OF SEVERAL PARTS OF WESTERN ASIA. 373 



a little west of the Sea of Tiberias. But had the eruption taken 

 place since the country was inhabited, some tradition of it 

 must have been transmitted in histories that date so far back as 

 the sacred books. The epoch of the eruption from the crater 

 near Safed, was probably embraced in the period of extinct vol- 

 canos in other countiies. 



3. There is no evidence that any proper volcanic eruption 

 has ever taken place in, or around, the Dead Sea. The moun- 

 tain of rock salt at the southern extremity was probably the result 

 of volcanic action, at least in part ; but it could not have been 

 produced by a common eruption : and even if the specimens of 

 lava, Nos. 126 and 362, were from a rock in place, the quantity 

 is so small as to indicate a very slight eruption. Craters and 

 lava may yet be found in the mountains east of the sea ; but if 

 the sea itself formed the crater, it is incredible that the lava should 

 not be found covering the western shore. 



4. The present levels of the surface around the Dead Sea, and 

 the contour of the hills and valleys generally throughout Palestine, 

 cannot have been essentially altered since the existence of man 

 upon the globe. Two facts, which I have stated, seem to me to 

 establish this point beyond all reasonable doubt. The first is the 

 chai-acter of the valley of Arabah, south of the Dead Sea. For 

 about sixty miles it descends towards that sea ; v/hile the Wadys, 

 that enter it from either side, trend northerly, and they are worn as 

 deep as valleys in other parts of the world that unite to form larger 

 valleys and streams. Now we have abundant evidence to show, 

 that such valleys, in regions not volcanic, have not been essentially 

 altered, except in some limited spots, within historic times. The 

 Wacly el Jeib, which is a deep gorge through the limestone clifi's 

 towards the Dead Sea, is wider, and nearly as deep, and very 

 much longer, than the famous gulf between lakes Erie and On- 

 tario : and if the latter has resulted from the slow operation of tlie 

 Niagara river, and must have required an iinmense period for its 

 accomplishment, (and who that has examined the spot will doubt 

 this ?) the former, also, may probably have been the result of the 

 slower action of the winter torrents that flow through the Arabah. 

 Nor would it be sti-ange, if those who quote the gorge of the 



