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for the working of them, we dare hardly calculate at present.

sion in the exterior of the mound, which could be perceived by an observer from the plain, and A portion of Mr. Layard's present volume the interior vault had been forced through. is devoted to the account of some excavations The remains which it may have contained, on the site of Babylon; but although they probably the embalmed body of the king, with led to a few discoveries of very great impor-value buried with it, had been carried off by vessels of precious metals and other objects of tance, they were not prosecuted far because those who had opened the tomb at some remote the quantity of waste labor is much greater period, in search of treasure. They must have at Babylon than at Nineveh. There are at had some clue to the precise position of the Babylon no tablets of carved alabaster, and chamber, or how could they have dug into the very few sculptures found on any kind of mound exactly at the right spot? Had this destone. Stone was not readily obtained by the positary of the dead escaped earlier violation, Babylonians, and their palaces were therefore who can tell with what valuable and important ornamented with glazed brick, with plaster relics of Assyrian art or Assyrian history it work and colors. The buried palace of Neb- might have furnished us? I explored, with uchadnezzar has for a long series of years, feelings of great disappointment, the empty indeed, provided bricks for all the buildings chamber, and then opened other tunnels, without in the neighborhood; there is scarcely a further results, in the upper parts of the mound. house in Hillah which is not almost entirely ber I have described was the place of deposit for It was evident that the long gallery or chambuilt with them; and upon every single brick the body of the king, if this were really his tomb. is stamped the name of the king. The tunnels and cuttings in other parts of the mound only exposed a compact and solid mass of sun-dried brick masonry. I much doubt, for many reasons, whether any sepulchre exists in the rock beneath the foundations of the tower, though, of course, it is not impossible that such may be the case.

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As was the case with Mr. Layard's Nineveh and its remains, one great charm of the Nineveh and Babylon lies in the admirable sketches of the tribes that now move to and fro upon the soil of the Assyrians. The reproduction of the past is heightened in effect by being placed in apposition with the present. No traveller- no, not Burckhardt himself – has ever so completely won the confidence of Eastern dwellers among tents; or has obtained, from familiar genial intercourse with Bedouins and Yezidis, so accurate a knowledge of their character. Setting aside altogether the great subject matter of his books, there still remains in Mr. Layard's narrative so much of the best spirit of the traveller, and he has such intimate and kindly knowledge of the Arab, that he might have achieved a reputation for his pictures of the present, if he had not made his name immortal in connexion with discoveries relating to the past.

It is a curious fact that there have been no tombs discovered on the site of Nineveh, nor any representation on the sculptures of the mode in which the Assyrians disposed of their dead. Did they, like a good sanitary nation, burn them all? At Nimroud, in the high conical mound at the north-west corner, Mr. Layard discovered the remains of a square tower, in which a narrow gallery was found vaulted with sun-dried bricks, and blocked up at each end. This may have been a royal tomb, but nothing else of the kind was discovered. And, says Mr. Layard

No remains whatever were found in it, neither fragments of sculpture or inscription, nor any smaller relie. There were, however, undoubted traces of its having once been broken into on the western side, by digging into the face of the mound after the edifice was in ruins, and consequently, therefore, long after the fall of the Assyrian empire. There was an evident depres

Among other evidence by which the king who built the palace of Kouyunjik is identified with Sennacherib, is the discovery, among the wall sculptures, of a picture of the siege of Lachish. This discovery, which signalized the latter part of Mr. Layard's residence at Mosul, has supplied the testimony much wanted of a perfect identification of one series of the sculpture subjects with a known event in the reign of Sennacherib. The description of the scene of the siege as thus represented on the palace wall we should have been glad to quote - with many other most striking additions to our former knowledge of these marvellous remains - but we shall probably make a still better use of the limited space at our disposal if we rather extract a few passages showing the extent of Mr. Layard's influence among the Arabs, and the undoubted power that he seems to have acquired over them by the cordial and generous nature of the intercourse he has kept up. His influence, we may remark, has been used always to promote reconciliation between tribe and tribe, and to increase everywhere peace and good-will; and we may specially commend to the reader an illustration of peace advocacy (too long to be quoted, but to be found with whom Mr. Layard had to dealin at p. 168) highly characteristic of the people which a raging conflict of mutual plunder between two wild tribes suddenly subsides into the pleasanter excitement of a chase after Mr. Layard's greyhounds in pursuit of a hare.

Here is a delightful sketch of Mr. Layard's

Arab workmen moving the lions
with a characteristic description, nobly felt
and written:

opening yielding soil. An evil eye surely lurked among the workmen or the bystanders. Search was quickly made, and one having been detected upon whom this curse had alighted, he was ignominiously driven away with shouts and execrations. This impediment having been removed, the cart drew nearer to the village, but soon again came to a stand-still. All the Sheikhs were now summarily degraded from their rank and honors, and a weak ragged boy, having been dressed up in tawdry kerchiefs, and invested with a cloak, was pronounced by Hormuzd to be the only fit chief for such puny men. The craft moved forwards, until the ropes gave way, under the new excitement caused by this reflection upon the character of the Arabs. When that had subsided, and the presence of the youthful Sheikh no longer encouraged his subjects, he was as summarily deposed as he had been elected, and a graybeard of ninety was raised to the dignity in his stead. He had his turn; then the most unpopular of the Sheikhs were compelled to lie down on the ground, that the groaning wheels might pass over them, like the car of Juggernaut over its votaries. With yells, shrieks, and wild antics the cart was drawn within a few inches of the prostrate men. As a last resource I seized a rope myself, and with shouts of defiance between the different tribes, who were divided into separate parties and pulled against each other, and amidst the deafening tahtel of the women, the lion was at length fairly brought to the water's edge.

By the 28th of January, the colossal lions forming the portal to the great hall in the northwest palace of Nimroud were ready to be dragged to the river-bank. The walls and their sculptured panelling had been removed from both sides of them, and they stood isolated in the midst of the ruins. We rode one calm cloudless night to the mound, to look on them for the last time before they were taken from their old resting-places. The moon was at her full, and as we drew nigh to the edge of the deep wall of earth rising around them, her soft light was oreeping over the stern features of human heads, and driving before it the dark shadows which still clothed the lion forms. One by one the limbs of the gigantic sphinxes emerged from the gloom, until the monsters were unveiled before us. I shall never forget that night, or the emotions which those venerable figures caused within me. A few hours more and they were to stand no longer where they had stood unscathed amidst the wreck of man and his works for ages. It seemed almost sacrilege to tear them from their old haunts to make them a mere wonder-stock to the busy crowd of a new world. They were better suited to the desolation around them; for they had guarded the palace in its glory, and it was for them to watch over it in its ruin. Sheikh Abd-ur-Rahman, who had ridden with us to the mound, was troubled with no such reflections. He gazed listlessly at the grim images, wondered at the folly of the Franks, thought the night cold, and turned his mare to wards his tent. Owing to recent heavy rains, which had left in many places deep swamps, we experienced much difficulty in dragging the cart over the plain to the river-side. Three days were spent in transporting each lion. The men of Naifa and Nimroud again came to our help, and the Abou-Salman horsemen, with Sheikh Abd-ur-Rahman at their head, encouraged us by their presence. The unwieldy mass was propelled from behind by enormous levers of poplar wood; and in the costumes of those who worked, as well as in the means adopted to move the colossal sculptures, except that we used a wheeled cart instead of a sledge, the procession closely resembled that which in days of yore transported the same great figures, and which we see so graphically represented on the walls of Kouyunjik. As they had been brought so were they taken away.

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It was necessary to humor and excite the Arabs to induce them to persevere in the arduous work of dragging the cart through the deep soft soil into which it continually sank. At one time, after many vain efforts to move the buried wheels, it was unanimously declared that Mr. Cooper, the artist, brought ill-luck, and no one would work until he retired. The cumbrous machine crept onwards for a few more yards, but again all exertions were fruitless. Then the Frank lady would bring good fortune if she sat on the sculpture. The wheels rolled heavily along, but were soon clogged once more in the

We add a few quaint sketches of oriental character picked almost at random from a host of others. The first is a tale told by his people against one of Mr. Layard's friends.

THE SLEEP OF A PASHA.

His excellency not fostering feelings of the most friendly nature towards Namik Pasha, the new commander-in-chief of Arabia, who was passing through Mosul on his way to the headquarters of the army at Baghdad, and unwilling to entertain him, was suddenly taken ill and retired for the benefit of his health to Baassheikhah. On the morning after his arrival he complained that the asses by their braying during the night had allowed him no rest; and the asses were accordingly peremptorily banished from the village. The dawn of the next day was announced, to the great discomfort of his excellency, who had no interest in the matter, by the cocks; and the irregular troops who formed his body-guard were immediately incited to a general slaughter of the race. The third night his sleep was disturbed by the crying of the children, who, with their mothers, were at once locked up, for the rest of his sojourn, in the cellars. On the fourth he was awoke at daybreak by the chirping of sparrows, and every gun in the village was ordered to be brought out to wage a war of extermination against them But on the fifth morning his rest was sorely broken by the flies, and the enraged Pasha insisted upon their instant destruction. The Kiayah, who, as chief of the village, had the task of carrying out the governor's orders, now threw

is gone. Even Tafil-Bousi (a celebrated "Albanian condottiere) smokes his pipe, and becomes fat like a Turk. It is the will of God. I have forsworn raki, I believe in the Koran, and I keep Ramazan."

himself at his excellency's feet, exclaiming, and ask for money. The Albanian's occupation "Your highness has seen that all the animals here, praise be to God, obey our Lord the Sultan; the infidel flies alone are rebellious to his authority. I am a man of low degree and small power, and can do nothing against them; it now behoves a great Vizir like your Highness to enforce the commands of our Lord and master." The Pasha, who relished a joke, forgave the flies, but left the village.

KURDISTAN HOSPITALITY.

66

-the trees were

At its entrance was a group of girls and an
old Kurd baking bread in a hole in the ground,
plastered with clay. "Have you any bread ?"
we asked. "No, by the Prophet!" Any
buttermilk?". No, by my faith!"
66 Any
fruit?" "No, by Allah!"—
groaning under the weight of figs, pomegran-
ates, pears, and grapes. He then asked a string
of questions in his turn: "Whence do you
come?" "From afar !" "What is your busi-
ness?"-"What God commands !" Whither
are you going?". "As God wills!" The old
gentleman, having thus satisfied himself as to
our character and intentions, although our an-
swers were undoubtedly vague enough, and
might have been elsewhere considered evasive,
left us without saying a word more, but soon
after came back bearing a large bowl of curds,
and a basket filled with the finest fruit. Placing
these dainties before me, he ordered the girls to
bake bread, which they speedily did, bringing
us the hot cakes as they drew them from their
primitive oven.

THE BEG FROM THE OTHER END OF THE WORLD.
Near Abou-Sheetha is a small village named
Kaaitli, inhabited by sedentary Arabs, who pay
tribute to the Sheikh. A few tents of the Tai

were scattered around it. As we passed by, the
women came out with their children, and point-
ing to me exclaimed, "Look, look! this is the
Beg who is come from the other end of the world
to dig up the bones of our grandfathers and
grandmothers!" a sacrilege which they seemed
inclined to resent.

A VICTIM OF TURKISH REFORM.

RESULTS OF PROPHECY.

I gained, as other travellers have done before me, some credit for wisdom and superhuman knowledge by predicting, through the aid of an almanack, a partial eclipse of the moon. place, to the great dismay of my guests, who well It duly took nigh knocked out the bottoms of all my kitchen utensils in their endeavor to frighten away the Jins who had thus laid hold of the planet.

TURKISH PERSECUTION OF THE NESTORIANS.

The pastures and arable lands around their villages had been taken away from them and given to their Kurdish tyrants. Taxes had been placed upon every object that could afford them food, and upon their mills, their looms, and their hives, even upon the bundles of dried grass for their cattle, brought with great labor from the highest mountains. There was no tribunal to

which they could apply for redress. A deputation sent to the Pasha had been ill-treated, and some of its members were still in prison. There was no one in authority to plead for them. They old oppressors, for, as a priest touchingly rehad even suffered less under the sway of their but the Turks take away wherewith we have to marked to me, "The Kurds took away our lives,

live."

he was uttering the speech put by an old
Little did this primitive old priest imagine
Christian playwriter into the mouth of a Jew
-but what unconscious testimony is thus
given to the genuine orientalism of Shylock!
horses.
We now gather a note or two about Arab

Whenever a horse falls into the hands of an Arab, his first thought is how to ascertain its descent. If the owner be dismounted in battle, or if he be even about to receive his death-blow from the spear of his enemy, he will frequently fate has given to you is of noble blood. She is exclaim, "O Fellan! (such a one) the mare that of the breed of Saklawiyah and her dam is ridden by Awaith, a sheikh of the Fedan" (or as the case may be). Nor will a lie come from the mouth of a Bedouin as to the race of his mare. He is proud of her noble qualities, and will testify to them as he dies. foray, the tribes who have taken horses from the After a battle or a enemy will send an envoy to ask their breed, and harmed, hearing from each man, as he eats his a person so chosen passes from tent to tent unbread, the descent and qualities of the animal be may have lost.

Seated near him on the divan I found my old friend Ismail Agha of Tepelin, who had shown me hospitality three years before in the ruined castle of Amadiyah. He was now in command of the Albanian troops forming part of the garrison. A change had come over him since we last met. The jacket and arms which had once glittered with gold, were now greasy and dull. His face was as worn as his garments. After a cordial greeting he made me a long speech on his fortunes, and on that of Albanian irregulars in general. "Ah! Bey," said he, "the power and wealth of the Osmanlis is at an end. The Sultan has no longer any authority. The accursed Tanzimat (Reform) has been the ruin of all good men. Why see, Bey, I am obliged to live upon my pay; I cannot eat from the treas-mar at Al Hather, an Arab rode into my enOn one occasion, when I was amongst the Shamury, nor can I squeeze a piastre-what do I say, a piastre? not a miserab! half-starved fowl-out of the villagers, even though they be Christians! Forsooth, they must talk to me about reform,

Again:

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campment on a beautiful gray colt. I was so much struck with the animal, that I at once expressed a wish to its rider to purchase it. He merely intimated that the sum I named was.

beneath the value. I increased it, but he only shook his head, and rode off. Nevertheless, the report spread amongst the tribes that he had bargained for the sale of his horse. Although of the best blood, the animal was looked upon with suspicion by the Bedouins, and the owner was, some months after, obliged to sell him at a lower price than I had bid, to a horse-dealer of Mosul! A knowledge of such little prejudices and customs is very necessary in dealing with the Arabs of the Desert, who are extremely sensitive, and easily offended.

There is a good deal of practical philosophy in the following idea:

The Bedouins are acquainted with few medicines. The desert yields some valuable simples, which are, however, rarely used. Dr. Sandwith hearing from Suttum that the Arabs have no opiates, asked what they did with one who could not sleep. "Do!" answered the Sheikh, "why, we make use of him, and set him to watch the camels."

Here is a modern version of an ancient tale:

The inscription is called Meher Kapousi, which, according to the people of Wan, means the Shepherd's Gate, from a tradition that a shepherd, having fallen asleep beneath it, was told in a dream the magic word that opened the spell-bound portal. He awoke and straightway tried the talisman. The stone doors flew apart, disclosing to his wondering eyes a vast hall filled with inexhaustible treasures; but as he entered they shut again behind him. He filled with gold the bag in which, as he tended his flocks, he carried his daily food. After repeating the magic summons, he was permitted to issue into the open air. But he had left his crook, and must return for it. The doors were once more unclosed at his bidding. He sought to retrace his steps, but had forgotten the talisman. His faithful dog waited outside until nightfall. As its master did not come back, it then took up the bag of gold and carrying it to the shepherd's wife, led her to the gates of the cave. She could hear the cries of her husband, and they are heard to this day, but none can give him help.

And from oriental fiction we may pass, for our last quotation, to an illustration of oriental notions about fact. To show the uniform spirit in which Eastern philosophy and Mussulman resignation contemplate all the various evidences of ancient greatness and civilization now so suddenly rising up in the midst of modern ignorance and decay, Mr. Layard gives the letter of a Turkish Cadi written in reply to some inquiries as to the commerce, population, and remains of antiquity of an ancient city, in which dwelt the head of the law: :

"My illustrious Friend, and Joy of my Liver! "The thing you ask of me is both difficult and useless. Although I have passed all my days in this place, I have neither counted the houses nor have I inquired into the number of the inhabitants; and as to what one person

loads on his mules and the other stows away in the bottom of his ship, that is no business of mine. But, above all, as to the previous history of this city, God only knows the amount of dirt and confusion that the infidels may have eaten before the coming of the sword of Islam. It were unprofitable for us to inquire into it.

Oh, my soul! oh, my lamb! seek not after the things which concern thee not. Thou camest unto us, and we welcomed thee; go in peace.

"Of a truth, thou hast spoken many words; and there is no harm done, for the speaker is one and the listener is another. After the fashion

of thy people thou hast wandered from one place to another until thou art happy and content in none. We (praise be to God) were born here, and never desire to quit it. Is it possible then that the idea of a general intercourse between mankind should make any impression on our understandings? God forbid !

66

Listen, oh, my son! There is no wisdom equal unto the belief in God! He created the world, and shall we liken ourselves unto him in seeking to penetrate into the mysteries of his creation? Shall we say, behold this star spinneth round that star, and this other star with a tail goeth and cometh in so many years? Let it go! He from whose hand it came will guide and direct it.

"But thou wilt say unto me, Stand aside, oh man, for I am more learned than thou art, and have seen more things. If thou thinkest that thou art in this respect better than I am, thou art welcome. I praise God that I seek not that which I require not. Thou art learned in things I care not for; and as for that which thou hast seen, I defile it. Will much knowledge create thee a double belly, or wilt thou seek Paradise with thine eyes?

66

'Oh, my friend! If thou wilt be happy, say, There is no God but God! Do no evil, and thus wilt thou fear neither man nor death; for surely thine hour will come!

"The meek in spirit (El Fakir),

66 IMAUM ALI ZADE." How difficult it has been to single out any which every page contains matter of value — special passages for quotation from a book in we need hardly say. Even now we cannot close the book without directing the reader's particular attention to the descriptive beauty of the eleventh chapter- the journey from Mosul to the Khabour.

Nor can we close our comments without a grateful recognition of the spirit and good sense displayed by Mr. Murray, in meeting the wide public demand for Mr. Layard's writings, by issuing the work before us at once in a cheap form. When regard is paid to the amount of type and liberality of illus tration in the volume (both of which are remarkable) it will be evident that full benefit is given to the public of that certainty of a large sale which is commanded by the interest of Mr. Layard's subject, and by the cheerful, manly way in which he wins our sympathies over the telling of his wondrous tale of Nineveh and Babylon.

From Chambers' Journal.

ziones, I never hear or am present at any,

MANKIND, FROM A RAILWAY BAR-MAID's and I can hardly believe that such things exist.

POINT OF VIEW.

I am, indeed, rather at a loss to understand how all those things that one hears of in the newspapers come about. We are told there of statesmen who conduct public affairs, of soldiers who fight gallantly for their country, of great poets and novelists who charm their fellow-creatures, and of philosophers and divines who instruct them. A few will lay their heads together, and raise a Crystal Palace. Some will combine, and throw a tubular bridge across a strait of the sea. These things are a complete mystery to me, for I see nothing of mankind but coarse eating and drinking, and most undignified runnings off when the bell rings. There must surely be another mankind who do all the fine things.

One detestable thing about the mankind that comes under my observation, is their gluttony. Every two or three hours they rush in, demanding new refreshments, and eating them with as much voracity as if they had not seen victuals for a week. They eat eight times a day on our line, and the last train is always the hungriest, besides taking the most drink. It is a perfect weariness to me, this constant feed-feed-feeding. What with the quantity they eat, and what with the haste of the eating, we must send out hundreds of indigestions from our rooms every day.

MANKIND is composed of great herds of rough-looking persons, who occasionally rush with frightful impetuosity into our refreshment-rooms, calling for cups of coffee, and hot brandy and water, which they tumble into themselves scalding, and pay for in furious haste; after which they rush out again, without exchanging a civil word with anybody. Mankind, even of the first class, are dressed queerly in pea-coats, paletôts, cloaks, and caps, with no sort of attention to elegance. They indulge much in comforters, and green and red handkerchiefs, and sometimes little is seen of their visages beyond the mouth and the point of the nose. While they stand at the bar eating or drinking, they look much like a set of wild beasts in a menagerie, taking huge bites and monstrous gulps, and often glaring wildly askance at each other, as if each dreaded that his neighbor would rob him of what he was devouring. It is a very unamiable sight, and has given me a very mean opinion of mankind. They appear to me a set of beings devoid of courtesy and refinement. None of them ever takes off hat or cap when eating, and not one of even those whom I suppose to be clergymen, ever says grace before the meat which I hand him. A soup or a sandwich is no better in this respect than a brandy and water. When a lady comes in amongst these rude, ungracious animals, unless she has a husband or other friend to take some care of her, she is left to forage for herself; and I have seen some forlorn examples of the sex come very poorly off, while gentlemen were helping themselves to veal and ham pies, and slices of the cold round. I don't know any difference in mankind for a great number of years. They are just the same muffled-up, confused-looking, munching, glaring, bolting crew, as when I first became acquainted with them at the station. They are not conversable creatures. They seem to have no idea of using the mouth and tongue for any purpose but that of eating. They can only ask for the things they wish to eat or drink, and what they have to pay for them. Now and then, I hear some one making a remark to another, but it seldom goes beyond Buch subjects as the coldness of the night; and this, by a curious coincidence, I always The object of this work is to remove an evil find to be alluded to just before I am asked pointed out by Professor Moseley in his Report for a tumbler of punch, as if there were a necon the Hydraulic Machines of the Great Exhibition. the frequent sacrifice of capital and of essary connection between the two ideas. Sometimes a gentleman, when the bell sudden- much mechanical ingenuity, in English machinery as compared with French, from the want of a ly rings for seats, and he only begun with his knowledge of mechanical laws. Mr. Tate enuncup of coffee and biscuit, will allow a naughty ciates the principles of his subject, and illustrates expression to escape him. Beyond this, man- them by means of exercises, conducted for the kind are a taciturn, stupid set; for though I most part "on algebraical and mathematical hear of speeches, and lectures, and conversa-principles."-Spectator.

On account of these shocking habits on the part of mankind, I have for some time past entertained a great contempt for them, insomuch, that I almost wish to see them scald themselves with my cups of tea, and choke upon my pies. For me to think of marrying any specimen of so coarse a crew, is entirely out of the question; so it is quite as well that Tom Collard, the guard, left me for Betsy last summer, and that, as yet, no other follower has come forward. It will be best for them all to keep their distance -80 assures them their obedient, humble servant,

SOPHIA TANKARD.

The Principles of Mechanical Philosophy, applied to Industrial Mechanics; forming a Sequel to the Author's "Exercises on Mechanics and Natural Philosophy." By Thomas Tate, F. R. A. S., of Kneller's Training College, Twich enham, &c.

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