=2. After the creation of man= he was placed in a garden which the Lord God planted “eastward in Eden.” The locality of Eden is unsettled, but the opinion of many scholars is that it is not far off from the head of the Persian Gulf. The garden is described as “eastward in Eden,” and it is supposed to have been in the eastern part of a district called Eden. Prof. Sayce derives Eden from an ancient word meaning “the desert.” If this be correct, the garden of Eden was more remarkable for its contrast with the great Syrian desert in its immediate vicinity. The rivers mentioned by name are Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates. The Euphrates at the present day joins the ancient Hiddekel, which is now called the _Tigris_, at a point one hundred miles northwest from the Persian Gulf, and the stream formed by the union of the two rivers is called the _Shat el-Arab_. The Pison and Gihon have not been satisfactorily identified. It should be remembered that the geographical condition of this region is very unlike that which existed at the time we are considering. Dr. Delitzsch calculates that a delta of between forty and fifty miles in length has been formed since the sixth century B. C. Prof. Sayce says that in the time of Alexander, B. C. 323, the Tigris and Euphrates flowed, by different mouths, into the sea (gulf), as did also the Eulæus, or modern _Karun_, in the Assyrian epoch.[1] The increment of land about the delta has been found to be a mile in thirty years, which is about double the increase of any other delta, owing to the nature of the soil over which the rivers pass.[2] Under these changes it is probable that any but very large streams might disappear. =3. The Euphrates= passes along a course of more than 1,780 miles from the head-waters of the _Mourad Chai_[3] and for about 700 miles it passes through a nearly level country on the east of the great Syrian desert. It varies in depth from eight to twenty feet to its junction with the Tigris; after its union with the Tigris its depth increases. It is navigable for about 700 miles or more from the Persian Gulf. The Tigris is shorter, being about 1,150 miles in length, and navigable for rafts for 300 miles. Some of the extreme head-sources of this river approach those of the Euphrates within the distance of two or three miles. The name Hiddekel is the same word as _Hidiglat_, which is its name in the Assyrian inscriptions, as _Purat_ is the ancient Assyrian for Perath in Hebrew.[4] The land of Havilah, which was encompassed entirely by the river Pison, is unknown, but the “Ethiopia” encompassed by the river Gihon is in the Hebrew called Cush, and recent discoveries have proved that in very early times Cushite people inhabited a part of the region near the head of the Persian Gulf. There is little doubt that the land so called was a part of the plain of Babylonia where the cities of Nimrod were planted, Gen. 10:10, Nimrod being a son of Cush.