itself, from a little distance, appears embosomed in a wood of date-trees. On the outer verge of the gardens on the west, small redans are established, within sight and hearing of each other, in each of which a matchlockman mounts guard at night; and for greater security against the marauders of the Desert, the late Ali Pasha dug an ample trench round the whole, and built a citadel (which, as usual in these countries, is nothing more than a square inclosure) in the town, on the bank of the river. Mr. Rich, in his Memoirs, says,—

Among the gardens a few hundred yards to the west of the Husseinia gate is the Mesjid-el-Shems, a mosque built on the spot where popular tradition says a miracle, similar to that of the prophet Joshua, was wrought in favour of Ali, and from this the mosque derives its appellation. It is a small building, having instead of a minaret an obelisk, or rather hollow cone fretted on the outside like a pine-apple, placed on an octagonal base: this form, which is a very curious one, I have observed in several very old structures, particularly the tomb of Zobeidé, the wife of Haroun-alRaschid, at Bagdad,* and I am informed that it cannot now be imitated. On the top of the cone is a mud cap, elevated on a pole, resembling the cap of liberty. This, they say, revolves with the sun; a miracle I had not the curiosity to verify. The inside of the mosque is supported by rows of short pillars about two feet in girth; from the top of each spring pointed arches, in form and combination resembling in a striking manner the Gothic architecture. It contains nothing remarkable except what the people show as the tomb of the

* Well known as the "first lady of Bagdad," in the "Thousand and One Nights."

prophet Joshua. This country abounds in supposed tombs of prophets. On the Tigris, between Bagdad and Bussora, they show the sepulchre of Ezra; twelve miles in the Desert, to the S.W. of Hillah, is that of Ezekiel; and to the southward, the tomb of Job: the two former are places of pilgrimage of the Jews, who do not acknowledge those of Job and Joshua.

The district of Hillah extends from Husseinia (which is a canal leading from the Euphrates near Musseib to Imam Hussein) on the north, to the town of Hasca on the south. It is governed by a bey, who is always a Turk or Georgian, appointed by the pasha of Bagdad, from whom the government is farmed for a stipulated yearly sum. There is also a sirdar, or commandant of janissaries, and a cadi, whose office, unlike any other of the same kind in Turkey, has been continued in the same family for upwards of a century. The inhabitants of Hillah bear a very bad character. The air is salubrious, and the soil extremely fertile, producing great quantities of rice, dates, and grain of different kinds, though it is not cultivated to above half the degree of which it is susceptible.

The grand cause of this fertility is the Euphrates, the banks of which are lower and the stream more equal than the Tigris. Strabo says that it was a stadium in breadth at Babylon; according to Rennell, about 491 English feet; or D'Anville's still more reduced scale, 330. Niebuhr says, at Hillah it is 400 Danish feet broad; my measurement by a gradual line at the bridge there, brings it to 75 fathoms, or 450 feet; its breadth, however, varies in its passage through the ruins. Its depth I found to be 2 fathoms, and the current runs at the medium rate of about two

knots; when lowest, being probably half a knot less, and when full, a knot more. The Tigris is infinitely more rapid, having a current of near seven knots when at its height. The Euphrates rises at an earlier period than the Tigris; in the middle of the winter it increases a little, but falls again soon after; in March it again rises; and in the latter end of April is at its full, continuing so till the latter end of June. When at its height it overflows the surrounding country, fills the canals dug for its reception, without the slightest exertion of labour, and facilitates agriculture in a surprising degree. The ruins of Babylon are then inundated so as to render many parts of them inaccessible, by converting the valleys among them into morasses. But the most remarkable inundation of the Euphrates is at Felugiah, twelve leagues to the westward of Bagdad, where, on breaking down the dyke which confines its waters within their proper channel, they flow over the country, and extend nearly to the banks of the Tigris, with a depth sufficient to render them navigable for rafts and flat-bottom boats.

The water of the Euphrates is esteemed more salubrious than that of the Tigris. Its general course through the site of Babylon is N. and S. I questioned the fishermen who ply on the river, respecting its bottom, and they all agreed that bricks and other frag ments of building are very commonly found in it. From the gentleness of the current, regularity of the stream, and equal substance of the banks, I am of opinion that the Euphrates would not naturally alter its course in any great degree, certainly not so much as the Tigris, whose variations in a few years are often very considerable.

A variety of circumstances may,

however, have caused some alterations.

It is evident

from what Strabo says, that the neglected state of the canals had considerably injured the original stream, and it is possible that a part of it might have continued to flow through the channel cut by Cyrus for a long time afterwards. That some change in the course of the river has taken place, will be hereafter shown.

These are

I have before remarked, that the whole of this part of Mesopotamia is intersected by canals. of all ages and it is not uncommon to see workmen employed in excavating a new canal, close to, and parallel with, an old one, when it might be supposed that the cleansing of the old one would be a work of much less toil. The high embankments of these canals easily impose on the unpractised eye for ruins of buildings, especially when the channel has been filled up by the accession of soil, and I doubt not are the origin of the belief expressed by some travellers, that there are ruins in the gardens of Hillah. Niebuhr and Otter say that the remains of walls and edifices are in existence, though enveloped in woods and coppices. Otter in particular observes that the site of Babylon is generally covered with wood: this is certainly incor

rect. On the ruins of Babylon there is not a single tree growing, excepting the old one which I shall hereafter have occasion to mention; but in the intervals of the ruins, where, in all probability, no building ever stood, there are some patches of cultivation. I made the most diligent search all through the gardens, but found not the slightest vestige of ruins, though previously I heard of many, an example of the value of information resting solely on the authority of the natives. The reason is obvious. Ruins composed, like

those of Babylon, of heaps of rubbish impregnated with nitre, cannot be cultivated, and any inferior mound would of course be levelled in making the garden.

In such a soil as that of Babylon it appears surprising how long some of the canals have remained. The Naher Malcha, a work of the Babylonian monarchs, might still be effectually repaired, and it is probable that many of the canals now seen on the site of Babylon may have been in existence when it was a flourishing city. Some of the canals were used for the purpose of navigation, and Alexander took great pains to cleanse and restore those that were out of order. Aristobulus, quoted by Strabo, says that he went into these canals in a boat, which he steered himself, and inspected the repairs in person, in presence of a multitude of spectators, cleansing the mouths of some which were choked up with mud, and blocking up others. In one instance, where the canal led towards the morasses and lakes of the Arabian side, he opened a new mouth thirty stadia from the old one, in a more stony place, to ensure greater durability. He also dug basins for his fleet; and in performing these works, it is said the graves of many of the kings and princes who were buried in the morasses were dug up; by which I understand that the bad state of the canals had caused inundations in the places of sepulture. From the yielding nature of the soil I can readily conceive the ease with which Cyrus dug a trench round the city, sufficient to contain the river. I have not, however, been able to discover any traces either of this trench, or the lines of circumvallation.

The ruins of the eastern quarter of Babylon commence about two miles above Hillah, and consist of