35/45 de Vitri, in the _Gesta Dei per Francos_, i. 1075.] The heat on the shore is now very oppressive. The lake lies in a hollow six hundred and fifty feet below the level of the Mediterranean,[1] and thus participates in the torrid conditions of the Dead Sea.[2] An abundant vegetation formerly tempered these excessive heats; it would be difficult to understand that a furnace, such as the whole basin of the lake now is, commencing from the month of May, had ever been the scene of great activity. Josephus, moreover, considered the country very temperate.[3] No doubt there has been here, as in the _campagna_ of Rome, a change of climate introduced by historical causes. |