Show TRAVELS i thursday july 9 1896 at 2 in the night my bedein guard called me we made ready in a few minutes and started for the dead sea our object in starting so early was to avoid as much of the heat of the midday as possible the distance from jericho to the north shore of the sea is only about i six and a half miles by the direct road but my guide lost his reckoning on the desert and took the wrong track with the result that we spent some two hours riding and walking up and down the steep gulches and ravines at last I 1 lost patience with the poor fellow who was almost crying in despair and assumed the role of conductor myself knowing through common sense that i all the ravines which we had been endeavoring deavo ring to cross in the darkness of the night must necessarily lead either to the jordan or the dead sea I 1 led down the first one we came to and naturally enough it brought us out upon the lower plain which borders the sea and the river and just as the sun appeared from behind the mountains of moab we stood upon the shore of the historic sea riding eastward along the beach we soon reached a place called by the arabs lut where stands a lonely hut and off which perhaps one hundred yards from the shore a little vessel used during the tourist season tor for sailing on the briny waters of the sea lay at anchor I 1 had a fine swim and bath in the sea venturing out as far as the anchored vessel where my arab companion though able to swim dared not follow I 1 found the buoyancy of the water very similar to that of the great salt lake in utah though the water of the latter Is said to contain about ten per cent less solid matter than that of the dead sea it must be observed however that the sea was quite high when I 1 visited it and that later in the yar when it reaches its lowest water mark the water is necessarily more halty alty it is asserted by some that no one was ever drowned in ia i a the dead sea such being the buoyancy of the water that a human being cannot sink the historian josephus tf totes that vespasian had men thrown atto it with their hands tied to the ther tr backs and that none of them were dro drowned the dead sea is 40 miles long and from 6 to 10 miles wide A bro broad peninsula projects pi ejects fro from an the eastern shore on the south and contracts the breadth of the sea to within two miles south of this the water is very shallow so that in midsummer when in consequence of evaporation the body of the lake falls from twelve to fifteen feet this end is left a marsh the shores of this mysterious and gloomy lafear lake are formed on the east by perpendicular cliffs rising into ragged splintered points forming an irregular breastwork sometimes receding a little from the waters edge and then again jutting out into the sea and varying in height from 1600 to 2800 feet the western shore presents much the same stern an and d forbidding aspect but preserves a gene general ral outline about four hundred feet lower embedded deep in this awful chaam under a burning sun reflected from beetling heights on either side this sea ma becomes a vast caldron from which the evaporation is so great in summer as to render the waters intensely saline there is also an infusion of other ingredients which renders the she water bitter and nauseous to the taste no living thing inhabits these waters and it is very rarely navigated by man no deadly miasma however arises from it as was once supposed the water is of a dull green color highly transparent modern science has solved all the mystery about this water it has been satisfactorily analyzed and its specific gravity ascertained to be 1211 a degree of density unknown in any other the specific gravity of fresh water being 1000 the 1 water of the dead sea has been faund to hold in solution the following proportions of salt to one hundred grains of water oi 0 lime grains of magnesia magn magnesia esIL grains of soda grains sulphate of lime grains grains the level of the dead sea to is 1293 feet below the level of the mediterranean ts greatest depth is 1310 1810 feet jerusalem is 3 feet above the dead sea after lingering for a short time about the shore of the dead sea we struck out across the desert in a northeasterly direction for the ford of the jordan which we reached after traveling nar about four miles I 1 found the jordan a much larger stream seam than I 1 had expected and when the ford of the jordan Is spoken of it must only convey the idea that it is merely possible tov for camels to ford the stream in the latter part of the summer when it is at its very lowest otherwise it can only be crossed by swimming or in boats boals I 1 had a refreshing bath in the stream but being alone my arab friend seemingly being afraid of the water I 1 deemed it imprudent to swim across the river hence I 1 did not elloy the privilege of placing my feet upon th the land beyond the jordan the jordan rises from three sources of which the most remote springs forth in the valley between th taft mountains of lebanon and antl and lebanon in a large fountain near the town of Has as belya from this gushing fountain it runs off in the size of a small river or mill stream due south some isome twelve or fifteen miles when it emerges into the marsh of the buleh 4 ten or twelve miles above the lake of f the same rame ame known in jewish history as th tho waters gr aters of merom at the head of this plain and two or three miles to the laft ett of the stream from Has Ras belya another fountain of equal volume gushes gushed rut farm the crater of gin on vol ad caned tell el kady which mafla the ibe site bite of the ancient city of OS lafed the stream from this fountain faan ruis south pax parallel aliel Y to the one already tidy described and unites with it itt 14 the ane rs marsh above the lake east easi of tell el elsady mady distant about three is or banias known in the Gospel fl 4 Ls caesarea PhIlli phillipa pl matt 16 13 29 20 mark 8 2730 luke 9 18 21 just above this town a third fountain flows out from the brow of a lofty rock this stream after passing through the town turns to the west into the great marsh and then south toward the lake before reaching tg the lake the three streams unite and discharge themselves through otoe bhe channel into the natural reservoir from the mountains of galilee west of chulch several other fountains send off copious con contributions ut ons to augment t ae d waters of the jordan the great maal marsh h above the lake to is eight or ten miles mile square and affords pasturage t tor for immense herds of sheep and goats and droves of camels c cows and buffalo the lake to is funnel shaped about seven miles broad at its northern ern eltre extremity mitY and tapering down to an up apex at its outlet at the distance of alx miles it varies however 1 in I 1 n extent at different seasons of the year jl the waters axe are very shallow and covered to a great extent with aquatic plants at jacobs bridge one mile below the outlet from buleh the jordan while flowing with a swift current 4 Is about eighty feet wide and 4 tour four deep below this it sinks into a deep gorge and rushes rapidly on to the lake of Genne sareth or the sea of wilee galilee making a descent of feet ift its course of ten miles from lake to lake the waters of marom a about six feet above sea level av fram the lake of Genue sareth to the dead sea in a straight line the distance tance la is only about sixty miles but V it ifa its course the river so unfolds and doubles its channel by frequent windings as to run a course of two hundred miles in this wonderful course from the sea of galilee to the dead sea the jordan dashes over twenty seven frightful rapids and makes a perpendicular descent of one thousand feet the channel of the river is deeply embedded between opposite terraces running nearly parallel to each other at the athe distance of from three to five miles the terraces present sometimes per cliffs sometimes steep pre banks from the commencement of high rounded knolls conical w A hills and rocks thrown together in wild confusion which rise irregularly as they recede to th the e highlands highland s of the central chain of palestine on the w west eat ad to a higher series of mountain heights on the past east beyond jordan between these te terraces traces the river which is in front brozi seventy five to one odne hundred feet t lit in width and six an and e eight 9 feet ee n depth rolls on through its endless and contortions a chafed chafee r tind and angry tide of water sometimes turbid sometimes clear sometimes P beltt ut sometimes slow leaping down frequent and fearful rapids and dashing from side to side of the narrow bed to which it la Is imprisoned as if njg to burst the barriers tw by which it Is and save its sacred waters from being lost in that oft ea of death below the entire dis tance from the highest source of the jordan to its outlet in the adad sea is in a direct line not more than one hundred and twenty miles in which distance it makes a descent of about two thousand feet I 1 spent between betheen one and two hours in and about the river jordan whose banks are fringed with trees and bushes of different varieties we then started on our return trip to jericho distant about six miles about two thirds the way up we passed within a short distance on our right of an ancient cromlech crom leoh situated on the north side of the wady el kelt wash which Is supposed to be the site of the ancient gilgal galgal it is about two miles southeast of modern jericho in giggal gilgal joshua 4 19 20 the israelites erected twelve stones or according to joshua 4 9 in the midst of the jordan itself in A D willibald found a wooden church here on the other hand it Is questionable whether the giggal gilgal of 1 sam 7 16 11 14 15 was situated here or in another locality to the northwest of Xe jericho in the time of the crusaders a church stood here enclosing twelve stones and the spot was then known as gilgal galgal gilgan gilgal was situated on the frontier of judah and benjamin about a mile and a half east of gilgal galgal 1 is a kaar el castle of the jews also named der har yuhanna monastery of st john it is situated about a mile west of the influx of the wady el kelt into the jordan here are found the remains of a monastery of st john which was in existence as early as the time of justinan Justl nan and according to tradition was erected by the empress helena over the grotto where john the baptist dwelt it was restored in the century a number of vaults frescoes an and d mosaics are still visible A greek monastery now occupies the site the ride from the Jor danto jericho was an unpleasant one to me on account of the excessive heat though I 1 had left lef t all my spare clothing at the roman hospice where we started out in the night and only sufficient on to afford proper covering I 1 pre as I 1 perhaps have never pre before the hot weather which I 1 had recently experienced in the tropics was as nothing compared to the heat that oppressed me in the valley of the jordan at 1030 am we reached jericho I 1 and immediately sought protection against the hot rays of the sun under the beautiful grapevine grape vine bowery which covered quite a square in the garden of the hospice but even under the thick foliage the heat was most oppressive until the middle of t the he afternoon when a gentle cooling breeze commenced to blow from the north on our morning tour or visit to the dead sea and the river jordan we had traveled about fifteen miles including extra distance when we were lost and our route described a sort of a triangle after resting in jericho about five and a half hours waiting for a cooler atmosphere we started out on our return trip to jerusalem and we arrived at the olivet house about 11 pm tired and fatigued but glad indeed to get back from the burning regions of the lake of fire and brimstone as the country around the dead sea might elgh t appropriately be called during the hot summer months ANDREW JENSON |