Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1848-01-21


the gentlemen south. made a way thro'
the thicket with difficulty, till found a
little cave which the current did not en-
ter, and over which hung a sycamore,
whose lower branches were washed by the
ripple which the current sent in as it
passed. On these branches the bather
might stand or sit without touching the
mud, which lay soft and deep below
The limestone precipice and wooden pro-
montory opposite made the river particu-
larly beautiful here; and sorry [ was to
leave it at last.
1t is useless to attempt to make out
where the baptism of Jesus took place, or
where his disci pies and John administered
the rte. And on the spot one has no
pressing wish to know. The whole of the
river is so sacred and so sweet, that it is
enough to have saluted it in any part of
its course.
One thing more we did we remember
ed friends far away, and carried away
some water for them, having provided tin
cases for the purpose. The Queens chill
dren are baptized in Jordan water, and |
brought away q case full for the baptism
of the child of friend who lives further
away from the Jordan than our Queen
does. This business done, we were sum-
moned to horse, and rode away towards
the Dead Sea.
The belt Of woodland soon turned away
eastwards. and we found ourselves ex-
posed to extreme heat, on a desolate plain
crusted with salt and cracked with the
drought. There had been a closeness and
murkIness in the air, all the morning,
which was very oppressive: and now il
was, at our usual slow pace, almost intol-
cradle. l pat my horse to fast canter,
and crossed the plain as quickly as posi-
bic, finding this pace u relief to my horse
as we'll as myself. The drift on the beach
of the sea looked dreary enough; ridges
OF broken canes and willow twigs washed
up and lying among the salt and little un-
wholesome swamps Of the shore but the
waters looked bright and clear, and so
tempting that our horses put their noses
down repeatedly, always turning away a
gain in disgust. tasted the water = a.
bout two drops and ] almost thought |
should never get the taste out of my
mouth again. And this is the water poor
Costigan's coffee was made Of!
Costigan was young Irishman, whose
mind was possessed with the idea of ex-
ploring the Dead Sea, and giving 10 the
world the benefit of his discoveries. It
would have been useful service and he
had zeal and devotedncss enough for it.
But he wanted either knowledge or pru,
dence; and he lost his life in the advent
urc, without having left US any additional
information whatever. He had a small
boat carried overland by camets; and in
this he set forth, in an open boat, in the
month Of July } with only one attendant,
a Maltese servant. They reached the
southern end Of the lake - not without
hardship and difficulty; but the fatal
struggle was in getting back again. The
wind did not favor them, and once blew
such squalI that they had TO tighten the
boat, when the servant stupidity threw O.
verboard the only cask Of fresh water
they had They were now compelled TO
row for their lives, to reach the Jordan,
before they persisted with thirst; but the sun
scorched them from cloudless SKY, and the
air was like a furnace. When Costigan could
row no longer. his servant made some coffee
from the water OF the lake, and then they lay
down in the boat to die. But the man once
more reused himself, and by many efforts
brought the boat to the head of the lake They
lay helpless for whole day, on the burning
shore, unable TO do more than throw the salt
water over each other, from time to time. The
next morning the servant crawled away, IN
hopes Of reaching Rikbah, which he did with
extreme difficulty. He sent Costigan's horse
down to the shore, with a supply OF water
He was alive, and was carried TO Jerusalem
in the GOODNESS Of the night. He was taken
care Of in the Latin convent there; but he
died in two days. Not a note relating to his
enterprise was ever found; and during his i'll
ness he never spoke on the subject Any
knowledge that he might gained has persisted
with him; and no reliable information could
be obtained from his servant. Costigan' S