officers of the American navy; and its shape, its size, and even its
depth, are thus known with accuracy. The Dead Sea is of an oblong form,
and would be of a very regular contour, were it not for a remarkable
projection from its eastern shore near its southern extremity. In this
place, a long and low peninsula, shaped like a human foot, projects
into the lake, filling up two thirds of its width, and thus dividing the
expanse of water into two portions, which are connected by a long and
somewhat narrow passage. The entire length of the sea, from north to
south, is 46 miles: its greatest width, between its eastern and its
western shores, is 101 miles. The whole area is estimated at 250
geographical square miles. Of this space 174 square miles belong to the
northern portion of the lake (the true "Sea"), 29 to the narrow channel,
and 46 to the southern portion, which has been called "the back-water,"
or "the lagoon."

The most remarkable difference between the two portions of the lake is
the contrast they present as to depth. While the depth of the northern
portion is from 600 feet, at a short distance from the mouth of the
Jordan, to 800, 1000, 1200, and even 1300 feet, further down, the depth
of the lagoon is nowhere more than 12 or 13 feet; and in places it is
so shallow that it has been found possible, in some seasons, to ford the
whole way across from one side to the other. The peculiarities of the
Dead Sea, as compared with other lakes, are its depression below the
sea-level, its buoyancy, and its extreme saltness. The degree of the
depression is not yet certainly known; but there is reason to believe
that it is at least as much at 1300 feet, whereas no other lake is known
to be depressed more than 570 feet. The buoyancy and the saltness are
not so wholly unparalleled. The waters of Lake Urumiyeh are probably
as salt and as buoyant; those of Lake Elton in the steppe east of the
Wolga, and of certain other Russian lakes, appear to be even salter. But