110 REPORT—1852. 
organized. One of my officers, Mr. Hector, remained on the Euphrates, and com- 
mencing from nothing, has realized a small independence by the occasional freight- 
age of a ship from England with cotton and other goods. The natives, both of Arabia 
and Asia Minor, are anxious for European manufactures, which, when I was in 
Mesopotamia, were chiefly obtained from Russia, and of an inferior quality. These 
goods were retailed by the native merchants at an enormous price, their profit being 
generally cent. per cent. It is however necessary to consult the taste of the natives 
in cottons, muslins, and other manufactures, to ensure success. The Russians have 
done this judiciously, and have secured popularity for their goods. 
Much more might be said on the subject of commerce; but setting aside all these 
considerations, let us reflect for a moment on the vast field that would be opened to 
scientific research and observation, in countries so rich in remains of early civiliza- 
tion, so deeply interesting to the antiquarian and the historian, so fertile in produc- 
tions for the naturalist and botanist. To the ethnologist, geologist, and geo- 
grapher also, the opening of this line of route would be of inestimable value, while 
to be the means of re-introducing Christianity and civilization to regions hallowed 
by the most sacred associations is surely an object worthy of the best efforts of the 
British people. The Mesopotamian rivers should not be allowed to remain almost 
useless to mankind, and I cannot relinquish the hope that I shall yet see this long- 
cherished desire, fully and judiciously realized. 
To carry out the whole project of a railway through Arabia, only £1,205,000 
would be required, and the annual cost would be about £140,000. The greater 
object of a railway to India all the way, would require about £33,800,000. But 
my proposal only requires for a beginning £50,000 or £80,000, to be gradually 
increased as success crowns our efforts to a capital of £1,205,000; and we may 
leave the question of the £33,000,000 for our sons or our grandsons. 
Expedition under Mr. F. Garton, to the East of Walfisch Bay. 
Climatologieal Notes on Pisa and Lucca. By Dr. J. GAson of Dublin. 
Recent Survey for a Ship Canal through the Isthmus of Central America. 
By Messrs. Lionet GisBorNE and Forpe. Communicated through the 
Royal Geographical Society, by the Foreign Office. 
On a Recent Journey across Africa from Zanzibar to Angola, as com- 
municated from Her Majesty's Foreign Office to the Royal Geographical 
Society. 
On certain Ancient Mines. By the Rev. Epwarp Hincxs, D.D. 
There are two places in the Cuneatic inscriptions in which mines or quarries are 
mentioned. The first is on the obelisk, brought from Nimrtd, where the following 
passage occurs, It is Divanubar, king of Assyria, who speaks :—‘‘In my twenty- 
second year (about 878 B.c.), I crossed the Euphrates for the twenty-first time. I 
went down te Tabal. I received their tributes from twenty-four kings of Tabal. 1 
went to the mines of silver, of salt, and of gypsum.” The last-named substance is 
identified by its being that of which certain colossal bulls are said to have been 
made. The country where these mines existed must be a part of Cappadocia; and, 
from the number of its kings, it is evideat that it was of considerable extent. It 
appears, from the inscriptions, that it bordered on Khelakku, which Colonel Raw- 
linson has identified with Cilicia, Its name is probably preserved, ina slightly cor- 
rupted form, in Tavros, the name given by the Greeks to the mountain chain which 
lay in the south of it. So Wararadh, or Ararat, was properly the name of a 
country, but is now applied to a mountain in the east of this country. As a more 
‘familiar instance, Mourne is properly the name of a barony, but is best known as 
that of a mountain chain which lies in it. In this country, Mr. Ainsworth has 
