Jehennom; and this is the usual name for the whole wady among the Arabs at the present day. Its commencement is in the broad sloping basin on the west of the city, south of the Yafa road, extending up nearly to the brow of the great wady on the west. The large reservoir, commonly called the Upper Pool, or Gihon, may be regarded as a sort of central point in this basin; from which the land slopes upwards by a gentle acclivity on every side except the east. On this side the ground descends towards the Yafa gate, forming a broad hollow or valley between the two swells on the north and south. This point might, perhaps, not improperly be termed the Valley of Gihon; though the name Gihon, in Scripture, is applied only to a fountain.

"From the eastern side of the said Upper Pool, the course of the valley is S. 51° E. for the distance of one thousand nine hundred feet, to the bend opposite the Yafa gate. The valley is here from fifty to one hundred yards in width. The bottom is everywhere thickly covered with small stones; but is nevertheless sown, and a crop of lentils was now growing upon it. At four hundred and forty feet the valley contracts, becomes quite narrow and stony, and descends with much greater rapidity. Towards the end of the course it opens again, and meets the gardens in the oblong plat where it forms a junction with the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

"In these gardens, lying partly within the mouth of Hinnom, and partly in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and irrigated by the waters of Siloam, Jerome assigns the place of Tophet; where the Jews practised the horrid rites of Baal and Moloch, and 'burned their sons and their daughters in the fire.' (2Kings 18. 10; Jerem. 7. 32.) It was probably in allusion to this detested and abominable fire, that the later Jews applied the name of this valley, Gehenna, to denote the place of future punishment, or the fires of hell. At least there is no evidence of any other fires having been kept up in the valley; as has sometimes been supposed."

The valley on the western side of Jerusalem bore, in the northern part, the name of the Valley of Gihon, but below the point where the Valley of Ben Hinnom turns off to the east, it was styled the Valley of Rephaim, (or the Giants' Valley,) in memory of its former gigantic inhabitants. It was memorable as being often the field of battle between the Philistines and the Hebrews under David and his successors. (2Sam. 5. 18,22; 23. 13; 1Chron. 11. 15; 14.9.) This valley likewise appears anciently to have been distinguished for its abundant harvests. (Isai. 17. 5.) Like all the country about Jerusalem, it is now stony, and scantily furnished with patches of light red soil.

The Valley of the Jordan is the space between the hills on each side of the river and its lakes. From above the sources of the Jordan to the end of the Dead Sea, this valley is not less than one hundred and seventy-five miles in length. Its breadth varies much; in some places it is very inconsiderable, and in others it widens into extensive plains. "Through its whole course," says Dr. Richardson, "it is bounded by a chain of mountains on each side. On the east they rise almost precipitously from the bed of the river; but on the west there is a fine fertile vale, averaging about half or three-quarters of a mile broad, between the river and the mountain. This does not apply to the Lake of Gennesareth; for there the mountains are close to the lake on each side, with here and there a small beautiful vale, opening in the west. The mountains in the east are bolder, and continue with little interruption all the way. On the west side, the interruptions are frequent, and charming defiles, irrigated by small streams of water, pass off."

Professor Robinson says, "The common name of the

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great valley through which the Jordan flows below the Lake of Tiberias, is El Ghôr, signifying a depressed tract or plain, usually between two mountains; and the same name continues to be applied to the valley quite across the whole length of the Dead Sea, and for some distance beyond.”

There are several valleys mentioned in Scripture as the scene of remarkable events, which may be here briefly noticed.

The Valley of Blessing, in Hebrew Berachah, in the the tribe of Judah, lay on the west side of the Dead Sea, and in the wilderness of Tekoah. The name is derived from a signal victory which God granted to Jehoshaphat over the combined forces of the Moabites, Edomites, and Ammonites. (2Chron. 20. 22-26.)

The Vale of Siddim, celebrated for the overthrow of Chedorlaomer and his confederate emirs or kings, (Gen. 14. 2-10,) lay on the shores of the Dead Sea, or perhaps occupied its site. In this vale stood the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were afterwards destroyed by fire from heaven.

The Valley of Shaveh, also called the King's Dale, (Gen. 14. 17; 2Sam. 18. 18,) is supposed to have been near Jerusalem, and to have derived its name from a city of the same name that stood in it. Here Melchisedek, king of Salem, met Abraham after the defeat of the confederate kings. (Gen. 14. 18.)

The Vale of Salt is thought to have been in the land of Edom, east of the Dead Sea, between Tadmor and Bozrah. Here both David and Amaziah discomfited the Edomites. (2Sam. 8. 13; 2Kings 14. 7.)

The Valley of Mamre, in the vicinity of Hebron, received its name from an Amorite who was in alliance with Abraham; it was celebrated for the terebinth-tree under which the patriarch dwelt. (Gen. 13. 18.)

The Valley of Ajalon is near the city of the same name, in the district of the tribe of Dan; it is memorable as the scene of the miracle related in Joshua, ch. 10. This valley is better cultivated than most other places in the territory, and possesses a more equal and healthful temperature.

The Valley of Bochim (or of Weeping) lay near Gilgal, and was thus designated from the universal mourning of the Israelites, on account of the denunciations there made against them for their disobedience to the Divine commands respecting the nations whom they had invaded. (Judges 2. 5.)

The Valley of Elah is situated three miles from Bethlehem, on the road to Jaffa; it is not above half a mile in breadth, but memorable for the victory gained by the youthful David over the champion of the Philistines. Dr. Edward Daniel Clarke says, "It is a pretty and interesting looking spot; the bottom covered with olivetrees. Its present appearance answers exactly to the description given in Scripture; for nothing has ever occurred to alter the appearance of the country. The two hills on which the armies of the Israelites and Phi

listines stood, entirely confine it on the right and left. The very brook whence David chose him five smooth stones, still flows through the vale, which is varied with banks and undulations. The ruins of goodly edifices attest the religious veneration entertained in later periods for the hallowed spot; but even these are now become so insignificant, that they are scarcely discernible; and nothing can be said to interrupt the native dignity of this memorable scene."

The Valley of Sorek commences about five miles west of Jerusalem, and extends about four miles in a direction south by west. It was celebrated for its clusters of grapes and its wine. The mountains which inclose it on the west present only the appearance of scarped rocks;

the vines of the valley are still considered the finest in the Holy Land. Ransom.

WILDERNESSES.

The Scriptures often speak of wildernesses or deserts, by which we usually understand desolate places, and thus an erroneous idea of the sterility of Palestine is formed. The Hebrews, however, were accustomed to give the name of desert, or wilderness, to all places that were not cultivated, but were chiefly appropriated to the feeding of cattle. Hence this term is frequently applied to the wastes which were contiguous to cities or villages, and on which the plough never came. The deserts or wildernesses of Palestine are therefore twofold; some are mountainous and well watered, and in many of them trees and shrubs grow wild, while others are sterile sandy plains, either destitute of water, or affording a very scanty supply from the few brackish springs that are occasionally to be found in them, and their principal vegetation being occasional patches of juniper or other hardy shrubs and plants.

The Wilderness or Desert of Paran was situated more to the south. (Numb. 10. 12.) The Desert of Paran "is in many parts," says Mr. Carne, "intersected by numerous ravines and glens, and broken by lofty barriers. Among these, the noble mountain of Paran is only a long day's journey distant, and always in sight from the neighbourhood; it is capable of ascent only on the farthest side, and that not without difficulty. Around its base are flat plains of sand, well adapted to large encampments; here and there, at long intervals, a clump of palm-trees is seen, and in their vicinity water is generally found."

The Desert of Sinai was that in the vicinity of Mount Sinai, in Arabia; here the Israelites were for a long time encamped, and here they received the law delivered to them by Jehovah. (Exod. ch. 19.)

The Wilderness of Ziph was contiguous to a town or village of the same name, in the south-east of Judah. Here David concealed himself for some time. (1Sam. 23. 14,15.)

The Wilderness or Desert of Judæa. The Desert of Judæa, in which John the Baptist abode till the day of his showing unto Israel, (Luke 1. 80,) was a mountainous and thinly inhabited tract of country; it was situated adjacent to the Dead Sea and the river Jordan. In the time of Joshua it had six cities, with their villages, (Josh. 15. 61,62,) but it is now a dreary and desolate region.

The Great Desert of Arabia, extending from the eastern side of the Red Sea to the confines of the Land of Canaan, in which the Israelites sojourned after their departure from Egypt, is in the Scriptures particularly called the Desert, and numerous allusions are made to it and to the Divine protection and support which were extended to them during their migration. Moses terms it "a desert land and waste howling wilderness," (Deut. 32. 10,) and "that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, scorpions, and drought, where there was no water." (Deut. 8. 15.)

RIVERS.

The Jordan. The principal river which waters Palestine is the Jordan. Its source, near Mount Hermon, is in two fountains at Paneas, a city better known by its subsequent name of Cæsarea Philippi. Its apparent source flows from beneath a cave at the foot of a precipice, in the sides of which are several niches with Greek inscriptions. During several hours of its course, it continues to be a small and insignificant rivulet. It flows due south, through the centre of the country, intersecting the lake Merom, and the sea or lake of Galilee, and loses itself in the lake Asphaltites, or the Dead Sea, into which it rolls a considerable volume of turbid water. Professor Robinson informs us, "The present Arabic name for the Jordan is esh-Sheriáh, the wateringplace;' to which the epithet el-Kebir, the great,' is sometimes annexed. The form el-Urdun, however, is not unknown among Arabian writers. The banks of the Jordan appear to preserve everywhere a tolerably uniform character. The river flows in a valley of about a quarter of an hour in breadth, sometimes more and sometimes less, which is considerably lower than the rest of the Ghor; in the northern part about forty feet. This lower valley, where Burckhardt saw it, was 'covered with high trees and a luxuriant verdure, affording a striking contrast with the sandy slopes that border it on both sides.' Further down the verdure occupies in some parts a still lower strip along the river's brink. So we saw it; and so also it seems to be described by Pococke, near the convent of St. John.

"The channel of the river varies in different places; being in some wide and some shallow, and in others narrower and deeper. At the ford near Bisan, on the 12th of March, Irby and Mangles found the breadth to be one hundred and forty feet by measure; the stream was swift, and reached above the bellies of the horses. When Burckhardt passed there in July, it was about three feet deep. On the return of the four travellers, twelve days later, (March 25,) they found the river at a lower ford extremely rapid, and were obliged to swim their horses. On the 29th of January, in the same year, as Mr. Bankes crossed at or near the same lower ford, the stream is described as flowing rapidly over a bed of pebbles, but as easily fordable for the horses. Near the convent of St. John, the stream at the annual visit of the pilgrims, at Easter, is sometimes said to be narrow, and flowing six feet below the banks of its channel. At the Greek bathing-place, lower down, it is described, in 1815, on the 3rd of May, as rather more than fifty feet wide and five feet deep, running with a violent current; in some other parts it was very deep. In 1835,

on the 23rd of April, my companion was upon the banks higher up, nearly opposite Jericho, and found the water considerably below them. The lower tract of cane-brake did not exist in that part.

"These are the most definite notices which I have been able to find respecting the Jordan and its channel; and I have collected them here, because they have a bearing on another question of some interest, namely, the annual rise and supposed regular overflow of the waters of the river. It is indeed generally assumed that the Jordan of old, somewhat like the Nile, regularly overflowed its banks in the spring, covering with its waters the whole of its lower valley, and perhaps some times large tracts of the broad Ghôr itself.

"It seems, however, to be generally admitted that no such extensive inundation takes place at the present day; and all the testimony above adduced goes to establish the same fact. It is therefore supposed that some change must have taken place, either because the channel has been worn deeper than formerly, or because the waters have been diminished or diverted. But although at present a smaller quantity of rain may fall in Palestine than anciently, in consequence, perhaps, of the destruction of the woods and forests, yet I apprehend that even the ancient rise of the river has been greatly exaggerated. The sole accounts we have of the annual increase of its waters are found in the earlier Scriptural history of the Israelites; where, according to the English version, the Jordan is said to 'overflow all its banks,' in the first month, or all the time of harvest. But the original Hebrew expresses in these passages nothing more than that the Jordan was full (or filled) up to all its banks,' meaning the banks of its channel; it ran with full banks, or was brim-full. The same sense is given by the Septuagint and Vulgate.

"Thus understood, the Biblical account corresponds entirely to what we find to be the case at the present day. The Israelites crossed the Jordan four days before the Passover, (Easter,) which they afterwards celebrated at Gilgal, on the fourteenth day of the first month. Then, as now, the harvest occurred during April and early in May, the barley preceding the wheat harvest by two or three weeks. Then, as now, there was a slight annual rise of the river, which caused it to flow at this season with full banks, and sometimes to spread its waters even over the immediate banks of its channel, where they are lowest, so as in some places to fill the low tract, covered with trees and vegetation, along its sides. Further than this, there is no evidence that its inundations have ever extended; indeed, the very fact of their having done so, would in this soil and climate necessarily have carried back the line of vegetation to a greater distance from the channel. Did the Jordan, like the Nile, spread out its waters over a wide region, they would no doubt everywhere produce the same lavish fertility.

"Such is the Jordan; that venerated stream, celebrated on almost every page of the Old Testament as the border of the Promised Land, whose floods were miraculously 'driven back,' to afford a passage for the Israelites. In the New Testament it is still more remarkable for the baptism of Our Saviour; when the heavens were opened, and the Spirit of God descended upon him; and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son.' (Matt. 3. 13.) We now stood upon its shores, and had bathed in its waters, and felt ourselves surrounded by hallowed associations. The exact places of these and other events connected with this part of the Jordan, it is in vain to seek after; nor is this necessary, in order to awaken and fully to enjoy all the emotions which the region around is adapted to inspire.

"As to the passage of the Israelites, the pilgrims of

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course regard it as having occurred near the places where they bathe, or not far below. Mistaken piety seems early to have fixed upon the spot, and erected a church, and set up the twelve stones near to the supposed site of Gilgal, five miles from the Jordan. This is described by Arculfus at the close of the seventh, and by St. Willibald in the eighth century; and the twelve stones are still mentioned by Rudolph de Sachem in the fourteenth. In later times, Irby and Mangles remark that it would be interesting to search for the twelve stones' near the ford where they crossed, some distance above Jericho. But the circumstances of the Scriptural narrative, I apprehend, do not permit us to look so high up; nor indeed for any particular ford or point, unless for the passage of the ark. The waters that came down from above, stood, and rose up, upon a heap. And those that came down toward the sea failed, and were cut off; and the people passed over right against Jericho.' (Josh. 3. 16.) That is, the waters above being held back, those below flowed off and left the channel towards the Dead Sea dry; so that the people, amounting to more than two millions of souls, were not confined to a single point, but could pass over any part of the empty channel directly from the plains of Moab towards Jericho."

The Arnon has its rise in the valleys of Mount Gilead from the torrents of that mountain. It flows first in a southern direction, and then west, and discharges itself into the Dead Sea. It separated the Ammonites, and subsequently the tribe of Reuben, from the Moabites, and formed the southern limit of the eastern part of Palestine. See ARNON.

The Jabbok takes its rise in the mountains of Gilead, and flows into the river Jordan. It is a rapid stream, and its waters are clear and agreeable to the taste. Its banks are thickly wooded with oleander and plane-trees. By the Arabs it is now termed Nahr-el-Zerkah, or the river of Zerkah, from a neighbouring station or village of that name. See JABBOK.

The Kishon issues from the mountains of Carmel, at the foot of which it forms two streams; one flows eastward into the sea of Galilee, and the other, taking a westerly course through the plain of Jezreel or Esdraëlon, discharges itself into the Mediterranean at a short distance from Acre; when swollen by heavy rains it is impassable. This is the stream noticed in Judges 5. 20,21, and 1Kings 18. 40. See KISHON.

But

Professor Robinson says, "Through the plain of Esdraëlon, the ancient river' Kishon is of old represented as pouring its waters in such abundance as to sweep away' the troops of Sisera during the battle of Deborah and Barak; and we still find the same river a considerable stream, under the name of El Mukutta, flowing along the base of Carmel into the bay of Akka. But in crossing the whole plain from Jenin to Nazareth on the 16th of June, although we passed several channels of some size, running westward from both the northern and southern arms, yet not one drop of water did we find in all those parts of the plain which, in the rainy season, send their waters to the Mediterranean. this was a year of drought; and it would be a false conclusion to affirm for this reason, as Shaw has done, that the Kishon has no communication with Tabor, and never flowed through the plain. Not improbably, in ancient times, when the country was perhaps more wooded, there may have been permanent streams throughout the whole plain, like that which still runs eastward along the middle arm, and even now in ordinary seasons, during the winter and spring, there is an abundance of water in the plain flowing westwards to form the Kishon. The large fountains all along the southern borders furnish, at such times, more powerful.

streams; and all the water-courses from the hills and along the plain are full and overflowing. During the battle of Mount Tabor between the French and Arabs, April 16, 1799, many of the latter were expressly said to have been drowned in the stream coming from Deburieh, which then inundated a part of the plain. These considerations, and especially the marshes in the region of Lejjun or Megiddo, fully bear out the sacred writer in affirming that the forces of Sisera were swept away by the Kishon; swollen as the stream probably was by the tempest and rain, with which the Lord interfered on behalf of the Israelites. (Judges 5. 20,21.)

"It appears that the Kishon of the plain is not now a permanent stream; but usually flows only during te season of rain, and for a short time afterwards. Yet the river, as it enters the sea at the foot of Carmel, never becomes dry; and we must therefore seek for its perennial sources along the base of that mountain. Whether the brook at Lejjun reaches the bed of the Kishon during the summer, we are not informed; but the main sources appear to be lower down, in the valley by which the channel issues from the plain. When Maundrell crossed the Kishon here on the 22nd of March, three and a half hours from Lejjun, the water was low and inconsiderable. Shaw is the only traveller who appears to have noticed the sources of the permanent stream. 'In travelling under the eastern brow of Carmel,' he says, 'I had an opportunity of seeing the sources of the river Kishon, three or four of which lie within less than a furlong of each other. These alone, without the lesser contributions nearer the sea, discharge water enough to form a river half as big as the Isis.' The length of the stream from these sources to the sea, he estimates at seven miles, or about two and a half hours. It was probably somewhere along this permanent stream that Elijah slew the prophets of Baal. (1Kings 18. 40.)

"The quantity of water in the Mukutta as it passes through the lower plain to the sea, is not inconsiderable. Schubert forded it in May in travelling directly from Nazareth to Haifa, and found it scarcely forty feet in breadth, and three or four feet deep; the water coming half way up the bodies of the mules. Monro crossed the river near its mouth, at the south-east nook of the bay of Akka, in a boat; he describes the stream as about thirty yards in width, and deep, so that the asses, with their heads tied to the boat, were compelled to swim. Yet Shaw relates that the Kishon, when not swollen by the rains, never falls into the sea in a full stream, but insensibly percolates through a bank of sand, which the north winds throw up against the mouth of it; thus he found it in the middle of April, 1722, when he passed it."

The Sihor, the Belus of ancient geographers, has its source about four miles to the east of the head of the river Kishon. It waters the plains of Acre and Esdraëlon, and flows into the sea at the gulf of Keilah.

The Kanah, or Brook of Reeds, springs from the moun ́tains of Judah, but only flows during winter. It falls into the Mediterranean Sea near Cæsarea, and formerly separated the tribe of Ephraim from that of Manasseh. (Josh. 17. 8,9.) See KANAH.

Besor. The brook Besor, in the south-western border of the land of Israel, likewise flows into the Mediterranean, between Gaza and Rhinocorura. See BESOR.

The Kidron, Kedron, or Cedron, as it is variously termed, runs through the valley of Jehoshaphat, eastward of Jerusalem, between that city and the Mount of Olives. Except during the winter, or after heavy rains, its channel is generally dry, but when swollen by torrents, it flows with great impetuosity; its waters are said to become dark and turbid, probably because it col

lects the waste of the adjacent hills; and like other brooks in cities, it is contaminated with the filth of which it is the receptacle and common sewer.

LAKES.

The lakes of Palestine are all connected with the great river of the country, the Jordan; and proceeding from north to south, they occur in the order following.

The Bahr-el-Houle, called in the Old Testament, "the waters of Merom," (Josh. 11. 5,) and celebrated chiefly for the defeat of the confederate kings of Canaan by Joshua on its borders. It is not mentioned in the New Testament. Josephus calls it the Lake Samochonitis; which appears to be a Greek rendering of the native name Samaco, which it bears in the Jerusalem Talmud; but in the same Talmud it is sometimes called "the sea of Cobebo," while the Babylonian Talmud names it "the Sibbechean Sea."

The dimensions of this lake, which lies about fifteen miles south-west of the source of the Jordan, and twelve miles north of the sea of Tiberias, are variously stated, probably in consequence of its different appearance at different times of the year. Josephus seems to make it seven miles long by half that breadth. Pococke allows this length, but says that it cannot be more than two miles broad except at the northern extremity. Dr. Robinson describes it as eight or ten miles long by four or five miles broad, but adds that the northern half is a mere marsh, covered with tall reeds or flags.

The Lake of Tiberias is, from its associations, the most interesting body of water in the Holy Land, far more so than the Dead Sea, although the latter is considerably larger, and is physically much more remarkable. This lake is also called the sea of Gennesareth, of Chinnereth, or Cinneroth, from its vicinity to a town of that name. See GALILEE, Sea of.

Professor Robinson says, "We reached the brow of the height above Tiberias, where a view of nearly the whole sea opened at once upon us. It was a moment of no little interest; for who can look without interest upon that lake, on whose shores the Saviour lived so long, and where he performed so many of his mighty works? Yet to me, I must confess, so long as we continued around the lake, the attraction lay more in these associations than in the scenery itself. The lake presents, indeed, a beautiful sheet of limpid water, in a deep depressed basin; from which the shores rise in general steeply and continuously all around, except where a ravine, or sometimes a deep wady, occasionally interrupts them. The hills are rounded and tame, with little of the picturesque in their form; they are decked by no shrubs nor forests; and even the verdure of the grass and herbage, which earlier in the season (June 19,) might give them a pleasing aspect, was already gone; they were now only naked and dreary. Whoever looks here for the magnificence of the Swiss lakes, or the softer beauty of those of England and the United States, will be disappointed. My expectations had not been of that kind; yet from the romantic character of the scenery around the Dead Sea, and in other parts of Palestine, I certainly had anticipated something more striking than we found around the lake of Tiberias.

"The water is sparkling and pleasant to the taste; or at least it was so to us, after drinking so long of water carried in our leathern bottles. Indeed, I should not have hesitated to have joined Josephus and Quarsemius in pronouncing it sweet and most palatable, had not some of our party discerned in it a slight brackish taste; which, considering the very copious brackish fountains that flow into it, is not improbable.

"The lake is full of fish of various kinds; and Hasselquist was the first in modern times to note the remark able circumstance, that some of the same species of fish are met with here as in the Nile, viz., Silurus and Mugil (chub), and likewise another, which he calls Spurus Galilæus, a species of bream. We had no difficulty in procuring an abundant supply for our evening and morning meal, and found them delicate and well-flavoured." The Dead Sea, or Lake Asphaltites. The Jordan, after passing through the two before-mentioned lakes, empties its waters into the Dead Sea, sometimes called the Eastern Sea, sometimes the sea of Siddim, from its occupying the place of the vale of that name, in which the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar were situated. See DEAD SEA.

Professor Robinson says, "In constructing a new map of this region, a minute and very careful comparison of all the bearings taken by us at various points along the whole western coast of the Dead Sea, as well as of the distances travelled upon our several routes, has resulted in fixing the breadth of the sea at 'Ain Jidy at about nine geographical miles. The same minute comparison and cautious construction give likewise for the length of the Dead Sea, about thirty-nine of the like miles, 'Ain Jidy being situated nearly at the middle point of the

western coast.

"There will, therefore, be no very essential error in estimating the whole length of the Dead Sea at thirtyeight or forty geographical miles. My own estimate of its length at the time, founded on various data, was about fifty common English miles. The length appears to vary not less than two or three miles in different years or seasons of the year, according as the water extends up more or less upon the flats toward the south.

"From the same point on the shore we estimated the height of the western cliffs at 1500 feet; and that of the highest ridges of the eastern mountains lying back. from the shore, at from 2000 to 2500 feet above the water." The Professor represents the stories so long current of the pestiferous nature of the Dead Sea and its waters as mere fables. "We were for five days in the vicinity of its shores; and nowhere perceived either noisome smell or noxious vapour arising from its bosom. Our Arabs, too, had never seen or heard of any such appearance. Smoke we had indeed often seen on the high ground above, proceeding from Arab encampments, or the preparation of charcoal. There must also naturally be an immense evaporation from the sea itself, in consequence of its low position and exposure to the summer heats; and this again cannot but occasionally affect the clearness of the atmosphere around. But the character of this evaporation cannot well be different from that of any other lake in similar circumstances. The Egyptian heat of the climate, which is found throughout the whole Ghôr, is in itself unhealthy; and in connexion with the marshes, gives rise, in summer, to frequent intermittent fevers; so that the Ghawarineh, or proper inhabitants of the Ghôr, including the people of Jericho, are a feeble and sickly race. But this has no necessary connexion with the Dead Sea, as such; and the same phenomena might probably exist, in at least an equal degree, were the waters of the lake fresh and limpid, or even were there here no lake at all.

"The mineral productions around the sea have often been described. The body of the mountains is everywhere limestone; excepting Usdum, which is of rocksalt. I am not aware that the dark basaltic stones so frequent around the lake of Tiberias have ever been dis covered in this vicinity. There is, however, a black, shining stone, found at the northern extremity of the sea, which partially ignites in the fire, and emits a

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bituminous smell. We saw some of this in descending from Ras el-Fesh-Khah to the plain. It is used in Jerusalem for the manufacture of rosaries and other little articles. Sulphur is found in various parts; we picked up pieces of it as large as a walnut near the northern shore, and the Arabs said it was found in the sea near 'Ain el-Fesh-Khah in lumps as large as a man's fist. They find it in sufficient quantities to make from it their own gunpowder. Near Usdum we afterwards picked up small lumps of nitre. All these circumstances testify to the volcanic nature of the whole region; and this is also confirmed by the warm fountains of 'Ain Jidy and ElFesh-Khah, on the west, and the hot sulphur springs of the ancient Callirhoë on the eastern coast.

"One of the most singular circumstances in the character of the Dead Sea, is the deep depression of its level below that of the Mediterranean. This has been detected only within the last few years. Messrs. Moore and Beke were the first to notice it, in March, 1837, by means of the boiling-point of water; in this way they found the depression to be about 500 English feet. A month or two later the careful barometrical measurements of Schubert gave the depression of the sea at 598-5 Paris feet; that of Jericho being 527.7 feet. The very great descent which we found from Carmel to the cliffs over 'Ain Jidy, and the immense depth of the sea below, point to a like result. But so great is the uncertainty in all such partial measurements and observations (as evinced in the like case of the Caspian Sea,) that the question can never be decided with exactness, until the intervening country shall have been surveyed, and the relative value of the two seas trigonometrically ascertained. To such an undertaking no great obstacle would probably exist."

II.

NATURAL HISTORY OF PALESTINE.

CLIMATE, WINDS, AND SEASONS.

The great variety of surface in Palestine occasions corresponding varieties of temperature and humidity or dryness, and thus it has been remarked that Syria, under which term Palestine is included, has three climates. The summits of Lebanon, for instance, covered with snow, diffuse a salubrious coolness in the interior; the flat situations, on the contrary, especially those which stretch along the line of the coast, are constantly subjected to heat, accompanied with great humidity; while the adjoining plains of the desert are scorched by the rays of a burning sun. The seasons and their productions of course undergo a corresponding variation. In the mountains, the months of spring and summer very nearly coincide with those in the southern parts of Europe; and the winter, which lasts from November to March, is sharp and rigorous. No year passes without snow, which often covers the surface of the ground to the depth of several feet during many weeks. The spring and autumn are agreeable, and the summer by no means oppressive. But in the plains, on the other hand, as soon as the sun has passed the equator, a sudden transition takes place to an overpowering heat, which continues till October. "But then," observes a modern traveller, "the winter is so moderate, that the orange, date, banana, and other delicate trees, flourish in the open air; and it appears equally extraordinary and picturesque to an European at Tripoli to behold under his windows, in the month of January, orange-trees laden with flowers and fruit, while the lofty head of Lebanon is seen covered with ice and snow. It must nevertheless be observed, that in the northern parts, and to the east of the mountains, the winter is more rigorous, without the summer being less hot. At Antioch, Aleppo, and Damascus, and in the Haouran, there are several