HUDLESTON : GEOLOGY OF PALESTINE. 177 
and after an exciting- and hazardous voyag-e down the Jordan, 
reached the Dead Sea in safety. Considerable difficulties were 
experienced, owing to the shallows, and to the tortuous character of 
the river, which describes a course of 200 miles, when the actual 
distance is 65 in a straight line. The Jordan was probably then 
navigated for the fii-.st time, though the Roh Roy canoe afterwards, 
I believe, ventured upon its waters. A very efficient investigation 
of the Dead Sea was made, and the leading physical features of the 
great fissure, known as the Ghor, ascertained bej^ond question. 
It was at the same time proved that even the weird and unwhole- 
some nature of the place, in addition to Arab troubles, could not 
prevent a well-led and devoted pai ty from doing its work effectually. 
Lynch's men were, I believe, all total abstainers. A large collection 
of fossils was made by Dr. Anderson, and many of these were 
described and figured in the fine quarto which recorded the results 
of the expedition. 
After this adventurous journey there was a lull for some time 
in Palestine exploration : the cream of the mystery had been solved, 
though as yet but little real progress had been made in geology. 
But in the next decade renewed attention was paid to the subject, 
and two works appeared, which may be said to have placed the 
geology of Palestine on a firm basis. These were Aus dem Orient^ by 
Dr. Oscar Fraas, and La Geologie de la Palestine by M. Louis Lartet. 
These authors have published other works on the subject, but I 
mention the above, as being amongst their most important contribu- 
tions. Lartet's book was the outcome of his experiences as geolo- 
gist to the celebrated expedition of the Buc de Luynes, undertaken in 
1864, and which has been more fruitful in geological information than 
any other. The party commenced their investigations in the 
Lebanon, and thence passed by way of Samaria and Galilee to 
Jerusalem ; then on to the Dead Sea, where they embarked on 
board the iron vessel, Segor. Their examination of the Dead 
Sea was most thorough, methods being adopted for obtaining 
the water from various depths for analysis, anticipating as it 
seems in some respects those used by the Challenger. The 
party then ascended the right bank of the Jordan, about half- 
