out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt." There was an awful interest about the whole scene and its associations which I cannot forget. After united prayer and praise, we laid ourselves down to rest for the night on the sands of the Dead Sea shore; and soon almost the silence of death hung over us.

Our intention was to be moving on the following morning as early as four o'clock; and our plan was to send on the servants with tents and baggage direct towards Jericho, with directions to find Ayún Sultan-or "the fountain of Elisha," and there to have refreshment ready for us on our return from the Jordan. They were to have part of our Bedaween as an escort, while Sheikh Hamdan and the remainder were to conduct us to the Jordan, and protect us against the Beni Sakhrs, in case any of them should be lying in wait, which was probable enough, as they might have seen our fires burning on the previous evening. It was a lovely grey morning when I rose before the sun. It was a scene of wild and dread desolation on which I gazed southwards-the outspread waters of the Dead Sea shut in east and west by the bold and precipitous heights of Moab and Judea. The morning breeze caused a slight ripple on the surface of the stagnant waters, which appeared clear and bright. There is considerable action of the water at some times, as I judged from the deposit, about a yard distant from its north-western brink, of small branches of trees, reeds, &c., which had been carried down by the rapid stream of the Jordan. My friend and fellow traveller, Mr. Erskine, bathed in the Dead Sea, and found the water extremely buoyant. I could not quite make up my mind to the experiment; but I tasted the water. It is impossible to express the intensity of its nauscousness when taken in sufficient quantity, and retained long enough to act upon the palate. It has two distinct flavours when first tasted, which soon unite and make a most loathsome compound. The first is of extremely pungent

1 Genesis xix. 12-29.

saltness, and capable of excoriating the palate. The other is sheer bitterness-and so bitter, that it seems to penetrate the skin of the mouth. Though I took no more than about half a wine glass full in my mouth, and did not swallow any, yet my palate was saturated with it, and the sensation remained during the day. I brought away a bottle of this loathsome. water, and a few pebbles from the shore.

This remarkable inland sea, or lake, is spoken of in scripture by the name of the "Salt Sea," the "East Sea," and the "Sea of the Plain." The Greek and Roman writers have called it "Lacus Asphaltites," on account of the quantities of bitumen found in and about it. Its present Arabic name is "Bahr Lout" (the Sea of Lot), which helps to identify it as the scene of God's fearful judgments upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Its dimensions have been variously estimated. Dr. Robinson, a recent and accurate observer, supposes it to be about fifty miles from north to south; and about twelve, in the widest parts, from east to west. I had no means of judging, as I only visited the north-western shore. It covers the once charming valley of Siddim, which the sacred penman compared to "the garden of the Lord;" and on which once stood the five guilty cities, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Zoar. The present aspect of this region was well described by Moses, in a memorable passage,' depicting the desolations of Judea-"The generation to come of your children, that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the Lord hath laid upon it: and that the whole land thereof is brimstone and salt and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath; even all nations

1 Gen. xiv. 3; Deut. iii. 17; Josh. xv. 5. 3 Deut. iii. 17. 4 Gen. xiii. 10.

2 Ezek. xlvii. 18; Joel ii. 20.

5 Deut xxix. 22, 23.

shall say," &c. The page of scripture makes the region of the Dead Sea eloquent to the guilty heart of man. St. Peter felt this, when he spake of God turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemning them with an overthrow, and making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly. With the record of that terrible event before us, how awfully impressive are our Lord's words to those who, though living in the light of divine truth, reject the offers of sovereign mercy-"And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily, I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.”

There is no visible outlet to the waters of the Dead Sea; but a process of evaporation is constantly going on, which accounts for the misty appearance so generally visible over its surface, and which, in the imagination of ancient writers, clothed it with supernatural horrors. But as it does not seem probable that evaporation alone could keep such a body. of water and its vast and perpetual additions within their usual bounds, many intelligent travellers have ventured a not unlikely supposition, that it must throw off its superfluous quantity by some subterraneous channel leading westward towards the Mediterranean. It has been calculated by Dr. Shaw, an accurate minded man, upon data easily ascertained, that the River Jordan discharges daily, upon an average, 6,090,000 tuns of water into the Dead Sea; in addition to which, it receives large contributions from the Arnon, and several other smaller streams.

An analysis of the water of the Dead Sea was made by Dr. Marcet, in 1807; and the experiment has since been made by other scientific men, with results very nearly similar. The Doctor observes, that the application of tests, or re-agents, proves that it contains the muriatic and sulphuric acids. There

is no alumina in it, nor does it appear to be saturated with marine salt, or muriate of soda. On summing up the contents of one hundred and fifty grains of the water, they were found to hold in solution the following substances, and in the undermentioned proportions:

And, consequently, the proportions of these salts in one hundred grains of the water, would be:

So that the water of the lake contains about one fourth of its weight of salts supposed in a state of perfect desiccation; or, if they be desiccated at the temperature of 180° on Fahrenheit's scale, they will amount to forty-one per cent. of the water."

Until recently, a general opinion prevailed, as I have already intimated in a foregoing part of this volume,' that the broad Wadey of El Arabah, which extends from the southern

My limits forbid more lengthened particulars concerning this deeply interesting object and its phenomena; but those readers who may desire further information, may consult with advantage Maundrell, pp. 136, &c.; Shaw, pp. 316, &c.; Mariti, vol. ii. pp. 370, &c.; Burckhardt, pp. 392, &c.; Irby and Mangles, pp. 416, &c.; Elliot, vol. ii. pp. 479, &c.; Stephens, vol. ii. 262, &c.; Professor Robinson, Am. Bib. Rep. Series ii. vol. i. pp. 419, 422, 443; Paxton's Letters, pp. 159, &c.

2 See page 197.

SODOM-GOMORRAH, ETC.

313

shore of the Dead Sea to the eastern arm of the Red Sea, was anciently a prolongation of the plains of Jordan; that no lake like the Dead Sea existed in the plain previous to the destruction of Sodom; and that the Jordan continued its course throughout the whole of Wadey el Arabah, and emptied its streams into the Red Sea. But subsequent enquiries seem to have determined the question the other way, so as to lead to the conclusion that the Jordan could never have flowed through Wadey el Arabah; and consequently, that a lake must have existed in the vale of Siddim, ever since the Jordan began to flow down from Lebanon, and that the Dead Sea does not owe its existence to the destruction of the cities of the plain, though it certainly fixes their locality. The facts upon which this conclusion has been formed, are agreed upon by Professor Robinson and Count de Bertou; the latter of whom traversed the whole of Wadey el Arabah, and made his observations with great care. They are these: first, that the level of the Dead Sea and of the plains of the Jordan generally, is very much below that of the Red Sea; secondly, that Wadey el Arabah rises gradually, southward, as far as Wadey Talh; and that all the springs in this portion of the valley take a northerly direction, and flow into the Dead Sca.

The exact site of the five cities of the plain is a subject of interesting inquiry, and admits, I think, of much certainty, supposing it to be true that a lake, though of much smaller dimensions than those of the Dead Sea, in its present state, previously existed in the vale of Siddim. The result of the recent examinations above referred to, brings us to this conclusion. In stating it, I am indebted to an intelligent compiler, who has brought the subject to a point in the simplest manner.' I shall use his words. "Our reasons for believing this hypothesis to be the true one are these: The supposition of a lake previously existing is unavoidable. The bed of the Jordan.

The Rev. J. A. Wylie.-"Modern Judea, &c. Compared with Ancient Prophecy." A production of no small merit.