604 Sir Ri KePorter’éTravels in Georgia, Persia; Armenia, &e. 
the hardest,|stone, »Itnis,composed).of 
clay! mixed, with) chopped! :straw, *or 
broken) reeds,; to) :conipatt: ity and then 
dried sin) the, sufties Here, then; besides 
tracing the first >buildérs| of» Babelin 
their yery executed owork, -“¢Go to, let 
‘us, make brick,)and) burn ‘them -tho- 
roughly!’ we |find: the! exact» sort of 
brick, which: the ‘children of Israel made, 
during: their captivityin Egypt: And 
Pharaoh ¢ommanded: the task-masters, 
and said, ye'shall:no more give the peo- 
ple straw to make bricks, &c.” »:'Phese 
unburnt bricks commonly form the inte- 
rior or mass: of any strong foundation 
amongst these ruins; and this/is the case 
with the great tower, while it is, or ra- 
iber has been, faced with the more beau- 
tifal fabric of those manufactured in the 
furnace or kiln. From ‘every account 
left us by» historians of the superemi- 
niently stupendous structure’ of the 
Tower of Belus, we must seek it on the 
banks of the Euphrates, and on the site 
of Babylon; and of all the colossal 
mounds which*remains amongst its far- 
spreading «ruins, not*one appears to an- 
swev'so fully, in place; dimensions, and 
aspect, to atl their pictures of the tower, 
whether called by the'name of Babel or 
of Belus, as this sublime inhabitant of 
‘the desert, known ‘universally to the pre- 
sent descendants of Ishmael, by the 
name of Birs Nimrood. ‘The etymology 
of ‘the: word> Birs;: Mr. ‘Rich considers 
‘difficult to-trace/! He observes, that it 
doesnot appear'to'be: Arabic, though it 
is pdssibleoto:be! some term which has 
suffered the corraptions: of ‘time, that 
might coriginally“ be derived from that 
language, cor the Chaldean. ‘There are 
words im both, ‘similar to it in sound; in 
the latter meaning’ a palace, or splendid 
building ;‘inethe former, a’sandy desola- 
tion;iortheé habitation of daemons. The 
Arabs; ‘as 'I -mentioned: before, call it 
Birs Nimrood} ‘but ‘the remnant ‘of! the 
captivity, still cabiding amongst “the 
waters of ‘Babylon}”? when: they speak 
of it; call it} Nebachadnezzar’s prison” 
; aepAMetl ey joey 
The town of Hillaolies in latitude 
32° 81! 18") in tongitude12!:36" west of 
Bagdad; and, according? to’ Turkish: au- 
thorities, it' was boilt in'thefifth century 
, of the’ Hegira;oin the district ° of Othe 
Euphrates, which: the /Arabs » call Bt- 
Ared Babel -Lying ona spot ofthe 
vast site/of Babylon, nothing was more 
likely than that itshouldvbe built out of 
a few of the fragments ofthat great city. 
The town is ‘pleasantly'sitwated! amidst 
gardens ‘and groves of date-trees; and 
spreads itsclf-on:bothisides of ithe river, 
where itris connected by. the:miscrable 
floating-bridge' I yhave »justydescribeds 
but which, perilousiasitumay be}dssecu- 
rity itself; when ¢€o withithe pass 
ofidanger at. Bagdads> Tbe portiondfthe 
town, oor, as! itis: usually ealledj, dhe 
suburb, on the eastern bank; Consists: of 
one principal :\street! of. bazar), reaching 
from the small defenceless gates whenee 
it is\entered from Bagdad; dowmtonthe 
edge of the water ;iteis deemedithe least 
considerable part of Hillah, beingiof far 
less dimensions» in everyswayj thanathe 
more populous branch» across the: rotten 
timbers. ‘There:\thecinhabitants, Jews, 
Turks, and: Arabs,-axe muchhicker;the 
streets and bazars! more: numerous: and 
abundant.» From: the great, centre 
bazar, well filled! withe:imerchandize, 
branch off, in various crookéd diréctions, 
minor, ranges; ! among | whichoare! found 
the fish and :flesh:marketse>|In the 
former I saw several varieties ;and some 
of enormous size; resembling the barbel. 
The fish in! question ranfrom four tocfive 
feetin length, and were coveredwithwéry 
Jarge thick ‘scalesu«'The! head fook’up 
full a third of) their length} «cTiamtold 
they eat coarsevand dry, butcare;anever- 
theless, a favourite food withthe inhabi- 
tants.. They arecaughtin greatquanti- 
ties near the town; (and silsmto-w ednsi- 
derable. distance!above! itii Theflesh- 
market was sparingly served withimeat, 
the whole not:appearing to bemore:than 
the dismembered carcases:of twosheep, 
two goats, and the red rouglnfragments 
of a buffalo. © /This« displayviwas ibut 
ascetic provision for <a) :populationof 
seven thousand «persons. ) ‘Lhe stréets 
are narrow, like those:of Bagdad; auie- 
cessary evil in: oriental .climates;i:to 
elude the full power of the:sun? but they 
were even morenoisomely filthy s;amoast 
umniecessary anboyanceany wheres« In 
like: manner, ‘also, they | were ‘crowded, 
but! not with |so:many personswinigay 
attire: Here were groupsiof dark, grim- 
Jooking, half-naked Arabs, sitting: idly 
on tliesides of ithe streets, and so nume- 
rouslyy as scarcely to!leave roomy /forva 
singlethorse'to passj:and!evem:accaval- 
cade, inline would ‘notshave alarmed 
them, 'sov indifferent did they wappear, 
when"! we owere. almost) compelled,» it 
someiiabrupt? turn; almost ito;ride aver 
them! Ai few:sombre-garbed Israelites ; 
and>some oof ‘the Turks, sattendant ‘on 
offitial-duties of the pashalic in this part 
‘of the government, also mingled! occa- 
sionally inv the passing, orseated crowd; 
where ‘the solemn,’ saturnine air of the 
latter, 
