Course of the Litány.-The course of this river from the Jisr Burghüz to the vicinity of Tibnîn, has not before been explored, and is marked as uncertain on our map, and on that of Berghaus. It was only known, that the stream winds through a gorge among the mountains, often between precipices, which are sometimes of great height. Maj. Robe was able to overlook the whole of the portion thus unknown, and has represented it on his map. Only one bridge over the Lîtâny, the Jisr Burghüz, was known to us in the mountains; but the map exhibits three, viz. Jisr Burghŭz, on the north of Merj 'Ayûn; Jisr el-Hardely, west by north of Merj 'Ayûn on the direct route from Bâniâs to Sidon; and Jisr Kakhieh, north of Tibnîn. The district of Merj 'Ayûn itself, on Maj. Robe's map, assumes an oval shape, the longest diameter being from N. to S.

Position of the Castle esh-Shukif.-Here, unfortunately, both the map and the text of the Researches require an important correction. We saw this castle at a distance, on our route from Safed to Tyre, when near Haddâta, in the region of Tibnîn. It there bore N. 40° E., at the distance of several hours. This of course gave us no clue to its precise position, which had to be made out from other sources. Mr. Smith had mentioned, that he had formerly seen the castle, when crossing the Lîtâny by the Jisr Burghüz; and I had then received the wrong impression, that it was situated near that bridge. Mr. Buckingham also, in passing from Bânias to Sidon, crossed a bridge over the Lîtâny, near which, he says, on the hill above, was the castle esh-Shukîf. As we then knew of only the bridge Jisr Burghuz in this region, it was a matter of course to suppose that Mr. B. referred to this latter; and the position of the castle was laid down accordingly. But it now turns out, that the fortress is situated

* Ibid. III. p. 376.

+ Travels among the Arab Tribes, p. 407.

I am not sure, after all, which bridge it was that Buckingham crossed. One would naturally suppose it to be the Jisr el-Hardely, which is on the more direct route from Bâniâs to Si don; and then his remark as to the nearness of the castle would be correct. But he says, that in one hour after crossing the bridge, he passed another stream, the Jerma, and then, in half an hour, he came to the village Jerma. Now, on Maj

just below the bridge el-Hardely, on the west of Merj 'Ayûn, some twelve or fifteen miles more south-westerly than its position on our map.

I must therefore do Burckhardt the justice, to take back a remark made in correcting an error in his bearing of the castle, as seen from the mountain north of Bâniâs; its true bearing from that point would probably be about W. by N. as he doubtless intended to write it."

DEPRESSION OF THE DEAD SEA, ETC.

The depression of the great valley of the Jordan, which now turns out to be so immense, has been noticed only within the last five years. Lying parallel to the coast of the Mediterranean, at the distance of less than fifty miles, there appears not to have been the slightest suspicion in by-gone centuries, that its bed was not higher than the level of the adjacent seas; although from several points, both the valley and the Mediterranean were alike visible, and the Egyptian climate of the Ghôr might easily have led to the suggestion of some unusual cause.

Nor does the first notice of this depression appear to have resulted from any previous suspicion of it. In March, 1837, Messrs. Moore and Beke, in attempting a survey of the Dead Sea, were led to make observations to ascertain its level, by means of the boiling point of water; and were greatly astonished at the result, which gave a depression of about 500 English feet. A month or two later, Schubert's barometrical measurement gave it at 598.5 Paris feet. In 1838, Russegger, and also Bertou, made it out by the barometer to be more than 1300 Paris feet.†

The measurements of the Lake of Tiberias by Schubert

Robe's map, the stream Jerma is marked about an hour from Jisr Burghúz, but enters the Lîtâny above the Jisr el-Hardely; while the village Jerma lies on the route from Jisr Burghuz to Sidon, but not on that from Jisr el-Hardely. This seems to show, that, after all, Mr Buckingham must have crossed the upper bridge at Burghŭz.

Bibl. Res. III. p. 351, note. † Ibid. II. p. 222.

and Bertou, were still more diverse and inconsistent in their results. The former made the depression of that lake to be 535 Paris feet, only 65 feet less than that of the Dead Sea; while he made the Jordan at the bridge just south of the Hûleh to be 350 Paris feet above the Mediterranean; a difference of 880 feet in the distance of about five miles! Bertou gave the depression of the Lake of Tiberias at about 700 feet; and that of the Hûleh itself at about 18 feet.*

All these different results were utterly inconsistent with each other; and in some respects appeared to us to be equally so with the nature of the country. I therefore ventured, in 1840, to suggest, that "so great is the uncertainty in all such partial measurements and observations, (as evinced in the like case of the Caspian Sea,) that the question can never be decided with exactness, until the intervening country shall have been surveyed, and the relative level of the two seas trigonometrically ascertained."t

The fulfilment of this wish was nearer at hand than I could then anticipate. It was accomplished by Lieut. Symonds, in 1841; and a slight notice of his results was laid before the Royal Geographical Society of London, at their meeting January 24th, 1842; from which an erroneous statement found its way into the newspapers. A full report of his measurements and calculations was afterwards laid before the society by Lieut. Symonds himself; but no further publication appears yet to have been made respecting them. I therefore subjoin the following account, transmitted to me by Mr. Smith under date of Feb. 7th, 1842.

"I am happy to inform you, that the altitude [depression] of the Dead Sea has been ascertained by exact trigonometrical measurement. Lieut. Symonds, of the British Royal Engineers, surveyed the greater part of Judea, and the region around the plain of Esdraelon by triangulation; and while doing it, carried a double line of altitudes from the sea at Yafa to Neby Samwil, and thence another donble line to the Dead Sea. He found the latter to be 1337 feet below the Mediterranean! By similar observations he ascertained the Lake of Tiberias to be 84 feet below the Mediterranean.

*Bibl. Res. II. p

· p. 595.

SECOND SERIES, VOL. VIII. NO. I.

†lb. p. 222.

15

These numbers he gave me himself; and at the same time showed me his calculations."

JERUSALEM.

The Rev. Samuel Wolcott was among the missionaries sent out to Syria in 1839. He remained at Beirût; and during the bombardment of that place in September, 1840, withdrew with the Rev. W. Thomson to Cyprus; whence, however, they returned immediately afterwards. During the following year, (1841,) he was employed at Beirût and in the mountains; where he has shown himself to be an active and keen observer of men and things. On the first of December last, he arrived in the Holy City, where he spent the winter, occupying himself with missionary labor, and at the same time exploring the environs and antiquities of the place. The two letters now in my hands, from him to Mr. Smith, are dated Jan. 10th and 25th, 1842; and serve to show, at least, that the first six weeks of his sojourn in Jerusalem, were not passed in idleness.

Ancient Subterranean Gateway under the Mosk el-Aksa. -The first information as to the existence of this gateway, as also the first definite account of the adjacent vaults under the area of the Haram, were given to the public in the Biblical Researches, from the statements and drawings of Mr. Catherwood. The vaults, indeed, are mentioned by Breidenbach and Fabri in 1483, and Baumgarten in 1507; and Maundrell in 1697 relates, that he saw them from without, and describes them as consisting of two aisles extending one hundred feet or more under Mount Moriah, etc. But how he could thus have seen them was to us inexplicable; unless at that time there might have been a breach in the wall. The following extracts from Mr. Wolcott's letters, go to clear up the whole difficulty. Under date of Jan. 10th, he writes as follows:

"On reading of the ancient vaults under the temple-area, (or the present Haram,) seen by Maundrell and other early travellers from a garden within the city-wall on the south, I

*Bib. Res. I. pp. 446-452.

† lb. p. 446. Maundrell's Journey, Lond. 1810, p. 135.

telt at once the difficulty suggested by Prof. Robinson, from having just observed the extreme solidity and antiquity of all the lower part of the southern wall of the Haram enclosed within the city. I visited the spot again soon after, for the purpose of examining this point. It is obvious that the wall lies in its massive original strength, unmoved and immoveable. At the point where the city wall meets it, or, rather, connecting this with that of the Haram, you will recollect, is a large irregular building, now unoccupied.* Its lower rooms adjoining the garden or field within the city, are accessible from it. I entered the one adjacent to the Haram, whose wall forms one of its sides, and exhibits the same appearance as without; excluding up to this point the supposition of breach in it, since its foundation.

any

"My attention was now arrested by another object. The arch which forms the ceiling of the room, as it rises from its eastern wall, twelve or fifteen feet above the floor, cuts off the square corner of a sculptured stone, projecting several inches from the solid wall of the Haram, with its side and front profusely ornamented, though now blackened. It struck me at once, that this was a portion of the ancient gateway discovered by Mr. Catherwood, and described in the Researches.t

"I now went round by St. Stephen's gate to examine the spot without the wall; remarking, as I passed the Golden Gate, that the architecture which I had just seen was of the same florid character. I found a room in the exterior building, east of the one in which I had been, the entrances to which were closed. But it evidently did not embrace the whole width of the ancient gateway, the eastern part of whose ornamented arch with other relics, still remained in the wall outside. In the summit of this arch is a window, which the accumulation of rubbish here has left not more than ten feet above the ground. I climbed up to this window, on the

Described in the Bib. Res. as a low, square tower, forming a gateway or entrance to the city, now closed. Vol. I. p. 387.

I have a distinct recollection of having in like manner noticed this sculptured stone; but as we then had no suspicion of the existence of the gateway, this led to no further results.-R.