Dec. 8, 1856.] POOLE ON THE SHORES OF THE DEAD SEA. 221 



he was requested by the Persian authorities to offer any suggestion he could 

 for the repair of this bund. He could only say that no engineer in Europe 

 or elsewhere could have made a more beautiful work. The bunds were 

 principally intended for irrigation. After leaving Shuster he proceeded to 

 Kam-Hormuz, a distance of 90 miles, where there were signs of the bed of a 

 river that came from the mountains which he crossed. On the other side of 

 the mountains was an immense plain, extending, he might say, to Bagdad, 

 which was crossed by two or three large rivers. But whether there had been 

 any channels cut from these rivers he could not say. A river turned from its 

 course for a short time would soon work for itself a new channel through the 

 light soil of the country. Shuster never could have been a town of any im- 

 portance ; but the ruins of Susa, which he thought had been erroneously 

 denied to be Susa, were 20 miles in circumference. It differed from every 

 city that he had seen, by the streets being laid at perfectly right angles. 

 There was one very large street, leading to the palace, which was an immense 

 mound, little inferior to that of Babylon. In this was the reported tomb of 

 Daniel. It was evidently an artificial mound, and well worthy of being 

 opened ; for greater discoveries might be met with in Susa, than in any other 

 part of the world with which he was acquainted. 



Ck)L0NEL Sykes said that General Monteith had offered a solution of diffi- 

 culties which had caused a vast deal of discussion. The rivers having been 

 turned from their beds in the shifting soil described, it would be difficult to 

 determine where they had run before. 



General Monteith observed that it was 70 miles, bj the shortest route, from 

 the river to Eam-Hormuz, across a desert, and it was 90 miles from Susa. 



Sir R. Murchison stated that, with reference to these Eastern countries, 

 Humboldt had called attention to the changes which had taken place in large 

 rivers within the historical era. The Oxus, the largest of all these rivers, 

 manifestly flowed into the Caspian Sea in the time of Herodotus. There was 

 no doubt that the course of that river had been changed ; but he would not 

 pretend to decide, after what had been stated, whether this had been produced 

 by natural causes, as Colonel Sykes suggested, or by the erection of bunds, as 

 General Monteith had remarked. There were gentlemen present who could 

 tell them that large rivers had been changed by the works of the natives. 



Colonel Sykes. — The Indus had apparently changed its course since the 

 time of Alexander. . . 



The President announced that the Secretary would read a short communi- 

 cation from Mr. Henry Poole, who was sent out by the Foreign Office to make 

 a survey in the East for coal. He was not fortunate in finding coal of a good 

 quality, and he was then directed to proceed to the Dead Sea in search of nitre. 

 In searching the Dead Sea Mr. Poole fell in with some other phenomena, a 

 short account of which would be given in the twenty-sixth volume of the 

 Society's Journal : — 



2, Note on the Exploration of the Shores of tlie Dead Sea. By- 

 Mr. Henry Poole. 



Sir, — As my letter to the Earl of Clarendon, containing a report of 

 my journey in Asia Minor and on the shores of the Dead Sea, has 

 been forw^arded by his Lordship to the Society, I take the liberty of 

 expressing a hope that farther inquiries may be made on the shores 

 of the Dead Sea, and I would beg to draw your attention to several 

 points which I consider require verifiication, viz. : — 



