The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1926, Page 2

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Reclaiming Christ’s Heritage.

XIII.
SOUTH AMERICA.

South America has been appropriately called
The Continent of Mystery. A noted bishop of the
Methodist Church has not unhappily termed it The
Continent of To-morrow. ‘The founder of the So-
ciety of Christian Endeavor, Dr. Francis 1. Clark,
speaks of it as The Continent of Opportunity, while

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THE LUTHERAN PIONERR. -

for South America. The fact is that it is almost
as large as continental North America and almost
double the size of Europe. Here are a few com-
parisons to help the reader to get an idea of the
comparative size of a number ‘of South American
countries: Brazil is larger than the whole of the
United States, if you leave out Alaska. Argentina
has an area larger than all the States of the Union
east of the Mississippi combined. Peru almost
equals in size that part of our country lying west
of the Rockies. Chile is twice the size of California.

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The Bay of Rio de Janeiro.

another author refers to it as The Neglected Con-
tinent. South America is indeed the Continent of

Mystery because of its vast unexplored regions; it

is the Neglected Continent in more sense than one,
for the rest of the world is in most inexcusable
ignorance of the natural resources, the social and
political, educational and religious conditions of
South American countries; it is the Continent of
To-morrow and the Continent of Opportunity be-
cause of its great natural resources, but.particularly
because of the unlimited field it offers the Church
for leading millions out of superstition and heathen-
ism to Christ and the marvelous light of His Gospel.

Size.
Our geographies mislead us as to the size of
South America by representing the United States
on a scale five to ten times as large as that used

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A Continent of Magnificent Proportions.

South America can boast of many “superla-
tives.” It has the largest river in the world, the
Amazon, and within its confines it has the highest
mountains and vastest expanses of prairies (pampas)
in the Western Hemisphere. In South America are
also found the densest forests of the globe.

Our Mississippi cannot compare with the great
Amazon, which offers 25,000 miles of waterway to
vessels of ordinary capacity, and the La Plata is
navigable by seagoing vessels for 1,200 miles beyond
Buenos Aires. And besides these mighty streams
there are not a few others of considerable size. The
Andes, in their grandeur and majesty, are only
second to the mighty Himalayas of Asia, and the
Brazilian Alps and other ranges are noted for their
beauty.