THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE. 197 



not see any distinct mention of a future life, yet future life is bound 

 up with the ideas of Egypt. 



Colonel Mackinlay : May I ask one question more 1 Have 

 you ever seen the planet Venus shining in the day-time in 

 Palestine 1 



Sir Charles Warren : No, I have never seen it, nor have I 

 heard of anyone who has seen it. 



Eev. Martin Anstey, M.A. : Is it a fact with regard to the 

 doctrine of immortality and the Old Testament, that the reason why 

 it was not mentioned more precisely is because it is everywhere 

 assumed, everywhere taken for granted, just as the pressure of the 

 atmosphere is not felt by us because it is the same everywhere ^ It 

 was assumed and taken for granted, and therefore not mentioned. 



Colonel Alves : I submit that this subject, though worthy of 

 discussion, is not one that can be decided by mere assertion, or be 

 conveniently debated in connection with another subject which is 

 entirely different. 



The Chairman, in reply to Dr. Withers Green, said he believed 

 that there was general agreement that the present boundary of 

 Egypt and Palestine, at El Arish, was intended by "the Eiver of 

 Egypt," and not the Nile. The Nile, of course, was the very centre 

 of Egypt, and not its boundary. Egypt was the whole river-basin 

 of the Nile, not merely its western bank. 



General Sir Charles Warren : My ears are not young enough 

 to catch all the remarks that have been made. I can only answer a 

 few of the questions. There are one or two rather interesting 

 points. With regard to the fords of the Jordan. The valley of the 

 Jordan is all volcanic, and there are lines, 10, 15, or 20 feet wide, 

 running east and west, right across the Jordan. When the water is 

 worked up, they are just below the surface. When the water goes 

 down, there is mud, but level mud, and these trap-fords are just 

 like hard roads. If you know where they are, and know the level of 

 the Jordan, you can go across. There are about thirty or forty of 

 these trap-fords, and there are five or six main passages across the 

 Jordan. 



With regard to the harvest, the harvest is at different times in 

 Palestine. I think the harvest in the Jordan — the barley harvest 



