g illegitimate baby,
and Lot thought that a little wicked city wasn't as bad as a big wicked
city.

Lot's request was granted, and he was told to look sharp. He made good
speed, and reached Zoar when "the sun was risen."

"Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire
from the Lord out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the
plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon
the ground." It is a mistake to suppose that brimstone and fire are
characteristic of hell, for the Lord evidently keeps a large stock of
those commodities in heaven. Nor must it be supposed that Lot was spared
because he was righteous. He was spared because the Lord "was merciful
unto him." His virtues, Kalisch remarks, were not sufficient for his
salvation, which he owed to "the piety of Abraham." Abraham may have
had "piety" enough to save a Lot, but he had scarcely "virtue" enough to
save a mouse.

Kalisch says that "about the situation of Zoar there remains little
doubt." He identifies it with "the considerable ruins found in Wady
Kerek, on the eastern side of the Dead Sea." But he has no such
assurance as to the situation of Sodom. He deprecates De Saulcy's
assumption, that Sodom is traceable in the heap of stones found near the
Salt Mountain, Udsum; and adds--"We may hope rather than expect, that
authentic ruins of the four destroyed towns will ever be discovered.
Biblical historians and prophets already speak of them as localities
utterly and tracelessly swept away; and the remark of Josephus, that
'shadows' of them still existed in his time, is vague and doubtful."

In the South of Palestine there is an extraordinary lake of mysterious
origin. It is about thirty-nine miles long, and from eight to twelve
miles broad. It is fed by the river Jordan, and drained by the
evaporation of a fierce and terrible sun. Its water is clear and
inodorous, but nauseous like a solution of alum; it causes painful
itching and even ulceration on the lips and if brought near a wound, or
any diseased part, produces a most excruciating sensation. It contains
muriatic and sulphuric acid, and one-fourth of its weight is salt. No
fishes live in it; and according to tradition, which however is not
true, birds that happen to fly over its surface die. Near it is said to
grow the Apple of Sodom, beautiful in appearance, but containing only
ashes. This lake is appropriately called the Dead Sea.

The natives sa