There are several places from which splendid views of the city can be had, but none of them is comparable to the panorama which 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.

On Monday, June 13th, we boarded a six am train for Parahyba do Sul, which we reached about ten o’clock.  It is a charming town situated on the river by the same name.  This river reminds one of the French Broad, though the mountains are not so high and precipitous as the North Carolina mountains.  The mountains, too, in this section are not covered with trees, but with a tall grass, which, being in bloom, gave a beautiful purple color to the landscape.  The railroad climbs up the mountain sides from Rio in a very picturesque manner.