Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1847-12-15

sinful creatures. Itself once a fertile
vale, teeming with population and re,
dundant with the products Of favored
cline, it.not lies inert and sluggish, a
mass of.dark and bitter waters, with nc
living thing upon its shore, or above, OF
beneath its surface. Receiving at one
extreme, the mighty volume Of swifl
and untailing river, and the numerous
torrents tla, plunge into il through the
clells in its sides, it slowly rises and falls
in its own solitary bed, with no visible
outlet for its tributary waters. It's lofty
and fret,ed sides riven by earthquakes;
here blanchcd by the esrain, there blacks
encd by the tempest,-ris perpendichS
larly fifteen hundred feet on one side,
and two thousand feet on the other;
while from the summit the awc-struck
spectator beholds floating upon its sur
face huge masses, of bitumen, thrown up
from lis mysterious vortex. Mount
Lebanon is 5000 feet above the Mcdi-
terranean, and 10000 feet above the
Dead STA, which is little more than Ole
hundred miles distant from it. Tho
Corral" in the Island Of Madeira is
wonderful, for il is the bed Of crater
nearly level with tho ocean; bnt here is
d sea, forty miles distant from another
sea, and upwards ofthirteen hundred feet
below it. The unhappy Costigan, the
only man who has undertaken 10 cir
cuninavigate this sea, and who perishcd
in the attempt, could in one place, find
no bottom. and it was indicated by in
cessitnt bubbles ana an agitatcd surface.
Whether OF not this be The craterof
submerged volcano, forming a sublcr-
raneous aqueduct with the OCEAN, who
can tell2 This unfa,.omable spot
whether or not TIN ough an extinct volca-
|iiosin connexion with the depression of
|snTfaee and the ,.heightsof contiguous
moantaiia, forms the most eSIaerdinary y
fault OF issufe. in die be known world. slf
0ne great oEj off siiagasfi gait onswilE
Ibe ia o3ascsrIaia l|s Il lldsssea and ;ssI
shores are a on olcanit'
efigit II ll ositien Of 81
de a
=tfsis
fgct is deratpm to science, and
odsd be smpst gratifying 10 the whole
HChrisiian world. 50 (
Its a asmysserY which has remained
impenetraLle since the awful moment
when the waters Of that wondrous sea
first rose above iie, ,smouldering ruins Of
the vale of fSiddim. Tie conGsuration
Of one half of its shores, and its very
extent, are unknown. lis waters, of
peirifying quality, and limpid as noun
tain stream, doubtless hold within lhei,
bosom; and holding, will reveal those
ruins, upon the non existence Of which
the unbeicver states his incredulily.
Strabo, Diodoros, PiIny and Joscphus
among the ancients--and MaunJrcll,
Pocock, Able MARITIME, Chaleaubriand,
La MARITIME, Stephens and Robinson,
among the modcrns, all differ as 10 the
extent, and many Of the peculialties of
this sea. Considerable streams are said
to empty into it, the very names Of
which are unknown. Some have heard
the gambolings of fish upon its surface,
while others deny that any animated
thing whatever can exist within its dense
and bitter waters. Fruits, luscious to
the eye, but Of nauscous taste, and
crumbling in the grasp, are said to be
found npon lis shores. Many travellers
deny the existence Of all vegetation, and
Chateaubriand asserts that he found
branches Of the tamarind trees slrewn
upon the beach. lis soulharn coast is
said to consist o. masses of solid sail;
while, as far the eye can reach from
its northern extreme, it beholds only the
washed and barren hills of Judea on
one side, and those of Arabia Petrca on
the othcr.-All is vague, uncertain and
mysterious.
Are the questions answered ?.."Or,
shall a small pccuniary consideration
withhold a county such as this, from
such an undertaking?
admit that it is not summers cx>
cursion, and that British officers are said
to have twice failed in a like attempt.
Should that circumstance deter : ven-
ture to say, that within the broad pcr>
phery Of this land, which. cradled be-
tween oceans, stretches rom The frigld
zone to the tropics, there is not one
native Dorn or true hearted adopted cii-
zen who will answer in the affirmative.
We owe something to the scientific and
the Christian world, and while extending
the blessings of civil liberty in the south
and west, may we'll afford to foster SCI
ence and strengthen the bulwarks Of
Christianity in the east.
w. T. LYNCH, u. S. N.
We shall look forward to the result Of
tbie nynndition with no liiiio intnrnet