Ml 



DEAP SKA. 





from the nouthern extremity of the MM to the uphnds of Arabia 

 Petnm. The Dead Sea bu no risible outlet. 



The greatest length of the Dead Sea, which lies due north and 

 south, it hardly 40 miles ; the breadth of the northern part, which in 

 widest, varies between 7 and 0( miles. At about 25 mile* from the 

 northern ihore a remarkable peninsula advances northward into the 

 aea from the mountains of Muah, tearing on the eastern side a bay 

 from 34 to 1 4 mile* wide and about 5 mile* long, and on the western 

 aide a (trait about 7 miles long and 2 railm wide at Ha narrowest 

 part To the couth of this strait spreads out tho southern part of 

 the sea forming what the Arabs call Ruhr I.nt, or the Sea of Lot, 

 10 miles long and from 5 to 8 miles broad. It must be remarked 

 however that these dimensions are considerably increased in winter, 

 when the sea is swollen by the rains. The aspect of a country so 

 near the tropics differs greatly at different seasons of the year. 

 Accordingly, tho notice of the scenery of the shores which is here 

 given, and which is taken from Lieutenant Lynch's account, whose 

 surrey of the Dead Sea was executed in the months of April and 

 May, will be found to differ considerably from the description of 

 K. de Saulcy, who risited the region in January. 



The north shore is an extensive marshy flat, with a sandy plain 

 beyond it, and U joined on the north-went angle of the sea by a bed of 



Srel sloping gradually down from the mountains of Canaan. Near 

 wady Gumran in this part of the mountains, De Saulcy discovered 

 extensive ruins, which he supposes to be those of (hmorraA. The 

 beach here consists of minute fragments of angular flint, interspersed 

 with numerous pebbles of bituminous limestone, and there is an almost 

 total absence of round pebbles. A line of bold, lofty, and in most 

 parts perpendicular cliffs runs along tho shore at a very little distance, 

 consisting chiefly of bituminous limestone, with in a few places masses 

 of conglomerate of a dull ochre colour. These cliffs rise to the height 

 of 1000 or 1200 feet They are broken by a few ravines, which in 

 winter are traversed by torrents, whose deposits form little deltoid 

 or alluvial projections along the shore. Except along these ravines 

 the rocks are utterly devoid of vegetation, and present a scene of 

 unvaried desolation and barrenness. Along the marshy beds of the 

 stream* that flow through the ravines tamarisks, low canes, aud 

 spina chriati are almost the only specimens of vegetable life. The 

 principal of these ravines on the western side of the sea ore the 

 wady Eu-Xar and Ain-Jidy or Engaddi ; through the former the 

 brook Kedron enters the sea, the cliffs on each side of it being 1200 

 feet high, and midway down the ravine is the convent of Mar Suba. 

 The mountains here and to the southward consist of horizontal 

 strata of limestone, in which are seen numerous caves. At the 

 foot of the cliffs is a dark coarse gravel. The mountains about 

 Ain-Jidy are 1500 feet high, and abound in caverns. Between 

 the delta of the Ain-Jidy and the mouth of the Arnon on the 

 Arabian shore the sea is about 9 miles wide. There is a current 

 southward through the whole length of the sea, caused by the 

 impetus of the Jordan ; and the current deflected from the southern 

 shore causes an eddy northward along the west shore. On the lofty 

 cliff of Sebbeh, opposite the peninsula mentioned above, are remains 

 of the strong fortress of Mssada, to which Herod retired with hi 

 family and treasures after the capture of Jerusalem by the Parthians. 

 This cliff rises perpendicularly to a height of from 1200 to 1500 feet, 

 and is isolated from the rest of the chain by two deep ravines, the 

 detritus carried down which has formed a sandy alluvium more than 

 two miles wide between the cliff and the sea. 



Bold savage cliffs and terraced mountains of limestone in horizontal 

 strata, crossed at intervals by lava streams, continue to within about 

 four miles of the southern shore of the sea. In this interval lies 

 the remarkable isolated mass of rock called Usdum (Sodom). This 

 mountain mass consists of rock-salt ; it is incrusted with carbonate of 

 lime, which give* it the tinge of the eastern and western mountains. 

 At about a mile distant from the north point of Usdum a round pillar 

 of salt, cylindrical in front towards the sea and pyramidal behind, 40 

 fret in height, rests on an oval pedestal from 40 to 60 feet above 

 the level of the sea. Between the base of Usdum and tho sea 

 there is a broad marshy flat coated with salt and flaky bitumen. 

 The whole of the southern bay U shallow, and the bottom consists of 

 a slimy black or gray mud. A species of melon grows on the Usdum, 

 oblong, ribbed, of a dark green colour, and in taste exceedingly bitt.-r, 

 like quinine. Along the whole of the western shore at intervals are 

 dead bushes incnwtod with salt, as is everything exposed to the spray 



The southern shore presents a scene of unmixed desolation. On 

 otx'ud* the salt mountain of Usdum, rugged and worn, with its 

 conspicuous pillar ; on the other the lofty barren hills of Moob ; to 

 the south an extensive flat marsh, intersected with sluggish streams, 

 with the hkh hills of Kdom, which UirHcr the Qhor to the south 

 behind the Valley of Salt; tho glare of li K ht Minding to the eye 

 tho air .uffooating no living thing to be seen. 



The eastern shore of the southern bar is separated by a narrow 

 marsh with a few scrubby bushes from hills 2000 feet high, consisting 

 of brown-coloured limestone in horizontal strata, with rose-coloured 

 sandstone beneath. The peninsula mentioned abore, and called now 

 as of old El-Litan, or the Tongue, stretches out to tho north-west 

 and north in the shape of an extended wing for about 8 miles, and 



terminates northward in a bold promontory 40 to 60 feet high. A 

 shsrp angular ridge some 20 feet higher nins along its < 

 and round its bate there is a broad margin of sand incrusted with 

 salt and bitumen. The perpendicular face extending all I-..H-..I it 

 presents a coarse chalky appearance. The surface of the peninsula is 

 nigged and irregular, covered with loose calcareous marl, with incrus- 

 tations of salt and pieces of pure sulphur, with gypsum and marly 

 clays. At the head of the bay, on the eastern sido of the peninsula, 

 is a flat into which the wadys of Beni-Hamed and Kcrnk open. Hi-rv 

 stands the Tillage of Mezraa, inhabited by Arabs ivm-mlling negroes, 

 and near it is the plain and so-called ruin* of Zoar. These ruins 

 which are commanded by several terrific craters De Saulcy says with 

 reason are those of Zcboiim. Along the stream that traverses the 

 wady of Beni-Hamed are oleanders 18 fret high, and on th.- pi. tin 

 groves of acacias and many other shrubs (Airlrjiitu procera), the fruit 

 of which is called tho Apple of Sodom. This fruit, (: 

 and bitter to the taste, is about the size of a large apple, and when 

 ripe is filled with fibre and dust Tho wady Kerak has no wnt. r in 

 summer ; on one side of it is a deep yawning chasm, and on the other 

 side are beetling crags blackened by the tempests of ages, and 

 in shape resembling the broken waves of an angry sea. The Arabs 

 of Mezraa cultivate some millet and tobacco. 



The Arabian shore to the northward from the wady of Beni-Hamed 

 presents lofty perpendicular rocks of red-sandstone capped with 

 limestone, and broken from within by ravim .-. in which grow some 

 patches of cane, tamarisk, and a few other shrubs. At about 7 

 northward from the bay is the wady El-Mojeb, through wlii 

 Arnon breaks into the Dead Sea. This river, which is M 1 : v. !! 

 and 4 feet deep in summer, runs through a winding chasm 97 feet 

 wide, formed by perpendicular cliffs of red, brown, and yellow sand- 

 stone, capped in the interior with yellow limestone. The cliffs are 

 scored and worn by the winter rains into architectural forms resem- 

 bling walls of Egyptian masonry. Along the bed of the river castor 

 beans, tamarisks, and canes grow down to the sea-shore. North of 

 the Aruon the shore, in one place enlivened by a small cataract, 

 presents the same lofty rugged brown-parched hills, which form jsu-t 

 of the Belka Mountains. Near the wady Xerka-Mnin, the outlet 

 of the hot springs of Collirrhoe, the shore is lined with huge block 

 boulders of trap interspersed with tufa, and the mountains here seem 

 to be one block moss of scoria and lava stratified. All the rocky 

 hollows along the shore ore intrusted with salt. The Xerk; 

 rushes in a strong current through a chasm 122 feet wide for . 

 from the shore, with sides 150 feet high, formed by red and yellow 

 sandstone overlaid with trap. 



The sea inclosed withiu the boundary j ust traced is in many respects 

 very remarkable. Its water is a nauseous compound of bitters and 

 salt, and of great density. Tbe density of distilled water being 1, the 

 density of the Atlantic water is indicated by 1 '02, of the water of the 

 Dead Sea by VIS ; the first dissolves 5-17ths of its own weight of salt, 

 the second l-6tb, and the third only 1-llth. Accordingly, its buoy- 

 ancy is also great A strong man floats nearly breast high above it 

 without the least exertion : fresh hens' -eggs float up one-third of their 

 length. Lieutenant Lynch's boats with the same loads drew one inch 

 less in the Dead Sea than in the Jordan. No aquatic animal whatever 

 is found in this sea. 



When no wind is stirring the sea seems a vast caldron of dark metal 

 fused and motionless, and the great evaporation envelops it in a 

 vapour of a purple tinge. When lashed by the simoom or the sirocco 

 it presents a sheet of raging foam, but when the wind lulls, as it 

 sometimes does, instantaneously, the waves as suddenly subside, in 

 consequence of the ponderous nature of the water. The spray loaves 

 on incrustation of greasy salt, and causes a pricking sensation when it 

 touches the skin. Generally speaking, during Lieutenant Lynch's 

 survey the wind in the forenoon blew from the southward, in the 

 afternoon from the northward, with a fetid sulphureous smell, owing 

 to the marshes it blows over, and after midnight, there was a calm. 

 Sudden and violent hurricanes are frequent. The nights were cloud- 

 less, and there was scarcely any deposit of dew, the ground is so 

 heated by tho sun during the day. There was a remarkable cx<- 

 to this however during tho night the surveying party spent n.-.ir tin- 

 village of Mezraa, when a hot wind blew from the ii-rth The <!< w 

 on this night dripped through the canvass on the men asleep. On 

 April 23 Fahrenheit's thermometer marked 70 at 6 a.m., 85 an hour 

 and M half later, and 92 at 6 p.m. The heat experienced in the 

 southern part of the sea was most oppressive, causing, in conjunction 

 with the sulphureous vapour, a drowsy sensation amounting almost 

 to stupor. After a blistering hurricane at the head of the eastern bay 

 on April 26, tho thermometer fire feet from the ground marked 106 

 at 8 p.m., and 104 at one foot above the ground, and mosquitoes were 

 



The depth of water in the iii>rth<-rn part of tho sea is very great ; 

 and it increases rapidly and almost Immediately from the shore. Tho 

 first cast of the lead at tli.- mouth f il,,. .Ionian gave one fathom, but 

 a few soundings in a south-east direction towards tho wady Ghuweir 

 gave 81 fathoms ; farther south tho depth in mid-sea increased to 116, 

 117, 218(1308 feet) opposite the wady Zcrka-Main, but near the shores 

 the depth varied from 6 to 23 fathoms. Opposite the Arnon the mid- 

 sea depth is 188 fathoms (1138 feet). On approaching the peninsula tho 



