El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-12-17

SE6Q Will STOW lli6 SASdSCI Pd4l VI NlAO
year. 1t has two or three different
sources One is near Dan and higher
up is another at Banias, near the spot
where Christ said:
Thou art Peter, and upon this rock
will l build my church, and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it
It is from Banias that the Jordan
has its chief start. 1t comes from a
cave to the limestone rock which is
now choked up with stones, but out OF
which the water flows in a great vol
ume, cold, sweet and pure There are
trees about the cave and the stream
runs through a beautiful park down to
Lake Huleh, which is only seven foot
above the sea. The spring Of Banlas
has always been noted for its sweet
ness and purity. It is said the waters
and cave were formerly dedicated TO
the god Pan, and that from this the
Banias, or Panias, came Greek tablets
have been found nearby, and ruined
temples and columns show that the
place was once the site of a consider
able city. It has now only mud VII
lage of about so huts.
Going down TO Lake Huleh, we see a
marshy catchment basin into which
other streams run and from which the
Jordan flows out. There is little activ-
ity about the lake. few Bedouins
live near it and their only business
seems to be making mats of the papy-
rus weeds which grow on the shores.
These are the waters of Merom men
toned in Joshua.
A little forther down is the main
crossing to Damascus. The place is
known as the Bridge of Jacobs Daugh-
ters and the stream is here on the lev
el of the sea. It drops $50 feet in the
next nine miles. having a continuous
series of cascades from there almost to
the Sea OF Galilee-
The Seas of Life and Death.
The remainder of the Jordan's course
runs between the seas of life and death.
1 refer to the Sea of Galilee, at the
north, and the Dead Sea, at the south.
The first is sweet, full of fish and sur
rounded by verdure The other is
saltier than any other water on earth
and so bitter and poisonous that no
living thing can exist within it The
distance between these two seas in a
straight line north and south is about
SIS miles, and the slope from one to the
7 other is almost II feet TO the mile, or
over 500 feet. Connecting them is this
great trough of the Jordan, from one to
16 miles wide. Through 1t the sacred
river runs. 1t winds about like a cork
! screw, making so many turnings that it
covers a course more than 200 miles in
1 its so miles distance. It goes with
great force, has 81 cascades, and there
are numerous falls where electric plants
might be put in. The land on each side
might be turned to rich farms if il
could only have water, and it may be
that the good fairy Of electricity will
some time bring the dead earth to life
The Vegetation.
| AS TO the vegetation, there are some
farms in the upper part of its course
and the sultan has a sugar plantation
half way between Galilee and the Dead
| Sea. where he works soldiers as labor
ers. There are. small fields of grain, in
Guiding millet, wheat and barley here
and there, and / am told that rice and
/ indigo can be grown.
Down near the Dead Sea there is con-
| siderable cultivation on the Jericho
/ plain. The land is irrigated by a stream
| from the mountains of Judea and by
| the springs of Elisha. It is cut up into
| small patches which are covered with
! orange groves. almond orchards and
! vineyards Much of the fruit goes VI
| to Jerusalem. There are also fields OF
| egg plants, tomatoes and melons, and
| dates could undoubtedly be grown. All
| the way from here to old Jericho, q
distance of three or more miles, are or
chards, vineyards and gardens. They
are fenced with thorn bushes, the
thorns on which are great hooks turn
ing inward. They are said to be the
same thorns as those of which the
crown of our Savior was made.
How the Jordan Looks.
4 The Jordan is not navigable. 1t has
no harbors, no boats and no cities OF
villages of any account along its whole
/, course. 1t has numerous fords, but NJ
bridges of any size. There is a wooder
| bridge about six miles above the Dead
| Sea. 1t is a toll bridge, with ford:
| above and below it. The people use the
! bridge only when the river is high. Al
other times the caravans save the toll
| by passing over the fords.
On its course from Galilee to The
Dead Sea the river narrows and widens
Now it is swift, black, sullen cur
rent flowing between ugly mud bank:
covered with refuse, now it comes Close
| to the mountains which border the val
| ley on either side, and down here at the
Dead Sea it reaches a width of 500 feet
being so shallow that you could almos
wade across it,
| The water catches the denuadations OF
the mountains. 1t changes in color from
| season to season, and in the spring i
spreads out in floods over the valley. 1
is said that the partings of the water il
| order that the Israelites might pas
| over was when the river was at it:
highest. Just now it is low and almos
| clear.
Bapfismal Water.
| It is not a sweet water at this poin
! in it's course, for it has gathered TIL
/ salts and other minerals from the dry
| thirsty country, and it is so full Of bat
matter that those who carry it home TO
baptisms have to boil and filter it t
| keep it from smelling. 1 have severa
i canteens which 1 filled myself from thu
i stream, or rather with the water which
brought here in wine bottles from thu
/ Jordan and had boiled and filtered be
4 fore it was put into the cans. If l eve
have a grandchild it shall be baptized
with this water. The canteens / bough
at the Jordan hotel here at Jericho
They are kept on hand to be sold t
tourists and pilgrims and vast mum
Der of them are carried away ever.
| year
| Crossing the Jordan.
But let US visit the river and cross
TO the land where the Moabites live. I
is only a few miles from Jericho, an