Note 210 — Chapter XII · VISITS TO LADY ROLLE AND TO BATH AND CHELTENHAM.

Euphrates and the East.—On Saturday last, a lecture announced under the above title, was delivered at the Assembly Rooms in this city, by Dr. J. B. Thompson, a gentleman who has just returned from a medical mission in Turkey. Capt. Saumarez, R.N., presided, and a very numerous audience of ladies and gentlemen attended on the occasion. The lecture was so desultory in its course, that it will not admit of analysis; nevertheless, it was exceedingly interesting, and formed an important addition to our information respecting a country which is the cradle of the world. Dr. Thompson, it appears, was sent to Asiatic Turkey on a medical mission by an association of English gentlemen, amongst whom was the Earl of Ellesmere; and having opened a free hospital at Damascus, and acquired the Arabic language, he enjoyed rare facilities for obtaining a knowledge of the manners, feelings, and circumstances of the population. There is not only more toleration for Christians in Turkey, but less corruption and injustice than under the powers which seek to dismember it. He described the Turkish rulers as sensible men, ever ready to carry on any improvements suggested to them. The missionaries would effect far more if, instead of teaching doctrines to adults, they educated the females prior to their seclusion in the harems. There was no impediment to the establishment of female schools; and, therefore, if these secondary means were adopted, the condition of the young might be raised, the prejudices of the parents might be abated, and a foundation might be laid for the civilization of the East. The principal feature of the lecture, however, was the description of a new route to India. Instead of passengers proceeding by Alexandria, Cairo, across the sandy Egyptian Desert, and through the Red Sea, it was suggested that they should land at the mouth of the river Orontes, near Antioch, in Syria, and pass through a rich and beautiful country to Belis. There, embarking on the river Euphrates, they would descend through the land of Paradise to Bussora on the Persian Gulf and from thence proceed straight to Bombay or Calcutta. The advantages of this new route were healthiness and rapidity. The journey to India by Suez occupied twenty-eight days, and entailed much suffering in crossing the Desert, and in traversing the unhealthy Red Sea. The transit from Antioch to Belis would occupy two days by railway through a country so rich and fertile that it would become peopled if communication were opened up. The entire journey to India would be shortened seven days, the route being not only better but shorter by at least 300 miles. The saving of time would be still greater if a railway were formed along the bank of the Euphrates from Belis to Bussora. Dr. Thompson addressed himself to the objections which had been made to the route by the Euphrates. It had been said, that Col. Chesney’s exploring expedition failed; but this was incorrect. Col. Chesney’s difficulties arose partly from his having fixed upon Barick, higher up than Belis, as his terminus, and partly from the want of native pilots. The river is subject to squalls, the signs of which are familiar to those who live on its banks; but Col. Chesney employed none of the navigators, and one of his steamers having been upset, the river in consequence got a bad name. It had been said, too, that the Bedouin Arabs are ill-disposed towards the navigation of the Euphrates. This Dr. Thompson denied on his own knowledge, having visited all the chiefs along the banks, and he declared, contrary to the general opinion, that the Bedouins are a benevolent, generous, noble-hearted race. It might be true, he observed, that during the progress of Col. Chesney’s expedition, the Bedouins were prejudiced against the navigation of the river; but the fact was, there were powers which thought they had an interest in misrepresenting the intentions of the English in the East. This feeling had, however, been dissipated by more correct knowledge. Dr. Thompson added, that he had submitted the plan of the Euphrates route to the Turkish Sultan, who immediately perceived its advantages over the old route through Egypt, and would strongly support it. One feature of the plan, he also stated, would be the establishment of a school for children at Antioch, the climate of which is delightful; and while officers in India might come there on furlough, without losing certain advantages, as they would still be within the confines of Asia, their friends in Europe would find it an easy and delightful trip to visit them at that place. Dr. Thompson pointed out other and more general advantages, which would arise from the adoption of the new route, as regards trade and civilisation.