The three lakes are in the same line--a line which runs from N.N.E.to S.S.W.

They are, or at least were recently, separated by tracts of dry land from two to four miles broad.

Dense thickets of tall reeds surround them, and in summer almost cover their surface.

Like the Bahr-el-Melak, they are a home for water-fowl, which flock to them in enormous numbers.
By far the largest and most important of the salt lakes is the Great Lake of the South--the Bahr Lut ("Sea of Lot"), or Dead Sea.

This sheet of water, which has always attracted the special notice and observation of travellers, has of late years been scientifically surveyed by officers of the American navy; and its shape, its size, and even its depth, are thus known with accuracy.