Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1813-04-19

seotHCu 70 is"' ~ r. . e. st.ll.,,,.;l
Solitary abysses cannot spera nOuris ,s
ment 70 any living creature; never did
n..se, ent its waves its shores are with
out h;rds, without trees, without serdure;
and ;ts waters excessively bitter, and SO
heavy, that the most lnpetuous winds
can soarcely rufle their surface.
VINES you travel in Judea, the heart
!. >, FRS, filled with profound disgust
but when, passing from solitude TO soh-
tude, boundless space opens before yen,
this disgust wears off BY degrees aid
va, feel a secret awe, which, 50 tar from
denressinv the soul, imparts life, and e.
leyates the genius. Extraordinary ap-
nearances every where proclaim land
,eeming with miracles; the burning sun,
the towering eagle, the barren flg-tree,
ALI the poetry, all the pictures OF scrip
iure are here. Every name commeno-
rates a mystery; every grot proclalms
rho future, every hill re.echoes the &C.
cent; of a prophet. God himself has
spoken in these regions: dried up rivers,
riven rocks, half open sepulchrcs attest
the prodigy the desert still appears
mute with terror, and you would ina
zine, that it had never presumed TO III
terrupt the silence since it heard the aw'
full voice of the Eternal.
We descended from the ridge of the
mountain, in order to pass the night on
the banks of the Dead Sea, and after.
wards proceed along the Jordan. On
entering the valley, our little company
drew closer together; our Bethlehem.
ties repared their pieces and marched
cautiously before. We found, as we adj
vanced, some Arabs Of the desert, who
resort TO the lake for salt, and make war
without mercy on the traveller. The
manners of the Bedouins begin to be
corrupted by too frequent communities
ton with the Turks and Europeans
They now prostitute their wives and
daughters, and murder the traveller
whom they XSre formerly content to
rob.
We marched in this manner for two
hours, with pistols i'll our hands, as in
an enemy's country. We followed the
assures formed between the sand hills,
in mud baked by the rays OF the sun.
A crust of salt covered the surface, and
resembled a snowy plain, from which
few stunted shrubs reared their heads.
We arrived, all at once, at the lake; l
saw all at once, because / thought we
were ret at a considerable distance from
it, No murmur, no cooling breeze an.
nounced the approach to its Margin
The strand, bestrewed with stones, was
hot; the waters of the lake were mo.
tisnless, and absolutely dead along the
shore.
1t was quite DARK. The first thing /
did on alighting, was to walk into the
lake up to my knees, and to taste the
water. found it impossible to keep 1t
in my mouth. 1t far exceeds that OF the
sea in sadness, and produces upon the
lips the effect Of a strong solution Of
alum. Before my boots were complete
Iy dry, they were covered with salt; our
clothes, our hats, our hands, were, in
less than three hours, impregnated with
this mineral. Galen, as early as his
time, remarked these effects, and Po-
cooke confirms their existence.
The moon, rising at two hours in the
morning, brought with her strong
breeze, which, without cooling the air,
produced slight undulation, on the bo-
som of the lake. The waves, charged
with salt, soon subsidized by their own
weight, and scarcely broke against the
shore. A dismal sound proceeded from
this lake of death, like the stiacd cla-
mors of the people engulphed in its wa.
tiers.
The dawn appeared on the opposite
mountains of Arabia. The Dead Sea,
and the valley ofthe Jordan, glowed with
an admirable tint; but this rich appear.
ance served only to heighten the desola.
ton of the scene.
The celebrated lake which occupies
the settle of Sod az and Gomo-rah, is
called in Scripture. toe Dead or Salt Sea;
by the Greeks and Lati!s: Asph altitcs;
Almotanah & Bahor 10th by the Ar4bs;
and Bia Deguisi, by the Turks. l can
cot coincide IL opinion with those who
suppose the Dead Sea to be the crater Of
a volcano. | have seen Vesuvius, Sol.
fatara, Monte Nuoyo, in the lake Of Flu.
sino, the peak Of the Azores, the Name
llf, opposite to Carthage, the extinguisk-
ed volcanoes of Auvergne, and remark
ed in all OF them the same characters,
hat is to Say, mountains ex.avated in the
form of iunel, lava, and ashes, which
exhibited incontes,ible proofs of the a
gency OF FIRE. The Dead Sea, on the
contrary, is lake of great length, curry.
ed Ike bow, placed between ranges |
Of mountains, which have no mutual CO.
herence in form, no homogencousness !
of soil. They do net meet at the two