Through Palestine By Water

New York Tribune. The conversion of Jerusalem into a seaport is a project which would shock the religious sensibilities of Englishmen, if their association with Bible countries had not become so hard and prosaic. The cession of Cyprus, the scène of the first missionary journey, was looked upon at first as a good stroke of business on the part of Lord Beaconsfield, and subsequently as a bad ment, its trade being ineonsiderable, ita harbors wortbless and its skrategical value with reference to the Suez Canal of small account, An experienced traveller goes to the summit of Ararat because ït is a more conspicuous exploit n mountain-climbing ihan the wellvorn Alpine passes ofler to ventureome spirits, and cónseqnently will make a thrilling chapter in a book, and ïot because ho bas a suspicion that the ceel of the Ark evergrounded there. A ear ago a campaign was conducted in he ancient Land of Goshen and a strono-old stormed on the site of one of tho ïties of bondage, and in the rapicl movement of the troops and the press f diplomatic and admïnistrative mies on no leisure r;is luft. fnv tv. lation of the religious associations o he signs and wonders of Egypt. Railways hare been planned between the uiuaii aan me coast. and the solo conderation has been whether tliey would ay dividends on the cost of construcOB. In libe nianner this new )roject for constructing an inter-oceancanal through the HolyLand and the gion beyond the Dead Sea is reo-arded England only in its practical aspects utility and availability as a waterwav o India. As the details of the scheme are recitud in The Times (London), the proposed canal is to imite the Meditcrranean and the Gulf of Akabah, the eastern aim of the upper waters of the Red Sea. A great trénch is to be hollowed out from Halifa, in the Bay of Acre through the plain of Asdraelon to the ralley of the Jordán, tappin the Lake of Galilee. The course of the river will be divertod lower down for the sake of converting Jcricho and Jerusalem, and possibly Bethlchem as well, into saltwater ports, or half-way housos on the canal. Bevond the Dèad Se lies a desolate región seldom traversed by European travellers, through vvhicli a canal will have to be cut to the Gulf of Akabah. I(, is a sandy valley, which was once the bed of a sea, but now abounds in scorpions and serpents- an uninhabitable desert waste. The entire water route froni sea to sea, includj ing Fot's great salt marsh, or bitter lake, will measure 200 miles, and varyinginwidthfrom200feet to 10 miles, will float vessels of the largestsizo f rom the Mediterranean to the Kod Sea. While the projectors refer casually to the prophecy of Ezekiel that there is to be a broad soa in the heart of the desert A vi , 1 Í. 1 _ J_ f ril. _ 1 ¦ - auu inat "ene nsüers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Engelaim," sacred associations have little to do with their scheme of an interoceanio canal through Palestino. They talk lio-htlyof draining the Lako of Galílee, changinír the course of tho Jordau, in creasing tho business facilities of Jerusalem, and steaming through tho Dead Sea. They are prepared to pay $5,000,000 as recompense to the nativos whosc property may be injured by the submerging of 300 square miles of the Holy Land. As for the losses in religious veneration and sacred feeling, they roughly estímate that these would be amply compensated for in the revival of business and activity. It is not probable that the present generation will witness tho cousummation of this scheme. Even if M. de Lesseps does not cnlargo the Suez Canal, British shipowners and capitalists will not favor a water route of 200 miles throngh Palestino when another only half as long can be found on the isthmus. Nevei theless a company has been formed, with tho Duke of Marlboroughas chairman, to ratee suflicient capital tocnahlo a oí engmeers to siirvey tbc Jordan valley, takc Boonding in the Dead Sea, and explore the desert as far as the Gulf of Akabah. The last section of the route is the one which offers tlie most formidable engineering difScnlties, and this will be the first to be survey. If the engineors' reporte are favorable, 11egotiations with the Porte fov an exclusive right of way will bo in order, unless the imaginations of the projectors are caught by somo other glittermg schuine. A suggestion for an iuclined railway to the erest of Mouut Sinai may divert them from any serious endeavors to convert Jerusalena into a seaport and Bethlehem into a stirring place of business.