hich stretches out
before one when he stands on the top of Mt. Corcovado. The scene which
greets one from this mountain is indescribable. The Bay of Rio de
Janeiro, with its eighty islands, Sugar Loaf Mountain, a bare rock
standing at the entrance, the city winding its tortuous way in and out
between the mountains and spreading itself over many hills, the open
sea in the distance and the wild mountain scenery to the back of us,
constitute a panorama surpassingly beautiful.

Nictheroy lies just across the bay. We went over there one night and
spoke in the rented hall where our church worships, and spent the night
in the delightful home of the Entzmingers. The next morning, before
breakfast, Dr. Entzminger showed me over the city. Nictheroy has forty
thousand inhabitants and is the capital of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
It is a beautiful city and offers a wide field for missionary work. Its
importance is apparent.

We have a church in the populous suburb of Engenho de Dentro. We were
present there at a great celebration when the church cleared off the
remainder of its debt and burned the notes. The building was crowded to
its utmost capacity. The people stood in the aisles from the rear to
the pulpit. They filled the little rooms behind the pulpit and occupied
space about the windows. There are about seventy members of the church.
A far greater progress should be made now that the debt as well as
other encumbrances have been removed.

There are in Rio the First, Engenho de Dentro, Governors Island and
Santa Cruz churches, and twelve preaching places, four of which are in
rented halls. Missionary Maddox utilizes many members of the churches
in providing preaching at these missions. There are only a very few
paid evangelists in this mission, but a great many church members are
glad to go to these stations and tell the gospel story.

Besides our Baptist work, the Southern Methodists are conducting a very
prosperous mission. They have several churches and a station for
settlement work. The Presbyterians and the Congregationalists have some
excellent churches and the YMCA is one of the most flourishing in South
America.

CHAPTER III.

A VISIT TO A COUNTRY CHURCH.

That I may give you a glimpse of the country life in Brazil, and also
some impression of country mission work, I invite you to take a trip
with Missionary Maddox and myself to the little hamlet of Parahyba do
Sul, in the interior of the State of Rio