deemer!... Near by was the field where, according to tradition, the disciples plucked the ears of corn upon the sabbath; yet nearer was the spot where the Saviour fed the famishing multitudes, and to the left the mount of Beatitudes. . . . Not a tree! not a shrub! nothing but green grain, grass, and flowers, yet acres of bright verdure. . . . Beyond the lake and over the mountains, rise majestic in the clear sky the snowy peaks of Mount Hermon."

On the 8th of April, having arrived at Tiberias, the two boats, after some difficulty in getting them down the mountain, were launched into the sea of Galilee with their flags flying. "Since the time of Josephus and the Romans, no vessel of any size had sailed upon this sea, and for many, many years, but a solitary keel had furrowed its surface." In order to assist the transportation of his goods, Lieutenant Lynch purchased the only boat used by the misgoverned and listless inhabitants to navigate the beautiful lake of Tiberias, a lake which was filled with fish, and abounding with wild fowl. This boat was purchased for about twenty-one dollars, and was used by the inhabitants merely to bring wood from the opposite side of the lake.

On the 10th of April, the expedition started from the foot of the lake, and commenced the descent of the river Jordan. Notwithstanding the most diligent inquiry at Tiberias, they could not procure any reliable information respecting the river. They found, to their consternation, that the Jordan was interrupted in its course by frequent and fearful rapids. In some instances they had to clear out old channels, to make new ones, and sometimes plunged with headlong velocity down appalling descents. So great were the difficulties in passing down the river, that on the second evening they were but twelve miles in a direct line from Tiberias. So tortuous is the course of the Jordan, that in a space of sixty miles of latitude, and four or five of longitude, it traverses at least two hundred miles!

On the 18th of April they reached the Dead sea, and found its northern shore an extensive mud-flat, with a

sandy plain beyond, and the very type of desolation. Branches and trunks of trees lay scattered in every direction; some charred and blackened by fire, others white with an incrustation of salt. The waters of the sea they found a nauseous compound of bitters and salt. As they passed on, they found scenes "where there was no vegetation whatever; barren mountains, fragments of rocks blackened by sulphurous deposites, and an unnatural sea, with low, dead trees upon its margin, all within the scope of vision bore a sad and sombre aspect."

Near the southern extremity of the Dead sea, the water became very shallow, from one to two fathoms deep. When near the salt mountain of Usdum, or Sodom, they were astonished at the appearance of a lofty round pillar, standing apparently detached from the general mass, at the head of a deep, narrow, and abrupt chasm. "We immediately pulled in for the shore," says Lieutenant Lynch," and Dr. Anderson and I went up to examine it. The beach was a soft, slimy mud, encrusted with salt, and a short distance from the water covered with saline fragments and flakes of bitumen. We found the pillar to be of solid salt, capped with carbonate of lime, cylindrical in front and pyramidal behind. The upper or rounded part is about forty feet high, resting on a kind of oval pedestal, from forty to sixty feet above the level of the sea. It slightly decreases in size upward, crumbles at the top, and is one entire mass of crystallization.” A similar pillar is mentioned by Josephus as having been seen by him, and he in his history expresses the belief of its being the identical one into which Lot's wife was transformed.

While passing over and encamping on the borders of this remarkable sea, the figures of each one of the expedition assumed a dropsical appearance. The lean had become stout, and the stout almost corpulent; the pale faces had become florid and ruddy; moreover, the slightest scratch festered, and the bodies of many of the party were covered with small pustules. The men complained bitterly of the irritation of their sores, whenever the acrid

water of the sea touched them; still all had good appetites, and they hoped for the best.

On the 2d of May, the party made an excursion to Kerak, containing a population of about three hundred families, of whom three fourths professed Christianity. They found these Christians, though impoverished and oppressed, as kind and obliging as the Moslems were insolent. On the 10th of May they left the Dead sea, after spending twenty-two days in its exploration.

"We have," says Lieutenant Lynch, "carefully sounded this sea, determined its geographical position, taken the exact topography of its shores, ascertained the temperature, width, depth, and velocity, of its tributaries, collected specimens of every kind, and noted the winds, currents, changes of the weather, and all atmospheric phenomena. . . . The inference from the Bible, that this entire chasm was a plain sunk and 'overwhelmed by the wrath of God, seems to be sustained by the extraordinary character of our soundings... We entered upon this sea with conflicting opinions. One of the party was skeptical, and another, I think, a professed unbeliever of the Mosaic account. After twenty-two days' close investigation, if I am not mistaken we are unanimous in the conviction of the truth of the scriptural account of the destruction of the cities of the plain."

After leaving the Dead sea, the party proceeded toward Jerusalem, where they arrived on the 17th of May. After visiting various places of interest in and about the city, they proceeded to Jaffa. From Jaffa they went to Acre, in two parties-one under the command of Lieutenant Lynch, in an Arabian brig; the other by the land route, under the command of Lieutenant Dale. From Acre they went to Nazareth, Nain, Mount Tabor, Tiberias, Bethsaida, to the source of the Jordan, and thence to Damascus and Beirut. As they approached the latter place, many of the party sickened; and on the 24th of July, Lieutenant Dale died at a village in the vicinity of Beirut, at the house of the Rev. Mr. Smith, of the American Presbyterian mission. From Beirut they proceeded to Malta, where, on the 12th of September, the "Sup

ply" being ready, the expedition re-embarked for the United States, and arrived there early in December.

152. Death of Ex-President Adams.

On the evening of February 23d, 1848, John Quincy Adams expired in the capitol at Washington. Mr. Adams was born at Braintree, in Massachusetts, July 11th, 1767. In his eleventh year he accompanied his father (afterward president of the United States), to France, who was sent there as joint commissioner with Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee. In 1794, he was appointed by Washington as minister to the Netherlands. He afterward was appointed to important stations in most of the principal courts of Europe. In 1817, Mr. Adams was recalled from his mission in London, by President Monroe, to become secretary of state. In 1825, he was chosen by the house of representatives as president of the United States. In 1831, he was chosen to represent a congressional district in Massachusetts, and was continued in this service till his death.

On the 21st of February, Mr. Adams while in his seat in the house of representatives, was seized with paralysis. "At about twenty minutes past one o'clock, P. M.,” writes a person present, "my attention was attracted by hearing Mr. Hubbard of Connecticut, calling upon Mr. Fisher of Ohio, who occupies a seat at Mr. Adams's right, to support the latter. Looking toward his seat I noticed Mr. Adams, apparently in the act of endeavouring to grasp the front of his desk, sinking back in his seat, dropping away to the left. He rallied, however, and as Mr. Fisher rose to assist him, he again fell back in the same position as before. His colleague, Mr. Grinnell, and others sitting near, flew to his side, when the occurrence becoming known, the members generally rushed toward the spot, but retired upon the exclamations, 'Keep back,' Give him air,' being uttered. The windows were raised, and Mr. Grinnell bathed his face with ice-water,

when he rallied for an instant, and gave utterance in a feeble voice, to a sentence in keeping with the eloquence which ever distinguished his every-day conversation. He said, 'THIS IS THE LAST OF EARTH-I AM CONTENT,' and again relapsed into insensibility. Mr. Fries of Ohio, who is a regular physician, raised him in his arms and carried him to the speaker's room about fifty yards from Mr. Adams's seat in the house, the speaker and several of the Massachusetts delegation accompanying him."

Mr. Adams expired on Wednesday evening, on the sofa in the speaker's room in the capitol, where he lay in an apparently insensible state from the Monday previous. The funeral ceremonies were performed on February 26th. The remains were embalmed and lay in state, and were visited by thousands of persons the day previous.

At about twelve o'clock, the house was called to order by the speaker. The president of the United States, and heads of the departments entered the hall, the former taking his seat on the right of the speaker. The judges of the supreme court in their gowns; the officers of the army and navy, in full uniform; the foreign ministers and their suites, in splendid costume, followed, and took their seats upon the right and left of the area, in front of the speaker's chair. The senate then entered with the vice-president, the latter taking his seat on the speaker's left. After this the family of the deceased and the Massachusetts delegation preceding the coffin, entered as chief mourners. The chaplain, Mr. Gurley, pronounced an eloquent discourse from Job, xi. 17: " And thine age shall be clearer than the noon-day: thou shalt be as the morning; and thou shalt be secure, because there is hope." The remains were subsequently placed in the receiving vault of the congressional cemetery, being carried in a funeral car drawn by six white horses, and led by grooms in white scarfs.

The speaker in conformity with the resolution of the house, appointed the following committee to accompany the remains of Mr. Adams to Quincy, viz :