Identifier: syriafromsaddle00terh (find matches)
Title: Syria from the saddle
Year: 1896 (1890s)
Authors: Terhune, Albert Payson, 1872-1942
Subjects:
Publisher: New York : Silver, Burdett and Co.
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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where the tribesare said to have crossed, and where many authoritiesclaim that Christ was baptized. If either of these claimsbe true, the river bed must necessarily have changedgreatly in the past eighteen hundred years, for at pres-ent the current is very swift, the water is yellow andturbulent, and sweeps strongly around the curve justabove the crossing place. Wishing to get rid of the salt and of a mucilaginousfeeling caused by my late swim, I followed the counselgiven Naaman the Syrian, and dipped seven times inJordan; like the Syrian captain, I went in white assnow and came out — partially cleansed. The waterwas at least thirty degrees colder than in the Dead Sea,and the current too strong for comfort. I swam acrosswith some difficulty, and was about to land when Davidshouted from the opposite shore that the bank I hadnearly reached was one great quicksand. Accordingly,I swam back again and landed half-frozen, wondering ifthe water was as cold in the days of Joshua. If it was,
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STRIA FROM THE SADDLE. 277 we might forgive the Hebrews if they had hesitated tocross. Reeds grow thickly on either bank, and near thecurve of the river join with vines and trees in forming ajungle, where wild boars are often found. Trees of allsorts overhang the stream, giving it the look of one ofour own mountain creeks. Sycamores, too, are plenti-ful in this region ; these are seldom straight, but slant asa rule at an angle of from forty-five to ninety degrees.I have seen some of these sycamore-trees where the riseis so gradual that a man might easily walk up the trunkto the topmost bough. Such a tree, slanting over thehighroad, Zaccheus doubtless climbed to watch Christpass by. The Dead Sea at one time covered much of the Plainof Jericho; beaches have been found showing that thewater was once at least six hundred feet above its pres-ent level. The sea is at present only fifty miles longand fifteen miles in width. On the eastern side highmountains come down to the waters edge. The

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