Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1847-12-23

mand of Lieut.. VIM. F. Lynch, would
shortly sail fromthat port, ''n the U. S.
store ship Supply, Cor the purpose of
making an exploration and survey of
the Dead Sea. The editor has since
received the following interesting COM
munica,ion relatWeao the expedition:
To the Editor Of the Herald:
In reference to the proposed survey
of the Dead Sea, several of the news
papers have asked "cui -bonoW
As the frs: public in1rmation was
given without my knowledge, through
your columns, | ask permission to avail
myself of the same medium to answer,
briefly. 20 the point Of abruptness, qnes-
tons at once so natural and SO reason
able.
Although most reluctant to parade
my insignificant name in print, take
this step without an ins1an;'s hesitation,
IN Justice to the enlightened statesman
whose mind in an instant grasped the
important questions at issue and tore
saw the credit to be acquired by his
country in their solution.
For upwards of four thousand years
the Dead Sea has laid in its deep and
wondrous chasm, whitening record of
ofthe visitation of Gods wrath upon
his sinful creatures. Itself once fer
tile vale, teeming with population and
redundant with the products ola favored
cline, it now lies inert and sluggish, a
mass Of dark and bitter waters, with no
living thing upon its shore, or above,
or beneath its surface. Receiving al
one extreme, the mighty volume Of a
swift and unfailIng river, and the nu-
merous torrents that plunge ln.o It
through the c'efts in its sides, it slow
ly rises and falls in its own solitary
bed, with no visible outlet for its trl5u-
:ary waters. It's lofty and frettec sides
riven by earthquakes here blanched
by the rain, there blackened by the
tempest, rise perpendicularly fifteen
hundred feet on one side, and two thou
sand feet on the other; while from the
summit the awe-s,ruck spectator be-
holds floating upon its surface huge
masses of bitumen, thrown up from Its
mysterious vortex. Mount Lebanon
is 5000 feet above the Mediterranean,
and $500 above the Dead Sea, which
is little more than one hundred miles
distant from it. The "Corral'' in the
Island of Madeira is wonderful, for it
is the bed of a crater nearly level with
the ocean; but here is sea, 40 miles
distant from another sea, and upwards
of thirteen hundred feet below it. The
unhappy Costigan, the only man who
has undertaken to circumnavigate this
sea, and who persisted in the attempt,
could, in one place, find no bottom,
and it was indicated by incessant oub-
bles and an agita,ed surface. Wheth-
er or not this be the crater Of sub
merged volcano, forming su6terrane-
Gus acqueduct with the ocean. who car
tell This unfathomable spot, whether
or not through an extinct volcano, in
connexion with the depression of sur
face and the height of contiguous
mountain, forms the most extraordina-
ny fault, or fssure, in the known world.
One great object of investigation VIII
be TO ascertain whether this sea and its
shores are Of volcanic or non volcanic
origin, and to refute the position Of in
6del philosophers with regard to its
formation. The calculation of this
subject is desideratum to science,
and would be most gratifying to the
whole Christian world. 1t is mys-
terry which has remained impenetrable
since the awful moment when the wa
tiers of that wondrous sea first rose a.
bove the smoudering ruins of the vale
of Slddim. The con6guration Of one
half of its shores, and its very extent,
are unknown. It's waters, Of petrify-
ing quality, and li.npid as mountain
stream, doubtless hold within their bo.
sons, and holding, Wll.reveal those RUNS,
upon the non-existence of which the
unbeliever states his incredulity.
Strabo, Diodorus, Pliny and Jose.
plus among ,he ancients-and Maun-
drell, Pococke, Able MARITIME, Cha
teaubriand, La MARITIME, Stephens and
Robinson, among the moderns, all diff
fer as to the extent, and many Of the
pecuiarities of this sea. Considerable
streams ale said to empty INTO it, the
very names of which are unknown
Some have heard the gambolings of
fish Vi on its surface, while others deny
that any animate thing whatever can
exist within its dense and bitter waters.
Fruits, luscious to the eye, bur Of nau-
seous taste, and crumbling in the grasp,
are said to be found upon its shores.
Many travellers deny the existence of
| ord Cbotoo,,b.