476

SWIFTNESS OF THE JORDAN.

of the water, therefore, we are led to suppose that fish of a constitution similar to that possessed by those living in ordinary sea-water could never be sustained in the water of the Dead Sea. There is no animal life, that we could discover, either in or near the water; and the shells which have been seen were probably washed down from the upper lands or floated down the Jordan by becoming attached to driftwood. It is said that one gentleman, while bathing in the sea, was bitten by a kind of crab, which he killed. But my authority had it second-handed under such circumstances that I think we are justified in supposing there was some misunderstanding.1

After examinations around the sea, we were soon upon the course to the Jordan, riding parallel to the winding current, which is deeply sunken in what seems like the channel of a former river. Its color now partakes of the soil of the countries through which it has passed, but, after being kept in a vessel for a day or two, the water becomes pellucid as that of the clearest spring. The temperature was 58°. The current was too strong to permit of our swimming across, though washing in its waters completely freed me from the clammy sensation which was the consequence of my previous bath. The Arabs now brought me their tribute of various objects, among which was a pretty variety of the narcissus, very much resembling the daffodil. The short and crooked stems of the "rose

1 It is recorded in Captain Allen's work, vol. i., referred to before.

of Jericho," as it is called, are found everywhere. One which we afterward tried, and which had been out of the ground for many months, opened in five minutes sufficiently to allow the escape of any seeds which might have been enclosed. This action is increased by the use of warm and soft water, and is a remarkable contrivance, whereby the plant is kept from depositing the seed except on spots favorable to its growth. Gathering specimens of the tamarisk, the cane, and other plants, and finding little shells (helices) similar to those found on the shore of the Dead Sea, we set off for Eriha. The rain was now threatening to come rapidly upon us again, and we hastened over the plain. Our horses had been standing for a long time, and thus enjoyed the exercise, in which the Arabs joined heartily. Some of my company had previously left; and, having nothing to detain us, we rushed headlong up hillocks and through bushes. One of the company endeavored to display either himself or his little horse for the sport of the rest by running at a mad rate ahead, and waiting. Then, suddenly racing off again, he outran us all. But, attempting the same sport from a smooth piece of ground, which, unfortunately for his antics, had just

'Anastatica hierochuntica, a small, gray-leaved plant, with short, stiff, crooked branches, which, while the plant is growing, spreads in a radiating direction on the surface of the ground; the flowers resemble those of the radish or rocket; when the seeds are perfect, the plant dies, and the branches dry and curve upward and inward, forming a kind of ball. The plant then, becoming detached from the ground, blows over the plain or desert, still containing the seeds, until near a moist or wet place, when the moisture opens the branches and lets the seeds out at the spot best fitted to nourish a plant. "But the plant never grows again."-Botan. Rep. E., p. 59, Official Reports of the Dead Sea.

been made slippery by a fall of rain, the little black charger started with a jump, a slide, and almost a somerset, and came down on his side as quick as "wink," with his rider having his gun and sword under him. There he lay, the oddest little fellow imaginable, seemingly not much larger than a black goat, and as quiet as if in a fit. The Arab attempted to extricate himself; but the horse was too heavy for him, and he had to wait for others to help him. Upon the tail of his little horse he had displayed his skill at a "shave," having left it as black and smooth as a poker. Neither were injured; and though I felt some fear for my own horse, yet we were all soon riding over the plain as furiously as ever. The Arabs are generally good riders, and pass over the ground, with their guns dangling at their necks, at a rate quite surprising. We soon arrived at the village; and with the evening came some clear sky, and the tinted sunset clouds, which appear so much more beautiful and welcome here than they would in any other region. Far to the west are the mountains of Judah; and on the left-hand side of the wide-opening chasms of the Wady Kelt are the ruins of the Kakon castle, of which we have spoken. What varying artists are these evening rays! How often some alter the character of a view by coloring and shading those parts prominently which other rays would scarcely have touched! Near the base of the castle is one of the tumuli previously spoken of, which is perhaps small, compared with others. On the north side of the valley are caverns up in the

rocks, scarcely visible. Many are seen still farther north at Jebl Kuruntal, (Quarantana Mountain,) but to the right of the view above. After dinner, we enjoy our coffee, which is so universally agreeable to the Arabs that, most satisfactorily to them, it takes the place of the "liquors" of other countries. The company then separate.1 Our Arabs are out upon the plain around their camp-fire. Every thing is becoming silent; and it is pleasant, while alone, to look out upon the night-scene.

Sleeping forms lie stretched out again upon the

A writer in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine says that in the sixteenth century an Ottoman ambassador, Soliman Aga, presented some of the seeds to a king of France, as those from which a pleasant beverage was produced in Arabia. In 1654, an Armenian named Pasquel opened the first shop for the sale of coffee (an infusion of it) in Paris. Nearly all the coffee drank is the produce of the new continent, where, about nine centuries ago, it was not cultivated at all. The people of the East, instead of growing it themselves, borrowed it from the Armenians.

480

MIDNIGHT DREAMS.

ground; and the dying embers one by one settle down into ashes and darkness. Unusual associations have this day rapidly brought up to my mind slumbering memories of past histories, vividly, fully, trooping into my meditations; and now suddenly they leave me to a loneliness that is not all alone, and to those impresions so difficult to describe. I sit here alone beneath a starlit sky. For moments every thing around seems buried in the sleep of ages. Every gleaming peak and shaded ruin, and yonder strange and dismal sea, which upon the gentle wind seems to send to the ear mournful sighings from its distant waters, each seems to add some solemnity to every thought of the past. The histories of this land, how full of moral grandeur, of sacred mysteries, of victories and defeats, of deeds of heroism and of blood. There were other times than those of the Crusades during which these hills echoed the shouts of triumph, or witnessed terrific defeats. If some late speculations on light are probable, then perhaps its mysterious rays are now bearing onward to some distant star the still living pictures of scenes which once transpired here! Or their histories may have gone up in sounds which, though they have long since escaped all human ears, yet live in ceaseless undulations. During these solitary midnight reveries, the unnatural shriek of the jackal wakes up the sleeping echo from the grim walls of the old castle near me, and it dies along the valley with a sound so prolonged that the aftersilence is deeper than before. What thousands from all nations and ages lie buried on these mountains and