182 THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SEA. 



composed, from pole to pole, circumference to centre ; and in 

 doing this, he finds himself, in his researches, right alongside of 

 the navigator, the geologist, and the meteorologist, with a host of 

 other good fellows, each one holding by the same thread, and fol- 

 lowing it up into the same labyrinth — all, it may be, with different 

 objects in view, but nevertheless, each thread will be sure to lead 

 them where there are stores of knowledge for all, and instruction 

 for each one in particular. And thus, in undertaking to explore 

 the physical geography of the sea, I have found myself standing 

 side by side with the geologist on the land, and with him, far aw^ay 

 from the sea-shore, engaged in considering some of the phenome- 

 na which the inland basins of the earth — those immense indenta- 

 tions on its surface that have no sea-drainage — present for con- 

 templation and study. 



370. Among the most interesting of these is that of the Dead 

 Sea. Lieutenant Lynch, of the United States Navy, has run a lev- 

 el from that sea to the Mediterranean, and finds the former to be 

 about one thousand three hundred feet below the general sea-level 

 of the earth. In seeking to account for this great difference of 

 water level, the geologist examines the neighboring region, and 

 calls to his aid the forces of elevation and depression which are 

 supposed to have resided in the neighborhood ; he then points to 

 them as the agents which did the work. Truly they are mighty 

 agents, and they have diversified the surface of the earth with the 

 most towering monuments of their power. But is it necessary to 

 suppose that they resided in the vicinity of this region? May 

 they not have come from the sea, and been, if not in this case, at 

 least in the case of other inland basins, as far removed as the other 

 hemisphere ? This is a' question w^hich I do not pretend to answer 

 definitely. But the inquiry as to the geological agency of the 

 winds in such cases is a question which my investigations have 

 suggested. It has its seat in the sea, and therefore I propound it 

 as one which, in accounting for the formation of this or that inland 

 basin, is worthy, at least, of consideration. 



371. Is there any evidence that the annual amount of precipi- 

 tation upon the water-shed of the Dead Sea, at some former pe- 

 riod, was greater than the annual amount of evaporation from it 

 now is ? If yea, from what part of the sea did the vapor that sup- 

 plied the excess of that precipitation come, and what has cut off 



