The record-union., 1899-04-24
THE SITE OF EDEN.
General Gordon Thought 1t Was OFF
the East Coast of Africa.

The following are the reasons for the
theory that the Garden of Eden is at or
near Seychelles. l could even put it at
Praslin, a small isle twenty miles north
of Maize Allow that Genesis is not
allegorical; that Eden, its garden, its
two trees, did exist on this earth. Eden
is district, the garden is a spot chosen
in that district, the trees were actual
trees, imbued for a time with spiritual
qualities; these trees, the bush, the ark,
the Tabernacle and temple differed
nothing from the same things in the
world except for the time during which
they We're spiritually consecrated or set
apart for manifestations Of God, or
Satan. Gods conservation made things
which We're equally clean, clean and
unclean; therefore 1 see no reason for
doubling that God did set apart the
two trees to be one of Life, the other
of knowledge; or that God, when these
two trees should have fulfilled their
purpose, should have relegated them
back to their former ordinary tree pO-
sition.
l thought there were two trees-actual
trees-which had been sacramental, and
had ceased to be so; and in Praslin,
near Seychelles, and only there in the
whole world, is a magnificent tree, Curl
Gus beyond description, called the
Prince of the Vegetable Kingdom. 1t
is unique in it's species and on earth
the Laodicean Seychellarum, or Coco
di Mir. This, 1 believe, was the Tree
of knowledge. 1 then thought if the
one tree is to be found, SO is the other,
and this | think is the Artocarpus in
elsa, or bread fruit. 1t is an humble
tree, of no great distinction, yet to an
observer it is as unique in it's kind and
among trees as the other. This last
tree is only found in the Indian Ocean.
1t is a life-sustaining tree, and like
the other, is full of Scriptural types.
Having thought that these were the
two trees, then the question arose:
Where was the Garden of Eden? And
first came the information that Sey-
chelles is of granite, and all the other
isles out here are volcanic, granite be-
ing the more ancient formation. Then
the Rev. D. Bury mentioned casually
that the verse Genesis IL, 10, could be
read that the four rivers flowed into
Eden, not cut of it. 1 have been at the
source of the Euphrates, Tigris, etc,
and unless the rivers We're forced to
flow backward no spot could agree to
a central basin in those lands, while a
flood does not change features of 10000
feet high. So 1 took the rivers Eu-
phrates-as Euphrates, on which is
Babylon; Hiddekel-as Tigris. on which
is Nineveh wide DanieD. They meet
and flow into the Persian Gulf. Baby
Ion oppressed Israel-Nineveh oppressed
Israel. Required, two other rivers con-
nected with oppression of Israel. The
question of whether ever a river came
down the Valley of Jordan into the Red
Sea is one which has been much dis
cussed. That an immense crevaSse eX-
lists from the source of the Jordan to
the Red Sea is the case; the depression
of the Dead Sea is the difficulty; the
ravines of Kedron and Gihon are very
deep. Taking my ground spiritually,
and the similarity of the name Gihon
with the brook of Jerusalem, I think
that they are the same. The Pison, or
Nile, flowed into the Red Sea; the Gil
hon. or Gihon Brook. flowed into the
Red Sea, Joined, flowed down, met the
Euphrates and Tigris, united near Soco-
tra and the soundings shown end in a
basin 1900 fathoms deep, which is
close to Seychelles. Cush is written in
margin for Ethiopia. Cush was son of
Nimrod; his land was probably near
Babylon, now Bab-el-Mandeb. Perrin