I Now Struck Off Towards The Debouchure Of The River; But I Found
That The Country, Though Seemingly Quite Flat, Was Intersected By
Deep Ravines, Which Did Not Show Themselves Until Nearly
Approached.
For some time my progress was much obstructed; but at
last I came across a track which led towards the river, and which
might, as I hoped, bring me to a ford.
I found, in fact, when I
came to the river's side that the track reappeared upon the
opposite bank, plainly showing that the stream had been fordable at
this place. Now, however, in consequence of the late rains the
river was quite impracticable for baggage-horses. A body of waters
about equal to the Thames at Eton, but confined to a narrower
channel, poured down in a current so swift and heavy, that the idea
of passing with laden baggage-horses was utterly forbidden. I
could have swum across myself, and I might, perhaps, have succeeded
in swimming a horse over; but this would have been useless, because
in such case I must have abandoned not only my baggage, but all my
attendants, for none of them were able to swim, and without that
resource it would have been madness for them to rely upon the
swimming of their beasts across such a powerful stream. I still
hoped, however, that there might be a chance of passing the river
at the point of its actual junction with the Dead Sea, and I
therefore went on in that direction.
Night came upon us whilst labouring across gullies and sandy
mounds, and we were obliged to come to a stand-still quite suddenly
upon the very edge of a precipitous descent. Every step towards
the Dead Sea had brought us into a country more and more dreary;
and this sand-hill, which we were forced to choose for our resting-
place, was dismal enough. A few slender blades of grass, which
here and there singly pierced the sand, mocked bitterly the hunger
of our jaded beasts, and with our small remaining fragment of
goat's-milk rock by way of supper, we were not much better off than
our horses. We wanted, too, the great requisite of a cheery
bivouac - fire. Moreover, the spot on which we had been so suddenly
brought to a standstill was relatively high and unsheltered, and
the night wind blew swiftly and cold.
The next morning I reached the debouchure of the Jordan, where I
had hoped to find a bar of sand that might render its passage
possible. The river, however, rolled its eddying waters fast down
to the "sea" in a strong, deep stream that shut out all hope of
crossing.
It now seemed necessary either to construct a raft of some kind, or
else to retrace my steps and remount the banks of the Jordan. I
had once happened to give some attention to the subject of military
bridges - a branch of military science which includes the
construction of rafts and contrivances of the like sort - and I
should have been very proud indeed if I could have carried my party
and my baggage across by dint of any idea gathered from Sir Howard
Douglas or Robinson Crusoe.
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