174 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



of which were said to be twelve feet in diameter. Some of the columns 

 which supported the arches were made hollow and filled with earth, so 

 the trees might strike their roots down. 



In this unique garden were found the bright coffee berry, the pecu- 

 liar flower of the fig tree, the hardy, evergreen olive, and the taller, 

 nobler trees of the northern forests. The flora of the luxuriant tropic 

 and of the soberer temperate zone were blended in perfect harmony. 

 Fragrance and beauty were everywhere prevalent. 



Imagine the effect of looking up one hundred feet, noting differ- 

 ent varieties of rocks, shrubs and flowers at each landing, and at the 

 summit the largest trees of all, then ascending the broad stairway, of 

 finding new gardens and fountains, and among the arches stately apart- 

 ments, doubly pleasant because of the surrounding beauty and the de- 

 licious coolness. 



&s Amytis made the tour of her novel pleasure ground, she must 

 have been happier for this beautiful retreat, which served at once as a 

 reminder of the beloved rocks and trees of her old home and her hus- 

 band's love in the new. 



The Assyrians* frequently erected artificial elevations to support 

 trees and flowers, which are known as hanging gardens, but they were 

 placed on only a single row of pillars, thus giving them a very moderate 

 height. None approached in size and complication of structure this 

 one built by Nebuchadnezzar. 



In the southeastern part of what is now Turkey in Asia, on the 

 banks of the Euphrates river, there are numerous shapeless mounds 

 which are all that remains to tell that it was once a populous country, 

 inhabited by a rich and energetic people, the legends of whose achieve- 

 ments still astonish the world. A few well-preserved bricks and pieces 

 of pottery are all that remain of the once magnificent architecture. 

 Not a trace of the mighty walls exists. Nothing marks the site of "the 

 beauty of the Chaldee's excellency " but these unsightly heaps, which 

 rose in majestic grandeur two thousand three hundred years ago. 



On the east bank of the river are three great mounds which are 

 thought to mark the burial place of the largest building. The most 

 northern one, known as Babil, the true native name for Babylon, is a 

 vast pile of brick-work of an irregular quadrilateral shape. 



Below the Babil mound, which stands isolated from the rest, are 

 two principal masses, the most northern known to the Arabs as Al Kasr, 

 meaning "The Palace." 



It is an oblong square, seven hundred yards long by six hundred 

 broad, and seventy feet in height. Excavators have discovered only tiles, 

 fragments of stone and bricks of a pale yellow color, stamped one and 



