Page:An Introduction to the Survey of Western Palestine.djvu/21

 To one who laboured with Dr. George Grove to produce a map of the Holy Land from the materials in existence before the Palestine Exploration Fund Survey, it may be allowed to express a lively and grateful sense of the merits of. the new work. Unlike all its predecessors it is an original survey of the ground as a whole, on the best scientific methods. It is derived entirely from actual observation, carried on throughout on the same accurate and exhaustive basis; and it conveys all the information that is usually desired in a topographical map. It is a sound foundation for every kind of research in Palestine connected with topography. Such is the work that has been designed and executed by a body of private individuals depending on voluntary subscriptions. It excites the hope that the same successful instrumentality will now be directed to the completion of the survey of the Holy Land, including Lebanon on the north, the Negeb and Desert of the Wanderings on the south, and the interesting regions east of the Jordan. In the first "Statement of Progress" issued by the Committee, it was said that "so long as a square mile in Palestine remains unsurveyed, so long as a mound of ruins in any part, especially in any part consecrated by the Biblical history, remains unexcavated, the call of scientific investigation, and we may add the grand curiosity of Christendom remains unsatisfied." The spirit thus manifested cannot fail to derive great encouragement from the successful results of the labours which it has accomplished,—encouragement to persevere in the good work of applying the evidence existing on the land, to the elucidation of the record in the book. It is gratifying to add that since these remarks were in type, the Trans Jordan Survey has been decided upon.

A comparison of the new survey with former maps, displays an immense accession of detail,in such a form as to make one feel familiar with the country, and able to follow up the most obscure tracks along which any of the Biblical or other Historical narratives may lead. The map will doubtless elicit a general overhauling of the records of