I Had No Crotchet At That Time Against The
Punishment Of Death, But I Was Unused To Blood, And The
Proposed
victim looked so thoroughly capable of enjoying life (if he could
only get to the other side of the
River), that I thought it would
be hard for him to die merely in order to give me a character for
energy. Acting on the result of these considerations, and
reserving to myself a free and unfettered discretion to have the
poor villain shot at any future moment, I magnanimously decided
that for the present he should live, and not die.
I bathed in the Dead Sea. The ground covered by the water sloped
so gradually, that I was not only forced to "sneak in," but to walk
through the water nearly a quarter of a mile before I could get out
of my depth. When at last I was able to attempt to dive, the salts
held in solution made my eyes smart so sharply, that the pain which
I thus suffered, together with the weakness occasioned by want of
food, made me giddy and faint for some moments, but I soon grew
better. I knew beforehand the impossibility of sinking in this
buoyant water, but I was surprised to find that I could not swim at
my accustomed pace; my legs and feet were lifted so high and dry
out of the lake, that my stroke was baffled, and I found myself
kicking against the thin air instead of the dense fluid upon which
I was swimming.
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