704 
RUINS OF PALMYRA. 
with a huge snake wound about in many coils by way of pillow for his 
head ; and these figures, according to the manner of this place, are 
all of one piece, hewn from the body of the rock. 
‘‘These works, however, although they are unquestionably stupend- 
ous, are, in our author’s opinion, surpassed by others about a mile and 
a half south of the hill. They consist of two pagodas of about thirty 
feet long by twenty feet wide, and about as many in height, cut out 
of the solid rock, and each consisting originally of one single stone. 
Near these also stand an elephant full as big as life, and a lion much 
larger than the natural size, but very well executed, each hewn also 
out of one stone. The great rock above described is at some distance 
from the sea, perhaps fifty or one hundred yards, and in that space 
the Hindoo village before mentioned stood in 1776. But close to 
the sea are the remains of a pagoda built of brick, and dedicated to 
Sib, the greatest part of which has evidently been swallowed up by 
that element, for the door of the innermost apartment, in which the 
idol is placed, and before which there are always two or three spa- 
cious courts surrounded with walls, is now washed by the waves, and 
the pillar, used to discover the meridian at the time of founding the 
pagoda, is seen standing at some distance in the sea. 
“ In the neighbourhood of this building there are some detached 
rocks, washed also by the waves, in which ther« appear sculptures, 
though now much worn and defaced. And the natives declared to 
the writer of this account, that the more aged people among them 
remembered to have seen the tops of several pagodas far out in the 
sea, which being covered with copper, probably gilt, were very 
visible at sunrHse, as their shining surface used then to reflect the 
sun’s rays, but that now that effect was no longer produced, as the 
copper had since become incrusted with mould and verdigris.” — From 
these circumstances it is probable that the magnificent city, of which 
these appear to be part of the ruins, has been destroyed partly by 
an earthquake, by which the rock was rent, and partly by a sudden 
inundation of the sea occasioned by this commotion of the earth. 
Ruins of Palmyra. 
These celebrated ruins consist of temples, porticoes, and palaces 
of Grecian architecture, and lie scattered over an extent of several 
miles. They were accidentally discovered by some English travellers 
from Aleppo about a century ago. The most remarkable of them is 
the temple of the Sun, of which the ruins are spread over a square of 
about two hundred and twenty yards. It was encompassed with a 
stately wall, built of large square stones, and adorned with pilasters 
within and without, to the number of sixty-two on a side. Within the 
court are the remains of two rows of noble marble pillars thirty-seven 
feet high, with their capitals of most exquisite workmanship. Of these 
only fifty-eight remain entire, but they appear to have gone round 
the whole court, and to have supported a double piazza. The walks 
opposite the castles appear to have been spacious. At each end of this 
line are two niches for statnes ; at their pedestals, borders, suppor- 
ters, and canopies are carved with the utmost propriety and elegance. 
