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 SAMUEL M.ZWEMER 
 
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The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023021417 
 
THE UNOCCUPIED FIELDS 
 
The UNOCCUPIED 
 MISSION FIELDS of 
 
 AFRICA AND ASIA 
 
 BY 
 
 SAMUEL M. ZWEMER, F.R.G.S. 
 
 SECRETARY STUDENT VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT, 
 MISSIONARY TO ARABIA 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 STUDENT VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT 
 
 FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS 
 
 1911 
 

 Copyright, 1911, by 
 
 STUDENT VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT 
 
 FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS 
 
 ALL RIGHTS SESEKVED 
 
 W ic-^^ 
 
^a%ll 
 
 WHO DARE, ENDURE AND SUFFER ON THE 
 
 BORDERMARCHES OF THE KINGDOM, 
 
 AND ENTER THE UNOCCUPIED 
 
 TERRITORY OF 
 
 THE KING 
 
'Xhe night lies dark upon the eaith and we have light; 
 So many have to grope their way, and we have sight; 
 One path is theirs and ours — of sin and care, 
 But we are home along, and they their burden bear, 
 Footsore, heart-weary, faint they on the way, 
 Mute in their sorrow, while we kneel and pray; 
 Glad are they of a stone on which to rest. 
 While we lie pillowed on the Father's breast. 
 
 "Father, why is it that these millions roam, 
 And guess that that is Home, and urge their way 
 Is it enough to keep the door ajar. 
 In hope that some may see the gleam afar, 
 And guess that that is Home, and urge their way 
 To reach it, haply, somehow and some day? 
 May not I go, and lend them of my light? 
 May not mine eyes be unto them for sight? 
 May not the brother-love Thy love portray? 
 And news of Home make Home less far away?" 
 
 —Rev. R. Wright Hay. 
 
 VI 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The purpose of this book is to give a survey of the 
 extent and condition of the wholly unoccupied mission 
 fields in Africa and Asia including Malaysia, from the 
 standpoint of Protestant missions, and to consider the 
 questions that bear on their occupation. 
 
 The continent of South America has not been included 
 for two reasons : the missionary problem there is so 
 largely bound up with the condition of the Roman Catho- 
 lic Church and has therefore such special character that 
 it requires specific treatment ; and the continent as a whole 
 with its unoccupied sections and large neglected non- 
 Christian population has already received attention in 
 mission study text-books. To include South America 
 would, moreover, have been impracticable in the compass 
 of one volume for use in study classes. 
 
 The unoccupied fields of the world are a new subject 
 for consideration and the data for an altogether accurate 
 and all-embracing survey are not yet complete. The 
 entire world-area has not yet been wholly covered by the 
 tracks of the explorer, much less by the triangulations 
 of the surveyor or the tours of missionaries; nor has 
 any kind of census been taken in many of the great 
 unoccupied fields of the world. As long, therefore, as 
 geography and ethnography can only give estimates and 
 probabilities, a missionary survey also can only deal with 
 approximate figures. Where statistics are used, they are 
 
Vlll PREFACfi 
 
 taken in nearly every case from the "Statesman's Year- 
 Book" (1910), or where this failed, conservative esti- 
 mates were made from recent books of travel and the 
 letters of correspondents. For the rest, the bibliogra- 
 phy gives the sources of information and indicates lines 
 of further study. As far as possible all the references and 
 authorities are recent. The book deals with present con- 
 ditions. It tells of things as they are to-day. 
 
 Its argument can be briefly expressed as follows: at 
 the beginning of the twentieth century of the Christian 
 era and after more than a centnry of Protestant world- 
 wide missions, there are still a score of wholly unoccupied 
 fields (Chapter I) and many sections of fields (II), where 
 the obstacles and barriers seem well-nigh insuperable 
 (III), but where the moral degradation and spiritual 
 destitution of the peoples (IV and V) and the strategy 
 involved in the occupation of these fields (VI) call for 
 heroic, persevering, pioneer effort on wise lines (VII) 
 with the sure promise of ultimate success (VIII). 
 
 The careful investigations of the present condition of 
 the whole non-Christian world carried on in connection 
 with the World Missionary Conference held at Edin- 
 burgh, 1910, by its Commission I, together with the 
 emphasis now being placed upon the practical interpre- 
 tation of the Watchword of the Student Volunteer Move- 
 ment by missionary leaders and organizations, surely 
 emphasize the timeliness of this attempted survey. 
 
 To quote from the findings of Commission I of the 
 Edinburgh Conference: 
 
 "The unoccupied fields of the world have a claim of 
 peculiar weight and urgency upon the attention and mis- 
 sionary effort of the Church. In this twentieth century 
 of Christian history there should be no unoccupied fields. 
 
PREFACE IX 
 
 The Church is bound to remedy this lamentable condition 
 with the least possible delay. Some of these unoccupied 
 fields are open to the Gospel, such as Mongolia and many 
 regions of Africa. In certain fields there are difficulties 
 of access to be overcome. Both in Africa and Asia 
 there are large regions belonging to the French Empire 
 in which there are no Christian missions. There are 
 other fields where political difficulties seem at present 
 to prevent occupation, such as Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and 
 Afghanistan. But the closed doors are few compared 
 with the open doors unentered. It is the neglected op- 
 portunities that are the reproach of the Church. A large 
 proportion of the unoccupied fields are to be found within 
 the Mohammedan world, not only in Northern Africa and 
 in Western Asia, but also in China. Indeed, by far the 
 greater part of the Mohammedan world is practically 
 unoccupied." 
 
 In view of this last statement no apology is necessary 
 for the fact that the problem of Islam occupies a consider- 
 able part of the discussion in Chapters IV and VI. 
 
 One other reason might be given for the timeliness of 
 this presentation. There is just now on the part of some 
 a strange criticism of the Gospel to the effect that it 
 lacks virility and is weak and flabby for the rough and 
 tumble struggle of every-day life ; that it does not appeal 
 sufficiently to the heroic or the fighting spirit which is 
 so much needed in our day. Surely no one can study the 
 social conditions in the unoccupied fields of the world 
 and the almost insuperable obstacles which face those 
 who try to better these conditions without realizing that 
 in the warfare of Christian missions against the forces 
 of darkness and degradation there is abundant oppor- 
 tunity for the highest heroism, and the call to occupy 
 
X PREFACE 
 
 these fields is to the strongest manhood of the Church. 
 Here is "the moral equivalent of war" which thoughtful 
 men say we need in an age of luxury and self-indulgence. 
 If the unoccupied fields of the world are to be occupied 
 for Jesus Christ and by Him, those who have surrendered 
 their lives to His service and are willing to dare and 
 endure must enter these fields. The book has therefore 
 its special message to student volunteers. 
 
 Samuel M. Zwemer. 
 
 On board S. S. Konig Albert, 
 September 15, 1910 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 
 
 Once the whole world unoccupied — Paul's ambition — Carey's 
 missionary program — The situation to-day — Two-fold division of 
 the unoccupied fields — Greater and smaller areas — The heart of 
 two continents — Central Asia and Central Africa — The roof of 
 the world — The character of the people — The variety of races 
 and of environment — In Central Asia — The character of the 
 Afghan — The Arab — The Tibetan — Men and women — The 
 Pagan races of Africa — Afghanistan — Baluchistan — Chinese 
 Turkistan — Its resources — Routes of travel — Russia in Cen- 
 tral Asia — Its large cities — Commerce — Railways — Siberia — 
 Mongolia — Tibet — Nepal and Bhutan — French Indo-China — 
 Area and population — Arabia — Its neglected provinces — Africa — 
 The Senegal District — Northern Nigeria — Somaliland and Abys- 
 sinia — Summary of the situation — Lines on Gordon's Statue. 
 
 Page I 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 SMALLER AREAS AND UNREACHED MILLIONS 
 
 Malaysia — Banka and Billiton — The Malay States — Western 
 Sumatra — The Barbary States — Aggregate populations un- 
 touched — Uncultivated sections in unoccupied fields — Their 
 importance — Certain difficulties in dealing with these areas — 
 Mission comity — Concentration or diffusion — ^Japan an example 
 — Distribution of forces in Japan — Neglected districts — Table — 
 Unoccupied fields in India — Their location — United Provinces — 
 Central India — Bhopal Agency — Conditions in Bengal — Table 
 
xn CONTENTS 
 
 — Sindh — China and its evangelization — Growth of one mission — 
 The unfinished task in China — Cities without missionaries — 
 Honan Province — The Edinburgh Conference report on China 
 — The Moslems of China — Prayer for the unoccupied fields. 
 
 Page 33 
 
 CHAPTER lU 
 WHY STIJX UNOCCUPIEB 
 
 Lack of vision and faith — Lack of men — External hindrances and 
 difBculties — The remaining obstacles naturally great — Physical, 
 political and religious barriers — Livingstone's saying — ^Unex- 
 plored sections of Africa — Central Borneo — Arabia — The largest 
 unexplored area of the world — Central Asia and its geographical 
 problems — Hardships of climate and difficulties of communica- 
 tion — In Tibet — In Papua — In Afghanistan — In Africa — How to 
 meet these difficulties — Bishop Bompas' testimony — Dr. North- 
 cote Deck — Difficulties of climate and health disappearing — 
 Political opposition — In India — French Colonial Africa — British 
 Government in regard to Islam — Russia — Moslem governments — 
 Afghanistan — The intricacy of the situation in this field — 
 Religious intolerance — Fanaticism in the Sahara — Arabia — Atjeh 
 — Abyssinia — Somaliland — Intolerant M«cca — Christians at Mecca 
 — Hejaz Railway — The great closed land, Tibet — Breaking down 
 of barriers — The Amir's speech at Lahore — Dr. Kumm's journey 
 —Col. Wingate's testimony — God the Opener Page 59 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 SOCIAL CONDITIONS 
 
 The present emphasis in missions — The sociological problem — 
 The unity of the race — Christian civilization and the non-Chris- 
 tian environment. — The city problem — If ours were a heathen 
 city — Dr. Dennis' classification of the social evils of the non- 
 Christian world — The general situation — Paul's indictment — 
 Present social conditions in the Dark Continent — The slave trade 
 and its horrors — Lack of economic progress — Tibet needs the 
 gospel of soap — The Mongols — Lack of sanitation in the great 
 cities of Central Asia — No settled government — Brigandage — 
 
CONTENTS XIU 
 
 Famine and plague — Social evils — Ignorance and superstition — 
 Instances of the latter in Persia and Afghanistan — The Amirs 
 charm — Amulets and their use — Moslem superstition — Native 
 quackery in Kordofan — Witch doctors — Treatment of the sick — 
 Crude surgery — Afghan dentistry — The treatment of criminals; 
 cruel punishment and tortures — Cannibalism in Malaysia and in 
 Africa — Instances of cruelty in Afghanistan — Prison life — Pun- 
 ishment in Tibet — Disposal of the dead — The scavengers of Lhasa 
 — ^The Buddhist Sheol — Moral degradation — The condition of 
 women and children in Afghanistan; in Central Asia — The cry 
 of the children of Kashgar — The pilgrim cities centres of immor- 
 ality — Temporary marriages at Mecca — The condition of woman- 
 hood in non-Christian world — Dr. Kumm's testimony regarding 
 the Sudan — Women in Afghanistan — The women of Tibet — Con- 
 clusion — The Gospel the only hope for social progress .. .Page 95 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS 
 
 No part of the world without religion — Herbert Spencer— The 
 capacity for religion universal — Major Leonard's testimony — The 
 effect of civilization without the Gospel — In Papua — The Bedouin 
 of Arabia — ^The non-Christian religions have all had their trial 
 and failed — "By their fruits ye shall know them" — Islam in 
 Arabia — Palgrave's testimony — Vambery — Lamaism in Tibet — 
 Its character — Ritual — Prayer — Wheels and their use — A land 
 swarming with priests — Spiritual ignorance and moral degrada- 
 tion — Miss Marston on Buddhism — Animism and Fetichism in 
 the pagan world — Cannibalism and its sacrificial significance — 
 Warneck on the hopelessness of heathenism — The evangeliza- 
 tion of pagan Africa means the creation of a new civilization — 
 Untruthfulness and distrust in the animistic world — Special char- 
 acteristics common to all the non-Christian religions — Degrading 
 conceptions of God — Religious tyranny — Scandalous lives of the 
 religious leaders — The gods of Africa — The. pagans of Siberia — 
 Their horse sacrifice — Superstition in Annam — Life in a Buddhist 
 monastery — ^The Lamas of Tibet — Their ignorance and debasing 
 customs — Their power over the people — The Dalai Lama — The 
 immuring of monks — Islam and its monotheism — Schickel's char- 
 
XIV CONTENTS 
 
 acterization— The religious leaders of Islam— Their spirit and 
 their power— In Afghanistan— In Egypt— The pagan priesthood 
 in Malaysia— In Kordofan— Among the Buriats— The unoccupied 
 fields of the world still living in the era B.C. — The prayer of 
 Asaph Page 123 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE 
 
 Why should they be occupied? — Reasons in general and in par- 
 ticular — Destitution and neglect are the strongest possible argu- 
 ments for their occupation — Dying races need the Gospel — Virile 
 races must be won — All races belong to God — Bishop Carpenter's 
 words — Christ's command universal — The strategy of the appar- 
 ently insignificant — Unrecognized possibilities — The occupation of 
 these fields and the second coming of Jesus Christ — The glory 
 of God at stake — Some fields now unoccupied were once Christian 
 — Regaining lost territory in Central Asia — North Africa — Arabia 
 — The veiled Tuaregs — Special reasons in addition to these gen- 
 eral reasons — Strategic races in Africa— The Moslems of China — 
 Those in Russia — Missionary Hogberg on the strategy of Central 
 Asia — Robert Clark — The importance of Afghanistan — Russian 
 advance in Central Asia — The danger of neglected lands — Kafir- 
 istan as an example of lost opportunity— The lu-gency because 
 of railway expansion especially in Africa and Central Asia — The 
 situation in Chinese Turkistan — Why Arabia should be occupied 
 — ^Railways and politics — The Arabic language and its influence — 
 The- Arab race — These are strategic times — The crucial problem 
 to-day in Africa — Islam or Christianity — Testimony of mission- 
 ary leaders — Bishop Tucker — Dr. Weston of Zanzibar — Dr. Hol- 
 land of Baluchistan — Dr. Miller of Nigeria — Gairdner from 
 Cairo — The present Moslem advance in Africa — Its direction — 
 Its character — Forces which favor its spread — Higher culture — 
 Colonial governments — Low moral standards — No caste — Because 
 of the march of civilization we must preoccupy these fields — 
 Afghanistan an example, Page 153 
 
CONTENTS XV 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK 
 
 The reproach of long neglect — Factors in the problem of occu- 
 pation — Concentration or diffusion — The character of the man 
 and the nature of his mission — The pioneer in a class by himself — 
 Kipling's lines a challenge — The witness of Chalmers and Living- 
 stone — The kind of man needed — Major General Haig's testi- 
 mony — Hardships in Tibet — The pioneer missionary a soldier — 
 He needs a sense of humor — ^This fact illustrated from Arabia 
 and Baluchistan — Becoming all things to all men — The Bishop 
 of Lebombo — He must be a man with a message — The Arab 
 who recognized Christ — How Dr. Rijnhart interpreted the parable 
 of the good Samaritan — The medical missionary and his power — 
 Work for the scholar and the linguist in the unoccupied fields — 
 Languages without the gospel — The Gospel in Laotian — The dis- 
 tribution of the Scriptures in Siberia — The Bible knows no fron- 
 tiers — The organization of a pioneer mission — Lessons to be 
 learned from the past — The need of thorough preparation — Pru- 
 dence and common sense needed — ^Unwise methods — Qimate 
 and health — The Apostle Paul our example — The pioneer mis- 
 sionary must be willing to endure hardship — The call for single 
 men — Colonel Wingate's words — On the choice of a location — 
 A page from the story of the Arabian mission — How stations were 
 selected and occupied — Attempts to enter Tibet and the present 
 opportunity — Central Asia and the frontier of India — How to 
 occupy Russian and Chinese Turkistan — The unoccupied fields 
 of Africa — History of attempts to enter the Sudan — The price of 
 success — We must march to the song of the dead Page 183 
 
 CHAPTER vrn 
 
 THE GLORY OF THE IMPOSSmLE 
 
 The passion of the Anglo-Saxon for exploration — Sir Ernest 
 Shackleton and the call of the north — Sven Hedin— Dr. Susie 
 Rijnhart — Her plea for Tibet — The little lone grave — Tertullian's 
 words — "I believe because it is impossible" — The Afghan martyr 
 —"Who follows in His train?"— The call to sacrifice— With 
 
XVI CONTENTS 
 
 Christ the impossible becomes possible — Missions are warfare 
 — Raymund Lull's words — The call to loneliness — Inverted home- 
 sickness — ^The passion of the homeless Christ — The Song of the 
 Foreloper — The ordination of the pierced hands — Bishop French, 
 of Lahore, and his spirit — Paul's ambition — Why the early Chris- 
 tians evangelized the Roman Empire — ^The difficulty of the task 
 is the inspiration — Neesima — Hogberg — ^Judson — ^The watchword 
 of the Student Volunteer Movement — Its present-day interpreta- 
 tion — The unoccupied field and the unoccupied life — Phillips 
 Brooks' challenge — The last will and testament of David Living- 
 stone Page 215 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The Khaibar Pass Frontispiece 
 
 FACING 
 PAGE 
 
 Statue of Gordon 30 
 
 Heathen Battaks of Sumatra 34 
 
 Kairwan, Tunis 42 
 
 The Grand Shereef of Mecca 64 
 
 Caravan Crossing the Sahara 70 
 
 Lamas from Sikkim 88 
 
 Types from Baluchistan 96 
 
 Medical Charms from Kordofan 104 
 
 Buddhist Leader from Bhutan 130 
 
 Symbols of Lamaism and Buddhism 132 
 
 Idols from New Guinea 136 
 
 The Dalai Lama of Tibet 142 
 
 The Veiled Men of Tuareg 158 
 
 Woman and Children, Timbuctu 158 
 
 A Sky-Scraper in Arabia ] 66 
 
 Sudan Express Advertisement 166 
 
 A Woman of Nepal 202 
 
 El- Wad, in Southern Algeria 220 
 
 Lhasa, the Capital of Tibet 224 
 
 MAPS 
 
 Central Asia lo 
 
 Tibet 20 
 
 Southwest Africa 26 
 
 Sumatra and Indo-China 36 
 
 Province of Honan, China 51 
 
 Arabia 84 
 
 Afghanistan and Baluchistan 112 
 
 Malaysia 126 
 
 Central Sudan 176 
 
 Abyssinia and Somaliland 210 
 
 xvii 
 
THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 
 
 xuc 
 
"At the funeral of the great Duke of Wellington it was con- 
 sidered to be a mark of solemn respect that the obsequies should 
 be attended by one soldier from every part of the regiments of 
 the British Army, and it is a part of the Saviour's glory that one 
 jewel be gathered to His crown from every tribe of the lost 
 human race. It is an honor to secure for our Lord one such jewel 
 from even the remotest tribe." 
 
 — Bishop William Carpenter Bompas. 
 
 "In addition to the magnitude of the need, the unoccupied fields 
 have an interest and importance peculiarly their own on the 
 score of difficulty of access. These fields are the enemy's citadels, 
 the high places of his dominion, flaunting defiance in the face 
 of a militant Church. They are the Gibraltars of Satan's power, 
 perched in some instances, in what might be compared to eagles' 
 fastnesses, and in other places set, like islands, amid an ocean 
 of unnavigable sand. Are they never to be stormed? Is the 
 reproach that their unoccupied character brings upon Zion never 
 to be rolled away?" 
 — Rev. James Douglas, in the "Missionary Review of the World." 
 
Chapter I 
 THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 
 
 Once the whole world was unoccupied territory. Chris- 
 tian missions had not begun; the first Missionary came 
 unto His own and His own received Him not. He Him- 
 self told us that "the field is the world," and Christianity 
 sets forth universal claims. Christ gave His disciples a 
 world-wide commission and Christianity's challenge in all 
 ages and to all peoples has been that it is the only and all- 
 sufficient religion. This claim must be vindicated by 
 carrying the Gospel to every creature.' 
 
 When Saul saw the vision of the risen Lord on the 
 road to Damascus and heard the great command anew 
 from the lips of His Master, the whole Roman world 
 with the exception of Palestine was an unoccupied mission 
 field. The apostle to the Gentiles began his work at 
 Damascus and Antioch, and then, driven by the spirit, 
 he pressed on to regions beyond, preaching the Gospel 
 from Jerusalem even unto Illyricum, and made plans to go 
 from Rome into distant Spain. Because of this world- 
 wide vision and the urgency of the task, he writes to 
 the Christians at Rome: "So have I striven to preach 
 the Gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should 
 build upon another man's foundation. But as it is writ- 
 
 'Harnack, quoted in R. £. Speer's, "Missionary Principles and Prac- 
 tice," 125. 
 
 I 
 
3 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 ten, 'To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see ; and 
 they that have not heard shall understand.' "^ 
 
 Paul's companions and successors continued to carry 
 out this program, until the spread of Christianity in the 
 first century of the Christian Era became a super- 
 natural event in history. Yet at the close of the apostolic 
 age, the world was still largely unoccupied. The modern 
 era of English missions began with Carey. When he 
 wrote his investigation of the missionary problem' (that 
 wonderful epitome of the conditions and the needs of the 
 non-Christian world in his day), it was true that dis- 
 covery and exploration had vastly widened the horizon 
 of missions, and the world was more Christian than in 
 the days of Paul, but it was still largely unknown, only 
 partially discovered and very sparsely occupied by mis- 
 sions. Africa was unexplored, China unknown, Central 
 Asia unvisited, and the principal mission fields of to-day 
 closed by barriers and difficulties which seemed insur- 
 mountable. 
 
 Now at the beginning of the twentieth century 
 Missions have made such rapid progress that there 
 is an impression in some quarters that all doors are open, 
 and that the problem of evangelization has become one 
 of opportunism simply depending on an adequate sup- 
 ply of men and means. The statement has even been 
 made that Tibet is the one country to which the Chris- 
 tian missionary has not penetrated! But this is not the 
 case. 
 
 In contemplating the unparalleled progress of the work 
 of missions in recent years and the wonderful oppor- 
 
 'Romans 15:20, 21. 
 
 'William Carey, "An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use 
 Means for the Conversion of the Heathen." (London, 1892, Reprint.) 
 
THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 3 
 
 tunities which challenge the Church to win whole na- 
 tions, we must not be blind to the fact that there is 
 still work which remains to be begun, as well as work 
 which remains to be finished, if the plan of campaign is 
 to be all-inclusive in its scope. There are still many- 
 portions of the world and great areas of population 
 without organized missionary effort; where the forces of 
 evil hold their own as securely as if the Saviour had never 
 conquered; where the famine-stricken have never heard 
 of the Bread that came down from Heaven for the heart- 
 hunger of the world; where the darkness of supersti- 
 tion and error has never been illumined by the torch of 
 civilization or the light of the Gospel. 
 
 In attempting a survey of these unreached millions a 
 two-fold division of the unoccupied sections of the world 
 field is natural. First, there are great stretches or areas, 
 counftries or provinces, wholly untouched by missionary 
 eflfort, and not included in any existing scheme of mis- 
 sionary operations. There are also smaller sections or 
 portions of countries and provinces included sometimes 
 within the scheme of existing missionary operations but 
 not yet occupied. The former are unoccupied because 
 of special hindrances, diificulties and barriers inherent in 
 the missionary problem of the unoccupied field ; the latter 
 are unreached mainly because of lack of money and men 
 since they are mostly located either adjoining mission 
 fields, or perhaps entirely surrounded by spheres of mis- 
 sionary activity. 
 
 The first division is treated in this chapter and in the 
 early part of Chapter II. The latter part of that chapter 
 deals with the second division. 
 
 It is a fact full of pathos that after all the centuries of 
 missionary effort, what may be called the heart of the two 
 
4 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 great continents of Asia and Africa must still be classi- 
 fied under the heading of "unoccupied fields." In Central 
 Asia a stretch of country is practically unoccupied whose 
 vastness is literally appalling.* "Starting in Manchuria 
 at approximately 125 degrees of east latitude, the Prov- 
 ince of Helung-kiang contributes 1,500,000 who are with- 
 out any missionary provision whatever. Moving west- 
 ward the needs of at least 2,500,000 of nomad Mongols 
 come into view, who live in the desert of Gobi and the 
 stretches of Mongolia. Still westward lies the Chinese 
 province of Sin-Kiang, including Chinese Turkistan, 
 Kulja, Zungaria and outer Kan-su, with a population of 
 over 1,000,000. The establishment of three small mis- 
 sionary outposts within this vast territory at Yarkand, 
 Kashgar and Urumtsi alone prevents its entire inclu- 
 sion in this vast sweep of unrelieved darkness. South- 
 ward, through Kan-su, Tibet is reached. Here there are 
 about 6,000,000 people as yet wholly destitute of mis- 
 sionary ministration. Westward is Afghanistan, with 
 four millions, and north of Afghanistan, Bokhara and 
 Khiva, which, together with the Mohammedans of Rus- 
 sian Turkistan and Russia proper, represent a population 
 of at least 20,000,000, all of them without a missionary."^ 
 To a greater degree even than in the case of Asia, the 
 heart of Africa constitutes a vast unoccupied field. 
 "Scattered over a territory of immense area without 
 counting the desert stretches of the Sahara, and fairly 
 unified in its character, there are to be found some 
 
 ^Map in Missionary Review of the World, August, 1910, 589. 
 
 "Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I. In 
 quoting from this report here and elsewhere, the author wishes to express 
 his obligation to the Rev. Chas. R. Watson, D.D., and the Rev. F P. 
 Haggard, D.D., with whom he was associated in the Sub-committee on 
 Unoccupied Fields. 
 
THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 5 
 
 50,000,000 people — almost one-third of the continent — 
 not only unreached but without any existing agency hav- 
 ing their evangelization in contemplation as far as actual 
 projected plans and hopes are concerned. This area be- 
 gins a few hundred miles south of the Mediterranean 
 coast and includes as we shall see portions of Tripoli, the 
 Province of Oran, the southern half of Algeria, the 
 Atlas Rifif country, the Mulaya Valley, the Sus Valley, 
 and the Sahara district of Morocco ; the uncounted thou- 
 sands of nomads in the Sahara proper; Rio de Oro with 
 a population of 130,000; 8,000,000 in Senegambia and 
 the Niger District; some 1,700,000 in French Guinea; 
 1,500,000 in Dahomey, some 500,000 in the Ivory Coast 
 and over 800,000 in Portuguese Guinea; about 1,500,000 
 pagans in Liberia; 500,000 in Togoland; some 4,700,000 
 in Northern Nigeria; 3,000,000 in Kamerun; some 
 8,000,000 in the French Congo, besides 4,000,000 of the 
 Baghirmi and Wadai districts; several millions at least 
 out of the 30,000,000 of the Belgian Congo ; a large popu- 
 lation in Nyasaland; some 2,500,000 in Portuguese East 
 Africa ; about 2,000,000 in German East Africa ; 3,000,000 
 in British East Africa; about 2,000,000 even yet in 
 Uganda and 750,000 in the Italian, British and French 
 Somalilands."^ These figures are still more surprising 
 when we remember that in this summary of unreached 
 sections the boundaries of possible activity on the part 
 of existing missionary agencies have probably been drawn 
 to include as large an area of occupation as possible. 
 The question may be seriously raised, Has the Church 
 made more than a beginning in the evangelization of the 
 heart of the Dark Continent ? 
 
 Before beginning an account of these lands in detail 
 
 •Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. 1. 
 
6 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 we may well ask, What are the chief races that await the 
 beginnings of the Gospel to-day ? A conglomeration of 
 different tribes and peoples struggling for existence 
 rather than for mastery ; a medley of humanity displayed 
 nowhere else on the globe in greater variety and yet 
 welded into a seeming unity by physical environment, a 
 common, though alien religion and common political 
 hopes and fears, — such is Central Asia. 
 
 The swarthy Afghan, the fair Mongolian, Turcomans, 
 Uzbegs, Tajiks, the intellectual type from the schoola 
 at Bokhara, the enterprising merchant, the Khirgese 
 nomad, the Kafirs of the Hindu-Kush who combat per- 
 petual snow and cold, as well as the Chantos of the Tarim 
 basin scorched by desert heat — all together form the pop- 
 ulation of this vast unevangelized region. Not counting 
 the small colonies of Jews, and the larger groups of Chris- 
 tians in the Russian Orthodox Church, a few Armenian 
 and Hindu traders, the entire population is Mohammedan. 
 Islam has spread over all the region and dominates the 
 heart of Asia socially, intellectually and spiritually as 
 strongly and overwhelmingly as it does North Africa. 
 The city of Bokhara, with 10,000 students and three 
 hundred and sixty-four mosques, is the Cairo of Asia; 
 it was for centuries, and is yet in a measure, the center 
 of Moslem learning and influence for all the middle 
 East. Indeed all the great cities of Central Asia, with 
 the exception of those in Tibet, are out and out Mo- 
 hammedan. Afghanistan is wholly Moslem and Chinese 
 and Russian Turkistan, with the exception of some of the 
 ruling and military classes, are also prevailingly Mo- 
 hammedan. 
 
 The social life, the literature, architecture, art, eti- 
 quette and everyday speech of all Central Asia bear the 
 
THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 7 
 
 trade-mark of Islam. An ordinary pocket-compass goes 
 by the name of "Mecca-pointer"^ and the wild men of 
 Hunza, shut out by the mountains from every contact 
 with the outside world, have no god but Allah, and no 
 idea of the world save that its center is Arabia. 
 
 Islam has therefore put its impress upon the life 
 of the people, and yet the races are wide apart in their 
 special characteristics. The Khirgese of Chinese Turkis- 
 tan are simple, often stupid, but hospitable and friendly f 
 although Mohammedans, they know less of the Koran and 
 of Mohammed than they do of raising cattle and sheep 
 in their nomad life. The Sarts are somewhat more edu- 
 cated, but also more fanatical. They are artisans and 
 business men rather than nomads. The character of the 
 Afghans is strong and brave but proverbially vindic- 
 tive. The Indian proverb says : "God preserve you from 
 the vengeance of an elephant, a cobra and an Afghan."' 
 
 That of the Baluchis is not much better in this respect, 
 according to the report of travelers. After quoting the 
 proverb, "When the Almighty created the world, He 
 made Baluchistan out of the refuse," Lacoste says : "The 
 Baluchi with his copper complexion is cut out of the 
 rock; he is formed of shadow and mystery. His dark 
 eye is impenetrable, his dark hair shrouds him in night. 
 He is silent, haughty, distrustful. Before opening his 
 door to the stranger, he consults the heavens, looking for 
 what nomads call the 'Guest star.' Let a traveler ven- 
 ture to the threshold of a tent, were he on the point of 
 death, hospitality will only be granted him if the fortunate 
 
 'Sven Hedin, "Through Asia," Vol. I, 457, 541; Twelve thousand pilgrims 
 visit the Moslem shrine of Ordan Pasha in Chinese Turkistan every year. 
 
 "Sven Hedin, "Central Asia and Tibet," Vol. I, 276-287; cf. E. and A. 
 Thornton, "Leaves from an Afghan Scrapbook," 10-19. 
 f 'B. de Lacoste, "Around Afghanistan," Preface, xiv. 
 
8 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 Star accompanies him."^ Dr. Pennell, who has worked 
 for sixteen years among the wild tribes of the Afghan 
 frontier, testifies that "the Afghan character is a strange 
 medley of contradictory qualities in which courage blends 
 with stealth, the basest treachery with the most touching 
 fidelity ; intense religious fanaticism with an avarice which 
 will even induce him to play false to his faith, and a 
 lavish hospitality with an irresistible propensity for thiev- 
 ing."^ When converted the Afghan has remarkable 
 strength of character and power of spirit even unto mar- 
 tyrdom.* 
 
 The Arab both in Arabia and in Africa is a strange 
 paradox of good qualities and of those that are bad, the 
 product of his religion, or his want of religion. They 
 are polite, good-natured, lively, manly, patient, courage- 
 ous, and hospitable to a fault. But they are also con- 
 tenfious, untruthful, sensual, distrustful, covetous, 
 proud and superstitious.* 
 
 The Tibetans belong like the Chinese to the Mongolian 
 family, but the Chinese type has become modified physi- 
 cally as well as otherwise by environment and religion. 
 Isabella Bird Bishop gives this pen-portrait : "They have 
 high cheek-bones, broad flat noses without visible bridges, 
 small, dark oblique eyes, with heavy eyelids and imper- 
 ceptible eyebrows, wide mouths, full lips ; thick, big pro- 
 jecting ears, deformed by great hoops, straight black 
 hair, nearly as coarse as horse hair, and short, square, 
 ungainly figures. The faces of the men are smooth. The 
 
 *B. de Lacoste, "Around Afghanistan," 164-165. 
 
 ■T. L. Pennell, "Among the Wild Tribes of the Afghan Frontier," 17. 
 Cf. E, and A. Thornton, "Leaves from an Afghan Scrapbook," 10-X9. 
 
 •See the Story of Abdul Karim in Chapter VIII. 
 
 'S. M. Zwemer, "Arabia, the Cradle of Islam," 263, 264; C. M. Doughty, 
 "Arabia Deserta," Vol. I, 217, 228, 266, 273, 276, 332, 358; Vol. II, 443, 520. 
 
THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 9 
 
 women seldom exceed five feet in height, and a man is 
 tall at five feet four inches. The male costume is a long, 
 loose, woolen coat, with a girdle, trousers, undergar- 
 ments, woolen leggings, and a cap with a turned-up point 
 over each ear. The girdle is the depository of many 
 things dear to a Tibetan — his purse, rude knife, heavy- 
 tinder-box, tobacco pouch, pipe, distaff and sundry charms 
 and amulets. 
 
 "The women wear short big-sleeved jackets, tight 
 trousers a yard too long, the superfluous length forming 
 folds above the ankle. Their hair is dressed once a month 
 in many much-greased plaits, fastened together at the 
 back by a long tassel. The head-dress is a strip of cloth 
 or leather, sewn over with large turquoises, carbuncles, 
 and silver ornaments. This hangs in a point over the 
 brow, broadens over the top of the head, and tapers as 
 it reaches the waist behind. The ambition of every 
 Tibetan girl is centered in this singular head-gear. Hoops 
 in the ears, necklaces, amulets, clasps, bangles of brass 
 or silver and various implements stuck in the girdle, and 
 depending from it, complete a costume preeminent in 
 ugliness. The Tibetans are very dirty. They wash once 
 a year, and, except for festivals, seldom change their 
 clothes till they begin to drop off. They are healthy and 
 hardy, even the women can carry weights of sixty pounds 
 over the passes. They attain extreme old age; their 
 voices are harsh and loud, and their laughter is noisy 
 and hearty."^ 
 
 According to others the character of the Tibetans gen- 
 erally is that of a child-like simplicity and even gaiety. 
 "Beneath his savage, hirsute, and sometimes dirty ap- 
 pearance, this little man is joyful. He has the open coun- 
 
 'Mrs. Isabella Bird Bishop, "Among the Tibetans," 43-4*- 
 
lO THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 tenance and merry eye of children. Contrary to the 
 pensive Mussulman, sparing of words, and constantly 
 prostrate in ablutions or prayer, the Tibetan seldom 
 washes, walks along singing, and says his prayers by 
 'sleight of hand along the roads. "^ 
 
 These are some of the races that await the Gospel in the 
 unoccupied fields of Asia. Of their social and religious 
 conditions we will learn later. The races that inhabit the 
 unoccupied fields of Africa are perhaps not as diverse as 
 those of Asia, but they are no less in need of the renew- 
 ing, the refining and the uplifting power of the Gospel. 
 
 Taking up this general survey of the areas and races 
 hitherto neglected in detail we begin with Central Asia, 
 lying north of India and south of the Siberian Steppes. 
 Here is the roof of the world and the watershed of the 
 largest continent. Here three empires, India, Russia and 
 China, meet. Here three great religions have struggled 
 for the mastery and one after the other gained supremacy 
 for centuries. Buddhism and Christianity still count their 
 adherents, but Islam, as we have seen, has swept the field. 
 More unknown than Central Africa and in some places 
 less thoroughly explored, a vast area of barren deserts and 
 fertile oases ; of parched plains and navigable rivers ; of 
 perpetual snow and perpetual drought. It varies in eleva- 
 tion from the low depression of the Caspian Sea and the 
 basin of the Turf an three hundred feet below sea level 
 in the very heart of Asia, to the plateaus of Thian Shan 
 and the Pamirs with an elevation of 10,000 to 20,000 feet. 
 Although usually the mountain parts are comparatively 
 rainy and well covered with vegetation, the lowlands 
 which comprise most of the country are intensely dry 
 and almost absolutely desert. 
 
 >B. de Lacoste, "Aiound .^fghanisUn," 148. 
 
THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 11 
 
 Not only the physical features of the country but 
 the habits and character of most of the people pos- 
 sess a distinct unity, for all alike bear the impress of 
 an arid climate, and the yoke of that creed "which seems 
 to have imbibed its nature from the stern inexorableness 
 of the desert on the one hand and the utter relaxation 
 of the oasis on the other."^ 
 
 Including Afghanistan, Chinese Turkistan, Bokhara, 
 Khiva, Russian Turkistan, and the trans-Caspian prov- 
 ince, together with the Steppes, this field has a total 
 area of 2,232,530 square miles, and a population of 
 16,868,000.^ This, however, would give a wrong impres- 
 sion of the real density of population. Since the rain- 
 fall of Central Asia has decreased so that its rivers fail 
 to reach the sea, far less than a tenth of the total area 
 is permanently habitable. The population therefore is 
 comparatively dense in the irrigated oases along the rivers. 
 The nomads wander from place to place in search of 
 pasture for their flocks. 
 
 Two main types of civilization prevail; the condition 
 
 'E. Huntington, "The Pulse of Asia," 89. 
 '"Statesman's Year-Book," 1910. 
 
 Square Miles. Population. 
 
 Afghanistan 250.000 4,500,000 
 
 Chinese Turkistan 550,000 1,200,000 
 
 Bokhara 83,000 1,250,000 
 
 Khiva 24,000 800,000 
 
 Russian Turkistan — 
 
 Ferghana 35.44fi 1,828,700 
 
 Samarkand 26,627 1,109,000 
 
 Syr Daria i94>i47 i,79S.40o 
 
 Semiryechensk 144,550 1,122,400 
 
 Trans-Caspian Province 213,855 405,300 
 
 Steppes (four provinces of Amo- 
 linsk, Semipalatinsk, Turgai 
 
 and Uralsk) 710,905 2,8sS,roo 
 
 Totals for Central Asia 2,232,530 16,868,000 
 
12 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIBUDS 
 
 of nomadism, and that of intensive agriculture with 
 cities centralizing life in the irrigated oases. Askabad, 
 for example, has a population of 30,000 and a garrison 
 of 10,000 soldiers, and is the capital of a province nearly 
 ten times the size of Scotland. Yet it is only a fertile 
 spot in the vast solitude of the Kara-kum desert. If 
 Egypt is the gift of the Nile, Bokhara may be called the 
 gift of the Oxus or Amu Darya, and Turkistan of the 
 Syr Darya River. Population as well as vegetation in 
 all Central Asia is limited largely to irrigated areas. 
 
 Afghanistan by the new demarcation of its boundaries 
 includes five major provinces, Kabul, Herat, Kandahar, 
 Afghan Turkistan and Badakhshan, and two territories, 
 Kafiristan and Wakhan. 
 
 In the province of Herat alone there are six hundred 
 villages, but the chief centers of population are the provin- 
 cial capitals of Kandahar, Kabul, Herat, Balkh and Kun- 
 duz. The first named is the metropolis and has a popu- 
 lation of 50,000.^ 
 
 The principal trade routes for caravan are: Balkh 
 to Herat, 370 miles; Kandahar to Herat, 400 miles by 
 Southern and 367 by Northern route ; Kandahar to Kabul, 
 318 miles ; Kabul to the Oxus, 424 miles ; and to Peshawar 
 on the Indian frontier, 191 miles. 
 
 The common door of entrance to Afghanistan from 
 Persia is by way of Meshed, from Bokhara to Merv, and 
 from India by the Khaibar pass to Kabul, the Gomal 
 
 ^"Statesman's Year-Book," 1910, 567-570; Imperial Gazetteer of India, 
 "Afghanistan and Nepal," 1-89. There is considerable agriculture with two 
 harvests a year, and the exports to India and Bokhara include grain, fruit, 
 vegetables, drugs, spices, wool, silk, cattle, hides and tobacco to the amount 
 of at least $6,000,000 a year. Northern Afghanistan is tolerably rich m 
 copper and lead; iron, gold and precious stones are also found, but the 
 mineral resources are undeveloped. Manufactures include silks, felts, car- 
 pets, rosaries, and camel-hair fabrics. 
 
THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 1 3 
 
 pass to Ghazni, or from Chaman, the terminus of the 
 Northwestern Railway, to Kandahar.* 
 
 Baluchistan, next door neighbor to Afghanistan, is to 
 most people an almost unknown country. Its situation, 
 physical features, and products have until recent times 
 possessed few attractions for either the traveler, the mer- 
 chant or the statesman, and with the exception of the 
 one Church Missionary Society station on the north at 
 Quetta, the whole of the country is practically an unoc- 
 cupied field. Its general appearance fully justifies the 
 title given it by a traveler of "the rubbish heap of the 
 world." The scenery of the greater part of Baluchistan 
 is barren beyond description. Arid and stony plains 
 and bleak mountain passes extend for hundreds of miles. 
 The total area is about 130,000 square miles, and the 
 population is estimated at 900,000, divided into two 
 classes, the Baluchis and the Brahuis." The Baluchis 
 have several points of resemblance to the Tartars, while 
 the Brahuis seem to be more related to the tribes of the 
 Punjab. The religion of the country is Islam, and it 
 is ruled by the Khan of Kalat under the direction of 
 a British Resident. "To-day the country is divided," 
 says Mr. A. D. Dixey, "into three divisions for purposes 
 of administration : ( i ) Agency Territory as Kalat, 
 where a political officer with one or two assistants acts 
 as adviser to the Khan; (2) Independent Tribal areas 
 as the Marri and Bugti countries, where the political 
 officer endeavors to keep the peace and prevent the worst 
 abuses; (3) Directly Administered Territory as Quetta- 
 Peshin, Thal-Chotiali, Sibi, and the Zhob, where the sys- 
 
 >A. Hamilton, "Afghanistan;" C. Field, "With the Afghans;" "States- 
 man's Year-Book," 1910, 570. 
 ''"Statesman's Year-Book," 1910, 151. 
 
14 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 tem of government, modified by tribal laws, resembles 
 that of our Indian Empire."^ To lovers of the desert 
 and those who know the attractions of the untrodden 
 regions of the silent wilderness with its nomad tribes, the 
 unexplored portions of Baluchistan and its frontiers to- 
 ward Persia and Afghanistan will present peculiar fas- 
 cination.* 
 
 Chinese Turkistan (which is the old name for the prov- 
 ince now called Sin-Kiang) in its widest sense in- 
 cludes Kulja, Zungaria and outer Kan-su, the Chinese 
 dependencies between Mongolia and Tibet. The inhabi- 
 tants are of various races, and the chief towns are 
 Kashgar, Yarkand, Khotan, Kiria, and toward the north, 
 Aksu. In some regions about the Kashgar and Yarkand 
 rivers the soil is fertile; fruits and vegetables of all 
 sorts, are grown. Wool, cotton, silk and jade are among 
 the exports. 
 
 Extremes of heat and cold mark this region; zero 
 weather changing to sudden spring. April is often so 
 warm that even then the swarms of gnats and flies which 
 continue all summer begin to be troublesome. A dis- 
 agreeable feature of the otherwise not unhealthy climate 
 are the strong and long-continued desert winds which 
 fill the air with dust and make every one irritable. 
 
 The country has great undeveloped resources. Ac- 
 cording to Huntington, "Only a fraction of the water 
 which flows out of the mountains reaches the oases, prob- 
 ably not one-half in the western portion of the basin 
 and not a tenth in the eastern portion. The tremendous 
 fall of the water among the mountains ought to be 
 utilized for manufacturing purposes. The abundant 
 
 ^Ckureh Missionary RevieWy November, igoS. 
 
 'G. P. Tate, "The Frontiers of Baluchistan," Introduction. 
 
THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 1 5 
 
 cotton, silk, and wool of the oases could be converted 
 into cloth; the fruit and vegetables could be preserved 
 and the milk made into butter and cheese. And besides 
 all this the mountains contain gold and other useful 
 metals.'" For the new China this region may offer an 
 easy and promising avenue of expansion and analogous to 
 the southwest of the United States. On the east is the 
 terrible desert of Gobi and in the center the Lobnor, a 
 series of salt lakes and marshes. 
 
 The highest trade route in the world leads from India 
 over the Karakoram Pass, 18,300 feet high to Chinese 
 Turkistan. Caravans loaded with "tea, spices, cloth and 
 Korans" make the dangerous journey. Skeletons of 
 horses and camels strew the pathway, and yet fifteen hun- 
 dred Chinese Moslem pilgrims chose this path over the 
 roof of the world to Mecca in a single year. There is 
 one other route from Chinese Turkistan on to the 
 west. It is by way of Kashgar to Osh and Andizhan, 
 the terminus of the Central Asian Railroad in Russian 
 Turkistan. This route is easier physically as it crosses 
 the Terek Davan Pass (12,000 feet) and shorter, but 
 Russian taxes and passports favor the other road. 
 
 Except for the occasional visits of colporteurs of the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society and the occupation 
 of two stations, Kashgar and Yarkand, by the Swedish 
 Mission, organized in 1894, the whole of this region is 
 neglected. The total number of missionaries, counting 
 women, at these two stations is now seventeen, and the 
 total number of native workers is six. The four Gos- 
 pels have been translated into Kashgari, and work has 
 begun, but in view of the immense area and the large 
 
 ^E. Huntington, "The Pulse of Asia," 236, 237. 
 
l6 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 population, this part of the world is still a practically 
 unoccupied field.^ 
 
 Russia in Central Asia is another area unoccupied by 
 Protestant missionary effort. Its total area and popula- 
 tion are given in Appendix B. 
 
 About sixty-five per cent of the population in Asiatic 
 Russia are sedentary, fifteen per cent semi-nomadic, and 
 twenty per cent nomads of the Steppes. The density 
 of population varies greatly. Some districts are very 
 sparsely settled, although the population of the Khanate 
 of Bokhara is 1,250,000 within a cultivated area of only 
 4,000 square miles. The climate varies exceedingly ac- 
 cording to latitude and elevation, but is generally health- 
 ful.^ The means of transportation is by caravan along 
 good roads in many directions, but more especially by 
 the Russian Trans-Caspian Railway and by steam 
 navigation on the River Oxus. 
 
 Some writers insist that "the great mountain-backbone 
 on the north of the Indian frontier divides Asia eth- 
 nographically, economically, strategically and politically; 
 and for a power whose home is in the far North to aspire 
 
 ^In a paper printed for circulation at the World Missionary Conference, 
 Edinburgh, 1910, L. E. Hogberg says: "If we for a moment join Af- 
 g-hanistan, Chinese Turkistan, large territories of Tibet and Mongolia with 
 the Russian Dominions, we have a third part, nearly half of the whole 
 eastern hemisphere, not occupied by missionary societies. What is done in 
 that enormous field is but a drop in the ocean, and scarcely worth men- 
 tioning. By Divine will I stand here to-day and wish to present before the 
 conference the deep spiritual needs of the millions m that tremendous 
 field." 
 
 ^"Statesman's Year-Book," igro, 1153. The chief centers of population, 
 trade and communication are the following cities: Tashkend (155,673), 
 Kokand (81,354), Namangan (62,017), Samarkand (58,194), Andizhan (47,627), 
 Omsk (37,376), Marghelan (36,490), Bokhara (75,000), Karshi (25,000), Hissar 
 (10,000), Khiva (5,000), Osh (34,157), Semipalatinsk (36,040). The chief 
 commercial products are cereals, corn, fruit, silk, cotton, tobacco, hemp; 
 and breeds of goats, sheep, horses and camels. Gold, salt, alum, sulphur 
 and other minerals are also exported. 
 
THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 17 
 
 to rule south of this natural barrier seems to contradict 
 the general fitness of things." They believe that the long 
 rivalry of England and Russia in regard to spheres of 
 influence in the heart of Asia is artificial and not due 
 to a real conflict of essential interests. Others look upon 
 the railway system built at such immense cost and (from 
 Tashkend, Bokhara, Samarkand, and Merv as military 
 centers) running south to within ninety miles from Herat 
 as a direct challenge to British interests in Afghanistan 
 and British rule in India. However that may be, the 
 Orenburg-Tashkend Railway with its branches is of the 
 very greatest significance for the economic and mission- 
 ary future of this vast unoccupied area. The fact that 
 there are 3,202 miles of railway in actual operation is 
 a startling evidence of the progress of the march of civi- 
 lization in this part of the world and a challenge to mis- 
 sions. From St. Petersburg to Orenburg there are 1,230 
 miles of railway and from Orenburg to Tashkend, 1,174 
 miles. From Tashkend steel rails stretch to Merv (603 
 miles) and from Merv ever southward to Kushkinski 
 (195 miles), the furthest military outpost of Russia to- 
 ward India, leaving a gap of less than five hundred miles 
 to New Chaman and the railway system of the North- 
 west provinces.^ 
 
 In addition to this railway system there is a regular 
 steamboat service on the Oxus River between Petro Alex- 
 
 'The amount of time, money and labor expended by the Russian Govern- 
 ment in works of irrigation, bridges, military hospitals and depots is 
 surprising. The necessity, the aim and the method of the Russian occupa- 
 tion and conquest of province after province in Central Asia are set forth 
 very clearly from the Russian standpoint in the famous "Circular Despatch," 
 by Prince Gortchakow, dated November 21, 1864. This ofi&cial document is 
 of the greatest importance to a right understanding of the whole subject, 
 and should be read by those who contemplate entering this field.— A. 
 Hamilton, "Afghanistan," 493-497- 
 
l8 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 androvsk and Charjui for over two hundred miles and 
 from Charjui to the head of navigation, Patta Hissar, 
 for 288 miles. 
 
 This part of Central Asia therefore is physically ac- 
 cessible in most of its populated districts by rail or river, 
 and the great centers of population are knit together by 
 telegraph, commerce and military occupation. The high- 
 ways are ready for the King^ 
 
 Siberia, though belonging to Russia and therefore oc- 
 cupied by the Greek Church and its missions, has 
 nevertheless a population largely pagan.^ Deficient in 
 solar warmth it is yet more terribly in need of the rays 
 of the Sun of Righteousness. Within a vast area of 
 nearly 6,000,000 square miles, sloping toward the north 
 and furrowed by immense but useless rivers, in a rigorous 
 climate, there live perhaps 5,700,000 people — about the 
 population of the city of London. Widely scattered over 
 so vast a territory, the indigenous population of Siberia 
 though sparse is very interesting. About one-third of 
 the people are Russian immigrants or exiles; others like 
 the Buriats, of whose strange religion an account is 
 given in Chapter V, are nomadic.^ 
 
 Aside from the work of the Greek Church there is no 
 missionary effort carried on among the pagans, many of 
 whom are becoming converted to Islam. The late Dr. 
 Baedeker, who repeatedly traversed the Siberian plains, 
 visiting those who were exiles or in prison, made an ap- 
 peal to the Timothys of our age when, far advanced in 
 years, he wrote: "My time is running out. I am now 
 
 ^For carefully prepared statistics of the Moslem population in the Rus- 
 sian Empire, see Appendix. 
 
 'J. Curtin, "A Journey in Southern Siberia," 4, 42-50. 
 
 °H. P. Beach, "A Geography and Atlas of Protestant Missions," Vol. I, 
 496. 497; J- Curtin, "A Journey in Southern Siberia," Chaps. I and 11. 
 
THE HEART OF TWO CONTlTJENTS I9 
 
 seventy years of age and consequently I cannot hope to 
 repeat my visits to Siberia. I wish therefore to stir up 
 the holy ambitions of my younger brethren to take up 
 this glorious work of carrying the light into the darkest 
 places of the earth where sin rules over the hearts of men 
 and where nothing but the Gospel of redemption by the 
 blood of Jesus can be of any avail."^ 
 
 Next neighbor to Siberia in location and destitution, is 
 the large indefinite tract of country called Mongolia. It 
 is part of the empire of China and comprises about 
 1,367,600 square miles and a population of 2,500,000. Of 
 this population at least two million are wholly unreached. 
 A wide portion of this vast area consists of the desert 
 of Gobi, which runs southwestward into Chinese Turkis- 
 tan. The rest of the country is a high plateau some 3,000 
 feet above sea level. The northern part is mountainous, 
 but toward the south there are rich meadow lands which 
 afford grazing for cattle. The chief center of population 
 is Urga, 170 miles south of Maimachin, the center of 
 the caravan trade with China across the Gobi Desert.^ 
 Buddhist Lamaism is the prevalent form of religion, and 
 nomad life is the type of civilization. "Scattered here 
 and there over the prairies are clusters of circular felt 
 tents, surrounded with the inevitable stacks of argol — 
 dried dung, used as fuel — and with swarms of children 
 and wolfish Mongol dogs. Prayer flags fluttering over 
 the encampment, horsemen watching their widely scat- 
 tered herds of cattle and camels, and lazy lamas on pil- 
 grimage",^ — such is the scene of daily life in Mongolia. 
 With the exception of the work of the London Missionary 
 
 ^Missionary Review of the World, July, 1894, 506. 
 ""Statesman's Year-Book," 1910, 702. 
 
 »H. P. Beach, "A Geography and Atlas of Protestant Missions," Vol. I, 
 274. 
 
20 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 Society under James Gilmour, who labored in the north, 
 the southern portion of Mongolia is practically the only 
 part occupied by Protestant missionaries.^ 
 
 In the very heart of Asia and perched between the two 
 highest mountain chains of the world, the Kwen-lun and 
 the Himalayas, lie the highlands of Tibet with an area 
 of 463,200 square miles and a population estimated by 
 some as high at 6,500,000^ and by others at less than 
 4,000,000." This fascinating country, bleak, mountainous 
 and guarded at every entrance has resisted missionary 
 effort for many decades. "The jealous apprehensions of 
 the Chinese Government," writes Sven Hedin, "the re- 
 ligious fanaticism of the Tibetans and the wild nature 
 of their country — ^these are the factors which have kept 
 Tibet in isolation longer than any other country in Asia 
 . . . Only a few of the more adventurous Europeans 
 have done their share toward collecting the scanty ma- 
 terial upon which our present knowledge of the country 
 is based. Its desolate scenery, its lofty, inaccessible 
 mountains and its extreme remoteness, situated as it is, 
 in the heart of a vast continent, have deterred travelers 
 and driven them to find scope for their activity in other 
 parts of the world."* 
 
 The country is not fertile. Only in certain favored 
 localities is agriculture carried on. For the most part 
 the pursuits are pastoral, the domestic animals being the 
 sheep and yak; in some places, also buffaloes, pigs and 
 camels. Wool spinning and weaving are common, as 
 well as the manufacture of images, prayer wheels and 
 
 ^For full description of the conditions and needs of this difficuH field, 
 see Marshall Broomhall, "The Chinese Empire," 338-359. 
 '"Statesman's Ycar-Book," 1910, 700. 
 
 *W. W. Rockhill in Missionary Rn^iew of the Worlds June, 1894. 
 *Sven Hedin, "Through Asia," Vol. I, 4, 5. 
 
THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 21 
 
 Other religious articles. The chief minerals are golS, 
 borax and salt. There is a large trade with China and 
 some traffic across the Indian frontier.^ 
 
 Tibet has long been nominally a Chinese dependency 
 and Chinese authority is represented by two governors or 
 ambans who have charge respectively of foreign and 
 military affairs. The civil and religious administration 
 of the country is, however, left almost entirely to the 
 Tibetans themselves. Under the Convention of August 
 31, 1907, Great Britain and Russia agreed not to enter 
 into negotiations with Tibet except through the Chinese 
 Government, or to send representatives to Lhasa. Since 
 that date there have been further negotiations and trade 
 regulations between India and Tibet. On the occupation 
 of Lhasa by Chinese troops, the Dalai Lama fled from 
 Tibet into British India.^ 
 
 Immediately south of Tibet there are two other inde- 
 pendent kingdoms in the Himalayas both still unoccupied 
 territory. Nepal stretches from east to west five hundred 
 miles and is about a hundred and fifty miles broad. It 
 is bounded on the east by Sikkim and on the south and 
 west by British India. With a total area of 54,000 square 
 miles, the population is estimated at about 5,000,000. Un- 
 like those of Tibet, the tribes inhabiting Nepal are not of 
 the same religious faith. Some are Mongols in origin 
 and Buddhists, but the majority are Hindu in faith and 
 descent. The dominant race are the Gurkhas, one of the 
 
 ^''Statesman's Year-Book," 1910, 702. 
 
 "Lhasa, the capital, stands in a fertile plain at an elevation of nearly 
 X2,ooo feet, with a population of from 15,000 to 20,000. The chief marts 
 of trade with India are Yatung, Gyangtze and Gartok. According to 
 treaties and conventions, trade regulations now exist between India and 
 Tibet, which are ratified by China, but no Tibetan territory may be sold 
 or leased to any foreign power without the consent of the British. In 
 regard to present missionary effort on the borders of Tibet, see M. 
 Broomhall, "The Chinese Empire," 318-337. 
 
22 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 bravest races of Asia, who about the middle of the 
 eighteenth century acquired ascendency over all the other 
 tribes and whose prince is now sovereign/ A British 
 Resident resides at the capital, Khatmandu, which has a 
 population of about 50,000, but he does not interfere in 
 the internal affairs of the state. The people are pros- 
 perous. The country has not yet been thoroughly ex- 
 plored. Its chief resources are cattle and forest produce.^ 
 
 Almost hidden on the map of Asia but not from the 
 love of God, entirely within the Himalayan range of 
 mountains, lies the little independent state of Bhutan. 
 It is bounded on the south by Assam and on the north 
 by Tibet. Its extreme length from east to west is only 
 160 miles, and its breadth 90 miles. Its population is 
 unknown, but is estimated at present to be at least 
 300,000.' Mr. J. Claude White, the most recent explorer, 
 gives an interesting account of his five journeys and 
 describes the contrast between the fertility of Bhutan and 
 the barrenness of Tibet, as startling. Physically the 
 Bhutanese arfe a fine, robust people, although wanting 
 in energy and initiative. In government and religion 
 Bhutan resembles Tibet. Good roads and buildings are 
 evidence of the high degree of civilization in this high 
 mountain state, yet Bhutan has been for centuries a 
 country absolutely closed to Europeans.* Its Maharajah 
 is now under British protection^ and this may prove 
 favorable to entrance. 
 
 East of Siam and jutting out toward the Chinese Sea 
 is the region known as French Indo-China, including the 
 
 'Imperial Gazetteer of India, "Afghanistan and Nepal," 91-129. 
 ^H. R. Mill, "International Geography," 503. 
 
 ^J. C. White, "Journeys in Bhutan," Geographical Journal, January, 1910. 
 *Rev. J. A. Graham, "On the Threshold of Three Closed Lands," EdiH- 
 burgh, 1899. 
 ^London Times, weekly edition, April », 1910. 
 
THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 23 
 
 five states of Annam, Cambodia, Cochin-China, Tonking 
 and Laos. The shape of the country is like a big capital 
 J of which Tonking forms the head, Cochin-China and 
 Cambodia the left curve and Annam the stem. These 
 five states have a combined area of 256,000 square miles, 
 and a population of about 18,230,000.' The whole country 
 is under a French Governor General and each of the 
 states has a Resident or Resident Governor. Annam is 
 the largest in area and has a population of 6,000,000; 
 Cambodia has 1,500,000; Cochin-China nearly 3,000,000. 
 The country has been fairly explored and developed under 
 the French Government. The oldest railway runs from 
 Saigon, the capital of Cochin-China, to Mytho, and the 
 total length of railway is over 1,900 miles. Except for 
 the work of the "Open Brethren" recently begun at 
 Song-khone^ this territory, although it has Roman Cath- 
 olic Missions, schools, and a considerable number of 
 Roman Catholic converts, has no other Protestant Mis- 
 sion station within all its borders. Buddhism and Ani- 
 mism prevail, although in addition to the Roman 
 Catholics, there are a large number of Hindus 
 (Brahmins) and 232,000 Moslems.' 
 
 Before leaving the survey of the unoccupied fields in 
 Asia we cross over once more from the east to the extreme 
 west. Arabia, the cradle of Islam, is still a challenge to 
 Christendom, a Gibraltar of fanaticism and pride that 
 shuts out the messenger of the Christ. The present 
 missionary force is wholly limited to the East coast and 
 the vicinity of Aden. There are only four points on a 
 coast of 4,000 miles where there are resident mis- 
 
 *"Statesman's Year-Book," igio. Cf. G. M. Vassal, "On and Off Duty in 
 Annam," 3. 
 'Statistical Atlas of Christian Missions, Station Index. 
 ■On Moslems of Indo-China, Revue du Monde Mussulman, 1909, passim. 
 
24 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 sionaries. There is not a single mission station far 
 inland. No missionary has ever crossed the peninsula. 
 The only part that is fairly well occupied is 
 the river country including the two provinces of Bagdad 
 and Busrah, where there are two stations and three out- 
 stations, but even here scarcely anything has been done 
 for the large Bedouin population. Hejaz, the "Holy 
 Land" on the west with Mecca and Medina, has no mis- 
 sionary. And Hadramaut, one of the widest regions un- 
 touched by missionary effort and stretching for 1,200 
 miles from Aden to Muscat, with a population of per- 
 haps a million souls, is without missions. The eastern 
 tribes of this large province are pagan rather than 
 Moslem. Their dialect is distinct from the Arabic spoken 
 elsewhere; their customs are peculiar and primitive.' 
 Western Hadramaut, on the other hand, is a country 
 of mountain villages and agriculture. The mountain 
 passes are dotted with castles and agricultural settle- 
 ments. "Without photographs to bear out my state- 
 ments," Theodore Bent writes,'' "I would hardly dare de- 
 scribe the magnificence of these castles and villages of 
 Hadramaut. That at Haura is seven stories high and 
 covers fully an acre of ground. The doors are exquisitely 
 decorated with intricate wood carving." The picture 
 facing page 166, of the sheikh's house at Makallah on the 
 coast, now the metropolis of Hadramaut, visited in 1891, 
 is positive proof that this part of Arabia is not the utter 
 desert one would imagine from the average map.' 
 
 'Carter, one of the early explorers, said of the people: "It is only here 
 and there on the coast that we meet with a man who could say Moslem 
 prayers. Those of the interior seem wholly devoid of religion, having no 
 idea of God or devil, heaven or hell." 
 
 'vT. Bent, "Southern Arabia," London, 1900. 
 
 'S. M. Zwemer, "An Appeal for Hadramaut," Missionary Revietu Qf tht 
 World, October, 1902, 
 
THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 25 
 
 Jebel Shammar and all the northern plateau with its 
 Bedouin population has no resident missionary, nor has 
 Nejd, the great central province. The total population 
 unreached by the Gospel in these Arabian provinces can 
 be conservatively estimated at 4,000,000. Missionary 
 work in Arabia so far has been largely preliminary. Not 
 until every province is entered and the great strategic 
 cities Mecca, Medina, Sana, Hodeida — not to speak of 
 similar centers of population in Oman and Nejd — are all 
 reached by the missionary can we truly speak of Arabia 
 as occupied. 
 
 Crossing the Red Sea we turn once more to the great 
 unoccupied areas of Africa already given in the summary 
 at the beginning of this chapter, and here call special at- 
 tention to that field which is largest in extent and most 
 important because of its location and strategy, the Su- 
 dan. Of it, Mr. Tangye writes: "That mysterious 
 West — what lands and scenes are lit up by the sun 
 as it throbs its way daily across the great continent! 
 From the long-limbed Shilluks it goes onward to the Nu- 
 bas in South Kordofan, hilly and wild, but half brought 
 under restraint and control, where the villages perch on 
 the hills, and every man's hand turns against that of his 
 neighbor; then over the regions of the French Sudan, 
 Lake Chad, Nigeria, and on to the sea. It sees count- 
 less myriads of human beings, whose lives are often de- 
 pendent on the caprice of a chief, whose existence is al- 
 ways up against the edge of the sword, but who gradually, 
 slowly, are being rescued by civilization from aggravated 
 uncertainties as to life and to liberty."^ It is a land of 
 varied races and of a multitude of tongues and peoples, 
 stretching across a span exceeding that from San Fran- 
 
 >H. L. Tangye, "In the Torrid Sudan," i8i, i8». 
 
26 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 CISCO to New York, but broadly divisible into three re- 
 gions, the Western Sudan, the Egyptian Sudan and the 
 Central Sudan. The region between Lake Chad and the 
 Egyptian Sudan comprises the Sudanese kingdoms of 
 Wadai, Adamawa, Kanem and Baghirmi, with a total 
 population of some 4,000,000. In the European partition 
 of Africa, these kingdoms have been placed within the 
 sphere of French influence, but they are so difficult of 
 access and so little is known of them, that statistics are 
 largely guess work. The total population of the Sudan 
 in its widest area has been estimated by Dr. Kumm and 
 others at no less than 40,000,000.^ The estimates given 
 in the "Statesman's Year-Book" for the various districts 
 of the Sudan make the population much smaller, perhaps 
 only one-fourth as great. 
 
 In Northern Nigeria is an empire larger in area than 
 all Japan and inhabited by nations who were armed with 
 guns in battle when our forefathers only knew the use 
 of the bow and arrow,^ and where the Hausa language, 
 the only native African language with a literature, is 
 spoken.' 
 
 The Egyptian Sudan is, with the exception of the 
 three stations on the Nile, also an unoccupied field, espe- 
 cially the region of Darfur and Bahr-el-Ghazal, while 
 on the north lies the vast Sahara over which France 
 claims sway. This is a territory larger than all India, 
 not only without a missionary, but not even within the 
 prospective of any mission.* Its population may be 
 roughly estimated at over 800,000, consisting of nomads 
 
 'K. Kumm, "The Sudan," 69. 
 =Ibid, m. 
 
 'C. H. Robinson, "Specimens of Hausa Literature," Cambridge, 1896, 
 Introduction and Bibliography. 
 •Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. i. 
 
THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 27 
 
 of the desert and those who dwell in the oases and moun- 
 tains. At present the only way to reach them is along 
 the difficult caravan tracks, but if the French Railway 
 extends from Algiers to Kuka on Lake Chad, it may 
 prove a highway to carry these desert-dwellers the Gospel 
 of Christ.^ 
 
 The Spanish possession of Rio de Oro, including 
 Adrar, stretches southward along the Sahara coast from 
 the frontier of Morocco, and is under the governorship 
 of the Canary Islands. It has an area of 70,000 square 
 miles and a population of 130,000, and is without mis- 
 sions.^ Yet tliis country seems comparatively insignifi- 
 cant beside the French territory to the south of it, which 
 reaches across to British Nigeria and stretches down 
 to the sea, between the possessions of other countries 
 in five different sections. This area — three times that 
 of France — is only touched by Protestant missions.^ It 
 includes the valley of Upper Senegal, more than two- 
 thirds of the course of the Niger and the whole of the 
 country enclosed in its great bend as far as Algeria. 
 The area is about 70,000 square miles, and the popula- 
 tion about 5,000,000.* On the Senegal River near the 
 coast there is a small mission of the Paris Society. In 
 French Guinea, of which we speak later, there is an 
 English Episcopal Mission, manned from the West In- 
 dies, while at the west extremity of the Ivory Coast, 
 there are a few small mission stations, but with these 
 exceptions the whole of this French territory with its 
 
 "Gautier and Chudeau, "Missions au Sahara." 
 
 ^"Statesman's Year-Book," 1910, 1229. Report of World Missionary Con- 
 ference. Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I. 
 
 •The best recent book on this part of Africa, fully illustrated, is Lieut. 
 C. Jean's "Les Tuareg du Sud-Est L'Air," Paris, 1909. 
 
 •"Statesman's Year-Book," 1910, 804. 
 
28 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 millions, and Portuguese Guinea with nearly an addi- 
 tional million, are untouched by Protestant missions, 
 although containing some forty Roman Catholic stations 
 with perhaps double that number of priests.^ 
 
 Turning now to East Africa, Abyssinia together with 
 French Somaliland, British Somaliland and Italian So- 
 maliland, represent another great unoccupied area. 
 
 The larger part of Somaliland to the southeast 
 and on the Indian Ocean is an Italian Protectorate 
 having double the area of Italy; while on the Red Sea 
 north of Abyssinia, there is the Italian colony of Eritrea 
 with an area equal to four-fifths of Italy. Between the 
 two Italian possessions lie French Somaliland and British 
 Somaliland; the former with a population of 180,000, 
 the latter about 300,000, mostly nomadic except on the 
 coast, where considerable towns have sprung up during 
 the British occupation.^ French Somaliland is important 
 because it contains the harbor terminus (Jibuti) of the 
 railway running inland into Abyssinia,- and is in close 
 touch with Aden. All of Somaliland is comparatively 
 barren, and the population is almost wholly Mohammedan. 
 Abyssinia proper is for the most part a high table land, 
 where the fertility and general conditions of life are more 
 favorable, yet the population averages only about twenty- 
 five to the square mile. The towns are numerous, but 
 all of small size. The most important are Gondar 
 (5,000) ; Adua (3,000) ; Addis Adeba, the present capital 
 (35,000), and Harar (40,000). The total area is over 
 200,000 square miles, with an estimated population of 
 9,000,000 to 11,000,000. Abyssinia is an independent 
 kingdom ruled by Menelik II. Its political institutions 
 
 'Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1^9, Vol. i, 
 ""Statesman's Year-Book," :9io, ;86, 
 
THE HEART OF TWO CONTINENTS 29 
 
 are like those of medieval Europe.^ Since the conver- 
 sion of the Abyssinians to Christianity in the fourth cen- 
 tury, the bulk of the population has been Christian 
 (Alexandrian and Coptic). There is a large Jewish 
 population, but Islam is winning its way, especially in 
 the south.2 Abyssinia has only one Protestant mission 
 station at Addis Adeba. 
 
 Other regions, smaller in area although not 
 srnaller in population, both in Africa and in Asia, as well 
 as in the island world, will pass before us later. The 
 survey already given, however, has placed before us the 
 greater unoccupied areas and surely proves that in the 
 evangelization of the world, the Church must measure 
 her untouched task as well as her unfinished task. These 
 are regions beyond the boundaries of all mission fields 
 now occupied, but are not beyond the care and love 
 of our Heavenly Father and are within the bounds of 
 human brotherhood. Remembering the utter destitution 
 and the long neglect of these vast areas and large popu- 
 lations, the lines written on seeing Gordon's statue as it 
 stands facing the great desert and the Sudan at Khar- 
 toum, have a living message: 
 
 "The strings of camels come in single file. 
 Bearing their burdens o'er the desert sand; 
 
 Swiftly the boats go plying on the Nile, 
 The needs of men are met on every hand. 
 
 But still I wait 
 
 For the messenger of God who cometh late. 
 
 ^''Statesman's Year-Book," igio, 564. 
 
 ^Whole tribes of Abyssinians which were once Christian, and still bear 
 Christian names have become Mohammedan within the past twenty years. 
 The situation is alarming. See article by Dr. Enno Littman, in "Der 
 Islam," (Strassburg), Vol i, No. i, 1910. 
 
30 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 "I see the cloud of dust rise in the plain, 
 
 The measured tread of troops falls on the ear; 
 
 The soldier comes the Empire to maintain. 
 Bringing the pomp of war, the reign of fear. 
 
 But still I wait; 
 
 The messenger of Peace, he cometh late. 
 
 "They set me looking o'er the desert drear. 
 
 Where broodeth darkness as the deepest night 
 
 From many a mosque there comes the call to prayer ; 
 I hear no voice that calls on Christ for light. 
 
 But still I wait 
 
 For the messenger of Christ who cometh late."' 
 
 ^Anon. in Egyptian Mission News, January-February, 1910. 
 
STATUE OF GORDON 
 j\t Khartoum. 
 
SMALLER AREAS AND UNREACHED 
 MILLIONS 
 
 31 
 
"'The Husbandman waiteth'— 
 The Husbandman? Why? 
 
 For the heart of one servant 
 Who hears not His cry. 
 
 •"The Husbandman waiteth' — 
 He waiteth? What for? 
 
 For the heart of one servant 
 To love Him still more. 
 
 "'The Husbandman waiteth'— 
 'Long patience' hath He — 
 
 But He waiteth in hunger — 
 Oh! is it for thee?" 
 
 — F. M. N. 
 
 "It is overwhelming to think of the vastness of the harvest- 
 field when compared with the indolence, indifference and unwil- 
 lingness on the part of most so-called Christians, to become, 
 even in a moderate degree, laborers in the same. I take the 
 rebuke to myself. . . . When we come t» die, it will be awful 
 for us, if we have to look back on a life spent purely on self; 
 but, believe me, if we are to spend our life otherwise, we must 
 make up our minds to be thought 'odd' and 'eccentric' and 'unso- 
 cial,' and to be sneered at and avoided. . . . The usual center is 
 SELF, the proper center is GOD. If, therefore, one lives for 
 God, one is 'out of center' or 'eccentric' with regard to the people 
 who do not." 
 
 —Ion Keith Falconer, in letter dated June 12, 1881. 
 
 33 
 
Chapter II 
 
 SMALLER AREAS AND UNREACHED 
 MILLIONS 
 
 However impressive and well-nigh overwhelming the 
 survey of large areas wholly untouched by missionary 
 effort already given may be, the picture would not be 
 complete without adding other smaller areas and islands 
 also wholly unoccupied, and those uncultivated sections 
 in fields generally considered occupied where millions 
 of people are still utterly unreached and wholly out of 
 touch with present missionary effort. 
 
 We begin with Malaysia, one of the most densely popu- 
 lated regions of the world, and one of the least known 
 to the average student of missions.^ This unoccupied 
 field is not barren ground but has rich promise of fruit- 
 fulness. Shall the sowing of the seed be postponed? 
 And shall the harvest be for Islam ? On the eastern half of 
 the island of Sumatra, together with the islands of Banka 
 and Billiton,^ there is a population of over 3,200,060, almost 
 equal to that of New York City, untouched by mis- 
 
 'Because most of the literature is in the Dutch language. Cf. e. g., 
 "De Zendingseeuw voor Nederlandsch Oost-Indie," by S. Coolsma, 
 Utrecht, igoi, and other standard works. 
 
 ^Letter from Baron C. W. Th. Van Boetzelaar, Dutch Consul for Mis. 
 sions, to Commission No. i. World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 
 1910. 
 
 33 
 
34 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 sions.^ The Battaks of Western Sumatra won for Jesus 
 Christ from animistic heathenism and Islam already num- 
 ber 47,729.2 The district of Atjeh in the north is famous 
 as the battle ground between the Dutch rulers and Mo- 
 hammedan fanatics for many decades.^ The difficulties 
 here may prove greater therefore than elsewhere in Su- 
 matra, but are not insurmountable. 
 
 The Central and Western parts of the islands of Borneo 
 are also unoccupied, and 400,000 souls are destitute of 
 the Gospel. The population is mostly pagan, but is in 
 danger of becoming Moslem, and the occupation of the 
 field is therefore urgent. 
 
 Madura Island, northeast of Java, together with Sum- 
 bawa, Flores, Timor, Bali and Lombok Islands, seem small 
 on the map,* but reveal a population of over 2,000,000 
 who are without any Christian missionary. The Eastern 
 portion of Timor is under the Portuguese government. 
 Its growing importance may be judged from the fact 
 that the harbor of Dilly was visited in one year 
 by more than four hundred merchant vessels. Islam 
 is everywhere prevalent except in Bali and Lombok. 
 These two remarkably fertile and populous islands 
 
 ^"Statesman's Year-Book," igto, 1046. 
 
 The various provinces and islands are given as follows: 
 
 Area, Dutch sq. m. Population. 
 
 Pelembang and Djambi 2526.7 783,259 
 
 Lampong District 533.3 155,080 
 
 Benkoelea 433.3 201,515 
 
 Padang Lower Districts 322.1 393,488 
 
 Padang Upper Districts 409.6 402,093 
 
 Atjeh 966.6 571,477 
 
 Riouw Archipelago 707.4 93,3i5 
 
 Banka and Billiton 298.3 105,034 
 
 6270.9 3,205,261 
 
 ^Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. i. 
 ^Snouck Hurgronje, "De Atjehers," 2 vols., Batavia, 1895. Ibid, "Arabia 
 en Cost Indie," Leiden, 1907. *See p. 126. 
 

 
 ^|.2 
 
 C ^ 
 
 iE, 
 
 ■= C OJ 
 
 y 1-, g 
 
 ■* J^ E 
 
 ■'- ™ O rt 
 
 -— i-H he dj 
 
 ^-2E 
 
 rt to "^ ^ 
 
 q c - 
 
 C T o C 
 
SMALLER AREAS AND UNREACHED MILLIONS 35 
 
 (together they have a population of 523,535) are 
 the only places in Netherlands India where Hinduism 
 has held its ground.^ Baron van Boetzelaar writes: 
 "Once their occupation was interdicted by the Dutch 
 Government because a missionary was murdered there, 
 but now it is probable the government would offer no 
 objection to any mission that would occupy the islands." 
 The religion of Bali and part of Lombok is Hinduism; 
 the other part of Lombok is Mohammedan. No transla- 
 tions of the Bible appear in their languages.^ 
 
 The same authority describes the whole central and 
 southern part of Celebes, stretching from Posso Lake 
 to the extreme south, as at present wholly unoccupied. 
 This part of the island contains a population of perhaps 
 200,000. The Island of Ceram in the Moluccas has no 
 Protestant mission station. In Northern and Central 
 Papua, or New Guinea, the main approach to which is 
 the Fly River, there is an unknown population wholly 
 unreached. The opening of this great area was the un- 
 fulfilled dream of the martyr, James Chalmers. 
 
 In the Philippine Islands, the Sulu Archipelago, the 
 Palawan and Tawi-tawi groups are wholly unoccupied, 
 with a total population of about 127,000, nearly all Mo- 
 hammedans ; also the Island of Samar with a population 
 of 266,000.^ In the Solomon Island group, Buka and 
 Bougainville, with a combined population of 60,000;* 
 Socotra Island, south of the Arabian peninsula, once 
 Christian and now wholly Moslem, are both untouched 
 territories. 
 
 'Letter from Baron van Boetzelaar. S. Coolsma, "De Zendingseeuw," 
 B64, gives the population 1,360,000. 
 
 ^Letter from Baron van Boetzelaar. 
 
 "J. B. Rodgers, in letter to Commission No. i. World Missionary Con- 
 ference, Edinburgh, 1910. 
 
 •Rev. H. Tillmann, in letter to Commission No. i. World Missionary 
 Conference, Edinburgh, 1910. 
 
36 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 The Continent of Asia has in addition to the large 
 areas and populations already surveyed the following 
 smaller areas without mission stations. East of the Jor- 
 dan, in Syria, there is a section of country with over 
 500,000 inhabitants and no missionary work among them ; 
 the Sinaitic Peninsula has a population of 50,000 and is 
 unoccupied. The Province of Khorasan in Persia has 
 no resident missionary, nor has Luristan, or Kuhistan, 
 and the entire Persian Gulf littoral on the Persian side 
 from Muhammerah to Karachi, India, a distance of over 
 tiine hundred miles with important harbor towns and a 
 population of at least 500,000, has no mission station. 
 
 Northern Oman together with the coast along the west- 
 ern side of the Persian Gulf has a large number of villages 
 and cities. Only the coast towns thus far have been visited 
 by missionaries and colporteurs and the people would 
 welcome medical missions, yet there is no station in the 
 entire area of this map.^ It is only by studying maps 
 on a large scale in detail that the pathos of destitution 
 in these smaller areas becomes real. God does not deal 
 with mankind in the mass, but as individuals, nor should 
 we. "The masses consist all of units," says Carlyle, 
 "every unit of whom has his own heart and sorrows, 
 stands covered with his own skin, and if you prick him 
 he will bleed." Each individual has his sin and sorrow 
 and burden and therefore needs the Christ. 
 
 There are still other "regions beyond" the light of the 
 Gospel. In the Malay Peninsula, the districts of Kedah, 
 Trengganu, and Kelantan have recently come under the 
 British flag, yet the entire population of perhaps 1,000,000 
 souls are untouched by missions.^ 
 
 ' See map op. 84. 
 
 ' Letter to Commission, World Missionary Conf., Edinburgh, 1910. 
 
Greenwich r.d.sehvo35, h.y. 110 
 
 French Indo-China and Sumatra have a combined area of approximately 317,000 
 square miles and a population of 21,500,000. Indo-China is practically without Protes- 
 i„^.- ,.-,;^^;^"-^-" "- ■■- ■■ - ■ -_^ :e city oi Song-Khone. (See pages 
 
 36 
 
SMALLER AREAS AND UNREACHED MILLIONS 37 
 
 An article appeared recently in the Geographical 
 Journal setting forth the importance of these states and 
 their undeveloped resources. They belong to the least 
 known parts of Malaysia/ 
 
 "At present Kelantan, Trengganu, and Kedah may be 
 distinguished by the varying degrees of our ignorance 
 concerning them. The best known is Kelantan, which 
 lies to the north of Pahang and east of Perak, and which 
 fronts on the China sea." 
 
 "In the absence of any census no accurate return of 
 the population is possible. Estimates have varied be- 
 tween 100,000 (Pallegoix) and 600,000 (Swettenham). 
 From recent poll-tax returns the number of adult males 
 appears to be close upon 60,000. If it be assumed that 
 there are as many adult females and three times as many 
 children, the total population works out at 300,000. This 
 estimate Mr. Graham considers to be under rather than 
 above the true figure. Kota Bharu, the capital and the 
 only town of any consequence in Kelantan, has a popu- 
 lation of about 10,000. The town is well provided with 
 metalled roads, and evidence of increased prosperity and 
 improved administration is afforded by the erection 
 within the last three years of over one hundred and fifty 
 substantial houses, mostly for use as shops. The roads 
 have not yet extended any considerable distance into the 
 interior, but there is telegraphic communication between 
 Kota Bharu and both Bangkok and Penang, while the 
 capital can also boast of a telephone service. The prin- 
 cipal streets are provided with paved side walks, and are 
 lighted by lamps at night." 
 
 Mr. Charles E. G. Tisdall of the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society, Singapore, writes: "I would direct atten- 
 
 ^Geographical Journal, April, 1909. 
 
38 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 tion especially to both the old and new Federated Malay 
 States and Singapore as regards the Mohammedan work, 
 for not one of the many missionaries working in these 
 places does any work at all among the many thousands 
 of Mohammedans. It seems a crying shame that the 
 Mohammedans here should have been neglected so long, 
 when there are none of the great difficulties to hinder 
 mission work at the outset such as are met with in 
 many other countries under Moslem rule, for example, in 
 Arabia and Persia."^ 
 
 Turning from Asia to Africa and Madagascar, we 
 find there also areas smaller than the vast Sudan, but 
 equally uncultivated and uncared for, awaiting the pio- 
 neer plowman and the sower of the Gospel seed. 
 
 In the nine northern provinces of Madagascar with 
 a population of about 500,000, only two missionaries are 
 located, north of the parallel of 18° N. lat., going four 
 hundred miles north, there is only one station on the 
 east coast and no station on the west coast or inland.'' 
 
 On the western side of the Niger River, West Africa, 
 and on the region north of the Cross River, there are 
 fields wholly unevangelized and many of them not even 
 explored. The country is being opened up by the govern- 
 ment, but, to quote the expression of one missionary, 
 "Missions creep after it like snails after an express 
 ■train. "^ The result is that in the newly-opened terri- 
 tories the advent of the white man is not associated with 
 
 ^Letter to Commission No. i, World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 
 1910. 
 
 ^Concerning the Moslem population and the spread of Islam in Mada* 
 gascar, see Gabriel Ferrand, "Les Mussulmans k Madagascar." 2 vols., 
 Paris, 1891. 
 
 ^Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, igio. Vol. I, and 
 Statistical Atlas of Christian Missions, Plate XX, 
 
SMALLER AREAS AND UNREACHED MILLIONS 39 
 
 the coming of Jesus Christ, but with commercialism 
 together with the greed and vices of the West.^ 
 
 Portuguese territory, south of the Zambesi, is very 
 inadequately occupied, while north of the Zambesi there is 
 practically no mission work whatever in this field. It 
 is also comparatively neglected by the Roman Catholic 
 Church.^ As regards the Portuguese Congo, or Angola, 
 a district including 250,000 square miles and perhaps a 
 population of 7,000,000, the very sparsity of the popula- 
 tion calls for a larger number of missionaries, and yet 
 throughout this great region there are extensive districts 
 where the Gospel has never yet been carried.^ In the 
 Belgian Congo there are also several districts wholly 
 outside of present missionary effort.* Between Baringa 
 station of the "Regions Beyond Missionary Union" with 
 only five missionaries, and Ibanshi of the Presbyterian 
 Church of the United States (South), with four mission- 
 aries, is a distance of over four hundred miles and there 
 is no mission station between. From Bolobo on the Congo 
 to Lake Tanganyika, one can travel for nine hundred 
 miles without coming to a mission station. 
 
 Two other districts have already been treated in 
 Chapter I. but require further mention. 
 
 The so-called Ivory Coast, a French colonial posses- 
 
 'Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I, and 
 (Statistical Atlas of Christian Missions, Plate XX. 
 
 ^Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, igio, Vol. I, and 
 Statistical Atlas of Christian Missions, Plate XX. 
 
 "Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I, and 
 Statistical Atlas of Christian Missions, Plate XX. 
 
 *See an important article on this region by E. Torday, entitled "Land 
 and Peoples of the Kasai Basin" with large map in the Geographical 
 Jottrnalt July, 1910. He writes as an explorer. Compare with map in 
 Statistical Atlas of Christian Missions to gain a right conception of this 
 vast unevangelized area. 
 
40 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 sion, with an area of 200,000 square miles and an esti- 
 mated population of 3,000,000, has no Protestant mis- 
 sions. The ports of this colony are visited by the liners 
 of two French, one British, one German, and one Belgian 
 shipping company. It is proposed to create a port and 
 railway at Bassam at an expense of about 10,000,000 
 francs. The works are in progress, and from Abijean, 
 on the north side of the lagoon, the railway is being 
 pushed inland. Telegraph lines connect the principal 
 towns and extend to adjoining colonies. Telephonic com- 
 munication exists between Bassam, Bingerville, the capi- 
 tal, and other places. 
 
 Yet, with all this material progress, French Guinea, 
 and Portuguese Guinea, with the coast of Sene- 
 gambia, have no Protestant missions. The latter has a 
 population of 820,000; the former of over 2,000,000. 
 The centers of population are Konakry, the capital, Boke, 
 Dubreka, Timbo, and, in Portuguese territory, Bissau.^ 
 
 Concerning the French Congo, which has an area two 
 and a half times that of France and a population of 
 perhaps 10,000,000, we read: "Mission work was begun 
 here by the American Presbyterians, who, after the acqui- 
 sition of the land by France, handed over some of their 
 stations to the Paris Society, which has since established 
 two other principal stations. These stations are placed 
 along the navigable part of the Ogowe, and reach only 
 250 miles from the coast. They touch several tribes, 
 of which the most important is the Fan tribe, and M. 
 Allegret remarks that if this tribe could be won for 
 Christianity, it would form a strong bulwark against the 
 advance of Islam. "^ But the whole of the vast interior 
 
 ""Statesman's Year-Book," 1910. 807. 
 
 'Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I. 
 
SMALLER AREAS AND UNREACHED MILLIONS * 4I 
 
 is absolutely unreached. The hindrance has been chiefly 
 lack of men and means. The advance of commerce into 
 the interior, the southward spread of Islam, and the pos- 
 sibility of an atheistic attitude on the part of the Govern- 
 ment, constitute the dangers ahead, but at present the 
 way is open for advance. 
 
 In Nigeria, as we have seen in Chapter I and as is 
 evident on the map, about two-thirds of the field is 
 absolutely untouched. To man even two bases in each 
 province would require at least forty-eight missionaries 
 and double that number of native Christians, while at 
 present there are altogether only thirty-four male mis- 
 sionaries, very unequally distributed.^ The Mohamme- 
 dans are steadily pushing into the pagan districts, while 
 the British Government unfortunately prohibits the evan- 
 gelization of Mohammedans by excluding the mission- 
 aries from pagan districts into which Islam has access.- 
 Only a small proportion of the people can read and the 
 only Scripture translation available is the New Testa- 
 ment in Hausa and Nupe, while there are two principal 
 and twenty-three lesser languages into which no Scripture 
 portion has yet been translated.'' 
 
 North Africa is nominally an occupied mission field, 
 and yet work was only begun in the Barbary States 
 within the last thirty years, and is represented to-day by 
 a few isolated stations and at most a handful of workers 
 in the largest centers. Southern Tripoli and the district 
 of Oran in Algeria are practically unoccupied, as there 
 
 'Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, igio. Vol. I, and 
 Statistical Atlas of Christian Missions. 
 
 ^Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I; Mis- 
 sionary Review of the World, July, 1909, 393-395. 
 
 "Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I; see 
 also Chapter VII of this volume. 
 
43 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 is only one station in each, and Morocco, south and east 
 of the Atlas Range, is almost wholly an uncultivated 
 area.^ The lower half of Tunis has no mission station. 
 The station furthest south is at Kairwan, opened by the 
 North Africa Mission in 1897. At present this strategic 
 center of Moslem learning and propagandism, with a 
 population of nearly 30,000, has one married missionary 
 and a single woman.= The city has thirty mosques and 
 is a great center for pilgrimage.' From Kairwan one 
 could travel directly southeast for two thousand two 
 hundred miles before reaching Upoto on the Congo. 
 And this is the nearest mission station in that direction ! 
 Could any statement give a clearer idea of the vast areas 
 in the Dark Continent that still await the light of the 
 Gospel ? 
 
 We now pass to the consideration of some of the fields 
 generally considered as occupied. Chapter I and the 
 preceding paragraphs of this chapter have brought be- 
 fore us an aggregate population in Asia and Malaysia 
 of at least sixty millions and in Africa of seventy millions, 
 wholly untouched by missionary effort of the Protestant 
 Churches. 
 
 There is another field of survey which cannot in 
 
 'Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I. 
 
 ^"North Africa," June, igio, 98; "This autumn Mrs. Short and I recom- 
 menced visiting the tents near the town. On the whole, wc had a very 
 good hearing given our message. The farthest point we reached was 
 Hadjeb, forty miles away." 
 
 "The city is located thirty miles southwest of Susa, with which it is 
 connected by rail. Founded A. D. 670, it has played a large part in the 
 history of Islam in North Africa, and is the Mecca of the Barbary States. 
 Until the French occupation, access was forbidden non-Mohammedans. 
 It has thirty mosques, and many tombs of saints. The dead are brought 
 from afar to be buried in this holy city. The Ukbah Mosque is one of 
 the most magnificent in the Moslem world, and contains 430 marble 
 columns. 
 
ti - - c 
 
 
 i^ S ^' :=■ 
 
SMALLER AREAS AND UNREACHED MILLIONS 43 
 
 justice be omitted, and which is in some respects of 
 almost greater importance than the one already 
 presented. 
 
 Wedged in between mission fields which are often 
 themselves inadequately occupied and sparsely cultivated, 
 or bordering on mission fields which are limited 
 to the coast, these areas and populations do not stand out 
 so distinctly on the map, and yet they are as destitute 
 as Tibet or Afghanistan. Their location, often entirely 
 surrounded by spheres of missionary activity or influence, 
 only adds to the pathos of the situation. They deserve 
 special treatment also because provision for them can be 
 more economically made in most cases, both as regards 
 men and money, than for the wholly unoccupied fields. 
 The early and strong reinforcement of adjoining missions 
 would be the simplest, wisest and most effective plan for 
 the evangelization of most of these areas so inadequately 
 occupied. Careful investigations "lead to the conviction 
 that in the aggregate the neglected and destitute areas 
 which lie within, or closely adjoin the spheres of influence 
 of existing missionary agencies, present the most ex- 
 tensive, the most pressing and the most pathetic need of 
 the missionary world."^ A complete survey would per- 
 haps show that the total population of these areas is 
 larger than the total populations hitherto enumerated. 
 
 There are diii&culties, however, in dealing with these 
 limited and particular areas, both because it is hard to 
 define a given mission's sphere of influence or responsi- 
 bility, and because a comprehensive survey of all the 
 occupied mission fields of the world, with a view to lo- 
 cating unoccupied sections, has never yet been under- 
 taken. In many cases missions have not even fixed the 
 
 'Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, igio, Vol. i. 
 
44 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 boundaries of their field. In other cases they have 
 claimed large areas which they have never even visited. 
 The ratio sometimes suggested of so many thousand of 
 the population to each foreign missionary is equally un- 
 satisfactory, especially when applied without distinction 
 on the one hand to sparsely occupied and distant lands, 
 and on the other, to those where the population is dense 
 and accessible. Even where such a ratio as was sug- 
 gested at the Madras Decennial Conference of 25,000 
 non-Christians to each foreign missionary is adopted, the 
 question arises whether the presence and work of native 
 Christians should not be the main factor in the problem 
 of distribution and occupation. All that is possible here, 
 therefore, is to give a summary of present conditions in 
 certain fields which are typical of the greatness of the 
 need everywhere in the missionary world. 
 
 Another point needs emphasis before we proceed. It 
 is evident that the question as to which missionary agency 
 should enter in and occupy a given territory cannot here 
 be considered, and should not be allowed to obtrude it- 
 self. The question is so difficult that it needs careful 
 consideration by missionary boards and councils. 
 No statement, therefore, relating to areas unoccupied 
 by missionaries in mission fields covered by this survey 
 must be taken in the sense of a general advertisement 
 of "areas to let" for individuals or societies, without 
 due regard to those great principles of comity and Chris- 
 tian statesmanship which are to-day a ruling factor in 
 the conduct of Christian Missions.^ These same prin- 
 ciples apply to the countries wholly unoccupied, and must 
 not be forgotten. 
 
 *0n Missionary Comity in the occupation of new fields or near the bor- 
 ders of missionary territory, see Report of World Missionary Conference, 
 Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. VIII. 
 
SMALLER AREAS AND UNREACHED MILLIONS 45 
 
 Not only is the question of comity related to the occu- 
 pation of the areas now under consideration, but the 
 question of concentration or diffusion as the true policy 
 of a mission board or a mission station is also involved 
 in our consideration of these needy areas. We begin 
 with Japan. 
 
 The semi-centennial of Protestant missions in Japan 
 was celebrated by a conference in Tokio, October 5-10, 
 1909, and the achievements of the past fifty years in 
 evangelization, in self-support of the native church, and 
 in the deepening influence of Christianity and its wide- 
 spread effects are surely full of encouragement. But 
 how large is the task still before us in Japan. Out of 
 a population of 52,000,000 people, only 150,000 Chris- 
 tians (total number of Protestant communicants, 67,- 
 043),^ and out of less than eight hundred missionaries, 
 six hundred and fifty-six, are found in ten cities, in which 
 also are five-sevenths of all the Japanese workers and 
 churches. A large proportion of the missionary body, 
 one paper states, is grouped around the large cities, 
 while the masses, the industrial and agricultural classes, 
 are in many provinces untouched and unapproached.^ 
 
 "Beginning at the two open ports in 1859, Protestant 
 
 'Statistical Atlas of Christian Missions, 6s. 
 
 ^The Omi Mustard Seed, Japan, Vol. Ill, No. 6. "Decentralization in 
 the mission field itself is another pressing problem. According to figures, 
 quoted, apparently, as authoritative, in the Japan Evangelist for Decem- 
 ber, 1909, it is said that out of less than 800 Protestant missionaries in 
 Japan, 656 are 'congested in only ten cities.' Further, we are told that 
 'five-sevenths of all Japanese workers and churches' are connected with 
 the ten cities already mentioned; and this (even if the figures are only 
 approximately correct) is a sad confession of the failure of the various 
 missions and churches to reach the bulk of the nation. Fully seventy-five 
 per cent, of the total population live in villages, and the agricultural 
 classes are the backbone of the Japanese tatioa."—Churek Missionary 
 Review, June, 1910, 374. 
 
46 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 missionaries have steadily progressed in the occupation 
 of the country, until to-day every one of the forty-eight 
 provinces has been entered. The restrictions upon living 
 outside the treaty ports at first necessitated the concen- 
 tration of the missionary force in the larger cities. Even 
 yet v/e find that about fifty-seven per cent, of the mis- 
 sionary body reside in eight cities, namely: Tokio, 287; 
 Kobe, 78 ; Osaka, 60 ; Sendai, 48 ; Yokohama, 45 ; Kioto, 
 43; Nagoya, 31; and Nagasaki 30."^ It is true that 
 fully one-half of those in these larger cities are engaged 
 in educational or literary work, or in the general ad- 
 ministration of mission work, but surely the work of 
 general evangelization should not take second place to 
 any other task. Table I in Appendix C shows very 
 clearly that there are large districts in Japan where the 
 missionary occupation, even counting the work of native 
 Christians, is utterly inadequate, and that there are re- 
 gions practically untouched and areas unoccupied. The 
 district of Fukushima, for example, with a population 
 of 1,175,224, has only one mission station ; Okayama dis- 
 trict, with a population of 1,188,244, has only one sta- 
 tion and three ordained missionaries, while Chiba district, 
 although it has three stations, has a total of only six 
 missionaries, including women, for a population of 
 1,316,547. To quote again from the World Missionary 
 Conference Report : "The regions most neglected hitherto 
 are, broadly speaking, the whole Japan sea-coast of the 
 main island and large portions of the northeastern prov- 
 inces. The results in proportion to the eflfort put forth 
 have seemed most meagre in the prefectures of Niigata, 
 Fukui, Toyama, Ishikawa, Tochigi, Shimane, Saitama, 
 Nara, and Oita." 
 
 'Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I. 
 
SMALLER AREAS AND UNREACHED MILLIONS 47 
 
 From Japan we turn to India. 
 
 Here the unoccupied fields of Protestant missionary 
 effort have been more carefully investigated than in the 
 case of any other field.^ "The missionary literature of 
 the last decade," says the World Missionary Conference 
 Report, "has thrown a vivid light upon the fact that in 
 India — quite apart from those fields in which the present 
 missionary staff is insufficient for the accomplishment of 
 the work begun in them — there are vast districts which 
 must be described as unoccupied or not effectively 
 occupied. . . . Large portions of the United Provinces, of 
 Eastern Bengal, Chota Nagpur, Southern Assam, the hill 
 forests of Burma, the Central Provinces, and the Central 
 Indian Agency, and, above all, the Native States, are abso- 
 lutely unmanned. . . . Two generations have passed away 
 since the mission began work in some of these sections, 
 yet scarcely one-third of the population have had the 
 Gospel made known to them."^ The diagram on page 56 
 shows clearly in the case of the United Provinces that 
 in 1906, out of fifty districts, no less than seventeen were 
 still without any resident ordained missionary; in other 
 words, that after a century of Christian missions, there 
 were then still 16,000,000 of people in these provinces 
 without an ordained foreign missionary. "The real mean- 
 ing of these figures will be understood better if put thus," 
 
 '"The Unoccupied Fields of India," by G. S. Eddy, Missionary Review 
 of Die World, April, 1905. "Unoccupied Fields in Central India." Pam- 
 phlet by Dr. J. Fraser Campbell, Rutlam, 1906. "Unoccupied Fields 
 of Protestant Missionary Effort ill Bengal." Pamphlet by Rev. H. Ander- 
 son, Calcutta, 1904. "The Unoccupied Fields in the United Provinces." 
 Pamphlet by J. J. Lucas, based on this pamphlet, Cawnpore, 1905. Unoc- 
 cupied Fields, United Provinces," by Rev. W. E. S. Holland, Church 
 Missionary Intelligencer, August, 1906, iyC. "India and Missions," by V. 
 S, Azariah, Chapter XII. "Unoccupied Fields in Rajputana," by Rev. W. 
 Bonnar. 
 
 ^Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I. 
 
48 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 says W. E. S. Holland. "In these districts there is a popu- 
 lation equal to that of England (excluding the six coun- 
 ties of London, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Durham, Essex 
 and Stafford), to which no ordained foreign missionary- 
 has yet been sent. No missionary to a population equal 
 to that of thirty-five English counties, almost wholly 
 heathen!"^ The situation has changed somewhat for 
 the better since this paper was written, but it still is 
 bad enough. 
 
 In Central India in the group of native states 
 bounded on the northwest by Rajputana and the LTnited 
 Provinces, on the East by Bengal Presidency, and on 
 the south by the Central Provinces, there are also un- 
 occupied areas. The two Political Agencies of Bag- 
 helkhand and Bundelkhand are examples. The first has 
 an area of about i4,ocx3 square miles and a population 
 of 1.555,024. The latter has an area of 9,851 square 
 miles and a population of 1,308,327. This latter Political 
 Agency has one mission station. Taking these two areas 
 together we have a population greater than the whole of 
 the New England States, except Massachusetts, and an 
 area nearly equal to four of them combined, with less 
 than a half dozen workers.^ Gwalior State has a popu- 
 lation of over 1,000,000 and has only one mission sta- 
 tion. Bhopal Agency, nearly as large as Bulgaria, with 
 1,267,526 souls, has only two mission stations.^ The char- 
 acter of the problem and the great need for a large in- 
 crease in the number of workers is evident from the con- 
 cluding paragraph in Dr. Campbell's pamphlet. He says : 
 "As only three per cent of the people in all Central India 
 
 ^"Unoccupied Fields, United Provinces, India," Church Missionary Intelli- 
 gmcer, August, igofiw 
 ''J. Fraser Campbell, "Unoccupied Fields ia Central India," 5. 
 •Ibid., 8. 
 
SMALtER AREAS AND UNREACHED MILLIONS 40 
 
 are able to read and write, and the adjoining states are 
 probably as illiterate, it is manifest that the evangeliza- 
 tion of these millions must depend on the living voice. "^ 
 The unreached millions in Bengal are so many and the 
 destitution of some of its provincial divisions is so acute, 
 that we refer to Table II in Appendix C, which merits 
 careful study. It shows that there are no less than thirty- 
 four districts where the missionary occupation is so ut- 
 terly inadequate that there is no hope for speedy evan- 
 gelization. 
 
 Mr. Herbert Anderson in his careful treatment of the 
 whole subject comes to the conclusion that "in the prov- 
 ince of Bengal alone, every decade, a nation twenty 
 million strong passes from life, through death, to the 
 just judgment seat of God without a knowledge of 
 Christ."^ 
 
 In regard to Sindh, Western India, one of the 
 least known provinces and most needy, we are told that 
 "the Mohammedan population, seventy-six per cent of 
 the whole, are chiefly an untouched field."^ 
 
 Turning from Japan and India with their pressing and 
 pathetic needs, to China, similar conditions, but on a still 
 larger scale, confront us. Its enormous population equals 
 the aggregate population of all Japan, Great Britain, Italy, 
 the United States of America, European Russia, Spain, 
 Portugal, France, Austria and Canada. Or, to use an- 
 other illustration, "The British Museum Reading Room," 
 we are told, "contains 70,000 volumes, while the whole 
 library, which is built around the Reading Room, con- 
 
 >J. Fraser Campbell, "Unoccupied Fields in Central India," 13. 
 
 'H. Anderson, "Unoccupied Fields of Protestant Missionary Effort in 
 Bengal," 20. 
 
 »A. E. Redman, "Sindh as a Mission Field," Church Missionary R.v'tw 
 November, 1909. 
 
50 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 tains some forty- four miles of book-shelves (shelves, 
 not cases), containing in all about 2,000,000 volumes. 
 If every book was a copy of one of the Scriptures in 
 Chinese, the number would not equal the circulation of 
 the Scriptures in China last year. If every book was a 
 copy of the Chinese Bible, it would need 200 such libraries 
 to supply each Chinese man, woman, and child with a 
 Bible. It would cost 3,000,000 pounds to give one Script- 
 ure only, to every Chinese throughout the Empire. This 
 is but part of the problem of the evangelization of 
 China."^ 
 
 Once, the whole of this Empire of seething humanity, 
 the largest field in the world, was wholly unoccupied. 
 When the China Inland Mission was founded in 1864, 
 there were only fifteen Protestant mission stations in 
 China with about 2,000 converts. To-day that Mission 
 alone has 205 stations, and 769 sub-stations. Every prov- 
 ince of the Empire has its missions with a total of 2,027 
 native church organizations and 177,724 Protestant 
 church members.' 
 
 But the unfinished task in China is still gigantic, and 
 the unreached populations can only be estimated in 
 millions. Beginning with the great cities as strategic 
 centers, what stronger plea for "city missions," what 
 plea more eloquent in brevity and pathos than the fact 
 that there are still in China one thousand five hundred 
 and fifty-seven cities without missionaries. 
 
 If Christ, "seeing the multitudes was moved with com- 
 passion," what must He think of these cities to-day with- 
 out any one to witness for Him and in His name heal 
 
 ^China's Millions, January, 1908. 
 
 'Statistical Atlas' o{ Christian Missions, 67. 
 
SMALLER AREAS AND UNREACHED MILLIONS 5I 
 
 the sick, comfort the sorrowing and bind up the broken- 
 hearted !^ 
 
 But the condition of the smaller villages and of the 
 bulk of the population away from the towns is no less 
 appalling and appealing. From the table given, it is 
 clear that Ho-nan Province is not as destitute as some 
 others in respect to the occupation of its cities. Yet 
 this province, chosen as typical with a population nearly 
 equal to that of all France, has large unreached sections 
 as is evident from the striking map and its descriptive 
 letter-press opposite. Surely, after the careful study of 
 even one such a section of China, no one can longer 
 doubt that the evangelization of the Empire is only 
 possible by a large increase of foreign missionaries 
 and native agencies. "On this map more than 
 1,846 cities, towns and important villages are located, 
 
 Net number of Cities Cities 
 walled cities with mis- without 
 ^Provinces. in province, sionahes. missionaries. 
 
 Kwang-tung 93 28 64 
 
 Fu-kien &> 45 'S 
 
 Che-kiang 79 52 27 
 
 Kiang-su 7i 24 47 
 
 Shantung 107 34 73 
 
 Chi-Ii '. 155 23 132 
 
 Hu-peli 69 29 40 
 
 Kiang-si 81 34 47 
 
 Ngan-hwei 60 21 39 
 
 Ho-nan 106 26 8a 
 
 Hunan 76 19 57 
 
 Kan-su 104 13 91 
 
 Shen-si 89 26 63 
 
 Shan-si loi 34 67 
 
 Sze-chwan 414 45 369 
 
 Yun-nan 80 7 73 
 
 Kwei-chau 134 6 128 
 
 Kwang-si 116 7 109 
 
 Sin-kiang 38 2 36 
 
 Total 2,033 476 1,557 
 
52 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 while there are, in addition, countless numbers 
 of hamlets and villages which cannot be marked. Though 
 it is now more than a generation since the first Protestant 
 missionaries entered the province, and over twenty 
 years since the first permanent station was opened, the 
 total number of centers occupied by all societies (out- 
 stations not being counted), does not exceed twenty- 
 nine. Here lies part of the problem of the evangelization 
 of China, and let it be remembered that this is but one 
 of the nineteen provinces of China proper."^ 
 
 The careful survey of the needs of China made for the 
 World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh sums up 
 the situation and reveals the following conditions: 
 
 "While all the provinces and, except Tibet, all the de- 
 pendencies have mission stations, there are, nevertheless, 
 large regions practically untouched. Tibet, as elsewhere 
 explained in detail, is unreached ; Sin-kiang has but three 
 stations, though as the table shows, owing to its sparse 
 population, it has a larger percentage of missionaries to 
 the population than all the densely inhabited provinces 
 save Fu-kien, Che-kiang, and Kiang-su; and Mongolia, 
 equalling in area six Germanys and almost as large as 
 China proper, has but four stations and ten missionaries, 
 plus the colportage work of the British and Foreign Bible 
 Society. Remembering that this vast expanse is mainly 
 what two Chinese names of the country suggest, 'Sandy 
 Waste' and 'Rainless Sea,' we may find this not so re- 
 grettable as at first thought it may appear, though the 
 destitution of these nomads is as real and appalling as 
 that of dwellers in most sparsely settled pastoral regions. 
 The northern half of Manchuria is without a missionary 
 
 ^China's Millions, February, 1908, 27. 
 
SMALLER AREAS AND UNREACHED MILLIONS 53 
 
 and nearly half the remainder is absolutely unreached, the 
 southern and western sections alone being occupied. One 
 correspondent from this more favored section thinks that 
 two-thirds of the population in his field have not even 
 been approached. 
 
 "Of the eighteen provinces it is difificult to speak at all 
 accurately as to what districts are wholly without the 
 Gospel, since we have no reports of itineration. Appar- 
 ently four-fifths of Kan-su, Yun-nan, Kwei-chau and 
 Kwangsi are not only absolutely unreached, but are likely 
 to remain so until missionaries are near enough to be 
 accessible to the people. If this is a fair estimate — prob- 
 ably it is an underestimate — the Church has in these four 
 sparsely settled provinces a field as large almost as Burma 
 and Bengal combined, with a population equalling that 
 of the Turkish Empire plus Ceylon, without any regular 
 preaching of the Gospel. These are, perhaps, the largest 
 sections thus untouched, though extensive regions in 
 Sze-chwan and Shen-si should not be forgotten. In addi- 
 tion, in all the provinces, there are many and populous 
 districts whose inhabitants, humanly speaking, are not 
 likely to hear the Gospel unless the Church makes ade- 
 quate provision to make it known. Thus in Kwang-tung, 
 the first province to receive a modern missionary, after 
 more than a century, there are stretches of territory in 
 the north, west and south, equalling in population the 
 entire number inhabiting the Pacific Islands and the 
 Philippines, still without a preacher. Dr. Fulton reports 
 that within 140 miles of the scene of Morrison's labors, 
 there are three counties containing some 10,000 villages, 
 averaging 250 inhabitants each, and so near each other 
 that in some cases from a central point, 600 villages 
 may be counted within a radius of five miles. In hiin- 
 
54 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 dreds of these, no missionary or Chinese preacher has 
 ever set foot."^ How long shall they wait? 
 
 To complete the survey of the unoccupied fields in 
 the Chinese Empire, one word must be added. In addi- 
 tion to the areas unreached, there is in China a class un- 
 reached, numbering millions, namely, the Moslems. 
 
 "We may safely say that the Moslem population 
 of China is certainly equal to the entire popu- 
 lation of Algeria or Scotland or Ireland; that it is in 
 all probability fully equal to that of Morocco and numbers 
 not less than the total population of Egypt or Persia. 
 A few millions among the hundreds of millions in China 
 may not seem many, but if we think of a community 
 
 ^Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I. Cf. 
 also the following striking table from the same report: 
 Statistics Relating to the Missionary Occupation of the Chinese Empire. 
 
 Pop. per Mission No. people 
 Area in sq. No. of square sta- Mission- per mis- 
 
 Province. miles. inhabitants. mile. tions. enes. sionary. 
 
 Che-kiang... 36,670 22d 11,580,692 isth 316 9th 30 9th 301 fith 38,47420th 
 
 Chi-li iis.Soo 8th 20,937,000 loth 17212th 2611th 277 8th 75,585 i6th 
 
 Fu-kien 46,320 20th 22,876,540 8th 494 3d 42 3d 378 4th 60,520 19th 
 
 Ho-nan 67,94016th 35,316,800 3d 520 2d 33 6th 16511th 214,041 4th 
 
 Hu-nan 83,38010th 22,169,673 9th 26611th 19 ijth 184 9th 120,48710th 
 
 Hu-pei 71,41014th 35,280,685 4th 492 4th 31 8th 280 7th 126,002 gth 
 
 Kan-su 125,450 7th 10,385,376 i6th 8217th 17 16th 7016th 148,363 8th 
 
 Kiang-si .... 69,480 15th 26,532,125 6th 382 6th 37 4th 169 loth 156,995 6th 
 
 Kiang-su.... 38,60021st 13,980,23512th 362 7th 1914th 503 1st 27,79421st 
 
 Kwang-si... 77,20012th 5,142,33a 20th 6718th 818th 5017th 102,84713th 
 
 Kwang-tung 99,970 9th 31,865,251 5th 319 8th 56 ist 471 2d 67,654 17th 
 
 Kwei-chau. . 67,16017th 7,650,28218th 11414th 619th 2319th 332,621 1st 
 
 Manchuria.. 363,610 4th 16,000,000 nth 4419th 2412th 10714th 149,533 T^h 
 
 Mongolia... 1,367,600 ist 2,600,00021st 2 22d 420th 10 2i5t 260,000 3d 
 
 Ngan-hwei.. 54,810 19th 23,670,314 7th 432 5th 22:3th 12313th 111,22212th 
 
 Shan-si 81,83011th 12,200,456 14th 149 13th 35 sth 14512th 84,14115th 
 
 Shan-tung.. 55,970 i8th 38,247,900 2d 683 ist 32 7th 343 5th 111,51011th 
 
 Shen-si 75,27013th 8,450,18217th 11115th 2710th 9515th 88,94914th 
 
 Sin-kiang. .. 550,340 2d 1,200,000 22d 221st 321st 1820th 66,667 18th 
 
 Sze-chwan... 218,480 5th 68,724,890 1st 314 loth 47 2d 386 3d 178,044 5th 
 
 Tibet 463,200 3d 6,500,00019th Z420th 
 
 Yun-nan 146,680 6th 12,324,574 13th 8416th 917th 3918th 3x6,015 2d 
 
SMALLER AREAS AND UNREACHED MILLIONS 55 
 
 equal to that of Egypt or Persia peculiarly accessible 
 to the Gospel, and yet practically without any mission- 
 aries specially set apart or qualified to deal with them, 
 and apart from one or two small exceptions, with no 
 literature for use among them, we shall have a more ade- 
 quate conception of the real problem. What should we 
 think of Manchuria or Mongolia without any mission- 
 aries, or of no interest centering around the closed land 
 of Tibet? Yet, the accessible Moslem population of 
 China is certainly two or three times that of Mongolia, 
 . . . Within China there is a special people, equal in 
 number to the population of any of China's dependencies, 
 for whom practically nothing is being done and whose 
 presence hitherto has been almost ignored."^ 
 
 The survey of all these unoccupied fields and unreached 
 millions, of classes and masses still out-of-touch alto- 
 gether with the life-giving Christ, must surely move us 
 to prayer and through prayer will move us to them. 
 
 "O grant us love like Thine, 
 
 That hears the cry of sorrow 
 From heathendom ascending to the throne of God; 
 That spurns the call of ease and home 
 While Christ's lost sheep in darkness roam ! 
 
 "O grant us hearts like Thine, 
 Wide, tender, faithful, childlike, 
 That seek no more their own, but live to do Thy will ! 
 The hearts that seek Thy Kingdom first, 
 Nor linger while the peoples thirst. 
 
 "O grant us minds like Thine, 
 
 That compassed all the nations. 
 That swept o'er land and sea and loved the least of all; 
 Great things attempting for the Lord, 
 Expecting mighty things from God." 
 
 •M. Broomhall, "Islam in China," Ji6, 217. 
 
THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 Saharanpur 
 
 ©1,045,230 
 
 MUZMTARN^CM 
 ft/7 IPfi 
 
 Mainpuri. 
 (1)829,357. 
 
 Oehra. 
 ® 178,193. 
 
 Su>.JtNaSH4H(( 
 
 Meerut 
 
 01,540,175. 
 
 AtlCARH, 
 
 !.l38.lt)l. (2)1^00,822. 
 
 MURADABAO, 
 
 (DM91.993. 
 
 MUTTRA. 
 
 (f)763,099. 
 
 ACRA. 
 (1)1,060,528 
 
 Etah. 
 ©863,948 
 
 EtAWAH 
 
 vThansi. 
 (D 616,759. 
 
 Hamirpur. 
 (1)456,542, 
 
 Sanda. 
 63(,058. 
 
 Mirzapur. 
 ®I.Q82.45Q (7)882 
 
 HMtPt 
 
 Fa~tehpur 
 ®,686,39> 
 
 Allahabaq 
 (0)1,489,358 
 
 Benares. 
 ,084 
 
 ^ 46&,893.'^ g-e3o.a;| zsa-?**: 
 
 Naini Tal. Rampuh ..pflJiBrirr' 
 ®3II,237. W3,ZI2 ' r4"^o:559' 
 
 Farrukhabad. 
 925,812 
 
 CUCKNOW 
 
 (g) 793,241 
 
 Cawnporc 
 1,258,8681 
 
 SUCAOM. j BAREILLy. 
 
 f.085,755 ®I,090,II7. 
 
 BiJ nor.;iShahjehanpur 
 ):77[9;'i9#1(D92t,535 
 
 Faizabao 
 ®K2 25,374 
 
 Pal^^aI 
 
 Qmazipur 
 (2)913,818 
 
 S*^ 
 
 GORAKHPUR. 
 
 1)2.957,074 
 
 gu__= 'B. 
 
 THE DARK DISTRICTS IN THE UNITED PROVINCES, 
 Seventeen are without a Missionary^ 
 
 Note. — Each square represents one of the administrative dis- 
 tricts of the United Provinces, with an average population of a 
 million people. 
 
 The numbers enclosed in a circle represent the number of for- 
 eign ordained missionaries resident in the district. The other 
 figures give the population of the district, according to the Census 
 of igoi. 
 
 The districts lightly tinted have only one resident ordained mis- 
 sionary ; those with a darker shade have no resident ordained mis- 
 sionary. 
 
 The thick black lines enclose the areas worked by the Church 
 Missionary Society, or recognized as coming within its sphere of 
 influence. 
 
 ^Reprinted from the Church Missionary Intelligencer, August, 1906. 
 
WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED 
 
 57 
 
"High walls, closed doors, and jealous foeman'a hate. 
 Have ages long held Christless lands enchained. 
 Whilst Ignorance and Prejudice remained. 
 
 Twin sentinels, to further guard the gate. 
 
 Determined force of ill doth concentrate 
 At every point where Light hath vantage gained, 
 Where Truth, at spear-point, hath a hold maintained. 
 
 And pricked foul Sin to show its real estate. 
 
 "Meanwhile, how slowly move the hosts of God 
 
 To claim the crown He hath already won! 
 Their feet, how slack with 'preparation shod,' 
 
 To forward plant the Gospel of His Son! 
 'Regions beyond!' Will Christ's Church ever dale 
 In selfish ease to read, 'Beyond His care'?" 
 
 —Anon. 
 
 "Our train of camels drew slowly by them; but when the 
 smooth Mecca merchant heard that the stranger riding with the 
 camel-men was a Nasrany [Christian], he cried, 'Akhs! A 
 Nasrany in these parts!' and with the horrid inurbanity of their 
 jealous religion he added, 'Allah curse his father!' and stared on 
 me with a face worthy of the Koran." 
 
 — C. M. Doughty (Arabia Deserta). 
 
 "Shall I stretch my right hand to the Indus that England may 
 
 fill it with gold? 
 Shall my left beckon aid from the Ozus? the Russian blows hot 
 
 and blows cold; 
 The Afghan is but grist in their mill, and the waters are moying 
 
 it fast. 
 Let the stone be the upper or aether, it grinds him to powder 
 
 at laat" 
 
 —Sir Alfred Lyall. 
 
 S8 
 
Chapter III 
 WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED 
 
 It surely cannot be without reason that so large a por- 
 tion of the world is still unevangelized, and that so many 
 areas and sections adjoining mission fields where the 
 triumphs of the Gospel have proved its power, are still 
 unreached. 
 
 It is undoubtedly true on the one hand that the greatest 
 hindrance to the occupation of the whole world for Christ 
 has been within the Church itself. Indifference to the 
 cause of missions and lack of a world-wide vision have 
 delayed the accomplishment of the task for centuries. 
 The neglect, both of the great integral areas and of scat- 
 tered smaller sections of the non-Christian world, is di- 
 rectly traceable to a lack of adequate and comprehensive 
 vision of the real missionary goal.^ The history of mis- 
 sions in China and in Central Africa proves that with 
 faith and leadership, it was possible to advance into un- 
 occupied territory where the barriers and difficulties 
 seemed insurmountable. We must not justify past neglect 
 nor present apathy. 
 
 Lack of men and means to carry on the work already 
 begun is the great reason for the present neglect of the 
 largest populations lying within the sphere of missionary 
 
 »J. R. Mott, "The Evangelization of the World in This Generation," 49. 
 
 59 
 
6o THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 occupation or on its immediate borders.^ This is espe- 
 cially true of those areas and populations described in 
 the second part of Chapter II. This lack of workers and 
 of money is a reproach to the church. 
 
 Other fields, however, are wholly unoccupied because 
 the external hindrances and difficulties seem even 
 at present a real barrier to the entrance of the Gospel. 
 Some of them are serious and appear almost insurmount- 
 able, while others are not greater than the difficulties and 
 obstacles already encountered and overcome in fields at 
 present dotted with mission stations. Yet it is only 
 natural that the remaining difficulties should be great. 
 The march of missionary progress throughout the past 
 century of Protestant missions has, with some exceptions, 
 been along the line of least resistance. When the whole 
 non-Christian world was awaiting pioneer effort, the 
 Church sometimes postponed the harder tasks and passed 
 by doors barred to enter lands that were beckoning. 
 
 The entrance into the fields and sections of the world 
 still unoccupied, therefore, by Christian missions will not 
 prove an easy task. 
 
 The physical difficulties, because of climate, the 
 dangers and hardships of pioneer travel, the bar- 
 riers of race hatred and religious prejudice, and the 
 determined political opposition of hostile governments, 
 are not yet things of the past and cannot be ignored or 
 minimized in a thorough consideration of this part of the 
 missionary problem. They must be reckoned with. We 
 gain nothing by deceiving ourselves as to the character, 
 number and the greatness of these difficulties. The task 
 remaining is one that calls for large powers and demands 
 
 'Beport of World Missionaty Conference, Edinburgh, ijio, Vol. I. 
 
WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED 6l 
 
 careful investigation before we attempt it lest failure fol- 
 low our efforts. 
 
 Yet, on the other hand, it is well for us to re- 
 member, as John R. Mott remarks, "difficulties are 
 not without their advantages. They are not to unnerve 
 us. They are not to be regarded simply as subjects for 
 discussion nor as grounds for scepticism and pessimism. 
 They are not to cause inaction, but rather to intensify 
 activity. They were made to be overcome. They are 
 to call forth the best that is in Christians. Above all, 
 they are to create profound distrust in human plans 
 and energy and to drive us to God."^ 
 
 The chief reason why the unoccupied fields are still 
 without the Gospel, indeed, the primary one, namely, lack 
 of faith and enterprise in the Church, has been treated 
 at length by Mr. Mott in his "Evangelization of the 
 World in this Generation" and more recently in his "De- 
 cisive Hour of Christian Missions." We pass to the sec- 
 ondary reasons. These are physical, political or religious. 
 
 First, there are physical obstacles due to the fact that 
 there are still lands unexplored, and climates deadly, and 
 hardships of travel or conditions and environment that en- 
 danger life, or call for the highest type of self-denial. 
 
 David Livingstone's famous saying is still true, "The 
 end of the geographical feat is the beginning of the 
 missionary enterprise." Some imagine that the day of 
 geographical discovery is already drawing to its close and 
 that no part of the globe, except the polar regions, re- 
 mains where exploration is needed. The fact, however, is 
 that both in Asia and in Africa, there are still large 
 regions not only untouched by missionary effort but that 
 
 'J. R. Mott, "The Evangelization of the World in This Generation," 50. 
 
62 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 have never been explored or mapped by the pioneer 
 traveler. 
 
 "It is true that Africa is no longer the Dark Continent," 
 says Hogarth, "but it is guarding jealously at this mo- 
 ment some very dark spots. Even in British territory, 
 how much is known of the inner Shilluk districts of 
 the Sudan, or the region between the upper waters of 
 the Blue Nile and the limits of Uganda? and who has 
 followed Rohlfs down the line of Senussi oases from 
 Tripoli or the Cyrenaica towards Wadai?"^ 
 
 The greater part of the unevangelized fields in Africa 
 is accessible only by long and weary marches through 
 bush and forest and tropical, luxuriant vegetation on 
 the one hand, or through scrub land on the other. 
 Broadly speaking, in Africa modern missions have 
 worked from the seaboard and along the rivers inland, 
 and while the Moslem advance in Africa is still along 
 the old overland routes,^ missionary progress has followed 
 too much the water-ways and the railroads and left 
 large sections untouched and untried. 
 
 Geographers have shown, by graphic maps, how not 
 only around the polar regions, but in the heart of Asia 
 and Africa, as well as in South America, there still re- 
 main somewhat extensive areas concerning which we are 
 absolutely ignorant.' The largest of these areas are in 
 Asia. 
 
 '"Problems in Exploration," Geographical Journal, December, 1908, 549, 
 Cf. C. H. Stigand, "To Abyssinia Through an Unknown Land," Preface 
 and page 17. 
 
 2"Now that the new routes down to the west coast and so to Europe have 
 been opened, it is not likely that the old trans-Saharan trade will ever 
 regain its former proportions, but the spiritual influence that has given the 
 Hausa his religion, his art and culture will still continue to penetrate from 
 the north." Hanns Vischer, "Across the Sahara," 3. 
 
 "H. R. Mill, "International Geography," 13; also map in Asicn, March« 
 1902. 
 
WHY STII,L UNOCCUPIED 63 
 
 Not to speak of portions of Central Borneo, British 
 and Dutch New Guinea,^ or the Territory of Papua,^ 
 as it is now designated, and the unexplored portions of 
 Northern Siberia, important geographical problems await 
 solution in Western and Central Asia. The largest un- 
 explored area in Asia and perhaps in the world is in 
 southeastern Arabia. 
 
 There are better maps of the moon than of this part 
 of the world. All the lunar mountains, plains, and craters 
 are mapped and named, and astronomers are quite as 
 familiar with Copernicus and Eratosthenes (16,000 feet 
 high) as geographers are with Vesuvius or the Matter- 
 horn.* But from certain scientific points of view hardly 
 anything of the Arabian peninsula is known. Not an 
 hundredth part has been mathematically surveyed, and 
 for knowledge of the interior we depend almost wholly 
 on the testimony of less than a score of travelers who 
 paid a big price to penetrate the neglected peninsula.* 
 The record of their travels is a testimony to the great 
 difficulties that must be met in occupying this region. 
 
 >In a note on the British Expedition to Dutch New Guinea, Geographical 
 Journal, July, 1910, 105, we read that the explorers "made an unsuccessful 
 attempt to reach a clearing on one of the mountains, but from n spot 1,700 
 feet above the sea obtained a view showing the jungle to extend in one 
 unbroken mass as far as the eye could reach. Every foot of the way, when 
 ofif "the river-bed, has to be cut through an endless mass of tangled trees 
 and creepers. During the ascent, representatives of a pygmy tribe, having 
 an average height of only 4 feet 3 inches, were met with. This is of con- 
 siderable interest, as it adds one more to the indications which have lately 
 been accumulating of the probable existence (formerly denied) of the 
 Negrito race in New Guinea. Practically no help in the way of transport 
 could be got from the natives, and no cultivation was found, the people 
 living entirely upon wild produce, supplemented by a few fish." 
 
 'Col. Kenneth Mackay, "Across Papua," Preface. Also "Recent Explora- 
 tion in British New Guinea," Geographical Journal, 1909, 266-274. 
 
 'D. P. Todd, "New Astronomy," 249. 
 
 *D. G. Hogarth, "The Penetration of Arabia," passim, and bibliography 
 on Arabia in the Appendix. Also A. Ralli, "Christians at Mecca." 
 
64 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 Niebuhr alone, of all his party, returned to tell of Yemen ; 
 the rest died of fever and exposure. Huber was mur- 
 dered by Bedouins and his journal published after his 
 death. Seetzen was murdered near Taiz and Manzoni 
 was shot with his own rifle by a treacherous companion. 
 Bent died from the effects of the Hadramaut climate, 
 and Von Wrede, after suffering everything to reach the 
 Ahkaf, returned to Europe to be scoffed at and his 
 strange story labeled a romance! Only years after his 
 tragic death was it corroborated. And Doughty, chief 
 among Arabian explorers, was turned out of Nejd sick 
 and penniless to trudge on foot with a caravan hundreds 
 of miles to be betrayed near Mecca, escaping by the skin 
 of his teeth. 
 
 Almost all of the southern half of Arabia is, according 
 to native report, occupied by a vast wilderness generally 
 called Roba'-el-Khali — the empty abode.^ No European 
 has ever entered this immense tract, which embraces 
 some 600,000 square miles, although three travelers, 
 Wellsted in 1836, von Wrede in 1843, and Joseph Halevy 
 in 1870, with intrepid boldness gazed on its uttermost 
 fringes from the west, south and east respectively. Some 
 Arabian maps show caravjm tracks rimning through the 
 heart of this desert from Hadramaut to Muscat and 
 Riadh. For the rest, we have only vague reports at second 
 hand in regard to this whole mysterious region. Burton 
 and Doughty expressed the opinion that an explorer 
 might perhaps cross this waterless territory in early 
 spring on she-camels giving full milk, but it would take 
 a bold man to venture out for the passage of 850 miles 
 west to east, or 650 miles north to south, through this 
 zone of the world's greatest heat, to discover the un- 
 
 •S. M. Zwemer, "Arabia, the Cradle of Islam," 143. 
 
TTTE LATE GRAND SHERKF.I- Ol' Jlia'CA 
 
 Aun-er-Rafik, a direct dtsceii.lant of Moliamim-,1, and Ihf guardian of tlie 
 Sacred Cilji 64 
 
Why still tjisfoccupiED 6^ 
 
 known in Arabia. Such an enterprise, although of value 
 to geography, would count for little or nothing in the 
 work of evangelization, and yet who knows whether this 
 region may not have ruins of former civilization, or 
 remnants of half-pagan tribes? 
 
 There are, however, other districts in Arabia which 
 are not desert, but inhabited by large tribes, and in some 
 cases containing groups of villages and smaller cities 
 which have never been seen by Western eyes. The biggest 
 geographical feat left for a traveler to perform in all 
 Asia is to get across the Yemen, on to Nejran and pass 
 from thence along the Wady Dawasir to Aflaj and Nejd.^ 
 We know that this journey is followed by Arab caravans, 
 and I met many of the Arabs from that district on my 
 first and second visit to Sana in Yemen. There are 
 plenty of wells and the journey would lead through a 
 long palm track of over loo miles march in its early 
 stages. 
 
 Nejd, in the heart of Arabia, has never been visited 
 by a missionary. In that region the experiences of 
 Doughty, and of Nolde, in 1893, prove that it may re- 
 quire moral and physical courage of no common order 
 to explore the country, but, nevertheless. Doughty never 
 abjured his Christianity and a medical missionary might 
 well be able to penetrate into every part of this great 
 unknown center of Arabia, if he won the protection of 
 the various tribes through his medical and surgical 
 skill.2 
 
 ^Geographical Journal, December, 1908, 551. D. G. Hogarth, "Penetration 
 of Arabia," 324-337. 
 
 ^Professor Alois Musil made explorations in North Arabia in 1908-09, 
 removing some of the blank spaces from the maps between Bagdad and 
 Damascus, but experienced the greatest difficulties. "These trips, it should 
 be noted, were all carried out under incessant alarm from robber bands or 
 liostile tribes. On liis second excursion^ which was directed eastward. 
 
66 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 There are other parts of Western Asia awaiting ex- 
 ploration, yet not so large in area as those in Arabia. 
 Two districts in Kurdistan await the pioneer traveler 
 bold and brave enough to unlock their secrets. One is 
 in the southern part of the wild mountain regions of 
 Hakkiari, and the other in the so-called Dersim District, 
 both inhabited either by pagan tribes or by obscure Mos- 
 lem sects, all wild mountaineers.^ 
 
 Nor is the work of pioneer exploration completed in 
 Central Asia.^ The two chief regions remaining are in 
 Afghanistan and Tibet. Although the main features of 
 Afghanistan are known and mapped, parts of the Hel- 
 mund river valley and the northeast corner of Afghanis- 
 tan, Badakhshan and Kafiristan, are almost entirely un- 
 known. On the maps of Tibet, there are still blank 
 spaces, and southeastern Tibet is yet largely unexplored; 
 
 Musil was stabbed in the back by a lance and in the breast by a. knife, 
 while with his attendants he was stripped of everything down to his shirt. 
 It was only his familiarity with languages and manners, and the friendly 
 relations he had established on former journeys, that got him out of 
 this and similar awkward predicaments. He suffered also at the hands of 
 thievish guides, whilst even worse difficulties were caused by the climate 
 and by the badness of the drinking water, which more than once laid him 
 on a bed of sickness. He passed nights in the open where the temperature 
 varied from 8" s' to 23° Falir. and these would be followed by days with an 
 air-temperature of 115° Fahr. Early on December jo, as told by him in a 
 preliminary report to the Vienna Academy of Sciences, he had difficulty in 
 adjusting his headcloth and blanket, so hard were they frozen, while his 
 men hardly dared take hold of the water-bottles for fear of their breaking. 
 After sunrise they warmed them by the fire, for to have kindled a fire 
 earlier might have exposed the party to attack. On the third excursion, 
 which, starting in the southwest part of the region under examination, 
 proceeded southward, it was with great difficulty that he found a guide. 
 Nobody was willing to accompany him in these 'death paths,' which, fol- 
 lowing on a ride through the desolate black desert of el-Bseita, led into 
 the defiles of the westerly arm of the sandy desert of Nefud" (.Geographkal 
 Journal, May, 1910, 581). 
 
 ^Geographical Journal, December, 1908, 557- 
 
 "B. de Lacoste, "Around Afghanistan," 77. Sven Hedin, "Through 
 Asia," Vol. I, 3, s. 
 
WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED 67 
 
 while between the limits of Tibetan territory and the 
 boundary of Assam, there are also regions unvisited, 
 not to speak of the almost uninhabited Persian desert 
 of the Lut and large tracts in the desert of Takhla 
 Makan.^ 
 
 There are lands, also, which although long since ex- 
 plored and mapped have, because of inaccessibility or 
 climatic difficulties, not yet been entered by missionaries. 
 Regions of intense heat and bitter cold, or where the 
 dangers of tropical disease on the one hand, or those 
 of extreme elevation on the other, have proved unat- 
 tractive. Mongolia and parts of Central Asia are an 
 example of such a problem.^ Perched on the roof of 
 the world, where the valleys are as high as Mont Blanc, 
 the villages on the borders of Tibet are almost buried 
 beneath deep snow during half of the year, and com- 
 munications even in summer time are only through the 
 high Himalayan passes.' Perceval Landon describes 
 the hardships which no human activity can ever hope 
 to remove from the highway leading to Lhasa, the ex- 
 perience of "frozen mist and stinging splinters of ice 
 blown by the wind across the terrible pass, the dangers 
 of mountain sickness when the lungs are inadequate for 
 the task imposed upon them, and the heart beats with 
 increasing strokes till it shakes the walls of the body."* 
 
 ^Geographical Journal, April, 1910, 395-399. 
 
 -M. Broomhall, "The Chinese Empire," 358. Geographical Journal, July, 
 1910, in note on Major de Lacoste's journey across Mongolia, 102. 
 
 *The hardships of life in Tibet are referred to by Count de Lesdain, 
 especially the plague of mosquitoes and gnats. Even at a height of 14,000 
 feet, in the Naitchi Valley, they were beset by clouds of mosquitoes and, 
 in spite of all precautions, it was impossible to enjoy a moment's rest. He 
 says, "While taking the usual evening's observations my hands were 
 simply devoured in the space of five minutes." — "From Peking to Sikkim," 
 233, 238, 239- 
 
 *P. Landon, "Opening of Tibet," 53-76. 
 
68 THE tfNOCCUPIED MISSION I'lELDS 
 
 "I entered Kyeland by the Shingo La," writes J. H. 
 Bateson, "a pass 16,722 feet high, over a long glacier, 
 and left it by the Rotang, which is always dangerous after 
 noon on account of an icy, biting wind which sweeps 
 through the gorge with the force of a hurricane."^ 
 
 The effects of the high altitude in this part of the world 
 make breathing hard, and are often the cause of death.^ 
 We must follow Sven Hedin, Landor, Stein, Young- 
 husband and other explorers in their journeys to learn 
 something of the difficulties of travel and climate in this 
 part of the world. Stein writes of his exploration in 
 Central Asia : "We suffered a great deal from the almost 
 daily gales and the terrible extremes of this desert cli- 
 mate. Against the icy blasts, which continued well into 
 April, our stoutest furs were poor protection. On April 
 I, 1907, I still registered a minimum temperature of 
 39 degrees Fahr. below freezing point, but before the 
 month was ended, the heat and glare had already be- 
 come very trying (on April 20th, the thermometer showed 
 90 degrees Fahr, in the shade), and whenever the wind 
 fell perfect clouds of mosquitoes and other insects would 
 issue from the salt marshes to torment men and beasts. 
 For weeks, I had to wear a motor-veil day and night 
 to protect myself."' Such hardships are not met only 
 on "the roof of the world" but in many other unoccupied 
 fields. 
 
 The difficulties of travel in Central Papua (where there 
 
 '"At the Threshold," Tibet Prayer Union, April 20, 1909. 
 
 "Sven Hedin, "Through Asia," Vol. I, 112, 113, 123, 125, 144, etc. A. H. S. 
 Landor, "In the Forbidden Land," Vol. I, 146, 147, 155, 160, 206, 208. P. 
 Landon, "The Opening of Tibet," passim. 
 
 ^Geographical Journal, September, 1909, 242. Count de Lesdain, "From 
 Peking to Sikkim," 273-279, "At noon on March 5th the thermometer regis- 
 tered 14° Fahr. in the shade, while the black bulb insolation thermometer 
 showed 125,6° Fahr. in the sun." Sven Hedin, "Through Asia," Vol. I, 144. 
 
WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED 69 
 
 are unexplored sections which no white man's eyes have 
 ever seen) are also great and have doubtless been one 
 reason why this part of the world is still unoc- 
 cupied. Col. Kenneth Mackay tells how his path led 
 "over torrents spanned by single logs and swaying 
 vine-bridges, up and down innumerable and practically 
 pathless hills and ravines, culminating in crossing the 
 main ridge at nearly 9,000 feet, which taught us a lesson 
 in human endurance never to be forgotten." "Papua 
 to-day," he tells us, "is where Australia was one hun- 
 dred years ago with the additional handicap of a worse 
 climate and a more difficult seaboard."^ 
 
 In regard to the frontiers of Baluchistan (Seistan), 
 Tate says: "Of all the plagues of this plague-ridden 
 country the flies are the least endurable. By the time 
 we had ridden a distance of seven miles our hands and 
 the quarters of the camels were streaked with blood drawn 
 by their stings."^ We are told the natives must protect 
 even their horses against this pest by wrapping their 
 bodies and necks in swaddling bands. The few mission- 
 aries at Yarkand and Kashgar also find the extremes of 
 climate, together with the plague of mosquitoes and other 
 insects during the summer months, most trying.^ 
 
 Those who expect to occupy these lands must be willing 
 to endure hardship as good soldiers of Christ, and need 
 the same patience, persistence, energy and hopeful- 
 ness which characterized explorers like Sven Hedin, 
 while he was trying to fill up the blank spaces on the 
 map of Central Asia, or Livingstone those in Central 
 Africa. The terrors of the desert — thirst, loneliness, 
 
 'K. Mackay, "Across Papua," 137, 177, 183. 
 
 ''G. P. Tate, "The Frontiers of Baluchistan," i6g, 170. 
 
 •Sven Hedin, "Through Asia," Vol. II, 872. 
 
70 XHB UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 and the danger of being lost in the sands — are all stern 
 realities. The desert is a world of its own.^ 
 
 To reach the heart of Arabia, the tribes of the Sahara, 
 and the sparse populations in some parts of Central 
 Asia and Mongolia, one must cross these great seas of 
 sand where there are drifts a hundred feet deep, where 
 no living thing breaks the silence, and where, as the 
 Arabs say, there is nothing but God. Who can describe 
 the horror of the desert of Gobi? 
 
 The region west of Afghanistan has been called 
 "Nature's giant dust-bin, the inferno of Seistan." In 
 portions of Baluchistan the temperatures recorded for 
 eight months of the year are perhaps some of the highest 
 registered in the world. "During a few months, iio° 
 to 120° in the shade is by no means uncommon; 
 117° to 126° being noted on twenty days in the month 
 of May, while 130° has, I believe, been recorded. 'O 
 God!' says a native proverb, 'when Thou didst create 
 Sibi and Dadar, what need was there to conceive hell?' 
 So great is the heat that, during a few months of the 
 year, commtuiication in Kachi is rendered difficult and 
 sometimes dangerous. On the other hand, in some of 
 
 *"If the desert is the garden of Allah, it is also the abode of devils who 
 resent the intrusion of man and annoy him with sandstorms, scorching 
 south winds, show him mirages of lakes and cool trees when he is almost 
 driven mad by the heat, frighten his camels at night or trick him into 
 following wrong roads." 
 
 "The desert has left an impression on my soul which nothing will ever 
 efface. I entered it frivolously, like a fool who rushes in where angels and, 
 I believe, even devils fear to tread. I left it as one stunned, crushed by 
 the deadly majesty I had seen too closely." 
 
 "The desert is the garden of Allah, not of the bountiful God who is 
 worshipped with harmonious chants of love in the soft incense-laden atmos- 
 phere of a cathedral, but the Jehovah of Israel, a consuming fire, on Whom 
 no man can look and live." Hanns Vischer, "Across the Sahara," 73, 87, 
 293. Of. also Sven Hedm, "Through Asia," Vol. I, 466-468. 
 
H t: E 
 p; si 
 
 c » 5 
 
WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED "Jl 
 
 the highest valleys during the winter months, the ther- 
 mometer will occasionally sink below zero."^ 
 
 In his latest volume, Captain Stigand describes an ad- 
 venturous journey he took through the unexplored re- 
 gions of British East Africa from Gilgil, a point on the 
 Uganda River, to Southern Abyssinia. The London 
 Times, in speaking of it says: "Few explorers, however 
 hardy, will care to follow in his footsteps. For a month 
 he seems to have traversed the country south and east of 
 Rudolf, which was so desolate that it was practically 
 uninhabited. It was a wilderness of lava and stone, and 
 water was so scarce that the party suffered much from 
 thirst."^ 
 
 Such are some of the difficulties of climate and hard- 
 ships in travel which must be faced yet which have never 
 deterred pioneer missionaries in the past, and should not 
 deter them now from occupying difficult fields. Real 
 explorers are not afraid of the unknown or dangerous. 
 Although travel in Central Asia is far from easy, the 
 Comtesse de Lesdain made the long journey through 
 Central Asia from Peking to Sikkim as her wedding 
 journey! She was then only nineteen years old, and 
 suffered from typhoid fever in the desert of Gobi where 
 the temperature was at times 37° below zero. Her 
 plucky example was encouragement to the natives of the 
 caravan. She often shared the night watch and was full 
 of energy at the end of the long journey.' Mission- 
 aries, men and women, have been equally brave. 
 
 'A. D. Dixey, "Baluchistan, the Country and Its People," in Church 
 Missionary Review, November, 190S. B. de Lacoste, "Around Afghanistan," 
 78, 88, 164. 
 
 'Review of "To Abyssinia Through an Unknown Land," London Timei, 
 April X5, 1910. 
 
 'Count de Lesdain, "From Peking to Sikkim," 17s, 25s, etc. 
 
^^2 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 When Bishop Bompas describes his frequent journeys 
 taken among the Eskimos, the account itself bears wit- 
 ness to the possibiHty of a cheerful spirit and a keen 
 sense of humor in the midst of hardships, discomforts 
 and dangers ; here is the perseverance of the saints. 
 
 "Harness yourself to a wheelbarrow or a garden rol- 
 ler," he wrote "and then, having blindfolded yourself, 
 you will be able to fancy me arriving, snow-blind and 
 hauling my sledge, at the Eskimo camp, which is a white 
 beehive about six feet across, with the way a little larger 
 than that for the bees. . . As to one's costume, you 
 cannot manage that, except that a blanket is always a 
 good cloak for us; but take a large butcher's knife in 
 your hand, and that of itself will make you an Eskimo 
 without further additions. If you will swallow a chimney- 
 ful of smoke, or take a few whiffs of the fumes of 
 charcoal, you will know something of the Eskimo mode 
 of intoxicating themselves with tobacco, and a tanyard 
 will give you some idea of the sweetness of their camps. 
 Fat, raw bacon, you will find, tastes much like whale 
 blubber, and lamp oil, sweetened somewhat, might pass 
 for seal fat. Rats you will doubtless find equally good 
 to eat at home as here, though without the musk flavor; 
 but you must get some raw fish, a little rotten, to enjoy 
 a good Eskimo dinner."^ Or to take another illustration. 
 In telling how he, the first white man, crossed Guadal- 
 canar of the Solomon Island group, the missionary, 
 Dr. Northcote Deck, writes : 
 
 "Then began the first of the many ascents we were 
 to make on hands and knees, clinging to roots, to creepers, 
 to stones, as we scaled the mountain's side and counted 
 the cost of crossing the island. 
 
 ^Church Missionary Review^ August, igo8, in a review of his biography. 
 
WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED 7Z 
 
 "One looks at the chart and measures the distance, 
 about sixty miles the way we went, and wonders at 
 the toil and energy we expended, the next five 
 days, and at the hardness of the way. 
 
 "For the miles are costly, and you cannot count the 
 distance as the crow flies; for we did not fly, but very 
 painfully crawled by tortuous tracks and rushing rivers 
 and mountain ridges across the backbone of the island. 
 
 "When you count the distance you must add in the 
 drenching rain storms, the island ague, the tropic languor 
 of the air. You must wade through swamps that are 
 as the Slough of Despond. You must climb to peaks 
 where eagles might build. You must turn and re- turn 
 as the track climbs to furtive zig-zags up a hill, to fight 
 your way with axe and cane-knife yard by yard through 
 vines and creepers, thorns and prickly palms. You must 
 herd at night with pigs and savages in leaking humpies, 
 and when you add the sum of all, you find the road 
 stretches out interminably and seems never-ending, a 
 human tread-mill. 
 
 "And yet the interest is intense, and well repays the 
 toil of thus reaching into the unknown. For who knows 
 what may lie behind the coastal range; what peoples, 
 what customs, what killing, what lakes and rivers, what 
 mountain peaks? Who knows, too, who will emerge on 
 the northern coast, and when?"^ 
 
 The unoccupied fields are waiting for men with this 
 spirit. 
 
 It is only fair to add that the difficulties of climate 
 and the risks to health, as well as many of the incon- 
 veniences of travel, are gradually disappearing with the 
 
 '"The First Crossing of Guadalcanar," hHier of the Smth Sea Evangelica. 
 Mission, Sydney, May, 1910. 
 
74 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 march of civilization, the building of railways and through 
 medical discovery. Health in the tropics has become 
 a different problem. The old high death-rate has been 
 greatly reduced by improved sanitation and modern 
 knowledge of tropical diseases. Algeria was once re- 
 garded as intensely unhealthy ; it is now a popular Euro- 
 pean health resort. The same is true of other parts of 
 the world.^ Samarai, in Papua, was once considered a 
 death-trap, but by filling in the swamps malaria has be- 
 come a thing of the past. "Eight years ago, it was a 
 white man's grave. To-day, as tropical islands go, it is 
 a sanitarium."' In the Egyptian Sudan, malaria was 
 once rife, but has largely disappeared as the result of 
 sanitary regulations and by destroying the breeding 
 places of mosquitoes.' The physical barriers are no 
 longer what they were in the unoccupied fields. 
 
 More baffling at times than the difficulties of climate 
 
 i**Ib there any physical reason why white men should not work in the 
 tropics? Is it the heat? Attendants in Turkish baths, stokers in steamers, 
 glass-blowers and furnace men in metallurgical works withstand higher 
 temperatures than are encountered in any tropical country. But it may be 
 said that these men are not engaged in the open air, exposed to the fatal 
 fury of the sun. British troops, however, have to march in India, and it 
 is found that they are healthier then than when cooped up in barracks. 
 British tea-planters in India kave been instanced as a healthy race, although 
 their duties require them to be out in the hottest time of the day, in the 
 hottest season of the year." — Paper in the Geographical Journal, Febru- 
 ary, 1909, by Professor J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., on "The Economic 
 Geography and Development of Australia." See also on this subject, 
 "Mosquito or Man?" by Sir Rubert Boyce (London: Murray, 1909). The 
 sub-title of this work, "The Conquest of the Tropical World," is amply 
 justified by the paramount importance of the physiological discoveries and 
 problems here dealt with. The volume furnishes a survey of the wonderful 
 work done since the discovery of the association between the mosquito and 
 the propagation of malaria, yellow fever and other diseases, and provides 
 a guide to the salutary measures which have been and may be adopted in 
 various localities. 
 
 "K. Mackay, "Across Papua," 47. 
 
 •H. L. Tangye, "In the Torrid Sudan," 175. 
 
WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED 75 
 
 or travel has been the poHtical opposition or the jealousy 
 of governments. Vast territories have been closed in the 
 past to the missionary enterprise on purely political 
 grounds. The doors have been closed against the mis- 
 sionary not only by non-Christian governments, but alas 1 
 also at times by those nominally Christian. Certain native 
 states in India, for example, either have no resident mis- 
 sionary or are wholly untouched by mission-effort because 
 of political prohibition; for instance, the tributary states 
 of Sirguja, Jaspur, Udaipur, Changbhakar, and the in- 
 dependent state of Tipperah.^ The chief reason why mis- 
 sionaries do not enter Nepal and Bhutan is because they 
 are political "buffer states," although under British pro- 
 tection, and entrance is forbidden. 
 
 Political hindrance has been hitherto also a large factor 
 in the almost total absence of Protestant missions in 
 French colonial possessions in southeastern Asia and west 
 and central Africa. Elsewhere the same government 
 has limited or even threatened to wipe out missionary 
 work which had begun, as in Madagascar.^ The French 
 administration, especially in northwest Africa, seems 
 favorable to rationalism, atheism and secularism, but an- 
 tagonistic to anything in the form of Christian propa- 
 gandism. Even for medical work within the French pro- 
 tectorates it is necessary to have a French diploma,' while 
 we are told that throughout French and Portuguese ter- 
 ritory in Africa there is practically a virgin field for 
 
 >Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgli, 1910, Vols. I and 
 VII: "Cases have been cited by some of our correspondents in which 
 British political officers have forbidden missionaries to enter Native States, 
 a proceeding which could only be justified by a very extraordinary state 
 of affairs. The British Government compels China to admit foreigners. 
 How can it debar its subjects from entering a vassal State?" 
 
 'Ibid, Vol. I, African section; and Vol. VII, passim. 
 
 'Ibid, Vol. I, African section; and Vol. VII, passim. 
 
•jd THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 evangelical missions if only the governments would per- 
 mit the establishment of such missions within their ter- 
 ritories.'- 
 
 The records of missionary travelers from Krapf and 
 Livingstone down to our own times prove that except 
 for the prohibitions of Christian governments there is 
 practically no part of pagan Africa closed to the mis- 
 sionary by the natives themselves. 
 
 Yet to-day we must face the fact that it is the tendency 
 of nearly all the local representatives of governments 
 professedly Christian, including the British Government, 
 to facilitate and encourage the spread of the Moham- 
 medan religion and to restrict, and in some cases pre- 
 vent the propagation of Christianity in unoccupied terri- 
 tory.^ In all the Mohammedan region outside of Egypt 
 proper, the British Government practically prohibits re- 
 ligious work for fear of arousing Mohammedan fanati- 
 cism. "If free scope were allowed to the missionary en- 
 terprise," said Lord Cromer, in a report sent home in 
 
 'Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, igio, Vol. I, 
 African section. 
 
 ^F. VVurz, "Die Mohammedanische Gefahr in Westafrika," 16-18, Basel, 
 1904. Carl Meinhof, "Zwingt uns die Heidenmission Muhammedanermis- 
 sion zu treiben? Osterwieck, 1906. 
 
 Dr. Walter R. Miller writes thus in the Church Missionary Review, July, 
 1909: "The same policy which in Egypt has ignored the Christian day of 
 rest and forces Christian clerks to work all through it, keeping Friday, the 
 Mohammedan one day in seven, as a day of rest; which until the last 
 year has shown its neutrality by enforcing Mohammedan religious instruc- 
 tion in government schools and not permitting Christian instruction; in 
 the circumcision of pagan recruits for the army and freed slave pagan 
 children; the handing over of little pagan girls and boys, saved from 
 slavery, to the care of Moslem emirs, with the probability of their becom- 
 ing Moslems, and to be members of Mohammedan harems: subscriptions 
 of government to building and repairing mosques; attendance at Moham- 
 medan festivals by government officials as representatives; the gradual re- 
 duction of strong pagan tribes — who for centuries had held out against the 
 Mohammedan raiders successfully — and bringing thera under the rule of, 
 and to pay their taxes to, these same old enemies; these and many other 
 things show the tendency of the government policy." 
 
WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED 'J'J 
 
 1905, concerning the Egyptian Sudan, "it would not only 
 be wholly unproductive of result, but would also create 
 a feeling of resentment culminating possibly in actual 
 disturbance, which far from advancing, would almost 
 certainly throw back that work of civilization which all 
 connected with the country, whether or not connected 
 with the missionary enterprise, have so much at heart."^ 
 This policy of the British Government, however, is in 
 absolute contradiction to the teaching of experience as 
 shown by the beneficial influence of Christian medical 
 missions among fanatical Mohammedans in Arabia, Mo- 
 rocco and northwest India. We may, therefore, hope 
 that it will not continue much longer.^ 
 
 The difficulties of entering Somaliland, especially those 
 parts beyond the sphere of British influence, are also 
 political as well as due to Moslem fanaticism. Travelers 
 there require special permit of the British Government.' 
 
 The restrictions to all Protestant missionary work in 
 the Russian Empire are well known. Mr. W. Davidson, 
 Agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society in Siberia, 
 writes from Ekaterinburg: "I reckon that this country 
 
 ^F. F. V. Buxton, "Egypt and the Sudan," Church Missionary Intelli- 
 gencer, July, 1907, 385. 
 
 'Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I, 
 "Africa," and Vol. VII, "Missions and Governments," where we find, 
 among other testimony, this; "A high commissioner has issued instruc- 
 tions that the missionary must wait till a British resident in such and 
 such a city and an emir to whom the case has been put by the resident, 
 'consent' to his coming. Meanwhile he is rigidly excluded and given no 
 opportunity whatever to make himself acceptable. No missionary is, e.g., 
 at present allowed to try to gain a footing in Kano or Kontagora, though 
 progress in rail construction and in other matters has made the danger 
 of excitement far less than in 1907. The missions do not consider this 
 defensible. It has been publicly stated that the course recently followed 
 has been adopted after the example of the government in the Egyptian 
 Sudan. Even there it is a course hard to justify, and in northern Nigeria 
 it is indefensible." 
 
 'A. Herbert, "Two Dianas in Somaliland," S- 
 
78 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 will not come within the scojje of your deliberations, 
 owing to the fact that no foreign missionaries are per- 
 mitted to propagate, teach or in any way preach in this 
 empire. There are foreign pastors, however, who are 
 attached to a living or some church, and who have the 
 permission of the authorities to minister to their flocks, 
 be they German, French, Swiss or English."^ And the 
 experience of the Swedish missionaries seems to prove 
 that they too found the door only ajar. "It may be that 
 very few know that the Svenska Missions-forbundet in 
 1880 started missionary work in Russia and two years 
 later there were no less than fourteen Swedish mission- 
 aries gathered together in St. Petersburg. Two of them 
 were sent to the Samojeds in the north, two to the Finns 
 on the shore of Ladoga, two to the Baskirs in Ural, two 
 to the Armenians and Tartars in the Caucasus and the 
 rest worked in St. Petersburg and Kronstadt. I have 
 been preaching for a couple of years among the Russians 
 and traveled from north to south, from east to west 
 of that great country. The intolerance and persecution 
 against spiritual movements in Russia made it at that 
 time impossible to go on. Two of our brethren were 
 arrested and sent as prisoners from Archangel to Moskva 
 on the road to Siberia, but they were released there and 
 went back to Sweden. But since that time up to date 
 our society has not altogether withdrawn their mission 
 in Russia."^ 
 
 The opposition of all Moslem governments to the en- 
 
 ^Letter to Commission No. i, World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 
 1910. For a fuller account of the religious attitude of the Russian Church 
 toward Protestant missions see Robert E. Speer, "Missions and Modern 
 History," Vol. II, 619, 637-655, and the authorities there quoted. 
 
 'L,. E. Hogberg at the World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, in 
 paper on "Russian and Chinese Turkistan." 
 
WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED 79 
 
 trance of Christian missions is a matter of history. Af- 
 ghanistan and parts of Turkish and independent Arabia 
 are striking examples to-day of unoccupied fields, where 
 the chief barrier is that of Moslem political authority 
 and not primarily religious fanaticism. The Turkish 
 Government opposes the entrance of missionaries in its 
 provinces where the population is wholly Moslem, such 
 as Yemen, Hasa and the hinterland of Tripoli.^ "The 
 penetration of Arabia," writes Rev. F. J. Barny, "is an 
 extremely difficult undertaking because of the irresponsi- 
 bility of the tribesmen. The members of our Mission 
 have been eager to get inland, but the way hitherto has 
 been effectually shut by the Turkish officials, especially 
 those who were extremely jealous of allowing foreigners 
 to enter. Whether the new regime will alter this remains 
 to be seen. For the past three years there has been an 
 almost constant state of warfare between the factions 
 of Ibn Rashid, Ibn Saoud and the Turks. "^ 
 
 When Ellsworth Huntington, in 1908, reached the Af- 
 ghan frontier from Perisa, at the little fort of Zulfagar 
 "a string of white turbans and shining gun-barrels bobbed 
 up from the tamarisk bushes" and a heavily armed Af- 
 ghan greeted him with the words, "Go away! You can't 
 come here; this is Afghanistan." Later on, when the 
 rites of hospitality were celebrated, the captain became 
 more amenable and added, "Have the most honorable 
 travelers had a comfortable journey ? Most gladly would 
 I receive them, but I am a mere captain. If I let them 
 
 'Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I. 
 
 'See for example A. Forder, "Ventures Among the Arabs," 141-166: "The 
 old sheikh then addressed me, saying 'If you are a Christian, go and sit 
 among the cattle.' . . . One man offered to cut my throat whilst I was 
 sleeping that night," 190, 191. Cf. the quarterly reports of the Arabian 
 Mission. 
 
8o THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 SO much as set foot on this side of the river my king, the 
 great Amir of Kabul, would cut my head oflf."^ As the 
 people of the western province are by all accounts the 
 mildest of Afghanistan's inhabitants, the Amir evidently 
 has no intention of allowing foreigners to enter his 
 country. 
 
 Afghanistan is perhaps to-day the most inaccessible 
 country in the world for the missionary, or even the 
 traveler. Not only is the Amir's written permission neces- 
 sary for every visitor, but the Indian Government also 
 must consent, and no European is allowed to cross the 
 frontier without permit. It is almost as difficult for 
 those who are employed by the Amir to return to India. 
 Even the British political agent residing at Kabul is little 
 better than a prisoner, and hundreds of people have been 
 killed merely on suspicion of having visited him and 
 given reports of the doings of the government.^ For 
 over fifty years. Christian missions have been established 
 at Peshawar and other points near the Afghan border, 
 but not one step toward the establishment of a mission 
 has seemed possible; yet as long ago as 1818, WilHam 
 Carey, at Calcutta, made a translation of the Bible into 
 Pushtu for the Afghans, and in 1832 Joseph Wolfe, the 
 Jewish missionary, actually visited Kabul and Bokhara, 
 holding discussions with the mullahs.^ 
 
 The political situation in Central Asia is one of inter- 
 national ambitions and jealousies. This closes the door. 
 "There is only one heir to Central Asia," wrote the Tsar 
 Peter I in his will, "and no power in the world will 
 be able to prevent him from taking possession of his 
 
 *"The Afghan Borderland," National Geographic Magazine, igog, 866. 
 *F. A. Martin, "Under the Absolute Amir," 301. 
 »C. Field, "With the Afghans," 77. 
 
WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED 8l 
 
 inheritance."^ And a French traveler describes Britain's 
 policy on her northern frontiers in these words : "A hun- 
 dred times she has shifted her boundary, using diplomacy 
 as well as money, and when that did not suffice, using 
 force; disquieted neither by the rights which she was 
 violating, nor by the protests to which she was giving 
 rise; heeding nothing but her own interest and the em- 
 pire's security. She has put the finishing touch to her 
 work by creating on the forefront of her line of defences 
 a succession of provinces and buffer-states, designed in 
 the event of a struggle to serve as a shield to deaden the 
 initial blow." Lebedev, in "Vers I'lnde," published in 
 1898, who sums up Russia's aspirations in the East quotes 
 the axiom of Skobelev, "The stronger Russia becomes in 
 Central Asia, the weaker will England become in India 
 and the more accommodating in Europe."^ 
 
 The intricacies of this combination lock which holds 
 the door closed against missions, both on the Russian 
 and the British frontier, can only be learned by a study 
 of the various Blue Books on the Anglo-Afghan relations 
 and those on Russian policy in Central Asia." They are 
 summarized, however, in the striking lines of Sir Al- 
 fred Lyall placed at the beginning of this chapter.* Po- 
 litical hindrance to missionary occupation becomes a very 
 complex problem when it concerns a state jealous of its 
 independence on the one hand and threatened by the 
 astute diplomacy of two great European powers on the 
 other, together with the religious intolerance of its in- 
 habitants. Such is the case in Afghanistan.^ 
 
 'B. de Lacoste, "Around Afghanistan," Preface, 9, 11. 
 
 "Ibid., 16. 
 
 *A. Hamilton, "Afghanistan," 401. 
 
 *C. Field, "With the Afghans," 11. 
 
 "The Convention signed at St. Petersburg on Aug. 31, 1907, in regard to 
 
82 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 Religious intolerance and fanaticism play their part in 
 other countries where politics alone do not offer hin- 
 drance. The two great examples of closed doors because 
 of this barrier are the holy cities of Arabia, Mecca and 
 Medina, and the land of Tibet. Elsewhere religious 
 fanaticism is a hindrance and intolerance may prove dan- 
 gerous, but in these two countries it has been effectual 
 in closing the door of entrance for centuries. 
 
 Before dealing with these typical cases, it should be 
 noted, however, that every part of the Moslem world, so 
 much of which is in our survey, when out of touch with 
 Western civilization and government is more or less in- 
 tolerant of Christians. When Mr. Hanns Vischer ven- 
 tured on his journey from Tripoli across the Sahara, at- 
 tempts were made to prevent him. "Why should the 
 Christian dog," said they, "be permitted to cross the Sa- 
 hara? Had not the cursed Christians already taken the 
 countries all around Algiers, Tunis, Egypt and the en- 
 tire Sudan?" and once and again attempts were made by 
 the veiled Tuaregs on religious grounds to kill him and 
 plunder his caravan, as they had murdered Miss Tinne, 
 the traveler.^ Only last year ( 1909) Douglas Carruthers 
 was turned out of Teima, Arabia, by the governor be- 
 cause of religious intolerance. "Finding me quietly sit^ 
 ting in a tent pitched in the garden under the palms, 
 his armed servants covered me with revolvers, tore all 
 my baggage and took everything they fancied." The 
 people made insinuating remarks in regard to the fate 
 
 spheres of influence by Sir A. Nicholson and the Russian Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs, M. A. Iswolski, holds out the hope that there will be less 
 friction in the future as regards the relations of Great Britain and 
 Russia in Central Asia and Afghanistan, and it may facilitate the work of 
 missions, at least in Persia if not m Afghanistan. (See the Geographicai 
 Journal, November, 1907, 557. 
 *H. Vischer, "Across the Sahara,*' 18, 42, 164. 
 
WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED 83 
 
 of the last European, Huber, who visited their town in 
 1863 and was eventually murdered.^ 
 
 Similar experiences are related by all Arabian travelers 
 and have come under my own observation.^ The Atjeh 
 or Achin district in Sumatra is also closed by fanati- 
 cism.' 
 
 Nor is religious intolerance found only among Mos- 
 lems. The lone Swedish Mission at Addis Adeba in 
 Abyssinia, carries on its work among the Gallas. There 
 is a ready entrance for the Christian evangelist, but the 
 fanatical opposition of the debased priests of the Abys- 
 sinian Church and the drastic punishments inflicted by 
 Abyssinian authorities on those who are suspected of fa- 
 voring another form of Christianity are great hindrances.* 
 Meanwhile Islam wins its way in Abyssinia. 
 
 The long, weary and fruitless struggle of the British 
 with the "Mad Mullah" of Somaliland, resulting in the 
 final withdrawal of the British, is another recent illus- 
 tration of the spirit and strength of religious fanaticism. 
 Even empire builders have to reckon with the intolerance 
 of Islam. Lord Curzon speaks of this incident as a "dis- 
 ruption of a not altogether insignificant corner of the 
 Empire."' 
 
 ^Geographical Journal, March, igio, 239. 
 
 *S. M. 2wemer, "Arabia, the Cradle of Islam," 59, 379. Cf. Doughty, 
 Forder, Bent, Miles, Harris, Manzoni, Landberg and others in their travels. 
 
 *The long struggle between the Mohammedans of Atjeh and the Dutch 
 Government in Sumatra is one of the most remarkable evidences that 
 neither the kind indulgence of neutrality nor strong repressive measures 
 can tame such a spirit. Cf. S. Coolsma, "De Zendingseeuw voor Neder- 
 landsch Oost-Indie," 300-499. 
 
 ''Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I, 
 "Africa." 
 
 ^"In the Somaliland Blue-book there is set down a record to which it 
 would be difficult to find a parallel in modern times.. It is clearly shown 
 that the Mullah bluffed the King's Government out of a country misnamed 
 a protectorate, caused ministers to remove their troops in headlong fligM 
 
84 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 The most intolerant part of all Asia, perhaps of the 
 world is the province of Hejaz in Arabia. It is stated 
 in the Koran and confirmed by many traditions that this 
 sacred territory holding the birthplace and tomb of Mo- 
 hammed the Prophet, must never be polluted by the visits 
 of infidels.^ The tradition of centuries has, therefore, 
 practically made the whole region about Mecca and 
 Medina forbidden territory. In Jedda, the port of 
 Mecca, Christians are tolerated, but were Moslems to 
 have their way not a merchant or a consul would re- 
 side there for a single day. Even those who die in the 
 city are buried on an island at sea! Yet more than a 
 score of travelers have braved the awful dangers of the 
 transgression and escaped the pursuit of fanatics to tell 
 the tale of their ventures.^ A recent volume published 
 under the striking title, "Christians at Mecca," gives a 
 
 to the coast, and induced them to desert tribes, very numerous in the 
 aggregate, who are now suffering in their properties and their persons for 
 their misplaced confidence in the 'gracious favor and protection of her 
 majesty the Queen-Empress' which they were promised by treaty."— Mili- 
 tary Correspondent, London Times, April 15, 1910. 
 
 iKoran, IX, 27; Mishl<at-ul-Misabih, Book XL, Chapter 15; S. M. 
 Zwemer, "Arabia, the Cradle of Islam," 209. 
 
 ^The first account of Europeans visiting Mecca is that of Ludovico Bar- 
 tema, a gentleman of Rome, who visited the city in 1503: his narrative was 
 published in 1555. The first Englishman was Joseph Pitts, the sailor from 
 Exeter, in 1678; then followed the great Arabian traveler, John Lewis 
 Burckhardt, 1814: Burton in 1853 visited both Mecca and Medina; H. 
 Bicknell made the pilgrimage in 1862 and T. F. Keane m 1880. The narra- 
 tives of each of these pilgrims have been published, and from them, and the 
 travels of Ali Bey and others, we know something of the Holy Land of 
 Arabia. Ali Bey was in reality a Spaniard, called Juan Badia y Seblich, 
 who visited Mecca and Medina in 1807 and left a long account of his travels 
 in two volumes, illustrated by many beautiful engravings. Burton's account 
 of his pilgrimage is best known, but Burckhardt's is more accurate and 
 scholarly. Of modern books, that of the Dutch scholar, Snouck Hurgronje, 
 who resided in Mecca for a long time, is by far the best. His "Mekka," in 
 two volumes, is accompanied by an atlas of photographs and gives a com- 
 plete history of the city as well as a full account of its inhabitants and ol 
 the Java pilgrimage. 
 
WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED 85 
 
 resume of what these men endured from the race hatred 
 barbed by religion, which we call fanaticism, before they 
 reached the holy city.^ Leon Roches was seized by 
 friendly captors in the nick of time and hurried off to 
 Taiz, or he would have died the death. Burton returned 
 to tell his tale. Although at one time his disguise was 
 penetrated by an Arab, this man was "fortunately" found 
 stabbed to death the next morning ! He made his sketches 
 and took his notes on slips of paper so small that they 
 could be concealed in the hollow of his hand, keeping 
 them and his pencils in a red morocco pocket-Koran case. 
 All of those whose accounts have come down to 
 us were practically compelled to deny their Christian 
 faith in wresting the secrets of the sacred cities. The 
 only European, Burton says, who visited Mecca without 
 apostatizing was Bertolucci, Swedish consul at Cairo. 
 Doughty tells many a story of the "direful city." Among 
 others, of a Christian who missed his way eighty miles 
 northeast of Medina, and on a sudden discovered that 
 he was in the holy city. Refusing to abjure his faith, 
 he was shot dead. He also tells of Thomas Keith, a 
 private in the 72nd Highlanders who, in 181 5, was taken 
 prisoner at Rosetta and forced to become a Moslem; 
 
 ^A. RalH, "Christians at Mecca," 150, 164, 165, 190, 261, 264, 265, 268, 269, 
 270. 
 
 The writer has collected and edited the accounts of no less than a 
 score of Europeans, most of them nominal Christians, who penetrated 
 Mecca in disguise. One might divide them into three groups: Those who 
 went unwillingly, or, as it were, by accident, like Joseph Pitts, the sailor 
 boy of Exeter, and Johann Wild; the votaries of science, among whom 
 Seetzen, Burckhardt and Hurgronje stand out supreme; and, lastly, those 
 who were impelled merely by love of adventure or curiosity— Von Maltzan, 
 Bicknell, Keane and Courtellemont. Burton stands in a class by himself, 
 although in accuracy of scientific description he takes second place to the 
 Hollander Hurgronje, whose sociological studies carried on during a resi- 
 dence of six months have given us the standard book on Mecca. 
 
86 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 he became a mameluke and actually rose to become 
 governor of Medina, dying in the wars against the Wah- 
 habis! Doughty himself nearly lost his life on the final 
 stage of his journey to the coast. He writes: "I was 
 now to pass a circuit in whose pretended divine law 
 there is no refuge for the alien; whose people shut up 
 the ways of the common earth; and where any felon 
 of theirs in comparison with a Nasrany [Christian] 
 is one of the people of Allah." Tidings spread that a 
 Christian was in the neighborhood. His friends in the 
 caravan left him to his fate, and a mad sheriff drew a 
 "butchery sword-knife" and with cursing and reviling 
 shook his fists in the Christian's face. Doughty was des- 
 poiled of his money and possessions and brutally struck 
 on the way to Taif. There he was received with kind- 
 ness and given safe escort to Jedda.^ 
 
 With the building of the Hejaz Railway, which has 
 already reached Medina from Damascus, it is only a 
 question of time before the blast of the locomotive will 
 be heard within the precincts of the Kaaba. There will 
 be a branch line to Jedda, and it is possible that the day 
 may not be far distant when travelers may visit the 
 sacred cities of the Moslem world with impunity. At 
 present the door seems barred. 
 
 Tibet is also closed by intolerance in the name of re- 
 ligion.^ The anti-foreign prejudice and religious fanati- 
 cism of the Tibetans is of long duration. The record of 
 travel to Lhasa has, until recent years, been a record of 
 failure. "In the whole history of exploration there is 
 
 *C. M. doughty, "Arabia Deserta,*' Vol. II, 52, 53, 157, 158, 499, 503. 
 
 ^A. H. S. Landor, "In the Forbidden Land," Vol I, 196, and his experi- 
 ences as related in Vol. II. With due allowance for possible exaggeration, 
 the story is terrible enough to deter the faint-hearted. 
 
WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED 87 
 
 no more curious map than that which shows the tangled 
 lines of travelers' routes toward this city, coming in 
 from all sides, north, south, east and west, crossing, 
 inter-locking, retracing, all with one goal and all baffled, 
 some soon after the journey had begun, some when the 
 travelers might almost believe that the next hill would 
 give them a distant glimpse of the golden roofs of the 
 Potala.""^ Landon gives the names of those who made 
 the attempt, from the Jesuit spies in 1716 to the time 
 of Rockhill, the Rijnharts, Annie Taylor, the Little- 
 dales and Sven Hedin.^ 
 
 The closing of Tibet has been variously explained. 
 Many travelers believe that it was in its origin a Chinese 
 device adopted about the year 1720, with the idea of 
 making Tibet a buffer state. To-day, however, the ex- 
 clusion of foreigners from Tibet is the work of the 
 lamas, and is on religious grounds.^ The great closed 
 land of yesterday may, however, be open to-morrow. The 
 expedition of Col. Younghusband broke the seal, and 
 although the doors have not yet been thrown wide-open, 
 yet they stand ajar. The Dalai Lama, the real head of 
 Tibetan Buddhism, is a wanderer and a refugee. His 
 flight from Tibet to Darjeeling, following the friction 
 between the Chinese authorities and the Tibetans, is 
 the beginning of coming political change. To-day Lhasa 
 is occupied by Chinese soldiers, and Tibet will probably 
 become in reality another province of the Chinese Em- 
 pire, equally accessible to the missionary as far as politics 
 and religion are concerned. Then the work of prepara- 
 tion will make the difficult task more easy. The language 
 
 'P. Landon, "The Opening of Tibet," 15. 
 "Ibid., 8-17. 
 "Ibid., 20. 
 
88 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 has been learned, the Scriptures have been translated and 
 some of the Tibetans on the borders have already been 
 won for Christ.^ 
 
 However great the difficulties still remaining, the grad- 
 ual breaking down of barriers that have heretofore ex- 
 isted in the unoccupied fields of the world, whether 
 physical, political or religious, is a call to greater faith 
 and enterprise. 
 
 There are indications that even within the borders 
 of Afghanistan there are the beginnings of toler- 
 ance and the dawn of a new era in place of the old despo- 
 tism. The Amir of Afghanistan himself, in a speech at 
 Lahore, is reported to have said: "In a single sentence 
 I give you my whole exhortation (to the Mussulmans 
 of India) : acquire knowledge — you hear me, acquire 
 knowledge. I say it a third time, acquire knowledge. 
 Oh, my brothers, remain not ignorant, or what is worse, 
 remain not ignorant of your ignorance. There are those 
 who utter solemn warnings in your ears, who urge that 
 Mohammedans have naught to do with modern philoso- 
 phy, and who declaim against the western sciences as 
 against evil. I am not among them ... I say, pursue 
 knowledge wherever it is to be found. But this also 
 
 'The following petition is said to have been sent by Tibetans from Lhasa 
 to China: "We cannot bear further ill treatment. If more troops come, 
 our power will be lost, and the Delai Lama will remain in sorrow. Tibet 
 is a holy place. If the existing system of law be abolished, the Buddhist 
 religion will surely be lost. The Tibetans care more for religion than for 
 their lives. The Delai Lama pointed out these mistakes from his camp to 
 the Resident, but Lien disregarded his letter. The Sarcom of Tibet pro- 
 longed his journey. Many interruptions occurred. Therefore the Tibetans 
 stopped supplies for Lien. If the Ambans and the troops are not with- 
 drawn, all Tibetans will probably revolt and much trouble will follow." 
 This message closes with a prayer to the Emperor to treat the Tibetans 
 kindly as he has done heretofore, and thereby earn their perpetual grati- 
 tude. {London Times, weekly edition, Jan. 21, 1910.) 
 
 See also Baptist Missionary Magasine, October, rgoS, 376. 
 

 LAAIAS FK()1[ SIKKIM 
 
WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED 89 
 
 I declare with all the emphasis at my command: science 
 is the superstructure, don't mistake it for the foundation. 
 The foundation must always be religion. . . . Start with 
 the heart, and when that is secure go on to the head. 
 Some would like to finish with the heart ; they are afraid 
 of the head, but they are wrong."^ If modern educa- 
 tion enters Afghanistan, the door will not long be closed 
 against the missionary. 
 
 Dr. Karl Kumm, after his last journey across the Su- 
 dan, reports that he was well received even by Senussi 
 dervishes, whose fanaticism and intolerance of Europeans 
 is proverbial, and Hanns Vischer says that throughout 
 the whole of North Africa religious fanaticism is de- 
 creasing, and that even among these same Senussi there 
 were men of good faith who treated him as a true friend 
 and helped him on his journey.^ 
 
 As regards Central Asia, Col. Wingate writes : "If the 
 missionary is going to wait until the foreign office will 
 sanction his going, which means guaranteeing his pro- 
 tection and avenging any injury done to him; or if the 
 missionary is to wait until it is safe to take his wife and 
 children with him into Central Asia, then the doors are 
 closed, but it is not closed against those who are qualified 
 to go, . . . men willing to leave their family behind, 
 knowing the language, strong, robust, fearless and tact- 
 ful."^ 
 
 Because a land is hot and fever-ridden, or cold and 
 dismal ; because the people are ignorant, fanatical, stupid, 
 or repulsive, does that shut them off once and for all 
 from any hope of the benefits of the Gospel? If such 
 
 ^Church Missionary Intelligencer, July, 1907, 422. 
 ^H. Vischer, "Across the Sahara," 68-69. 
 
 'Letter to Commission No. i. World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 
 1910. 
 
go THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 be the case, then Paton's life was a failure, and Living- 
 stone's monument in Westminster Abbey is a mockery. 
 Why should thousands of bales of American piece goods 
 be transported yearly by caravan from Katif, on the 
 Persian Gulf, to the bazaars of Nejd, or American steel 
 rails be used for the Mecca railroad, while the Gospel 
 messenger dares not even knock at the door? 
 
 Long neglect, trying climates, political barriers, na- 
 tional jealousies and religious intolerance in all the un- 
 occupied fields are only a challenge to faith and intended 
 of God to lead us to prayer. All difficulties can be sur- 
 mounted by those who have faith in God. The kingdoms 
 and the governments of this world have frontiers which 
 must not be crossed, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ knows 
 no frontier. It never has been kept within bounds. It 
 is a message for the whole race, and the very fact that 
 there are millions of souls who have never heard the 
 message becomes the strongest of reasons why we must 
 carry it to them. Every year we hear of further advance 
 into these regions of the world by commerce, by travelers, 
 and by men of science. If they can open a way for them- 
 selves, in spite of all these difficulties, shall the ambassa- 
 dors of the Cross shrink back? 
 
 God can open doors. He is, as the Moslems say, "the 
 Great Opener."^ He opens the lips of the dumb to song, 
 the eyes of the blind to sight, and the prison house to 
 the captive. He opens the doors of utterance and en- 
 trance for the Gospel. He opens graves and gates, the 
 windows of heaven and the bars of death. He holds all 
 the keys of every situation. He opens, and no man can 
 shut. He shuts and no man can open. God, the Opener, 
 
 'See article on "God the Opener," Thf Christian IntsUi^mcer, New York, 
 Nov. 4, 1891. 
 
WHY STILL UNOCCUPIED 91 
 
 is not on the outside, but on the inside of the barred 
 doorway. "Knock and it shall be opened ;" and the knock 
 of faith surely implies waiting at the door with a pur- 
 pose that remains unshaken, a faith that never wavers. 
 "When the doors were shut," He entered.^ Paul's ex- 
 perience at Ephesus is typical. "A great and effectual 
 door has been opened unto me, and there are many ad- 
 versaries."^ God the Opener made the door effectual, 
 and adversaries made it great. The greater the opposi- 
 tion, the greater the victory. 
 
 "Uplifted are the gates of brass, the bars of iron yield ; 
 Behold the King of glory pass, The Cross hath won the field." 
 
 ^John 3o:ig. 
 =1 Cor. 16:8-9. 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 
 
 93 
 
"While vast continents are shrouded in almost utter darkness, 
 and hundreds of millions suffer the horrors of heathenism or of 
 Islam, the burden of proof lies upon you to show that the cir- 
 cumstances in which God has placed you were meant by Him to 
 keep you out of the foreign mission field." 
 
 — ^lon Keith Falconer. 
 
 "So the woman was thrown alive into a huge cauldron of 
 boiling water and boiled down to soup, and a basin of this soup 
 was given to the man, who was forced to drink it, and after 
 drinking it he was hanged. In this case the Amir's object was 
 to punish, not only in this life, but in the next; for a cannibal 
 cannot enjoy the delights of Paradise depicted in the Koran." 
 
 — Frank A. Martin (Under the Absolute Amir, 1907, p. 163.) 
 
 "Masses indeed; and yet, singular to say, if thou follow them 
 . . . into their garrets and hutches, the masses consist of all 
 units. Every unit of whom has his own heart and sorrows, 
 stands covered with his own skin, and if you prick him he will 
 bleed. Dreary, languid do these struggle in their obscure remote- 
 ness, their hearth cheerless, their diet thin. For them in this 
 world rises no Era of Hope. Untaught, uncomforted, unfed." 
 —Thomas Carlyle (French Revolution). 
 
 94 
 
Chapter IV 
 SOCIAL CONDITIONS 
 
 One hundred years ago, the note of emphasis in the 
 argument for missions was theological; to-day it is so- 
 ciological. Then it was common to regard missions as 
 exclusively a religious crusade with a strictly evangelistic 
 aim. To-day the scope and meaning of the word is 
 larger and includes the social regeneration of the world 
 and the uplift of the non-Christian nations. As Dr. 
 Dennis remarks, "The evangelistic aim will ever be first 
 and unimpeachable in its import and dignity,"^ yet a 
 call for the occupation of the unoccupied fields might 
 very properly be based solely on the social conditions of 
 the lands which are still without Christ and therefore 
 without hope.^ 
 
 The unoccupied fields of the world in all their wide 
 extent, with their vast populations and the stupendous 
 difficulties that face those who would enter them, present 
 a social problem of immense magnitude. Within the 
 lands and areas of this survey is the largest aggregate 
 of the three classes which form the social problem in all 
 great cities, the defectives, the delinquents and the de- 
 pendents.' Because the unoccupied fields of the world 
 
 'J. S. Dennis, ■'Christian Missions and Social Progress," Vol. I, 23. 
 'Cf. Jesus Christ's parable, Matt. 25:31-46. 
 
 'C. R. Henderson, "Introduction to the Study of the Dependent, De- 
 fective and Delinquent Classes." 
 
 95 
 
96 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 are not unoccupied by sin in its manifold forms and 
 tendencies and its dread consequences, — suffering, sor- 
 row, degradation, their very condition is an appeal. Be- 
 cause we believe in the Fatherhood of God and in the 
 brotherhood of man, and therefore in the unity and soli- 
 darity of the human race, the unoccupied fields of the 
 world should recall us to a true sense of proportion in the 
 work of world evangelization. 
 
 A map showing the literacy and illiteracy of the world 
 to-day bears a striking resemblance to a map of the un- 
 occupied fields. In most of the unoccupied fields of the 
 world, less than ten per cent of the people are able to 
 read and write their own names; in some of them they 
 have not even an alphabet, in otliers no literature.^ 
 
 Within the great areas of the unoccupied fields of the 
 world, there are large centers of population. In China 
 alone, as we saw, there are over 1,500 cities without a 
 resident missionary ! We gain a real conception of their 
 woful need when we consider what we would lose if our 
 cities were without Christianity. Our churches would 
 go and we would have to wipe out every mission Sunday 
 School. The public schools, with all they mean, would 
 be absent. Then the hospitals would go. If a man should 
 fall on the street, there would be no ambulance. Next 
 to go would be our orphanages and asylums and all our 
 organized charities. Good government would go, and 
 property values tumble. Trade would suffer irreparable 
 loss. We and our city would be actually "heathen" in 
 the worst sense of the word.^ 
 
 Dr. James S. Dennis, in his monumental sociological 
 
 '"Geography of the Great Languages," by E. H. Babbitt (with map o£ 
 the World's Literacy) in The World's Work, February, 1908. 
 2J. I. Vance, "If Mine Were a Heathen City," 8. 
 
TYPES FR<:)M r.ALUCHlSTAN 
 (See sketch of their character in Chapter 1.) 
 
 96 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 97 
 
 Study of missions, gives a classification of the social evils 
 of the non-Christian vi^orld, dividing them into seven 
 groups: the individual group, the family group, the 
 tribal group, the social group, the national group, the 
 commercial group and the religious group. While he 
 does not ignore the excellencies and virtues both indi- 
 vidual and social which exist in the non-Christian world, 
 and although most of his evidence comes from countries 
 where Missions or Christian governments have already 
 exerted influence to a large extent yet, his terrible ar- 
 raignment of the every-day conditions in the lands that 
 have not yet been fully reached by the influence of the 
 Gospel is as alarming as it is convincing.^ Since he 
 himself admits that his classification of the social evils 
 of the non-Christian world is confessedly artificial and 
 tentative,^ and as the mass of material and authorities 
 which he gives is now accessible to most students of 
 missions, and applies the more emphatically to the lands 
 wholly unoccupied by missionaries and, therefore, never 
 yet submitted to sociological study by missionaries, we 
 refer to his scholarly work for a general survey. This 
 chapter deals with particulars in regard to the chief lands 
 still unoccupied. 
 
 Before considering in detail the races that inhabit and 
 some of the special conditions that obtain in those lands 
 which are still wholly without Christ and, therefore, with- 
 out social hope, we may well summarize the general situ- 
 ation in the words of the apostle Paul. The evidence 
 which follows will prove that there is no diff^erence be- 
 tween the unoccupied field in A. D. 60 and the unoccu- 
 pied field in A. D. 1910. What it was then is thus fear- 
 
 >J. S. Dennis, "Christian Missions and Social Progress," 3 vols, 
 nbid, Vol. I, 76. 
 
98 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 lessly, but faithfully, pictured: "Even as they did not 
 like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them 
 over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are 
 not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, 
 fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full 
 of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity ; whisperers, 
 backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, 
 inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without 
 understanding, covenant breakers, without natural af- 
 fection, implacable, unmerciful: who, knowing the judg- 
 ment of God, that they which commit such things are 
 worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure 
 in them that do them."^ 
 
 The races inhabiting the unoccupied fields of the world 
 are as we have already shown in Chapter I, different in 
 origin, character, and economic and social environment. 
 Some live in the most absolute barbarism, and others 
 have advanced to a comparatively high stage of civiliza- 
 tion under Islam or Buddhism. 
 
 Life in the unexplored, low-lying districts of Papua, 
 for example, is most primitive. Some of the tribesmen 
 are even described as "duck-footed." When Walker 
 visited Agai Ambu, the people scarcely ventured to come 
 near him. They had, for thousands of years, according 
 to native tradition, lived in the swamps, never leaving 
 their morass, and scarcely able to walk properly on hard 
 ground, and if not web-footed altogether, the epidennal 
 growth, caused by their mode of life, has certainly made 
 them half-webbed.' 
 
 While the architecture, the art and the home- 
 life of the people of Bhutan, for example, are evi- 
 
 ^Romans i :28-32. Cf. also the entire chapter in this connection. 
 *H. W. Walker, "Wanderings Among South Sea Savages,'* 172-179. 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 99 
 
 dences that their civilization is on almost as high a plane 
 as their country is on a high altitude. Besides these 
 evident contrasts, the people to be evangelized are either 
 Animists, or have for centuries been dominated in their 
 social life by Islam, the various forms of Buddhism, Hin- 
 duism or Confucianism. Each has created its own re- 
 ligious atmosphere and environment. 
 
 The survey of present social conditions may well begin 
 with the Dark Continent. In most of the unoccupied 
 area of Africa, human slavery is still justified, and in 
 many places carried on. The slave caravans are doubt- 
 less smaller in number and the suffering of the slaves 
 has greatly decreased in consequence, but the evidences 
 of the old time traffic are seen on every hand. Slave 
 skeletons lie everywhere along the caravan roads of the 
 Sahara and the Sudan, for the Arab traders who carried 
 their young slaves from Bornu to the coast had a pe- 
 culiar way of looking after them. "When the children 
 had been fed and watered at a well, some distant land- 
 mark was pointed out to them. There they were told 
 they would get water and food. Then with blows and 
 curses they were driven off, the Arabs mounted their 
 camels or horses and rode off, quite unmindful of the un- 
 fortunate children. Those who arrived at the next well 
 with the caravan received food and drink, and were 
 driven on the next morning in the same way. Those who 
 did not arrive — well — the traders could afford to lose 
 eighty per cent, of their slaves on the way to the coast 
 and yet make a profit."^ 
 
 The well-nigh incredible horrors of this traffic in human 
 flesh and the pitiless cruelties that accompany it are not 
 
 "H. Vischer, "Across the Sahara," 82, 195, 223, 238. 
 
100 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 altogether of the past.^ In Arabia, the slave-trade is 
 openly carried on at Mecca and other pilgrim centers.^ 
 
 There are still some centers for the slave trade in 
 Africa, protected by Koranic law, in spite of European 
 governments. In the Central Sudan, we are told, there 
 are tribes which are being gradually exterminated by 
 the slave-raiding of pious Mohammedans who freely de- 
 clare that they are doing this for the glory of their 
 prophet.^ 
 
 The unoccupied fields, both in Asia and Africa, are 
 generally backward as regards all economic progress, save 
 in so far as they have come in touch with Western 
 civilization. Arabia has neither roads nor vehicles and 
 its condition is patriarchal. Tibet is a country that has 
 
 ^Travers Buxton, Esq., in his article on "Slavery as It Exists To-day," 
 gives a map of the present-day slave centers, and, quoting Lord Cromer, 
 says it is very difficult to prevent the trade which goes on in slaves between 
 Arabia and Turkey smuggled from the African coast. In Kordofan, Darfur, 
 Wadai and Tripoli the trade is carried on to-day, and for the past ten years 
 there has been a regular slave traflfic between West Africa to Mecca by way 
 of the Chan River. The whole article presents startling evidence on this 
 question. See The Missionary Review of the World, June, 1910. 
 
 ''C. M. Doughty, "Arabia Deserta," Vol. I, 209, 553; Vol. II, 53, 491. S. 
 M. Zwemer, "Islam, a Challenge to Faith," 127, 128. Hadji Khan, "With 
 the Pilgrims to Mecca, the Great Pilgrimage of A. H. 1319" (A. D. 1902), 
 306-308. 
 
 ^"I may not describe the awful things which are being perpetrated in 
 Central Africa by Moslem fiends. My little boys tell me of the sights they 
 have seen and the treatment they have received; of relatives flayed like 
 goats in their presence or sold by Mohammedans to cannibals ; of their own 
 mothers left with a spear through them, because within a short time of 
 their giving birth they have been unable to travel fast, and left writhing 
 on the ground, not killed outright, while their children have been ruth- 
 lessly torn away, never again to see them. Mohammedan men saturated 
 with Christian thought, and perhaps brought up and educated in Christian 
 lands and trying to read their enlightened thoughts into the Moslem re- 
 ligion, will state that these are the excrescences, the mere accompaniment 
 of that religion. I say they are the center and heart of Islam."— Dr. W. E. 
 Miller, "The Moral Condition of Moslem Lands," Church Missionary 
 Review, November, 1909, 649. 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS lOI 
 
 not a wheel within its borders except prayer-wheels.^ 
 It is a land of filth and needs the gospel of soap and 
 sanitation as well as the Gospel of salvation.^ Mongolia 
 also is one of the most backward countries in the world. 
 "The condition of the Mongols is very miserable, as they 
 are oppressed and fleeced by the Chinese, their own lamas 
 and monks, their native princes and money-lenders alike."" 
 The great cities of these lands suffer horrors of insani- 
 tation. Conditions in Lhasa are indescribable.* Kabul, 
 the capital of Afghanistan, has neither drainage nor sani- 
 tation. The water supply of the city is full of impurity, 
 and one stream serves as sewer and water main for the 
 people. Cholera and other epidemics necessarily follow 
 and periodically carry off thousands of the inhabitants. 
 The same is true of Jedda and Mecca.° Lacoste and 
 Sven Hedin speak of the utter lack of sanitation at 
 Yarkand and Kashgar. "A nauseous smell of decayed 
 melons filled the whole town, which looks like a plague 
 
 »P. Landon, "The Opening of Tibet," 25. 
 
 'Lady Jenkins, "Sport and Travel in Both Tibets," 81. 
 
 °B. de Lacoste, "Journey Across Mongolia," Geographical Journal, July, 
 1910, 102. R. Lovett, "James Gilmour of Mongolia," 129, and passim. 
 
 ^"In the best quarter of the town, that in which the houses are two- 
 storied, the heaped-up filth rises to the first floor windows, and a hole in 
 the mess has to be kept open for access to the door. It must be seen to 
 be- believed. In the middle of the street, between the two banks of filth 
 and ofifal, runs a stinking channel, which thaws daily. In it horns and 
 bones and skulls of every beast eaten or not eaten by the Tibetans — there 
 are few of the latter — lie till the dogs and ravens have picked them clean 
 enough to be used in the mortared walls and thresholds. ... A curdled 
 and foul torrent flows in the daytime through the market place, and half- 
 bred yaks shove the sore-eyed and mouth-ulcered children aside to drink 
 it. The men and women, clothes and faces alike, are as black as peat walls 
 that form a background to every scene. They have never washed them- 
 selves; they never intend to wash themselves. Ingrained dirt to an extent 
 that it is impossible to describe reduces what would otherwise be a clear, 
 good-complexioned race to a collection of foul and grotesque negroes." — 
 P. Landon, "The Opening of Tibet," 72. 
 
 °F. A. Martin, "Under the Absolute Amir," 43-45. 
 
I02 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 center, with its ponds of stagnant water, and its in- 
 habitants with their wan and ghastly faces." Seventy- 
 five per cent of the people have enormous tumors or 
 goitres, caused by the poisonous waters they drink.^ 
 
 Outside of the great cities in many of the unoccupied 
 fields, for example, Arabia, Somaliland and pagan Africa, 
 there is no settled government and no dominant authority, 
 and whole regions have been from time immemorial in a 
 chronic state of warfare and bloodshed. Agriculture has 
 suffered and nomad life taken its place. 
 
 Brigandage is common. Blood feuds and a thirst for 
 vengeance are the continual curse of many of these 
 countries.^ 
 
 For want of good government, there is often great 
 poverty. According to Doughty and other travelers, 
 three-fourths of the Bedouins in Arabia suffer continual 
 famine. The women suffer most, and the children lan- 
 guish away. When one of these sons of the desert heard 
 from Doughty 's lips of a land where "we had an abund- 
 ance of the blessings of Allah, bread and clothing and 
 peace, and, how, if any wanted, the law succored him — 
 he began to be full of melancholy, and to lament the 
 everlasting infelicity of the Arabs, whose lack of cloth- 
 ing is a cause to them of many diseases, who have not 
 daily food or water enough, and wandering in the empty 
 wilderness, are never at any stay — and these miseries to 
 last as long as their lives. And when his heart was full, 
 he cried up to heaven, 'Have mercy, ah Lord God, upon 
 Thy creature which Thou createdst — pity the sighing of 
 the poor, the hungry, the naked — have mercy — have 
 
 'B. de Lacoste, "Around Afghanistan," 99. Cf. Sven Hedin, "Through 
 Asia," Vol. II, 712-713. 
 
 "^T. L. Pennell, "Among the Wild Tribes of the Afghan Frontier," iS-jo^ 
 78-83. 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS IO3 
 
 mercy upon them, O Allah.' "^ The unoccupied mission 
 fields are also often devastated by famine, cholera and 
 plague, the natural result of misgovernment, ignorance 
 and lack of all sanitary precaution.^ We pass on to 
 another disturbing element in social conditions. 
 
 Among the social evils of the non-CJiristian world, Dr. 
 Dennis groups together with poverty and lack of sani- 
 tation, ignorance, quackery, witchcraft, and neglect of 
 the poor and the sick.' These are so closely related and 
 are in a sense so much a matter of cause and effect that 
 they can better be understood by a series of illustrations 
 than by further detailed classification. Ignorance and 
 superstition are well-nigh universal in all of the unoccu- 
 pied fields of the world. This is specially true of Mon- 
 golia and Siberia, Chinese Turkistan, Russian Turkistan, 
 Africa, Afghanistan, and Tibet. Remarkable instances 
 of fanatical superstition are related by travelers. La- 
 coste tells the story, for example, of enormous blocks of 
 stone going on pilgrimage to Meshed from the mountains 
 of Kutchan ! Every Moslem feels a holy joy in helping 
 them on their pious pilgrimage, pushing, pulling or drag- 
 ging, little by little. Sometimes after several years' travel- 
 ing, these granite pilgrims arrive at their destination, and 
 such faith literally removes mountains. * In Afghanistan, 
 not only the common people but the rulers and the higher 
 classes have a firm belief in charms and talismans. The 
 late Amir of Afghanistan attributed his escape from the 
 bullet of a soldier who tried to kill him, to the use of a 
 
 'S. M. 2wemer, "Arabia, the Cradle of Islam," 157. 
 
 'A. B. Wylde, "Modern Abyssinia," 105, 230. "Journey Through Abyssinia," 
 Geographical Journal, Vol. XVI, loi. S. M. Zwemer, "Arabia, the Cradle 
 of Islam," 32-34. 
 
 ■J. S. Dennis, "Christian Missions and Social Progress," Vol. I, 182-252. 
 
 *B. de Lacoste, "Around Afghanistan," 29-30. 
 
104 I'H^ UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 charm which a holy man had given him when he was a 
 boy. "At first I did not beheve in its power to protect. 
 I therefore tried it by tying it around the neck of a sheep, 
 and though I tried hard to shoot the animal, no bullet 
 injured her."^ Count de Lesdain gives an instance of 
 silly superstition in Mongolia.^ 
 
 The use of amulets is almost universal not only in 
 Moslem Asia and Africa, but also among the Buddhists 
 and Animists.^ The people continue slaves to this cus- 
 tom long after the entrance of western civilization. It 
 is the everyday religion of millions of women and chil- 
 dren. The most common things used for amulets among 
 Moslems are a small Koran suspended, in a silver case; 
 words from the Koran written on paper and carried in 
 a leather receptacle; the names of Allah or their nu- 
 merical value; the names of Mohammed and his com- 
 panions; precious stones with or without inscriptions; 
 beads ; old coins, clay images ; the teeth of wild animals ; 
 holy earth from Mecca or Kerebela in the shape of tiny 
 bricks, or in small bags. When the Kaaba covering at 
 Mecca is taken down each year and renewed, the old 
 cloth is cut up into small pieces and sold for charms to 
 the pilgrims. The Buddhists manufacture amulets of 
 similar character in accordance with their sacred places 
 and objects. 
 
 Amulets and charms are worn not only by the people 
 themselves and to protect their children from the evil 
 eye, but are put over the doors of their dwellings and 
 
 ^T. L. Pennell, "Among the Wild Tribes o£ the Afghan Frontier," 117. 
 
 "Count de Lesdain, "From Peking to Sikkim," 45. Cf. J. Curtin, "A Jour- 
 ney in Southern Siberia," 98, 104, no, 112. 
 
 •The very word fetich is derived from the Portuguese word "feitico," 
 meaning charm; R. E. Bennett, "At the Back of the Black Man's Mind," 
 88-92. In regard to Annam, see G. M. Vassal, "On and Off Duty in 
 Annam," 89, 120, 12S. 
 
: '.,1. Jjjyo^^i) vV^ fc'.,<ij/5,;i,/ii u/ 
 
 vV 
 
 ^rpj 
 
 nxrSTRATIOXS OF MEDICAI. CHARA'S AND Sl'l'ERSTI- 
 TIOKS AMOKC.ST THE i'liOl'Ll-: OF K()RLJ(.) J-'AN 
 
 1. Holy Water from the Prophet's Well. Zem Zem, at Mecca. Used 
 in small quantities as a specilic ior all ills, and im]>orted in metal flasks 
 by pilgrims. 
 
 2. Love charm consisting of numerical symbols and letters. 
 
 3. Charm against the evil fairy or witch of little children, Um El 
 Sibian, consisting of the names of God from the Koran and numerical 
 symbols. 
 
 4. A medical board or paddle on which Koranic verses are inscribed 
 by Fikis {holy men). The ink when dry is washed off and the resulting 
 fluid prescribed as medicine ftjr internal administratii.m and external apy>li- 
 cation in cases of illness, local or general. This course of holy writ in 
 solution constitutes, and is termed, El Mahaia. iu4 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 10$ 
 
 even on camels, donkeys, horses, fishing boats; in fact, 
 everywhere, to ward off danger or death. 
 
 According to the principles of Islam, only verses from 
 the Koran should be used, but the door of superstition 
 once being set ajar by Mohammed himself, as we know 
 from the story of his life, it is now wide open. The 
 chapters from the Koran which are most often selected 
 for use as amulets and put in the little cases seen every- 
 where are Surahs i, vi, xviii, xxxvi, xliv, lv, 
 Lxvii, Lxxviii.^ There are five verses in the Koran 
 called the verses of protection, "Ayat-el-Hifdh," which 
 are most powerful to defend from evil. They read as 
 follows: "The preservation of heaven and earth is no 
 burden unto Him"; "God is the best protector"; "They 
 guard him by the command of God"; "We guard him 
 from every stoned devil"; "A protection from every re- 
 bellious devil." These verses are written with great care 
 and with a special kind of ink by those who deal in 
 amulets, and are then sold for a good price to Moslem 
 women and children. The ink used for writing amulets 
 is saffron water, rose water, orange water, the juice of 
 onions, water from the sacred well of Zem Zem, and 
 sometimes even human blood. The illustration opposite 
 shows amulets and medicinal charms used in Kordofan, 
 Africa. All over pagan Africa, Moslem charms and 
 superstitions are to-day displacing the old fetiches. 
 
 In the midst of all this superstition, native quackery 
 contributes its large quota to the misery of the sick. 
 Who can describe the terrors of quackery in Africa or 
 the demoniacal arts of the witch doctor with his burning 
 remedies or fiery tonics, or the art of the sorcerer in the 
 
 'Revue du Monde Mussulman, Vol. VIII, 369-397. Antoine Cabaton, 
 "Amulettes chez les peuples Islamises." 
 
Io6 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 Pacific Islands?^ Everywhere the visit of a white trav- 
 eler, man or woman, is the signal for poor neglected sick 
 to flock together in the hope of relief;^ The native medi- 
 cal profession in Indo-China, Mongolia and Tibet is based 
 on Chinese practice and is merely a matter of supersti- 
 tion and ignorant tradition ; yet the people are so willing 
 to receive the help of Western science that Captain Wal- 
 ton, the surgeon who accompanied the expedition of 
 Younghusband, reports no less than six hundred cases of 
 harelip and cataract treated by him alone during his 
 brief visit.' 
 
 The sick, throughout all the unoccupied fields of the 
 world, like the woman in the Gospel, have "suffered many 
 things from many physicians." No wonder they are in 
 desperate straits and anxious for relief. Doughty tells 
 how, among the Bedouins, they give the sick to eat of 
 the carrion eagle and even seethe asses' dung for a po- 
 tion. Kei, or actual cautery, is a favorite cure for all sorts 
 of diseases ; so also is khelal, or perforating the skin sur- 
 face with a red-hot iron and then passing a thread through 
 the hole to facilitate suppuration. There is scarcely one 
 Arab, man or woman, in a hundred who has not some 
 ^d-marks; even infants are burned most cruelly in this 
 way to relieve diseases of childhood. Where kei fails, 
 they use words written on paper either from the Koran, 
 or, by law of contraries, words of evil, sinister import. 
 These the patient "takes" either by swallowing them, 
 paper and all, or by drinking the ink-water in which the 
 writing is washed off. 
 
 *J. S. Dennis, "Christian Missions and Social Progress," Vol. I, 193-197. 
 ^H. G. C. Swayne, "Seventeen Trips through Somaliland," 261. 
 "P. Landon, "The Opening of Tibet," Appendix, 470-471. Of. Sven Hedin, 
 "Through Asia," Vol. I, 473. 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS I07 
 
 Blood-letting is also a common remedy for many 
 troubles. The Arab barber is at once a phlebotomist, 
 cauterizer and dentist. His implements — one can hardly 
 call them instruments — are very crude and he uses them 
 with some skill but without any mercy. Going to the proper 
 place in any large Arab town, you may always see a 
 row of men squatting down with bent back to be bled; 
 cupping and scarifying are the two methods most in 
 vogue, although some are quite clever in opening a vein. 
 The science of medicine in the towns is not much in ad- 
 vance of that of the desert — more book-talk but even less 
 natural intelligence. A disease to be at all respectable 
 must be connected with one of the four temperaments 
 or "humors of Hippocrates".^ Conditions are similar 
 in Bokhara and Khorasan, Persia. Dr. Pennell speaks 
 of the ignorance of native medical practice in Afghanis- 
 tan and the needless cruelty of their remedies and surgery. 
 Dentistry is entrusted to the village blacksmith, "who has 
 a ponderous pair of forceps, a foot and a half long, hung 
 up in his shop for the purpose."^ The results are often 
 disastrous. 
 
 Of surgery and midwifery, the people in the dark lands 
 of Asia and of Africa are, as a rule, totally ignorant, 
 and if their medical treatment is ridiculous, their surgery 
 is piteously cruel, although perhaps never intentionally 
 so. In eastern Arabia, blind women are preferred as 
 midwives, and rock salt is used against puerpural hem- 
 morrhage. Gunshot wounds are treated by a poultice 
 of dates, onions and tamarind, and the accident is guarded 
 against in future by wearing a "lead amulet."' Similar 
 
 "S. M. Zwemer, "Arabia, the Cradle of Islam," 280-282. 
 
 ^H. L. Pennell, "Among the Wild Tribes of the Afghan Frontier,"' 39-42. 
 
 ^S. M. Zwemer, "Arabia, the Cradle of Islam," 283. 
 
I08 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 instances of cruel ignorance might be given in regard to 
 Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Tibet, Annam and Somaliland.^ 
 
 Barbarous punishments, torture, the maltreatment of 
 the aged or prisoners and cannibalism are also evidences 
 that "the dark places of the earth are full of the habita- 
 tions of cruelty." Cannibalism is still prevalent in Papua 
 and elsewhere in the South Seas.° The expedition of 
 Mr. Walker was partly a punitive one against the Dobo- 
 dura tribe, who had been raiding and slaughtering a tribe 
 on the coast with no other apparent reason than to fill 
 their own cooking-pots.' He describes the horrors of 
 cannibalism, and speaks of seeing, on a raised platform, 
 at Kanau, rows of human skulls and quantities of bones, 
 the remnants of a gruesome cannibal feast. The infernal 
 tortures perpetrated in these cannibal raids are too hor- 
 rible for description, and these are not tales told of the 
 dark past but things that take place to-day.* 
 
 One of the most degraded tribes of the human family, 
 still largely unreached by missionary effort, is that of 
 the head-hunting Dayaks of Borneo." The custom of 
 
 'H. L. Pennell, "Among the Wild Tribes of the Afghan Frontier," igo, 
 193. A. H. S. Landor, "In the Forbidden Land," Vol. I, 53, 290-296, 300-303. 
 H. G. C. Swayne, "Seventeen Trips through Somaliland," 41-43, 219, 234. 
 
 ^"The barquentine Mary Winkelman, which has arrived from Tonga 
 Islands, reports that the Rev. Horatio Hopkins and the Rev. Hector 
 McPherson, Presbyterian missionaries, have been eaten by cannibals on 
 Savage Island. The report adds that there is a revival of ancient religious 
 customs in the Tonga, Society, Solomon and Cook groups, the natives 
 feasting on human flesh." — London Times, May 6, 1910. 
 
 *H. W. Walker, "Wanderings Among South Sea Savages," 108. 
 
 *Ibid., 120, 130, 159. "Every skull had a large hole punched in the 
 Bide. . . When the enemy is captured, they slowly torture him to 
 death, practically eating him alive. When he is almost dead they make a 
 hole in the side of the head and scoop out the brains with a wooden 
 spoon." — H. W. Walker, "Wanderings Among South Sea Savages," 118. 
 "In our party were nine men In chains about to be tried for eating a 
 mail-boy, I was told they would get about a year apiece." — K. Mackay, 
 "Across Papua," 92-103, 108, 
 
 "H. W. Walker, "Wanderings Among South Sea Savages," 188, 195-197. 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS IO9 
 
 head-hunting is described as follows: "A Dayak maiden 
 thinks as much of heads as a white girl would of jewelry. 
 . . . The heads are handed down from father to son, and 
 the rank of the Dayak is determined by the number of 
 heads he or his ancestors have collected." The women 
 incite the men to go on these head-hunting expeditions, 
 and Mr. Walker tells of a young man named Hathnaveng, 
 who had been persuaded by the missionaries to give up 
 the barbarous custom of head-hunting. The maiden to 
 whom he was engaged, however, disdained his offer of 
 marriage, until, goaded by her taunts, he brought the 
 usual tribute. To her horror, she saw that they were the 
 heads of her own father, her mother, her brother and a 
 rival. Hathnaveng was seized, put in a bamboo cage by 
 the natives and starved to death.^ 
 
 In Sierra Leone, a tribe known as the Beli people, 
 boasts that there is no person in Beli, over three years 
 of age, who has not eaten human flesh. The slaves who 
 run away, if re-caught are killed and eaten.'' 
 
 Those people who think of the natives of the tropic 
 islands or of Africa as being the children of nature, living 
 happy in their virgin forests and untainted by the vices 
 of our civilization, are ignorant of real conditions. "As 
 I lay in my hammock that night," says Kenneth Mackay, 
 "one white man among hundreds of black ones, the other, 
 side of the picture rose before me. How these un- 
 doubtedly charming people had till quite recently eaten 
 
 'H. W. Walker, "Wanderings Among South Sea Savages," 200, 201. 
 
 ''"Wanderings in the Hinterland of Sierra Leone," T. J. Alldridge, Geo- 
 graphical Jourtiat, 1904. On cannibalism in the Congo region, see E. Tor- 
 day, "Land and Peoples of the Kasai Basin," Geographical Journal, July, 
 1910, 36. He writes: "The Bankutu are great cannibals as far as the male 
 members of the tribe are concerned, and the victims are always slaves; in 
 fact, all slaves are ultimately eaten, since it is believed that if a slave were 
 buried, his ghost would kill his master." 
 
no THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 their prisoners, cooking them alive by holding them over 
 a slow fire, and how in proof thereof some of them had 
 been kind enough to show me a charred skull, and while 
 apologizing for having only one, to explain that there 
 were quite a lot at the next village. . . I thanked God that 
 undeveloped peoples, so tersely and truly described by 
 Kipling as 'half devil, half child', never seem to realize 
 their strength nor our too frequent weakness."^ 
 
 Cruelty to the living we regret to say seems to be 
 the rule in many of the lands which have not yet received 
 the Gospel. Frank A. Martin, who spent eight years as 
 engineer at Kabul (1890-1898), and was for the greater 
 part of that time the only Englishman in the capital, de- 
 votes an entire chapter of his book to the tortures and 
 methods of execution in vogue, describing horrors 
 that are past belief, and yet corroborated by other 
 writers.^ A man who was accused of shooting a slave 
 boy so enraged the Amir that he gave orders for him to 
 be tied by his hair to the bough of a tree in the palace 
 garden and so many square inches of skin taken off his 
 body daily until he confessed. The man died on the 
 third day.* The torture of the fanah is described as more 
 cruel than anything we read of in the Spanish Inquisi- 
 tion.* "Another common punishment is that of blinding 
 people. This is the usual punishment of those who try 
 to escape from prison or from the country, — almost 
 synonymous terms. The manner of doing this is to lance 
 the pupils of the eyes, and then put in a drop of nitric 
 acid and, to guarantee no sig^t being left, quicklime is 
 
 'K. Mackay, "Across Papua," 97- 
 
 *F. A. Martin, "Under the Absolute Amir," 64, 109, 145, 153, 157, 167, 274, 
 etc. Cf. E. and A. Thornton, A. Hamilton and others. 
 •F. A. Martin, "Under the Absolute Amir," 158. 
 *Ibid, 153, 154. 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS III 
 
 afterwards added. The agony endured must be fright- 
 ful, and in one case when fifteen men were blinded to- 
 gether, they were seen on the third day all chained one 
 to the other, sitting in a row on the ground. . . .Three 
 of them were lying dead still chained to the living, and 
 some of the living were lying unconscious, while the 
 others were moaning and rocking themselves backwards 
 and forwards.^ 
 
 In Afghanistan and other Moslem lands, the spy sys- 
 tem, with all its terrors, prevails. Prisons in Tibet and 
 Afghanistan are as bad as the infamous ones of Mo- 
 rocco.- In underground holes, men are imprisoned for 
 life and live and die there in horrible stench and dark- 
 ness. "Most of the men imprisoned there soon end their 
 days by dashing themselves against the rock until they 
 become unconscious and die, for the solitude and horror 
 of it all drives them mad.'" "If the truth about the Kabul 
 prisons were generally known, other countries would 
 probably unite in insisting that such barbarity should be 
 stopped."* Contrast with the conditions of prisons in 
 these lands the "separate system in our American prisons" 
 abandoned as unnecessarily severe which "calls for a 
 series of cells in which the prisoners live in isolation from 
 each other, but not excluded from a degree of companion- 
 ship with warden, guards, physicians, teachers, chaplain 
 
 'F. A. Martin, "Under the Absolute Amir," i66, 167. See also G. P. Tate, 
 "The Frontiers of Baluchistan," 7, 104, and E. and A. Thornton, "Leaves 
 from an Afghan Scrapbook," 10, 19, 24, 54, 120, 182, 183, 206. "A few yards 
 further along we came to a second cage, placed on the left side of the 
 road by the present Amir. After being suspended in this cage the men 
 lived for a week, going quite mad, and fighting together. Even now their 
 whitened bones may be seen, and part of an old sheepskin coat hangs out 
 between the bars, waving mournfully." — E. and A. Thornton, "Leaves from 
 an Afghan Scrapbook," 198. 
 
 ^F. A. Martin, "Under the Absolute Amir," 149, 302-303. 
 
 'Ibid., 150. 
 
 *Ibid., 303. 
 
112 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 and authorized visitors from the outside world. There 
 5s a bed for sleep, a table for eating and writing, a bench 
 for work, and outside a little space for exercise in sun- 
 shine and fresh air.""^ 
 
 Not only are the punishments inflicted by the Tibetans 
 upon prisoners during life time abominably cruel and 
 inhuman,'' but barbarism is perpetrated on the dead.^ 
 A large majority of all the people who die in Tibet 
 are literally hacked to pieces and fed to pigs and vul- 
 tures." "The most ragged and disreputable quarter in 
 all Lhasa," Landon states, "is that occupied by the famous 
 tribe of Ragyabas, or beggar-scavengers. These men 
 are also the breakers-up of the dead. It is difficult to 
 imagine a more repulsive occupation, a more brutalized 
 type of humanity, and, above all, a more abominable and 
 foul sort of hovel than those that are characteristic of 
 these men. Filthy in appearance, half-naked, half-clothed 
 in obscene rags, these nasty folk live in houses which a 
 respectable pig would refuse to occupy. . . , These men 
 exact high fees for disposing ceremoniously of dead 
 bodies. The limbs and trunk of the deceased persons 
 are hacked apart and exposed on low, flat stones until 
 
 'C. R. Henderson, "Introduction to the Study of the Dependents, De- 
 fectives, Delinquents," 281. 
 
 »P. Landon, "The Opening of Tibet," 468-469. A. H. S. Landor, "In 
 the Forbidden Land," Vol. II, 123, and his own terrible experiences. Vol. 
 II, 102-168. 
 
 "A. H. S. Landor, "In the Forbidden Land," Vol. II, 69-72. Lady Jen- 
 kins, "Sport and Travel in Both Tibets," 27. In Papua also there are 
 many barbarous customs connected with the disposal of the dead. The 
 body is dried over a fire and the drippings are saved. "This liquid is par- 
 taken of by the wife of the dead man as an evidence of her fidelity to him." 
 In other cases dead children are reduced to skeletons and then placed in 
 hollow bamboos, or the skull of the dead is removed and placed within a 
 carved wooden head as a sacred relic. At Geelfink Bay the mothers wear 
 the bones of their dead children as necklaces. — "Notes on Dutch New 
 Guinea," by Thos. Barbour, National Geographic Magazine, August, 190S. 
 
 *A. H. S. Landor, "In the Forbidden Land," Vol. II, 69-73. 
 
Afghanistan, with five major provinces and two minor districts, has an area of 
 j25o,ooo square miles and a population estimated at 4,500,000, ninety per cent, of whom 
 arp illitprntf livino- ^vithont TaV^rr;^,,^ ijK^^t^^ "- -nersonal freedom. (See pages 4, 6, 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS II3 
 
 they are consumed by the dogs, pigs and vultures with 
 which Lhasa swarms."^ After death, those who are im- 
 penitent may naturally look for something yet more ter- 
 rible, for fear of which the Tibetans are all their life 
 time subject to the horrible bondage of their priesthood. 
 "No vision of hell," says Landon, concerning the temple 
 at Gyantse and its carvings, "was ever drawn with such 
 amazing delicacy and hideous ingenuity as are the quaint 
 tortures of the damned in this representation of the 
 Buddhist Sheol."^ Where there is cruelty, men's hearts 
 grow pitiless, and their creed is patterned after their 
 conduct. 
 
 Almost universal immorality and the consequent degra- 
 dation of womanhood and childhood are still darker 
 shadows in the true picture of the non-Christian world 
 especially the unoccupied fields. The testimony of all trav- 
 elers agrees regarding the moral degradation of the Mos- 
 lem and pagan populations of Central Asia and Africa.' 
 In Afghanistan, immorality of the most debasing type 
 is common even at court and among the Moslem clergy. 
 The degradation of womanhood is complete, from the 
 residents of the palace to the dancing girls of the street. 
 Among the Chantos of Eastern Turkistan, social and 
 moral conditions are very low. "Flagrant immorality is 
 well-nigh universal. Khotan and Keriya have the repu- 
 
 >P. Landon, "The Opening of Tibet," 335. 
 
 ^Ibid, 103. 
 
 "A. Herbert, "Two Dianas in Somaliland." James L. Barton and others, 
 "The Mohammedan World of To-day," 81, 138, 139, 210, etc. J. Richter, 
 "History of Protestant Missions in the Near East," 27. F. A. Martin, 
 "Under the Absolute Amir," 270, 287. S. C. Rijnhart, "With the Tibetans 
 in Tent and Temple," 142, 215. J. Curtin, "A Journey in Southern Siberia," 
 81, 90. Sven Hedin, "Through Asia," Vol. I, 79; Vol. II, 738. "In some 
 parts of Africa the level of the unconscious brute is reached."— H. L. 
 Tangye, "In the Torrid Sudan," 234. 
 
114 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 tation of being the most immoral cities of Asia."^ A so- 
 called respectable woman may have three or four hus- 
 bands in a year, because of divorce and temporary legal 
 marriages." Among the Khirghiz women, and the no- 
 mads of Central Asia in general, better conditions pre- 
 vail; but in Russian Turkistan and Bokhara, the usual 
 results of the Moslem social system, we are sorry to 
 record, are everywhere in evidence. 
 
 The terrible cry of the outcast children of Kashgar, 
 voiced recently by a converted Moslem from Central Asia, 
 is only typical of similar needs and sorrows in all the 
 unoccupied fields of the world. "These homeless and 
 deserted children live in the burial-ground, outside of 
 town; near the dead they find that refuge which the 
 living deny them. . . . Almost naked, covered only with 
 a few old rags, barefooted and bareheaded, they are ex- 
 posed to the cold which makes them freeze, their hunger 
 becomes insupportable, sleep comes and with it the angel 
 of death whose kiss releases them from all the misery 
 of earth-life."' 
 
 The social condition of the Chinese Moslems in 
 Kashgar is worse than that of Chinese Confucianists. 
 Mr. George Hunter states that the marriage tie is very 
 loose, many having had as many as a hundred wives, 
 and Mr. Broomhall adds, "Such a condition in China 
 would be practically impossible, and in this the restrain- 
 ing influence of Confucian ethics is clearly seen."* 
 
 The very sanctuaries of religion, the pilgrim centers 
 
 •E. Huntington, "The Pulse of Asia," 231. 
 
 nhid. 
 
 ""The Cry of the Children of Kashgar," Missionary Review of the World, 
 July, 1910, S12-S15. 
 
 *M. Broomhall, "Islam in China." Cf. Sven Hedin, "Through Asia," 
 Vol. II, 1085. 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 115 
 
 in the unoccupied lands, are centers of immorality. This 
 is true of Meshed, Kerbela, Lhasa, Medina and Mecca. 
 "The Meccans appeared to me distinguished," says Bur- 
 ton, "even in this foul-mouthed East, by the superior 
 licentiousness of their language. Abuse was bad enough 
 in the streets, but in the house it becomes intolerable."^ 
 Temporary marriages, which are a mere cloak for open 
 prostitution, are common in Mecca and are, indeed, one 
 of the chief means of livelihood for the natives.^ Con- 
 cubinage and divorce are more universal than in other 
 parts of the Moslem world;* unnatural vices are prac- 
 ticed in the Sacred Mosque itself,* and the suburbs of 
 the city are the scenes of nightly carnivals of iniquity, 
 especially after the pilgrims have left and the natives 
 are rich with the fresh spoils of the traffic.^ 
 
 In the midst of such conditions, which have continued 
 for centuries in the lands under consideration, it is not 
 surprising to find the sad condition of womanhood a con- 
 spicuous proof of the hopelessness of the ethnic religions. 
 Throughout all of the unoccupied mission fields, woman 
 is still regarded "as a scandal and a slave, a drudge and 
 a disgrace, a temptation and a terror, a blemish and a 
 burden — at once the touchstone and stumbling-block of 
 human systems, the sign and shame of the non-Christian 
 world." To quote again from Dr. Dennis, "The status 
 of woman outside of Christendom may be indicated by 
 the estimate put upon her, by the opportunity given her, 
 by the function assigned her, by the privilege accorded 
 
 'Burton, quoted in S. M. Zwemcr's "Arabia, the Cradle of Islam," 41. 
 ^Snouck Hurgronje, "Mekka," V«l. II, 5. 
 *Ibid., 102. 
 *Ibid., II. 
 •Ibid., 61-64. 
 
Il6 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 her, and by the service expected of her."^ This indict- 
 ment may have its striking exceptions among certain 
 tribes of nomads or in individual instances, and must be 
 qualified as regards Tibet, but it is undoubtedly true of 
 the vast majority of all the women who live in the lands 
 mentioned in this book. 
 
 It is the testimony of Dr. Karl W. Kumm, that the 
 women in the Sudan, as long as they are pagan, are more 
 or less free and are only treated badly if they are the 
 weaker in the incessant domestic quarrels of pagan life. 
 As soon as the men become Mohammedans, however, he 
 says, the women become slaves and worse than slaves. 
 "Under Islam, in Darkest Africa, woman is still a chattel 
 in her husband's hands, who has the authority to punish 
 for wrongdoing by beating, stoning or imprisonment un- 
 til death."" 
 
 Of Somaliland, we read that, "instead of a system of 
 old-age pensions for women, they are employed as beasts 
 of burden to carry loads of faggots and such like. Child- 
 bearing and hard work are the only things expected of 
 them."3 
 
 The condition of womanhood in Darkest Asia is no 
 better than in Africa. Even in Annam, where her con- 
 dition is far superior to that in Moslem Asia, or in Tibet, 
 most of them live in dense ignorance and superstition, 
 suffer the horrors of polygamy or polyandry and in the 
 hour of their greatest need are subjected to ignorant 
 cruelties and malpractice.* In Baluchistan, women are 
 
 'J. S. Dennis, "Christian Missions and Social Progress," Vol. I, 104. 
 
 'K. W. Kumm, "Women in the Sudan." Pamphlet, Sudan United Mis- 
 sion. 
 
 'J. W. Jennings, "With the Abyssinians in Somaliland," 38. See also 
 H. G. C. Swayne, "Seventeen Trips through Somaliland," 12. 
 
 'G. M. Vassal, "On and Off Duty in Annam," 92, iii, 130, 132-147. 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS 117 
 
 given all the degrading work to do and bear all the 
 heavy burdens, while the men sit in idleness. "Occa- 
 sionally, one may even see a woman harnessed with a 
 donkey to a plow."^ Nothing sets forth the general deg- 
 radation of womanhood in Afghanistan and Baluchistan 
 more convincingly and more terribly than the following 
 paragraphs taken from the Government Census Report.* 
 "Throughout the province, more especially among the 
 Afghans and the Brahuis,^ the position of women is one 
 of extreme degradation. She is not only a mere house- 
 hold drudge, but she is the slave of man in all his needs, 
 and her life is one of continual and abject toil. 
 
 "No sooner is a girl fit for work than her parents send 
 her to tend the cattle, and she is compelled to take her 
 part in all the ordinary household duties. Owing to 
 the system of wahvar* in vogue among the Afghans, 
 a girl, as soon as she reaches nubile age, is, for all practi- 
 cal purposes, put up for auction sale to the highest bid- 
 der. Her father discourses on her merits as a beauty 
 or as a housekeeper in the public meeting-places, and in- 
 vites offers from those who are in want of a wife. Even 
 the more wealthy and more respectable Afghans are not 
 above this system of thus lauding the human wares which 
 they have for sale. The betrothal of girls who are not 
 yet born is frequent, and a promise of a girl thus made 
 is considered particularly binding. It is also usual for 
 an award of compensation for blood to be paid in the 
 shape of girls, some of whom are living whilst others 
 are not yet born. 
 
 *A. D. Dixey, "Baluchistan," Church Missionary Review, December, 1908. 
 
 ^Quoted by A. D. Dixey, "Baluchistan," Church Missionary Review, 
 December, 1908. Cf. also G. P. Tate, "The Frontiers of Baluchistan," 
 234, 23S- 
 
 *One of the largest non-Afghan tribes in the country. 
 
 'Marriage custom in regard to dowry. 
 
Il8 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 "Hence it happens that among Afghans polygamy is 
 only limited by the purchasing power of the man, and a 
 wife is looked on as a better investment than cattle, for 
 in a country where drought and scarcity are continually 
 present, the risk of loss of animals is great, whilst the 
 offspring of a woman, if a girl, will assuredly fetch a 
 high price." 
 
 The women of Tibet do not suffer these "horrors of 
 Islam," but their condition is no less pitiful. "The 
 women of Tibet," says James Douglas, "by the place 
 of authority which they occupy, and the mental functions 
 which they discharge, furnish a problem which thus 
 far has baffled the reflective powers of the foreigner, 
 be he Chinese or European. The Chinese, the more they 
 see of the phenomenon, the wider they open their eyes 
 in wonder; and the European traveler is equally at his 
 wits' end for an explanation. The Tibetan woman is a 
 coin of a double stamp — on one side she is a drudge, 
 on the other a queen. Tasks far fitter for masculine than 
 feminine shoulders are hers, which the ignoble males 
 would deem it a degradation to perform, such as the 
 carrying of water from rivers up to homes built on giddy 
 heights ; and yet, while the women of Tibet fill the place 
 of drudge, they also sit on the throne of power. No good 
 boy was ever more systematically subject to his mother, 
 or dependent at every turn on her leave, than is the 
 Tibetan husband on his wife. He cannot buy, and cer- 
 tainly he will not sell, save as his wife directs or permits. 
 If the wife is from home, the husband will mention it, 
 to any one wishing to deal with him, as the reason why 
 necessarily all business in his case is at a standstill."^ 
 Yet, in spite of this comparatively high social position, 
 
 ^Missionary Review of the World, June, 1894, 410. 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS II9 
 
 ignorance, superstition, and uncleanly habits seem 
 to have divested their home life, as well as their persons 
 of most of the attractions of womanhood. "It cannot 
 be claimed that Tibetan ladies look beautiful," says Lan- 
 don. "It is, of course, difficult to say what the effect 
 would be if some of them were thoroughly washed. As 
 it is, they exist from the cradle (or what corresponds 
 to it), to the stone slab on which their dead bodies are 
 hacked to pieces without a bath or even a partial cleans- 
 ing of any kind.^ Immorality is common.^ While 
 polygamy, as well as polyandry, has destroyed the 
 sacredness of marriage.^ 
 
 Summing up the present social conditions in the areas 
 outside of missionary effort, it is evident that the uni- 
 versal ignorance, the appalling illiteracy, the degrading 
 superstitions, the unspeakable immoralities, the hideous 
 persecutions and tortures prevalent in all these lands and 
 the pitiful condition of womanhood and childhood are 
 the strongest possible plea for Christian missions. 
 
 The Gospel is the only hope for the social uplift of the 
 world, and sinc6 Christian missions have always been prior 
 to real and lasting social progress and have shown their 
 power for nineteen centuries in every part of the world, 
 it is evident that the fields at present unoccupied have 
 a claim on the Gospel. It is not right, since we believe 
 
 'P. Landon, "The Opening of Tibet," 63. A. H. S. Landor, "In the 
 Forbidden Land," Vol. I, 245, 289. 
 
 'A. H. S. Landor, "In the Forbidden Land," Vol. II, 58, 61, 63. 
 
 '"A Tibetan girl on marrying does not enter into a nuptial tie with an 
 individual but with all his family. When the bridegroom has brothers, 
 they arc regarded as their brother's wife's husbands and they all live with 
 her as well as with her sisters if she has any." A. H. S. Landor, "In the 
 Forbidden Land," 63. Polygamy is common among the ruling class and 
 the wealthy. Ibid, 68. Cf. the testimony of Dr. Susie Rijnhart, "With the 
 Tibetans in Tent and Temple," 215, 221, 333. 
 
I20 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 in the brotherhood of man and all belong to one great 
 family of God, for some of us to have everything until 
 all of us have something. There is no hope in the 
 shallow and mistaken cry, "civilization first and Chris- 
 tianity afterwards." It is a watchword without promise 
 and without power. Civilization, without evangelization, 
 introduces more evils into the non-Christian world than 
 existed before its arrival. The Gospel is the only hope 
 of social salvation, not to speak of its moral and spiritual 
 power, for the unoccupied fields.' Dr. Moffat, after 
 twenty-six years of missionary life, wrote: "Much has 
 been said about civilizing savages before attempting to 
 evangelize them, but we have never yet seen a practical 
 demonstration of the truth of this theory. We ourselves 
 are convinced that evangelization must precede civiliza- 
 tion. Nothing less than the power of divine grace can 
 reform the hearts of savages. After which the mind is 
 susceptible of those instructions which teach them to 
 adorn the Gospel they profess."" 
 
 ^R. E. Speer, "Missionary Principles and Practice," 412-420, and espe- 
 cially J. S. Dennis, "Christian Missions and Social Progress," Vol. II. 
 Cf, also the famous experiments of Bishop Colenso of Natal, Africa (1814- 
 1883) ; see his life by Cox, London, 1888. 
 
 'Moflat, "The Lives of Robert and Mary Moffat," 372. 
 
RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS 
 
 121 
 
"The evidence we have to offer is that of experience. We find 
 that Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism have not made the 
 corpse live, but only garlanded it with flowers. There are good 
 points and teachings in these religious, but they are simply pre- 
 cepts without living power to raise the people. . . . These relig- 
 ions have not lifted a single burden or borne a single sorrow. 
 They have plunged the people into hopeless night as regards 
 the future life, and have given no power to overcome sin in the 
 present one." 
 
 — ^Rev. Joseph S. Adams, Hankow, China. 
 
 "The God of Mohammed . . . spares the sin the Arab loves. A 
 religion that does not purify the home cannot regenerate the 
 race; one that depraves the home is certain to deprave humanity. 
 Motherhood must be sacred if manhood is to be honorable. Spoil 
 the wife of sanctity, and for the man the sanctities of life have 
 perished. And so it has been with Islam. It has reformed and 
 lifted savage tribes; it has depraved and barbarized civilized 
 nations. At the root of its fairest culture a worm has ever lived 
 that has caused its blossoms soon to wither and die. Were 
 Mohammed the hope of man, then his state were hopeless; before 
 him could only lie retrogression, tyranny and despair." 
 
 —Principal Fairbaim, "The City of God." 
 
 "Unconcealed selfishness, therefore, expresses the essence of 
 animistic religion. Humanity is an idea which cannot be im- 
 planted in this heathenism; it would cast it out again. The 
 ideas of the love of God and man can no more be developed from 
 this heathenism than sweet grapes could be made, in course of 
 time, to spring from a blackthorn tree. It cannot even be en- 
 grafted; the old tree mijist be uprooted and a new one planted." 
 
 — ^Joh. Wameck, "The Living Christ and Dying Heathenism." 
 
 122 
 
Chapter V 
 
 RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS 
 
 There is no part of the world nor of the unoccupied 
 fields of the world where men are wholly without religion. 
 In nothing is the unity of the race and the solidarity 
 of humanity more evident than in the universal thirst 
 of the soul for that which is above the natural and 
 material.^ No nation is so low in the scale of civilization 
 but it has some religious beliefs and aspirations. Herbert 
 Spencer points out this fact while not admitting its full 
 import : "Religious ideas of one kind or other are almost 
 universal. Admitting that in many places there are tribes 
 who have no theory of creation, no word for deity, no 
 propitiatory acts, no idea of another life — admitting that 
 only when a certain phase of intelligence is reached do 
 the most rudimentary of such theories make their appear- 
 
 *Major Leonard, throughout his investigation of the tribes of Nigeria, 
 lays special stress on the oneness of the human race. He says that the 
 negroes of Nigeria, "in spite of their dark skins, woolly heads, receding 
 foreheads, prognathous jaws and thick, protruding lips, are quite as human 
 as we are. Cultivate their acquaintance, be sympathetic with them and gain 
 their confidence, and then it will be possible to realize that the same nature 
 is in them as in the most cultured European, the same sympathies and 
 antipathies, the same fierce passions." — "The Lower Niger and Its 
 Tribes," 55. 
 
 And again: "Full of the tragedy of life, with its woes and sorrows, its 
 misfortunes and death, they are equally alive to its comedies, the joy, the 
 mirth and the laughter; that is, the sunshine as opposed to the gloom and 
 darkness."— "The Lower Niger and Its Tribes," 56. Cf. also R. E. Dennett, 
 "At the Back of the Black Man's Mind," 338-340. 
 
 123 
 
124 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 ance, the implication is practically the same. . . . The 
 universality of religious ideas, their independent evolu- 
 tion among primitive races and their great vitality unite 
 in showing that their source must be deep-seated instead 
 of superficial."^ 
 
 This deep-seated capacity is a Divine gift and has 
 immense significance. In the strange superstitions, the 
 fanatic practices or the vagaries of folk-lore among the 
 nations unreached by the Gospel, the missionary discovers 
 not merely religious capacity, but Christian capacity and 
 the very eagerness of their far-off groping is a call 
 for the True Light. Not only the missionary, but all 
 those who study primitive races with true sympathy bear 
 witness to this fact. 
 
 "Of late years, evidence has been accumulating," says 
 Major Leonard, "to prove the spirituality of many savage 
 and barbaric peoples. Because the outward symbolism 
 is usually crude, the observer assumed that the ideas 
 that lie behind it are equally elementary and ignoble. 
 . . . We now know that our brethren most backward 
 in material culture are imbued with ethical and religious 
 ideas which do not materially differ from those 
 inculcated by the teachers of the religions of 
 civilized peoples." Here is one of the prayers used 
 by the pagans "in West Africa: "Preserve our lives, O 
 Father Spirit who hast gone before, and make thy house 
 fruitful, so that we, thy children, shall increase, multiply, 
 and so grow rich and powerful." They act on the 
 principle of, "Do unto your ancestors as you would they 
 should do unto you."^ 
 
 Another example of primitive but spiritual thought 
 
 'H. Spencer, "First Principles," 13, 14. 
 
 "A. G. Leonard, "The Lower Niger and Its Tribes," Preface, 11, 12. 
 
RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS 125 
 
 of high order is found in the beautiful weird legend of 
 the Creation told by the Papuans.^ 
 
 Even travelers who are out of sympathy with the 
 work of missions admit that the Gospel is the only hope 
 for such peoples. Touch with civilization has already 
 sapped the barbarian vigor of these primitive tribes. 
 It is impossible to return to old conditions or to halt 
 at the present milestone. "The Papuan must either de- 
 velop or sink into gradual, but sure mental, moral and 
 physical extinction." "I believe the Papuan has still 
 enough vitality left to flourish side by side with, and to 
 learn from, a more highly developed people. But the 
 teaching must be gradual, practical, systematic, while 
 firmness, kindness and fairness must be the creed of 
 every white man in his dealings with the native, for with 
 undeveloped intelligences, an ounce of practice is worth 
 a ton of precept."^ Where can we find ruch teachers, 
 save among missionaries? Who will give them the 
 ounce of practice unless it be those who walk as Christ 
 walked among men? 
 
 The opinion of some travelers, that the nomads of 
 Arabia or the pagans of Africa, are without religious 
 instinct or spiritual longings, is not borne out by the 
 facts. Douglas Carruthers, describing a recent journey 
 in North-western Arabia, says : "I seldom saw a Bedouin 
 praying ; in fact, they seemed to me to be utterly careless 
 of religion, and it is certainly remarkable that, although 
 Arabia is the center of the Moslem world, yet a third 
 of its inhabitants care nothing for Islam. The nomads 
 are not religious and never were. They would rob a 
 Mecca pilgrim as readily as they would a Christian."^ 
 
 ^K. Mackay, "Across Papua," 70. 
 =lbid., 156. 
 
 'Geographical Journal, March, 1910, "A Journey in North-western Arabia," 
 225. 
 
126 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 This may be true and yet anyone who peruses the pages 
 of Doughty or Burckhardt will know that these same 
 nomads observe old Semitic rites and pour out prayers 
 in time of trouble that remind one of the deep spiritual 
 life of the patriarchs who walked with Jehovah.^ 
 
 Because all nations and peoples have this innate capacity 
 for religion and, therefore, have a right to the highest 
 form of religion, the unoccupied fields of the world 
 should be evangelized. 
 
 Not only is there capacity, but there is need for a 
 higher faith. In the study of comparative religion, one 
 fact has never been sufficiently emphasized: the noiv- 
 Christian religions have all had their trial in the lands 
 ivhich we call "unoccupied fields of the world" un- 
 hindered, undisputed and without Christianity as a rival 
 or aggressor for centuries. How far have they tended 
 to uplift society, to develop civilization, to transform 
 character and bring peace to the soul? Have these 
 religions themselves, in their long history, and in their 
 full possession of lands and lives, developed or deterio- 
 rated? If the light that is in them has become darkness, 
 how great is that darkness ? 
 
 Has Animism in Africa and Malaysia, or Shamanism 
 in Siberia, grown richer, fuller, nobler, by a process of 
 evolution?^ Has Buddhism or Lamaism become better 
 or worse, while in the course of centuries they dominated 
 
 'C. M. Doughty, "Arabia Deserta," Vol. I, 241, 259, 264, 470. S. M. 
 Zwemer, "Arabia, the Cradle of Islam," 157. 
 
 ^As Flora L. Shaw writes in A Tropical Dependency^ "It may happen that 
 we sl^all have to revise entirely our view of the black races and regard 
 those who now exist as the decadent representatives of an almost forgotten 
 era rather than as the embryonic possibility of an era yet to come." — 
 Quoted in R. E. Dennett's "At the Back of the Black Man's Mind," facing 
 page I. Ct. Joh. Warneck, "The Living Christ and Dying Heathenism," 
 98-103. 
 
RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS I27 
 
 thought and life in Annam and Tibet undisputed ? What 
 has Islam added to its original stock of ideas, either in 
 Arabia or Afghanistan, to prove that the course of its 
 development is upward and onvi^ard? 
 
 The fundamental test of personal religion and of 
 national religion was given by our Lord Jesus Christ : 
 "By their fruits ye shall know them." By that test, the 
 religious condition to-day of all the unoccupied fields of 
 the world is no less needy and full of pathos than their 
 social condition. Their spiritual degradation and desti- 
 tution is their highest appeal for help. 
 
 No fairer testimony could be given regarding the real 
 weakness of Islam than that from the land which is at 
 once its cradle and its stronghold, its shame and its cyno- 
 sure. Arabia shows not only the strength but the weak- 
 ness of Islam. 
 
 In other lands, such as Syria and Egypt, Islam has 
 been for many centuries in contact and conflict with a 
 more or less corrupt form of oriental Christianity and 
 in the past century, with western civilization and 
 Protestant missions. In India and in China, Islam has 
 been in touch with the culture of other non-Christian 
 religions, and there is no doubt that in both cases there 
 were mutual concessions and influences on life and 
 thought. But in its native Arabian soil, the tree planted 
 by the Prophet has grown up with wild freedom and 
 brought forth fruit after its kind. As regards morality, 
 Arabia is on a low plane. Slavery and concubinage exist 
 nearly everywhere ; while polygamy and divorce are fear- 
 fully common. Fatalism, the philosophy of the masses, 
 has utterly paralyzed enterprise. As regards industry 
 and invention, the Arabian Peninsula is at the antipodes 
 of progress — a land without manufactures and where 
 
128 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 machinery of any sort is looked upon as a marvel. There 
 is universal distrust and suspicion so that in a country 
 without large game everyone goes armed — against his 
 neighbor. Injustice abounds and is often stoically ac- 
 cepted. Bribery is too common to be called a crime, lying 
 is almost an art and robbery has been reduced to a 
 science. 
 
 Doughty and Palgrave, who both crossed the heart 
 of the Peninsula, have given it as their verdict that there 
 is no hope for Arabia in Islam. It has been tried and tried 
 zealously for thirteen hundred years and piteously failed. 
 Palgrave, who spent many years among Mohammedans, 
 and who was so far in sympathy with them that on more 
 than one occasion, he conducted service for them in their 
 mosques, speaking of Arabia says: "When the Koran 
 and Mecca shall have disappeared from Arabia, then, 
 and only then, can we expect to see the Arab assume 
 that place in the ranks of civilization from which Mo- 
 hammed and his book have, more than any other cause, 
 long held him back." 
 
 In reference to this same subject and writing on the 
 impossibility of political independence for Egypt while 
 Islam holds sway. Professor A. Vambery asks, "Does 
 there exist anywhere a Mohammedan Government where 
 the deep-seated evil of anarchy, misrule and utter col- 
 lapse does not offer the most appalling picture of human 
 caducity ?"^ 
 
 What the fruits of this same religion have been in 
 Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Chinese Turkistan and Bo- 
 khara is evident from the social and moral conditions in 
 these lands, as described in the previous chapter. Mo- 
 
 '"Pan-Islamiam," The Ninetemth Ctntury, October, 1906. 
 
RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS I29 
 
 rocco and the Sudan are other illustrations of the in- 
 ability of Islam, to uplift a people. 
 
 The prevailing religion throughout the whole of Tibet 
 is Lamaism.^ It is a corrupt form of Buddhism and 
 along with it there still exists the older Bon or Shaman- 
 istic faith. The Buddhism of Tibet is not that of Ceylon 
 or Japan, yet it is not devoid of the elements of strength 
 found in the philosophy of Buddha. It is based on hun- 
 dreds of sacred folios containing a system of dialectics 
 and doctrine, hoary with age and centuries older than 
 Christianity. "Proud, self-righteous and self-satisfied, it 
 is, in spite of its hollowness and superficiality, stubbornly 
 tenacious of life and so complete and minute in its organi- 
 zation that it inexorably sways the whole life, religious, 
 political and social, of its adherents."^ Yet there is no 
 country in the world where the highest form of com- 
 munion with- the Unseen God has been reduced to a 
 more mechanical formalism than in the land of the Lamas. 
 Prayer-wheels, prayer-mills, prayer-cylinders are every- 
 where in evidence. Prayer is driven by water power, by 
 the winds that blow on the "roof of the world," and by 
 skill of hand. 
 
 Great ingenuity is displayed in multiplying the 
 efficacy of this perpetual cycle of prayer.^ The sacred 
 
 ^Yet it may surprise many to learn that Lamaism is not the only religion 
 of Tibet. There are numbers of Mohammedans in Northern Tibet. They 
 are called Kachee by the Tibetans. Mohammedanism is making headway 
 and adding proselytes. At Suching, Tibetan families are taking down cor- 
 ners from their houses and removing their idolatrous symbols. At Lhasa 
 alone there are said to be two thousand families of Moslems. The total 
 number of Moslems in Tibet is already perhaps 20,000. — M. Broomhall, 
 "Islam in China," 206, 
 
 ^H. G. Schneider, "Working and Waiting for Tibet," 49. 
 
 ^B. de Lacoste, "Around Afghanistan," 138. A. H. S. Landor, "In the 
 Forbidden Land," Vol. I, 51, 52- Sven Hedin, "Through Asia," Vol. II, 
 iofi2, 1174. 
 
130 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 mantra, Om Mani Padme Hum, is written out by the 
 priests or printed upon the thinnest possible, paper and 
 hundreds of these sheets are compressed together and 
 attached to prayer wheels. "A prayer-wheel, eight feet 
 in height, may contain this same mantra about a hundred 
 million times. Every revolution of a wheel like this, 
 therefore, adds considerably to the credit side of the 
 Tibetan's account in heaven."*^ The magic formula is 
 incessantly repeated, is carved on rocks and engraven on 
 memories. 
 
 "Om Mani Padme Hum" literally signifies "O 
 Thou Pearl in the Lotus-blossom !" "It is an invocation 
 to Buddha the merciful one, whose one great self-imposed 
 mission is the salvation of all living creatures from the 
 miseries incident to sentient existence in the hope that it 
 may lead them in the way of salvation and that he will, 
 hearing it, ever keep the world in mind."^ And so their 
 thirst for the Living God, is a cry to be delivered 
 from existence and swallowed up in Nirvana, everlasting 
 f orgetf ulness ! 
 
 Even as the air in Tibet swarms with prayers, the land 
 swarms with priests.^ According to a Chinese estimate 
 for every family there are three lamas. Mr. Rockhill 
 says that in a journey of six hundred miles, he passed 
 "forty lamasaries, in the smallest of which there were 
 one hundred monks and in five of them from two to four 
 thousand."* 
 
 But the land with its Lotus-blossom god, and its omni- 
 
 iP. Landon, "The Opening of Tibet," 65. 
 
 '^W. W. Rockhill, "Land of the Lamas," 327. 
 
 ^Half the male population are lamas, according to Lander, and the mcst 
 o£ them are degraded and immoral. — A. H. S. Landor, "In the Forbidden 
 Land," Vol. I, 275-280, 284, 285, 289. Cf. Annie W. Marston, "The Great 
 Closed Land," 70-72. 
 
 nv. W. Rockhill, "The Land of the Lamas," 215. 
 
A BUDDHIST LEADER EROM BHUTAN 
 
 He wears charms and the Buddhist rc^ary. and carries the sacred sword and 
 staff. This special dagger uf wood or metal is used to stab demons. 130 
 
RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS I3I 
 
 present priesthood and perpetual prayer, is swnk in spirit- 
 ual ignorance and moral degradation. The fruits of the 
 Spirit do not flourish on the tree of Lamaism. Love, 
 joy, peace, and purity are not typical of Tibetan charac- 
 ter. There is no progress and no intellectual develop- 
 ment. "Lamaism is a tinkling cymbal, a corpse of cere- 
 mony, a thoughtless void. Its aim is to empty conscious- 
 ness of contents, to resolve personality into abstraction. 
 Hence there is no foothold for thought in the system, and 
 the round of religious activity has no more significance 
 as regards progress than the marking of time by soldiers 
 who have gathered for review."* If Buddhism is the 
 light of Asia, then Lamaism is the light of Tibet; but 
 the light that is in them is darkness, and how great is 
 that darkness ! 
 
 The power of religion is everywhere felt but not as 
 an uplifting force for righteousness. Tibet is a nation 
 that has strayed "far from God and is to-day lost in the 
 mazes of Buddhist Atheism."^ 
 
 "As Buddhism sways the whole life," says Miss 
 Marston, "religious, political, and social, the lamas may 
 be said to be in a very real sense the rulers of the land, 
 no act being performed without their advice and sanc- 
 tion. They profess to be able to discover springs, to pro- 
 duce rain, to drive away demons, and trace thieves. 
 Sometimes they are intelligent and well-instructed, but 
 the great majority are mere formalists, and quite indif- 
 ferent to the religion to which they profess to have de- 
 
 ^J. Douglas in the Missionary Review of the World, "The Unoccupied 
 Fields," June, 1894, 406. Cf. Annie W. Marston, "The Great Closed Land," 
 56-64; Sven Hedin, "Through Asia," Vol. II, 1062, 1176-1179, and Dr. Susie 
 Kijnhart, "With the Tibetans in Tent and Temple," 66. 
 
 'Bishop La Trobe in Preface to Annie W. Marston, "The Great Closed 
 Land," 10. 
 
132 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 voted themselves. There is gross ignorance among them, 
 too, as well as terrible sin, even the walls of temples 
 being often covered with obscene words and pictures."^ 
 
 And the mechanical character of such a religion, with- 
 out power to produce morality, appears most of all in 
 the daily life of those in the monasteries. These, accord- 
 ing to Miss Marston, "usually occupy a commanding 
 position on a lofty rock or a mountain spur, and are 
 reached by rude staircases cut in the rock, with temples, 
 domes, and spires gleaming with gold. The outer walls 
 are whitewashed, frequently with broad bands of red and 
 blue. Prayer-mills and wheels, yaks' tails and flags on 
 poles, all turning or waving in the wind, give an appear- 
 ance of color and life, while far and near are to be heard 
 the ringing of bells, the clanging of symbols, the beating 
 of drums and gongs or the sounding of silver horns. 
 
 "Every monastery has its temple, with its supply of idols 
 and of sacred books; one idol being nearly always 
 Buddha with a skull in his hand, the emblem of intel- 
 lectual power. The larger monasteries have several 
 temples, in which different gods are worshipped. A lamp 
 is perpetually burning in every monastery, fed in some 
 parts with apricot oil, in others with butter. Services 
 are held in the monasteries morning and evening, open to 
 any laymen who may like to attend. The prayers are all 
 sung by the lamas, but as each one sings a different line, 
 and all at the same time, a great many are got through in 
 a comparatively short time."" 
 
 It is the conclusive and unanimous testimony of mis- 
 sionaries on its borders and of travelers who entered 
 the great lone land, that Lamaism has failed in Tibet 
 
 >A. W. Marston, 'The Great Closed Land," 68. 
 ■Ibid., 70. 
 
lAiAGKS. sv^r^.MLs A^r^ ]NStru:\ients r)F la^iaism found 
 
 IN THE LAMASHKV AT SIKKIM ON THE IJORDERS 
 OF TIBET 
 
 The trumpet is maile of a luinian lh;gh-l)one. The i.l.iria, or tliunder- 
 bolt, is a part uf e\ery monk's eqiiipmenC in 'I'ibet. It is made of 
 bronze and sliaped Hke the imaginary thunderbolt of Indra. The dorJE. 
 is used to drive away evil spirits, the instrument being \va\'ed backward 
 and forward. 
 
 Tlie other ofjjects in the jiicture are ])rnyer liells, images of Buddha, 
 charms, an(t \'esscK used fnr ceremonial purification. 13a 
 
RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS 133 
 
 no less signally than Islam in Arabia, when we judge 
 the system by its results. Bhutan and Nepal also are 
 under the spell of this deadening faith — a religion literally 
 without Christ, without hope, without God. 
 
 The prevalent religions of the largest areas and popu- 
 lations in Africa, Malaysia and the island world still un- 
 occupied by missions are designated as Animism and 
 Fetichism. Without any sacred books and varying in 
 each tribe, in some associated with worthier ideas, in 
 others with cruel or degrading customs and everywhere 
 subjecting the people to the terrors and tyrannies of 
 superstition and witchcraft, these religions hold in thrall 
 untold millions of people. They have had trial for 
 centuries, but instead of evolution or development, there 
 has been only degeneration. In Africa their opposition 
 to Christianity or to Islam is of the weakest. It has 
 nothing in, it of the pride of fanaticism such as exists 
 in Christianity's great rival in Africa, nor does it oppose 
 an adamantine social barrier such as that of caste in 
 India. Its very misery makes it welcome relief; its utter 
 darkness makes it glad of light. There are, indeed, 
 vested interests of darkness to be overcome, but the field 
 is one where, as in Uganda and Livingstonia, rapid and 
 widespread triumphs of the Gospel are possible.' "It is 
 a shame to the Churches of Christendom that they have 
 not anticipated the Powers of Europe in a partition of 
 Africa for the bringing of these millions into the King- 
 
 'Joh. Warneck, "The Living Christ and Dying Heathenism," 103, 118, 119. 
 
 "Mr. Bentley asks: 'What are we to infer from the present state of 
 things? Is the idea of God being slowly evolved out of fetichism? Is it 
 not rather that the people have well nigh lost the knowledge of God which 
 once their forefathers possessed?' Exactly — I should infer from the long 
 study of the people that I have made that such is certainly the case."— 
 R. E. Dennett, "At the Back of the Black Man's Mind," 168. 
 
134 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 dom of Christ."^ The people under the terrible thrall 
 of Animistic faiths are surely in need of the Gospel. Their 
 highest religious practices are in many cases full of sin 
 and degradation. 
 
 Cannibalism itself is not due to lack of all religion, 
 but is based upon the degenerated beliefs of Animism. 
 "From the entire constitution of their priestly craft," 
 says Major Leonard, "it is evident that cannibalism not 
 only had, but still has, a spiritual or sacrificial signifi- 
 cance; and that, in other words, however this may have 
 degenerated in principle, it was originally a religious and 
 absolutely indispensable sacrament."^ A religion that has 
 for its sacraments the demoniac cruelties, such as are 
 bound up with the practice of cannibalism is its own con- 
 demnation. 
 
 "The splendor of the tropics," says Warneck, "has been 
 unable to brighten the religious life of the Animist. The 
 results of his reflections are hard, dark and cheerless. 
 The friendly gods are far away, the spirits are numerous 
 and formidable, their service hard, while fate is pitiless 
 and their own souls unmerciful. How precious must 
 religion be to men when it leads them to accept such 
 burdens."^ And how great must be our responsibility 
 to lift that burden by bringing them the knowledge of 
 Jesus Christ and his Gospel ; to interpret to them Christ's 
 gracious invitation : "Come unto me all ye that are weary 
 and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Heathenism 
 is without hope ; it is full of fear and terror. Never has 
 a tyrant more cruelly tormented his slaves than demons 
 
 ^Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I. 
 'A. G. Leonard, "The Lower Niger and Its Tribes," 403; R. E. Dennett, 
 "At the Back of the Black Man's Mind/' 263-265. 
 °Joh. Warneck, "The Living Christ and Dying Heathenism," 81. 
 
\ELIGIOUS CONDITIONS 135 
 
 and spirits to-day terrorize millions of their blinded 
 worshippers.^ 
 
 In another chapter of his masterly psychological study 
 of Animistic heathenism, Warneck speaks of the power 
 of demons and quotes the experience of missionary Lett 
 on the island of Nias : "It may be difficult to distinguish 
 the actual influence of demoniac powers from conscious 
 dissimulation, delusion, lying and deceit. But this is 
 certain, that in the heathen world still untouched by the 
 Gospel, there are dark spiritual powers at work of which 
 we in Christendom know nothing, and that the heathen 
 are exposed to many influences from the kingdom of 
 darkness from which we seem to be protected." In other 
 words, their terror is not mere superstition but is a real 
 terror of real forces. 
 
 Now, whether it be true, as he goes on to allege, that 
 in the evangelization of the unoccupied fields of Malaysia, 
 as well as among the pagans in Africa, we face a con- 
 flict with supernatural forces and agencies, or whether 
 we deny this, it is beyond dispute that such heathenism, 
 left alone, cannot develop itself, but must be uprooted 
 and supplanted.^ Paganism has produced fruit after its 
 own kind. It has no hope of reform or progress. It 
 produces no transformation of character. It does not 
 improve ethically by evolution. Their whole environ- 
 ment must be uplifted and transformed. Therefore, the 
 evangelization of Pagan Africa means more than the 
 
 'Joh. Warneck, "Th': Living Clirist and Dying Heathenism," 74-Si. Cf. J. 
 Curtin, "A Journey in Southern Siberia," 45-50, ng-126. A. G. Leonard, 
 "The Lower Niger and Its Tribes," 392-405. Major Leonard devotes an 
 entire chapter to the witch-doctors of Africa, their methods and poisons and 
 agrees with Warneck that the dark practices of Animism terrorize the 
 people's conscience. 
 
 'Joh. Warneck, "The Living Christ and Dying Heathenism," 103-118, 119, 
 134- 
 
136 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 introduction of the Gospel into existing forms of social 
 life, as may be the case in lands of culture. Here we 
 must begin at the bottom. Here it means the introduc- 
 tion of education and letters, of agriculture, and indus- 
 tries, of Christian marriage, and of the due recognition 
 of the sanctity of human life and of property. The prob- 
 lem before the Church is the creation of a Christian 
 African civilization.^ 
 
 Ethically, as well as socially and spiritually, Animism 
 is on a low plane. Lying is fearfully common and charac- 
 teristic among Animists. It is to them synonymous with 
 cleverness. The Battaks cannot understand that lies are 
 dishonorable. The same is true of the Dayaks in Borneo, 
 and of all the heathen of the Indian Archipelago. They 
 are shocking liars. "Without a quiver of the eyelid, they 
 will use the deepest curses to confirm their lies." Uni- 
 versal distrust is the result of this mendacity, and the 
 climax of their art of lying is that the deities themselves 
 are deceived in their very worship.^ Yet with all this, 
 the Animists have a deep unsatisfied longing and a thirst 
 for the living God. "A longing and seeking after God 
 runs through the Animistic world like a vein of gold in 
 the dirty rock, and those mission workers who are unable 
 to discover ideas of God in heathenism, amid all its errors, 
 commit a serious mistake."^ 
 
 Turning from this general argument on the inadequacy 
 of the various religions that now occupy the unoccupied 
 mission fields, we notice three special characteristics which 
 all have in common and each of which emphasizes the 
 
 'Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I, Section 
 on Africa; Cf. R. E. Dennett, "At the Back of the Black Man's Mind," 
 338-240. 
 
 'Joli. Wanieck, "The Living Christ and Dying Heathenism," 9J.95. 
 
 •Ibid.. 9fi. 
 

 
 0S\ ;-i* ^:/ ■ 
 
 i^^^Snl 
 
 
 ; . :^^ 
 
 •Tt^»7\itB 1. 
 
 *! f Ira 
 
 
 ^B^^^B^^vV^oSB jJH 
 
 
 
 ^M 
 
 
 m 
 
 rrjTEMS, IDOLS AST) ]- M'i J( II IlS l-KOM M-:\\' (lUINEA 
 
 As are the t^ods, so ari_- ihtir wur^liipiicrs. "The c^^cnce of heathenism 
 to-day is determined by * jodlcssness, not by that dim longing after the 
 true God, and it derives its characteristic marks from Hodlessness. Its 
 ])OU'ers, born of eartli. drag downwards, not upwards. Absolute hoy>eless- 
 ness stares the d\'ing in the face." (Warneck, "'Ihe Li\'ing Chri-.t and 
 Uying lleatlienibui." J3J-133. ) 136 
 
RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS 137 
 
 claim of these fields to know Christ as the supreme and 
 unique Deliverer and our only Saviour. First there are 
 inadequate or degrading conceptions of God and of the 
 future life; there is religious tyranny, the bondage of 
 priesthood, witch-doctors, lamas and other religious 
 leaders whose scandalous lives are an indictment of the 
 religion they represent ; and there is neither hope nor that 
 joy and peace which the Gospel alone can give. 
 
 The belief in a Supreme God among the pagans of 
 Africa and Malaysia is vague, shadowy, and often quite 
 latent. The idea of God is very low. "Our people," says 
 Donald Fraser, concerning Central Africa, ''believe in 
 one Supreme God, but the only thing they know about 
 His character is that He is fierce. He is the Creator 
 and is above all the forces of the world. But men have 
 no access to Him. No prayers or offerings are made to 
 Him. He brings death into the home. And when a 
 dear one is taken away, they say God is fierce."^ One 
 can see the grotesque and debasing ideas of God on 
 entering the temples of fetich-worship. "Inside the 
 Ju-ju houses are various and numerous clay images of 
 human beings, beasts of different kinds, snakes, leopards, 
 the moon, stars and the rainbow. The walls are orna- 
 mented with the cheap hardware plates of commerce that 
 are brought to them in return for produce. They are 
 let into the walls along with cowries, and arranged with 
 a not inartistic style in rude designs and patterns."* Crude 
 also are the symbols of Deity among the people of New 
 Guinea and the Solomon Islands, as we see in the illus- 
 tration opposite. 
 
 'Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. IV. 
 
 •A. G. Leonard, "The Lower Niger and Its Tribes," 408-409. Cf. iR. E. 
 Dennett, "At the Back of the Black Man's Mind," 197, and its illustrations 
 opposite 94 and 194. 
 
138 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 The gods of the Buriats of Southern Siberia, whose 
 religion is also animistic, are described by Jeremiah 
 Curtin. He tells of their gruesome horse-sacrifices and 
 other ceremonies to gain merit or pardon. In the poly- 
 theistic system of their strange faith there are, under 
 Sagan Burkan, the Supreme White God, other spirits 
 called Tangeris. To these Ongons, or household gods, 
 they make sacrifice and hang up rabbit skins, sacred 
 relics, or metallic figures on bits of cloth are described 
 by Jeremiah Curtin.^ "The long skin is that of a skunk, 
 and represents the god who came down in the form 
 of hail and, entering a girl of thirteen, was born and 
 named Mindin Qubun Iryil. All things are asked of 
 him. He is very kindly and grants many prayers."^ 
 As another illustration of this "primitive religion" which, 
 after all these centuries, has not developed into anything 
 higher or better, we give Curtin's description of the horse- 
 sacrifice observed without change since the days of Ghen- 
 gis Khan among people still ignorant of the Lamb of God 
 that taketh away the sin of the world; the account is 
 so significant and typical that we do not abbreviate : 
 
 "The Tailgan, or Horse Sacrifice, takes place on a hill 
 called Uher, about seven miles from Usturdi. On this 
 hill fifteen large stone altars have been built. . . . First 
 the horse is purified by being led between the fires 
 (there must be either three, nine or twenty-seven fires), 
 then it is led up toward the officiating persons, who 
 sprinkle milk on its face, and on the hair halter, and 
 cast some in the air to the gods. . . . Those who are 
 officiating appeal to the divinities, and the people follow 
 
 'J. Curtin, "A Journey in Southern Siberia," 119-130. 
 "Ibid, 121. 
 
RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS I39 
 
 them, either aloud or mentally. Each man prays usually 
 for what he likes best, or most desires. When this 
 prayer was ended, long ropes were tied securely around 
 the fetlocks of the horse, each rope was held by four 
 men, then the eight men in front pulled the forelegs for- 
 ward and somewhat apart, while the other eight pulled 
 the hindlegs back and apart. The horse fell on its side, 
 and then turned on its back. The sixteen men held the 
 ropes firmly and the beast was utterly helpless. A man, 
 his right arm bare to the shoulder, now came with a long 
 sharp knife and with one blow made a deep incision just 
 behind the breast bone. He thrust his hand into the 
 opening, seized the heart of the horse, and wrenched it 
 free from its connections. The poor beast tried to struggle, 
 but could not, and died very quickly. With the other 
 horse, it was somewhat different. The man must have 
 done his work unskilfully, or his hand was weaker, for 
 after he had withdrawn his arm and finished, as he 
 thought, the beast regained its position to the extent of 
 being able to bite the ground in agony. The sight was 
 distressing. Its teeth were bared in a ghastly grin; the 
 eyes became green and blue, much like the color of cer- 
 tain beetles. A more striking expression of piercing and 
 helpless agony I have never seen. It groaned once with 
 a sound of unspeakable anguish, kept its mouth for a 
 moment in the earth and then dropped over lifeless."^ 
 
 Such is one feature of the strange religion of the pagan 
 inhabitants of Siberia. Can any one question their need of 
 the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Shall the Christian Church 
 withhold it longer? 
 
 Whether, however, the other Buriats, who live east of 
 Lake Baikal, and have turned Buddhists, or the Tibetans 
 
 'J. Curtin, "A Journey in Southern Siberia," 44, 45. 4*- 
 
140 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 with their mixed creed of Shamanism and Buddhism, 
 have practically reached a higher way of salvation and a 
 higher conception of God, is an open question.'^ Budd- 
 hism, at its best, has not proved the light of Asia even 
 for the pagan races that adopted it. 
 
 In regard to conditions in Indo-China Gabrielle M. 
 Vassal writes: "Religion and superstition are so 
 intermingled in the mind of the Annamese and 
 in his performance of all rites and ceremonies, that it 
 is impossible to speak of one without the other." Super- 
 stition and sorcery go side by side with the Buddhist 
 and Taoist worship. The worship of spirits and genii 
 control his whole life. "The elephant, the silk-worm 
 and the rat enjoy a real cult, but the animal which is 
 most venerated and inspires the greatest number of super- 
 stitions is the tiger."^ The Aborigines of Annam, called 
 the Mois, bury their dead and then, through a hollow 
 bamboo, provide them with food for about a year. The 
 pathos of these Christless graves and of the buffalo- 
 sacrifice, made to ward off pestilence, show that the 
 heathenism of Indo-China is also hopeless.* 
 
 And what can we say of the religious leaders of the 
 lands under the spell of Buddhism? 
 
 The intellectual and spiritual stagnation of a Buddhist 
 monastery is typical of their whole religious life. Of 
 the Chinese Buddhist priests. Lord Curzon writes : "Their 
 piety is an illusion and their pretensions a fraud. They 
 
 ^One might well envy a resting place in the quiet Buriat graveyard of 
 Southern Siberia, under the blue sky and with farewells, rather than the 
 hacking'Stone of Lhasa and the Nirvana of Buddhism. — Cf. Curtin, "A 
 Journey in Southern Siberia," 103. Cf. A. H. S. Landor, "la the For- 
 bidden Land," Vol. II, 70, 71. 
 
 ^G. M. Vassal, "On and Off Duty in Anntm," iao-i23. 
 
 'Ibid., 22£-329. 
 
RELIGIOUS CONDITIOliS I4I 
 
 are the outcasts of society. The expression on their 
 "faces is one of idiotic absorption. This is not surprising, 
 considering that of the words which they intone scarcely 
 one syllable do they themselves understand. The Mass 
 book is a dead letter to them for it is written in Sanscrit 
 or Pali, which they can no more decipher than fly. The 
 words they chant are merely equivalent in sounds, and as 
 used in Chinese are totally devoid of sense."^ 
 
 The hopeless and degrading character of Lamaism is 
 written on the faces of its priesthood and is evident in 
 their degraded lives.^ Some live in open immorality. 
 "The lamas who, at certain periods of the year, are 
 allowed an unusual amount of freedom with women, are 
 those who practice the art of making musical instruments 
 and eating-vessels out of. human bones. . . . These par- 
 ticular lamas are said to relish human blood, which they 
 drink out of the cups made of human skulls."' 
 
 "It disgusted me," says Sven Hedin, writing of Kum- 
 bum and its temple of ten thousand images, "to see those 
 lazy fellows sauntering about among the magnificent 
 temples doing literally nothing. Apart from age, the 
 only difference I could detect among this army of temple 
 satellites was that some were dirtier than others. The 
 walls were painted with a whole series of pictures of 
 the gods. Their wrinkled brows, broad noses, widely 
 expanded nostrils, distorted mouths, screwed-up mus- 
 tachios and black eyebrows put me in mind of evil spirits 
 rather than gods. But these features were intended to 
 
 'G. N. Curzon, "Problems of the Far East," 345-355- Cf. Sven Hedm, 
 "Through Asia," Vol. II, 1176-1178. 
 
 'A. H. S. Landor, "In the Forbidden Land,"; Vol. II, 36, 68, no. S. C. 
 Sijnhart, "With the Tibetans in Tent and Temple," 102, 125; Lady Jenkins, 
 "Sport and Travel in Both Tibets," ji. 
 
 •A. H. S. Lauder, "In the Forbidden Land," Vol. I, 389. 
 
142 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 depict the awful and destructive power of the gods. ... I 
 bought a prayer-drum made out of the crowns of a couple 
 of human skulls."^ 
 
 Living such a life and amid such surroundings under 
 the spell of such a faith, it is no wonder that the ignorance 
 of the lamas in Tibet is colossal. One of them, an abbot, 
 said to Captain O'Connor, "The earth is shaped like a 
 shoulder of mutton-bone, and so far from being only a 
 small country, Tibet occupies nearly one-half of its whole 
 extent V" The lamas victimize the people and hold back 
 the key of knowledge, barring every path of intellectual 
 progress. The lamas are first and the laity are no- 
 where. It is a kingdom of priests who oppress the 
 people. Tibet has been closed by the lamas and for the 
 lamas, not by or for the people.' 
 
 "It is not that Lhasa is for Buddhists only, for the 
 Mohammedan butcher works in the shadow of the Potala 
 and casts the bones and horns and refuse of his trade 
 on the very Ling-Por, which circles the holiest places 
 and' is the via sacrissima of all the pilgrim paths to Lhasa. 
 But it is the Westerner, because he is a Westerner to 
 whom Lhasa has been barred, and all his efforts, until 
 only lately, failed to undo the bars. The lamas terrorized 
 the people. The hierarchy of Lhasa declared the responsi- 
 bility of any European reaching their city should be upon 
 
 'Sven Hedin, "Through Asia," Vol. II, 1177-1181. 
 
 'P. Landon, "The Opening of Tibet," 30. 
 
 •"The monasteries at Lhasa, Shigatse and Gyantse are collegiate insti- 
 tutions with 10,000 inmates. For their support cultivable land is allotted, 
 and to such extent has this proceeded that there is barely enough agri- 
 cultural land left for the "working population. In addition to the proceeds 
 of the sequestrated land, the monks exact large sums in cash and kind in 
 payment of the religious duties they perform for the .people."^— Col. G. 
 Wingate in Missionary Review of the World, May, 1907. 
 

 PUologra^h, Undcrzvood S- ihiderzvood, N. Y. 
 
 lUK DAI.AI LA^IA OF TIBET 
 
 This is the man whom Sven Iledin in the recent article in the "Con- 
 temporary Review," August, lyio, calls the "Holy King," (jyalwa Rinpoche, 
 the once powerful incarnation fif Chenresi, the (irand I'ope Ngavang, Lob- 
 sang Trebden Gyatso Dalai Lama. "What a wonderful careerl He enters 
 into negotiations with Russia and forces England into war. He hurries as 
 a fugitive through Tibet and Mongolia, received everywhere like a king. 
 He escapes from great difficulties, is venerated in Peking, and returns to 
 Lhasa when the storm is over and past. Then he forces China into war. 
 Finally, he hurries away destitute of e\'erything as a begging friar to seek 
 help in India. He is not content with windmills, this Asiatic Don Quixote; 
 no, it must be the Great Powers that are to do all he wants. 
 
 "What a fine romance Dumas would have been able to write about 
 this Dalai Lama, of the processions and hurried journeys, a romance as 
 thrilling, though of a different kind, as 'The Count of Monte Cristo.' He 
 Is a new edition of Clement V. Darjeeling is his Avignon; he lives there 
 in the Babylonian exile of the Lamaistic Popes. And yet he enjoys the 
 only freedom that a man of his position and conditions in life can expect, 
 namely, a freedom inside strongly guarded cloister walls. Still, in his own 
 eyes, he is ever Chenresi. the divine incarnation of long life, and he con- 
 tinues to pray as before at the altar of his god." 14a 
 
RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS 143 
 
 the villages and villagers on his route, and the chiefs 
 thereof chould pay the penalty with their heads."^ 
 
 When the Chinese Government, on February lo, 1910, 
 issued an edict deposing the Dalai Lama, it described 
 him as having displayed "unprecedented pride, extrava- 
 gance, licentiousness, insubordination and unruliness," 
 and as "crafty, full of deceit, unstable in his allegiance, 
 and ungrateful."^ This is an official character-sketch of 
 the Incarnation of Buddha with all his halo and super- 
 natural ancestry ! 
 
 It is impossible for a stream to rise higher than its 
 source. Like priest, like people. No one can read the 
 unprejudiced testimony of Landor, Younghvisband, Sven 
 Hedin and others without admitting that Lamaism is the 
 curse of Tibet. It has immured a nation and buried hope 
 and progress almost as effectually, disastrously and cruelly 
 as it sanctions the burial alive of its own monks to win 
 religious merit.^ What more terrible and more pathetic 
 picture could there be than this: "Without any 
 hesitation, the abbot led the way out into the 
 sunshine. . . . We climbed about forty feet, and 
 the abbot led us into a small courtyard which had blank 
 walls all round it, over which a peach-tree reared its 
 transparent pink and white against the sky. Almost on 
 
 'Rev. W. S. Norwood in Dawn in Central Asia, May, 1910. See also Zur 
 Characteristik des Lamishschen Buddhismus (a review of Sven Hedin's "Trans- 
 himalaya") in Altg. Miss. Zeitschnft, March, "1910. 
 
 'Quoted in editorial. Church Missionary Review, May, 1910, 313. Cf. Sven 
 Hedin, "The Policy of the Dalai Lama," Contemporary Review, August, 
 191a. 
 
 •The horrible custom of immuring monks, prevalent in Tibet, is described 
 in all its hideousncss by those who have seen it. "Some endure it for six 
 months, others for three years and others for life, and the custom is the 
 more revolting because the men enter upon it willingly, a hideous and 
 useless form of self-sacrifice, haunting those who have once seen it as a 
 nightmare of horror."— P. Landon, "The Opening of Tibet," 107-109. 
 
144 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 a level with the ground there was an opening closed with 
 a flat stone from behind. In front of this window was 
 a ledge eighteen inches in width, with two basins beside 
 it, one at each end. The abbot was attended by an 
 acolyte who, by his master's orders, tapped three times 
 sharply on the stone slab; we stood in the little court- 
 yard in the sun, and watched that wicket with cold appre- 
 hension. I think, on the whole, it was the most uncanny 
 thing I saw in all Tibet. What on earth was going to 
 appear when that stone slab, which even then was begin- 
 ning weakly to quiver, was pushed aside, the wildest con- 
 jecture could not suggest. After half a minute's pause, 
 the stone moved, or tried to move, but it came to rest 
 again. Then very slowly and uncertainly it was pushed 
 back and a black chasm was revealed. There was again 
 a pause of thirty seconds, during which imagination ran 
 riot, but I do not think that any other thing could have 
 been a^ intensely pathetic as that which we actually saw. 
 A hand, muffled in a tightly wound piece of dirty cloth, 
 for all the world like the stump of an arm, was painfully 
 thrust up, and very weakly it felt along the slab. After 
 a fruitless fumbling, the hand slowly quivered back again 
 into the darkness. A few moments later, there was again 
 one ineffectual effort, and then the stone slab moved 
 noiselessly again across the opening. Once a day, water 
 and an unleavened cake of flour is placed for the prisoner 
 upon that slab, the signal is given, and he may take it 
 in. His diversion is over for the day, and in the dark- 
 ness of his cell, where night and day, moon, sunset, and 
 the dawn, are all alike, he — ^poor soul ! — had thought that 
 another day of his long penance was over."^ 
 
 'P. Landon, "The Opening of Tibet," 107-10S. On Lamaism in Mongolia, 
 Bee M. Broomhall, "The Chinese Empire," 339-359. 
 
RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS 145 
 
 Islam dominates, as we have seen, the largest areas 
 of the unoccupied fields of the world, and in Africa the 
 largest unreached population. Islam is proud to write 
 on its banner the Unity of God ; but it is after all a banner 
 to the Unknown God. If Mohammedan monotheism had 
 in it the elements of salvation and progress for its 
 devotees, surely Arabia would have witnessed the result, 
 or Morocco, or Afghanistan. But by the witiiess of 
 history it has failed utterly. Mohammedan monotheism, 
 granting all that should be said in its favor because it 
 rises so high above the conception of deity in all other 
 non-Christian religions, yet lacks four elements which 
 are present not only in the Christian idea of the Godhead, 
 but in the Old Testament conception as well. There is 
 no fatherhood of God in Islam. Because Allah is a 
 Sultan and not a father, the very contemplation of such 
 a deity is like an ice-floe over the tide of human trusts 
 and causes us to feel that we are orphaned children in a 
 homeless world. The Moslem idea of God is also con- 
 spicuously lacking in the attribute of love; Allah is not 
 absolutely and eternally bound by any standard of justice. 
 And fourthly, there is an utter lack of harmony in his 
 attributes.^ 
 
 Islam was born in the desert and has carried a moral 
 desert with it wherever it has carried its conquest. Schle- 
 gel, in his "Philosophy of History," has well described 
 its leading features in a single sentence: "A prophet 
 without miracles; a faith without mysteries; and a 
 morality without love; which has encouraged a thirst 
 for blood, and which began and ended in the most un- 
 bounded sensuality." 
 
 •S. M. Zwemer, "The Moslem Doctrine of God," 108-120. Cf. Palgrave's 
 "Chincteiization of Allah, Central and Eastern Arabia," Vol. I, 366. 
 
146 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 The present immoral condition of Mecca and every 
 center of Moslem pilgrimage in Persia and Central Asia ; 
 the evils of misrule in Morocco, Tripoli and Afghanis- 
 tan; the recent massacres at Adana, — are all up-to-date 
 testimony concerning the real inward character of this 
 religion. It is inadequate to meet the moral and spiritual 
 needs of any soul or any people.^ 
 
 The leaders df Moslem religious life and thought are 
 called mullahs, imams, kadis, fakirs, etc., and they exer- 
 cise tremendous power in Islam, although not technically 
 a priesthood. This power is specially evident in the 
 lands out of touch with western civilization and missions. 
 
 In Afghanistan, the mullahs are ubiquitous, powerful, 
 fanatic, hostile and often traitors to British rule.^ They 
 are often illiterate and immoral.' The fakirs are 
 nearly all illiterate and the ghazis are the product 
 of their fanaticism. "A ghazi is a man who has 
 taken an oath to kill some non-Mohammedan, preferably 
 a European. The mullah instills into him the idea that 
 if in so doing he loses his own life, he goes at once to 
 Paradise. Not a year passes on the frontier but some 
 young oflficer falls a victim to one of these fanatics."* 
 
 The Afghans have a striking proverb which shows the 
 popular estimate of these religious leaders, "It takes 
 two mullahs to make a man."° 
 
 And yet the people are abjectly afraid of them, as they 
 
 ^R. E. Speer, "The Non-Christian Religions Inadequate to Meet the 
 Needs of Men," pamphlet. S. M. Zwemer, "Islam, a Challenge to Faith," 
 Chap. IV and VIII. 
 
 "T. L. Pennell, "Among the Wild Tribes of the Afghan Frontier," 
 114-1:7, 124, 140. 
 
 "Ibid, 230. 
 
 *Ibid, 124. 
 
 "C. H. A. Field, "The Religion of the Pathans," Church Missionary 
 Review, August, 1908, 460. 
 
RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS 147 
 
 have power to excommunicate a whole neighborhood by 
 refusing to perform burial rites or weddings, etc. They 
 hold the keys of Paradise for every Moslem, by watching 
 over his faithfulness in fulfilling the ritual of their creed 
 and punishing violations with rigor. 
 
 In Central Asia and Afghanistan, men are often flogged 
 for breaking the fast.^ They are proud of their fanati- 
 cism; the very sight of a Christian is so obnoxious to 
 the typical old-fashioned mullah that he spits on the 
 ground when they pass him on the street, and to kill one 
 of them in Afghanistan is meritorious.'' To what length 
 Islam carries this doctrine to-day, even in a land like 
 Egypt, was evident from the official opinion of the 
 present Mufti of Cairo in the case of the assassin War- 
 dani.^ 
 
 The immorality of the religious leaders in Islam is often 
 an offence — even to Moslems. In Baluchistan immorality 
 is so common among the Moslem clergy that syphilis 
 is spoken of as the "Mullah's disease,"* while the Amir 
 of Afghanistan was greatly offended by the gross prac- 
 tices of the priesthood in Kabul and publicly punished 
 
 'Sven Hedin, "Through Asia," Vol. I, 470. F. A. Martin, "Under the 
 Absolute Amir,** 276. 
 
 *Ibid., 267, 270. 
 
 •The sentence of death for the murder of the prime minister, Butrus 
 Pasha, the Copt, was submitted to the Mufti for confirmation. He solemnly 
 put it upon record that his sanction of the death sentence was impossible 
 for three reasons: The first was that as Mohammed had not foreseen and 
 provided against the case of murder by a revolver no legal sentence was 
 possible; secondly, "the murder of a non-Moslem by a Moslem is not a 
 murder within the eye of the law and not punishable by death"; thirdly, 
 the relatives of Butrus Pasha and not the government should bring charge 
 against the culprit. "The Egyptian Prime Minister has been brutally and 
 aimlessly murdered, and to complete the picture the principal religious 
 official in the country has openly called upon the fanaticism of his Moham- 
 medan compatriots in an attempt to save the murderer from punishment."— 
 London Daily Telegraph, June 11, 1910. 
 
 'J. L. Barton and others, "The Mohammedan World of To-day," 140. 
 
148 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 them.^ They stoop to lying and fraud to win favor 
 or work miracles,^ and not only tolerate saint-worship so 
 foreign to the real spirit of Islam but often inculcate it. 
 
 It is related of the Zaka Kheyl tribe among the Afridis 
 that, having been taunted by another tribe for not pos- 
 sessing the shrine of any holy man, they enticed one to 
 visit their country, and at once dispatched and buried 
 him, and boast to this day of their assiduity in worship- 
 ing at his sepulchre." 
 
 If such conditions are possible under Islam, we can well 
 imagine the character and power of the priesthood in 
 darkest Pagan Africa or among the pagan tribes of 
 Malaysia. There, too, the sheep are scattered and 
 harassed. The shepherds feed themselves and not the 
 flock.* 
 
 The religious conditions in Kordofan are typical. 
 Among the pagan tribes the kugus, or head priests, whose 
 power is almost absolute, rule the people. They act as 
 mediators between the Arros, through whom the Supreme 
 God rules the world, and the people. Their influence is 
 therefore enormous, and they grow rich on the credulity 
 of the pagans.^ 
 
 The bloody initiation rites of the Shamans, the religious 
 leaders among the Buriats of Siberia, their alleged power 
 to work miracles and their methods of deceiving the 
 people are described by Curtin.* Their chief field of 
 action is soothsaying with the shoulder-blades of sheep, 
 
 'F. A. Martin, "Under the Absolute Amir," 270. 
 
 =C. H. A. Field, "The Religion of the Pathans," Church Missionary 
 Review, August, 1908, 460. 
 
 "C. H. A. Field, "The Religion of the Pathans," Church Missionary Re- 
 view, August, 1908, 4S2. 
 
 <Ezekiel, Chapter 34. 
 
 '"Notes on Kordofan Province," Geographical Journal, March, 19:0, 225. 
 
 "J. Curtin, "A Journey in Southern Siberia," 103-115. 
 
RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS 149 
 
 sacrificing horses according to a cruel ritual already 
 described, preparing the Ongons or household gods, and 
 telling Mongol myths to intimidate the people. Here, 
 too, the blind are leading the blind and both fall into 
 the ditch.i 
 
 It is perfectly evident from all the above that neither 
 among lamas, mullahs, priests nor shamans is there ade- 
 quate religious leadership for the masses in the unoccu- 
 pied fields of the world. They cannot satisfy by their 
 prayers and sacrifices and soothsaying. The unrest of 
 the soul finds satisfaction and peace only in Christ. He 
 is the desire of all nations and of every heart. 
 
 It is literally true even for the present life, that the 
 only hope for these countries is in the Gospel. Their 
 condition is not different from that which once obtained 
 in mission fields then unoccupied, where flow the true 
 Light shines and where, within a single generation, not 
 by process of gradual evolution, but by the supernatural 
 power of the Gospel, the environment has been utterly 
 changed, the whole social and moral life uplifted to a 
 higher plane, and ten thousand lives transformed and 
 transfigured into noble character. When will the good 
 news come to these also ? 
 
 Do we realize that the peoples and tribes of the unoc- 
 cupied fields of the world are still living in the era B. C. ? 
 They have a right to the Gospel in the year of our Lord 
 1910 — our Lord who said: "Go ye into all the world." 
 If He were with us on earth, would He not go to them 
 first? Why should not we? Mindful of His boundless 
 compassion and unchanging love and His vision of a 
 world which to Him has no antipodes, because His king- 
 dom has no frontier, we turn involuntarily to the prayer 
 
 'Matt. 15:14. 
 
150 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 of Asaph the psalmist ;^ it is an inspired prayer for these 
 neglected lands: 
 
 "O God, why hast thou cast them off forever? Why 
 doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? 
 Remember thy congregation which thou hast purchased 
 of old. . . . Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desola- 
 tions. . . . Thou hast set all the borders of the earth. . . . 
 O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multi- 
 tude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy 
 poor for ever. 
 
 "Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places 
 of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. 
 
 "O let not the oppressed return ashamed : let the poor 
 and needy praise thy name. 
 
 "Arise, O God, plead thine own cause ; remember how 
 the foolish man reproacheth thee daily." 
 
 'Psalm 74:1, 3, 17, 19-22. 
 
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE 
 
 iSi 
 
"The eyes of the Christian world turn as instinctively toward 
 the lands closed to the Gospel in this missionary age, as do the 
 eyes of a conquering army toward the few remaining outposts of 
 the enemy which withstand the victors and hinder complete vic- 
 tory, without which the Commander-in-chief is unable to close 
 the campaign." 
 
 — ^John H. Muir, Missionary to Tibet. 
 
 "There is a story told of a Frenchman, who asked permission 
 from a German to go over a German military post. 'I cannot 
 allow you to see this place,' the German replied, 'you are a 
 foreigner, and we do not show German military posts to foreign- 
 ers.' Whereupon the Frenchman whipped out a map be had in 
 his pocket, and said: "It may interest you, monsieur, then, to 
 see that I have here on my map of your fort, not only tes oeavres 
 posttifs m3.cs ctttssi ks oeu-vres projectifs." 
 
 —Col. 6. Wingate. 
 
 "There are times when it is very difficult to balance the com- 
 peting claims of various parts of the Mission field. I see no 
 difficulty now. . . . Certain parts of Africa form now, in mili- 
 tary language, the objective, and are the strategical positions 
 of the great Mission field. . . . Parts of Africa in which the 
 Moslem advance is imminent have for the present a preeminent 
 claim. The absorption of Pagan races into Islam is so rapid 
 and continuous that in a few years' time some may be quite 
 lost to us." 
 
 —Canon E. Sell, of Madras. 
 
 152 
 
Chapter VT 
 STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE 
 
 The serious question may be raised by some whether, 
 after all, there is wisdom in expending force in over- 
 coming the difficulties connected with most of these un- 
 occupied fields which have passed in review before us, 
 in spite of their sore need of the Gospel, when the 
 missionary forces are so meager and so sorely needed 
 in countries where the doors are wide open and where 
 there is not only perfect access but where the fields are 
 dead ripe for the harvest. 
 
 Why, for example, should efforts be made to enter 
 Kordofan, in Africa, or Khorasan, in Persia, when there 
 are populations as large in Korea easy to be evangelized ? 
 Why should we storm the gates of Tibet or Afghanistan, 
 when the doors of China are wide open, and the people 
 are beckoning? Does real missionary strategy call for 
 their occupation now? Are there any urgent reasons 
 why these lands should be occupied, in view of the 
 present opportunities in other fields? 
 
 The strategic importance of the unoccupied fields of 
 the world can best be considered by first giving the 
 reasons for their occupation in general, and then point- 
 ing out why, at least, some of the fields have a strategic 
 importance and urgency of their own. 
 
 Their present spiritual destitution, their social degrada- 
 
 153 
 
154 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 tion and the age-long neglect of all these countries, are 
 the strongest possible arguments for their occupation. 
 The pathos of all these millions still groping restlessly for 
 the True Light, finds a voice in the record of many trav- 
 elers. 
 
 Some of the races and tribes are dying out. Now 
 is the only time to give them the gospel. "As we" re- 
 called all our interesting experiences among the Mois," 
 writes Mrs. Vassal, "we could not but regret that this 
 race, so physically fine in character, so much more sym- 
 pathetic than the Annamese, should be destined to die 
 out. Yet that is probably their fate.'" 
 
 Others are strong and virile races, with a future 
 before them, and must, I'lerefore, be won for 
 Christ. "I remember the rude Mongols," says 
 Colonel Younghusband, "far away in the midst 
 of the Gobi Desert, setting apai':, in their tents, the 
 little altars at which they worshipped. I recall nights 
 spent in the tents of the wandering Kirghiz, when the 
 family of an evening would say their prayers together; 
 I think of the Afghan and Central Asian merchants visit- 
 ing me at Yarkand, and in the middle of their visits ask- 
 ing to be excused, while they laid down a cloth on the 
 floor and repeated their prayers; of the late Mehtar of 
 Chitral, during a morning's shooting among the moun- 
 tains, halting, with all his court, for a few moments to 
 pray; and, lastly, of the wild men of Hunza, whom I 
 had led up a new and diificult pass, pausing as they 
 reached the summit to offer a prayer of thanks, and end- 
 ing with the shout of Allah !"- And this is only one testi- 
 mony how the heart of Asia is thirsting for the living 
 
 'G. M. Vassal, "On and Off Duty in Annam,'' 274-275. 
 *F. E. Younghusband, "The Heart of a Continent,'* 309. 
 
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE 155 
 
 God. Africa, too, is waiting. No stronger plea is pos- 
 sible. Destitution is its own argument. The famine- 
 stricken call for the Bread; those groping in the night 
 for the Light; the sick for the Physician; the dying for 
 the Life ; and those in chains for their Deliverer. There- 
 fore, we must go. "All classes, races, and conditions 
 are God's," says Bishop William Boyd Carpenter. "No 
 matter with what color the colder or warmer sun may 
 have touched their faces, no matter in what tongue they 
 express their sorrows, no matter what sad hereditary 
 taint may have descended upon them, no matter what 
 low and grovelling superstitions may be their intellectual 
 inheritance, no matter in what squalid circumstances they 
 may be living, no matter in what dark surroundings their 
 character may be formed, no matter what degradation, 
 civilization, or the want of civilization, may have im- 
 posed upon them, all are God's, by right of the prophetic 
 declaration, 'All souls are Mine.' "^ Shall we give Him, 
 His own! 
 
 Moreover, Christ's command is universal and we can- 
 not tell beforehand the strategic importance of an indi- 
 vidual soul or of a particular country. Who could have 
 foretold the strategic importance of Great Britain in God's 
 world program, when the Irish missionaries landed at 
 lona in 563 A. D. ?^ Or fifty years ago, who would have 
 prophesied the strategy of Korea for the evangelization 
 of Asia or of Uganda for Africa? 
 
 'Quoted by J. S. Dennis in "Christian Missions and Social Progress," 
 Vol. Ill, 576. 
 
 '"Oh, you blue-eyed and fair-haired men and women,'' said Maltbie D. 
 Babcock, "proud of your Scotch and Irish and German blood, remember 
 and honor Augustine, Paulinus, Patricius, Columba, Gallus, foreign mis- 
 sionaries who went out years ago to the pagans of the North, our ancestors, 
 and preached to them the gospel of Christ. We are heirs of their sacrifice; 
 our knowledge of Christ is their gift to us." 
 
156 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 The angel of God as in the days of the apostles 
 still calls men to turn away from white harvest fields 
 and go toward the desert, even as he called Philip to 
 leave Samaria and minister to a single man who, in the 
 divine purpose, was to carry the Gospel to the Ethiopians.^ 
 Of each unoccupied area, as of each human soul, one may 
 say with Browning: 
 
 "Thoughts hardly to be packed 
 
 Into a narrow act. 
 Fancies that broke through language and escaped ; 
 
 All I could never be. 
 
 All men ignored in me, 
 This, I was worth to God, whose wheel the pitcher shaped." 
 
 The story of the unoccupied mission fields is a story 
 not only of lost opportunities, but also of unrecognized 
 possibilities.^ 
 
 There is a general reason, why we should occupy these 
 fields, which may well be mentioned in passing. It will ap- 
 
 'Acts 8:26-40. The whole incident is evidence of the strategic importance 
 of the individual and of the value of the apparently insignificant in God's 
 plans for the kingdom. 
 
 ^Here is the testimony of a traveler regarding the pagan tribes of the 
 Sudan; "The natives of Australia are low in the human scale, and, apart 
 from the almost bestial powers which they share with the bushman, they 
 are merely undevelopable. No one who has come into touch with a Dinka 
 or Nuer who has had the benefit of contact with a higher civilization, could 
 say so of him. Farag Effendi Abu Zet, now resident near Singa, is an .ex- 
 ample; a born soldier, he is covered with decorations, was promoted on the 
 field to his rank of Bimbashi for his extraordinary bravery, and, retired on 
 account of wounds, now finds peace as profitable as war. They are not 
 undevelopable, but simply man in the raw state, perhaps nearly as God 
 created him in the first instance, and just unadvanced. The Nuers are 
 likely to remain in this condition until circumstances develop which one 
 cannot with certainty foresee; only drainage will render it possible to break 
 down the barriers which the character of their country imposes against 
 fuller communication with the outside world, and though the first step in 
 this direction is being taken, it is difficult to estimate what is involved,"— 
 H. L. Tangye, "In the Torrid Sudan," 154. 
 
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE 157 
 
 peal to all who hope for the speedy return of our Saviour 
 Jesus Christ. We remember how He Himself taught 
 us : "And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached 
 in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then 
 shall the end come."^ This thought has been an inspira- 
 tion to many a lonely worker on the outskirts of the King- 
 dom, and breathes in all our church hymnody: 
 
 "He comes again ; O Zion, ere thou meet Him, 
 
 Make known to every heart His saving grace; 
 Let none whom He hath ransomed fail to greet Him, 
 Through thy neglect, unfit to see His face." 
 
 In the beautiful hymn beginning, "Lord Thy ran- 
 somed Church is waking," the same thought occurs as 
 the climax of all its petition: 
 
 "Set on fire our heart's devotion 
 
 With the love of Thy dear Name; 
 Till o'er every land and ocean, 
 
 Lips and lives Thy Cross proclaim. 
 Fix our eyes on Thy returning. 
 
 Keeping watch till Thou shalt come, 
 Loins well girt, lamps brightly burning; 
 
 Then, Lord, take Thy servants home." 
 
 There is another reason. Christ's glory is concerned 
 in the occupation of all the fields. Because He is 
 Lord of all, the last stronghold of the waiting world must 
 be occupied for Him. We need the spirit of loyalty, 
 and the soldier of the Cross should have as keen a sense 
 of Christian honor as the soldier of the empire. 
 "Throughout the expedition," says Colonel Younghus- 
 band, "we felt that our national honor was at stake, and 
 
 'Matt. 24:14. 
 
158 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 down to the latest- joined sepoy we bent ourselves to up- 
 hold and raise higher the dignity of our Sovereign and 
 the good name of our country; to show that not even 
 the rigors of a Tibetan winter, nor the obstinacy and 
 procrastination of the two most stolid nations in the world 
 could deter us from our purpose ; above all, to try to 
 eiTect that purpose without resorting to force."^ 
 
 In entering the unoccupied fields, we know that we 
 are entering the King's own country. We cannot win 
 the world for Christ. He won it for Himself by His 
 incarnation, and paid for it by His death. "The earth is 
 the Lord's and the fullness thereof." 
 
 More than that. In some countries. His name is now 
 unknown where once He was acknowledged and wor- 
 shipped. This is true of Central Asia, of Arabia, and of 
 North Africa. 
 
 "The countries of Central Asia, to the west and north 
 of India, are a challenge and reproach to the Christian 
 Church," says Dr. Pennell ; "a reproach, because in the 
 early centuries of the Christian era, the Gospel was car- 
 ried right across Turkistan and Tibet to China, and 
 Christian churches flourished from Asia Minor to Mon- 
 golia. ... In again proclaiming the Gospel, in Turkistan, 
 the Christian Church will only be re-occupying her lost 
 territories where, at one time, Christian congregations 
 gathered in their churches, but for centuries, only the 
 Mohammedan call to prayer has been permitted to be 
 heard."^ 
 
 Sven Hedin even found Christian medals in the ruins 
 about distant Khotan, — a miniature angel of gold, crosses 
 and Byzantine gold coins. "God grant," he writes, "that 
 
 ^P. Landon, "The Opening of Tibet," introduction, 11. 
 
 'T. L. Pennell, "Among the Wild Tribes of the Afghan Frontier," 306. 
 
From LLi:ul,:r's ■■Aiioss U'hIl-sI . Itnf.i," Siiibi, 
 
 WDMAX Axi) en I i,i)Ki:x, •ii^ir.rcTU 
 
 THE \'EILED MEN riF TT'AREG 
 (See pa&e-s 159. 160.) 
 
 158 
 
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE 159 
 
 the time may come when, within those very ancient walls, 
 which have witnessed the successive supremacy of the 
 three predominant religions of the world, the Cross shall 
 supplant the Crescent even as Gautama's temple was 
 formerly leveled with the ground before the green banner 
 of the Prophet."^ Who will answer this prayer of the 
 intrepid traveler by going to Khotan ? 
 
 The loss of all North Africa is a well-known story, but 
 it may interest some to learn that the torrid Sudan, as 
 well as Southern Egypt, was once Christian, and the 
 remains of many churches exist to this day, notably at 
 Magaa and Soba." 
 
 For thirteen centuries, after Mohammed's successors 
 blotted out Christianity in Nejran, Yemen and Socotra, 
 Arabia did not hear the message of Life. At Sana, the 
 ruins of the Cathedral of Abraha, built in 567 A. D. 
 were used for a Turkish cavalry stable, when I visited 
 the city. In Hadramaut, there are inscriptions that tell 
 of a Christ who is known no longer. In Socotra, on 
 the hill Ditrerre, of the Hamar Range, "a perfect mass 
 of crosses," of every possible shape, is carved, perhaps 
 to mark a Christian burial-ground.^ Alas! neither the 
 hill tribes of Yemen, nor the people of Socotra, nor the 
 province of Hadramaut, have a single living witness for 
 the Crucified to-day. The Tuaregs of the Sahara, as 
 well as the Kabyles of North Africa, still have customs 
 and signs to show that they once were Christians. "Even 
 now, the Tuaregs bear the sign of the Cross on their 
 saddles and on their daggers, swords and shields."* 
 
 »Sven Hedin, "Through Asia," Vol. II, 771, 772. 
 
 "H. L. Tangye, "In the Torrid Sudan," 28, 29. 
 
 ■T. Bent, "Southern Arabia," Appendix, London, 1900. 
 
 •H. Vischer, "Across the Sahara," 168. 
 
l6o THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 One of the most typical, yet strange habits of the 
 Tuareg is the wearing of a veil over the face, which has 
 gained them the Arabic name of Ahel-el-litham or "people 
 of the veil," or el Molathemin, "the veiled." This veil 
 is worn at all times by the Tuareg, and they never re- 
 move it either to eat or sleep, when at home or on a 
 journey. Only the eyes are visible, the other parts of 
 the face being hidden by the turban and by the litham} 
 
 This strange tribe of warrior nomads, going about 
 with veiled faces, well represents the way in which the 
 veil of Islam has hidden the glory of the Christ and the 
 radiance of His Gospel, which once they knew. If Christ 
 is to be crowned Lord of all, we must carry His Gospel 
 back into those regions, where He has been dethroned 
 by the Pretender. 
 
 In addition to all these general reasons for the occu- 
 pation of the unoccupied fields, many of them have a 
 strategic importance of their own. 
 
 There are strategic races, places, classes, and times. 
 This is true not only of such lands as Japan ; China and 
 India, but of certain unoccupied fields as well.^ Some of 
 the races in the lands unoccupied, such as Hausas and 
 Swahelis in Africa, and the Arabs in Western Asia, have 
 already had, or are destined to have large influence be- 
 yond their own borders. The occupation of places, such 
 as Mecca and Lhasa, would, if possible, be high mission- 
 ary strategy.' All large centers of population are of 
 strategic value to their outlying territory. 
 
 ^M. Benhazera, "Six Mois chez les Touareg du Ahaggar," un vol. in.8, 
 ill., XXVIII-233. 
 
 ^Regarding the strategic importance and the present urgency of all the 
 principal mission Helds there is no stronger testimony than that given by 
 John K. Mott in "The Decisive Hour of Christian Missions." 
 
 '"Thirteen centuries ago Mohammed marched on Mecca with 10,000 men 
 4nd transformed it from the stronghold of Arabian idolatry into a world- 
 
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE l6l 
 
 Again, no one can doubt the strategic importance of 
 evangelizing certain special classes like the Moslems 
 of Asiatic Russia and of Western China, when we re- 
 member the part this very class of the population has 
 already played in the history of Central Asia, and more 
 recently in China.^ 
 
 Regarding the danger of Moslem advance among the 
 Russians, Mrs. Sophie Bobrovnikoff writes, in a recent 
 article: "The spirit of militant fanaticism is very strong 
 among the Moslems. Every simple, untaught Moslem is 
 a missionary of his religion, and the poor, dark, untaught 
 heathen or half-heathen tribes cannot resist this force. 
 In many baptized aboriginal villages, the men go away 
 for the winter to work as tailors in Moslem villages. 
 There they are taught and fanaticized, and when they 
 return into their villages they bring with them Moslem 
 ideas and influence their homes. 
 
 "When a village gets under Moslem influence, the first 
 step is to leave off wearing belts. The Russian peasant 
 always wears a belt over his shirt, and the baptized 
 aborigines assume this habit. The Tartars wear no belts, 
 and when in a baptized village you see the men without 
 belts, you must understand it as a first step toward Islam. 
 The second step is the shaving of the head (the Russians 
 and the baptized aborigines cut their hair, the Moslems 
 
 wide place of pil^mage and the radiating center of Islam. It was his 
 keen strategy and the devotion of his followers that enabled him to do it. 
 Had we but 1,000 men, equally devoted to Jesus Christ, whose energies 
 might be centered on this one city, might not Mecca be conquered for 
 Christ? And if Mecca became a truly Christian city breathing the spirit 
 of love and aflame with the fire of Pentecost, what might not happen in 
 the conversion of the pilgrims who by duty and decree flock to it in thou- 
 sands every year? Might it not become in turn a radiating center of the 
 love of Christ,"— Devotion and Strategy in Foreign Missions. — Rev. G. T. 
 Manley, M. A., Church Missionary Review, February, 1910, 93. 
 'M. Broomhall, "Islam in China," passim. 
 
l62 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 shave it), and the wearing of the small round Moslem 
 cap. When a village has reached that degree, the winning 
 back of it to Christianity is almost hopeless. The build- 
 ing of a church only excites the people to accept Islam 
 entirely. They begin to keep Fridays instead of Sundays, 
 then they get a Mullah, build a mosque, and the trans- 
 formation is complete."^ Surely nothing need be added 
 to emphasize the strategic importance of the unoccupied 
 fields in Russia and Bokhara. Those who are on the 
 ground realize the danger and the immense issues at 
 stake. 
 
 "What would we think of a General," writes Mission- 
 ary Hogberg, "going to war, who paid most attention 
 to the weak force of the enemy, trying to omit the main 
 force. I believe, brethren, that Islam is the main force, 
 to which we must pay a certain attention, and open a 
 well-planned and organized crusade. 
 
 "If Christianity does not, in due time, take up this 
 missionary question and go in for real work, a time may 
 come when men like Tamerlane will blow the trumpet 
 and get the Moslems to stand up for a holy war and 
 move the whole stock of 300 millions from the east 
 of Africa to the great ocean, and there will be bloodshed 
 so terrible that something similar to it will not have been 
 known before in the history of the world. "^ Shall Islam 
 dominate Central Asia unchallenged? 
 
 Speaking at Bolan, Baluchistan, when the Quetta Mis- 
 sion was founded. Rev. Robert Clark, of the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society, used these words : "We are standing on 
 the ground which has been traversed by many invaders, 
 
 ^The Moslem World Quarterly Review, London, Vol. I, No. r. 
 ^At the World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, paper on Central 
 Asia. 
 
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE 163 
 
 who have poured their hordes down from the steppes of 
 Central Asia, through the passes of the Bolan and the 
 Khaibar, on their way to found empires in India. We see 
 around us tribes of which it is said 'that whosover rules 
 them holds the crown of India in his grasp, if it is not al- 
 ready in his hand.' And now, the Gospel of Christ and, we 
 hope, the Spirit of Christ, goes forth to win these great 
 nomadic tribes, to use them in spiritual work, as already 
 many of them have been used in temporal matters. We 
 want to utilize these people to bear the flag of Christ 
 throughout Central Asia, to set up the banner which 
 Christ Himself has given to be displayed because of 
 truth."^ 
 
 The strategic importance of Afghanistan, politically, 
 is well known and is referred to by Lacoste and many other 
 travelers. It is one of the centers of Asiatic politics, 
 and has pivotal importance. "Situated between Russian 
 Turkistan and British India, bristling with formidable 
 mountains, rent with deep gorges, Afghanistan holds the 
 command of all routes, and of every pass, and opens 
 and shuts every door."^ If this is true politically, is it 
 not true also, at least in a measure, in the winning of 
 Central Asia? 
 
 The policy of Russian advance in Central Asia, as ex- 
 pressed in the famous circular dispatch of Prince Gort- 
 chakow, admits "that the position of Russia in Central 
 Asia is that of all civilized states which are brought into 
 contact with half savage, nomad populations possessing 
 no fixed social organization. . . . With the object not of 
 extending beyond all reasonable bounds the regions under 
 our august master's sceptre, but in giving a solid basis 
 
 '"Baluchistan," Church Missionary Review, December, 190S J37. 
 'B. de Lacoste, "Around Afghanistan," Preface, 12. 
 
164 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 to his rule in guaranteeing their security and in de- 
 veloping their social organization, their commerce, their 
 well-being and their civilization."^ If this official ex- 
 pression of the real purpose of Russia In Central Asia 
 be still true, then missions surely have a strong claim to 
 recognition. The recent rapprochement of Russia and 
 Great Britain, and the new demarcation of their respective 
 spheres of influence in Persia, will, doubtless, lead' to 
 mutual understanding, and may yet throw open wide 
 even the doors of Afghanistan for the proclamation of 
 the Gospel. 
 
 If some lands invite the missionary because of their 
 accessibility, there are others which remind us that neglect 
 may mean not only the losing of the opportunity, but 
 the possibility of the creation of new dangers and diffi- 
 culties. Islam grew out of a neglected Held. This is a 
 startling fact. When we remember what took place in 
 Mecca, in 622 A. D., is it wise and safe strategy to leave 
 the great historic cities of Samarkand and Tashkend, 
 Khokan and Andijan, in Russian Turkistan, of Turf an 
 and Hami, Aksu and Khotan, in Chinese Turkistan, of 
 Kabul and Balkh, Herat and Kandahar in Afghanistan, 
 of Lhasa and Shigatse, Gartok and Selipuk, in Tibet, 
 without a missionary? 
 
 Kafiristan, one of the five provinces of Afghanistan, is 
 a sad example of lost opportunity. "It was a sorrowful 
 day for them," writes Colonel G. Wingate, "when, by 
 a stroke of the pen in the British Foreign Office, eleven 
 years ago, their country was brought within the bound- 
 aries of Afghanistan. At last, the Kafirs were the sub- 
 jects of the Amir. In consultation with Ghulam Haider, 
 his commander-in-chief, he determined to convert them 
 
 'A. Hamilton, "Afghanistan," Appendix, 493-497. 
 
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE l6S 
 
 and bring them into the fold of Islam. The distasteful 
 offices of the mullah were offered at the muzzle of the 
 breech-loader, the rites of the Mohammedan belief were 
 enforced upon an unwilling people, mosques took the 
 place of temples, the Koran and the traditions of the 
 Caliphate would be the spiritual regeneration of the pagan 
 Kafir. Yet, twenty-five years ago, a message from the 
 Kafirs of the Hindu Kush stirred the Christian Church ; 
 they asked that teachers might be sent to instruct them 
 in the religion of Jesus Christ. It is a sad example of 
 how an opportunity may be lost, for to-day there is 
 imposed, between the ambassador of Jesus Christ and 
 the eager Kafir, the hostile aggression of a Mohammedan 
 power intensely jealous of the entrance of the foreigner."^ 
 And again, "The unsparing proselytism of Mohammedan 
 conquest has done its worst. Hearths and homes in their 
 mountain fastnesses, which had been preserved inviolate 
 for one thousand years, against the hated Mussulman 
 foe, have been ruthlessly invaded and spoiled. The 
 bravest of their defenders have been forcibly made into 
 Mohammedans, and the fairest of their daughters have 
 been torn from the arms of their natural protectors and 
 carried oflf as new supplies for the harems of their con- 
 querors."" Shall the story of Kafiristan be repeated in 
 other parts of Asia ? 
 
 And there is urgency. The unoccupied fields of the 
 world are being entered by civilization, and railways are 
 pushing their way through the heart of both continents.^ 
 The advertisement of these highways in Asia and Africa 
 
 'G. Wingate, "Unevangelized Regions in Central Asia," The Missionary 
 Review of the Worlds May, 1907. 
 
 ^G. Wingate in T. L. Pennell's "Among the Wild Tribes of the Afghan 
 Frontier,*' 308. 
 
 ■John R. Mott, "The Decisive Hour of Christian Missions," 9, 23, 24. 
 
l66 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 is in itself a challenge to missions. It is, therefore, the 
 strategic hour. In Nigeria, the railway, already con- 
 structed from Lagos to Ilorin, is under construction to 
 Zungeru, and is perhaps to have branch lines to Baro 
 on the south and Kano on the north. 
 
 Near Cape Verde, Senegal, the French are building a 
 great city, which, in a few years, will be the finest city 
 on the west coast, with piers and elaborate docks. It 
 will not be long before railroads connect this coming 
 metropolis with the rich country beyond French West 
 Africa.* The Cape to Cairo route is no longer a dream, 
 but is approaching accomplishment.^ 
 
 The two German and the two Russian railways now 
 progressing toward the Indian Ocean, and the English 
 railroads pushing onward in northwestern India, 
 prove the importance of the present hour for advance 
 in Central Asia. Between the terminus of the British 
 railroads in India, and the Russian Railroad, on the 
 borders of Afghanistan, there is lacking only 438 miles 
 to bind the southernmost part of Asia to Europe by rail. 
 If England and Russia would forget their jealousies 
 and join hands across these four himdred odd miles of 
 Afghanistan mountain land, one could travel from Paris 
 to Bombay, a distance of approximately 5,000 miles, 
 in just eight days.' 
 
 In regard to the strategy of Chinese Turkistan, in 
 this respect. Missionary G. Raquette writes from 
 Yarkand : 
 
 ■A. H. S. Landor, "Across Widest Africa," National Geographic Magasine, 
 July, 1910, 736. 
 
 ^'"Every year sees progress, and the extension of the railway over the 
 blue Nile and up to Sennaar, with the bridging of the white Nile at Hillet 
 Abbas for the tapping of Kordofan, tightens the grip of the white man for 
 the welfare of the country."— H. L. Tangye, "In the Torrid Sudan," 289. 
 
 'E. A. Powell, Everybody's Magasine, February, 1910, 205. 
 
» B « B B 1 '' ''„ 
 
 A SK^'S(.'KAi'^:K ix akauia 
 
 The ?heik's Vrnuse at ^lakallah, tlie chief ^t-ai)urt of TTadrnniant. A'isilcd fm]y twice 
 Ii_\- missionaries within the nasi i\\eiit\' %-(_-ars. 
 
 SUDAN GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS 
 
 OAIRO XO KHARXOUM. 
 
 V/a the I'iLlurcsqiic Nilj t^oiite and SiiiJan ''i(i\ cnimcnl kail\\a>s in ( t.Li> >. 
 '"^Roi/y/."'^ ' '''' Suez, l-'orl Sutliin, ami Sudan <ii»'* crnmcnl k'.iilwa^s in ,? ' (.!a\s. 
 
 ;.nJ rctur.. N,.rt), hy .h= ,4h.r 
 
 COMPOmABLE TRAVEL IN THE 5UDArN. 
 
 !rt«w aii6 luxurious SDicpiag dni "Pining (Tars, with up-lo-Oiatc ~£liclric 
 
 Tllgbting, V-intllatlng. anb (Tooling "Apparatus. 
 
 - - CATERING OF THE HIGHEST ORDER. - - 
 
 SL'DAN KX PRESS ADVERTISEM KX'T 
 
 Advertisement of travel in the Sudan, taken from a London paper. 
 The contrast is evident between the possibihties of travel to-day in this 
 part of Africa and that shown in the picture on page yo of the caravan 
 crossing tlie Sahara. Khartoum is nearer London to-day tlian Cairo was 
 in the days nf Livingstone. 166 
 
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE 167 
 
 "There can scarcely be any place with a Mohammedan 
 population in the world, where a Christian Mission can 
 be carried on so freely as in Chinese Turkistan. The 
 missionaries and their work are under the protection of 
 the Chinese authorities, according to treaties, just as in 
 China proper. The Mohammedans might try, by in- 
 trigues and sometimes by empty threats, but they have 
 got no power to put any obstacles in the way, which 
 cannot, with patience, be overcome. The Mohammedans 
 of this country are not at all so fanatical as those in 
 other places, where the people are more in touch with 
 a non-Christian civilization. But that kind of civilization 
 is approaching rather rapidly, both from the East and 
 from the West. 
 
 "People of some importance have taken to sending their 
 children to Western Turkistan or Russia for education. 
 After two or three years, those young men, as a rule, 
 come back as unbelievers or full of Mohammedan 
 fanaticism. // Christian missions were at hand just now, 
 with proper and sufficient means, the approaching flood 
 of a new civilisation could, at least to a great extent, 
 be turned in the right direction. On the other hand, 
 there is also a non-religious Chinese culture approaching 
 in the form of new Chinese schools opened at every place 
 of any importance. A time is at hand when the non- 
 Christian culture, from the East and from the West, 
 shall meet here and fight a great battle concerning the 
 price of these poor peoples' souls. At the time of such 
 fight, between the old and the new state of things, the 
 banner of the cross should be a refuge for the best ele- 
 ments amongst the people. I believe that this field has 
 not had its time before now, but now a new time is 
 at hand, and a great change will take place during the 
 
l68 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 next ten or twenty years with or without Christian 
 influence. If the floodtide is allowed to pass without the 
 influence of Christ, it is impossible to foresee the result. 
 One thing is certain: the Church will have lost one of 
 the best opportunities she has ever had in the Moham- 
 medan world."^ 
 
 The thousand miles of railway, built for pilgrims, and 
 1 not for dividends, all the way from Damascus to Medina 
 and on to Mecca, is sure to call attention to the strategic 
 importance of Arabia to-day as a mission field.^ Geo- 
 graphically, the peninsula lies at the crossroads of the 
 commerce of the world. It was once the bridge between 
 Asia and Europe, the causeway between Asia and Africa, 
 and will soon be such again. The importance of the 
 Bagdad Railway and the Euphrates Valley irrigation 
 project to North Arabia are well known.' 
 
 As regards religion and politics, Arabia also has her 
 influence for Western Asia. A writer in the New York 
 "Journal of Commerce" recently said: "We have, from 
 time to time, endeavored to make plain to our 
 readers that since the effective arrest of Russian 
 ambitions in Eastern Asia, the international center 
 of Asiatic politics must be sought in the Persian 
 Gulf." The present political conditions in Arabia 
 deeply interest not only Great Britain and Ger- 
 many, but France and Russia. Turkish rule exists in 
 only three of the seven provinces, and British influence 
 obtains along the entire coast of the Persian Gulf and 
 
 ^Letter to Commission No. i, World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 
 1910. 
 
 ^F. R. Maunsell, "One Thousand Miles of Railway," National Geographic 
 Magazine, 1909, 156-172. Compare illustration of the opening of the road. 
 
 'Sir W. Willcocks, "Mesopotamia Past and Present," Geographical Journal, 
 January, 1910. 
 
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE 169 
 
 the Indian Ocean. The Persian Gulf has practically 
 become an English lake, and British rule has extended 
 far inland from Aden, while her influence is supreme in 
 the province of Oman. All this is favorable to Chris- 
 tian missions. In Yemen, the rule of the new Turkish 
 party will probably result in an open door for the Gospel 
 throughout all of that populous province, if we seize 
 the present opportunity. Politics and missions are closely 
 related in these days of commercial expansion, and there 
 may be a partition of Arabia, as there was of Africa, or, 
 at least, the opening of doors closed for centuries will 
 follow exploitation and political and commercial ambi- 
 tion in the neglected peninsula. We must unfurl the ban- 
 ner of the Cross now in every one of the provinces and 
 preempt the ground. To delay may prove fatal for the 
 enterprise. 
 
 Arabia is important also because of the Arabic speech. 
 Some time ago, a typewriter firm, in advertising a ma- 
 chine with Arabic characters, stated that the Arabic 
 character was used over a wider area than any other. 
 A professor of Semitic languages was asked : "How big 
 a lie is that?" He answered, "It is true."^ Arabic 
 literature is found throughout the whole Mohammedan 
 world, and the Arabic language, which was the vehicle 
 for carrying Islam, will yet become the great vehicle 
 for the Gospel in Africa and Asia among the Moham- 
 medans. It is growing in influence and power, and is 
 one of the great living languages of the world. The 
 Arabic Koran is a text-book in the day schools of Turkey, 
 Afghanistan, Java, Sumatra, New Guinea, and Southern 
 Russia. Arabic is the spoken language not only of Arabia 
 
 ^E. H. Babbit, "Geography o£ the Great Languages," The World's Work, 
 February, igo8. 
 
170 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 proper, but forces the linguistic boundary of that penin- 
 sula three hundred miles north of Bagdad to Diarbekir 
 and Mardin, and is used all over Syria and Palestine, 
 and the whole of northern Africa. Even at Cape Colony 
 and in the West Indies, there are daily readers of the 
 language of Mohammed. The Arabs themselves say: 
 "Wisdom hath alighted upon three things — the brain of 
 the Franks, the hand of the Chinese, and the tongue of 
 the Arabs. "^ This wonderful, flexible, logical speech 
 with its enormous vocabulary and delicacy of expression 
 can only be won for Christianity, when Arabia is won 
 for Christ. "It surely is not without a purpose," says 
 Edson L. Clark, "that this widespread and powerful race 
 has been kept these four thousand years, unsubdued and 
 undegenerated, preserving still the simplicity and vigor 
 of its character. It is certainly capable of a great future ; 
 and as certainly a great future lies before it. It may 
 be among the last peoples of Southwestern Asia to yield 
 to the transforming influence of Christianity and a Chris- 
 tian civilization. But to these influences, it will assuredly 
 yield in the fulness of time."^ Is that time now ? 
 
 Physically and intellectually, the Arabs are among the 
 strongest and noblest races of the world, with a glorious 
 history and a literature which takes second place to that 
 of few other nations. If this race can be won for Christ, 
 they will do for Him what they once did for Mohammed.' 
 
 The strategy of time and place is even greater than 
 that of race. On this account, none of the unoccupied 
 fields in Asia, not even Arabia, can compare in strategic 
 
 lEd-Damiri in his Dictionary, "Hayat el Hajrawan. 
 
 =E. L. Clark, "The Arabs and the Turks." S. M. Zwemer, "Arabia, the 
 Cradle of Islam," 258-273. 
 
 '"Why Arabia?" Leaflet published by The Arabian Mission, 25 East 
 Twenty-second Street, New York. 
 
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE 17^ 
 
 urgency to-day with the unoccupied regions in Africa, 
 where the forces are assembling now for the great con- 
 flict between the Cross and the Crescent, and where the 
 unoccupied fields are the battle ground. It is true that 
 the population of Africa is comparatively small when we 
 think of India or China, but no one acquainted with its 
 history and observant of its resources can doubt that 
 under more settled and propitious conditions, the popu- 
 lation will increase enormously. It is among the mass of 
 dark, illiterate and degraded pagans, as well as among the 
 semi-civilized peoples of the north, already Moslem, that 
 the battle with Islam is to be fought. At present, Islam is 
 conquering and nothing can stay its onward march or 
 redeem Africa from its grasp but the carrying of the 
 Gospel of Christ at once into every part of the unoccu- 
 pied fields. Paganism crumbles before Islam. The situ- 
 ation is critical and the testimony, as regards the urgency 
 of this part of the missionary problem, is unanimous in 
 its character, and comes from every part of the mission 
 field. From Syria, Japan, the Philippine Islands, China, 
 India, Burma, Ceylon, the New Hebrides, Sumatra, 
 Arabia, Baluchistan and even Peru, testimony has come 
 that in the estimation of leading missionaries in these 
 countries, the most urgent missionary world problem is 
 to meet and overcome the Mohammedan advance in Af- 
 rica. And this testimony concerns the unoccupied fields 
 of Africa. 
 
 F. W. Steinthal writes from Calcutta: "Africa is 
 undoubtedly the field where the Mohammedan ad- 
 vance makes it most urgent to prevent the build- 
 ing up of this iron wall, not so much by at- 
 tacking Islam in general as by a speedy preoccu- 
 pation of all vacant fields." While Bishop Tucker, 
 
172 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 of Uganda, states: "In Africa, Mohammedanism is now 
 astir and moving forward with an almost resistless mo- 
 mentum. The pagan tribes at present can be won for 
 Christ with comparative ease, but let Mohammedanism 
 once become entrenched among them and the work of 
 evangelizing them will be increased a hundred fold."^ "The 
 battlefield is before our eyes," writes Dr. Frank Weston, 
 the Canon of Zanzibar; "the forces of the enemy are 
 drawn up. Will our church send out her leaders to 
 inspire the African Christians? If not, Africa will be- 
 come Mohammedan from the Zambesi to the coast line 
 of the Mediterranean Sea. It is not for me, in this place, 
 to emphasize the danger to Europe of a Mohammedan 
 Africa, nor to dwell on the blindness of those imperial 
 forces who favor Islam at the cost of Christ. These 
 matters concern the imperial government. My duty is 
 to acquaint English Church people with the facts as we 
 see them, and to summon them to arouse themselves to 
 the work to which our Lord is clearly calling them."' 
 Dr. Henry Holland, of Quetta, Baluchistan, writes: 
 "Africa should first receive concentrated attention be- 
 cause if pagan Africa once embraces Islam, then the work 
 of converting them to Christianity will be a thousand 
 times more difficult and slow. Once Africa is under 
 the sway of Islam, the days of spiritual harvest, such 
 as have taken place in Uganda, will be over forever. 
 
 ^Testimony of missionaries on the Moslem peril in Africa, correspondence 
 Commission No. i, World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910. See 
 also "Pan-Islam," Archibald B. Colquhoun, North American Review, June, 
 1901. F. Wurz, "Die Mohammedanische Gefahr in Westafrika," Basel, 
 1904. Prof. Carl Meinhof, "Zwingt uns die Heidenmission Muham- 
 medanermission zu treiben?" Osterwieck, igo6. G. K. Simon, "Die Moham- 
 medanische Propaganda und die evangelische Mission," Leipzig, igog. 
 
 '"The East and the West," April, 1908. "Some African Problems." 
 
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE 173 
 
 Africa, in my opinion, offers the most urgent call at 
 the present time."^ 
 
 There are centers of strategic importance, as Nigeria 
 and the Sudan, where the land has not yet been wholly 
 won for Islam. There is yet time for the Christian 
 Church to put up breakwaters against the oncoming 
 wave of Islam, but what a sad thing it is to compare the 
 little handful of Christian missionaries now in this great 
 area with the multitude of Sanusiyah dervishes and Mos- 
 lem traders who pour into the region year by year.^ 
 
 Dr. W. R. Miller, writing from Northern Nigeria, says : 
 "Of all unevangelized fields, I know of no more pressing 
 one than the great Sudan, West, Central and East. Ex- 
 tending from Northern Nigeria to Egypt, with five great 
 Mohammedan provinces, there is no missionary. West 
 from us to the Atlantic, no missionary, and the country 
 teeming with pagans in the French Sudan who are fast 
 becoming Moslems. North of us right up to the Medi- 
 terranean, and literally not a missionary?"^ All this 
 testimony leaves no doubt that Islam is spreading and 
 going faster than Christianity throughout the Dark Con- 
 tinent. It claims the whole of Africa for its especial 
 own, and is occupying all the unoccupied fields. This 
 surely is not the time for Christian governments to 
 allow pagans to think that they prefer Islam to Chris- 
 tianity, and that they would rather have them turn Mos- 
 lem than Christian. Nor is it a time when missionary 
 societies should be satisfied with holding the outposts 
 instead of attacking the citadel. When Islam is making 
 
 'Letter to Commission No. i, World Missionary Conference, Edin- 
 burgh, 1910. 
 ^Ibid. 
 'Ibid. 
 
174 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 its bid of all Africa by persistent propagandism, no one 
 can help but see the real strategy of evangelizing the 
 remaining pagan races as speedily as possible. 
 
 "In the Dark Continent, the Crescent is waxing, not 
 waning," writes Rev. W. H. T. Gairdner; "it is already 
 half-moon and expects soon to be at full. ... In Africa 
 every Moslem is a natural missionary — whether he be 
 a good man or whether he be bad. He fraternizes with 
 the negroes ; he, his clothes, and his morality are not too 
 fine for them, and yet just a little finer than their own, 
 so that it becomes fashionable, a la mode, for the negro 
 to Islamize. The Englishman has stopped the slave 
 trade; old wrongs are easily forgotten. The English- 
 man — the real friend of the negro — merely holds the 
 ring with his Pax Britannica, while the Arab trader — 
 the negro's cruel foe of a generation since — quietly 
 'evangelizes' him. Everywhere these traders go, the 
 tendency to Islamize is enormously strong, and often irre- 
 sistible."! 
 
 The recent Moslem advance in Africa has been chiefly 
 in three directions: from the Upper Nile, from Zanzibar 
 into the Congo region, and up the Niger basin. Formerly, 
 Islam followed in the track of the Moslem conquerors. 
 Later, the slave routes became the highways of Moslem 
 propagandism. To-day, the movement is more general, 
 more wide-spread, more insidious, without display or 
 advertisement, but strong and certain and wide-sweeping 
 as the rising tide. From Northern Nigeria, the Hausa 
 merchants carry the Koran and the Moslem catechism 
 wherever they carry their merchandise. No sooner do 
 they open a wayside shop in some pagan district, than the 
 
 ^Article on The Anti-Christian Religion m North Africa, 1909. 
 
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE 175 
 
 mosque is built by its side. The laity are, in a sense, all 
 preachers. Shop keeper and camel driver are proud of 
 their Prophet and of his Book. If they cannot read it, 
 they at least kiss it, and wear it as an amulet and carry 
 it everywhere. All ranks of society are propagandists. 
 
 And there are forces which favor the spread of Islam 
 in Africa and increase its peril. First, the superior culture 
 of Islam in contrast with paganism. There is no doubt 
 ' that the words of Sir. H. H. Johnston are true: "The 
 Arab has been a curious mixture of curse and blessing 
 to black Africa; the cause, direct or indirect, of the 
 slaughter of millions of human beings, yet a most eifective 
 civilizer hitherto; the raiser of rude and nasty cannibals 
 into well-clothed, well-grown, self-respecting men and 
 women, the revealer of great geographical secrets and 
 the preparer of the way for the true white man."^ It 
 is the power of this higher culture that gives Islam tre- 
 mendous advantage over against dying paganism in the 
 Dark Continent. M. Gaden, the French traveler, for 
 example, found a Moslem library of no less than a thou- 
 sand volumes in the very heart of the Sahara, and of 
 these books over five hundred were in manuscript.^ The 
 Moslem daily and weekly journals, published at Cairo, 
 are carried to every part of the continent, and the im- 
 portation of Mohammedan charms and amulets has be- 
 come a regular trade among pagan Africans. 
 
 Add to this the fact that the colonial governments 
 nearly everywhere discriminate against Christian mis- 
 sions. This is true of German East Africa, of the Anglo- 
 Egyptian Sudan, of Northern Nigeria, and of all the 
 
 ^H. Vischer, "Across the Sahara," Preface, 17. 
 
 ""Une Bibliotheque Saharienne," Revue du Monde Mussulman, Vol. VIII, 
 409-418. 
 
176 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 States along the Mediterranean. The Moslem curricu- 
 lum at the Gordon Memorial College, the testimony of 
 German missionaries, in regard to their own government 
 policy and that of British missionaries in Nigeria, are 
 sufficient evidence. "Islam in East Africa," says Pro- 
 fessor Carl Meinhof of Berlin, "has a number of strong 
 allies. The first among them is the fear and sympathy 
 of European nations. Islam is a political religion, and 
 in politics, fear is always failure. None of the real friends 
 of missions would expect, or even think of a forcible 
 suppression of Islam, but we may surely expect Christian 
 governments not to cultivate and favor Moslem propa- 
 gandism." 
 
 The third force which favors the spread of Islam lies 
 in its low moral standards, and its points of contact with 
 paganism. The Moslem creed is easily accepted, because 
 it is easily understood. Islam is a religion without mys- 
 teries and without thorough-going morality. It suits the 
 palate of the pagan negro and promises a paradise after 
 his own heart. It does not make the demands of Chris- 
 tianity and allows many pagan customs and beliefs to 
 exist undisturbed. The use of fetiches, charms and 
 heathen practices is not foreign to Mohammedanism, as 
 we have already shown. The road from paganism to Islam 
 is much easier than the steep ascent to Christianity as has 
 been conclusively proved by the recent books of Warneck 
 and Simon on the conflict between Christianity and Islam 
 for the conquest of paganism in Malaysia.^ 
 
 Add to this the fact, that Islam knows no caste or 
 color line, builds no mosques for the rich and the poor, 
 
 'Joh. Warneck, "The Living Christ and Dying Heathenism." G. Simon, 
 '*Islam und Christentum im Kampf zum Eroberrung des Animistischen 
 Heidenwelt," passim. 
 
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE 177 
 
 has no "East end and West end," but invites the naked 
 pagan to enter the great brotherhood of behevers and 
 rise at one leap to the highest possible caste of social 
 and religious distinction. All these things favor the 
 spread of Islam and hinder the progress of Christianity in 
 Africa. 
 
 The most recent and authoritative statement in regard 
 to the present spread of Islam in Africa is that given by 
 Pastor Wurz.^ His array of facts is as convincing as it 
 is alarming. 
 
 Advance into the unoccupied fields of the world, of 
 Asia, as well as of Africa wherever possible, is for all 
 the reasons given above, the highest form of missionary 
 strategy. Because the border marches are held by Chris- 
 tian missions, we must cross over into regions beyond 
 or allow a Christless civilization and a rival creed to 
 precede the Church and preempt the ground. In the 
 words of the Koran: "Every nation has its appointed 
 time, and when their appointed time comes, they cannot 
 keep it back an hour, nor can they bring it on." That 
 time is now for nearly all the unoccupied fields. It surely 
 is for those in Africa. 
 
 Nor is it probable that amid all the restless movements 
 in the neighboring Moslem nations — Turkey, Persia and 
 India — Central Asia and Afghanistan will remain dor- 
 mant. On the contrary, there are indications that the 
 Pan-Islamic movement has reached Bokhara and Kabul, 
 as well as Orenburg and Tiflis. Not only is there dis- 
 cussion of social reform in the Moslem press of Russia, 
 but the Tartar paper, "Terjuman," recently contained a 
 proposition calling for a Pan-Islamic Congress to dis- 
 
 ^Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift, Berlin, 1910, 16-30, 73-82. 
 
178 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 CUSS the reformation of Islam.^ At present, the Mos- 
 lems of Chinese Turkistan are "the essence of imper- 
 turbable mediocrity. They live a careless, easy, apathetic 
 existence; nothing disturbs them. It is their destiny, 
 shut away from the rest of the world, to lead a dull, 
 spiritless, but easy and perhaps happy life, which they 
 allow nothing to disturb."" Let these Moslems, how- 
 ever, once become aroused through the Cairo press or 
 the dervish preacher, and who can tell what might be 
 the result in Central Asia? Now is the opportunity to 
 carry the Gospel to them. 
 
 Nothing can hold back the advance of Western civili- 
 zation into the very heart of Asia. The railway and 
 the caravan are forcing upon them, through every pass 
 and along every channel of communication, the latest 
 inventions of our times. At Kabul, one may see motor 
 cars, sewing machines, graphophones, rifles, and smoke- 
 less powder. One of the results of the visit of the Amir 
 of Afghanistan to India was that he arranged for the 
 erection of looms in his capital, and now we hear of the 
 transportation by camel train of pianos, motor cars, and 
 a plant for wireless telegraphy, through the Khaibar Pass. 
 For the management of all these modern industries, a 
 staff of European engineers and mechanics is admitted 
 into the country. For some years, European physicians, 
 both men and women, have been under the protection and 
 the pay of the Amir. Why should the missionary be 
 forbidden entrance? 
 
 "To the tough hearts that pioneer their way 
 And break a pathway to those unknown realms, 
 
 ^London Times, Oct. 12, igo8. 
 
 "F. E. Younghusband, "The Heart of a Continent,'* 144. 
 
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE 1/9 
 
 That in the earth's broad shadow lie enthralled, 
 
 Endurance is the crowning quality, 
 
 And patience all the passion of great hearts.'" 
 
 ijames Russell Lowell, quoted in S. C. Rijnhart's "With the Tibetans in 
 Tent and Temple," 397. 
 
THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK 
 
 i8i 
 
"White hands cling to the bridle rein, 
 Slipping the spur from the booted heel; 
 Tenderest voices cry, 'Turn again,' 
 Ked lips tarnish the scabbarded steel; 
 High hopes die on the warm hearthstone, 
 He travels the fastest who travels alone. 
 
 "One may fall, but he falls by himself; 
 Falls by himself with himself to blame. 
 One may win, and to him is the pelf. 
 Loot of city in gold or fame. 
 Treasures of earth are all his own 
 Who travels the fastest and travels alone." 
 
 — Rudyard Eipling. 
 
 "Yes, without cheer of sister or of daughter. 
 Yes, without stay of father or of son. 
 Lone on the land and homeless on the water, 
 Pass I in patience till the work be done." 
 
 —Frederic W. H. Myers, "St. Paul." 
 
 " 'My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pil- 
 grimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My 
 marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me, that 
 I have fought His battles. Who will now be my rewarder.' So 
 he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the 
 other side." 
 
 —Death of Valiant-for-the-Truth, "Pilgrim's Progress." 
 
 i8a 
 
Chapter VII 
 THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK 
 
 If we are to take advantage of the present opportunity, 
 and if the reproach of long neglect, which rests upon 
 the Church because so large a part of the world is still 
 unoccupied at the beginning of the twentieth century, is 
 to be removed, definite plans must be projected, action 
 must be taken, and sacrifices made to enter these fields. 
 
 And first of all, there must be a real strategy in our 
 plans for occupation. We must discover not only the 
 best agencies to enter these fields, but determine the best 
 method and the best moment for effective occupation, 
 as well as select the most strategic centers, and secure 
 the best men to attempt the task. 
 
 In many cases, especially in some parts of China, the 
 effective occupation of hitherto unoccupied areas calls 
 most of all for the strengthening of existing missions by 
 reinforcement, both of men and equipment, enabling them 
 to reach out into the smaller areas adjoining their sta- 
 tions with large populations among whom no work is 
 now being carried on. It would be a serious mistake 
 to multiply new agencies where old agencies or societies 
 are already at work. Such would not only be a breach 
 of comity, but a mistaken strategy and a waste of energy. 
 Nearly all "of the fields treated in Chapter II do not 
 
 183 
 
l84 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 need more missionary societies, but more missionaries 
 and closer co-operation on the part of the societies on 
 the border-lands of unoccupied territory. Dr. T. L. 
 Pennell well points out the strategy of strengthening the 
 work at the base before attempting an advance into 
 regions beyond. We need to reinforce the stations on 
 the border-marches as does the British Government 
 its military stations, not merely in relation to their present 
 environment and need, but as a basis to go forward and 
 evangelize the yet unoccupied lands.^ 
 
 Yet there is also need for the establishment of new 
 mission centers within the unoccupied territories at 
 points of vantage removed from existing missions and 
 not within their immediate plan of activities. It would 
 be unwise for any missionary society or agency, whose 
 resources are limited and whose financial burdens are 
 already heavy, to attempt the establishment of new sta- 
 tions by the impoverishment of older stations and the 
 weakening of existing work. The far-flung battle line of 
 the army of God is even now perilously weak and slender. 
 Concentration and not diffusion is the right missionary 
 policy in such cases, but this does not take away our 
 responsibility for the unoccupied fields, nor weaken the 
 argument for their immediate occupation. The Church 
 has men enough and resources to do both if she will. A 
 serious effort to occupy all of the unoccupied fields, and 
 to carry the Gospel to the uttermost part of every un- 
 occupied field, is the test of our loyalty to Christ. 
 
 In considering the task of the pioneer, this chapter 
 treats first of the man and then of his mission. 
 
 In so difficult an undertaking, everything under God 
 depends on the kind of men selected. If, as Aaron 
 
 •T. L. Penaell, "Among the Wild Tribes of the Afghan Frontier," 305, 
 
THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK 185 
 
 Matthews said, a missionary to the Jews "requires Abra- 
 ham's faith, Job's patience, the meekness of Moses, the 
 strength of Samson, the wisdom of Solomon, the love 
 of John, the zeal of Paul, and the knowledge of the 
 Scripture which Timothy had," then surely the pioneer 
 missionary, who faces an even more difficult task, needs 
 special qualifications. 
 
 The pioneer stands in a class by himself, like Paul 
 among the Apostles. His glory and joy is the magnitude 
 and the difficulty of the task. The unknown attracts 
 him. Obstacles allure him, and difficulties only knit his 
 moral fibre and strengthen his purpose. He can never- 
 more be disobedient to the heavenly vision. He sees the 
 opportunity and seizes it. 
 
 "He is crude with the strength of the seeker of toil ; 
 From the hot, barren wastes he is gathering spoil 
 For a nation that lives from the bounty he gives — 
 He's the Builder, the Winner of Ways. 
 
 Where the silent wastes bake in the summer's hot glow. 
 Where the forests are choked in the shroud of the snow. 
 By his brain and his brawn a new nation is born — 
 He goes forth to conquer new realms. 
 
 And the world has its heroes of lace and gold braid. 
 That are honored and wined for the waste they have made ; 
 But the world little knows of the debt that it owes 
 To the Hewer, the Blazer of Trails.'" 
 
 Those who prepare a highway for the King must have 
 the heroism and steadfast purpose of men like James 
 Chalmers, who said: "Recall the twenty-one years, give 
 me back all its experience, give me its shipwrecks, give 
 me its standings in the . face of death, give it me sur- 
 rounded with savages with spears and clubs, give it 
 
 iRudyard Kipling. 
 
1 86 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 me back again, with spears flying about me, with the 
 club knocking me to the ground, give it me back, and 
 I will still be your missionary."^ They need to feel 
 an utter dependence on the power of God and a sense 
 of their own insufficiency. 
 
 "I think nothing has struck my mind more forcibly 
 in this country," wrote Livingstone, "than the necessity 
 of the Holy Spirit's influence in the work of conversion. 
 At home I felt it; but here, no sooner do we become 
 intimately acquainted with the character of the people 
 than the mind is overwhelmingly convinced that without 
 divine aid, nothing can be done. This makes me entreat 
 the earnest prayer of all my friends. I entreat yours. I 
 feel that I might live all my life here and do nothing to 
 advance the period when the Redeemer shall see of the 
 travail of His soul and be satisfied. I implore your prayers 
 that I may be made wise to win souls."^ 
 
 Before Keith Falconer went to Arabia, Major General 
 Haig, who had traveled around the peninsula, wrote a 
 paper calling for pioneers ; it was this appeal that found 
 an echo and a response at Cambridge. 
 
 "Given the right men," he said, "and Arabia may be 
 won for Christ; start with the wrong men and little will 
 be accomplished. But what qualifications are needed: 
 what enthusiasm, what fire of love, what dogged resolu- 
 tion, what uttermost self-sacrificing zeal for the salvation 
 of men and the glory of Christ! 
 
 "lypon this point I prefer to quote here the words of a 
 man who is preeminently qualified to speak upon the sub- 
 ject. Three years ago he wrote to me: 
 
 ^R. Lovett, "James Chalmers," 277. 
 
 ^From a letter dated 1843, first published in 1910, quoted in The Mission' 
 ary Herald, April, 1910. 
 
THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK I87 
 
 " 'Unless you have missionaries so full of the spirit of 
 Christ that they count not their own lives dear to them, 
 you will probably look in vain for converts who will be 
 prepared to lose their lives in the Master's service. In 
 a relaxing tropical climate, like that of Aden, circum- 
 stances are very unfavorable for the development of self- 
 denying character, or of energetic service. No small 
 amount of grace would be needed to sustain it; for we 
 are compound beings, and there is a wonderful reaction 
 of the body upon the soul, as well as of the soul upon 
 the body. It is supremely important, then, in an enter- 
 prise like yours, to have the right stamp of men — men 
 who have made some sacrifices, and who do not count 
 sacrifice to be sacrifice, but privilege and honor — men 
 who do not know what discouragement means, and men 
 who expect great things from God. Such alone will 
 prove really successful workers in a field so replete with 
 difficulty. Unless Eternity bulks very largely in the esti- 
 mation of a man, how can he encourage a native con- 
 vert to take a step that will at once destroy all his hopes 
 and prospects of an earthly character, and possibly re- 
 sult in imprisonment and torture and death itself? and 
 unless you have men who are prepared, should God seem 
 to call for it, to lead their converts into circumstances 
 of such danger and trial, it is not very likely that they 
 will find converts who will go very much in advance of 
 themselves. Men of this stamp are not to be manu- 
 factured ; they are God-made. They are not to be found ; 
 they must be God-sought and God-given. But the Mas- 
 ter who has need of them is able to provide them.' "^ 
 
 This high ideal of a British army officer, who himself 
 
 '$2uot*<l i° S. M. Zwemer's "Arabia, the Cradle of Islam," 389, 390. 
 
1 88 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 engaged in actual pioneer service, both as an explorer 
 and as a missionary in India and Arabia, is not too high 
 to-day for those who undertake to enter lands like the 
 Sudan, Tibet, Afghanistan or the French Congo. All 
 these lands call for heroic service. 
 
 "To the man who cannot rough it," says John R. Muir, 
 "Tibet will be a perfect nightmare. For one hundred and 
 seventy-two nights I did not sleep in my bed, and during 
 that time we traveled through districts where the alti- 
 tude, often over 16,000 feet, would be sufficient to ex- 
 clude many an aspirant for honors in this warfare. For 
 days, we lived on the coarsest vegetables, and such game 
 as we came across along the road. Some nights we 
 slept without any beds; once we were without food for 
 almost twenty- four hours; often we had to walk when 
 it was almost beyond human endurance, but on the whole, 
 it was like a summer vacation, because we were strong 
 and able to enjoy it. As the work develops and stations 
 are opened, these long journeys will be a thing of the 
 past, so anyone, with a good constitution and a will to 
 rough it, will find Tibet a pleasant land."^ 
 
 The pioneer missionary is a soldier and must be willing 
 gladly to "partake of the sufferings of Christ." Mis- 
 sions mean warfare. Should, then, soldiers of the Cross 
 shrink from undertaking, on behalf of Christ, what is 
 being done every day for commerce or conquest?^ 
 
 "The sand of the desert is sodden red — 
 
 Red with the wreck of a square that broke ; 
 
 The gatling's jammed. 
 
 And the colonel's dead, 
 And the regiment blind with dust and smoke; 
 
 ^The Student Movement, "Tibet Needs Men," April, 1909, 162. 
 
 *Cf. C. H. Harner, "Congo Qualities," The Intercollegian, December, 1908, 
 
THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK 189 
 
 "The river of death has brimmed its banks, 
 And England's far, and honor's a name ; 
 But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks — 
 Play up, play up, 
 And play the game.'" 
 
 And then, the task of the pioneer calls also for that 
 keen sense of humor which is an essential quality for 
 all who would win against such odds as a hard climate, 
 rough travel and food that is often "fearfully and won- 
 derfully made." 
 
 When many leagues distant from the nearest laundry, 
 John Van Ess wrote from the Pirate Coast in Arabia: 
 "After thirty days, my khakis had begun to look dis- 
 reputable, and Solomon proposed to wash them. So he 
 went to the bazaar and proceeded to ask for soap. They 
 shrank back in horror and surprise. 'Soap?' they cried, 
 'it hurts women and has a malignant odor; no, we 
 do not use soap!' The next day, I suggested to Feirooz, 
 a slave detailed for my use, that he wash his garment, 
 crusted with the accumulated filth of months. 'No,' said 
 Feirooz, 'I have spent rupees three for musk, rose water 
 and cinnamon. If I wash it out now, where is the money ?' 
 The problem staggered me and I kept silence." 
 
 And this is how Mrs. T. L. Pennell describes two 
 journeys on the borders of Afghanistan: "I was once 
 shown over the 'Augusta' institution of massage at the 
 baths in Wiesbaden, where a miserable porter had to 
 place any part of his anatomy at the disposal of visitors 
 who wished to see the massage machinery applied. I 
 never knew the extent of that man's suffering till I went 
 to Kohat by tonga, a drive of eighty miles, lasting ten 
 and a half hours." 
 
 »H. Newbold, "Play Up." 
 
IQO THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 Describing the feast that awaited them there she 
 goes on to say : "They shelled the nuts with their teeth, 
 then carefully rubbed them between their palms and 
 offered them to me. In vain did I protest that I could 
 not deprive them of their nuts; I had to take them. I 
 managed to get most of them into my husband's hand- 
 kerchief, and the rest are still lying behind the bed ! By 
 nine they had our dinner cooked. It consisted of very 
 tough mutton, eggs, and little balls of fat — a special deli- 
 cacy made from the tail of the 'dumba' (sheep). When 
 we had eaten as much as we could (with the help of the 
 cat), they produced half a leg of mutton on a skewer, 
 just roasted. When this was refused, two plates of 
 'kitcheree' were brought. It looked and tasted just like 
 a poultice, so I did not partake of it. I expect it is an 
 acquired taste !"^ A sense of humor will sometimes 
 save the situation when nothing else will.^ Laughter is 
 a safety valve for a pent-up temper and a smile is often as 
 valuable as a passport when in the midst of difficulties. 
 
 "It's easy enough to be pleasant 
 When life flows by like a song. 
 But the man worth while is the man who can smile 
 When everything goes dead wrong." 
 
 The success of a pioneer missionary depends largely 
 on his ability to identify himself with the people among 
 whom he labors. Paul became all things to all men. 
 And the real secret of the open door, in many of these 
 closed lands, is the ability to enter the door as though 
 you were one of those on the inside. William Edmund 
 Smyth, the first bishop of Lebombo, Africa, in a series 
 
 ^"Two Journeys in Thai," Mercy and Truths June, 1909. 
 *A. J. Brown, "The Foreign Missionary," 242: 
 
THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK I9I 
 
 of meditations "On the Joys and the Work of a Mis- 
 sionary," reiterates that the success of the pioneer will 
 ever be in exact proportion to his power to sympathize 
 with the natives in every detail of their lives. "It is not 
 at all easy," he says, "but if we would be perfect mission- 
 aries, we must do our best. Think you it was easy for 
 the Son of God to enter into the life of the people at 
 Nazareth, to enjoy their little jokes, to put up with their 
 curious superstitions, to follow all the details of their 
 meaningless etiquette, to take part in their festivities, 
 etc. ? Yet He did this for thirty years before He began 
 to teach."^ 
 
 The pioneer missionary has much to learn from the 
 record of travelers and explorers, as well as much to 
 avoid. 
 
 We are told by one who tells the story of triumph over 
 geographical difficulties that a keen discernment of the 
 Arab's character, a fluent, accurate knowledge of his 
 speech, a lively interest in his desert joys, a heart of 
 sympathy, and a dogged, undaunted perseverance, were 
 the stepping-stones to success in the penetration of 
 Arabia.^ 
 
 Shall men and women of this stamp be wanting to win 
 Arabia and the other unoccupied fields for Christ? 
 
 Again, no man can be a pioneer missionary who does 
 not have his convictions in regard to Christ and the Gos- 
 pel wrought out in his own life experience. The pioneer 
 is dependent on his own resources; he stands alone. 
 He must be not only a man with a message, but must 
 embody that message in his own life and character. The 
 
 'W. E. Smyth, "The Work of the Missionary," pamphlet (C. M. S.), 
 Litchworth, England. 
 'D. G. Hogarth, "The Penetration of Arabia," passim. 
 
igi THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 pioneer missionary is, therefore, in a peculiar sense, the 
 representative of Christ. Some years ago, I was preach- 
 ing in one of the hospitals in East Arabia, and spoke 
 of the love of Christ; its length and breadth and depth 
 and height, using the words of the Apostle as the basis 
 of my talk. I endeavored to present the subject simply 
 so that it could be understood by the uneducated people 
 who had gathered in the waiting-room. At the close of 
 the address, a Moslem, unprepossessing in appearance, 
 who had evidently not been to the hospital before, 
 stepped forward and with Bedouin bluntness exclaimed, 
 "I understood all you told us, because I have seen that 
 sort of man myself." 
 
 In the conversation that followed, this Arab, who came 
 from a city about five hundred miles distant, "began to 
 describe, in response to inquiries, a stranger who had 
 come to his city and taken up his residence there. "Why," 
 he said, "he was a strange man. When people did wrong 
 to him, he did good to them. He looked after sick folks 
 and prisoners, and everybody who was in trouble. He 
 even treated negro slave boys and sick Arabs kindly. 
 He was always good to other people. Many of them never 
 had such a friend as he was. He used to take long 
 journeys in the broiling sun to help them. He seemed to 
 think one man was as good as another. He was a friend 
 to all kinds of people. He was just what you said." 
 
 To my surprise, this rude, uneducated man had recog- 
 nized, in the description which I had given of the love 
 of Christ, a Christian missionary, and greater was my 
 surprise later to find that it was my brother, Peter J. 
 Zwemer, who, in 1893, opened work in Muscat, and died 
 in the Presbyterian Hospital, New York, in 1898. That 
 Mohammedan had not only heard the word of the mis- 
 
THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK IQJ 
 
 sionary, but he had seen it exemplified in the missionary's 
 Hfe. What higher tribute could be paid to the daily life 
 of one of God's servants than the fact that an ignorant 
 Mohammedan, studying him day by day, recognized 
 Christ !i 
 
 An equally vivid picture is given of this pioneer privi- 
 lege by Dr. Susie Rijnhart. She and her husband were 
 at Hsi-ningfu in far western China during the Moslem 
 revolt and massacres in 1896. "When peace had been 
 declared, Mr. Rijnhart, to the consternation of both Ti- 
 betans and Chinese, went to the Mohammedan quarters 
 at Topa to treat the Mohammedan wounded. It had been 
 understood that because we had helped the Chinese and 
 Tibetan soldiers, therefore we shared their hatred of their 
 enemies, and could not possibly have a kind thought for 
 them. When they saw that the missionary was just as 
 kind and tender to the Mohammedans as to themselves, 
 they were utterly amazed. The law of Christian kindness, 
 impelling love and mercy even for one's enemies, was 
 vividly brought to their attention, and some, as they 
 pondered the lesson, thought again of the colored Bible 
 picture on the wall of our house in Lusar — the picture 
 of the Good Samaritan. There they had learned the 
 lesson in story — the missionary had translated it into 
 action."^ 
 
 This brings us to the special qualifications of the pioneer 
 professionally. The task of the pioneer to-day calls pre- 
 eminently for the medical missionary. In him, mercy 
 and truth are met together. He holds the key to every 
 closed door, because of his skill to heal and compassion 
 to help. The experience of all workers in Moslem lands 
 
 'S. M. Zwemer, "The Message and the Man," pamphlet. 
 
 *S. C. Rijnhart, "With the Tibetans in Tent and Temple," loo-ioi. 
 
194 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 is unanimous, that greater and better results can be ob- 
 tained through the work of medical missionaries than in 
 any other way among a class of people who form nearly 
 one-half of the total population of the unoccupied fields. 
 A medical man would to-day be welcomed in places where 
 the preacher perhaps could not enter. He would find 
 his hands full of work as soon as he arrived. The door 
 of the suffering always open to the hand of sympathy.' 
 "There is a language," said Dr. George E. Post, at the 
 London Missionary Conference, "that all can under- 
 stand, and which carries a message which every man cares 
 sooner or later to hear. From the moment the medical 
 missionary sets foot on his chosen field, he is master 
 of this universal language, this unspoken tongue of the 
 heart, and is welcome to the home of strangers. The 
 simple Arab lifts for him the curtain of his goat's-hair 
 tent and bids him enter. The Mandarin calls him to 
 his palace, the peasant begs him to come to his lonely 
 cabin, the Brahman leads him to the recesses of his 
 zenana. He stands before kings, and governors escort 
 him with squadrons of cavalry, or take him to and fro 
 in their gunboats or barges of state. Kings build hos- 
 pitals for him, and the rulers of the earth aid him with 
 their treasures and their power."^ 
 
 Concerning Baluchistan Dr. Dixey says, "In the early 
 days in Ouetta, the only method of getting into 
 touch with the tribesmen was by medica;! work. At first 
 there was much opposition, the mullahs being the chief 
 instigators, and the number of patients was often very 
 small. Gradually, however, as the work became better 
 
 *Cf. T. L. Pennell, "Our Northwest Frontier in India," Church Missionary 
 Review, August, 1908; or the experience of the traveler, H. W. Walker, 
 "Wanderings Among South Sea Savages," 219. 
 
 ^Address at the Ecumenical Missionary Conference, London, 1890. 
 
THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK 195 
 
 Known, and the country more settled, the attitude of the 
 people greatly changed, and with the influx of natives of 
 India into the city of Quetta, employed in various capaci- 
 ties, the numbers rapidly grew, and during the last two 
 or three years the attendance has averaged some 30,000 
 patients per annum in the men's hospital."^ And of the 
 border-lands of Afghanistan, Colonel Wingate writes: 
 "One remark is applicable to all the tribes that lie beyond 
 the Indian frontier, to the Mohmands and Shinwaris, to 
 the Kohistanis and the Chitrals, to the inhabitants of 
 Swat and Dir, of Hunza and Yasin, that they are all to-day 
 without the help and relief of medical science and skill, 
 and would hail with uncommon thankfulness the arrival 
 of the medical missionary with his dispensary and hos- 
 pital, for the sake of which they would tolerate his Bible 
 and listen to his exhortations, — and learn to love the 
 Saviour of all mankind." 
 
 There is pioneer work also for the scholar and linguist 
 in the unoccupied fields of the world. The Bible has 
 already been translated into all the principal tongues of 
 the world, and portions of it into more than four hundred 
 languages and dialects employed by nearly 1,200,000,000 
 people, or seven-tenths of the human race.'' But how 
 far these existing versions will ultimately supply the needs 
 of the other three-tenths is not known. Afghanistan is 
 supplied with the Pushtu Bible, and Tibet with the Tibe- 
 tan New Testament and the Pentateuch. The Nepalese 
 have the New Testament and the various Turkish tribes 
 of Central Asia at least portions. "There are, however, 
 large areas which will still need to be covered by transla- 
 
 ^A. D. Dixey, "Baluchistan," Church Missionary Review^ December, 1908. 
 
 'Bible Society Report and a letter from Rev. R. Kilgour, D.D., Supt. 
 of Translation Department, British and Foreign Bible Society, April 25, 
 1910. 
 
196 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 tions. Such are the Sudan, parts of Central Africa 
 including the upper Nile, parts of Central Asia, parts of 
 the Dutch East Indies, part of Oceania, and parts of 
 Central South America.^ One of the tasks before the 
 pioneer missionary is to complete the New Testament 
 or the whole Bible for peoples that have only one or 
 two of the Gospels; another is to put the Gospel, for 
 the first time, into a new language, and so Christianize 
 the speech of the people. In some cases, he 
 must reduce the speech of the people to writing, 
 give them an alphabet and must, therefore, surely 
 be a trained linguist. In Kordofan alone, there 
 are eleven distinct languages;^ and according to 
 some, in the Philippine Islands eighty dialects. The 
 Scriptures have been translated into only eight or ten 
 of these dialects, and it may not be desirable to translate 
 into all, but here and there a Gospel would be important. 
 The same is true all over parts of Micronesia and of 
 many parts of Africa.^ The Laotian language, for ex- 
 
 'Concerning the languages of Tibet, Bishop La Trobe writes : "Wherever 
 great mountain ranges separate the dwellers in one valley from those on the 
 other side of the ridges, which seem to rise into the sky, so that they 
 seldom meet and converse with one another, in such regions dialects are 
 multiplied. This is amply illustrated in our Tibetan field. Between our 
 stations at Leh and Poo there are 400 miles of travel over range after 
 range, whose peaks tower far over 20,000 feet, and whose passes rise to 
 18,000 feet. Midway between lies Kyelang, and the missionary who has 
 learnt his Tibetan at that central station will for a considerable time find 
 himself at a loss in addressing the congregation at any of the others. 
 Ladaki, or the Tibetan dialect of Ladak, the province of Kashmir, in which 
 our stations at Leh and Kalatse lie, differs very materially from the Tibetan 
 spoken in Lahoul, where Kyelang is situated, or in Bashahr, the native 
 State, in which Chini and Poo lie. Small as the British Province of Lahoul 
 is, our missionaries there have to do with three distinct languages besides 
 Tibetan — Bunan, Trinan and Manchat."— /4« the Threshold, April 15, 1908. 
 
 •Capt. W. Lloyd, "Notes on Kordofan Province," Geographical Journal, 
 March. 1910, 249. 
 
 'Letter from Dr. W. I. Haven, American Bible Society, May 11, 1910. 
 
THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK 197 
 
 ample, is spoken by the tribes who occupy the southern 
 part of Central Siam and has spread into the interior of 
 Indo-China. They are by no means illiterate, though 
 their books are all Buddhist manuscripts. Hitherto no 
 book has ever been printed in their tongue. M. Gabriel 
 Contesse, a Swiss missionary, has just completed two 
 Gospels at Song-Khone, in Annam, where half the popu- 
 lation, women as well as men, can read. Hear the in- 
 teresting story of this one translation : 
 
 "In order to print these Gospels in the Laotian char- 
 acter, special type had to be made. The Laotian people 
 use an alphabet which possesses twenty-six consonants 
 and fourteen vowels. These characters were carefully 
 written out on paper, by a native scribe who had assisted 
 M. Contesse in his translation. It is interesting to learn 
 that the scribe had never before used paper to write on, 
 but only palm leaves. Indeed, the effect of such writing 
 material may be traced in the curiously-curved style 
 which characterizes the Laotian alphabet. From a speci- 
 men Laotian alphabet, furnished by the native scribe, 
 patterns were designed at the Bible House, London ; and 
 from these patterns, matrices were cut, from which the 
 type has been made to print, for the first time, a book 
 in the Laotian character."^ 
 
 Reading the account of this most recent version of "The 
 Old, Old Story," who would not envy a like task and 
 privilege translating it for others who have never heard 
 before ? The survey of the unoccupied fields is a challenge 
 to linguistic scholarship and a call for its consecration, 
 not in the library at home, but on the border-lands of the 
 King.^ 
 
 ^*'The Story of God's Love in Laotian/' leaflet, British and Foreign 
 Bible Society, 1909. 
 **'If there were no other result of missionary labors than that, they have 
 
198 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 In considering this part of the pioneer's task it is well 
 to remember that the distribution of the Scriptures is 
 possible in many places where other evangelistic work 
 would be forbidden. This is especially true in Moslem 
 lands and in Russian Asia. In Siberia, the Bible 
 Society enjoys many privileges denied it in Europe, 
 and its workers possess the full confidence of 
 the official class. The Society has free carriage 
 for all its books without limit on all the railway 
 lines. In 1908-09, no less than 50,000 portions were put 
 into circulation in the Siberian district.^ There are few 
 places even in the most inaccessible and most difficult 
 of the unoccupied fields where, by tact and patience, an 
 open door may not be found for the entrance of the Word 
 of God. It has long since crossed the Afghan border, is 
 known in Lhasa, has readers at Mecca and Meshed, and 
 goes where no missionary can yet enter. Bible distribu- 
 tion by sale, or in rare cases by gift, is doubtless one of 
 the best pioneer agencies, but should always be carried 
 on under the supervision or by the direction of the es- 
 tablished Bible Societies.^ 
 
 We turn now to another aspect of the work in the 
 unoccupied fields, namely, the opening of a station. 
 The organization of a pioneer mission and the opening 
 
 conferred an inestimable boon upon the whole human race, and all the 
 lives that have been spent in the mission cause from the beginning till now 
 would even for that result not have been thrown away. Apart altogether 
 from the spiritual aspect of the case, and looking merely to the secular 
 side of it, the philological value of a work like that is simply incalculable.** 
 — Cust, "Normal Addresses on Bible Diffusion," 33. Cf. also Prof. Carl 
 Meinhof, "Erfolge und Ziele der Modernen Sprachforschung in Afrika," 
 Miinchen, 1907. 
 
 ^British and Foreign Bible Society Reports, 1907, 114: 1909, 136. 
 
 ^The folly of giving away indiscriminately gilt edged Scriptures to those 
 who would not read them was indulged in by a free-lance missionary 
 only a few years ago in Arabia 1 
 
THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK 199 
 
 of a pioneer station is as full of perils as it is of possi- 
 bilities, unless it be done with wise forethought, tactful 
 method and sane precaution. There are many lessons 
 to be learned from the mistakes and failures of the past 
 as well as from the faith, courage and common sense of 
 those whose enterprise was crowned with success. 
 
 Thoroughness of preparation was the secret of Com- 
 mander Peary's conquest of the Pole, as it was of Lord 
 Kitchener in his advance on Khartoum. Great goals are 
 greatly won, and are not reached by chance or at hap- 
 hazard. The charge of the Light Brigade was magnifi- 
 cent, but it was not war. It was a mistake. The death 
 of General Gordon at Khartoum was glorious for him, 
 but a disgrace to those who might have sent reinforce- 
 ments. There have been similar blunders in pioneer mis- 
 sionary effort with less excuse. One strongly-manned, 
 well-sustained enterprise, at a strategic base, is worth 
 more than half a dozen spectacular campaigns into the 
 great unknown without permanent results. 
 
 The task of the pioneer calls for prudence and common 
 sense. Some years ago, a party of American mission- 
 aries landed at Sierra Leone ; two of their main principles 
 were faith-healing and pentecostal gifts of tongues; no 
 medicines were to be taken, no grammars or dictionaries 
 made use of. The party was attacked by malignant 
 fever; two died, refusing quinine. When the garrison 
 ;, surgeon called on the survivors, he found their minds 
 fixed not to take medicine. An independent missionary 
 in the Persian Gulf, an earnest Christian, came with 
 similar views some ten years ago with the idea of 
 crossing the Arabian peninsula in the heat of summer, 
 a chest of Bibles his only outfit; needless to say, he did 
 not succeed. 
 
200 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 There seems to be a belief in some quarters that mis- 
 sionaries should become ascetics, in order to evangelize 
 successfully. But is this wise policy ?^ 
 
 A certain mission, not long ago, issued the following 
 statement : 
 
 "For some years we have believed that there was no hope that 
 the world would ever be evangelized by salaried preachers and 
 missionaries, and one of the foundation-stones of our movement 
 has been that the laborers should in reality follow Jesus in 
 the giving up of all things for His name and for their needy 
 brethren, and go forth to a life of trust in God, and, if need be, 
 of hardship and suffering. We are also reminded that what have 
 become to be generally understood to be the necessities and com- 
 forts for the body are not always essential or helpful in the 
 matter of spiritual power and blessing to the world, and we 
 desire to keep before our eyes the words of the great apostle, 
 'Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are 
 naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place,' and 
 to remember that the 'Captain of our salvation was made perfect 
 through suffering.' " 
 
 Now, however much we admire such zeal (and it is 
 
 *These words from the Report of Commission No. i, World Missionary 
 Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, are applicable. "The unfavorable climate of 
 certain fields has an important bearing on the disposition of the forces. 
 One of the sad chapters in the history of modern missions is the record 
 of attempts unguided by the experience of long established boards, and 
 therefore resulting in the inauguration of missions without sufficient safe- 
 guards against unnecessary suffering and loss. The risks to be faced con- 
 stitute no valid reason for holding back. On the contrary, such sacrifices 
 as have been involved have not been without their large fruitage and have 
 also been to many a zealous soul a romantic and inspiring call. The occu- 
 pation of such fields should be governed by the experience gained often at 
 great cost. Stations should be manned with a sufficient number of workers 
 to prevent, so far as possible, their breakdown in health, and workers 
 should be within easy reach of medical help. The different stations, like- 
 wise, should be wisely located and equipped with reference to protecting 
 the health of the workers. More frequent furloughs should be taken, and 
 vacations at health resorts on or near the different fields should be insisted 
 upon. These matters of prudence are of great importance in the economy 
 of missions." 
 
THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK 20I 
 
 worthy of admiration), it is not according to knowledge. 
 These are not sound missionary principles. With all 
 respect for the earnest men who wrote them, we cannot 
 but believe that such a method is presumption. No army 
 of conquest would think of adopting it. Nor should 
 Christian soldiers. In all nature, we see God's wise pro- 
 vision against heat, cold and exposure. "Consider the 
 lilies how they grow," and the beasts of the field, how 
 they are clad. God does not put the Polar bear on the 
 Congo, nor the hippopotamus in the heart of Arabia. 
 The animal is adapted to his environment. The beaver 
 builds his house according to the severity of the winter 
 and the depth of the stream. Brutes take no risks on 
 their health. Lambs are provided with wool, and it is 
 untrue that God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb. 
 He does not need to temper His wind, because He does 
 not shear the lamb. 
 
 The apostle Paul took care of his body, although he 
 was ready to die daily. He traveled from Jerusalem to 
 Illyricum evangelizing and planting churches, and yet 
 sent back for the cloak which he left at Troas, lest he 
 take cold in the damp Mamertine prison of Rome. He 
 was abstemious, and sacrificed everything to win Christ 
 and preach Him crucified, and yet he told his helper, 
 Timothy, "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine 
 for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities." 
 When he suffered shipwreck and came on shore drenched, 
 he did not sit down to hold a prayer-meeting and take 
 rheumatism on cold Melita, but rushed about to kindle 
 a fire, and gathered brushwood to make the blaze big. 
 His was not only "the spirit of love and of power," but 
 of a "sound mind." The Son of Man was not an ascetic ; 
 
202 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 He came eating and drinking.^ The pioneer missionary 
 need not be an ascetic to win his own self-respect or that 
 of the people. He needs a sound mind in a sound body 
 for his difficult task. 
 
 He should, however, be free for the march and un- 
 encumbered for hard service. "No man that warreth en- 
 tangleth himself with the affairs of this life that he may 
 please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." When 
 we remember intrepid explorers, like Lady Ann Blunt, 
 Mrs. Theodore Bent and Isabella Bird Bishop, or heroic 
 missionaries like Dr. Susie Rijnhart and Annie Taylor, 
 in Tibet, or Mary Moffat, in Africa, it is evident that, 
 in the task and the glory of the pioneer, women have 
 their part. Nevertheless, single men, as a rule, are better 
 fitted for exploration and reconnaissance on the border- 
 marches. As soon as a base has been established, the 
 Christian home finds its place and power. Until then, 
 the call is for men who can leave their families or are 
 without them. The words of Colonel Wingate, already 
 quoted, are in place: "If the missionary is going to wait 
 until Central Asia is safe to take up his wife and children 
 with him, then the doors are closed, but it is not closed 
 against those who are qualified to go. The British offi- 
 cers of Government, who are serving in Central Asia, 
 are selected officers. What has determined their selec- 
 tion? Their fitness, their qualifications (unmarried or 
 willing to leave their family behind, knowing the lan- 
 guage, strong, robust, fearless, tactful, etc.), for being 
 placed alone or with only one or two other officers, in 
 far advanced posts. In the same way, if we had ico fully 
 qualified, carefully-selected missionaries, there would be 
 
 •See an article on "The Temptations of the Missionary" in the Missionary 
 Review of the Worlds August, 1904. 
 
A WDilAN C)I'' XEl'AL 
 
 The total population of tins State is 5,000,000. Ther^ is no resident 
 mis;,ionary. 203 
 
THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK 2O3 
 
 little difficulty in putting them into positions of enormous 
 advantage, from the spiritual point of view, in Central 
 Asian territories."^ 
 
 In regard to the formation of new societies caution is 
 necessary. The peril of disaster, because of lack of ex- 
 perience on the field and the need of wise administration 
 at home, may well be pointed out here. There is no 
 dearth of missionary societies, and in the growing sense 
 of comity and co-operation, there can be no possible 
 strategy in their unwise multiplication. The call, there- 
 fore, from the unoccupied field, is not for the organiza- 
 tion of new societies so much as for the older societies 
 to take up the work. All those who feel called of God 
 to begin work, therefore, in the fields mentioned should 
 first of all remember this and, if possible, identify their 
 efforts with the societies already at work in proximity 
 to the unoccupied field. Because of their long experience, 
 their splendid organization, their economy of administra- 
 tion and their knowledge of methods, it is evident that 
 these societies should lead in all plans for the effec- 
 tive occupation of regions hitherto neglected. Guerilla 
 warfare, on the borders or in the interior of the enemy's 
 country, may offer opportunity for the display of splendid 
 heroism, but only a well conducted campaign on regular 
 lines of action can give assurance of complete victory. 
 
 Once it has been decided to open up a new field, the 
 most important matter is that of the choice of location. 
 Too great care cannot be exercised in the selection of 
 new mission stations. As in warfare, they should be 
 strategic, as healthful as possible, and in unbroken com- 
 munication with the base of supplies. A page from the 
 
 »I<etter to Commission Na ', World Missionary Coofcrence, Edin- 
 burgh, 1910. 
 
204 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 history of the Arabian Mission of the Reformed Church 
 of America may be helpful as an illustration: 
 
 "In those first years," writes Dr. James Cantine, "we 
 scarcely dared to hope for a long residence in this 'a 
 land that devoureth the inhabitants thereof.' Again and 
 again heat and fever took workers from our ranks, until, 
 at the end of ten years, scarcely more than half the num- 
 ber of men sent out remained. 
 
 "Those whom no danger could deter, came in increas- 
 ing numbers, so that we soon passed beyond that deadly 
 zone of isolation and overwork which hems in so many 
 small organizations. Years have also brought experience, 
 and increasing income has made possible more healthful 
 surroundings, until now our missionaries can reasonably 
 expect far more than two decades of service. 
 
 "These twenty years may be divided into three periods — 
 those of locating, establishing, and developing our work. 
 The first period represents the time and effort spent in 
 deciding upon our field. Its importance is not likely to 
 be over-estimated. Many a colonizing enterprise, and 
 missions are surely that, has been doomed to failure, be- 
 cause of a wrong location. Our first year was spent in 
 language study and investigation among the missionaries 
 of the Syria mission of the Presbyterian Church. The 
 knowledge we carried away, not only of the Arabic, but 
 of their tried and proved methods of meeting the general 
 problems of Christian work in a Moslem country, was 
 invaluable, and probably saved us from many disastrous 
 mistakes. 
 
 "Within two years, we had seen almost the entire cir- 
 cumference of the Arabian peninsula. We had considered 
 the possibility of Aleppo at the northwest corner, of the 
 Jiauran, south of Damascus, and of Moab east of the 
 
THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK 205 
 
 Dead Sea. At Aden, we spent a few months. The ports 
 of the Red Sea, on the west, were visited, and those of 
 the Arabian Sea, on the south, together with the inland 
 towns of Yemen. Finally, we sailed along the eastern 
 shore from Muscat to Bagdad, a total distance of nearly 
 five thousand miles. . . . Busrah was chosen as our first 
 station. The liberal character, wealth and enterprise of 
 its population; its strategic position, where trade routes 
 meet, and its proximity to the older mission fields of 
 Bagdad, Mosul and Mardin — these all combined to de- 
 termine our choice. 
 
 "Our second year in eastern Arabia was signalized by 
 the beginning of the work at the islands of Bahrein, mid- 
 way down the Persian Gulf, and the third year by the 
 opening of Muscat, well toward the southeast corner. 
 Thus the mission had, in this short time, outlined its entire 
 field, and this when its working force consisted of but 
 three or four men. To so isolate them in stations distant 
 one from the other three or more days' journey by water, 
 and this possible only at intervals of two weeks, seemed 
 extremely hazardous. But we felt that to rapidly in- 
 crease our mission force at one point, was to still more 
 rapidly increase suspicion and opposition, while it would 
 also alarm the native rulers at the other two places we 
 wished to hold. And one man, living quietly and alone, 
 can often, before hostile forces think it worth while to 
 combine against him, have remained long enough to es- 
 tablish a right of residence."^ The sequel has proved the 
 wisdom of such strategy, and there is no reason why mis- 
 sions should not be established in a similar way by the 
 tactful occupation of centers on the west coast of Arabia 
 
 'J. Cantine, "Twenty Years of the Arabian Mission," Uistionary Rtvitw 
 of the World, October, ipos- 
 
206 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 and between Aden and Muscat on the south, and then 
 in the interior. 
 
 In regard to the entrance and occupation of Tibet, 
 we can also learn from the experience of the past. 
 Attempts to enter Tibet were made very early in the 
 history of missions. In 1845 ("ot to speak of the journey 
 of Odoric, the Apostle of Tartary, in 1330), Father Gabet 
 and Father Hue penetrated to Lhasa, only to be arrested 
 and sent as prisoners to Canton. Numerous attempts 
 have been made since, both by Roman Catholic and 
 Protestant missionaries, by way of India and China. The 
 Moravian Church, with splendid heroism has, for over 
 forty years, been laying siege in the name of Christ to 
 these ancient strongholds of Buddhism. A cordon of 
 missionary posts is being drawn around Tibet, and 
 although it is weak and with long gaps in the links, it 
 extends already westward from Kashmir along the north 
 frontier of India and Burma, and reaches up to the North 
 of China. 
 
 Yet it is more than 2,000 miles from Ladak, the Mo- 
 ravian station among the Tibetan Buddhists, to the Chi- 
 nese frontier, where the China Inland Mission, on this 
 extreme outpost is trying to reach the eastern Tibetans. 
 
 The whole story of the: attempted entrance into this great 
 closed land is full of heart-stirring bravery. The Mo- 
 ravian brethren now occupy three stations in Little Tibet. 
 They have prepared grammars on the language, and pub- 
 lished a dictionary and the New Testament in Tibetan. 
 
 The China Inland Mission, the Christian and Mission- 
 ary Alliance, the Scandinavian Alliance Mission, the 
 Church of Scotland Mission, the London Missionary So- 
 ciety, the Church Missionary Society, and the Assam 
 Frontier Mission have all made preparatory efforts, more 
 
THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK 207 
 
 or less extended, to enter this field. Tibetans, who come 
 over the border for trade, are in touch with these mission- 
 ary agencies. 
 
 No new missions therefore should be organized for 
 Tibet, but the older missions sorely need reinforcement. 
 The natural line of approach at present, for the pene- 
 tration of Tibet, seems to be through China. In any 
 case, the evangelization of Western China would pro- 
 foundly affect conditions across the Tibetan borders, es- 
 pecially since the recent Chinese occupation. 
 
 The problem of the occupation of Afghanistan and of 
 Central Asia can be outlined from present conditions as 
 follows : 
 
 The Central Asian Mission (organized 1902) has 
 a station at Hoti-Mardan, on the border-marches of 
 India, near Peshawar. The object of this mission is to 
 enter Afghanistan. Within a short distance of this out- 
 post, they report 2,000 villages yet unevangelized. The 
 Church Missionary Society on the northwest frontier 
 of India, at its strong stations, Peshawar, Bannu, Dera- 
 Ismail-Khan, is in close proximity not only to Afghanis- 
 tan, but is beginning to carry on mission work by itinera- 
 tion and through its hospitals, as well as the circulation 
 of the Scriptures in the semi-independent states and 
 frontier tribal areas between the boundary line of Afghan- 
 istan and India, i. e., in Waziristan, Tirah, Swat and 
 Chitral. 
 
 Lying along the northwest frontier of India, therefore, 
 is the extended line of Church Missionary Society outposts 
 all the way from Quetta in Baluchistan, to Srinagar in 
 Kashmir. Some of these missionary outposts are organ- 
 ized and equipped on such a scale as to be real mission 
 bases, ready to furnish both personnel and equipment for 
 
208 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FI.KLDS 
 
 an advance into Central Asia, where spread out for more 
 than 1,000 miles due north, and for 3,000 miles from west 
 to east, all the way from Meshed, in Persia, to Ba-tang, 
 the first frontier station in China, is the unoccupied heart 
 of Asia. The great historic cities of Samarkand, Tash- 
 kend, Khokan, Andijan, in Russian Turkistan; Turfan, 
 Aksu, Hami and Khotan, in Chinese Turkistan, and the 
 centers of population in Afghanistan, are all without mis- 
 sionaries. These centers should be thoroughly investi- 
 gated, made the objects of prayer, and in accordance with 
 the best missionary strategy be occupied one by one. 
 
 When we consider the desperate condition of the whole 
 population, deprived of all medical skill and subject to 
 every superstition and cruelty, the establishment of 
 modern mission hospitals in each of the large centers of 
 population, seems not only essential but imperative. Med- 
 ical missions hold the key to these doors. 
 
 Educational work might begin in all of the great cities 
 of Russian and Chinese Turkistan, both for the educa- 
 tion of native workers and to reach the better class of Mo- 
 hammedans through Christian education. As soon as 
 there is more liberty, and present hindrances are removed, 
 there should be three Christian colleges, one for the 
 Caucasus, one at Bokhara, and one for Chinese Turkis- 
 tan at Kashgar or Yarkand.^ Because this field is thor- 
 oughly Mohammedan in its character, the need for women 
 workers is as extensive and intensive as is that for men. 
 
 In regard to literary work, much remains to be done. 
 A periodical in Turki should be published and Christian 
 literature prepared in the various vernaculars spoken. 
 
 The best lines of advance, in the immediate future for 
 
 'Letter from Missionary Larsen of Kashgar to Conimission No. i, World 
 Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910. 
 
THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK 209 
 
 thtt strategic occupation of Central Asia, might be indi- 
 cated as follows : First, to strengthen by immediate rein- 
 forcement the work begun so courageously and success- 
 fully at Kashgar and Yarkand by the Swedish Mission, 
 and to have missions under Swedish, Danish or American 
 societies begin work in the other great centers along the 
 Russian railway in Turkistan. This work could best be 
 done by such societies as would not be under political 
 suspicion on the part of the Russian Government.^ 
 
 The unoccupied fields in Africa are so many, so di- 
 verse, of such vast area and, in some cases, so wedged in 
 between fields occupied by the various organized mis- 
 sions, that only careful study in each particular instance 
 would yield the right plan for advance and occupation. 
 The vast Sudan, for example, is being approached and 
 entered from three directions — from the south, the west 
 and the east. In reviewing the successive attempts to 
 enter this field, the Church Missionary Society is rightly 
 accorded the first place. As early as 1841 and 1857, 
 Bishop Samuel Crowther accompanied trading and ex- 
 ploring expeditions up the Niger. Yet, not until the close 
 of the century was the first definite attempt made to 
 occupy the Central Sudan. Graham Wilmot Brooke, 
 stirred by the heroism of General Gordon, strove, for 
 several years, to reach inland from the Congo and from 
 the north but failed. Convinced that the real gateway 
 was the Niger, he returned to England and laid his plans 
 before the Church Missionary Society.^ 
 
 "A party was organized, consisting of three men and 
 
 'Letter from Missionary G. Raquette of Yarkand, Turkistan, to Com- 
 mission No. I, World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910. 
 
 *"A Resum£ of Pioneer Efforts in tlie Sudan" in The Missionary Witness, 
 Toronto, Sudan Number, 1909. 
 
2IO THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 two ladies, and, on April 4, 1890, they reached Lokoja, 
 at the entrance of the Sudan. Here they studied the 
 language and itinerated in the neighborhood, but while 
 at first things seemed hopeful, in less than twelve months, 
 although three other workers had been sent out, only one 
 man was left on the field, and in less than two years, 
 the two leaders were buried at Lokoja, and the remaining 
 members of the party had left the field, and the mission 
 was disbanded. 
 
 "The next attempt was made by a new Society, or- 
 ganized by Hermann Harris. After attempting in 
 vain to cross the Sahara desert, they sailed for the Niger. 
 Refused permission to proceed up the river by the offi- 
 cials of the Royal Niger Company, and detained in the 
 deadly Niger delta, one missionary was stricken down 
 with fever, and the other returned home. 
 
 "At the time of the British occupation of Nigeria, the 
 Church Missionary Society renewed its attempt to enter 
 the Central Sudan, and a party, under the leadership of 
 Bishop Tugwell, after a very chequered experience, 
 gained a foothold in the country, at last establishing a 
 station for a while in the little town of Ghirku (1900), 
 the little place in which seven years before, Walter 
 Gowans, the pioneer missionary of the Sudan Interior 
 Mission, had laid down his life." 
 
 Closely following this movement, the Sudan Interior 
 Mission (Canadian) established its first station at Patagi, 
 five hundred miles up the Niger. 
 
 In the Egyptian Sudan, the United Presbyterians of 
 America would, together with the Church Missionary 
 Society, have entered the field immediately after the 
 overthrow of the Khalifa by General Kitchener, but they 
 were restrained by government restrictions, both Lord 
 
Abyssinia, French, British and Itah'an Scmaliland have a combined area of approx- 
 imately 400,000 square miles and a population of 10,700,000. (See pages 5, 28, 71, 
 77, 83.) 210 
 
THE PIONEER AND HIS TASK 211 
 
 Cromer and General Kitchener opposing missionary 
 work among the Moslems. In the year 1900 these two 
 societies entered, however, Khartoum and Omdurman. 
 
 In the year 1902, the government having withdrawn 
 some of the restrictions, the Presbyterians pushed on up 
 the Nile and opened a station at Dolaib Hill, on the 
 Sobat River, where they have been working among the 
 pagan tribes ever since. 
 
 More recently, the Church Missionary Society has 
 also extended its work, opening a mission among the 
 Dinkas, and the German Sudan Pioneer Mission has 
 begun work at Assuan. 
 
 The most recent attempt at missionary work in the 
 western Sudan has been made by a British undenomina- 
 tional Society known as the Sudan United Mission. The 
 first party of missionaries reached the Niger in 1904. 
 Arriving several years after the British occupation, they 
 were able, without delay, to commence operations in the 
 Benue district of Northern Nigeria. 
 
 All future effort in the Sudan, therefore, should be 
 made with due consideration of the plans and the spheres 
 of activity of these several established missions. Yet, 
 there is doubtless room for new enterprise. 
 
 British Somaliland can best be studied and perhaps 
 reached from Aden as a base. Constant communication 
 exists between the towns of Berbera and Zeila with the 
 Arabian coast by native boats, and Aden has a con- 
 siderable Somali population. The two important centers 
 in French Somaliland are Obock and Jibuti, the latter the 
 railway terminus. Italian Somaliland offers greater diffi- 
 culties, and the population here, too, is nomad and sparse. 
 We omit mention of the other unoccupied fields in this 
 
2t2 THE UNOCCUPIfeD MISSION FIELDS 
 
 connection. Each has its own environment of occupied 
 centers and missions. 
 
 The task of the pioneer in none of them will prove 
 easy. Nor will it be possible to occupy the regions be- 
 yond, in Malaysia and Melanesia, without paying the 
 price. The pioneer must catch the vision, count the cost, 
 and then not turn his hand from the plow to look back. 
 His is the glorious inheritance of those who tried and 
 f?iiled, of those who fought and fell. He marches to 
 "The Song of the Dead" and marches to victory : 
 
 "We were dreamers, dreaming greatly, in the man-stifled town ; 
 We yearned beyond the sky-line where the strange roads go 
 
 down. 
 Came the Whisper, came the Vision, came the Power with the 
 
 Need, 
 Till the Soul that is not man's soul was lent us to lead. 
 
 "As the deer breaks — as the steer breaks — from the herd where 
 
 they graze, 
 In the faith of little children we went on our ways. 
 Then the wood failed — then the food failed — then the last water 
 
 dried — 
 In the faith of little children we laid down and died. 
 
 "On the sand-drift — on the velt-side — in the fern-scrub we lay, 
 That our sons might follow after by the bones on the way. 
 Follow after — follow after! We have watered the root, 
 And the bud has come to blossom that ripens for fruit! 
 
 "Follow after — we are waiting, by the trails that we lost, 
 For the sound of many footsteps, for the tread of a host. 
 Follow after — follow after — for the harvest is sown : 
 By the bones about the wayside ye shall come to your own !'" 
 
 'Rudyard Kipling, "The Song oi the Dead." 
 
THE GLORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE 
 
 313 
 
"We hATe a God who delights in impossibilities." 
 
 — Andrew Mnrray. 
 
 "You do not test the resources of God till you try the impos- 
 sible." 
 
 — F. B. Meyer. 
 
 "God loves with a great love the man whose heart is bursting 
 with a passion for the impossible." 
 
 —William Booth. 
 
 "The things that are impossible with men are possible with 
 God." "Face it out to the end; cast away every shadow of hope 
 on the human side as a positive hindrance to the Divine; heap 
 the di£Sculties together recklessly, and pile on as many more 
 as you can find; you cannot get beyond that blessed climax of 
 impossibility. Let faith swing out to Him. He is the God of 
 ^he impossible." 
 
 —I. Lilias Trotter, "The Glory of the Impossible." 
 
 814 
 
Chapter VIII 
 THE GLORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE 
 
 The Anglo-Saxons, some one has remarked, have al- 
 ways had of their number those who loved to creep on a 
 little beyond the margin of the traveled world; men to 
 whom beaten tracks were a burden and to whom "free air 
 to the windward was ever more than new-found territory, 
 however rich." The search for the sources of the Nile, 
 the penetration of Asia, and the attempts to discover the 
 Poles are illustrations of this spirit. Returning from his 
 south polar expedition, and replying to a toast at the 
 Royal Societies Club, Sir Ernest Shackelton voiced the 
 sentiment of such hearts when he said: "When once 
 men have been out beyond those parts of the world which 
 are known to men, there is an indescribable call to their 
 hearts to return — a call more appealing than that of Lon- 
 don or of the pleasures and luxuries of life. I have 
 spoken to my companions since they are back in this 
 country, and have found that they are tired of it and 
 ready to go back to the Antartic. There is in the ice 
 and in the wild that 'luring of the little voices' of which 
 the Canadian poet spoke : 
 
 "They're wanting me, they're calling me, the awful lonesome 
 
 places. 
 They are whining, they are whimpering, as if each one had a 
 soul; 
 
 215 
 
2l6 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 They are calling from the wilderness, the vast and God-like 
 
 spaces, 
 The stern and sullen solitudes that sentinel the Pole." 
 
 It is the glory of the untrodden path, the distant goal, 
 the difficult journey, the impossible achievement that 
 lures the explorer back again and again to his unfinished 
 task. Sven Hedin writes that he was uncomfortable and 
 ill at ease when he reached Peking again after crossing 
 Asia; and when there were two easy and comfortable 
 routes back to Sweden, he chose the hardships of an over- 
 land journey by a third new pathway.^ 
 
 When Dr. Susie Rijnhart tells of her four years' resi-^ 
 dence and travel among the Tibetans — of terrible hard- 
 ships and loneliness, hunger and thirst, dangers from rob- 
 bers and ruffians; — ^tells of that darkest day, when they 
 buried their one-year-old boy, his coffin an empty drug 
 box, in the great Forbidden Land, "rolling a large boulder 
 over the grave to keep wild animals from digging it up ;" 
 — tells how Mr. Rijnhart was murdered and how she, lost 
 and alone at the mercy of wicked Tibetan guides, reached 
 friends at last; — one would expect a note of discourage- 
 ment, but she closes her book with these words of 
 triumph : 
 
 "Was the cause worth the sufifering and have results 
 justified it? Critics of missions ask it — those who lift 
 up their hands of disapproval, when a life is given for the 
 sake of the Gospel, yet lustily applaud the soldier who 
 spills his blood on the battlefield in the cause of terri- 
 torial expansion or national aggrandizement. To such, 
 it is sufficient to say that Christ also has his soldiers who 
 
 'Svcn Hedin, "Through Asia," Vol. II, 1234-1238. CI. the remark of 
 Captain Stigand on the fascination of the unexplored comers of Africa in 
 "To Abyssinia Through an Unknown Land," 17. 
 
THE GLORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE 21/ 
 
 are willing to die for His cause if need be, in the belief 
 that His cause is the sublimest among men, and who 
 are content to leave the results with Him. . . . Kind Chris- 
 tian friends have questioned our wisdom in entering Tibet. 
 Why not have waited, they ask, until Tibet was opened 
 by 'the powers,' so that missionaries could go under 
 government protection ? There is much heart in the ques- 
 tion but little logic. Christ does not tell His disciples 
 to wait, but to go. We are not to choose conditions, but 
 to meet them. The early apostles did not wait until the 
 Roman Empire was 'opened.' . . . Persecutions came 
 upon them from every side, but nothing, save death, could 
 hinder their progress or silence their message. ... So it 
 has ever been in the history of Christianity. Had the 
 missionaries waited till all countries were ready and will- 
 ing to receive them, so that they could go forth without 
 danger or sacrifice, England might still have been the 
 home of barbarians. Livingstone's footsteps would never 
 have consecrated the African wilderness, there would 
 have been no Carey in India, the South Sea Islanders 
 would still be sunk in their cannibalism, and the thou- 
 sands of Christians found in pagan lands would still be 
 in the darkness and shadow of death. . . . The work is 
 great. So great that, beside its greatness, any sacrifice 
 involved in its accomplishment is small."' Such words 
 put a halo of glory over "the lone little grave under the 
 huge boulder at the base of Dang La," and make us feel 
 that "God loves with a great love the man, or woman, 
 whose heart is bursting with a passion for the impossible." 
 If Tertullian could say of certain doctrines, "Credo 
 quia impossibile est" shall not we, face to face with 
 all the staggering difficulties pf the unoccupied fields, 
 
 *S. C JtJjoJiart, "With th« TitsSans in Tent and Temple," 393-393' 
 
2l8 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 but also firm in a supernatural faith like his, echo the 
 words : "/ believe because it is impossible?"^ Such faith 
 removes mountains, bursts through impossible barriers, 
 and snatches victory from the jaws of defeat. "There is 
 no open door for the Gospel," writes a missionary, in his 
 loneliness at Kashgar, in the heart of Asia — "there is no 
 open door for the Gospel. No, there is death and hardly 
 any spiritual life as far as I know. But that very 
 fact must strongly remind us, that this very field needs 
 men filled with the Spirit and power who may go there 
 to open the doors for the Gospel and bring life to the 
 dead."^ 
 
 The greater the difficulties, the greater is the glory of 
 overcoming them. Is Afghanistan sealed against the 
 entrance of the Christian missionary? Or is the land 
 only waiting for those who will pay the price of bursting 
 its barriers? 
 
 Listen to the story of the conversion and martyrdom 
 of Abdul Karim, the Afghan convert: With a real 
 devotion to Christ, he was taken with the intense 
 desire, in the summer of 1907. to enter Afghanistan 
 and preach the Gospel. Crossing the frontier at Chaman, 
 he was seized by Afghan soldiers, brought before the 
 Governor of Kandahar, offered rewards and honors 
 if he would recant, and when he refused, was cast 
 into prison, loaded with chains. He was examined 
 by the Amir, but remained firm in his confession. Then 
 he was marched off for Kabul in chains, with a bit and 
 bridle in his mouth, while every Mohammedan who 
 met him smote him on the chedcs and abused him. 
 
 ^TertuUian, de Came Christi, Sec. 4. "Certum est quia impossibUe.*' 
 'Letter from L. E. Hogberg to Commission No. i, World Misaoaary 
 Coafereaee, Edinburgh, 1910. 
 
THE GLORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE 219 
 
 Finally, when he was set at liberty, he tried to find his 
 way back to India, was seized by the people in a village, 
 carried to their mosque, and ordered to repeat the Mos- 
 lem creed. Abdul Karim refused. "A sword was then 
 produced and his right arm cut off, and he was again 
 ordered to repeat it, but again refused. The left arm 
 was then severed in the same way, and on his refusing 
 the third time, his throat was cut. There is no doubt that 
 whatever the details of his martyrdom may be, Abdul 
 Karim witnessed faithfully to the last for the Saviour 
 Christ, and died because he would not deny Him. There 
 are many secret disciples in Afghanistan who honor Christ 
 as we do, and there is no doubt that at the present time 
 a public acknowledgment of Christianity would mean a 
 cruel death. At the same time, I believe that the Church 
 in Afghanistan will not be established till there have 
 been many such martyrs, who will seal their faith with 
 their blood.'" 
 
 Must only Afghan converts, however, seal their 
 testimony with their life, or will missionaries also go and 
 take possession, if need be, by winning the crown of mar- 
 tyrdom for the King? If Afghanistan were an island in 
 the South Seas, would there be no John Williams, no 
 Bishop Patteson? 
 
 The challenge of the unoccupied fields of the world is 
 one to great faith and, therefore, to great sacrifice. Our 
 willingness to sacrifice for an enterprise is always in 
 proportion to our faith in that enterprise. Faith has the 
 genius of transforming the barely possible into actuality. 
 Once men are dominated by the conviction that a thing 
 must be done, they will stop at nothing until it is ac- 
 complished. We have our "marching orders," as the 
 
 •T. L. Pennell, "Among the Wild Tribes of the Afghan Frontier," 393-293. 
 
220 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 Iron Duke said, • and because our Commander-in-Chief 
 is not absent but with us, the impossible becomes not only 
 practical but imperative. Charles Spurgeon, preaching 
 from the text, "All power is given unto Me. . . . Lo I am 
 with you alway," used these words : "You have a factor 
 here that is absolutely infinite, and what does it matter 
 as to what other factors may be. 'I will do as much as 
 I can,' says one. Any fool can do that. He that be- 
 lieves in Christ does what he can not do, attempts the 
 impossible and performs it."* 
 
 Frequent set-backs and apparent failure never dis- 
 heartened the real pioneer. Occasional martyrdoms are 
 only a fresh incentive. Opposition is a stimulus to 
 greater activity. Great victory has never been pos- 
 sible without great sacrifice. If the winning of Port 
 Arthur required human bullets,- we cannot expect to 
 carry the Port Arthurs and Gibraltars of the non- 
 Christian world without loss of life. Does it really mat- 
 ter how many die or how much money we spend in 
 opening closed doors, and in occupying the different 
 fields, if we really believe that missions are warfare and 
 that the King's glory is at stake? War always means 
 blood and treasure. Our only concern should be to keep 
 the fight aggressive and to win victory regardless of 
 cost or sacrifice. The unoccupied fields of the world 
 must have their Calvary before they can have their Pente- 
 cost. Raymund Lull, the first missionary to the Mos- 
 lem world, expressed the same thought in medieval lan- 
 guage when he wrote: "As a hungry man makes dis- 
 
 'Sermon on "Our Omnipotent Leader," in The EvoHgeKealion of the 
 World, Ixjndon, 1887. 
 
 ^"Human Bullets," a novel by Tadayoshi Sakurai. The experience of a 
 Japanese officer at Port Arthur and a revelation of Japanese patriotism and 
 
 obedience. 
 
THE GLORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE 221 
 
 patch and takes large morsels on account of his great 
 hunger, so Thy servant feels a great desire to die that 
 he may glorify Thee. He hurries day and night to com- 
 plete his work in order that he may give up his blood 
 and his tears to be shed for Thee."^ 
 
 The unoccupied fields of the world await those who 
 are willing to be lonely for the sake of Christ. To the 
 pioneer missionary the words of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 to the apostles when He showed them His hands and 
 His feet, come with special force: "As my Father hath 
 sent Me, even so send I you."^ He came into the world, 
 and it was a great unoccupied mission field. "He came 
 unto His own, and His own received Him not."' He 
 came and His welcome was derision, His life suffering, 
 and His throne the Cross. As He came, He expects us 
 to go. We must follow in His footprints. The pioneer 
 missionary, in overcoming the obstacles and difficulties 
 enumerated in Chapter IH, has the privilege not only of 
 knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection, but 
 also something of the fellowship of His suffering. For 
 the people of Tibet or Somaliland, Mongolia or Af- 
 ghanistan, Arabia or Nepal, the Sudan or Abyssinia, 
 he may be called to say with Paul, "Now I rejoice 
 in my sufferings for you and fill to the brim the 
 penury of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His 
 body's sake which is the Church."* What is it but the 
 glory of the impossible ! Who would naturally prefer to 
 leave the warmth and comfort of hearth and home and the 
 love of the family circle to go after a lost sheep, whose 
 
 ^Lull's "Liber de Contemplations in Deo," in S. M. Zwemer's "Raymund 
 Lull," 132. 
 *John 20:21. 
 'John i: II. 
 <Greek Text, Col. 1:24. Cf. Luke 21:4 and Mark 12:44. 
 
223 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 cry we have faintly heard in the howling of the tempest? 
 Yet such is the glory of the task that neither home-ties 
 nor home needs can hold back those who have caught the 
 vision and the spirit of the Great Shepherd. Because 
 the lost ones are His sheep, and He has made us His 
 shepherds and not His hirelings, we must bring them 
 back. 
 
 "Although the road be rough and steep 
 I go to the desert to find my sheep." 
 
 "There is nothing finer nor more pathetic to me," says 
 Dr. Forsyth, "than the way in which missionaries un- 
 learn the love of the old home, die to their native land, 
 and wed their hearts to the people they have served and 
 won; so that they cannot rest in England, but must re- 
 turn to lay their bones where they spent their hearts for 
 Christ. How vulgar the common patriotisms seem be- 
 side this inverted home-sickness, this passion of a king- 
 dom which has no frontiers and no favored race, the 
 passion of a homeless Christ !"^ 
 
 James Gilmour in Mongolia, David Livingstone in 
 Central Africa, Grenfell on the dongo, Keith Falconer 
 in Arabia, Dr. Rijnhart and Miss Annie Taylor in Tibet, 
 Chalmers in New Guinea, Morrison in China, Henry 
 Martyn in Persia, and all the others like them had this 
 "inverted home-sickness,'' this passion to call that coun- 
 try their home which was most in need of the Gospel. 
 In this passion all other passions died ; before this vision 
 all other visions faded ; this call drowned all other voices. 
 They were the pioneers of the Kingdom, the forelopers 
 of God, eager to cross the border-marches and discover 
 
 'P. T. Forsyth, "Missions in State and Church," 36. 
 
THE GLORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE 223 
 
 new lands or win new empire. Of such Kipling's song 
 reminds us: 
 
 "The gull shall whistie in his wake, the blind wave break in fire, 
 He shall fulfil God's utmost will, unknowing His desire ; 
 And he shall see new planets pass and alien stars arise. 
 And give the gale his reckless sail in shadow of new skies. 
 
 "Strong lust of gear shall drive him out and hunger arm his hand 
 To wring his food from a desert nude, his foothold from the 
 
 sand. 
 His neighbor's smoke shall vex his eyes, their voices break his 
 
 rest. 
 He shall go forth till South is North, sullen and dispossessed ; 
 
 "And he shall desire loneliness, and his desire shall bring 
 Hard on his heels a thousand wheels, a people, and a king ; 
 And he shall come back in his old track, and by his scarce, cool 
 
 camp; 
 There he shall meet the roaring street, the derrick, and the stamp, 
 
 "For he must blaze a nation's ways with hatchet and with brand 
 Till on his last won wilderness an Empire's bulwarks stand.'" 
 
 These forelopers of God went not with hatchet and 
 brand, but with the sword of the Spirit and with the fire 
 of Truth they went and blazed the way for those that 
 follow after. Their scars were the seal of their apostle- 
 ship, and they gloried also in tribulation. Like the pioneer 
 Apostle, "always bearing about in the body the dying of 
 the Lord Jesus," and approving themselves "as ministers 
 of God in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in watch- 
 ings, in fastings." 
 
 "Christ the Son of God hath sent me 
 
 To the midnight lands ; 
 
 Mine the mighty ordination 
 
 Of the pierced hands." 
 
 'Rudyard Kipling, "The Foreloper." 
 
224 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 Thomas Valpy French, Bishop of Lahore, whom Dr. 
 Eugene Stock called "the most distinguished of all 
 Church Missionary Society missionaries," had the real 
 pioneer spirit and knew the glory of the impossible. Af- 
 ter forty years of labors abundant and fruitful in India, 
 he resigned his bishopric and planned to reach the in- 
 terior of Arabia with the Gospel. He was an intellectual 
 and spiritual giant. "To live with him was to drink in 
 an atmosphere that was spiritually bracing. As the air 
 of the Engadine is to the body, so was his intimacy to the 
 soul. It was an education to be with him. There was 
 nothing that he thought a man should not yield — ^home 
 or wife or health — if God's call was apparent. But then 
 every one knew that he only asked of them what he him- 
 self had done and was always doing." And when 
 Mackay, of Uganda, in his remarkable plea for a mission 
 to the Arabs of Oman called for "half a dozen young 
 men, the pick of the English universities, to make the 
 venture in faith,"' this lion-hearted veteran of sixty-six 
 years responded alone. It was the glory of the impossible. 
 Yet from Muscat he wrote shortly before his death : 
 
 "If I can get no faithful servant and guide for the journey 
 into the interior, well versed in dealing with Arabs and getting 
 needful common supplies (I want but little), I may try Bahrein, 
 or Hodeidah and Sana, and if that fails, the north of Africa 
 again, in some highland ; for without a house of our own the 
 climate would be insufferable for me — at least during the very 
 hot months — and one's work would be at a standstill. But I 
 shall not give up, please God, even temporarily, my plans for the 
 interior, unless, all avenues being closed, it would be sheer mad- 
 ness to attempt to carry them out."" 
 
 "I shall not give up" — and he did not till he died. Nor 
 
 'Mrs. J. W. Harrison, "Mackay of Uganda," 417-430. 
 =S. M. Zwemer, "Arabia, the Cradle of Islam," 350. 
 

 ; ^^ 
 
 
 II i "^^'^AU' 
 
 tt E-' J^ i^ <'■' ^Jl ,f . • % ■^ 
 
 ."v 
 
 H ^1 
 
 
THE GLORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE 225 
 
 will the Church of Christ give up the work for which 
 he and others like him laid down their lives in Oman. 
 It goes on. 
 
 "O Eastern-lover from the West ; 
 
 Thou hast out-soared these prisoning bars ; 
 Thy memory, on thy Master's breast, 
 
 Uplifts us like the beckoning stars. 
 We follow now as thou hast led; 
 
 Baptize us, Saviour, for the dead." 
 
 The unoccupied provinces of Arabia and the Sudan 
 await men with the spirit of Bishop French. For the 
 ambition to reach out from centers already occupied to 
 regions beyond, even when those very centers are under- 
 manned and in need of reinforcement, is not Quixotic 
 or fantastic, but truly apostolic. "Yea, so have I been 
 ambitious," said Paul, "to preach the Gospel not where 
 Christ was already named, lest I should build on another 
 man's foundation; but as it is written, They shall see 
 to whom no tidings of Him came, and they who have 
 not heard shall understand." He wrote this when leaving 
 a city as important as Corinth, and goes on to state that 
 this is the reason why he did not yet visit Rome, but that 
 he hopes to do so on his way to Spain !^ If the uttermost 
 confines of the Roman Empire were part of his program 
 who had already preached Christ from Jerusalem to 
 Illyricum in the first century, we surely, at the beginning 
 of the twentieth century, should have no less ambition to 
 enter every unoccupied field that "they may see to whom 
 no tidings came and that those who have not heard may 
 understand." 
 
 "There is no instance of an Apostle being driven abroad 
 
 ^Romans 15:20-24. 
 
226 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 under the compulsion of a bald command. Each 
 one went as a lover to his betrothed on his ap- 
 pointed errand. It was all instinctive and natural. They 
 were equally controlled by the common vision, but they 
 had severally personal visions which drew them whither 
 they were needed. In the first days of Christianity, there 
 is an absence of the calculating spirit. Most of the 
 Apostles died outside of Palestine, though human logic 
 would have forbidden them to leave the country until it 
 had been Christianized. The calculating instinct is death 
 to faith, and had the Apostles allowed it to control their 
 motives and actions, they would have said: 'The need 
 in Jerusalem is so profound, our responsibilities to people 
 of our own blood so obvious, that we must live up to the 
 principle that charity begins at home. After we have 
 won the people of Jerusalem, of Judea and of the Holy 
 Land in general, then it will be time enough to go abroad ; 
 but our problems, political, moral and religious, are so 
 unsolved here in this' one spot that it is manifestly absurd 
 to bend our shoulders to a new load.' "^ 
 
 It was the bigness of the task and its difficulty that 
 thrilled the early Church. Its apparent impossibility 
 was its glory, its world-wide character its grandeur. 
 The same is true to-day. "I am happy," wrote Neesima 
 of Japan, "in a meditation on the marvelous growth of 
 Christianity in the world, and believe that if it finds any 
 obstacles it will advance still faster and swifter even as 
 the stream runs faster when it finds any hindrances on 
 its course."^ 
 
 He that ploweth the virgin soil should plow in hope. 
 God never disappoints His husbandmen. The harvest 
 
 *C. H. Brent, "Adventure for God," ii-i2. 
 
 'R. E. Speer, "Missionary Principles and Practice," 541. 
 
THE GLORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE 22/ 
 
 always follows the seed time. "When we first came to 
 our field," writes missionary HSgberg from Central Asia, 
 "it was impossible to gather even a few people to hear the 
 glad tidings of the Gospel. We could not gather any 
 children for school. We could not spread gospels or 
 tracts. When building the new station, we also had a 
 little chapel built. Then we wondered, Will this room 
 ever be filled up with Moslems listening to the Gospel? 
 Our little chapel has been filled with hearers and still 
 a larger room ! Day after day we may preach as much 
 ■ as we have strength to, and the Moslems no longer object 
 to listen to the Gospel truth. 'Before your coming hither 
 no one spoke or thought of Jesus Christ, now everywhere 
 one hears His name,' a Mohammedan said to me. At the 
 beginning of our work they threw away the Gospels or 
 burnt them, or brought them back again ; — now they buy 
 them, kiss the books, and touching it to the forehead and 
 pressing it to the heart, they show the highest honor that 
 a Moslem can show a book."^ 
 
 But the pioneer husbandman must have long patience. 
 When Judson was lying loaded with chains in a Burmese 
 dungeon, a fellow prisoner asked with a sneer about the 
 prospect for the conversion of the heathen. Judson 
 calmly answered, "The prospects are as bright as are 
 the promises of God."^ There is scarcely a country to- 
 day which is not as accessible, or where the difficulties 
 are greater, than was the case in Burma when Judson 
 faced them and overcame. 
 
 The prospects for the evangelization of all the unoccu- 
 pied fields are "as bright as the promises of God." Why 
 should we longer wait to evangelize them? "The evan- 
 
 ^Letter to Commission No. i, World Missionary Conference, Edin- 
 burgh, 1910. 
 'A, J. Brown, "The Foreign Missionary," 374. 
 
228 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 gelization of the world in this generation is no play-word," 
 says Robert E. Speer. "It is no motto to be bandied 
 about carelessly. The Evangelization of the World in 
 this Generation is the summons of Jesus Christ to every 
 one of the disciples to lay himself upon a cross, himself 
 to walk in the footsteps of Him who, though He was 
 rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through His 
 poverty might be rich, himself to count his life as of no 
 account, that He may spend it as Christ spent His for 
 the redemption of the world. "^ Who will do this for the 
 unoccupied fields? 
 
 The student volunteers of to-day must not rest satis- 
 fied until the watchword, peculiarly their own, finds 
 practical application for the most neglected and difficult 
 fields, as well as in countries where the harvest is ripe 
 and the call is for reapers in ever increasing numbers. 
 The plea of destitution is even stronger than that of 
 opportunity. Opportunism is not the last word in mis- 
 sions. The open door beckons; the closed door chal- 
 lenges him who has a right to enter. The unoccupied 
 fields of the world have therefore a claim of peculiar 
 weight and urgency. "In this twentieth century of Chris- 
 tian history, there should be no unoccupied fields. The 
 Church is bound to remedy the lamentable condition with 
 the least possible delay. "^ 
 
 The unoccupied fields, therefore, are a challenge to 
 all whose lives are unoccupied by that which is highest 
 and best; whose lives are occupied only with the weak 
 things or the base things that do not count. There 
 are eyes that have never been illumined by a great 
 vision, minds that have never been gripped by an un- 
 
 *R. E. Speer, "Missionary Principles and Practice," 526. 
 'Report of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, Vol. I. 
 
THE GLORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE 229 
 
 selfish thought, hearts that have never thrilled with pas- 
 sion for another's wrong, and hands that have never 
 grown weary or strong in lifting a great burden. To 
 such the knowledge of these Christless millions in lands 
 yet unoccupied should come like a new call from Mace- 
 donia, and a startling vision of God's will for them. As 
 Bishop Brent remarks, "We never know what measure 
 vi moral capacity is at our disposal until we try to ex- 
 press it in action. An adventure of some proportions is 
 flot uncommonly all that a young man needs to determine 
 ind fix his manhood's powers.'" Is there a more heroic 
 test for the powers of manhood than pioneer work in 
 ihe mission field? Here is opportunity for those who at 
 home may never find elbow-room for their latent capaci- 
 ties, who may never find adequate scope elsewhere for 
 all the powers of their minds and their souls. There are 
 hundreds of Christian college men who expect to spend 
 life in practicing law or in some trade for a livelihood, 
 yet who have strength and talent enough to enter these 
 unoccupied fields. There are young doctors who might 
 gather around them in some new mission station thou- 
 sands of those who "suffer the horrors of heathenism 
 and Islam," and lift their burden of pain, but who now 
 confine their efforts to some "pent-up Utica" where the 
 healing art is subject to the law of competition and is 
 measured too often merely in terms of a cash-book and 
 ledger. They are making a living ; they might be making 
 a life. 
 
 Bishop Phillips Brooks once threw down the challenge 
 of a big task in these words: "Do not pray for easy 
 lives; pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks 
 
 •C. H. Brent, "Adventure for God," 135. 
 
230 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your 
 tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, 
 but you shall be a miracle."^ He could not have chosen 
 words more applicable if he had spoken of the evangeliza- 
 tion of the unoccupied fields of the world with all their 
 baffling difficulties and their glorious impossibilities. 
 God can give us power for the task. He was sufficient 
 for those who went out in the past, and is sufficient for 
 those who go out to-day. 
 
 Face to face with these millions in darkness and 
 degradation, knowing the condition of their lives on the 
 unimpeachable testimony of those who have visited these 
 countries, this great unfinished task, this unattempted 
 task, calls to-day for those who are willing to endure and 
 suffer in accomplishing it. 
 
 When David Livingstone visited Cambridge Univer- 
 sity, on December 4, 1857, he made an earnest ap- 
 peal for that continent, which was then almost wholly 
 an unoccupied field. His words, which were in a sense 
 his last will and testament for college men, as regards 
 Africa, may well close this book : 
 
 "For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that 
 God has appointed me to such an office. People talk of 
 the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my 
 life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is 
 simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing 
 to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a 
 sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful 
 activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, 
 and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter ? Away 
 with the word in such a view, and with such a thought 1 
 It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privi- 
 lege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and 
 
 'Phillips Brooks, "Twenty Sermons," 330. 
 
THE GLORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE 23I 
 
 then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences 
 and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause 
 the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this 
 only be for a moment. All these are nothing when com- 
 pared with the glory which shall hereafter be revealed in 
 and for us. I never made a sacrifice. . . . 
 
 "I beg to direct your attention to Africa. I know that 
 in a few years I shall be cut off in that country, which 
 is now open; do not let it be shut again! I go back to 
 Africa to try to make an open path for commerce and 
 Christianity; do you carry out the work which I have 
 begun. / leave it with you."'- 
 
 >W. G. Blailde, "The Personal Life of David Livingstone," 243-244. 
 
APPENDICES 
 
 233 
 
APPENDIX A 
 
 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 The books marked thus (*) are especially recommended. 
 
 AFRICA 
 Abyssinia 
 
 ♦Skinner, R. P.— Abyssinia of To-day. New York: Longmans, 
 
 Green & Co., 1906. 
 *Stigand, C. H.— To Abyssinia Through an Unknown Land. 
 
 London : Seeley & Co., 1910. 
 Vivian, H.— Abyssinia. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 
 
 1901. 
 Wellby, M. S.— 'Twixt Sirdar and Menelik. New York: Harper 
 
 & Brothers, 1901. 
 *Wylde, a. B. — Modern Abyssinia. London, igoo. 
 
 Central Africa 
 
 Archin, a. — ^La Guinee Frangaise. Paris, 1907. 
 Balfour, A. — First Report of the Wellcome Research Labora- 
 tories at the Gordon Memorial College, Khartum. Khartum, 
 
 1904. 
 CoiLLARD, F. — On the Threshold of Central Africa. New York: 
 
 American Tract Society, 1897. 
 ♦Dennett, R. E. — At the Back of the Black Man's Mind. New 
 
 York: The Macmillan Co., 1906. 
 Ferkand, G. — Les Mussulmans a Madagascar. Paris, i8gi. 
 ♦Friedrich, a. — Ins Innerste Afrika. Leipzig, 1909. 
 ♦Johnston, Sir H. H. — George Grenfell and the Congo. New 
 
 York : Daniel Appleton & Co., 1910. 
 ♦Leonard, A. G. — The Lower Niger and Its Tribes. New York: 
 
 The Macmillan Co., 1906. 
 Meinhof, C. — ^Zwingt uns die Heideamission Muhammedanermis- 
 
 sion zu treiben? Osterwieck, 1906. _ 
 Nassau, R. H. — Fetichism in West Africa. New York : Charles 
 
 Scribner's Sons, 1904. 
 Partridge, C — Cross River Natives. London, 1905. 
 Schillings, C G. — In Wildest Africa. New York: Harper & 
 
 Brothers, 1907. 
 
 235 
 
236 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 Simon, G. K. — Die Moharamedanische Propaganda und die evan- 
 
 gelische Mission. Leipzig, 1909. 
 *SwANN, A. J.— Fighting the Slave-Hunters in Central Africa. 
 
 Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott Co., 1910. 
 Weiss, M.— Die Volkerstamme im Norden Deutsch Ost Afrikas'. 
 
 Berlin: Carl Marschner, 1910. 
 WuERZ, F. — Die Mohammedanische Gefahr in Westafrika. Basel, 
 
 1904. 
 
 Sahara 
 
 Barth, H. — ^Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa. 
 
 London: Ward, i8go. 
 ♦DuvEYRiEE, H. — Les Touareg du Nord. Paris, 1863. 
 *Jean, C. — Les Tuareg du Sud-Est L'Air. Paris, 1909. 
 ♦Nachtigal, G. — Sahara und Sudan. Berlin, 1879. 
 *RoHLFS, G. — Quer durch Afrika. Leipzig, 1874. 
 ♦ViscHER, H. — Across the Sahara. London: Edward Arnold, 
 
 1910. 
 
 Sudan 
 
 Alfokd, H. L. S. — Egyptian Sudan. New York: The Macmillan 
 
 Co., 1898. 
 Benhazera, M. — Six Mois chez les Touareg du Ahaggar. Al- 
 giers: A. Jourdain, 1908. 
 ♦Budge, E. A. W.— The Egyptian Sudan. Philadelphia: J. B. 
 
 Lippincott Co., 1907. 
 BuLPETT, C. W. L. — A Picnic Party in Wildest Africa. New 
 
 York : Longmans, Green & Co., 1907. 
 Churchill, W. S. — The River War. London, 1902. 
 ♦Gautier, E. F., & R. Chudeau. — Missions au Sahara, Sahara 
 
 Soudanais. Paris : Armand Colin, 1909. 
 *GiFFEN, J. K. — The Egyptian Sudan. New York: Fleming H. 
 
 Revell & Co., 1905. 
 Guide to Egypt and the Sudan. New York : The Macmillan Co., 
 
 1905- 
 James, F. L.— Wild Tribes of the Sudan. New York: Dodd, 
 
 Mead & Co., 1884. 
 ♦King, W. J. H. — A Search for the Masked Tawareks. London, 
 
 1905. 
 KuMM, H. K. W. — The Sudan. London: Marshall Brothers, 
 
 1906. 
 Lenfant, Capt. — ^Le Niger. Paris, 1904. 
 Neufeldt, C. — A Prisoner of the IQialifa. New York: G. P. 
 
 Putnam's Sons, 1899. 
 Peel, Hon. S.— The Binding of the Nile and the New Sudan. 
 
 New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1904. 
 ♦Robinson, C. H. — Hausaland. London : Low, 1896. 
 ♦Slatin Pasha, R. C— Fire and Sword in the Sudan. New 
 
 York: John Lane C6., 1895, 
 
APPENDIX A 237 
 
 Steevens, G. W.— With Kitchener to Khartum. New York: 
 
 Dodd, Mead & Co., 1898. 
 ♦Tangye, H. L.— In the Torrid Sudan. London: John Murray, 
 
 1910. 
 *ToQUE, G. — Essai sur le peuple et la langue Banda. Paris, 1905. 
 Traill, H. D. — England, Egypt, and the Sudan. New York: 
 
 E. P. Button & Co., 1900. 
 Ward, J.— Our Sudan. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 
 
 1905. 
 
 SOMALILAND 
 
 *Herbert, a. — Two Dianas in Somaliland. New York: John 
 
 Lane Co., 1908. 
 Jennings, J. W. — With the Abyssinians in Somaliland. London, 
 
 1905- 
 MacNeill, M. — In Pursuit of the Mad Mullah. London, 1902. 
 Official History of the Operations in Somaliland. Great Britain 
 
 War Office, London, 1901-04. 
 *Peel, C. V. A. — Somaliland. London, 1903. 
 Swayne, H. G. C. — Seventeen Trips Through Somaliland. Lon- 
 don, 1900. 
 
 ASIA 
 Afghanistan and Baluchistan 
 
 Bellew, H. W. — Afghanistan and the Afghans. London, 1879. 
 
 Bellew, H. W. — ^The Races of Afghanistan. London, 1880. 
 
 Benn, E. F. — An Overland Trek from India, the Record of a 
 Journey from Baluchistan to Europe. New York: Long- 
 mans, Green & Co., 1910. 
 
 CuRzoN, G. N. — Russia in Central Asia. London, 1889. 
 
 Field, C. — With the Afghans. London : Marshall Brothers, 1907. 
 
 Forbes, A. — The Afghan Wars. London, 1892. 
 
 Gore, F. St. G. — Lights and Shades of Hill Life in the Afghan 
 and Hindu Highlands of the Punjab. London, 1896. 
 
 Gray, T.— At the Court of the Amir. New York: The Mac- 
 millan Co., igoi. 
 
 ♦Hamilton, A. — Afghanistan. New York: Charles Scribner's 
 Sons, 1906. 
 
 Holdich, T. H. — The Indian Borderland. London, 1901. 
 
 ♦Imperial Gazetteer of India. Afghanistan and Nepal. Calcutta : 
 Government Printing, 1908. 
 
 Lacoste, Major B. de. — Around Afghanistan. New York : Dan- 
 iel Appleton & Co., 1909. 
 
 MacFall, C— With the Zhob Field Force. London, 1895. 
 
 MacMahon, a. H.— The Southern Borderlands of Afghanistan. 
 London, 1897. 
 
238 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 ♦Martin, F. A. — Under the Absolute Amir. New York : Harper 
 & Brothers, 1907. 
 
 Noyce, F. — England, India and Afghanistan. London, 1902. 
 
 Robertson, Sir G. S. — The Kafirs of the Hindoo Kush. London, 
 1896. 
 
 Sale, G. — Journal of the Disasters in Afghanistan in 1841-42. 
 London, 1843. 
 
 Sultan, Mahomed Khan. — Constitution and Laws of Afghan- 
 istan. London, 1900. 
 
 Sultan, Mahomed Khan. — The Life of Abdur Rahman, Amir of 
 Afghanistan. London, igoo. 
 
 *Tate, G. p.— The Frontiers of Baluchistan. London: Witherby 
 & Co., 1909. 
 
 *Thornton, E. & A. — Leaves from an Afghan Scrapbook. Lon- 
 don: John Murray, 1910. 
 
 Wheeler, S. E. — The Amir Abdur Rahman. London, 1895. 
 
 Yate, a. C. — Russia and England Face to Face in Asia. London, 
 1887. 
 
 Yate, C. E. — Northern Afghanistan. London, 1888. 
 
 Arabia (Mecca and Medina) 
 
 Badia y T.rwT.TCH. — Voyages d'Ali Bey El Abassi en Afriqua et en 
 
 Asie pendant les annes, 1803-07. Paris, 1814. 
 *Bent, T. — Southern Arabia. London, igoo. 
 Buckingham, J. S. — Autobiography. London, 1855. 
 Burckhardt, J. L. — Travels in Arabia. London, 1829. 
 *BuRT0N, R. F. — Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. Lon- 
 don, 1893. 
 Clark, E. L. — The Arabs and the Turks. Boston. 
 *DouGHTY, C. M. — Travels in Arabia Deserta. Cambridge, 1888. 
 FiNATi, G. — Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Giovanni 
 
 Finati. London, 1830. 
 Forder, A. — Ventures Among the Arabs. New York: Gospel 
 
 Publishing House, 1909. 
 Gervaxs, C. — Mon Voyage a la Mecque. Paris, 1896. 
 *Hogarth, D. G. — The Penetration of Arabia. New York : F. A. 
 
 Stokes Co., 1904. 
 Huber, C. — ^Journal d'un Voyage en Arabic, 1883-84. Paris, 1891. 
 *Hurgronje, C. S.— Mekka. The Hague, 1889. 
 Keane, J. F.— My Journey to Medinah. London, 1881. 
 Keane, J. F.— Six Months in Meccah, London, 1881. 
 NiEBUHR, C. — Description de I'Arabie, etc. Amsterdam, 1774. 
 Pitts, J. — Faithful Account of the Religion and Manners of the 
 
 Mohametans. London, 1810. 
 Proust, A. — L'Orientation Nouvelle de la Politique Saaitaire. 
 
 Paris, 1891. 
 *Ralli, a.— Christiaps at Mecca. London : William Heineraann, 
 .- 1909. 
 
APPENDIX A 239 
 
 Roches, L. — Trente-deux Ans a travers I'lslam. Paris, 1884-85. 
 
 Sadler, G. F. — Diary of a Journey Across Arabia. Bombay, 1866. 
 
 Seetzen, U. J. — Reisen durch Syrien, Palastina, Phonicien, die 
 Transjordan-Lander, Arabia Petrsa und Unter-^Egypten. 
 Berlin, 1854-55. 
 
 Vertomannus, L. — Navigation and Voyages of L. Vertomannus. 
 Hakluyt's Collection of Early Voyages. London, 1809. 
 
 Von Maltzan, H. F.— Meine Wallfahrt nach Mekka. Leipzig, 
 1865. 
 
 Wild, J. — Neue Reisebcschreibung eines gefangenen Christen . . . 
 insonderheit von der Tiirken und Araber jahrlichen Wall- 
 fahrt von Alcairo nach Mecha, etc. Niiremberg, 1613. 
 
 ZwEMER, S. M.— Arabia : the Cradle of Islam, New York : Flem- 
 ing H. Revell & Co., 1900. 
 
 Chinese Turkistan 
 
 *Hartmann, Professor M. — Chinesisch-Turkestan, Geschichte, 
 Verwaltung, Geistesleben und Wirtschaft, Berlin. 
 
 Landsdell. — Through Chinese Turkistan. 
 
 Phibbs, I. M. — A Visit to the Russians in Central Asia. Amster- 
 dam, 1900. 
 
 Schuyler, E. — Turkistan. New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 
 1901. 
 
 Shoemaker, M. H. — Trans-Caspia. Clarke. 
 
 *Stein, M. a. — Ancient Khotan. Oxford, 1907. 
 
 Stein, M. A. — Sand-buried Ruins of Khotan. New York: 
 Charles Scribner's Sons, 1903. 
 
 Wood, J. N. P. — Travel and Sport in Turkistan. New York: 
 Daniel Appleton & Co., 1910. 
 
 Indo-China (Annam, Tonquin, etc.) 
 
 Aymoniee, E. — Le Cambodge. Paris, 1900-04. 
 
 Barral, J. — La Colonisation frangaise au Tonkin et en Annam. 
 
 Paris, 1899. 
 Barthelemy, Comte de. — En Indo-Chine. Paris, 1899. 
 Bernard, F. — Indo-Chine. Paris, 1901. 
 Billet, A. — Deux Ans dans le Haut Tonkin. Paris, 1898. 
 Boell, p. — LTnde et le Probleme Indien. Paris, 1901. 
 Bonhoure, E. — LTndo-Chine. Paris, 1900. 
 *Bkoomhall, M. — Islam in China. London, 1910. 
 *Chailley-Bert, J. — La Colonisation de ITndo-Chine. Paris, 
 
 1892. 
 Clifford, H.— Further India. New York: F. A. Stokes Co., 
 
 1904. 
 Cunningham, A. — The French in Tonkin and South China. 
 
 London, igo2. 
 Dupuis, J. — Le Tong-kin et ITntervention frangaise. Paris, 1897. 
 
240 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 Gallois, E. — A Travers les Indes. Paris, 1899. 
 
 GossELiN, Capt. — Le Laos et le Protectorat frangais. Paris, igoo. 
 
 GossELiN, Capt. — L'Empire d'Annam. _ Paris, 1904. 
 
 *Heudebert, L. — L'Indo-Chine FranQaise. Paris, 1910. 
 
 Ireland, A. — The Far Eastern Tropics. London, 1905. 
 
 JoTTRAND, M. AND Mme. — Indo-Chine et Japan. Paris, 1908. 
 
 Lagrillieee-Beauclerc, E. — A Travers I'lndo-Chine, Cochin- 
 chine, Cambodge, Annam, Tonkin, Laos. Paris, 1900. 
 
 Lajonquiere, E. L. de. — Inventaire descriptif des monuments du 
 Cambodge. Publications de L'Ecole Frangaise d'Extreme- 
 Orient. Paris, 1907. 
 
 Madrolle, C. — Indo-Chine, Indes, Siam (Guide Books). Paris, 
 1902. 
 
 Malleson, G. B. — History of the French in India. London, 1893. 
 
 Neton, A. — LTndo-Chine et son Avenir Ecoriomique. Paris, 
 1903. 
 
 Nicolas, P. — La Vie frangaise en Cochinchine. Paris, 1900. 
 
 Norman, C. B. — Peoples and Politics of the Far East. London, 
 
 1895. 
 Norman, C. B. — Tonkin. London, 1884. 
 Patte, p. — Hinterland Moi. Paris, 1906. 
 Pavie, a. — Mission Pavie Indo-Chine, 1879-95. Geographic et 
 
 Voyages. Paris, 1899-1906. 
 PiCANON, E. — Le Laos Frangais. Paris, 1900. 
 Reinach, L. de. — Le Laos. Paris, 1901. 
 ♦Vassal, G. M. — On and Off Duty in Annam. London : William 
 
 Heinemann, 1910. 
 Verschuur, G. — Aux Colonies d'Asie et dans I'Ocean Indien. 
 
 Paris, 1900. 
 
 Farther India and East Indies 
 
 *Cator, D. — Everyday Life Among the Head-Hunters. London, 
 
 1905. 
 *Chalmers, J. — Pioneering in New Guinea. London, 1895. 
 CooLSMA, S. — De Zendingseeuw voor Nederlandsch Oost-lndie. 
 
 Utrecht, 1901. 
 ♦Furness, W. H. — The Home-Life of Borneo Head-Hunters. 
 
 Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1902. 
 Geographical Journal, ^Vl (1900). 
 Hose, C. — In the Heart of Borneo. Geographical Journal, XVI 
 
 (1909). 
 Macgregor, Sir W. — British New Guinea. London, 1897. 
 ♦Mackay, K. — Across Papua. New York: Charges Scribner's 
 
 Sons, 1909. 
 McFarlane, S. — Among the Cannibals of New Guinea. London, 
 
 1888. 
 RiCHiNGS, E. — Through the Malay Archipelago. London : Henry 
 
 J. Drane, 1909. 
 
APPENDIX A ^41 
 
 *SiMON, G. K. — Islam und Christentum. Berlin, 1910. 
 ♦Walker, H. W.— Wanderings Among South Sea Savages. New 
 
 York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909. 
 ♦Warneck, J.— The Living Christ and Dying Heathenism. New 
 
 York : Fleming H. Revell & Co., 1909. 
 
 Nepal and Bhutan 
 
 Ballentine, H.— On India's Frontier. London, 1896. 
 
 Bendall, C— a Journey in Nepal. Cambridge, 1886. 
 
 DiGBY, W.— Nepal and India. London, i8go. 
 
 *Graham, J. A.— On the Threshold of Three Closed Lands. 
 
 Edinburgh: Clark, 1899. 
 Sandberg, G.— Bhutan, the Unknown State. Calcutta, 1898. 
 Waddell, L. a.— Among the Himalayas. London, 1898. 
 *White, J. C— Sikkim and Bhutan. London : Arnold, 1909. 
 
 MoNGOLr.\ and Manchuria 
 
 Barzini, L.— Pekin to Paris. New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 
 1908. 
 
 *CuETiN, J. — Mongols in Russia. Boston: Little, Brown & 
 Co., 1908. 
 
 *CuRTiN, J. — The Mongols: A History. Boston: Little, Brown 
 & Co., 1907. 
 
 *GiLM0UR, Rev. J. — Adventures in Mongolia. New York: 
 Fleming H. Revell & Co., 1886. 
 
 *Gn,M0UR, Rev. J. — Among the Mongols. New York: Fleming 
 H. Revell & Co., 1888. 
 
 ♦GiLMOUR, Rev. J. — More About the Mongols. New York : Flem- 
 ing H. Revell & Co., 1893. 
 
 Hedley, J. — ^Tramps in Dark Mongolia, New York: Charles 
 Scribner's Sons, 1909. 
 
 HosiE, A. — Manchuria: Its People, Resources and Recent His- 
 tory. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1904. 
 
 HowoRTH, H. H. — History of the Mongols, Ninth to Nineteenth 
 Centuries. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1902. 
 
 Roberts, J. H. — Flight for Life and an Inside View of Mongolia. 
 Boston: Pilgrim Press, 1902. 
 
 *YouNGHTJSBAND, F. E. — The Heart of a Continent. New York : 
 Charles Scribner's Sons, 1904. 
 
 Siberia 
 
 BooKWALTEH, J. W. — Siberia and Central Asia. New York : F. A. 
 
 Stokes Co. 
 ♦CuRTiN, J. — A Journey in Southern Siberia. Boston: Little, 
 
 Brown & Co., 1909. 
 Deutsche, L. — Sixteen Years in Siberia. New York: E. P. 
 
 Dutton & Co., 1905- 
 Goldschmidt, a. — Aus der Dekabristenzeit. New York: G. K 
 
 Steckert & Co., 1907. 
 
242 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 ♦Howard, B. D.— Life with Trans-Siberian Savages. New York: 
 
 Longmans, Green & Co., 1893. 
 *Kennan, G. — Siberia and the Exile System. New York: The 
 
 Century Co., 1900. 
 Kennan, G. — Tent Life in Siberia. New York: G. P. Putnam's 
 
 Sons, 1910. 
 Krausse, a. — Russia in Asia. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 
 
 1899. 
 Life and Voyages of Joseph Wiggins, Modern Discoverer of the 
 
 Kara Sea Route to Siberia. New York : E. P. Dutton & Co., 
 
 1907. 
 Norman, H. — All the Russias. New York: Charles Scribner's 
 
 Sons, 1902. 
 Stadling, J.— Through Siberia. New York : E. P. Dutton & Co., 
 
 igoi. 
 Turner, S. — Siberia, a Record of Travel. Philadelphia : G. W. 
 
 Jacobs & Co., 1906. 
 *Wkight, G. F. — Asiatic Russia. New York: Doubleday, Page 
 
 & Co., 1902. 
 
 Tibet 
 
 Bacot, J. — Dans les Marches Tibetaines. Paris, 1909. 
 
 ♦Bishop, Mrs. L B. — Among the Tibetans. New York : Fleming 
 H. Revell & Co., 1894. 
 
 Candler, E. — The Unveiling of Lhasa. New York: Longmans, 
 Green & Co., 1905. 
 
 Carey, W. — Adventures in Tibet. New York: Baker & Taylor 
 Co., igoi. 
 
 Cordier, H.— L'Expulsion de MM. Hue et Gabet du Tibet (1846). 
 Paris, 1910. 
 
 Crosby, O. T.— Tibet and Turkistan. New York: G. P. Put- 
 nam's Sons, 1905. 
 
 Deasy, H. P. — In Tibet and Chinese Turkistan. New York: 
 Longmans, Green & Co., 1901. 
 
 Duncan, J. E. — A Summer Ride Through Western Tibet. Ber- 
 lin, 1906. 
 
 Filchner, W. — Das Kloster Kumbum in Tibet. Berlin, 1906. 
 
 Freshfield, D. W. — Round Kangchenjunga. New York: Long- 
 mans, Green & Co., 1904. 
 
 Gerard, F. — Tibet: The Country and Its Inhabitants. London, 
 1904. 
 
 *Hedin Sven. — Central Asia and Tibet. New York: Charles 
 Scribner's Sons, 1903. 
 
 *Hedin, Sven.— Durch Asiens Wiisten. Drei Jahre auf Neuen 
 Wegen in Pamir, Lop-nor, Tibet, und China. Leipzig, igio. 
 
 *Hedin, Sven. — Le Tibet Devoile. Ouvrage traduit et asapte 
 par Ch. Rabot. Paris, 1910. 
 
 ♦Hedin, Sven. — Through Asia. New York: Charles Scribner's 
 Sons, 1899. 
 
APPENDIX A 243 
 
 *Hedin, Sven.— Trans-Himalaya. New York: The Macmillan 
 
 ' Co., 1909. 
 HoLDicH, Sir T.— Tibet the Mysterious. New York : F. A. Stokes 
 
 Co., 1906. 
 Jenkins, Lady. — Sport and Travel in Both Tibets. London: 
 
 Blades, East and Blades, igog. 
 *Landon, p.— The Opening of Tibet. New York: Doubleday, 
 
 Page & Co., 1905. 
 *Landor, a. H S.— Explorer's Adventures in Tibet. New York : 
 
 Harper & Brothers, 1910. 
 *Landor, A. H. S.— In the Forbidden Land. New York : Harper 
 
 & Brothers, i8gg 
 *Lesdain, Count de. — From Peking to Sikkim. New York: E. 
 
 P. Button & Co., igo8. 
 Macdonald, A. — Through the Heart of Tibet. New York: H. M. 
 
 Caldwell Co., 1909. 
 ♦Marston, A. W. — The Great Closed Land. New York: Flem- 
 ing H. Revell & Co., 1894. 
 MiLLiNGTON, P. — To Lhasa at Last. London, 1905. 
 MiLLOUE, L. de. — Bod-Youl ou Tibet (le Paradis des Moines). 
 
 Paris, 1906. 
 Rawling, C. G. — The Great Plateau. New York: Longmans, 
 
 Green & Co., 1905. 
 *Rijnhart, S. C. — With the Tibetans in Tent and Temple. New 
 
 York : Fleming H. Revell & Co., 1901. 
 RocKHiLL, W W. — The Land of the Lamas. New York: The 
 
 Century Co., 1891. 
 Sandberg, G. — The Exploration of Tibet. London, 1904. 
 Schneider, H. G. — Working and Waiting for Tibet. London: 
 
 Morgan & Scott, 1895 
 Shereing, G. — Western Tibet and the British Borderland. New 
 
 York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1906. 
 Waddell, L. A. — Lhasa and Its Mysteries. New York : E. P. 
 
 Button & Co., 1905. 
 Wellby, M. S.— Through Unknown Tibet. New York: J. B. 
 
 Lippincott Co., 1898. 
 
 GENERAL 
 
 Barton, J. L., and Others. — The Mohammedan World of 
 
 To-day. New York : Fleming H. Revell & Co., 1906. 
 Beach, H. P. — Geography and Atlas of Protestant Missions. 
 
 New York: Student Volunteer Movement, 1901. 
 Blaikie, W. G. — The Personal Life of Bavid Livingstone. New 
 
 York: Fleming H. Revell & Co., 1880. 
 Brent, C. E. — Adventure for God. New York: Longmans, 
 
 Green & Co., 1907. 
 Brent, C. E. — Leadership. New York : Longmans, Green & Co., 
 
 1908. 
 ♦Broomhall, M. — The Chinese Empire. London : Morgan & 
 
 Scott, 1907. 
 
244 THE UNOCCUPIED MISSION FIELDS 
 
 Brown, A. J. — THe Foreign Missionary. New York: Fleming 
 H. Revel! & Co., 1907. 
 
 CuRZON, G. N.— Problems of the Far East. New York: Long- 
 mans, Green & Co., 1896. 
 
 Dennis, J. S. — Christian Missions and Social Progress. New 
 York : Fleming H. Revell & Co., 1902. 
 
 DwiGHT, H. O., AND Others. — Encyclopedia of Missions. New 
 York: Funk & Wagnalls Co., 1904. 
 
 Evangelization of the World, The. London: Cambridge Band, 
 1887. 
 
 Forsyth, P. T. — Missions in State and Church. New York: A. 
 C. Armstrong & Son, 1908. 
 
 Harrison, Mrs. J. W. — Mackay of Uganda. New York: A. C. 
 Armstrong & Son, 1895. 
 
 Henderson, C. R. — Introduction to the Study of the Dependent, 
 Defective and Delinquent Classes. Boston : D. C. Heath & 
 Co., 1909. 
 
 Mill, H. R. — The International Geography. New York: Daniel 
 Appleton & Co., 1900. 
 
 *Missionary Review of the World, The. New York: Funk & 
 Wagnalls Co. 
 
 MoTT, J. R. — The Decisive Hour of Christian Missions. New 
 York: Student Volunteer Movement, 1910. 
 
 MoTT, J. R. — The Evangelization of the World in This Genera- 
 tion. New York: Student Volunteer Movement, 1900. 
 
 PopOWSKi, J.-7-The Rival Powers in Central Asia, or the Strug- 
 gle Between England and Russia in the East. London, 1893. 
 
 ♦Report of the World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, 
 Vols. I, IV, VI, VIII. New York: Fleming H. Revell & 
 Co., 1910. 
 
 *Revue du Monde Mussulman. Paris : Leroux, Vols. I-VIII. 
 
 RiCHTER, J. — A History of Protestant Missions in the Near East. 
 New York : Fleming H. Revell & Co., 1910. 
 
 Speer, R. E. — Missionary Principles and Practice. New York: 
 Fleming H. Revell & Co., 1902. 
 
 Speer, R. E. — Missions and Modern History. New York : Flem- 
 ing H. Revell & Co., 1904. 
 
 Speer, R. E. — The Non-Christian Religions Inadequate to Meet 
 the Needs of Men. New York: Student Volunteer Move- 
 ment, 1906. 
 
 Statesman's Year-Book. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1910. 
 
 ♦World Atlas of Christian Missions. New York: Student 
 Volunteer Movement, 1911. 
 
 Zwemer, S. M.— Islam : a Challenge to Faith. New York : Stu- 
 dent Volunteer Movement, 1907. 
 
 Zwemer, S. M.— Raymund Lull. New York : Funk & Wagnalls 
 Co., 1902. 
 
 Zwemer, S. M.— The Message and the Man. New York: Stu- 
 dent Volunteer Movement, 1910. 
 
 Zwemer, S. M.— The Moslem Doctrine of God. New York: 
 American Tract Society, 1905. 
 
APPENDIX B 
 
 STATISTICS OF MOHAMMEDAN POPULATION 
 IN RUSSIA 
 
 Provinces of Buddhists Per cent. 
 
 European Total Moham- (Lama- Moham- 
 
 Russia. Population. medans. ites). Heathen. medans. 
 
 Arkhangelsk 237,000 55 
 
 Astrakhan 1,004,000 300,000 
 
 Bessarabia 1,935,000 600 
 
 Vilna 1,591,00a 4,300 
 
 Vitebsk 1,498,000 600 
 
 Vladimir 1,516,000 410 
 
 Vologda 1,343,000 176 
 
 Volhynia 2,989,000 4,880 
 
 Voronezh 2,581,000 310 
 
 Vyatka 3,031,000 132,000 
 
 Grodno 1,603,000 3,750 
 
 Don 2,564,000 3,500 
 
 Yekaterinoslav 2,114,000 2,090 
 
 Kazan 2,171,000 633,000 
 
 Kaluga 1,133,000 170 
 
 Kiev 3,559,000 3,000 
 
 Kovno 1,545,000 1,900 
 
 Kostroma 1,387,000 800 
 
 Kursk 2,371,000 48a 
 
 Courland 674,000 600 
 
 Lierland 1,299,000 536 
 
 Minsk 2,148,000 4,600 
 
 Moghiler 1,687,000 184 
 
 Moscow 2,431,000 5,500 
 
 Nizhnii-Novgorod ... 1,585,000 41,000 
 
 Novgorod 1,367,000 500 
 
 Olonets 364.000 70 
 
 Orenburg 1,600,000 360,000 
 
 Orloffsk 2,034,000 426 
 
 Penza 1,470,000 59,ooo 
 
 Perm 2,994,000 150,000 
 
 Podolia 3,018,000 3.450 
 
 245 
 
 135.000 
 
 
 
 Less than 1% 
 
 
 
 30% 
 
 
 
 Less than 1% 
 
 
 
 " •' 1% 
 
 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 
 
 •' •• 1% 
 
 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 5 
 
 
 . 5% 
 Less than 1% 
 " " 1% 
 " " 1% 
 
 12 
 
 50t 
 
 > 25% 
 
 Less than 1% 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 " " 1% 
 .. .. ,^ 
 
 " " 1% 
 " " 1% 
 " " 1% 
 " " 1% 
 " " 1% 
 ■' '■ 1% 
 
 2j^% 
 
 Less than 1% 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 22% 
 
 Less than 1% 
 
 4% 
 
 21,000 5% 
 
 
 
 Less than 1% 
 
» THE UNOCCUPlfiD MISSION FIELDS 
 
 Provinces of Buddhists Per cent. 
 
 European Total Moham- (Lama- Moham- 
 
 Russia. Population, medans. ites). Heathen. medans. 
 
 Poltava 2,778,000 
 
 Pskov 1,122,000 
 
 Ryazan 1,802,000 
 
 Samara 2,761,000 
 
 St. Petersburg 2,112,000 
 
 Saratov 2,406,000 
 
 Simbrisk ., 1,528,000 
 
 Smolensk 1,525,000 
 
 Taurida 1,448,000 
 
 Tambov 2,684,000 
 
 Tver 1,769,000 
 
 Tula 1,419,000 
 
 Ufa 2,197,000 
 
 Kharkov 2,492,000 
 
 Kherson 2,734,000 
 
 Chernigov 2,298,000 
 
 Esthonia 413,000 
 
 Yaroslavl 2,071,000 
 
 Poland: 
 
 Warsaw 1,932,000 
 
 Kalisz 841,000 
 
 Kielce 762,000 
 
 Lomza 580,000 
 
 Lublin 1,161,000 
 
 Piotrkow 1,404,000 
 
 Plock 554.000 
 
 Radom 815,000 
 
 Suwalki 583,000 
 
 Siedlce 772,000 
 
 Caucasus : 
 
 Baku 827,000 
 
 Daghestan 650,000 
 
 Elizabethpol 878,000 
 
 Kars 291,000 
 
 Koubausk 1,919,000 
 
 Kutais 1,058,000 
 
 Havrapolsk 873,000 
 
 Tersk 934,000 
 
 Tiflis 1,051,000 
 
 Tscheruomorsk S7,ooo 
 
 Erivan 830,000 
 
 640 
 
 37 
 
 S.ooo 
 
 190,000 
 
 6,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 130,000 
 
 300 
 
 191,000 
 
 17,000 
 
 500 
 
 178 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 1.360 
 
 2,300 
 
 530 
 
 75 
 
 375 
 
 750 
 
 
 " ■■ 1% 
 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 S,ooo 
 
 7^ 
 Less than i% 
 
 350 
 
 4% 
 Less than i% 
 
 
 14% 
 Less than i% 
 
 
 ■• " 1% 
 
 
 " ■' 1% 
 
 100,000 
 
 50% 
 Less than i% 
 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 i.SSo 
 
 
 
 Less than i% 
 
 214 
 
 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 96 
 
 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 480 
 
 .... 
 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 462 
 
 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 311 
 
 117 
 
 105 
 
 " •■ 11% 
 
 a66 
 
 
 
 " •' 1% 
 
 6s 
 
 .... 
 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 784 
 
 
 
 " " 1% 
 
 6fi9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 83% 
 
 675,000 
 
 
 .... 
 
 53% 
 
 340,000 
 
 
 
 .... 
 
 62% 
 
 551,000 
 
 
 
 50% 
 
 146,000 
 
 
 3.300 
 
 5H% 
 
 103,000 
 
 350 
 
 
 12^% 
 
 117,000 
 
 
 
 
 4oA< 
 
 38,000 
 
 10,300 
 
 
 53% 
 
 485.000 
 
 4,100 
 
 
 
 20% 
 
 189,000 
 
 
 300 
 
 5A< 
 
 3,100 
 
 
 
 4lA!< 
 
 350,000 
 
 
 13,800 
 
 
APPENDIX B 
 
 247 
 
 Provinces of Buddhists Per cent. 
 
 European Total Moham- (Lama* Moham- 
 
 Russia. Population, medans. ites). Heathen. medans. 
 
 Siberia: Less than 1% 
 
 Amur 683,000 665 8,500 3»7oo 1% 
 
 Yeniseisk 570,000 5,000 28 1,950 Less than 1% 
 
 Transbaikalia 672,000 3,200 174,000 4,400 j%% 
 
 Irkutsk 514,000 7,600 11,600 52,000 
 
 Primorskaya and 12% 
 
 Sakhalin 343,000 3,000 53,200 24.350 4J^% 
 
 Tabolsk 1.433,000 64,900 3 4.410 2 ^% 
 
 Tomsk 1,928,000 40,000 43 15,850 1% 
 
 Yakutsk 270,000 1,900 3 936 
 
 Middle Asia: 100% 
 
 Akmolinsk 440,000 439,000 62^% 
 
 Sakaspisk 382,000 240,000 .... 98^% 
 
 Samarkand 860,000 840,000 50 100 97% 
 
 Semiryechensk 988,000 880,000 — — 33^'i^ 
 
 Semipalatinsk 2,806,000 615,000 — — 95% 
 
 Syr-Daria 1,478,000 1,400,000 — 86% 
 
 Turgai 453.000 390,000 100 77% 
 
 Uralsk 645,000 478,000 960 99% 
 
 Ferg-hana 1,572,000 1,550,000 126 80 
 
 Finland 2,587,000 so .... ... 
 
 Totals 13.323.082 431.030 269,731 
 
 Estimated Estimated 
 Russian Depend- Total Pop- Moslem 
 encies in Asia: ulation. Population. 
 
 Khiva i. 800,000 600,000 
 
 Bokhara 1,350,000 1,000,000 
 
 Total Non-Christian Population 
 of Russian Provinces, 14,023,843 
 
APPENDIX C 
 
 TABLE I. JAPAN' 
 
 Districts which have over 
 (i) or no 
 
 soo,ooo population to one Missionary 
 resident Missionary. 
 
 District 
 
 Population 
 
 Iwate 748,7s* 
 
 Yamagata 879,564 
 
 Fukushima 1,175,224 
 
 Niigata 1,780,123 
 
 Toyama 776,851 
 
 Shiga 716,920 
 
 Miye 1,044,323 
 
 Tochigi 912,274 
 
 Ibaragi 1,200,475 
 
 Chiba 1,316.547 
 
 Saitama 1,340,280 
 
 Wakayama 697,766 
 
 Okayama 1,188,244 
 
 Kagawa 711,603 
 
 Saga 654.593 
 
 Oita 854.982 
 
 Okiuawa 476,230 
 
 Pop. to eacli 
 
 Missionary 
 
 (Excluding wives) 
 
 249,584 J 
 
 439.782 1 
 
 587,612 1 
 
 356,024 * 
 
 776,851 X 
 
 261,080 a 
 
 456.137 • 
 
 400,158 X 
 
 3I9Ht24 S 
 
 X,240,28o I 
 
 232,588 1 
 
 237,648 1 
 
 3S5,8oi I 
 
 327,296 I 
 
 284,994 2 
 
 476,230 X 
 
 Number and names of 
 stations in District 
 
 Morioka 
 
 Yamagata 
 
 Wagamatsu 
 
 Nagaoka, Niigata 
 
 Toyama 
 
 No missionary 
 
 Tsu, Yamada 
 
 Utsumoimya 
 
 Mito 
 
 Chiba, Choshi, 
 
 Sakura 
 Kawaje 
 Wakayama 
 Okayama 
 Takamatsu 
 Saga 
 
 Kurmne, Oita 
 Naha 
 
 TABLE IL BENGAL' 
 
 Districts which have over zoofloo population to one Missionary 
 
 (i) or no resident Missionary. 
 
 Pop. to each t.t . . « 
 
 T^. ^ . .. T, 1 ..- >»■ . Number and names of 
 
 District Population Missionary ^. • t^. , . ^ 
 
 ,-,,,. . . stations in District 
 
 (Excluding wives) 
 
 Burdwan 1,532.475 218,925 s Asansol, Bur d w a n, 
 
 Kalna, M a n k u r, 
 Raniganj 
 
 Birbhum 902,280 902,280 i Suri 
 
 Midnapore 2,789,114 214,547 7 Bhimpur, Cbandrako- 
 
 na, Contai, Kharg- 
 pur, Midnapore, 
 Santipur, Tamluk 
 iCondensed from Appendix in Vol. I, Report of World Missionary Con- 
 ference, Edinburgh, 1910. 
 
 248 
 
APPENDIX C 
 
 249 
 
 District 
 
 Population 
 
 Murshidabad I.333»i84 
 
 Jessore 1,813,155 
 
 Khulna 1,253,043 
 
 Rajshahi 1,462,407 
 
 Dinajpur 1,567,080 
 
 Jalpaiguri 787,380 
 
 Rangpur 3,154,181 
 
 Bogra 854,533 
 
 Fabna 1,420,461 
 
 Dacca 2,649,523 
 
 Mymensingh 3,9iS,o68 
 
 Faridpur 1,937,646 
 
 Tippera 2,117,991 
 
 Noakhali 1,141,728 
 
 Chittagong i,3S3,25o 
 
 Gaya 2,059,933 
 
 Shahabad 1,962,696 
 
 Saran 2,409,509 
 
 Champaran 1,790,463 
 
 Muzaffarpur 2,754,790 
 
 Darbhanga 2,912,611 
 
 Monghyr 2,068,804 
 
 Purnea 1,874,794 
 
 Malda 884,030 
 
 Sonthal Parganas.... 1,809,737 
 
 Cuttack 2,062,758 
 
 Angul & Khondmals 191,911 
 
 Puri 1,017,284 
 
 Palamau 619,600 
 
 Cooch Behar 566.974 
 
 Hill Tippera '73,3*5 
 
 Pop. to each 
 
 Missionary 
 
 (Excluding wives) 
 
 666,592 I 
 
 604,385 I 
 
 1,253,043 > 
 
 292,481 3 
 
 1,567,080 
 393,690 
 
 1,077,090 
 213,633 
 284,092 
 203,809 
 
 244,691 
 
 322,941 
 352,998 
 
 570,864 
 1,353,250 
 
 411,986 
 1,962,696 
 
 301,188 
 
 596,821 
 2,754,790 
 970,870 
 344,800 
 937,397 
 
 47,624 
 
 229,195 
 1,017,284 
 
 Number and names at 
 stations in District 
 
 Jiaganj 
 
 Jessore 
 
 Khulna 
 
 Naogaon, R s m p u r, 
 Boalia 
 
 Dinajpur 
 
 Baksa-Duar, Jalp»i- 
 guri 
 
 Rangpur 
 
 Bogra 
 
 Pabna, Serajganj 
 
 Dacca, Jobarpar, Na- 
 rainganj 
 
 Biri Siri Jamalpur, 
 Mymensingh, Tan- 
 gail 
 
 Brahmanbaria, Chand- 
 pur, Comilla 
 
 Faridpur, Rajbari 
 
 Sudharam 
 
 Chittagong 
 
 Gaya, Tikari 
 
 Burar 
 
 Capra, Gopalganj, Si- 
 wan 
 
 Chanpatia, Motihari 
 
 Muzaffarpur 
 
 Darbhanga 
 
 Chakai, Monghyr 
 
 Purnea 
 
 No missionary 
 
 Bahawa, De o g a r h 
 (Baidyanath), Ebe- 
 nezer, Godda, Jan- 
 tara, Kadhar, Kari, 
 Kador, Kharmatar, 
 Madhupur, Maijam, 
 Mohulpahari, P e- 
 kaur, Sagjuria, Tal- 
 jhara 
 
 Cuttack 
 
 No missionary 
 
 Puri 
 
 No missionary 
 
 No missionary 
 
 Rajgangpur (Kumw- 
 kela) 
 
INDEX 
 
 2SI 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abdul Karim, story of, 218. 
 
 Abijean, 40. 
 
 Abyssinia, iS, 71, 83, 221. 
 
 Adamawa, 26. 
 
 Adams, Joseph S., quoted, 122. 
 
 Adana, 146. 
 
 Adaptability of missionary, 190. 
 
 Addis Adeba, 28, 29, 83. 
 
 Aden, 23, 24, 28, 205. 
 
 Adrar, 27. 
 
 Adua, 28. 
 
 Afghanistan, 4, 6, 11, 12, 13, 66, 70, 
 79, 80, 103, III, 113, 127, 146, 147, 
 I53> 163, 164, 19s, 207, 208, 218, 221; 
 Amir of, quoted, 88; martyr of, 
 217; political hindrance to mission- 
 ary occupation in, 8x; women of, 
 117. 
 
 Afghans, 7; character of, 6; tubjec- 
 tion of, s8. 
 
 Aflaj, 6s. 
 
 Africa, 2, 4, 38, 62, 71, 99, 103, 109, 
 113, 125, 126, 133, 13s, 145, IS5, 160, 
 I7i> 173; east, 175; fanaticism in, 
 89; French in, 75; mission stations 
 in, 42; Moslems in, 62; north, 41; 
 obstacles to entrance of missiona- 
 nes, 75 ; railway in, 27, 40; unoccu- 
 pied areas of, 25, zog; west, 38. 
 
 ALkaf, 64. 
 
 Aksu, 14, 164, 208. 
 
 Algeria, 4:, 74. 
 
 Allah, 7; desert, garden of, 70. 
 
 Ambition, to enter unoccupied 
 fields, 22$. 
 
 Amir of Afghanistan, 80, 147, 164, 
 178; speech of, S8; cruelty of, 94, 
 iii; superstition of, 103. 
 
 Amulets, 104, 173. 
 
 Anderson, H., quoted, 49. 
 
 Anglo-Saxons, as explorers, 215. 
 
 Angola, 39. 
 
 Animism, 23, 126, 133, 134. 
 
 Animists, 99, 104. 
 
 Annam, 23, 116, 126. 
 
 Arabia, 7, 23, 63, 70, 79, 82, 84, 100, 
 102, I2S, 127, 133, IS9, 168, 169, 1S6, 
 221, 225; Bedouins in, 25, 64; larg- 
 est unexplored area in, 63. 
 
 Arabian Mission, hist«ry of, 204. 
 
 Arabic language, 169, 170. 
 
 Arabs, 160, 170, 175; character of, 
 8; of Oman, 224. 
 
 Areas undiscovered, 62; unexplored 
 in Arabia, 63; unoccupied, 3; un- 
 reached in China, 54. 
 
 Argument for missions, 95. 
 
 Arros, 148. 
 
 Asia, 4, 36, j6o, 161; central, 2, 4, 6, 
 10, II, 63, 66, 68, 89, 113, 146, 147. 
 158, 162, 209; largest unexplored 
 territory in, 62; unoccupied terri- 
 tory, 4; western, 66. 
 
 Askabad, 12. 
 
 Assam Frontier Mission, 206. 
 
 Assam, Southern, 47. 
 
 Atheism, Buddhist, 131. 
 
 Atjeh, 34, 83. 
 
 Australia, natives of, footnote, ijo; 
 Fapua compared with, 69. 
 
 B 
 
 Badakhshan, i«, 6$. 
 
 Baedeker, Dr., quoted, 18. 
 
 Bagdad, 24- 
 
 Baghelkhand, 48. 
 
 Baghirmi, S, ^• 
 
 Ban, 34- 
 
 Balkh, 12. 
 
 Baluchi s, characteristics of, 7, 13. 
 
 Baluchistan, 7, 69, 116, 128, 147, ife, 
 194; area, 13; climate of, 70; politi- 
 cal administration, 13. 
 
 Banka, 33. 
 
 Bannu, 2o7' 
 
 Baringa, 39. 
 
 Bamy, Rev. F. J., quoted, 79. 
 
 Bassam, 40. 
 
 Bateson, J. H., quoted, 68. 
 
 Battaks, 136. 
 
 Bedouins, 24, 102, 106, 125; in Ara- 
 bia, 25, 64. 
 
 Beggar-scavengers, 112. 
 
 Belts, not worn by Moslems, 161. 
 
 Bengal, eastern, 47, 49- 53- 
 
 Bent, Theodore, quoted, 24, 64. 
 
 Bertolucci, 85. 
 
 "Beyond His Care," poem, 58. 
 
 Bhopal, agency, 48. 
 
 Bhutan, 22, 98, 133; why missiona- 
 ries do not enter, 75. 
 
 Bhutanese, characteristics of, 22. 
 
 Bible, distribution, 198; in Pushtu, 
 195; translation of, 196. 
 
 253 
 
254 
 
 INDEX 
 
 "Bigness of the Task," 226. 
 
 Billiton, 23. 
 
 Bissau, 40. 
 
 Blood-letting, 107. 
 
 Boke, 40. 
 
 Bokhara, 4, 12, 16, 17, So, 107, J14, 
 
 162, 177, 208; the Cairo of Asia, 6. 
 Bolobo, 39. 
 
 Bompas, Bishop, quoted, 72. 
 Booth, William, quoted, 214. 
 Borneo, 34, 108; central, 63. 
 Bougainville, 35. 
 Brahuis, 13, 117. 
 Brent, Bishop, quoted, 229. 
 Bribery, 128. 
 Brigandage, 102. 
 
 British and Foreign Bible Society, 
 ^15.. 37» 52. 77. . 
 British East Africa, 5. 
 British Government, in Africa, 26, 
 
 76; influence in Central Asia, 17; 
 
 in Tibet, 21; prohibits missions, 
 
 41. 76- 
 Brooke, Graham W., 209. 
 Brooks, Bishop Phillips, quoted, 
 
 229. 
 Broomhall, M., quoted, 114. 
 Buddha, 132, 143, 
 Buddhism, 10, 23, 104, 126, 131, 140; 
 
 atheism of, 131; in Nepal, 21; in 
 
 Tibet, 129. 
 Buka, 35. 
 Bundelkhand, ^8. 
 Burckhardt, 126. 
 Buriats, i8, 138, 14S. 
 Burma, 53, 206, 227. 
 Burton, 64, 85; quoted, 115. 
 Busrah, 24. 
 
 Calculating spirit, 226. 
 
 Cambodia, 23. 
 
 Cami)bell, J. F., quo'i'tld, ^, 49. 
 
 Cannibalism, 94, 108, ^34; in ^rica, 
 footnote, iqg. 
 
 Cantine, Dr. James, c;(uoted, 204, 205. 
 
 Capacity of races for religion, 124. 
 
 Carey, William, 2, 80, 217. 
 
 Carlyle, Thomas, quoted, 94. 
 
 Carpenter, William Boyd, quoted, 
 155. 
 
 Carruthers, Douglas, 82, 125. 
 
 Caspian Sea, 10. 
 
 Caste, Islam knows no, 176. 
 
 Cautery, 106. 
 
 Central Asia, 2, 4, 6, 10, 11, 63, €6, 
 68, 8g, 113, 146, 158, 162, 209; cities 
 of, 17, 164, 208; political situation 
 in, 80; races of, 6; Russia in, 16- 
 18; Russian policy in, 80; unoccu- 
 pied territory in, 4. 
 
 Central Asian Mission, 207. 
 
 Central Borneo, 63. 
 
 Central India, 48. 
 
 Central provinces, 47. 
 
 Challenge, of Christianity, i; of the 
 unoccupied fields, 219. 
 
 Chalmers, James, quoted, 33, 185. 
 
 Chaman, 13, 17. 
 
 Changbhakar, 75. 
 
 Chantos, 113. 
 
 Character of missionary needed, 184- 
 185. 
 
 Charjui, 18. 
 
 Charms, 104, 175. 
 
 Che-kiang, 52. 
 
 Chiba, 46. 
 
 Children of Kashgar, 113, 114. 
 
 China, 2, 10, 19, 49-55* 96» 127, 153, 
 161, 171; areas unreached in, 54; 
 inland mission, 50, 206; missiona- 
 ries in, footnote, 51; population, 
 43; unfinished task in, 50. 
 
 Chmese Turkistan, 4, 11, 14. i9» 103, 
 164, 166; climate of, 14; Khirgese 
 of, 7; without missionaries, 208. 
 
 Cholera, in Afghanistan, loi. 
 
 Chota Nagpur, 47. 
 
 Christian and Missionary Alliance, 
 206. 
 
 Christian medals, 158. 
 
 Christianity, 162 ; challenge of, i ; 
 first days of, 226. 
 
 Church Missionary Society, 13, 162, 
 206, 207, 209, 210, 211, 224. 
 
 Church of Scotland Mission, 206. 
 
 Cities, of Arabia, 25; of China, mis- 
 sionary occupation of, 51; of Cen- 
 tral Asia, 17, 164, 208. 
 
 Civilization, with evangelization, 
 120; without gospel, 125. 
 
 Clark, Edson L-, quoted, 170. 
 
 Clark, Rev. Robert, quoted, 162. 
 
 Oimate, hardships of, 64, 67 ; in 
 Baluchistan, 70, 71. 
 
 Cochin-China, 23. 
 
 Colleges, in Central Asia, 208. 
 
 Colonial governments, 175. 
 
 Comity, mission, 44, 45. 
 
 Command of Christ, 155. 
 
 Commerce in Central Asia, 17. 
 
 Commercialism, 39. 
 
 Common sense needed by mission- 
 ary, 199, 201. 
 
 Concentration of mission stations, 
 45. 184- 
 
 Conception of God, 137. 
 
 Congo, 5, 39; French, 40. 
 
 Creation, legend of, 125. 
 
 Cromer, Lord, quoted, 77; attitude 
 of, toward missions, to Moslems, 
 211. 
 
 Cruelty, 1 10 ; in Africa, footnote, 
 loo; perpetrated on the dead, 112; 
 to crimmals, iii; to relieve dis- 
 ease, 106. 
 
 Curtin, Jeremiah, 138. 
 
 Curzon, Lord, quoted, 83. 
 
 Central Sudan, 26. 
 
 Ceram, 35. 
 
 Chad, Lake, 25, 27. 
 
INDEX 
 
 255 
 
 D 
 
 Dahomey, 5. 
 
 Dalai Lama, 21, 87, 143. 
 
 Darjeeling, 87. 
 
 Davidson, W., quoted, 77-7S. 
 
 Dayaks, io8, 136. 
 
 Death rate, reduced, 74. 
 
 Deck, Dr. Northcote, quoted, ^z. 
 
 Degradation, 96, 131 ; of tribes in 
 
 Borneo, ic^; of womanhood, 113. 
 Dennis, Dr. J. S!, quoted, 95, 97, 
 
 102, 115. 
 Dentistry, 107. 
 Dera-Ismail-Khan, 207. 
 
 Dersim, €>^. 
 
 Desert of Gobi, 15, 10, 70, 71, 154. 
 
 Desert the garden of Allah, foot- 
 note, 70. 
 
 Desire for universal religion, 123. 
 
 Destitution, 155, 228. 
 
 Difficulties, 60, 217; a challenge, go; 
 disappearing, 73, 88, 152; in Ma- 
 laysia, 37; in Somaliland, 77; of 
 climate, 68, 71; of communication, 
 73; physical, &3, 61. 
 
 Diffusion of missionary effort, 45, 
 184. 
 
 Dilly, 34. 
 
 Discovery, 2. 
 
 Disposal of the dead, 112; in Papua, 
 footnote, 112, 
 
 Distribution of mission forces, in 
 Japan, footnote, 45; in India, 47. 
 
 Distrust, 136. 
 
 Divorce, 127. 
 
 Dixey, A. D., quoted, 13. 
 
 Doughty, C. M., 64, 65, 85, %6, 102, 
 106, 126, 128; quoted, 58. 
 
 Douglas, James, quoted, 118. 
 
 Dubreka, 40. 
 
 Dutch East Indies, 196; population, 
 area, footnote, 33. 
 
 Dutch New Guinea, exploration in, 
 footnote, 63. 
 
 E 
 
 East Africa, 175. 
 
 Eastern Bengal, 47, 
 
 Economic progress, 99. 
 
 Education, 167, 208. 
 
 Egypt, 127, 159; footnote, ^€>. 
 
 Egyptians, 210. 
 
 Emphasis in missions, 95. 
 
 England and Russia in Central 
 Asia, 166. 
 
 Eritrea, 28. 
 
 Eskimos, characteristics of, 72. 
 
 Evangelization of the world in this 
 generation, 228 ; with civilization, 
 120. 
 
 Exploration, 2; Anglo-Saxons in, 
 2is; in Africa, 71; in Arabia, 64; 
 in Tibet, 87. 
 
 F 
 
 Fairbairn, Principal, quoted, 122. 
 Faith, needed, 219, 226. 
 
 Falconer, Keith, 186; 222; letter of, 
 
 31; quoted, 94. 
 Famine in Arabia, 102. 
 Fanah, no. 
 Fanaticism, 83, 103, 146, 147. 161; in 
 
 Africa, 76, 83, 89; in Sumatra, 83. 
 Fatalism, 127. 
 Feast in Afghanistan, iSg. 
 Fetiches, 105, 133, 137, 176; footnote, 
 
 104. 
 Filth, in Central Asia, loi. 
 Flies, in Baluchistan, 69. 
 Flores, 34. 
 
 "Forelopers of God," 222. 
 Forsyth, Dr., quoted, 222. 
 Eraser, Donald, quoted, 137. 
 Fraud, 148. 
 French Congo, 40. 
 French government in Africa, 75; in 
 
 Indo-China, 23. 
 French Guinea, 5, 27, 40. 
 French. Indo-China, 22. 
 French, Thomas v., quoted, 224. 
 Fu-kien^ 52. 
 Fukushima, 46. 
 Fulton, Dr., quoted, 53. 
 Future life, 137. 
 
 Gairdner, W. H. T., quoted, 174- 
 
 German East Africa, 5. 
 
 German Sudan Koneer Mission, 211. 
 
 Ghazni, 13. 
 
 Gilgil. 71- 
 
 Gilmour, James, ig, 222. 
 
 Gobi, desert of, 15, 19, 70, 71, I54- 
 
 God, conceptions of, 137, 14s; .de- 
 lights in impossibilities, quotation, 
 214; the Opener, 90, 91. 
 
 Gomal Pass, 12. 
 
 Gondar, 28. 
 
 Gordon Memorial College, 176. 
 
 Gordon's statue, poem, 29. 
 
 Gospel, need of the 134; only hope, 
 iig, 149. 
 
 Government, British, 76; British and 
 Russian, 166; in Central Asia, 78- 
 81; in Tibet, 21; lacking in unoc- 
 cupied fields, 108. 
 
 Gowans, Walter, 210. 
 
 Greek Church and its missions, 18. 
 
 Guinea, French, 27, 40; Portuguese, 
 40. 
 
 Gurkhas, 21. 
 
 Gwalior, 48. 
 
 H 
 
 Hadjeb, footnote, 42. 
 
 Hadramaut, 24, 64, 159. 
 
 Hakkiari, ^^. 
 
 Halevy, Joseph, 64. 
 
 Harar, 28, 
 
 Hardships, 67-68, 188; in Tibet, 216. 
 
 Harris, Hermann, 210. 
 
 Hasa, 79. 
 
 Hausas, 160; language of, 26, 41, 
 
256 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Head-hunting, log. 
 
 Heart of two continents, 3-4« 
 
 Hedin, Sven, 68-69; quoted, 20» loi, 
 
 141, 158, 216. 
 Hejaz, 24, &j; railway, 86. 
 Helmund River, 66. 
 Herat. 12, 17. 
 Himalayas, 20, 67. 
 Hinduism, in Malaysia, 35. 
 Hodeida, 25, 224. 
 Hogarth, quoted, 62. 
 Hogberg, missionary, quoted, 162, 
 
 227. 
 Hindrances, external, 60. 
 Holland, Dr. Henry, quoted, 172. 
 Holland. W. E. S., quoted, 48. 
 Home ties, 221. 
 Honan, si* 
 
 Horse sacrifice, 138, 139, 149. 
 Hoti-Mardan, 207. 
 Huber, 64, 83. 
 
 Humor, sense of, needed, 189. 
 Hunter, George, 114. 
 Huntington, Ellsworth, quoted, 79. 
 Hunza, 7. 
 Husbandman waiteth, the, poem, 31. 
 
 I 
 
 Ibanshi, 39. 
 
 Ignorance, 103, 131, 132; of lamas, 
 142. 
 
 Illiteracy, 96, iig. 
 
 Immortality^ 113, 146, 147; in Tibet, 
 119; of priests, 141. 
 
 Impossibilities, conquered, 217, 230. 
 
 Inadequacy of the various religions, 
 136. 
 
 India, 10, 47, 127, 171, 206; central, 
 48; mission forces in, 47; west- 
 ern, 49. 
 
 Indifference of church, 59. 
 
 Indo-China, French, 22. 
 
 Industry, 127. 
 
 Injustice, 12S. 
 
 Insanitation in Mongolia, footnote, 
 
 lOI. 
 
 Insects, in Central Asia, 68, 69. 
 Inspiration, from difficulties, 226. 
 Intolerance, religious, 82; in Arabia, 
 
 84. 
 Inverted homesickness, 222. 
 Islam, 6, 10, 13, 18, 23, 34, S3, 125, 
 
 127; I33» I45» i62» 164. ^73, i75, 176; 
 
 British Government in regard to, 
 
 76-77% cruelty of, loo; iu Africa, 
 
 41, 171. 
 Isolation, of Tibet, 20. 
 Ivory coast, s, 27, 39. 
 
 Japan, 45, 49; missionaries in, 46; 
 
 Pn ■ ■ ■ ■ 
 
 Protestants in, 45. 
 Taspur, 75. 
 Jedda, 84, loi. 
 Judson, Adoniram, 227, 
 
 Kaaba, 86; covering, 104. . . 
 
 Kabul, 12, 80, lor, 147* i64» ^771 Amir 
 of, 80; prisons of, iii. 
 
 Kachi, 70. 
 
 Kafiristan, 12, 66, 164. 
 
 Kairwan, 42. 
 
 Kamerun, 5. 
 
 Kandahar, 12, 164. 
 
 Kanem, 26. 
 
 Kan-su, 4, 14, 53. 
 
 Karakum, 12. 
 
 Karim, Abdul, story of, 218-219. 
 
 Kasai Basin, footnote, 39. 
 
 Kashgar, 4, 14, 15, 69, loi, 114, 208. 
 
 Kedah, 36, 37. 
 
 Kei, as cure for disease, io6. 
 
 Keith, Thomas, 85. 
 
 Kelantan, 36, 37. 
 
 Kerbela, 104, 115. 
 
 Keriya, 113. 
 
 Khaibar Pass, 12, 163, 178. 
 
 Khartoum, 211. 
 
 Khatmandu, 22. 
 
 Khirgese of Chinese Turkistan, 7. 
 
 Khirghiz women, 114. 
 
 Khiva, 4, II. 
 
 Khorasan, 36, 107, 153. 
 
 Kbotan, 14, 113, 159, 164, 208. 
 
 Kiang-su, 52. 
 
 Kindness, needed by missionary, 193. 
 
 Kioto, 46. 
 
 Kipling, quoted, 181, '185, 212, 223. 
 
 Kiria, 14. 
 
 Kitchener, attitude of, toward mis- 
 sions, to Moslems, 211. 
 
 Kobe. 46. 
 
 Konakry, 40. 
 
 Koran, 7, 84. 100, 104, 105, 128, 165, 
 
 174. 177- 
 Kordofan, 148, 153, 196. 
 Kota Bharu. 37. 
 Krai)f, 76. 
 Kuhistan, 36. 
 Kulja, 4, 14- 
 
 Kumm, Dr. Karl W., 26, 89, 116. 
 Kurdistan, 66. 
 Kwangsi, 53. 
 Kwang-tung, 53. 
 Kwei-chau, 53. 
 
 Lack, of men, 41; of vision, 59; of 
 
 workers, 60. 
 Lacoste, quoted, 7. 
 Lamas, 87, loi, 130, 132. 
 Lamaism, 19, 126. 129, 132, 141. 
 Landon, Percival, quoted, 67, 6B, 
 
 112. 
 Landor, A. H. S., 68. 
 Laos, 23. 
 
 Laotian Bible, 196-197. 
 Legend of creation, 125. 
 Leonard, Major, quoted, 124, 134. 
 
INDEX 
 
 257 
 
 Lesdain, Comtesse de, 71. 
 
 Lessons, to be gained from old so- 
 cieties, 203. 
 
 Lhasa, 21, 86, 87, ic:, 112, 115, 143, 
 160, 164, 198; footnote, 21. 
 
 Liberia, 5. 
 
 Lin^ists needed, 195. 
 
 Livingstone, David, 69, 76, 217, 222, 
 230; quoted, 61, i86. 
 
 Livingstonia, 133. 
 
 Lobnor, 15. 
 
 Lombok Islands, 34. 
 
 London Missionary Society, 19, 206. 
 
 Loneliness, 6g. 
 
 Longing after God, 136. 
 
 Loyalty, 157, 184. 
 
 Lull, Raymond, quoted, 220. 
 
 Luristan, 36. 
 
 Lut, 67. 
 
 Lyall, Alfred, quoted, 58, 
 
 Lying, 128, 136, 148. 
 
 M 
 
 Mad Mullah, of Somaliland, S3. 
 
 Madagascar, 38, 75. 
 
 Madras Decennial Conference, 44. 
 
 Madura, 34. 
 
 Mackay, Kenneth, quoted, 69, 109, 
 224. 
 
 Magaa, 159. 
 
 Maimachin, 19. 
 
 Malaria, 74. 
 
 Malaysia, 33, 126, 133, 135, 14S, 212; 
 population of, 37. 
 
 Manchuria, 4, 52. 
 
 Marriage in Central Asia, 114, 115. 
 
 Marston, Miss A. W"., quoted, 131. 
 
 Martin, F. A., quoted, 94. 
 
 Martyr, Abdul Karim, 218. 
 
 Matthews, Aaron, quoted, 185. 
 
 Mecca, 24, 2$, 64, 82, 84, 104, 128, 147, 
 160, 164, 198; footnote, 161; im- 
 mortality in, 115; intolerance in, 
 85- 
 
 Mecca-pointer, 7, 
 
 Medical, charms, 105; missionary, 
 6S» i93» 195; missions, 208; prac- 
 tices, native, 105-106; science, need- 
 ed, 106. 
 
 Medina, 24, 25, 82, 84, 115. 
 
 Menelik II, 28. 
 
 Merv, 12, 17. 
 
 Meshed, 12, 115, 198. 
 
 "Messenger of God," quotation, 29. 
 
 Meyer, F. B., quoted, 214. 
 
 Micronesia, loo. 
 
 Miller. Dr. W. R., quoted. 
 
 Miracles, 14S. 
 
 Mission comity, 44-45. 
 
 Mission stations, concentration of^ 
 45, Z84; in Airica, 42; perils of, 
 199, 
 
 Missionaries, adaptability of, 190; 
 as representatives of Christ, 192; 
 common sense needed by, 200; ex- 
 
 M!oi 
 
 173. 
 
 eluded from Bhutan, 75; in China, 
 51; in India, 47; in Japan, 46: 
 message of, 191 ; needed, kind of, 
 185; requirements of, 185-189. 
 
 Missionary occupation of the Chi- 
 nese Empire, 50-54; of Sudan, 173. 
 
 Missionary Societies, 184; in unoc- 
 cupied fields, new, 203. 
 
 Missions, argument for, 95; begin- 
 ning of, 2; mean warfare, 188; 
 need of, 183; opportunity for, in 
 Turkistan, 167; progress of, 2. 
 
 Moffat, Robert, quoted, 120. 
 
 Mohammed, 84; hopelessness of his 
 teachings, 122. 
 
 Mohammedan practices in Egypt, 
 
 Lonasteries, 132 ; Buddhist, 140 ; of 
 Tibet, footnote, 142. 
 
 Mongolia, 4, 14, 19, 21, 52, 55, ^^ 70, 
 loi, 221. 
 
 Mongols, 4, loi, 154; in prayer, 154. 
 
 Morality, 127. 
 
 Moravian mission in Tibet, 206. 
 
 Moslems, 6, 23, 41, 104, 161, 178, 227; 
 advance in Africa, 62, 174; hatred 
 of Christians, 58; in China, 54; in 
 Malaysia, 34; in Somaliland, 28; 
 library of, 175; political authority 
 of, 79; Raymund Lull, missionary 
 to, 220. 
 
 Mosques, 6, 165. 
 
 Mosquitoes, 68, 69, 74. 
 
 Mott, J. R., quoted, 61. 
 
 Muir, John R., quoted, 152, 188. 
 
 Mulaya, S- 
 
 Mullahs, 146, 149, 161, 165, 194; illit- 
 eracy of, 146. 
 
 Murray, Andrew, quoted, 214. 
 
 Muscat, 24, 64* 192, 205, 2^4- 
 
 Myers, F. W. H., quoted, 182. 
 
 N 
 
 Nagasaki, 46. 
 
 Nagoya, 46. 
 
 Nasrany, 86. 
 
 Native medical practices, 106-108. 
 
 Native States in India, 75. 
 
 Need of Central Asia, footnote, 16. 
 
 Neesima, quoted, 226. 
 
 Neglect, 59, 90, 155; in China, 52; in 
 India, 48, 49; in Japan, 46; of 
 church, 1S3; of provinces in Ara- 
 bia, 24. 
 
 Nejd, 25, 64, 65. 
 Nejran, 65, 159- 
 
 Nepal, 21, 75, 133, 221; Buddhism in, 
 21 ; why missionaries do not enter, 
 
 75- 
 New fields, 203. 
 New Guinea, 137. 
 New stations, 184. 
 Nias, 135. 
 Niebuhr, 64. 
 Niger, 5, 27, 38, 209, 
 
258 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Nigeria, 5, 25, 27, 41, 166, 173. 175; 
 northern, 26; peoples of, 133. 
 
 Nile, 12, 26, 63, 196, 215. 
 
 Nirvana, 130. 
 
 Noide, 64. 
 
 Nomads, 11, 125. 
 
 Non-Christian religions, 126. 
 
 North Africa, 41. 
 
 North Africa Mission, 42. 
 
 Nubas, 25. 
 
 Nyasaland, 5. 
 
 O 
 
 Obstacles, 185; to entrance of mis- 
 sionaries in Africa, 75. 
 
 Oceania, 196. 
 
 Okayama, 46. 
 
 Oman, 25, 36, 225. 
 
 Omdurman, 211. 
 
 Om Mani Padme Hum, 130. 
 
 Opportunities, a stimulus, 220; 
 among Moslems, 178; lost, 156; 
 165, 228; present, 183. 
 
 Opposition, political, in Africa, 76; 
 in Arabia, 79; in Siberia, 77; to 
 Christian missions, 78-79. 
 
 Oran, s, 41. 
 
 Orenburg, 177. 
 
 Orenburg-Tashkend Railway, 17. 
 
 Organization of a pioneer mission, 
 200. 
 
 Oriental Christianity, 127. 
 
 Osaka, 46. 
 
 Oxus, 12, 16, 17. 
 
 P 
 
 Paganism, degradation of, 135, 171. 
 
 Palawan, 35. 
 
 Palestine, i. 
 
 Pal grave, 128. 
 
 Papua, 63, 68, 74, 108; people of, 125; 
 social conditions in, 98. 
 
 Passion of a homeless Christ, 222. 
 
 Patience, 227. 
 
 Patteson, Bishop, 219. 
 
 Paul, 91, 185, 201, 221, 22s; his ambi- 
 tion, 2; his indictment, 97. 
 
 Pennell, Dr. T. L., quoted, 8, 107, 
 158, 184; Mrs. T. L., quoted, 189. 
 
 Persia, 12, 164. 
 
 Persian Gulf, 36, 169, 205. 
 
 Personal religion, 127. 
 
 Peshawar, 12, 8d, 207. 
 
 Petition of Tibetans, footnote, 88. 
 
 Philippine Islands, 35, 196. 
 
 Physical, barriers being eliminated, 
 74; obstacles, 61. 
 
 Pioneer, 185; must catch the vision, 
 191, 212. 
 
 Political, administration in Tibet, 
 21 ; hindrance to missionary occu- 
 pation in Afghanistan, 81 ; impor- 
 tance of Afghanistan, 163; in Balu- 
 chistan, 13 ; in Egypt, footnote, 
 76; in western Asia, 168; interfer- 
 ence, footnote, 75; objections to 
 
 missions, 75; situation, in Central 
 
 Asia, 80. 
 Politics, 168, 169, 176. 
 Polyandry, 116, 119. 
 Polygamy, 116, 118, iig, 127. 
 Population, 13 ; of Central Asi&, 
 
 footnote, 11; Dutch East Indies, 
 
 33- . ^ *, 
 
 Portuguese territory, 39; East Af- 
 rica, 5; Guinea, 5, 40. 
 
 Post, Dr. George E., quoted, 194- 
 
 Poverty, in Arabia, 102. 
 
 Prayer, for unoccupied fields, poem, 
 55 ; of Asaph, 150; of Mongols, 154. 
 
 Prayer-flags, 19. 
 
 Prayer- wheels, loi, 129. 
 
 Presbyterian Church of the U. S,, 
 39- 
 
 Priests, Buddhist, 140, 148; buried 
 alive in Tibet, 143-144; in Tibet, 
 130; immorality of, 141, 147. 
 
 Prisoners, torture? to, no. 
 
 Prisons, in Tibet, in. 
 
 Progress, economic, 100; of Christi- 
 anity, 177; of missions, 60. 
 
 Protection, gained from Koran, 105. 
 
 Protestant missions, in China, 50. 
 
 Protestants, in Japan, 45. 
 
 Provinces, of China, missionaries 
 in, 54- 
 
 Punishments, 94, xo8, no. 
 
 Q 
 
 Qualifications needed, by mission- 
 aries, 186. 
 Quetta, 13, 172, 194. 
 
 Races, capacity for religion, 124; dy- 
 ing out, 154; of Central Asia, 8-10; 
 waiting for Gospel, 6. 
 
 Ragyabas, 112. 
 
 Railway, 74, 165, 166, 168, 178; in 
 Africa, 27, 40; in Arabia, 86; in 
 Indo-China, 23; missions near, 
 209; Orenburg-Tashkend, 17; Rus- 
 sian, footnote, 17. 
 
 Rajputana, 48. 
 
 Raquette, G., quoted, 167. 
 
 Reasons for missions, 119, 120. 
 
 Red Sea, 25. 
 
 Regaining lost territory, 158. 
 
 Regions Beyond Missionary Union, 
 39- 
 
 Reinforcements, 183, 184 ; for mis« 
 sion stations, 207. 
 
 Religion, 168; capacity of races for, 
 124; desire for universal, 122. 
 
 Religions, n on- Christian, 126; unsat- 
 isfactory, 130. 
 
 Religious, intolerance, 82; tyranny, 
 142. 
 
 Reproach of neglect, 183. 
 
 Resources of Afghanistan, footnote, 
 
 Riadh, 64. 
 
INDEX 
 
 259 
 
 Kijnhart. Dr. Susie, 332; quoted, 
 193, 216. 
 
 Rio de Oro, 5, 37. 
 
 Risks, on mission fields, footnote 
 200. 
 
 Ritual of Latnaism, 129. 
 
 Rivalry of England and Russia, 17. 
 
 Roba'.el-Khali, 64. 
 
 Roches, Leon, 85. 
 
 Rockhill, W. W., quoted, 130. 
 
 Roman Catholic Church, 28, 3p, 206. 
 
 Roof of the world, 10; hardships of, 
 68, 
 
 Routes, 15; new, to Europe, foot- 
 note, 62. 
 
 Russia, 4, 10, 78, 166 ; in Central 
 Asia, advance in, 163, 164; policy 
 in, 81 ; Dopulation of, 16, 17. 
 
 Russian Turkistan, 4, 6, 11, 103, X14; 
 without missionaries* 20S. 
 
 Sacrament, religious, of pagans, 139. 
 
 Sacrifices of Buriats, 138. 
 
 Sahara, 4, 5, 70, 82, 159. 
 
 Samarai, 74. 
 
 Samarkand, 17, 164, 208. 
 
 Sana, 25, 65, 159, 224. 
 
 Sarts, 7. 
 
 Savages, spirituality of, 124. 
 
 Scandinavian Alliance Mission, 206. 
 
 Scenery of Baluchistan, 13. 
 
 Schlegel, quoted, 145. 
 
 Scholars, needed, 195. 
 
 Scriptures, in Chinese, 50; in Tibet, 
 88; translation, 41. 
 
 Seetzen, 64. 
 
 Sell, Canon E., quoted, 152. 
 
 Semi-centennial of Protestant mis- 
 sions in Japan, 45. 
 
 Sendai, 46. 
 
 Senegal, 166. 
 
 Senegambia, 5, 40- 
 
 Senussi, 62, 89. 
 
 Shackelton, Sir Ernest, 215. 
 
 Shamanism, 126, 140, 14S. 
 
 Shaving of the head, 161. 
 
 Shen-si, 53. 
 
 Shilluks, 25. 
 
 Siberia, 8, 18, 63, 77, 103, 126, 138; 
 Bible in, 19S; steppes of, zo. 
 
 Sierra Leone, 109. 
 
 Sikkim, 21, 71. 
 
 Sindh, 49. 
 
 Singapore, 38. 
 
 Single men, needed, 202. 
 
 Sirguja, 75- 
 
 Situation, missionary, to-dajr, 2-3. 
 
 Slavery, in Africa, 99, 127; in Ara- 
 bia, 99. 
 
 Smyth, Bishop William, quoted, 190- 
 191. 
 
 Soba, 159. 
 
 Social conditions, 114, 128; degrada- 
 tion, 153; evils, 97; problem of un- 
 occupied fields, 95. 
 
 Sociological problem, 95. 
 
 Socotra Islands, 35, 159. 
 
 Solomon Islands, i37< 
 
 Somaliland, 5, 28, 77f ^3* 102, sxi, 
 221; women in, 116. 
 
 Southern Assam, 47. 
 
 Speer, Robert E., quoted, 228. 
 
 Spencer, Herbert, quoted, 123. 
 
 Spirits, worship of, 140. 
 
 Spiritual destitution, 153. 
 
 Spirituality, 124. 
 
 Spurgeon, Charles, quoted, 220. 
 
 States of India, 75. 
 
 Stein, quoted, 68. 
 
 Stein thai, F. W., quoted, 171. 
 
 Steppes, Siberian, 10. 
 
 Stigand, Captain, 71. 
 
 Student volunteers, 228. 
 
 Strategic importance of the unoccu- 
 pied fields, 153, 161. 
 
 Students, in Bokhara, 6. 
 
 Sudan, 25 26, 62, 74, 77, 159, 173, I7S. 
 196, 209, 221, 225; attempts to es- 
 tablish missions in central, 209, 
 210; central, 26; Egyptian, 26; 
 western, 26; women in, 116, 
 
 Sudan Interior Mission, 210. 
 
 Sudan United Mission, 211. 
 
 Sulu Archipelago, 35. 
 
 Sumatra, 33, 83. 
 
 Sumbawa, 34. 
 
 Superstition, 3, 103, 119, 140. 
 
 Surgery, 107. 
 
 Svenska missions-forbundet, 78. 
 
 Swahelis, 160. 
 
 Swedish Mission in Turkistan, 15. 
 
 Syr Daria, 13. 
 
 Sjrria, 36, 127. 
 
 Sze-chwan, 53, 
 
 T 
 
 Tailgan, 138. 
 
 Taiz, 64, Ss- 
 
 Takhla Makan, 67. 
 
 Tamerlane, 162. 
 
 Tanganyika, Lake, 39. 
 
 Tangye, H. Lincoln, quoted, 35. 
 
 Tartars, 161. 
 
 Tashkend, 17, 164, 208. 
 
 Task, of the pioneer, 199; greatness 
 of the, 226. 
 
 Tate, G. P., quoted, 69. 
 
 Tawi-tawi, 35. 
 
 Teima, 82. 
 
 Telegraph, in Africa, 40; in Malay- 
 sia, 37. 
 
 Temperature in Baluchistan, 70. 
 
 Temple, 132. 
 
 Terjuman, 177. 
 
 Terror of heathenism, 135. 
 
 Thirst, 69. 
 
 Tibet, 2, A, 6, 14, 20, 21, 22, 52, 66, 
 67, 82, 86, 87, 100, 103, III, 116, 120, 
 129, 131, 132, 142, I53> 1(^4, 188, 195, 
 206, 217, 221; Buddhism in, 128; 
 exploration in, 87; hardships in. 
 
26o 
 
 INDEX 
 
 footnote, 67; immorality in, 119; 
 isolation of, 20; languages of, foot- 
 note, 19s; plea for, 216; women 
 of, g> 118. 
 
 Tibetans, character of, 8. 
 
 Timbo, 40. 
 
 Timor, 34. 
 
 Tipperah, 75. 
 
 Tisdall, Charles E. G., quoted, 37- 
 
 Togoland, 5. 
 
 Tokio, 45, 46. 
 
 Tonking, 23. 
 
 Torture of the fanah, 110. 
 
 Trade routes, 12, 15, 19. 
 
 Translation of the Bible, 195. 
 
 Transportation facilities, i7. 
 
 Travels alone, who travels fastest, 
 quotation, 182. 
 
 Tren^ganu, 36, 37. 
 
 Tropics, health in, 74. 
 
 Trotter, I. L., quoted, 214. 
 
 Tuaregs, 82, 159, 160. 
 
 Tucker, Bishop, of Uganda, 171. 
 
 Tugwell, Bishop, 210, 
 
 Tunis, 42, 82. 
 
 Turf an, 10, 164, 208. 
 
 Turkish government, 79; in western 
 Asia, 168. 
 
 Turkistan, 12, 113; Chinese, 7, 14, 
 103; Russian, 4, 103, 114. 
 
 U 
 
 Udaipur, 75. 
 
 Uganda, 5, 62, 71, 133. 
 
 Unfinished task in China, 50. 
 
 United Presbyterians, 210. 
 
 United Provinces, 47, 48. 
 
 Unity of race, 123. 
 
 Unoccupied fields, advance into, 
 177; cause of, 61; Central^ Asia, 
 4; desire to enter, 225; division of, 
 .* ; government lacking, 108 ; in 
 Africa, 25, 209; in first century, i, 
 149; in Malaysia, 33-35; near mis- 
 sion stations, 43; reasons for occu- 
 pation of, 156-159; social problems 
 of, 94; strategic importance of, 
 
 ^153. 
 
 Upoto, 42. 
 
 Upper Senegal, 27, 
 
 Urgency of task, i, 165, 171, 228. 
 Urumtsi, 4. 
 
 Vambery, A., quoted, 128. 
 Van Ess, John, quoted, 189. 
 Vassal, Gabrielle M., quoted, 14O; 
 
 154. 
 Veil of Tuaregs, 160. 
 Verses of protection, 105. 
 Vischer, Hanns, quoted, 83, 89. 
 Von Wrede, 64- 
 
 W 
 
 Wadai, 5» 26, 62. 
 
 Wady 35awasir, 65. 
 
 Wakhan, 12. 
 
 Walker, H. W., quoted, 98. 
 
 Walwar, 117. 
 
 Wameck, J., quoted, 12, I34» i?^ 
 
 Wellsted, 64. 
 
 West Africa, 38. 
 
 Western Asia, 66. 
 
 Western Sudan, 26. 
 
 Weston, Dr. Frank, quoted, 172, 
 
 White men and tropics, footnote, 74. 
 
 White, J. Claude, 22. 
 
 Williams, John, 219. 
 
 Wingate, Colonel G., quoted, 89, 
 152, 164, 19s, 202. 
 
 Witch doctor, 105. 
 
 Wolfe, Joseph, 80. 
 
 Women, degradation of, 113, 115; in 
 Central Asia, 114-117; in Somali- 
 land, 116; in Sudan, 116; in Tibet, 
 g, 102, 118. 
 
 Yarkand, 4, 14, 15, 60, loi, 208. 
 Yemen, 64, 65, 79, 159, 205. 
 Yokohama, 45-46. 
 Younghusband, Col., 67, 87, 106, 154, 
 
 Yun-nan, 53. 
 
 Z 
 Zaka Kheyl tribe, 14S. 
 Zambesi, 39. 
 Zem Zem, well of, 105. 
 Zungaria, 4, 14. 
 Zwemer, Peter J., 192. 
 
Mj 
 
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