Richmond palladium., 1849-05-02
From the Naiionai Intellige encer.
The Pillar Of Slle..LOt'S Wife.


|, was very lately mentioned in this pa
per that there might be seen, in the libra
rv OF Congress, specimen of rock salt
in the Dead Sea. fancifully called Lots
Wife For an account Of this curiosity.
and objects of interest in Palestine and
the remote East, we are indebted TO a
work about to be published by Carey &
Hart, of Philadelphia, entitled, "A Nara
tire Of the late Expedition Ia tie Dead
Sea, from a Diary by one Of the Party.
Edited by Edward p. Montague" We
quote from the Diary the following des-
cripfion:
"WEDNEsDAY. April &c. 1843.-T'his
morning we were examining the hills OF
Usdon, and seeking the ever memorable
Pillar Of Salt which marks the judg
ment Of God upon Lots wife. On pull
ing round the shores Of the sea, we saw
an immense column. rounded and turret-
shaped. facing toward 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
esteemed commander and DR.. Anderson
obtained specimens from it, and Mr.. Dale
took sketch Of It. Our boats crew Ian
ded also, and their curiosity was gratiiied
by their gathering specimens. some from
its summit and others from its base. 1t
was measured and found to be 60 feet in
height, and 10 in circumference. We
cannot suppose that Lots wife was per-
son so large that her dimensions equalled
those Of this column. 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 what
ever may be its size. they will not proba-
bly, credit that this is the pillar. Their
preconceived Notions having much to do
with the matter, they would have every
one think that she was at once transform
ed into a column of very e-grained
beautifully rhite salt, about five feet or
few inches more in height. and in circum-
ference that of common sized woman of
the nineteenth century. But be that as it
may. no two minds have perhaps. formed
exactly the same opinion on this matter
who visited this spot But here we are,
around this immense column, and we
find it is really of solid rock salt, one mass
of crystalZation.
II is in the vicinity which is pointed out
in the Bible in relation to the matter in
question, and it appears to be the only one
OF its kind here. And the Arabs OF the
district, to whom this pillar is pointed out.
declare it to be Lots wife. the identca!
pillar Of salt to which the Bible has refer
ence: the tradition having been handed
down from each generation to their chill
dren. as the Americans will hand down to
succeeding generations the tradition Of
Bunker $ Hill Monument, in Boston. My
own opinion Of the matter is, that Lots
wife having fingered behind. in disobedi-
ence TO the express command of God
given in order 10 ensure her safety that
while SO lingering she became overwhelm-
ed in the descending fluid. and formed
the model or foundation Of this eXtraor-
dinary column. If it has been produced
by common, by natural causes. it is but
right TO suppose tina: others might be found
Of similar description. One is scarce
ly able to abandon the idea that it stands
here as a lasting memorial Of Gods pun
ishing a most deliberate act Of disobedi-
cnce, committed at 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 in America. when we
shall have the good fortune to arrive there
dllNA Ndih VIII tIctil OH tiic SuDJtCt Ills
end Of the sea is very shallow. and its wa
ters 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 ofSalt.' and return to our boats
richly laden with specimens from il. We
cross the sea, and obtain more soundings
on our way. We had nearly reached the
opposite side when new danger assai!ed
us. We had braved all the dangers on 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 visits US. The
fearful scorching sirocco RACES around, the
the threatening suffocaton 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 enculped
below our boats; but we fearlesslv pull
away, until, coming to place called
"Meserah.' we land amidst the raging
heat and there encamp for the night
American AristOcracy.
The following il what ]. G. SAKE saws Of our