Major-General Sir F. Goldsmid, C.B., K.C.S.I., who has devoted a considerable portion of his time to this scheme, has thrown such valuable light upon the subject that we should be wanting in our duty to our readers if we did not give some brief idea of the information his valuable paper affords us. The geographical position of Cyprus, now under British rule, makes the island a fitting guardian of Upper Syria, Cœlo Syria, and almost of Palestine, and in the hands of Great Britain is an invaluable acquisition, and worth any amount of land which might be purchased on the neighbouring Asiatic coast. The distance to the several ports on the mainland is not great; indeed, the island is said to be visible on a clear day from Seleucia. A railway terminus for the Persian Gulf line might be reached in a very few hours, and fair weather boats, calculated to carry over a thousand passengers, troops or civilians, might be used at certain times at inconsiderable cost. Of Larnaka, as a port, very little information can be obtained; but fifteen years ago it received 324 vessels of 54,340 tons, and sent out 321 vessels of 53,458 tons. In 1876 there were entered 457, and cleared 483 vessels of 92,926 and 91,690 tons respectively. At Limasol, in 1863, 493 vessels were entered of 32,980 tons. The present harbour of Famagusta has a superficial extent of nearly eighty acres, to which a depth of five and a half fathoms might be readily given; but there is only a space of about five acres which can be relied upon for the actual reception of ships. M. Collas, a French writer, experienced in Turkey and the Turks, thinks that, with ordinary engineering skill, a harbour might be formed here of more than 148 acres in extent. The opening of this harbour would also give, in the opinion of M. Collas, an immense impetus to the export of cotton, which might be grown up to the amount not far short of 30,000 tons, a high figure of productiveness. Having thus shown how Cyprus is capable, so far as harbours are concerned, of fulfilling her position as the terminus of the Euphrates Valley Railway, let us look to some of the various routes suggested for this line. Five different schemes were selected as the most important by the Committee which sat in 1872. 1st. A line starting from Alexandretta or Suedia, near the mouth of the Orontes, passing through Aleppo to the Euphrates, at or near Jabah Castle, and thence carried down the right bank of the river to Kuwait, on the western side of the Persian Gulf. 2nd. A line starting from one of the same points, crossing the Euphrates at Belio, passing down the left bank of the river, or the right bank of the Tigris, to a point nearly opposite Baghdad, recrossing the Euphrates, and proceeding to Kuwait. 3rd. A line starting as before, crossing the Euphrates at Bir, thence going round to Orfah and Diarbekir, and following the right bank of the Tigris as the last. 4th. A similar line, only following the left bank of the Tigris.