Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1854-10-21

a;nn;na 10 d;sannear The rider without quitting his
Bride tries to dsengage his feet from the strrups but
sinks deeper in the attempt The unfortunate horse,
whilst struggling conyulsiyely to disengage himself from
the auicksand, plunges lower and lower Our infantry
hasten to the relief of Mohammed. With daring peril
nacity they cling to the and to the morse
ears at the risk Of being swallowed up with him In the
| gaping abyss and, by effort almost superbuman,
drag him from his tomb Of sand when he has already
sunk up the nostrls. BY the interference OF Proy
dence all is saved. Mobammed caresses his charger,
who in moment is covered with foam and perspiration
SO great has been his terror. Then he leaps into the
saddle again. but henceforh picks his steps more care
fully and seeks the frmest ground
The following description Of an unusual phenomenon
witnessed while the travellers passing through the
valley of Zoar at the southwestern extremity OF the
Dead Sea- will interest every reader
"During our march through the Ouad-ez Zouera, and
when we had attained point above the level of the Dead
Sea sufficiently elevated were sgnally fortunate In
being present at spectacle few men can hope to witness
twice in their lives, and which demands passing com
men We may almost say that we saw the catastrophe
of the Pentspols and still under the strong impress
sion of the that gazed on with the most intense
excitement As we laboriousy pursuing our way
between the Diebel Esdoum Mountain of Sodom and the
sea, Storm that had down from the mountains Of
Canaan, burst exactly the Asphatlc Lake. at ABOUT
the meridian of Mesada and Of the peninsula Of Ell
Dark gray clouds had united the sea and the sk
ing darkness all the northern part OF this deep
valley Suddenly splendid rainbow, OF dazzling bright
ness and richly varegaed color, appeared TO form 81
gantc archway thrown by the hand of the Almighty be-
tween the two opposite shores OF the Dead sea- Inc
reader NAV fancy how much we moved by the mag
ncence of this natural phenomenon built was nothing
with what reserved for us towards the end
of the day., When we began ascending the nrst
activities of the Ouad-ez Zouera, large black clouds
driven by the westerly wind passing above our heads
and over Debe Esdoum, rushed down upon the Dead
Sea the direction Of the Rh6rSaheh then rising again
along the flank the mountain Of Moab soon cleared the
view and allowed us contemplate the expanse of water
resembling vast motonless sheet OF molten lead by
degrees the storm hurried towards the east the west
sky became again pure and radiant then Tor mo-
ment the setting darted above the mountains OF Ca
naan fiery rays which seemed almost to cover the sum-
mits Of the land of Moab with the flames of an enormous
conhagraon while the bases Of these imposing noun
tains remained as black as ink. Above, was the dark
lowering sky; below the sea- like metallic sheet of dull
leaden gray Ground u.s. the silence of the desert and
utter desolaton aar off, in the west, bright cloud,
less SKY, shining over blessed land, whist we seemed
to be flying from a country condemned forever Ii is
impossible describe this scene, which, to be fully I'M
derstood and felt, must have been witnessed Our Be-
douins themselves though accustomed to the grandest
operations of Nature participated in the sensations by
which we were completely mastered See sir see ex-
claimed they to me, Allah Is shifting Sodom! And they
right The tremendous spectacle which was WIT
messed by Lot from nearly the same spot wnere We were
now standing must have borne striking resemblance
to the magnificent repetition with which we had just
been favored by the same presiding Providence"
On his second excursion from Jerusalem to the river
Jordan the author gives beautiful description Of that
famed stream
aNothing" says he can be more pleasing than this
river side planted with magnificent trees among which
recognise the poplar, with blossoms OF hne purple
color bursting from kind of husk cup The tall trees
close to the edge of the water whilst the margin
forms lovely meadow covered with flowers and planted
with willows The banks are perpendicular and rise
two three yards above the water The river is very
full and the stream, it rolls along, yellow and dirty
Some distance below the mouth of the JORDAN there is
sla in fba lak n
from the western Shore from which it is separated by
water shallow that the author and his party on horse
back able to wade through it. This feat gives him
an opportunity of conradctng in positive terms
the generally received opinion that the density of the
Dead Sea 10 great to render 1t mpos
sible animals to wade through them without losing
their balance and falling He asserts that this Is fable
| resting no foundation whatever.
We must treat readers to another extract from this
most interesting narrative After emerging from the
Quad Zouera the travellers reach arid plain covered
with heaps of pebbles, which, the author says seem to
have been thrown together by some volcanic process
son this plain, which scarcely exhibits blade Of
grass perceive from my saddle kind of flower having
some resemblance to large dried Easter daisy pdque-
ree j it is quite open, well displayed upon the soil, and
looks if 1t alive On alighng to examine it more
closely distinguish plant of the radated family but
without leaves petals in word the plant is quite
dead how long had remained in this state it is impos
sble to guess 1t retains kind Of fantastic existence
gather few SAMPLES which place in my holsters,
these having for long time ceased to be the receptacle
of firearms, and being daily crammed with stones and
plants Another word respecting this extraordinary
plant. In the evening, when happened to empty my
holsters, quite surprised to find the dead flowers
closed up, and dry and hard if they were made of
wood. then recognised small flower with long tap
root which had alive, but had already pick
ed up at the place where we halted to breakfast
descent to AynDedy. What prevented me from ascer-
tanning this identity at first sight that one sample
gathered in state of moisture while the other was
picked up perfectly dry 1t them quite clear that
this gneous and exceedingly tough vegetable possessed
peculiar properties which developed themselves hygro
macay with the corresponding changes of the soil and
atmosphere. Immediately tried the experiment, and
discovered that the Ka Maryam, the Rose Of Jericho
of the pilgrims 1ndstalice herichuntca celebrated
for the faculty, not to be compared to my re-
cent discovery Kaff-Maryam, placed in water, takes
hour and half before it is entirely open whilst in
the case Of my little flower watched il vsbly expand
ing and, without exaggeraton the change was complete
in less than three minutes then recoected the he
blazoned escutcheons, dating from the time Of
the Crusades and became convinced that had disco
rered the real Rose Of Jericho long lost sight Of after
the fall Of the Latin kingdom Of Jerusalem, and replaced
/ by the Andstaiico, Kaff Maryam, which Mussuman
tradition accepted by Christians pointed out to the piey
of the early pilgrims who inquired from the inhabitants
Of the country what the plant Of the plain Of Jer
eho that died and to life again something
of Ernisml it was dipped in water. I'm
der any circumstances this singular hygromatic vege
table constitutes entirely genus for botansts
judging by what know Of it, that is to say by its ske
Teton My friend the Able Mckon has undertaken to