^74- Phyfical Ohfervations &c, 



confiderable River that I have feen either in the Levant or 

 Barlary. However I could not compute it to be more than 

 thirty Yards broad, though this is in a great Meafure made up 

 by the Depth, which, even at the Brink, I found to be three. 

 If then we take This, during the whole Year, for the mean 

 Depth of the Stream, (which, I am to obferve further, runs 

 about two Miles an Hour,) the Jordan will every Day dif- 



./^.f^r'S^hai'Se into the 'Dead Sea about 6, 090, ooo Tons of Water. 



f^dfrom it In gQ gj^eat a Quantity of Water being daily received, without 

 any vifible Increafe in the ufual Limits of the Dead Sea, hath 

 made fome conjeolure ', that it muft be abforbed by the burn- 

 ing Sands ; others, that there are fome fubterraneous Cavities to 

 receive it; or elfe that there is a Communication betwixt it 

 and the Serhonic Lake ; not confidering that the Dead Sea 

 alone, will lofe every Day, near one third more in Vapour, 



The Extent of u\2Ln what this amounts to. For provided the Dead Sea 

 "'ihould be, according to the general Computation, feventytwo 

 Miles long and eighteen broad, then, by allowing, according 

 to Dr. Hallefs Obfervation, 691 φ Ton of Vapour for every 

 fquare Mile, there will be drawn up every Day above 8, 960, 000 

 Tons. Nay further, as the Heat of the Sun is of more Acti- 

 vity here than in the Mediterranean Sea, exalting thereby a 

 greater Proportion of Vapour than what hath been eftimated 

 by our Proieflbr : fo the Jordan may, in fome Meafure, make 

 up this Excefs, by fwelling more at one Time than another• 

 though, without Doubt there are feveral other Rivers % parti- 

 cularly from the Mountains of Moal• , that muft continually 

 difcharge themfelves into the Dead Sea. 



rJfedfr^'' I was informed, that the Bitumen, for which this Lake hath 



\fit^Tm- been always remarkable, is raifed, at certain Times, from the 



mtf{herts. 



I Oiigo Lacus Afphakitis ex ac]uis Jordanis derivari poteft, qus delabentes continuo ali- 

 cubi colligi debuere, quod olim ante natum hunc lacum videtur infra terra ruperficiem 

 fadlutn fuilTe, ita ut in ampliifimas voragincs aut ipfum oceanum defcenderint. Poft incer- 

 tum, quaratione, arftiorelque videntur fafti fuiffe illi meatus, fie ut aqux Jordanis quum 

 non ita copioiie deflucre poifent, partem terras inundaverint, atque ita lacum liunc efFecerint, 

 cujus aquae & ipfae per meatus aliquos le exonerant, quum aquis Jordanis non augentur. 

 Rel. Ρλ/λ/?. p. 7.y7-8. Sanay^Trvi. p. ill. 2 Galenus quamvis novaen j^rnonis non ad- 

 fcribit, videtur tamen eum innuere, quum duos mjai^s μί^ΐ>ΐ( ^ •»-λρί?ΐίί Ιρ^ντοζ ϊχθν'ίΐί in lacum 

 Afphaltitem iniluere fcribit. Galen, apud Reland. ibid. p. 292. Jacobus Cerbus (apud Reland, 

 p. 281.) odo hos fluvios illabi monet in lacum y^/M/iiifWi. i.Jordanem. z.Arnonem. 5. Flu- 

 men cum Arnone de magnitudine certans a monte regali procedens, attingens Oronahn. 

 4. Fluvium propc puteosbituminis &vallem falinarum. j. Fluvium de Orfei/i/irWi venientem. 

 6. Fluvium ab Anara egrelTuiii qui Thecuam irrigat. 7• Cedroticm. 8. Char'ith torrentem ex 

 monte ^uareutaiw ortum & propc Engaddim in lacum Afphaltitem ie exonerantem. Sanutus 

 (ibid, p.280,) liosfluvios recenfct in lacum Afphaltitem illabi. Arnonem alium qui in principio 

 mare mortuum intrat. Alium qui novcni leucis inde mare mortuum ingredicur. 



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