610 
wards of .a mile, either way, bore ,the 
same hillocky,appearance; besides being 
thickly scattered, with, those. fragments 
of past habitations, which, in all, Baby- 
Jonian ruins, haye,so, particularly marked 
their character... From:the highest point, 
I took.the following bearings: Mujelibe 
N.,40° E..;,tree on the Kasr N. 56° E.; 
Amran, Tomb. N....80° E.;,.Mesched 
Esshems,S, 65° .E.; Birs Nimrood. 8, 
25° W.. Here, doubtless, is the. trace 
of a building, of considerable | conse- 
quence. The extent of its mounds and 
ruins-tracked ground, seemed more than 
two. miles; and, having traversed, that 
extent to the south-west, I found the 
hilly vestiges. did, nat cease.for a mile 
beyond. Here, I think, it is possible, I 
may. have found the site. of, the old or 
lesser palace; which, probably, was the 
temporary;abode, of Alexander, during 
bis,,inspection, of his workmen, while 
clearing away. the. ruins, of its fallen su- 
persiructures from the base of thetemple 
of Belus... In the midst, of the labour, 
and, after, having been engaged nearly 
two months in that attempt, we are told 
that he died; but previous to the event, 
he ordered himself to be ‘“‘removed from 
his residence on.one side of the river, to 
his palace onthe other 2” and, the eastern 
having been the most stately of the two, 
we can hardly.entertain a doubt of its 
having also. been. the. conqueror’s sta- 
tionary. habitation. 
Having, duly, explored this second 
specimen, of considerable remains, we 
came.out upon a good deahof cultivated, 
ground; over which we took our course 
for more than,a, mile, when we arrived 
at the banks, of a. canal, the bed of which 
we crossed; .and half a mile more 
brought us to an extensive, wood of 
date-trees, in the bosom. of which stands 
the village of, "Chamasia. We did not 
halt there, but passed on over two miles 
of cultivation and, bigh grass ; at which 
extremity, a, vast, tract opened. before 
us, covered with every. minor vestige of 
former buildings; and. which, appear- 
ances, continued, the whole way.to. the 
eastern verge of the boundary. around 
Birs Nimrood,, a distance, of , nearly. a 
mile and three-qnarters, . "These, re- 
mains seem, to my..apprehension, not 
only to establish the fact, that the wes- 
tern. plain of the Euphrates sustained. 
its portion of the city of, Babylon, as 
well as the eastern bank, but that Birs 
Nimrood, otherwise the temple of Relus, 
did actually, stand in one division of the 
eity.. Indeed, if the recorded dimen-, 
sions of Babylon are compared with the 
far to find their lair. 
Sir R. Ker Porters Travelsin Georgia, Persiay Armenia, &c. 
relative situation. of that, extraordinary 
pile; andejthe traceable, Liuildings.still 
extant, it will) be found, that.the, Birs 
must}, have! stood, even far withim the 
computed limits, of the:city. nisjeco o 
a ee 3h SE obIONS (si .comuA odie 
An, this my, second, visit to, Birs Nim- 
rood, while) passing rapidly, over the last 
tracks:-of; the) rnin, spread, ground, oat 
some little distance from the, outerbaak 
of its quadrangular-boundary,my,party 
suddenly, halted ; haying. deseried)«se- 
veral dark. objevts| moving ,along: the 
summit of its hill, whieh they construed 
into dismounted Arabs on the look-out, 
while their armedibrethrem must bedying 
concealed under the, southern brow, \of 
the mound, »./Phinking: ;thisy Nery, pro- 
bable, I took out my; glass ‘to.examine, 
and soon, distinguished that) ihe;causes 
of our alarm were two or-three majestic 
lions, taking the;air upon the, heights of 
the pyramid. .; Perhaps: Lineyer had; be- 
held so sublime a-picture to the mind, 
as well.as.to the eye. | “Ehese werea 
species, of enemy which my party were 
accustomed 4o dread without) anyepanic 
fear; and, while. we, continued; too au- 
vance, though. slowly, the hallooing.of 
the people made.the noble, beasts gra- 
dually change.their- position, till;jin, the 
course of twenty minutes, they) totally 
disappeared... We. then; rode ,close up 
to the ruins; and [ had, once more the 
gratification of ascending the awful,sides 
of the tower of Babel....In my-progress 
I stopped, several times, to Jook,at the 
broad prints of the feet. of the lions,,Jeft 
plain in the clayey. (soil;, and, by) the 
track, I saw. that if we bad) chosen, to 
rouse such royal game, we need ‘not go 
But; while; thus 
actually. contemplating. these . savage 
tenants, wandering amidst the, towers of 
Babylon, and bedding themselves within 
the deep cavities of, her once magnificent 
temple, IL could not help. reflecting, on 
how faithfully, the, various, .propheeies 
had_been fulfilled, which: relate, in, the 
Scriptures, to, the utter fall of; Babylon, 
and abandonment.of the. place.;, verify- 
ing, in fact, the very.words of.Isaiah, 
——‘* Wild beasts..of the ,desert,shall, hie 
there ; and the, houses, shall .be full,of 
doleful creatures: owls shall! dwell there, 
and dragons, shall, ery. in, the, .pleasant 
places.” ; 
) AL HYMER, ON, THE EASTERN. SHORE: 
, November: 22d.— Another; gigantic 
abject, worthy of note, lay, pretty far, on 
the.eastern side of the Euphrates ;. and, 
again attended. by my escort, I set forth 
this morning to resume my,researches 
in 
