CHARLES GEORGE GORDON (1833-85)

III. Military Leaders and Others

Details

CHARLES GEORGE GORDON (1833-85)
A collection of 18 a.l.s., dated 1881-83, sent from Mauritius, Jerusalem, Capetown, Southampton and Jafa, to Mr. Button, his '...valuable botanical ally', revealing his fascination with the Seychelles '...the Garden of Eden', a recurring interest throughout his correspondence being 'Coco de Mer' and 'Tortoises' which he would like sent to him; in one a.l.s. dated Jafa 17. July 1883, he refers to the murder of Professor Palmer in Sinai, he also states 'I have found the plain whence the clay, Adam was made was taken...He was brought back here after the Fall to till the actual ground out of which he was taken.' In another letter he informs Mr. Button that he has 'found the place Noah built his Ark', and 'the Skull hill where the crucifixion was'; he also discusses the Hindoo belief in incarnation 'Curoman ... which name signifies the tortoise ... when the flood came took the form of a Tortoise and placed the Ark on his back and took it to Ararat', which, he explains, accounts for the lack of wild-life: 'they never could have walked down from Ararat. You see none of these isles have much animal life on them.' (18)

Lot Essay

In 1881 Gordon volunteered to take another officer's duty in Mauritius and from Mauritius proceeded to the Cape in colonial employment, returning to England at the close of 1882. Almost the whole of 1883 was spent in the Holy Land investigating and theorising on the biblical sites and holy places

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