Eastern Turkey Mission MR. ANDRUS, of Mardin, reports an extended visit paid some months since to a district called Sherwân, east of Sert, which had heretofore remained unexplored by our missionaries. The whole journey covered more than five hundred miles and occupied forty-two days. After visiting Diarbeker, Karabash, Farkin, and other places, the route lay through the Koordish tribe called Reshkota, recently in rebellion. Spending a night at a small Christian village near Baiho, an incident occurred which Mr. Andrus describes as follows:

ARRESTED AND DETAINED.

About two hours before midnight two gendarmes rode up to our lodgings. Having quartered themselves and their animals they began to upbraid our host for harboring us, and threatened to arrest him for complicity with our designs! They said we were foreigners bent on mischief, and distributing inflammatory literature over the country to produce a rising, and that they had been sent by the kaimakam to arrest us and return us to Baiho. My servant overhearing their conversation was alarmed, and informing me of their business hoped I would do something - he hardly knew what! I told him we needed sleep now, and would see what the morrow might bring. Rising early we had prayers, breakfasted, and then quietly prepared to go on our way, paying no attention to the gendarmes, as they had made no communi

cation to us. Having saddled their horses they rode out of the yard and posted themselves outside the gate. I soon rode out, followed by the colporter and servant, passed the gendarmes, and turned into the road to Sert. Being convinced that we intended to proceed to Sert the sercalled out in Turkish, Halt! As geant I paid no attention to the summons he came up on my left and shouted in Arabic, 'Halt!' Without halting I asked him in Arabic why I should halt. He then apologized for not having spoken to me before. as he supposed I was ignorant of Arabic, and added that he had been ordered by the kaimakam to take us back to Baiho. 'If you have a summons to serve on me, produce it.' 'I have no written order. 'Then I cannot regard your command;' and kept on my pace. He thereupon dashed ahead, wheeled, and riding toward me said he must return me to Baiho, even if it be by force. Would you use force to compel me to return with you?' 'My instructions are to take you back to Baiho. and I have no option.'

the discharge of his duty. At Baiho I was virtually a prisoner for three hours in the office of the captain of the gendarmes, who entertained me with his conversation until the arrival of the kaimakam. One point was already gained in that the latter came to me instead of summoning me to his presence. Not satisfied with that, however, I reproached him for his failure to issue a legal summons for my arrest and detention. He then began to excuse his dereliction, but ended by asking my pardon! I accepted his regrets and the incident was closed. Then he turned to the colporter and requested to see his books. All he had were then spread out upon the floor and cursorily examined. Seeing nothing which had not the imprimatur of either the Constantinople or Beirut censorship he retired gracefully from this search by opening a Turkish Bible at a disputed passage in John's Gospel, and called upon me to answer his interpretation of it. Although I had all the necessary traveling papers for all three of us, no inquiry for them was made, and upon our departure the captain offered us an escort to Sert."

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SHERWAN EXPLORED.

After a week's sojourn at Sert we set out for the exploration of a district to the east of Sert called Sherwân. Providence had not previously opened the way for either missionary or native helper to visit it, and we were anxious to learn the state of the nominally Christian population, the prospects for a future work among them, and the strategic points therefor. With a dismounted gendarme for guide and protection we completed the first stage of this trip an hour and a half after sunset, and at a village not down on our itinerary, the guide having lost his way. By noon of the second day we reached the beautifully situated Armenian village of Gooräna, with fifty houses, and in front of a valley to the south, in which, not half an hour away, nestled the villages of Mâzorân and Halasàn. The village chief, who is also a member of the council of the kaimakam of the district, received us cordially. The priest soon appeared, and we had a profit

able talk with the two in Koordish, which is the common language of this entire district. Upon concluding a lunch, at which was served up the best butter and honey I ever ate, we rose to go. I presented our host with a copy of the Armeno-Koordish Testament on condition that the priest should read from it as often as the villagers should assemble at his house. This he accepted, and receiving the book he reverently kissed it. We had found one place suitable for driving a gospel peg some day.

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Passing by and through several small villages, we pressed on to Simkhôr for the night. This is a Jacobite Syrian village of over fifty houses. As we approached it from the cliff above, and which conceals it until we are upon it, the priest and leading men came out to meet us. We lodged at the house of the chief, and until a late hour read, talked, and sung the gospel to a roomful of attentive people — the priest being among the most interested listeners. Next morning he brought us a small basket of the famous pomegranates of these banks of the Bohtân River. We also called on him, saw his old books of parchment and the church in which he officiates. Our impressions of the place and people had ripened into a judgment. that here was another place for the gospel to fasten upon and reclaim; but the priest, as he took my hand at parting, said, 'I have not yet been able to divine for what intent you have visited us.'

"We journeyed east of north over the hills and dropped down into another valley in the bosom of which nestled the Armenian village of Khundik, of about twenty houses. It was a charming spot, but the oppression of surrounding Koordish begs was depleting the population. Their church had been reduced to a heap, and they were not allowed to restore it. That superstition was more rife than religion was attested by the tufts of grass which, roots and all, were fastened by their own mud to the upper lintels of the doors of the houses, and by the fact that they sought us not out as at the other places we had visited."

SYRIAN VILLAGES.

"On Saturday afternoon we rode into Dere Haweël, a village of twelve Jacobite Syrian houses. The meaning of the name is surrounded by convents.' There were formerly ten of these convents, the ruins of most of them still remaining. One still stands in the midst of a grove of venerable oaks, so sacred that no axe must be lifted upon those thick trees; and if any one attempts to ride by the convent the saint to whom it is dedicated will surely slay him! Another of them, while in process of building in honor of a remarkable saint, was visited by flocks of wild mountain-goats which regularly contributed their milk to be used instead of water in mixing the mortar! What wonder that we found in such congenial soil for traditions and old wives' fables a people without priest, deacon, or Sabbath! Still, during the two evenings we were there and throughout the Sabbath, we were able to read and talk to both the multitude and individuals upon their spiritual needs.

"Our ride the next day took us over a wedge-shaped course around a chain of high and rugged mountains, so that by nightfall we were only on the opposite side of the mountain over against the place we had left in the early morning. We alighted at Nooben, an Armenian village of twenty houses. The Armenians all through here use Koordish better than they do Armenian. Here too we spent an interesting evening. The next day we halted at the Jacobite Syrian village of Serooz of twenty-five houses. Observing the clouds, and that only one storm was necessary to close for the winter the pass by which we had come, I left my servant here, and with the colporter only pressed on down the long and narrow valley to the village of Zenzek, with forty houses. Although Syrians, they use the Armenian and Koordish, having lost their own language. We went to the church, and as it was the hour of prayer the two priests present went through a responsive service. Having examined a parchment copy of the Gospels in the Estrangelo character, we retired with the priests to

the roof of a house of one of the chief men of the village, and there had a serious talk with them on the nature of the pastoral office as set forth by Paul to Timothy and Titus, which was well received. Later we returned to Serooz for the night, and read and talked long with those who assembled. At the time of retiring the inmates of the family that received us ranged themselves, eight in number, in a circle with their feet inward and over a fire of coals placed in an oven sunk in the floor. They possessed the scantiest and dirtiest bedding I ever saw.

The next day we came to the Jacobite Syrian village of Maäden, having fifty houses and using the Arabic language. The headman of this village has also a seat in the council of the kaimakam. He received us in a room reserved for guests and used also as the resort of the villagers. We discoursed to a roomful of these that evening far into the night, and as we took our leave the next morning our host said to the colporter and myself, Your love has fallen upon our hearts; come to us again in the spring.' This last place is really the key to this section of our field, and is within easy reach of three other Christian villages. The whole region constantly suffers from the threefold exactions of government, Koordish Aghas, and Kochers, or nomad Koords; and their poverty, ignorance, and superstition cannot be matched in any other part of the field. But tough as the struggle must needs be in order to plant the gospel in such hard soil and in the face of such opposition as will surely be raised to prevent it, we feel that the time is approaching when the attempt should be begun."

gations and administering the Lord's Supper at centres, besides spending two days a month with the agents of that station in prayer, conference, and instruction. I have already written of the urgent need of new churches in many villages a need which would have been attended to long ago had there been a resident missionary in the station the last few years. In the village whose church and nearly all the houses of the Christians were burned down by enemies, we made a strong effort to bring the miscreants and persecutors to justice; but chiefly because we could not get the police, who were hand and glove with the enemy, to make a charge in less than two months, the magistrate dismissed the c. c.

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There is vast difficulty in securing justice for our Christians in the villages even with our influence behind them. One wellto-do Christian has been annoyed and robbed by a few men of his village for several years. They were angry with him for his being a Christian, and jealous of his prosperity. They have indulged in the pastime of destroying his crops every year. He has sought redress from the courts, which have decided several times in his favor; but his enemies are desperate, and they manage in some way or other to convert every time his triumph in court into a loss in the village; so he has practically lost all his property, is daily in danger of his life, and, saddest of all, his mind has given way under it. Generally speaking I do not feel sorry for persecution, for, though it has caused the loss of not a few churches and houses, it tests and confirms the faith of our Christians; and I hardly ever saw one turning his back upon our faith on account of persecution. On the contrary the most progressive congregation in the station which has doubled during the last few months - is one most seriously persecuted. They are crying to me to build a church for them, and are willing and ready to pay at least one half the expenses."

A PROMISING MOVEMENT. "When I was at an out-station the other day I saw a beautiful illustration of the in

fluence of the pastor among the heathen. In the night he brought two young men to me to be examined in Bible knowledge. One of them, twenty-two years of age, recited a number of Scripture verses and some Bible history. I found that he is the son of the wealthiest man of high caste in that whole region. The boy was a desperately wicked fellow and robbed his father of Rs. 6,000, which he gave to a companion. His father knew not what to do with him for his reformation. He finally decided to bring him to our native pastor, and with the remark that he could do nothing for him he begged the pastor to instruct him in the Bible and to exert all the Christian influence he could for his salvation. So the pastor is faithfully at work instructing, counseling, and guiding the young man, who was proud that evening to come to me with his spiritual guide. The other boy is his cousin, in whose mind is treasured a vast amount of Scripture knowledge. He is one of the brightest boys of fourteen that I have seen in India. The son of another high-caste heathen, the village official, has recently joined our school at Pasumalai, and united with the church at the last communion, and is a very promising youth. From other villages in this station other heathen youths have sought admission at our Pasumalai Institute, soon to be led into the light and to receive Christ as their Saviour. At the beginning of the year a Mohammedan brought his bright boy for instruction and Christian influence. And another bigoted, wealthy, and very influential heathen brought his son, nephew, and grandson for admission. All of these board and sleep with our Christian boys, and thereby break caste and sooner or later are brought into the kingdom of our Lord. Several others of the same kind, in this station, are begging us to take them in and educate them, knowing that it means an ultimate acceptance of Christ.

"This movement among the influential young in many villages of the station is one of the most encouraging signs of the times. It shows clearly to us the beginning of that grand movement among

"Some of our Madura people have found employment in the new cotton spinning mill that has been opened here, but the other day they were fined one day's wages for not coming on Sunday. And on the next Saturday the European in charge ordered them to come the following day. When they refused he threatened to dismiss them, but, finding they could not be induced in that way, he told them to get permission from their pastor and come. They still refused, and he said they might stay to morning service and come the rest of the day; to that they replied that they had services from eight o'clock until ten, then from three to four and from seven to eight. Their pastor would be displeased if they should be absent from any of them. Finally he said he would build them a church on the mill grounds, and they could attend service and work between times. Again they refused, and one little boy said, 'If you should give us an armful of money, we would not work on Sunday.' They were then allowed to go, and on the next Monday morning when they received their pay for the week's work, no deduction was made in their pay. This is considered a most important gain, because many of the native Christians are forced to work on Sunday, whereas if they would stand to their colors, as these have done, many employers would let them have their Sundays.

"These same people are so poor that it meant a great deal for them to give up any part of their wages, or even run the risk of it. Every day they take a little of the grain for their daily food, and dividing it, put one portion into one earthen vessel for their Sunday contribution, and the other into a second earthen vessel for

their Sunday meal. As they can spare only a little from the daily earnings, the savings for Sunday are sufficient for but one meal, and that is all they have for Sunday."

Foochow Mission.

A MEMORABLE OCCASION.

MR. PEET sends the following account of the closing exercises of the first term of the Boys' Boarding School, which were held on June 23:—

"Invitations were sent to the presidents of the various native colleges in the city, as well as to other distinguished literary men with whom we have become ac quainted during the past two years. Through the agency of our consul, Dr. Gracey (to whom, in a great measure, the success of the day was due), invitations were also sent to all the officials to visit our school on the day in question, and witness a few closing examinations. These invitations were received in a most courteous manner. Some of the gentlemen could not accept on account of pressure of business, but sent representatives. The officers present were Mr. Cheng, the Tartar general's chief deputy, who has since that time been appointed Tantai in an adjoining district; Mr. Nguôi, an officer connected with the salt business; a deputy from the foreign office, and His Excellency Chen Tantai. The latter was the highest official representative present. He is a man much respected by all the foreign consuls; and by his intelligent face and kind smile he created a most gratifying impression on the minds of all present."

A PROCESSION OF OFFICIALS.

"A little before two o'clock the beating of a gong announced the approach of the high official to our residence, and a few minutes later the gate of our compound was thrown open and the Tantai in his green chair, borne by four, entered. He was preceded by a man with a gong, another with the well-known red umbrella, quite a large number of soldiers and lictors wearing what foreigners would call 'dunce caps.' Behind him were a num