen, have long been used as means of travel; the Mediterranean states have horses; camels are used in the Sahara. But in the great inter- ior of the country, the only mode of transportation is either by canoes or small boats on the rivers and streams, or by native carriers,——men who travel the narrow paths through the forests and up and down the mountains, carrying the freight on their heads. The time is coming when Africa, like other nations, will have all the civilized modes of travel, and even now Cape Colony has many hundred miles of railroad. The land is rich in minerals which, with ivory, rubber, gold- 50 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS dust, dye-woods, palm-oils, coffee and cocoa, form its principal exports. Cassava, yams, okra, and other vegetables are raised, also sugar cane. Fish is abundant, and many wild animals are caught for food. PEOPLE. Africa is divided into many states or territories, each inhabi- ted by such a different race of people that we must take a glance at each if we would have an idea of the country as it now is. Bordering on both the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and stretch- ing south and westward into the Sahara is Egypt, the oldest known country of the world. You girls and boys remember how it is connected with Bible history from the time of the Patri- archs down to the Acts of the Apostles. Its rulers were called Pharaohs, and it is the land of the Nile, the pyramids and the Sphinx. The Egyptians were finally conquered by the Phoenicians from Syria, and a great colony was founded called Carthage. The Carthagenians soon ruled all the western half of the northern coast of Africa. From time to time wars occurred between this people and the Romans, and at last in 202 B. C.—in the great bat- tle of Zana, Hannibal, a Carthagenian general, was taken by the Roman general, Publius Cornelius Scipio. Egypt and Northern Africa became a part of the Roman Empire, and in honor of his victory, Scipio was called Scipio Africanus. The Romans ruled the land until in the seventh century they, in turn, were con- quered by the Mohammedans. Egypt is now under British rule. South of Egypt is the fertile plateau of Abyssinia. In Bible times this was known as Ethiopia, and the descendants of the Ethiopians still rule the land, and claim that their present ruler is a direct descendant of the Queen of Sheba. The States bordering on the Mediterranean Sea are in- habited mostly by Arabs; and the Sahara, by wandering Berber and Arab tribes. In the latter part of the fifteenth century many exploring ex- peditions to Africa were made by the Portugese By the year 1500 they had settled at the extreme southern point of the coun- try, now called Cape Colony; in the Congo district on the West coast; and on the East coast as far north as Cape Guardafui. The Dutch and English soon followed the Portugese, and more OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 51 of the coast land was discovered and taken. The native tribes found in the extreme south were Hottentots and Bushmen. Nothing had yet been discovered of all the vast interior ;— nearly the whole of the great continent. The natives found on the eastern and western coasts were of the Negro race, but what other tribes and peoples there might be, no one could tell; nor what the country was like. It was filled with wild and terrible beasts, which made it most dangerous to explore; and there was besides, a dreadful illness called the African fever which proved almost fatal to any European travelling in the interior. So it was not until within the last fifty or sixty years that we have come to know, through the discoveries of the famous African explorers and missionaries, of the interior of this wonderful continent. The histories of the lives and travels of John Ludwig Krapf, Rebmann, Burton, Speke, David Living- stone, Stanley, and many others are full of thrilling interest, and it is hoped that our Band and Junior girls and boys will come to know them well. From their explorations we learn that the Negro nations are found on the western coast and throughout the Soudan, or country between the Sahara and the equator. The people south of the equator and reaching from there to the Hottentots of the extreme south, are the Bantu race. The Zulus, Kaffirs and other tribes belong to this people. They have lighter skins and more regular features than the Negroes. As the mission work of our Presbyterian Church is among the Negroes, they claim our greatest interest. Let us learn something of their customs and life. They are strange looking people, with dark brown skins, sometimes almost black, bright black eyes, white teeth, and tight curly black hair. The part of the country where they live is so hot that they wear but little clothing. The dress of both men and women consists of one piece of cloth three or four yards in length, which is fast- ened securely around the waist, or just below the arms, and reaches to the knees. Around the edge of this cloth is sewed a broad band of some contrasting color, and then the costume is completed! The people are fond of bright colors, and like to buy gay Chinese and Japanese goods for these dresses, from traders on the coast. The children wear no clothing at all until they are big girls and boys, and then they use this same cos- tume. Men, women and children all wear braclets and anklets made of ivory, copper or brass, and quantities of bright colored beads around their necks. 52 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS The houses are built of bamboo, without windows or chimney. The roofs are thatched with plantain leaves. Each woman has her own apartment, joining the husband’s larger hut. The household utensils are few and very primitive. No cooking stoves are used, the food being prepared upon open wood-fies. The huts are built in villages, often surrounded by a stock- ade for protection against wild beasts, or hostile tribes. The old men of a village have a certain authority, and one of them is apt to be chosen as judge or king. All difficulties are brought to him, the different parties talking over the disputed matter before him. These gatherings are called Palavers, and are held between different tribes, as well as inhabitants of single villages. The men spend much time in hunting wild animals. They either drive the game into inclosures built for the purpose, where they are killed by shooting, or spearing with long handled spears, or else catch them in snares. Buffaloes, elephants, ante- lopes, porcupines and all kinds of monkeys are eaten by the natives. Most of the gardening or farming is done by the wo- men, on small plantations made from clearings in the forest. A long sharp knife is used for preparing the ground. Every- thing grows luxuriantly and with little care in that fertile land. Africa is one of the few heathen countries where a girl is as welcome in the home as a boy. Both mother and father love their babies, and try in their poor way to care for them as long as they are little and helpless. When they grow older they are apt to be neglected, for the father is away much of the time hunting, and the mother busy on the farm. They soon learn to look after themselves, and have not much to do but play. The boys have some light tasks, besides many errands to run; but a good part of the day is spent fishing in the brooks, shooting with bow and arrow at birds and small animals, learn- ing how to manage the long spears used so much by the men, setting traps in the forests, making toy canoes, etc. When old- er, they join the men in hunts for wild animals, are taught to make real canoes, and learn the different trades in which the men engage. Little girls have less leisure than boys, but they also spend much time in play. They learn to manage the kitchen fire, and to cook little dishes for themselves, with which to play “house- keeping.” Often they go with their mothers to the plantations, which are generally one half to one mile from the village. They have but a short girlhood, for by the time they are twelve OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 53 years old, and sometimes even less, they are married. The man whose wife the girl is to become, pays a certain sum of money, or “dowry” as it is called, to her father. This dowry is usually paid a little at a time, and when it is completed the man takes her to his own home. She is called his “little” wife, and as a rule he treats her kindly for awhile, to try and make her care for him. Even his other wives are apt to be good to her, for they find her very useful as a small servant to do part of their work. But it is a sad, hard life for the little girl, and she longs for her old home, poor as it may have been, and the freedom she has lost. There are no native schools, so the children are brought up in great ignorance. One of the African tribes on the western coast are dwarfs. Queer little people,—the grown men and women under five feet in height, and such funny, wee girls and boys! They are a very timid people, hiding away their villages in the dense forests, with no roads leading to them to show where they may be found. It has been hard for our missionaries to win their con- fidence; but they can be brought to a faith in the Saviour, as surely as any other heathen tribe, and a work has already been started among them at our Lolodorf Station. Ivory has always been one of the chief exports of Africa, and the securing of this ivory has led to one of the most cruel and terrible practices ever carried on in any country in the world. This is the Slave Trade. The Arabs had great hunting grounds in Central Africa, where herds of elephants and hippopotami are found; and when they had gathered quantities of the ivory, how do you suppose they carried it down to the eastern coast? It is almost too sad a tale to tell. These wild Arabs would suddenly descend upon some African village, and capture the entire inhabitants,—men, women and children. Then loading them with the heavy burdens, and killing all who tried to escape, they would set fire to the village, and start the poor captives on the cruel march to the sea. Sometimes several villages would be captured at the same time, and there would be great caravans of slaves on their way to the large slave-market at Zanzibar. Hundreds of old people, little children, and the sick and infirm, would be left dead or dying along the route, and this was the greatest blessing that could come to them. It would be terrible enough if this frightful slave trade had been carried on only by the Arabs. It is worse still to find 54 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS another great slave-market at Lagos, on the western coast, and to know that it was managed not by Mohammedan Arabs, but by the Portugese and, later on, by the English! Think of ships of two Christian nations, carrying thousands and thous- ands of poor African slaves, to work on plantations in the American Colonies and the West Indies! Such a frightful trade could not be allowed to go on forever, —the people of these Christian governments would not per- mit it, and after a long, hard fight the end of slave hunting came, and no Christian nation now allows slavery within its borders. First the Portugese, in 1807, abolished their slave trade on the western coast. Then in 1861 the British Govern- ment closed its great slave-market at Lagos. The Arab slave trade was more difficult to abolish, but finally by the year 1895 even that was accomplished, by the heroic labors of the British Government. So now neither on the eastern nor western coast, nor in the far interior, is this cruel, wicked practice carried on, and the poor natives are free from the constant dread of the slave-hunter. But have they now nothing left to fear? Ah, yes! Their whole lives, from the time they are children, are spent in the superstition and terror of a heathen religion, more dreadful to bear than even the cruelties of the slave trade. Let us see what it can be. RELIGION. This religion is called Fetichism. It is a belief in a Creator who made the world, and then left it entirely to the mercy of evil spirits and demons. The people have no temples nor priests, but sacrifices and gifts are offered constantly to the evil spirits, and prayers said to them in the hope of preventing them from causing danger and death. Every man, woman and child wears a Fetich, to warn off these spirits. Fetiches are made from any object, such as a stone, shell, or piece of bone, by taking it to a fetich-doctor who puts a good spirit into it! The evil spirits are supposed to dwell in rocks and stones, in streams and forests, in plants, flowers, and every where. Then there is Ukuku, a departed spirit, especially dreadful to women and children. I do not think the men really believe in him, for they have a secret society named after him, which they use for frightening the poor women. When the cry is OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 55 raised: “Ukuk is coming!” every woman must run and hide her- self for fear she might catch sight of him, when she would be put to death. The men appoint some one to hide in a thicket and shout out laws, which they say Ukuku utters, and which must be obeyed by everyone. But Uvengwa is even more terrible than Ukuku, for he is supposed to be a man-leopard! It is believed that certain hu- man beings can assume the form of leopards, and be able to kill their enemies. In many lonely places wicked men com- mit murder, and then press their fists and knuckles in the mud near by, to look like the leopard’s “tracks.” Anyone dying a natural death is thought to have been be- witched, for the natives believe in witchcraft. Some poor per- son is picked out as the witch, and is put to death either by deadly poison or in some other dreadful way. You will not wonder that Africa has been called the Dark Continent, not only on account of its being so long unexplored, but because of all these terrible beliefs and practices of the natives. Nor will you be surprised that ever since the first missionaries went there and found the poor people living in such superstition and fear, Christian men and women have been willing to risk not only health, but life itself, in order to carry the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a land so sadly in need of the glad tidings of a Saviour. MISSIONS. David Livingstone will always be remembered as one of the world’s greatest missionaries. He was a medical missionary and a famous explorer, as many African missionaries have been. It was during his long, hard journeys into the interior—un- dertaken in order to win the natives to Jesus Christ—that he saw the horrors of the Arab slave-trade; and it was due largely to his efforts, that the British Government was finally led to use force in putting it down. Livingston was only one, however, of a long line of Protestant missionaries who have lived and labored for the spreading of the Gospel in that great land. The Moravians in 1737, started at Gnadenthal near the Cape of Good Hope, the first Protestant mission. Scotch and English missionary societies, and others from the Continent sent missionaries to many parts of the country south of the Zambesi. In 1835 the American Board be- 56 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS gan work among the Zulus; soon Stations were opened on the western coast by American and English societies; and on Mombasa, a small island off the eastern coast, Rebmann and John Ludwig Krapf started their work. Missions are now carried on in many places along the Congo River and in Uganda and other regions around the great lakes. American and Eng- lish missionaries are at work in Egypt and on the upper Nile, and a few in the Mediterranean States, all laboring among the Mohammedans who control nearly the entire northern half of Africa. There are now forty missionary societies working in the country, with more than three thousand American and Euro- pean missionaries. But there are vast regions of the land where as yet few or no missionaries have labored, and millions of men, women and little children who have never been told of God’s love, and salvation through Jesus Christ. Our Presbyterian Church has supported two Missions in Africa, both on the western coast, within the torrid zone. The first was called the Liberia Mission, and work was begun there in 1833. Liberia is a Republic, entirely in the hands of the Negioes. It is composed largely of Negro colonies from the United States, and its Government is formed upon the model of our own. The Liberia Mission was carried on until 1899, when its churches and schools were transferred to the native Church. WEST AFRICAN MISSION. This second Mission was known at first as “The Gaboon and Corisco Mission,” as its work was begun in 1850, on Corisco Island. It has now the following eight Stations: West African Mission. Angom Efulen Baraka Elat Benito MacLean Memorial at Lolodorf Batanga Metet There are thirteen churches with 2,254 communicants, Sab- bath-schools, three hospitals and one dispensary, boarding and day schools, and industrial work. Forty foreign missionaries, OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 57 men and women, are in charge of this Mission, assisted by eighty-three native helpers, two of whom are ordained ministers. For several years past your interest has centered in Baraka, which is on the Gaboon River, ten miles from the sea. It was to and from this Station that your steam launch “Dorothy” made her trips. At present this little launch is out of com- mission, and in the meantime your gifts are to help in the work of Elat Station, where there is much of interest for both girls and boys. ELAT STATION. Elat is one hundred and ninety-five miles northeast of Baraka; one hundred and seventeen miles inland from the coast; two miles from Ebolowo’e, the nearest large town. It is a Station of one hundred and thirty-six acres, beautifully situated on rising ground, well supplied with springs of clear water, and with a soil which produces almost every variety of fruit and vegetables native to Africa. There are fine gardens of plan- tains, toro, cassava, corn and peanuts, which the boys of the Elat school are taught to cultivate. There are hundreds of fruit bearing trees on the property, pear, orange, paw paw, and others. Also one acre of pine-apples, and ten of pine trees. The boys are trained in the raising of cattle. The Station has a church, a hospital, homes for the mission- aries, and two schools,—one for women and girls, and the other for men and boys. Besides regular lessons in reading, writing, and other studies such as you have, the girls are taught sewing and housework, and the boys carpentry and tailoring. The carpentry class makes beautiful tables and chairs, for which native traders send from far in the interior; and the tailoring class receives more orders than it can fill. So the boys and girls of these Elat schools are trained to be- come useful men and women; and, best of all, they learn of the love of Jesus Christ, and accepting Him as their Savior, they go out from the schools carrying the Gospel message to their own tribes and peoples. The training of these African children is the blessed work in which, by your prayers and gifts, you girls and boys are privileged to have a share. 58 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS QUESTIONS ON LESSON STORY. . Which one of the five grand divisions of the earth are we now studying? . What is the shape and size of Africa? 3. What is the number of its inhabitants? > OM NDA mw 13. 14. 15; 16. . Why is the interior of the country less hot than some other tropical lands? . Which are its four large rivers? Is it a fertile country? What two portions of the land are deserts? Why is it an interesting country for hunters? . Which division of the land is the oldest known country? . In which portion of the land are you especially interested? 11 LW To what race do the natives belong? What two Missions has our Presbyterian Church carried on there? Which of the two has it now? How many Stations has the West African Mission? To which one of these do you contribute? What can you tell of Elat Station and its work? Programme for Meeting on Siam and The Laos Singing— “I Love to Tell the Story.” Prayer. Scripture Reading. ! Singing— “Children’s Mission Hymn.” Lesson Story. Map Exercise—(Locating Laos Mission by Placing gilt paper stars on Stations). Singing—“Someone must go to the far-off lands.” 11 Questions and Answers on Lesson Story. March—(Each child drop offering into plate while passing desk). Prayer after Offering. Singing— “Once again, Dear Lord, we pray.”.111 The Lord’s Prayer. 1 ‘‘The Bible in the Mission Band.’’ 11 ‘‘Missionary Songs.”’ 111 ‘‘China for Juniors.” LESSON VI.—SIAM AND THE LOAS COUNTRY. “The Land of the White Elephant!’ A strange name for a country is it not? Yet this is what Siam—the land of which we are now to study—is often called. Later on we shall see why this is so, but first let us find out in what part of the world the country lies. Indo China, or Farther India, is in the ex- treme south-east corner of Asia, and Siam occupies nearly this entire region. On the north it is bounded by China, on the south by the Gulf of Siam and the China Sea, on the east by French Indo China, and on the west by Burmah. The name “Siam” comes from a Sanscript word meaning “ the brown” race, but the natives call the land Mttang Ti, the country of the free. It is not a large country, as it contains little more than 200,- 000 square miles. It is composed mainly of a low plain stretch- ing northward about four hundred miles. Four great rivers run through this plain, and annually overflowing their banks, prepare the soil for the cultivation of rice, which is one of the two great industries of the land. Beyond this plain the coun- try becomes mountainous, and still further north descends again into low, level land. This northern plain, and the beau- tiful valleys among the mountains, are the home of the Laos people, of whom we are to learn more particularly. The climate is like a perpetual summer, with fruit and flowers, green grass and leafy trees, the whole year round. Though not as unhealthful as some tropical regions, it is never- theless very trying, as there are no changes to make it easier to bear. The dry season lasts from November to May and dur- ing this time it is somewhat cooler than during the wet season of the other six months, but even then it is like our hot sum- mer weather. The natural scenery of the country is beautiful, especially among the well-watered ravines and fertile valleys of the mountains. Ferns and palms and fragrant flowers, graceful bamboo and ground-orchids give a variety of color and beauty to the landscape, which is made still more attractive by the mountain streams. The rivers become wild and turbulent dur- ing their course through the mountains; and along the Menam, OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 61 which is the chief river, are forty or more very dangerous rapids. Siam has splendid forests, with numerous varieties of trees, from the cotton-tree growing from the moist soil of the river bottoms, to the teak-wood away up on the rocky mountain peaks. The teak is the most valuable of all the timber, and the source of the country’s greatest wealth. This makes lum- bering the other chief industry of the land. Orchids, which as you know are air-plants, grow luxuriantly in the clefts of the forest trees, adding gorgeous color to the dark green of the foliage; and here, as in Africa, the woods are filled with par- rots and other birds of gay plumage. The wild animals of Siam are similar to those of India and Africa. The tiger, bear, rhinoceros, elephant, and monkey are found in the forests, and crocodiles in the rivers. Centipedes, snakes and other reptiles abound throughout the land, even finding their way into the houses. The Siamese have the same domestic animals that we have here in America,—horses and cattle, dogs, cats, pigs, and all kinds of fowls. Besides these, they train for use two of the wild animals, one for each of the great industries. One of these is the caribou or water buffalo, a clumsy looking animal with a big body and short legs and horns. For three hours or so in the early morning and again in the evening, he is used to pull the plow and harrow in the rice fields. Through the heat of the day he is allowed to rest, and is left in the care of tiny girls and boys. Though often fierce with grown people, he seems fond of his little guardians, and will let them climb upon his broad back and ride him down to the water, where both he and they have fine baths in the cool, though often muddy streams. The second wild animal trained to be of use is the elephant, and the great lumber in- dustry would be almost impossible without his help. The larg- est elephants in the world are those found in the forests of the Laos states. Clumsy as they seem, they are very sure-footed, and climb up and down the mountain paths, hauling the heavy logs to the streams to be floated. They are wonderfully clever in breaking up the jams which form sometimes in the streams, and setting the logs free. For many years elephants were used by all Siamese and Laos, even the poorer classes, but now that so many are needed for the lumber business, they have be- come too expensive to be owned by any but the very wealthy. The natives have a great reverence for this animal, and the national flag is a white elephant on a red ground. It is be- cause of this reverence, that the country is called “the Land 62 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS of the White Elephant.” There are no actually white elephants, but what the natives call such, and hold is high esteem, are a yellowish-brown, appearing white only in contrast with the ordinary dark gray or brown ones. When one of these light elephants is found, he is brought to the capital with great re- joicing and pomp, even the king himself, going out to meet him. A stable of his own is given to him, where attendants bring him the choicest food on gold and silver trays. Gold bands are put upon his tusks, and he is fastened to a gilded post, while over the door of his stable is printed in letters of gold, the title of nobility which has been given to him. The people do not actually worship him, but they come pretty near to it, do they not? Siam has as many water-ways as roads, and much of the travelling and trade is done by boat on the rivers and canals. The long hard journey north on the Menam river to the Laos country, is a trip of nearly six weeks; but now a railroad jour- ney of two days from Bangkok, the capital of Siam, to Pitsan- uloke two hundred miles to the north, and an overland trip of eight to twelve days, makes a much shorter route. The rail- road is to be continued to Chieng Mai, the capital of the Laos states. In the northern part of Siam elephants are still used as means of conveyance, and ponies are raised for the same purpose, while in the south of the country horses and sedan-chairs are also used. Boats, pack-horses, bullocks, and elephants carry the freight, and much is borne by men- carriers, who travel long distances with heavy loads in baskets over their shoulders. Pepper, tobacco, sugar-cane, cotton and indigo are raised in the land; also pineapples, bananas, oranges, guavas, tamarinds and other fruits. Rice is the principal food production, how- ever, and the people live largely upon this, and upon the fish with which the rivers abound. The land is not rich in minerals. Little gold, silver or iron is found and no coal. The principal exports are rice and teak wood. PEOPLE. Siam has, including the Laos, a population of some nine mil- lions. These people belong to the Tai race, which two thous- and years ago inhabited the southern part of China. They are OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 63 an entirely distinct race from the Chinese, with whom they often made war, and by whom, in 250 B. C., they were largely crowd- ed out from the country. Moving southward they settled throughout the whole of Indo China. Some, mixing with the Malays and other races, became the Siamese, occupying the southern half of Siam. Those who settled in the mountains and plains of northern Siam came in contact with no other race, and remain to this day the same in blood and language as when they left their home in the north so many hundred years ago. They still call themselves Tai, or The Free, but are known to us as the Laos. The original inhabitants of the land were driven into the hills, where they are tributary to the Siamese and Laos, and are known as Ka (slave) in distinction to Tai (free). Siam since the year 1350 has been an absolute monarchy, which means that power of every kind is intrusted to the king. There is an assembly of the nobles of the land, for choosing the king’s successor. If they prefer some one other than his son, they are at liberty to choose him, but the Crown Prince usually comes to the throne. Until 1885 Siam always had two kings. The second king had his palace, courtiers and officers, but was simply an adviser of the first king, and not his suc- cessor unless so chosen. After the death of the late second king in 1885, the office was abolished. King Chulalongkorn I., the present ruler, ascended the throne in 1868, at the age of fifteen. His father, the late king Pra Chaumklow, gained through the influence of American missionaries, many liberal ideas, and his son is one of the ablest and most advanced mon- archs of the East. The Laos people until 1828 were ruled by their own princes, and simply paid tribute to the king of Siam. After that they became more and more subject to his rule, until twenty years ago a Siamese commissioner was appointed to each province, and by 1902 the Laos had become a part of the Siamese kingdom. In some ways it is hard for the Laos to be so largely under Siamese control. In many other respects it is greatly for their benefit, especially in ridding them from the fear of what was known as “dacoity,” or raids by robber bands from the mountains of eastern Burmah. Companies of these bandits would descend upon some peaceful Laos villages, capture the men, women and children for slaves, carry off the cattle, and leave the village in flames. These captives were not as a rule treated cruelly, for they were usually given homes of their own, and land to cultivate, but they were under Bur- 64 OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS mese control, and naturally longed for the home and land from which they had been carried away. Sometimes these raids were made by the Siamese as well as the Burmese, but now that the Laos are a part of Siam their life and property are more secure. King Chulalongkorn I. has done much for the benefit of all the people both Siamese and Laos. He has abolished slavery, founded schools for both girls and boys, and established a good postal system. In 1905 he took away the licenses from all gambling-houses. This was a brave act, for it angered many of his people, and the loss of the licenses deprived him of a good part of his revenue. There are telephones and tele- graphs in the land, electricity in the larger cities, and many public buildings. The Siamese have a brown skin and coarse, straight black hair. The men shave their heads, leaving only a round tuft of hair on the top, about four inches in diameter. While they are children, this is allowed to grow and is done up in a knot, but when they become men it is kept about an inch long, and brushed straight up on end. The women, especially the Laos, have long smooth black hair which they comb back from the forehead and arrange in a graceful knot at the back of the head. While unmarried, they wear a flower in their hair. The Siam- ese men and women, and the Laos men all wear the same costume. It is simply a piece of calico three yards long and a yard wide, which is tied round the middle of the body and fastened in such a way into the waist at the back, as to form loose, baggy trousers. The legs and feet are left bare. Former- ly a scarf or shawl was worn on the upper part of the body, but now both men and women wear a straight, white jacket of cotton or calico. The Laos women wear this same jacket, or the scarf, but in place of the waist-cloth they have a scant skirt with horizontal stripes. A stripe broader than the rest, and often richly embroidered, is inserted near the bottom, The girls and boys dress like their parents, but do not wear their little white jackets while at home. The women are fond of jewelry; and men, women and children all have their ears pierced, the girls and boys often wearing flowers in the holes instead of ear-rings, and sometimes sticking their cigarrettes through them. One of the bad customs of the land allows even tiny girls and boys to smoke cigarrettes, and chew the betel- nut. King Chulalongkorn I. now requires all his courtiers to wear the whole European dress, except that they still keep the waist-cloth. OUR WORK IN FAR AWAY LANDS 65 The native houses are built of bamboo, the high, pointed roofs are covered with thatch. About half or three-quarters of the house is entirely enclosed by walls, while the remainder has but three walls, and is like a large piazza. The family sleep in the enclosed room, and use the more open one for the dining and living room. There is little furniture, and that of the simplest. The floor is covered with coarse mats, over which are sometimes laid handsomer rugs. At night mattresses, filled with cotton from the cotton-wood tree, are placed on the floor. Cotton stuffed pillows, cotton blankets and warm com- fortables compose the bedding, and in the daytime the beds are rolled up and laid away. No chairs are used, except among those who try to imitate foreign customs. As the living-room is closed in on only three sides, windows are needed simply in the bed-room, and no house has more than one or two. There is always one, called the spirit-window, through which any spirit can leave who may have ascended the ladder and entered the house.