Mission Work in Tierra del Fuego
The South American Journal gives an account of mission work in Tierra del Fuego. The mission was begun forty years ago by Capt. Allen Gardner, who, when a midshipman in the Royal Navy, took a deep interest in the natives of that land, and on his retirement from the navy started an expedition, went out to South America, and perished nobly on the scene of his labors. He was followed by Mr. Despard, a schoolmaster in Bristol, who, with his wife and two little boys named Bridges, whom he took from the workhouse, went out to Tierra del Fuego. The British Government had given an island in the Falkland group, as Captain Gardner had always thought that if they had one of these islands for a mission station they would induce some of the natives to visit them from the mainland, and thus become acquainted with their manners and languages. This plan was followed out by Mr. Despard with great success.