The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-12 00:00:00

THE PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND.

The General Committee of the Palestine Explo-
ration Fund held their second annual meeting on
Wednesday, in the Jerusalem Chamber, Westmin-
ster. In the absence of the Archbishop of York, the
chair was occupied by the Dean of Westminster.
Mr. Grove, the honorary secretary to the fund,
read
the report, of which the following is an abstract :
The second exploring party of theassoe:iiition,
under the charge of Lica Warren, n.
111, had left
England early in the end of January, and were
now in Jerusalem, which they were instructed
to make their. head-quarters. Lieutenant War-
ren had continued the map of the country by care-
fully surveying the districts north-east and south-
west of Jerusalem, left undone by Wilson and Ander-
. son in 1865-6. At Jerusalem itself a very important
'discovery had been made outside the south wall of
the sacred enclosure (11aramesh-Shereef)—viz., that
the, live rock of the hill overlooking the Kedron was
no `l6s than 53 feet below the present. surface. he
great south wall of the Hamm had been traced down
to that depth at the corner, making it in all 130 feet
high. - In addition, the east wall presenth Harain had
been found to run on beyond the south wall;
and a second south wall had been discovered, 20
feet distant from that already known. These dis-
toVeries were the most important that had been
made in that part since the finding of the well-
known arch by Dr. Robertson, and of the northern
arch by Capt. Wilson ; and they were also interest-
ing as showing what a great amount of unknown
topography is probably hidden under the immense
mass of debris which covers the hills and valleys of
the Holy City. In the valley separating Moriah
from the traditional Zion, opposite Dr. Robinsou's
arch, foundations of piers and other works had been
found at a great depth. At the northern extremity
of the town, close to the Damascus Gate, founda-
tions of massive walls and of a tower had been un-
covered. All these works are being prosecuted by
Mr. Warren with all possible energy. It had been
the wish of the committee to procure a firman
authorising investigations inside the sacred en-
closure, and Lord Stanley had been good enough to
endeavour to obtain this; but on the arrival of tho
letter at Jerusalem, it had been found to exclude all
sanctuaries. The committee were anxious to send out
two other expeditions, one for geology, under Mr.
Prestwich, F.G.S., and a second for botany and na-
tural history generally, under the Rev. H. B. Tris-
tram. The expeditions would go out as soon as
funds were obtained. Meetings had been held at
Oxford and Cambridge, the former of which had
resulted in a grant of £5OO. The Syrian Improve-
ment Fund had granted £250, and the British As-
sociation £loo—£so for general purposes and £5O
for four sets of meteorological instruments, which,
having been tested and certified by Mr. Glaisher,
were now on their road to Beyrout to be distributed
among four selected places. The committee forming
a Biblical Museum reported that they had arranged
to locate the museum at South Kensington, and to
open it in the early part of next year. Several im-
portant contributions have been promised, and there
was every prospect of success. A conversation en-
sued on the advantage of endeavouring to obtain a
more favourable firman during the visit of the Sultan;
also on the means to be taken to make the public
better aware of the existence of the association, and
of the valuable series of photographs, many of them
entirely new, which had been taken by the officers
of the fund. The executive committee and officers
were re-appointed, and Mr. Walter Morrison, M.P.,
was elected treasurer, in the room of Mr. R. C.
Millbury, M.P., deceased. The meeting separated
ith a vote of thanks to the very rev. chairman.

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