ON THE WESTERN BANK OF THE RIVER. 
381 
growing proofs for more than a mile, we came to a numerous, 
and very conspicuous assemblage of mounds ; the most consider¬ 
able of which, was about 35 feet in height; and from its elevated 
summit* I observed that the face of the country, both to the 
north and the south, for upwards of a mile either way, bore the 
same hillocky appearance ; besides being thickly scattered with 
those fragments of past habitations, which, in all Babylonian 
ruins, have so particularly marked their character. From the 
highest point, I took the following bearings : Mujelibe N. 40° E. ; 
tree on the Kasr N. 55° E. ; Amran Tomb N. 80° E. ; Mesched 
Esshems S. 65° E.; Birs Nimrood S. 25° W. Here, doubtless, is 
the trace of a building of considerable consequence. 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 not 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 his inspection of his workmen, while clear¬ 
ing away the ruins of its fallen superstructures from the base of 
the Temple 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 on the otherand the eastern having been the most 
stately of the two, we can hardly entertain a doubt of its having 
also been the conqueror’s more stationary habitation. Hence, 
there seems good reason to conclude, that it was on some spot 
amongst the ruins of the Kasr that the Macedonian hero breathed 
his last. 
See Plate LXXIV. 
