The First Is Derived From The River Triton, Which According
To Ptolemy And Other Ancient Geographers, Is Made To Pass Through This
Lake In Its Course To The Sea, But Which Is The Present River Ghobs,
Where It Falls Into The Mediterranean.
The name Pallas is derived from
the tradition of Pallas having accompanied Sesostris in his Asiatic
expeditions with the Lybian women, and she may have been a native of the
Jereed.
The lake measures from north-east to south-west about seventy
English miles, with a third of the breadth, but it is not one collection
of water; there being several dry places, like so many islands,
interspersed over its surface, depending however, as to their number and
extent upon the season of the year, and upon the quantity of water in
the particular season.
"At first, on crossing it," says a tourist, "the grass and bushes become
gradually scarcer; then follows a tract of sand, which some way beyond,
becomes in parts covered with a thin layer of salt. This, as you
advance, is thicker and more united; then we find it a compact and
unbroken mass or sheet, which can, however, be penetrated by a sword, or
other sharp instrument, and here it was found to be eleven inches in
depth; and finally in the centre, it became so hard, deep, and
concentrated, as to baffle all attempts at breaking its surface except
with a pickaxe. The horse's shoe, in fact, makes no impression upon its
stone-like surface."
The salt of the lake is considerably weaker than that of the sea, and
not adapted for preserving provisions, though its flavour is very
agreeable; it is not exported, nor made in any way an article of
commerce.
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