2G. On the peninsula of Lisan, a low bank which projects 
upwards from the south-eastern angle of the lake a distance 
ot nine miles, pieces of sulphur and bitumen, rock-salt and 
pumice-stone, are found in great profusion. Probably, if ex- 
amined with care, geological phenomena similar to those in Wady 
Mohawat, might be found on this peninsula, and some additional 
light might thus be thrown upon the mode in which the cities 
of the plain were destroyed. Poole says, “ the soil appeared 
sulphurous” {Journal of Hoy al Geographical Society, xxvi. 62). 
It is well known that during and after shocks of earthquake, 
to which this region is subject, large masses of bitumen rise 
to the surface of the lake between the promontory of Lisan 
and the western shore. North of the Lisan, the mountains of 
Moab rise from the water’s edge in sublime cliffs of red sand- 
stone or white limestone. Basalt also appears in places, some- 
times overlying the limestone, as on the plain of Bashan, and 
occasionally bursting through the sandstone strata in dykes 
and veins. The ravines of Mojeb, the Arnon of Scripture/ 
and Zerka Main, are like huge rents in the mountain-chain. 
Among other smaller basaltic streams, three were found by 
M. Lartet, bordering on the eastern edge of the sea, to the 
south of the little plain of Zarah. The plain between the 
mountains of Moab and the mouth of the Jordan, under the 
heights of Nebo and Pisgah, is generally well watered and 
covered with luxuriant vegetation. Along the shore pieces of 
pumice-stone, lava, and bitumen are found embedded in the 
sand and mud, as if washed up by the waves. 
27. The dimensions of the Dead Sea have never been accu- 
rately determined. Its length is about forty-five miles, but 
this varies considerably at different seasons of the year, and 
in different years. When the sea is filled up by winter rains, 
the flat plain on the south is submerged for several miles. 
The annual rainfall, too, is not uniform in Palestine. Some 
years it is more than double what it is in others ; and this 
produces a corresponding effect upon the volume of water in 
the sea, and consequently on its area. The sea attains its 
greatest breadth opposite Engedi, where it measures nine and 
a half miles. The peninsula of Lisan divides the sea into two 
unequal parts — the northern, an elongated oval; the southern, 
nearly circular. The narrowest part of the channel between 
the peninsula and the mainland is about a mile and three-quar- 
ters wide, and is sometimes fordable. 
28. The physical conformation of the bed of the lake is 
worthy of special notice. The section north of Lisan is a deep, 
uniform basin, like a huge crater, its gi’eatest depth being 
1,308 feet (Lynch, Official Report, p.43) ; the southern section 
