110 SCIOPTICON MANUAL. 



down from heaven, it hung heavily over the lifeless 

 bosom of this mysterious lake." Its area is about two 

 hundred and fifty square geographical miles. At its 

 northern end it receives the stream of the Jordan. The 

 depression of its surface, and the depth which it attains 

 below that surface, combined with the absence of any 

 outlet, render it one of the most remarkable spots on 

 the globe. 



THE FORDS OP THE JORDAN. The reach of the Jor- 

 dan here shown is the place to which pilgrims of the 

 Greek Church resort every year, in Holy Week, to renew 

 their baptism by bathing in the Jordan, and it is the 

 spot which tradition points out as the place where our 

 Saviour was baptized. The Jordan is a rapid and tor- 

 tuous stream, interrupted by many rapids, and annually 

 " overflows his banks all the time of harvest." So far 

 as this overflow extends there is a belt of luxurious 

 vegetation, but beyond it the ground is barren. 



EGYPT. 



From time immemorial Egypt has been an object of 

 interest to the rest of the world. Almost the dawn of 

 Scripture light breaks upon the rocks and sands of this 

 wonderful valley, whose vast river diffuses fertility 

 wherever it flows. Here the children of Israel served 

 the Pharaohs four hundred and thirty years and grew 

 into a great nation. From the banks of the Nile they 

 set out on that marvelous pilgrimage to Sinai and Zion, 

 those two rocky pinnacles whence the splendors of the 

 Law, and the mild and beneficent radiance of the Gospel, 

 beamed forth upon mankind. 



