CHAPTER XLVIIL 
THE DEAD SEA AND THE JORDAN. 
Our ride to Mar Saba, notwithstanding the guns of the 
Arab guard, was devoid of any incident worth relating. 
The distance in point of time is about three hours from Jeru¬ 
salem. The road lies mostly between two ranges of craggy 
bluffs, almost destitute of vegetation, and entirely uninhabited. 
On the left we saw the caverns in which the monks lived, 
before the general massacre by the Turks, in which some 
thousands were brutally butchered. These caves are now 
only inhabited by goats. Some of the bones and skulls of 
the murdered monks are still scattered about the rocks. The 
Wady is of a very singular geological formation, and bears 
the appearance of having at some remote period formed the 
bed of a river. I am not aware of any theory having been 
formed on the subject, but it struck me as not improbable 
that this may have been the original outlet of the Jordan, 
after passing through the Dead Sea. That a stream of water 
so deep and rapid should continually pour into so small a 
sea, and lose itself in evaporation, does not seem reasonable. 
But the question remains, where it does it go now, or how 
can it fall into the Mediterranean, if the surface of the Dead 
Sea be, as scientific explorers have determined, considerably 
below the level of any other sea into which it could flow ? 
According to the most authentic English measurement the 
depression is 1311 feet, 9 inches. Lieut. Lynch gives it at 1316 
feet, 7 inches. The subject involves some curious questions, 
but is rather too profound for a casual traveler. Having seen 
it stated, however, that a recent corps of French engineers 
have decided the depression to be much less than either of 
