As soon as the light appeared in the east, we mounted and were on our journey again. About 9 o'clock we made a halt in a grove and took our morning repast. We soon crossed the great road which leads from Suez to Jerusalem. Here we made a stop and shot a few birds. While tarrying here a caravan of 40 camels came along from Suez bound to Joppa, laden with goods of all kinds. The traveling is usually done in caravans or armed bodies, as a safeguard against the many robbers (who are usually wandering Arabs) who infest the country, capturing and sacking everything which comes in their way. We soon crossed a small river or creek, about two feet in depth, which the natives called the outlet of the Dead Sea, which led us into a large open country, with here and there a grove or cluster of trees. By the continual application of the clubs over the heads of our asses, we were enabled to keep a moderate pace, though not equal to that of the horses. The second night was passed similar to the first. On the morning of the third day we reached the point of our destination. The Dead Sea, or Lake Asphaltites as it is sometimes[236] called, (from the great quantities of bituminous and inflammable substance which are found floating on its surface) lies in Palestine and is about 60 miles long and 15 wide. It covers the ground on which stood the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, buried according to history, by an earthquake, with frequent eruptions of fire, or according to Scriptural expression, by a "rain of sulphur." Many superstitious prejudices have been entertained relative to the Dead Sea, which are entirely unfounded in truth. It has been said, that "beautiful fruit grows upon its shores, which is no sooner touched, than it becomes dust and bitter ashes," that its waters prove destructive to animal life, and that numerous are the victims to the exhalation of the atmosphere in the vicinity. But on the contrary, I can assure my readers that this pretended "fruit of ashes" is a natural and admirable production, that its waters swarm with myriads of fishes, and that certain birds make this lake their peculiar resort, and do not become "victims to its exhalations." Bodies sink or float in it according to the proportion of their gravity to the gravity of the water. The bituminous substance, called Asphaltas, which is found upon its surface, is thrown up from the bottom in a melted state by the agency of subterranean heat, and having become solid by the coldness of the water, is collected on the margin of the lake. This is a valuable article, and is much used for various purposes, in the United States.