river Kishon. It waters the plains of Acre and Esdraelon, and falls into the sea at the gulph of Keilah : 3. The brook Jabbok takes its rise in the mountains of Gilead, and falls into the Jordan a little south of the Sea of Tiberias. It separated the kingdom of Sihon from that of Ög, king of Bashan:—4. The Kanah, which springs from the mountains of Judah, and runs on the south border of the western Manassites. This river flows only during the winter; it falls into the Mediterranean Sea south of Cæsarea :-5. Bezor or the River of Egypt falls into the same sea, near Gaza :-6. The Kishon which takes its rise at the foot of Mount Tabor, and branches off into two streams; one of which flows eastward into the Sea of Galilee, and the other, taking a westerly course, runs through the plain of Esdraelon into the Mediterranean Sea :-7. The brook Kedron or Cedron runs through the valley of Jehosaphat, eastward of Jerusalem, between that city and the Mount of Olives; its channel is generally dry, except during the winter, or after very heavy rains.

Of the LAKES of Palestine two demand particular notice; the lake Asphaltites or the Dead Sea, and the lake of Gennesareth, both of which are called, according to the custom of the Jews, Seas.

1. The Lake Asphaltites is a collection of water of considerable magnitude. It is surrounded by high hills on the east, west, and south, some of them exhibiting frightful precipices, and on the north it is bounded by the plain of Jericho, through which the river Jordan flows into it. The Kedron, Arnon, and Zaret, rush down the hills in torrents, and, along with other streams, discharge themselves into the lake. Its real size, we believe, is not yet ascertained, for we are not aware that any modern traveller has measured it: and the measurements of Josephus, who found it seventy-two miles long, and eighteen broad, are still referred to. Diodorus affirms, that it is sixtytwo miles long, and seven and a half broad; but the calculation of Pliny is much greater, for he says, it is one hundred

Shaw's Travels, vol. ii. p. 33.

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miles long, and twenty-five wide, in the broadest part. Maundrell considers it seventy-two miles long, and eighteen or twentyone in breadth. Pococke agrees with Diodorus, and Dr. Clarke with Josephus: and the Abbe Mariti, who seems to have paid much attention to its peculiarities, maintains, that it is one hundred and eighty miles in circuit. We cannot but consider it singular that its dimensions should not have been more precisely a scertained.

The waters of the Dead Sea are clear and limpid, but uncommonly salt, and even bitter. Their specific gravity exceeds that of all other water known: Josephus and Tacitus say that no fish can live in it; and, according to the concuring testimony of several travellers, those carried thither by the Jordan instantly die. Maundrell, nevertheless, states, that he found some shellfish resembling oysters on the shore, and Bishop Pococke was informed that a monk had seen fish caught in the water; these are assertions, however, which require further corroboration. The mud is black, thick, and fetid, and no plant vegetates in the water, which is reputed to have a petrifying quality. Branches of trees accidentally immersed in it are speedily converted to stone, and the curious in Jerusalem then collect them. Neither do plants grow in the immediate vicinity of the lake, where every thing is dull, cheerless, and inanimate; whence it is supposed to have derived the name of the Dead Sea. But the real cause of the absence of animals and vegetables, Volney affirms is owing to the saltness and acridity of the water infinitely surpassing what exists in other seas. The earth surrounding it is deeply impregnated with the same saline qualities, too predominant to admit of vegetable life, and even the air is saturated with them. The waters are clear and incorruptible, as if holding salt in solution, nor is the presence of this substance equivocal, for Dr. Pococke found a thin crust of salt on his face after bathing in the sea, and the stones where it occasionally overflows are covered with a similar crust. Galen considered it completely saturated with salt, for it would dissolve no more when thrown into it. There are mines of fossil salt on the south-west bank, from which specimens have been brought to Europe: somé also

exist in the declivities of the mountains, and have provided from time immemorial for the consumption of the Arabs and the city of Jerusalem. Great quantities of asphaltum appear floating on the surface of the sea, and are driven by the winds to the east and west bank, where it remains fixed. Ancient authors inform us, that the neighbouring inhabitants were careful to collect it, and went out in boats, or used other expedients for that purpose. On the south-west bank are hot springs, and deep gullies, dangerous to the traveller, were not their position indicated by small pyramidic edifices on the sides. Sulphur is likewise found on the edges of the Dead Sea, and a kind of stone, or coal called mussa by the Arabs, which on attrition exhales an intolerable odour, and burns like bitumen. This stone, which also comes from the neighbouring mountains, is black, and takes a fine polish. Mr. Maundrell saw pieces of it two feet square in the convent of St. John in the wilderness, carved in bas relief, and polished to as great a lustre as black marble is capable of. The inhabitants of the country employ it in paving churches, mosques, and courts, and other places of public resort. In the polishing, its disagreeable odour is lost. The citizens of Bethlehem consider it as endowed with antiseptic virtues, and bracelets of it are worn by attendants on the sick, as an antidote against disease. As the lake is at certain seasons covered with a thick dark mist, confined within its own limits, which is dissipated with the rays of the sun, spectators have been induced to allege that. black and sulphureous exhalations are constantly issuing from the water. They have been no less mistaken in supposing, that birds attempting to fly across are struck dead by pestiferous fumes. Late and reputable travellers declare, that numerous swallows skim along the surface, and from thence take up the water necessary to build their nests; and on this head Heyman and Van Egmont made a decisive experiment. They carried two sparrows to the shore, and having deprived them of some of the wing feathers, after a short flight, both fell into, or rather on the sea. But, so far from expiring there, they got out in safety. An uncommon love of exaggeration is testified in all the older narratives, and in seme of modern date, of the nature