the small number of clergy in Nevada (and they are mostly gathered in one part of the State) the number of unbaptized is unusually large. It is known that this particular missionary can cover much ground on his motor-cycle, given by some Chicago Churchmen, so he is often called upon for baptisms. Recently a woman asked him to baptize her five boys on his next trip. His response was, "With pleasure"; and he inquired where she lived. The answer was characteristic of the country: "Down near so-andso's ranch." A glance at a distance table showed this to be seventy miles south of Austin. The trip by stage takes about fifteen hours each way and makes the parson wonder, "Why is the west so large?" In addition to these five boys-the motor-cyclist has six others on his list, calling for rides of from twenty to sixty miles in other directions.

We are reminded of the parable of the lost sheep, for truly these children are lost in the wilderness. Can we afford these trips and the consequent expenditure of money? Of course we can. But the missionary has only fifteen places "to make" at more or less frequent intervals. Is there not a man who will help to corral these stray sheep?

last Wednesday and the Roman priest left on a lengthy trip. So we had to be content with our Sunday-schools. There is a lady dead and no one to bury her!

Eureka has a population of between 600 and 700. Within a radius of two miles, there are, I believe, 1,000 souls. It has three churches, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian and our own. The congregations are good, even on my "once-insix-weeks" trips.

There is a large, active woman's guild, and a fine boys' club with twenty members, ranging from ten to sixteen years. Many older are applying, but lack of clerical oversight must keep it small. The Sunday-school averages forty in attendance, with over one-third boys. There is not one adult male to help in any of the parochial work. This place cries out for a missionary.

It is coupled with Austin and Battle Mountain. Austin has the largest percentage of college men of any town I have ever been in, and they all remain away from service. My limited visits make it almost impossible to get thoroughly acquainted with them. Population 700. Battle Mountain has a choir (a good one for the town, it is less than four hundred), a large woman's guild— a chapter of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, a fine Sunday-school-with an attendance of thirty-five to forty every Sunday and some male communicants in good standing. The former missionary had a large men's club, not a Church club, but an opponent of the saloons. It is now dead-lack of oversight. We must have a man, a thorough man—' -"a good mixer." The claims of Nevada are tremendous.

O

UR friends at home, especially those who helped to send Christmas gifts, will be interested to hear how the Eskimos at Point Hope spent Christmas Day.

Services commenced at eleven. But at nine o'clock the people began to gather and by eleven the church was filled to overflowing, every available inch of space being utilized, even the chancel. The majority had to travel at least a mile to reach the church, while some had to come six miles. They listened with the deepest interest to the story that never grows old and the time-honored Christmas carols, Adeste Fideles, Hark! the herald angels sing, and Shout the glad tidings rang out with great vigor. It was a great disappointment that we were unable to celebrate the Holy Communion, but there was no sacramental wine.

After service all adjourned to the school-house, where we had done our best to provide a Christmas tree. Probably dwellers on the Yukon River, where spruce is abundant, would have looked

with disdain on our four willow trees lashed together and would have wondered at the delighted chorus of "Oh's," when the Eskimos, big and little, first caught sight of it. But even to obtain these willows necessitated a trip of forty miles. Point Hope is north of the timber line and only a few stunted willows can be found in places along the streams.

The white residents of the Point, who make their living by whaling, and most of whom have married Eskimo women, had been pressed into service and the schoolroom looked gay with flags arranged in various devices. The crush was beyond description-250 people in a small room. Only standing room could be allowed to most and no child could be spared an inch of floor space. The larger children sat on the shoulders of the men standing against the walls while the smaller were on the laps of the women sitting on the floor. There was no room for benches. Finally by strenuous exertions we succeeded in getting all inside the room. Once in, no one could move; where they were placed, there they

stayed. If it was necessary for some one to leave the room a very complicated game of '52 ensued, the ten or fifteen near the door having to file into the woodshed while those inside played "general post." Some idea of the atmosphere may be gained from the fact that the stove had been taken outside the building, and although the thermometer registered twenty degrees below zero and parkies were taken off, the perspiration was streaming from all alike. There was abundance of presents of the kind to gladden the heart of the Eskimo, as in addition to the barrels sent up this last summer I had picked up six or seven at Kiwalik on my way in that had been saved from the wreck of the schooner Vine the previous year.

After the tree had been removed the children played "hunt the whistle," "lucky bags," etc., on the four square feet previously occupied by the tree. Then thirty gallons of tea were brought in and two cracker boxes of doughnuts. (We found by experience that one sack of flour, plus two buckets of whale oil, plus sugar and butter, equals 800 doughnuts). Our native helper objected to the amount of butter we were using,

as the whale oil could not thoroughly soak through.

After refreshments prizes were offered for the best man, woman, boy and girl dancers. The dances here, in contrast to the native dances in some other places, are quite innocent. Two or three take the floor at one time and go through a series of gestures and contortions to the music of four drums. Some of the dancers devote themselves to buffoonery, while others are very graceful.

The prizes for regular attendance at school were shared, two girls having missed only once each (when such a severe gale was blowing that none of the smaller children could walk the mile to school), and three boys who each missed twice. The average attendance for the past three months has been fifty-six out of an enrolment of eighty.

Throughout the winter we have been holding meetings of a Woman's Auxiliary and on Christmas Day many of the people brought presents of miniature Eskimo, etc., to add to the assortment we already have to send to the Church Missions House.

All is well here and the winter is a busy one.

T

INDIANS FISHING THROUGH THE ICE AT ANVIK

BACK TO

HE Rev. John W. Chapman, of Anvik, Alaska, who has been in the States on furlough during the winter, started last month on the return journey to the mission where he has served so effectively since 1888. The last ten days in June were spent in the Diocese of Montana, from whose people much help has come in the past for the Alaska work. The first two weeks in July were spent in the neighborhood of San Francisco, where interest in Alaska and readiness to support the Church's enterprises are likewise keen. From San Francisco Mr. Chapman journeyed to Seattle, where he made arrangements for sending in the necessary outfits for next year. He sailed from Seattle July 20th, and, journeying by the inside route down the Yukon River, should reach Anvik shortly before September 1st. Mr. Charles W. Williams, who has been in charge of the mission during Mr. Chapman's absence, will remain at the station and thus make possible a wider radius of action in the Indian villages on the Yukon and the Chageluk.

During his months on so-called furlough, Mr. Chapman has been busy speaking on behalf of the general work of the Church in Alaska, and for certain special needs in which Bishop Rowe asked his help. All gifts received by Mr. Chapman have been forwarded to the Treasurer at the Church Missions House, and have been, or will be, acknowledged

STEAMERS GOING DOWN THE YUKON, "FOLLOWING THE ICE," LATE IN MAY

ALASKA

in THE SPIRIT OF MISSIONS. Mr. Chapman has spoken 177 times and has travelled a good many hundred miles, chiefly in the North Atlantic dioceses, in Departments I., II. and III. Just before leaving New York Mr. Chapman said:

"While I do not feel that I have earned a rest, the prospect of a few weeks of travel is not a disagreeable one. I shall return to my field, God willing, with the recollection of so much personal kindness shown me, and of so much of aid and comfort given by parishes, auxiliaries and Sunday-schools, and by individuals, that it is difficult to find words to express my sense of the blessedness of the fellowship in Christ which it has been my privilege to share with the brethren."

"M

་།

OTHER Church in the Land of Darkness" is the title of a mystery play that purposes to give teaching about the progress of Christian missions. In three acts are presented the experiences of the Church in its entry into Japan and in later years. The author is the Rev. E. B. Rice, of the Church Missions House, New York. The play has been presented by children. in some of the parishes of the Diocese of New York, and it has been everywhere enthusiastically received. Copies of the play may be had from the Educational Department, 281 Fourth Avenue, New York City; price, 50 cents.