The

covered with a white cement which served us for an album. other cisterns that we saw, were not large; and some of them were still covered over with small round arches.

pottery lay scattered on the surface of the rock.

Fragments of

"But the relic which perhaps interested us the most, was with, out the rock, on the ground below. Josephus says, that the Roman general built a wall quite around the entire fortress.' As we stood on the summit of the rock, we could trace every part of that wall, carried along the low ground, and, wherever it met a precipice, commencing again on the high summit above; thus making the entire circuit of the place. Connected with it, at intervals, were the walls of the Roman camps, built as described by Josephus in his chapter on the Roman armies and camps.' The principal camps were opposite the N. W. and S. E. corners; the former being the spot where Josephus places that of the Roman general. The outline of the works, as seen from the heights above, is as complete as if they had been but recently abandoned.

"We afterwards examined the wall in places, and found it six feet broad and built like the walls above, but more rudely. It had of course crumbled, and was probably never high. It brought the siege before us with an air of reality; and recalled to our minds, as we looked down upon it, the awful immolation which had taken place on the spot where we stood. It was also a stupendous illustration of the Roman perseverance that subdued the world, which could sit down so deliberately in such a desert, and commence a siege with such a work; and, I may add, which could scale such a fortress. We found among the rocks below a round stone, which had probably been hurled from a catapult. We launched, by way of diversion, some of the large stones from the original wall towards the Dead Sea; none of which reached the Roman lines, half a mile or more distant; though some of them stopped not far short, making the most stupendous bounds.

"I was desirous of making the circuit of the rock. The declivity which we had descended in reaching it, left us on an offset of the mountain, still several hundred feet above the sea. The Wady which runs on the west of the cliff, is on this elevation. But at the extremities of the rock, the ground suddenly breaks

Joseph. B. J. III. c. 5.

down into deep fissures, and soon reaches the lower level. I followed the above Wady southwards; and found that the cleft which forms the southern boundary of the rock, was a perpendicular descent from it. The S. W. corner of the rock forms a kind of bastion, opposite to which the side of the Wady is shelving. Descending here carefully, I reached the bottom, walled in on three sides by rocky ramparts, their sombre craggy peaks frowning above, while torn and disjointed masses from them strewed the bed of the valley. I followed this chasm, descending steeply E. by N. and in an hour from leaving the tent had not reached the east side of the rock; when I was arrested by the shouts of our Arabs on the cliff behind me, calling and beckoning to me to return. The reason I soon discovered in the appearance of three wild Bedawîn with clubs, whom they had noticed, who accosted me with a demand for a bakhshish; which however they showed no disposition to enforce. This of course put an end to farther observations in that quarter, fortunately, perhaps, as in any event the circuit would have been longer and more fatiguing than I had contemplated.

"It was one of the most interesting circumstances connected with Sebbeh, that it commanded a complete view of the Dead Sea, which lay beneath us in its length and breadth. We spread your map before us; and were struck with its general accuracy; my companion remarking, that he considered it the greatest triumph of your work. We noticed some slight variations in the south end of the peninsula and in the coast between Sebbeh and 'Ain

This testimony is the more gratifying; inasmuch as our map is the first attempt to lay down the form of the Dead Sea with any thing like precision. The basis of the map was an outline sketched by me from recollection several months afterwards, and carefully filled out and corrected by our numerous bearings and distances.-Since the preceding part of this note was written I have received a letter from Mr. Wolcott, dated October 1, 1842, which contains the following passage: "In regard to your map of the Dead Sea, my companion inferred that you were accustomed to

draw outlines. He went to the summit of the cliff over 'Ain Jidy, to get a view, and returned with the remark, that he had seen the original of your map; that you had sketched the sea exactly as it appeared from that point, or as it would appear to one who had not seen it from Sebbeh." It is but justice to remark, that we too had enjoyed another view of the whole sea from ez-Zuweirah, a point considerably farther south than Sebbeh; and had likewise travelled along the whole western coast north of 'Ain Jidy.-ED.

Jidy, which could not be detected at the latter place. There are two bays, one quite small, in the south end of the peninsula; the bearing refers to the inner and larger one. The peninsula is too deeply shaded on the map. It appears to the eye as a flat sand-bank, in striking contrast with the bold mountains which tower above it. Though furrowed by the waters, it is still a plain.' Sebbeh, of which you had but a single longitudinal bearing, has been placed, you will perceive, too far south, relatively at least to the peninsula. It is in the rear of the sand-bank or shoal put down on the western coast; the middle of the rock being about opposite to the south end of the bay on the north of the peninsula. Of the two horns or points marked on that western sand-bank, the southernmost is formed by Wady Sinein, which bounds Sebbeh on the south; and the northern by Wady Seyâl, which my companion thought to be more than three miles N. of Sebbeh, though to my unpractised eye it seemed much less. The bearings taken are given in the note.2

We remained at Sebbeh until March 15th; our Arabs having been kept contented the last day by a feast upon a Beden, shot on the top of the rock. Our own supplies were getting low. We had been informed that there was water near; but could obtain it only from the collections which the recent rains had left in the hollows of the rocks; confirming the remark of Josephus, that water as well as food was brought hither to the Roman army from a distance."

RETURN TO JERUSALEM.

To 'Ain Jidy. "We left Sebbeh March 15th, at 7 o'clock. Taking a circuitous path for an hour over the uneven offset above

So it is represented in the text of the Biblical Researches, II. p. 233. But Irby and Mangles, who were upon it, describe it as having "steep sloping sides, terminating at the summit in sharp triangular points," and varying from ten to thirty feet in height. The shading was intended only to represent this; but was made much too strong, in spite of my representations.-ED.

2 Bearings from Sebbeh: North end (?) of the Dead Sea, N. 20° E. South end of the Dead Sea or S. E. point of Khashm Usdum, S. 24°

E. North end of Penins. N. 81° E. South end of do. S. 37° E. South end of northern bay, S. 714° E. North end of southern bay, S.454° E. 'Ain Jidy N. 17° E. Wady Mojib, mouth, N. 5910 E. Wady Shegig (?) N. 69° E. The above were taken three hundred feet from the N. point of the rock. From this point, (my former position bearing S. 8° E.) Wady Seyâl, where it leaves the mountain, bore N. 15° W. The same where it reaches the water, across the flat or sand-bank, bore N. 67°E.

mentioned, which is about two miles wide, and sprinkled with volcanic stones, we descended a second declivity as steep as the first, by a zigzag path, a little south of Wady Seyâl. We were half an hour making the descent; and at 9.15 reached the bed of the Wady at a point about a mile from the mountains and apparently about twice as far from the sea. After stopping for half an hour, we proceeded, and at 11.45 reached the bed of Wady Khŭbarah, at a point farther from the mountain and much nearer the sea than before. This Wady pushes out a point of the sand-bank into the sea, similar to Wady Seyâl and Sinein, but not so long as the former. North of Wady Khŭbarah the sea approaches the mountain, forming an indentation as given in the map; between which and the north bank of the Wady is Birket el-Khulil, a large natural depression in the sand-bank. Our Arabs picked up small pieces of bitumen on the shore. I noticed a peculiar insect, (of which two or three were caught for me,) a species of large black grasshopper, feeding on a shrub by the water side. Soon after passing Birket el-Khŭlîl, we were annoyed for a short distance by a strong sulphurous smell from the water. We did not notice it elsewhere; but here it was offensive. At one o'clock we passed the mouth of Wady 'Areijeh, a mile or more from 'Ain Jidy; and reached this latter place in about six hours from Sebbeh. I have seldom heard a more grateful sound than the murmur of the fountain after so dreary a ride. The " apples of Sodom" were now hanging dry on the tree; and in this state we brought some of them away.1

3

point where they were taken. If from the fountain, as is perhaps probable, they would be nearly equivalent to ours, which were taken from the shore. Bibl. Res. 11. p. 207, 213.-ED.

See Bibl. Res. II. p. 235 sq. Under date of July 5th, Mr. Wolcott writes to me: "I have reserved for you a cluster of the apples of Sodom, light as vanity; with a branch of the tree." His companion Mr. Tipping, afterwards visited Jerash, Busrah, etc. and saw trees of the apple of Sodom (el-ösher) two or three hours east of the Jordan in the plain.-ED.

To the Frank Mountain. "The next morning (March 16th) we ascended the terrible pass. The descent which we had made further south, at two stages, we here recovered at one. Proceeding W. N. W. for an hour, we reached at noon, in the district el-Khŭsasah, the ruined Kusr el-Mukreh, overhanging on the east the capacious basin of the Ghâr. This was once a small fort; but the stones, which resemble those of Sebbeh, did not indicate its age. The high bank on which it stands is a prominent object as seen from the west. From the basin below, a small Wady ascends to Bereikût.'

"Continuing our course and passing among verdant slopes, encampments of the Jehâlîn and the Ta'âmirah, we entered the hillcountry, and reached Tekû'a late in the afternoon, where we encamped. We noticed, on the octagonal baptismal font' among the ruins here, Byzantine ornaments sculptured on two opposite sides, and corresponding Greek crosses on two others. At the southwest corner of the ruin, supposed to have been a castle, we saw columns and capitals, indicating rather a church; the form of which, however, we could not trace in the foundations.

"On the following morning (March 17th) we proceeded to the Frank Mountain; passing on our way 'Ain Hamdeh and a scarcely perceptible site, called Bedefelûeh. Having reached the summit of the mountain and examined its remains, we noticed an ancient passage-way, twelve feet wide, running straight down the northeastern side of the descent. The upper part was a little depressed, and the lower raised; and the rubbish remains in the latter. The ground below, on the north of it, is raised by terraces, built with stones like those on the summit. I had noted these points before observing their exact coincidence with the account given by Josephus of the fortress of Herodium; though the steps of polished stones, in number two hundred, which composed a straight ascent up,' are of course swept away. The ruins below are evidently Roman, and are more extensive than they appear from the summit; but the character of the buildings cannot be fully determined. Two vaults of hewn stone remain; and below a wall, three hundred

1 Bearings from Kusr el-Mükreh: Kurmul S. 67° W. Yükîn N. 881° W. ez-Za'feraneh N. 3840 W. Fr. Mountain N. 144° W.

2 See Biblical Researches, Vol. II. p. 182.

3_Ibid. II. pp. 170-173.