New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-10-17
In the Garden of Eden.

In the Garden of Eden.
Rev. j. P. Newman has in press q book of
travels in the Eastern countries and the
Holy Land. From it the following account
is copied of his visit to the homestead of
our first parents:
1t was eight o'clock in the morning, when
We saw the Garden of Eden for the first
time. On our left, and flowing towards us,
was the Euphrates, clear and rapid; on our
right was the Tigris, muddy and swift; and
before US was the tongue OF land at the end
of which is the confluence of these two
historic rivers. On that peninsula is the
Turkish town of Kurnah-with mosque and
minaret, with arcaded buildings, and buts
OF the poor, with flagstaff and the white
tents Of the soldiers. AS we approached,
Tigris was hidden; but in a few moments
the latter was seen. 1t was, indeed grand
and never-to- be-forgotten view. The sun
came out clear and warm. as we approached
the Tigris side. Turkish soldiers in blue,
and in red fur caps, lined the banks, while
| Arab men in white, and Arab women in
black, gave variety to the scene.
| We landed in Eden, and stood upon its
| sacred soil. Walking to the extreme point
| of the peninsula, stretched my right hand
| over the Euphrates, and my lett hand over
the Tigris, while at my feet flowed the
fonaattl-AraU, WHOSE COURSE was 10 inc sea-
| Now we wandered through the palm groves,
crossed the brooks which flow through the
| garden; watched the doves as they flew
among the trees heard the birds of para
1 diss carol the melody OF their song; read
| the second chapter of Genesis, and sang the
| old doxology, in the palm groves of Eden
| Ascending to the balcony of an old nina
ret fifty feet high, we looked out on fields
green with grass and beautiful with flow
ers; on groves of the date palm for miles
| around, and on the four rivers-the Eu-
pirates, the Tigris, the Jaab and the Shaat-
| el-Arab. Oh! what place is this for para
| disc, at the junction of these mighty rivers.
| in this delightful climate, in this centre of
empire 1t is place of unsurpassed love
illness, where our first parents dwelt in the
| innocency of their new creation. Its iden-
| tity has been preserved through the lapse
| of the centuries, and it is the only spot on
| earth that bears the name of Eden. Other
places have been designated, but without
corresponding proof. Men have sought for
it from China to the Canary Isles, from the
Mountains of the Moon to the SHOWS of
Northern Russia.
Some, to make sure, have assumed the
whole earth was Eden, and eastward was
the garden, forty miles in circumference"
But by common consent all the theories are
reduced to two, and the advocates of both
agree that the Garden of Eden was some
at the source or at the mouth of that his
toric river. Those who hold to the former
suppose that the ancient PisOn is the mod
eIn Phasis, a river of Colchis which emp.
ties into the EuXine sea and the GihOR is
the Araxes, which flows into the Caspian
sea. Those who maintain that Eden was
at the mouth of the Euphrates have the
advantage of a "iocal habitation and a
name" aud the greater advantage of the
certainty of two of the four rivers-the
Heddekel, which is the Tigris, the Eu-
pirates, which is the Arabic Phrat.
Some have gone 80 tar as to claim that
the modern Jaab, which empties into the
Tigris near Burnah, is the ancient Pison,
and the Shaat-el-Arab is the Gihon. And it
does no violence to the sacred text to sup
pose that Eden is descriptive of a vast sec
ton Of country that eastward within that
section was planted the garden of delights,
and that through that section flowed river,
which parted in its course and formed four
rivers. But after the lapse of so many CEN
turtles, exact correspondence topography is
not to be expected, and guided by the
general features of the scene, rather than
by the miniature ones, the present tradi-
tional Garden of Eden may be accepted
until another has been discovered and its
identity more clearly proved
And must leave thee, Paradise. thus leave
The native soil, these happy walks and shades,
Fit haunt of God,s.where had hoped to spend
That must be mortal to us both!
A spot so delightful as this, and site so
favorable for a city, could not fail to attract
the attention of the royal cOnquerors of
earlier days, and allure them to its bow ers.
On this beautiful peninsula, laved by two
majestic rivers, Seleucus Necator, successor
to Alexander the Great, built a city in
honor of his Queen, and in the ancient an
nails the city is called Aspamea. And from
the days of the Macedonian Queen the place
has never been uninhabited. 1t ia now
called kurnah, and is net only large mill
tary station held by the Turks, but is the
home of two thousand people, who repre-
sent many nations. And as link connect
ing the present with the past, the telegraph
wires are here stretched across the Euphra-
tes, and from the Garden Of Eden tele-
gram can be sent to any part of Christen-
dom; nay, more, American petl oleum is the
light of Adams paradise.
On resuEing our voyage, we were now
on the Tigris, bound for Bagdad, the city
of the Caliphs, five hundred miles to the
north. For two miles we had still in view
the groves and tents of Kurnah, but at the
end OF the two miles there was q canal
separating Eden from the rest of the PENN
sula, and uniting the waters of the Tigris
with those of the Euphrates, north of the
canal. Here is trackless desert of many
miles in extent, alluded to by the prophet
Joel: 1.-THE land is as the Garden Of Eden
before them, and behind them desolate
wilderness" At noon we passed q drearv
region dotted with sand hills, with here
and there clumps of thick bushes. Hun
dreds of jackals were running in every di-
rection, frightened by the whistle of our
steamer. Their color is that of the fox,
their form that of the dog. Over us and
around us flew flocks of crows, with white
bodies and black wings. Wild bears were
seen, five, six and ten in herd, running
pellmell to all points of the compass. Their
movement was exceedingly violent, and
their motion tumultuous leap. Parties on
board shot two of one herd; one was
shot through the hind quarters, and sank
down at once; the other was shot through
the shoulder, and turning somersault, he
rose and ran for pond of water, Oh the
margin of which he defantly stood for
few seconds, and then gradually sank
down. A boat was sent ashore to secure
the game, but as our men approached him
he rose and offered battle, for q wounded
boar is desperate antagonist, and will
fight to the death, but another shot ended
his career, and both were brought on board
the steamer. They were enormous crea-
lures, in form like our swine, but larger,
stronger and with coarser bristles, OF an
irOn-gray color. The head of each was
elongated, tae prObOscis was pointed, the
tusks were large and q dreadful weapon:
1.-THE boar out of the wood doth waste it,"
That night we had boar flesh for dinner,
and the roasted spare-rib was excellent,
though the Odor was trifle strong. As
my share of the hunt l claimed the enOr-
nous tusks to illustrate the above Psalm,