DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11789#0111
THE DEAD SEA.
101
The water though turhid is entirely fresh, notwith-
standing such quantities of salt are found hoth on
the plain and on the hanks of the Dead Sea, two
or three miles further south. As all those who visit
the Jordan at this season, bathe in its waters, it
is not necessary to say that we did so. This opera-
tion, I should think, would be attended with some
danger to such as are not good swimmers, as the
current is not only deep, but very strong and some-
what irregular, sometimes producing eddies, and
sometimes rushing from one side of the channel to
the other. After gathering a few pebbles from its
shores as mementos for our friends at home, and
taking a specimen or two of the reeds with which the
banks of the river are lined, we rode southward to
the Dead Sea. As the sun had now become exceed-
ingly hot, it was thought scarcely prudent to bathe
in these (as deemed by some) deadly waters. I
had, however, a fancy to test the received state-
ments respecting their nature and quality. A
single mouthful was abundantly sufficient to satisfy
my curiosity. Their bitterness and pungency fully
equalled my most sanguine expectations. The water
is nevertheless most beautifully transparent, the
pebbles at the bottom appearing exceedingly dis-
tinct at the depth of several feet. During our short
9*
101
The water though turhid is entirely fresh, notwith-
standing such quantities of salt are found hoth on
the plain and on the hanks of the Dead Sea, two
or three miles further south. As all those who visit
the Jordan at this season, bathe in its waters, it
is not necessary to say that we did so. This opera-
tion, I should think, would be attended with some
danger to such as are not good swimmers, as the
current is not only deep, but very strong and some-
what irregular, sometimes producing eddies, and
sometimes rushing from one side of the channel to
the other. After gathering a few pebbles from its
shores as mementos for our friends at home, and
taking a specimen or two of the reeds with which the
banks of the river are lined, we rode southward to
the Dead Sea. As the sun had now become exceed-
ingly hot, it was thought scarcely prudent to bathe
in these (as deemed by some) deadly waters. I
had, however, a fancy to test the received state-
ments respecting their nature and quality. A
single mouthful was abundantly sufficient to satisfy
my curiosity. Their bitterness and pungency fully
equalled my most sanguine expectations. The water
is nevertheless most beautifully transparent, the
pebbles at the bottom appearing exceedingly dis-
tinct at the depth of several feet. During our short
9*