that they have beheld the ruins of the cities, either exposed, or engulfed beneath the waters. Triolo and d'Arvieux attest, that they observed fragments of walls, &c. Josephus says, that he perceived the traces or shades of the cities on the banks of the lake; Strabo gives a circumference of sixty stadia, or about seven miles, to the ruins of Sodom; and two aged and respectable residents of Jerusalem told Mr. Maundrell, that they had once been able to see some part of these ruins; that they were near the shore, and the water so shallow at the time, that they, together with some Frenchmen, went into it, and found several pillars and fragments of other buildings. These several authorities are too weighty to be despised; and we may collect from them some support to the opinion, that at the first destruction of the guilty cities, they were not entirely overwhelmed with the waters, but remained more or less exposed to view, as monuments of the judgments of God; and that from the slow increase of the waters through a period of nearly 4,000 years, they have gradually receded from our sight, and are now only to be seen through the limpid water, if seen at all, after seasons of longcontinued drought.

The water now covering these ruins occupies what was formerly the valley of Siddim; a rich and fruitful valley, in which stood the five cities called the Cities of the Plain, namely, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela, or Zoar; the four first of which were destroyed, while the latter, being "a little city," was preserved at the intercession of Lot; to which he fled for refuge from the impending catastrophe, and where he remained in safety during its accomplishment.

Naturalists have indulged themselves in many speculations as to the manner in which this destruction took place, and the immediate causes engaged in effecting it; as if it were necessary that a physical history of the event should be made out on which to pin our faith respecting it. It is probable, however, that in this instance, as in most others, the Almighty called in the aid of second causes for the accomplishment of his purpose. The most reasonable explanation of such causes is founded in what is said in Gen. xiv. 10, of the soil of the valley of Siddim, that it was "full of slime pits," or, more properly, pits of bitumen, for such the word is rendered in the Septuagint. Now it is probable, that in this instance, as in that of the flood, the inhabitants of the offending cities were involved in destruction,

which met them on all sides, from above and from below; that the earth opened its fountains of lava, or pitch, ignited by subterraneous combustion, while a fiery shower from above expedited and insured their utter destruction. Whatever the means employed might have been, they were evidently confined in a remarkable manner to the devoted district, as Lot found safety in Zoar, although only a few miles distant, and within the precincts of the plain itself. This circumstance seems to show sufficiently, that the country was not destroyed by the ordinary phenomena of an earthquake, as supposed by some; which would scarcely have been so partial in its effects. There is also a passage, Gen. xix. 23, which favours very much the above opinion respecting the combustion of the soil that Abraham got up early in the morning, and "looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and behold, and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.”

where it is said,

Before this event the vale of Siddim was a rich and fertile valley, a continuation of that of the Jordan, through which the river took its course southwards. Here we are assisted by the investigations of Mr. Burckhardt, who, although he had not an opportunity of personally examining the spot, obtained very satisfactory information, that at the southern extremity of the lake, there is an opening leading into the valley of El Ghor; which, with its southern continuation, termed El Araba, both inspected by Burckhardt himself, descends uninterruptedly to the Elanitic Gulf of the Red Sea, which it joins at Akaba, the site of the ancient Ezion-geber. This Mr. Burckhardt supposes to be the prolongation of the ancient channel of the Jordan; which discharged itself into the sea before its absorption in the expanded lake of Sodom. This is extremely probable; and there cannot be a more interesting country in the world than this, to be made the subject of an intelligent and accurate geological survey.

The water of this sea is far more salt than that of the ocean, containing one fourth part of its weight of saline contents in a state of perfect desiccation, and forty-one parts in a hundred in a state of simple crystallization: that is to say, a hundred pounds by weight of water will yield forty-one pounds of salts; while the proportion of saline contents in the water of the Atlantic is not more than one twenty-seventh part in a state of

dryness, and about six pounds of salts in a hundred of the water: the specific gravity of the water is 1,211, that of common water being 1,000. A phial of it having been brought to England by Mr. Gordon of Clunie, at the request of the late Sir Joseph Banks, was analysed by Dr. Marcet, who gives the following results :-"This water is perfectly transparent, and does not deposit any crystals on standing in close vessels. Its taste is peculiarly bitter, saline, and pungent. Solutions of silver produce from it a very copious precipitate, showing the presence of marine acid. Oxalic acid instantly discovers lime in the water; the lime being separated, both caustic and carbonated alkalies readily throw down a magnesian precipitate; solutions of barytes produce a cloud, showing the existence of sulphuric acid. No alumine can be discovered in the water by the delicate test of succinic acid combined with ammonia. A small quantity of pulverised sea salt being added to a few drops of the water, cold and undiluted, the salt was readily dissolved with the assistance of gentle trituration, showing that the Dead Sea is not saturated with common salt. None of the coloured infusions commonly used to ascertain the prevalence of an acid or an alkali, such as litimus, violet, and turmeric, were in the least altered by the water. The result of Dr. Marcet's analysis gives the following contents in 100 grains of the water.

By this it appears, that the water of this sea is, in fact, a mineral water; while the excessive quantity of solid contents, and its consequent greater specific gravity, enabled it to support on its surface substances that would sink in any other water; a circumstance which has given rise to many marvellous tales; such as, that a person going into it would be buoyed up as soon as it reached the middle; a fable which Mr. Maundrell, who bathed in it, was able to disprove. But he found that it "borc up his body in swimming with an uncommon force."

The Dead Sea is situated between two ridges of mountains; of which those on the eastern or Arabian side are the highest and most rocky, and have much the appearance of a perpendicular