&l)e jTarmcr's iHcmtljIn bisitou. 



185 



confused fragments of rooks. The horizontal 

 Stratified limestone of tlie mountains, was almost 

 devoid of vegetation, presenting a scene of " ut- 

 ter and dreary desolation." At the foot of the 

 cliff of Hathural they observed narrow strips of 

 cane and tamarisks — a luxuriant line of green — 

 find almost the only verdant spot that had been 

 seen lor a long distance ; a beach of coarse dark 

 gravel below and barren brown mountains above 

 bounding the prospect. Soda plants were found 

 upon the shore. Sulphur picked up on the Jor- 

 dan near the Dead Sea, was brought by an 

 Arab. 



The mountain of Ain July (Engaddi) is 1500 

 feet high, and in its sides are many caverns ex- 

 cavated in former times, the months of some of 

 which are now entirely inaccessible. It is a cu- 

 rious fact regarding the birds, insects and other 

 animals of this region, that they are all of a stone 

 color; this was the case with a cat-bird brought 

 in by an Arab. Along the beach they saw a 

 hawk and some doves, "all of the same color as 

 the mountains and the shore." "Four young 

 boars were brought in by an Arab; they escaped 

 from him and ran to the sea and were caught, 

 and because the Americans would not buy them 

 they were killed." Sulphurous smells were not 

 unfreqtient, and sometimes the odor of sulphur- 

 etted hydrogen was perceived, probably from 

 the springs and marshes along the shore. 



On the 21st they made an encampment as a 

 point of rendezvous for their surveys, and called 

 it "Camp Washington." There is a peninsula 

 on the southern side of the sea, for which they 

 now steered, leaving a party at the canp for the 

 purpose of triangulation. The peninsula is a 

 broad bold promontory forty to sixty leet high, 

 with a central ridge elevated some 20 feet more, 

 and a foot of sand, salt, and bitumen; the vertical 

 titce extending all around had a coarse and chalky 

 appearance. Dr. Anderson thought the peninsu- 

 la to be one-third higher, and to consist of a cal- 

 careous marl; a part of it he found chalky, with 

 flints. "There were a few bushes, their stems 

 partly buried in the water, and their leafless 

 blanches encrusted with sail," which with the 

 dead trees, standing and prostrate, were the only 

 vestiges of vegetation, The mind cannot con- 

 ceive a more dreary scene, or nn almopheres 

 more oppressive. The distance from the point 

 of the peninsula across to the western shore was 

 ascertained to be about nine statute miles, and 

 the greatest depth of the water 1138 feet. All 

 the party were affected by drowsiness while 

 crossing the water, and on the land the oppres- 

 sive heat and sulphurous odors produced sick- 

 ness. 



They now made an expedition around the 

 southern shores. There was a " perpendicular 

 isolated cliff called Seliheh or Masada, 1200 to 

 1500 feet high, and on its summit a line of bro- 

 ken walls with an arch, constructed as it is said, 

 by Herod ; it had a commanding hut dreary 

 prospect, overlooking the deep chasm of this 

 mysterious sea." Near the south end of the sea 

 they observed other ruined walls and leuiaitis of 

 architectural structures. Bitumen was ^eei> up- 

 on the beach; it had a bright smooth surface like 

 n consolidated fluid. 



The weather was intensely hot ; the awnings 

 of the boats erected for tents on laud afforded 

 no adequate protection, and at midnight the si- 

 rocco, although from the N. \V\, raised the ther- 

 mometer to 86 deg. and 88 deg. The people lay 

 in the open air upon the pebbly beach of this 

 desolate sea. In the morning a young quail was 

 found nested by the side of the commander, as 

 a refuge from the hot wind. 



The salt mountain of I'sdnm or Sodom was 

 near at hand. It is perfectly isolated, hut has no 

 appearance, externally, of hcbig a mountain ol 

 salt. Seetzen saw this salt mountain in 180(1, 

 and says that he never before beheld one so lorn 

 and riven. On the eastern side of Usflum is a 

 lofty, round, detached pi'lar, which on exauiiua 

 tion, was found to In; composed of solid salt, 

 capped with carbonate of lime. The upper or 

 rounded part is about forty feet high, resting on 

 an oval pedestal from forty to sixty feet above 

 tin- level of the sea. It is slightly conical, crum- 

 bles at lop and is crystallized throughout in spi- 

 cule. A kind of buttress connects it with the 

 mountain behind, and it is covered with debris 

 of a light stone color. Josephus and his cotcm- 



porary ('lenient state that ibey had seen a pillar 

 of salt which they believed to be identical with 

 Lot's wile, and this may be the one to which 

 they had reference. 



Large specimens of the salt were brought 

 away in the boat. Tin.' water was so shallow 

 that they could not approach within two hun- 

 dred yards of the beach ; throughout the south- 

 ern part of the lake the depth was rarely over 

 two feet, and frequently less than one foot. The 

 foot prints made by the party on landing were 

 on their return encrusted with salt. Mr. Dale 

 landed, and his feet sank twelve inches in slimy 

 mud, then through a crust of salt, and then an- 

 other foot of mud before reaching a firm bottom. 

 The beach was so hot as to blister the feet, and 

 when one of the men attempted to carry Mr. 

 Dale, both sunk down, and they were obliged to 

 run as they could — it was like running over 

 burning ashes, and when they plunged their feet 

 into the slimy brine at 88 deg., the sensation of 

 comparative coolness was delightful. 



The scene around them was one of unmitiga- 

 ted desolation. On the south stood the rugged 

 and water- worn salt mountain and pillar; on 

 the east the lofty and barren mountains of Moah, 

 in a cave in which Lot is supposed to have taken 

 refuge; on the south the high hills of Edom half 

 surrounding the salt plain, the scene of Israelil- 

 ish victories; and to the north the calm and mo- 

 tionless sea curtained with night. The atmos- 

 phere was difficult of respiration ; the air op- 

 pressively hot, the temperature being 97 (leg., 

 and that of the water 90 deg. twelve inches be- 

 low the surface. 



Lieut. Lynch named the northern extremity 

 of the peninsula Point C'ortigan, and the south- 

 ern, Point Molyueux, in honor of "the two gal- 

 lant Englishmen who lost their lives in attempt- 

 ing to explore this sea." Near the base of the 

 peninsula there is a range of hills 2000 feet high ; 

 the cliff called Litlle Tiger consists of horizon- 

 tal strata of brown and rose colored limestone. 



At 350 P. M., a hot hurricane struck them, 

 temperature 102 deg., and with severe exertion 

 they gained the shore, exhausted by hard pulling 

 of the oars, and the commander's eyelids blister- 

 ed by the hot wind. The men bad great diffi- 

 culty to protect themselves, some in the ravine, 

 some under the awnings of the boat; the metal 

 of their spectacles burned the fiice, and their 

 buttons the bauds; and the folds of garments 

 next to the body were coolest. 



They found an old mill-stone upon the bpach 

 and huge boulders of sandstone in the ravine, 

 strata of sandstone above in horizontal layers 

 and limestone upon it. Bathing in a pool of 

 fresh water afforded a momentary relief, but in 

 an instant the moisture was evaporated, and the 

 surface was dry and parched. 



The wind rose to a tempest ; the heat increas- 

 ed after sunset, and at 8 P. M. was 106 deg. ; it 

 was more like the blast of a furnace than the 

 living air. Drinking did litlle ijood, for without 

 any sensible perspiration the fluid was evapora- 

 ted as fast as received. Musquitos tormented 

 them almost to madness, and they passed a mis- 

 erable night. When the water was exhausted 

 and all were too weary to go lor more, they 

 threw themselves upon the ground, eyes smart- 

 ing, skin binning, lips antl tongue and throat 

 parched and dry, and some garment wrapped 

 around the head to avert ihe stifling beat. At 

 midnight thermometer 98 degrees. 



Flocks of birds were seen and storks in the 

 early dawn of April 27. A miserable tribe of 

 Arabs gathered on the shore to see them depart. 

 A glassy undulation indicated the coming of a 

 hot gust of wind, and with some difficulty they 

 reached the shore before the sea was all in a 

 foam. The night was passed where there was 

 no fresh water, but they had the luxury of a 

 beach of pebbles far preferable to the mud and 

 dust of their late sleeping places. They picked 

 up pieces of sulphur and saw the track of a 

 panther in a Cave. They found the Arabs ot 

 this region indispensable auxiliaries ; — they 

 brought them food and drink; — they acted as 

 guides and messengers, and in the absence ol 

 the adventurers, carefully guarded their camp. 

 A decided but courteous manner wins their re- 

 spect and good will. 



The tendency to drowsiness upon the sea was 

 now extreme; all slept except the men at the 



oars who pulled with half closed lids, and the 

 steersman who was the commander, was little 

 more awake. On the 28th they received news 

 from home announcing the death of John Quin- 

 cy Adams, and it was hard in their dreary soli- 

 tude to divest themselves of the idea that there 

 was nothing but death in the world and they 

 alone alive. They picked up large pieces of bi- 

 tumen on the sea shore. A breeze from the 

 west passing over the marshes brought with it a 

 nauseous smell. 



Till the 30th, with a single exception, all had 

 been well; but now dropsical appearances be- 

 gan — "the lean had become stout and the stout 

 almost corpulent; the pale faces had become 

 florid, and the florid ruddy; the slightest scratch 

 festered, and pustules followed — the sea water 

 irritated the sores excessively; yet all had a 

 good appetite." Except the smell from the 

 marshes, and from thermal springs, there were 

 no indications of malaria, the sea itself being 

 perfectly inodorous. Tho appearance of the 

 men was distressing. Some with their bodies 

 bent and arms dangling slept profoundly, but 

 with a flushed and feverish sleep ; others with 

 heads thrown hack and lips cracked and sore, 

 seemed, even in sleep, to be worn down by heat 

 and fatigue; others from reflected light looked 

 ghastly, their limbs twitched, and they would 

 start suddenly from sleep. 



Prudence therefore demanded a return, al- 

 though they were reluctant to leave any part of 

 the work unfinished. Partly for recreation, they 

 accepted an invitation from the Christian sheikii 

 Ahd'Allah, to visit Kerak, on the mountains of 

 Moab, seventeen miles east of the Dead Sea. 



While the party were waiting for horses, they 

 "dined sumptuously with the Arab Christians, on 

 wild boar's meat, onions, and the last of their 

 rice." Their horses arrived, and with them, 

 Muhammed, the son of the Muslim sheikh, and 

 also Ahil'Allah the Christian sheikh himself, the 

 latter risiding in Kerak, and the former chiefly 

 in black tents about half a mile from Kerak. 

 Muhammed being about to mount his horse, or- 

 dered one of the Fellahin (a common Arab) to 

 stoop, and ''placing his foot upon the abject 

 creature's back, he sprang upon his horse;" Ins 

 COtintcimtieo nn. I mantlet- were insolent and 

 overhearing, while Ahd'Allah, the Christian 

 sheikh, his senior by twenty years, was mild and 

 even meek. 



The boats excited great surprise, and both the 

 Muhammed and Christian Arabs were indulged 

 in an excursion by rowing upon the sea. "They 

 stuck plugs of onions in their nostrils to coun- 

 teract the malaria they had imbibed from the 

 water." They call it "the sea accursed ol God," 

 and thoitchl it madness for men to remain so 

 long upon it. The party consisted of fourteen 

 besides the interpreter and cook, and the escort 

 of twelve mounted Arabs and eight footmen, be- 

 sides a number who had gone ahead. They 

 crossed a plain of tertiary formation, ferruginous 

 and friable limestone, marl, &Ci 



They passed up the Wady Kerak, the path ex- 

 tremely steep and difficult, and the scenery very 

 wild and grand'; on one side a deep chasm, on 

 the other high overhanging cliffs, and a fierce 

 thunder-storm which soon came on poured a 

 powerful torrent along the gorge, bearing rocks 

 before it thai mad" the region resound with their 

 collision. Excepting a single palm bending in 

 the tempest, they had not seen a tree or shrub 

 since they turned up the ravine, lint only moun- 

 tain ruins of naked rocks piled up in wild gran- 

 deur along a ZlgZllg path. They saw much of 

 the scarlet anemone, also a blue flower resem- 

 bling the convolvulus, and partridges, hawks 

 and doves, were their attendants. The caval- 

 cade wound up along a circuitous ascent, and 

 limestone, some of it fossiliferous, accompanied 

 them quite to Kerak. 



A little after noon thev came upon the brow 

 of a hill 3000 feet above' the level of the Dead 

 Sen, at the N.E. angle of the town. They pass- 

 ed along a wall and by a tower, and entered the 

 town undel' an arch cut ill the solid rock thirty 

 feet high by twelve wide ; a partly effaced Arabic 

 inscription was over the gateway : Ibey proceed- 

 ed through a passage eighty feet long, and found 

 the town to he a collection of stone huts built 

 without mortar. They were from seven to eight 

 feet high (from the ground floor?); the ground 



