318 Lieut Lynch 1 s Expedition to the Jordan and Dead Sea. 



the purpose, and drawn by camels. The party numbered six- 

 teen besides fifteen Bedawins. all well mounted. On the 6th of 

 April they obtained the first view of the Sea of Galilee and the 

 majestic mountains of Bashan beyond ; "like a mirror it lay em- 

 bosomed amid its rounded and beautiful, but treeless hills." It 

 measures seventeen miles long by six broad, and is situated twen- 

 ty-eight miles east of Acre, and forty-five north of Jerusalem. 

 The depth was found to be 165 feet where greatest, and the hills 

 around were 600 to 700 feet high. Its waters are sweet and 

 transparent, and as of old, fishermen here throw their nets with 

 success. The Jordan flowing from Lake Merom far to the north, 

 passes through this sea and continues on south. The party 

 reached Tiberias, "a walled town of some magnitude, but now 

 in ruins from the earthquake of 1837 which destroyed many 

 of its inhabitants." Near by they visited two baths, in one of 

 which — about eighteen feet across and four feet deep — the water 

 stood at 143° F. : it was saline and bitter, and gave off an odor of 

 sulphuretted hydrogen. They rowed along the shores of the lake 

 to the exit of the Jordan. 



The divisions of service now introduced, were as follows: 

 First, a party by land, keeping as near to the river as possible ; 

 next, a party in the boats — the former with the camels, Arabs, 

 &c, led by Lieut. Dale — the latter by Lieut. Lynch. Dr. Ander- 

 son was charged with the geology ; Mr. Bedlow with the topog- 

 raphy, scenery and events ; Mr. Francis Lynch with the herba- 

 rium; Lieut. Lynch with the river and its productions; Mr. 

 Aulick with its topography and a sketch of the river and its 

 shores. A signal of two guns in quick succession from the boats 

 was agreed upon to summon assistance from the land party in 

 case of an attack on the boats, which was the danger most to be 

 feared. 



On the 10th of April they entered the river. The Bedawins, 

 -thirty horsemen with their abas flying in the wind, — were armed 

 with guns in European style. Eleven camels led the way ; then 

 followed the cavalry and all in single file, while Lieut. Dale and 

 his officers in the Frank costume, brought up the rear, the whole 

 making an imposing cavalcade. The scenery on leaving the lake 

 was not particularly grand ; there were abundance of flowers but 

 no trees. The average breadth of the Jordan at this place was 

 about seventy-five feet; the water was ten feet deep and clear 

 and where the current was strong they used the oars, only to 

 keep them in the channel. Many wild fowl were frightened 

 from their feeding grounds in the marshes as they descended. 



They passed the ruins of the bridge of Semakh which were 

 extremely picturesque, the abutments standing in various stages of 

 decay, and the falling fragments obstructing the course of the river, 

 save where the water runs in a sluice among the masses of stone. 



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