Feb. 3. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



81 



vegetation. Birds also abound, and they are observed to 

 fly over and across the sea without being, as old stories 

 tell, injured or liilled by its exhalations." — Pictorial 

 Bible, London, 1849, vol. iii. p. 572. 



15. 



" THE DEAD SEA. 



' Upon the stern and desolate shore I stood 

 Of that grim lake, within whose foul recess, 

 Jordan's sweet waters turn to bitterness. 

 O'er the dull face of the sepulchral flood, 

 No spirit moved. In vain with soft caress. 

 The gentle breeze its sullen waters wooed : 

 No token answered. Xor was it the less, 

 When there arose a tempest fierce and rude, 

 A ghastly scene; for like no living sea. 

 Whose billows, buoyant with a sparkling life, 

 Ride on the storm, rejoicing in the strife, 

 Was tliis ; but when the strong wind mightily 

 Lifted its leaden waves, with dismal roar. 

 And heavy corpse-like sound, they fell upon the shore.' 



" From Bethany we struck into a path, a little to the 

 south of the Jericho road, and leading directly to the 

 head of the lake. This was, if possible, even more dreary 

 than the other; on all sides rose, peak above peak, blasted 

 and desolate mountains, each like the crater of an extinct 

 volcano. And as 1 descended into the silent plain of the 

 Dead Sea, the only living creature in sight was a long 

 thin snake, like a whipcord; that, curling itself away 

 among the stones, seemed quite in character with the 

 scene. 



" But there was nothing gloomy in the colour of the 

 lake itself: on the contrary-, it Avas a deep and beautiful 

 blue ; and if those naked rocks around were but covered 

 with foliage, and those barren sands with verdure, it 

 would indeed be a lovely and enchanting scene. And 

 such it was once, — ' even as the garden of the Lord, before 

 the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.' 



" But as I drew nearer to the water's edge, its character 

 seemed to change, and I perceived how rightly it has 

 received its name. Like the mirror held to the dead 

 man's face, no breath of life dimmed the polished bright- 

 ness of its surface. The gentle breeze played over it 

 unheeded: there it lay, motionless and dumb — with its 

 blue eye turned up to the naked sun, in a fixed and glassv 

 stare." — Ferguson's Fine of Repose, London, 1851, 

 pp. 102. 108, 109. 



IG. " I have no bright recollections of pleasant scenes, 

 or happy hours experienced during my tour. Parching 

 heat and intolerable thirst, the dusty wilderness, stum- 

 bling and faded horses, the vain shelter of tents ; the by 

 no means vain stings of fleas, flies, and their coadjutors 

 and accomplices ; the fights with muleteers, and the im- 

 positions of divers hirelings; make up the sum of my 

 recollections, to which I may add a fever I caught bath- 

 ing in the Jordan, and which has clung to me until my 

 safe arrival home — a favour seldom accorded to other 

 Europeans similarly situated, as they are almost invari- 

 ably, and in a few da^'s, relieved from their torments by 

 death." — Neal's Eight Years in Syria and Palestine, 

 London, 1851, vol. i. p. 146. 



17. " I must here assert most positivelj^ that tlie al- 

 leged impossibility of horses wading through the waters 

 of the Dead Sea, in consequence of the density of those 

 waters, which would make them lose their balance, con- 

 stitutes a wild fable, resting on no foundatioM ; and which, 

 like many other fallacies, has been repeated at pleasure, 

 thus acquiring progressive and increasing currency in the 

 narratives of succeeding travellers. 



_ " And here we are encamped once more for the last 

 time on the shore of this sea, which has become so dear 



to us; now we can estimate at their correct value the 

 fantastic fables so long invented to represent it as a place 

 of malediction and death. I must confess, however, that 

 on this particular occasion the attractions of the neigh- 

 bourhood are materially qualified, owing to the swarms 

 of musquitoes by which we were assailed. Xot content 

 with assaulting such parts of our bodies as are exposed to 

 their sting, these persevering enemies contrive to get 

 within our clothing, and stab vis even through clotb, ' 

 linen and flannel — with venom enough to drive us out of 

 our senses." — De Saulcy's Journey round the Dead Sea, 

 Lofldon, 1854, vol. ii. pp. 33. 36. 



18. " The Dead Sea was anciently called ' Sea of the 

 Plain,' ' Salt Sea,' * East Sea ; ' and by Josephus, and the 

 Greek and Roman writers, ' Lacus Asphaltites ; ' that is, 

 bitumenous lake, on account of the bitumen found in its 

 waters. 



" The water of the Dead Sea contains one-fourth of its 

 weight in a hundred of saline ingredients, in a state of 

 perfect desiccation. It is also impregnated with other 

 mineral substances, especially with bitumen, which often 

 floats on its surface in large masses ; it is most probably 

 cast up from the bottom by volcanic action, and is re- 

 corded to have been seen after earthquakes in masses 

 resembling small islands. Considerable quantities of 

 wood, and other vegetable matter, are found cast on the 

 shores by the great buoyancy of the water, in which it is 

 difficult to swim ; the feet being buoj-ed up to a level 

 with the head. Its specific gravity is to that of distilled 

 water, as 1212 to 1000; and greater, therefore, than that 

 of any other water known. 



"Josephus relates, that some slaves, thrown in with 

 their hands tied behind them, by order of Vespasian, all 

 floated. Modern travellers have floated in its waters 

 without moving, and were able to read a book or sleep ; 

 and a horse having been driven in on one occasion, did 

 not sink, but floated on his back, violently throwing his 

 legs upwards. 



" There ai-e some hot brackish springs on the shores, 

 but only two of sweet water, at Ain Jidy, and on the 

 peninsula of the eastern shore. Xot a trace of vegetation 

 nor a patch of verdure is to be found anywhei-e but in 

 the two last-mentioned spots, except some canes and 

 reeds near the salt-marshes; all is death-like sterility; 

 not a living creature is seen, because the smallest bird 

 would not find a blade of grass for its sustenance. The 

 scenery is thus awfully wild and sublime, presenting a 

 vivid picture of the grim terrific abode of eternal death." 

 — Journal of a Deputation to the East, London, 1854, 

 Part II. pp. 379, 380, 381. 



The space required for the insertion of the 

 above extracts in "N. & Q." will prevent my taking 

 some other quotations from standard works : that 

 of Professor Robinson, and his well-known learned 

 coadjutor the Rev. Mr. Smith, being among the 

 number. De Saulcy, to whose interesting volumes 

 a reference has already been given, ditters from 

 all preceding travellers, as he does from many 

 biblical scholars, when stating that the doomed 

 cities of Sodom and Gomorrah may not have been 

 destroyed by any sudden iiTuption of the Dead 

 Sea. He states that the two places were distant 

 from each other seventy-five miles ; and if ever 

 submerged, the ruins, on the "recession of the sea, 

 were left on dry land," which he has discovered. 

 A critical writer has recently remarked, that 

 Mr. De Saulcy's claim to this discovery cannot 



