'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎404] (483/905)

404
LEVEL OF THE DEAD SEA.
[CHAP. XVIl.
risk, the acacia, the wild cotton plant, 1 and several shrubs in
addition to the 'osher, which attains a considerable size, 2 and
is probably the same tree as that which is described by Jose-
phus as bearing the apples of Sodom. Its fruit hangs in
clusters of three or four together, and is fair to the eye, but
on being pressed it explodes and leaves in the hand only
shreds and fibres. 3
Supposed The shores of the Dead Sea are not in any way pestiferous,
Seld Sea. 6 nor are they without inhabitants, being still partially occu
pied towards Jericho and about Ainfidy, as well as in the
southern Ghor; in all of which places there is a fertile soil
and abundant vegetation. There are birds also, which, con
trary to the received opinion, are seen flying over the sea ; 4 and
in former times, according to Edrisi, boats appear to have been
in use to transport fruit and vegetables from side to side of lake
Za'ra. This, he adds, was also called the lake of Sodom and
Gomorrah, from the cities of the people of Lot, which, having
been submerged by the will of God, their sites are now oc
cupied by the fetid waters of the Dead Sea. By another
writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. it is stated that fire destroyed the obstinate Tha-
mudites for not listening to the warnings of a messenger sent
from heaven ; 5 whilst others say that bituminous flames de
stroyed the rebellious sons of the giant Ad, 6 or Nimrud. But
whatever variety there may be in opinion as to the cause,
almost all writers, whether sacred or profane, agree in at
tributing the catastrophe to the guilt of the inhabitants.
Like many other bodies of salt water, it is without any out
let, and it is remarkable from being about 1446 feet below
the Red Sea. 7 The relative heights of the basin of the Jordan
and Red Sea make it impossible that the waters of the former
1 Travels of Irby and Mangles, pp. 354, 355.
8 Twelve or fifteen feet high, witH a trunk of two or more feet in diameter.
Irby and Mangles, p. 450.
3 This tree appears to be the Asclepias gigantea. Biblical Researches, &c.,
pp. 235, 236. 4 Ibid., pp. 219, 220.
5 Arabic MS. in the British Museum, fol. 7357. « Ibid.
7 The difference of level between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, as
ascertained by Lieutenant Symonds, Royal Engineers, is 1407 feet: and accord
ing to the French Engineers, the former is 36 French feet below the Red Sea.