Light in Lands of Darkness. By Robert Young. (T. Fisher
Unwin).—Mr. Young tells in this volume the story of various missionary efforts, following up and supplementing the accounts of his former work, "Modern Missions : their Trials and Triumphs." Among these narratives, nothing is more remarkable than that which relates the fortunes of the Patagonian Mission. Some of our older readers may remember the name of Allen Gardiner. Captain Gardiner, after vainly endeavouring to get help from the Missionary Societies, organised, with the help of private friends, an expedition to Tierra del Fuego. The first attempt was a failure, though it re. Kilted in nothing worse than the lois of time and money. After other abortive efforts, an attempt on a large scale was made in 1850. This ended in the most deplorable way. Captain Gardiner and his six com- panions perished of scurvy or starvation. The enemies of missions did not fail to enlarge on the folly of such undertakings. Still, the pro- moters were not discouraged. They persevered, and men were not wanting to devote themselves to the work. Success did not come at once ; but it came, and came in a way which it was impossible to gainsay. " Since then," Mr. Young writes, speaking of the year 1872, "the work has steadily progressed. There is now a Christian village. Instead of the miserable wigwams, cottages have been erected, gardens have been planned and fenced, roads have been made, cattle and goats have been introduced ; an orphanage, con- taining twenty-six children, clothed, educated, and fed at the ex- pense of friends in England, has been erected ; polygamy, witchcraft, infanticide, wrecking, theft, and other vices have been abolished." These results were communicated by Admiral Sullivan to Mr. Darwin, who had made the acquaintance of the Fuegians in 1832, when the 'Beagle' visited their country. "I could not have believed," he wrote in reply, " that all the missionaries in the world could have made the Fuegians honest ;" and he went on to say, "I had always thought that the civilisation of the Japanese is the most wonderful thing in history, but I am now convinced that what the missionaries have done in Tierra del Fuego in civilising the natives is at least as wonderful." And he gave a practical proof of his opinion by becoming a regular subscriber to the Society's lands. Darwin's sub- scription is about as emphatic an answer to the detractors of missions as can well be imagined.
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