Dead Sea and the Mediterranedv, 101 



The middle valley WadielAraha^ has, in its northern portion, 

 a long narrow furrow, which, at the first glance, might be taken 

 for a continuation of the valley of the Jordan, in which, how- 

 ever, in the winter time, the waters flow from the south to the 

 north, towards the Dead Sea. A fuller elucidation of the rea- 

 sons for the original separation of the basin of the Dead Sea 

 from that of the Red Sea, is given by M. Letronne in the 

 Nouvelles Annales des Voyages for 1839. 



Finally, it ought further to be mentioned here, that the 

 Dead Sea is distingxiished by its great depth ; for, in the 7th 

 volume, p. 456, of the Journal of the Geographical Society of 

 London, it is stated, that the soundings of Messrs Moore and 

 Beek shewed a depth of upwards of 300 fathoms. — (Poggen- 

 dorff's Annalen der Physik und Chemie, 1840.) 



On account of the great interest excited by the fact of the 

 depression of the Dead Sea, it may not be out of place to in- 

 troduce here Russegger's account of his observations. — " I sus- 

 pended, with some degree of eagerness, a barometer on the 

 turret of an old castle in the small town of Richa (Jericho). 

 The mercury, at half-past five o''clock in the evening, and at a 

 temperature of the air of 18" R. (72o.5 F.), stood at 786.1 

 millimetres (that is 29" 0'".42 Parisian measurement), and at 

 eight o"* clock in the evening, it stood at 786.8 millimetres (or 

 29" 0'".77) at an atmospheric temperature of 14° R. (63°.5 F.). 

 During the morning, I rode to the Jordan ; and at the usual 

 bathing-place of the pilgrims, the barometer ascended to 801.8 

 millimetres (or 29" 7'".42) at an atmospheric temperature at 

 mid-day of 21°.8R. (81.05° F.) I then proceeded to the coast of 

 the Dead Sea, and on suspending the barometer, I could no longer 

 make an observation, for the mercury stood close to the top 

 of the tube, which was too short for the great depth at which 

 I then was below the level of the sea. Taking into considera- 

 tion the temperatures of the mercury at each observation, and 

 calculating the average of simultaneous observations at Jeru- 

 salem, the following are the results of the heights or depths : 

 The town of Richa in the valley of the Jordan 774 Paris feet 

 (about 825 English feet) ; bathing-place of the pilgrims at the 

 Jordan 1269 Paris feet (about 1350 English feet) ; and the 

 Dead Sea about 50 feet lower than the last, which is about 



