138 



LETTER XIV. 



ACCOUNT OF BITUMENS CONTINUED, FROM MORE MODERN AU- 

 THORS.. ..RAY, DOLOMIEU, &C....TAR LAKE IN THE ISLAND OF 

 TRINIDAD. ...PETROLEUM WELLS IN THE BURMHA DOMINIONS 

 ....RUSSIA, &C. 



IN my last I showed you the notice which these substances have 

 obtained from writers of the highest antiquity : in this, I purpose 

 to place before you such remarks of more modern writers, as ap- 

 pear to be most deserving of your attention. 



According to the relation of Hasselquist, asphaltum is gathered 

 by the Arabs, in considerable quantities, every autumn, on the 

 shore of the Dead Sea. It is carried by them to Damietta, and 

 there sold ; being employed, he says, in dying wool *. 



In the Island of Zante, in the Venetian dominions, there is a 

 spot, which, on being trod upon, shakes under the feet like a quag- 

 mire ; in the neighbourhood of this part are springs, which yield a 

 considerable quantity of bitumen, and particularly, it has been re- 

 marked, to be affected during the time of earthquakes. It is much 

 employed, instead of pitch, in paying the bottoms of ships: up- 

 wards of a hundred barrels in a year being used for this purpose. 



At Gabian, about a day's journey from Montpellier, in the way 

 to Beniers, is a fountain of petroleum. It burns like 'oil, is of a 

 strong pungent smell, and a blackish colour. It distils out of 



* Hasselquist's Voyages and Travels in the Levant, p. 284. 



