ON THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 123 
knows that what we want is not new sites, but merely the 
recovering the remnant of the collections which we have 
already discovered through his bounty and that of his father, 
Sultan Abd-Almajeed, 
The French, Germans, and Americans have been excavating 
for the last two years in Babylonia, but without any material 
benefit either to themselves or to the Ottoman Government, 
but in a number of ancient sites unauthorised excavations 
are carried on by the natives without let or hindrance on the 
part of the local authorities. It is impossible to estimate the 
priceless records that have been and are being destroyed by 
the Arab diggers, who are obliged to earry on their nefarious 
practices at night, or in a hurry, for fear of being detected. 
I think it is a great shame that steps are not being taken to 
protect those valuable monuments from destruction, Both 
for the sake of literature and history the researches in Assyria, 
Babylonia, and the Holy Land ought to be conducted on an 
international principle, and without jealousy or clashing 
interests. I feel convinced that there are inestimable 
treasures still buried underground in Asiatic Turkey, which 
will, if unearthed, throw a great lustre on the already dis- 
covered records of the past. 
The Presipent, Sir G. G. Sroxes, Bart., M.P., P.R.S.—I will 
ask you to return your thanks to Mr. Rassam for his very elaborate 
paper. Of course he being a native of and having long lived in the 
Kast, and studied all the features of the country himself, and engaged 
in the excavations, he is an authority on the subject of which he 
speaks. (Applause.) I will now call upon those who wish to 
make remarks upon the paper to do so. 
Mr. TuHeEopnitus G. Pincues.—I feel that we ought all to be very 
much obliged to Mr. Rassam, who is a native of that country of the 
Assyrians spoken of in the Bible, for having given us his opinion 
upon the difficult question of the position of the Garden of Eden, 
a question upon which I myself have not a very clear idea; but 
this paper of Mr. Rassam’s will, let us hope, help to settle the 
question. It agrees with a preconceived idea I had, and it also 
agrees, to a certain extent, with the views of the illustrious father 
of Friedrich Delitzsch (Professor Franz Delitzsch), who is now 
