Water of the Bead Sea. 327 



the rocks that they could only be distinguished when in motion. 

 Heard the notes of a solitary bird in the cane-brake which we could 

 not identify. The statement that nothing can live upon the shores 

 of the sea is therefore disproved. The home and the usual haunt of 

 the partridge may be among the cliffs above, but the smaller bird we 

 heard must have its nest in the thicket. A short distance from the 

 camp saw a large brown or stone- coloured hare, and started a 

 partridge. Heard another in the cliffs above, and a small bird twit- 

 tering in the cane-brake beneath me. We discovered that these 

 shores can furnish food for beasts of prey. Found some of the sea- 

 side brachi, supposed to be alluded to in Job, and translated mallows 

 in the English version ; also the Sida Asiatica. 



" At 5 P.M., temperature 80° as the sun declined, the wind 

 sprang up and blew freshly from the north, and I began to feel appre- 

 hensive for the boats. Towards sunset walked along the base of 

 the mountains to the southward to look for, but could see nothing of 

 them. Started a snipe, and saw, but could not catch a beautiful but- 

 terfly, chequered white and brown." 



The preceding quotations announce then, contrary to all 

 our preconceived ideas, that on the shores of the Dead Sea 

 the sportsman may look for a goodly assortment of game, 

 viz., ducks, snipe, partridge, hares, while the ornithologist 

 may expect to add specimens of singing birds to his collec- 

 tion, and the entomologist may perhaps succeed in capturing 

 *' the beautiful butterfly ^ chequered white and brown^^ which 

 eluded the pursuit of Lieutenant Lynch. 



Having, by the aid of Mr Lynch, so fully established the 

 existence of animals, it would be unnecessary to quote the 

 following passage (p. 286), relating to vegetable life, were it 

 not that Mr Lynch shows that his prejudices did not prevent 

 him getting a glimpse of the truth, that like physical causes 

 will produce like effects, whether in Palestine or America. 



" The plants we found here, besides the lily, were the yellow 

 henbane, with narcotic properties ; the nightshade or wolf-grape, 

 supposed by Hasselquist to be the wild-grape alluded to by Isaiah ; 

 the plant used in the manufacture of barilla ; and a species of 

 kale (Salicornia Europaea). This plant is found wherever salt 

 water or saline formations occur. It was here upon the shore of 

 the Dead Sea, and Fremont saw it on the borders of the Great 

 Salt Lake, west of the Mississippi. Besides the single pistachia tree, 

 there were a great many tamarisks now also in blossom ; the flowers 

 small and of a dull white colour ; the wood of the tree makes ex- 

 cellent charcoal, and, in the season the branches bear galls almost as 

 acrid as the oak." 



Y 2 



