the surface, and is thrown out on the shores, where it is gathered for
various economical purposes. It is to be regretted that this inland sea
has not yet been examined with the attention which it deserves. We
are told, indeed, by the greater number of those who have visited it,
that neither fish nor shells are to be found in its waters; that an
unwholesome vapour is constantly emitted from its bosom; and that its
banks, hideous and desolate in the extreme, are never cheered by the
note of any bird. But it is admitted by the same travellers, that
the inhabitants are not sensible of any noxious qualities in its
exhalations; while the accounts formerly believed, that the winged
tribes in attempting to fly over it fell down dead, are now generally
regarded as fabulous. Tradition supports the narrative of Sacred
Scripture so far as to teach that the channel of the Dead Sea was once a
fertile valley, partly resting on a mass of subterranean water, and
partly composed of a stratum of bitumen; and that a fire from heaven
kindling these combustible materials, the rich soil sunk into the abyss
beneath, and Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed in the tremendous
conflagration.

This brief outline of the geographical limits and physical characters of
the Holy Land may prove sufficient as an introduction to its ancient
history. Details much more ample are to be found in numerous works, whose
authors, fascinated by the interesting recollections which almost every
object in Palestine is fitted to suggest, have endeavoured to transfer to
the minds of their readers the profound impressions which they themselves
experienced from a personal review of ancient scenes and monuments. But
we purposely refrain at present from the minute description to which
the subject so naturally invites us, because, in a subsequent part of
our undertaking, we shall be unavoidably led into a train of local
particularities, while setting forth the actual condition of the country