THE LAND of MIDIAN.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 63, 14 December 1878, Page 2

THE LAND of MIDIAN.

■*■ At n reeont meeting of the Geographical section of the Royal Society, t aptain Burton read a paper on the land of Midinn. All who read their Bible, heremarked, are familiar with such phrases as "vexing the Midianites" and " Midisnitish women," hut they did not know how hazy on the subject of this grand old laud the public of England was before the spring of 1877. About 1241J D.C. the Midianites regained their former power, but after tho crushing blow they subsequently sustained, they faded out of Holy Writ, and their land becomes almost miknown. Josephus's mappers recognized two Midians, whereas there has nevei 1 n more than one. Voltaire, the noble Frenchman who created religious liberty in Franco, made a mistake about Midinn, placing it on the eastern half of the Dead Sea, and considering it a little canton of Iduiniea, about eight longucs lung. Captain Burton described the exact limits of the country,and then proceeded to uaiTatu his expeditions and discoveries, a detailed account of which be hid the honour to lead were sent out by tlio Khedive of Kgypt. a prince tu whom the future will he more just than tho present is, and to whom we are indebted for our present knowledge of a neglected and most mythical country, In 1877 the Khedive placed under his ( miand tho lint expedition. Tim preliminary vi-it lasted little more than a fortnight, bin it gave him a fair general view of tho country, and he brought back specimens of most of the metalsuiuntionod in the Book of Numbers. In February, 1878, he retur 1 to Cairo, and organized a second expedition on a larger scale. The exploration of South Midiau was the most interesting. Photographs wore taken of old mining works, and in some of tho minerals they found silver visible to the naked eye. Pathetic indeed is the view of tho desolation of Midiau, Once the Arabia Felix of the ancients, it has now become Arabia PotrßJO, Arabia Dcserta. Under Roman rule it contained 20,000,000 of souls. Now the population was reduced to 2,000,000, but the Anglo-Turk-ish Convention puts England nearly in the same position as thai occupied by Koine after the days of Augusta, lie had full and perfect faith that Midiau, like many other provinces, would presently awake from tier trance - from her lleepofogei, Midiau contained a milting region 3000 miles in length, and of equal depth ; mid he hud but little doubt that what the nncieiits worked 10 well we moderns could work better still, so that Mi linn, might look forward to the

develop™ al oi bw mineral wealth under the fort i. ufcue ,)f European and espcdally oJ English oompanw «">the howling wiMemea become turned mto a neh and fruit till D'id.