Lieut. Lynch' s Expedition to the Jordan and Dead Sea. 319 



The Jordan is full of rapids, some of which are extremely dan- 

 gerous, and the boats shot down one after another with no small 

 peril. The river during the day was twenty-five to thirty yards 

 wide, current two and a half knots, water clear and sweet. No 

 rocks cropped out on the banks, but large boulders of sandstone 

 and trap were scattered over the surface. The land on which 

 the party encamped is held upon condition that the Sheikh shall 

 entertain all travellers with a supper, and barley for their horses, 



and they partook on this occasion of an entire sheep and buckets 

 of rice. 



The second day (April 11), the current at first was about two 

 and a half knots, but soon became a foaming rapid, and below 

 were five successive falls of about eighteen feet in all, with inter- 

 vening rapids. With much labor and no small difficulty the boats 

 were passed safely down, having been previously unloaded ; the 

 men plunged into the water to guide them, and ropes with grap- 

 nels were also used to let them down stern first in some places. 

 Fishes were often seen in the transparent water, and white storks, 

 ducks, and a multitude of other birds rose from the reeds and 

 osiers or plunged into the thickets of oleander and tamarisks 

 which line the banks. 



On April 12, they were about three hours from the ruins of 

 Gadara. They visited the place and found them to consist of 

 columns, tombs, remains of walls, theatres, &c, indicating an- 

 cient magnificence ; and tradition reports that from one of these 

 tombs the maniac of the time of our Savior issued. A descrip- 

 tion of the ruins, by Dr. Anderson, is appended to Lieut. Lynch's 

 narrative. 



In their conflicts with the rapids of the Jordan, a wooden 

 boat which they had secured at the sea of Galilee for the trans- 

 portation of their tents had perished, and the party were obliged 

 in consequence to abandon their tents ; this much needed protec- 

 tion against the expected heat of the Dead Sea, they appear to 

 have been provided with in some other way. No boats but those 

 °f metal could have survived the severe shocks to which they 

 were so often exposed ; it was with the utmost difficulty in one 

 case, that they were saved and two of the Arabs rescued from 

 drowning. Rapids continued to occur, proving that the Jordan, 

 except for short and isolated distances, is entirely unfitted for 

 useful navigation. 



The Jordan, like most other rivers, has successive terraces 

 "Pon its banks, and two are very distinct. From a hill 300 

 feet high, they had a view of the terraces ; they were shaped on 

 both sides by the winter rains into conical hills, pyramidal, cu- 

 neiform and 'tent-like— resembling a giant encampment— extend- 

 nig as far south as the eye could reach ; the river sometimes glit- 

 tering through the openings, or "clasping some little island with* its 

 silvery arms," or dashing in white foam by some projecting point. 



