reeds set in cement, above which were layers of 

 tiles, also set in cement; and again above these 

 great sheets of lead, carefully joined so as to protect 

 the walls of the building from the moisture that 

 oozed through the soil above. On this was spread 

 deep, rich loam, and therein were planted, after the 

 manner of garden and park, rare shrubs and flowers 

 that delighted with color and perfume, and " broad- 

 leaved " trees that grew into stately dimensions, and 

 clung to the breast of the nurse as trustfully as had 

 it been that of old Mother Earth, Through a 

 shaft reaching down to the river, water was drawn 

 up to reservoirs in the upper terrace by some 

 mechanism that Diodorus, surely by an anachro- 

 nism, speaks of as a sort of Archimedes' screw. 

 Thence came the supply for the various fountains 

 and rills that decorated and refreshed the gardens. 



This truly was a wonder of the world ; for in 

 the vaulted corridors below, the politician and the 

 money-changer plied their crafts, but the husband- 

 man and the farmer were for once on top. 



Benjamin Ide Wheeler. 



The Garden of Damascus 



Wild as the nighest woodland of a deserted 

 home in England, but without its sweet sadness, is 

 the sumptuous Garden of Damascus. Forest trees 

 tall and stately enough if you could see their lofty 

 crests, yet lead a bustling life of it below, with their 

 branches struggling against strong numbers of 

 bushes and wilful shrubs. The shade upon the 

 earth is black as night. High, high above your 

 head, and on every side all down to the ground, the 

 thicket is hemmed in and choked up by the inter- 

 lacing boughs that droop with the weight of roses, 

 and load the slow air with their damask breath. 

 The rose trees which I saw were all of the kind we 

 call damask they grow to an immense height and 



