they saw a pillar upon it, an account of which we must give in Lieut. Lynch's own words :

At 9, the water shoaling, hauled more off shore. Soon after, to our astonishment, we saw on the eastern side of Usdum, one-third the distance form its north extreme, 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, and Dr. Anderson and I went up and examined 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 upwards, crumbles at the top, and is one entire mass of crystallization. A prop, or buttress, connects it with the mountain behind; and the whole is covered with debris of a light stone colour. Its peculiar shape is doubtless attributable to the action of the winter rains. The Arabs had told us in vague terms that there was to be found a pillar somewhere upon the shores of the sea; but their statements in all other respects had proved so unsatisfactory, that we could place no reliance upon them.-P. 307.

It is possible this may be the pillar spoken of by Josephus : whether it is the pillar into which Lot's wife was transformed, is another matter. It can be proved that Zoar lay on the east side of the plain beneath the mountains; Sodom was not far distant; and the family of Lot only passed from one to the other. It is utterly unlikely, therefore, that Lot's wife could have reached Usdum, at least six miles distant, whereon the present pillar is situated.

Rock-salt is one of the products of volcanic agency; and such agency was not improbably employed in the catastrophe, which has so changed this strange locality. Such agency is at work in Syria to this day, and the traces of its operations in past ages are scattered widely over the country: they occur, however, mostly along, or near, the valley of the Jordan. Among them, we find three or four craters of extinct volcanoes. There is one in the Birket er Ram, the old lake of Phiala; a second at Gish, to the north-west of Safet; a third in the Leja of the Hauran; and, apparently, a fourth near the mouth of the Zurka, on the Dead Sea itself. Minor indications of volcanic agency are much more numerous. The asphaltum pits near Hasbeya; the basaltic gorge, through which the Hasbani flows; the ridge under Hunin, and the lava to the east of Banias -all occur about the sources of the Jordan. The Tell al Kadhi, the site of the ancient Dan, and of one of the river sources, is a hill of basaltic tufa. The "bridge of the daughters of Jacob," which carries the Damascus road over the Jordan, the khan at its east end, and the plains of Jaulan above, exhibit the basalt in abundance. The lake of Tiberias is surrounded with proofs of volcanic action, including basaltic stones in Tabariyeh and the

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neighbouring villages, and the warm springs both to the north and south of it. The hill, west of Tabariyeh, is composed of tufa; and, in the plain of El Buttauf, near Cana of Galilee, the ground is formed of the polygonal heads of basaltic columns. The hot springs of Umkeis, and the Roman bath, built of lavastones; the basaltic columns on the edge of the Ghor, the huge blocks of trap near the bridge of Majamia, with the fissure exposing perpendicular layers of basalt," all shew the same thing. Far to the east of the Jordan, in the Hauran, these tufa rocks are more numerous than any where else; and the centre of volcanic action can be most distinctly traced. The signs of such agency around the Dead Sea have already been referred to. They may be seen in the bitumen pits of former days; the fragments of nitre and sulphur still found on its shores; in the brackish fountains; the salt ridge of Usdum; the hot springs of Callirrhoe; the basaltic mountain in their neighbourhood; and the bituminous limestone pebbles at Ain el Feshka. The warm springs in Wady el Ahsa, and the brackish fountain of Ain Gudhyan, are south of the Sea.

These numerous evidences of volcanic agency will explain why the country has been so subject to earthquakes. In the reign of Herod the Great, the whole land of Judea was shaken by an earthquake, and many thousands of men and cattle were buried in the fall of houses. In 1034, the earth opened in many parts of Syria, and thousands of people were swallowed up. In 1170, another earthquake, most powerful in its character and extensive in its spread, overthrew the largest and best-peopled cities in Syria and Phoenicia, and caused immense devastation. In 1202, from a similar cause, many places entirely disappeared, and multitudes perished: most of the town of the Hauran were swallowed up. In 1759, 20,000 persons were destroyed in the valley of Baalbec alone, and the shocks lasted three months. One-third of Damascus was overthrown and untold thousands perished in the ruins. Safet was totally destroyed. In 1822, Aleppo, the third city of the Turkish Empire, and full of the finest buildings of stone, was in an instant overthrown to its foundations. In 1837, an appalling earthquake, the centre of which was near the lake of Tiberias, created the most frightful ravages in Upper Galilee. The village of Gish had not one house uninjured; of two hundred and fifty inhabitants, only fifteen escaped. Safet, with its twenty tiers of streets, rising one above another, was entirely thrown down, and five thousand people killed or buried. Tiberias also was almost wholly ruined. These facts will shew one agency that may have been exerted in the destruction of the cities of the plain, the materials of which were near at

hand. It is an interesting illustration of one part of the catastrophe, that, after the earthquake of 1837, " there was scarcely a cave on the way from Safet to Tiberias, in which people were not to be found."

We return then to the question; how much was involved in the ruin of the cities, and by what agency was it effected? It would be presumptuous to offer any decided opinion upon the matter, where so much has been left in uncertainty; and the suggestions, we offer, are laid before the reader, that he may take them for what they are worth. Supposing that the water of the lake, north of the Peninsula, was always salt, it could not have been so salt as it is now-the accumulations of ages having been added from the salt range of Usdum, since the catastrophe: and its shores may perhaps have not been more barren and desolate, than those of ordinary seas in the present day. Allowing too that the salt ridge existed previous to that catastrophe, it would not greatly affect the fertility of the neighbouring plain. The great torrent bed of Wady Jeib must have passed close at its feet, continuing northward till it carried its superfluous waters into the lake, and have separated it from the plain. The extent of the plain, in its whole length and breadth, must have been about ninety square miles: it was crossed from east to west by several torrent beds, while that of Wady Jeib would naturally form its western boundary. Watered by numerous fountains (some of which may perhaps now be buried under the waters) and by perennial streams, it would exhibit, especially in the spring time, broad rich pastures, whereon thousands of cattle were fed and tended; or perhaps fields of yellow corn, which waved in the evening breeze, the sign of plenty, quietude, and wealth. The dark mountains on either hand gave strength and dignity to the lovely spot; while the waving fields, luxuriant herbage, and rich pastures, clothed it with exceeding beauty. In the midst of it, at various distances from each other, stood the five towns, Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim and Bela probably well peopled, thriving, and prosperous. In various parts were the bitumen pits, which proved doubtless. of great utility. But these gifts of a bountiful providence were only made occasions of evil and pride and abominable licentiousness were the ungrateful return. We need not remind the reader of Lot's selfish choice (so natural to a Bedawin, where rich pastures were concerned), to dare contamination with the wicked in order to share his gainsof the angels' visit of mercy-or of Abraham's intercession. The iniquity of the people was full: the cry of their wickedness rose up to heaven; and the God, whom they had offended, determined to visit it with a signal punishment, which might hold up a warning against evil, even to the end of time. Of

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what took place in that act of justice, we are only generally informed. It may be, as some suppose, that the bitumen of the plain and in the pits took fire: but we know that torrents of fire-rain fell from the skies; dense clouds of smoke enveloped the whole plain: the cattle were destroyed: the people became terror-stricken, stupified, and overwhelmed; the towns were burned up: the plain was overthrown: probably its surface was depressed; the waters of the sea rushed in over the whole; and henceforth, that, which had been in lovelinesslike the garden of the Lord,' became ashes, salt and brimstone,' stamped with the curse of God, an ensample to the ungodly, and a type of hell. All this was the punishment of crime; a punishment inflicted signally, instantaneously; a punishment, whose marks are patent to every eye, that future generations may fear to do the same.

What may be the future history of this wondrous spot we cannot tell. It is possible that the language of the prophet Ezekiel respecting it may have a literal application; that, in 'the last days,' the curse may be removed, the waters healed, and the pristine beauty of the whole restored. It may be, however, that the language applies to higher themes, and takes a wider application; telling us of days, when the pure waters of the Gospel shall flow into the Dead Sea of guilty nations, that they may be revived aud healed. Be this as it may, the lesson now conveyed to those, who see and read of this mysterious sea, is one, which is written in striking characters upon its frowning rocks and barren shores: " Be not deceived; God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap." "Remember Lot's wife."

NOTE ON ART. 6, NO. XXIII., "THE SECOND PUNJAB WAR."

WE have received a letter from Major A. Wheatley, requesting us, in justice to the 5th Light Cavalry, to publish, in the present number of this Review, his unqualified denial of the truth of both the following statements, given in the 23d number of this publication; which, as they refer to matters of fact, we have much pleasure in doing.

Page 285.-" The 3rd Dragoons and 5th Light Cavalry made a charge against the enemy, who had advanced too far; but the 5th Cavalry held back, and, in spite of the exertions of the officers, refused the encounter."

Page 286.-"The 5th Cavalry lost the colour, they won on the field of Maharajpore."

MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

I.-Annual Reports of the Hindu College, Patshalah, and Branch School, the Sanskrit College, Madrissa, and Russapaglah School, for 1848-49. Calcutta. Military Orphan Press.

So much has been written about these reports, that we must not let them pass altogether without notice. They invite us to a full discussion of the Government Education system: but that opens questions too large for consideration at present, and too important for a light and cursory notice, such as is suitable for the concluding critical articles of this periodical.

The first thing that struck us, on opening the work before us, was the list of the Managing Committee of the Hindu College. The only Europeans, who are now members of it, are Mr. Bethune, Mr. Beadon, and Dr. Mouat; of these, certainly, the two last have sufficiently numerous and onerous duties, independently of those which attach to their positions on this Committee. That a decided European influence should predominate in the management of all great Educational Institutions in this country, none can doubt, who have ever personally experienced the advantages of European education. Native gentlemen, like some of those whose names appear in the list of this Managing Committee, would, we feel confident, be among the first to appreciate the zeal, and the practical assistance of men, who have lately come from home with the fresh recollection of College studies and College companions, who have tasted the benefits of the new modes of education, and who share the new spirit, that has sprung up in our old English academic halls.

On turning to the list of the "Establishment," we find, at page 2, the following notice; "there has been no change in the instructive Establishment in the past session; but, during the vacation, after the close of the session, Captain D. L. Richardson having resigned the post of Principal, Mr. Lodge has been appointed Principal in succession to him. Mr. Montague, the Assistant Professor of Literature, has been removed from the college, and Mr. D. Foggo appointed in his place." We own that we looked with some anxiety for this passage.

Our readers, who are resident in Bengal, know well enough that Captain Richardson has ceased to be Principal:-for no event, that we remember, except the election of the Secretary of the Agricultural Society in 1842, when two editors of rival newspapers were rival candidates, ever attracted more attention from the Calcutta press. From the day, when Captain Richardson's retirement was announced, the public were favoured with large variety of information, grave

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