724 Literary Intelligence. [No. 7. 



Among the correspondence is a highly interesting letter from 

 Dr. Lobdell at Mosul, dated a year ago, but so full of promise for 

 further discoveries, that we will give an extract from it. 



" Nebbi Yunus is a little "South of Koyunjik, but still remains 

 almost intact, from the superstitious dread of the Mohammedans of 

 disturbing the repose of Jonah, to the lofty jam' eh over whose tomb 

 the Moslems go every Eriday in great numbers from Mosul, a mile 

 distant, to pray. Helmy Pasha, the present governor of this district, 

 did excavate somewhat in that mound last year, and found several 

 large bulls and human giants, much injured by fire, and a few small 

 antiques ; among other things, a bronze lion on one side of which 

 was an inscription which Col. Eawlinson reads: Esarhaddon — the 

 conqueror of Misraim and Cush. Other inscriptions are said to 

 assert that this mound of the prophet was built by captive women, 

 and that of Koyunjik by men, from Babylonia. 



" The Pasha's object in setting his manacled prisoners to work in a 

 cellar, where one of the bull's heads was accidentally discovered, was 

 to find gold, and he instructed his overseers to search carefully 

 under the feet of the bulls for treasure I None appearing, he de- 

 sisted ; the inhabitants refused permission to the English and French 

 to continue the explorations, and the antiquities of Nebbi Yunus 

 are likely to be for some time yet undisclosed. 



" A company has recently been formed in London for the purpose 

 of excavating in the mounds of Lower Mesopotamia and Assyria, 

 entirely independent of the British Museum, though it is expected 

 they will work under the charter granted Mr. Layard and his pa- 

 trons, which allows the removal to England of all objects discover- 

 ed. 



" The Erench are obliged to offer the Sultan one-half of all they 

 find, and a late attempt ofMons. Place, the Erench Consul in Mosul, 

 to raft some fine bulls and winged 'human figures to Baghdad and 

 Busrah, was opposed by the Pasha on the ground that he had not 

 given the Cabinet of Antiquities lately opened in Constantinople, an 

 opportunity to take the share due to the Turkish Government. 

 These large slabs were drawn from Khorsabad, about twelve miles 

 distant, on a cart built by the Consul expressly for the purpose in 

 the strongest manner, the wheels being about twenty inches in dia- 



