CURIOSITY respecting the Dead Sea-Departure of the Expedition--St. Jean D'Acre--The Escort-Overland March-Tiberias-Sea of Galilee-Scriptural Legends-Birthplace of Mary Magdalene-Condition of the Jews in Palestine-Description of the Jordan-Descent of the River-the Fellahin-the Pilgrims-the Dead Sea-Salt Mountain of Sodom-Cliff's of Moab Survey of the Dead Sea-its Awful Desolation-the Sirocco-Sufferings of the Party Sad Fate of Previous Explorers-Confirmation of the Scriptural Account of the Destruction of the Cities of the Plain-Return of the Expedition.

FOR thousands of years, sacred and profane history have preserved the traditions connected with the destruction of the Cities of the Plain, which in all their beauty and loveliness once occupied the spot, where now, in gloom and desolation, roll the waters of the Dead Sea.

The peculiar character and position of this singular body of water, have attracted the attention, and excited the curiosity of learned men of both ansient and modern times, and repeated efforts have been made to ascertain in what manner the judgment of the Almighty was executed upon the devoted cities. By the examinations of successive travelers, much light has been thrown upon the subject; but no accurate survey of the lake was ever made until the successful attempt of Lieut. Lynch, of the U. S. Navy. '

In the spring of 1847, the project of conducting an expedition to survey the Dead Sea, and explore the river Jordan, suggested itself to Lieut. Lynch. He thereupon offered his services to government, and received orders to make the necessary preparations. On the 26th of November following, all things being in readiness, the U. S. storeship Supply, with the members of the expedition, sailed from New York, and on the 16th of February arrived at Smyrna, from which point, Lieut. Lynch proceeded in person to Constantinople, to obtain permission of the Sultan to pass through his dominions in Syria to the Dead Sea. This was cheerfully given, and having rejoined his party, the Supply weighed anchor, bound for St. Jean D'Acre, where they were to disembark. This, now an insignificant place, is famous in the annals of the crusades, as the scene of the chivalrous exploits of the Lion-Hearted Richard, and his gallant knights.

About the last of March, the Supply anchored before the walled village of Haifa, behind which rises Mt. Carmel, to the height of 1,800 feet; on the opposite side of the bay, sixteen miles distant, stands St. Jean D'Acre. Far to the east, stretches the plain of Jezrael, the ancient Megiddo, so often dyed with the blood of the warring hosts, who have here contended for victory; while to the south, lies the lovely valley of Sharon, inclosed between the hills of Samaria and Galilee.

"The first thing in Syria," says Lieut. Lynch, "which strikes a visitor from the western world, is the absence of forest-trees. Except the orchards, the mountains and the plains are unrelieved surfaces of dull brown and green. No towering oaks, no symmetrical poplars, relieve the monotony of The sun must surely be the monarch of this clime, for outside the flat, mud-roofed, cube-like houses, there is no shelter from his fiery beams."

the scene.

At Haifa, the exploring party, consisting of Lieuts. Lynch and Dale, Passed Midshipman Aulick, and eleven others, petty officers and seamen, landed, and encamped with their baggage and equipment; their vessel then sailed for Jaffa, the ancient Joppa, the seaport of Jerusalem. At Acre, they procured as an escort, fifteen Arabian Bedouins, well armed and headed by the Sheriff Hazzâ, and Akil Aga el Hasse, a powerful border sheikh. The sheriff was a fine old Arab nobleman, small, but wiry and active, with a dark complexion, and intelligent countenance. Akil was a noble specimen of the Arabian Bedouin, with a form indicating great elegance, combined with strength. The feminine appearance of his soft olive complexion, was relieved by a dark flashing eye, and a swelling nostril, indicating the soul of a warrior. Attired in a scarlet cloth pelisse, richly embroidered with gold-the masses of his glossy black hair half concealed beneath his crimson tarbûsh, and the long ataghan, ready to be seized at a moment's warning-he presented a splendid appearance.

They commenced their overland march on the morning of the 4th of April, to the Lake of Tiberias, about thirty-five miles distant. They had brought with them two metallic boats, one of copper, the other of galvanized iron, together with a couple of trucks or drays, and sets of harness. Each of the trucks was drawn by a pair of camels; the baggage was also carried

by camels, while the officers and men were mounted on fine Arabian horses. Having crossed the beautiful plain of Acre, adorned with flowers of brilliant hues, they began to ascend the green hills beyond, dotted with clumps of figs and apricots, and groves of olives and pomegranates, amidst whose branches innumerable birds caroled forth in sweetest song.

At the little village of Abelin, they were joined by their Arabian escort, all armed with spears eighteen feet long, some of them tufted with beautiful ostrich feathers. When in motion, the united party, numbering thirty-one, presented an imposing appearance. The Americans, on their fine spirited horses-the long line of camels-the carriages and boats, each of which bore its tiny flag of mingled stripes and stars-the Arabs on their caracoling studs, leading the head of the column, or darting over the distant hills, in front, in flank, or in rear, as videttes-and the glistening carabines, and flashing spears -all combined to produce a most attractive sight; which excited the curiosity, and called forth the wondering gaze of the few Fellahin that were seen along the line of the route. Occasionally, an Arab village was passed, when many a dark eye scanned the equipments of the cavalcade, and watched its movements as it wound its way along the valleys and plains, through the rocky defiles, and over the hilly slopes.

Usually, the villages of the Arabian peasantry (Fellahîn), as well as of the more aristocratic class, to which Akil and his followers belonged,—who think it beneath their dignity to cultivate the soil, and spend most of their time upon horseback, and live mainly by plunder and extortion-are picturesquely situated, near the summit of some lofty hill, in a position not easily accessible to an enemy. Most of the houses are of but one story, and all of a cubical shape, built of uncemented stones, with flat mud roofs, sometimes surrounded with balustrades two or three feet high, of twigs, matted closely together. Inside they are, most commonly, quite mean and filthy, the floors of mud, and the rafters begrimed with smoke and dirt. A pot of coffee is generally simmering amidst the embers in the center of the floor, but its delicious aroma is entirely lost in the fumes of tobacco proceeding from the chibouque or narghill, or the odor of burning camel's dung, which constitutes the only fuel used by the Arab, that impregnates everything, and taints the atmosphere for miles around. Each house has a dome-roofed oven near it, made of mud, in which the family bake their bread. Hovels for sheltering the favorite horse or horses of the Arabs are occasionally seen; but the same roof more usually covers alike master and steed.

Soon after leaving Abelin the expediton crossed the ridge which bounds the plain, sloping down to the Syrian coast, and entered and encamped for the night in a grassy ravine. The next day, the 5th instant, they crossed several ridges, in places so abrupt they were obliged to unharness their camels from the drays, and let the latter down by ropes. The day succeeding their route was through a rich undulating country, partially cultivated in uninclosed fields of beans, wheat, barley, mullet, with patches of watermelons pumpkins. and cucumbers. Here and there were interspersed beautiful groves in full blossom. In the course of the afternoon glimpses of the sea of Galilee were obtained, and the Bashan mountains, stretching like a blue wall across its

distant shore. Descending a number of difficult precipitous valleys, they came out upon the Jerusalem and Damascus road, and in a few hours more were in the ancient city of Tiberias.

The sea of Galilee, or lake of Genesareth, is about sixteen miles long, and five wide, and is but an expansion of the river Jordan. On the east it is bounded by abrupt mountains, on the west the land slopes gradually upward. Its aspect is usually cheerless and monotonous, and a sail or boat is seldom or never seen to dot its surface. Occasionally squalls issue from the ravines, like that which was here instantly hushed by the simple command of our Savior" Peace-be still !"

"In itself the sea of Galilee is by no means a striking feature in the scenery of Palestine ; but there is scarce a mountain or a rock, a town or a ruin, a tree or a shrub along its shores, but is vocal with its scriptural legend. In the city of Capernaum dwelt Jesus himself. On its verdant banks, fringed with the scarlet anemone, the yellow marigold, and the pink oleander, he . called his disciples, and made them "fishers of men." Here is the Mount of Beatitudes, upon whose summit he delivered that noble sermon, which contains the whole duty of man. Here he performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes-here he healed the sick and cleansed the diseased-and here be preached the gospel of mercy and love. In yonder field, now covered with the growing corn, the famishing disciples fed themselves on the sabbath day; and on that tufted hillock stood their master after his glorious triumph over death and the grave, when he bade them cast their net and they should find.".

A little north of Tiberias is the miserable village of Mejdel, the birthplace of Mary Magdalene, which, with Tiberias, is the only place on the lake of interest, not in ruins. Tiberias is surrounded by a wall, and contains about 2,000 inhabitants, about half of whom are Mussulmen and the remainder Jews. It is a dilapidated, filthy place, and vermin are so abundant that it has been called "the paradise of fleas."

The condition of the Jews in Tiberias is less miserable than in many other towns of Palestine, although they are occasionally subjected to severe indignities from the Turkish yoke. It is held in peculiar veneration by the Jews, being one of their four holy cities. The advent of their expected Messiah, it is believed by them, is to take place on the shores of the lake; and, according to their traditions, Jacob was a resident of Tiberias. It was anciently a seat of Jewish literature, and now has a sanhedrim of seventy rabbis, who are constantly studying the talmud. They are the referees to whom are submitted controverted points of discipline by their brethren in all parts of the globe; they are mainly supported by contributions of European Jews.

The Jordan has its source at the base of a rock at the foot of Mount Hermon, and, after pursuing a crooked and rapid course of over forty miles, expands into the sea of Galilee. Its valley in all this distance is covered with luxuriant vegetation; over its bottom lands spread mulberry orchards and olive groves; and on the slopes are fields of barley, wheat, millet, melonpatches, with beds of wild flowers of fragrant odor and brilliant hues. After leaving the sea of Galilee it turns abruptly to the right, and then bending to

the south, enters the narrow valley of El Ghor. Thence it pursues a very crooked, winding course to the Dead Sea, which is distant in a right line from the sea of Galilee about sixty miles, but, by the windings of the Jordan, nearly two hundred. The average width of the Ghor valley is about three quarters of a mile: it is bounded on the east by barren mountains, and on the opposite side by a series of hills, worn by the rains into tent-like shapes, and truncated cones. From its fountain head to its entrance into the Dead Sea the river descends 1,300 feet, and its cascades and rapids are so numerous as to seriously obstruct navigation. For the last twenty miles its whole bed seems to have been sunk by some convulsion of nature, and evidences of volcanic formation abound.

The boats having been launched into the sea of Galilee, on the 10th instant the expedition left Tiberias, part going by land with the loaded camels,. on the right bank of the stream; while Lieutenant Lynch, with the others, went in the boats. They had purchased a light boat at Tiberias, the only one on the sea of Galilee, but it was soon dashed to pieces among the cascades, some of which were fifteen feet fall. They were frequently obliged, while descending them, to lower their boats by ropes, at others, by skillful management of the helm, they went over in safety, and sometimes all sprang over into the water, except one or two, and clinging to its sides, steadied its descent through the rapids.

Near the sea of Galilee, the high plains, elevated about five hundred feet on each side of the river valley, abound in fine fields of grain; further southward they are wild and barren. The valley itself is marked by a line of the richest verdure, where the shrubbery is so dense as to occasionally completely screen the stream itself. Innumerable flowers blossom on its borders among mingled tufts of grass, cane and reeds, and the groves echo with the soft notes of the bulbul.

In the vicinity of the Jordan and the Dead Sea, wandering tribes of Arabs render the traveling unsafe, except to those protected by a strong escort, or who previously gained the favor of the sheikhs of the different tribes.

The Fellahin, or peasantry of the country, are the slaves of the Arabs and Turks, and are a miserable race, dwelling in filthy cabins, and living principally on boiled rice, which they scoop up and eat from the hollow of joined hands.

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Late in the evening of the 17th of April, they arrived at the Pilgrim's Ford, within a few miles of the Dead Sea, and within sight of the gloomy mountains on its borders. The morrow was the anniversary of the baptism of our Savior. "At three o'clock in the morning," says Lieutenant Lynch, we were aroused by the intelligence that the pilgrims were coming. Rising in haste, we beheld thousands of torch-lights, with a dark mass beneath, moving rapidly over the hills. Striking our tents with precipitation, we hurriedly removed them and all our effects, a short distance to the left. We had scarce finished, when they were upon us. Men, women, and children, mounted upon camels, horses, mules, and donkeys, rushed impetuously toward the bank. They presented the appearance of fugitives from a routed army. Our Arab friends here stood us in good stead, sticking their tufted