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. The water is perfectly bright and clear; its taste
detestable. After finishing my attempts at swimming and diving, I
took some time in regaining the shore, and before I began to dress
I found that the sun had already evaporated the water which clung
to me, and that my skin was thickly encrusted with salts.
CHAPTER XIV--THE BLACK TENTS
My steps were reluctantly turned towards the north. I had ridden
some way, and still it seemed that all life was fenced and barred
out from the desolate ground over which I was journeying. On the
west there flowed the impassable Jordan, on the east stood an
endless range of barren mountains, and on the south lay that desert
sea that knew not the plashing of an oar; greatly therefore was I
surprised when suddenly there broke upon my ear the long,
ludicrous, persevering bray of a donkey.
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