cr 



o 



330 Lieut. Lynches Expedition to the Jordan and Dead Sea. 



called Zerka, the outlet of some hot springs, had formed a deep ra- 

 vine ; the walls were 80 to 150 feet high, of red and yellow sand- 

 stone in vertical cliffs. The party slept on the gravelly beach; 

 the thermometer from 70° to 68°, and they suffered from the cold. 



On May 5th, in crossing the sea to Ain Turabeh, at two fur- 

 longs from land, the water was 138 feet deep ; five minutes after 

 it was 1044 feet, gradually deepening to 1308 feet, the bottom 

 brown mud with crystals of salt. They continued on their course, 

 and on the 9th made arrangements to leave (he Dead Sea. A 

 large float was moored in eighty fathoms water, with the Ameri- 

 can ensign flying. Sickness was already appearing among them, 

 and two seamen were sent to the convent of Mar Saba. 



This sea, according to Dr. Robinson, is about fifty miles Ion 

 and ten broad. The specific gravity of the water is 1-13, while 

 that of the Atlantic in lat. 25° N., 52° W. long., was 1-02. The 

 boats, when afloat on the sea, drew one inch less of water than 

 when on the Jordan. No animalcules or animal matter were de- 

 tected in the water by a powerful microscope. 



The party had now passed twenty-two nights upon the Dead 

 Sea. They had carefully sounded its depths, ascertained its ge- 

 ographical position, the topography of its shores, and the depth. 

 width and velocity of its tributaries, as well as the winds, currents, 

 weather, &c. ; and numerous specimens had been obtained. 



Remarking upon the character of the region, Lieut. Lynch ob- 

 serves, that the extraordinary nature of the soundings appears 

 to sustain the inference from the Bible, that this entire chasm was 

 a plain sunk and overwhelmed ; for the bottom of the sea consists 

 of two submerged plains, one averaging thirteen feet, and the 

 other thirteen hundred feet below the surface. Through the latter 

 or northern one, runs a ravine corresponding with the bed of the 

 Jordan and with another ravine, Wady el Jeib, at the south end 

 of the sea. Many other considerations are mentioned, tending 

 to shew that the basin of the Dead Sea is a sunken plain. Those 

 of the party who were skeptical when they entered on the ex- 

 amination, appeared to be convinced that the Mosaic account 



was true. 



May 



a farewell look at its waters as they wound up the ravine and en- 

 camped at an elevation of 1000 feet. Their boats were sent in 

 sections to Jerusalem. They were now in a most dreary country 

 of barren hills and valleys, without tree or shrub, and as still as 

 the Lethean sea which they had just left. This was the wilderness 

 of Judea, where God conversed with Abraham, where John the 

 Baptist preached, and at the head of the next ravine is Bethlehem, 

 which stands in full sight of the Holy city. 



Passing the brook Kidron on the 15th, they found a large cis- 

 tern hewn in the rock, twenty feet long, twelve wide, and eigh- 



