of lakes now dry have been traced in the Jordan Valley, and show clearly how the great sheets of water have gradually dwindled, as the valley sank lower and the evaporation gained in power, so that in our own times they are represented only by the Dead Sea (which is forty miles long and ten miles broad), the Sea of Galilee (twelve miles by eight miles), and the yet smaller Huleh, or waters of Merom. The snows of Hermon are annually poured into this valley; the great fountains at its foot, the streams of Arnon, Jabbok, Jarmuk, and many other tributaries-from Gilead, from Moab, or from the west-are yearly rushing, into the Dead Sea; yet this great supply of water, representing the rainfall of a basin covering many thousands of square miles, is able only to raise the level of the Dead Sea in winter about fifteen feet, and the whole of this amount (fifteen feet over 400 square miles) is in summer disposed of by evaporation alone, leaving the Salt Sea even salter than before, from the chlorides brought down from the salt springs higher up the valley, and from the salt marshes north of Jericho.

The makers of the Suez Canal have then, in feeble human fashion, sought to undo the work which the Nile has taken at least sixty centuries to perform. They have dug their little ditch through the mudflats which were once beneath the sea, and their achievement is considered by their fellow-men to be perhaps the greatest engineering triumph of an age of scientific power. It is perhaps not unnatural that in their exultation they should conceive themselves capable of doing yet greater wonders,-of being able to move mountains, and to destroy the face of primeval nature, and to set at nought the

restrictions which, in all former ages, she has placed on human powers of transport, and on the direction of the great lines of Asiatic commerce. Yet let us not forget how stupendous are the forces against which we strive. The Nile has no labourer to pay, no limits of time or of distance. It hurls annually sixty million tons of solid matter into the Mediterranean, and chokes the mouth of the Canal at Port Said every year with 721,000 cubic yards of silt. If it be so wonderful a deed to scoop out a channel 100 yards wide through soft river - mud between the lakes of the Isthmus of Suez, let us beware before we credit the power of modern engineers to destroy the solid rocks of the Syrian shores, or to restore the ocean to beds which it has long deserted.

The highest ground in the Isthmus of Suez is only fifty feet above sea-level. The soil excavated consists partly of sand and mud; partly of a soft friable limestone deposit

the sediment of the Nile mud, dried and semi-consolidated, but not converted into rock even of the softest kind. At Shalûf there is a short cutting through rock, but the extent is inconsiderable; while, as it is unnecessary to point out, the existence of Lakes Balah and Timsah, and of the Bitter Lakes-survivals of the ancient Yam Suph or "sea of weeds". gave material assistance to the projectors of the Canal. From an engineering point of view, then, the execution of a canal which in cross section has an area of 450 square yards, with an extreme width of 100 metres, cannot be said to have entailed great mastery over the natural features of the land. Yet it cost 16 millions sterling to make, without reckoning collateral expenses, which make a total of over 20 millions.

The difficulty which has arisen,

in consequence of the construction which M. Lesseps places on his "exclusive right" to the isthmus which the Nile has for so many centuries been patiently building up for his sole benefit, calls attention to other lines of communication between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Dark hints have been thrown out that the Government may see its way to turning M. Lesseps' position, by means of a canal through Palestine; and the claims of the Euphrates Valley Railway, of the TurkoIndian line, of the Nile Canal proposed by Mr Fowler, are all brought into prominence by the choking of the Isthmus route. We may glance at each of these in turn; but of all the various schemes which have been discussed during the last twenty years, there is none which so fills the mind of an engineer with astonishment at the proceedings of his fellow-countrymen, as does that of the Jordan Valley Canal, recently revived under distinguished patronage.

The scheme to which Government seems inclined to lend an ear -not probably with any intention really to embark on the enterprise, but rather with the view of obtain ing a set-off for negotiation with M. Lesseps-is not by any means a new idea. It was proposed twenty years ago, by a Frenchman, as a rival project to that of the Suez Canal, and it has been talked of ever since in Syria.

From the mouth of the Kishon it is proposed-following the course of that river-to gain access to the plain of Esdraelon, and crossing this eastwards, to reach the low watershed (about 200 feet above the Mediterranean) which divides the Esdraelon plain from the broad valley of Jezreel, running down by Beth-shean to Jordan.

By means of a canal along this

line, some 25 miles long, it is proposed to let in to the Jordan valley the waters of the Mediterranean, which, as the valley is much lower than the Mediterranean level, would, it is contended, lead to the flooding of the whole of this great gorge, as soon as the stream was induced to run through the canal piercing the watershed near Jezreel.

This is, however, but part-and that the easier and less important part of the scheme. The communication is to be made complete by another canal on the south, which is to let in the waters of the Gulf of Akabah into the Jordan valley at the south end of the Dead Sea, thus forming a natural water-way which will require neither maintenance, dredging, nor other incidental expenses, but which, once made, shall remain a monument of human power over nature to all eternity.

Truly it is a grand and fascinating project. Palestine becomes a long peninsula divided from the eastern deserts by a great lake, over which the hot winds will blow with moderated ardour. The fertility of the land must increase marvellously; for has not M. Lesseps made the wonderful discovery that the presence of salt water produces mists of a fertilising nature? -a fact which the Greek islands obstinately refuse to recognise.

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Again, to many there is, without doubt, a religious element in the question which commends it strongly to their minds. waters shall be healed." miry places shall be given to salt." "The fishers shall stand from En-gedi" (which will be 700 feet below the surface of the water) "to En-eglaim" (perhaps near the sources of Jordan): nay, even Capernaum "will be cast down to hell," as the water will rise 600

feet above its ruins (Ezek. xlvii. 9-11; Matt. xi. 23). It is with no intention of disrespect to those who hold such views that these words are written; but it is certain that in England such anticipations will strongly influence a large portion of the very public which might be asked to support the scheme in question.

Let us for a moment, however, consider what it is that the projectors of the Jordan Valley Canal would accomplish if they succeeded. The sea being admitted would, it is supposed, gain the same level throughout. The Jordan valley would be filled up to a depth of 1300 feet at the Dead Sea, and on the north the line would run out near the Huleh Lake. Thus Jordan would become a river only ten miles instead of a hundred long. The Sea of Galilee, with all its sacred places-Tiberias (with its Jewish population), Capernaum, Bethsaida, Bethshean, Jericho, and many other important sites-would be sunk below the waters. The dolmen fields of Gilead and Moab would be swept away, and a sea 150 miles long, and at least 10 miles broad, would fill the valley

a

lake covering 1500 square miles of country, four times the size of the Dead Sea, or about as large as the Victoria Nyanza.

The promoters have obtained the opinion (with many cautious reservations, it must be allowed) of a member of the Institute of Civil Engineers in support of their views. From his letter it appears that the whole work is to be accomplished in three years. Canal is to be only 50 feet wide and 10 feet deep, but the water rushing through it is to enlarge the channel to the width of 480 yards, with a depth of 20 feet, which is calculated to be the size

The

necessary to fill the valley at the rate of a million cubic yards per minute. This action of the sea is to be induced by a fall of six feet to the mile in the original channel, and is to be effected by means of the "properly directed scour of an elementary channel," with "due provision for evaporation."

The engineer had perhaps before his mind's eye what we know of the action of the Mississippi when forming a new channel, although the cases are not strictly analogous; but what are we to think of those who propose to deal with the rush of a mass of water as great as that which falls over the Horse Shoe Fall ledges at Niagara in a minute, but which is here confined within the space of a quarter of a mile, or half the width ? Where will the man be found who will “ "properly direct the scour of such a terrible waterfall; and who is responsible for the design which shows us a canal with locks descending into the valley? Are the locks also to be a quarter of a mile wide? and if so, who will work the gates? Are the locks to control water flowing with twice the force of the Niagara current? and if so, how thick will their gates be, and how large their sluices? Surely it is a marvel in the present century that professional men should be found to write even with qualified approbation in support of such scheme.

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But let us suppose that this is an exaggerated estimate, and that the company will be content to go to work more soberly and slowly. They will perhaps be willing to wait twenty or fifty years, and to admit the ocean by a gentler gradient. Here, unfortunately, they encounter another difficulty, namely, that connected with "due pro

vision for evaporation." We know that the summer and winter difference of level in the Dead Sea is 15 feet. This is the minimum effect of evaporation in the Jordan valley. Evaporation goes on all through the year, and all along the course of the Jordan and of the tributary streams. And lest it should be thought that the effects of evaporation have been exaggerated, it will perhaps be well here to remark, that the Abana and Pharpar, as well as several rivers of Central Asia, are evaporated without ever reaching the sea, just as the Nile itself would also be, but for the floods of the Atbara. It would therefore be necessary, before the height of summer was reached, to fill the valley to a depth of more than 15 feet, or all the water let in would be evaporated away, and in spite of the two canals the valley would remain as dry as it now is. To float vessels, at least 15 feet more should be provided, and thus our 1500 square miles (and more) must be filled up some 30 feet high in the first year.

To this there are two objections. If only 15 feet of water was to be admitted, the current must be 15 miles an hour. If some advance on total evaporation is to be established, the current must be from 20 to 30 miles per hour in a canal about the size of the Suez Canal. The smaller the canal, of course the more rapid the current required. But 20 miles an hour is the ordinary rate of a railway train. Who is to control a current of this speed, which, as is well known, would tear up solid masonry and what locks or sluices would be strong enough to regulate the flow? Ships would be carried helplessly along; and if ever they got down the slope to the incipient lake, they could never get out again, but must remain

there until the sea attained its final level. Yet we have seen that under a rate of flow of 15 miles an hour (roughly calculated) no effect at all would be produced; whereas, on the other hand, with a current running like an express train the lake would only be filled in the course of 100 years. The company must wait for its traffic returns, then, at least a century, and by that time, perhaps, the reasons which give prominence for the moment to the question of an alternative route might have disappeared.

Let us look at the project from another point of view-namely, that of expense. The Suez Canal, we know, cost more than £160,000 per mile, and of this £87,000 per mile was expended on works of construction. The calculated prices for the Panama Canal show us a difference in expense between cutting a canal through rock or through earth which is as 6s. to 1s. 6d., or four times the expense in the case of rock. The Suez Canal is cut through ground nowhere exceeding 50 feet in height above the sea, and joins together a string of lakes.

Now, as regards the northern adit to the Jordan valley, we have very exact information given by the Exploration Map of Palestine. The levels along the Kishon are marked, and are controlled to a certain degree by comparison with a line of levels run from the Bay of Acre to the Sea of Tiberias, which are exact within a few inches. It appears, then, that in the first ten miles there is a rise of about 90 feet, and in the next fifteen from 90 to about 200 feet above the Mediterranean. With a canal 20 feet deep and falling 6 feet in the mile, we should thus have a mean depth of cutting of about 200 feet throughout, or four

times the maximum of the Suez Canal. As regards cross sections, we have seen that it would be impossible to make the canal small on account of evaporation, and that the promoters contemplate a final width to be four times that of M. Lesseps' channel.

But would this excavation be through rock or through earth? The Esdraelon plain no doubt possesses a fine loose soil; but the depth is not known, and is not likely to be as great as 200 feet. The Carmel ridge is a hard crystalline limestone; the rocks below Nazareth are of the same formation; the hills of Gilboa are also of very hard rock; and a basalt district (of the very hardest matetial) must be encountered near the Jezreel watershed. It is thus probable that at least half the cutting would have to be blasted, and the idea of a scour enlarging the channel must be abandoned. A canal four times as wide and four times as deep as the Suez Canal must be cut through rock and earth, the cost of excavating which would be at least double that of excavation in the isthmus. Thus, for construction alone, the canal would cost thirty-two times as much per mile as the Suez Canal, or about 2 millions per mile for a distance of 25 miles, without including the other charges, which in the case of the Suez Canal amount to £73,000 per mile and more.

We have taken the northern channel first, as being the part of the work concerning which the promoters are most confident. On the south they seem to assume that the country runs down-hill from the Gulf of Akabah to the Dead Sea, and that a canal on this side would be quite a short one. They speak also of "loose sandy soil" in this valley; and the "properly directed scour" is to do the work for them.

As a fact, however, it is very well known that the 'Arabah rises northwards to a saddle near Petra, the height of which is not accurately ascertained, but the lowest estimate yet given makes it 200 feet above the Red Sea. Had no such rise existed, the Gulf of Akabah would probably have long ago done the work which is now expected of it. The attention of the company seems now directed to the examination of this watershed, and inasmuch as the greater includes the less, no doubt they will thus be most easily convinced; but in face of what is known as to the northern adit, it seems rather a waste of time and money to inquire into the details on the south. We know that the channel must here be at least 60 miles long, and probably on an average at least 200 feet deep. The cost per mile would be at least equal to that of the northern canal, the length more than double.

The soil of the 'Arabah is superficially a loose sand, but the saddle is known to consist of Nubian sandstone, which is a fairly hard rock. The intrusive traps which burst through this sandstone at Petra are yet more formidable, and the only choice is between these materials and the granites of the Sinaitic ranges.

The estimate must in all probability, therefore, be higher than that for the excavation of the shorter channel.

Nor are these the only expenses. The Suez Canal was dug through a flat desert, the ground of which was really valueless, and the district uninhabited for the most part. This is not the case in the Jordan valley. A population of many thousands of nomadic Arabs, with flocks and herds, must be dispossessed and compensated. The cornfields which occur all along the valley must be bought; the villagers