Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1871-10-18
Che family Girtle.


III ONeAh -'Nt'
This is strange name for a sea. But
if you could only stand on the shore o.
this sea and LOOK at It, you would see that
it was We proper name for It. There
are two things about 1t which show we'll u
deserves this name. One Of these is the
want of life around t the other Is the
want Of life loitbn 1t.
The Dead Sea is situated in the south
ern part of the Holy Land. 1t is into
this sea that the river Jordan flows, and
empues all its water. THIS name Is not
used IL the Bible, but what we now call
the Dead Sea Is spoken Of tierc as the
Salt Sea The water Of this sea is very
clear. When we came from the river
Jordan, opposite Jericho, to the pcohIy
beach Of this sea, | was surprised % tud
how beautifully clear its water vs. \ We
walked along the shore, We could soc any
thing at the bottom Of the water, 10
very great distance from where We stood
The Dead Sea is quite a small body oil
water, compared to the ocean and other
collections Of water that we are accu~tom-
ed TO speak Of as seas II is not more
than forty or fifty miles long, aud about
el1nL OF Ten ullic5 WHO. ~ II o".s '''.-'
fifty or Sixty miles distant from the Nedl-
terranean Sea and yet the water Iu the
Dead Sea Is thirteen hundred feet below
the level of the Mediterranean. BIJ now
II is time 20 speak of the two reasons
for calling this the Dead Sea one of thesa
reasons. / said, was the want ut lite around
this sea. Every thing around il desc
late and dreary. There i d range Of
mountains on the eastern side 0f this sea,
which are spoken of IN Jhe Bible u the
Mountains of Moab And there i an-
other on the western side, in tha, part of
the country winch Is spoken OF IN tae , 4
BILE as the wilderness OF Iudea- These
mountains SHUT it in all around And
there Is nothing growing Ord these noun
tuls. No trees, Or -hr D Or grass appear
anywhere. a, YOU stand ou tle shore of
tni, sea. and 100. around, every thing IS
as gloomy and barren is can be. The arr,
too, that hangs over the So IS tale> and
heavy, and tins heps u mH,e i .ooN
more gloomy still. Il seems a- Il nothing
was llyin- aud nothing growing all around
TN. sheet OF water. La looks Iae Ut.
home OF death Life, in every form. seems
rs have been driven away, and tine Deqs
/ SEA Is just the most proper name thai
could have been given to It. 1t Is we.
called the De1i sea, because death seems
+ IN rs..,n al, around IT,
The other reason why this name is giver
TO it Is because of the want Of lite within
II. Death II there, too IS well as AL
around H. You know that the water b
the ocean Is iuli of life From the grca'
wn lies which play about ia its depths
Gown to the tiny little creatures that W,
can not see without "a IN cruscopc all HAY,
their home there. Aud 50 10 IS wsta our
lakes. and ivers, and pouiS. They arr
all filed with great variety Of creature
that God has made to spend their i've
there If YOU take a single drop or water
from the pond by the roadside, coverc
with green scum, and look n II throus'
u microscope, 1t looks ike q world f :
living things
But 1t is very different with t1e waite
IN the Dead Sea. No living thing d eve
found in TINS water 1t is SO salt aud o.'
ter that nothing can hive no ~ ihere ar
tish living ia tine river Jordan, aad as a.
water IS 70 led into this sea. Of course, tn
fish are carried with il. But the waite
sills them, and their dea bodler- are see
floating on the surface.
There Is 50 much sat n the water
this sea that 1t Is said if you throw ga
INTO 1t, it won't dissolve And you kuo
that $ alt water Is heavier than fresh ";
ter And the heavier water Is the easae
:, 1t is for things to float in it. This Is Il
: reason why it is 50 much easier to s"i
j. a the salt water OF the ocean than IN Il
Il fresh water OF our lakes and rivers Is,
C the water Of the Dea Sea Is 50 very sa
t that it is hard to make things s.nk lu
Z, An egg. that would sink to the bottom
: fresh water, will float on the surtac"
this water like a cork. Persons VINO don
ie snow how TO swim, when they 90 INTO th
Is water to battle, find themselves floating
'' the top Of 1t, just as II they had lite-pl