Rutland County herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-21
The Gold of Ophir.

Major Noah, OF the Sunday Tunes, thus I
Interestingly discoorses on the probability 1
Of California being King solomon's plaeer,'
iron hence he drew bis iDne nse supply OF
Gold. IL is quite speculative, bu, The am I
Gle will, no,withsts ndius be read with inter I
ssl
I'VE have seen Il suggested that Califot-
MIA, from the abundance Of gold found 10
that country, might possibly be the Ophif Of
Scripture, from whence King Solomon OBJ
sained the vast amount Of gold expended on
the erection Of the Temple and the q1ss-
non is worthy OF examination Where ophir
is situated, has always been a subject OF in
Sesugation among the learned, and always
enc OF great doubt aud obscurliy. Tha, The
Pboaicians were navigs;ois long before the
days OF SOlomon--tha, they discovered Cen
trail AmeTies and MeTico, and established
colonies there, ths ruins Of Psenque, the
Pyramids, Temples, and other splendid re-
mains N those counties prove, as well as
that the builders Of Tyre, Babylon and Car
image were there. for there are The eviden-
ces OF their architecture Thl, the old
Hebrews were merchants and nayigsiors,
we may learn from the predictions Of Mo
SEA- (patticsiaGly Of the tribe OF Zebulon,)
from Deuteronomy, chip IXxliI-, verse 10,
that they should suck the abundance Of The
sea, and OF treasures hid in the sand" i'm.
plying. beyond doubt, irsding in merchandise
and exploring for gold.
1T was supposed that Ophir was situated
sond the Siails Of Babel mandel. Others
supposed lhs, IL was the ancient Trlpabona,
now known IS the Island Of Ceylon. Eu-
sebius, 10 referring as King David. says
'1ha, he built ships a: E.aih, civ OF Ara
bia, and from thence sent metal men to the
Island OF Orphia tOPhirl in Tie Red Sea
which was fruitful in yielding abundance Of
gold, aud the metal meu brought It from
thence to Isdes." Now, we can only as
certain the situation OF Ophir by distances
and there 10 no such island in the Red Sea.
The ships thai sailed from the pom OF ElaIh,
on The borders OF tie Red Sea, to Tarshlsh,
made 1t voyage Of three years; whereas
The whole Red Sea. from its commencement
to the Indian Ocean, can be navigated 10
twenty days. The merchandise brought
from Tafshish was gold, silver, IVORY, apes
and psaeocks. These are The productions
Of Afncs. That from ophr vas gold, al
mug trees, and precious stones, and the
laIges, quantity II gold imported by King
Solomon came from Ophif. and II was sup
posed tina, Ophir was situated some where in
me southern part Of Arabia. Il Is known
that Solomon, IN sonJunclIon with king Hl-
ram, Of Tyre. sent a fee, from Ezion- Gebr,
al the head OF the Red Sea, to oPbIf, which
returned with four hundred talents OF gold,
With large quantities OF the almug tree. (our
sandal wood) and precious stones. The
fleets Of Tsrshisb and ophir sailed IN differ.
ehl directions TsrShiSh Was what we call
Saeseoast OF 6 Uioea, producing gold, ivory,
apes, and peAeoeks, and the fleets sailed
from the head Of The Mediterranean, passed
out at The Ggi OF GioTallsT, and sailed q
round the southern coast Of Africa. This
Is he opinion Of MAJOR Kennel. The ships
bound to TArshish are spOkea Of In Scrip
lures as slrong and heavy ships.
"lf We believe that Ophir was ~ Arabia
sad was a depot for the Pbeaicians, thea
they inpOnedlhe vast quantity Of gold found
al ophir. from some other place. Looking
therefore, at the enterprise OF 'hs PhGniei.
ans, making Arabia their head quarters, - bat
prevented Their ships sailing around 10 Cal
iiornia by the north eastern passage, and
bringing back large esgoes OF gold, pre-
e,ous stones and sandal wood from oPhir
BY The ordinary sailing 10 these unes, sup
pos,ns Ophir 10 be near the mouth Of the
Red Sea. the voyage could be made in siIsy
dayI, whereas At required three yearS. BY
mAkiRg opbir the mercantile depot IN Ara
b,s Tor all lie adventures of the PboHieihns
there, gold might have been procured from
GSinsa 90 toe south, and California 10 he
northeast. dan, a. lie Temple coal four hun
dfed and hsy milloRs Of peunds sterling
We can readily Imagine NbaT vsAI amoun'
Of goid was expsodsd "a rs siseiion. HoR
ever, much 70 ish 10 eoajeeIeIs.
This se kRow, and have ever been con
1 v,Essd Of. from all thai We can gather froa
the best authorizes, that tie Ameuean co..
uhsa, saa kaO~a TO he sDeisnts, and vas
VISITED and settled ~ ltsen-- consequently
"a miastal inches could 90, lave been bid
froH 90 sn,srpTising, searching people, re-
nsikab.s fo5 SEER lose 81 q >.eVery aat
ro.'T's.rr