The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-24 00:00:00

ITALY.

Intelligence from Naples, of the 14th, has been
received. It was said that the Sicilian affair was in
a fair way of adjustment, at least so far as the consent
of the King went, on the basis of a separate
Parliament and a separate Administration—the
offensive article of a separate army being
recommended, but not insisted on. Doubts were
entertained, however, of a ready assent being given
at Palermo; and a hint is given that the allied
squadron will have to menace a blockade of that port
before the Provisional Government gives in. Perfect
tranquillity prevailed at Naples ; but the success of
the Austrian army at Vienna had quelled any dispo-
sition to revolt, if any such existed. The Chamber
was to be opened by commission at Naples on the 24th.
The Piedmantese Gazette, of the 18th instant, an-
nounces under date Bologna, 14th, that the column
of Italian mountaineers, commanded by General
Garibaldi, had arrived at Pianoza, and that after
sleeping in that locality, it had taken the road to
Romagna, proceeding towards the Adriatic. On the
13th the General reached Faenzale, and 400 volun-
teers, who were to join him at Faenza, passed through
, Florence on the 14th.

The Sicilian Consul at Leghorn received his ere-
qualmr from the Tuscan Government on the 14th inst.
The Genoa Gazette, of the 17th inst., states that
the Piedmontese Government had placed sixteen
pieces of artillery at the disposal of the Minister of
War of Tuscany.

The Concordia of Turin, of the 18th inst., pub-
lishes the following letter from Milan, of the 16th :
" A Municipal Deputation having waited upon Mar-
shal Radestzky, to protest against his decree, imposing
a forced contribution on the city, the latter replied,
I want money for the maintenance of my troops.
You know it well, gentlemen. Grant me a subsidy
for ono month, and I will withdraw my decree.' The
Deputies then retired, leaving their protest in the
hands of Radestzky. Last evening about sixty men
and women of the lower orders of the people, paid no
doubt by the police, collected before the Villa Bel-
gloss, and loudly vociferated Marshal Radetzky is our
father. He was right to make those rich traitors con-
tribute.' Radetzky, having appeared at the balcony,
thanked them by a sign of the band, without addressing
them a single word."

THE AMERICAN EXPEDITION TO

THE DEAD SEA.

We translate the following from the Courrier de Con-
stantinople :—.2

" Out: readers may remember that in the spring of
the year Captain Lynch and some of his officers, of the
United States' brig Supply, proceeded to Constantinople,
to obtain permission of the Ottoman Government to ex-
plore the Lake Tiberias. Tbis was granted, and the re-
commendations given by the Sultan to the difforent offi-
cers of the places visited obtained for the intrepid officers
every kind of assistance required. Nobody opposed the
scientific research, the Arabs themselves offering their
assistance, and frequently declining any remuneration for
aid often of the most valuably kind.

" Our little expedition (says Captain Lynch), com-
posed of some 13 persons, landed at St. Jean d'Acre,
from which place we were desirous of proceeding to the
Sea of Galilee, or Lake Tiberias, distant some 40 mil, s.
We had with us two metal boats—ono of copper the other
of iron; these we landed and put into good condition to
sustain the shocks which when drawn by camels from
one place to the other they inevitably must encounter.
We were encouraged by the idea of being the first to en-
bark on a similar expedition, except the late Mr. Carda-
gan, who did not survive the fatigues he underwent, and
left no memoranda of his voyage to the Dead Sea. We
also thought that all Christendom united in the thought
of an expedition on this mysterious lake, and the interest
it might present to the future navigator.
"No sooner had we landed than our difficulties com-
menced, we requiring so many things of which we had
not even thought. All being prepared, we placed our
boats on carts constructed oa board the Supply, and we
set out for the Lake. On the road we had to climb se-
veral mountains, and cross formidable ravines. On more
than one occasion we had to lower our boats by moans of
ropes down the frightful precipices. But all our difficul-
ties were surmounted by the patience and address which
distinguish the true sailor; and on the Bth of April the
two boats floated on the picturesque and deep blue waves
of the Sea of Galilee, the American flag floating from the
top of their small masts.
" We found the navigation of the Jordan very difficult
and dangerous on account of the fearfully rapid currents.
The idea of the fall of the Jordan betwt en the Lake Ti-
berias and the Dead Sea maybe conceived by its crooked
bed, which, in a distance of 60 miles, serpentines 200
miles. In this distance the expedition was plunged into
no less than 27 dreadful rapids, not counting several
others of a less remarkable declivity. The difference in
the level of these two seas is 2,000 feet.

"For a few hundred yards from its mouth the watcr
of the Jordan is sweet. The waters of the Dead Sea are
without smell, but to the taste they are bitter, salt, and
disgusting.
" On entering, the boats encountered a gale of wind,
and so thick were the waters that the boats appeared to
strike against the hammers of the Titans rather than
the waves of a raging sea.
"The expedition continued its daily operations,
making topographical sketches, until its arrival at the
southern extremity of the sea, where a very astonishing
spectacle awaited it.

"On passing the mountain of Sodom (says Captain
Lynch), we observed to the S.E. a large column, in the
shape of a tunnel, composed of solid rock salt, and
covered by carbonate of calcium, a mine of crystalliza-
tion. Mr. Dale made a sketch of it, and the doctor and
I landed to obtain specimens.
" The expedition made the tour of the Dead Sea, and
returned to the point of its departure; the boats were in
the same condition as when we left New York, and all
the crew in good health.
"The following facts are not without interest.—
" The bottom of the northern part of the Dead Sea is
almost flat (a plain).
" The meridional lines at a short distance from the
shore vary but little in depth ; the greatest depth found
up to the date of this letter (May 3d) was 188 fathoms,
or 1,128 English feet. Near the shore the bottom is
' generally a saline incrustation, but the interme,iiate por-
tion is of soft mud, with several rectangular crystals—
most frequently cubes of pure salt. On one occasion we
obtained only crystals with the lead line.
"In the same proportion that the north part of the
Dead Sea is deep, so is the southern part shallow, to the
extent that for a quarter of its length the depth was
found to be but eighteen feet. Its southern bed presented
no crystallizations, but its shores are covered with in-
crustations of salt, and on landing the footmarks in an
hour's time were covered with crystallizations.