3S2 
tlie objections — first, that the formation is evidently subse- 
quent to the scooping-out of the marl, and therefore to the 
subsidence of the lake ; secondly, that the bitumen and sul- 
phur are not deposited as they would have been by a tide or 
stream, but at most irregular heights, sometimes detached, 
sometimes in masses slightly and irregularly connected with 
the next fragment by a thinner stratum. The layer of sul- 
phurous sand is generally evenly distributed on the old lime- 
stone base, the sulphur evenly above it, and the bitumen in 
variable masses. In every way it differs from the ordinary 
mode of deposit of these substances as we have seen them 
elsewhere. Again, the bitumen, unlike that which we pick 
up on the shore, is strongly impregnated with sulphur, and 
yields an overpowering sulphurous odour ; above all, it is 
calcined, and bears the marks of having been subjected to 
extreme heat. In weight and appearance it differs from the 
bitumen of the shore as coke does from ordinary coal.” 
25. This discovery seems to me very important, and Canon 
Tristram’s remarks upon it are interesting to the Biblical 
student; they are' as follows: “ Here, so far as I can judge, 
we have the only trace of anything approaching to volcanic 
action which we have met with in our careful examination of 
the northern, western, and southern shores. The only other 
solution of the problem, the existence of a bituminous spring 
when the supply of water was more abundant, would scarcely 
account for the regular deposition of the sulphurous sand, 
and then of the sand with the bitumen superimposed. I 
have a great dread of seeking forced corroborations of Scrip- 
tural statements from questionable physical evidence, for the 
sceptic is apt to imagine that when he has refuted the wrong 
argument adduced in support of a Scriptural statement, he 
has refuted the Scriptural statement itself; but, so far as I 
can understand the deposit, if there be any physical evidence 
left of the catastrophe which destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, 
or of similar occurrences, we have it here. The whole 
appearance points to a shower of hot sulphur and an irrup- 
tion of bitumen upon it, which would naturally bo calcined 
and impregnated by its fumes ; and this at a geological 
peric quite subsequent to all the diluvial and alluvial action 
of which wo have such abundant evidence. The vestiges 
remain exactly as the last relics of a snow-drift remain in 
spring — an atmospheric deposit. The catastrophe must 
have been since the formation of the Wady, since the depo- 
sition of the marl, and while the water was at, its present 
level ; therefore, probably, during the historic period.” 
( Land of Israel, pp. 355 ,$<'<]■) 
