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THE CURIOUS DEAD SEA.Traveler** Kiperlenee—Effect* ofthe Water.[Jerusalem Cor. Kansas City Journal.]Then 1 prepared for that rare luxury (1) ® bath in the Dead sea. The heat wasnp-theterrific, but 1 could not resist the tem tation. Moreover, I wished to test buoyancy-of the water; so I threw away the * umbrella upon which most bathers rely, and disrobing, boldly waded in. 1 substantiated the statements of those who maintain that it is impossible to sink in the water, by throwing myself recklessly in with closed eyes. Not only was it imjKtssible to sink, but I couldscarcely regain my footing, so lightly didI float on the surface. I had been warnedabout getting the water into iny eyes ormouth, but could not help it. Bah, what a malignant, nauseating mixture it is’ 1 could not eradicate the smart from my eyes or the deadly taste from my mouth for a long time.“Oh, 1 hate the Dead sen,” 1 blubbered, as I emerged, blinking and dripping, from the water, and proceeded to scrape the saline incrustation from my body.But the worst sensation was an awful smarting and burning about my ankles.1 had been five days in the saddle, and my ankles were somewhat chafed from wielding the spurs. Mr. Floyd told of bringing forty two cadets down to the Dead sea once who had poor animals, and had consequently become very sore from the long ride. They would bathe, and paid for the privilege by walking all the ten miles back to Jericho. They were too sore to sit in the saddle. My hair proved to be very i sticky for an hour or so. 1 don’t think 1 ever got so thoroughly salted down before. Nevertheless, there was no salt visible at the north end of the sea. It is at the south eud, where there is no Jordan to partially purify the water, that the famed mountains of literal rock salt are to lie seen. Ordinary sea water has about 4 per cent, of salt in it, while the Dead sea has some 26 per cent. This per cent ago is fixed and steady despite all that the Jordan and other streams can do to “heal the waters.”Yet the effect of this water upon animal life has been exaggerated. If birds do not fly across it they certainly circle over it, and I am told that ducks sometimes swim far out ou the sea. Of course no fish can live in it, but scientists have lately detected some very inferior organisms in it. There are also spots on the show, remote from the point which I visited, where cane brakes, willows, tamarisks, and even wild oleanders, flourish with their stems partly immersed in the waters. The presence of this vegetation is due to the presence of some fresh water streams near by. At various points ftilphur springs exhale clouds of vapor. It was to these that lierod the Great went in order to lie cured of his loathsome disease. There must have formerly been a smaller fresh water lake where the Dead sea now is, since we read that prior to the dost motion of Sodom and Gomorrah, the plain was well watered, fertile and like a garden. Aujinflammable bitumen, which crops outplentifully after earthquakes nowadays, is supposed to have been the material npon which the conflagration fed. The Dead sea itself, occupying the lowestdepression on the face of the earth, hasa maximum length of forty miles and a maximum breadth of eight and a half.The difference in level between it andthe Meditteruuean is no less than 1,612 feet, and to that extent would the projectors of the Palestine ship canal have ! to flood the Jordan valley, obliterating a vast tract of country, and changing the climate here altogether.
Newspaper Details
McCook Weekly Tribune
Mccook, Nebraska, US
Thu, Sep 04, 1884
Page 8
Full Page
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GB 17 Jun 2021
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