the south as well as of the north, did always exist in the plain; but it was supposed that the waters were, before the destruction of Sodom, sweet and wholesome, and that the lake was of less extent than it afterwards became. In fact, it seems to be assumed that the increase was formed by the submersion of that comparatively small portion (about one-fifth of the whole), which now forms the southern extremity or bay of the lake, separated therefrom partly even now by a peninsula.

With this we were obliged to be content, though far from being satisfied, as there still remained some considerable difficulties. It had always been felt that the whole basin of the Dead Sea was but a small area for the dominion of the five kings; but now they were driven into a mere corner of the space previously allowed them. All the five cities must have been in this contracted area. They were at least considerable cities for that age; and could not have been much nearer each other than is usually the case at the present day with the towns of thinly-peopled countries. Within this space, their very gardens and orchards (which commonly extend to a considerable distance around even small towns in the East) must have touched each other, without a provision for arable fields. How, then, was there so much free pasture that Lot removed into the plain with all his herds to enjoy it? Again, it is clear that in Genesis xiii. 10, the plain to which Lot went is called 'the plain of the Jordan,' implying that the Jordan flowed through it; whereas, if a lake had been previously there, that lake lay between him and the Jordan, seeing that he must have been in the land at the southern extremity of it. Again, it is said that the land to which Lot went, this 'plain of the Jordan,' was 'well-watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom; even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar,' or rather, as far as unto Zoar' (the southernmost of the five cities). 'Well-watered,' indicates a river, not a lake. The comparison to Egypt and its Nile has the same force. How, then, could the whole district, from north to south, be like the garden of the Lord, if three-fourths of the entire surface were covered by the waters of a lake?

In view of these difficulties in the new theory, we longed to find our way back to the perfect satisfaction and comfort of the anterior hypothesis. And we rejoice to say that this seems to have been found, or at least indicated, by the late American expedition to the Dead Sea. The narrator of the expedition (which explored this lake as well as the Jordan in all its parts) considers the inference from the Scripture account to be, that this entire chasm was a plain sunk and 'overwhelmed' by the wrath of God; and this view he considers to be borne out by the extraordinary character of the soundings obtained. From these it was seen that the bottom of the lake consists of two submerged plains, an elevated and a depressed one. The former, which is merely the southern bay, is at an average of thirteen feet below the water. The other, or northern part, forming the great body of the lake, lies fully thirteen hundred feet below the surface. Through this largest and deepest portion, in a line corresponding with the bed of the Jordan, runs a ravine which again seems to correspond with the Wady-el-Jeib, or ravine within a ravine, at the south end of the Dead Sea. The obvious inference from this is, that the channel of the Jordan through this plain, with the plain itself through which it flowed, sank down, leaving the ancient bed of the river through the middle still distinguishable. Thus, of course, would be formed a deep basin to receive and retain, with a sufficient expansion for their passing away by evaporation, the waters which previously passed onwards through the plain. This depression seems to have been not wholly confined to the present bed of the Dead Sea, which was formerly but an expanded part of the valley of the Jordan, but to have extended its influence certainly to the higher or northern, and probably to the lower or southern portion of the Jordan's bed. The narrator says: 'Between the Jabbok1 and the sea, we unexpectedly found a sudden break-down in the bed of the Jordan. If there be a similar break-down in the water-courses to the south of the sea, accompanied with the like volcanic 1 The Jabbok enters the Jordan about thirty miles, in a direct line, above the Dead Sea.

VOL. I.

Q

characters, there can scarcely be a doubt that the whole Ghor (or valley of the Jordan, including the Dead Sea) has sunk from some extraordinary convulsion, preceded probably by an eruption of fire, and a general conflagration of the bitumen which abounded in the plain.'

Apart from all other considerations, it is indeed difficult to account for the most wonderful depression of the bed of the Dead Sea to the depth now ascertained, without a convulsion thus extensive and terrible, and all the signs of which are still exhibited on the spot. As it satisfactorily answers all the objections which we have indicated, it best agrees with the scriptural statement; and here, therefore, also, as in all other cases, the more precise and certain our discoveries become, the more they are found to be in unison with the scriptural accounts.

Many collateral corroborations of this conclusion are set forth by Lieut. Lynch in his book.1 Of these there is but one we can here mention, which is, that the mountains around the sea are older than the sea itself; or, in other words, that their relative levels have not always been the same as they are now, -a most important fact, and one which is easily ascertained by such as are skilled in geological phenomena.

The writer concludes his account with these important words: 'We entered upon the sea with conflicting opinions. One of the party was skeptical, and another, I think, a professed unbeliever of the Mosaic account. After twenty-two days' close investigation, if I am not mistaken, we were unanimous in the conviction of the truth of the scriptural account of the destruction of the Cities of the Plain.'

The view here advocated by Dr Kitto cannot be reconciled with the results of recent scientific research in the Jordan valley. The whole valley, from the lake of Merom to the borders of Edom, is

1 Narrative of the United States' Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. 1849. To this work we are indebted for the plan of the Dead Sea given in the opposite page, and which is copied with no other alteration than the reduction of fathoms to feet for the soundings.

2 So the Americans invariably spell 'sceptical;' and the alteration is an improvement in the eyes of those who regard the analogy of language.

below the level of the ocean; and its physical conformation is such that it is manifest no sensible depression has taken place in it within the historic period. There is not a single trace of any convulsion so extensive and terrible as Dr Kitto supposes. As this subject is both interesting and important, it may be well to sum up here the principal results of scientific research, and to indicate the light they throw on the formation of the Jordan valley, the origin of the Dead Sea, and the destruction of the cities of the plain.

1. The most careful examination has demonstrated that the formation of the great valley of the Jordan was coeval with that of the mountain ranges on each side, and long antecedent to historic times. It has demonstrated, further, that the valley was at some remote period filled with water up to the level of the ocean, and that the water gradually decreased, leaving a number of shore-lines along the sides to indicate its level at different periods. All these shore-lines are of a pre-historic age.

2. The Dead Sea is divided into two parts by the peninsula of Lisân. The northern forms a distinct basin of very great depth, which appears to have existed in its present form and extent long anterior to Abraham. The southern part is shallow, only a few feet, and in many places only a few inches of water, covering a flat, slimy plain. Sulphur springs exist along its shores; pure sulphur is strewn in layers and detached fragments over the surrounding plains; and masses of bitumen are from time to time thrown up from its bottom.

3. Along the south-western shore is a range of salt-hills, seven miles long, called to this day The Ridge of Sodom.

4. In a valley, at the northern end of this ridge, Mr Tristram recently made a most interesting discovery. The sides of the valley are cliffs of limestone, showing here and there on their surface traces of post-tertiary marl. 'But since the marl has been washed out, there has been a second filling in of an extraordinary character, which is only now in course of denudation. There are exposed on the sides of the wady large masses of bitumen mingled with gravel. These overlie a thick stratum of sulphur, which again overlies a thicker stratum of sand, so strongly impregnated with sulphur, that it yields powerful fumes on being sprinkled over a hot coal. The layer of sulphurous sand is generally evenly distributed on the old limestone base, the sulphur evenly above it, and the bitumen in variable masses. In every way it differs from the ordinary mode of deposit of these substances as we have seen them elsewhere. Again, the bitumen, unlike that which we pick up on the