The Westport Times TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1886. THE GARDEN OF EDEN.

Westport Times, Volume XX, Issue 3397, 19 January 1886, Page 2

The Westport Times TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1886. THE GARDEN OF EDEN.

The late New Guinea expedition appears in some clanger of being overshadowed by larger and more important explorations now being carried on in the East. A wealthy New York lady some time ago dispatched a party to seek for the original site of the Garden of Eden, and to judge from a report published by the commander, great results may shortly be expected. When we say they are endeavoring to find the " original site" we speak advisedly, for the Garden has been moved round to so many different places by geographers and commentators, that its exact location has become a matter of grave uncertainty. The American expedition, however, have discovered traces on the banks of the Euphrates, which lead them to believe that they have settled this doubtful question at last. Having camped one night in the midst of a desolate plain close to the side of ancient Babylon they wore compelled, owing to the scarcity of timber, to cut down the original Tree of Knowledge in order to boil the billy. T&is, however, was no great misfortune, an owing to neglect it had become

withered . .el stunted, and the last crop o£ apples was a decided failure. A I liule further south they found the I ruins of the city of Sippora, where, as reported by tradition, Noah concealed the records of the ancient world be'ore embarking in the Ark, and according to latest advices they are digging up tlw ruins in every direction in search of the buried library. One of the party, who was formerly a Californian miner, also reports traces of nmndic in one of the sinkings, and expresses belief that a reef will shori ly be met with, so it would appear that some result is certain to accrue, even if the main object of the expedition should not be attained. Possibly the search may not, after all, be so absurd as it would appear. A few months ago a .Turkish officer and two companions, wliile ascending Mount Ararat, discovered the Ark itself buried beneath the perpetual snows of the Caucasus, and on making an entrance found the huge vessel in a good state of preser vation. An examination of the interior, moreover, proved beyond a doubt that Noah's records were not there, from which we may naturally conclude they must be somewhere elseand it is quite as reasonable to suppose they will be found at Sippora as at any other place,. Western Asia, too, has always been a favourite hunting ground for the antiquarian, and the treasures which have been unearthed there have been endless in their variety. Hitherto the most startling discovery has been that of a Russian expedition, which penetrated Arabia and brought back, among other curiosities, a bottle filled with the darkness that Moses spread oyer the land of Egypt, and the identical book which Job in a moment of extreme irritation wished that his enemy had written. With such facts as these before us, we must admit that nothing is impossible, and we awaifc with anxious interest the results of the excay&lj/m.s. at Sippora on the Euphrates.—-Napier Jfeys.