Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-12-05

Many, in ell ages, have been the specula-
tons as TO where Eden was, and, among 9TH
ers, some remarkably wise men-there is no
telling how many centuries agO-pitched
upon the mouth OF the Red Sea as the verita-
bic reality. 1t Is q small town and seaport
well supplied with water and rather a pleg-
ant and healty situation, with e lofty peak Of
rock called Cape Alden, rising some seventeen
hundred feet out Of the water. In fact it Is
the last place in the world TO realize the de-
scription Of Eden OF Genesis. But no matter,
an Oriental imagination can find Eden any
where, and the most interesting information
In regard TO il By the last mail, Is that the
Egyptian Government finding the railroad
from Alexandria TO Suez so profitable, nave
resolved 70 extend It down southwark along
the African shore Of the Red Sea 10 within q
short distance Of Alden. This will save FIVE
days stesming on the rocky and ever dan
gerous Red Sea and no doubt prove profta-
bic enough to the Pasha who constructs it,
especially If it finds favor in the eyes Of the
British Government. It will have to pass
within sight-on the other side, however, Of
the Red Sea-of the Mountains Of Sinai,
where the law was given to Moses. Suez is
the spot in all probability, where the Israeli
ties crossed the Red Sea, wandering thence
down the coast IN the Asiatic side to He
reb.
What q singular change railroads make,
after all, in peoples ideas, in their fortunes,
and intheir lives. Had such a railway only
existed in the times Of Moses, half a days
journey would have enabled the Egyptians
70 OYertake tine refractory Hebrews, by SIM
ply crossing the Red Sea a little lower down.
What is more singular, is that the Egyptians
did actually have railroads Of a certain kind
then, and had them for ages, on which they
used to transport the blocks on which the
pyramids were built.
But only let US attempt to fancy ajourney
to Eden, the veritable and original home Of
he race, by railroad, with Locomotives, and
steam putting, and steam whistles blowing
off their steam. Who ever expected Para
disc to be thus, easily regained, at least on
earth2 But such q Paradise, such an Eden
IS the Arabian Alden, never yet entered into
the heart Of man. Il is now a coal station,
n%oninally and primarily, for the British
steamers navigating the Red Sea. From
twenty-four to thirty thousand tons of ship
ping annually visit that port, mostly steam
ers. The population has risen from two
thousand 70 twent or thirty thousand, in
the last twenty years. Men Of all races are
there, and men Ofall religions and all tongues.
It is more like Babel than Paradise. The
mosques of the Musselman attest its former
greatness, when SOlyman the Great made it
6rst the key Of India. Frowning battle
ments crown its nights, and the booming
mo stretches its arm of iron across the
entrance to that inland sea. Its islands are
studded with Notifications, under the pre-
text Of defending the lighthouse and the
scarlet uniform Of the British soldier is seen
pacing to and fro upon its ramparts. When
the railroad train comes putting and painting
along the shores of that Red Sea to the land
ing opposite Alden, the contrast with all the
old idea Of Paradise will be still more com
plste. Indeed, the English, in finding new
ways to India seem bound to lay g rail-
road to Paradise, be It where it viii; for all
the country between the Tigris and the Eu-
pirates is being pretty accurately scanned
With its railway Observation-Disclosures
Ledger.