

Lieut. Lynch 1 s Expedition to the Jordan and Dead Sea. 321 



The eroded hills on the upper terrace had a conical form ; lime- 

 stone and conglomerate were the prevailing rock, and it was ev- 

 ident that the whole had been'under water. Boulders of quartz 

 and conglomerate were numerous. 



From the nature of the country the caravan was compelled to 

 keep at a distance from the river, and the scouts were visible 

 only occasionally upon the bluffs and crests of the hills. Being 

 now in a dangerous region near where Lieut. Molyneux's party 

 was attacked, the land and water parties reunited and formed an 

 armed encampment. The camels were reposing in close proxim- 

 ity, and arms and fires and the people were all around. The car- 

 avan, repelled from the western, now crossed over to the eastern 

 bank, while the scouts travelled on the west, to keep a lookout 

 from the heights of land for the safety of the boats, which alone 

 were in danger ; the signal of two guns in quick succession 

 from the boats was again agreed upon, that the land forces might 

 close in to their assistance. Some of the party were exhausted 

 by fatigue and by frequent vomiting during the day. 



The river varied between thirty and seventy yards in width, 

 the current from two to six knots, and the depth from two to ten 

 feet. On April 15, the heat in the morning was 76°, and it soon 

 became oppressive. The mountains towards the east had a 

 gloomy aspect, being rough and verdureless crags of limestone 

 reflecting a blinding light. In this dreary waste there was no 

 sound, for every living thing had retired from the withering heat 

 and oppressive glare ; the wind sighed as it swept over the barren 

 P'ain; there was no drapery of clouds— the gleam of dawn deep- 

 ened at once into the intensity of noon. Day after day followed 

 without change; there were no shifting clouds and sunshine, but 

 a monotonous and wearisome azure. The mountains towards 

 the west rose like islands from the sea, the peaks illuminated by 

 the sun-light being strongly contrasted with the dark shadows; 

 and although they were hours away, their deep scars and fissures 

 were distinct, and the laminations of the strata resembled the 

 leaves of some gigantic volume. The plain sloped from the base 



°f the hills into conical mounds, and still lower, into the valley of 

 the Jordan. The banks of the river were fringed with perpetual 

 verdure— the stream winding in a thousand graceful mazes, a 

 bright line in a cheerless waste, bright by contrast with the harsh 

 d/v calcined earth around. There were no elms, ash, hazel, 

 hnden, beach or aspen; no laurel, pine, or birch ; still the lily 

 a 'Kl tamarisk, the oleander, the anemone and the asphodel adorn 

 { he Jordan, and the bulbul and nightingale haunt the copses. 



°n April 16, at the Pilgrims ford, conglomerate was rarely 

 se en, but in its place banks of semi-indurated clay. The vege- 

 tation became more luxuriant, the oleander more abundant, the 

 asphodel and acacia less so. 



