The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1849-05-19
The Pillar of Salt-Lot's Wife.

! for II - customary with all the mountain
tribes so to treat their female prisoners.
The Pillar of Salt-Lot's Wife.
| 1t was lately mentioned in this paper that
there might he seen in the Library of Con-
gress specimen of rock salt taken from a
pillar of salt in the Dead Sea, fancfuly
called Lots Wife. For an account of this
curiosity, and other objects of interest in
Palestine and the remote East, we are III
debted to work about to he published by
Carey s. Hart, of Philadelphia, entitled "a
Narrative of the late Expedition TO The Dead
Sea, FROM Diary by one Of The Partly
Edited by EDWARD 2. MONTAGUE" We
quote from the Diary the following descrip-
tom Nat. Ent'r.
| "WEDNESDAY, April 90, 1s48.--This
morning we are examining the hills of Us
dom, and seeking with good deal Of curl
osity the ever-famous Pillar of Salt which
marks the Judgment of God upon LOTS wife
On pulling round the shores of the sea we
saw an immense column, rounded and tur-
ret-shaptd, facing towards the south-east-
This. we were told by our Arabs, was the
Pillar of Salt in which Lots wife was en-
cased at the overthrow of Sodom. With
some difficulty we landed here, and our es-
tanned specimens from it, and Mr.. Dale took
fl sketch of it. Our boats crew-ianded al
so, and their curiosity was gratifed by their
gathering specimens, some from its summit,
and others from its base. 1t was measured,
and found to be sixty feet in height, and forty
feet in circumference. We cannot suppose
that Lots wife was person so large that
her dimensions equalled those of this col
umn. Many think that the statue Of Lots
wife was equal to the pillar OF salt which
the Bible speaks of. Let that pillar be
where it may, and whatever be its size, they
will not probably credit that this is the pill
lar. Their preconceiyed notions having
much to do with the matter, they would
have every body think that she was at once
transformed into column of very fine
grained beautifully achite salt, about five
feet or few inches more in height, and in
circumference that of conmon-siZed per-
son Of the nineteenth century. BE that as
it may, no two minds have, PERHAPS, formed
exactly the same opinion on this matter who
have not visited this spot. But here we
are, around this immense column, and we
find that it is really of solid rock salt, one
mass of crystalization. 1t is in the vicinity
which is pointed out in the Bible in relation
to The matter IN question, md II appears to
he the only one of IFS kind here. and the
Arabs of the district to whom this pillar is
pointed out declare it to be that of Lots
wife, the Identical pillar of salt to which the
Bible has reference the tradition having
been handed down from each succeeding
generation TO their children, as the Ameri-
cans will hand down to succeeding genera
tons the tradition of Bunker's Hill Monu-
tnenf, in Boston. My own opinion of the
matter is, that Lots wife having fingered
behind in disobediencc to the express COM
mand of God-given in order to ensure her
satety-that while. so lingering she became
overw hel,ned in the desc ending fluid, and
! formed the model or foundation of this ex-
traordInary column. If it has been pro-
duced by common, by natural causes, it is
but right to suppose that others might be
found Of a similar description. One is
scarcely able to abandon the idea that it
stands here As a lasting memorial Of Gods
furnishing most deliberate act of dsobe-
dience. committed at a time when he was
about TO show distinguishing regard for the
very person. We carefully brought away
our specimens, intending to show them to
our friends III America, when we shall have
The good fortune to arrive there and talk
with them on the subject This end of the
sea is very shallow, and its waters more
dense, more salt than when they are of
greater depth; here it is from one to five
feet in depth. We now leave this Pillar
of Salt aud return to our boats richly laden
with specimens from it. We cross the sea,
and obtain sounding OH our way. We had
nearly reached the opposite side when a
new danger assailed us We had braved
all the dangers of the Jordan, in its stream
and on its banks, and the peculiar storms
on the Dead Sea, and now new specimen
of the dangers to which man is subject Wis
its us. The fearful scorchng sirocco RACES
around, threatening us with suffocation and
blindness. and causing almost insupportable
thirst. The fiery atmosphere seems as
though it would doom us to the very fate of
the unfortunate citizens who now lie en-
gulphed below our boats; but we fearlessly
pull away until, coming 10 a place called
8 Meserah,' we land amidst the raging heat
Of the wind, and there encamp for the
night"
Col. HASKELL AND JoHN Z. HALE.-A
gentleman who was in Washington last
summer relates the following anecdote:
Col. Haskell, with two or three others,
was standing in front of the United States
Hotel, when Virginan accosted them,
stating that be had couple of negroes to