I
 
 KEMAIN8 
 
 OF 
 
 LOST EMPIRES: 
 
 SKETCHES OF 
 
 THE RUINS OF PALMYRA, NINEVEH, BABYLON, AND 
 
 PERSEPOLIS, WITH SOME NOTES ON INDIA 
 
 AND THE CASHMERIAN HIMALAYAS. 
 
 By p. V. K MYEKS, A.M., 
 
 A8800IATF. A0TIIOR, WITH U. M. MYF.R8, OF "LIFE AND NATURE UNDER THi; TKOPIOS. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 F li A N K L I N SQUARE. 
 
 18 75. '
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 187-1, by 
 
 IIarpek & Brothers, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
 
 l^ 
 
 
 CDelrUatelr 
 
 LASTING AND AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE 
 
 MY COMPANION BROTHER. 
 
 tr\ ^ f ji ^ r>
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Iis" giving this volume to tbe public, a word is 
 requisite in regard to the circumstances out of which 
 it has grown. The journey, the narrative of which 
 runs through and gives unity to the work, was per- 
 formed by the late Henry M. Myers and the writer 
 during the years of 1871-2. The way to the under- 
 taking was gradually prepared. My brother early 
 became enamored of the natural sciences, botany, 
 however, being his ftivorite study. It was his en- 
 thusiastic devotion to science that led to his appoint- 
 ment, while a student at Williams Colleofe, as a 
 member of the expedition sent out by the Lyceum 
 of Natural History of that institution to the tropical 
 regions of South America. It -was my own fortune 
 also to be a member of the same expedition. This 
 was in the summer of 1867. Among the publications 
 which grew out of the discoveries and explorations 
 of the different members of this party was a joint 
 history of the expedition by Henry M. Myers and 
 the present writer, which was given to the public
 
 [y INTRODUCTION. 
 
 isle, with tlie tropic palms that he loved so well 
 shadowing his grave. 
 
 Had my brother been spared to aid in the prepara- 
 tion of this volume, it would certainly have been im- 
 pressed with an altogether different character. As it 
 is, it embodies what most engaged my own interest 
 and most deeply traced my recollection. The title- 
 page of the volume indicates the field which offered to 
 me the greatest attractions for special investigation. 
 
 It will be noticed that this work is in no proper 
 sense a narration or recital of personal experiences ; 
 it has been my purpose to render it something of 
 more permanent value. It would have been a com- 
 paratively easy task to edit a diary. But my aim 
 has been to regard the jottings of my note -books 
 simply as hints to be used or rejected as they con- 
 tributed, or failed to contribute, to the general sym- 
 metry of a preconceived plan. Besides the aid of 
 my o^vn journals, I have received many suggestions 
 from the carefully kept diary of my brother. The 
 various other sources whence I have drawn to enrich 
 these pages, and the different authorities upon which 
 I have at times depended, will be found sufficiently 
 indicated by the marginal references. I wish, how- 
 ever, in tliis place to make particular mention of 
 Layard's " Nineveh and Babylon,'' llawlinson's " Five
 
 INTRODUCTION. V 
 
 Ancient Monarchies," Binning's " Travels in Persia," 
 and Dr. Butler's " Land of the Veda" — works which 
 as guides have been of invaluable service to me. 
 
 One word in respect of the illustrations : a num- 
 ber are from sketches made by the writer; others 
 are taken from photographs; and some are selec- 
 tions from material gathered by my Publishers. In 
 this connection I must not fail to acknowledge my 
 deep obligations to Miss Ida C. Miller for the work 
 of her skillful pencil, and for the assistance which her 
 ready pen has lent in the preparation of the volume 
 for the press. To Mr. W. H. Bottsford I wish also to 
 express my indebtedness for artist services. 
 
 And now I give the volume, just as it is, into the 
 hands of the public. I can not honestly seek im- 
 munity from criticism by pleading haste, for I have 
 taken time for the preparation of the work, have 
 written with care, and have subjected the whole to a 
 thorough revision. It may seem at times that the 
 writer has strayed from his sul)ject to follow some 
 philosophic suggestion ; but, as Felix Jones remarks, 
 it is pardonable to step out of one's path to pluck a 
 flower, provided one do not stop to dig it out by the 
 roots. It is also sometimes extremely necessary for 
 us to go beneath externalities if we would discover 
 the lessons which are intended for us. Thus to the
 
 VI 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 superficial observer there is miieli of discouragement 
 in Asia ; l3ut to the thoughtful student there is more 
 of encouragement. Upon the whole, our observations 
 among the peoples and the scenes of the East have 
 strengthened our faith in human nature, and exalted 
 our hopes in respect of human destiny. We have 
 certainly seen to what depths of degradation human- 
 ity may sink ; but we have also seen how ever-pres- 
 ent and responsive are its susceptibilities of improve- 
 ment. We have, moreover, gained a new under- 
 standing of the infinite power of religious beliefs and 
 theories of government in shaping the destinies of a 
 people. We have learned somewhat of the meaning 
 of the successions of history, and have had opened to 
 us grander vistas into the past of the nations of the 
 East. If, when viewing the future of those warm 
 and impulsive races in the new light thus gained, 
 we have written with the glow of enthusiasm, we 
 may hope for indulgence; for we have written in 
 the firm conviction that the dayspring of a future far 
 more glorious than that past — the reminiscences of 
 whose splendor has been borne down to us by so 
 many noble monuments — is already tinting the sky 
 
 of the Orient. 
 
 P.V.N.M. 
 
 Columbus, O., November, 1874.
 
 CONTENTS- 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE RUINS OF PALMYRA. 
 
 Contrast between Eastern and Western Asia.— Kemains of Empire in 
 the Latter.— History of Palmyra.— Isolation of the Ruins.— Prepa- 
 rations for our Journey.— Oasis of Damascus.— A Bedawy Escort.— 
 An Excitement. — Our Guard Strengthened. — A Night upon the 
 Desert.— First Glimpse of the Ruins.— Walls of Palmyra.— Extent 
 of the Remains.— Mausoleums.— The Great Colonnade.— Beautiful 
 Temples. — Overturned Altars.— The Triumphal Arch.— The Temple 
 of the Sun.— The Walls of the Court.— Magnificent Gateway.— Beau- 
 ty of the Desecrated Shrine.- Tower-tombs.— SubteiTanean Sepul- 
 chres. — The Castles. — An Impressive View Page 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 RUINED CITIES OF NORTHERN STRIA. 
 
 Departure from Palmyra. — Lost on the Desert. — Arab Sagacity.— Vale 
 of Cojle -'Syria.— Ancient Cities. — The Pathway of Armies.— Arab 
 Plowing. — Site of Arethusa. — Fields of Basalt. — Hamath. — The 
 Hamath Inscriptions.— Alone on the Desert.— Ruins of Apamea. — 
 Grand Colonnade.— Condition of the Ruins.— Valley of the Oron- 
 tes.— Ruined City of El-Bara.— Palaces.— Tombs.— Other Ruined 
 Cities. — Cause of Depopulation 44 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 ACROSS THE MESOPOTAMIAN PLAINS. 
 
 Description of Aleppo.— A Curiosity Shop.— Malum Alepporum.— Our 
 Departure for Nineveh.— Artificial Tells.— A Superstition of the Des- 
 ert.— State of the Country.— The Euphrates.— A Native Ferry.— 
 Town of Birijic— A Refreshing Scene.— Incidents of Travel. — Ur 
 of the Chaldees.— A Lonely Cemetery.— Ruins of Verran Sherahr. — 
 Rock-built Tombs.— Bedawin Hospitality.— Meteorological Phenom-
 
 VIU 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ena.— Mardin.— The Castle.— A Grand Outlook.— The Town.— Prot- 
 estant Mssions. — A Serious Accident. — We Resume our Journey. — 
 Mesopotamian Villages. — Ruins of Dara. — Site of the Roman Town 
 of Nisibis.— Along the Tigris.— Mosul Page 60 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE EUINS OF NINEYEH. 
 
 Contrast between Assyrian and Roman Ruins. — Size of Ancient Nine- 
 veh. — Scriptural Argument. — Topographical Evidences. — Nineveh 
 and Babylon each Constructed on a Different Plan. —Condition of 
 the "Walls of Nineveh when Seen by the Ten Thousand.— Their 
 Dimensions. — Outer Fortifications. — The City Gates. — Mound of 
 Koyunjik. — Palace-mounds of the Assyrians and Babylonians. — De- 
 Irris of the Ninevite Palaces.— Nebbi Yunus.— Moslem Tradition.— 
 General Construction of an Assyrian Royal Residence. — French and 
 English Excavations. — Cuneiform Decipherment. — Chaldsean Tradi- 
 tion of the Deluge. — Nineveh's jjresent Desolation 98 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. 
 
 Our Kellic. — Floating Down. — River Scenes. — Rapids.— Historical As- 
 sociations.— Our Crew and Passengers.— The Captain's Reproof.— 
 Our Guard Mohammed.— Praying on a ZeZ^ic— Storms and Delays. 
 — Crossing the River on Inflated Skins for Provisions. — Fatalism. — 
 Botanizing. — Arrival at Tibrit 136 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS CONCLUDED. 
 
 An Unpremeditated Start.— Attempts to Stop the Runaway Raft. — 
 Rapid Progress toward Bagdad. — A Fearful Night Voyage. — Shoot- 
 ing Rapids in the Darkness. — A Narrow Escape. — Aground on a 
 Submerged Island.— Our Scattered Crew.— Arabs as Swimmers.— 
 An Exciting Landing.— Carried Ashore. — BaclsJiish. — Repairing the 
 Shattered Kellic. — Arab Village of Samarah. — The IMinaret. — Exten- 
 sive Ruins. — An Arab Settlement. — Resume our Voyage. — A Na- 
 tive's Way of Taking Passage.— The Valley of the Tigris.— Bal^y- 
 lonia a Gift of tlie Tigris and Euphrates. — Its Present Desolation. — 
 Change in the Bed of the Tigris.— Scenes along the River. — Arab 
 Villages.— Great Width of the Tigris.— Saratia.— A Village Under- 
 mined 153
 
 CONTENTS. ix 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 Origin of Bagdad. — The Saracenic Conquest. — Early History of the 
 City. — Oriental Splendor. — Science and Literature. — Decline of the 
 Power of the Caliphs. — Bagdad of To-day. — Site of the City. — Views 
 along the Tigris. — A Railroad. — A Summer Palace. — Government- 
 house. — Hospital. — Coflee-houses. — General View of the City. — 
 Streets and Bazaars. — The People. — English Residency. — Courts. — 
 Subterranean Apartments. — Ornamentation of Rooms. — An Indian 
 Prince. — Mosaic Poiiulation. — Babel of Languages, — Sabbaths in 
 Bagdad. — Religious Edifices. — Telegraphs. — Steam upon the Tigris. 
 — Modern Improvements Page 174 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE EUINS OF BABYLON. 
 
 Present Condition of Babylonia. — Ancient Canals. — Nahr Malcha. — 
 Former State of Babylonia. — An Oasis. — Mountains of Ruins. — 
 General Appearance of the Site of Babylon. — Palace -Mounds. — EI- 
 Kasr. — Babylonian Bricks and Masonry. — A Sculptured Lion. — A 
 Venerable Tree. — View from the Kasr. — Mound of Amran. — Ruins 
 of Neriglissar's Palace. — "Walls of the Royal Quarter. — The Hang- 
 ing Gardens. — The Mujelibee. — Objections to Considering it the 
 Remains of the Temple of Belus. — Birs Nimrud. — Description of the 
 Mound. — A Babylonian Temple. — Conflicting Theories respecting 
 the Ruin. — Probable Identification of the Birs with the Tower 
 of Babel. — Chaldsean Traditions. — Fire-blasted Appearance of the 
 Ruins explained. — Designs of the First Builders. — Testimony 
 of the Inscriptions. — The Walls of Babylon. — The Fulfillment of 
 Prophecy 200 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE LOWER TIGRIS AND SHAT-EL- ARAB. 
 
 Departure from the City of the Caliphs. — Mounds of Seleucia and Ctes- 
 iphon. — Ruins of the White Palace of Khosru. — Sacked by the Sara- 
 cens. — Its Treasures. — A Royal Persian Carpet. — Madayn. — The An- 
 cient Nahrwan Canal. — A Paradise Transformed into a Desert. — 
 River Scenes. — Mountain Views. — An Unsuccessful Experiment. — 
 Through the Marshes.— A Meandering River. — Amphibious Arabs. 
 — Junction of the Tigris and Euphrates.^ — Garden of Eden. — The
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 Shat-el-Arab. — Tropical Forest. — A Beautiful Water-jDath. — Amazo- 
 nian Scene. — Picture of Arab Life. — Pilgrims from Mecca. — Pilgrim- 
 ages and Railroads. — The Steamship Cashmere. — A Wonderful Coun- 
 try. — In the Persian Gulf. Page 254 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CARAVAN LIFE IN PERSIA. 
 
 First View of the "Land of Roses."— The Town of Bushire.— Startled 
 by a Velocipede. — A Dragoman who Wanted to See the Countiy. — 
 Persian Mendacity. — A CMrmdar on Time.— What Xenophon says 
 about Persian Character. — Departure from Bushire. — Traveling by 
 Night. — A Sand- Storm. — Telegraph Line Prostrated. — Brazgoon. — 
 Effects of the Famine. — Dalikee. — The Edge of the Great Plateau of 
 Iran. — Mountain Wildness and Beauty. — A Detention. — A Mountain 
 Trail.— The Pass of Mullook.— The Plain of Khisht.— Moslem Devo- 
 tions.— The Village of KoonarTukhteh.— The Pass of Kumaridj.— A 
 Sequestered Spot.— The Plain of Kauzeroon.— The Town.— Persian 
 Way of Advertising. — The Simplon of Persia. — A Lovely Vale. — The 
 Pass of the Old Woman. — Deshti Aijun. — A Geological Phenomenon. 
 — A Lion among our Animals. — Banditti. — Gardens of Shiraz. — Pil- 
 grims Welcomed Home 272 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 SHIRAZ. 
 
 The Valley of Shiraz. — Distant View of the City. — Streets and Bazaars. 
 — Interior of the Dwellings.^Public Buildings. — Population. — Gar- 
 dens of Shiraz. — Baghi Now. — Jehan Nema. — Baghi Taklit. — The 
 Tomb of Hafiz. — His Odes. — Tomb of Saadi. — Effects of the Famine 
 at Shiraz. — The Fundamental Cause of Asiatic Wretchedness. — The 
 Oriental Doctrine of Isolation.— Lessons of the Famine 300 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 THE RUINS OF PERSEPOLIS. 
 
 Historical Sketch. — Alexander at the Tomb of Cyrus.— Site of the Per- 
 sepolitan Remains. — The Cyclopean Platform. — A Magnificent Stair- 
 way.— Grand Propyla-um. — Gigantic Wardens. — Stanley and Anti- 
 quarians. — A richly Sculi)tured Staircase. — The Audience Hall of 
 Xerxes. — Hall of the Hundred CoUunns. — Oriental Hall of Audience. 
 — Ruins of tlie Palaces of Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes. — Massive Por- 
 tals. — Apartments of the Palace. — Nature of the Sculptures. — Rock-
 
 CONTENTS. Xi 
 
 hewn Tombs. — Rock-cut Fa9ades. — Remains of the City of Persepo- 
 lis. — Fortified Gate. — A Curious Tower. — Rock Tablets Page 319 
 
 CHAPTER Xlir. 
 
 FROM SHIRAZ TO CASHMERE. 
 
 Departure from Shiraz. — An Attack. — Descent to the Coast. — On Board 
 the Ethiopia. — Persian Gulf. — Muscat. — Coast of Beloochistan. — Har- 
 bor of Bombay. — Great Indian Peninsula Railway. — Over the Ghauts. 
 — Allahabad. — Lahore. — Traveling by Dak. — Bungalows. — Palan- 
 quin Travel. — Foot of the Himalayas. — Bhimur.— In the Saddle. — 
 Saidabad. — A Picturesque Valley. — Grand Views. — Naoshera Val- 
 ley. — Scenery among the Hills. — Ruined Serais. — Great Moguls. — 
 Passage of the Ruttan Pir. — Tropical Forest. — Alpine Scenery. — 
 Poshiana. — An Arab Scene. — A Fractious Animal. — Pass of the Pir 
 Punjal. — Coloration of Flowers. — Scenery about Aliabad Serai. — 
 Glimpse of the Vale of Cashmere. — Shapiyon. — Across the Valley. — 
 Encamijed in the Gardens of Cashmere 341 
 
 CHAPTER Xiy. 
 
 THE VALE OF CASHMERE AND ITS RUINED TEMPLES. 
 
 Names applied to the Vale. — Moore's " Lalla Rookh." — Beauties of the 
 Valley. — Encircling Mountains. — Passes. — Jhelum River. — Lateral 
 Valleys. — Avenues of Trees. — Akbar's Visits. — Climate of the Vale. 
 — Vegetation. — Fruits. — Roses. — A, Sanatarium. — Given up by the 
 English Government. — Influence of Scenery on National Character. 
 — Interesting Ruins. — Temple of Martund. — Other Temples. — Cash- 
 merian Traditions. — Serpent Worship. — Hinduism. — Traces of Greek 
 Art. — Spoliation of the Ancient Temples 366 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE CITY OF CASHMERE. 
 
 Situation. — General Appearance. — Buildings. — Canal Streets. — Boats. 
 — River Scenes. — English Stores. — Bridges. — Maharajah's Palace. 
 
 — Swiss and Venetian Scenes. — English Visitors. — An Official's 
 Barge. — Cashmerian Amazons. — Bathers. — Relics. — Wood from 
 the Mountains. — Jumna Meshjed. — Maharajah's Bazaar. — Below 
 the City. — Citadel. — Night on the River. — An Eastern Venice. 
 
 — Gardens of Cashmere. — Shalimar Bagh. — Nishat Bagh. — Isle 
 of Chenars. — Floating Gardens. — Population of Cashmere. — Peo- 
 ple. — Effects of Climate on Complexion. — Dress. — Character. 
 
 B
 
 XJI CONTENTS. 
 
 — Women. — Thomas Moore. —]\Ianufactures. — Sbawls. —Nature as 
 a Teacher Page 388 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE IN INDIA. 
 
 Descent to the Plains of India.— Change Wrought by the Monsoons. 
 — Multiplicity of Scenes. — Architectural Monuments of the Great 
 Moguls.— Sketch of the Tartar Tribes.— Conquests of Zingis Khan 
 and Timour. — The Mongol Empire in India Compared with the 
 Moorish Kingdom in Spain.— Splendor of the Great Mogul Court.— 
 The Mohammedan Sovereigns of Delhi and the Sepoy Rebellion.— 
 Our Arrival at Delhi.— The Dewani Khass.— Persian and Indian Au- 
 dience Halls.— Beauty of the Structure.— The Peacock Throne.— 
 Jumna Musjed.— Ruins of Old Delhis.— The Kutub Minar.— Agra.— 
 The Taj Mahal.— The Beauty of this Mausoleum.— Contrasted with 
 that of Zobeide's.— Palace of Akbar.— Pearl Mosque. — Cawnpore 
 and Lucknow.— The Well.— The Relief of Lucknow.— Benares.— Its 
 Temples and Shrines 414 
 
 CHAPTER XVn. 
 
 PROGRESS IN THE EAST. 
 
 The Great Moguls.— The English in India.— East India Company.— 
 India as England's Ward.— The Establishment of Order and Good 
 Government.— Railways.— Their Effect on Caste.— Steamship Lines. 
 — Municipal Improvements. — Schools and the Press. — Hinduism. — 
 Influence of Western Science on Eastern Mythologies. — Has there 
 been More than One Centre of Revelation ? — Hinduism mrms Chris- 
 tianity.— Shall we Civilize but not Christianize ? — Civilization and 
 Christianity Inseparable. — India's Position in the History of the 
 East. — General Awakening in Asia.— Sclavonic Influence in Central 
 Asia. — Alleged Inferiority of the Asiatic Mind.— Religious Instinct of 
 the Oriental.— The Future of Asia viewed in the Light of the Past.— 
 Immobility of Oriental Races. — Cause to be found in their Religious 
 Systems. — Progress not Metamorphosis. — Relations of the West to 
 the East 455 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ANCIENT GLACIERS AMONG THE HIMALAYAS 489
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The Rurss of Palmyra Frontispiece. 
 
 Palmtrian Towek-tomb Page 39 
 
 The Ruins of Apamea Faces p. 57 
 
 RuTNED Dwelling at El-Bara, Syrl\ 62 
 
 Mesopotamia^ Plains 66 
 
 Ancient Tell and Arab Village 73 
 
 The Ruins of Nineveh Faces p. 99 
 
 Excavation of an Assyrian Palace 118 
 
 Assyrians Flaying their Prisoners 130 
 
 Cuneiform Tablet 133 
 
 The Deluge Tablet 123 
 
 Runaway Raft on the Tigris Faces p. 156 
 
 The Rums of Samarah 163 
 
 Mosque of Imam Moussa, near Bagdad 171 
 
 Bridge of Boats, Bagdad Faces p. 186 
 
 xYncient Babylonian Canals. 203 
 
 Plan of the Mounds of Babylon 207 
 
 Babylonian Brick 210 
 
 B.\BYL0NiAN Lion 211 
 
 Mound of Mujelibee 219 
 
 Ruins of Birs Nimrud 223 
 
 Tak-Kesra, on the Site of Ctesiphon 255 
 
 The Ruins of Persepolis Faces p. 319
 
 xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PKOPTLiEA OF Xerxes Page 329 
 
 Avenue of Poplars, Cashmere 370 
 
 Ruins op the Temple op Martund 380 
 
 Pandrenton Temple 382 
 
 View of the Jhelum above Cashmere 393 
 
 First Bridge across the Jhelum, Cashmere Faces p. 394 
 
 Taj Mahal, Delhi 438 
 
 Benares, Sacred City of the Hindus 451 
 
 PsEUDO -Moraines in the Das Valley 497 
 
 Moraines, Sinde Valley 502 
 
 Terminal Moraines, Sinde Valley 509
 
 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE EUINS OF PALMYRA. 
 
 Contrast between Eastern and "Western Asia. — Remains of Empire in 
 the Latter. — History of Palmyra. — Isolation of the Ruins. — Prepa- 
 rations for our Journey. — Oasis of Damascus. — A Bedawy Escort. — 
 An Excitement. — Our Guard Strengthened. — A Night upon the 
 Desert. — First Glimpse of the Ruins. — Walls of Palmyra. — Extent 
 of the Remains. — Mausoleums. — The Great Colonnade. — Beautiful 
 Temples. — Overturned Altars. — The Triumphal Arch. — The Temple 
 of the Sun. — The Walls of the Court. — Magnificent Gateway. — Beau- 
 ty of the Desecrated Shrine.^Tower-tombs. — Subterranean Sepul- 
 chres. — The Castles. — An Impressive View. 
 
 Theee is a great contrast between Eastern and 
 Western Asia. Althongli the nations beyond the 
 Indus may lay claim to almost as venerable an an- 
 tiquity as the ancient monarchies that flourished in 
 the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, or rose on 
 the table-lands of Iran, still, instead of havinsf run 
 through their course with a sort of meteoric brillian- 
 cy, as did all the empires of Western Asia, they have, 
 through various conservative causes, been kept from 
 decadence and ruin, and to-day exhibit a prosperity 
 — a social, political, and numerical development — un- 
 surpassed during any preceding period ; for those
 
 IQ REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 literary memorials of a distant age existing in the 
 lands of Buddha and Confucius by no means justify 
 the inference that those countries long ago enjoyed 
 a golden era of national grandeur and universal cult- 
 ure ; though they may evidence periods of unusual 
 activity in the schools of their poets or philosophers 
 or moralists. In India, indeed, there are some im- 
 portant architectural remains of a high antiquity; 
 but so overshadov^ed are these by the omnipresent 
 life and splendid monuments of the present, that they 
 are passed almost unnoticed save by the antiquarian. 
 But in Western Asia it is very different. The 
 principal features of the countries represented by 
 Syria, Turkey, and Persia are neglect, decay, and 
 death. A hoary antiquity seems to rest on the face 
 of the worn hills of Palestine ; silence reigns in the 
 Syrian valleys ; desolation broods over the Mesopo- 
 tamian and Chaldean plains ; Elam lies waste. Yet 
 here were the seats of the greatest monarchies of an- 
 cient times, populous and powerful enough to work 
 out, on the most imposing scale, the grandest events 
 of history. But while the results of all the life 
 and movements of those early times have entered 
 into and formed the best elements of a later civiliza- 
 tion, those great monarchies — Chaldean, Syrian, As- 
 syrian, Median, Babylonian, and Persian — have them- 
 selves disappeared, and the countries that they once 
 filled with their noise are become silent and desolate.
 
 THE RUINS OF PALMYRA. 17 
 
 Scattered all over these regions are extensive ruins 
 and imposing monuments of forgotten age — the re- 
 mains of once mighty and proud capitals, " crushed 
 beneath the weight of prophecy," or " broken down 
 by the tramp of passing centuries " — evidence, in the 
 midst of present desolation or wretchedness, of past 
 populousness, magnificence, and affluence. 
 
 But it is not alone remains of those early mon- 
 archies of Asian origin that the traveler stumbles 
 upon in wandering over those regions to-day. Three 
 centuries before our era Alexander carried the arms 
 of Greece across Asia to the Indus. Under the Se- 
 leucidse, Art followed in the track of Conquest. Se- 
 leucus Nicator, the founder of the Syrian monarchy, 
 justly earned his title of "Royal Architect" from 
 the indulgence he allowed to his passion for archi- 
 tectural embellishments. Then came the Romans, 
 creators of cities as well as builders of roads. In the 
 second century of our era, Rome could boast of five 
 hundred cities, in the Asiatic provinces of the empire, 
 that had either been founded, or enlarged and beauti- 
 fied, by the successors of Caesar. 
 
 Among the cities that received, during the period 
 of Roman domination in Asia, the patronage of the 
 emperors, Palmyra* — the Tadmor of Scripture — was 
 
 * Tadmor, signifying " City of Palms," was the Hebrew name. Pal- 
 myra is the Greek and Latin translation of this word. The city was 
 also known to the Romans as Hadrianapolis, " City of Hadrian."
 
 18 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 one of the most favored. Palmyra's history possesses 
 a tragic interest, and the name of a woman lends to 
 it a glow of romance. A tragic interest, we say, for 
 although Palmyra enjoyed for a period imperial fa- 
 vor, still her own ambition and the envy of Rome 
 rendered her at last the Carthage of Asia ; and we 
 speak of romance, because the story of Zenobia, the 
 gifted and beautiful " Queen of the East," is a large 
 part of the city's history. 
 
 Nature herself marked out the, site for the city. 
 Away in the Syrian desert, about midway between 
 Damascus and the Euphrates, a range of low, ver- 
 dureless hills breaks the monotonous level of the 
 plain ; and from beneath these rocky ledges, which 
 give as little promise of gushing fountains as the un- 
 smitten rock of Kadesh, several springs pour out co- 
 pious streams, that create a little oasis in the midst 
 of the dreary expanses of sand. The spot must have 
 been a favorite camjung-place of the tribes that first 
 roved the Syrian desert. As soon as commerce 
 sprang up between the coast of the Mediterranean 
 and the valley of the Tigris and the Euphrates, it be- 
 came the resting-place for the caravans engaged in 
 this trade. Here must have halted the travel-worn 
 trains, ladened with the rich commodities of India, 
 Persia, and Babylonia, on their way to Syria and 
 Egypt ; and here were unladened the treasures of 
 Thebes and Memphis, the costly manufactures of
 
 THE RUINS OF PALMYRA. 19 
 
 Tyre and Siclon, destined for the bazaars of the far- 
 ther East. 
 
 Solomon's extensive commercial relations with Per- 
 sia and India gave a new importance to the little 
 oasis, and he established a caravansary there — " built 
 Tadmor in the wilderness." After this brief notice 
 by the sacred writer, the name almost disappears 
 from history for twelve centuries. But with the ex- 
 tension of the Roman power in Asia, Palmyra rea2> 
 pears, and for a considerable time maintains itself as 
 a free city on the oft-disputed frontier of the Roman 
 and Parthian empires — a freedom due rather, as the 
 historian Gibbon presumes, to the indulgent policy 
 of the contending parties, than to its seeming inacces- 
 sibility by an army in its desert home. About the 
 beginning of the second century of our era, however, 
 the campaigns of Trajan having pushed the frontier 
 of the em2:)ire beyond the Euphrates, Palmyra be- 
 came a Roman colony, and for more than one hun- 
 dred years sustained a dependent relation to Rome. 
 
 Its magnificent ruins evidence the partiality with 
 which royal patronage was bestowed upon it during 
 this its Augustan period. Hadrian, the Antonines, 
 and succeeding emperors, with munificent liberality, 
 aided the cultured and ambitious Palmyrians in the 
 architectural embellishment of their city. In every 
 part it was adorned with grand colonnades, porticoes, 
 triumphal arches, monumental columns, inscribed al-
 
 20 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 tars, temples and palaces and theatres and mauso- 
 leums, till, in the number, richness, and beauty of its 
 public monuments, it seemed to rival even Rome it- 
 self. The effect upon the imagination of all this ar- 
 chitectural magnificence must have been heightened 
 from its appearing to the traveler vrho approached 
 the city to rise, as by magic, out of a dreary waste of 
 sand. Doubtless many a weary traveler, as the city 
 rose upon the desert, looked upon all this grandeur, 
 flitting in the quivering air along the horizon, as only 
 another illusion of the mocking mirage. In its clos- 
 ing history it indeed looms up, and then disappears, 
 like the phantom of the desert. 
 
 When the prestige of the Roman legions had been 
 lost by a humiliating defeat, and for the first time in 
 the history of the empire a Roman emperor (Vale- 
 rian) taken captive, the forces of Palmyra, under 
 Odenatus, beat back the Persian army, and saved, or 
 rather restored, the honor of the Roman name. The 
 brilliant military talent of the Palmyrian prince, in 
 subsequent encounters with the enemies of Rome in 
 the East, elicited to such a degree the admiration and 
 gratitude of its Senate, that they conferred upon him 
 the title of Augustus, and bestowed marks of honor 
 upon other eminent Palmyrians. Zenobia, the wife 
 of Odenatus, succeeded to his authority. She is said 
 to have been the daughter of an Arab sheik, and she 
 traced her descent from the Egyptian Cleopatra. By
 
 THE RUINS OF PxVLMYRA. 21 
 
 nature she had been crowned queen of beauty ; but 
 that, as has been observed of another similarly favor- 
 ed, was little satisfaction to an ambitious spirit. She 
 assumed the title of " Queen of the East," and be- 
 came an open rival of the emperors of Rome. She 
 possessed, in a wonderful degree, the fascinating 
 charms of beauty and the personal magnetism of 
 her sex. By the citizens of Palmyra and the soldiers 
 of her army she was loved with that affecting loy- 
 alty and devotion which sentiment and veneration 
 inspire.* This command of the affection of her sub- 
 jects favored her ambitious designs. She proposed 
 to establish in the East an empire which should rival 
 Rome in the West; and under the inspiring leader- 
 ship of their heroic and beautiful queen, the Palmy- 
 rian army made such extended and brilliant cam- 
 paigns as to first excite the amazement, and then the 
 envy of Rome. Egypt became a tributary province 
 to an empire which embraced all the fairest portions 
 of Western Asia. The fame of Palmyra, and of the 
 "Queen of the East," was spread throughout the 
 Roman world. With Semiramis — if ever there were 
 a Semiramis — Zenobia might have said, " I was given 
 
 * Vide Gibbon's " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," Chap. 
 XI. And, if the reader be not too severely critical, let him read that 
 interesting little volume entitled " Zenobia, or the Fall of Palmyra," 
 by Rev. William Ware. The work is an historical romance, founded 
 upon the writings of Treb. PoUio, Zonoras, Zosimus, Vopiscus, and 
 Piso.
 
 22 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 the form of a woman, but my deeds have equaled 
 those of the bravest men." Reports of the assump- 
 tion of the insignia and privileged splendor of impe- 
 rial authority by Zenobia and the Palmyrian court 
 awakened the fears or aroused the resentment of Au- 
 relian. The emperor led his legions against the Pal- 
 myrian queen. Twice defeated in open battle, she 
 was driven within the walls of her desert home. 
 The defense of the city was long and stubborn. De- 
 spairing at length of successful resistance, Zenobia 
 attempted flight; but from the Euphrates she was 
 brought back a j)risoner, to grace, or rather to dis- 
 grace, a little later, the triumph of Aurelian at 
 Rome.'^" 
 
 * Following Vopiscus and Zosimus, the historian Gibbon represents 
 Zenobia as ungenerously becoming the accuser of her preceptor, the 
 famous philosopher Longinus, in order to shield herself from jjunish- 
 ment. With but little gallantry, he writes : " But as female fortitude 
 is commonly artificial, so' is it seldom steady or consistent. The cour- 
 age of Zenobia deserted her in the hour of trial ; she trembled at the 
 angry clamors of the soldiers, who called aloud for her immediate exe- 
 cution, forgot the generous despair of Cleopatra, which she had pro- 
 posed as her model, and iguominiously purchased life by the sacrifice 
 of her fame and her friends. It was to their counsels, which governed 
 the weakness of lier sex, that she imputed the guilt of her obstinate re- 
 sistance ; it was on their heads that she directed the vengeance of the 
 cruel Aurelian." This charge against Zenobia has been stoutly denied 
 by other writers. Tlie Rev. William Ware, in his notes to "Zenobia," 
 jironounces it unfounded and impi-obal)le. But, at all events, Longinus 
 suffered execution at Emesa, while Zenobia was taken to Rome, and, 
 after having " in chains of gold graced the emperor's triumph," given 
 a splendid villa in the vicinity of Tibur. Enjoying the considerate 
 liberality of the emperor, and the satisfaction of seeing her cliildren 
 admitted to alliances with the first Roman families, Zenobia perhaps
 
 THE RUINS OF PALMYRA. 23 
 
 An uprising of the Palmyrians, after the withdraw- 
 al of the main portion of the Roman army, caused 
 the quick return of Aurelian, and to him seemed to 
 justify the indiscriminate slaughter of its inhabit- 
 ants and the giving of the city to the flames. Thus 
 Rome, who could never " forgive a rival," blotted out 
 the fair city, as she had blotted out Carthage before. 
 After this event we have only a few obscure notices 
 of this once brilliant capital of the " Queen of the 
 East;" and after Timour and his Mongol hordes 
 swept over those regions, even the site of the city 
 was lost to the civilized w^orld. The Bedawin were 
 acquainted, of course, with the spot ; and are said to 
 have told to the European traders at Damascus and 
 Aleppo strange stories of a ruined city, with splen- 
 did temples and long streets flanked with columns, 
 far away in the desert. Naturally enough, these 
 glowing accounts of the wonderful city, which the 
 imagination w^as free to invest with all sorts of mys- 
 terious grandeur, stirred curiosity, and led to the or- 
 ganization of exj^editions for exploring the ruins. 
 But it was not till the close of the seventeenth cent- 
 ury that any travelers succeeded in reaching the spot. 
 About the middle of the last century Wood and 
 Dawkins visited the ruins, and made some magnifi- 
 
 forgot the " dream of an Eastern Empire ;" but reminiscences of her 
 checkered fortunes as Queen of Palmyra must have gone with her to 
 the Ecrave.
 
 24 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 cent sketches. These evidences of the architectural 
 grandeur of the remains of the long-lost city aston- 
 ished Europe almost as much as she was startled 
 when Botta and Layard unearthed Nineveh. 
 
 Owing to the isolated situation of these ruins, ly- 
 ing in the midst of the Syrian desert, entirely out of 
 the line of modern caravan routes, they have been 
 seldom visited by travelers. The exorbitant black- 
 mail exacted by the Bedawin has also, till quite re- 
 cently, been a serious obstruction to such an under- 
 taking. But a few years since the Turkish govern- 
 ment, finally aroused to a sense of the strategic im- 
 portance of the control of the springs of Palmyra 
 in dealing with the Arab tribes dependent upon 
 those fountains, established a garrison there ; so now 
 the ruins may be visited, from Damascus, under the 
 protection of a Turkish escort. 
 
 We mention Damascus, because that is the proper 
 starting-point for a Palmyrian excursion. Our tour 
 through Palestine and Central Syria left us at that 
 city Christmas - day ; and as it was already late in 
 the season for a desert journey, we immediately ini- 
 tiated arrangements for the trip. Our dragoman did 
 not share our enthusiasm for a journey into the mid- 
 dle of the Syrian desert, and this for a while impeded 
 matters. Nothinc: was obtainable : horses could not 
 be found, nor an escort secured ; the pasha would 
 not grant us a firman, for the desert xArabs had be-
 
 THE RUINS OF PALMYRA. 25 
 
 come suddenly and desperately hostile. He spoke 
 often of the dangers he would be personally incur- 
 ring : he might be killed by the wild Bedawin ; in- 
 deed, he probably would be. Of course, he could 
 not think of runninsj such hazards without a valua- 
 ble consideration. A judicious hachshish — that per- 
 fect panacea for all the curious ills a dragoman is 
 heir to — allayed all his fears. Then horses were ob- 
 tainable without difficulty, though the day before 
 there w^as not one in Damascus. It was now alike 
 the duty and pleasure of the pasha to grant us fir- 
 mans to the uttermost parts of the Turkish domin- 
 ions ; and, as to an escort, our order from the pasha 
 would enable us to command soldiers enough to ex- 
 tirpate all the wild Arabs in the Syrian desert. 
 Thus all the preliminaries to our journey were quick- 
 ly completed. 
 
 Upon the afternoon of the very day that the Haj, 
 the pilgrim caravan to Mecca, departed in great state 
 from Damascus on their long pilgrimage, we left the 
 city, and commenced our longer journey across the 
 continent. Our escort consisted of four Turkish 
 horsemen. This guard was to be strengthened from 
 different posts as vs^e advanced into the desert. Is- 
 suing from " Thomas Gate," we rode for several miles 
 through the pleasant gardens and olive-groves that 
 reach out from the walls of Damascus on the north. 
 It is a beautiful oasis, in the midst of which the queen
 
 26 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 city of the East is seated. The rivers Abana and 
 Pharpar, escaping from the wild glens of Anti-Leb- 
 anon, pour into the Syrian desert as in an ocean — 
 first radiating through a hundred irrigauts, and 
 spreading out a great delta of vegetation ; and then 
 lose their waters in the sea of sand that stretches 
 eastward to the hoiizon. 
 
 For three days we journeyed north, along the great 
 caravan route between Damascus and Aleppo, which 
 runs close to the foot of Anti-Lebanon, leading, at 
 times, over the spurs that shoot out from the main 
 range, and across the bleak plateaux and cultivated 
 plains lying between, and opening out eastward upon 
 the desert. The third evening brought us to Hasya, 
 where the plateau -we had been traversing broke 
 dow^n into a rocky plain even less cultivated, but 
 which was assuming quite a fresh look under the 
 winter rains, and was covered with the black tents 
 and flocks of the Bedawin. We found Hasya a dirty 
 Arab village, a perfect mud -heap, upon which the 
 rains had been pouring till the whole seemed ready 
 to run down into the plain. 
 
 Here we changed our escort for five Bedawin, per- 
 fect sons of the desert. The trappings of their horses 
 produced quite an imposing appearance at a distance ; 
 but on a nearer approach the tattered blankets and 
 crazy tassels inspired but little admiration. Their 
 armament consisted of swords, pistols, long match-
 
 THE Rums OF pal:myra. 27 
 
 locks, and tufted spears, all of which made a clatter- 
 ing tumult as they ecgaged in frequent tournaments 
 for our diversion. 
 
 Departing from Hasya, we abandoned the caravan 
 route we had been following, and struck eastward, 
 directly into the desert, and after a long day's ride 
 reached Kuryetein, a large Arab village, standing in 
 the midst of a little oasis created by several large 
 fountains. From the Turkish garrison stationed here 
 we strengthened our guard by an addition of ten sol- 
 diers, mounted on mules ; and the morning following 
 our arrival resumed our march, avec grande ]}arade. 
 As no springs occur between Kuryetein and Palmyra, 
 our train was further increased bj several animals, 
 loaded with goat-skins filled with water. But these 
 proved quite unnecessary, for we made the greater 
 part of the distance in a pouring rain, which com- 
 pletely flooded the desert ; and on the second day we 
 emptied the skins to help swell the miniature lakes 
 through which our water-carriers were floundering. 
 
 A few hours from Kuryetein, the monotony of our 
 journey was broken by the appearance of a party of 
 Bedawin. Immediately our whole cavalcade was 
 thrown into a fever of excitement. Our Bedawin al- 
 lies, striking their shovel stirrups into their horses' 
 sides, flourished their flint-locks, shook their tufted 
 spears, and dashed and whirled hither and thither 
 with wild shouts, till every thing ^seemed to be sj)in- 
 
 C
 
 28 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 ning round and round. Our Turks meanwhile slip- 
 ped from their mules, which they had wit enough to 
 know were not just the animals upon which to ride 
 to battle. Standius: in the midst of the whirl of ex- 
 citement, in stupid unconsciousness of any thing un- 
 usual, those mules did not seem exactly intended for 
 engaging in a cavalry fight with those wdld desert 
 cavaliers, whose steeds Avere snuffing the battle afar 
 off. The affair ended in our Turks firing a few shots, 
 and in our Bedawin pursuing the vanishing enemy, 
 at a prudent distance, for several miles over the 
 plain. 
 
 With our order of march resumed, we advanced as 
 before, only with greater caution, our Arabs scouring 
 out to the right and left, and ascending every little 
 rise — for the desert was somewhat undulating — that 
 might conceal an enemy. Issuing in a few hours 
 upon a perfectly level plain, this precaution became 
 unnecessary ; and our company straggled along with- 
 out order the remainder of the day over the monoto- 
 nous desert. 
 
 There is not, as might be supposed, any drifting 
 sand between Damascus and Tadmor. The soil is 
 for the most part firm and gravelly, so that a carriage 
 might be driven over it in any direction. The plain 
 is generally covered Avith camel's thorn, a low shrub 
 about one foot in height. Immediately about Tad- 
 mor the country assumes more the aspect of the Lyb-
 
 THE RUINS OF PALMYRA. 29 
 
 ian desert, and the winds sweep the sands in huge 
 drifts. 
 
 Just at nightfall we halted, made a cup of coffee 
 over a fire of camel's thorn, and then, as it was rain- 
 ing, and our soldiers w^ere unprovided wdth tents, we 
 remounted, and rode all night through a severe storm, 
 which at times swept the desert with snow and hail. 
 In the gray light of the morning we discovered the 
 tower-tombs of Palmyra, standing like spectres in the 
 pass that led through the low range of verdureless 
 hills which lay across our trail. We reached the 
 summit of the pass, and the wonderful ruins were all 
 before us, lying on the edge of the plain, which, from 
 the foot of the range we were upon, rolled out in un- 
 broken desolation to the eastern horizon. Baalbec 
 dwindled into insignificance. One pile alone, the 
 ruined Temple of the Sun, w^hich rose up grandly 
 from the most distant part of the city, but which the 
 eye did not reach till it had wandered over a long 
 mile of fallen mausoleums and temples, swept down 
 through grand avenues flanked with columns, amid 
 triumphal arches, clustered pillars, and monumental 
 shafts — that grand pile alone, that at last arrested 
 the eye at the end of the pillared vista of the great 
 colonnade, rivaled in beauty and impressiveness all 
 the combined ruins of the famous Syrian City of the 
 Sun. 
 
 Descending from the pass, we wound through the
 
 30 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 ruins to the gate of the temple court. The inclosure 
 was crowded with the miserable mud hovels of Arabs 
 and Turkish soldiers. We w^ere escorted through 
 the irregular sti'eets to the residence of the officer of 
 the post. It was a little mud hut, twelve by eight- 
 een feet, stuck against the very walls of the shrine, 
 with two of the lofty, beautifully fluted pillars of 
 the temple, which were built into the w^alls of the 
 hovel, projecting thirty feet or more above the roof 
 Here we were kindly but curiously entertained 
 during the several days spent in exploring the 
 ruins. 
 
 Palmyra was a strongly fortified city, the strength 
 of its walls enabling it to maintain, as Ave have seen, 
 a stubborn resistance against the arms of Home. 
 The most ancient ramparts have been almost entirely 
 swept away; just sufficient traces remaining to en- 
 able us to determine the line of the old defenses, and 
 ascertain that the enceinte was between three and 
 four miles in circumference. The later wall, con- 
 structed by the Emperor Justinian, has in some 
 places entirely disappeared ; but on the north and 
 west its course is indicated by long lines of ruins, 
 and at some points twenty or thirty feet of the orig- 
 inal height still remain unimpaired. 
 
 Not only is the space inclosed by these ftillen 
 walls covered in almost every })art with ruins, but 
 mounds, foundations, and various remains of build-
 
 THE RUINS OF PALMYRA. 31 
 
 ings lie outside this ancient rampart, slio^ving that 
 during the height of its prosperity tSe city must 
 have overflowed these limits. The ancient walls 
 embraced a little spur of the limestone ridge upon 
 the west ; the slope of this hill, affording a fine survey 
 of "the city, was chosen as the site of some of the 
 noblest structures of the capital. It is at this point 
 that we will commence our examination of the fa- 
 mous Palmyrian ruins. 
 
 Prominent among the confused heap of ruined 
 buildings lying upon this slope are the remains of 
 what Avas doubtless a mausoleum. Its elevation 
 must have rendered it a conspicuous object from ev- 
 ery point of the city; and its I'uins testify that it 
 -was not an unworthy monument to thus boldly 
 challenge attention, and front the splendid building 
 of the Temple of the Sun, which rose from the plain 
 at the opposite extremity of the city. From the 
 sloping nature of the ground, the building neces- 
 sarily rested upon an artificial platform, and had a 
 magnificent approach of stone steps. These are now 
 almost buried beneath the rubbish of the ruined 
 structure. The monolithic columns that formed the 
 portico are still standing, but the greater part of 
 the walls have fallen. Immense blocks, delicately 
 carved, lie heaped about in utter confusion. From 
 a half effaced Latin inscription on the fallen entabla- 
 ture, we were able to decipher the names of Dio-
 
 32 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 cletian, Maximianus, and Constantius. As the last 
 was not appointed assistant Caesar by Diocletian till 
 A.D. 292, the building must have been erected subse- 
 quent to that date. 
 
 At a little distance from these remains lie the 
 ruins of another mao-nificent mausolean structure. 
 It af)pears, from the notice of certain travelers, to 
 have been in a good state of preservation only a few 
 years since ; but now all is thrown down save the 
 six monolithic columns of the portico, which still 
 bear aloft a broken pediment. We are lost in ad- 
 miration of the, beauty, richness, and grandeur of 
 the monumental structure, as we scramble up and 
 over the immense pile of sculptured blocks to an- 
 other mausoleum, of which nothing remains standing 
 save two time-eaten pillars, that seem almost ready 
 to topple :0ver. Here, scattered about the foot of 
 the slope, lie vast heaps of carved blocks; huge 
 fragments of richly sculptured entablature, bearing- 
 Greek and Palmyrian inscriptions ; recumbent fig- 
 ures, draped in flowing robes ; drums and shafts of 
 pillars; rich Corinthian capitals; and, rising from 
 amid this confusion of ruins, now and then a solitary 
 column or cluster of pillars, which the shock of the 
 earthquake has spared to mark the site of some 
 temple or mausoleum. 
 
 Commencing near the foot of the slope where lie 
 these ruined edifices, and running eastward through
 
 THE RXnNS OF PALMYRA. 33 
 
 the ruins, are the broken lines of columns that mark 
 the course of the Grand Colonnade, Palmyra's pride 
 and glory in her golden days, and the most i^romi- 
 nent feature of her magnificent remains. This grand 
 pillared avenue swept nearly the entire length of the 
 city, from the hill to the gateway of the Temple of the 
 Sun — a distance of about three quarters of a mile. 
 The pillars, composed of white limestone, resembling 
 marble in hardness and susceptibility of polish, were 
 of the Corinthian order, about three feet in diameter, 
 and, including base and capital, nearly sixty feet in 
 height. They supported a heavy but graceful en- 
 tablature. The width of this superb street was 
 thirty feet. The plan of the architect was, doubt- 
 less, as indicated by the triple gateway wbich stands 
 at the eastern terminus of the colonnade, to flank 
 the central street with two side avenues, thus neces- 
 sitating four rows of columns ; but it is not probable 
 that more than the two central lines of pillars ^vere 
 ever completed, as no indications of outer ones can 
 be discovered. Of the 1080 columns which we es- 
 timated to have once flanked the grand avenue, we 
 found only 112 still standing. These are so dis- 
 posed along the line of the colonnade that one is al- 
 most sure to misjudge of their number, and would 
 not suppose that more than half of the columns were 
 thrown down. As the eye sweeps in long perspec- 
 tive down through the grand vista of trunks and
 
 34 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 frondecl capitals, it is almost deceived into the belief 
 tliat it is threading an avenue of lofty palms. 
 
 There were only two other cities of the ancient 
 world that were graced with colonnades which conld 
 bear comparison with the pillared avenue of Palmy- 
 ra. These w^ere Apamea, on the Orontes, of which 
 we shall speak in another chapter, and Samaria, in 
 Palestine. Many of the columns that composed the 
 colonnade of the latter city may still be seen circling 
 the crown of the hill on which the capital of Israel 
 stood. 
 
 It is a privileged walk to saunter down through 
 the colonnaded avenue of Palmyra. The prostrate 
 columns have fallen singly or in groups, sometimes 
 in the street and sometimes outward, as though the 
 waves of an earthquake had rolled beneath the en- 
 tire length of the portico and determined their fall. 
 Near the middle of the avenue the direction of the 
 colonnade changes a trifle, and at this point it was 
 intersected by a cross- street; on the south a long 
 line of columns still marks the direction of this 
 street, and also preserves the site of an ancient forum. 
 
 On each of the four corners formed by this inter- 
 section stood a large altar; only one of these now 
 rests upon its pedestal, the others having been 
 thrown down. The ground is here strewn with im- 
 mense blocks, broken from the altars, and with the 
 huge beams of stone that comj^osed the entablature 
 of the colonnade.
 
 THE RUINS OF PALMYRA. 35 
 
 Scattered aloiio; on either side of the avenue are 
 ruins of edifices, the nature of Avhich the confused 
 remains -will scarcely reveal. North of the colon- 
 nade, however, there are t\vo structures unmistaka- 
 bly temples, which attract special attention : one is 
 a beautiful peristyle, with eleven columns still re- 
 maining; the other is almost as well preserved as 
 the Temple of Theseus at Athens : the cella walls are 
 ornamented with pilasters, and a pretty portico of 
 six columns fronts the buildinoj. Near these are 
 many foundations, showing the number of substan- 
 tial buildings this portion of the city must have con- 
 tained. Palmyra, in this respect, was very different 
 from Athens, w^here the public buildings, though so 
 grand and faultless, were comparatively few, while 
 the larger portion of the city was so poorly built 
 that no trace of it has survived the wear of time. 
 But at Palmyra, every portion of the enceinte was so 
 crowded with structures of substantial and even 
 massive construction, that now almost every sj^ot is 
 encumbered with ruins. 
 
 From our examination of these ruined buildings, 
 we return to the colonnade, and continue our walk 
 through the stately avenue — stately now, for at the 
 point where we re-enter it most of the columns are 
 still erect. On one side forty-nine pillars, standing 
 without a break, bear up loftily the massive entabla- 
 ture, which looks so light and airy in its aerial poise
 
 3g REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 that it is difficult for us to believe that it is composed 
 of just such immense beams of stone as those that lie 
 at our feet. A profusely ornamented triumphal arch, 
 forming a triple gateway, stands at the present ter- 
 minus of the colonnade. The key-stone of the cen- 
 tral arch has almost slipped out, and seems ready to 
 guillotine the first victim that steps beneath it; an- 
 other shock of the earthquake will tumble into ruins 
 this beautiful architectural monument. 
 
 A few hundred yards distant from this triumphal 
 arch rise the great wa^lls of the court of the Temple 
 of the Sun. They are about 70 feet in height, and 
 constitute a square of 740 feet. The lower portion 
 of the wall has a perpendicular front ; but the upper 
 half slopes inward, and is ornamented with Corin- 
 thian pilasters, between which are blind windows, 
 embellished with mouldings and pediments. The 
 whole is surmounted witli architrave, fineze, and cor- 
 nice, thus presenting a rich and imposing appearance 
 from every side, and constituting a worthy inclosure 
 to one of the most beautiful shrines of the heathen 
 world. The once magnificent triple gateway, which 
 pierced the western wall of the court, has been al- 
 most completely buried beneath rude Saracenic ma- 
 sonry. The side passages have been blocked up en- 
 tirely, and the spacious central entrance almost filled 
 — just sufficient space being left for a l>urdened beast 
 to pass. The enormous, richly traced blocks which
 
 THE RUINS OF PALMYRA. 37 
 
 once formed the lintel have fallen, and now partially 
 obstruct the passage-way. The jambs of this once 
 magnificent portal are huge monolithic blocks, thirty- 
 two feet in height, beautifully sculptured with grace- 
 ful desio-ns. 
 
 Around the court within ran a double-pillared 
 portico, each stately column being furnished with a 
 bracket for a statue. Ninety of these pillars are 
 still erect. Near the centre of the court stands the 
 noble peristyle temple, one of the most beautiful rel- 
 ics of Grecian architecture. In the richness and pro- 
 fuseness of its ornamentation, it rivals the Tem23le of 
 the Sun at Baalbec; and the Parthenon at Athens, 
 though inimitable in its faultless proportions and 
 stern chasteness, can show nothing of that reckless 
 prodigality of embellishment that characterizes this 
 Palmyrian temple. It exhibits just that freedom 
 and luxuriance that we might imagine the arts of 
 the West would display on Eastern soil. 
 
 The peristyle of the temple consists of fluted Co- 
 rinthian columns, sixty-four feet in height. They are 
 surmounted by a rich entablature, with frieze em- 
 bossed with cupids bearing garlands and festoons. 
 Upon the west, facing the grand entrance to the 
 court, is a beautiful doorway, set between two of the 
 columns of the peristyle, and profusely engraved with 
 beautiful clusters of flowers and fruit and foliage. 
 One of the two heavy beams that formed the lintel
 
 38 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 has fallen, and blocks the passage. The walls of the 
 cella are embellished with pilasters and blind win- 
 dows. The western side is pierced by a doorway," 
 placed exactly opposite to the one already described. 
 The jambs of this door are monolithic, and the 
 mouldiuo: is enchased with a delicate vine, most 
 gracefully and artistically wrought. 
 
 The interior of the temple shows sadly the hand 
 of violence. The fanatical, iconoclastic Moslem seems 
 to imagine that he is never doing heaven better serv- 
 ice than when engaged in breaking to pieces or de- 
 facing the beautiful creations of antiquity. The tem- 
 ple has been further marred by having been used as 
 a mosque — mud and plaster hide much of the former 
 beauty of the shrine. The large central apartment 
 is now roofed with a rude covering of branches, over- 
 laid with earth, and is used for a stable. At the 
 southern end of this main room a door admits to a 
 smaller chamber, sixteen feet in length and ten in 
 width, roofed in with a single massive block, most 
 elegantly carved. At the opposite end of the build- 
 ino- is another similar chamber, of somewhat smaller 
 dimensions. On the soffit of tlie entrance door is an 
 eagle, with spread wings. The roof of this room is a 
 monolith, cut in the form of a dome ; zodiacal sym- 
 bols encompass it, and figures of various deities arc 
 sculptured on the vaulted surface. A stone stairway 
 leads to tlie roof of tlie temple, the view from which
 
 THE RUINS OF PALMYRA. 
 
 39 
 
 is most impressive. One is struck with the massive 
 structure of the gate, set in the peristyle, with its 
 monolithic pediment or delta. On the east side of 
 the temple eight of the columns of the peristyle are 
 still surmounted by the unimpaired entablature; 
 the bronze capitals that once graced the pillars have 
 long since disappeared. The entire courtyard is 
 crowded with the mud hovels of the Bedawin, which 
 cling to the very walls of the shrine itself, the col- 
 umns projecting disdainfully ' above the mud walls 
 into which they have been built. At evening the 
 sun avenges itself for having to look through all the 
 day upon such an incongruous mingling of beauty 
 and repulsiveness, by throwing the mud huts into 
 the dark shadow of the high western wall of the 
 court, and then gilding with its slant rays each lofty 
 pillar of the shrine. 
 
 The tower -tombs of Pal- 
 myra, which stand among the 
 hills back of the city, are pe- 
 culiar and interesting; such 
 lofty, storied structures are 
 suggestive of any thing but 
 a tomb; they are certainly 
 the most unique sepulchral 
 edifices in the world. These 
 towers are thirty or forty feet 
 square, and from sixty to 
 
 PALMYEIAN TOWER-TOMB.
 
 40 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 eighty feet liigb, according as they embrace three or 
 four stories. They are constructed of roughly hewn 
 stones, and are infinitely inferior in artistic merit to 
 the other monuments of the city. These curious se- 
 pulchral structures are doubtless of Palmyrian ori- 
 gin ; though many of those now standing must have 
 been erected subsequent to the era of the Seleucidse, 
 as is evidenced by the Greek inscriptions they ex- 
 hibit, and also by their ornamentation, which is large- 
 ly Grecian. 
 
 A short description of the one here represented 
 will give a correct idea of all. A small doorway af 
 fords entrance to the lower chamber, which is thirty 
 feet in leng-th and ten in width, and ornamented with 
 four Corinthian pilasters on each side, and two at 
 the end opposite the entrance. The ceiling is com- 
 posed of immense stone beams, reaching from side to 
 side, and is finely fretted and sculptured, some of the 
 figures being thrown into more prominent relief by 
 the sky-blue color given to the background. Between 
 the pilasters, on either side, are tiers of loculi, for the 
 reception of bodies. A ruinous stone stairway leads 
 to the second story, which resembles the lower 
 chamber, save in being somewhat smaller — from the 
 contraction of the tower — and in being less carefully 
 ornamented. The third and fourth stories aflford no 
 new feature ; the latter is almost barren of orna- 
 mentation. The lowei' chambers were evidently the 
 aristoci'atic ones.
 
 THE RUINS OF PALMYRA. 41 
 
 Both north and south of the city, just at the foot 
 of the hills, the desert is broken by numerous undu- 
 lations, which mark the site of subterranean tombs 
 of a more ordinary character than the sepulchral 
 towers we have just examined. Some of these tombs 
 have been excavated, and found to contain both Pal- 
 my rian and Grecian sculpture — enough to show that 
 more systematic and thorough excavations would un- 
 earth many interesting memorials of the desert city. 
 
 Perched upon the highest point of the hills which 
 overhang the ruined city is an old castle of Saracenic 
 architecture. The date ot its origin is unknown ; yet 
 it can not claim a higher antiquity than the fifteenth 
 or sixteenth century. As. it is encompassed by a 
 very deep moat, cut in the limestone rock, access to 
 it is extremely difiicult ; but the view from its walls 
 is such as to justify all the reckless climbing neces- 
 sary to gain the summit. The " city of palms " lies 
 directly beneath the eye. The palms are now all 
 gone, save just a few near the fountain ; but in their 
 stead hundreds of airy pillars rise, like the pride of 
 the desert, all over the ancient site. Beyond the 
 wide, bewildering confusion of ruins the dreary des- 
 ert rolls out its desolate reaches till the sky in pity 
 drops down upon it. 
 
 We view some scenes, and after a little while find 
 ourselves unable to recall an}^ definite picture of 
 them. Again, other scenes imprint themselves indel-
 
 42 REMAINS OF LOST EI^IPIRES. 
 
 ibly on the memory. Athens, with the Acropolis 
 crowned by the Parthenon, once seen, leaves a clear- 
 ly traced and permanent impression on the recollec- 
 tion. And thus it is w^ith the ruins of Palmyra. So 
 widely different from other remains, and so intensely 
 individual are they, that no one who has once looked 
 upon the ruined "city in the wilderness" will ever 
 have the picture erased from memory. The grand 
 colonnade, half prostrate ; the vast number of pillars, 
 solitary and grouped ; the tall monumental columns, 
 tottering with age ; the confused heaj^s of fallen por- 
 ticoes, temples, and mausoleums; the lofty tower- 
 tombs, the solemn sentinels of the scene of death ; 
 and, surpassing all, the imposing mass of the once re- 
 splendent temple of the god of light, a shrine still 
 gloriously beautiful in its ruins — these, with the 
 wide Avaste of the desert around, form one of the j 
 most impressive scenes of complete and mournful 
 desolation that the world affords. 
 
 From the castle walls we can just distinguish the 
 form of the Arabs, as they crawl in and out of the ] 
 gate of the temple court. Alas, the change ! Once 
 through that same gateway, after sweeping down 
 that grand colonnade, and beneath that distant 
 triumphal arch, entered, with pomp of pageantry and 
 clash of cymbals, many a gorgeous procession in 
 honor of the " god of day." Throughout the ancient 
 world there is nothing more impressive than tliese
 
 THE RUINS OF PALMYRA. 43 
 
 desecrated temples, that were once the sacred and 
 crowded shrines of a nation's worship. 
 
 He must be hoj^elessly im23assible who could sur- 
 vey such a scene as that presented by the ruined 
 city in the desert Avithout having feeling enkindled 
 or imagination awakened. When we gaze upon the 
 fair form deserted by life, how our imagination is 
 borne away by the thronging reminiscences of the 
 departed spirit that just now inspired its beauty and 
 gave it a joyous presence. So do kindred feelings 
 take possession of us as we look on the remains of 
 the once living city, through whose fallen gates all 
 life has gone out. There is something different in 
 such a solitude from that of lofty mountains, or the 
 eternally uninhabited desert. The silence of the 
 fallen city is the silence of death. We know that 
 here once resounded the tides of restless and multi- 
 tudinous life. Very different is it to muse in such a 
 place, than to wander on mountains lifted till they 
 partake of the silence and solitude of the heavens ; 
 or over desert steppes that have lain forever untrack- 
 ed by man; or beneath forests which have never 
 echoed with the noise of busy life. The thought of 
 change — of past life and present death — is what ren- 
 ders the solitude of such a scene so mournful and im- 
 pressive. The sighing of the sobbing winds amid 
 the pillars of the desolate city thrills us, because we 
 
 know it is the requiem of death. ^ 
 
 D
 
 44 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 KUINED CITIES OF NOETHERN SYRIA. 
 
 Departure from Palmyra. — Lost on the Desert. — Aral) Sagacity. — Vale 
 of Coele-Syria. — Ancient Cities. — The Pathway of Armies. — Arab 
 Plowing. — Site of Arethusa. — Fields of Basalt. — Hamath.— rThe 
 Hamath Inscriptions. — Alone on the Desert. — Ruins of Apamea. — 
 Grand Colonnade. — Condition of the Ruins. — Valley of the Oron- 
 tes. — Ruined City of El-Bara. — Palaces. — Tombs. — Other Ruined 
 Cities. — Cause of DeiDopulation. 
 
 Just at the close of the last day spent in explor- 
 ing the ruins of Palmyra, we set out, with our guard, 
 on our return to Kuryetein. We chose the evening 
 for our departure, because the journey would require 
 us to be in the saddle about twenty-four hours, and 
 we persuaded ourselves that it would be an improve- 
 ment of the plan adopted in reaching Palmyra, if we 
 should reverse the order of march, and take the noc- 
 turnal I'ide before we were ftitigued with the travel 
 of the day. Our course for the night was due west. 
 We rode rapidly till about two o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, when, through a break in the clouds that partial- 
 ly obscured the sky, the rising moon appeared di- 
 rectly ahead. A curious aifair. The moon rising in 
 the west! Our chief, at once appreciating the situa-
 
 RUINED CITIES OF NORTHERN SYRIA. 45 
 
 tion, ordered a halt. There was faint hope that the 
 light might prove a Bedavvin camp-fire ; but this was 
 quickly dispelled, as iu a few moments the crescent 
 swung up, clear and beautiful, above the horizon. 
 Bewildered as we were, we could do nothing save 
 dismount, build a fire vnth the dry camel's thorn, and 
 wait for the day. Morning revealed to us the tower- 
 tombs of Palmyra! we were almost back to the 
 ruins, having spent those eight mortal hours in de- 
 scribing a great circuit on the desert. 
 
 Several such experiences, at dififerent times, con- 
 vinced us that the Arab possesses but little of the 
 instinct of the Indian in keeping his bearings. If 
 these races have some characteristics in common, 
 they have also some points of dissidence, and this is 
 one of them. On one occasion, while under the con- 
 duct of several Bedawin, we left our station about 
 midnicrht. The villa2;e was situated at the base of 
 an isolated hill, about a mile in circumference, and 
 the road we were to follow skirted the base of the 
 hill a short distance, and then struck off into the 
 plain. Although the night was a perfectly clear, 
 star-lit one, those stupid Arabs led us completely 
 around that hill, and* seemed to have no idea that 
 any thing was wrong till the dogs came flying out at 
 us as we rode into the village which we had just 
 left. 
 
 The rain that had commenced just before daylight
 
 40 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 was falling heavily as, with some discouragement, we 
 remounted and commenced our journey anew. We 
 reached Kuryetein about midnight, fatigued enough 
 with our thirty hours' experience upon the desert. 
 Here we dismissed a portion of our escort, and the 
 following day the remainder conducted us to Hasya; 
 and then, as we were again on the caravan route be- 
 tween Damascus and Aleppo, we thought it prudent 
 to dispense with the service of all, retaining only our 
 dragjoman. 
 
 From Hasya we journeyed northward over a par- 
 tially cultivated plain, with the snowy ranges of 
 Anti-Lebanon on our left, and the open desert on our 
 right. As we advanced, Anti-Lebanon sank into 
 the plain, and admitted us from the desert to the fa- 
 mous valley of Coele-Syria. Two hours before we 
 reached Hums, the ancient Emesa, our attention was 
 attracted by a peculiar truncated hill rising out of 
 the plain far to tlie north. It proved to be the 
 old castle mound of Emesa, once surmounted with 
 noble buildings, whose ruinous walls, crowning the 
 hill, give it a most picturesque appearance. The 
 mound is about one hundred feet high, and appears 
 to be entirely of artificial construction ; portions of 
 the scarping wall are still visible. A wall of basalt 
 surrounds the modern town, the houses of which 
 are substantially constructed of the same material. \ 
 The present population of Hums is about 20,000,
 
 RUINED CITIES OF NORTHERN SYRIA. 47 
 
 two thirds of which number are Mohammedans, and 
 the remainder Christians. 
 
 There is more of interest in Emesa's past than in 
 her present. Porter thinks it may be identical with 
 the Biblical Zobah. Accordins; to Gibbon, it was. 
 during the second and third centuries of our era, one 
 of the most important cities in the Asiatic provinces 
 of the Roman Empire, and contained a famous tem- 
 ple dedicated to the sun : all traces of this edifice 
 have entirely disappeared. Emesa was the home of 
 Elagabulus, who introduced to the Roman court the 
 effeminate luxuriousness of the East. It was the 
 native city of the philosopher Longinus, the precep- 
 tor of Zeuobia ; and it was the seat of the Christian 
 bishop Silvanus. But while the outside world re- 
 members just a little about the folly of the emperor, 
 the wisdom of the philosopher, and the purity of the 
 bishop, Emesa has forgotten them one and all, as 
 well as once or twice forgetting her own name. 
 
 From Hums to Hamath is one day's journey. 
 The morning upon which we departed from the for- 
 mer town was beautiful and spring-like, though it 
 was yet early in January. We aj)preciated and en- 
 joyed thoroughly the pleasantness of the morning, 
 for the tw^o preceding days had been wet, dismal, 
 and in every way disagreeable. 
 
 Nor was the scenery about us wanting in elements 
 of interest, beauty, and even grandeur. The snowy,
 
 ^g REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 cloud-capped peaks of Lebanon rose along our left; 
 to the right a break in Anti-Lebanon led the eye out 
 upon the desert ; south, the vale of Coele-Syria lay 
 low between the twin ranges. The valley or plain 
 of Ccele-Syria has an intense historical interest. In 
 general terms, the vale embraces all that fertile, well- 
 watered tract lying between the Libanus and the 
 Anti-Libanus (the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon of 
 Scripture). The latter, toward the north, losing its 
 continuity, breaks up into detached ranges, that as- 
 sume different names. The classic streams of the 
 Leontes (Litany) and Orontes, taking their rise from 
 almost the same fountains, flow, one south and the 
 other north, the entire length of the vale, and then 
 each breaks through the Lebanon range to the Med- 
 iterranean. Within this magnificent valley, standing 
 generally upon the shores of these rivers, were many 
 of the most celebrated cities of antiquity: Ba'albec, 
 Zobah, and Hamath of Biblical times; Heliopolis, 
 Eraesa, Arethusa, Epiphania, Larissa, and Apamea, of 
 the empires of the Seleucidae and Komans. Now 
 Hums and Hamath are the only towns w^orthy of 
 mention in this region once so rich in royal cities. 
 We shall see, a little later, all that some of these 
 celebrated cities liave left to mark their ancient 
 sites. 
 
 With far greater reason than that which terms the 
 plain of Esdru'lon, fiirther south in Palestine, the
 
 RUINED CITIES OF NORTHERN SYRIA. 49 
 
 " Battle-field of JSTations,"* may we consider this the 
 pathway for their armies. Through this narrow vale 
 has often ebbed and flowed the tide of conquest. 
 " It furnishes " — we quote Eawlinson — " the most 
 convenient line of 2:)assage between Asia and Africa, 
 alike for the journeys of the merchant and for the 
 march of armies. Along this line passed Thothmes 
 and Raraeses, Sargon and Sennacherib, Neco and Ne- 
 buchadnezzar, Alexander and his warlike successor, 
 Pompey, Antony, Kaled, Godfrey of Bouillon ; along 
 this must pass every great army which, starting from 
 the general seats of power in Western Asia, seeks 
 conquest in Africa, or which, proceeding from Africa, 
 aims at the acquisition of an Asiatic dominion." And 
 along this line pass to-day, by the Avay of Aleppo, 
 the caravans that journey between Damascus and 
 Bagdad : the perils of the Syrian desert are thus 
 avoided. And the same reasons that lead to the 
 adoption of this circuitous route at the present time 
 determined the march of ancient armies. The ene- 
 mies of Jerusalem — meaning the Babylonians — were 
 
 * Lieutenant Condor, in a recent fugitive article, disputes the claim 
 of Esdrselon to being, as it is popularly termed, the " Battle-tield of Pal- 
 estine," or the " Battle-field of Nations.'' He says : " The history of 
 the past does not, however, bear out this assertion. The great battles 
 of Joshua were fought t:ir to the south. The victories of David were 
 on or near to the plains of Philistia. The invasions of the Syrians were 
 directed against the country around Samaria; and the battle of Hattin, 
 which decided the fate of Christian supremacy in Palestine, was fought 
 out farther south.''
 
 50 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 always portrayed in propLecy as falling upon the 
 city from the north, though Babylon was really 
 southward of Jerusalem : "I will bring evil from the 
 7iortli, and a great destruction," were always the 
 words of warning to Judah, when the lion of Baby- 
 lon and the destroyer was on his way. When at 
 Palmyra, we were but three days' journey from the 
 Euphrates ; but, unable to cross the remaining inter- 
 val of desert through fear of the lawless Bedawin, 
 we were obliged to return, and skirt for three weeks 
 the western edge of the desert, and cross the river 
 two hundred miles farther to the north. 
 
 The greater portion of the plain between Hums 
 and Hamath is under cultivation ; the soil, as of old, 
 is black with fertility. The plain, as we crossed it, 
 was swarming with natives, preparing the ground for 
 the spring sowing. The furrows made by the rude 
 plows were mere scratches; but they made up in 
 straightness what they lacked in depth. We often 
 observed, with admiration, furrows upturned of a 
 half mile in length, as straight as though drawn with 
 a line. The primitive plows were drawn by mules, 
 horses, jackasses, bullocks, and heifers, yoked together 
 in every conceivable and inconceivable combination. 
 The ancient Jews seem to have been addicted to this 
 same thing, for we hear Moses commanding, " Thou 
 shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together."* 
 
 Dcut. xxii. 10.
 
 RUINED CITIES OF NORTHERN SYRIA. 51 
 
 Whether this prohibition were based upon sesthetical 
 grounds, or grew out of compassion for the poor ass, 
 is a matter of indifference; for either consideration 
 would abundantly justify such legislation. The ap- 
 pearance of the poor little donkey pulling with a 
 thick-necked ox is perfectly distracting to any one 
 more sensitive than an Arab. Paul had in mind 
 perhaj)s both the incongruity and disadvantage of 
 such a combination, when he advises thus : " Be ye 
 not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." 
 
 Four hours from Hums brouo-ht us to Restan, a 
 small, compact Arab town, situated on the left bank 
 of the Orontes, which at this point flows through a 
 deep, wild gorge from two hundred to three hundred 
 feet in depth, cut by the river through the soft hori- 
 zontal limestone strata. Some lines of ancient foun- 
 dations, with a few sculptured blocks scattered about, 
 was all we could find of the classic Arethusa. 
 
 Crossing the river by a substantial stone bridge, 
 we climbed the steep bank, and continued our jour- 
 ney over a plain thickly strewn with basaltic boul- 
 ders, resting on a limestone formation. One of the 
 most curious geological features of Northern Syria 
 and Mesopotamia is these fields of basaltic rocks, 
 whose huge fragments lie so thickly strewn over the 
 surface that it is often diflicult for an animal to pick 
 its way among the blocks. Being so different from 
 the rock surface on which they rest, one wonders
 
 52 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 how they ever came there, and is inclined to enter- 
 tain with more respect the story of the old mythol- 
 ogies, which relates how, in an emergency, the gods, 
 to supply weapons to certain combatants, rained 
 down stones. One journeying through Northern 
 Syria, and seeing these fields of black plutonic rocks 
 scattered over the white limestone surface and cover- 
 ing extended areas, might be pardoned for believing 
 them to have been rained on the earth. Though 
 they were not thrown down from the heavens, they 
 were tossed up from the lower world; and perhaps 
 that is quite as interesting. All these extended fields 
 of boulders originated from eruptive masses of trap- 
 rock, forced up through profound fissures, extending 
 through the limestone strata to the liquid interior 
 of the earth, and then spread, in layers of varying 
 thickness, over the surface. In cooling, the eruptive 
 material assumed that prismatic structure peculiar to 
 certain varieties of trap-rock — crystallized, as it were; 
 and thus the whole layer, broken by joints, would 
 suffer rapid disintegration, and become separated 
 into detached fragments, often breaking up so com- 
 pletely into boulder-like masses as to leave no clew 
 to the mode of their formation. We have traversed 
 extensive fields where the basaltic stones lay scat- 
 tered tlius over the limestone surface, showing that 
 the eruptive mass must have spread over the ground 
 with a thickness not exceeding three or four feet.
 
 RUINED CITIES OF NORTHERN SYRIA. 53 
 
 At other times tlie erii2:)tive material seems to have 
 been thrown up in a much less perfect state of fu- 
 sion, as is witnessed by the many masses of basalt 
 rising abruptly out of the plain to a height of a hun- 
 dred feet or more. Some of these hills of eruption 
 present a columnar structure, similar to that exhib- 
 ited by the Giant's Causeway or Fingal's Cave. 
 While the columnarity of the masses we discovered 
 was somewhat less perfect than in the examples cited, 
 the prisms were often much larger than any in the 
 celebrated causeway — cyclopean prismatic columns 
 twenty feet in diameter frequently occurring. 
 
 The view afforded us from the summit of some of 
 these elevations was often, especially upon the Meso- 
 potamiau plains, peculiarly striking. The extensive 
 fields of basalt lying within reach of the vision ap- 
 peared like black spots upon the plain, or wound 
 over the surface like dark streams of lava. With 
 the eye elevated only a few feet above the level of 
 the plain, the edge of one of these basaltic fields, or 
 streams, appeared as a low^, black line running over 
 the level expanse as far as the eye could see. 
 
 Just before evening we reached Hamah, a large 
 town with a population of thirty thousand, lying in 
 the deep gorge of the Orontes, and so concealed that 
 in approaching we had no intimation of its presence 
 till we stood on the brink of the narrow valley, with 
 the minarets and huge castle mound of the city di-
 
 54 RE^IAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 rectly beneath us. Hamali is quite attractive for an 
 Oriental town; its situation upon the river is invit- 
 ing ; and then it has pretty gardens, and fine bazaars 
 stocked with all the commodities of the East. One 
 of the curiosities of the place are the huge water- 
 wheels, the largest of which are sixty or seventy feet 
 in diameter, which, driven by the current of the 
 river, lift the water used in irrigating the gardens, 
 and for other purposes. 
 
 Hamah is the Biblical Hamath, founded by the 
 Hamathite, the great-grandson of Noah ; and thus 
 it can lay claim to almost as venerable an antiquity 
 as Damascus. Ilamah also preserves the site of the 
 Epiphania of the Greeks ; but no antiquities of that 
 city are now existing. 
 
 The expression which occurs so frequently in the 
 Old Testament — " The entrance of Hamath," or " the 
 enterins: in of Hamath" — did not have reference to 
 this city, but to the kingdom of Hamath. This " en- 
 trance" was the pass over the low hills which, just 
 north of Baalbec, form a " screen " across the plain 
 of Ccele-Syria between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, 
 and constitute the water-shed of the Orontes and 
 Litany. This line of hills marked the boundary be- 
 tween Palestine and the kingdom of Hamath, and 
 thus the passage came to be termed the "entrance 
 of Hamath." 
 
 The stones bearinij; the curious and interestinc;
 
 RUINED CITIES OF NORTHERN SYRIA. 55 
 
 semi-liieroglyphic writing known as the " Hamatb 
 Inscriptions," which have so puzzled antiquarians, 
 were found in this city, built up in some modern 
 walls. The United States consul-general at Bey- 
 rout was the first to secure copies of the inscriptions. 
 The stones are now in the Turkish museum at Con- 
 stantinople. But many excellent squeezes and casts 
 have been obtained, and fac-similes of the writings 
 have been published by several societies. What 
 strange secrets these rude hieroglyphics may have 
 locked up in their curious forms is as yet entirely 
 conjectural, for no progress has been made in their 
 decipherment. The language they represent ante- 
 dated, it is thought by some scholars, the Greek or 
 Phoenician, and was perhaps that spoken by the au- 
 tochthones of the country — the Rephaim and Zam- 
 zummim tribes, which were dispossessed by the Ca- 
 naanites long before they were themselves driven out 
 by the Israelites. Some fragmentary lines of a sim- 
 ilar hieroglyphic writing have been quite recently 
 discovered at Aleppo. Perhaps the more thorough 
 methods of investigation and exploration that are 
 being instituted will result in the discovery of a 
 widespread written language throughout Northern 
 Syria, of the existence of which we have as yet only 
 these two iuterestins^ memorials.* 
 
 * For full description of the Hamath stones, vide Burton's " Unex- 
 plored Syria," vol. i., p. 333, et seq.
 
 56 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Upon leaving Hamali we directed our guide to 
 conduct us to Kul'at el-Mudik, the present represent- 
 ative of the ancient Apamea ; but as these ruins lie 
 off from the direct route to Aleppo, he, while appar- 
 ently acquiescing, led us to Sheihuu, a little Hotten- 
 tot-like villaoje far out on the desert, where our first 
 night from Hamah found us, a long distance from 
 the classic site. The following morning, having dis- 
 charged our rascally attendant, we set out alone in 
 search of Apamea. Without regard to any trail, we 
 struck across the plain in a northwest direction to- 
 ward the Nusairiyeh hills, along whose base we 
 knew the Orontes ran, on the banks of which stream 
 the ruins lie. We rode all day over an undulating 
 plain, dotted here and there with the flocks and 
 black tents of the Bedawin. Only a small portion 
 of the plain was cultivated by the inhabitants of the 
 little villao^es which were scattered over the entire 
 district. AVe passed several ancient sites, indicated 
 as such by numerous sculptured blocks, fragments 
 of pillars, portions of old walls, traces of foundations, 
 and scattered statues, carved in black basalt. We 
 were not without apprehensions of the Bedawin ; 
 foi- tlie tribes of that section bear a T)ad reputation, 
 and w«' imagined that those we met looked unusual- 
 ly surly and desperate. Not till near sunset did we 
 catch sight of tlie castle walls of Kul'at el-Mudik, 
 postcil ujxiii one of tli(»st' ])('culiai- mounds which are
 
 Ilili 

 
 RUINED CITIES OF NORTHERN SYRIA. 57 
 
 SO frequently seen throughout Northern Syria and 
 Mesopotamia. Within the broken wall we found 
 huddled together a few mud-walled hovels, the beg- 
 garly representative of the once royal Apamea. 
 
 The site of Apamea was a splendid one for a large 
 city — the finest, we thought, of any found in Syria. 
 The city stood on the edge of an elevated plateau, 
 which, tossed in billowy swells, rolls out eastward 
 to the horizon, while on the west it breaks down 
 abruptly three or four hundred feet to the broad 
 level of the Orontes, which leads the eye north and 
 south as far as it can see. All along the western 
 edge of this river-plain rises the dark wall of Jebel 
 Nusairiyeh, the northern continuation of the Lebanon 
 range, which forms a stupendous rampart several 
 thousand feet in height — so lofty that the clouds 
 often lie in long, white drifts on its sides, or rest in 
 heavier and darker masses on its summit. When 
 we saw it the snows of winter mottled and streaked 
 the summit, and at evening the sunset tipped it all 
 along with gold. We do not wonder that Seleucus 
 Nicator, with his passion for building cities, should 
 have apparently been seized with the idea that such 
 a spot, with such surroundings, could have been cre- 
 ated for no other purpose than to serve as a build- 
 ino; site, and that he should have founded here one 
 of his proudest commissariat cities, and turned loose 
 his five hundred wai'-elephants and thirty thousand 
 
 E
 
 1 
 
 58 RESIAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 horses to feed in the rich pastures of the Orontes. 
 Under the Seleucidse, AjDamea was a beautiful and 
 imposing city, and afterward constituted one of the 
 strongest and most important cities of the Asiatic 
 provinces of the Roman Empire. Even as late as 
 the eleventh and twelfth centuries it was a populous 
 and wealthy place, but sacking armies and time have 
 left it desolate. 
 
 Apamea was a walled city, about four miles in cir- 
 cumference. The ramparts were solidly constructed 
 of large blocks of limestone, and can still be distinct- 
 ly traced, portions being in a good state of preserva- 
 tion. We entered the city from the north, where an 
 arch, rising above the line of the halffallen wall, 
 marked the position of one of the city gates. All 
 the lower part of the gateway, up to the spring of 
 the arch, was buried beneath an immense heap of 
 fallen blocks — the ruins of flanking towers. As we 
 clambered up and over this confused pile, we were 
 astonished at the immense number, size, and finish of 
 the sculptured stones. From the summit of the wall 
 we obtained one of the most impressive and desolate 
 views that Syria affords. The great colonnade, with 
 its thousands of pillars all prostrate, stretched away 
 from the gate more than a mile, directly across the 
 desolate site of the ancient city. Scarcely any of the 
 columns had fallen outward, but almost all lay heap- 
 ed in the street, which was about seventy-five feet
 
 KUINED CITIES OF NORTHERN SYRIA. 59 
 
 in width — twice the breadth of the Palmyrian col- 
 onnade. 
 
 For more than an hour we walked on down 
 through the ruin-strewn avenue, climbing over the 
 fallen pillars, or picking our steps among the huge 
 drums of the disjointed columns. The capitals that 
 filled the street were exquisitely wrought: the deli- 
 cate acanthus leaves seemed as sharply traced as 
 when they left the hand of the sculptor. At several 
 points of the colonnade were breaks, indicating the 
 entrance of side streets. Eectangular recesses, fur- 
 nished with porticoes, occurred at varying intervals 
 along the avenue ; the ruins of these pillared struct- 
 ures, and the remains of temples and jDublic build- 
 ings, were strewn along the entire length of the 
 street. The entablature of the colonnade, which was 
 composed of heavy beams of sculptured stones, lay 
 mingled with the confused lines of shafts and capi- 
 tals. The shafts of the columns were of various pat- 
 terns — plain, fluted, and spiral — probably to break 
 the monotony of a long, unrelieved array of uniform 
 pillars. The columns were about thirty feet in 
 height and three feet in diameter. The perspective 
 effect of the grand avenue, thus flanked with varied 
 shafts, crowned with Corinthian ca23itals, and sur- 
 mounted by an elegant entablature, must have been 
 peculiarly graceful and impressive. 
 
 Besides the colonnade, and the ruins we have no-
 
 60 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 ticed as lying alongside it, there are some other re- 
 mains scattered over the area inclosed by the walls. 
 But nothing remains erect ; walls and columns alike 
 have been leveled by the shock of the earthquake. 
 There is a great difference observable between the 
 ruins here and those at Palmyra. The latter have a 
 fresh, bright, marble-like appearance, while the for- 
 mer are so weather-beaten and blackened that they 
 look exactly like the long-exposed face of natural 
 rock masses. This tends to lessen, at first, the effect 
 which such a vast number of sculptured stones would 
 produce could the eye readily separate them from 
 the dark surface upon which they lie. But this very 
 condition of the material heightens the impression 
 that follows a closer examination, for there is a fresh 
 surprise awaiting each step. 
 
 A portion of the site is tilled by the Arab vil- 
 lao;ers. In vain we searched amid the ruins for some 
 inscription that might tell us something of the* city's 
 story. But the stones are as mute as the builders. 
 It was almost dark when we gave over the search, 
 and turned toward the castle. A death-like silence 
 prevailed over the site of the desolate city. As we 
 neared the castle, however, the silence was broken by 
 the loud cries of the villagers, who were driving their 
 flocks up the steep path, and within the walls of the 
 citadel, that they might be safe from the raids of the 
 B('(lawin.
 
 RUINED CITIES OF NORTHERN SYRIA. Qi 
 
 After spending one clay at Apamea, we resumed 
 our journey down the valley of the Orontes, follow- 
 ing an ancient Roman road, along which some of 
 the old mile-posts were still standing. Only small 
 patches of the broad valley were cultivated ; but the 
 rank stalks of weeds and ^vild grasses betrayed the 
 capabilities of the soil. These river-flats»were once 
 the granary of Syria, and might become the same 
 again. After riding down the valley a few miles, we 
 climbed the eastern bank and rode in a northeast di- 
 rection toward El-Bara, over a rocky plateau which 
 recalled the scenes of Judea. It was cultivated 
 where sufficient soil gathered in the depressions of 
 the plain, and a few olive-groves relieved somewhat 
 the general barrenness of the country. 
 
 Wretched Arab villages were scattered over the 
 plain, almost every one being built among the ruins 
 of some ancient city ; many a sculptured stone look- 
 ed out from the walls of some miserable hovel. Oft- 
 en a richly carved stone, sometimes bearing a frag- 
 ment of a Greek inscription, formed the lintel to the 
 low doorway of an Arab's hut. 
 
 Toward evening we reached the remarkable ruins 
 of El-Bara, lying at the 'Southern termination of Jebel 
 Riha. This ruined city has been likened (by Porter, 
 we think) to Pompeii. It is indisputably the Pom- 
 peii of the East : its multitudes of wonderfully pre- 
 served buildings at once recall the disentombed Ital-
 
 62 
 
 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 ian city. These extensive and interesting ruins oc- 
 cuf)y a broad valley, covering an area of nearly a 
 mile square. Among the ruins are the remarkably 
 preserved remains of churches, tower-tombs, public 
 and private dwellings, all constructed of large blocks 
 of stone, measuring six to eight feet in length, with a 
 thickness of about twenty Inches. Some of the old 
 gardens are cultivated by the Arabs of a neighbor- 
 ing village; and many an ancient courtyard has 
 been converted into a miniature vineyard. In the 
 suburbs of the deserted city stands what was evi- 
 dently one of the finest j)rivate residences of the 
 place, all of its appurtenances testifying to its almost 
 palatial character. The verandas, saloons, galleries, 
 offices, chambers and baths, summer-house and wine- 
 
 RUINKI) DWKLLESTG AT EL-RAIIA, SYT^IA. 
 
 press, are strangely preserved. The accompanying il- 
 lustration of one of these mansions — for there are
 
 RUINED CITIES OF NORTHERN SYRIA. (33 
 
 many of them — will convey a very correct impression 
 of the style of architecture employed, and the general 
 external appearance of the buildings. 
 
 The sepulchral monuments are square, one-storied 
 structures, with massive pyramidal roofs. There are 
 besides them many rock-hewn tombs, somewhat simi- 
 lar to those occurring in other parts of Syria. The 
 cross, which appears frequently on the entrances to 
 the tombs, and upon the churches, tell us that the 
 people who built them were Christians ; but beyond 
 this we know but little or nothing. From the style 
 of architecture, we may conjecture the city to date 
 from the fifth or sixth century. There is nothing 
 sadder than these cities of forgotten history : they 
 have no story, though they seem almost as perfect as 
 if deserted but yesterday,* 
 
 Between El-Bara and Aleppo, a journey whicb we 
 
 * Quite recently two works have appeared upon these mined cities, 
 one entitled the " Sacred Architecture of Northern Syria," by M. le 
 Comte de Voqiie ; the other, " Unexplored Syria," by Burton and Drake. 
 The latter travelers explored quite thoroughly the Ala district, lying- 
 northeast and southeast of Hamah. The Arabs told them that the 
 district contained three hundred and sixty-five ruined towns, so that 
 " a man might have traveled for one year in the district and never have 
 slept twice in the same village ;" and Burton adds that his observations 
 lead him to believe that the fact is not much exaggerated. But little 
 additional light is thrown upon the history of the people who built 
 these cities, the remains of which thus thickly stud the country. The 
 authors of " Unexplored Syria," however, surmise that the inhabitants 
 of the district embraced by the text were native Syrians, who had felt 
 the influence of Greek and Roman civilization. That they had felt the 
 touch of Christianity we have already seen.
 
 (34 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 accomplished in two days, the country is for the most 
 part cultivated ; but at times it is rocky and barren. 
 Little Arab villages constantly appear, many of them 
 deserted ; but much more numerous are the sites of 
 ancient cities and the remains of later Christian 
 towns. Jebel El-Zorvi, a I'ange of hills not far from 
 Aleppo, is filled with the ruins of the latter, some of 
 them almost as extensive, and even more interesting, 
 from the number of palatial structures they contain, 
 than those of El-Bara. The traveler is here constant- 
 ly stumbling over some remains of antiquity — ruined 
 cities, broken sculptures, fragments of columns, in- 
 scribed stones, beautifully enchased blocks, extensive 
 quarries, and every where rock-hewn tombs, which 
 all bear witness to a by-gone period of populousness 
 and prosperity. 
 
 And thus it is throughout all Northern Syria. 
 There is a ruined Palmyra, a ruined Apamea, or a 
 ruined El-Bara covering every once-pleasant oasis, or 
 lying in every once -fertile valle}^, throughout the 
 length and breadth of the land. The remains of one 
 empire are heaped upon those of a preceding one. 
 There are ante-Grecian and Grecian ruins, Roman 
 ruins, Christian ruins, Saracenic ruins. The decay of 
 empire, the storm of conquest, the fury of barbarian 
 eruptions, the raids of Bedawin, the oppressive exac- 
 tions of a tyrannical government — these tell the 
 whole story. The Grecian army despoiled, but the
 
 RUINED CITIES OF NORTHERN SYRIA. (35 
 
 Grecian artists restored ; the Roman army destroyed, 
 but the Roman artists recreated; but the fanatical, 
 iconoclastic Saracen overthrew every thing, and set 
 u]) nothing ; the Mongul conquerors swept the coun- 
 try as with the besom of destruction, razing the cities, 
 extirpating the inhabitants, and leaving a howling 
 waste behind ; then the cruel, hated, grasping Turk 
 came, and what with governmental opj^ression, dis- 
 couragement to industry, hateful sectarian strife, the 
 blighting influence of Islamism, general insecurity of 
 life and property, constant despoilings by the rob- 
 bers of the desert, unrestrained by the weak arm, 
 and unpunished by the halting vengeance of the 
 Turkish government — what ^vith all these anarchiz- 
 ing and depopulating causes the land lies waste and 
 desolate.
 
 06 
 
 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 CHAPTER HI 
 
 ACEOSS THE MESOPOTAMIAN PLAIlSrS. 
 
 Descrii)tiou of Aleppo. — A Curiosity Shop. — Malum Alepporum. — Our 
 Departure for Niueveli. — xirtificial Tells. — A Superstition of the Des- 
 ert. — State of the Country. — The Euj^hrates. — A Native Ferry. — 
 Town of Birijic. — A Refreshing Scene. — Incidents of Travel. — Ur 
 of the Chaldees. — A Lonely Cemetery. — Ruins of Verran Sherahr. — 
 Rock-built Tombs. — Bedawin Hospitality. — Meteorological Phenom- 
 ena.— Mardin.— The Castle.— A Grand Outlook.— The Town.— Prot- 
 estant Missions. — A Serious Accident. — We Resume our Journey. — 
 Mesopotamian Villages. — Ruins of Dara.— Site of the Roman Town 
 of Nisibis.— Along the Tio-ris.— Mosul. 
 
 MESOPOTAMIAN PLAINS. 
 
 A GRAND view of the city of Aleppo is gained 
 from the walls of its famous old castle mound, which 
 rises from the centre of the town, prominent as an
 
 ACROSS THE I^IESOPOTAMIAN PLAINS. Q^ 
 
 Athenian Acroj^olis. At the coiq? (Voeil it impresses 
 one as being the least Oriental of Eastern cities. 
 The larger portion appears thoroughly European : 
 take away the minarets of the mosques, and one would 
 believe that one were overlooking the roofs of a 
 Western city ; but in the quarter of the bazaars the 
 roofs are heavily turfed, and unite in forming long, 
 grass-grown terraces, where nothing save projecting 
 sky-lights suggests the presence of a city beneath. 
 The houses are generally two or three stories in 
 height, and are destitute of chimneys ; but the little 
 tower-ventilators, designed to catch the breezes of 
 heaven and lead them to the chambers of the dwell- 
 ing, take their place in appearance, and beguile the 
 imagination into creating pleasant firesides beneath. 
 Here and there a tall, dark cypress, rising from the 
 sacred inclosure of some mosque, relieves the monot- 
 ony of the dingy -gray mass of buildings. Extensive 
 cemeteries form an almost perfect cordon about the 
 town. The gardens, created by the Nahr Howaik, 
 and the surrounding orchards of olive and pistachio 
 trees, relieve somewhat the dreariness of its environs. 
 Far to the north the lofty and, through a portion of 
 the year, snow-tipped ranges of the Taurus and Ama- 
 nus j)eep above the plain ; west and south, beyond 
 the gardens, low, bleak, rock-pierced hills limit the 
 view ; eastward the dreary reaches of the great des- 
 ert lead the eye without a rest to the horizon.
 
 08 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Previous to the terrible earthquake of 1822, which 
 caused a partial desertion of the city, Aleppo had a 
 population of upward of 200,000 ; the best resident 
 authorities estimate the present number of inhabit- 
 ants at 120,000. Of this number about 20,000 are 
 Christians, 30,000 Jews, and the remainder Moham- 
 medans."^ Three centuries ago, when the European 
 
 * One of the most curious diseases of the East takes its name, malum 
 Alepparum^ or huton Walep^ from the virulent character it assumes at 
 Aleppo. It is an endemic tuberculous disease, first appearing as a little 
 liard swelling, wliicli in a few months begins to sujjpurate ; continues in 
 this state four or five months, and then gradually desiccates, leaving 
 at first a red spot, which during the second year gives place to a silvery 
 scar, similar to that left by a burn. The disease rarely attacks the 
 same person twice. Every native suffers from it, and no foreigner 
 long a resident of the city escapes. Children are generally attacked 
 before their third year; not a child born in AlejDpo reaches its tenth 
 year unscathed. Foreigners are attacked after the lapse of varying jje- 
 riods; in some cases it appears after a few months' residence, but in 
 others not till twenty or more years have passed. It is in no way or 
 degree contagious. The tubercles generallj'^ appear ujjon the exposed 
 portions of the person : most frequently, in the case of natives, upon 
 the face ; but adult foreigners often esca])e with one or two insignifi- 
 cant tubercles upon the wrist, and even when it does ajipear upon the 
 face, its swellings are generally small, so that the scar left is scarcely 
 perceptible. The number of tubercles, in the case of native-born jjcr- 
 sons, varies greatly : generally the numljer docs not exceed three or 
 four; yet we saw children that had had upward of forty, wliicli had 
 left the face friglitfully disfigured. The children of foreigners are 
 equally subject to the disease as those of natives. This is not one of 
 the slightest annoyances to which tlic families of our missionaries art- 
 subjected. 
 
 Tlic disease lias Ijecn carefully studied hy different medical jiersons, 
 particularly by MM. Guillion and Lagasquie, in 1835, but nothing sat- 
 isfactory has been discovered respecting its cause, jirevention, or cure. 
 It is conjectured, however, that the disorder is occasioned by the water. 
 Antioch, only two days from Alejjpo, is free from its visitations. Mar- 
 din and Aintab are afflicted txuite as badly as Aleppo. W^ithin one
 
 ACROSS THE MESOPOTAMIAN PLAINS. (39 
 
 trade witli India was carried on advantageously by 
 the overland route via Aleppo and the Euphrates, 
 an English Victory, comprising eighty families, was 
 established at Aleppo. The quaint tablets in the 
 little English cemetery are the principal memorials 
 of the almost forgotten enterprise. There are at 
 present only a very small number of European trad- 
 ers in the city. The family of Di". D. H. Nutting, 
 the kindest courtesies of whose home we enjoyed 
 during our visit to the city, are the only American 
 residents. 
 
 Aleppo is still quite a busy centre of Eastern 
 trade. Its bazaars exhibit quite as great a variety 
 of the world's products as those of Damascus, while 
 far surpassing them in cleanliness and convenience. 
 In a general way we disa23prove of discriminating 
 notices; yet we feel impelled to here make particu- 
 lar mention of a certain Aleppine variety store, kept 
 by an English-speaking native, whose name, unfor- 
 tunately for the value of this advertisement to him, 
 has escaped our memory. We spent half a day, just 
 out of irrepressible curiosity, investigating his stock, 
 which rivaled the most marvelously conglomerated 
 
 hour's ride from the first mentioned is a Tillage where the disease is 
 unknown, yet neighboring towns similarly situated do not enjoy the 
 same exemption. It also prevails along the Tigris and Euphrates as 
 far as Bagdad, where, however, it loses the endemic character it exhib- 
 its at Aleppo and Mardin. We saw but few individuals in that city 
 who bore the disfigurini? scar.
 
 70 REiMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 museum. He had collected every thing from Ho- 
 mer's Iliad to a sj^ading-fork. We found Manchester 
 prints and French silks, groceries and hardware, con- 
 fectionary and dry-goods, ready-made clothing — most 
 of which had been ready for a long time — French 
 hats, English boots and shoes, native sandals, poly- 
 glot books — written in Greek, Latin, French, Ger- 
 man, Italian, Spanish, Armenian, English, Arabic, and 
 Turkish — antiquities ancient and modern ad infini- 
 tum, statuary, wines, and photogra2:)hs. 
 
 We have many pleasant reminiscences of Alej)po, 
 all of which, however, cluster about the pleasant 
 home of our kind entertainer, Dr. Nuttiuo;. It is 
 largely to the efforts of this earnest, laborious, and 
 devoted missionary that is due the establishment of 
 the first church of the American mission in this city. 
 This church has now a congregation of about eighty 
 persons, and a membershijD of thirteen — the first- 
 fruits of Protestant Christian effort in Aleppo. 
 May heaven bless the Avork and the worker. 
 
 It was near the close of January before we were 
 again in the saddle, prepared for our trip across the 
 Mesopotamian plains to Nineveh — a journey, by usu- 
 al caravan stages, via Mardin, of twenty days. We 
 had delayed our departure from Aleppo a little in 
 order to attach ourselves to a lai*ge caravan, destined 
 for tlie latter place. This caravan consisted of near- 
 ly a hundred horses and mules, these animals being
 
 ACROSS THE MES0P0TA3IIAN PLAINS. 7 J 
 
 almost exclusively employed for transportation pur- 
 poses between Aleppo and Mospl (Nineveh). The 
 carterjee — the conductor of the caravan — had put 
 off the time for starting from day to day — for an 
 Arab is a perfect Spaniard in believing that to-mor- 
 row, or day after to-morrow, is the only proper time 
 for doing a thing — so that February was almost 
 leading in the Syrian sj^ring when we bade adieu to 
 our good Aleppine friends. 
 
 Once beyond the limits of the city, we immediately 
 entered upon an undulating country, bleak in its 
 general aspect; for though the depressions were 
 freshened to an emerald hue under the influence of 
 the spring rains, the hills were rocky and ban-en. 
 
 We halted the first night from Aleppo at a huddle 
 of conical huts called by the Arabs Ak-terin, near 
 an immense artificial mound, nearly half a mile in 
 circumference, and about one hundred and fifty feet 
 high, surrounded in part by a cyclopean wall, twelve 
 or fifteen feet in height, constructed of huge basaltic 
 boulders. One could almost believe that the Titans 
 heaped up the mound, and piled round it the wall 
 of enormous rocks to support the earth. 
 
 One is astonished at the vast number of these 
 mounds occurring throughout Northern Syria and 
 Mesopotamia. Upon the plains of the latter we 
 have counted twenty within range of the vision. 
 Many of these tells have little villages clustered at
 
 72 ■ REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 their base ; the natives selecting such a site, we were 
 informed, because of the shelter afforded by the mounds 
 from the cold northerly winds. In the formation of 
 the tell, advantage seems to have been taken, in some 
 cases, of a natural eminence; but generally the entire 
 enormous pile is unmistakably of artificial construc- 
 tion. It is quite as difficult to discover their origin 
 and jourpose as to arrive at any satisfactory conclii- 
 
 ANCIENT TELL AND ARAB VILLAGE. 
 
 sion respecting the " round towers " of Ireland. That 
 they date back to the very earliest times, there is, 
 however, no doubt. We know that the Assyrians 
 and Babylonians always raised their palaces and 
 temples on high artificial mounds, and some of these 
 tells may have subserved similar purj^oses ; yet very 
 few of them 'bear any evidence of having ever been 
 l)uilt upon.
 
 ACROSS THE 31ES0P0TAMIAN PLAINS. 73 
 
 From Ak-terin we journeyed on three clays toward 
 the Euphrates. For the first day the country was 
 dotted with little villages and artificial tells. In 
 many j)laces basaltic rocks covered the plain as 
 thou2:h sown broadcast over the land. The culti- 
 vated valleys were separated by broad belts of ste- 
 rility, where the underlying rock pierced the thin 
 soil. A small semi-Bedawin village, a sort of cara- 
 van station, composed of mud huts and black tents, 
 euphoniously designated by the Arabs Beg-ler-beg, 
 afforded us shelter for the night. The second day 
 the country traversed grew drearier : the ground was 
 deeply furrowed by winter torrents, all of the ugly, 
 gaping ravines running eastward toward the Eu- 
 phrates. 
 
 On this dreary, uninhabited tract we passed a sol- 
 itary tree, stunted and haggard, heaped about with 
 stones, and with every bough and twig hung with 
 bits of rao's of varied colors, broug-ht from the bodies 
 of 23ersous suffering with disease, and left here as a 
 sort of efficacious offering for their recovery. It is 
 curious to observe the universality of the custom 
 among peoples of low intellectual attainments to re- 
 gard with a certain ill-defined veneration any object, 
 especially if it be something of life, which rises con- 
 spicuous amid scenes of bleak loneliness. Among 
 Alps and Andes alike, the tree that clings alone to 
 
 the rocks of the highest pass is sure to be looked 
 
 F
 
 74 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 upon, by the superstitious fancy of the mountaineers, 
 as the "genius of the place." There is something- 
 melancholy in finding, on lonely desert or upland, 
 these mementos of a vague superstition, that insists 
 upon seeking amid the surroundings of an unsympa- 
 thetic nature for some object which it may regard 
 with a sort of fetich veneration. Perhaps it may 
 teach us how natural to certain circumstances and 
 conditions of the mind is that strange worship of the 
 Africans which we denominate Fetichism. 
 
 Mezar was our second night's station from Ak- 
 terin. It was a little town situated in a broad val- 
 ley, the bottom of which, with the slope of the flank- 
 ing hills, was covered with groves of olive and fig, 
 recalling the gardens of Bey rout, Damascus, and 
 Riha. It was a refreshing sight to look \ii)on tree 
 vegetation again, after having traversed such a bar- 
 ren country as lay behind us. It is a question 
 whether Northern Syria was ever covered with na- 
 tive forest; but it is not at all problematical but 
 that a skillful and well-sustained system of arbori- 
 culture would hide -svith fruitful orchards and pleas- 
 ant groves much of the present nakedness of the 
 land. But it will be a long time before such Mor- 
 mon-like enterprise is seen in the dominions of the 
 Sultan. 
 
 Upon the fifth day from Alepi)o we reached the 
 Euphrates, the fourth river that watered the Garden
 
 ACROSS THE JVIESOPOTAMIAN PLAINS. 75 
 
 of Eden — " the Great River," as the ancients spoke 
 of it, and very properly too, for, thougli insignificant 
 compared with some of our oceanic rivers, it was 
 one of the largest they had. It was a moment of in- 
 terest when first we caught sight of its gleaming 
 waters; for though we may be disaj^pointed in our 
 attempts to discover at what point of its course it 
 hid itself amid the foliage of the Garden, still we al- 
 ways regard it as one of the indisputa-ble streams 
 of Paradise ; and thus it becomes early associated, in 
 all our vague, childish iiiiaginings, with the home of 
 our first parents. Besides, the connection of the Eu- 
 phrates with a hundred succeeding events makes the 
 name at once sacred and historic. 
 
 As we approached the valley of the river we were 
 struck by its remarkable similarity to the depression 
 of the Jordan and of the Dead Sea, as viewed from 
 the hills of Palestine. While the river was still 
 many miles distant, its course was discovered by the 
 abrupt, deeply furrowed cliffs of the farther bank, 
 that rise from the river-valley as barren, blasted, and 
 forbidding as the mountains of Moab and Bashan. 
 
 A gently descending plain, deeply plowed by win- 
 ter streams, led us to the edge of the river- valley. 
 Very different from each other were the views we 
 gained as we looked up the stream and then turned 
 and followed the river as it lost itself to the south- 
 ward : far away to the north the lofty ranges of the
 
 76 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Taurus seemed to close tlie valley with arctic fields of 
 snow and cold ; to the south, a warm haze hung over 
 the low-lying plains of Mesopotamia, that rolled out 
 in lazy swells to the glowing horizon. The Boreal 
 North thus abruptly confronted the Sunny South. 
 How we wished ourselves upon the river, floating 
 with it down into those warm, pleasant days that 
 seemed to hang over the southern plains. 
 
 Our caravan crossed the Euphrates by means of a 
 curious, crazy, native ferry-boat, unmistakably of a 
 high antiquity. The stern terminated abruptly, and 
 was low and open; but the bow was sharp and high 
 enough to make up, in these matters, for^ any defi- 
 ciency that might be felt by the opposite end of the 
 craft. The aftair was managed by two eternally 
 long, clumsily spliced sweeps, worked by several 
 Arabs perched in the lofty prow. 
 
 From the foot of the ferry we clambered up an 
 abrupt bank to Birijic, a town of from twelve to fif 
 teen thousand inhabitants, scarcely distinguishable 
 from the white limestone cliff to which it clino-s: in- 
 deed, many of the dwellings are rock-hewn excava- 
 tions, and seem more like toml)s than habitations 
 for the living. We christened it " The Petra of the 
 Euphrates." Tlie ruinous walls of an old castle 
 crown an artificially isolated rock, two hundred feet 
 in height. Biiijic was in the time of the Romans 
 an important and strongly fortified place, as is evi-
 
 ACROSS THE MESOPOTAMIAN PLAINS. 77 
 
 denced by tlie carefully constructed walls that were 
 thrown around the town. These walls are still in a 
 good state of preservation. They are solidly con- 
 structed of beveled stones, are from thirty to forty 
 feet in height, and are strengthened, at intervals, with 
 square towers. They seem most ludicrously out of 
 proportion to the present size and importance of the 
 town, which is half deserted, and contains nothing 
 that would excite even a Bedawy'raid. 
 
 We passed a quiet Sabbath at Birijic, in an old 
 khan, and on Monday resumed our journey, one day 
 in the rear of the caravan, which we expected to over- 
 take at Urfa, two days ahead. A few hours from 
 Bii'ijic we met a party of four or five horsemen, 
 breaking along among the rocks at a reckless speed. 
 They proved to be the post, with the Aleppo mail. 
 This was the first thing that looked like a hurry we 
 had seen in Syria. It was really refreshing to see 
 something moving lively in such a stupidly slow 
 country. 
 
 Before the close of the day's ride we Avere enter- 
 tained by a slight mischance sufi'ered by our compa- 
 gnon de voyage^ a young Armenian Christian, who had 
 iilso dropped out of the caravan at Birijic. As is 
 the custom of the country, he had an infinite variety 
 of travelins; conveniences huno; about the animal he 
 strode. In the absence of stirrups, he rode with one 
 foot planted in his dinner-kettle, which hung from
 
 ^j-g REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 the saddle. This was well enough, for in an emer- 
 gency any thing may very properly answer the pur- 
 pose of any thing else. But his horse, while labor- 
 ing under some little excitement, also j^ut his foot 
 into the vessel — and that was the last service that 
 kettle ever did either as a stirrup or a culinary ar- 
 ticle. We introduce this incident or disaster simply 
 to illustrate how, when one is hard pressed for 
 amusement, the slightest occurrence characterized by 
 the least irregularity will serve to entertain, for this 
 little episode was at the time really diverting. 
 
 For the greater part of the second day from Biri- 
 jic we wound through serpentine w^adys amid rocky 
 and desolate hills, and toward evening made a long, 
 winding, and precipitous descent to a broad, well-cul- 
 tivated valley, opening south upon the dead level of 
 the Mesopotamian plains. Here we found the city 
 of Urfa, which some, misled by the name, have sup- 
 posed identical with Ur of the Chaldees ; but more 
 recent research has unmistakably identified the site 
 of that ancient city with the extensive ruins of Mug- 
 heir, near the mouth of the Euphrates. The walls 
 of Urfa, though now fallen sadly out of repair, indi- 
 cate it to have formerly been a place of considerable 
 strength and importance. We should estimate its 
 present population at about twenty-five thousand. 
 
 For foiu" days after leaving Urfa we traversed the 
 most mournfully desolate country the sun ever look-
 
 ACROSS THE MESOPOTAMIA:^f PLAINS. 79 
 
 ed upon. There were no villages or klians to ofter 
 us shelter at night ; so we were glad for the protec- 
 tion of some halffallen ruin, and really grateful 
 when w^e found an old cave. 
 
 During the second day's march we discovered a 
 large ancient cemetery ; the cross upon many of the 
 tombs alone told us that it dated back to the times 
 of the early Christians. All around, the plain was 
 dotted with artificial tells, indicatinoj that once a 
 large population filled with life and movement the 
 tract now desolate and silent as the graves of the 
 cemetery. We could find no other traces of the city 
 that must have stood near ; the worn and overturned 
 stones of the lonely cemetery, lying thus forgotten 
 upon the desolate plains, was all that was left to tell 
 the story of the Christian city. 
 
 The third day we left our caravan, and made a de- 
 tour of several hours' ride from the main trail, in or- 
 der to examine the interestino^ ruins of Verran She- 
 rah, the existence of Avhich had been made known to 
 us by Dr. Nutting, who thought himself the first 
 American who had seen them. Oui' interest had 
 been excited by his description of the remains ; but, 
 notwithstanding our being thus prepared for any 
 thing that we might find, we were astonished at the 
 extent, variety, and interesting nature of the ruins. 
 The destroyed city was surrounded by a strongly built 
 wall, about three miles in circuit, which still retains
 
 80 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 from ten to twenty feet of its original height. We 
 climbed to the summit of this wall, and looked down 
 upon the ruined city within. A perfect chaos of 
 ruins covered the entire inclosed area. Long, heavy 
 lines of building debris enabled the eye to trace out 
 several of the ancient streets. Strewn about were 
 columns of basalt, limestone, and variegated marble. 
 A little pool, choked with rubbish, marked the site 
 of a beautiful fountain, fragments of the raised pave- 
 ment being still preserved. A cluster of columns, 
 bearing aloft several bold arches, pointed out the an- 
 cient church. 
 
 A little distance from the city are the prominent 
 ruins of a singular structure : a heavy double wall, 
 circular without but octagonal \vithin, inclosed a 
 court about fifty feet in diameter. The inner wall is 
 quite well preserved, and is about forty feet in 
 height. Upon the fallen lintel of the entrance we 
 found a cross, which unmistakably indicated the 
 building to be an ecclesiastical structure of the early 
 Christians. The whole Avas constructed of basalt, 
 and looked as black and gloomy as though just 
 dragged up from the sooty forge of Vulcan. 
 
 Near tliis singular Ijuilding are the tombs of an 
 extensive cemetery. Some of the sepulchral monu- 
 ments resemble the tower-tombs of El-Bara ; but 
 the most common form is that of a semi -subter- 
 ranean chamber, containing vaulted recesses for the
 
 ACROSS THE MESOPOTAMIAN PLAINS. g^ 
 
 sarcophagi, and roofed with long, heavy slabs of ba- 
 salt, laid horizontally. The entrance was secured by 
 a heavy stone door, six inches or more in thickness, 
 and swinging u^jon pivots — just such as are found in 
 the " Giant Cities of Bashan," throughout the Hau- 
 ran. It required all the strength we could exert to 
 swing some of these heavy doors. 
 
 Near the wall of the ruined city was an encamp- 
 ment of Bedawin ; and after we had finished our ex- 
 amination of the remains, the sheik, wdio disported 
 himself with a gold watch and chain, invited us to 
 partake of the hospitality of his tent. It being late 
 in the afternoon, and having a long ride yet before 
 us, we declined ; but seeing that we were offending 
 by our refusal, we finally dismounted, entered the 
 tent, and squatted a Varabe w^ith the group about 
 the fire. To pass without entering the tent of a 
 sheik — which is always pitched on that side of the 
 encampment which is likely to be first approached 
 by strangers, that the chief may enjoy the privilege 
 of first extending the hospitalities of the tribe — is 
 considered a great breach of desert etiquette. 
 
 After a slight refection of wonderfully strong cof 
 fee and wafer bread, we were allowed to resume our 
 journey, without hearing any thing about the eter- 
 nal hachsliisli of the villagers. We never heard that 
 word from the true Bedawin of the desert. It may 
 1)6 argued, on the other hand, that they have a very
 
 32 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 cool way of apj^ropriating what they desire, without 
 taking the trouble to ask for it. They are, indeed, 
 addicted to this habit; but then they regard the 
 matter from a different stand-point than what we do. 
 They claim this as one of their privileges ; for they 
 say that when Abraham shamefully turned their fa- 
 ther Ishmael out in the desert, God gave those des- 
 erts to him and his posterity, with full permission to 
 appropriate any thing they might discover upon 
 them (Introduction to Sale's Koran). There surely is 
 nothing very different in this claim from the Chris- 
 tian notion of the right of possession from discovery, 
 which has led to such serious misunderstandings 
 with the autochthones of different continents, who are 
 too stupid to comprehend the fairness of the claim. 
 
 The journey from Verran Sherahr to Mardin, which 
 occupied two days, was excessively monotonous ; yet 
 we generally managed in some way to break the te- 
 dium of the march. When traveling by night, as 
 we most frequently did, we passed the time in vari- 
 ous discussions; or we studied the heavens, which 
 were always calm and brilliant : the stars, with the 
 exception of those low in the horizon, looking down 
 through the deep heavens with that steady "plan- 
 etary light" that they exhibit when viewed from 
 lofty table-lands. Instead of shooting down their 
 light in sharp, quivering rays, they shed it softly as 
 the dew falls; and the objects upon which it fell, in-
 
 ACROSS THE ]\iesopotamia:n^ PLAIXS. 33 
 
 stead of being shot througb with keen shafts, were 
 bathed in a soft, hazy, ethereal light, which, when it 
 played with the tracery of the desert shrubs, created 
 a perfectly indefinable witchery of light and shade. 
 
 Another meteorological phenomenon — for consid- 
 ering the atmospheric origin of the above '^v^e may 
 properly speak thus — which we observed one day 
 when the sky was flecked with clouds, and the at- 
 mosphere slightly dimmed with haze, was the dis- 
 tinct columns of shadow that the floating clouds 
 threw down to the earth, so that they seemed to rest 
 each upon its own shadow and to be borne up by it. 
 The majestic appearance of these lofty, airy, cloud- 
 capped pillars, as in weird mimicry of a giant, shad- 
 owy forest they thickened in distant perspective, was 
 wonderfully grand and impressive. 
 
 While yet a long day's journey from Mardin we 
 caught sight of its lofty castle, perched upon one of 
 the highest points of the hills that overhang the 
 plains of Mesopotamia upon the north, as aerial as 
 ever Virgil imagined the towers of Phseacia. We 
 reached the city without incident, but not without 
 difiiculty. Those must have been stormy times 
 when men were constrained to perch their dwellings 
 upon such inaccessible rocks. 
 
 The castle of Mardin, which crowns the precipi- 
 tous crag, stands about two thousand feet above the 
 Mesopotamian plains, its ruinous walls giving an im-
 
 84 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 posing castellated appearance to tlie lofty rock. The 
 ancient town was crowded within the walls of the 
 castle, which incloses an irregular area al)oiit half a 
 mile in length. The rock is honey-combed w4th cis- 
 terns, of which w^e were told there were between two 
 and three hundred ; as in the event of siege the in- 
 habitants of the aerial perch could look only to the 
 heavens for a supply of water. This castle is said to 
 have held out against the Mongol hordes of Timour 
 for three years ; indeed, tradition points out in the 
 plain below a little grove of fig-trees which Timour 
 is said to have started from seeds, and the fruit of 
 which he is also said to have enjoyed. The entire 
 enceinte is now strewn with ruins and deserted, sav- 
 ing the presence of a small Turkish guard; but 
 what they are doing wath their old rusty howitzers 
 up there half-way to heaven it is hard to conceive. 
 In the little armory are stowed away several thou- 
 sand Enfield rifles, in a very creditable state of pres- 
 ervation. 
 
 The walls of the castle afford a most glorious look- 
 out. To the north, the Taurus, loaded with snow, 
 overtops the lower and nearer ranges of Jebel Tour ; 
 south, the Mesopotamian plain, patched wnth cultiva- 
 tion and the shadows of floating clouds, and dotted 
 with little villages, rolls out its magnificent expanses 
 till lost in the distant haze. Only two ranges of 
 hills — the Sinjar mountains a^vay to the east, and
 
 ACROSS THE IMESOPOTAjAUAN PLAINS. 85 
 
 the Abd el Aziz Dagh far to the soiitli — break the 
 dead uniformity of the plain. 
 
 From the lofty outlook of Mardin the Mesopota- 
 mian plains seem as changeful in mood as the sea. 
 Often they appear in exact mimicry of the expanses 
 of the ocean, and one can scarcely believe but that 
 the sea has broken in upon the land, and is really 
 washing the base of the hills. Again, at evening the 
 haze, that ever hangs over the plains, transmutes the 
 horizontal rays of the setting sun into impalpable 
 golden bars; and when at last these are all drawn 
 back and merged in the glowing west, an indescrib- 
 ably weird, sombre, melancholy purple hue settles 
 over the scene. 
 
 We never tired w^atching the march of storms 
 over these plains. These generally rose low in the 
 southern horizon, and then advanced toward the 
 mountains with what, from their distance, seemed a 
 slow, majestic movement. From our great elevation, 
 the lower edge of the clouds seemed almost to sweep 
 the earth. As they came near, flying scuds would 
 detach themselves, and hurry along the dark front 
 of the storm, as if hastening on the heavy masses. 
 The black shadow, moving with equal pace over the 
 plain, threw village after village in weird gloom. 
 On striking the breast of the mountains, the clouds, 
 torn and whirled by conflicting currents of wind, 
 swept wildly up the slopes, and stormed our cita-
 
 86 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 del with irregular, maddened volleys of hail. We 
 thought that nothing in the way of storms could be 
 grander, but were told that in summer the advance 
 of the thunder-clouds was still more impressive ; for 
 then the lightning, shivering the blackness below, 
 adds a wild pyrotechnic display to the scene. 
 
 The town of Mardin has slipped out of the old 
 castle walls, and now lies about five hundred feet 
 below them, with its buildings forming a broad zone 
 that half girdles the hill. Thus towering above the 
 houses is the embattled crag, which overhangs them 
 in threatening precipices, ready upon the first jar of 
 an earthquake to hurl down its fragments upon 
 them. Clouds often hide the castle while the town 
 is free from mist. Indeed, so abrupt is the slope to 
 which the town clings, and so broad the zone it 
 forms, that frequently while snowing in the upper 
 part of the city it will be raining in the lower. Dur- 
 ing our visit a snow-storm buried the higher terraces 
 of buildings beneath four inches of snow, while the 
 lower portion of the town experienced nothing but 
 rain. There are 2:)rospects of a railroad's running 
 near the foot of the mountain at some future day — 
 when the Euphrates Valley Railway becomes a fact 
 — and then, dou*btless, the town will slip down upon 
 the plain. 
 
 The population of Mardin is estimated at about 
 twenty thousand. More than half of the inhabitants
 
 ACROSS THE JVLESOPOTAMIAN PLAINS. 87 
 
 are Mohammedans; the remainder are Papal Ar- 
 menians, Chaldseans, Papal Syrians, and Jacobites. 
 It is mainly among the last mentioned that the la- 
 bors of the American Protestant Mission are being- 
 carried on. Here we must say one word respecting 
 the missionary work in Eastern Turkey. As soon 
 as one becomes informed as to the method of mission 
 work here, one feels inspired with confidence in 
 looking for grand results. With a perfect under- 
 standing of the best means to be adopted in the fur- 
 therance of the cause — a knowledge gathered by the 
 long and trying experience of honored pioneers in 
 the same field — our missionaries combine a catholic- 
 ity of view, an intelligent enthusiasm, and untiring, 
 selfsacrificinoj devotion that are seldom directed to 
 the attainment of any object. They talk of strategy 
 in movement, and economy of spiritual power. They 
 have indeed taken complete strategic possession of 
 the country; the points most favorable for opera- 
 tions have been already occupied — Mardin, Harpoot, 
 Erzroom, Bitlis, and Van being the chosen centres in 
 Eastern Turkey. At each of these stations a group 
 of missionaries is found — gathered thus in groups, 
 because they have learned that union is strength in 
 mission work as well as in any other enterprise. 
 They have discovered that the Biblical proportions 
 are strictly reliable — that if one shall chase a thou- 
 sand, two shall put ten thousand to flight. A man
 
 88 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 single-handed, unsupported by associates, can not 
 achieve half that which he might accomplish were 
 he working in an atmosphere of helpful, concurrent 
 enthusiasm. Finding, then, that it is not good to be 
 alone, and perceiving, too, that the proposed plan of 
 work demands centralization, the missionaries group 
 themselves at these carefully chosen centres. If we 
 speak of the mode in which the work is conducted 
 at one of these stations, we shall give a general idea 
 of the manner in which it is carried on in all. 
 
 At Mardin there are at present two missionaries 
 with their families — the Revs. Andrus and Pond; 
 and also two young lady teachers. Misses Parmelee 
 and Baker. Their lamented associate, the Rev. Mr. 
 Williams, died just previous to our visit, so that one 
 of the mission houses stood vacant. But the plan is 
 to have three missionary families stationed at this 
 point. The mission buildings are pleasant, commo- 
 dious homes, occupying the most desirable site in the 
 town of Mardin, and from their conspicuous eleva- 
 tion can be seen from afar by the missionary return- 
 ing from his trip among the villages that dot the 
 plain beneath. Now the principal work of the mis- 
 sionaries is to train up a native agency — a corj)s 
 of native teachers and preachers, and then, through 
 these, to establish schools and churches, not only at 
 Mardin, l)ut in all the outlying villages. To secure 
 this end there is established at Mardin a male and
 
 ACROSS THE MESOPOTAMIAN PLAINS. 39 
 
 female seminary, in wliicli young men and women 
 are prepared for the mission work. Both sexes are 
 taught in the seminary, because women are needed 
 to reach the women, and men to reach the men. Be- 
 sides, it has been found that a young man can never 
 become an efficient worker unless he have for a wife 
 one who is qualified to help build up a Christian 
 home : the man is inevitably dragged down to the 
 level of the woman. It is not good to be alone; 
 neither is it good to be unequally yoked. Hence in 
 the female department of the seminary provision is 
 made for securing to the young men helpful associ- 
 ates and companions. 
 
 There were, when we visited the institution, about 
 twenty young men connected with the two classes, 
 the seminary having been established but two years. 
 About an equal number of young ladies were being 
 taught in the women^s school. The method of in- 
 struction adopted is a wise blending of study and 
 practice: for six months the students are gathered 
 at the seminary ; then for the remainder of the year 
 they are encouraged to employ themselves in teach- 
 ing. There is in Mardin a school of about fifty boys 
 and girls, which is wholly under the conduct of na- 
 tive teachers. The church, which has a membership 
 of fifty persons, is under the charge of a native 
 preacher. A considerable number of schools and 
 churches have been established in the surrounding 
 
 G
 
 90 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 towns, and some of these are already self-supporting. 
 As fast as teachers and pastors can be trained for the 
 work, possession is taken of outlying posts; day- 
 schools, sabbath-schools, and chapels established, and 
 gradually brought up to a selfsustaining position. 
 The work of the missionaries at the centre is to plan, 
 control, visit, encourage, rebuke in a sort of apostolic 
 way, and see that a positive and thorough reforma- 
 tory work is begun and maintained. Thus two or 
 three missionaries become the trainers and wielders 
 of a strong native force, that touches the community 
 at every point throughout an extended district. 
 
 Harpoot is a much older station than Mardin, hav- 
 ing been in operation for about fourteen years. Sev- 
 eral of the missionary families of that station have 
 now removed to Van, in Eastern Turkey, because 
 their work at the former station is done. Harpoot 
 and seventy out-stations have been furnished with 
 schools and churches, and all these are on such a 
 footing that this missionary force can be spared to 
 institute a similar work about Van as a centre. 
 
 Evangelistic labors in Turkey are generally con- 
 fined to the nominal Christians; the Mohammedans 
 are as yet practically inaccessible. The only way 
 they can be reached is through' the native Christian 
 Church. Before Moslems shall become inspired 
 with love and respect for Christianity they must 
 have a different embodiment of it from which to
 
 ACROSS THE MESOPOTAMIAN PLAINS. 91 
 
 judge of its claims than that afforded by the 
 Armenian, Papal Syrian, Nestorian, or Jacobite 
 Churches. They point to these, and assert that their 
 own religion is quite as good as such; and no one 
 entertaining a befitting regard for truth can enthu- 
 siastically controvert the assertion. Not till these 
 native churches shall exalt Christianity in its pris- 
 tine and attractive purity Avill Moslems lose occa- 
 sion for instituting these disparaging comparisons. 
 Under the teachings and inspiration of our worthy 
 missionaries this desideratum will certainly be se- 
 cured. 
 
 From these matters we must return to our person- 
 al narrative. The days were passing all too pleas- 
 antly at the mission home of Mr. Audrus, when the 
 emerald hue that began to overspread the Mesopota- 
 mian plains reminded us that our long journey should 
 be resumed if we wished to reach the cool retreats 
 of the Himalayas before the heats of summer should 
 overtake us. Accordingly a carterjee w^as summon- 
 ed, and the necessary animals engaged for the trip 
 of ten days to Mosul (Nineveh). At the foot of the 
 mountains, with the town overhanging us, and the 
 wide expanse of Mesopotamia before us, we bade 
 adieu to our kind friends, who had come out thus far 
 with us ; and then, in company wdth Mr. Pond, who 
 had so arranged an intended visit to the church at 
 Mosul as to be our companion, we set off across the
 
 92 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 plain. At the close of our first day's journey, H 
 
 was unfortunately thrown from his horse, and the 
 clavicle of his rio^ht shoulder was fractured. There 
 was no alternative but to return to Mardin, and tele- 
 graph to Harpoot for surgical aid. Accordingly a 
 raesseuocer was sent back to Mardin to forward the 
 dispatch, and to bring us the mission nioffa — a sort of 
 double palanquin, so arranged as to be swung upon 
 the back of an animal, and generally employed by 
 ladies in journeying. 
 
 The following morning we regretfully parted from 
 Mr. Pond — whose arrangements compelled him to con- 
 tinue his journey — and reluctantly giving up the an- 
 ticipated pleasure of ten days with one so well cal- 
 culated to relieve the tedium of travel, returned to 
 Mardin. A severe snow-storm was playing about 
 the castle, and before we reached the town we Avere 
 laboring through quite a depth of snow. It was a 
 nervous ride np the all but perpendicular rock, for 
 we did not have an overweening confidence in our 
 mule-poised palanquin ; besides, Cimmerian darkness 
 had overtaken us. We w^ere sincerely grateful when 
 at last we were borne through a gap in the walls of 
 the sleeping town, and deposited safely at the mis- 
 sion home. 
 
 Our telegram was kindly and promptly responded 
 to by Dr. Reynold, who reached Mardin from Har- 
 poot after an almost unremitted ride of forty hours
 
 ACROSS THE MESOPOTAMIAN PLAINS. 93 
 
 by post. He was in the pulpit when our message 
 was handed him ; but, leaving the services to be con- 
 cluded by another, lie set out to attend our call. 
 Dr. Reynold's skill, and three weeks of patient wait- 
 ing, restored to H the partial use of his arm, so 
 
 that our journey could be again resumed. Those 
 three weeks, filled with unremitting kindnesses in 
 the home of Mr. Andrus, left a pleasant record on 
 our memory. Should these lines ever meet the eyes 
 of those to whom we owe such a large debt of grati- 
 tude, we ask that they do not estimate by them our 
 appreciation of their many courtesies, but recall that 
 our deepest feelings oftenest refuse to find expression 
 in words. 
 
 Respecting our journey from Mardin to Mosul we 
 will not speak particularly, but will simply condense 
 in a few paragraphs whatever of interest was em- 
 braced by the trip. We have spoken of the plains 
 of Mesopotamia as being dotted with villages. These 
 are, for the most part, Kurdish settlements, number- 
 ing from twenty to several hundred families each. 
 They occupy a comj)aratively narrow track along the 
 base of the mountains. In the summer of 1871 the 
 Lhammer Bedawin, coming up from the south, swept 
 over the plain beneath Mardin, and plundered and 
 burned the villages almost to the very base of the 
 hills ; but they were finally driven back by the Turk- 
 ish trooj^s, and their chief was captured, condemned,
 
 94 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 and afterward executed at Mosul; so that now the 
 country is considered safe as far as the Sinjar hills 
 from the raids of these lawless rovers of the desert, 
 and the villages are beginning again to creep south- 
 ward over the plains. 
 
 Three hours from Mardin, among the low spurs of 
 the mountains which are just sinking into the dead 
 level of Mesopotamia, are the interesting and exten- 
 sive ruins of an ancient city, to which the name of 
 Dara now attaches. The principal remains are of 
 Koman origin, so that Ave may believe the town to 
 have been contemporary with the neighboring garri- 
 son town of Nisibis. The ruinous city walls, two 
 immense reservoirs, and extensive quarries are the 
 most important features of the ruins. The walls 
 were from two to three miles in circuit. The site of 
 the city is intersected by a deep ravine, and the 
 height and solidity of the wall carried across this 
 valley is astonisliing. This portion still stands in a 
 good state of preservation, being strengthened at 
 intervals with strong circular towers. One of the 
 reservoirs is similar to that near Cape Misenum, in 
 Italy ; the other is larger, and roofed in by massive 
 arched masonry, supported by seven division walls. 
 The lower half is rock-hewn. These Mesopotamian 
 reservoirs are as massive specimens of Roman archi- 
 tecture as exist any whei'e in the ^V()rld. Scattered 
 all over the ancient site are fragments of walls.
 
 ACROSS THE [MESOPOTxUIIAN PLAINS. 95 
 
 carved stones, drums and capitals of fallen pillars; 
 but tliere are no large masses of ruined buildings. 
 The quarries just beyond the city walls are the most 
 extensive of any in the East. Subsequent to the 
 Roman period they were used as Christian tombs, as 
 is evidenced by the cross which decorates many of 
 the rock-hewn sepulchral chambers. 
 
 One short day's journey from the ruins of Dara is 
 the site of the Roman garrison town of Nisibis, 
 whose name is preserved in the modern Nisi bin, a 
 village of about one hundred dwellings, with pleas- 
 ant adjoining gardens, created by the waters of the 
 ancient Mygdonius. The antiquities of the place are 
 unimportant, there being no such extensive remains 
 as are found at Dara. Yet Nisibis was one of the 
 strongest and most important of the outposts of the 
 Roman Empire. Thrice it successfully resisted the 
 entire force of the Persian army ; but a fourth siege, 
 conducted by Sapor, resulted in the surrender of the 
 place by the Romans, A.D. 363. Three centuries 
 later the Saracens leveled the walls to the plain, 
 and the once strong fortress passed simply as a name 
 into history. 
 
 Three days' journeying from Nisibin brought us 
 to the Tigris, the western bank of which we followed 
 down for one day; then, crossing the river by means 
 of a native ferry, we continued our way along the 
 eastern bank till we reached the bridge of Mosul.
 
 96 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 The villages lying along our route were small, 
 wretched, half- deserted huddles of rude mud-walled 
 hovels: large, populous, wealthy — adjectives that 
 Xenophon found such constant demand for in his 
 Anabasis — are adjuncts for which there is no legiti- 
 mate use in describing the collections of miserable 
 habitations that the traveler finds in any of these re- 
 gions to-day. 
 
 Mosul was the terminus of our long and somewhat 
 varied ride of over one thousand miles from Jerusa- 
 lem. This town, which contains, we should estimate, 
 a population of about forty thousand, is situated upon 
 the west or Mesopotamian bank of the Tigris, directly 
 opposite the site of ancient Nineveh. It has an ex- 
 tended river front of almost a mile. Upon the south 
 and west the city has shrunk away from its walls, 
 leaving a large portion of the inclosed space unoccu- 
 pied by dwellings; but to compensate for this, how- 
 ever, the town has, on the north, overflowed the ram- 
 parts, and lies spread out beyond the defenses. The 
 houses are constructed mainly of unhewn stone ; but 
 often the arches and doorways are formed of wrought 
 blocks of the famous Nineveh gypsum. The courts 
 of the better class of residences are paved with the 
 same material, and their spacious levans paneled 
 with carved slabs of alabaster, which recall the re- 
 stored sculptured halls of tlie Ninevite palaces. 
 
 Mosul is one of the oldest stations of the Ameri-
 
 ACROSS THE MESOPOTAIkllAN PLAINS. 97 
 
 can Board in Eastern Turkey. The little Protestant 
 community, which the Rev. Mr. Marsh did so much to 
 gather, has a neat chapel, and forms a regularly or- 
 ganized, self-sustaining church. The native whom 
 we engaged as our dragoman while we were in the 
 city was a member of this society. He had been rec- 
 ommended to us by Mr. Pond, who incidentally re- 
 marked, " I believe him to be the most capable man 
 in the dominions of the Sultan." We found him the 
 impersonation of Christian intelligence, manliness, and 
 integrity. All honor to those who, in this distant 
 field, have labored to set at work those influences 
 that enlaro;e the intellect and ennoble the heart.
 
 98 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE EUINS OF NINEVEH. 
 
 Contrast between Assyrian and Roman Ruins. — Size of Ancient Nine- 
 veti. — Scriptural Argument. — Topographical Evidences. — Nineveh 
 and Babylon each Constructed on a Different Plan. —Condition of 
 the Walls of Nineveh when Seen by the Ten Thousand. — Their 
 Dimensions. — Outer Fortifications. — The City Gates. — Mound of 
 Koyunjik. — Palace-mounds of the Assyrians and Babylonians. — De- 
 hris of the Ninevite Palaces. — Nebbi Yunus. — Moslem Tradition. — 
 General Construction of an Assyrian Royal Residence. — French and 
 English Excavations. — Cuneiform Decipherment. — Chaldaean Tradi- 
 tion of the Deluge. — Nineveh's present Desolation. 
 
 The existing remains of those cities built long ago 
 upon the plains of Shinar and Assyria are very dif 
 ferent from those that point out the site of ancient 
 capitals in other parts of the world. There are here 
 no imposing ruins of halffollen temples, such as 
 crown the Athenian Acropolis, or rise loftil}^ amid 
 the remains of Baalbec and Palmyra; no mighty col- 
 iseums, stately colonnades, triumphal arches, clus- 
 tered pillars, or lofty monumental columns tower 
 over the landscape, to catch the eye of the traveler 
 from afar. Standing on the site of ancient Nineveh, 
 you are surrounded by no such architectural mon- 
 uments as these. Heaps of earth or grass-grown 
 mounds, revealing not a trace of Iniilding, are all
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. 99 
 
 that tell you that you are standing where stood that 
 " exceeding great city of three days' journey." 
 
 The material employed, and plan of building 
 adopted, in the structure of these primitive cities, ex- 
 plain, as we shall hereafter see, the peculiar nature 
 of their remains. But, first, we must say a word re- 
 specting the size of ancient Nineveh. It has been 
 the generally received belief, an opinion resting 
 largely upon a certain interpretation of several some- 
 what obscure Scriptural references, that the city was 
 one of extravagantly vast dimensions, embracing a 
 circuit of fifty or sixty miles. But recent researches 
 and discoveries have led our most prominent anti- 
 quarians to believe that the dimensions of the city 
 have been vastly overestimated. 
 
 The accompanying plate, showing the mounds and 
 ramparts lying opposite Mosul, as they appear viewed 
 from a high bluff upon the western bank of the Ti- 
 gris, is from a sketch made upon the spot, and will 
 give a correct impression of the general appearance 
 of the site. The quadrangular inclosure lying so 
 prominently upon the plain is about eight miles in 
 circuit. The largest of the inclosed mounds, called 
 by the natives Koyunjik, is surmounted b}^ the de- 
 hri8 of the ruined palaces of the Ninevite kings. As 
 the eye traces round the vast circuit of the heavy 
 earthen ramparts, the question is immediately sug- 
 gested. Are not these the old city walls? Such, at
 
 100 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 least, was the inquiry which at once presented itself 
 to our mincl, and which the impressions of the view, 
 with that unaccountable power which first impres- 
 sions often have over our mental determinations, 
 half answered in the affirmative, notwithstaudinof we 
 had always entertained the conviction that the larger 
 and grander dimensions given by so many to the citv 
 were in more probable accordance with the truth. 
 We had accepted the view advocated by Layard, 
 that the four great palace-mounds of Koyuujik, Nim- 
 rud, Keremles, and Korsabad, which, joined by right 
 lines, form a vast quadrangle eighteen miles in length 
 by twelve in breadth, are the remains of four great 
 fortified palaces that occuj^ied the four corners of 
 the extended enceinte of the ancient city. Of course 
 such impressions could not be admitted as arbiters in 
 our balancings of the question proposed. Yet they 
 had the effect of leading us to promise ourselves a 
 more careful examination, and a more liberal enter- 
 tainment of the evidence adduced in support of 
 views quite different from those we held. 
 
 Such examination has convinced us that those who 
 believe that the mounds and ramparts which appear 
 in the plate represent the whole of the ruins of Nin- 
 eveh rest their opinion upon evidence much more 
 substantial than that upon which those who contend 
 for grander dimensions for the city support their tlie- 
 or}'. The popular opinion upon the subject is based
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. IQl 
 
 on the statements respecting the size of Nineveh 
 which occur in the book of Jonah. There are but 
 three statements made by the writer of that book 
 which throw any light whatever upon the matter; 
 one of these passages we have already quoted, where- 
 in we are told that Nineveh was an " exceeding great 
 city of three days' journey " (Jonah iii., 3). The sec- 
 ond passage which bears upon the subject immedi- 
 ately follows the preceding — " And Jonah began to 
 enter into the city a day's journey." The remaining 
 passage gives an entirely different basis upon which 
 to estimate the magnitude of the city : " And shall 
 not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are 
 more than six-score thousand persons that can not 
 discern between their right hand and their left hand, 
 and also much cattle?" (Jonah iv., 11). 
 
 Kespecting the interpretation of these passages, we 
 will quote Rawlinson, as one who holds the theory 
 which ascribes the more limited dimensions to the 
 city, and who above all others has the confidence of 
 the Biblical scholar. " A city of three days' journey," 
 he observes, " may be one w^hich it requires three 
 days to traverse from end to end, or one which is 
 three days' journey in circumference, or, lastly, one 
 which can not be thoroughly visited and exj)lored by 
 a prophet commissioned to warn its inhabitants of a 
 coming danger in less than three days' time." Con- 
 cerning the expression " Wherein are more than six-
 
 102 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 score thousand people that can not discern between 
 their right hand and their left hand," he remarks, 
 that if it be taken to signify children, we might then 
 estimate the entire population at something over one- 
 half million; but he would rather interpret it, as 
 most commentators do, as meaning " moral ignorance," 
 and of course embracing all the inhabitants. He 
 then concludes : " If Nineveh was in Jonah's time a 
 city containing a population of 120,000, it would suf 
 ficiently deserve the title of an exceeding great city, 
 and the prophet might well be occupied for three 
 days in traversing its squares and streets." 
 
 Our writer passes in silence the second passage 
 which we have given, but it will, of course, have its 
 significance limited by the interpretation given the 
 first. The foregoing, then, summarizes the Scriptural 
 argument. It does not, indeed, determine positively 
 the size of the city, but clears the ground for the ad- 
 mission of other evidence, by showing that the theory 
 which would reduce Nineveh to a city measured by 
 the walls encircling the palace- mound of Ko^-unjik 
 contains nothing inconsistent with the Biblical de- 
 scription. 
 
 Before leaving this 2)ortion of the argument, how- 
 ever, we must notice the phrase " and much cattle," 
 which, in the reproof given Jonah, is urged as an ad- 
 ditional circumstance why Nineveh should be spared. 
 We are led to make allusion to this passage, because
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. 103 
 
 ill recent conversation with one to whose interpreta- 
 tions in matters touching Biblical topography we 
 might w^ell love to defer, he alluded to this phrase as 
 having, in his mind, a very great weight in the deter- 
 mination of the question. The fact that the cattle 
 should be particularly mentioned seemed to him to 
 strengthen the theory that Nineveh was an extensive 
 inclosed district, like Babylon, embracing within its 
 extended enceinte vast flocks and herds. Such an in- 
 crease of life within the city walls would certainly 
 give greater significance to the plea made fqr the city; 
 but the "cattle" that were inevitably included within 
 the crowded walls of an Oriental city of even 120,000 
 people might well find place in a reproof whose 
 lesson is impressed by the destruction of a gourd, 
 and which is pressed home thus: "Thou hast had 
 pity on the gourd, for w^hich thou hast not labored, 
 neither madest it grow ; which came up in a night, 
 and perished in a night. And should not I spare 
 Nineveh V 
 
 The writer of the book of Jonah, then, fails to give 
 us conclusive evidence respecting the dimensions of 
 Nineveh ; but the early writer Diodorus is more def 
 inite in his reference to the city, and states its dimen- 
 sions as eighteen miles in length and twelve in 
 breadth. This statement made by Diodorus, and the 
 authority of the book of Jonah, afford the principal 
 historical ground upon which Layard depends for the 
 
 H
 
 104 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 support of Ills theory. Had Jonah only the definite- 
 ness of Diodorus, or the latter the credibility of the 
 former, we should not, perhaps, be left in doubt npon 
 the subject. But the unsupported authority of a 
 writer who is so careless as to situate Nineveh upon 
 the Euphrates can not be relied upon with exactly 
 implicit confidence ; and if the statements by such a 
 one are found to conflict with evidence of a positive 
 character, derived from inscriptions and topographical 
 sources, they must necessarily be set aside as having 
 but the slightest possible weight. 
 
 The mounds of Nimrud, Keremles, and Korsabad 
 can not be considered, as the theory of Layard re- 
 quires, portions of Nineveh ; for cuneiform students 
 have ascertained that the names inscribed upon the 
 bricks found in the respective mounds correspond to 
 the names of distinct cities, frequently mentioned in 
 Biblical and inscriptive history. Thus, for illustra- 
 tion, it is discovered, through these inscriptions, that 
 the mound of Nimrud is identical with the Calah of 
 Scripture, which is alluded to in such a manner as 
 to forbid its being in any way confounded with the 
 capital. Thus in Genesis x., 12, we are told that 
 "Resen [lieth] between Nineveh and Calah: the 
 same is a great city." And thus with the other 
 mounds: they have been identified with the names 
 of cities well known to Biblical or cuneiform monu- 
 mental history. — (Rawlinson.)
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. 105 
 
 But what bears witli the most weight upon the 
 subject is the almost entire absence of ruins, or traces 
 of buildings, over the district of country which must 
 have been covered, more or less completely, by the 
 structures of the city, if we ascribe to it the dimen- 
 sions which Diodorus gives, and Layard and others 
 conjecture. Passing beyond the line of ramparts 
 which form the great quadrangle about Koyunjik, we 
 find no such traces of building as we discover, for in- 
 stance, scattered all over the vast district that was 
 undoubtedly occupied by ancient Babylon. 
 
 In making reference to Babylon, we immediately 
 suggest an argument that has often, and naturally, 
 been urged in support of the theory that claims such 
 vast dimensions for Nineveh. The Babylonian capi- 
 tal is now all but universally conceded to have had 
 an immense circuit of forty or fifty miles; this view 
 is, indeed, established by such an array of historical 
 and topographical evidence that it does not fairly ad- 
 mit of discussion. May we not, then, it is asked, rea- 
 sonably ascribe at least equal dimensions to the As- 
 syrian capital? Apparently there is much force in 
 this analogical mode of reasoning. Although this ar- 
 gument is, to many minds, one of the most plausible 
 that can be urged in favor of what we may term the 
 Layard theory, still it is not satisfactorily met by 
 Rawlinson, who in his single allusion to it fails to 
 maintain his usual fairness of, argument. He simply
 
 IQQ REMAINS OF LOST EMPIREG. 
 
 observes that "grave doubts" are entertained as to 
 the actual dimensions of Babylon; yet, when he 
 comes to the examination of that question, he will 
 not admit these same doubts as deserving of serious 
 consideration. 
 
 But the following consideration respecting the de- 
 fectiveness of this analogical argument has, in our 
 mind, a certain degree of weight. The area circum- 
 scribed by the walls of Babylon was determined, not 
 so much by the population of the city, as by the pol- 
 icy of the Babylonian kings. Their plan was to in- 
 close within the ramparts sufficient cultivatable land 
 to support the inhabitants in case of siege ; and thus 
 Babylon is more properly spoken of as an " inclosed 
 district" than a walled city. Only a small portion 
 of the space within the walls was, according to He- 
 rodotus and Quintus Curtius, occupied by buildings. 
 Now there was not another city of antiquity — bar- 
 ring for the moment Nineveh, that we may not be 
 guilty of a petitio 2^^'incipu — which was defended 
 upon this plan, or fortified by such a reach of walls. 
 The manifest weakness of such an enormously ex- 
 tended enceinte would counterbalance the advantage 
 gained, and would not allow of the general adoption 
 of such a system of defense. The usual plan was to 
 inclose with the city walls barely space sufficient for 
 the crowding in, in case of siege, of the inhabitants of 
 the immediately adjoining districts. That the Baby-
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. X07 
 
 Ionian kings, in the midst of their stupendous under- 
 takings, should have conceived the idea of pushing 
 the walls of their capital city out to such an enor- 
 mous circuit, that the city might thus have the means 
 of maintenance within itself in times of protracted 
 siege — that their genius for gigantic works should 
 have led them to plan the defenses of the city with 
 reference to this end — is no ground for presuming that 
 the Assyrians departed from the more usual method 
 of measuring their city defenses by the exigencies of 
 population simply. It has been estimated that proba- 
 bly not more than one tenth of the space inclosed by 
 the walls of Babylon was occupied with buildings : 
 and thus, without assuming any great disparity of 
 population between the Assyrian and Babylonian 
 capitals, we may believe the smaller dimensions given 
 to Nineveh to have embraced a sufficient area to meet 
 the ordinary space requirements of its inhabitants. 
 
 Although Koyunjik doubtless preserves the site 
 of the true Nineveh, still we must not f:\ll into the 
 error of supposing that the Assyrian capital always 
 occupied that spot. It was a peculiar feature of many 
 of the most famous capitals of the East that they 
 constantly shifted from place to place, always linger- 
 ing, however, about the place originally occupied. 
 The reason that induced such changes have been oft- 
 en stated : the ambition of monarchs to found new 
 palaces and cities that might bear down their names
 
 IQ^ REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 and reminiscences of tLeir glory to succeeding ages ; 
 or a " superstition respecting building upon the exact 
 spot occupied by a conquered city" led to the erec- 
 tion of new royal residences and the founding of new 
 capitals almost as frequently as successions to the 
 crown occurred, or conquering nations broke down 
 the walls of the old. Thus the capital of the Baby- 
 lonian plains was refounded no less than five times, 
 and as many times it changed its name; yet even 
 now Bagdad is called by some the New Babylon. 
 The Indian city of Delhi has shifted its site nine 
 times, and scattered its ruins a score of miles along 
 the banks of the Jumna. Of the same migratory 
 character was the Assyrian capital. It suggests to 
 us the nomadic restiveness and love of change dis- 
 played by the rude Parthian kings, whose tented cap- 
 ital is pitched now in the plain of the Tigris, then 
 amid the hills of Media. Before Nineveh was found- 
 ed, or, at least, while it was but a provincial town, 
 Asshur (marked by the mounds of Kileh Sherghat) 
 and Calah (now Birs-Nimrud) had each in turn been 
 the seat of the residence of the Assyrian kings. Both 
 of these cities were adorned with palatial structures 
 that were scarcely rivaled by those of any of the suc- 
 ceeding capitals. But before the reign of Asshur- 
 nasir-pal had closed, Nineveh had certainly grown 
 into importance, and perhaps possessed a royal palace; 
 for when Sargon came to the throne, and built, a few
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. IQ^ 
 
 miles to the N.N.E. of Nineveh, a new palace and 
 city, be speaks thus in his inscription of Nineveh : 
 " At the foot of the Nusir hills, to replace JVineveh, I 
 raised, after the divine will and the wishes of my 
 heart, a city which I called Hisr-Sargina" (Smith's 
 " Hist, of the East," p. 313). The ruins of this city of 
 Sai'gon are now represented by the mounds of Korsa- 
 bad. Upon the succession of Sennacherib to the 
 throne, Calah and Dur-Sargina were abandoned, and 
 Nineveh became the chosen capital. Suddenly the 
 city took on all the glory that always attended the 
 Assyrian court. "I raised again all the edifices of 
 Nineveh, my royal city," says Sennacherib in his in- 
 scriptions; "I reconstructed all its old streets, and 
 widened those that were too narrow. I have made 
 the whole town a city shining like the sun." Esar- 
 haddon, the son and successor of Sennacherib, built 
 splendid palaces both at Nineveh and Calah. If we 
 bear in mind that all these shiftings of the seat of 
 empire were not the result of conquest, but of the 
 personal caprice of the reigning monarch — were in 
 truth simply removals of the court — we will under- 
 stand how all of these cities may have been, as they 
 doubtless were, populous places at the same period. 
 Even Babylon, though overthrown by the violence 
 of conquest, retained a considerable population sev- 
 eral centuries after the founding of Seleucia.* 
 
 * It is suggested by the supporters of the Layard theory that during
 
 110 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 But we must not, and perhaps need not, pursue 
 this discussion further. Believing that the ramparts 
 shown by the plate are actually the crumbled walls 
 of Nineveh, we will proceed to examine them, and 
 the inclosed mounds — the graves of the palaces of 
 the Assyrian kings. 
 
 And, first, as to the walls. At the time of the ex- 
 pedition of Cyrus against the Persian king Artax- 
 erxes, about 400 B.C., Nineveh was a deserted city, 
 
 its most prosperous period Nineveh may have overflowed its walls, and 
 acquired such an ascendency over the other cities of the district that 
 they came to be regarded simply as suburbs of its capital, and may all 
 have been included under the name of Nineveh. This view has been 
 illustrated by reference to the growth of the city of London. That name, 
 which at first comprehended only the very circumscribed Roman town, 
 has gradually been extended, and with the growth of the city has suc- 
 cessively absorbed suburb after suburb, and town after town, till the 
 name now includes, in its most general sense, the entire population ly- 
 ing within a circuit of seventy or eighty miles. But although the name 
 of Nineveh may have been so extended, at the time of the prophet 
 .Jonah, as to embrace, in a general way, the entire populous district 
 studded with the above-mentioned cities, and with royal residences, and 
 paradises, and hunting-parks, still the absence of extensive ruins over 
 this tract will not allow us to suppose that there was any such con- 
 tinuity of building as in the case of London, to equally justify tlie ex- 
 tension of that name to such an enormous compreliension : in truth, the 
 population of the city — the most liberal intcrj)retation of the language 
 of the sacred writer only gives us, as already seen, 600,000 inhabitants 
 — forbids such a supposition ; and, moreover, to recall an argument al- 
 ready suggested, the unmistakable language of the inscriptions com- 
 pels us to regard Koyunjik, Korsabad, Birs-Nimrud, and Keremlcs as 
 the sites of distinct cities. The above supposition is confirmed by 
 Felix .Tones, who, in a very able article upon the toi^ography of Nine- 
 veh, makes mention of the custom of tliose early times to give the name 
 of the city to the surrounding district, or vice versa. Vide "Journal Royal 
 Asiatic Society," vol. xv., art. v.
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. HI 
 
 and its walls and palaces were then fast crumbling 
 into ruins ; for two hundred years had passed since 
 the city was sacked and destroyed by the Medes and 
 Babylonians. Still the strong walls had not yet sunk 
 into those broad lines of earth that now trace their 
 course ; but Avhen the ten thousand marched past 
 they still retained much, and in places perhaps all 
 of their original height, for Xenophon estimates 
 their elevation above the plain at one hundred and 
 fifty feet. He also describes the lower portion of the 
 wall as composed of stone. The correctness of this 
 statement is verified by the excavations which the 
 natives have made in the ramparts, in order to obtain 
 the blocks of stone for building jxirposes : the bridge, 
 already referred to, across the Tigris, opposite Mosul, 
 is built of stones quarried from these old walls. 
 Quite a considerable portion of the rampart near the 
 mound of Koyunjik has been dug away, and the open 
 section still exhibits the solid stone masonry of the 
 lower part of the wall. From this stone basement 
 upward the wall was constructed of large sun-dried 
 bricks, the layers of which, in the exposed central por- 
 tion of the rampart, are still as distinct as when laid. 
 The ramparts are, in some places, about fifty feet high, 
 and they average perhaps one hundred and fifty feet 
 in width. Diodorus and Xenophon make the walls 
 respectively one hundred and one hundred and fifty 
 feet in height; were all the crumbled material re-
 
 112 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 placed upon the stone basement, which is fifty feet in 
 width, the defense would rise to at least the more 
 moderate fio-ure. 
 
 The walls of the city were washed upon two sides, 
 the south and west, by the Tigris and the Kosr — 
 the latter a small tributary stream ; while upon the 
 remaining sides the defenses were strengthened by 
 an outlying fort, long, deep moats, and lofty ram- 
 parts, altogether constituting a strong and almost 
 invulnerable belt of works. At one point five walls 
 would have had to be pierced, and their deep 
 moats crossed, before an enemy could have forced 
 the city. These fortifications now form heavy ram- 
 parts upon the plain. Their deep moats are still open, 
 and the bottom of these in many places lies from 
 seventy to one hundred feet below the summit of 
 the adjoining walls, although these are now so crum- 
 bled and reduced from their former height. The ag- 
 gregate length of these strengthening walls and 
 moats is upward of ten miles. To suppose this ex- 
 tensive and elaborate system of fortifications to have 
 simply guarded the royal quarter, and to have been 
 entirely within the general defenses of the city, is 
 scarcely conceivable. Besides, there would be traces 
 remaining of these outer walls, had such ever exist- 
 ed, as the nature of the ground over which they 
 would have been carried would have preserved them 
 from at least entire obliteration. That the walls of
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. 113 
 
 Babylon have entirely disappeared is no objection to 
 this argument, as the treacherous nature of the soil 
 upon which they stood destroys the force of the anal- 
 ogy, were it not set aside by the historical evidence 
 which we possess of the violent leveling, by the hand 
 of man, of the walls of that capital. 
 
 In the plate there will be observed a small mound, 
 breaking the regularity of the southern wall. This 
 mound marks the position of one of the city gates. 
 It is pierced with tunnels, driven into it by Layard. 
 There are within the mound several colossal wdnged 
 bulls, which were not removed by the excavator. 
 The heavy slabs of stone that formed the pavement 
 displayed, when Layard laid them bare, the ruts of 
 chariot-wheels, worn deep in their surfece. And 
 here is abundant evidence of the fulfillment of the 
 prophetic declaration, "The fire shall devour thy 
 bars."* The writer above referred to makes mention 
 of the large quantities of charcoal thrown uj) by his 
 workmen in exhuming the gate. From the walls of 
 the shaft here, as well as from those in the mound 
 of Koyunjik, we could still pick pieces of charred 
 timber, which bear evidence as to the element which 
 destroyed the gates and palaces of the city. 
 
 The largest and most interesting mound upon the 
 site of Nineveh is the one known to the natives as 
 
 * Nahum iii. 13.
 
 114 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Koyiinjik. It adjoins the western rampart, so that 
 the buildings that surmounted it boldly overhung 
 the Tigris. The mound covers one hundred acres, — 
 (Layard.) Its surface is somewhat irregular, the 
 mound varying in height from seventy to ninety feet. 
 It is deeply scarred with ravines, and presents the 
 weather-worn appearance of a natural hill. 
 
 It must not be supposed that this entire mass is 
 made up of the debris of the ruined palaces. Not 
 more than twenty or thirty feet of the entire height 
 of the mound is composed of. the material' of the de- 
 stroyed buildings; the remaining elevation marking 
 the height of the artificial platform upon which the 
 palaces stood. For the sake of greater security, and 
 to gain the fresh breezes, as well as to give a com- 
 manding dignity to the royal residence, the Assyri- 
 ans, and also the Babylonians and Persians, as we 
 shall hereafter see, lifted their palaces upon lofty ar- 
 tificial terraces or platforms. These enormous emi- 
 nences were always constructed with an almost incred- 
 ible expenditure of human labor. The cyclopean 
 masonry of the Persepolitan platform which sup- 
 ported the palaces of the Persian kings is to-day one 
 of the marvels of the antiquarian Avorld. The vast 
 dimensions of the Babylonian mounds almost exceed 
 belief, and readily excuse the early supposition that 
 they were natural hills. The mound of Koyunjik, 
 that was crowned by the Ninevite palaces, equally
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. Hq 
 
 astonislies the beholder by its gigantic proportions. 
 From its enormous mass of bricks and earth could be 
 constructed four pyramids equal to that of Cheops. 
 
 The upper portion of the mound, which is com- 
 posed of the ruins of the palaces, is pierced in every 
 direction by the shafts and tunnels excavated by Lay- 
 ard, and the surface heaped with the material taken 
 from them. Some of the tunnels are now filled with 
 rubbish ; but we were able to penetrate many of them. 
 No stone masonry is visible ; but imbedded in the 
 walls of the shafts are isolated blocks and bricks, 
 and all sorts of building debris. Portions of heavy 
 walls, composed of sun-dried bricks, with the plaster 
 still clinging to them, are still to be seen. All the 
 sculptured and inscribed slabs were removed by Lay- 
 ard, and now nothing save the holes, whence the 
 winged bulls were dragged, indicates the position 
 they occupied. 
 
 The most beautiful of the successive palaces that 
 were built upon the great Koyunjik platform was 
 that of Asshur-bani-pal ; but the largest and grandest 
 was the one erected by Sennacherib, the courts, halls, 
 and chambers of which were found, by the excava- 
 tions of Layard, to cover an area of almost ten acres. 
 
 The only other mound of any considerable size 
 upon the site of Nineveh is that known to the Arabs 
 as Nebbi-Yunus. It lies in the line of the same wall 
 as that upon which the mound of Koyunjik abuts ;
 
 116 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 and thus, before the change in the bed of the Tigris, 
 immediately overhung the river. A large portion of 
 the mound is occupied by the buildings of a native 
 village, which has rendered extensive excavations in 
 it impracticable. Mohammedan tradition points to 
 the domed structure which crowns the mound as the 
 tomb of Jonah, whom the Moslems believe the 
 whale brought from the Mediterranean via the Red 
 Sea and the Tigris, and landed on this spot. As the 
 Suez Canal was not then completed, it remains a 
 query how the whale got across the Isthmus. If 
 obliged to carry the prophet around the Cape, the 
 whale, as well as Jonah, had abundant leisure to. 
 lament that the wickedness of the city should have 
 necessitated the visit of a prophetic messenger. 
 
 The mound of Nebbi-Yunus was surmounted by 
 the great palace of Esar-haddon, which in size ex- 
 ceeded the royal residence of Sennacherib, and in the 
 wantonness of luxury and magnificence displayed in 
 its adornments even surpassed, if we may rely upon 
 the cuneiform records, the splendid palace of Asshur- 
 bani-pal, which stood upon the mound of Koyunjik. 
 The mound is undoubtedly the tomb of many monu- 
 ments of a highly interesting and important charac- 
 ter, which are waiting to reward the enterprise of 
 some future Layard. It is thrilling to walk the 
 mound and think of Avhat is concealed beneath one's 
 feet. Tlie colossal human-headed bulls still kee])
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. 117 
 
 ward at tlie giant portals; the winged sphinxes still 
 crouch at the palace-gates, as when their master 
 passed them in olden times; and within the dark- 
 ened chambers are the pictured wars and triumphs 
 and labors of the Ninevite king ; while through the 
 sculptured corridors are marching, in stone, the court- 
 ly trains, as w^hen their steps startled the echoes 
 of the paneled halls thirty centuries and more 
 ao-o. 
 
 We have already remarked that the nature of the 
 material employed in the construction of the Assyri- 
 an palaces is what has determined the peculiar feat- 
 ures of the remains that they have left in their de- 
 cay ; and we may also add is that which has pre- 
 served through so many centuries the sculptures and 
 inscriptions that adorned those royal residences, and 
 which are now the delight and study of European 
 antiquarians. It is a matter of controversy whether 
 the Assyrian palaces were more than one-storied ; 
 but, however this may be, the walls were raised to a 
 considerable height, were immensely thick, and were 
 constructed almost wholly of sun-dried bricks. The 
 rooms and galleries were plastered, or lined wath 
 burnt and enameled brick; and the principal halls 
 were faced with slabs of alabaster covered with 
 sculptures and historic inscriptions. At the entrances, 
 as if to guard the approach, the winged bulls w'ere 
 stationed. Upon the destruction of the building,
 
 118 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 the upper portion of the heavy mud walls, crum- 
 bling into earth, would bury all the lower portion 
 of the edifice, thus forming a vast mound, which 
 in the course of time would become overgrown with 
 grass. 
 
 Although the English have done so m^uch in the 
 work of Assyrian exploration, it must not be forgot- 
 ten that the French, who have always evinced the 
 foremost enterprise in such things, were the first to 
 make excavations upon Assyrian ground. M. Botta, 
 the French consul to Mosul, in 1845 thoroughly ex- 
 cavated the mound of Korsabad, fourteen miles 
 N.N.E. of Mosul, and transported the slabs and 
 sculptures there discovered to the Louvre, some time 
 before the Eno-lish commenced excavations at Ko- 
 yunjik. The indefatigable exertions of Layard soon 
 enriched the British Museum with the disentombed 
 treasures of the palace-mounds of Koyunjik and Birs- 
 Nimrud. so that to-day Nineveh has as good claims 
 to a site on the Seine or Thames as to one on the 
 banks of the Tigris. The world has seen and won- 
 dered at the colossal winged bulls, the eagle-headed 
 figures, the lettered slabs, and all the mystic em- 
 blems of Assyrian art; and tireless scholars have 
 traced out the secrets of the strange inscriptions, and 
 added an instructive and intensely interesting chap- 
 ter to our knowledge of the early empires of the 
 East, and familiarized the world with the reliofion
 
 THE RUINS OF NINE\T:H. ]^19 
 
 and civilization of the greatest monarchies of olden 
 times. 
 
 What indefiuiteness would attach itself to our con- 
 ceptions of the past could we not view it to-day in 
 its imperishable sculptural and architectural monu- 
 ments. The very soul of a nation is embodied and 
 embalmed in its arts. How plainly do the monu- 
 mental remains of ancient Rome — her roads, her res- 
 ervoirs, her aqueducts, her bridges, her baths — speak 
 of the practical, utilitarian spirit of the old conquer- 
 ors of the world. How instinct with the sesthetical 
 life of Attica are the creations of the Grecian artists. 
 How is the Egyj^tian longing for immortality em- 
 bodied in the eternal pyramids, and committed for 
 everlasting kee]3ing to the temples of Karnac and 
 Luxor. That very much of Assyrian and Babyloni- 
 an life entered into their mimetic and structural arts 
 is evidenced by the new or at least more vivid con- 
 ceptions which our recent discoveries have given us 
 respecting the prominent characteristics of those an- 
 cient civilizations. Thus, for illustration, the Script- 
 ures told us respecting the latter that they were 
 " mad upon their idols ;"* but since we have discov- 
 ered that those scores of mounds that break the uni- 
 formity of the Chaldaean plains are ruined temples, 
 which were raised with an Asiatic prodigality of 
 labor, and often rendered, in the language of the in- 
 
 * Jer. 1. 38.
 
 120 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 scriptions, " splendid as the day," with an Oriental 
 wantonness of adornment, how much deeper, and 
 how much more definite, are our impressions of the 
 religious temj)er of that people. Again, the Biblical 
 history discloses to us glimpses of the barbarity and 
 cruelty of the ancient Assyrians ; but now that the 
 prophecy,"^'" uttered so long ago, is at last fulfilled, 
 and the stones of the palace walls are " crying out " 
 against the inhumanity of the Ninevite kings, how 
 mucli more prominently does this enter into our later 
 and juster estimates of Assyrian character. The 
 scenes depicted upon the walls of the exhumed pal- 
 aces at Nineveh, which were intended to perpetuate 
 in honor the names of ambitious monarchs, are a liv- 
 ing commentary u23on the barbarous, savage spirit of 
 those times. In many of the bass-reliefs the artist has 
 delineated the cruel tortures to which captives were 
 subjected : some are being flayed alive, the eyes of 
 others are being bored out with the point of a spear, 
 and still others are having their tongues torn out. 
 One of the inscriptions found in the Northwest Pal- 
 ace at Nimrud reads thus : " Their men, young and 
 old, I (Asshur-nasir-pal) took prisoners. Of some I 
 cut off the feet and hands; of others I cut off the 
 noses, ears, and lips; of the young men's ears I made 
 a heap ; of the old men's heads I built a minaret. I 
 exposed their heads as a trophy in front of their city. 
 
 * Vide Hiib. ii. 11.
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. 121 
 
 The male children and the female children I burned 
 in the flames."* 
 
 But while mimetic and structural art has contrib- 
 uted so materially to the reconstruction of our views 
 respecting the old civilizations of the world, inscrip- 
 tive art has thrown a flood of light upon the obscu- 
 rity of those times, especially upon the Assyrian pe- 
 riod. Antiquarians have great reason for gratitude 
 that the ancients were so given to the custom of 
 committing their records to material that could carry 
 them safely through all the vicissitudes and emer- 
 gencies of time. Often their commemorative tablets 
 were cut in the face of the indestructible precipice, 
 as at the famous Behistun rock, in Persia, and at the 
 Xahr el-Kelb, in Syria ; sometimes their records were 
 committed to the imperishable obelisk, or written 
 upon the walls of palace or temple ; or perhaps they 
 were impressed upon tablets of clay, so manufactured 
 as to be almost as durable as stone. The Assyrians 
 generally committed their writings to the walls of 
 their palaces, which, as we have seen, were paneled 
 with alabaster; or to clay tablets, of which an im- 
 mense number has been found. Within the palace 
 of Asshur-bani-pal, at Koyunjik, Layard discovered 
 what he calls the "chambers of record," or what oth- 
 ers have designated as the " royal archives," or the 
 "king's library." These chambers were small apart- 
 
 * Smith's "Ancient History of the East," p. 286.
 
 122 
 
 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 CUNEIFOKM TABLET. 
 
 ments, partly filled witli clay tablets, varying from 
 one inch to nine inches in 
 length : the annexed facsimile 
 of a tablet which we obtained 
 at Bagdad will give a correct 
 idea of the form and appearance 
 of the smaller size. They are 
 always crowded with writing, 
 which is in some instances al- 
 most microscopic. They have 
 been found to treat of an in- 
 finite variety of subjects and matters — historical, 
 chronological, astronomical, philological, mytholog- 
 ical, and some are " legal contracts for conveyance of 
 land." Respecting the importance of this discovery, 
 Layard justly remarks: "We can not overrate their 
 [the tablets'] value. They furnish us with material 
 for the complete decipherment of the cuneiform char- 
 acters, for restoring the language and history of As- 
 syria, and for inquiring into the customs, sciences, and, 
 we may perhaps even add, literature of its people. 
 The docun;ents that have thus been discovered at 
 Nineveh probably exceed all that have been afibrd- 
 ed by the monuments of Egypt."* 
 
 It was from the fragments of a tablet found in this 
 collection that Mr. George Smith, of the British Mu- 
 seum, deciphered the As.syrio-Babylonian, or rather 
 
 * Layard's " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 347.
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. 
 
 123 
 
 THE DELUGE TABLET. 
 
 Chaldean tradition of the Deluge, which discovery 
 has naturally excited universal interest. The only 
 reliable copy of the inscription, as interpreted by Mr. 
 Smith, that we have been able to secure, we find in 
 a work entitled " Lea Premieres Civilisation ; Etudes 
 d'^Histoire et d'' Arclieologie^ ])ar Franqois Lenor- 
 manty To show the remarkable similarity of this 
 traditionary account of the Flood to the Biblical rec-
 
 124 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 orcl of the same event, we translate from this work 
 a few passages, embracing that portion of the inscrip- 
 tion rendered least fragmentary by the defacement 
 of the original writing. The tradition runs in the 
 form of a personal recital by Sisithrus (Noah). 
 The "first portion of the inscrij)tion is very imperfect ; 
 but enough can be gathered to enable us to trace the 
 story, and detect its general parallelism to the Script- 
 ural account. After reciting the building of a great 
 ship, in obedience to the commands of Nouah,* and 
 in accordance with a divine pattern, Sisithrus re- 
 hearses the succeeding events in these words : " All 
 that I possessed of the seed of life I gathered togeth- 
 er, the whole I made to enter into the ship ; all my 
 servants, male and female, the tame animals of the 
 fields, and the wild animals of the plains, and the 
 young men of the army, all these I made to enter. 
 And Samasf caused a great flood, and he spake, 
 speaking in the darkness of the night : ' I will cause 
 it to rain from the heavens abundantly : enter with- 
 in the ship, and close its door.' ... I entered into the 
 ship and shut its door. In order to guide the ship 
 toward the inaccessible places of the high mountains, 
 I committed to the pilot the abode [la demeure]. 
 
 * " Troisi&me personnagc dc la tridc suprGmc : rintelligence divine 
 qui pCnfetre tout runiversc, et en meme temp le roi de releraent liu- 
 mide. C'est, ' FEsprit parti sur les eaux.' Nous reviendrons jJus loin 
 sur nom et ses attributions." (We reproduce the notes of Leuormant.) 
 
 t Dieu du soleil.
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. 125 
 
 Tbe fury of the tempest arose in the morning. . . . 
 Bin^^ thundered in the depths of the heavens, and 
 Nebof and Saron J walked forth. Destruction march- 
 ed over the mountains and tbe plains. . . . The flood 
 of Bin touched the heavens ; the brilliant earth was 
 changed to a desert: . . . the waters destroyed all 
 life from the face of the earth. [Here follows an ac- 
 count of the fear and lamentation in heaven among 
 the inferior deities.] Six days and six nights passed : 
 the thunder, the storm, and the winds reigned. In 
 the middle of the seventh day the tempest ceased. . . . 
 I was borne over the sea. Those who had done 
 wickedness, all the human race who had turned to 
 sin — the bodies of these floated like reeds. . . . The 
 ship was borne to the country of Nizir, and the 
 mountains of Nizir arrested it. . . . Upon the sev- 
 enth day [after the arrest of the ship] I sent forth a 
 dove, and it departed. And the dove flew away, and 
 sought a i^lace of rest; but it found none, and re- 
 turned. I let go a swallow, and it flew away. The 
 swallow departed, and searched for a place to rest, 
 and found none, and it returned. I let loose a raven. 
 The raven flew forth, and it saw the bodies on the 
 water, and it ate them ; and it wandered a great way 
 off, and it returned not. I let go the animals to the 
 
 * Dieu de I'atmosphere et de la tempgte. 
 
 t Dieu de la plan&te Mercure, qui jireside aux mouvements sid^raux. 
 
 I Personnage divin d'ordre inferieur, qui accompague Nebo.
 
 126 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 four winds ; I poured out a libation ; I built an altar 
 on the summit of the mountain," 
 
 The question has been raised respecting the two 
 rival accounts we now possess of the Noachic deluge 
 — Which is the Editio prince])S ? In our view much 
 erudite discussion has been very unnecessarily and 
 absurdly waged over this question. The Bible 
 claims no copyright monopoly in these things: very 
 limited portions of the Scriptures are matter of ex- 
 clusive revelation, though all be written by persons 
 divinely qualified for their task. Much therein re- 
 corded was, at the time of its commitment to w^riting, 
 the common property of the race. Considerable por- 
 tions of Genesis undoubtedly rest, either mediately 
 or directly, upon traditions handed down through 
 long generations. It is altogether absurd, then, to 
 suppose the story of the Flood to be a matter of di- 
 rect revelation to the wTiter of that book. Such 
 were a supererogatory service of insj^iration. Such 
 an event as the sudden destruction of almost the en- 
 tire human race, by the waters of an inundation that 
 seemed for a time to have blotted out " the brilliant 
 earth," we may well suppose left an impression upon 
 the imagination and memory of those that survived 
 the disaster which neither time nor circumstances 
 could wholly obliterate. At the time of Moses ev- 
 ery nation must have possessed a traditionary (or 
 written) account of the great catastroj^he ; it is utter-
 
 THE RUINS OF NINE\T:H. ;[27 
 
 ly incredible to suppose otherwise. The question, 
 tlien, respecting the Chalclsean and Biblical accounts 
 of the Deluge — Which is Editio princepsf — is one of 
 irredeemable absurdity and triviality. If the plains 
 of Shinar were the first abode of the survivors of the 
 Flood, then there \vas first told the story, around the 
 desert fires; thence it w^as borne by the race, as one 
 of their most vivid reminiscences, in all their succeed- 
 ing migrations. The farther distance and time sep- 
 arated any tribes from the ancestral home, the more 
 vague, we may believe, did the tale become, though 
 it could never be forgotten. And observe how ex- 
 actly facts sustain the supposition. How changed 
 and how obscured the tradition as rej^eated beneath 
 the forests of the New World. But there in Chal- 
 daea, among the near descendants of the survivors of 
 the disaster, what vividness, definiteness, and particu- 
 larity does the story maintain. To our mind this 
 circumstance affords the strongest possible correlative 
 testimony of the truthfulness of the account that has 
 come down to us through the Hebrew nation, beino- 
 the weightiest evidence of the actual historical char- 
 acter of the event, and the most positive refutation 
 of the assumption of the mythical nature of the Script- 
 ural narrative. For those who would resolve the 
 whole story into a myth, endeavor to account for the 
 origin of the same — for even a myth must have some 
 foundation of fact or suggestion — by sup230sing that
 
 128 re:mains of lost empires. 
 
 the evidence furnished by shells and fossils of differ- 
 ent character, found in all parts of the world, of the 
 land having been covered at some period by the wa- 
 ters of the sea, naturally suggested the idea of a uni- 
 versal deluge ; and as in the infancy of the race ev- 
 ery calamity was conceived to be the manifestation 
 of the wrath of the gods, of course the general apos- 
 tasy and wickedness of man were the most natural 
 causes assignable for the displeasure of Heaven. 
 N^ow there is no country upon the face of the earth 
 that is more barren of evidence suggestive of the 
 overflow of the land by the waters of the sea than is 
 Chaldsea. In truth, the broad plains of Babylonia 
 afford not even the remotest su2:2:estion of such an 
 event. How does it hap23en, then, that there of all 
 countries should have grown up and been elaborated 
 the most complete and circumstantial story of such a 
 catastrophe? The hypothesis which would resolve 
 the whole into a myth is thus itself plainly shown to 
 be too unfounded and mythical to receive intelligent 
 recognition and acceptance. The supposition that 
 the events actually occurred, substantially as they 
 have come down to us through different nations, is 
 the only one that, to our mind, satisfactorily explains 
 the orii^in of the Delucje leo^end. 
 
 The simultaneousness of the discovery of the key 
 to the cuneiform writings and the exhumation of 
 the Assyrian inscrii)tions has been denominated as
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. 129 
 
 scarcely less than providential. Had it not been for 
 tlie coincidence of these discoveries, the Ninevite in- 
 scrij^tions would have been, as Fei'gusson well ob- 
 serves, as " mysterious and unintelligible as the hand- 
 writing on the wall was to the priests of Belshazzar ;" 
 and thus might have been lost, through our lack of 
 appreciation, the treasures we had found. It was in 
 1805 that Professor Grotefend first announced to the 
 world that, through the study of the trilingual Per- 
 sej^olitan inscriptions, he had proceeded far in the 
 work of translating: the cuneiform writino-s. After- 
 ward, in 1836, M. Burnouf, after a careful study of 
 the same inscriptions, corroborated the discoveries of 
 Grotefend ; then Professor Lassen came forward with 
 valuable assistance; and at last Colonel Rawlinson, 
 as a second Champolliou, with the famous Behistun 
 inscription as his Rosetta stone, gave to the interpre- 
 ment of the cuneiform records such a definiteness and 
 uniformity that even those who had been most skep- 
 tical as to the reliableness of the interpretations of 
 preceding scholars were forced to admit the genuine- 
 ness of the alleged discovery. We think it is Dr. 
 Fryer who calls this interpretation of the " mene^ mene, 
 tekel., nphcu'sm'''' of the cuneiform inscriptions a 
 " modern miracle ;" and we with him are in amaze- 
 ment that the unknown characters of an unknown 
 language should, without any light being thrown 
 upon their meaning by any known tongue, be forced
 
 130 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 to disclose the secrets that tliey have held in iuviola- 
 ble necromantic mystery for thirty centuries.^ 
 
 The revelations that have come from the opened 
 
 * Feeling sure that many of our readers will be interested in a more 
 particular account of the method in which the first steps in cuneiform 
 decipherment were effected, we throw in this form a few explanatory- 
 remarks in addition to those given above. It often occurs that inde- 
 pendent workers and thinkers, laboring upon the same problem, hit 
 simultaneously upon the same and correct solution. Thus in the field 
 of Natural History, Darwin and Wallace, each unconscious of the work 
 of the other, the one in his study in England, the other in the forest of 
 the East Indian Archipelago, gave to the world, almost at the same 
 moment, the pregnant idea of " Natural Selection." The great discov- 
 ery in the philological world was made under strikingly analogous cir- 
 cumstances. While Professor Grotefend was studying some Persepol- 
 itan inscriptions (copied by Niebuhr) in his study in Europe, Rawlin- 
 son was at work upon the tablet of Hamadan, amid the deserts of Per- 
 sia. Each solved the problem independently ; at least, each took the 
 fii-st steps in the way of a true solution without any aid or suggestion 
 from the other. Both arrived at the result in a strikingly similar man- 
 ner. "We will give very briefly the mode in which Rawlinson was led 
 to his discovery, condensing from his own account as given in a paper 
 entitled " Memoir on Cuneiform Inscriptions," Jour. Asiatic Soc, vol. x. 
 The tablets which Rawlinson chose for his work were the fomous Be- 
 histun inscriptions, comprising two trilingual records, by Darius Hys- 
 taspis and his son Xerxes. He observed these inscriptions to be ident- 
 ical throughout, save in certain groups of characters. There were two 
 of these groups in each tablet, but the last group of one was the same 
 as the first group of the other. This fact suggested to Rawlinson that 
 the groups represented proper names— three Persian kings, following 
 one another successively upon the throne. Taking at random three 
 names— Hystaspis, Darius, and Xerxes— he applied them to the groups. 
 Fortunatelj' he had alighted upon the right names, and was able to de- 
 termine the power of several letters. Other proper names gave addi- 
 tional letters ; and thus an alphabet was slowly elaborated. And thus 
 the clew to the decipliermcnt of the cuneiform writings, the most im- 
 portant of all pliilological discoveries after that of tlie key to tlie hi- 
 eroglyphics of Egypt, was found by what has been termed a series of 
 " happy guesses."
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. 131 
 
 mounds of tlie valley of the Tigris and Euphrates 
 have revolutionized our ideas of the historic develop- 
 ment of the race. These disclosures of the j^ast have 
 given us juster and broader views respecting the con- 
 tinuity of history, the successions of ancient civiliza- 
 tions, and the relations of existing things to those 
 that have passed away. We were not accustomed 
 to look so far back as to Assjaia and Babylonia for 
 the germs of our present growth. We thought our 
 views of political, social, intellectual, or artistic devel- 
 opment as profound when we traced the beginnings 
 of our arts or sciences or philosophies to the Greek 
 and Roman culture. But we failed to distinctly per- 
 ceive that as we have drawn the elements of our civ- 
 ilization from them, so did they but gather up the 
 accumulations of preceding ages — developing and im- 
 proving, indeed, that which was thus transmitted to 
 them. The various structural delineations upon the 
 hassi-relievi of Nineveh reveal the fact that the As- 
 syrian artists were acquainted with all the first ele- 
 ments of Grecian architecture; and that they knew 
 all about the arch, which has been thought so pecul- 
 iarly a Roman invention, is proved by the arched 
 drains and doorways unearthed by Layard. at Nin- 
 eveh.* Indeed, the Egyptians and Chaldaeans em- 
 ployed the arch centuries before Rome was cradled. 
 And ^vhile the Western nations borrowed the lead- 
 
 =^ Vide Layard's " Nineveh and Babylon." 
 
 K
 
 132 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 ing features of their structural art from the East, they 
 also drew from thence much that the Oriental mind 
 had invented, discovered, or thought out in the vari- 
 ous departments of science and philosophy. But 
 theirs, as has been said, was not mere absorption or 
 unworthy appropriation. Roman or Grecian genius 
 always transformed or reinspired with a new life 
 that which it received. The Romans seized upon 
 the principle of the arch, which had only an obscure 
 place in the architecture of the East ; but to them it 
 became "the bow of promise," as Professor Carter 
 expresses it : " the bridge on which they went over to 
 the dominion of the world." The Grecians borrow- 
 ed, in part at least, their mimetic art from the East ; 
 but they borrowed only to transform; for beneath 
 the touch of their transcendent genius "the hard 
 and rigid lines of Assyria " — we quote the language 
 of Layard — "were converted into the flowing dra- 
 peries and classic forms of the highest orders of art." 
 Fergusson remarks : " Egypt may, indeed, have been 
 the schoolmistress from whom the ancient world de- 
 rived half her science and her arts ; but the nations 
 from whom we are descended were born in Assyria, 
 and out of her they brought all their sympathies, 
 all their innate civilization."* Rawlinson, after ob- 
 serving that Babylon was the source whence Assyria 
 obtained the first elements of her civilization, vent- 
 
 * Fcrgusson's " Palaces of Nineveh and Pcrsei)olis," p. 4.
 
 THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. I33 
 
 ures the assertion that "but for Babylon real civili- 
 zation might not yet have claw^ned upon the earth." 
 And again : " It was from the East . . . that Greece 
 derived her architecture, her sculpture, her science, 
 her philosophy, her mathematical knowledge — in a 
 word, her intellectual life."* 
 
 Koman and Hellenic culture were thus, we find, 
 the flower of a most ancient growth. So now, in 
 seeking the original source of the culture of our own 
 times, we must go far beyond the Tiber and the Ilissus 
 — to the Tigris and the Euphrates ; and there, among 
 the earliest communities of the Orient, we will dis- 
 cover the timid endeavors and the first suggestions 
 of the proud achievements and the grand actualities 
 of modern civilization. Thus is revealed what our 
 Guizots, Shedds, and Arnolds have come significant- 
 ly to term the "genetic development" of history. 
 The relations of the j^ast to the present become 
 charged with intelligence and meaning. We are as- 
 sured that nations have not sprung up, grown old, 
 and decayed without a purpose; but that whatever 
 of good they may have wrought out has been care- 
 fully preserved and transmitted. We are taught 
 that the phenomena of the historic world are bound 
 together by far higher relations than those imposed 
 by mere chronological succession. Where all seemed 
 as confused as the vision of Ezekiel, there is shown 
 
 * Rawlinson's "Ancient Monarchies," vol. ill., p. 76.
 
 134 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 to US a living spirit witliiu the wheels. In a word, 
 there is revealed to us a divinity in history. The 
 events of human society, which seemed to crowd 
 themselves into morally insulated groups, or thi'ong 
 along in rapid sequence without intelligent order or 
 interdependency, are shown to be the successive steps 
 of a sublime movement of the race, advancing, under 
 intelligent and far-seeing direction, with unfaltering 
 certainty and cumulative riches of experience and 
 achievement, toward a worthy and justifying issue — 
 a grand evolution of human latencies and possibil- 
 ities, reaching through millenniums in its processes, 
 and over a world in its outcomes. 
 
 As about biddino^ adieu to the scene of his successful 
 labors, which so astonished and startled the world, 
 Layard thus reflects: "Some one who may hereaft- 
 er tread on the spot when the grass grows again 
 over the Assyrian palaces, may indeed suspect that I 
 have been relating a vision." Had time completely 
 buried all again, and had not ^ve ourselves seen the 
 winged bulls guarding the gates, where stationed to 
 sentinel the approach thirty centuries ago, and walk- 
 ed throufrh the courts and halls and chambers of the 
 palace of Sennacherib, it would have been difficult 
 for us, while tramping the grass-grown heaps, not to 
 have been half incredulous as to what Layard has 
 told the world he saw within those mounds. But 
 after we have paced the halls and courts, passed from
 
 THE RUI^s^S OF NINEVEH. I35 
 
 room to room of the many-chambered palace, and 
 from the commandiuo; site viewed the distant cir- 
 cling ramparts, broken by the huge heaps marking 
 the site of the city gates, where lie buried in their 
 graves of two-score centuries the giant wardens of 
 the ancient capital, we can no longer disbelieve. 
 Standing there, we repeople the deserted plain, re- 
 build the ruined palaces, restore the crumbled walls, 
 lift the fallen towers, and recreate the Assyrian hosts, 
 as in the days of Nineveh's glory they issued from 
 her gates, and, bound for distant conquest, poured 
 across the Tigris with all the pomp and gorgeous 
 display of Oriental pageantry. But the spell is 
 broken. Instead of the noise and the glitter and the 
 movement of bannered hosts, there is stillness and 
 desolation. Long before Christ that ancient glory 
 had departed, and Nineveh's name had been forgot- 
 ten. When the Ten Thousand hurried past, four 
 centuries before our era, the ruins were told to Xen- 
 ophon as those of M^spila. Thirteen centuries ago 
 the site was the battle-field of the Roman and Per- 
 sian armies, each unconscious that they were tramp- 
 ins; the ashes of the citv that had once controlled the 
 destinies of all the countries over which they were 
 wrangling.
 
 136 REl^IAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 EAFTING ON THE TIGEIS. 
 
 Our Kellic^-^Floathig Down. — River Scenes. — Rapids. — Historical As- 
 sociations. — Our Crew and Passengers. — The Captain's Reproof. — 
 Our Guard Mohammed. — Praying on a Kellic. — Storms and Delays, 
 — Crossing the River on Inflated Skins for Provisions. — Fatalism. — 
 Botanizing. — Arrival at Tibrit. 
 
 The rafts employed at the present day in tLe nav- 
 igation of the Mesopotamian rivers are constructed 
 in precisely the same manner as those used in the 
 earliest antiquity. For a descrij^tion of the one upon 
 which we floated down the Tigris, we might turn to 
 Herodotus or Xenophon ; and for an exact represen- 
 tation of the same, we might point to the bass-reliefs 
 which thirty centuries ago were buried beneath the 
 mounds of Nineveh. It consisted of a light frame- 
 work, thirty feet square, constructed of poles, beneath 
 which were placed about three hundred inflated goat- 
 skins, which gave great buoyancy to the whole, en- 
 abling it to support a burden of over twenty tons of 
 wheat and gall-nuts. A pair of immense sweeps 
 were attached, for the purpose of control and guid- 
 ance, and our " IceUic!^ as the natives called it, was 
 complete.
 
 KAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. 137 
 
 The greater part of the rafts employed upon the 
 Tigris are freighted at Diarbekr and Mosul, and float- 
 ed down to Bagdad. Upon arrival there they are 
 taken to pieces, the wood of which they are composed 
 is sold, and the skins are carried back by land. From 
 Herodotus, we know that the same method was prac- 
 ticed in his day. 
 
 It was early in March, when the plains of Upper 
 Meso]3otamia were brilliant with the short-lived glory 
 of spring, that we loosened our kellic from the bank 
 near Mosul, opposite the site of ancient Nineveh, and 
 started on our memorable float down the Tigris. The 
 swift current bore us rapidly along, and soon the 
 great mound of Koyunjik, the buried j^alace of Sen- 
 nacherib, dropped out of sight. The low hills that, 
 on either side, constantly advanced toward or receded 
 from the river, though for the most part barren, were 
 occasionally relieved by flowers, that at times covered 
 the lower portion of their slopes with unbroken 
 sheets of color. The alluvial flats of the river, clothed 
 with jungle, were green with the fresh foliage of the 
 opening year. 
 
 Six hours from Mosul brought us to the dam of 
 Nimrud, an artificial dike constructed of large blocks 
 of stone clamped firmly together, stretching across the 
 river from bank to bank, and over which the stream 
 poured with considerable tumult. Just before reach- 
 ing the dam our Arabs landed us upon the left bank.
 
 138 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 as we desired to visit the ruius of Nimrud, now near- 
 ly opposite us. We stood for a moment to watcli our 
 raft as the rapid current drew it swiftly toward and 
 over the cataract. As it plunged over the dam, it 
 seemed momentarily as though the boiling waters 
 would ingulf it; but after a few heavy lunges it 
 glided on safely again. This barrier is a relic of the 
 earliest Assyrian kings. Arab tradition assigns the 
 work to Nimrod. Its purpose was to raise the water 
 of the river to supply the irrigants which reached out 
 from the Tigris over the adjoining plains. It wit- 
 nesses the degree of civilization attained by the an- 
 cient Assyrians. The construction of such a work, 
 which for twenty centuries and more has flooded back 
 the waters of a great river, imj^lies a degree of me- 
 chanical knowledge and a mastery of expedients by 
 no means despicable. 
 
 A short walk over the plain brought us to the 
 great mound of Nimrud. As the remains here are so 
 similar to those opposite Mosul, it would be weari- 
 some to give a detailed description of them. An 
 enormous palace-mound, with a lofty conical tell ris- 
 ing from it like a natural eminence, and lines of low 
 mounds, forming a vast quadrangular inclosure, as at 
 Nineveh, are the principal features of the ruins. This 
 mound was the first excavated by Layard ; and here 
 he secured a ricli harvest of Assyrian relics. The 
 trenches ^vhic]l lie opened we found still unimpaired
 
 KAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. 139 
 
 in many instances, so that we could examine the heavy 
 walls of stone and the scul2:)tures that had been ex- 
 posed. Several colossal winged bulls lay upon the 
 summit of the mound. Numberless strange figures 
 looked out of their half-opened graves, as though not 
 quite sure whether their resurrection-day had come 
 or not. 
 
 The lofty conical mound to which allusion has been 
 made is supposed by Layard to be the ruins of a 
 tower -mausoleum built by Asshur-nasir-pal, which 
 consisted of several stages, raised in the form of a 
 pyramid. The lower stage was sujDported by walls 
 of solid stone masonry ; the upper stages were form- 
 ed of brick, which, in crumbling, have concealed the 
 artificial nature of the eminence. Layard conjectures 
 the edifice to have been crowned with an altar, " on 
 which may have burned the eternal fire." 
 
 The ruins of Birs-Nimrud have been unmistakably 
 identified as those of the Scriptural Calah, which As- 
 shur founded when he went forth out of the land of 
 Shinar, and builded Nineveh, and the city Eehoboth 
 and Calah and Resen (Gen. x. 11, 12). As we have 
 already seen, it was for a long time the seat of the 
 Assyrian court. The eminent historian of the East 
 thus finely pictures the growth and beauty of the 
 public edifices of the ancient city : " Palace after pal- 
 ace rose on its lofty platform, rich with carved wood- 
 ^vork, gilding, painting, sculpture, and enamel, each
 
 140 REMAINS OF LOST ElVIPIRES. 
 
 aiming to outsliine its predecessors ; while stone lions, 
 sphinxes, obelisks, shrines, and temple-towers embel- 
 lished the scene, breaking its monotonous sameness 
 by variety. The lofty ziggurat (mausoleum above 
 described) attached to the temple of Nin, or Her- 
 cules, dominating over the whole, gave unity to the 
 vast mass of palatial and sacred edifices. The Tigris, 
 skirting the entire western base of the mound, glassed 
 it in its waves, and, doubling its apparent height, ren- 
 dered less observable the chief weakness of the archi- 
 tecture. When the setting sun lighted up the whole 
 with the gorgeous hues seen only under an Eastern 
 sky, Calah must have seemed to the traveler who be- 
 held it for the first time like a vision from fairy- 
 land."* 
 
 Havins: secured some inscribed bricks and other 
 relics as souvenirs, and persuaded our Arab guides to 
 carry them to the river, we returned to our raft, which 
 our unconscionable Arabs, to serve some purpose of 
 their own, had run three or four miles below the 
 mound, thus giving us a hot walk over the plain. 
 Our relics were a fertile source of trouble to us. As 
 may be imagined, they grew very heavy before the 
 raft was reached, and our Arabs threw them down. 
 A hachsJdsh, however, made them lighter. Then we 
 were intercepted by the Bedawin, who had conscien- 
 
 * Rawlinson's " Five Monarchies," vol. ii., p. 357 : quoted by Dr. Smith 
 iu " Ancient History of the East," p. 288.
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. 141 
 
 tious scruples about letting bricks go out of their 
 country without backshish. And upon our reaching 
 the kellic, Abdullah, our captain, amid violent gesticu- 
 lations, protested that the bricks would sink the raft ; 
 and nothing but a backshish would pacify him. That 
 increased the carrying caj)acity of the kellic as effect- 
 ively as though we had got a hundred new air-bags 
 under it. But we had suspicions that the rascal pre- 
 meditated tipping the bricks overboard sometime ac- 
 cidentally; and so we placed them under our bed, 
 that we might sit atop of them during the day, and 
 use them as pillows at night. 
 
 When again under way, we glided on during the 
 remainder of the day through quiet, pleasant scenery. 
 Just at sunset we drifted into a broad sheet of water, 
 lake-like in its expansion, where the current was al- 
 most lost, and not a rij^ple roughened the surface. 
 The water was streaked with gold ; and the low hills 
 were draped with that sombre purple hue so char- 
 acteristic of Mesopotamian landscajDes. After a while 
 the dreamy haze that the sunset had left behind it 
 thickened into twilight, and the stars came out, and 
 looked down through the calm atmosphere with a 
 "soft, planetary light." Lazily and almost imper- 
 ceptibly our raft floated on, our listless Arabs lying 
 half asleep on the top of the cargo, enjoying a de- 
 licious semi-consciousness. Late in the evenino; we 
 moored our kellic to the bank, and throwing ourselves
 
 ]^42 REIvIAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 beneath our little tent, raised on the raft, continued 
 to float on in our dreams. 
 
 Early the following morning we were drifting 
 again, borne on by a swift current, that shortly after 
 sunrise brought us to some rapids, not formidable by 
 any means, yet affording sufficient excitement to in- 
 duce us to postpone our breakfast an hour, that we 
 might enjoy the accelerated speed, and the swaying 
 and writhing of our raft as it went clumsily down 
 the roughened current. 
 
 Floating down the Tigris naturally recalled our 
 canoe voyages upon the Kio Napo and the Rio Negro, 
 northern afiluents of the Amazons. Drifting along 
 the treeless shores of the Mesopotamian rivers is very 
 different from floating through the tropical forests of 
 South America. There is verdure along the Upper 
 Tigris in early spring, it is true, covering not only the 
 liaivis, or alluvial deposits, which are periodically 
 submerged, but even at times hiding the baldness of 
 the usually barren, sun-burnt hills; but there is no 
 tree vegetation — low bushes alone fringe in places 
 the river-banks. Very different is all this fi'om the 
 wild, prodigal luxuriance displayed by the tropical 
 forests that hem the streams of the Amazonian val- 
 ley with their stately w\alls of trunk and foliage. 
 
 But if Nature lends her charms to the Amazonian 
 rivers, History lends her fascinations to the Mesopo- 
 tamian streams. No river in the world is richer in
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS, 143 
 
 historic associations than the Tigris. It witnessed 
 the earliest civilization of the world ; and from its 
 banks looked down the proudest and wickedest capi- 
 tal of the East. Could it but tell us of the j^ageants 
 it has seen, what pomp and magnificence would it 
 show us — what hosts of Chald?eans and Babylonians; 
 of Syrians and Assyrians ; of Egyptians and Medes 
 and Persians ; of Parthians and Greeks and Romans, 
 in triumph or defeat, flitting like spectres across its 
 narrow valley; it would tell us of the long march 
 of the Ten Thousand along its eastern bank; of 
 Alexander and the Grecian phalanx, hurrying to the 
 conquest of the Farther East. It saw Darius resign 
 his sceptre to the Macedonian on the field of Arbela; 
 saw Persia again fall before the Emperor Heraclius 
 at the battle of Mneveh ; beheld the wearied and 
 broken legions of Rome, as at Samarah they per- 
 formed the inviolable obsequies to the body of their 
 beloved general, the Emperor Julian, and raised the 
 huge tumulus that to-day stands on the banks of the 
 river, amid the ruins of ancient cities : "What funeral 
 pomp didst thou, O Tigris, see, as thou glided past 
 the recent tomb !" 
 
 It was once the great artery that gave life to the 
 strongest monarchies of antiquity. But now civili- 
 zation has passed on to another world ; and desolation 
 — almost unbroken desolation — reigns amid the mel- 
 ancholy, grass-grown mounds of fallen palaces and
 
 144 REMAINS OF LOST ElVIPIRES. 
 
 buried cities. Perhaps civilization is destined to re- 
 turn from its distant home in the West — after having 
 been taught the true laws of national life and of per- 
 manent prosperity — and again crowd the banks of 
 this river, not with walled cities and fortified j^alaces, 
 but with pleasant villas, and break its silence with 
 the stir and noise of peaceful commerce,* 
 
 While our raft drifted leisurely down the river, we 
 had an abundance of time to study our crew and 
 passengers. The Arabs who navigated us down the 
 Tigris were very difterent from the Indians that pad- 
 dled us throufich the forest of South America. The 
 latter were children. We never exj^ected more of 
 them than they exhibited. They always showed a 
 childlike, restive activity ; were forever busy, though 
 often only engaged in braiding palm-leaves to orna- 
 ment their hair. But our Arabs never evinced any 
 thing of this childlike restlessness. They were in- 
 sufferably lazy ; and we always felt an almost irre- 
 
 * When the Euphrates River Railway is laid, and thus a reliable 
 Western market opened for the products of the Mesopotamian plains, 
 there is certain to be a large and'permanent population drawn to these 
 fertile districts. There are no natural obstacles in the way of tliis. 
 The soil is wonderfully and inexhaustibly rich ; the choked water- 
 courses need only to l)e reopened, and the laud would wave with verd- 
 ure. Give proper governmental encouragement and protection to in- 
 dustry, establish proper communication with the neighboring countries, 
 and there are no reasons that the valley should not teem with a vast 
 population as of old ; for, however it may be as to certain portions, we 
 can not believe that the curse of u perpetual prophecy rests upon the 
 whole land.
 
 Ri^TING ON THE TIGRIS. 145 
 
 sistible impulse to lasli tliein into activity. The 
 idea of stirring wlien one miglit lie quiet seemed to 
 tliem perfectly preposterous. 
 
 There were nine Arabs on board our raft. One 
 of them, Abdullah by name, was generally captain ; 
 we say generally, for in case of emergency every man 
 on board an Arab vessel becomes caj)tain. The con- 
 fusion created by these sons of Ishmael on unusual 
 occasions — and it does not require much to constitute 
 such with them — is absolutely inconceivable. Two 
 of the crew worked quite faithfully at the sweeps, 
 urged to it by necessity, for the raft must be kept in 
 the current and free from the shoals, which, in case of 
 collision, would work ruin among the skins beneath. 
 
 Besides the quartette that constituted the crew, 
 we had three native passengers. One was an old 
 patriarch, venerable as we imagine Abraham or Mo- 
 ses to have been. The venerable appearance of the 
 aged among Arabs has been frequently remarked. 
 There are very few exceptional cases. Often we 
 have been surrounded by a group of these gray- 
 haired Ishmaelites, who, as far as dignity and vener- 
 ableness of appearance were concerned, would have 
 made a rare college faculty. The remaining two j^as- 
 sengers were young men ; one a fopj^ish fellow — for 
 the exquisite is no local phenomenon, but a cosmo- 
 politan character. This trio, in delicious oblivion of 
 every thing around, would lie on top of the cargo
 
 14(3 REMAINS OF LOST ElklPIRES. 
 
 the entire day, with the sun burning straight in 
 their faces. Such deportment was exactly in accord- 
 ance with Abdullah's notions of the proprieties of 
 passengers ; and he often pointed to their torpid 
 masses while rej^roving us for rushing about over 
 the raft in quest of exercise or a good look-out for 
 some new attraction along the bank of the river. 
 ^''Hewash! Tiewash P'' he would say, as he felt the 
 quivering of the raft when we were on the move. 
 But we, not knowing that the chafing of the poles 
 upon the skins beneath might injure them, did not 
 appreciate the necessity of kee2:)ing quiet, and so did 
 not at first understand his injunction. We asked 
 him what he meant by '■'■ Jiewash,^'' for that was a 
 word not yet in our Arabic vocabulary. A French- 
 man in answer to such a question would have rolled 
 out a perfect stream of explanations, profoundly in- 
 comj^rehensible. But Abdullah, though an Arab, 
 had more sense. He folded his arms, and walked 
 with steps light and soft as a kitten's across the raft. 
 We laughed, and promised to walk ^Hiewash'''' in the 
 future. But we w^ould forget ; and in such moments 
 of thoughtlessness, induced by some new object or 
 view, while rushing from one end of the kellic to the 
 other, and making the whole quiver frantically, as 
 though a young earthquake were laboring beneath 
 it, we would hear the subdued notes of Abdullah's 
 voice — " heioash ! liewash .'" — and lookiuo; about
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. 147 
 
 would catch his countenance, covered with a look of 
 inexpressible disgust that we should not be able to lie 
 down and keep quiet like the rest of the passengers. 
 
 Our ninth Arab was Mohammed, a contemplative 
 son of Islam, who constituted our guard, and was, 
 accordingly, accompanied by a long, crazy, rusty old 
 Hint-lock — an " eternity of a gun," as Mark Twain 
 would describe it — and several ancient revolvers. 
 Mohammed was constantly flashing the powder in 
 the pan of his old flint-lock, we suppose simply to 
 see if the thing Avould be likely to go off wdien 
 he wanted it. His business was to protect us and 
 the cargo from the wild Bedawin. Under such pro- 
 tection we floated serenely down the river, through 
 all kinds of tribes, and never once knew what fear 
 Avas during the entire journey. We took a great lik- 
 ing to Mohammed, and he to us. He was always 
 ready to accompany us whenever we wished to make 
 an excursion from the raft to some old mound ; and 
 often he carried heavy loads of inscribed bricks and 
 relics back to the river — under the stimulus of a 
 bachsMsIi of course — while we relieved him of his 
 old flint-lock, for he w^ould never step ashore without 
 that. 
 
 Mohammed was a good Moslem withal. He Avas 
 the only one of the crew, indeed, who attended reg- 
 ularly and conscientiously to his daily devotions. 
 (There is quite as much diversity of practice respect- 
 
 1j
 
 148 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 ing sncli matters among Mohammedans as among 
 Christians.) When the hour for prayer came, he 
 would mount to the top of the cargo, spread his 
 blanket, and kneeling upon it, with his face turned 
 toward the Keblah of his faith, perform his prostra- 
 tions with becoming reverence. But Mohammed 
 found j^raying on a kellic attended with difficulties. 
 The river was winding, and during the course of one 
 of Mohammed's long prayers the current would 
 swino; the raft around, causins; him to face successive- 
 ly all points of the compass. But Mohammed soon 
 learned to keep an eye to his bearings, and, by mak- 
 ing sundry shifts, managed to keep an approximate 
 heading toward the holy city. After a while he 
 adopted a somewhat different course. He would 
 vary the hours of prayer a little, just sufficient to ac- 
 commodate them to the reaches of the river, always 
 commencino; his devotions as the raft started on a 
 long stretch. 
 
 The second day we reached the enormous mounds 
 of Kileh-Sherghat, which preserve the site of Asshur, 
 another of the great and famous cities of Assyria. 
 These ruins are about forty miles distant from Nine- 
 veh in a direct line. The principal mound, which 
 immediately overhangs the Tigris, Avith a height 
 above the plain of one hundred feet, is between two 
 and three miles in circumference, being one of the 
 largest in either Assyiiu or Babylonia. As at Nine-
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. 149 
 
 veil and Caluh, long lines of crumbled ramparts trace 
 out the old city walls. Rising from the platform is 
 a vast cone similar to that at Nimrud. It consti- 
 tutes the most imposing feature of the ruins. Upon 
 this spot Shamas-Vul, king of Chaldsea, erected a tem- 
 ple eighteen centuries before our era. Afterward, 
 upon the independence of Assyria, it became, prob- 
 ably, the first capital city of that empire. Four cent- 
 uries B.C., when the Greeks under Xenophon passed 
 the site, Asshur was an " ancient city ;" the historian 
 describes the ruins under the name of Larissa.* 
 
 Upon the third day from Mosul trouble began to 
 loom u]) on all sides. A strong east wind, which 
 filled the air with an impalpable dust, raised such a 
 heavy swell on the river that we were compelled to 
 moor beneath the shelter of the bank; for a Tigris 
 kellic, drawing but little water, is liable in a heavy 
 wind to be drifted upon the sand-bars that obstruct 
 the river, and the skins beneath torn loose and 
 broken. Again upon the fourth day, after we had 
 run about an hour, the rising wind forced us to moor 
 our raft. All this delay appeared a matter of per- 
 fect indifference to our Arabs. It was perfectly ex- 
 asperating to see how easy it was for them to wait. 
 For us it was stupid business ; besides, our delay was 
 
 * Vide Layard's "Nineveli and its Remains," vol. i., p. 27, et seq. ; 
 Rawlinson's "Ancient Monarcbies," vols. i. and il, passim; Smith's 
 " Ancient History of the East," p. 25^.
 
 150 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 creatinor a serious embarrassment in our commissariat 
 department. We bad secured supplies at Mosul for 
 only four or five days, that being the usual time con- 
 sumed in a voyage to Bagdad ; and now the expira- 
 tion of that time found us scarcely half way down 
 the river. Our Arabs ripj^ed open a bag of wheat, 
 and boiling the grain with a quantity of greens gath- 
 ered along the shore, seemed quite satisfied and con- 
 tented. Driven to it by hunger, we at last prepared 
 a similar dish : there may be worse concoctions than 
 boiled wheat and greens, but we don't believe it. 
 
 During the third day of our detention, the storm 
 not abating, "sve persuaded our natives to attempt to 
 obtain some provisions from an encampment of Bed- 
 awin on the opposite bank. One of the crew, with 
 his clothes tied in a bundle on his head, mounted an 
 inflated skin and kicked his way across the river. 
 After an absence of half a day, he returned with sev- 
 eral cakes of unpalatable bread, made of pounded 
 grain, mixed into a mass of imleavened dough, and 
 half cooked in the ashes of the camp-fire. The next 
 day we lay moored to the bank, subsisting mainly 
 on hope, with just a little of that abominable Arab 
 bread. 
 
 We miglit liavc fioatod on during this last after- 
 noon ; but our Arabs had a nice fire on shore, with a 
 reserved pile of di-ift-wood, and Avcre enjoying them- 
 selves in cooking and eating tlieir miserable wheat
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. ;[51 
 
 and greens, and so could not be persuaded to go on. 
 Uj^on our expostulating with Abdullah, he raised 
 his eyes and hands piously to heaven, and said, "^^- 
 laliu aniar " — " Allah has willed it." His fiitalism, 
 good for nothing else, always served him a good turn 
 on such occasions. The very fact that he had spent 
 a whole day sitting on his haunches eating wheat 
 and greens \six^ prima facie evidence that such a dis- 
 position of the day by himself had been eternally de- 
 creed. Allah had predestinated another day for us 
 on that spot, for the next evening found us still 
 moored to the bank, and tliat was proof enough to 
 the minds of our Arabs that Allah had willed it, 
 and that it was all right. 
 
 During our delay we spent a large portion of our 
 time botanizino; along; the bank. The flora of the 
 Mesopotamian plains is very similar to our own. 
 Upon one short excursion "\ve gathered twenty spe- 
 cies, all of which belonged to genera familiar to us, 
 and five were identical with American home species. 
 Those plains in early spi'ing, before blasted by the 
 heat of sunmier, resemble our own flower-strewn 
 meadows and pasture-lands ; only Flora scatters her 
 treasures over the Eastern fields with a fairer and 
 more extravagant profusion. Before we had crossed 
 them we could not help being incredulous when Lay- 
 ard told us that the dogs, returning from hunting, 
 " issued from the long grass dyed red, yellow, or
 
 152 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 blue, according to tlie flowers through which they 
 had last forced their way." But it is a literal fact: 
 upon returning from our botanizing excursions, we 
 would find ourselves dyed to our knees in the same 
 manner. 
 
 The seventh day the decrees w^ere in our favor; 
 for our Arabs were constrained to cast loose and 
 drift with the current. A few hours brought us to 
 the village of Tibrit, the miserable representative of 
 a large city wdiich occupied the site during the gold- 
 en age of the Caliphs. x\t this poverty-stricken vil- 
 lage our Arabs persisted in spending the entire day 
 following our arrival. Our voyage must have been 
 commenced under the inauspicious conjunction of all 
 ill-fated stars, for while moored befoi'e Tibrit w-e 
 were doomed to see other rafts go sailing gayly past 
 us down the river. Our delays were more vexatious 
 than they otherwise would have been, had not our 
 contemplated tour in Persia depended upon our early 
 arrival at Bagdad, before the increasing heat of the 
 season should render such an undertaking imprac- 
 ticable. The worst infliction upon a traveler of 
 which we can conceive is to make a much-antici- 
 pated tour dependent on timely arrival at a certain 
 destination, and tlicii put him on a raft subjected to 
 the caprices of an Aralj crew.
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. 153 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS CONCLUDED. 
 
 An Unpremeditated Start. — Attempts to Stop the Runaway Raft. — 
 Rapid Progress toward Bagdad.— A Fearful Night Voyage. — Shoot- 
 ing Rapids in the Darkness. — A Narrow Escape. — Aground on a 
 Submerged Island. — Our Scattered Crew. — Arabs as Swimmers. — 
 An Exciting Landing. — Carried Ashore. — Backshish. — Repairing the 
 Shattered Kellic. — Arab Village of Samarah. — The Minaret. — Exten- 
 sive Ruins. — An Arab Settlement. — Resume our Voyage. — A Na- 
 tive's Way of Taking Passage. — The Valley of the Tigris. — Baby- 
 lonia a Gift of the Tigris and Euphrates. — Its Present Desolation. — 
 Change in the Bed of the Tigris. — Scenes along the River. — Arab 
 Villages. — Great Width of the Tigris.— Saratia. — A Village Under- 
 mined. 
 
 Wednesday was thus passed at Tibrit. Our cap- 
 tain bad assured us tbat on Thursday morning 
 we should resume our journey; but we were fated 
 to take an earlier start. The river rose rapidly on 
 Wednesday afternoon, and by evening presented a 
 swollen, turbulent appearance. About an hour before 
 midnight the wind arose, blowing in fitful gusts from 
 the east ; and soon the swell i-aised on the river, 
 united with the strength of the curreut, tore us loose 
 from our fastenings. We were sleeping on the raft, 
 while our Arabs, with the exception of Mohammed, 
 were upon the bank.
 
 154 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Mohammed gave the alarna, and a frantic eflort 
 was made to remoor the raft ; but the hawsers were 
 jerked away, and we commenced driving along the 
 shore at a rapid rate. Seeing the folly of further at- 
 tempt to stop the kellic, impelled onward by such a 
 maddened current, two of the crew sprang aboard, in 
 order to manage the sweeps, and if possible moor the 
 raft at some favorable point down the river. 
 
 Sweeping on for several miles, we reached a shelv- 
 ing shore, and our Arabs attempted to land, but 
 were perfectly powerless to control the raft, which, 
 with the momentum of a heavy load and rapid mo- 
 tion, struck violently against and chafed along the 
 bank. A large number of the inflated skins that 
 supported the kellic were broken, and the water rose 
 several inches over the raft. Swinging off, we again 
 rushed on. A little farther down another effort to 
 moor the runaway raft only resulted in our striking 
 the bank lieavily, and ruining many of the skins, 
 which exploded with a dull intonation, followed by 
 the gurgling of the escaping air. At this juncture, 
 Mohammed, without stopping to i-eflect that all 
 things were in-evocably decreed, took matters in his 
 own hands, and leaping into the water before the 
 raft had swung fjir from tlu^ bank, succeeded in 
 reaching the shore. 
 
 Up to this time wv liad not left our tent, as we 
 thought tlie affair would result in nothing serious;
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. 155 
 
 9 
 
 on the contrary, we were rather enjoying the idea of 
 going on toward Bagdad at such a gratifying rate, 
 and were congratulating ourselves on a speedy arrival 
 there. But this last collision with the bank aroused 
 us to the fact that matters were growing critical. 
 The raft had sunk over a foot, and the heavy bur- 
 den of grain threatened to sink the whole, like a 
 stone, to the bottom of the river. Hastily wrap2:)ing 
 our blankets about us, we climbed to the top of the 
 cai'go, dragging our trunks up after us, that we might 
 have them to use as buoys in case the kellic went 
 down. Our situation was gloomy enough. It was 
 storming, with a heavy east wind sweeping over the 
 river; and the darkness was so thick that we could 
 with difficulty descry the bank driving rapidly past 
 us. The howling of jackals, loud and continuous as 
 they answered one another from the opposite banks 
 of the river, rendered the gloom still more dismal 
 and foreboding. 
 
 For more than Uvo hours our raft swept on down 
 through the darkness, which was relieved only by 
 occasional gleams of lightning. Then we were 
 brought to a portion of the fiver which was bound- 
 ed on the left by high cliffs, where the current was 
 broken by sunken rocks. We could hear the roar 
 of the turmoiled rivei", and just ahead see the gleam 
 of the whitened waters. In a moment we were 
 swept under the cliff", and almost immediately struck.
 
 156 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Many of our life-preservers — for such tbe inflated 
 skins were now to us — exploded beneath us, and, as 
 the air escaped with a dismal, gurgling sound, the 
 raft settled several inches lower in the water. Free- 
 ing itself in a moment, the kellic was again rushing 
 on wdth fearful rapidity. Just ahead the waters are 
 breaking about another projecting rock. Involun- 
 tarily we hold our breath. In a moment there is a 
 crash. The raft is driven into the form of a trape- 
 zoid. There is a twisting and snapping of cords and 
 poles, and at the same time the water is thrown up 
 by the explosions beneath, as though we had driven 
 against a hundred torpedoes. A momentary pause, 
 a reeling and w^hirling and settling of the shattered 
 mass, and again w^e plunge wildly on, with the swift- 
 ness of an arrow, toward another rock. Should we 
 strike while leaping down with this frightful mo- 
 mentum we must go to pieces. In an instant we 
 dash past, just grazing it; yet the slight contact 
 causes our heavy raft to spin round and round on 
 the maddened waters like a toy. Thank God, w^e 
 are now down the rapids and float in smoother 
 water. 
 
 Below these obstructions the current, though swift, 
 was steady and unbroken, and the threatening clifts 
 dropped down into a low shore, scarcely discernible 
 through the darkness. Now that the river flowed 
 more quietly, we could hear again the mournful cry
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. I57 
 
 of the jackals from the banks. Our shattered raft 
 was half submerged, the water covering the lower 
 tier of bags of wheat, and it seemed as though the 
 skins that still supported us were about to drop 
 their heavy load. Never did shipwrecked voyagers 
 long more anxiously for the day than we watched 
 the darkened sky for the first appearance of light. 
 
 When at length the morning came, we found our- 
 selves drifting between low banks, with occasional 
 clusters of mud huts and numei'ous black tents of 
 the Bedawin in sight. About an hour after sunrise 
 we grounded on a submerged island. We had been 
 observed from the shore, and soon several Arabs 
 swam to us. They informed us that the river was 
 still rising rapidly, so that in a few hours we should 
 be carried over the island, and that when the raft 
 was again afloat they should be able to direct it to 
 the bank and moor it safely. 
 
 Our thoughts, thus relieved from further anxiety 
 respecting ourselves, were now directed toward our 
 crew and passengers. Some were at Tibrit ; others 
 were left a long distance down the river, running aft- 
 er us in the vain hope of getting aboard ; but they 
 might as reasonably have expected one of Jove's 
 thunderbolts to stop to accommodate them to a ride. 
 Mohammed we left eight or ten miles below the vil- 
 lage, fording his way to safet}^ through a marsh ; 
 and two were with us on an island, fifty miles below
 
 158 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Tibrit. With our crew scattered along the river in 
 this way, we never thought of indulging the hope of 
 ever seeing all our Arabs together again. But there 
 is no calculating w^hat these sons of Ishmael will do. 
 Late in the afternoon we discovered a small object 
 approaching from up the river. It was our captain. 
 With the aid of a pair of inflated skins he had made 
 a long chase of fifty miles after his runaway kellic. 
 Presently two others of the crew appeared. Then 
 came the passengers : first the gray-headed patriarch, 
 and last the dandy, whose soaking in the water all 
 day had caused a most ludicrous transformation in 
 his appearance. Such enterprise among Arabs is 
 certainly worthy of record. 
 
 They had barely reached us when the rising rivei* 
 bore us off the island. Our captain and his follow- 
 ers floated around us like so many water-dogs, re- 
 maining on their inflated skins rather than further 
 burden the sinking raft. The captain now assumed 
 command — that is to say, commenced shouting with 
 the others, who were all too busy vociferating orders 
 themselves to give any heed to him. Babel upside 
 down would have been notliinj? to the confusion our 
 Arabs, \vith the help of those who had joined them, 
 succeeded in producing. This whole intensified, Mil- 
 tonic Pandemonium was swept on l)y the river ; and 
 had not the Tigris been used to such scenes, various- 
 ly modified, since tlie days of Islimael, we might
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. I59 
 
 doubtless at this point, without asking any poetic 
 license, have relieved our narrative with something 
 about " frightened waters," and the like. It certain- 
 ly has never entered into the imagination of any 
 man to conceive such a scene of distracting confu- 
 sion as Arabs on water are capable of creating. 
 
 As soon as we reached a favorable point, one of 
 the swimmers carried the long cable attached to the 
 kellic to the shore, when a score of Arabs seized it; 
 but it jerked away from them as though they had 
 lassoed an express locomotive. And now the raft, 
 dashed repeatedly against the rocky bank by the 
 powerful current, recommenced its wild career of the 
 night, and seemed destined to be wrecked in spite 
 of every exertion. We were thus swept on over 
 half a mile, w^hen the cable having again been car- 
 ried ashore, at a point where a host of natives vv^aited 
 to seize it, the fractious kellic, after havinsf drao-ired 
 the whole posse a long distance down the shore, w^as 
 finally moored and securely fastened. 
 
 Now came the landing. The raft grounded some 
 distance from the bank, and a score of Arabs rushed 
 into the stream, each anxious for the privilege of car- 
 rying us ashore ; for such a service as that of saving 
 ixliovxidji (European) from a wreck would, of course, 
 give large claims for generous consideration in the 
 anticipated distribution of hachshisli. The j^robabil- 
 ities for a time, from the shouting and cro^vding and
 
 IQQ REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 pulling, seemed strongly in favor of our being carried 
 ashore in detached sections. By some process, which 
 we could never distinctly recall, we were each on 
 the shoulders of a brawny son of Ishmael. Several 
 Arabs on either side held up our feet, a number 
 held our arms, while still others assisted from behind. 
 In fact, the man who thought he had some one on 
 his back was the least essential one in the crowd. 
 With us safely landed, attention, or rather " pell-mell 
 havoc and confusion," was directed to our baggage. 
 They managed to tumble one of our trunks into the 
 river, and, though the other was carried ashore high 
 and dry on an Arab's head, our bedding was dragged 
 to land through the water. 
 
 For these various services they now surrounded 
 us, clamorous for backshish. Some had assisted in 
 landing ourselves ; one had taken our trunk from 
 the raft — and tumbled it into the river; another had 
 caught it while sailing down the stream, and thus 
 saved it from going on to Bagdad. One stalwart 
 fellow was particularly urgent in his demand for a 
 present. AVell, what liad he done t Carried our hat 
 ashore — having taken it from our head to have the 
 opportunity. Still another wily Arab, who, while 
 striving to add to the confusion, had wet his blanket, 
 approached us A\ith a most lugubrious countenance, 
 and held u]) the article, a corner of which had been 
 dragged in the water, as an irresistible i)lea for back- 
 shish.
 
 RAFTING OX THE TIGRIS. 101 
 
 In a short time our tent was raised on the bank, 
 and dinner, consisting of a single cliicken which we 
 had persuaded our Arab friends to part with, was 
 simmering over the camp-fire close at hand. 
 
 The spot where we were thus cast ashore was a 
 pretty one : in many places the plain, where slightly 
 depressed, was freshened to a beautiful emerald hue, 
 and colored richly with flowers. Never did a more 
 beautiful sunset gild the Mesopotamian plains or 
 gleam from the waters of the Tigris than that which 
 showered the whole scene around us with gold, as on 
 one of these grassy plats we sat down to what our 
 gratitude led us to call — thouo'h it was a somewhat 
 violent anachronism — our " Thanksgiving dinner." 
 
 Early upon the morning following our rescue over 
 twenty AraVjs came from the neighboring village to 
 assist our men in repairing the kellic. All of the 
 freight had been landed the previous evening, and 
 was heaped upon the bank; while the raft, covered 
 with debris^ and torn and racked almost to pieces, 
 lay like an unshapely mass of drift-wood a little way 
 from the shore, apparently a hopeless wreck. The 
 prospects for a resumption of our voyage looked dis- 
 couraging enough. But our men with their assist- 
 ants — after the nargileli had been handed round, 
 and they had all enjoyed a good smoke while 
 squatted on the bank discussing the situation — set 
 themselves energetically to work putting the raft in 
 
 M
 
 IQ2 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 order afrain. Over one hundred of the skins had 
 bursted, and from the remainder a Large part of the 
 air had escaped by leakage, so that all required to 
 be reinflated. The injured ones were removed, those 
 torn so badly as to be useless thrown aside, and the 
 others skillfully repaired, inflated, and readjusted be- 
 neath the kellic. 
 
 While our natives were thus engaged we made a 
 visit to the village of Samarah, two miles distant, 
 where are situated two beautiful and celebrated 
 shrines of the Shiah Mohammedans, places of great 
 sanctity, repute, and pilgrimage. One, a beautifully 
 gilded dome, that rises most grandly and conspicu- 
 ously over the desert, covers the tomb of Imam Hus- 
 sain Askari; the other, an enameled dome, covers 
 that of Imam Mehdi, the last of the Imams, rever- 
 enced by the Shiahs of Persia. A strong, well-con- 
 structed wall, built by the liberality of the Shiali 
 Mohammedans of India, secures the treasures of the 
 shrines from the raids of Bedawin. Heavy iron-sheet- 
 ed gates admitted us within the inclosure, which we 
 found crowded with a miserable Arab village, hud- 
 dled about the gorgeous mosques, the sacred pre- 
 cincts of which we were not permitted to approach. 
 The scene reminded us of Palmyra. Here as there 
 splendor and wretchedness were mingled together in 
 the strangest manner. 
 
 These magnificent shrines seem ludicrously out
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. 
 
 163 
 
 of proportion to the importance of Samarah. One 
 needs not to be told that those golden and enameled 
 domes, flashing in the sunlight, are no more the crea- 
 tions of the native Arabs collected there than that 
 the Temple of the Sun at Tadmor is the work of the 
 wild Bedawin who now cluster about it. 
 
 Just without the walls that inclose the villao-e 
 and shrines is a curious spiral tower, over one hun- 
 
 
 
 
 KUINS OF SAMARAH. 
 
 dred and fifty feet in height, solidly constructed of 
 burnt brick. It is called by the natives Minareh, 
 and was doubtless used as a minaret. An external 
 spiral stairway leads to the top. It immediately 
 suggested to us that favorite picture of the tower of
 
 164 KEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Babel whicli adorns our geographies. It only needed 
 a long procession of camels, elephants, horses, goats, 
 men, etc., winding nj) the spiral stairway, to render 
 the resemblance complete. 
 
 The view that we gained from the summit of the 
 tower embraced unusual elements of interest and im- 
 pressiveness. Just at the foot of the tower lay the 
 ruins of an extensive quadrangular building, the out- 
 er walls still in a state of good preservation; this 
 marked the spot where stood a splendid medresseli, or 
 college, during the classic age of the caliphs. Only 
 a few hundred yards from this rose the beautiful 
 minarets and domes of the Persian shrines. Far over 
 the plain to the north rose the artificial tell of Alizh, 
 probably the ancient tumulus raised by the Koman 
 army, A.D. 363, in commemoration of the burning of 
 the body of their general, the Emperor Julian, who 
 died here while making a harassing retreat before 
 the Persians. We have already referred to this event 
 while speaking of the historic associations of the Ti- 
 gris. But what im]3ressed us most was the almost 
 interminable extent of the ruins of the ancient city 
 of Samarah. Low mounds of every possible outline, 
 (quadrangular inclosures, and long lines of walls, 
 crumbled into ridges of earth, covered the plain in 
 every direction — southward leading the eye out to 
 the horizon. With the exception of the irregularit} 
 given to the plains by these mounds, the entire field
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. 1(35 
 
 embraced by the vision appeared from our elevated 
 stand-point a perfectly level expanse, uninterrupted 
 as the sea, save to the ftir north, where the hazy out- 
 line of some distant hills peeped above the horizon 
 — ^just showing their summits, as distant mountains 
 seen over a broad reach of intervening ocean. From 
 the north the broad stream of the Tigris came wan- 
 dering across the plain, and then, with many delaying 
 bends, was lost in the thick haze of the southern sky. 
 A few irrigated spots along the river were beauti- 
 fully green ; the rest of the plain, though not abso- 
 lutely sterile, seemed almost so in comparison with 
 tlie deep emerald hue of these favored spots. 
 
 Upon our return to the kellic we found that our 
 men had progressed finely with their w^ork. All of 
 the skins that were not irremediably broken had been 
 repaired, and the raft was buoyed up quite well again ; 
 though when all the freight was replaced, it sank 
 several inches lower in the water than before. 
 
 The cargo having been reloaded, all the Arabs 
 who had assisted in the work sat down on the bank 
 with our captain, to have a final smoke and to re- 
 ceive remuneration for their services. The matter 
 of settlement was not got along with without the 
 usual amount of loud talking and violent gesticula- 
 tion. One would have supposed that they had ex- 
 pended too much breath in blowing up the two or 
 three hundred goat -skins to have enough left to
 
 166 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 " blow np " one another satisfactorily. But though 
 circumstances seemed so unfavorable to their doing 
 themselves justice in the matter, they did not fall be- 
 neath themselves, but were admirably successful in 
 creating a profound tumult: at times it seemed as 
 though they would fall upon one another, and that 
 there would be no Arabs left to take us down the 
 river. Finally the tumult subsided, and leaving two 
 or three to watch the kellic, the others went off, the 
 best of friends, to spend the night at the village. 
 
 The sun had scarcely risen the following morning 
 as we loosened our kellic from the bank, and with 
 all of our former companions, excepting Mohammed 
 — whom we never saw after our night's adventure — 
 resumed our interrupted voyage. 
 
 There was a native of Samarah who had desired 
 to take passage with us to Bagdad ; but had been 
 refused by our captain, as our raft was already over- 
 loaded. But the wily Arab seemed to have his af 
 fections set on a pleasant trip down the river. There 
 was no hold in which he could stow himself away, 
 so he adopted a somewhat different plan. As we 
 were casting loose he sat on the bank, amid his ef 
 fects, apparently resigned to his fate; but when the 
 raft had swung a few feet from the shoi'e, he sprang 
 up, tossed on board a bundle of clothing, a blanket, 
 and a nargileh, and then he himself followed tliem, 
 with a desperate leap. Had a bomb-shell alighted
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. 167 
 
 on the raft, the confusion could not have been worse. 
 While some of the crew seized the clothing and nar- 
 gileh and flung them back upon the bank, others, with 
 Abdullah, attempted to seize the agile passenger; 
 but he dodged theui for several moments, and before 
 they could capture him the raft was fairly out in the 
 stream. Although they seemed inclined at first to 
 throw him overboard, they relented, and allowed him 
 to go on with us to Bagdad. 
 
 A few miles below Samarah the geological forma- 
 tion of the Tigris valley presented a decided change. 
 The conglomerate or pebbly deposit, through which 
 the river at that place cuts its channel, gave place to 
 a regular alluvium, where sandy banks, undermined 
 by the current, were constantly crashing into the 
 stream. We now entered upon very different scen- 
 ery from that through which the river had already 
 led us. From Samarah to the Persian Gulf the Ti- 
 o'ris flows throuo'h a regj-ion level as the sea; while 
 above that town the country, though for the most 
 part a plain, is, as we have seen, at times decidedly 
 undulating, and even broken by considerable ridges 
 of hills. The head of the Persian Giilf formerly ex- 
 tended inland to near Samarah, but it has been 
 gradually filled up by the deposits of the Tigris and 
 Euphrates ; just as the deep gulf that once indented 
 the northern coast of Africa has been redeemed from 
 the sea, and Egypt created, by the deposits of the
 
 168 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Nile. And thus, Avliile tbe latter river has made a 
 rich gift to Africa, the twin streams of the Mesopo- 
 tamian j)lain3 have made much larger gifts to Asia. 
 In this Asian Egypt grew up two of the greatest 
 monarchies of the East, the Chaldsean and Babylo- 
 nian. In those early times it was the granary of the 
 world ; the liberality of the soil, in its prodigal re- 
 turns, was the marvel of all the early travelers and 
 writers. But it is sadly neglected now ; the ancient 
 conduits that formerly distributed so carefully the 
 precious waters to every portion of the plain are 
 now choked with sand ; and the land, except in some 
 places immediately bordering the rivers, lies parched 
 and unproductive. 
 
 Between Samarah and Bagdad there are no ancient 
 ruins along the river; for formerly, in the times of 
 the early Mesopotamian monarchies, the Tigris had 
 its bed farther to the west : that now deserted chan- 
 nel is lined with ruins of a high antiquity. The 
 present course of the Tigris is one which the stream 
 marked out for itself at a comparatively recent date. 
 
 During the day we passed numerous encampments 
 of the Bedawin, which were invariably seen on the 
 haivis — the lo^v alluvial trianMes occurrins: at inter- 
 vals on either side of the stream. These low flats 
 being elevated but little al:)ove the level of the river, 
 and thus easily irrigated, were for the most part cov- 
 ered with a luxuriant c-rowth of m-ain. With the
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. X(59 
 
 exception of these river flats, the country was almost 
 absolutely sterile, perfectly level, and raised only 
 about twelve feet above the river. Long lines of 
 embankments, marking the course of ancient canals, 
 intersected the plain in different directions. 
 
 Early in the afternoon we reached Jezan and 
 Sindia, little Arab villages, shadowed by beautiful 
 palm -groves. It was really refi-eshing to see palms 
 again : this was the first genuine grove we had seen 
 since leaving Egypt, and it recalled very vividly the 
 generous date -groves of that country. Indeed, the 
 whole scene was very Egyptian-like. The river, the 
 low banks, the level expanse of plain, the groves, the 
 huts of the natives, and the natives themselves — all, 
 if entered into some view on the Nile, would have 
 introduced no inharmonious element. 
 
 The Tigris was constantly surpi'ising us. In our 
 preconceptions we had been guilty of injustice. We 
 found it a much more majestic river than we had 
 ever imagined it to be. At times during the day it 
 spread out over a mile in width, unbroken by a sin- 
 gle island, and not infrequently it led the eye over 
 magnificent reaches to a blank horizon of sky and 
 water. 
 
 Before darkness came on we moored to the Meso- 
 potamian bank, opposite the village and date- grove 
 of Sardia, as the name was given by our Arabs. The 
 western bank was bare of trees, and just a scanty
 
 170 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 verdure relieved the half-desert plain. We passed 
 the Sabbath at this place, for a severe sand-storm 
 compelled our natives to remain under the protection 
 of the bank. Monday morning, by daybreak, we 
 were again floating quietly down ; and soon reached 
 the date-groves of Howeish, situated on the east bank 
 of the river. A low dike, two or three feet in height, 
 protected the village and gardens from inundation. 
 The river, now greatly swollen, was undermining the 
 bank, and precipitating both the palms and huts of 
 the natives into the water. Could the river only 
 have washed the vile mud village out of the grove, 
 without destroying the palms — that would have been 
 a glorious renovation. These wretched mud vil- 
 lages, filled with all sorts of offense, are a vile dese- 
 cration of these sacred groves. The unkempt Arabs 
 creep out and in their mud huts to eat and sleep 
 and sin : one's pity is excited, but holy indignation 
 more abundantly aroused, at such un appreciative and 
 guilty indolence. 
 
 A little after mid-day the southern hoi-izon was 
 broken by clumps of palms, Avhich appeared far down 
 the rivei-. Our Arabs devoutly exclaimed, ^^ Bagdad! 
 sahlian Allah!'" — "Bagdad! Allah be praised." A 
 few hours brought us to these groves, and we found 
 that they formed a continuous fringe along the east 
 bank ; while the ^vest liad only a narrow green bor- 
 der of irrigated fields. Toward evening we made a
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. 
 
 171 
 
 hold bend of tbe river, and found upon our riglit the 
 thick date-groves of the considerable town of Kazmin, 
 where is one of the most celebrated shrines of the 
 Mohammedan world. The gilded domes of the sacred 
 mosque, and the elegant, graceful minarets, that flash- 
 
 M08QUE OF lilAM MOUSSA, NEAR BAGDAD. 
 
 ed in the evening sun over the tops of the palms, re- 
 vived all our early visions of the magnificence of the 
 city of the Caliphs. 
 
 At this spot, only a few miles above Bagdad, our 
 natives moored to the bank for the night. Beautiful 
 was the river scene when the moon arose, and bathed 
 the stream and its palm -fringed banks in a soft.
 
 172 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 dreamy flood of light. It was a perfect picture — just 
 such as artists paint. The grouping of the pahus in 
 dark, lofty masses on the side of the river where we 
 lay close alongside the bank, beneath the shadows 
 of the trees ; the distinct outline of the palms on the 
 opposite shore, which were not so crowded as to lose 
 their individuality as they traced their graceful forms 
 on the sky ; the island-like group far down the river, 
 faint and weird in the long, dim perspective of the 
 night; the clouds, not painted with the deep -dyed 
 hues of sunset, but suffused with a faint flush of 
 light; and this whole world of beauty repeated by 
 the calm river — all this witchery of light and shade 
 combined to produce a scene of rare beauty and fasci- 
 nation, one well worthy of the city of" The Thousand 
 and One Nights' Entertainments." We have never en- 
 joyed a more perfectly enrapturing moonlight scene. 
 Our Arabs \vere grouped about their fire on the 
 bank, more interested in their supper than in the 
 beauties of the evening : they cared for none of these 
 things, but were busy planning some new rascality. 
 Late in the evening, when all was quiet, they stealth- 
 ily carried ashore several bags of wheat, and secreted 
 them. Somebody's invoice probably fell short when 
 our Arabs arrived with their carsro at Bao-dad. But, 
 tlien, that Avild night's adventure ^vith the runaway 
 kellic would serve as a scape-goat for any deficit that 
 might appear in the freight.
 
 RAFTING ON THE TIGRIS. 173 
 
 The next morning we floated on down tlirougli the 
 avenue of palms into which we had entered the ])ve- 
 cedins: evenina;. Just below Kazmin there was a 
 long break in the groves on the western shore, but as 
 we neared Bagdad tall, beautiful palms lined the riv- 
 er on either side. These garden groves were almost 
 the only indication we had of near approach to a 
 large city. Arriving at the suburbs of the city, 
 where kellics are required to stop for custom-house 
 formalities, we bade farewell to our raft, that had car- 
 ried us through so many dangers, gave our tent to 
 our captain for backshish, transferred oiu'selves from 
 the kellic to one of the peculiar tub-boats in use on 
 the river, floated on clowm into the city, and were 
 soon at home with the British Vice-consul, narrating 
 our adventures on the Tigris, and learning about 
 Bagdad and its people.
 
 174 REMAINS OF LOST EJVIPIRES. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BAGDAD. 
 
 Origin of Bagdad. — The Saracenic Conquest. — Early History of tbc 
 City. — Oriental Splendor. — Science and Literature. — Decline of the 
 Power of the Caliphs. — Bagdad of To-day. — Site of the City. — Views 
 along the Tigris. — A Railroad. — A Summer Palace. — Government- 
 house. — Hospital. — Coflee-houses. — General View of the City. — 
 Streets and Bazaars. — The People. — English Residency. — Courts. — 
 Subterranean Apartments. — Ornamentation of Rooms. — An Indian 
 Prince. — Mosaic Population. — Babel of Languages. — Sabbaths in 
 Bagdad. — Religious Edifices. — Telegraphs. — Steam upon the Tigris. 
 — Modern Improvements. 
 
 Bagdad is the only living city of an}^ note in a 
 region filled with the entombed cities of dead mon- 
 archies. It is the i^resent representative of the sixth 
 and last of the great capitals that arose successively 
 on the Chaldaean plains ; and we may regard it as the 
 representative of ancient Babylon, as the authority of 
 that imperial city was transferred successively to the 
 royal Seleucia of the Greeks, to Ctesiphon of the Par- 
 thians, to Al-Madain of the Persians, and, lastly, to 
 Ciifii and Bagdad of the Caliphs. No other region 
 of the world can boast such a line of brilliant cap- 
 itals as rose and fell on that narrow plain. Chal- 
 daan, Babylonian, Grecian, Parthian, Persian, and 
 Arabian state and authority there loomed up, seem-
 
 BAGDAD. 175 
 
 ingly substantial, yet fleeting as the phantoms of 
 the desert mirage that flit over those avid regions 
 to-day. 
 
 For the orioiu of Bas-dad we must look to that 
 most remarkable irruption of semi-barbarous tribes 
 to which the broad and varied history of Asia af- 
 fords scarcely a parallel. Early in the seventh cent- 
 ury of our era the wild tribes of Arabia, inspired 
 with a frenzied enthusiasm by the teachings of Mo- 
 hammed, issued from their deserts, and shouting ^^ Al- 
 lah cikhav'''' — "God is great" — swept with an uncon- 
 trollable fury over the effeminate and effete empires 
 of the East, and in a short time changed the govern- 
 ment and relisjiou of half the world. 
 
 While this remarkable irruption and conquest was 
 invited by the contemptible effeminacy of the East- 
 ern empire, and the feebleness of the Persian mon- 
 archy, whose early vigor had been lost through lux- 
 urious indulgence of court and army, the propagation 
 of their new religious faith was aided, in a degree at 
 least, by the shameless corruptions of the Christian 
 Church, that had so far fallen from its pristine pu- 
 rity as to give all the trenchant pungency of truth to 
 every dark stroke in the vivid portrayal drawn by 
 the " unfriendly hand" of Gibbon. Mohammedanism 
 was, as expressed b)^ Stanley, in his history of the 
 Eastern Church, a "reaction" from a debased Chris- 
 tianity. As iconoclasts in the idolatrous (Christian)
 
 176 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 churches, the sternly monotheistic followers of the 
 False Prophet seemed to receive a fresh inspiration 
 of fanaticism and a new ba2otism of iconoclastic zeal. 
 Thus the condition of both State and Church in the 
 East was favorable for the extension of the authori- 
 ty and faith of the new conquerors. 
 
 Under the inspiration of the half truth " There is 
 no god but God, and Mohammed is his Prophet," 
 and with the assurance that to fall in fio;htiu2f infidels' 
 was a short way to Paradise — an artful doctrine, 
 which gave a reckless, uncalculating daring to the 
 warrior — under this inspiration, and with this assur- 
 ance, the half barbarous tribes of Arabia rushed over 
 Syria, and were soon in possession of Damascus, Pal- 
 myra, Antioch, Aleppo, Emesa, and Jerusalem. Ar- 
 mies, some over a hundred thousand strong, panoplied 
 in armor, and marshaled in Grecian phalanx, were 
 engaged by one fifth their number, and scattered 
 one after another by these half naked, frenzied " cav- 
 aliers of the desert," till Constantinoi^le itself was be- 
 sieged. To the north, they swept through the mount- 
 ain-passes into Tartary, and seized Bokhara from 
 those very tribes that afterward made all Europe 
 tremble, and whose answer to the embassadors of 
 Rome, sent to ask what limit they had set to their 
 conquests, was — " The M'hole world, from tte east to 
 the west, we will conquer." Undei* the lieutenants 
 of Omar, Babylonia was overi'un, the splendid but
 
 BAGDAD. 177 
 
 effeminate armies of the Persians were routed, the 
 sumptuous palace of the Great King at Madain was 
 sacked by the wild rovers of the desert,* " and the 
 successful leader," we quote Gibbon, " neither halted 
 nor reposed till his foaming cavalry had tasted the 
 waters of the Oxus." While these conquests were 
 going on in Asia, other leaders subjugated Egypt, 
 swept along the northern coast of Africa to where 
 the ranges of Atlas sink beneath the Atlantic, and 
 there Akbar urged his horse into the water, and 
 shouted, " If thy waves did not hinder me, I would 
 conquer all the lands beyond." 
 
 Thus quickly were the fairest countries of the 
 world, stretching across two continents, from the 
 mountains of India to the Pillars of Hercules, united 
 in one gigantic state : 
 
 "A countless multitude, 
 Syrian, Moor, Saracen, Greek renegade, 
 Persian and Copt and Tartar, in one bond 
 Of erring faith conjoined — strong in the youth 
 And heat of zeal — a dreadful brotherhood." 
 
 Medina, one of the holy cities of Arabia, was the 
 abode of the caliphs for only forty years; for the 
 attractions of Damascus, the "Queen of the East," led 
 the successors of Mohammed to select it as the im- 
 perial seat; and for nearly a century the long line 
 of the Ommiades reis-ned amid the luxurious delio-hts 
 
 * For some details of the palace of Chosroes, see Chap. IX. 
 
 N
 
 178 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 of that ancient city. When the line of the Abbas- 
 sides arose, Cufa, upon the Euphrates, was chosen by 
 Abul Abbas, the founder of that dynasty, as the seat 
 of the royal residence. But under Alraansor, the 
 capital was changed to the banks of the Tigris, and 
 Bagdad, then an unimportant town, was selected as 
 the site of the new city. This occurred A.D. 762. 
 
 The caliphs had by this time forgotten the rude- 
 ness of the desert, and their court, from the stern 
 simplicity of that of Medina, had become almost as 
 luxurious as those of the nations they had conquered. 
 From those same nations, too, they had acquired a 
 knowledge of the arts and sciences ; conceived a love 
 for the delights and refinements of literature, and a 
 taste for all the comforts and luxuries of civilized 
 life. Under such influences, the new capital rose 
 gorgeous as the creations of the "Arabian Nights." 
 Sumptuous palaces, gilded-domed mosques, hundreds 
 of graceful minarets, and long lines of splendid edi- 
 fices sprang into existence as by the wand of the en- 
 chanter. Extensive libraries were founded and col- 
 leges endowed, for this was the classic age of the 
 caliphs; and here in the East art and science and 
 literature were preserved and cultivated for five hun- 
 dred years, while Europe was passing through the 
 dark and disturbed centuries of the Middle Acres. 
 
 During this period the city rose to the height of 
 its splendor, dis])laying an even exceptional Oriental
 
 BAGDAD. 179 
 
 brilliancy and luxurious magnificence. More than 
 two millions of people gathered at this centre of the 
 Eastern world. It seemed as if Nineveh had been 
 recreated. Imposing retinues attended the oflScers 
 of the court, and splendid pageants were often form- 
 ed. The funeral obsequies of a certain saint ^vere 
 celebrated by a procession of eight hundred thou- 
 sand men and sixty thousand women. And here it 
 was that 
 
 " The gorgeous East, witli ricliest hand, 
 Showers on her kings barbaric pearls and gold;" 
 
 for, if we may credit Abulfeda, on a certain royal 
 nuptial occasion " a thousand pearls of the largest 
 size were showered on the head of the bride." The 
 same historian also tells us that at the reception of 
 a Greek embassy by the Caliph Moctador (A.D. 917), 
 one hundred and sixty thousand soldiers flanked the 
 avenue of approach to the palace. The officers and 
 attendants of the court were resplendent in apparel 
 bedecked with precious gems. " Nor was the palace 
 itself less splendid, in which were hung up thirty- 
 eight thousand pieces of tapestry, twelve thousand 
 five hundred of which were silk embroidered with 
 gold. The carpets on the floor were twenty-two 
 thousand. A hundred lions were brought out, with 
 a keeper to each lion. Among the other spectacles 
 of rare and stupendous luxury was a tree of gold 
 and silver spreading into eighteen large branches, on
 
 180 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 which, and on the lesser boughs, sat a variety of 
 birds made of the same precious metals, as well as 
 the leaves of the tree. While the machinery effect- 
 ed spontaneous motions, the several birds warbled 
 their natural harmony. Through this scene of mag- 
 nificence the Greek embassador was led by the viz- 
 ier to the foot of the caliph's throne."* 
 
 Such ardent description as this must doubtless be 
 received with some allowance; yet we can not but 
 feel convinced that the court of the caliphs at Bag- 
 dad, during the golden days of the caliphate, was 
 characterized by an extravagant magnificence that 
 even surpassed the luxurious splendor of the Persian 
 court. But this profuse display of wealth and re- 
 sources ; this excessive delight in spectacular pa- 
 geantry ; this unrestrained indulgence in luxury ; 
 this extravagant love for glitter and glamour, may 
 be considered by many simply as indicative of the 
 essentially barbaric character of the court of the ca- 
 liphs. Were there nothing else from which to form 
 a judgment respecting the advancement of the Sara- 
 cens in civilization, we might be just while resting in 
 this conclusion. But we wish that those who pro- 
 fess to believe that the Arabs are incapable of being 
 inspired with a love and appreciation of the best el- 
 ements of modern culture, are naturally incapacitated 
 
 * Abiilfcda, as quoted by Gibbon. See Milmau's " Gibbon's Rome," 
 vol. v., p. 298.
 
 BAGDAD. ]_3]^ 
 
 for civilization, and that the incubus of a perpetual 
 miracle forever bars to them the way of progressive 
 enlightenment and cultivation — we wish that those 
 who entertain such views as these would study the 
 history of the Saracenic state, from the establishment 
 of the caliphate at Bagdad to the close of the ninth 
 century. The annals of the brilliant reign of the 
 Moorish kino-s at Cordova and Grenada mio-ht teach 
 a similar lesson : a library of six hundred thousand 
 volumes implies a taste for literature. The royal 
 library at Bagdad must also have been sufficiently 
 voluminous, if (Gibbon, following the " Bibliotheca 
 Arabico-Hispana," is the authority) "a private doc- 
 tor" was under the necessity of declining an invitation 
 from the Sultan of Bokhara because the transport 
 of his books would have necessitated a caravan of 
 four hundred camels. The different branches of 
 knowledge were assiduously cultivated. Instead of 
 contemning the learning of the nations they had con- 
 quered, the libraries of the West were laid under 
 heavy contribution ; hundreds of volumes of Grecian, 
 Koman, and Persian literature were translated into 
 Arabic, and their diligent study recommended by 
 the inspirers of this literary enthusiasm. "It is 
 probable that those books of Livy's History so long- 
 wished for by the admirers of classical learning are 
 not the only borrowed treasures deposited among 
 the manuscripts of Arabi^." (Ouseley's " Oriental
 
 182 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Collection," vol. i., p. 6.) Gladwin, the translator of 
 the " Gulistau " of Saadi, declares that Europe has de- 
 rived more of its knowledge of Persian, Coptic, and 
 Greek arts and sciences — in truth, more of its knowl- 
 edge in all departments of human learning — through 
 the Arabic, into which lanQ:uao:e this learnincj- was 
 translated during this Augustan period, than it has 
 received from all other sources combined. (Intro- 
 duction to the " Gulistan.") 
 
 Poetry, lyric and epic, philosophy, theology, med- 
 icine, mathematics, astronomy, geography, and his- 
 tory — all the most important departments of hu- 
 man learning — w^ere enriched by the Arabian mind. 
 The decadal system of numeration, introduced from 
 India, was substituted for the more cumbrous sys- 
 tems of the European mathematical sciences; trigo- 
 nometry and algebra were improved ; the progres- 
 sion of the equinox Avas observed, and a degree of a 
 great circle of the earth twice measured on the Chal- 
 dsean plains. These brilliant achievements will serve 
 to illustrate the ardor and success of the Saracens in 
 difficult fields of study and research. 
 
 Recent investigations have shown how largely Eu- 
 rope was indebted for her arts and sciences to the 
 early Chaldseans and Assyrians; and here now we 
 see Art, Science, and Literature, during the centuries 
 of darkness, rudeness, convulsion, and transition in the 
 West, returning to and seeking an asylum in their
 
 BAGDAD. 183 
 
 first home in the East. When finally Europe's eman- 
 cipation eame, they were given back — largely through 
 the otherwise unserviceable and fruitless Crusades — 
 if not wholly reinspired with a new life, at least pos- 
 sessed of new elements of vitality and growth. 
 
 It would be as unprofitable as uninteresting to 
 follow the fortunes of Bagdad after the decline of 
 the power of the caliphs. In 1258 the savage Mon- 
 gol Hulagou stormed the city, which " had no ad- 
 equate arms, even had it possessed the spirit, to with- 
 stand the sword that had broken to pieces the dag- 
 2:ers of the formidable and fierce Assassms of Persia." 
 Again it shows signs of returning life ; but far away, 
 in those " shadowy lands of the Gogs and Magogs," 
 the dread hordes of Tartary are gathering, and Bag- 
 dad is again overwhelmed in the storm that sweeps 
 the plains of Western Asia. At last Timour came, 
 and on the site of the city constructed a pyramid 
 of ninety thousand heads. That was five hundred 
 years ago. Since that event the city has followed 
 the obscure fortunes of the countries ruined and des- 
 olated by that ruthless destroyer of the race. 
 
 The Bagdad of to-day is built upon both banks of 
 the Tigris ; the larger portion of the city, however, 
 lying on the eastern bank. The river for several 
 miles above and below the town is bordered with 
 gardens and date-groves. Let us enter the city with 
 the Tigris from the north. After bearing us past
 
 184 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 the splendid shrine of Kazmiu, the river sweeps us 
 on through gardens and groves of palms, and amid 
 these makes long delaying bends, as if reluctant to 
 leave them for the dreary desert again. When Bag- 
 dad was at the height of its splendor this magnifi- 
 cent river avenue, with its borders of stately palms, 
 formed an appropriate approach to the most ostenta- 
 tious capital of the Eastern world. But now it ex- 
 cites expectations of beauty and grandeur that are 
 doomed to be disappointed, for there is nothing in 
 the Bagdad of the present to awaken admiration. 
 As the Tigris bears us on through the beautiful 
 groves, and w^e near the city, with our heads filled 
 with the glowing pictures of the Arabian Nights, we 
 become impatient for a glimpse of the "City of Gar- 
 dens," the " City of the Caliphs," the " City of the 
 Enchanters," the " City of the Commanders of the 
 Faithful," the " City of the Vicars of the Prophet of 
 Allah," the " City of Peace and the Tower of the 
 Saints." But, oh ! how cruelly that first view anni- 
 hilates all our life-long visions of peris and fairies 
 and enchanters and Aladdin palaces. Some wretch- 
 ed mud huts and dirty Arabs in the groves, and nu- 
 merous little natives, innocent of all clothing, hailing 
 us from the bank, notify us that we have reached the 
 suburbs of tlie " City of Peace and of the Saints." 
 
 As we near the city proper, more substantial 
 buildings rej^lace the mud structures of the out-
 
 BAGDAD. 135 
 
 skirts. The first thing that attracts our attention on 
 the western bank of the river quite dazes us. We 
 brush our eyes, and look the second time. There is 
 no mistake. There is a raih'oad, a station building, 
 coaches, and a locomotive. The locomotive looks 
 too young, though, to be set to work. But this is a 
 precocious country ; so there is no telling. Our cice- 
 rone relieves our curiosity by informing us that the 
 engine was imported from England, and was intend- 
 ed to run between Bagdad and the shrine of Kazmin. 
 But the road was so poorly constructed that it was 
 not safe for the little thing to exercise upon it; so 
 now the coaches are dragged by horses. Our guide 
 also volunteers the information that that old build- 
 ing on the opposite bank of the river contains heaps 
 of rusting machinery, sufficient to furnish a moderate 
 cotton factory. It seems that a few years ago the 
 idea occurred to the pasha of making a manufactur- 
 ing, city of Bagdad; thereupon this machinery was 
 ordered from Europe. But before it arrived some 
 other idea had suggested itself to the pasha, and 
 manufacturing interests languished. 
 
 Now we drift past an old bridge of boats, which 
 has been swung open to save it from a trip to the 
 gulf on the swollen river, and are fairly within the 
 city. On our left is the most showy edifice in Bag- 
 dad — the palace constructed for the Shah of Persia, 
 when the guest of the city a few years ago. The
 
 186 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 front of the building presents quite an attractive ap- 
 pearance: a large tower rises from each corner. It 
 is surrounded by a beautiful garden, planted with 
 trees and shrubbery; and altogether the view from 
 the river is very pretty. It is now occupied by the 
 Pasha of Bagdad, which explains the presence of the 
 guards in front. On our right are several coffee- 
 houses, opening on the river, and filled with turban- 
 ed smokers. We drift on past the substantial gov- 
 ernment-houses, recently constructed on an European 
 model. In front stands a large and lofty clock-tow- 
 er. Ui^on the western bank, nearly opposite, is the 
 city hospital, another substantial building, European 
 in style. And now more coffee-houses are passed, 
 and we float on between lines of crazy, two-storied 
 buildings, many of ^vhich are furnished with bal- 
 conies immediately overhanging the river. 
 
 Midway through the city we arrive at the bridge 
 of boats which unites the eastern and western por- 
 tions of the town. Here lies a flotilla of steamers. 
 How civilization is steaming its way into this Ori- 
 ental city ! One of these vessels is an English mail 
 steamer, connecting at Basrah with the line for India. 
 Just below the bridge we see the fine edifice of the 
 English Resident of Bagdad ; and away down the 
 river, through a long vista of buildings, w^e catch 
 sight of the palm-groves that fringe the Tigris as it 
 escapes from the city.
 
 BAGDAD. 157 
 
 An old minaret standing in the midst of the east- 
 ern portion of the town, dating back to A.H. 633, 
 will afford us a good coup d''oeil of the city. A 
 dark, winding stairway leads us to the summit of 
 the tower. 
 
 The view we have gained embraces the entire city 
 as it lies upon the banks of the Tigris. The dull, 
 level monotony of the yellow-gray mass of buildings 
 is in a measure broken and relieved by a score of 
 slender, graceful minarets, by several large domes of 
 mosques, some ornamented by glazed tiles, disposed 
 in various patterns, and by the crown of palms that 
 rise from the courtyards throughout the city. North 
 and south the town is lost in date-groves ; the small- 
 er portion on the western bank of the river is com- 
 pletely embowered with palms. The course of the 
 Tigris before it enters and after it leaves the city 
 can be followed by the eye for a long distance, by the 
 emerald line of vegetation which it traces on the des- 
 ert. Five miles up the river the four lofty minarets 
 and the gilded dome of the splendid shrine at Kaz- 
 min glitter amid the dark date-groves. To the east, 
 an arid, barren plain leads the eye from the ruinous 
 walls of the city to the distant horizon, along w^hich 
 is traced in low, indistinct outline the hills that bor- 
 der the great valley ; beyond the groves, along the 
 west bank, a flooded plain reaches out toward the 
 Euphrates. In this same direction, about six miles
 
 138 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 distant, the great mass of Akkerkuf, of Babylonian 
 origin, marking the site of an ancient temple, rises 
 conspicuous over the desert. 
 
 Descending from the tower into the city, we find 
 ourselves in a perfect labyrinth of streets and ba- 
 zaars. The former are narrow, generally not more 
 than eight or ten feet in width, and often not more 
 than six, and are lined with buildings one or two 
 stories in height, which usually present unbroken 
 blank walls : the buildings that border some of the 
 better streets are, however, furnished with lattice- 
 windows, such as are seen in Cairo; but the use of 
 these is not so common as in Egypt, and hence the 
 street views of Bagdad are devoid of that pictur- 
 esqueness that lends a sort of charm to the streets 
 of Cairo and Alexandria. 
 
 Some of the bazaars are fine brick arcades, wide, 
 lofty, and convenient, and furnished with stalls much 
 larger than those of either Aleppo or Damascus, some 
 attaining the dimensions of a moderate-sized store. 
 But others of the bazaars are not so well construct- 
 ed ; and, instead of the substantial arch of brick, 
 have ragged mats laid on poles for a roof: in these 
 the streets are wretchedly unclean, and in the sea- 
 son of rains almost impassable from mud. The va- 
 riety of wares dis^^layed in these bazaars is perfectly 
 bewildering, for here are brought together the prod- 
 ucts of both the East and West.
 
 BAGDAD. 189 
 
 It is a strano;e stream of life that we encounter 
 ilowing through the streets of this Oriental city. We 
 observe that a painfully large proportion of the pop- 
 ulation are wretchedly clothed, witnessing to wide- 
 spread poverty, degradation, and almost hopeless 
 wretchedness. Children, often naked as innocence, 
 fill the streets ; dervishes, covered with foul rags, 
 making " filth synonymous with piety," hold out their 
 bowls for charity ; closely veiled ladies, completely 
 wrapped in long, loose, blue garments, and mounted 
 on white asses fancifully dyed, as to mane and tail, 
 with a gay, bright, orange pigment, are constantly 
 passing us; Turkish officials, in gold and lace, and 
 girded with the inevitable long, crooked sword, clat- 
 ter pompously by ; now and then a really pretty 
 child, richly dressed and attended by a liveried serv- 
 ant, refreshes the eye; just to remind us of the out- 
 side world, a Frank now rushes against us ; and just 
 once we turn round to allow our eye to follow — in 
 Bagdad an excusable act — an European lady, with 
 Parisian bonnet and unveiled face. And thus we 
 pass on through the streets, meeting at times what 
 is pleasing, but more frequently that which is in- 
 different or absolutely offensive. We constantly find 
 ourselves drawing away from contact with what 
 prudence dictates us to avoid, dodging careless don- 
 keys, or droj^ping ourselves suddenly to avoid being 
 crushed by the swaying burdens of a train of camels.
 
 190 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 The cawass, clearing the way for persons of rank; 
 the drivers of mules and camels ; and the carriers 
 of burdens, are all shouting ^^halehf halehr which 
 means to take care, or get out of the way ; but while 
 clearing the way for one, we are sure to obstruct 
 somebody else's passage, whereupon a shrill " haleliP'' 
 causes us to make a sudden lunge in another direc- 
 tion, and thus our progress is the erratic course of a 
 shuttlecock. We are glad to escape at last from the 
 crowded streets, and to find ourselves safely and 
 comfortably ensconced uj)on a pillowed divan, and 
 watching through the lattice -window of our apart- 
 ment the stream of Oriental life still flowing on 
 through the street beneath. 
 
 It so happened at the time of our visit that the 
 Consul-general of Bagdad was absent from the city, 
 having gone to enjoy a season of camp - life in the 
 gardens of Hillah ; so during our stay at the capital 
 we were entertained at the home of the courteous 
 Vice-consul, Mr. Minas, a wealthy Armenian native of 
 Bagdad. This afforded us an opportunity, that could 
 not otherwise have been gained, of observing some of 
 the conventionalities of high life in the ancient city 
 of the caliphs. For although many European inno- 
 vations had been introduced in the domestic arrange- 
 ments of the home of the Vice-consul, still there was 
 so much left distinctly Oriental that we were constant- 
 ly entertained by things of novelty and interest.
 
 BAGDAD. 191 
 
 The residence of the Vice-consul was a large two- 
 story building, unattractive in its dull brick walls 
 without, but in the decorations of the interior re- 
 minding lis of the palaces of Damascus. (Orientals 
 care but little for that exterior ornamentation which 
 characterizes the domestic architecture of the West. 
 All the beauty of their homes — when beauty there 
 is — is as carefully walled in from public gaze as the 
 attractions of the harem are veiled from profane eyes.) 
 It was constructed about two courts, the inner and 
 largest being beautifully ornamented with flowers 
 and shrubs, and with orange and palm trees. The 
 former, just in blossom, loaded the air of the court 
 with fragrance, and scattered the ground with snowy 
 flakes ; while the latter were shaking out from their 
 bursting spathes their rich, showy tassels of gold. A 
 deep pillared corridor ran about the court, and this 
 was surmounted by a gallery, or balcony, on which 
 all the rooms of the upper story opened. 
 
 One peculiarity of the house was its semi-subter- 
 ranean apartments. All of the principal dwellings 
 of Bagdad are provided with these cellar-like rooms, 
 called serdauhs. From the first of June to the close 
 of September the heat is so intense as to drive the 
 inhabitants to these partly underground a23artments. 
 The thermometer during these heated months ranges 
 between 100° and 130° Fahr., seldom falling below 
 the former figure during any portion of the night. 
 
 O
 
 192 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 These serdauhs are not wholly subterraneous, as has 
 been represented by some, but are only about half 
 under ground, and are thus well ventilated and 
 lighted by windows set in the upper portion of the 
 walls.* The day is passed in these comparatively 
 cool apartments; the night upon the flat, parapet- 
 guarded roof. 
 
 The different apartments of the Consulate, all of 
 which had doors or windows opening to the inner or 
 outer court, to which reference has been made, were 
 spacious, and richly decorated in Oriental taste. The 
 walls and ceiling were ornamented with representa- 
 tions of vases of flowers, clusters of fruit and foliage, 
 and figures of birds, portrayed in pigment or stucco. 
 Persian carpets and divans, furnished with large pil- 
 lows to support the half reclining body, gave a suf- 
 ficiently luxurious appearance to the various apart- 
 ments. 
 
 The building used as the British Eesidency, the 
 home of the Consul-general of Bagdad, though some- 
 what larger than the one we have described, is too 
 
 * In the serdauh of the Residency we observed the destructive work 
 of white ants : the marble columns which supported the ceiling were 
 perforated, and in parts honey-combed, by these insects, just as trees 
 arc perforated l)y wood-borers. We were informed that these ants would 
 penetrate tin and iron, hy smearing them with a substance that par- 
 tially corrodes the metal and facilitates their operations. These in- 
 sects have been imported into Bagdad from India in boxes of mer- 
 chandise, and as yet infest, so far as we could learn, only the residences 
 of those who have by such means introduced them into their houses.
 
 BAGDAD. J 93 
 
 similar to it to require particular mention. The resi- 
 dence of Ekbol ul Deole, a deposed prince of India, 
 beld in great consideration at Bagdad, is one of the 
 finest in the city. We were his guest one evening, 
 and passed some pleasant hours in his luxuriously 
 furnished apartments. This prince was a special 
 friend of the Vice-consul, and it was through his 
 thoughtful introduction that we were indebted for 
 the pleasure of the interview. During the entire 
 period of our visit in Bagdad our courteous enter- 
 tainer was constantly furnishing us with facilities for 
 increasing our acquaintance in the city, and for se- 
 curing that information which we desired. We think 
 gratefully of these kindnesses even now ; for to them 
 we are indebted for many pleasant remembrances of 
 our visit. 
 
 Bagdad has a mosaic population of about one hun- 
 dred thousand. It rivals Constantinople in its mar-- 
 velous conglomeration of nationalities, religion, and 
 languages : there are Arabs and Greeks, Armenians 
 and Persians, Jews and Turks, Hindus and Kurds, 
 Franks and Africans; there are Moslems and Chris- 
 tians, Magians and Israelites, Buddhists and Infidels. 
 And the tongues are as numerous and confuted as 
 the most enthusiastic Biblical student could wish to 
 discover in such proximity to Babel : Arabic, Greek, 
 Armenian, Syriac, Persian, Hebrew, Turkish, Hin- 
 dustani, English, French, German, and Italian are the
 
 194 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 various mediums tlirough wbich the people make 
 themselves intelligible — or unintelligible — to one an- 
 other. It is Babel confounded. At the table of the 
 Consulate, conversation was sustained, by our party 
 of six, in nine different languages. It is a matter of 
 astonishment, the number of languages witli which 
 some of these Orientals are familiar. The son of our 
 entertainer, a young Greek Armenian, could speak 
 six languages fluently, passing from one to another 
 with unconscious ease. If we recollect correctly, it 
 is our worthy missionary, the Rev. Mr. Marsh, several 
 years a resident of Nineveh, who says that these 
 natives can not understand the Pentecostal miracle 
 of the gift of tongues. They think the miracle was, 
 not that they spake every man in the tongue of every 
 other, but that each should have been able to under- 
 stand only Ms own tongue. 
 
 The number of Sabbaths at Bagdad is also in 
 keeping with the confusion in other things. There 
 are four each week : the Yezidees, or devil-worship- 
 ers,* observe Wednesday; the Mohammedans, Fri- 
 
 * Although the Yezidees are scattered throughout several provinces of 
 Turkey, still their strongholds are the Jebel Siiijar, in Northern Meso- 
 potamia, and the hill districts of Kurdistan. They believe in one Su- 
 preme Deity ; but all worship is reserved for an inferior evil spirit, the 
 devil, who, they say, "must be conciliated and reverenced ; for as he has 
 the means of doing evil to mankind, so will he hereafter liave the pow- 
 er of rewarding them." Tlic philosophy of the whole doctrine seems 
 to be that, while tlie Good Spirit will harm no one, "it is prudent to be 
 on good terms with the Evil One. They will not pronounce the name
 
 BAGDAD. 195 
 
 clay; the Jews, Saturday; the Christians, Sunday. 
 The places of worship are, of course, as numerous as 
 the different sects: mosques are scattered all over 
 the city; synagogues are numerous; and there is a 
 fine Roman Catholic cathedral, a Chaldsean church, 
 and a Papal and an Orthodox Armenian church. 
 The Moslems number about seventy-five thousand, 
 or quite three fourths of the population, and the 
 different sects of Christians about three thousand. 
 
 The antiquities of Bagdad are neither very ancient 
 nor numerous. There are, however, some remains of 
 the golden period of the caliphate that excite our 
 interest. Just without the limits of the western 
 suburbs of the city stands the tomb of Zobeide, the 
 beautiful and favorite consort of the renowned Ha- 
 roun-al-Raschid. The monumental structure is very 
 unpretentious, and seems quite unworthy of having 
 committed to it the memory of the lovely Zobeide. 
 It is a curious brick edifice, consisting of an octagonal 
 base, about fifteen feet in diameter, and of equal 
 height, surmounted by a cone-shaped roof twenty-five 
 feet high, fretted so as to-reseml^le a pine-apple. Im- 
 
 of the devil, nor employ any word similar in sound. They recognize 
 the authority of the Bible and the Koran, their interpretations of which 
 are, of course, tainted with their peculiar belief. With the rites of 
 baptism and circumcision they blend various ceremonials of the Sa- 
 bian worship. They have endured much persecution from the Mo- 
 hammedans on account of their religious tenets. — Vide Layard's " Nin- 
 eveh and its Remains," vol. i., p. 235, et seq.
 
 IQQ REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 mediately about it are numerous groves: Moslems 
 love to repose near the tombs of their saints, that 
 they may have the benefit of their presence and in- 
 fluence at the resurrection. 
 
 Khan Aourtmeh, in the eastern portion of the city, 
 is a relic of early Saracenic architecture, it having 
 been constructed by the Caliph Haroun-al-Easchid. 
 It is a lofty vaulted structure, the roof being ribbed 
 by eight massive arches of brick. What the building 
 was originally designed for can not be pronounced 
 with certainty ; but at present it is used as a sort of 
 caravansary, or storehouse, for merchandise. 
 
 It seems almost as great an incongruity to think 
 of steamers and telegraphs in connection v^^ith the 
 city of the Arabian Nights as to speak of Jerusalem 
 and railroads in the same breath. But thus it is. 
 Modern civilization is a ruthless disenchanter. Every 
 spot hitherto sacred to the imagination is entered 
 and remorselessly disencharmed. The locomotive 
 goes thundering into the Eternal City; runs over 
 miles of waves to break the spell of the Italian " City 
 of the Sea;" screams distractingly beneath the very 
 shadow of the Athenian Temple of Theseus; rushes 
 over the length and breadth of the land of the Pha- 
 raohs, and drives out every thing sacred ; and now 
 a thousand slaves are smoothing a highway to the 
 Holy City, that the disenchanter may mount the hills 
 of Judea, and shriek thi'ough the olive -groves of
 
 BAGDAD. 197 
 
 Getlisemane, and undei- t~he walls of Mount Zion. 
 Nothing or no spot is spared. So, of course, the 
 " City of the Enchanters" must be disenchanted. 
 But, then, we ought hardly to call it disenchantment 
 either. These telegraph lines, reaching out from the 
 " City of the Caliphs," and with the " voices of their 
 tongues of fire" speaking across the surrounding 
 deserts, whispering beneath the seas to distant con- 
 tinents, are greater magicians than the magicians of 
 old. There are four of these telegraphic lines passing 
 out from Bagdad: one runs up the Tigris to Mosul, 
 and on to Constantinople ; another runs to Persia 
 and India; still another to Hillah and Basrah, to- 
 ward the south ; and a fourth crosses the Syrian des- 
 ert to Aleppo. 
 
 Upon the Tigris, directly in front of the city, where 
 formerly swam the barges of the caliphs, may gen- 
 erally be seen two or three of the fifteen steamers en- 
 ofao-ed in the commerce of the river. One of these 
 vessels is in the service of the English government ; 
 two belong to a private English company, and con- 
 nect at Basrah with the India mail line. The others 
 belong to the Turkish government, but are most of 
 them manned by English officers. There are also 
 many native sailing-vessels engaged in the traffic 
 of the river : kellics, similar to those employed on 
 the Upper Tigris, are occasionally freighted for 
 Basrah ; but the current of the river is too slow
 
 198 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 and UDcertain to render their employment advan- 
 tageous. 
 
 Various modern innovations are making their way 
 slowly into Bagdad. Steam-power is used in several 
 instances for raising water from the river for pur- 
 poses of irrigation. At the time of our visit pipes 
 were being laid for supplying the city with water, 
 which was to be elevated from the Tigris by means 
 of steam - engines. Gas-pipes had also just arrived 
 from England, and Bagdad was to be lighted like 
 any Christian city. As at Cairo, the spirit of reform 
 seemed to have taken the shape of street improve- 
 ment. The Consulate's street, which, for the thor- 
 oughffire of an Eastern city, was creditably straight 
 and wide, was being rendered still more commodious 
 by a municipal regulation requiring that those build- 
 ings whose front walls tumbled down should have 
 them, when restored, placed two yards back from 
 their former position. Many jags were thus occur- 
 ring in the line of walls ; and as many of the build- 
 ings seemed alarmingly disposed to precipitate them- 
 selves into the street, we had great encouragement 
 to hope for the early completion of the improvement. 
 And thus, notwithstanding the avariciousness of the 
 pashas of Bagdad,'''' and the impecuniosity of the 
 
 * Tlie present Pasha of Bagdad — not as a matter of i)nblic economy, 
 but of personal profit — discharges, at times, the salaries of the officers 
 of the Tigris steamers with bricks extracted from tlio city wall, or
 
 BAGDAD. ;[99 
 
 Turkish government, together with its profound apa- 
 thy respecting the welfare of the cities of the prov- 
 inces, this ancient city of the caliphs is awaking from 
 the dreams of the Arabian Nights, and its Rip Van 
 Winkle sleep of centuries, and under the inspiration 
 of modern ideas seems to promise the restoration of 
 somewhat of that prosperity which characterized it 
 when the brilliant seat of the Vicars of th':) Prophet 
 of Allah. 
 
 forces them to receive soap, obtained advantageously at Constantino- 
 ple, which they must dispose of at ruinous rates in the bazaars. Kep- 
 pel, writing in 1824, says that the pasha then in power paid the troops 
 in tol:)acco, from the sale of whicli tliey failed to realize half the amount 
 of their pay.
 
 200 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE KUINS OF BABYLON. 
 
 Present Condition of Babylonia. — Ancient Canals.— Nalir Malcha.— 
 Former State of Babylonia. — An Oasis.— Mountains of Ruins.— Gen- 
 eral Appearance of the Site of Babylon.— Palace-Mounds. — El-Kasr. 
 — Babylonian Bricks and Masonry.— A Sculptured Lion. — A Vener- 
 able Tree. — View from the Kasr.— Mound of Amran. — Ruins of Ne- 
 riglissar's Palace.— Walls of the Royal Quarter.— The Hanging Gar- 
 dens. — The Mujelibee.— Objections to Considering it the Remains 
 of the Temple of Belus.— Birs Nimrud.— Description of the Mound. 
 —A Babylonian Temple.— Conflicting Theories respecting the Ruiu. 
 —Probable Identification of the Birs with the Tower of Babel. — 
 Chaldpean Traditions. — Fire-blasted Appearance of the Ruins ex- 
 plained.— Designs of the First Builders.— Testimony of the Inscrip- 
 tions.— The Walls of Babylon.— The Fulfillment of Prophecy. 
 
 Perhaps there is no spot in the Eastern world, 
 save it be Jerusalem, richer in interesting associa- 
 tions to both the scholar and Christian than the site 
 of ancient Babylon — the " beauty of the Chaldee's ex- 
 cellency," the city of " pleasant palaces," whose peo- 
 ple dwelt carelessly, in haughty, luxurious, and defi- 
 ant indulgence ; the scene of the long and bitter cap- 
 tivity of the children of Israel, and the Avitness to 
 the utter fulfillment of the most vivid and startling 
 prophecies uttered by the seers of olden times. 
 
 To stand amid the " heaps " of Babylon, and read 
 for ourselves the story of her present desolation, was,
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. OQl 
 
 in all our visions of Eastern travel, looked forward 
 to with tbe most ardent anticipations. We need 
 scarcely add, then, that but a few days w^ere allowed 
 to elapse, after our arrival at Bagdad, before we had 
 made all the preparations necessary for a visit to the 
 ruins, which lie only about fifty miles from Bagdad, 
 in a direction slightly west of south. Respecting 
 the journey itself — which we accomplished in three 
 easy stages — we will introduce only such notes as 
 may be of use in sh owning the present state of the 
 once fertile provinces of Babylonia. 
 
 Immediately on leaving the gardens of Bagdad 
 we entered upon a half sterile plain, thinly clothed 
 in depressed spots with spring verdure, but other- 
 wise relieved only by the low desert shrub known 
 as the camel's thorn. The long, heavy banks of an- 
 cient canals intersected the plain in every direction, 
 showing with what care and labor the waters of the 
 Tigris and Euphrates were formerly distributed over 
 the entire face of the country. One is astonished at 
 the size and number of these ancient conduits, which 
 cover the plain like a net-w^ork. Some of them are 
 from forty to fifty feet wide, with embankments still 
 measuring, in their crumbled condition, twenty or 
 twenty-five feet in height. We observed that the 
 bottom of the canals, in the case of the larger and 
 more ancient ones, was invariably higher, by several 
 feet, than the level of the surrounding plain. If the
 
 202 
 
 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 embankments were originally formed solely by the 
 earth taken from the trench, as they doubtless were, 
 then even the complete destruction of these would 
 no more than restore the original level. Hence their 
 present condition may evidence the fact of the en- 
 largement of the banks by the sand removed in fre- 
 
 ANCIKM' liABYLOXIAN CANALS. 
 
 quent cleanings necessitated by the deposits of the 
 burdened waters of inundation. The choking of 
 these irrigants has also been largely aided by the 
 drifting sands, whirled into them by the wind — the 
 long lines of embankments serving as excellent break- 
 sands.
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 203 
 
 About one day's journey from Bagdad we crossed 
 the Nahr Malcba, or "Royal River," a grand ship- 
 canal, the supposed work of Nebuchadnezzar, and 
 possibly the Chebar of Ezekiel, uniting the Tigris 
 and Euphrates. Running parallel with this was a 
 smaller channel, like the former, now choked with 
 sand. Sometimes we observed as many as three par- 
 allel lines of canals in close proximity to one another. 
 It seems that when once a channel became filled 
 with sand it was less labor to excavate a new one 
 than to clear out the old. 
 
 From the Nahr Malcha we traversed for an entire 
 day a plain as barren as the Sahara, there being noth- 
 ing to redeem its sterility save scattering clumiDS of 
 the desert thorn, which the mirage converted into in- 
 viting groves of palms along the distant horizon. 
 During the first part of the day we traveled "from 
 mirage to mirage ;" but toward mid-day the east wind 
 had strengthened to a gale, and clouds of dust and 
 sand were whirling over the desert, obscuring every 
 thing, and compelling us to veil our faces. During 
 the day we were fairly startled thus: Upon a little 
 lull occurring in the sand-storm, we discovered a 
 chariot with horses looming up on the mirage, 
 ensconced in clouds of dust. In our perturbed 
 state of mind we could think of nothing save the 
 chariot of Elijah, which we had been told about in 
 our younger days. It proved to be the carriage
 
 204 KEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 of the Pasha of Bagdad, who was returning from 
 a visit to Hillah. We were glad when toward even- 
 ing we reached Khan Mohawil, our station for the 
 night. 
 
 This caravansary was situated on the line of a 
 modern canal, filled with a broad stream from the 
 Euphrates. By the side of this living canal ran a 
 larger and older channel, filled with sand ; and par- 
 allel to this, still another, also choked and dry. 
 Hard by the khan was a little cluster of native huts, 
 and some irrigated patches of grain and a single 
 grove of date-palms — ^just enough to show how the 
 barrenness of the desert might be converted into the 
 beauty of a garden, and made to "blossom as the 
 rose." But the rapacity of the Turkish government 
 leads it, by a short-sighted, suicidal policy, to la}^ 
 such a tax upon the waters of the canal that its util- 
 ization in redeeming the desert adjoining its course 
 is discouraged ; and thus, instead of leading a broad 
 strij^ of verdure through the country, it has only a 
 very scanty and broken fringe of irrigated fields. 
 Under different rule, every foot of this desert might 
 be restored to its former state, for the natural fecun- 
 dity of the rich alluvium is still as great as formerly, 
 and needs only the magic touch of water to change 
 its forbidding waste into nodding fields. All the 
 eai'ly writers, especially Herodotus, Xenoj^hori, and 
 Berosus, are almost extravagant when they come to
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 205 
 
 speak of the productiveness of the soil of Baljylouia. 
 Herodotus is reluctant to tell the truth, for fear that 
 his veracity may be doubted.* The luxuriance of 
 the vegetation that characterizes the little spot of 
 verdure created wherever the water is led out upon 
 the desert shows that the capabilities of the country 
 under the system of careful irrigation that prevailed 
 in the times of the Babylonian kings could scarcely 
 admit of overstatement. 
 
 The little oasis about Khan Mohawil reminded us 
 of that beautiful little spot of verdure called Ismailia, 
 on the line of the Suez Canal. Its isolation, the in- 
 terminable expanse of encompassing desert, the line 
 of water held by heavy embankments traversing this 
 wilderness of sand — these features of the Babylonian 
 scene made us almost believe that we were again on 
 the Libyan oasis. 
 
 But what interested us most in the view we ob- 
 tained from the summit of the lofty embankments 
 was what seemed a low hill rising out of the desert 
 away to the south. There are no natural eminences 
 on the Babylonian plains, and so we knew that the 
 
 * " This is of all lands with which we are familiar by far the best for 
 growth of com. . . . When it produces its best, it jdelds even three- 
 hundred-fold. The blades of wheat and barley grow there to full four 
 fingers in breadth ; and though I well know to what a height millet 
 and sesama grow, I shall not mention it ; for I am well assured that to 
 those who have never l^een in the Babylonian country what has been 
 said respecting its productions will appear incredible." — Herodotus, 
 bk. i., §193.
 
 206 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 hill which we saw was a mountain of ruins — one of 
 the " heaps " of Babylon. 
 
 The following morning we crossed the triple line 
 of canals, and pushed eagerly across the desert to- 
 ward the mound of which we had caught a distant 
 view the previous evening. As we approached, its 
 dimensions swelled into enormous proportions, that 
 seemed to impress as absurd the idea of its being the 
 work of man. We rode alongside its lofty walls of 
 earth, wondering at its immense mass ; and then, dis- 
 mounting, we clambered uj) a deep ravine, worn by 
 the rains of many centuries, and stood upon its lofty 
 summit. We saw nothing save the Euphrates, wan- 
 dering through a plain covered with enormous mounds 
 like the one we were upon. A desert — a river — 
 o-reat heaps of earth — these are not the usual el- 
 ements in that view which most interests or im- 
 presses us. Yet it is needless that we witness that 
 that very absence of grandeur, that very desolation, 
 connecting themselves as the}^ do with the high pur- 
 poses of heaven and the verities of history, were to 
 us more thrillingly impressive than all the architect- 
 ural glories we had seen gathered on the ancient 
 sites of the Roman world. 
 
 We spent three days in examining and comparing 
 the different mounds, and in fixing in our mind the 
 principal topographical features of the district, which 
 was doubtless embraced by the walls of Babylon.
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 
 
 207 
 
 And now, in describing the various masses of ruins, 
 we will disregard the order in which we visited 
 them, and will speak of the mounds in such succes- 
 
 FLAK OP THE MOUNDS OP BABYliON. 
 
 sion as we think will give the most intelligent view 
 of the remains which the great structures of Babylon 
 have left behind them.
 
 208 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Pursuing this j^lau, we will examine first the ruin- 
 ed palaces, both for the reason of the interest which 
 attaches itself to these, and also because of the cer- 
 tainty with which particular mounds may be identi- 
 fied as the remains of the residences of certain Baby- 
 lonian kings; then we will pass to other mounds, 
 not less prominent masses of ruins than those that 
 mark the site of the palatial edifices, but the identifi- 
 cation of any of which with any particular Baby- 
 lonian structure is still a matter of controversy, but 
 in some of which, without reasonable doubt, we may 
 find the ruins of the Hanging Gardens, the Temj^le 
 or Tomb of Belus, and the Tower of Babel. 
 
 The Babylonian palaces were, like those of Assyria, 
 lifted to a commanding height by massive substruc- 
 tions or platforms constructed of sun-dried bricks, 
 while the walls of the palaces themselves were built 
 of the same material, and these incased with more 
 durable kiln -burned bricks, or they were entirely 
 constructed of the latter. In their decay these 
 structures have loaded the platforms which they 
 surmounted with great masses of ruins; and thus 
 the grand palace-mounds of Babylon present exactl} 
 the same features as the Assyrian palace - mounds 
 which we have already seen at Nineveh. 
 
 The most interesting of the Babylonian palace- 
 mounds is the one called by the natives El-Kasr, 
 which has been identified as the remains of the royal
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 209 
 
 residences constructed by Nebuchadnezzar. It is the 
 central one of three immense masses of ruins that lie 
 close by the Euphrates, five or six miles above the 
 modern Arab villao-e of Hillah. This mound forms 
 almost a perfect square, being seven hundred yards 
 in length, and about as many in breadth, with an 
 elevation of from seventy to ninety feet, twenty or 
 thirty feet of which height is the debris of the palace 
 buildino-s. Thus this enormous mass of ruins covers 
 an area of more than one hundred acres. The top of 
 the mound is very irregular, having been dug into 
 in every direction by the natives in search of bricks. 
 The ruins of Babylon have been an inexhaustible 
 quarry for more than twenty centuries. Seleucus 
 Nicator is said, and probably with truth, to have 
 constructed his capital city, Seleucia on the Tigris, 
 of material transported by means of the canals then 
 existing from Babylon. Following his example, 
 almost all subsequent builders of cities, caravan, 
 saries, or structures of any kind in the adjoining 
 regions have laid these ruins under heavy contribu- 
 tion. 
 
 From some natives eno-ao-ed in this work of ex- 
 huming bricks we obtained a very fine specimen. 
 The stamp it bears is that of Nebuchadnezzar — all 
 of the bricks found in this mound being impressed 
 with the name and title of that king. The brick 
 is thirteen inches square, and three and a half inch-
 
 210 
 
 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 BABYLONIAN BRICK. 
 
 es thick. This is the averao;e size of all the 
 baked bricks found in the ruins, the dimensions 
 of none ever varying more than one inch from these 
 figures. 
 
 Although the greater portion of the surface of 
 the Kasr mound is covered with shapeless heaps of 
 debris^ there is a sjngle mass of solid masouiy still 
 remaining — a portion of the palace wall, eight feet 
 in thickness, constructed of well -burned bricks, so 
 strongly cemented together that the bricks are broken 
 in the effort to remove them. We spent more than 
 an hour m\)0\\ different portions of this wall in un- 
 successful efforts to obtain an uninjured specimen, 
 for the sake of the very fine impression which each 
 brick bears. 
 
 Toward the northern edge of this " Palace" mound, 
 for such is the meaning of the native name Kasr, is
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 
 
 211 
 
 BABYLONIAN LION. 
 
 a very interesting relic of Babylonian art — a roughly 
 hewn sculpture in basalt, representing a lion stand- 
 ing over a prostrate man.* 
 The sketch made by Keppel ..^^ — 
 is one of the best represen- 
 tations we have seen of this 
 curious piece of rude sculpt- 
 uring, to which a special in- 
 terest attaches, as it is the 
 only specimen, of Babylo- 
 nian sculpture "in the round" that has been dis- 
 covered.f 
 
 Some have supposed this figure to be commem- 
 orative of the casting of Daniel into the lion's den, 
 urging in support of this view the very natural sup- 
 position that such an event in the life of one who 
 came afterward to be governor of Babylon would 
 be commemorated by some such monument.;^ Un- 
 supported as this view is by any inscription, we can 
 regard it only as a conjecture, if not a probable one, 
 
 * Respecting the size of the figure, Keppel says : " The length of the 
 pedestal, the height of the shoulders, and the length of the statue, 
 measured in each of their respective parts nine feet." — " Travels," p. 
 132. M. Oppert, as quoted by Rawlinson, states the length of the lion 
 as "four miters,'''' or thirteen and a half feet, and its height "three miters. 
 or nine feet ten inches." We did not measure the statue, but are of 
 opinion that the latter figures are the more nearly correct ; the propor- 
 tions are certainly not such as are indicated by Keppel. 
 
 t Rawlinson, " Ancient Monarchies," vol ii., p. 558. 
 
 X Keppel, " Travels," p. 123.
 
 212 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 at least one tliat has the advantage of not being easily 
 disproved. 
 
 There is another object of interest upon the Kasr 
 mound, standing near this basaltic statue. This is a 
 venerable tree, a species of tamarisk, called by the 
 Arabs athele^ and supposed by those who believe 
 that the ruins of the Hanging Gardens are to be 
 looked for amid the heaps of the Kasr mound to be 
 a relic of the trees that shaded those elevated pleas- 
 ure-grounds of Queen Amytis. This tree has been 
 noted by each successive visitor to the ruins of 
 Babylon, it being the only tree growing on any of 
 the mounds, save a date-palm that rises from the 
 inclosure of a Mohammedan waly that crowns the 
 mound of Amran. We found it dead ; its old de- 
 caying trunk and blasted limbs in more appropriate 
 keeping with the desolation of the ruins than its life 
 and foliage of former years. Its advancing old age 
 has been so frequently alluded to that we deem no 
 apology needed for this record of its death. 
 
 The view from this palace-mound is one of the most 
 remarkable to be gained from the summit of any 
 of the ruins. Fragments of brick and pottery are 
 strewn over the surface of the mass, and the soil is 
 white with nitre derived from the bituminous mor- 
 tar, so that the mound is absolutely barren of vegeta- 
 tion. The same is true of all the other mounds and 
 ramparts that make up the desolate surroundings.
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 213 
 
 South of tlie mound the ground, though above the 
 waters of inundation, presents the appearance of a 
 recently dried-up salt marsh. It is covered in part 
 with tufts of swamp grass, and the soil is impreg- 
 nated with nitre, which forms a sort of saline crust 
 that breaks beneath the foot. A very different scene 
 from what Nebuchadnezzar surveyed when he walked 
 the terraces of this his grand palace, and spake thus 
 to himself: "Is not this great Babylon, that I have 
 built for the house of the kingdom by the might of 
 my power, and foi' the honor of my majesty ?"* 
 
 * Dan. iv. 30. We can not forbear calling attention to the remarks 
 of Dr. Pusey (in his " Lectures on Daniel," 2tl ecL, p. 428) upon the mad- 
 ness of Nebuchadnezzar, which apparently, from the narrative, fell upon 
 liim immediately on the utterance of these words. He says that the 
 atliiction was a disease known as lycanthropy, in which the sufferer 
 imagines himself to be some animal, and acts as though he really 
 were. The Greek writers make mention of such a form of insanity. 
 Dr. Browne, Commissioner of the Board of Lunacy for Scotland, whom 
 the above writer quotes, says : " I was accustomed to distinguish a 
 class of my patients as foecophagi, or eaters of ordure; and another 
 class as sarcophagi, individuals who have desired to eat, or who have 
 conceived that they have eaten, or who have attempted to eat, human 
 flesh ; and a third class as phytophagi, who devour grass, leaves, twigs, 
 etc. I have had such cases, as well as stone-swallowers," etc. 
 
 While pathology thus silences those who have endeavored to cast 
 ridicule upon the Scriptural account of Nebuchadnezzar's malady, his- 
 tory, as read in the inscriptions of that king, also comes forward to 
 witness to the reliableness of the Biblical record. The " Standard In- 
 scription" tells us that for a certain period of time Nebuchadnezzar 
 ceased all his great works, and that all his undertakings were at a 
 stand. The weight of this as corroborative evidence will be at once 
 appreciated. Vide Rawlinson's " Historical Evidences," p. 137. Pro- 
 fessor Fiske, in his " Myth and Myth-makers," collects some of the most 
 remarkable cases of lycanthropy.
 
 214 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Hard by the ruined palace, on the north, growing 
 upon the low deposits of the river, are some willows 
 overhanging the watercourses. They were just flow- 
 ering at the time of our visit, and while gathering 
 from them souvenirs we could hardly forbear think- 
 ing of that lament, containing the soul of pathos, 
 uttered by the homesick captives of Israel when 
 called to sing the song of Zion in the land of their 
 exile : And they hung their harps on the willows by 
 the river, and said, ''How shall we sing the Lord's 
 song in a strange land V 
 
 Separated from the Kasr ruin by the marsh re- 
 fen-ed to above is the somewdiat larger, irregular, 
 deeply furrowed mound of Amran. It repeats so 
 nearly the features of the Kasr that any particular 
 descrij^tion of it is unnecessary. This heap marks 
 the site of the residences of the earlier Babylonian 
 kings. This identification is abundantly established 
 by the notices of ancient writers — who fix its posi- 
 tion relative to the later structure of Nebuchadnezzar 
 — and by recent research. 
 
 Upon the western bank of the Tigris, facing the 
 mound of Amran, are traces of extensive ramparts, 
 inclosing a large area, where are found remains of 
 an extensive building, which the stamp borne by all 
 the bricks indicate as the palace of Neriglissar. An 
 inscribed cylinder discovered here also ascribes the 
 erection of the building to that king.
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 0^5 
 
 Such, tlien, are the remains that the royal resi- 
 dences, the " pleasant palaces " of Babylon, have left 
 to mark their ancient sites. Besides the palace- 
 mounds themselves and their crowning ruins, there 
 are extensive lines of ramparts, which represent the 
 old walls that inclosed these edifices, which, thus de- 
 fended, constituted the citadel of the city, or what 
 has been called the " Royal Quarter." The enceinte 
 of the palaces on the east bank of the river embraced, 
 as indicated by the existing ramparts, a triangular 
 area about seven miles in circuit. The Euphrates 
 seemed to have formed the western defense. The 
 walls that inclosed the remaining sides have, in 
 crumbling, left the heavy earthen ramparts referred 
 to, which, though not quite continuous, may be 
 traced, often in double line, for an aggregate distance 
 of four or five miles over the plain. 
 
 Besides the two palace-mounds already described, 
 there are numerous other heaps of ruins, of various 
 dimensions, lying within this vast inclosure. One 
 of these deserves particular mention, as it has been 
 thought by some to be the remains of the famous 
 Hanging Gardens. This is a lofty reddish mound, 
 the El-Homeira of the natives, about three hundred 
 yards in length, lying only a short distance from the 
 Kasr. As respects the identification of this or any 
 other Babylonian ruin with the celebrated Hanging 
 Gardens, we may observe that all theories upon the
 
 216 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 subject are highly conjectural. Quiutus Curtius ex- 
 pressly states that it stood upon the Palace (Kasr) 
 mound, in close proximity to the royal residences of 
 Nebuchadnezzar. For this reason Keppel and many 
 others following him search among the dehris, of that 
 mound for the remains of the structure. Rawlinson 
 thinks that some of the heaps lying between the 
 Kasr and Amran mounds may, perhaps, be the ruins 
 for w^hich we are searching. Others, as already inti- 
 mated, consider the claims of the El-Homeira as bet- 
 ter founded ; and not a few insist that the massive 
 Mujelihee (a mound we shall presently proceed to ex- 
 amine) is the only ruin worthy of representing the 
 second wonder of Babylon. 
 
 And as the identification of the actual site of 
 the Hanging Gardens must — at least till further re- 
 search discovers some monument that shall throw ad- 
 ditional light upon the subject — be relegated to the 
 region of doubt and conjecture, so, respecting the 
 form of the building, we are left in so much of un- 
 certainty that a restoration of the structure can hard- 
 ly be attempted. M. Oppert has, however, ventured 
 to form a plan of the work. He makes the edifice 
 rise in successive terraces, eight or nine in number, 
 of constantly decreasing size, so as to form a huge 
 pyramidal pile. The effect of such a structure, with 
 the rising terraces loaded with every kind of trees, 
 could not be otherwise than strikingly beautiful.
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 217 
 
 Rawlinson, on the other hand, without attempting 
 a reconstruction, gives as his opinion that the struct- 
 ure was lifted in tiers of arches, placed one upon the 
 other in such a manner that the face of the wall was 
 " a single perpendicular line." We were, at first, at 
 a loss to conceive liow these two writers should have 
 come to entertain such different conceptions of the 
 edifice. But after examination we found that the lat- 
 ter had received his impressions respecting the form 
 of the edifice from Diodorus, who says that " its ap- 
 pearance was that of a theatre." But Diodorus neg- 
 lects to tell us whether the view he has in mind be 
 an interior or exterior one. It is from this obscurity, 
 we infer, that has arisen the difference of opinion re- 
 specting the construction of the gardens. The recon- 
 struction of M. Oppert presents no more resemblance 
 to the exterior of a Roman theatre than does the pyr- 
 amid of Cheops, but it does mimic well the eftects 
 of the risino; tiers of seats within. Hence it seems 
 that it was the interior appearance of a theatre that 
 the French antiquarian had in mind in his restora- 
 tion. Ra^vlinson, however, when he makes the walls 
 rise perpendicular, with tiers of arch over arch, draws 
 his conception from the exterior appearance of an am- 
 phitheatral wall. Quintus Curtius describes the gar- 
 dens as presenting the appearance of a mountain 
 clothed with forest. The terraced structure of Op- 
 pert, w^ith its successive elevations shaded with vege-
 
 218 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 tation, would seem to imitate very exactly the appear- 
 ance of a wooded hill; and in favor of the other 
 plan, that of giving the edifice perpendicular walls, it 
 vv^ill at once be seen that the appearance of the trees 
 crowning the lofty wall would pleasingly mimic the 
 effect of a forest overhanging a precipice. The Per- 
 sian mountains, especially those about Ecbatana, 
 abound in such picturesque views — lofty and rocky 
 acclivities crowned with vegetation; and if the 
 gardens were, as there is no good reason to doubt, 
 constructed by Nebuchadnezzar for the gratifica- 
 tion of his consort, Amytis, languishing for the 
 scenery of her native Media, we may suppose that 
 such a plan of structure would be adopted as should 
 most faithfully reproduce one of the most striking 
 features of the views afforded by that mountainous 
 country ; and especially may we suppose so as this 
 would necessitate no departure from the usual plan 
 adopted in the erection of such structures. Among 
 all the bass-relief representations of Assyrian hanging 
 gardens discovered by Layard at Eoyunjik and Birs 
 Nimrud there is no suggestion of the pyramidal plan 
 of building, but the garden is invariably formed on a 
 single roof, supported by a single tier of arches or 
 pillars. The Babylonian edifice, we may reasonably 
 suppose, was constructed on the same plan ; only with 
 the piers and arches lifted story upon story, so that 
 the surmounting garden should overhang the city at 
 a commanding: heis'ht.
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 
 
 219 
 
 Having now completed our survey of the most im- 
 portant of the mounds embraced by the great inclos- 
 ure,we must proceed to the examination of some other 
 important ruins lying beyond the limits of the "Koyal 
 Quarters." Just without the ramparts, about one 
 mile north of the Kasr mound, lies an enormous 
 crumbled mass, called by the Arabs Mujelihee^ which, 
 in its uncorrupt form, viz., Muhallaheh, means the 
 
 MOUNT) OF MUJELIBEE (BABIL). 
 
 '''' overturned^ In the significance of this name some 
 have thouo;ht to find a monument of the disastrous 
 
 * At the time of Layard's visit the Arabs seem to have designated 
 this mound by the term Bahil; and Rawlinson, following that writer, 
 adopts this name. But the earlier visitors, Rich and Ker Porter, dis- 
 tinguished it as the Mujelibee, and this being the name by which our 
 Arabs knew it, we have retained the same in our description.
 
 220 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 fortunes of the builders of the " First Tower." With 
 the exception of the Birs Nimrud, which will here- 
 after be described, the Ifujelihee is the most impos- 
 ing ruin in Babylonia. It forms a somewhat irreg- 
 ular square, about six hundred feet both in length 
 and breadth; and this enormous mass is carried up 
 to a height of over one hundred and forty feet. It 
 resembles exactly a natural hill ; for, being composed 
 of sun-dried bricks, the whole exterior portion of the 
 mass has crumbled into earth, and the rains of two- 
 score centuries have worn out deep gullies that fur- 
 row every side of the ruin, and form hiding-]3laces for 
 the different animals of the desert. Wild beasts, no 
 doubt, often seek refuge in these furrowed mounds ; 
 yet in climbing up the ravines of the Mujelihee we 
 started up nothing more dangerous than a couple of 
 hares. These cuttings serve to reveal the construc- 
 tion of the mass, which appears to be uniform through- 
 out. Layers of reeds were placed between the courses 
 of brick, and these have been so remarkably preserved 
 that they can still be drawn out by handfuls in as 
 perfect a condition as when laid twenty, and perhaps 
 more, centuries ago. Upon the summit, toward the 
 southern edge of the mound, a fragment of solid ma- 
 sonry, composed of furnace bricks, is visible. 
 
 What structure of ancient Babylon this ruin repre- 
 sents is a matter of controversy. Pietro della Valle 
 thouo-ht he had found here the veritable Tower of
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 221 
 
 Babel, and this opinion Las never been without its 
 supporters ; others have thought the building to have 
 been an astronomical observatory or a sepulchral 
 monument ; while still others have contended that it 
 ^vas the Temple of Belus or the Hanging Gardens. 
 Amid such a conflict of opinions it is im]3ossible to 
 hope to arrive at any entirely satisfactory conclusion. 
 From the extensive nature of the ruin, however, we 
 may justly infer that the building, whatever may 
 have been its purpose, was one of the most imposing 
 of the edifices that adorned the city of Babylon ; and 
 it is this consideration mainly that leads Rawlinson 
 to suppose the ruin in question to be that of the cele- 
 brated Temple of Belus, which all the ancient writers 
 concur in representing as the chief wonder of the city 
 and the grandest monument of Babylonian architect- 
 ure. But in making these identical he creates a most 
 stubborn difficulty, which it must seem to most he 
 fails to dispose of satisfactorily. It is well known 
 that the Temple of Belus, as we learn from the de- 
 scriptions of Herodotus, was constructed in the form 
 of a pyramid, rising in seven successive stages or ter- 
 races.* Now the ruin of the Mujelibee consists of a 
 
 * Herodotus thus describes the structure : " In the middle of each di- 
 vision of the city fortified buildings were erected ; in one the royal pal- 
 ace, with a strong, spacious inclosure, brazen-gated ; and in the others, 
 the precincts of Jupiter Belus, which in my time was still in existence, 
 a square building of two stades on every side. In the midst of this 
 precinct is built a solid tower of one stade both in length and breadth.
 
 222 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 single platform ; so, if we suppose it to be the remains 
 of that ancient temj^le, and receive Herodotus's ac- 
 count of its form as correct, we must, in some way, 
 account for the entire disappearance of the six sur- 
 mounting stages. Their removal can not have been 
 effected by the action of the elements, for in that case 
 the summit of the mound, instead of being flat, as it 
 actually is, would present a pyramidal aj^pearance. 
 The demolition, then, if such there have been, must 
 have been the work of man. For the execution of 
 this herculean labor Rawlinson summons to his aid 
 ten thousand men from the army of Alexander, and 
 employs them for several weeks in removing the de- 
 bris — and the difficulty. Alexander certainly set his 
 army to the task of removing the rubbish that en- 
 cumbered the terraces of the Temple of Belus — which 
 had been previously pillaged and left in a ruinous 
 condition by the Persian conquerors — but as his ob- 
 ject was restoration, not destruction, we can hardly 
 suppose that he busied his men clearing away im- 
 mense masses of brick-work that must again be re- 
 placed. 
 
 We withhold assent from the above theory not 
 
 and on this tower rose another, and another upon that, to the number 
 of eight. And an ascent to these is outside, running spirally round all 
 the towers. About the middle of the ascent there is a landing-place 
 and seats to rest on, on which those who go up sit down and rest them- 
 selves; and in [upon] the uppermost tower stands a spacious temple. 
 And in this temple is placed, handsomely furnished, a large couch, and 
 by its side a table of gold." — Herodotus, " Clio," bk. i., § 181.
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 
 
 223 
 
 without diffidence, nor a full appreciation of the diffi- 
 culties attending the identification of any existing 
 Babylonian ruin with the Temple of Belus ; but still, 
 after a patient comparison of conflicting hypotheses, 
 
 RUms OF BIRS NIMRTJD. 
 
 the one which appears to us most probable and sat- 
 isfactory is this: that Herodotus confounded names, 
 and described the Temple of Nebo, at the suburban 
 town of Borsippa, for that of Belus, situated within 
 the city walls. The tower-temple of Nebo, as we 
 shall see a little later, exactly accords with the de- 
 
 Q
 
 224 KEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 scription by fhe historian. If we accept this theory, 
 then we may regard the Mujelibee as representing 
 the Temple of Belus, and are at liberty to suppose 
 that the principal feature of the edifice, as indicated 
 by this ruin, was a single enormous terrace or stage, 
 surmounted only by the temple building. This re- 
 lieves us of the labor of clearing off the rubbish of 
 four or five upper stages.'^ 
 
 Let us now proceed to an examination of the Birs 
 Nimrud referred to in the preceding paragraph. 
 This mound is situated on the west bank of the Eu- 
 phrates, about ten miles to the south of the Mujeli- 
 bee. It towers up grandly over the desert, present- 
 ing at a distance the appearance of a castellated hill. 
 The height of the ruin is one hundred and fifty-three 
 feet above the plain ; but, though exceeding the ele- 
 vation of the Mujelibee by twelve or fifteen feet, the 
 rapid decrease in its dimensions as it rises causes it 
 to lose somewhat of that impression of massiveness 
 imparted by the enormous bulk of that ruin. The 
 surmountins; mass of brick-work is cleft almost from 
 summit to base, and gapes apart. But what elicits 
 the greatest feelings of wonder are the vast masses 
 of vitrified brick that lie heaped upon the summit 
 of the mound. They seemed to have been fused by 
 
 * M. Oppert thinks to relieve the difficulty by making Bel and Nebo 
 identical, and considering Borsippa as a sort of suburb of Babylon, ly- 
 ing between the outer and the inner wall.
 
 THE KUmS OF BABYLON. 225 
 
 an intense heat, and while in a half-molten state con- 
 torted like rock strata. 
 
 The view we gained from the summit of the mound 
 was a most dreary one : west and northwest the des- 
 ert was inundated from the overflow of the Eu- 
 phrates, and presented the appearance of a vast sea, 
 covered with low, marshy islands. These slightly 
 elevated spots were literally crowded with the mat- 
 constructed huts of the Maydan, or " unwise " Arabs ; 
 and surely they must be devoid of ordinary wit to 
 lead such an amphibious life. So immense was the 
 number of little reed huts that appeared in the dis- 
 tance, glistening in the sunlight, that we at first 
 thought the marshes to be covered with vast flocks 
 of water-fowls. All around we could discover the 
 natives, paddling about among the reeds in their ca- 
 noe-like skifts. Fear of the Turkish government, we 
 were told, drives these Arabs to these marshy districts, 
 where they may be safe from sudden cavalry raids. 
 
 We may here observe that the inundation of the 
 country about the Birs rendered it exceedingly diffi- 
 cult for us to reach the mound. Although it lies 
 not more than five miles in a direct line from Hillah, 
 we were obliged to make a detour of over twice that 
 distance in order to reach the ruin. In one instance 
 one of the little donkeys that made up our train 
 sank half out of sight in a marshy place, and had to 
 be lifted out bodily.
 
 226 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 At the base of the tower-raound on the southeast 
 side — for the angles of the pyramidal ruin face the 
 cardinal points — is an extensive quadrangular mass 
 of crumbled brick- work, evidently the remains of 
 buildings that formed the adjuncts of the temple 
 that surmounted the pyramid. Separated from this 
 by a distance of a few yards is another deeply fur- 
 rowed mound, of still larger proportions than the 
 one immediately adjoining the tower. But the ruin 
 to which the greatest interest attaches is, of course, 
 the pyramid itself Before the excavation made by 
 Sir Henry Rawlinson, the only indication of building 
 to be seen was the crowning mass of masonry. The 
 action of the elements for two thousand years had so 
 crumbled the exterior of the structure as to conceal 
 completely its artificial construction, so that the mass 
 was by those that first visited the ruins of Babylon 
 mistaken for a hill. Indeed, quite recently Major 
 Keunell, in a paper controverting some views ad- 
 vanced by Rich respecting the topography of the an- 
 cient city, contended that this mass was not the w^ork 
 of man, but a natural eminence. But Rawlinson 
 laid bare some of the terraces, and discovered the 
 exact plan of the tower. It was simply a vast pyra- 
 mid, two hundred and seventy feet in length and 
 breadth at its base, rising in seven successive stages, 
 each smaller than the one it rested upon, to the 
 height of one hundred and fifty-six feet above the
 
 THE RUINS OF B2VBYLOK 227 
 
 plain. Surmounting the upper terrace was tlie shrine 
 or temple proper, a fragment of which, perhaps, exists 
 in the mass of masonry already referred to as crow^n- 
 insr the summit of the mound. 
 
 As the religion of the Babylonians was a sort of 
 Sabianism — the adoration of the "host of heaven" 
 — their temples were erected with a view to astro- 
 nomical observations. The great temple -tower of 
 the Birs might be considered a temple - observatory. 
 Each stage was of a peculiar color to represent one 
 of the seven planets, or " Seven Spheres." Various 
 means were adopted for securing the desired tints: 
 thus in the case of the stages, for illustration, assign- 
 ed to the sun and moon, it is evident that the faces 
 of the terraces were covered respectively with plates 
 of gold and silver.* This elaborate ornamentation 
 must have given the structure a strikingly gorgeous 
 appearance, which, in connection with its imposing 
 proportions, must have struck the beholder at once 
 with awe and amazement. 
 
 While speaking of the religion of the Babylonians, 
 we must call attention, by a single remark, to the 
 prominent nature of the religious element or instinct 
 in the Babylonian character. The Biblical record of 
 that people is tinged throughout with this character- 
 istic; and now the researches of antiquarians come 
 
 * " Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society," vol. xviii., art. i., p. 6. 
 Rawlinson, " Ancient Monarchies," vol; ii., p. 586.
 
 228 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 in to reassert the same fact, and to show what pre- 
 eminence, amid all sciences and learnings, was accord- 
 ed to the worship of the national gods. They might 
 justly have been charged, as were the Greeks, with 
 being in all things too superstitious. All over the 
 land the lofty ziggurats^ or towers, of the temples 
 arose in honor of the deities of their worship. It has 
 been estimated that the number of mounds upon the 
 Babylonian plains which mark the sites of ancient 
 temples will amount to many hundreds. Had the 
 Babylonians possessed requisite building material 
 — something besides clay — the Euphrates would to- 
 day flow amid ruined temples of architectural grand- 
 eur and majesty unrivaled even by the Karnacs and 
 Luxors that encumber the banks of the Nile. 
 
 The Birs, as we have had occasion already to re- 
 mark, was considered by all the earlier writers upon 
 the topography of Babylon as the remains of the 
 famous Temple of Belus, which so excited the ad- 
 miration of the Greek writers, and which was classed 
 as one of the seven wonders of the world. But the 
 inscriptions, as suggested before, have corrected this 
 error, and identified the ruin with the Temple of 
 Nebo that stood at Borsi2:)pa. But another ques- 
 tion, of more interest to the general reader than that 
 respecting Bel and Nebo, has arisen concerning the 
 identification of the Birs Nimrud ruin with the an- 
 cient Tower of Babel : for we must not necessarily
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 229 
 
 suppose that this structure was afterward included 
 within the walls of Babylon ; and so the question as 
 to the inclusion of the Birs Nimrud within the city- 
 limits will not concern us while pursuing this in- 
 quiry. 
 
 The impression has always obtained, and doubtless 
 it is a correct one, that the undertaking of the first 
 post-diluvians to construct on the plains of Shinar 
 a monument that might perpetuate their name, while 
 at the same time serving as a central attraction on 
 those sea-like expanses, was not interrupted by the 
 interference of Heaven till the construction, whatever 
 nature of building it was, had so far advanced as to 
 promise a successful completion. Hence it has been 
 assumed that a structure of the magnitude which the 
 " Tower " must have assumed before the builders were 
 forced to desist from their work must have left some 
 prominent remains to mark the site of the great un- 
 dertaking. With this belief, it was altogether natu- 
 ral that the early visitors to the ruins that lie upon 
 the Chaldsean plains should have at once concluded 
 that the Birs Nimrud, the loftiest mass of ruins in 
 Babylonia, was, without doubt, the remains of the an- 
 cient Tower. Its great height, its isolated grandeur, 
 its comparative proximity to those masses of ruins 
 that were undoubtedly the remains of the Baby- 
 lonian palaces, all conspired to strengthen the belief. 
 The actual condition of the crowning masses of ma-
 
 230 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 soniy confirmed, in the mind of the beholder, the 
 conviction of the correctness of the identification. 
 
 It was a notion once very generally entertained, 
 and which still exists in some minds, that the Babel 
 structure was violently overthrown as a mark of 
 Heaven's disapproval. It is scarcely necessary to 
 observe that this belief finds no support whatever in 
 the Biblical narrative, but rests solely on the author- 
 ity of the early writers Eusebius and Josephus, who, 
 themselves following Chaldsean historians, or tradi- 
 tions extant in their day, state that the offended gods 
 overthrew the tower by means of a " storm of wind."* 
 It is no matter of surprise that with this belief of 
 the partial demolition, at least, of the Tower through 
 some violent interference by Heaven, Benjamin of 
 Tudela, whose wanderings led him to the Babylonian 
 plains about A.D. 1170, should, with that cloven 
 mass of brick-work which surmounts the ruins before 
 him, and with those huge, plutonic, fire-blasted frag- 
 ments, of which mention has been made, piled at his 
 feet, and, moreover, assured that he was at least close 
 by the site of ancient Babylon — it is no wonder that 
 with such evidences about him he should at once 
 have leaped to the conclusion that this was the ver- 
 itable Tower of Babel, and here the proof of the 
 miraculous overthrow of the Tower by fire — for, to ac- 
 count for the blasted appearance of the ruins, he at- 
 
 * Kitto's " Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature."
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 031 
 
 tends the storm of wind ^vith the lightnings of heav- 
 en."* It is from these sources that comes the some- 
 what popular impression that the Tower was actually 
 overthrown, and that lightning was one of the agents 
 employed by Heaven in effecting the purpose. 
 
 Respecting the vitrified, fire-blasted masses of ma- 
 sonry that crown the Birs, it has been ascertained 
 that they are fragments of the sixth stage, which was 
 purposely subjected to the action of fire — probably 
 by being covered with some combustible substance, 
 which in burning produced a sufliciently intense 
 heat to convert it into a vitrified mass — the ob- 
 ject being to give the terrace a cerulean hue, the 
 conventional tint assigned to Mercury, which planet 
 the stage represented. 
 
 The writers above referred to, Eusebius and Jo- 
 sephus, are also responsible for another somewhat 
 popular misconception respecting the Babel Tower: 
 viz., that the object of the builders was to provide a 
 retreat for themselves in case of the recurrence of 
 the catastrophe that had so recently swept away the 
 greater portion of the human family. The Biblical 
 account, however, assigns no such motive to those 
 engaged in the work. The reason that the sacred 
 writer represents the builders themselves as giving 
 — the making of a name lest they should be scattered 
 
 * Ker Porter reasons in exactly the same way. Vide "Travels," 
 vol. ii., p. 319.
 
 232 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 — is exactly sucli an ambition as we find, all tlirougli 
 tlie history of those early nations, prompting to the 
 construction of imposing edifices, and leading to the 
 centralization, at the city of the royal residences, of 
 all of the most magnificent monuments that the toil 
 of an entire nation might create. • Such a centraliza- 
 tion as that proposed by the builders of the Tower 
 would, doubtless, have soon given them influence 
 and a name ; but as this procedure would have con- 
 travened the divine purpose, that had in view the 
 repeopling of the countries desolated by the Flood, 
 we see the ambitious design thwarted by a natural 
 but powerful disorganizing agency which had not 
 been taken into their calculations, and the people 
 that might otherwise have been entirely given to 
 the work of conquest, and devoted to the object of 
 forming a powerful centralized community, spread- 
 ing rapidly over the earth, and at different centres 
 creating states so balanced in strength as to best 
 subserve by their natural inter-relations the welfare 
 of the race, and most certainly insure the develop- 
 ment and advance of history. 
 
 The means by which the dispersion of mankind 
 was effected — viz., the confusion of tongues — is so 
 connected in the sacred narrative, and in the minds 
 of its readers, with the Tower of Babel, that a word 
 here respecting that circumstance can not be out of 
 place. The thought uppermost in the minds of the
 
 THE RUINS OF BxVBYLON. 233 
 
 builders was, as we have seen, centralization ; the 
 outcome was dispersion. It has been quite generally 
 believed that this result was effected by a sudden 
 and miraculous confusion or divergence wrought in 
 the language of those engaged in the enterprise. 
 This view rests entirely upon the form of speech 
 employed in the Biblical narrative. But that we 
 have here again failed to aj^preciate and rightly in- 
 terpret the vivid, highly metaphorical language of 
 the East admits of no doubt. It may be asked. Why 
 need there be any anxiety to eliminate the miracu- 
 lous element from the occurrence? The following 
 protest from a fugitive article relative to this subject, 
 recently from the pen of the Rev. E. P. Powell, ex- 
 actly expresses the ground of our anxiety: "Is not 
 such teaching leading the young mind to look for 
 God in strange, exceptional occurrences, rather than 
 in the life and movements of every day ? Do we not 
 prevent a hearty, every-day piety and trust ? Again, 
 is there any proof of this interpretation 1 Are there 
 ten men of fair claims to a position in the scientific 
 world who do not laugh at the idea ? But scientists 
 are nearly all skeptics, atheists, etc. Are they ? And 
 why, unless it be that our nonsense is mistaken by 
 them for our theology, and the absurd clinging to 
 back-age notions has severed them from sympathy 
 with us ?" 
 
 These few sentences give, in a condensed form, the
 
 234 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 reasons that lead so many of our most earnest Biblical 
 scholars to protest so strongly against the misinter- 
 pretation of the language of the Bible by those who 
 persist in understanding as literal statements lan- 
 guage that bears unmistakably upon its face the im- 
 petuous, dramatic expression of Oriental metaphor. 
 The purging the Scriptures of this gratuitous myth- 
 ical element, which act is regarded with such pious 
 horror or timid apprehension by these verbalistie 
 translators, is the very thing which is to redeem the 
 sacred writings from that obloquy which, as inti- 
 mated by the above-quoted writer, has fallen upon 
 them in the estimation of scientists. We will not, 
 of course, be understood as suggesting as a welcome 
 consummation the complete elimination of the mirac- 
 ulous from the narratives of the Scriptures. We only 
 protest against such gross misinterpretations as un- 
 wisely and gratuitously subject them to the liability 
 of having ascribed to them an improbable or myth- 
 ological character. Buddhism, Brahminism, and Is- 
 lamisni are inherently weak, because permeated with 
 mythical and mythological elements ; which, not 
 being susceptible of explanation upon any theory 
 of rational, metaphorical interpretation, must inevi- 
 tably crumble when subjected to the influences of 
 modern thought, and drag down into ruins the en- 
 tire structures into which they are inwrought. By 
 our own misconceptions, misinterpretations, and mis-
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 235 
 
 appreciations, our own sacred writings have been 
 rendered liable to contempt and assault — as they 
 have often been contemned and assaulted — by un- 
 friendly criticism. The miraculous has its place, 
 and an all-important one, in the Scriptural scheme, 
 and in the system of divine government; but when 
 the end in view is possible of attainment by nat- 
 ural means — specially and wonderfully directed, if 
 you will — this element is never called into requi- 
 sition. The on-goings of the world of nature have 
 been but seldom broken in upon by the operations 
 of a higher law. When the disturbed and conflicting 
 forces of nature — we use an illustration suggested, 
 we think, by Dr. Bushnell — are commanded, " Peace, 
 be still," and suddenly they are all hushed to hear 
 the voice of their Master — when thus they are called 
 to quick and miraculous obedience, the end in view 
 is one which could find most effective attainment 
 only in such wonderful and manifest acknowledg- 
 ment of subjection. But should it lessen our con- 
 ceptions of the omnipotence of God, because we dis- 
 cover that his high purposes are achieved more 
 frequently than we were wont to think by the em- 
 ployment of natural means ? Is our reverence for 
 the Great Creator less, after learning that our world, 
 instead of being called into existence full-grown, with 
 its mountains capped with snow, and its rivers seek- 
 ing the seas, was evolved by slow geological processes
 
 236 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 througli long eons ? Shall we give less glory to the 
 God of Israel, because, when " the Assyrians came 
 down like a wolf on the fold," instead of discovering 
 the angel of the Lord actually going, sword in hand, 
 through the camp of the enemies of Jerusalem, and 
 smiting a hundred and fourscore and five thousand,"^ 
 we detect only the pestilential miasma of the Egyp- 
 tian marshes, or the noxious, hot breath of the desert ?f 
 Was the deliverance of Israel less wonderful, if thus 
 delivered? Was it less divine? Not if there be a 
 Providence, as well as a miracle-working God. Again : 
 Is that a wisely reverential literalism which so repeats 
 the language of the narrative respecting the plague 
 wrought upon the waters of Egypt for the deliverance 
 of Israel as constantly to invite the charge, so impa- 
 tiently urged, of intrinsic improbability? To so inter- 
 pret, or misinterpret, the sacred writer, as to charge 
 him with representing the Nile as actually turning to 
 the element of blood, is not a less absurd literalism 
 than that which contorts the words of Scripture into 
 support of the doctrine of transubstantiation. J 
 
 * Isa. xxxvii. 36. 
 
 t Hclirew scholars inform us that the expression " Angel of Jehovah" 
 is a Hebraism, meaning often any physical cause of destruction, as the 
 plague, a storm, or a pestilential fever. Vaux supposes the agent which 
 destroyed the Assyrian army to be a pestilential "blast" from the des- 
 ert. Dr. Smith says : " The secondary agency is usually sui)posed to be 
 a pestilence, caused (if the event occurred at or near Pelusiuni) by the 
 malaria of the delta marshes." — "Ancient History of the p]ast," p. 395. 
 
 J See Speaker's " Comuientary upon the Plagues of Egypt." As 
 some of our readers may not have this work at hand, we will quote
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 237 
 
 Now we would not characterize any received in- 
 terpretation of the Babel narrative as wholly non- 
 sensical and irrational; yet we do state it as our 
 conviction that that construction which implies a 
 sudden and miraculous change in the language of 
 the builders of the Tower is a most grievous depart- 
 ure from the truth. The primal characteristic of lan- 
 guage is its susceptibility of differentiation. This 
 is one of its natural and inherent features, and must 
 consequently have belonged to it when first it be- 
 came man's endowment ; and thus the post-diluvians, 
 as soon as their communities became in anywise ex- 
 tended, must have experienced the inconvenience of 
 springing dialects, more or less divergent from one 
 another. And how great a change might have taken 
 place in a comparatively limited time may be learn- 
 
 the comments on Exodus vii. 17: "In accordance with tlie general 
 character of the narrative, it might be expected that this miracle would 
 bear a certain resemblance to natural phenomena, and therefore be one 
 which Pharaoh might see with amazement and dismay, yet without 
 complete conviction. It is well known that before the rise the water 
 of the Nile is green and unfit to drink. About the 25th of June it be- 
 comes clear, and then yellow, and gradually reddish, like ochre ; this 
 effect has been attributed to the red earth brought down from Sennaar, 
 but Ehrenberg proves that it is owing to the presence of microscopic 
 cryptogams and infusoria. The depth of the color varies in different 
 years; when it is very deep, the water has an offensive smell. Late 
 travelers say that at such seasons the broad, turbid tide has a striking 
 resemblance to a river of blood. The supernatural character of the 
 visitation was attested by the suddenness of the change, by its immedi- 
 ate connection with the words and acts of Moses, and by its effects. It 
 killed the fishes, and made the water unfit for use, neither of which 
 results follows the annual discoloration."
 
 238 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 ed from observation of the rapid differentiation of 
 Asiatic languages witliin the later periods of historic 
 times. It is perfectly surprising to observe within 
 what circumscribed districts in the East different 
 dialects will spring up. Owing to the lack of inter- 
 communication, and the absence, as to the masses, of 
 a common literature, the language of the inhabitants 
 of any given city or province is, to a certain degree, 
 unintelligible to the inhabitants of neighboring cities 
 or provinces. Even in the compact Chinese nation, 
 the almost infinite number of tongues is the most 
 serious embarrassment to extended missionary en- 
 terprise. Upon the Peninsula of India there are 
 spoken to-day twenty-three languages, as distinct 
 from one another as the Latin is from the Greek, and 
 the dialects are numbered by hundreds. The Koran 
 has done much toward preserving a uniform learned 
 language among the nations of Western Asia ; but 
 the tongue of the common people is broken up into 
 an immense number of dialects. The vocabulary of 
 Arabic words and phrases with which we started out 
 from Beyrout became largely obsolete before we had 
 traveled a week toward the North. Dr. Nutting, of 
 Aleppo, the pastor of the native church in that city, 
 told us that he could scarcely make himself intelligi- 
 ble to a Damascene audience. It is in the light of 
 such facts as these that we should read the Biblical 
 story. Not a missionary in Turkey with whom we
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 239 
 
 conversed upon this subject of tbe Confusion of 
 Tongues, but expressed great impatience of tlie gross- 
 ly antliropomor23liic character of the popular inter- 
 pretation of the narrative. Why thus render the 
 whole account suspiciously mythic ? The case makes 
 no demand whatever for the puerile, absurd, Jupiter- 
 Olympian miracle conjured up by a persistently 
 stupid and obtuse literalism. 
 
 We are aware that Niebuhr lent his high authority 
 in support of the views of a sudden and miraculous 
 divulgence of the primal tongue of mankind; for 
 thus only could he account for the seeming lack of 
 affinity between the three great groups of languages. 
 But since he committed himself to that opinion, phil- 
 ological study has made such advances as to force us 
 to the conviction that, as the multitude of languages 
 embraced by any one of the great families of human 
 speech have demonstrably arisen through the opera- 
 tion of natural causes that have gradually produced 
 these divergences, so have the great families them- 
 selves a similar history, being not the product of an 
 arbitrary intervention of divine power, but the nat- 
 ural outgrowth or resultant of causes coeval with 
 the creation of the race. 
 
 But we are being led away from the main inquiry 
 — Are the remains of the Tower of Babel to be found 
 in the mass of the Birs Nimrud ? The mound certain- 
 ly marks the site of a grand tower-temple, that was 
 
 R
 
 240 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 erected about one thousand years after the Flood, 
 the principal features of which edifice can be traced 
 in the present ruin. But in the erection of that vast 
 tower-temple may not advantage have been taken of 
 an existing structure or mound ? and, if so, might we 
 not reasonably infer that that ruin was the remains 
 of the Babel structure ? Now, just at this point, to 
 aid in the solution of these questions, comes the dis- 
 covery, beneath the ruins of the Birs Nimrud, of two 
 inscribed c}''nders, which expressly state that the 
 temple erected by Nebuchadnezzar was constructed 
 upon a previously existing ruin ; that the tower, the 
 principal feature of the temple, was, in truth, but the 
 restoration of a structure that had suffered consider- 
 able deterioration under the wear of time. 
 
 Before giving this inscription, we should at least 
 refer to the circumstances under which the cylinders 
 that bear these celebrated records, which are now in 
 the British Museum, were discovered. The Babylo- 
 nian temples were always constructed upon the same 
 general plan as the one at Borsippa ; only in the case 
 of the inferior structures the number of stages was 
 reduced to two or three terraces. In the lower por- 
 tion of the angle of these stages commemorative 
 cylinders were invariably deposited. These were 
 simply finely finished, inscribed tubes of baked clay, 
 varying in length from one foot to three feet. Pre- 
 vious to the search made at the Birs Nimrud for such
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 241 
 
 records, there had been discovered a considerable 
 number of these relics at Ninev^eh : the famous one 
 of Tiglath Pileser I. (B.C. 1120), at Kileh Sherghat, 
 upon the Tigris, to which reference has already been 
 made ; and also the interesting cylinders of Naboni- 
 dus, from the great stage at Mugheir, which, as re- 
 marked in a previous chapter, has been unmistakably 
 identified as the site of the ancient Ur of the Chal- 
 dees. So when Sir Henry Rawlinson commenced his 
 excavations at the Birs, he set his workmen to the 
 task of laying bare the corners of one of the central 
 stages, which he rightly inferred would be preserved 
 by the accumulated dehris resulting from the crum- 
 bling of the uppermost platforms. Having exposed 
 one of the angles, he directed his workmen to take 
 down the corner. His Arabs could see no sense in 
 digging into a solid wall, and worked witb but little 
 spirit. Slowly, one after another, the bricks are re- 
 moved, till the lower part of the stage is reached ; 
 when lo ! a " treasure-hole " is revealed, and the aston- 
 ished Arabs lift out a perfect cylinder, curiously let- 
 tered, which the workmen of Nebuchadnezzar hid 
 away so carefully more than a score of centuries ago. 
 Rawlinson, excited with joy, seizes the trophy to see 
 what mysteries it may have to reveal. In his glow- 
 ing account of the discovery, he says : " I sat down 
 for a few moments on the ruins of the wall to run 
 over the inscription on the cylinder, devouring its
 
 242 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 contents witla that deep deliglit which antiquarians 
 only know — such, I presume, as German scholars 
 have sometimes felt when a Palimpsest yields up its 
 treasures, and the historic doubts of ages are resolved 
 in each succeeding line."* 
 
 The inscription has been translated by several cu- 
 neiform scholars, each proceeding independent of the 
 labors of the others ; the correctness of the several 
 versions is evidenced by the substantial agreement 
 of the diiferent renderings. The following is the 
 version given by Talbot. Although but a portion 
 of the inscription refers to the " Tower of Borsippa," 
 still we will give it entire, that our readers may see 
 the usual form of the royal records : 
 
 " Nebuchaduezzar, king of Babylon, the glorious Sovereign, closely 
 united to the heart of Marduk, the great high-priest, the worshiper 
 of Nebo, the glorious Ruler, whose soul has urged him to declaim the 
 glories of the Supreme God : the blameless priest ; the restorer of the 
 Temples and the Sacred Treasuries ; the eldest son of Nabopolassar, 
 king of Babylon — I am he. 
 
 "The favor of Marduk, the Great King, gave unto me a royal birth, 
 and to me he has intrusted the completion of his sacred edifices. And 
 Nebo, the judge of the races of heaven and earth and the chosen dwell- 
 ing-place of Marduk, king of the race of the Gods, and also the temple 
 of Kua, the shrine of his treasury, I rebuilt anew. With gold and sil- 
 ver and precious stones, incrustcd upon planks of meshukan and cedar- 
 wood, I completed its adornments. 
 
 " The Temple of the Si^here, which is the Tower of Babylon, I rebuilt 
 and finished, and with slabs of the precious zamat-stone I crowned its 
 
 * " Journal of the Asiatic Society," vol. xviii., art. i., which see for 
 Rawlinson's narrative of his excavations at the Bii's Nimrud.
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 243 
 
 summit. A7id hy Msfavor^ also, I rebuilt the Temple of the Seven Spheres, 
 icMch is the Tower of Borsippa, which a former Mng had hiilt, and Tmd 
 raised it to the height of forty-two ciibits, hut had not completed its croion or 
 summit. From extreme old age it had crumbled down. The water-courses 
 lohich once drained it had been entirely neglected. From their own weight 
 its h'ieJcs had fallen down; the finer slabs tchich cased the briclc-worlc %oere 
 all split and rent, and the hricTcs which had formed its mound lay scattered 
 in ruins. 
 
 " Then the Great Lord MarduTc moved my heart to complete this temple; 
 for its site w foundation had not been disturbed, and its timibel, or sacred 
 foundation-stone, had not been destroyed. 
 
 '■'■In the month Shalmi, on afestivalrday, I replaced and reneiced both the 
 bricks of its mound and the finer slabs of its . . . Then I firmly fixed up its 
 miJcitta, and I placed upon its new crown the sculptured inscriptions of my 
 name. For its summit and its upper story Imade . . . lihe the old ones. I 
 rebuilt entirely this upper portion, and I made its crown or summit as it 
 had been planned informer days. 
 
 " Then do thou, O Nebo, divine son of the supreme deity, thou most 
 exalted tanJcallam, and Siltuth beloved by Marduk, bless abundantly 
 the work which I have done in these edifices ! and grant unto me 
 plenty of years, an illustrious progeny, a firm thi'one, and a prolonged 
 life ; a triumjih over foreign nations, and a great victory over my ene- 
 mies. Grant these things to me abundantly, and even to ovei-flowing. 
 . . . And may that name in which I put my trust — Nebuchadnezzar — 
 and also my title of King obedient to the Gods, be ever protected by 
 thy holy sceptre !"* 
 
 The significance of tlie italicized paragraphs refer- 
 ring to the Temple of the Seven Spheres, in relation 
 to the identification of the site of the ancient Tow- 
 er of Babel, is obvious. ' There is, at least, a high 
 probability that the uncompleted tower, crumbled 
 from " extreme old age," which Nebuchadnezzar was 
 
 * " Journal of the Asiatic Society," vol. xviii., art. ii.
 
 244 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 " moved to complete," was really tlie remains of that 
 ancient structure. M. Oppert, the most eminent au- 
 thority upon Babylonian topography among French 
 antiquarians, expresses his belief in the reliableness 
 of the identification, by prominently designating the 
 record of the cylinders as " L'inscription de Borsippa 
 ou de la tour de Babel."* 
 
 The excavations that have been carried on at the 
 Birs also corroborate the inscription, and afford proof 
 of the fact that we have here a ruin upon a ruin. 
 Upon driving his tunnels into the mass near the base 
 of the mound, Eawlinson discovered that the interior 
 portion was composed of crude, or sun-dried bricks, 
 the layers of which varied about 12° from the outer 
 courses in the direction of their lines. That the inner 
 mass was of a different and greater age than the out- 
 er and upper portions of the mound was plainly indi- 
 cated. 
 
 It has been suggested that the change in the direc- 
 tion of the layers of brick observed in the earlier and 
 later structure might, by being considered as the 
 measure of astronomical variations, give data for de- 
 termining the exact age of the first edifice. But the 
 amount of change is too great to give sanction to the 
 supposition of its astronomical origin. But that a 
 portion of the change in the direction of the lines may 
 have had such a course is not altogether improbable ; 
 * " Journal of the Asiatic Society," vol. xviii., art. ii.
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 245 
 
 for the stages built by Nebuchadnezzar vary five or 
 six degrees from an exact northeast and southwest, 
 or northwest and southeast direction (it will be re- 
 called that their angles were intended to front the 
 cardinal points), and this discrepancy is generally 
 admitted to be due to astronomical variations. M. 
 Fresnel, upon the ground stated in the annexed note,* 
 believes it assignable to the magnetic variation of the 
 needle. It is not absolutely incredible that those 
 crossing lines within the Birs may yet make some 
 startling revelations respecting the relative ages of 
 the difi'erent ruins that make up the mound, and the 
 absolute age of the earlier work. Perhaps these ru- 
 ins upon the Babylonian plains will some day be 
 found the allies of the Egyptian monuments in push- 
 ing back into a m3^sterious antiquity the age of man 
 and of civilization. 
 
 There is still another argument which, in our mind, 
 must strengthen the theory of the identification of 
 the Birs Nimrud with the Babel tower in the minds 
 of those who, relying upon the inscriptions, regard 
 this mound as marking the site of Borsippa, a town 
 
 * " Je trouve effectivement, clans mes notes, pour la direction cl'un 
 aSroduc du Birs, pris au hasard ; nord-oiiest cinq ou six degres (de I'aiguille 
 aimant^e de ma boussole). Or la declinaison gtant ici occidentale 
 (comme chez vous), et justiment de six degres, nous pouvons en conclure 
 legitimement que Torientation exacte des quatre faces de la tour de 
 Belus etait nord-ouest et sud-est, dans un sens, et nord-est et sud-ouest, 
 dans Tautre, ou, ce qui revient au meme, que ses quatre angles regaj"- 
 daient les quatre cardinaux." — " Journal Asiatic," Juillet, 1853, p. 59.
 
 246 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 quite distinct, indeed distant several miles from 
 Babylon. While speaking of the controversy re- 
 specting the identification of the Birs with the Tem- 
 ple of Belus, we stated that many rest in the conclu- 
 sion that this ruin does represent that edifice, and 
 was included within the walls of Babylon. The sup- 
 porters of this opinion urge, as an argument in favor 
 of their views, that it is incredible to suppose that a 
 town of second importance in the kingdom, like Bor- 
 sippa, should contain a structure of such magnitude 
 as this one now composing the heap of the Birs. 
 Now somewhat of this improbability will be removed, 
 if we will bear in mind the fact that the dimensions 
 of the structure must have been largely determined 
 by the proportions of an existing ruin. And thus, 
 perhaps, we may find an explanation of the excep- 
 tional existence of an edifice of such magnificent pro- 
 portions without the walls of the capital city ; which, 
 in those early times, generally embraced within its 
 own limits all architectural works of a nature calcu- 
 lated to excite wonder and admiration. 
 
 While we have been enoao-ed in this somewhat 
 lengthy search, amid many confused hea23S, for the 
 palaces, temples, and " hanging gardens" of Babylon, 
 even going beyond the limits of the ancient city to 
 find the Temple of Nebo and the probable remains 
 of the Tower of Babel — wliile conducting these ex- 
 aminations, this question has probably suggested it-
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 247 
 
 self to our readers, Where are the broad walls of 
 Babylon ? Although we must have crossed the line 
 of the ancient walls in entering the city from the 
 north, and passed and repassed it in visiting the Birs 
 Nimrud, we saw not the trace of a mound lying on 
 the desert that we might presume was a fragment of 
 those mighty ramparts. Nor has the most careful 
 search discovered a sino;le trace of them. "The 
 broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken" 
 were the words of pro^^hecy, and they have found a 
 literal fulfillment. 
 
 The entire disappearance of the walls of Babylon 
 is the more remarkable when we recall their vast cir- 
 cuit and really astonishing thickness and height. As 
 to the area they inclosed, the estimates of ancient au- 
 thors vary. Herodotus makes the walls inclose a 
 square of just fourteen miles. Ctesias, however, re- 
 duces the enceinte to a square of exactly ten miles, 
 and this is the smallest estimate of any authority. 
 Respecting the thickness and height of the walls, the 
 estimates are more discre2:»ant. The figures of Herod- 
 otus are here again the largest, that author making 
 the width of the walls eighty-five feet, and their 
 height three hundred and twenty-five; Strabo gives 
 the more moderate measurements of thirty-two feet 
 for the thickness, and seventy-three for the height. 
 Taking even the lowest estimates for the actual di- 
 mensions of the walls, it seems almost impossible that
 
 248 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 every trace of such enormous ramj)arts should be en- 
 tirely obliterated. But both the violence of man and 
 the lona: action of the elements combined to break 
 them down. Cyrus dismantled the walls ; and when 
 the city was retaken by Darius, after its revolt from 
 the Persian authority, that conqueror reduced their 
 height, in order that the city might not possess such 
 powers of resistance a second time to his army ; and 
 then again Xerxes, Demetrius Poliorcetes, and Alexan- 
 der are all said to have successively dismantled and 
 broken down the reduced ramparts. If these con- 
 querors did not throw them down entirely, the ele- 
 ments would easily have completed the work ; for the 
 walls were only earthen ramparts, and would readily 
 drop back in the deep moat from which the material 
 had been taken. 
 
 We passed our last night upon the site of Eaby- 
 lon in camp, beneath a beautiful date-grove. We al- 
 lude to this circumstance because the fact of their be- 
 ing palm-groves, gardens, Arab villages, and encamp- 
 ments within the limits of the ancient city has been 
 triumphantly pushed forward by those who have de- 
 sired to cast a reflection upon the truthfulness of 
 prophecy, and to others has been the occasion of hon- 
 est remark, implying an unexj^lained discrepancy be- 
 tween prophecy and fact. 
 
 The camp alluded to above was Colonel Herbert's, 
 the English Resident at Bagdad, who, with a number
 
 THE RUINS OP BABYLON. 049 
 
 of friends and a large train of attendants, had come 
 to the gardens of Hillah for a short respite from 
 duty. The Colonel very conrteously made us the 
 guests of his tent. Almost his first words, after a 
 mutual interchange of greetings, were : " I fail to dis- 
 cover the desolation of desolations here. Why, this 
 morning 'I sketched a view from this spot, looking 
 down the river, and it is one of the richest pictures I 
 ever saw ; and here I am encamped upon the old site 
 in a beautiful grove !" 
 
 It is true that the Euphrates leads a beautiful belt 
 of verdure across the ancient site. Both above and 
 below the village of Hillah — which is an Arab town 
 of from ten to twelve thousand inhabitants, situated 
 upon the river about five miles below the group of 
 ruins which have herein been designated as the 
 '' Royal Quarter " — the Euphrates is lined with 
 patches of cultivation, or date-groves, known as " the 
 Gardens of Hillah." The vistas of th-e palm-fringed 
 river are indeed beautiful : such as we have de- 
 scribed as being formed by the Tigris just before it 
 enters the city of Bagdad. They serve to convey 
 some conception of what must have been the beauty 
 of the Babylonian capital, when the multitude of 
 canals, which intersected the entire district, created 
 thousands of interlocking bands of foliage, which con- 
 cealed the city beneath what seemed a continuous 
 forest of palms, above which alone rose the lofty
 
 250 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Hanging Gardens, the magnificent residences of the 
 kings, and, rivaling all in wantonness of splendor, the 
 bright-hiied and burnished stages of the Temples of 
 Bel and Nebo. Notwithstanding the general deso- 
 lation of the site, we were, at first, somewhat per- 
 plexed upon observing the beautiful groves, and the 
 Arab villas-es and tents beneath the trees; for we 
 had in mind the words of prophecy : " No man shall 
 dwell there " — " The Arabian shall not pitch his tent 
 there ;" and our conversation with Colonel Herbert 
 tended naturally to deepen our perplexity. But a 
 little incident of the night served to give us worthier 
 conceptions of the scope and meaning of prophetic 
 imagery. The evening had scarcely set in before a 
 storm arose in the distance, and came up rapidly over 
 the desert, heralding its advance with clouds of sand 
 that blackened the sky from horizon to horizon. It 
 was dark when the storm burst upon our camp. 
 The winds blew with the strength of a tornado, and 
 threatened to carry away our tent. The lightnings 
 shivered with quick succeeding flashes the surround- 
 ing blackness, and revealed, in lurid, fitful glare, the 
 vast, shapeless mass of the Mujelibee ruin ; Avhile the 
 winds bore in from the desert the mournful cry 
 of the jackal. Amid such surroundings we were 
 brought into sympathy with the ancient seer, when 
 " the grievous vision of the night appeared to him, 
 and he was dismayed at the seeing of it ; while his
 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 251 
 
 heart panted, fearfuluess affrighted him, and the night 
 of his j^leasiire was turned into fear;"'^ and, borne 
 away by the impulses of feeling, he gave utterance 
 to the burden of Babylon with that startling impet- 
 uosity of Oriental passion which finds fit expression 
 only in the intensest dramatic language of poetic im- 
 agery. Yet so fearful, so tremendous are the events 
 which are to become historic, that are revealed to the 
 prophetic ken in startling vividness, deep in the gloom 
 and vagueness and mystery of the oncoming cent- 
 uries, that all the extravagances of Eastern poetical 
 hyperbole are scarcely more than faithful transcrip- 
 tions of the events thus darkly casting their shadows 
 before. 
 
 Still, while establishing the parallelism of proph- 
 ecy and history, we are not always to insist that ev- 
 ery statement of the highly wrought, poetical fore- ' 
 casting shall be taken literally. Our remarks re- 
 specting the interpretation of the Babel narrative will 
 find an equally apposite apj)lication here. When 
 the prophet declares that satyrs (demons) shall dance 
 amid the ruins of the deserted city, we are not ex- 
 pected to set up an absurd watch for Satanic orgies. 
 
 Instead of being surprised that there should occur 
 verbalistic divergences between prophecy and Bab- 
 ylonian history, we are rather astonished at the won- 
 derful coincidence between the vivid portrayal of 
 
 * Isa. xxi, 3-4.
 
 252 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 prophetic vision and the sober statement of historic 
 verities. Standing amid the heaps of Babylon, sur- 
 rounded by the vast rain-furrowed masses of her de- 
 cayed palaces and temples, we are overwhelmed with 
 the impressions of the scene, are astonished at the 
 completeness of her mighty overthrow, and can find 
 fullest expression for our excited emotions only in the 
 language of prophecy : How is the hammer of the 
 whole earth cut asunder and broken ! how is Baby- 
 lon become a desolation among the nations !* How 
 is she cast up in heaps and utterly destroyed !f How 
 art thou, O Babylon, once the glory of kingdoms and 
 the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, become as 
 when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah !J How 
 is thine end come and the meas.ure of thy covetous- 
 ness, O thou that dwelt upon many waters, abun- 
 dant in treasures ! § How art thou become an aston- 
 ishment and a hissing ! || how is every one that goeth 
 by thee astonished !** How are thy broad walls ut- 
 terly broken Iff How hath the oppressor ceased, the 
 golden city ceased !JJ How art thou made a posses- 
 sion for the bittern, and j^ools of water ! how hast 
 thou been swept with the besom of destruction ! §§ 
 How is the great sea of thy inhabitants dried up.|||| 
 
 * Jer. 1. 23. 
 
 II Jer. li. 37. 
 
 11 Isa. xiv. 4. 
 
 t Ibid. 1. 26. 
 
 ** Ibid. 1. 13. 
 
 §§ Ibid. xiv. 23. 
 
 X Isa. x.'ii. 19. 
 
 tt Ibid. li. 58. 
 
 nil Jer. 1.38. 
 
 § Jer. li. 13. 
 

 
 THE RUINS OF BABYLOX. 053 
 
 How is Bel confounded, and Merodacli broken into 
 pieces !''' Hoav art tliou follen from Leaven, O Luci- 
 fer, son of tlae morniuo; ! Low art thou cut down to 
 the earth that didst weaken the nations ; how weak 
 art thou become that madest the earth to tremble, 
 that didst shake kingdoms !f 
 
 Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, 
 saith the Lord God of hosts.J Sit thou silent, and 
 get thee into darkness, for thou shalt no more be 
 called The lady of kingdoms.§ Come down, and sit 
 in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon ; sit on 
 the ground, for there is no more a throne for thee, O 
 daughter of the Chaldseans.l 
 
 * Jer. 1. 2. ■ I Jer. 1. 31. U Isa. xlvii. 1. 
 
 t Isa. xiv. 12-16. § Isa. xlvii. 5.
 
 254 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE LOWER TIGEIS AND SHAT-EL- AEAB. 
 
 Departure from the City of the Caliphs.— Mounds of Seleucia and Ctes- 
 iphon. — Ruins of the White Palace of Khosru. — Sacked by the Sara- 
 cens. — Its Treasures. — A Royal Persian Carpet. — Madayn. — The An- 
 cient Nahrwan Canal. — A Paradise Transformed into a Desert. — 
 River Scenes. — Mountain Views. — An Unsuccessful Experiment. — 
 Through the Marshes. — A Meandering River. — Amphibious Arabs. 
 — Junction of the Tigris and Euphrates. — Garden of Eden. — The 
 Shat-el-Arab. — Tropical Forest. — A Beautiful Water-path. — Amazo- 
 nian Scene. — Picture of Arab Life. — Pilgrims from Mecca. — Pilgrim- 
 ages and Railroads. — The Steamship Cashmere. — A Wonderful Coun- 
 try. — In the Persian Gulf. 
 
 By the time we had examined all that was calcu- 
 lated to invite curiosity in the City of the Caliphs, the 
 advancing heat of April warned us to hasten ou.r de- 
 parture. So on the tenth we took passage upon the 
 little steamer Digleli, one of the line plying be- 
 tween Bagdad and Basrah. It was scarcely light as 
 we stole out of the city and quietly on down the 
 river — down through the gardens and groves that 
 usher one out of the City of the Faithful. 
 
 Three hours from Bagdad we are steaming be- 
 tween the mounds of Seleucia, that lie on the right 
 bank, and the great arch of Tak-Kesra, which on the 
 left bank marks the site of the Parthian Ctesiphon
 
 THE LOWER TIGRIS AND SHAT-EL-ARAB. 
 
 ^00 
 
 aud the later Persian MadayD. Long lines of mounds, 
 numerous irregular Leaps, a fragment of massive wall 
 and arch — these traces of ancient buildings lying on 
 a low plain, half overgrown with bushes and weeds, 
 are the only remains of the three great capitals — 
 Grecian, Parthian, and Persian — that once crowded 
 these river -banks. Now they are silent and deso- 
 late, save that yonder, under the great arch of the 
 White Palace of Khosru, are pitched the black tents 
 of the Bedawan, and all over the site are roaming 
 their numerous flocks. It is easy to recall, as we 
 steam down between these sites, the history of the 
 
 famous cities that once occupied them ; but it is not 
 
 S
 
 256 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 SO easy to make one's self realize that these are the 
 very spots of which history is telling. We are re- 
 quired to recreate, on the right bank, a city of six 
 hundred thousand inhabitants, characterized by the 
 laws and customs of a Grecian city ; to restore, on 
 the opposite bank, a Parthian city of equal mag- 
 nitude, with all the rude splendor of a barbarian 
 court; upon the ruins of this to construct anothei' 
 city of still greater proportions, brilliant with all 
 the pomp and pageantry of the luxurious court of 
 Persia, As we steam slowly along, let us trace a lit- 
 tle more closely the history of these three forgotten 
 capitals. 
 
 Seleucia was the first to rise. It was built large- 
 ly out of the bricks of Babylon, by that royal city- 
 ]>uilder, Seleucus Nicator, Alexander's successor in 
 Asia, who had determined to transfer the authority 
 of the Babylonian plains from the banks of the Eu- 
 phrates to those of the Tigris. Thus it had its birth 
 in the destruction of ancient Babylon, and became 
 the representative of that famous capital, and swell- 
 ed rapidly into a city of over half a million of people. 
 Its Senate was composed of three hundred nobles, 
 which fact may give us some conception of the power 
 and dignity of the cit}^ When the Grecian Em])ire 
 in Asia fell to pieces, Seleucia became an independ- 
 ent city ; after enjoying a covetable pre-eminence for 
 several centuries, it anjis sacked and burned by the
 
 THE LOWER TIGRIS AND SHAT-EL-ARAB. 057 
 
 Romans, and sank into the forgetfulness of its heaps 
 and mounds. 
 
 Ctesiphon was founded by the Parthian kings, and 
 while Seleucia was at the height of her power be- 
 came the populous cajDital of those Scythian mon- 
 archs. Sacked once and again by the Roman gen- 
 erals, it rises as often from its ashes. Later, under 
 the name of Madayn, the city was made the capital 
 of the Persian kings, and became again the abode of 
 royal power and wealth and ephemeral grandeur. 
 This time the wild hordes of Arabia were the de- 
 stroyers. We quote from Irving's "Successors of 
 ^lohammed " a sino-le incident in the sackins; of the 
 city by the Arabs : " In roving through the streets, 
 they came to the famous palace of the Khosrus, be- 
 gun by Kobad Ibn Firuz, and finished by his son 
 Nushirwan, constructecj of polished marble, and call- 
 ed the White Palace, from its resplendent appearance. 
 As they gazed at it in wonderment, they called to 
 mind the prediction of Mohammed, when he heard 
 that the haughty monarch of Persia had torn his let- 
 ter : ' Even so shall Allah rend his empire in pieces.' 
 ' Behold the White Palace of Khosru !' cried the 
 Moslems to one another. ' This is the fulfillment of 
 the prophecy of the Apostle of God !' " 
 
 The great arch to which we have already alluded 
 is the only trace remaining of this renowned White 
 Palace of Chosroes (Khosru). The treasures and
 
 '2o\ 
 
 REMAINS OF LOST EltlPIRES. 
 
 magnificence of the gorgeously furnished palace turn- 
 ed alike the heads of the Arab soldiers and of all 
 succeeding historians. Chambers ostentatiously or- 
 namented with "Oriental luxury," and filled with 
 " precious furniture of fabulous worth ;" armories fill- 
 ed with weapons " bedecked with jewels of incalcu- 
 lable value ;" vaults filled with treasures, the amount 
 of which one "hesitates to mention," but which an- 
 other less scrupulous computes at "three thousand 
 of thousands of thousands of pieces of gold ;" " a sil- 
 ver horseman on a golden horse, and a golden rider 
 on a silver camel ;" a silken carpet, on which " a para- 
 dise or garden was depicted with jewels and pre- 
 cious stones," the sparkling fountains " wrought with 
 diamonds and sapphires;" a throne of "prodigious 
 grandeur suspended on silver columns ;" a crown " set 
 with inestimable jewels" — such things as these are 
 well calculated to inflame the imagination, so that we 
 do not wonder at this array of glittering adjectives 
 with which Abulfeda, D'Herbelot, Gibbon, Oakley, 
 and Irving attempt to portray the glories of the Per- 
 sian palace. 
 
 The silk carpet, upon which was depicted the par- 
 adisaical garden, with shrubs and plants and fruit 
 and flowers and foliage, all most skillfully and ar- 
 tistically wrouglit in precious stones of various col- 
 ors corresponding to those of nature, has probably 
 excited more interest than any other article of the-
 
 THE LOWER TIGEIS AND SHAT-EL-ARAB. 259 
 
 sumptuous palace: an interest due as much to its 
 unworthy fate as to its fabulous richness and beauty. 
 It was sent by Said, the Arabian commander, to the 
 Caliph Omar, at Medina, who, with the true instinct 
 of a rude barbarian, divided the inimitable product 
 of artistic skill and taste into frasjments, and distrib- 
 uted the pieces to his chiefs. 
 
 Madayn constituted an important city of the first 
 calij^hates, and must have been quite a populous city 
 in the fourteenth century ; for when Tamerlane swept 
 over these plains he constructed on the site a pyra- 
 mid of ninety thousand heads of the chief citizens. 
 But Seleucia, Ctesiphon, and Madayn, like Babylon, 
 to which they succeeded in royal patronage and 
 magnificence, are now " become heaps," " dry plains," 
 a " possession for the bittern," a " dwelling - place 
 for the wild beasts of the desert," and " the wild 
 beasts of the islands," that " cry in their desolate 
 homes." 
 
 Below Ctesiphon the river led us through a low, 
 level, half-barren country, partly clothed along the 
 river with low shrubs, and in j^laces green with verd- 
 ure. No cultivation, however, was visible ; and only 
 occasionally did we discover an Arab camp with its 
 flocks. Far away toward the east we could de- 
 scry, with the aid of a glass, the banks of the great 
 Nahrwan canal, running like a vast dike of sand 
 across the desert. This canal was a most prodigious
 
 260 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIREO. 
 
 work. One branch left the Tigris a short distance 
 below Diir, and another just below Samarah, and, 
 joining just before crossing the Adhem, it absorbed 
 that stream as a feeder ; and then, sweeping on nearly 
 parallel with the old bed of the Tigris, absorbing all 
 the streams flowing from the mountains of Persia, 
 continued its course southward to Kut, where it again 
 joined the Tigris. The entire district lying between 
 this canal and the Tigris was intersected by a thou- 
 sand arteries, and constituted the richest province of 
 the Persian Empire. "Parks and pleasure-grounds, 
 palaces and hunting-seats of Sassanian monarchs and 
 the nobles of the land, served to diversify the glori- 
 ous scene, whose beauty was further enhanced by the 
 splendid armies of the Persians that went forth to 
 combat the legions of Kome." But the wild hordes 
 of the False Prophet came and established them- 
 selves in the palace of the Persian kings. Under the 
 first caliphs this marvelously fertile district returned 
 an immense revenue. As late as A.D. 822 it was 
 still in a prosperous state; but with the decay of 
 the power of the caliphs the canals fell into neglect. 
 About the year 850 there occurred a fearful inunda- 
 tion of the Tigris, caused probably by an earthquake, 
 and the river found a new channel for itself to the 
 east of the old bed, and cut the canal, which lent its 
 water to aid in the complete devastation of the coun- 
 try. Thus a region abounding in paradises, support-
 
 THE LOWER TIGRIS AND SHAT-EL-ARAB. OQl 
 
 ing such cities as Samarah, Opis, and Ctesiplion, was 
 transformed into a waste; and thoiigli skill and en- 
 ergy might have restored the broken works, these 
 virtues had become strangers to the feeble successors 
 of the first caliphs, and this once paradisaical region 
 was given over to neglect and desolation. To-day it 
 is, throughout almost its entire extent, little better 
 than a howling desert. 
 
 Shoi'tly after twilight we dropped anchor, as the 
 sky was overcast with clouds, and the darkness too 
 thick to allow us to follow with safety the sinuos- 
 ities of the river. Early the next morning we were 
 again under way. Low banks, just one or two feet 
 above the river ; wide plains, covered sparsely with 
 bushes, and in places white and yellow and purple 
 with flowers ; numerous black tents and herds of the 
 Arabs ; heavy embankments of old canals, with small- 
 er and more recent channels, showing to what puny 
 dimensions the great arteries had dwindled before 
 life Avent out ; the indistinct outlines of the Persian 
 mountains bordering the plains to the east — these 
 were the principal features of the scene during the 
 early part of the day. 
 
 Before nio-ht the mountains of Luristan were risine; 
 up grandly along our left, so near that we could 
 watch the shadows of the clouds playing over the 
 slopes. How we longed for a ramble over them. 
 We imagined a hundred^ inviting retreats amid the
 
 0(32 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 light and shade of the hills, and readily believed it 
 to be a ^'pleasant district, composed of alternate 
 mountain, valley, and upland plain, abounding in 
 beautiful glens, richly wooded, and full of gushing 
 brooks and clear, rapid rivers." Late at night we 
 dropped anchor at Emmarah, a military station, hav- 
 ing during the day passed the small Arab village of 
 Kut-el-Amarah, and a government station, estaldished 
 for the purpose of attracting a settlement, but which 
 had failed to draw many natives. The Arabs have 
 wit enough to keep as far as possible from Turkish 
 oflBcials. 
 
 It was scarcely light the following morning as we 
 swung away from Emmarah, and commenced to pass 
 through what are called the " swamps." The river 
 soon dwindled to an insignificant canal, as considera- 
 ble quantities of water w^ere drawn off into these 
 marshes. The portion of the plain not submerged 
 was literally covered with the tents and flocks of the 
 Arabs; at one time twenty encampments w^ere in 
 sight, each containing from ten to twenty tents. 
 From all the nearer encampments the young savages 
 rushed to the banks of the river, in pur is nataralihus, 
 to hail us as we passed. 
 
 The course of the Tigris through this marshy dis- 
 trict is as serpentine as tradition made the Euphrates 
 near Arderica in the days of Herodotus. The na- 
 tives told him that the river passed and repassed
 
 THE LOWER TIGRIS AND SHAT-EL-ARAB. 2(j'd 
 
 that town three times.^ This seems to have been 
 too much even for the "' capacious credulity " of the 
 itinerant historian ; and we too once considered it 
 hardly probable. But since our experience upon the 
 Tigris we scarcely know what to think about it. 
 We at least are inclined to treat all differences of 
 opinion on the subject with the broadest liberality. 
 
 We could never determine whether the vessels, 
 whose masts appeared over the plain, were coming 
 up the river, or were those we had passed. One 
 minute we were steering due south, and the next our 
 bow was headed toward the polar star. 
 
 The river was brimful, so that the agitation pro- 
 duced by our steamer dashed the water over the 
 bank. Large lakes and reed-covered marshes stretch- 
 ed out left and right. The mud huts of the Arabs 
 stood on low artificial mounds, raised just sufficient 
 to lift them above the water. The scene looked 
 very like that presented by the flooded llanos of 
 the Orinoco. Aquatic birds hovered over the sub- 
 merged land ; storks and pelicans were abundant ; 
 buftaloes wallowed about in tbe marshes; and the 
 
 * " First of all with respect to the River Euphrates, which before ran 
 in a straight line, and which flowed through the middle of the city, 
 this by having channels dug above, she (Nitocris) made so winding 
 that in its course it touches three times at one and the same village in 
 Assyria. The name of this village at which the Euphrates touches is 
 Arderica ; and to this day those who go from our sea to Babylon, if 
 they travel by the Euphrates, come three times to this villnge on three 
 successive days." — Herodotus, " Clio," bk. i., § 185.
 
 0(34 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 young Arabs, quite as amphibious, kicked gleefully 
 about in the river. The most conspicuous objects 
 passed during the forenoon were two large, venera- 
 ble trees, with beautiful, wide-spreading tops. The 
 Arabs believe that spirits hover about them. Prob- 
 ably so, for they look very attractive. 
 
 A little past mid-day we reached the Arab village 
 of Kornah, situated at the junction of the Tigris and 
 Euphrates. A fine grove of date-palms covered the 
 triangle of land, and shrouded the huts of the vil- 
 lage. Kornah is one of the many spots that lays 
 claim to being the site of the Garden of Eden. 
 With the beautiful date gardens and cultivated 
 grounds, it is a sufficiently pretty spot — at least 
 would be were the Arabs driven out of the groves, 
 and their dirty huts washed into the river. Were 
 Adam to return to his first home, he would find oth- 
 er changes than those introduced by the Arabs. 
 The Franks have run a telegraph line through it; 
 and from Eden we might have sent word in a few 
 hours to our friends in New York as to how we were 
 i^ettino: alono; in the Garden. 
 
 o o o 
 
 Of all the countries that have disputed the hon- 
 or of holding the site of the first home of the race, 
 Mesopotamia has certainly the best-founded claims. 
 Here, beyond reasonable dispute, are at least two of 
 the streams mentioned in the sacred narrative: the 
 Euphrates is unmistakably the ancient Phrath, and
 
 THE LOWER TIGRIS AND SHAT-EL-ARAB. 265 
 
 the Tigris the Hiddekel — the Arabic name for the 
 latter being to-day Digleh, which is simply a corruj^- 
 tion of the Biblical name. After uniting to form the 
 Shat-el-Arab, the waters of these two streams flow 
 together for a considerable distance, and then divide 
 to form two distinct streams, one of which is sup- 
 posed to represent the ancient Gihon, the other the 
 Pison. Somewhere in the region watered by these 
 streams we must undoubtedly place the paradisaical 
 abode of our first parents. We give but little weight 
 to the objection that Lower Mesopotamia has been 
 built up by the deposits of the Tigris and Euphrates 
 within a period embraced by the accepted chronology 
 of man — such calculations are falsified by historical 
 evidence. 
 
 From Kornah to Basrah the Shat-el-Arab — the 
 name which the united streams of the Euphrates and 
 Tigris assume — is bordered with palms, only a few 
 openings occurring to break the continuity of the 
 fringe of groves. Just as the setting sun was touch- 
 ing the fronds of the tall palms with gold we drop- 
 ped anchor at Marghil, a small Arab village three 
 miles above Basrah, buried in the midst of date- 
 groves. Little canals wound through the village, 
 and the canoe-like boats of the natives lay moored 
 along the banks, beneath the thick, overarching 
 branches of the mulberry. The exuberant nature of 
 the vegetation along these watercourses, and the
 
 266 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 half-concealed canoes, vividly recalled tropical forest 
 scenes in South America. The numerous mosquito- 
 nets hanging between the trees indicated that life 
 here was not altoo-ether Eden-like. 
 
 The following day we dropped down to Basrah. 
 This town is situated on a small creek, about one 
 mile from the Shat - el - Arab. The fiimous traveler 
 Keppel, who visited the place half a century ago, 
 says, " Bassorah is the dirtiest town even in the 
 Turkish dominions." It has not improved any since 
 that time, but rather grown worse. We found the 
 bazaars, like the streets, narrow and dirty — so un- 
 cleanly, in fact, as to be offensive to every sense. It 
 is true, however, that we saw the town under unfa- 
 vorable circumstances. There was at the time of 
 our visit great destitution among the lower classes, 
 resulting from the Persian famine, which w\as severe- 
 ly felt at Basrah. Although the worst had been ex- 
 perienced some months before our arrival, still we 
 saw scores of helpless, starving wretches lying un- 
 cared for in the streets. We were glad to escape 
 from the filth and heat and scenes of the town and 
 get back on our steamer. 
 
 But while the town itself was so positively unin- 
 viting, we found the gardens that surround it per- 
 fectly enchanting. One evening we rowed up one 
 of the numerous canals that lead from the river 
 through the groves and gardens of the western bank.
 
 THE LOWER TIGRIS AND SHAT-EL-ARAB. 207 
 
 The deep shades of the water-path afforded a pleas- 
 ing relief from the heat and glare that had all day 
 long burned down upon the river. The tall, straight 
 shafts of the palms, rising thick on either side, formed 
 a hundred labyrinthian ways, loftily roofed with their 
 frond-fretted crowns. So closely did the trees press 
 the water-passage that only a narrow strip of sky 
 was visible overhead. The willow, palm, peach, ap- 
 ricot, mulberry, pomegranate, and banana — each lent 
 a different shade to the vegetation. Grape-vines, in 
 all the attractiveness of a free, wild growth, formed 
 dark shadows among the crowns of the palms, and, 
 hanging their festoons between the trees, dropped 
 them to the water — always grouping their foliage 
 and hanging their drooping masses so as never to 
 fail of those charming, graceful effects that Nature 
 loves. Overhead, amid the dark, thick crowns of the 
 date-palms, the bursting spathes were just tossing 
 out their long, yellow plumes, which nodded and 
 gleamed there like Proserpina's own golden bough, 
 dispelling, with their promises of plenty, all fear of 
 famine again. The pomegranate, too, hung with its 
 large scarlet flowers, was just in its glory. Up 
 among the thick clusters of leaves that crowned the 
 palms hundreds of sparrows were making the groves 
 resonant with their shrill - toned notes ; while the 
 beautiful jays, as if conscious that they were made 
 to be seen rather than heard, were constantly flitting
 
 268 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 across tlie channel over our Leads, Scarcely one of 
 the elements of a South American scene was absent. | 
 Even the native v\^as there with his canoe and pad- I 
 die; several passed us in their hollowed logs, pad- ■ 
 dling like Indians down the water-]3ath. The whole 
 picture was strikingly similar to the scene presented 
 by one of those narrow water -channels, called by 
 the Indians " igara23es," that thread the half- sub- 
 merged forest of the Amazonian valley. There was 
 not, it is true, that wild exuberance, that selfish ea- 
 gerness, that fierce emulousness, that apparent strife 
 for life that characterizes those tropical forests; but 
 with enough of luxuriance, freedom, and rivalry, and 
 suflScient fullness, richness, and felicity of growth, 
 there was a calmness, a freedom from oppression, a 
 seeming sympathy and harmony with one's quieter 
 moods, that is not found amid the gloom and strife 
 and closely mingled life and death of the Amazonian 
 forests. 
 
 We pushed on through the water-path a distance 
 of two miles, the depth of the groves that form this 
 beautiful border to the river, and were then on the 
 edge of the desert, which swej^t out to the western 
 horizon. Here the scene suddenly changed to a thor- 
 oughly Arabian one. An Arab had just brought 
 his favorite and beautiful steed to the bank to water. 
 A maiden stood up to her knees in the stream, filling 
 a copper vessel, and passing it uj) to the man, who
 
 THE LOWER TIGRIS AND SHAT-EL-ARAB. 0(39 
 
 held it for tlie animal to drink ; and tlieu, wliile the 
 vessel was being refilled, stroked the horse's head, 
 who, as though fond and proud of the attention, 
 arched his neck in appreciative acquiescence. It was 
 a true picture of Arab life. 
 
 Turning our boat, we started on our return. It 
 was twilight now, and the stars commenced to glim- 
 mer down through the crowns of the palms, while 
 the moon lent just sufficient light, through the nar- 
 row opening that the palms failed to roof, to guide 
 us through the water -path and out on the river 
 again ; which, sparkling and flashing under the moon- 
 light, ran on between the dark lines of the fringed 
 banks till both river and shores were lost in the 
 near indistinctness of the night. 
 
 The day after our arrival at Basrah the steamship 
 Cashmere entered the river. She had on board sev- 
 eral hundred pilgrims from Mecca, who were returning 
 to their homes in India. The Digleh had brought 
 down the river about a hundred Persian Shiah Mo- 
 hammedans, who had been making a pilgrimage to 
 the holy places about Bagdad. These were now 
 transferred to the Cashmere. Many of them were 
 wretchedly unclean, carrying upon their persons the 
 dirt accumulated during I:heir visit to the sacred 
 places, and proud in the possession of so much " holy 
 soil." These pilgrims, now that steamship lines have 
 been established upon these waters, have an easy
 
 270 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 time in making their journeys. During some montlis 
 of the year the steamers are crowded with pilgrims. 
 The revenue which the steamship companies receive 
 from this source is almost as good as a governmental 
 suljsidy. Thus every thing has its use. Increased 
 facilities for making pilgrimages have doubtless in- 
 creased the number that undertake them from the 
 countries thus reached. The Haj that annually 
 leaves Damascus for Mecca is said to be yearly di- 
 minishing in number. A railroad across the desert 
 would probably lead a larger number to think more 
 favorably of the journey. Who knows but that this 
 idea of making pilgrimages will be one of the en- 
 couragements to railway enterprises that will unite 
 all the sacred places of the Mohammedan world to 
 one another, and to other parts of the East? The 
 Christian sentiment respecting pilgrimages to the 
 holy city of our faith is to-day building a railroad 
 from Jaffa to Jerusalem. We shall see in due time 
 similar, only vaster, results issuing from what has 
 seemed to us all folly, without any possible purpose. 
 From the Digleh, on which w^e had received 
 many kind courtesies from Captain Holland, we 
 were transferred to the Caslimere, only to receive 
 equally kind and courteous attention from the affa- 
 , ble Captain Avery. On the morning of the 21st 
 of April, after a delay of three days at Basrah — 
 during which Captain Avery made a visit to the
 
 THE LOWER TIGRIS AND SHAT-EL-ARAB. 271 
 
 Garden of Eden — we weighed anchor and resumed 
 our journey down the river. Occasionally the fine 
 summer residence of some wealthy native was passed, 
 half concealed in groves of dates. Breaks in the 
 fringe of vegetation at times led the eye through 
 upon the desert; in places, rich fields of grain re- 
 placed the border of palms. We were constantly 
 exclaiming, " What a wonderful .country ! it sur- 
 passes Egypt." In its capabilities we meant, of 
 course. All that is needed is skillful irrigation to 
 spread the narrow border of green, that at present 
 simply fringes the river, over the now desert plains. 
 
 Late in the afternoon we reached Fao, a telegraph 
 station, the TIJtima Tlivle of the Turkish dominions. 
 Soon after leaving this station we lost sight of land ; 
 and before night we exchanged the turl:>id waters of 
 the Shat-el-Arab for the clear cerulean waters of the 
 
 Persian Gulf 
 
 T
 
 272 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CAEAVAN LIFE IN PERSIA. 
 
 First View of the "Land of Roses."— The Town of Bushire.— Startled 
 by a Velocipede. — A Dragoman who Wanted to See the Country.— 
 Persian Mendacity.— A CMrmdar on Time.— What Xenophon says 
 about Persian Character.— Departure from Bushire.— Traveling by 
 Night.— A Sand- Storm.— Telegraph Line Prostrated.— Brazgoon.— 
 Effects of the Famine.— Dalikee.— The Edge of the Great Plateau of 
 Iran.— Mountain Wildness and Beauty.— A Detention.— A Mountain 
 Trail.— The Pass of Mullook.— The Plain of Khisht.— Moslem Devo- 
 tions.— The Village of KoonarTukhteh.— The Pass of Kumaridj.— A 
 Sequestered Spot.— The Plain of Kauzeroon.— The Town.— Persian 
 Way of Advertising.— The Simplon of Persia.— A Lovely Vale.— The 
 Pass of the Old Woman.— Deshti Arjun.— A Geological Phenomenon. 
 A Lion among our Animals. — Banditti.— Gardens of Shiraz,— Pil- 
 grims Welcomed Home. 
 
 On- the morning of the 20th of April, our steamer, 
 having crossed the head of the Persian Gulf in one 
 night, dropped anchor off the sea-port of Bushire. 
 There was nothing in our first view of Persia to re- 
 mind us that we were entering the " land of roses, 
 poets, and nightingales ;" nothing to give hope that 
 our early visions of paradisaical delights were to be 
 realized, save the promise of the shadowy outlines 
 of mountains that rose far inland beyond the low 
 desert coast, and among whose dim retreats the im- 
 ao-ination could create all sorts of Oriental paradises,
 
 CAKAVAN LIFE IN PERSIA. 273 
 
 Bushire, or Abu-Sher, "Father of Cities," is the 
 principal sea-port of Persia, aud lias a population of 
 about twenty thousand. The situation of the town 
 is in some respects similar to that of Beyrout, Like 
 the Syrian city, it stands at the extremity of a prom- 
 inent cape, and inland rise lofty hills that take the 
 place of the Lebanon range. But here the re- 
 semblance ends. The olive orchards, that are the 
 glory of Beyrout, are here wanting, and the eye 
 wanders inland unrelieved over a wretched sand- 
 plain. The town is defended, or at least surrounded, 
 by ruinous walls, pierced on the side facing the desert 
 by a single gate — which under the circumstances is 
 quite sufficient, as the want of a greater number is 
 supplied by the numerous gaps in the walls. The 
 buildings are constructed of the porous limestone on 
 which the town stands. The bazaars and streets are 
 narrow and crooked ; and as respects the general ap- 
 pearance of the place, the traveler arriving from Bag- 
 dad detects but little that is new or novel. The 
 foreign Eesidencies, the only really fine buildings in 
 the town, stand on commanding ground fronting 
 the sea. The population is composed of Arabs and 
 Persians, the former largely predominating. The 
 peculiar high Persian cap of black lamb -skin is 
 seldom seen, the skull-cap and turban being almost 
 universally worn. The greater part of the inhab- 
 itants are Shiah Mohammedans ; there are, however,
 
 274 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 two Jewisli synagogues and one Armenian Christian 
 church. There are about thirty Europeans in Bu- 
 shire connected with the foreign Residencies and the 
 English telegraph and steamship companies. Upon 
 the evening of our arrival, while strolling through 
 the town, we encountered one of these Franks 
 driving a velocipede through the street ! We were 
 quite as much startled as when the carriage of the 
 Pasha of Bagdad loomed up amid clouds of dust on 
 the Babylonian plains. 
 
 We were fortunate in arriving at Bushire just as a 
 large caravan was about to start for Shiraz; for the 
 disturbed state of the country, a result of the famine, 
 rendered it extremely hazardous to travel save in 
 company with a considerable party. Arrangements 
 were quickly entered into with the chdrvadar, the 
 person who had charge of the caravan, and horses 
 were engaged for the trip, a journey of eleven days. 
 
 Our next need was that of a good dragoman. 
 This was supplied in the form of a slender boy, 
 thirteen years of age, from Bombay, who could speak 
 Hindustani, Arabic, Persian, and a little English. 
 There was proud Portuguese blood in his veins, and 
 his dio-nified bearinc: was so different from the cring- 
 ing obsequiousness of the native Persians, and he 
 evinced such a decided personality and manly self 
 respect, that we were strongly inclined, notwith- 
 standing his age, to engage him. While we were
 
 CARAVAN LIFE IN PERSIA. 275 
 
 hesitating, he told us that he desired very much to 
 go with us in order to see the country. That decided 
 the matter. It was so refreshins: to find a native im- 
 bued with the love of travel, just for its own sake, 
 that we engaged him at once. 
 
 Our chdrvadar had agreed to bring the horses to 
 our rooms at four o'clock in the afternoon of the day 
 following the engagement; so that hour found us, 
 with every thing securely packed, sitting on the 
 top of our baggage awaiting the arrival of the man 
 with the horses. Then, having nothing else to do, 
 we commenced to talk about our chdrvadar; and 
 the thought suddenly occurred to us that he might 
 not come. There we had hurried to finish all our 
 packing as though the hour of our departure had 
 been in the time-table of an English railway-office. 
 It was, of course, no way probable that our clidr- 
 vadar would start on the day promised. He had 
 named an early day for fear we might be led to 
 make arrangements with other parties. He would 
 put us off from day to day, and we would doubtless 
 be detained thus in Bushire a full week, perhaps two 
 weeks. How strange we should have believed the 
 rascal. We knew well enough — for had it not been 
 taught us from our infancy ? — that the Persians were 
 all unconscionable liars. Of course the scoundrel 
 had lied to us about the time of starting, just to 
 secure the engagement of his horses. How unac-
 
 276 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 coimtably stupid in us to imj^ose such confidence in a 
 Persian. A chdrvadar on time ! An Arab carter jee 
 never thinks of starting until a week after the ap- 
 pointed day. Then what might be ex^^ected of a 
 Persian clidrvadar. We were innocents indeed. We 
 had acted just as though we were among good Chris- 
 tians, instead of among a nation of inveterate liars. 
 We ought to have made engagements with halfa- 
 dozen cJmrvadars: told each one that we had five 
 others to select from in case he were not on hand 
 the day promised. But what a preposterous idea — 
 to be sitting on our baggage waiting for a chdrvadar 
 who knows he has no competitors. After all our 
 experience with Arabs, whose reputation for veracity 
 is infinitely better than that of these mendacious Per- 
 sians, our gullibility was any thing but flattering. 
 And here is another idea : those horses will be ema- 
 ciated, sore-backed, ill-favored, kine-like beasts. Well, 
 we were stupid indeed. 
 
 And so we sat atop of our baggage in supreme 
 disgust, each helping the other to a proj)er realiza- 
 tion of the circumstances. Just then our boy Jakee 
 came flying into the room : " Kum, horsee. Sahib !" 
 We rushed to the door, and, sure enough, there in 
 our courtyard stood four of the best animals we had 
 seen since leaving London. Then and there we re- 
 solved that the fact should be duly recorded to the 
 credit of Persian cltdrvadars. We are only sorry to
 
 CARAVAN LIFE IN PERSIA. 277 
 
 be compelled to add that subsequent experience will 
 not enable us to say any thing further to redeem the 
 Persians from the charge so often reiterated, of their 
 unconscionable mendacity and reckless disregard for 
 the sacredness of a promise. According to their own 
 confession, as recorded by the Rev. Mr. Southgate, 
 they will never tell the truth if they can help it. 
 While the writer mentioned w^as traveling in Persia, 
 he was led on one occasion to question a group that 
 had gathered about him respecting tliis national fail- 
 ing. " Yes," said a gray-headed listener, " w^e lie ev- 
 ery time we can." The reverend gentleman adds: 
 " I looked at the old man in astonishment, but was 
 convinced that for once he was telling the truth." 
 
 Darius, in a Persepolitan inscription, makes this in- 
 vocation : " May Ormazd protect this province from 
 slavery, from decrepitude, from lyingP Xenophon 
 says that the Persian boys were taught three things : 
 to ride, to shoot the bow, and to tell the truth ; from 
 which some have inferred that the Persians were for- 
 merly a very truthful people; but others, and j^rob- 
 ably svith more conformity to the facts, have drawn 
 an exactly opposite inference ; for the opposing vice 
 of lying must have been very popular to necessitate 
 making the virtue of truthfulness such a prominent 
 feature in the education of the youth. The only 
 change since the times of Xenophon is, that whereas 
 they then seemed to have some conscience about the
 
 278 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 matter, they have now got over this weakness, and 
 the truth is neither spoken nor taught. 
 
 That evening we rode out to a caravansary, about 
 two miles from the city gate, where our caravan was 
 to muster. On arrival there we found that a large 
 number of pilgrims, natives of Shiraz, which the 
 steamer had brought from their trip to the Persian 
 shrines near Bagdad, were to accompany our caravan. 
 The season had so far advanced that traveling could 
 not safely be performed during the heat of the day, 
 so by two o'clock in the morning our caravan was on 
 the move, creeping noiselessly over the parched plain, 
 from which a heated breath was still rising. The 
 sun had scarcely risen before the heat became intol- 
 erable ; and reaching a few straggling palms, near a 
 village called by the natives Chughaduk, we halted, 
 and passed the day beneath the scanty shade w^hich 
 they afforded. 
 
 Late in the afternoon a heavy sand-storm loomed 
 up in the distant horizon, and came sweeping on to- 
 ward us, black as night. Scarcely had we formed 
 our ba£»:o:a2-e in barricades, and thrown ourselves be- 
 hind them, with our heads wrapped in our blankets, 
 before the storm was upon us. For more than an 
 hour a thick, suffocating cloud of dust and sand drift- 
 ed over us. The storm was an unusually severe one, 
 and swept the plain wdth all the force of a tornado. 
 A long stretch of the telegrajih that ran across the
 
 CARAVAN LIFE IN PERSIA. 279 
 
 desert just a little way from us was prostrated, and 
 six of the iron poles — hollow cylindrical tubes, five 
 inches in diameter at base, supporting a double line 
 of wires — were snapped off, just above the ground, 
 like pipe-stems. The telegraph agent afterward in- 
 formed us that in his long experience he had never 
 before known of such an accident occurring to the 
 line. After the storm had passed the moon shone 
 out softly, and the atmosphere was as calm as though 
 never agitated by a breath of wind. 
 
 Early in the evening we resumed our journey. A 
 long ride of about thirty miles brought us to the vil- 
 lage of Brazgoon, situated only a few miles from the 
 edge of the great plateau, which here in hopelessly 
 barren hills breaks down to the plain of the coast. 
 Immediately about Brazgoon the plain was culti- 
 vated, and covered with wheat and barley just ready 
 to harvest. 
 
 It was here that we first saw the effects of the fiim- 
 ine that for two years had been desolating Persia. 
 Bushire, through its connections by steamship lines 
 with India and Egypt, had received relief from those 
 countries, and at the time of our visit there was no 
 apparent suftering among the inhabitants of that 
 town. But owing to the difficulty attending trans- 
 portation in Persia, provisions could not be thrown 
 into the inland towns, and consequently the suffering 
 in such was intense and unrelieved. Brazgoon, be-
 
 280 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 fore the famine, was a town of six thousand inhabit- 
 ants, of which number barely a thousand were now 
 left: tw^o thousand had died upon the sj^ot, and as 
 many more had perished in the town of Bushire, 
 whither large numbers flocked for relief ; but Persian 
 charity is unkind, and the poor wretches were left to 
 die by hundreds in the bazaars and streets, where 
 the bodies were permitted to lie unburied. It was a 
 sad scene that the town of Brazgoon presented to us 
 as w^e walked through it. The buildings, which were 
 small mud structures, like those of an Arab village, 
 were falling into ruins; the bazaars were deserted, 
 save two or three stalls where a little maust, or cur- 
 dled milk, a few dates, and a little barley were being 
 carefully weighed, and doled out in scant pittances to 
 some half famished wretches in return for the money 
 held out by shriveled hands. The telegraph agent, 
 a young Armenian, who kindly entertained us, was 
 daily distributing barley to over eight hundred beg- 
 gars, means being furnished by the relief fund from 
 India and England. The funds in his hands were 
 already nearly exhausted, and he was fearful they 
 might fail before the approaching harvest should 
 bring permanent relief We asked, " What will these 
 poor creatures do, if your means give out ?" " They 
 must die," was the brief reply. 
 
 At midnight we left Brazgoon, and reached Dalikee, 
 four farsaklis distant, early the following morning.
 
 CARAVAN LIFE IN PERSIA. 281 
 
 having traversed a stony, undulating plain, deeply 
 furrowed by the winter torrents that pour from the 
 table-lands of the interior. Dalikee was a fair repre- 
 sentative of the Persian villages we saw, being in a 
 ruinous condition and half deserted. The Dalikee 
 River, which at this point descends from the plateau, 
 is a real comucojna to the plain, spreading out a 
 beautiful green delta of gardens and groves about 
 the village. 
 
 From Dalikee the road that lifts the traveler from 
 the Germsir, or low coast plain, to the Serdsir, or ele- 
 vated regions of the interior, carries him through 
 scenery almost unrivaled in unique combinations and 
 picturesqueness, wildness and beauty. The most pe- 
 culiar and interesting features of the scenery are cre- 
 ated by the somewhat unusual geological structure 
 of the country. The interior of Persia consists of an 
 elevated table-land, called the Great Plateau of Iran, 
 raised to an averao-e elevation of over four thousand 
 feet, and defended on all sides by lofty parapets of 
 mountains. Upon the south, instead of sloping grad- 
 ually to the coast, the lofty plateau, from an elevation 
 of five thousand feet, breaks down abruptly, dropping 
 in three gigantic steps or terraces to the low plain 
 already referred to. The faces of these successive 
 terraces are so abrupt, lofty, and wild, that in climb- 
 ing them the traveler is at times surrounded by scen- 
 ery thoroughly Alpine in its grandeur and imi^ress-
 
 282 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 iveness. Indeed, before the plateau is reached, the 
 " Simplon of Persia " must be scaled. The landing- 
 places that are gained as the successive steps are 
 mounted are plains or valleys whose spring beauty 
 is unrivaled. Forests, too, shade some portions of the 
 higher passes, so that none of the best elements of 
 mountain scenery are wanting. The attractions of 
 early spring in this mountainous district of Persia are 
 much greater than we ever imagined. Then the val- 
 leys are freshened to a rich emerald hue, and strewn 
 profusely with flowers, while the baldness of the 
 rocks is relieved by the new, bright foliage of the 
 shrubs and trees that cling to their ruggedness. We 
 do not now think of that land as utterly heaven-for- 
 saken, and lying blasted and barren through all the 
 months. But this early spring beauty, like the fresh- 
 ness of youth, soon fades, and then Persia lies sear 
 and forbidding, till the long months bring the resur- 
 rection of another spring. When we ascended to 
 Shiraz the country was so attractive as to elicit our 
 constant surprise and admiration ; but only a few 
 weeks later, on our return, the cool, refreshing breezes 
 had become the withering breath of the furnace ; the 
 verdure was blasted as though swept by fire ; and 
 mountain and valley presented a scene as burned 
 and blighted as an unpitying sun ever looked down 
 upon. 
 
 Our caravan mysteriously lay at Dalikee an entire
 
 CAEAVAN LIFE IN PERSIA. 283 
 
 day. Our cluh'vadar persisted in trying to make us 
 believe that the occasion of the detention was a 
 strayed jackass, which aberrant animal it required 
 all day to find. He had other reasons for delaying, 
 as we afterward ascertained, which he knew would be 
 scarcely accepted by us, and hence his fabrication of 
 this scape-goat at the expense of a perfectly innocent 
 donkey. So it was not till the second night after our 
 arrival at Dalikee that we resumed our journey. 
 Almost immediately we entered a ravine, which by a 
 steep, wild path led us over the edge of the upturned 
 strata of rock. All night we labored over a rocky 
 trail that led along broken ranges and through nar- 
 row, rugged, and gloomy defiles. Toward morning 
 we commenced to make a bold, precij^itous ascent, 
 called the Kotul, or Pass of Mullook. The cliff, 
 viewed from below, seemed to present an impassable 
 barrier to our progress; but the path commenced 
 boldly to scale the rock by innumerable zigzags, 
 and gradually lifted us above the dark valley to- 
 ward the overhanging summit. The light of the 
 stars was just sufiScient to reveal the outlines of the 
 scenery immediately around and above us, while 
 the deep valleys were lost in blackness. A few 
 thorny shrubs and hardy plants clung to the other- 
 wise barren rocks. It would be difficult to find a 
 wilder scene of a torn and convulsed nature among 
 Alps or Andes.
 
 284 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Just as the day broke we gained the summit of 
 the pass, where almost on a level with our feet the 
 beautiful plain of Khisht stretched out five or six 
 miles to the broken edge of the second great terrace. 
 The valley was just in its spring glory. Luxuriant 
 pasture-lands, profusely decorated with flowers; broad 
 fields of grain, white to the harvest ; villages sur- 
 rounded by date-groves ; black tents and flocks of 
 the Eeliauts — these were the prominent features that 
 made up the semi-agricultural, semi-nomadic scene. 
 All around bleak, verdureless hills framed in the 
 plain with their hopeless sterility. 
 
 When our long caravan had all escaped from the 
 windings of the pass and obtained the plain, we 
 halted for morning prayers ; for the pilgrims of our 
 company were all good Moslems, and always observed 
 with great regularity the hour appointed for the 
 earliest devotions of the day. Both men and women 
 first performed their ablutions, passing the hand 
 which aj^plied the water from the elbow downward, 
 instead of from the hand upward, as is the custom 
 with the Soonees of Turkey. The mats and blankets 
 were then spread, on which they stood or kneeled 
 while performing their varied prostrations. During 
 these seasons of devotion the animals of the caravan 
 were allowed to wander at will. Often the little 
 donkeys, browsing thoughtlessly about with their 
 awkward loads, ^vould cause serious interruptions;
 
 CARAVAN LIFE IN PERSIA. 285 
 
 and occasionally some profane mule, on some slight 
 provocation, probably a punch from the corner of a 
 box carried by an innocent donkey, would commence 
 to kick furiously, causing a panic among the ani- 
 mals in his immediate vicinity. Then the worshij?- 
 ers would fly from their mats — the women to seek 
 safety, the men to quiet the tumult. 
 
 While our pilgrims were engaged in their devo- 
 tions, we dismounted and threw ourselves on the 
 grass to enjoy the scenery, and the cool, fresh, invig- 
 orating air into which our elevation had lifted us. 
 Then, as our caravan commenced to move, we re- 
 mounted and rode to Koonar Tukhteh, a small vil- 
 lage, containing a good caravansary, situated in the 
 midst of the plain and surrounded by date-groves. 
 The palms of these groves depend upon irrigation, 
 but agriculture in the valley relies upon the natural 
 fall of rain, the grain ripening and being harvested 
 before the dry, hot weather commences. Hundreds 
 of acres of wheat and bai'ley were almost ready for 
 harvesting, being just a little behind the fields of the 
 Germsir. It made our hearts rejoice as, recalling all 
 that the people of Persia had suffered for two long 
 years, we cast our eyes over the fields loaded with 
 their rich treasures of food, almost ready for the re- 
 maining halfstarved population. The palms, too, 
 were shaking gleefully their rich, heavy clusters of 
 young dates, promising more than enough to meet
 
 286 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 every want. Nature seemed unpi tying when she 
 withheld, and equally glad did she now seem^ as she 
 held out more than her usual gifts; for there were 
 promises of a more abundant harvest than Persia 
 had known for many years. 
 
 April 28tJi. Two hours past midnight we were 
 again in the saddle. Morning found us climbing the 
 Pass of Kumaridj, a more difficult and grander one 
 than that of Mullook. The rock was a variegated 
 limestone, consisting of gray, drab, white, and yellow 
 strata ; in some places fibrous and rock gypsum oc- 
 curred. Whole mountains of strata were tilted up 
 and set on end. In one instance an immense mass, 
 that swept up grandly hundreds of feet in the air, ex- 
 hibited its top bent over and folded down upon itself, 
 as if the strata, when tilted wp, were too soft to main- 
 tain themselves in an upright position. Our jDath 
 led up the almost perpendicular face of an enormous 
 fissure, mounting by short zigzags, guarded by low 
 ramparts. 
 
 After turning the summit, the rocky path led by 
 a gentle descent to the vale of Kumaridj. It was 
 a beautiful, sequestered mountain valley, about five 
 miles in length and two in breadth, green as an em- 
 erald. Formerly it must have constituted a lake bot- 
 tom. Tlie level sea of verdure formed islets of sev- 
 eral little brown mounds that rose from the level sur- 
 face, and created miniature bays and gulfs as it flowed
 
 CARAVAN LIFE IN PERSIA. 287 
 
 in the deep indentations of the bordering hills. The 
 mountains around, brown and rocky and verdureless, 
 were in rude keeping with the beautiful little emerald 
 they embraced. We descended from the sterile hills 
 to the little village of Kumaridj, which lay close un- 
 der the western wall of the valley. The buildings 
 were constructed of stone, the roofs being flat and 
 covered with turf; the severity of the climate of the 
 valley, during a portion of the year, compelling the 
 inhabitants to construct warmer and more substantial 
 buildings than are found in the villages of the coast. 
 The village appeared to have suffered but little from 
 the famine, for the larger portion of the dwellings 
 were occupied, and w^e were importuned by only a 
 small number of beggars. 
 
 At midnight, w^ith the moon lighting up the scen- 
 ery grandly, our long caravan was moving slowly 
 over the plain, nothing save the tread of the animals, 
 breaking the deep stillness of the night. A long, 
 narrow, winding, rugged defile led us from the vale 
 of Kumaridj to the plain of Kauzerun, one of the 
 most fertile valleys of Persia. The considerable river 
 of Khisht flows through the plain, portions of which 
 are intersected bv irriojants led off from this stream. 
 It contains the city of Kauzerun, which until quite 
 recently was, next to Shiraz, the most important and 
 populous city of the province of Fars. 
 
 On the cliffs of a narrow, lateral valley opening 
 
 U
 
 288 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 into this plain are the celebrated remains and rock- 
 sculptures of Shapur, consisting of several large tab- 
 lets, filled with figures in alto-relievo. We made a 
 detour of several miles to visit these interesting 
 sculptures, and spent the greater part of the day 
 in examining the different tablets, only a curtail- 
 ed description of which, however, we can introduce 
 here. 
 
 The site of the ancient city of Shapur was well 
 chosen. Before the city lay spread out the broad 
 plain of Kauzerun, while back of it the picturesque 
 valley of Shapur broke through the hills, and opened 
 a charminf^ vista far back into the mountains. The 
 earliest Persian kings founded here a large city, which 
 is thought to have been destroyed at the time of the 
 Grecian invasion. In the third century of our era 
 King Shapur erected upon the ruins of the earlier 
 city the capital of his dominions. This is supposed 
 to have been swept away by the Mohammedan con- 
 querors. Tlie site is now covered with grass-grown 
 heaps, some of which evidently belong to a remote 
 antiquity. 
 
 The celebrated sculptures are cut in the face of the 
 precipices that form the walls of the valley of Sha- 
 pur, to which we have already referred. There are 
 six tablets in the series ; the first on the left, as we 
 enter the valley, forms a large circular recess, about 
 thirty feet in width. It is divided into four horizon-
 
 CARAVAN LIFE IN PERSIA. 289 
 
 tal compartments, crowded -with figures that form 
 loiig processions on foot and on horse. Before the 
 king is a figure holding out a ring, symbolic of sover- 
 eignty. The elephant is also introduced among the 
 figures, which animal once constituted an important 
 feature of a Persian army. The whole tablet is well 
 executed, and a good deal of animation is thrown into 
 the different figures. 
 
 The tablet most deserving of praise, for artistic 
 merit, is a large sculpture, about thirty feet in length 
 and twenty in height, representing two horsemen of 
 gigantic size, into which the artist has succeeded in 
 infusing a remarkable degree of life and spirit. In 
 another tablet the heads of captives are being brought 
 in and laid before the king. Thus the Persian artist, 
 as well as the Assyrian, has succeeded in immortaliz- 
 ing the cruelty and l^arbarism of his sovereign. The 
 stones were insj^ired that they might tell to. all com- 
 ing time the praises of an ambitious king ; but they 
 have forgotten that commission, and are doing noth- 
 ing now save to cry out against him. 
 
 But the most interesting tablet of all is a very 
 large one, consisting of several compartments, the cen- 
 tral of which contains a crowned horseman, doubt- 
 less representing King Saphur, and before him a Ro- 
 man figure kneeling, with the hands raised and clasp- 
 ed as a suppliant. This is supposed to commemorate 
 the victory of Saphur over the Roman array at Edes-
 
 390 REMAINS OF LOST E]MPIRES. 
 
 sa, in A.D. 260. Here, for the first time in the his- 
 tory of the Roman Empire, a Roman emperor was 
 taken captive. Valerian, for he it was who became 
 the unfortunate prisoner, received, if we may credit 
 history, but little consideration at the hands of his 
 captors. He is said to have been carried about in a 
 cage by Shapur, and at his death to have been flayed, 
 his skin stuffed, and used as a foot-block by the Per- 
 sian king. Gibbon, however, discredits this portion 
 of the account. 
 
 It seemed strange to us to find here, so far away 
 from civilization, the Roman emperor a suppliant be- 
 fore the monarch of a sovereignty now the weakest 
 and most despicable among nations. We had visited 
 every country ever traversed by the legions of Rome, 
 but had never before discovered any monument save 
 as commemorative of the valor or victory of Roman 
 arms. Yet here, among the defiles of Persia, at the 
 most distant point reached by her hardy warriors, 
 near the spot where they were taught, almost for the 
 first time, the meaning of real defeat, we found this, 
 the most impressive of the world's monuments, per- 
 petuating the memory of Roman disaster and humili- 
 ation. Alas, how degenerate are become the sons of 
 Iran ! 
 
 We found it a long ride from Shapur to the town 
 of Kauzerun. The plain was in places marshy, from 
 the overflow of neglected watercourses, and covered
 
 CARAVAN LIFE IX PERSIA. 291 
 
 with rank weeds. Some portions were cultivated 
 with wheat and barley, but the greater part consti- 
 tuted pasture-land, and was dotted with dark clumps 
 of bushes. Yet no life animated the scene: we did 
 not see a single herd feeding on the plain, though so 
 near what was once the second city of the province 
 of Fars. Famine had swept almost all life from the 
 valley. Although abundant rains had recalled vege- 
 tation, and the valley smiled with verdure and flow- 
 ers, still there reigned over the scene the stillness of 
 death. 
 
 Kauzerun was, before the famine, a city of about 
 18,000 inhabitants; we found scarcely 2000 people 
 on the spot, and a large portion of this number was 
 made up of those that had dragged themselves there 
 from neighboring villages, upon learning that food 
 was being gratuitously distributed by the English 
 agent. The largest portion of the town was entirely 
 deserted : long streets were without an occupant ; the 
 bazaars were empty and forsaken. Within the first 
 house that we entered we found the air tainted with 
 the efiluvia arising from a dead body lying in one of 
 the chambers. Our cicerone led us through the city, 
 just as our guide had conducted us through the streets 
 of old Pompeii, showing us into the courts of the finest 
 buildings, where the shrubs and flowers were bloom- 
 ing beautiful as ever, though over all was thrown 
 a Moom of desertion and death. We entered the
 
 292 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIEES. 
 
 mosques — forbidden to the profane feet of infidels — 
 for no one hindered us. In one we found a single 
 faithful follower of Mohammed performing his pros- 
 trations and murmuring his prayers. However dif 
 ferent our own faith, profane indeed would have been 
 our footsteps had we not withdrawn more softly 
 than we entered. 
 
 The scenes in the still inhabited portions of the 
 city were heart • sickening ; emaciated limbs and 
 shriveled palms, extended for charity, spoke louder 
 than the feeble, pleading voices. But the stalls ! 
 A few dates, some half-grown oranges, and mere drib- 
 lets of miserable wheat and barley were here being 
 carefully weighed and doled out to the groups of 
 hungry, skeleton-worn women and children, some 
 without a rag upon their bodies. 
 
 Our quarters at Kauzerun were within the tele- 
 graph building, w^here we were hospitably entertain- 
 ed by the agent, an Armenian Christian. A little 
 incident that occurred upon the evening of our ar- 
 rival led us to infer that the terrible experiences of 
 the famine had not had much effect in leading the 
 people to mend their ways. While we were taking- 
 tea upon the roof of the house, just after night- 
 ftiU, a clear voice broke over the still city, pro- 
 claiming the loss of a favorite white donkey, and 
 offering a considerable reward for its recovery. 
 (This is the usual manner of advertising lost j)rop-
 
 CARAVAN LIFE IN PERSIA. 293 
 
 erty in Persia.) The servant of our host Lad found 
 the strayed animal, and had it confined. " Why do 
 you not call and tell the man you have the donkey V 
 we very naturally inquired. "I am going to wait 
 till he doubles that reward," replied the rascal. And 
 he did. 
 
 Leaving Kauzerun a little after midnight, we pro- 
 ceeded up the j)lain for about two hours, and then 
 commenced the ascent of the most difficult pass be- 
 tween Bushire and Shiraz. The road was led up an 
 almost perpendicular rock by numerous windings, 
 doublings, and zigzags, defended by parapets. This 
 passage has been called the " Simplon of Persia ;" but 
 the less euphonious native name is Kotuli Dokhter, 
 or " Pass of the Girl." From the summit a gentle 
 descent brought us to the charming little vale of 
 Deshti Burr. We had left behind us the palms and 
 other representatives of a tropical climate, and were 
 now in the colder region of oaks and kindred trees. 
 Justice has never been done to Persian scenery. 
 Right on this spot a certain traveler, fresh from the 
 fair isles of India, exclaims, " How different from 
 green, beautiful Ceylon !" We can forgive him, for 
 he saw the valley in the winter, when the leaves 
 had fallen and the flowers were gone. We have 
 had many glimpses of sequestered mountain valleys, 
 disclosing their beauty all unexpectedly through the 
 opening hills, or spreading out their loveliness from
 
 294 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 some wild pass ; but we have seen few really prettier 
 and quieter vales than that of the Deshti Bnrr,' It 
 appeared about eight or ten miles in length, and two 
 or thi'ee in breadth, and was covered with a forest 
 of oaks ; not set thick together, but scattered sj)orad- 
 ically over the plain, so as to favor a good growth of 
 grass beneath them. A species of poppy, with large 
 crimson flowers, covered the ground in such profu- 
 sion that in j^laces the green grass was entirely hid- 
 den and the earth overspread with unbroken sheets 
 of gay color. The oaks grew more stunted as they 
 were lifted higher and higher on the slo23es of the 
 bordering hills, and at length, failing entirely, left 
 the summits bare and rocky — just bold and rugged 
 enough to give a touch of wildness to the scene. 
 Snow lay in heavy drifts along the tops of the 
 mountains, suggesting Alpine grandeur. Some dis- 
 tance from the point where we entered the vallej^ 
 were two little villages, Abduee and Kalluneh, 
 which before the famine contained two hundred 
 families; while now, we were told, not more than 
 twenty remained. We did not visit them, but en- 
 camped beneath the trees, on a sj^ot as pretty as an 
 English lawn. 
 
 Night had barely fallen before we broke camp 
 and resumed our journey; for although at the ele- 
 vation we had gained the days were considerably 
 cooler than on the Germsir, still it was more pleas-
 
 CARAVAN LIFE IN PERSIA. 295 
 
 ant to climb tlie passes during the coolness of the 
 night than while the sun was beating upon them. 
 After one hour's ride through the Vale of Oaks we 
 commenced the Ions; and toilsome ascent of the 
 Kotuli Peerazen, or " Pass of the Old Woman," which 
 it took us over two hours to clear. Quite a heavy 
 forest of oak and other deciduous trees clothed the 
 surroundino; hills. 
 
 After turning the summit we made a rugged de- 
 scent to the Deshti Arjun, or "Plain of the Wild 
 Almonds," a small vale covered with verdure; but, 
 unlike the one we had left, destitute of trees. The 
 lower slopes of the surrounding hills were covered 
 with a thin forest of dwarf oak, while the highest 
 peaks were mantled with snow. The morning air 
 ■was so chilling that our ride across the plain was, 
 notwithstanding our thick wrappings, an extremely 
 uncomfortable one. 
 
 The mountain that overhung the valley on our 
 right presented a most interesting geological phe- 
 nomenon. It consisted of a lofty wall of rock, rising, 
 we estimated, one thousand feet above the valley, 
 and composed throughout of nearly horizontal strata 
 of limestone and marble, the latter appearing toward 
 the base of the precipice. The upper portion of the 
 wall was quite worn by time, and the debris had 
 formed a considerable talus ; but the lower portion 
 of the face of the precipice was regular, yet deeply
 
 296 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 grooved and striated, with the portion immediately 
 above the talus polished like a glacier-worn surface. 
 The manner in which this appearance had been given 
 to the rock admitted of no doubt : it was by a ver- 
 tical faulting, or sliding. In other w^ords, a profound 
 fracture occurring in the strata, either the bottom of 
 the valley had slipped down, or the strata now form- 
 ing the wall lifted up ; in either case, the faces of the 
 fracture being polished as they ground against each 
 other during the sliding movement. 
 
 At the northern end of the valley w^e found a 
 wretched and almost deserted village, where our 
 caravan halted for the day. The only inviting spot 
 about it w^as a neighboring spring, which issued in a 
 large stream from the foot of the cliff that overhung 
 the village. Here a pretty group of oaks, willows, 
 and venerable chenar trees shaded a wely which 
 marked the site of a Shiah miracle. Once upon a 
 time, a Jew, w^eary and dusty from a long march, 
 stopped at this sj^ot to rest and to bathe. While 
 enjoying his bath a lion appeared upon the scene, 
 and the poor Jew became helpless through terror. 
 At this crisis Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed, to 
 whom the Persians ascribe miraculous j^owers, sud- 
 denly appeared as a veiled horseman, and, slay- 
 ing the lion, vanished as mysteriously and suddenly 
 as he had appeared. Witliin the wely we w^ere 
 shown several deep indentations in the rock, which
 
 CARAVAN LIFE IN PERSIA. 997 
 
 the fakir told us were the impriuts of the horse's 
 hoofs. 
 
 The wely was surrounded by tombs, many of 
 which were marked by rudely carved stone figures, 
 intended to represent lions, bears, or wild boars, all 
 of which abound in the valley. The lions especially 
 are the great terror of muleteers, as the}^ frequently 
 attack horses or mules while pasturing on the plain. 
 Late in the evening following our arrival in the val- 
 ley, a boy w^ho had been out tending the animals of 
 the caravan, which were grazing a short distance 
 from the village, broke into our room in a terrible 
 fright, to inform us that a lion had just killed and 
 carried off one of the mules. We were curious to 
 ascertain some particulars resj^ecting the animal ; 
 but upon questioning the boy we found that he was 
 hardly in a frame of mind for giving statements with 
 scientific accuracy. Upon asking him the size of the 
 beast, he turned toward the door, a large opening 
 six feet high, and replied between his terrified sobs, 
 ^vith his hair still all on end, " He couldn't get in 
 that door." 
 
 From the valley of Deshti Arjun an uninviting 
 ride of five hours, through a rocky country, sparsely 
 clothed with dwarf oak and other trees, brought us 
 to Khan Zenion, the best caravansary on the route 
 between Bushire and Shiraz. Just before reaching 
 this station our caravan was thrown into the greatest
 
 298 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 excitement by the appearance in the distance of a 
 party of twenty or thirty banditti. The animals had 
 been allowed to straggle along till the van and rear 
 of our caravan were a mile aj^art ; but upon the first 
 alarm the straggling line was hastily closed up, the 
 animals, women, and children being crowded togeth- 
 er, while the muleteers and those pilgrims who were 
 armed, with the soldiers of the escort that had ac- 
 companied us from Deshti Burr, covered the threat- 
 ened flank. Seeing that we were so well prepared 
 to receive them, the bandits did not venture upon 
 an attack, but hovered at a distance, while our car- 
 avan hurried on and within the walls of the cara- 
 vansary. 
 
 We left Khan Zenion the following morning at 
 an early hour, and followed a road which all day led 
 us through a sterile, rocky country; but which at 
 last, through the opening, hills, gave us a glimpse of 
 the plain of Shiraz, surrounded by mountains, bald 
 and sunburnt and sterile as the Yirgilian Ithaca. 
 Across the plain gleamed two glazed domes, rising 
 fron\ amid the dark foliage of the gardens of Shiraz. 
 While yet a long way from the city we were met by 
 many of the friends of the pilgrims, who had come 
 out to welcome them home. Our pilgrims dis- 
 mounted, and men and women hugged and kissed 
 one another with true Oriental fervor. We confess 
 we never felt more homesick than while this thino- 
 
 1 
 
 I
 
 CARAVAN LIFE IN PERSIA. 299 
 
 was going on. Upon arrival at the city this feeling 
 was, however, tpickly dissipated by our kind re- 
 ception at the British Residency; where we met 
 another traveler in the person of an English mis- 
 sionary, the Rev. Mr. Gordon. The warm, hearty 
 greeting we received left us but little occasion to 
 feel jealous of the pilgrims.
 
 300 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 SHI E A Z. 
 
 The Valley of Sliiraz.— Distaut View of the City.— Streets and Bazaars. 
 —Interior of the Dwellings.— Public Buildings.— Population.— Gar- 
 dens of Shiraz.— Baghi Now.— Jehan Nema.— Baghi Takht.— The 
 Tomlj of Hafiz.— His Odes.— Tomb of Saadi.— Effects of the Famine 
 at Shiraz.— The Fundamental Cause of Asiatic Wretchedness.— The 
 Oriental Doctrine of Isolation.— Lessons of the Famine. 
 
 Shiraz is situated upon an elevated plateau, lifted 
 nearly four thousand feet above the sea-level. The 
 portion of this table-land that comprises the valley 
 of Shiraz is a plain about twenty-five miles in length 
 and ten in breadth, shut in by rocky, barren hills, the 
 highest peaks of which are tipped with snow till the 
 summer is far advanced : during the mouths of Jan- 
 uary and February the snow-line is pushed down 
 to the plain ; in the winter of 1871-2 snow fell at 
 Shiraz to the depth of two feet. The Shiraz valley 
 is naturally one of the most fertile in Persia, and in 
 former times was covered with a sea of verdure ; but 
 under neglect the larger portion of the plain has be- 
 come arid and verdureless, and lies in fit keeping 
 with the sunburnt hills that environ it. 
 
 The city of Shiraz lies cm the northern edge of the
 
 SHIRAZ. 301 
 
 plaiD, jnst at the foot of the hills. Directly back of 
 the town is a narrow pass or defile, which aifords 
 a passage through these hills for the Ispahan road. 
 Viewed from this gorge the city presents a most 
 beautiful and striking appearance, rivaling Damas- 
 cus, as seen from the overhanging hills of Anti-Lib- 
 anus, in the queenly dignity and beauty of its sit- 
 uation and environs. In order to secure the best 
 effect, one must enter the defile far enough so that 
 its lofty, abruj^t walls may cut off the greater portion 
 of the plain, and form a narrow vista through which 
 the eye may range and fall upon the city and its gar- 
 dens. The scenic effect is wonderful: you seem to 
 have before you a work of art. So perfect is the 
 illusion, you can hardly believe that the bit of land- 
 scape you are looking upon is not a painting. The 
 tall walls of the pass form the frame ; and the city, 
 adorned by the glazed domes of its mosques, and 
 buried in the foliage of its beautiful gardens, is the 
 faultless picture. 
 
 But, as in the case of all Eastern cities, it is dis- 
 tance that lends enchantment to the view. If we 
 leave the defile and enter the city, our vision of 
 beauty is quickly and rudely dispelled. Once with- 
 in the limits of the town we find nothing save mis- 
 erable mud walls, rags and wretchedness, heaj^s of 
 filth and rubbish — every where only that which ob- 
 trudes offensively upon every sense. The streets are
 
 302 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 narrow, irregular, gloom}^, dirty lanes; and tlie ba- 
 zaars, witli one or two exceptions, are equally unin- 
 viting. Through all these hatefully vile thorough- 
 fares flows a constant stream of Asiatic life. 
 
 It is a relief to escape from the streets to some 
 pleasant courtyard; for here, as every where else 
 throughout the East, the interior of the dwellings 
 frequently exhibit more taste and beauty, and offer 
 more inviting and commodious apartments, than the 
 exterior promises. We make the exterior of our 
 homes attractive, and indicative of the wealth and 
 comfort within ; but an Oriental's dwelling partakes 
 throughout of the harem's exclusiveness, and displays 
 to the profane world only a blank, uninteresting wall 
 of brick and mud. Our home while in Shiraz was at 
 the residence of the British agent, a native of the city. 
 This dwelling was a fair representation of the bet- 
 ter class of buildings in Shiraz. It encompassed two 
 courts ; but within the sacred j)recincts of the innermost 
 we were never permitted to enter. The outer court 
 was a large square of over two hundred feet, shaded 
 by tall chenar-trees, and ornamented with flowers and 
 blooming shrubs. At one extremity was a large 
 tank, from which a constant stream of water flowed 
 through the grounds. Our apartments, which opened 
 upon the court, were quite commodious, and fancifully 
 decorated with paintings of flowers, foliage, and birds, 
 that completely covered both walls and ceiling.
 
 SHIRAZ. 303 
 
 The public buildings of Shiraz are neither nu- 
 merous nor interesting. There are but two domed 
 mosques that attract particular attention. These 
 are covered with glazed tiles, and are very conspic- 
 uous objects in any view of the town. The Vakeel 
 Bazaar is the most substantial structure in the city. 
 It at least equals any thing of which Damascus, 
 Alej^po, or Bagdad can boast. It is a lofty, vaulted 
 arcade, constructed in the form of a Maltese cross, 
 each arm of which is one eio-hth of a mile in length. 
 The royal summer-houses we shall have occasion to 
 allude to while speaking of the gardens of the city. 
 The population of Shiraz can not be far from 35,000, 
 of which number about 5000 are Jews. The status 
 of the poor Jew in Shiraz is very different from what 
 it is in Bagdad. In the latter city they possess great 
 influence, constituting the most honored and intelli- 
 gent class of the heterogeneous population; in the 
 Persian city they are the object of envy, insult, and 
 abuse, being most grievously oppressed by the gov- 
 ernment, and contemned and persecuted by other 
 sects. 
 
 The gardens of Shiraz have obtained a w^orld-wide 
 celebrity. Some of these paradises were created by 
 the sovereigns of Persia when the city was the capital 
 of the empire ; others are the work of various gov- 
 ernors of Shiraz. The most of them have fallen into 
 
 neglect, and the once pleasant palaces and kiosks, or 
 
 X
 
 304 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 1 
 
 summer-lionses, have become lodging-places for waii- 
 clering dervises. They are still royal property ; and 
 although the grounds are overrun with wilduess, and 
 the buildings decayed and blackened with smoke, 
 they yet retain somewhat of that former beauty 
 which inspired such rapturous praises from native 
 bards and European visitors. 
 
 The most beautiful of these gardens, in our estima- 
 tion, is the Baghi Now, which lies near the Ispahan 
 road, and just at the opening of the defile to which 
 allusion has been made. It was laid out and its 
 buildings constructed half a century ago by a son of 
 Fat'h Ali Shah. One of its most attractive features 
 is the tall, dark cones of its cypresses, rising amid 
 and contrasting with the lighter foliage of the garden. 
 The orange-trees, loading the air with the fragrance 
 of their blossoms ; the flowering roses, forming great 
 domes of white and pink ; the grassy plats, strewn 
 all over with flowers, and pretty in spite of neglect ; 
 the wonderfully varied notes of the philomel, poured 
 from the deep foliage of the cypress — these cause 
 one to forget the ugly desert outside, and believe 
 once more in the land of "roses, poets, and night- 
 ingales." 
 
 The Baghi Now contains three buildings, and is 
 abundantly supplied with tanks and streams of wa- 
 ter. One of the buildings stands at the entrance to 
 the grounds, another in the centre of the garden, and
 
 SHIRAZ. 305 
 
 the third at the end opposite the gate. The central 
 structure, which is the largest and finest, contains a 
 spacious talar — a sort of chamber or hall, open to the 
 breezes of heaven — embellished with a number of 
 Persian 2:)aintings, one of which seems to be commem- 
 orative of the reception of an European embassy. 
 Other paintings discourse of love and astronomy, 
 through representations of amours and zodiacal fig- 
 ures. Persian mimetic art displays but little genius. 
 The figures are stiflf and absurdly awkward, with a 
 wonderful family resemblance ; the perspective would 
 do honor to a Japanese artist. 
 
 Near the Baghi Now is the Jehan Nema garden, 
 constructed by the Persian sovereign Kureen Khan, 
 who embellished the city of Shiraz with many of 
 its best edifices. The grounds are well filled with 
 trees and shrubs, and were formerly ornamented with 
 beautiful summer-houses; but these buildings, many 
 of the chambers of which still exhibit traces of rich 
 ornamentation, are fast falling into decay. 
 
 The Baghi Takht, or palace garden, is situated 
 about a mile northwest of the city, just at the base 
 of the hill. The palace which the garden contains 
 was erected by Fat'h Ali, a former governor of Shi- 
 raz. The sj^ace inclosed by the walls embraces about 
 one hundred acres, and displays a great variety of 
 fruit and ornamental trees and flowering shrubs. 
 A finely shaded walk leads through the grounds
 
 306 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 from the entrance to the palace, which occu23ies an el- 
 evated site, with the ground in front breaking down 
 to the level of the garden in wooded terraces, which 
 prettily overhang the large reservoir at the foot of 
 the descent. The palace, wdiich surmounts the high- 
 est terrace, is a fine building, chastely ornamented, 
 and, being still used as a summer residence, is kept 
 in a better state of repair than most of the buildings 
 of the other gardens. Its balconies afford a magnifi- 
 cent view of Shiraz and the environing plain. 
 
 About half a mile beyond the walls of the town, 
 upon the north, lies the garden known as the Hafi- 
 zeeya, w^hich contains the tomb of the famous Persian 
 bard Haiiz. The grounds are a little more than an 
 acre in extent, and are divided by a kiosk, or summer- 
 house, into two ]3arts, one of which is embellished 
 with trees and shrubbery, while the other is a par- 
 tially shaded cemetery. In this latter portion, amid 
 a large number of Mohammedan tombs, lies a beauti- 
 fully polished alabaster slab, eight feet in length and 
 two in thickness, which marks the grave of the most 
 popular poet Persia has ever produced. The block 
 is tastefully inscribed with selections from the odes 
 of the poet. 
 
 Ilafiz, or Hafiz-Mohammed-Shems-eddin, as written 
 by the Persians, was a native of Shiraz, where he 
 died toward the close of the fourteenth century. 
 " The veneration," says Binning, a translator and ad-
 
 SHIRAZ. 307 
 
 mirer of tlie odes of Hafiz, " whicli the Persians en- 
 tertain for this prince of lyric poets is extreme ; and 
 •lie is regarded by them as little, if at all, inferior to 
 an inspired mortal. His odes are considered, and I 
 believe justly so, unrivaled and incomparable." The 
 odes of Hafiz are intensely Anacreonic, being always 
 redolent of love and wme. To relieve the poet of 
 the charge of sensuousness and immorality, the Sufis, 
 a sect who hold the bard in divine veneration, insist 
 that the " wine, roses, nightingales, music, love, and 
 intoxication," amid which the inspired bard loves to 
 revel, are to be taken in a spiritual or allegorical 
 sense. 
 
 AYithin the kiosk of the garden is kept a volume 
 of Hafiz's odes, some six hundred in number, which 
 after the poet's death w^ere collected and preserved 
 in numerous manuscript copies. The copy at the 
 tomb is especially venerated; and as the Persians 
 have a custom of drawing omens from the Koran and 
 other highly esteemed writings, this volume is often 
 resorted to for the purpose of securing a /«/, or lot, 
 whereby the seeker may know the likely issue of any 
 new enterprise he may be proposing. These omens 
 are taken by opening the book at random ; the ode 
 that chance thus casts the inquirer upon contains the 
 answer soudit. Of course there is often a worse 
 than Delphic obscurity or ambiguity in these lyric 
 oracles ; but the Persians have a orenius for all sorts
 
 308 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 of mysteries and mysticisms, and amid the mass of - 
 Anacreonic metaphors always succeed in discovering 
 some wonderfully applicable oracular revelations to 
 aid them in their indecision and perplexity. Collu- 
 sion and trickery are, of course, no more strangers to 
 this Persian oracle than they were to the classic Del- 
 phic or Delian. It is related that the famous Nadir 
 Shah, in the midst of his successes, and when ])lan- 
 ning extended conquests, knowing the beneficial ef 
 feet of an auspicious omen upon his su2:>erstitious fol- 
 lowers, drew a lot here which read as follows : " It is 
 befitting that thou shouldst exact duty from all the 
 great ones of this world ; for in truth thou art the 
 crown and paragon of all nobility. Cathay and Tar- 
 tary tremble at the glance of thy vivid eyes; China 
 and India must pay tribute to thy curled locks." 
 
 A mile or more beyond the tomb of Hafiz, lying- 
 in the opening of a little valley, among sterile hills, 
 is the garden of Saadiya, containing the tomb of the 
 poet Saadi, who, like Hafiz, was a native of Shiraz, 
 being born in that city A.D. 1174. The grounds 
 are inclosed with a hio-h wall, and contain a lai'sre 
 Saracenic building, in an open chamber of which is 
 found the marble block that marks the poet's grave. 
 The garden is beautifully shaded with pines, cy- 
 presses, and mulberry-trees ; but the grounds are un- 
 kept, and tell of neglect and forgetfulness, 
 
 Saadi's life was that of a wandering dervis. He
 
 SHIRAZ. 309 
 
 is said to have made fourteen pilgrimages to Mecca. 
 He certainly bad time enough to do so, if we may 
 believe his biographers, who extend his life to one 
 hundred and sixteen years. Saadi wrote both prose 
 and verse; and by some his writings are considered 
 superior to those of Hafiz. The best known and 
 most popular of his works is the " Gulistan," or Rose 
 Garden, which is divided into eight chapters, in order 
 that, as Saadi says, it might resemble Paradise in 
 having eight gates. In some of these chapters the 
 writer discourses on such matters as the morals of 
 kings, the excellence of contentment, the advan- 
 tages of silence, love and youth, and the Ciceronic 
 subject of imbecility and old age. 
 
 Emerson, in a brief introductory note to Gladwin's 
 translation of the " Gulistan," thus characteristically 
 sums it up : " Medshun and Leila, rose and night- 
 ingale, parrots and tulips; mosques and dervises; 
 desert, caravan, and robbers; peeps at the harem; 
 bags of gold dinars ; slaves, horses, houses, camels, sa- 
 bres, shawls, pearls, amber, cohol, and henna ; insane 
 compliments to the Sultan, borrowed from the lan- 
 guage of prayer; Hebrew and Gueber legends molt- 
 en into Arabesque — 'tis a short inventory of topics 
 and tropes which incessantly return in Persian po- 
 etry." But, as he observes, genius like Nature may 
 play her game with few pieces. One of the most re- 
 markable of the " insane " superlatives which Emer-
 
 310 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 son alludes to is perhaps the following — we will not 
 undertake to say from what language it may be bor- 
 rowed: the poet in complimenting the Shah says, 
 "The incurvated back of the sky became straight 
 with joy at thy birth." 
 
 In the chapter on the advantages of taciturnity we 
 find the following tale, w^hich we give as a double il- 
 lustration of Saadi's writings and Wendell Phillips's 
 lecture on the " Lost Arts," wherein he alludes to 
 the originality of Irish bulls: "A certain poet wxnt 
 to the chief of a gang of robbers, and recited verses 
 in his praise. He ordered him to be stripped of his 
 clothes, and be expelled the village. The dogs at- 
 tacking him, he wanted to take up some stones, but 
 they were frozen to the ground. Thus distressed, he 
 said : ' What a vile set of men are these, who let loose 
 their doo;s and fasten their stones.' "* 
 
 * In this connection, the following respecting Persian art and knowl- 
 edge of certain sciences which we assume to be especially modern, will 
 be of interest to some of our readers. Speaking of the celebrated Mur- 
 phine Vase, Gladwin, after quoting Wedgwood to the effect that its 
 composition imi^lied a knowledge of chemistry of which we have not 
 yet discovei'ed the elements, says: "Indeed, our boasted chemical im- 
 provements can neither produce the material of those sculptured and 
 colored vases, cups, gems, and rings now collected by our curious trav- 
 elers in Persia, nor supply any instrument of a sufficiently hard temper 
 to cut and carve them." In Saadi's " Bustan " (viii., 3) occurs this re- 
 markable language respecting tlic circulation of the blood in the hu- 
 man body : " The venal system of thy body, O well-disposed man ! is a 
 meadow, through which are flowing three hundred and sixty rivulets." 
 Was Harvey, then, the first discoverer of the circulation of the blood ? 
 Again, npon respiration and digestion Saadi thus discourses: "Were 
 not the fresh air to pass by respiration into the lungs, the intestine
 
 SHIRAZ. 311 
 
 There are other gardens besides the above about 
 Shiraz; but as those we have visited are the finest, 
 they do not call for particular description. The win- 
 ters of Shiraz are too severe for tropical trees and 
 plants, so that all these gardens lack some of the at- 
 tractions of the royal paradises of India ; yet, though 
 there be an absence of strangeness of pattern and 
 luxuriance of growth, there is a quiet beauty and 
 chasteness in their less extravagant display of foliage 
 which more than compensates, perhaps, for this loss 
 of tropical richness and exuberance. 
 
 From the gardens of Shiraz we turn to other mat- 
 ters less pleasing. At the time of our visit to the 
 city there were, it was estimated, at least five thou- 
 sand famishing mendicants wandering in the streets 
 or lying in the bazaars, which were little better than 
 the wards of a lazaretto. The gates of the city were 
 so infested with crowds of half-naked wretches that 
 it was with the greatest difiiculty that we were en- 
 abled, at times, to eftect a passage. "Wherever we 
 went we were beset with rac-s and wretchedness. 
 Indeed, almost the entire population seemed clothed 
 in rags and transformed into a community of beg- 
 gars. 
 
 Various estimates have been made as to the num- 
 
 lieat would throw the body into a ferment ; and did not the pot of the 
 stomach duly concoct food, the fair and pkimp form of the body would 
 get shrunk and withered." — " Bustau," viii., 14, as quoted by Gladwin 
 in his. Introduction to " Gulistan." '
 
 312 KEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 ber of victims of the great Persian famine: some 
 have placed the number as high as two millions, or 
 about one third of the entire population of the coun- 
 try; others have thought that 100,000 would be a 
 large estimate. Respecting this discrepancy, we must 
 observe that in such a country as Persia it is utterly 
 impossible to obtain any satisfactory approximation 
 even to the number of victims of such a calamity, 
 for it is the policy of the government to vitiate or 
 suppress the facts. But it is not alone a frightful 
 decimation of population that represents the disas- 
 trous results of the famine : the country is impover- 
 ished, society disorganized, and industry prostrated, 
 so that decades will scarcely suffice for even a very 
 partial recovery, for Persia's recuperative forces are 
 any thing but strong and vigorous. 
 
 Such a disaster as the Persian famine is by no 
 means an unusual thing in Asiatic history. Since 
 the time that the children of Israel went down into 
 Egypt to buy corn, periods of scarcity and famine 
 have prevailed throughout the countries of the East. 
 Incalculable suffering has always been the inevitable 
 attendant of these times of want, when Nature has 
 refused to supply the first needs of her children. 
 Now, of all the scourges to which humanity is liable, 
 this is the most completely under man's control. But 
 the idea of intelligent prevention of these recurring 
 disasters has scarcely dawned upon the Asiatic mind.
 
 SHIRAZ. 313 
 
 In order to gain a proper comprehension of tliis sub- 
 ject, we must revert to the first instincts of Oriental 
 society. Professor Sumner, in his scale of subordina- 
 tion and precedency of the ends of man as a physical 
 being, places sustenance prior to reproduction, and 
 intimates that a reversion of this order will surely 
 be punished by Nature. Our observation through- 
 out the East impressed upon us the conviction that 
 the underlying cause of the largest portion of the 
 individual sufferins: and wretchedness there so uni- 
 versal results from a violation of this heaven-ap- 
 pointed order. It is alike the dictate of prudence 
 and the peremptory injunction of enlightened reason 
 that the family relation shall not be entered into till 
 reasonable provision shall have been made by the 
 parties assuming these relations to meet the natural 
 wants of the family organization. In enlightened 
 societies such considerations act as strong restraints 
 upon those contemplating matrimonial alliances; in- 
 deed, they are often allowed to exercise an undue 
 influence. But in the East none of these restraints 
 to marriage have any force whatever. At a most 
 precocious age the family relation is assumed by 
 those who are without a thought for the future, and. 
 without any means possessory, or reasonably antici- 
 patory, for properly nourishing, clothing, and shelter- 
 ing those that may come to be dependent upon their 
 parental care. The inevitable result is squalid pov-
 
 314 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 erty, wretchedness, and misery. This great evil will 
 not cease till there be wrought a fundamental change 
 in Asiatic society. Christianity is slowly introducing 
 this change, and the beneficent results of the new 
 order of things is already observable in native Chris- 
 tian families and communities. The assuming of 
 conjugal relations at the customary precocious age is 
 discouraged, if not strictly prohibited ; and new con- 
 ceptions respecting parental obligations are being 
 gradually instilled. In the missionary work, which 
 goes to the very fundamentals of all social organiza- 
 tions, we assert lies the only hope for the uplifting 
 and regeneration of Eastern society. 
 
 Now from the family let us broaden our thoughts 
 and rise to the nation, and we shall find that it is the 
 gross violation of the correlative laws of population 
 and sustenance, as has been pointed out by the great 
 political economist Malthus, which is the deep-hid- 
 den, indirect cause of all such calamities as that 
 which has been felt so sorely by Persia. Every coun- 
 try is liable to years of great scarcity ; and it is evi- 
 dent that, at such times, there must be wide-spread 
 suft'ei'ing unless food may be thrown into the country 
 from more favored districts, or the scarcity relieved 
 from the garnered sur])liis of fruitful years. In China 
 the latter method of providing against the disastrous 
 consequences of a failure of crops is adopted, to a 
 certain extent at least. Among Western nations, the
 
 SHIRAZ. 315 
 
 possibility of an overwhelming calamity of this char- 
 acter falling upon any district is effectually precluded 
 by intimacy of commercial relations, and the exist- 
 ence of numerous lines of rapid international commu- 
 nication. But witness Persia, wrapped in conceited 
 and indifferent isolation. She has refused to estab- 
 lish generous recij^rocal commercial relations with 
 other nations. She has failed to open lines of easy 
 and rapid communication with surrounding coun- 
 tries, and has thus as effectually shut herself up from 
 the reception of aid in case of emergency as though 
 uj^on another planet. Yet, although she has thus 
 isolated herself from the rest of the world, she has 
 permitted her population to increase till there is a 
 nicely poised equilibrium between the number of 
 inhabitants and the food-producing capabilities of 
 the country, without any provision whatsoever hav- 
 ing been made for the correction of any disturbance 
 that accident may produce in this equilibrium. An 
 emergency occurs. The crops throughout the coun- 
 try foil. No relief can be thrown into the country 
 from without; for there are no proper commercial 
 relations existing, and no adequate means of trans- 
 port. The animals of the caravans, which during 
 time of plenty have kept up a sort of semi-toi'pid 
 movement and commerce between the countr}^ and 
 neighboring states, fall the first victims to the grow- 
 ing scarcity of food, and the country is thus abso-
 
 316 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 lutely cut off from the rest of the world. What is 
 the result ? A struggle for life, and a harsh crushing 
 out of those at a disadvantage in the struggle. Now 
 this was never so intended. Reason, not natural 
 selection, is designed to have sway here. But if it 
 have not, if the equilibrium of population and sub- 
 sistence be not guarded and maintained by wise re- 
 straints upon an undue exj)ansion of population, or 
 by intelligent forecast and provision for times of 
 scarcity, or better — till the population of the world 
 is vastly greater than at present — by the fostering 
 of a certain solidarity of sympathies and interest be- 
 tween the different nations of the earth, expressing 
 itself practically in the establishment or adoption 
 of such means of intercommunication as may render 
 possible the prompt extension of effectual relief upon 
 the call of distress from any member of the union 
 threatened with calamity — unless this matter be reg- 
 ulated by such intelligent means, it will be controlled 
 by natural selection, and severe will be the action of 
 this law, because in entering the delicate organiza- 
 tion of human society it comes into a system intend- 
 ed to be lifted above the reach of the rough forces 
 of a lower world, Perhaj)S the welfare of every na- 
 tion has thus been bound up in this idea of universal 
 brotherhood, as the theologians term it, or community 
 of obligations and interests, as political economists 
 might speak of it, in order that the future union of
 
 SHIRAZ. 317 
 
 tlie race might be placed beyond a contingency by 
 this setting at work, for the grand consummation, the 
 most powerful of all human motives — self interest. 
 
 The great famine in Persia has struck a severe 
 blow at the counter Asiatic theory of isolation. It 
 has taught the Orientals that God never intended 
 that they should wrap themselves in offensive se- 
 clusiveness, and refuse to form commercial alliances 
 and symj)athetic relations with one another and with 
 European nations. At the very time that the in- 
 habitants of Persia were dying by thousands for 
 want of bread, Chicago was burned. From eveiy 
 part of the Union, and even from across the ocean, 
 relief was poured in to meet the emergencies of the 
 sudden calamity. We recollect well how this noble 
 response to suffering thrilled us, when our papers 
 brouGfht the intellio-ence to us in Shiraz, where the 
 peo]3le were dying uncared for in the streets of the 
 city. So intimately blended are the interests of 
 Western nations through their commercial relations, 
 and of such a common nature is the life and pulse 
 that beats in all, that when one member of the so- 
 cial body suffers, the whole body suffers with it, and 
 prompt assistance is extended. Now the Oriental 
 nations can not refuse to participate in these national 
 reciprocities without incurring the penalty of such 
 perverseness, any more than the individual can refuse 
 to assume the duties and responsibilities that society
 
 318 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 demands, and escape the penalties that follow the 
 recluse. A severe lesson, truly, this which Persia 
 has been taught. But those two long years of suf 
 fering will yet be seen to have been freighted with 
 blessings to her, if their trying circumstances shall 
 open the eyes of those who hold the destiny of the 
 country in their hands to the folly of the al:)surd 
 doctrine of isolation, and show them the absolute 
 dependence of national prosperity ujDon membership 
 in the great family of nations. Propositions for the 
 establishment of railroads in Persia have been more 
 favorably entertained since the famine has taught 
 their utility. The Shah's journey through Europe 
 can not but have an influence upon the future policy 
 of the Persian court. What the Shah and his coun- 
 selors saw will tend to favorably dispose them to- 
 ward projects of internal improvement. We prophesy 
 that not many years will pass before the capital of 
 Persia will be connected by rail with the Caspian, and 
 its jirincipal centres of population touched by railway 
 lines from India, on the one side, and the valley of the 
 Tigris and Euphrates upon the other; and through 
 such connections the recurrence of the terrible calam- 
 ity of 1871-2 will be rendered absolutely impossible.* 
 
 * Since the above was written several of the provinces of India have 
 been visited by famine. In some of the districts not reached by the 
 railways the sufferinfr has been extreme. But these instances are local. 
 The presence of the English, and the existence of extensive lines of rail- 
 way, have saved the country from a wide-spread and appalling calamity.
 
 THE RUINS OF PERSEPOLIS. 3^9 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE RUINS OF PERSEPOLIS. 
 
 Historical Sketch. — Alexander at the Tomb of Cyrus. — Site of the Pcr- 
 sepolitan Remains. — The Cyclopean Platform. — A Magnificent Stair- 
 way. — Grand Propylseum. — Gigantic Wardens. — Stanley and Anti- 
 quarians. — A richly Sculptured Staircase. — The Audience Hall of 
 Xerxes. — Hall of the Hundred Columns. — Oriental Hall of Audience. 
 — Ruins of the Palaces of Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes. — Massive Por- 
 tals. — Apartments of the Palace. — Nature of the Sculptures. — Rock- 
 hewn Tombs. — Rock-cut Facades. — Remains of the City of Persepo- 
 lis. — Fortified Gate. — A Curious, Tower. — Rock Tablets. 
 
 Far eclipsiDg all other memorials of the past m 
 Persia are the ruins of Persepolis, whose stately col- 
 umns, massive propylsea, gigantic wardens, and cy- 
 clopean stages are as largely responsible for the lofty 
 conceptions we entertain of Persia's early greatness 
 and magnificence as the pompous periods and gor- 
 geous pictures of her historians. " Not only youth- 
 ful travelers, glowing with imagination," writes Vaux, 
 " but those of sober judgment, matured by the expe- 
 rience of many years, seem, as they approach these 
 venerable monuments, to be inspired with the genius 
 of Eastern romance, and their respective languages 
 scarcely furnish epithets capable of expressing with 
 an adequate energy the astonishment and admiration 
 excited by such stupendous objects."
 
 320 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 If before examining these antiquities we hastily 
 trace a slight sketch of the ancient Persian Empire, 
 we shall find that the same will be of service to us 
 in enabling us to refer the different ruins and mon- 
 uments to their proper place in history; and thus 
 we shall proceed to our survey of these remarkable 
 architectural remains with more interest, and with 
 prospects of fuller instruction, from having first seen 
 at what time, under what influence, and by what an- 
 cient kings they had their birth. 
 
 The early history of Persia, with true fidelity to 
 the genius of development as exhibited by almost 
 every nation, is embodied in the songs of her poets 
 or in the tales of her fabulists. In the Rustem of 
 her bards we find the Hercules of the Greeks and 
 Romans; and in the Ions; line of heroes and demi- 
 ofods of her traditionists we discover an exact reflec- 
 tion of the storied mythologies of the classical writ- 
 ers.* It is not until we descend to the sixth cent- 
 ury B.C. that we find ourselves free from the mist 
 of antiquity, and treading on sure historic ground. 
 The patient industry of the investigators of the cu- 
 neiform records of Assyria has, however, thrown a 
 few rays of light through the obscurity of the two 
 
 * Tlie groat historical pncm of Persia, called the " Shah Namch," or 
 •• Book of Kings," written during the latter part of the tenth century 
 A.D., by Firdusi, the " Homer of Persia," is a compilation of all the 
 mythological, traditional, and historical memorials of the Persian Em- 
 pire, from the earliest times to the Mohammedan conquest, A.D. 630.
 
 THE EUINS OF PERSEPOLIS. 321 
 
 or three centuries preceding that date. We know- 
 now that as late as the ninth century B.C. the Per- 
 sians were broken up into independent tribes, inca- 
 pable of acting in concert, and thus offering an easy 
 prey to the Assyrian kings, who overran the country 
 and exacted tribute from the subjected chieftains.* 
 With just this glimpse at the condition of the prim- 
 itive Persian tribes, we pass over three centuries to 
 find them consolidated into a state or monarchy, and 
 Pasargadse, not far from the later capital, Persepolis, 
 the abode of a Persian court. B.C. 558 the rising 
 Persian po}ver came in contact w^ith the Median mon- 
 archy : Persia lost her king, and Media her kingdom. 
 Cyrus the Great, son of the fallen Persian monarch 
 Cambyses, became the universal master of the Medes 
 and Persians; and under his soldierly genius the 
 vastest empire the world had yet seen arose upon 
 the ruins of the Median and Babylonian monarchies, 
 for scarcely had Media fallen before the Babylonian 
 power was broken into pieces, and her sceptre trans- 
 ferred to "Darius the Mede," to whom was dele- 
 gated, by Cyrus, the government of Babylon. Thus 
 were fulfilled the high purposes of heaven. 
 
 While leading an expedition against some Scyth- 
 ian tribe — probably the Massagetse — Cyrus received 
 the wound that in a few days terminated his life.* 
 
 * Rawlinson's "Ancient Monarchies,"' vol. iii., p. 365. 
 
 t Although we have accepted that version of the death of Cyrus
 
 322 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 He was buried at Pasargadae, and there his tomb 
 stands to-day, surrounded by the remains of the mag- 
 nificent structures with which he beautified that city. 
 And it is to this Cyrus, as we shall hereafter see, 
 that we must ascribe some of the most interesting 
 and important of the Persepolitan ruins. 
 
 It is not needful, for our purpose, that we follow in 
 any way closely the succeeding brilliant periods of the 
 empire. Under Cambyses, we see her leading her 
 troops along the Upper Nile ; and but a little later, 
 under Xerxes, reviewing her fleets upon the shores 
 of the Hellespont. The East for the first time pre- 
 sumes to measure her strength with the West. The 
 insult is not forgotten. At the battle of the Issus, 
 Alexander strikes the blow that at once avenges 
 Greece and shatters the whole fabric of the Persian 
 Empire. The battle of Arbela quickly succeeds; 
 the gates of Babylon open to him of their own ac- 
 cord; Persepolis is scarcely taken before its splen- 
 did palaces are heaps of ruins; at Pasargada) even 
 the sanctity of the tomb is violated, and within the 
 
 which seems the most probable after a comparison of authorities, still 
 we admit that there is a very great discrepancy upon this point among 
 the early writers : " Herodotus and Justin, as well as Diodorus Siculus, 
 state that lie was taken prisoner and put to death by Toniyris, queen 
 of the Massageta?. Ctesias says he was slain by the javelin of an In- 
 dian, while making war on the dervises of that country; but Xeno- 
 phon informs us that he died in his bed, after delivering an edifying 
 address to his two sons, and was buried at Pasargadaj, in the year B.C. 
 529." — Eraser's " Persia," chap. iii.
 
 THE RUINS OF PERSEPOLIS. 323 
 
 sepulchre, basely opened, Alexander reads this in- 
 scription : " O man, whoever thou art, and whenceso- 
 ever thou comest, I am Cyrus, the founder of the Per- 
 sian Empire : envy me not the little earth that cov- 
 ers my body." — (Vaux's "Nineveh and Persepolis," 
 p. 99.) And thus met the founder and the destroyer 
 of one of the most magnificent empires the world 
 had ever seen. 
 
 Alexander soon afterward dies at Babylon. Per- 
 sia for fifty years forms a portion of the dominion of 
 the Seleucidse. Then the Parthians wrest the prov- 
 ince from them, and for five hundred years maintain 
 in Persia the Parthian monarchy. A.D. 226 the au- 
 thority reverts to a line of native princes : the Sassa- 
 nian dynasty is founded; and though the rule of 
 these kings is at first vigorous, it gradually becomes 
 weak and inefficient, and offers but feeble resistance 
 to the impetuous outbreak of the tribes of Arabia. 
 The conquest by the Arabs is followed by that of 
 the Turks ; and then again at the beginning of the 
 sixteenth century the Persian line is restored, and 
 the Saffanean dynasty established. To-day it is one 
 of the weakest and most despicable governments on 
 the face of the earth, and its conceited Shah-in-Shah, 
 or King of Kings, the puppet-show of Europe. 
 
 The antiquities to which we shall now direct our 
 attention will be seen to belong entirely to the earli- 
 est and most brilliant period of Persia's history — to
 
 324 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 the reigns of Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes. And thus 
 these monuments are invested with all the interest 
 of a hoary antiquity, scarcely yielding in this respect 
 to the remains of Assyria and Babylonia. 
 
 The ruins of Persepolis, as they have come to be 
 called, lie about forty miles in a northerly direction 
 from Shiraz, on the eastern edge of the extensive 
 plain of Merdasht. When we saw this plain, in ear- 
 ly spring, portions were beautifully green with irri- 
 gated fields ; but the larger part lay waste and bar- 
 ren, presenting a very different aspect from what it 
 did when the Persian kings, from the elevated ter- 
 races of their palaces, overlooked one of the most 
 beautiful and carefully kept valleys in the world. 
 Low, gray, sunburnt hills, thrice as barren and for- 
 bidding as ever Virgil imagined the Ithacaean rocks, 
 hem in the plain on all sides, and instead of height- 
 ening by contrast, as formerly, the beauty of the em- 
 erald valley, now intensify its repulsive desolation. 
 
 The ruins, as we have already said, lie just at the 
 foot of the hills that border the plain on the east. 
 Although these remains are usually spoken of as the 
 " Ruins of Persepolis," they are not the remains of 
 that capital — few traces of which are existing — but 
 are the ruins of the great palaces, which were situ- 
 ated a considerable distance from the city. The 
 entire group is called by the natives Chehl Minar 
 ("forty columns"), or Tukhti Jemshid ("Jemshid's 
 
 I
 
 THE RUINS OF PERSEPOLIS. 325 
 
 throne"). Almost every thing of a wonderful nature 
 in Persia is attributed by the natives to this fabu- 
 lous character; just as Hercules among the Greeks 
 and Romans, and Semiramis among the Babylonians, 
 were the names about which gathered all the won- 
 derful tales from every source ; and just as Nimrod 
 or Solomon with the Arabs to-day has the credit of 
 every thing remarkable to be found in Assyria or 
 Babylonia. 
 
 The first palace built at Persepolis was founded 
 by Cyrus the Great; others were raised by succeed 
 iug kings, especially by Darius, Xerxes, and Arta 
 xerxes Ochus. The mass of buildings was destroy 
 ed, at least partially, upon the overthrow of the em 
 pire by the Macedonian; and, indeed, Alexander 
 himself is said to have fired the edifices during a 
 " drunken frolic, and at the instigation of a courte- 
 san."* 
 
 As at Baalbec, it is the massive substructions upon 
 which the buildings stood that constitute one of the 
 most imposing features of the remains. This im- 
 mense platform is fifteen hundred feet in length, and 
 nine hundred and thirty-six feet in width; as the 
 
 * The name of Thais at least has as sure a place in history as that 
 of Herostratus. the ambitious youth who thought to immortalize him- 
 rielf by firing the Temple of Diana, at Ephesus. According to Plu- 
 tarch, as quoted by Eraser, the palace, though greatly damaged by the 
 fire kindled by Alexander, was in existence as late as the reign of An- 
 tiochus Epiphanes. Some accounts attribute the final destruction of 
 Persepolis and its jjalaces to the Moslem iconoclasts.
 
 326 KEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 ground slopes slightly from the hill toward the plain, 
 the platform is supported by walls upon three sides 
 only, the fourth abutting upon the hills that over- 
 hung the palace. The platform is composed of three 
 terraces, the central being by far the longest and 
 highest, presenting to the plain an imposing and 
 massive front seven hundred and seventy feet in 
 length, and over forty feet in height. 
 
 This gigantic platform is the most remarkable 
 work of its nature in the world, far exceeding in its 
 dimensions the famous substructions of the Temple 
 of the Sun at Baalbec. The Syrian platform, how- 
 ever, surpasses the Persepolitan in the size of the 
 stones used in its construction. There are, however, 
 blocks of sufficiently gigantic dimensions occurring in 
 the supporting walls of the Persepolitan stage. We 
 measured one, in the wall of the southern terrace, 
 which gave a length of twenty -seven feet and a 
 width of seven. The entire face of this block was 
 covered with cuneiform inscriptions. There were 
 many other stones near the one measured of nearly 
 equally gigantic dimensions. These massive blocks 
 give the walls a strength and solidity that insures to 
 them a perpetuity as lasting as the surrounding hills. 
 We have already, in connection with our descrip- 
 tion of the great palace-mound at Nineveh, alluded 
 to the purposes subserved by the" enormous mounds, 
 stages, terraces, or j)latforms wliich we now find
 
 THE RUINS OF PERSEPOLIS. 327 
 
 loaded ^^'ith the debris of the Assyrian, Babylonian, 
 and Persian palaces. The fact that the Persepolitan 
 platform that supported the Persian royal residences 
 was constructed of stone, and has thus been able to 
 preserve through so many centuries its prominent 
 features, especially its wonderful stairways, unim- 
 paired by the wear of time, is what adds greatly to 
 the. interest that attaches itself to this stupendous 
 monument of the world's ancient builders. 
 
 The surface of the platform is reached from the 
 front by means of a grand staircase over twenty feet 
 in width, consisting of two flights of broad stone steps: 
 each step is so low and wide that, encouraged by the 
 assurance of worthy predecessors and the examjDle 
 of our guide, we mounted on horseback, and with 
 such ease that it would be an exaggeration to call it 
 any kind of a feat. Both Niebuhr and Fergusson 
 unite in pronouncing this stairway the finest work of 
 the kind that the ancient or even modern world can 
 show. As if depending on its grand proportions for 
 admiration, it is entirely free from sculptures or or- 
 namentation of any kind ; while the smaller stair- 
 cases that lead from the northern and southern ter- 
 races to the central one are most profusely decorated 
 with sculptural designs and figures. The effect of 
 the stern, stately simplicity which the broad sweep 
 of steps imparts would be injured were the eye al- 
 lowed to be led off in the survey of any thing subor- 
 dinate and simply sculpturesque.
 
 328 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Ascending this stairway, we found ourselves upon 
 the northern terrace, confronted by two colossal bulls, 
 wardens of the ancient palace. In their gigantic di- 
 mensions they seemed to belong to Egypt,"* but in 
 conception and execution to Assyria. These colossal 
 figures flanked an imposing propylseum, twelve feet 
 wide and over thirty high. About one hundred 
 feet from the first gateway is a second of equal di- 
 mensions, likewise flanked by two bulls looking to- 
 ward the hills. These difi'er from those facing the 
 plain in being represented with wings and the human 
 face divine. These grand propylsea formed the ap- 
 propriate portals to a magnificent hall, of which only 
 two stately fluted pillars, sixty feet high, ornamented 
 with curious and elaborate capitals, that constitute 
 a considerable portion of the height of the column, 
 are left to enable us to judge of the nature of the 
 structure. The excessively elongated capital forms 
 one of the most peculiar features of the architecture 
 of the Achsemean kings. " It may have contented 
 them," writes Loftus, " to borrow indiscriminately 
 from all [nations], so that each of the hundred col- 
 umns surrounding their throne might bear upon its 
 
 * That Persian art felt the influence of Egyptian scarcely admits ol' 
 doubt. Nebucliadnozzar spoiled Egypt, and one-fourth century after 
 Cyrus sacked Ba])ylon. (Janibyses rifled the hundred-gated Thebes, 
 and bore away many troi^hies into Persia. Through these mediate and 
 direct contacts with the Egyptians, the Persian artists must have re- 
 ceived many suggestions which had much to do in giving character 
 to Per-scpolitan architecture.
 
 THE RUINS OF PERSEPOLIS. 
 
 329 
 
 PROPYL^A OF XERXES. 
 
 fluted shaft the lotns, the palm, and the bull, and 
 symbolize the glories which the victorious arms of 
 the Persians had gathered upon the battle-fields of 
 Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and Babylonia." 
 
 But although, save the pillars mentioned, the hall 
 to which the propylsea gave entrance has almost en- 
 tirely disappeared, and time has swept away the 
 greater portion of the palaces themselves, whose last 
 master passed out through these portals more than 
 twenty centuries ago, and has thrown down the ar- 
 chitrave of the propyliea, and left many a defacing 
 mark on the giant wardens themselves, yet, time-worn 
 and scarred, they still sentinel the surrounding deso-
 
 330 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 lation, and, if spared from iconoclastic hands, will be 
 for many centmnes to come the worthy guardians 
 of the ruins of the palaces of the Persian kings. 
 
 It is a somewhat ludicrous anachronism to find 
 these ancient propylsea and bulls, besides bearing- 
 cuneiform inscriptions, covered all over with English 
 initials. By and by, after the English has become a 
 dead language, some curious antiquarian will have 
 a real time determining whether it were Cyrus, Da- 
 rius, and Xerxes, or Rich, Malcolm, and MacDonald 
 who set up these winged bulls. Perhaps Stanley, 
 too, in those distant times, will be honored, not only 
 as the discoverer of Livingstone, but also as founder 
 of the Persepolitan palace : " Stanley, New York 
 Herald," is engraved between the legs of one of the 
 colossal bulls in letters as bold as the Ujiji expedi- 
 tion. 
 
 Besides the propylaea and ruined hall to ^vhich 
 they led, there are no remains of importance on the 
 northern terrace. So with these examined we ascend 
 thfc stairway that leads to the great central terrace 
 'vhich supports the grandest fragments of buildings 
 that are found on the platform. This staircase is 
 elaborately ornamented with sculptures, represent- 
 ing triumphal processions, where conqueror and cap- 
 tive, crowned king and long- robed priest, warriors 
 armed with lance and shield, bow and quiver, and 
 chariots drawn by led horses, iii;ircli along in stone
 
 THE RUINS OF PERSEPOLIS. 331 
 
 with us to the " Hall of Xerxes," the audience-cham- 
 ber, or throne-room, of the Great King. Thirteen lofty 
 columns, that rise up grandly to a height of sixty 
 feet, are the principal remains of the magnificent pil- 
 lared hall, the grandest and most stately audience- 
 chamber that Eastern monarch ever sat beneath to 
 hear and judge the matters of his subjects. 
 
 The bases of many of the columns that have fallen 
 are still in place, and thus antiquarians have been 
 able to restore at least the prominent features of the 
 edifice. The hall propet consisted of a group of 
 thirty-six columns, each rising to the great height 
 of sixty-four feet. Three pillared porticoes inclosed 
 this central group on three sides, at a distance of sev- 
 enty feet, thus making the dimensions of the struct- 
 ure 350 feet in length and 246 feet in breadth. The 
 main cluster of pillars, like each of the porticoes, sup- 
 ported a roof. Fergusson thinks that the edifice 
 was still further protected by walls of inferior con- 
 struction, which time may have removed. But Kaw- 
 linson supposes the structure to have been a " sum- 
 mer throne -room, open to all the winds of heaven, 
 except so far as it was protected by curtains." 
 
 Besides this hall of Xerxes, there was another of 
 similar construction standing upon the same terrace, 
 and called the "Hall of a Hundred Columns." It 
 consisted of a square of one hundred pillars, fronted 
 by a deep portico. Every column has been thrown
 
 332 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 down, but massive doorways and monolithic window- 
 frames of black polished marble render it easy to 
 trace the lines of the inclosing walls ; for, unlike the 
 hall of Xerxes, the phalanx of pillars was here sur- 
 rounded by thick walk. This structure, though it 
 must have been sufficiently magnificent, was never so 
 imposing as the lofty audience-hall of Xerxes, as the 
 columns of the central cluster and porch were only 
 a trifle over half the height of those of that stately 
 edifice. It was doubtless used by the earlier Persian 
 kings for the same purposes that the later mouarchs 
 employed the hall of Xerxes. 
 
 The originality of conception and boldness of exe- 
 cution displayed by the Persian architect in these 
 stately "halls of audience" will have been remarked. 
 There is nothing in the architecture of any other peo- 
 ple with which we may compare them, unless we 
 except the audience-halls of the great Mogul sover- 
 eigns of India. But the one that formed an adjunct 
 of the palace at Delhi, while beautiful and sumptu- 
 ous as to its ornamentation, in stern grandeur and 
 bold stateliness falls far behind the Persepolitan 
 edifices. Considering the early age in which they 
 had their birth, they can not fail to excite alike our 
 astonishment and admiration. 
 
 From a description of these public structures we 
 now pass to the residences of the Persian kings. 
 There are the remains of four palatial edifices lying
 
 THE RUINS OF PERSEPOLIS. 333 
 
 upon the platform. These have been identified as 
 the royal residences of Cyrus or Cambyses, Darius, 
 Xerxes, and Artaxerxes Ochus. The remains of the 
 first are scanty, as much of the material was used 
 in the construction of the later palaces. There are, 
 however, enough blocks left to render it possible to 
 trace a hall and portico that indicate a structure 
 small in dimensions compared with the palaces of 
 the two last sovereigns. The ruins of the Palace of 
 Darius lie near those of the great audience-hall al- 
 ready described. These remains consist principally 
 of massive portals and windows; the jambs of the 
 door-ways and the entire window-frames being mono- 
 lithic* The jambs of the doors are adorned with 
 sculptures, a tiresome repetition being maintained: 
 the constantly recurring figures are those of the 
 king, accompanied by two attendants, one holding a 
 sun-shade, and the other a brush for driving away 
 flies — from which we may infer what were some of 
 the annoyances of life in a Persian palace; or the 
 royal personage is represented as engaged in combat 
 with a horned monster, which he seizes by the horn 
 
 * This is simply another instance of the direction taken by the pride 
 or ambition, rather than the taste, of the ancient builders of the world. 
 It was the style to cut and place gigantic blocks of stone because they 
 witnessed to the power and resources of the sovereign. It was this 
 pride which raised the vast obelisks of Egypt, that hoisted to their 
 places the huge blocks that form the substructions at Baalbec, that 
 cut and polished the Persepolitan monoliths. 
 
 z
 
 334 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 with his left hand, while with his right he plunges a 
 dagger into the body of the rampant beast. This 
 figure is thought by Ravenshaw to be entirely sym- 
 bolical, " indicating the sun passing through or con- 
 quering the signs of the zodiac." In confirmation 
 of this view he quotes Dupuis to the effect that 
 "the twelve labors of Hercules were in like manner 
 a myth, founded on the annual labors of the sun."* 
 The remains of the Palace of Xerxes repeat the feat- 
 ures of the preceding one ; while the royal residence 
 of Artaxerxes Ochus is represented by scanty frag- 
 ments of walls and columns. 
 
 As in the case of the Assyrian palaces, there is a , 
 diversity of opinion as to the existence of a second • 
 story in the Persepolitan royal residences. Fergus- ■ 
 son, who always seems to be inclined toward the ■ 
 side of grandeur, supports, without much apjDarent 
 evidence, the theory that would give the palaces all 
 the imposing effect to be gained by a second story ; 
 but Rawlinson rejects this view, as no staircases nor 
 other evidences of such a plan of construction have 
 been discovered. The buildings, if but one-storied, 
 must, have presented a somewhat low and massive ap- 
 pearance, which would, however, be in part counter- 
 acted by their commanding position uj)on the terraces. 
 The chambers and different apartments, we may in- 
 fer, had the gloom, consequent upon such a massive 
 
 * " Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society," vol. xvi., art. vii., p, 109.
 
 THE RUINS OF PERSEPOLIS. 335 
 
 style of construction, relieved by all those sumptu- 
 ous decorations and luxurious arrangements that are 
 the invariable adjuncts of royal residences in the 
 East. 
 
 The gradual growth of the successive Persepolitan 
 palaces has been remarked by different writers. From 
 the comparatively small structure which we may 
 without much hesitation attribute to Cyrus the 
 Great, we advance to the extensive palace of Ar- 
 taxerxes Ochus, which equaled in size the famous 
 palace of the Assyrian Sargon. But we think that 
 Rawlinson is the first to call attention to the change 
 that may be observed in the tone of the ornamenta- 
 tion of the earlier and later palaces. The sculptures 
 that adorn the residences of the first kings, Cyrus 
 and Darius, represent the royal person engaged in 
 bold and manly combat with lions or oth^r monsters ; 
 while in the halls and chambers of the palace of 
 Xerxes we see that these give place to representa- 
 tions of servants bearing articles of luxury intended 
 for royal use. "A tone of mere sensual enjoyment is 
 thus given to the later edifice which is very far fi'om 
 characterizing the earlier; and the decline at the 
 court, which history indicates as rapid about this 
 period, is seen to have stamped itself, as such changes 
 usually do, upon the national architecture."* 
 
 At Persepolis " it is but a step from the palace to 
 
 * Rawlinson's " Ancient Monarchies," vol. iii., p. 393.
 
 336 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 the tomb." Directly back of tlie ruins, in the face 
 of the rock that overhangs the great platform, is an 
 artificial recess, sunk just deep enough to protect a 
 beautiful richly sculptured facade. The elaborately 
 carv' ed rock recalls the sculpturesque fronts of Petra. 
 This is one of the famous rock-tombs of the Persian 
 kings. Prominent among the multitude of figures 
 that adorn the tomb is a robed personage, doubtless 
 intended to represent the sovereign himself, in the 
 position of adoration before a fire-altar and a globe, 
 symbolizing the sun, the chief object emblematic of 
 the deity worshiped by these Magian kiugs."^^ Thus 
 here, as is always the case, religion and the sepulchre 
 are intimately connected. A low door, toward the 
 base of the fagade, gives entrance to a small vaulted 
 
 * Zoroastrianism, or the worship of fire, is simply a corruption of 
 the earlier Chaldaean Sabianism — the adoration of the "hosts of heav- 
 en." The Ghebers and Parsees of the present day still hold the doc- 
 trines and customs of their ancestors with little change. They worship 
 the element fire only as the most perfect type or symbol of the Su- 
 preme Deity. They esteem it irreverent to extinguish a flame. We 
 once asked a Parsce if when a candle or lamp was lighted it must be 
 allowed to burn till it consumed itself? "No," said he, "for though 
 it may not be extinguished, still the tip of the candle or wick may be 
 cut off" and" — " Thrown into the fire," suggested we. " No," continued 
 he, " placed carefully in the fire." Yet their practical view of things 
 sometimes gets the better of their veneration, as when the "fiend" is 
 consuming their property. In India they have been known to work 
 energetically in extinguishing conflagrations. Great numbers of the 
 Ghebers have been driven by Moslem persecution into India, where 
 they arc known as Parsees. We found some in the Vale of Cashmere. 
 More than the Japanese, they merit the distinction of being called the 
 " Yankees of Asia." They appear more like Europeans than Asiatics ; 
 are enterprising, intelligent, and progressive.
 
 THE RUINS OF PEESEPOLIS. 337 
 
 Chamber, containing niclies for tlie reception of the 
 bodies. Tliere are seven of these rock-hewn tombs 
 in the face of the hills about Persepolis; but only 
 one has any inscription, and that has been identified 
 as the sepulchre of Darius Hystaspis. 
 
 Nearly two miles north of the group of ruins we 
 have been describing a broad valley leads the in- 
 considerable stream of the Pulwar through the hills 
 that form the eastern border of the plain of Mer- 
 dasht. Just at the oj^ening of this valley stood the 
 capital of the later Persian Empire — Istakr, as known 
 in the language of the country, but w^hich, through 
 the Greeks, has passed into history under the name 
 of Persepolis, or " City of the Persians." The ruins 
 we have already examined may be considered as the 
 relics of the royal suburb of the capital. The re- 
 mains marking the site of the city proper are scanty 
 and unimportant compared with those that cover 
 the great stage. Of the palace that stood within 
 the city nothing remains save a solitary column 
 and some fragments of walls and massive doorways 
 which preserve the ancient site. 
 
 The most interesting ruin here, however, is a heap 
 of enormous blocks, that is supposed by some to 
 mark the position of one of the city gates, but which 
 Rawliuson suggests may be the remains of a " forti- 
 fied gate," similar to the Pylae Cilicise, or the Pylae 
 Syriae, described by Xenophon in the Anabasis — in-
 
 338 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 tended to close the valley against the passage of a 
 hostile army. We do not know that we have any 
 authority for saying, yet we suj^pose it to be so, that 
 the ancient custom of fortifying with walls and heavy 
 gates narrow valleys that formed the natural path- 
 way through mountainous countries is what leads 
 us often to speak of difficult passes as "mountain 
 gates." 
 
 In the face of the rocks that form the northern 
 wall of the Pulwar valley are four tombs, similar to 
 the one above the great palace platform. Beneath 
 those royal sepulchres are numerous tablets of a com- 
 paratively recent date, most of which are the work 
 of the Assacidan (Parthian) and Sassanian kings, 
 who ruled Persia durino- the first centuries of our 
 era. We will not attempt to give any description 
 of these sculptures^ as they are very similar to the 
 rock-tablets of Shapur. of which we have given a 
 brief account in another chapter. 
 
 Standing near the base of the cliffs that contain 
 these tablets is a solitary tower, about twenty feet 
 square and thirty or forty feet in height, solidly con- 
 structed of immense stones. A doorway fifteen feet 
 above the ground gives access to a single lofty cham- 
 ber, roofed by massive marble beams, six feet in 
 width and twenty-four in length. In external ap- 
 pearance the structure resembles the tower-tombs of 
 Palmyra, save in the cyclopean nature of its mason-
 
 THE RUINS OF PERSEPOLIS. 339 
 
 ly. Morier believes it to be a fire-temple, or more 
 properly a fire-altar, of the earlier Magians. 
 
 We liav^e now glanced at tlie most important of 
 tLe Persepolitan remains. We have not attemj)ted 
 a minute delineation of the various ruins, but have 
 simj)ly aimed to give a general yet accurate de- 
 scription of their most prominent and interesting 
 features. These ruins give us almost all the knowl- 
 edge we 230ssess respecting the architecture of the 
 ancient Persians. The remains at Pasargadse,^' the 
 capital of the earlier kings, and also those at Susa, 
 on the Susianian plains, are insignificant compared 
 with those that mark the site of the Persej)olitan 
 palaces. 
 
 KepjDel, in speaking of the Turks, observes that a 
 people who never look back to their ancestors will 
 never look forward to their posterity. Persia to-day 
 witnesses the truth of this reflection. She has no 
 care, nor even curiosity, resj)ecting the memorials of 
 her former grandeur; and probably there is no na- 
 tion in this broad world more forgetful of the claims 
 of posterity. But fortunately the monuments of her 
 golden days are of such a nature that they find pro- 
 tection in their own cyclopean strength. As long 
 
 * The tomb of Cyrus the Great, whicli stands at Pasargadse, is the 
 most interesting structure existing on that ancient site. For full de- 
 scriptions of this tomb, and the other remains at Pasargadse and Susa, 
 see Loftus, " Chaldsea and Susiana ;" Rawlinson, "Ancient Monarchies;" 
 and Ker Porter, " Travels."
 
 340 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 as the monuments of Egypt shall overlook the Nile, 
 so long will the giant wardens of the Persian palaces 
 look out over the plains of Iran, and tell to wonder- 
 ing centuries the story of the magnificence that they 
 witnessed so lone: asjo.
 
 FROM SHIRAZ TO CASEBIERE. 341 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 FROM SHIEAZ TO CASHMERE. 
 
 Departure from Shiraz. — An Attack. — Descent to the Coast. — On Board 
 the Ethiopia. — Persian Gulf. — Muscat. — Coast of Beloocbistan. — Har- 
 bor of Bombay. — Great Indian Peninsula Railway. — Over the Ghauts. 
 — Allahabad. — Lahore. — Traveling by Dak. — Bungalows. — Palan- 
 quin Travel. — Foot of the Himalayas. — Bhimur. — In the Saddle. — 
 Saidabad. — A Picturesque Valley. — Grand Views. — Naoshera Val- 
 ley. — Scenery among the Hills. — Ruined Serais. — Great Moguls. — 
 Passage of the Ruttan Pir. — Tropical Forest. — Alpine Scenery. — 
 Poshiana. — An Arab Scene. — A Fractious Animal. — Pass of the Pir 
 Punjab — Coloration of Flowers. — Scenery about Aliabad Serai. — 
 Glimpse of the Vale of Cashmere. — Shapiyon. — Across the Valley. — 
 Encamped in the Gardens of Cashmere. 
 
 FEOii the Valley of Shiraz to the Vale of Cash- 
 mere ! They seem a loDg, long way apart. Yes ; 
 and should we stop to describe each scene, and tell 
 each incident of the journey, that would be a long, 
 long story, and might, perhaps, lack some of those el- 
 ements that alone should justify so lengthy a recital. 
 Consequently you shall be transported very quickly 
 from the hills of Persia to the base of the mountains 
 that overhang the plains of India. 
 
 So you are with us upon the 11th of May, as we 
 bid farewell to Shiraz, and, well mounted and armed, 
 with a single attendant, set out for the sea-port of
 
 342 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Busbire, a journey of ten days. Scarcely eiglit hours 
 from the cajDital we are suddenly attacked by four 
 desiderate - looking robbers, armed with mattocks — 
 heavy iron-headed clubs — a Persian's favorite weap- 
 on ; but a five-barreled revolver, unexj^ectedly level- 
 ed at the bared breast of the foremost, who, with 
 lifted club and fierce-set countenance, is just spring- 
 ing like a beast upon his prey, suddenly interrupts 
 their designs, and persuades them all to make a hasty 
 retreat from what they well know is imminent dan- 
 ger. They evidently thought us to be unarmed. 
 These Persians can not comprehend a Frank's way 
 of tucking his weapons away out of sight in some 
 inner pocket. They always hang their arms, when 
 they happen to possess any, about themselves as con- 
 spicuously as possible; and while danger is yet a 
 long way off they make a grand flourish, and, if they 
 have any charges to spare, fire off some of their old 
 flint-locks, to convince the enemy that they will go. 
 Our would-be assassins were certainly thoroughly 
 astonished. They will be more chary of Franks 
 hereafter. We must not be surprised at this daring 
 attack. Persian banditti have always been a pest of 
 the country; but just now their number is increased 
 tenfold by the famine, and their sufferings render 
 them perfectly reckless and desperate. 
 
 The second day we reach Deshti Arjun, wliich we 
 remember as the " Plain of the Wild Almond." Since
 
 FROM SHIRAZ TO CASHMERE. 343 
 
 we passed through this upland vale, May has enter- 
 ed, and sown it all over with flowers — red, yellow, 
 blue, and purple. The Eeliauts, too, have entered 
 with the spring, and their tents are pitched here and 
 there, and their flocks are feeding all over the rich 
 pastures. We climb the wall of hills that rim the 
 valley, and then descend to the Deshti Burr, the 
 "Vale of Oaks." It is a lovely spot. The groves 
 are filled with the cooing of the wood-pigeon, and 
 are vocal with the notes of tiny warblers. This rec- 
 onciles us to the loss of the flowers; for since we 
 camped in the valley before the blighting heat of 
 summer has been withering the more tender verdure 
 of the plain with its hot breath. We are still fur- 
 ther assured of the advance of the dry, hot season 
 as, reluctantly leaving behind us the pretty "Vale 
 of Oaks," we descend to the j^lain of Kauzerun, 
 which we find to have already exchanged the beau- 
 tiful hue of early spring for the sear look of autumn. 
 But one thing delights us. The harvest has come ; 
 and the famishing remnant of the thinned popula- 
 tion are gathering in such crops as they have not 
 seen for many a year. Many of the children whom 
 we fed when we passed before, and who were then 
 mere languishing, pitiable skeletons, are now actually 
 fat and plump, full of animal life, making one's heart 
 bound with joy to watch them. There are, however, 
 many orphaned ones, and among twenty or thirty of
 
 344 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 these we divide the last of the bread broiio-ht from 
 Shiraz for distribution along the route. At evening 
 we stroll through the almost deserted city of Kauze- 
 run. Death and ruin are every where. The streets 
 are empty, the bazaars are empty, the houses are 
 empty, the mosques are deserted. There is nothing 
 more melancholy than the scenes of a city just de- 
 populated. 
 
 We leave the plain of Kauzerun by night, for the 
 heat is now too intense to allow us to travel durino; 
 the day. From the long, dark, winding mountain 
 defile we issue upon the plain of Kumaridj ; then de- 
 scend the "Simplon of Persia" to Koonar Tukhteh, 
 and finally drop down the last terrace to Dalikee, 
 on the burning coast. Within the deepest cloisters 
 of the old caravansary, Avith our heads swathed with 
 wet towels, we pass the day, with the mercury in our 
 cell at 103°, and 130° without. Three nights take 
 us across this burning plain to Bushire. We are 
 just in time. The steamship Etliiopia^ of the Per- 
 sian Gulf line, is lying in the roadstead, and is 
 to weigh anchor for Bombay this ver}?- evening — 
 May 18th. We are glad for what we have seen of 
 Persia; and glad, too, that we are out of it, as the 
 good Ethiopia bears us away from Bushire, and on 
 down the Persian Gulf 
 
 For two days we skirt a liopelessly barren coast, 
 presenting nothing save sandy, fiery plains, and bare,
 
 FROM SHIRAZ TO CASHMERE. 345 
 
 arid, featureless liills ; and yet here is where Moore's 
 imaoiiiation wandered to find 
 
 o 
 
 " Banks of pearl and palmy isles." 
 
 Twice we drop anchor at Persian ports ; and 
 twice are glad when, after a few hours' delay, the 
 Ethiopia swings her anchor again, and hurries away 
 from the uninviting, hot-breathing shore. From the 
 Persian coast we strike across to Muscat, on the 
 Arabian shore. We' seem to be approaching the 
 realms of Pluto. What black Tartarean rocks ! 
 There is not a blade of verdure. The entire coast- 
 wall looks like a broken-up lava bed. Cautiously 
 our steamer creeps into a rock-guarded harboi^, the 
 Cove of Muscat, the " Cryptus Portus" of Ptolemy. 
 The echo of the harbor is remarkable, which we dis- 
 cover as the boom of the vessel's signal cannon is 
 tossed back and forth, from wall to wall of rock, in 
 wondrous reduj)lications of sound. 
 
 From inland a black valley comes winding through 
 the black hills, and before touching the shore pushes 
 them apart just enough to make space for a little 
 town ; and there, wedged between the Plutonic rocks, 
 lies Muscat, a place of from twelve to fifteen thousand 
 inhabitants. The sun burns down upon the rocks 
 till they scorch the very air that touches them. The 
 whole scene looks perfectly purgatorial. The sur- 
 rounding rocks are fortified ; and from several tow- 
 ers, perched in wondrously dizzy places, the blood-red
 
 346 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIEES. 
 
 Arabian flag flames against the dark precij^ice or the 
 glowing sky. 
 
 We venture ashore. The frontao-e of the town 
 looks somewhat Euroj^ean-like, with its substantial 
 stone and brick buildings, two or three storied ; but 
 piercing this we find ourselves in a labyrinth of nar- 
 row, crooked bazaars and streets, and surrounded by 
 low mat-constructed huts. The bazaars are stocked 
 with fruits and vegetables in most refreshing pro- 
 fusion, contrasted with the famine-stricken stalls of 
 Persian towns. We are told that all these are fur- 
 nished by the gardens lying some eight or ten miles 
 inland. But the people interest us more. Tired of 
 Persian rags, it is a relief to get among Arabs again. 
 They are scrupulously neat and virtuous in aspect 
 compared with the dirty and villainous-looking sons 
 of Iran. But we must not allow ourselves to con- 
 stitute a comparison too unfavorable to the Persians : 
 we must recollect that we saw them under unfavor- 
 able circumstances; the famine had made them a 
 nation of beggars. Yet the contrast observed in 
 passing from one country to the other is, at this 
 time, most noticeal)le indeed. 
 
 But what an armed community ^^'e are among 
 here ! Eveiy man met in the street carries a gun, 
 or is girded with sword or dagger. The trader's 
 sword lies by the side of his goods. The bazaars 
 swarm with swarthy Bedawin, covered with the
 
 FROM SHIRAZ TO CASHMERE. 347 
 
 clnst of tlie desert, each a perfect perambulatiug ar- 
 senal, hung with matchlock and sword, and belted 
 with huge daggers and pistols and knives. 
 
 Just at evening the MJiiopia slips out of the har- 
 bor, and turns her prow eastward. As we sit on 
 deck, late into the night, a familiar friend greets 
 our eye. Low in the southern horizon the South- 
 ern Cross swino;s above the haze settled over 
 the sea. How it carries us back to those starlit 
 nights which lighted our canoes upon the water- 
 paths of the South American forests. We may 
 sit several hours longer now, for we shall not tire 
 with such a companion, full of the memories of other 
 times. 
 
 A little more than one day from Muscat and we 
 touch the coast of Beloochistan, at Gwadur, a little 
 station of the Indo-European telegraph line. Burn- 
 ing, sandy lowlands, with a few straggling palms en- 
 deavoring to shade the settlement, and bare sunburnt 
 hills inland, are the only elements in the ugly, hate- 
 ful view. Beloochistan is justly synonymous in our 
 imaginings with barrenness, desolation, and ghastly 
 repulsiveness. We pity anew the wearied soldiers 
 of Alexander, as, when retreating from the fair prov- 
 inces of India, they dragged themselves across these 
 dreary sand-deserts ; for this heaven-forsaken country 
 before us is the Gedrosia of the ancients, the scene 
 of that harassiuo; march. It is a relief when our
 
 348 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 steamer turns away from the fierce glare and fiery 
 breath of the desert coast. 
 
 Upon the afternoon of the last day of May, the 
 twelfth from Bushire, we steam into the beautiful 
 harbor of Bombay. How exhilarating to again meet 
 verdure -clothed hills! Picturesque islets and isl- 
 ands, w^ith pretty villas enshrouded in foliage ; impos- 
 ing frontages of lofty, noble piles of buildings ; steam- 
 ers and ships flaunting the flags of every nation ; 
 hundreds of little native boats careering hither and 
 thither with swollen sails, and lending animation to 
 the scene — all this immediately about us, and the 
 lofty ranges of the Ghauts appearing through the 
 hazy atmosphere in dim perspective far inland, are 
 the prominent features gathered by our first glimpse 
 of the famous " Land of the Veda." 
 
 "VVe should love to linger among the scenes of 
 Bombay, but we must not think of indulging this 
 wish at present (we shall return again), for India is 
 now burning under the most intense heat of the year, 
 and we must hurry to the "hills," as the Anglo-In- 
 dians term the Himalayas. So now we are seated 
 in the comfortable compartment of an English rail- 
 way coach — this seems like being in civilization 
 again — and are being whirled over the line of the 
 Great Indian Peninsula Railway, which, in connection 
 with the East Indian Railway, forms the grand trans- 
 continental railroad of Hindustan between Bombay
 
 FROM SHIRAZ TO CASHiMERE. 349 
 
 and Calcutta. A few ]ioiirs' run and the laborino; 
 engines are dragging us up the western slope of the 
 Ghauts, now cautiously winding with the tortuous 
 ravines, no\v plunging through endless tunnels, and 
 again slowly mounting the long, heavy grades. The 
 cars are intolerably hot and dusty; and the scenery 
 is for the most part uninteresting, yet at times pict- 
 uresquely wild and grand. The hills are clothed 
 with a sparse, stunted tree vegetation, whose foliage 
 retains a degree of freshness ; but the grass is burnt 
 to a crisp fi-ora long drought. We wonder at the 
 thinness of the population ; for the villages are small 
 and scattering. Is this India with her teeming mill- 
 ions ? Wait till we have passed these sun - burnt 
 mountains, and entered the valley of the Ganges. 
 
 Suddenly our locomotives scream triumphantly; 
 they have reached the summit, and have now a seem- 
 ingly interminable plain before them, stretching out 
 eastward to the horizon. For two days and one 
 night we rush onward over this plain, passing no 
 places of particular note, and late in the evening of 
 the second day reach the beautiful city of Allahabad, 
 right in the centre of India. 
 
 From Allahabad we hasten northward, over the 
 lines of the East Indian and Delhi railways, seven 
 hundred miles to Lahore. First we are borne up the 
 valley of the Ganges: now we need no longer com- 
 plain of a too sparse population. As town succeeds 
 
 A A
 
 350 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 town, and city succeeds city in rapid succession, our 
 wonderment is how the land supports such an enor- 
 mous population. We pass cities famous for their 
 architectural wonders or historical reminiscences — 
 Cawnpore, Lucknow, Agra, Delhi, Umritsir — pass 
 them without regret, for the pleasure of their explo- 
 ration is coming by and by when w^e return from the 
 hills, with these days of withering heat gone by. 
 
 At last we are at Lahore, the city of the Punjab — 
 the country of the five rivers — one of the most beau- 
 tiful provinces of India, but parched and burning 
 now; so, although it be the terminus of the railroad, 
 we dare not make it the terminus of our journey. 
 Cashmere, the Vale of Cashmere, away yonder amid 
 the cool heights of the Himalayas, the foot-hills of 
 which we can just discern through the glaring haze, 
 as the settins: sun throws them into relief a2;ainst 
 the northern sky — that is the terminus of our jour- 
 ney, our longed-for retreat from these fiery, blasted 
 plains. 
 
 So, delaying scarcely to rest, we resume our flight. 
 But how? By dah. And what is a dalif A dcik 
 is simply a four-wheeled, covered, post conveyance, 
 arranged ^^ithin with mattress and bolster, so that 
 the passenger may assume a recumbent j^osition. 
 The vehicle will accommodate two persons very com- 
 fortaV)ly. In such a conv(^yance we leave Lahore, 
 just at nightfoll ; iov traveling under an Indian sun
 
 FROM SHIRAZ TO CASHMERE. 351 
 
 at this season is not to be tlaouglit of for a moment. 
 The road seems in perfect order; and this is fortunate, 
 for we have seventy-two miles to make before morn- 
 ing. Fresh relays are furnished every eight or ten 
 miles. By the shade of Phaethou ! how these natives 
 drive! Jehu should be ashamed of himself!. We 
 wonder if our rate of progress be the normal one; 
 and finally discover that there are rival companies 
 running their dciks over the route, and that our Jehu 
 is laboring to sustain the reputation of his line, which 
 is threatened by some daks that left Lahore a little 
 behind us. Before the morning sun waxes hot we 
 reach Goojerat, and alight at the travelers' hiingaloio. 
 And what is a bung-a-low? That is the Hindustani 
 for house ; and the travelers', bungalow is a building 
 intended for the accommodation of persons journey- 
 in o-. 
 
 During the day we think of scarcely any thing 
 save the heat: it is almost insuiferable. The door 
 to our room is barricaded with thick mats, kept con- 
 stantly dripping with watei', that the fiery air may 
 be strained through their cooling meshes before en- 
 tering our ctamber; and then the atmosphere of the 
 room is gently stirred by the swaying punha — a 
 huge fan suspended from the ceiling, and kept in mo- 
 tion by means of a rope, which passes through the 
 wall to the hands of a native without. Yet with all 
 these appliances we fail to reduce the temperature
 
 352 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 of tbe room much below 100°, while without — well, 
 we never go there. 
 
 With the return of night we resume our journey ; 
 not by carriage, however, but by palanquin. These 
 are generally borne on the shoulders of four natives ; 
 and fresh coolies are provided at frequent stations. 
 They bear us along with a sort of trot, keeping step 
 to a monotonous chant, and long before morning have 
 deposited us at Bhimur, thirty miles from Goojerat. 
 
 Just before reaching this place we observe, as we 
 thrust our heads from the door of our palanquin, that 
 a dark, spectral, gloomy thunder-cloud is darkening 
 all the northern horizon. But how is it tbat so 
 many stars gleam through the heavy banks of clouds ? 
 Those stars are camp-fires, high up on the dark flanks 
 of the Himalayas, that through the night seem like 
 gloomy storm-clouds heaped along the sky. We 
 push in among the foot-hills, and with the fires still 
 burning above us, throw ourselves on our cots, drag- 
 ged outside the bungalow under the open heavens; 
 and, while attempting to secure a little rest before 
 the day shall come with its distracting heat, we 
 dream of climbing the mountains, with the cool 
 breezes fanning us, and the spray of leaping streams 
 refreshing the air all around. 
 
 And now, as we have brought you quickly, as we 
 promised, over many thousand miles of sea and land, 
 to the shadow of these giant mountains, we will not
 
 FROM SHIRAZ TO CASHIVIERE. 353 
 
 ask you to hurry on farther with us ; but H and 
 
 I will climb the Himalayas alone, and give you, more 
 leisurely, the narrative of our adventures. 
 
 Bhimur is a small native village, similar in appear- 
 ance, and quite equal in wretchedness, to any Arab 
 or Persian town. The dwellings are rude, diminu- 
 tive mud or stone built structures, making no pre- 
 tensions to either neatness or comfort. The town is 
 situated, as has already been discovered, at the base 
 of the Himalayas, just a little way in among the foot- 
 hills which the gigantic ranges form as they break 
 down gradually to the plains of India. It is two 
 hundred miles from Cashmere, which lies up among 
 the loftier peaks. There are several routes to the 
 valley ; but the Bhimur trail, which we chose, though 
 the most difficult, is the shortest ; yet so necessarily 
 slow is the traveler's progress that fourteen days are 
 required to make the journey over this path. 
 
 The day of our arrival at Bhimur was spent in 
 making overtures for horses, and in parceling our 
 baggage into convenient coolie loads. Our Lahore 
 servant, our medium of communication, was by no 
 means an adept in the management of English 
 idioms; but we soon supplemented some of his 
 most glaring deficiencies with Hindustani words and 
 phrases, with which we, anticipating just such an 
 emergency as this, had fore-armed ourselves; and 
 thus, as our khansaman was tolerably quick of ap-
 
 ;354 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 prehension, all our arrangements were consummated 
 without much embarrassment. Two little mountain 
 saddle-j)onies and several coolies were secured for 
 the first night's journey, fresh relays of horses and 
 coolies being provided for the traveler at each sta- 
 tion. Bungalows, we were informed, would be found 
 at convenient stao-es alons; the entire road. 
 
 Just at sunset we mounted our ponies, and with 
 our coolie guides wound for a while among the foot- 
 hills, which were covered with jungle, and then climb- 
 ed the precipitous flank of the Adatak range, attain- 
 ing the summit about midnight. The breeze that 
 now reached us from the mountains was fresh and 
 invigorating, and seemed Boreal contrasted with the 
 fiery breath of the hot plains lying just discernible 
 in the thick haze of the moonlio-ht below. We threw 
 ourselves from our saddles upon the ground, just to 
 enjoy this new atmosphere. We never imagined 
 there could be so exquisite a pleasure in simple res- 
 piration. But it seemed an object now to live just 
 for the sake of breathing. Every inspiration — free, 
 full, fresh, invigorating — gave a new lease of life. 
 It was the first enjoyable breathing we had done 
 since leaving Bombay. 
 
 Kemounting, we descended into a deep valley, to 
 the little village of Saidabad, where we found a good 
 bungalow, and passed a comfortable day, the mer- 
 cury not rising above 96°, as the higli range we had
 
 FROM SHIRAZ TO CASHilERE. 355 
 
 passed shut out tlie liot, suffocating breath of the 
 plains. The valley of Saidabad was partly culti- 
 vated, and was sub-tropical in its vegetation. The 
 jungles of the foot-hills here assumed arboreal propor- 
 tions, and sprinkled the bottom of the valley, as well 
 as the slopes of the mountains, with a thin forest. 
 The trees, standing in broken, ragged lines along the 
 brow of the abrupt, encircling hills, mimicked the 
 picturesque effect produced by dark, solitary masses 
 of foliage rising from the walls of some ancient ruin. 
 As soon as evening had come we left Saidabad, 
 and climbed just such a range as w^e had mounted 
 the preceding night. The slope was covered with 
 a thin forest of pines and palms, and our ride through 
 these, beneath the soft moonlight, was simply en- 
 trancing. What with open forest and intervening 
 glades, we seemed again amid scenes of the home- 
 land. Through the pines that crowned the summit 
 of the ridge the wdnds moaned just as they sob amid 
 the firs of our Northern forests. From the top of the 
 range we had a weird view. The forests that crown- 
 ed one of the loftiest peaks ahead were all ablaze, 
 and the whole summit glowed like a volcano. The 
 fire, running down the valleys, looked like streams 
 of burning lava, leaping in fiery cascades down the 
 abrupt flanks of the mountain. And while the fires 
 that formed the blazing crown of the peak seemed 
 mounted half-way up the, heavens, there were hidden
 
 356 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 fires burning in profound valleys far beneath us, that 
 only revealed themselves by the lurid reflection they 
 cast up the steep slopes and shot against the sky, 
 which seemed through the gloom of the night as 
 though thrown up from the open door of Pluto's do- 
 minions. 
 
 The valley of Naoshera, into which we descended 
 and passed the day, was a most inviting spot. The 
 encompassing hills were thinly wooded, and the bot- 
 tom of the vale either clothed with copse or relieved 
 by cultivation ; while immediately about the few 
 huts that composed the town peaches, pears, apri- 
 cots, and oranges were fruiting abundantly. Par- 
 rots and paroquets, and many equally noisy birds, 
 made the groves resonant during the morning; but 
 as the heat of the day advanced Nature seemed to 
 droo]3, and the birds became silent, and hid away 
 amid the thickest foliage ; for, though cool compared 
 with the fiery heat of the plains, it was still hot, the 
 thermometer marking 96° at sundown. 
 
 From Naoshera onward we changed our hours of 
 travel from the night to the early morning — leaving 
 our stations just at break of day, and completing our 
 stage generally before the sun grew warm enough to 
 render travel uncomfortable. Our route from Nao- 
 shera led us for three days up a broad and beautiful 
 valley, which often surprised us with the discovery 
 of picturesque bits of scenery. The Ijottom of the
 
 FROM SHIRAZ TO CASHJIERE. 357 
 
 gently falling valley was at times more than a mile 
 in breadth, and dropped down in broad, low, flooded 
 terraces, loaded with rice; while the slopes of the 
 hills were also carefully terraced high up from the 
 valley, and irrigated by means of conduits led off 
 from the stream a long distance above, and then con- 
 veyed along the flank of the mountains. In these 
 terraced sections the valley suggested the scenes of 
 the Rhine ; again, when it displayed more of its na- 
 tive wildness, and led the eye up its long, green 
 slopes, or down its tortuous course, it spoke of New 
 England. During all the days that we were follow- 
 ing up this valley it seemed as though we were trav- 
 eling through a hilly country, rather than mounting 
 the flank of a gigantic mountain range. It was only 
 the j)nrer, cooler air we breathed, and the gradual 
 fall of our barometer, that convinced us that we were 
 steadily rising above the j^laius. 
 
 The antiquities we found in the valley were in- 
 teresting, not from any architectural features, but be- 
 cause of their historical significance. The remains 
 referred to consist of two ruinous serais, large quad- 
 rangular, cloistered buildings, similar in every respect 
 to the khans of Turkey or the caravansaries of Per- 
 sia. They date back several centuries, to the great 
 Mogul emperors, and attest the former importance 
 of this route as a line of trafiic between Cashmere 
 and India. The Mogul sovereign Aurungzebe, in
 
 358 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 moving Ins court from Delhi to Cashmere, to avoid 
 the summer heats of the plains, is affirmed by the 
 traveler and court-physician Bernier to have been 
 attended by a magnificent retinue of 45,000 guards, 
 cavalry and foot, 400,000 persons in some way con- 
 nected with and dependent upon the court, 150,000 
 horses and elephants, and 100,000 oxen and camels. 
 Bernier's recital of the magnificence of this " peram- 
 bulating court," which enlivened with the pageantry 
 of frequent passage this now ruin-lined route, par- 
 takes of the aroma of the " Arabian Nights ;" yet we 
 have no reason to pronounce him other than a trust- 
 worthy delineator of the extraordinary scenes in the 
 midst of which he moved. 
 
 Our third day's stage uj) this valley brought us to 
 Thana, a small hamlet lying at the base of the Ruttan 
 Pir, which confronted us with abrupt Alpine heights, 
 and seemed to bar all farther progress. But the fol- 
 lowing morning our guide boltlly commenced to lead 
 us up its heavily wooded flanks, and in a few hours 
 we stood upon the summit of the pass, at an eleva- 
 tion of over 8000 feet. The view was magnificent. 
 The upper portion of the range w^as shaded with 
 dark firs; while the lower slopes were loaded with 
 heavy tropical forest, extending almost to the bottom 
 of the valley we had traversed, which, winding away, 
 lost itself among the' hills. Rising above the pro- 
 found valleys in our front, and promising plenty of
 
 FROM SHIRAZ TO CASHMERE. 359 
 
 wild climbing, were lofty, icy ranges, thoroughly Al- 
 pine in their breadths of snow. 
 
 Descending the northern slope of the Rnttan Pir, 
 we found ourselves entangled in a forest of tropical 
 luxuriance, the first we had encountered that could 
 be compared, in point of freedom and stateliness of 
 growth, to the forests that clothe the slopes of the 
 Andes. Yet the nature of the vegetation in the two 
 instances is very different; for while the forests of 
 the equatorial Andes exhibit a strange absence of all 
 conifers, those of the Ruttan Pir are composed largely 
 of giant firs, their tall, dark cones, high aloft, contrast- 
 ino; with the lio-hter foliao-e of the oak and chestnut. 
 Troops of apes, however, of which we saw two large 
 companies, leaping recklessly through the tops of the 
 trees, helped wonderfully to make the scene Ama- 
 zonian-like. 
 
 At Baramgulla, which village we found by climb- 
 ing to the bottom of a profound, wild ravine, we 
 halted for refection, and for a fresh relay of horses 
 and coolies ; as, being now able to travel throughout 
 the entire day, we had determined to shorten our 
 journey by making double stages. Resuming our 
 march, we followed up an Alj^ine gorge, threaded by 
 a rapid stream, which was so closely hemmed in by 
 abrupt clifts that the trail was constantly thrown 
 from side to side to find a footing. After crossing 
 the stream twenty-five times, by as many rude native
 
 360 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 bridges, the patli climbed recklessly up the right 
 bank, to a little huddle of huts clinging to the dizzy 
 flank of the ravine. 
 
 Poshiana, for such was the native name of the lit- 
 tle cluster of huts at w^hich we had arrived, seemed 
 to us more Arab-like than Indian in its character. 
 Every thing, save the dark fir - clothed mountains 
 around, and the more distant Alpine peaks that over- 
 topped them, served to suggest Syrian scenes. The 
 huts were mud-walled and flat-roofed; and, as is often 
 the case in a Syrian Arab village, every thing of life 
 seemed atop of the house. Stuck as the buildings 
 were against the steep bank, the necessity for a back 
 wall disaj^peared entirely, and the roofs were thus 
 easily accessible by the goats and bullocks. It 
 seemed the deli2;ht of the former to stand or lie 
 close upon the front edge of the roof and look down 
 into the dizzy ravine. Upon a single roof, of very 
 limited dimensions, we observed four bullocks, three 
 goats, a heifer, which several youngsters were at- 
 tempting to ride, and a group of men and women ; 
 the latter enorao-ed in a violent demonstrative alter- 
 cation with a party of equally excited persons of 
 their own sex on another roof, which fortunately was 
 separated from the first by an impassable gulf. At 
 proper intervals the men would leap up, rush to the 
 edge of the roof, and render ^vhat assistance they 
 could to make the fracas more noisy and gesticu-
 
 FROM SHIRAZ TO CASHMERE. 3(31 
 
 latory. Altogether the sceue was Syrio- Arabic to 
 the life. 
 
 The coolies, too, that we took from Poshiana, upon 
 resuming our journey, seemed, all innocently enough 
 indeed, to possess the peculiarly Arab faculty of 
 somehow creating a ludicrous scene. The animals 
 they furnished us were mules, one of which was par- 
 ticularly fractious. The saddle constantly working 
 forward upon his neck, our coolies improvised a 
 crupper, which did not work just right; for on a 
 steep descent the beast, being irritated, threw his 
 rider, and commenced to kick. As the trouble was 
 high, he kicked high ; but this only raised the diffi- 
 culty, and he elevated his heels proportionately, till 
 he was balancing on his fore feet, with his posterior 
 members making spasmodic lunges toward the zenith. 
 Coolies are the most imperturbable creatures in this 
 world ; but this scene was too ludicrous even for 
 their torpid risibility, and for once they shouted in 
 hearty appreciation. It was some time before they 
 could persuade the excited beast to assume a more 
 becoming attitude, and employ his legs more legiti- 
 mately. 
 
 With order restored we pushed on up the wild 
 gorge we had followed the previous day, creeping 
 cautiously along the all but perpendicular flank, a 
 thousand feet above the stream. that threaded with 
 a line of foam the bottom of the ravine. At length
 
 362 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 we climbed up the side of the valley, over treach- 
 erous shingle and snow, to the pass of the Pir Punjal, 
 11,400 feet above the sea-level. This afforded us an- 
 other grand view. Southward the mountains broke 
 down in successive terraces, and retreated in the haze 
 of the plains; northward a gently inclined valley, 
 flanked by snowy peaks, led to the hidden Vale of 
 Cashmere. The forests seemed to be struggling hard 
 to gain the summit of the range, but their thinned 
 ranks were pushed back while yet more than three 
 hundred feet below the pass. 
 
 Although the snow was yet lying about in heavy 
 drifts, the earth was in places variegated with deep- 
 hued Alpine plants, many a bed of exquisitely del- 
 icate-tinted flowers being spread under the cold drip- 
 pings of some lingering snow-di'ift. Deep blue and 
 purple and bright yellow and pink colors predom- 
 inated. 
 
 All high mountain-passes we have ever been upon 
 exhibit this phenomenon — the intense coloration of 
 the flowers growing upon them. The cause doubt- 
 less exists in the more active chemical properties of 
 the light that they receive, compared to that which 
 falls upon the plants of a lower altitude. The ac- 
 tinic elements of the sun's rays are absorbed in pass- 
 ing through the atmos2)here; and thus the light 
 eaught by the vegetation of high mountains possesses 
 a more intense coloring power than that which is
 
 FROM SHIRAZ TO CASH3HERE. 353 
 
 strained throngli tlie whole depth of the atinosj)hei'e. 
 We have sometimes wished, wliile enthusiastically 
 gathering the bright gems of some elevated pass, that 
 all the flowers of the every-day world might be equal- 
 ly deep-hued and brilliant. But then it is probably 
 best as it is. The sensuous eye might weary of such 
 bright colors were they constantly before it, and might 
 seek for more delicate tints. 
 
 A long and gentle descent from the pass of Pir 
 Punjal brought us to Aliabad Serai, a ruined car- 
 avansary standing alone in the midst of Alpine 
 grandeur. Several peaks over fourteen thousand feet 
 in elevation sentineled our resting-place. The lower 
 slopes were loaded with dark forests of fir, and above 
 t^ese was a higher belt of birch, to which succeeded 
 a broken zone of scant verdure; above which the 
 peaks still rose in dizzy sweeps of precipice, throwing 
 off all covering whatsoever, and reaching up and up, 
 stern and bare, till the snow in pity mantled their 
 nakedness, and the clouds wrapped them about. 
 
 In the early morning we de^^arted gladly from Ali- 
 abad Serai, for before evening we anticipated behold- 
 ino; the Vale of Cashmere. The ravine we followed 
 as we descended was gradually transformed to a 
 broad-bottomed valley, where we were led beneath a 
 noble forest of pine and birch and maj^le. As we 
 issued upon the openings of the flower-strewn glades 
 we caught distant glimpses of the Cashmere valley.
 
 364 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 The whole scenery was more New-England-like than 
 any thing we had before found in Asia: the trees 
 and shrubs and flowers were nearly all such as are 
 known to our forests and pasture - lands. At last 
 this beautiful valley opened full into the Vale of 
 Cashmere. Just at the embouchure we found the 
 village of Shapiyou, half Swiss in its architecture, and 
 overshadowed by venerable chenars and poplars and 
 willows. The mountain-walls about the valley were 
 grand ; and beautiful was the sunset, as it flushed 
 their snow-fields, and made their icy peaks glow like 
 gold. 
 
 From Shapiyon to the city of Cashmere is a long 
 but pleasant day's ride of thirty miles, almost direct- 
 ly across the valley. About five or six miles from 
 Cashmere commences an avenue of poplars, which, as 
 the city is approached, grow larger and more venera- 
 ble, constituting a noble entrance to the capital. As 
 we enter this magnificent street, the presence of a 
 large city is indicated by the stream of life we meet : 
 peasants and coolies moving heavily under their 
 burdens; well-dressed parties sauntering along at 
 leisure; and grand ofiicials hurrying by with their 
 attendant retinues. We enter the city, pass through 
 several streets lined with Swiss-like houses, crowd 
 through the thronged bazaars, cross the bridge thrown 
 over the Jhelum, pass on through another street, and 
 on down through a long avenue of poplars, to a gar-
 
 FROM SHIRAZ TO CASHMERE. 365 
 
 den just without the limits of the city, where we 
 pitch our tent beneath the shade of the mulberry- 
 trees, and rejoice that the goal of oui' journeyings is 
 reached, and that at last we have entered the " Par- 
 adise of the Indies." 
 
 Bb
 
 306 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE VALE OF CASHMERE AND ITS RUINED TEMPLES. 
 
 Names applied to the Vale. — Moore's " Lalla Rookh." — Beauties of the 
 Valley. — Encircling Mountains. — Passes. — Jhelum River. — Lateral 
 Valleys. — Avenues of Trees. — Akbar's Visits. — Climate of the Vale. 
 — Vegetation. — Fruits. — Roses. — A Sanatarium. — Given up by the 
 English Government. — Influence of Scenery on National Character. 
 — Interesting Ruins. — Temple of Martund. — Other Temples. — Cash- 
 merian Traditions. — Serpent Worship. — Hinduism. — Traces of Greek 
 Art. — Spoliation of the Ancient Temples. 
 
 " If woman can make the worst wilderness dear, 
 What a heaven she must make of Cashmere." 
 
 " Who has not heard of the Vale of Cashmere, 
 With its roses the brightest that earth ever gave; 
 Its temples and grottoes, and fountains as clear 
 As the love-lighted eyes that hang over their waves." 
 
 — Lalki RooTch. 
 
 There are few spots in the world so famed in 
 song, romance, and story as the lovely Vale of Cash- 
 mere — " The Unequaled," " The Happy Valley," 
 "The Earthly Elysium," "The Slice of Heaven," 
 "The Paradise of the Indies." Moore's "Lalla 
 Rookh," redolent with the intoxicating aroma of 
 Oriental delights, has given the spot a fame wide- 
 spread as sympathy with beauty, love, and song,
 
 THE VALE OF CASHMERE. 367 
 
 and thrown over the vale a captivating tinge of 
 romance. 
 
 Nor is the valley in its natural adornments un- 
 worthy of the praises that have been so enthusiast- 
 ically bestowed upon it. It is a beautiful upland, 
 mountain-environed garden or park, eighty miles in 
 length and from twenty to thirty in breadth, sprink- 
 led all over, like an English landscape, with trees and 
 flowers, and diversified with river and lake, with vil- 
 lages embo^vered in groves, with pasture-land and ir- 
 rigated fields. The elevation of the valley above the 
 sea-level varies, at different points, from 5900 to 5200 
 feet — an elevation almost equal to the height of 
 Mount Washinsfton. 
 
 The lofty mountains that wall in the valley lend 
 the elements of grandeur to the scenery. All along 
 the northwest (the vale has a northwest and south- 
 east direction) the mountains form a gigantic ram- 
 part, about fifteen thousand feet in height, which 
 from across the valley appears almost unbroken by 
 ravine, and level as a wall — Andean-like, save in its 
 lack of a Chimborazo. For the greater portion of 
 the year this mountain-wall is loaded with snow. 
 Upon the opposite side of the valley the summits of 
 the mountains are broken into sharp peaks, and their 
 flanks are furrowed by deep and wide ravines, pre- 
 sentino; altosjether a strikino- contrast to the wall 
 that fronts them. The Alps and the Andes here
 
 3(38 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 confront each other face to face. These environing 
 mountains are always grand ; but when in the early 
 morning or at evening the hidden sun flushes their 
 snow-fields and fires their whitened peaks they dis- 
 play a rare mingling of beauty and magnificence. 
 
 There are about a dozen practicable passes lead- 
 ing over these mountain - barriers into the valley ; 
 but all, save the one that follows up the course of 
 the Jhelum Kiver, are, like the one by which we en- 
 tered, so elevated that for from six to ten mouths 
 they are impassable from cold and snow. Six of 
 these passes lead from the plains of India; while the 
 others give access from the uplands of Thibet on the 
 east, and Tartary and Russia on the north. 
 
 The streams born amid the surrounding mount- 
 ains unite to form the Jhelum — the Hydaspes of the 
 Greeks — which runs the entire length of the valley, 
 formino; at its lower end the beautiful Wular Lake, 
 and then bursts thi'ough the mountain-barriers and 
 hurries away to join the Indus. This river and lake 
 create some of the most attractive features of the 
 valley : three of the principal cities — Cashmere, Is- 
 lamabad, and Baramula — are situated upon the banks 
 of the Jhelum ; and especially in the case of the first 
 is the attractiveness of the town largely indebted to 
 the circumstance of its river site. Tlie Dul, Avhich 
 also lends its charms to tlie capital, is quite a lovely 
 sheet of water, especially
 
 THE VALE OF CASHIilERE. 359 
 
 "When warm o'er the lake 
 It's splendor at parting a summer eve throws." 
 
 One of the prettiest features of the Valley of 
 Cashmere is the opening into it of lateral vales, 
 which, commencing as wild gorges far back among 
 the mountains and up amid the snows, gradually as- 
 sume a less stern and wild aspect as they drop down 
 into a warmer zone, widening out before they reach 
 the Cashmerian plain into lovely vales, whose bot- 
 toms, dotted with trees and villages, slope just enough 
 to permit the eye to catch the whole parterre of the 
 successive terraces of irrigated fields, as it is led up 
 through the vista of the retreating ravine to the 
 snowy mountains which make up the lofty and dis- 
 tant background. It will be recalled that it was by 
 such a valley, leading down from the snowy pass of 
 Pir Punjal, that we entered Cashmere. 
 
 Another distinctive feature of the vale, one which 
 Art has aided Nature in giving to it, is the stately 
 avenues of trees, and the noble groves and pleasant 
 gardens, created by the great Moguls of India. Ak- 
 bar took possession of the valley in 1586, and the 
 delights of the spot induced him, as well as his suc- 
 cessors, to select it as a summer retreat from the heats 
 of the plains. The estimation in which Akbar held 
 this acquisition may be gathered from the following 
 extract from a letter, quoted by Bernier, written by 
 the sovereign to his minister Abdullah Khan : " I
 
 r,7() 
 
 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 AVENUE OF POPLARS, CASHMERE. 
 
 myself also visited that happy spot, the possession 
 of which is a fresh instance of the divine favor, and 
 I offered up ray praises and thanksgivings to the 
 Supreme Lord of all things. As I found myself de- 
 lighted with the romantic bowers of Cashmere, the 
 residence of pleasure, I made an excursion to the 
 mountains of that country and Thibet, and beheld,
 
 . THE VALE OF CASHMERE. 37I 
 
 with the eyes of astonishment, its wonders and the 
 pictures of Nature." Again he writes : " I visited a 
 second time that ever-verdant garden, and gratified 
 my mind and senses with the beauties of that luxu- 
 riant spot." 
 
 The son of Akbar, Jehangeer, created gardens, 
 summer-houses, and palaces, and enjoyed them with 
 his lovely consort, Noor-Jehan. Shah-Jehan and 
 Aurungzebe each added to the ornaments of the 
 valley.. The most beautiful of the gardens and 
 groves and avenues these sovereigns created form 
 the embellishments of the city of Cashmere, and 
 will be more particularly noticed in our description 
 of the capital. 
 
 The climate of Cashmere is very like that of Cen- 
 tral New York; though, being so completely shut 
 in by lofty mountains, the heat during the months 
 of July and August is somewhat more oppressive. 
 During the winter snow falls to the depth of sev- 
 eral feet ; and, as already remarked, the higher peaks, 
 which rise to an elevation of from sixteen to eighteen 
 thousand feet, are tipped with perpetual suow^ But 
 the climate of the valley may, perhaps, be best in- 
 dicated by noting the vegetation. One might be led 
 to expect a sub-tropical vegetation — a mingling of 
 tropic and temperate forms. But this is not the 
 case ; the vegetation is purely such as characterizes 
 a temperate climate. The ornamental arboreal forms
 
 372 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 occurring in the valley are the chenar, or Oriental 
 plane-tree, the poplar, the willow, cedar, pine, chest- 
 nut, maple, and birch. The fruits are almost like 
 our own : the wild pomegranate, apricot, peach, 
 plum, cherry, apple, and grape are all common. The 
 generous mulberry blackens the ground of all the 
 gardens with its superabundant fruit. Among the 
 cereals, rice, wheat, maize, buckwheat, and barley 
 hold the most prominent places. Tobacco and cot- 
 ton are successfully cultivated in localities. Among 
 the flowering shrubs the rose stands conspicuous: 
 when we entered the valley (June 20th) the slopes 
 of the hills were as white with roses as our orchards 
 in spring, and the air was redolent with perfume. 
 Many of the species assume almost arboreal propor- 
 tions; while some are clinging vines, which festoon 
 the trees with their beautiful garlands of roses — 
 
 " The brightest that earth ever gave." 
 
 White is a favorite color with these Cashmerian 
 beauties. 
 
 The entire flora of the vale presents a striking 
 similarity to our Northern series of plants : many of 
 the species are identical with, and a very large pro- 
 portion generically allied to, species making up the 
 flora of New England. Buttercups, dandelions, straw- 
 berries, geraniums, white and yellow clover are scat- 
 tered profusely over the pasture-lands. A landscape 
 diversified ^\■ith the foi'est and fruit trees that have
 
 THE VALE OF CASH^IERE. 373 
 
 been mentioned, and besprinkled with these familiar 
 floral forms, might easily be mistaken for a bit of 
 New England scenery. 
 
 The Vale of Cashmere is one of the favorite sana- 
 tarinms of the Himalayas; and scores of English 
 officials, fleeing the burning, stifling plains of India, 
 seek a refuge here amid the delights of fresh vegeta- 
 tion and cool mountain air. Throughout the summer 
 months the gardens of Cashmere present the appear- 
 ance of a military camp; for both from choice and 
 necessity (for Cashmerians know nothing about ho- 
 tels) these refugees luxuriate in the freedom of tent 
 life. Visiting the shops of the shawl merchants, 
 boating on the Jhelum, and hunting bears among the 
 mountains are the favorite employments and pastimes 
 of these officers "on leave." But scarcely has the 
 summer passed before all must flee the valley; for 
 the Maharajah sufl*ers no foreigner to remain within 
 his dominions during the winter months. One of the 
 most stupid and consummate pieces of folly of which 
 the English Government was ever guilty was in 
 alienating at the close of the Sikh war, in 1846, -the 
 entire territory of Cashmere to Gholab Sing, for the 
 nominal sum of £750,000. We never conversed 
 upon this subject with any of the English visitors 
 to the valley but they impatiently stigmatized the 
 transaction as a most stupendous blunder. It has 
 been apologized for by those who would have the
 
 374 KEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 transaction regarded as a military necessity, and who 
 urge that this portion of the vast territory yielded 
 to the English by the Lahore treaty could not have 
 been taken possession of and held without the em- 
 ployment of a formidable force. But the truth is, 
 the English were ignorant of what they were bar- 
 gaining away. By that transfer, and by the stipula- 
 tions of that treaty, they lost control of one of the 
 best sanatariums among the hills of India; surren- 
 dered the best bulwark against the advance of any 
 enemy from the North ; and, more to be dej)recated 
 than all, sold hundreds of thousands of natives 
 back into an ojipressive and degrading slavery. 
 Had the valley at that time passed under English 
 rule, there would now, doubtless, be a large per- 
 manent English community in Cashmere; and the 
 irrepressible Saxon spirit of enterprise and improve- 
 ment would have transformed the vale into the 
 most attractive spot for residence in the East; for 
 Nature has bestowed every gift upon it — glorious 
 views, delightful climate, and generous soil, with ca- 
 pabilities to encourage every effort at improvement 
 and adornment. 
 
 It is an easy transition that leads us now to ask, 
 What effect have the surroundings of the people of 
 this vale had upon them? One would think that 
 here, in the most lovely valley God ever created, with 
 glory and sublimity crowning the encircling hills,
 
 THE VALE OF CASHMERE. 3^5 
 
 were the place to look for the effects of scenery upon 
 a people's character. But here we must be careful 
 and not confound, as is often done, the influences 
 of scenery with the influences of conditions of life. 
 Thus, for illustration, the inhabitants of mountain- 
 ous countries are observed to be characterized by a 
 love of freedom and independence. Ruskin exclaims, 
 " They have caught the free, wild spirit of the mount- 
 ains !" But is this due so much to the inspiration 
 of the hills as to the impenetrability of the lofty and 
 easily defended passes to their mountain home? The 
 nature of their country has baflled every attempt of 
 the oppressor to approach and lay his yoke upon 
 them. These mountaineers have come to know no 
 other condition of life save that of unrestrained free- 
 dom ; and alongside of it has grown up a love for it, 
 and an impatient, uncompromising hatred of the very 
 name of servitude. Thus deserts are as truly the 
 sanctuaries of liberty as mountains; not that freedom 
 enters at all into their teachings, but because their in- 
 hospitableness ever repels the advance of enslaving 
 armies. 
 
 With this single caution we may now attend to 
 this thought of Ruskin's, which we will find some- 
 what to our purpose : " We have found mountains 
 invariably calculated for the delight, the advantage, 
 or the teaching of men ; prepared, it seems, so as to 
 contain, alike in fortitude or feebleness, in kindliness
 
 376 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 or in terror, some beneficence of gift or profoundness 
 of counsel." Yes, all that Ruskin discovers in the 
 mountains is theirs; and from the hills God has 
 spoken to many souls with a fullness of instruction 
 that never appeared to them in any ordinance of his 
 Word. But such have always been taught first by 
 other teachers than the hills. Nature never becomes 
 man's teacher and elevator till othei- influences and 
 teachings have awakened that which is best and 
 purest and most appreciative of lofty thought within 
 him — till the ameliorated conditions of his life aiford 
 that leisure and create that inclination for intellect- 
 ual and sesthetical pursuits which are the necessary 
 antecedents to the discovery of " beneficence of gift 
 or profoundness of counsel" in her obscure and enig- 
 matic teachings. Indeed, man, already debased, left 
 alone with Nature is almost sure of further degra- 
 dation — moral and intellectual, if not physical — if 
 she exhibit much harshness and apj)arent lack of 
 sympathy in connection with intense esthetic ele- 
 ments. In mountainous countries these are her char- 
 acteristics which most prominently obtrude them- 
 selves upon those forced to pass thei. lives among 
 the hills; with them they come most constantly in 
 rude contact; and tluis it comes that the real mount- 
 aineer is almost certain to partake in his chai-acter 
 somewhat of the stei'n rudeness of liis hardy home. 
 Read this passage from Ruskin, witnessing the effects
 
 THE VALE OF CASHIMERE. 377 
 
 of whicli we speak : " Here, it may seem to him [the 
 traveler of the Tyrol], if there be sometimes hard- 
 ship, there must be at least innocence and peace, and 
 fellowship of the human soul with Nature. It is not 
 so. The wild goats that leap along these rocks have 
 as much passion of joy in all that fair work of God 
 as the men that toil among them." Come with us 
 up among the mountains which overhang the Valley 
 of Cashmere ; and among the men of many a rude 
 hamlet, struggling for a foothold on rugged slopes, 
 you may witness for yourself the truthfulness of all 
 this. The harshness of the straggle which these 
 men have been forced to maintain with Nature has 
 disinclined them to receive with any degree of pa- 
 tience or appreciation her " profoundness of counsel." 
 To them she has revealed herself only as a hard, un- 
 sympathizing master; and so to them there is no 
 " passion of joy " in her fellowship. 
 
 But the inhabitants of the Vale of Cashmere have 
 not felt to such a de2:ree this rouo;h contact with 
 an ungenerous and unsympathetic Nature, and the 
 kindlier conditions of their life have had a percepti- 
 ble influenc ,]apon them. The Cashmerians, notwith- 
 standing, thv discouraging exactions of their present 
 rulers, and their total lack of sympathy with educa- 
 tion and culture, exhibit much greater industry and 
 intelligence than the Indians of the plains; while 
 centuries ago, before Rome had lost her pristine
 
 378 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 vigor, the lofty peaks surrounding the valley looked 
 down upon a civilization which existing monuments 
 compel us to rank with that of the Chaldsean, As- 
 syrian, and Persian empires. To an examination of 
 these intensely interesting architectural memorials 
 of a lost civilization we will devote the remainino; 
 few pages of this chapter. 
 
 About thirty-five miles above the city of Cash- 
 mere, upon the banks of the Jhelum, stands the little 
 town of Islamabad, thought by some to mark the 
 site of the ancient capital of the kingdom of Cash- 
 mere. Back of the town rises a prominent table- 
 land, and surmounting this are some of the most 
 remarkable ruins of the Eastern world — remains of 
 a lost order of architecture w^hich rivals that of the 
 temples of Baalbec or Palmyra. From afar the eye 
 is attracted by the prominent dark-gray mass of 
 ruins outlining themselves against the green hills 
 that rise just behind them. Upon nearer approach, 
 the position of the ruins, lying in heavy masses close 
 along the base of the overtopping hills, recalls the 
 Persepolitan remains ; and then, as the central tem- 
 ple detaches itself from the surrounding ruins, and 
 towers up in isolated grandeur, one seems again be- 
 fore the Athenian Parthenon. Wonderful as are the 
 ruins when at last they are all innnediately before 
 the eye, one in\ oluntarily turns to take in the mag- 
 nificent view that the commandinir site of the tern-
 
 THE VALE OF CASHJIERE. 379 
 
 pie affords. The entire length and breadth of the 
 beautiful valley is displayed at once to the sight; 
 all about, the lofty walls of mountains bear up the 
 sky. The magnificent situation of the temple may 
 be equaled by that of the Parthenon ; but between 
 Athens and Cashmere there was not another temple 
 of antiquity that could boast of such a site as the 
 worshipers of the " famous all-pervading Sun " chose 
 for this pre-eminent Cashmerian shrine. 
 
 Respecting the solitariness and grandeur of the 
 ruin, Vigne writes: "As an isolated ruin this de- 
 serves, on account of its solitary and massive grand- 
 eur, to be ranked not only as the first ruin of the 
 kind in Cashmere, but as one of the noblest among 
 the architectural relics of antiquity that are to be 
 seen in any country." It is not so much the extent 
 as the Egyptian massiveness of the ruins that excites 
 the greatest astonishment. Trebeck asserts that in 
 this feature they are not surpassed by any thing on 
 the banks of the Nile. The dimensions of the shrine 
 itself are not great ; but throughout it exhibits a Cy- 
 clopean solidity of construction which impressed us 
 as deeply as any thing we saw amid the Pei'sepoli- 
 tan ruins. The accompanying cut will give the gen- 
 eral external appearance of the building. Within it 
 is divided into three chambers, the innermost of 
 which, the sanctum sanctorum^ is perfectly free from 
 ornamentation of any kind ; for the reason, as Cun-
 
 380 
 
 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 RUINS OF THE TEMPLE OF MAIITUND. 
 
 ningham suggests, that the tlioiights of the worship- 
 er might not be led away while engaged in devotion. 
 The heavy pyramidal stone roof has fallen, but oth-
 
 THE VALE OF CASHilERE. 3S1 
 
 erwise the edifice is remarkably preserved, the mass- 
 iveness of its walls having enabled it to resist the 
 destructive assaults of both time and man. The ma- 
 terial used in the construction of the building is a 
 dark -blue limestone, susceptible of a high polish. 
 The doorways, windows, and niches for the reception 
 of idols are finely polished or intricately sculj)tured. 
 Uj)on either side of the central building stands a 
 smaller temple, which constitutes, as it were, a wing 
 to the main structure. 
 
 Inclosing this mass of buildings is a porticoed 
 wall, forming a magnificent court, about two hundred 
 feet in leu2:th and almost the same in breadth. The 
 pillars of the colonnade are fluted, and: — in sti'iking 
 contrast to the columns employed in the Hindu 
 buildings in India — exhibit classically correct and 
 graceful proportions. Considerable portions of the 
 wall and colonnade are prostrate, and enormous 
 sculptured blocks, columns, and fragments of the 
 architrave lie scattered around. The gateway of the 
 court and the entrance to the temple front the west, 
 as if to catch the last rays of the setting sun, and to 
 permit them to fall upon the sacred symbols of the 
 shrine. No tree casts its shadow over the temple; 
 but brambles and thorns spring up amid the ruins. 
 Not a single worshiper falls in adoration before 
 the emblems of divinity ; yet the idols still fill 
 the niches where placed so many centuries ago, 
 
 Cc
 
 382 
 
 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIEES. 
 
 though now they look out only on neglect and for- 
 getfulness. 
 
 Although the temple of Martund is the most im- 
 posing of Cashmerian architectural monuments, yet 
 among the fifteen or twenty other temples found in 
 different parts of the valley are many in a still more 
 wonderful state of preservation. The annexed cut is 
 from a sketch of the Pandrenton temple, a perfect lit- 
 
 PANDRENTON TEMPLE. 
 
 tie gem, standing near the Jhelum, only two or three 
 miles from the city of Cashmere. It stands in an 
 artificial tank of water, so as to be under the protec- 
 tion of the Nagas, the half human and half dragon 
 gods who were conspicuous in the Pantheon of the 
 early Cashmerians. 
 
 Perched upon a lofty spur of the mountain tliat 
 overhangs the city of Cashmere is another temple, 
 octagonal in form, called by the natives Takt-i-Suli- 
 man, the " Throne of Solomon," because they believe
 
 THE VALE OF CASHJIERE. 3g3 
 
 it to have been erected by him during one of his 
 traditional visits to the valley; for the legends of 
 the Cashmerians, with a pardonable egotisticaluess, 
 represent most of the great personages of early times 
 as making frequent pilgrimages to this j^aradise of 
 the Indies. The other temples scattered throughout 
 the valley, and up among the lateral vales, repeat, 
 with no essential variations, the architectural char- 
 acteristics of the " wonderful Martund " or the beau- 
 tiful Pandrenton, so that they do not call for special 
 description. 
 
 After having surveyed these remarkable ruins, 
 lying in this isolated valley, buried deep among the 
 Himalayas, the very first inquiry is. When and by 
 whom were these temples built? .The traditionary 
 records of the Cashmerians, largely tinctured with 
 Hindu extravagance, tell wondrous stories of the 
 residence and achievements of Adam, Seth, Moses, 
 and Solomon in the valley. For the construction of 
 the Martund temple these traditions call in the aid 
 of the Pandus, who in Oriental mythology corre- 
 spond to the Cyclops of the Western classics. But 
 there are trustworthy chronicles which cast a less 
 uncertain light upon that portion of Cashmerian his- 
 tory in which w^e are interested. In an "Essay on 
 the Aryan Order of iVrchitecture," by Captain A. C. 
 Cunningham, published in the " Journal of the Asiatic 
 Society," vol. xvii., the subject of the antiquity of the
 
 384 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Cashmerian temples is ably investigated, and they 
 are found to range all along from the third century 
 B.C. to the tenth century of our era. The Takt-i- 
 Suliman was erected by Jaloka, son of Asoka, 220 
 B.C. At that time it seems that a sort of snake or 
 dragon worship prevailed in the valley ; and this 
 symbol frequently appears in the temples of that era. 
 An intelligent Scotch missionary, ^vhom we met at 
 Cashmere, and who had examined with some care 
 the ruins in the valley, was strongly convinced that 
 in this serpent-worship we find a lingering remem- 
 brance of the circumstances of the Fall ; yet we were 
 unable to learn that any peculiar accessories of the 
 Cashmerian worship caused it to point with greater 
 certainty to such a conjecture than the many other 
 instances of early serpent- worship among the tribes 
 of the different continents. 
 
 The temple of Martund (we follow the authority 
 of Cunningham) was built about A.D. 400, at which 
 time the Hindu religion must have flourished in the 
 valley of Cashmere ; for the niches still hold the 
 Hindu triad and the different statues of Hindu my- 
 thology. In other words, it was sacred to the Sun, 
 the same as the famous temples at Baalbec and Pal- 
 myra; for the Hindu triad is simply emblematic of 
 the Sun, " who was Brahma, or the Creator, at morn- 
 ing; Vishnu, or the Preserver, at noon ; and Siva, or 
 the Destroyer, at even." It would be hard to tell how
 
 THE VALE OF CASH:MERE. 335 
 
 much of different systems of worship is condensed 
 and vaguely symbolized in that " mystic orb tri- 
 form" of Hindu mythology; some have thought to 
 find in it a reflection of the Christian doctrine of the 
 Trinity ; and certain it is that it embodies, however 
 modified and obscured, the central idea of the Sabian 
 worship. That the Martuud temple was dedicated 
 to the Sun is also according to the Raja Zarangini, 
 which contains passages wherein the edifice is de- 
 clared sacred to the "famous all - pervading Sun." 
 Cunningham discovered additional evidence of this 
 in certain architectural features of the building itself 
 Thus, for illustration, he observes that the number of 
 pillars of the court is eighty-four, a number sym- 
 bolic of the Sun, being the product of the number 
 of the zodiacal symbols, and the number of steeds 
 that drew the fiery chariot of the deity. 
 
 But the most interesting fact respecting the Cash- 
 merian temples is the traces which they exhibit of 
 Greek art. They are quite unlike the structures of 
 India, resembling them scarcely in any thing save in 
 the repetition of conventional proportions; while a 
 large number of the most important architectur- 
 al features are borrowed from the Greeks. Thus 
 at Martund the porch, pronaos, and naos of the 
 Greeks are reproduced in the vestibule, the central 
 and the innermost chamber of the temple. The 
 Greek pediment and roof also form a characteristic
 
 386 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 feature of the Caslimerian temple ; but, to adapt it- 
 self to the climate of the valley, where heavy snows 
 often fiill, the low, flat roof of the classic style be- 
 comes higher and steeper, and thus pyramidal in 
 shape. The pillars, too, unlike those of the Indian 
 temples of the plains, have base, shaft, and capital 
 distinct; and, moreover, exhibit exactly those pro- 
 portions to the diameter of shaft as adopted by the 
 Greek artists. 
 
 That Cashmerian art thus felt the influence of 
 Grecian there is no doubt; and this contact doubt- 
 less occurred at a period not long subsequent to the 
 Macedonian conquests in Asia. 200 B.C. the Cabul 
 valley and portions of Western India were held by 
 the Greeks; and many interesting relics of Greek 
 art are constantly being discovered at the present 
 time in the Punjab. The museum at Lahore con- 
 tains many Grecian statues that have been exhumed 
 in the surroundino; districts. Throuo-h these Bactrian 
 Greeks the Cashmerians became acquainted with the 
 most classic type of the architecture of the Western 
 nations, and at once adopted many of its features into 
 their sacred edifices. Possibly some of the Cashme- 
 rian temples were actually designed by Greek artists. 
 
 The first Mohammedan kimx that rei^^ned in Cash- 
 mere seized the throne of the little kino:dom in A.D. 
 1341, and was followed by Sikunder, the " iconoclast," 
 who destroyed many of the temples of the idolatrous
 
 THE VALE OF CASH^EERE. 387 
 
 Hindus. To-day Mohammedanism and Buddhism 
 hold sway in the valley, and there is not a hand to 
 protect from spoliation the once beautiful temples of 
 the ancient faith, which are pulled down, and their 
 labor-wrought stones built into mosques or Buddhist 
 temples. From many a modern wall in the city of 
 Cashmere project beautifully sculptured stones stolen 
 from some ancient shrine.
 
 388 REIVIAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE CITY OF CASHMERE. 
 
 Situation. — General Appearance. — Buildings. — Canal Streets. — Boats. 
 — River Scenes. — English Stores. — Bridges. — Maharajah's Palace. — 
 Swiss and Venetian Scenes. — English Visitors.— An Official's Barge. 
 — Cashmerian Amazons. — Bathers. — Relics. — Wood from the Mount- 
 ains. — Jumna Meshjed. — Maharajah's Bazaar. — Below the City. — 
 Citadel. — Night on the River. — An Eastern Venice. — Gardens of 
 Cashmere. — Shalimar Bagh. — Nishat Bagh. — Isle of Chenars. — Float- 
 ing Gardens. — Population of Cashmere. — People. — Effects of Cli- 
 mate on Complexion. — Dress. — Character. — Women. — Thomas 
 Moore. — Manufactures. — Shawls. — Nature as a Teacher. 
 
 The city of Cashmere,^" tlie " Eastern Venice," is 
 built, as already observed, upon the Jhelum f River, 
 at about its middle course througli the valley, and at 
 a point where it flows close to the base of the north- 
 east mountain -wall. The city presents a strange 
 mingling of Swiss and Venetian picturesqueness and 
 Oriental shabbiness. The Swiss element is lent by 
 the style of architecture ; the river, which forms one 
 grand canal through the city, and branches off into 
 
 * Tlic ortliograjjliical forms of this word are legion. It is written in- 
 differently Cashmere, Cashmirc, Cachemirc, Cashmir, Kashmir, Kachc- 
 mir, Kaclimir, or Kasehmir. AVe have adopted the form most familiar 
 to the English eye. The native name for the city is Serinagur. 
 
 t In the Cashmerian language this stream is called the Bchut ; in 
 Sanscrit, Vedasta. The Greeks knew it as the Hydaspes.
 
 THE CITY OF CASKMERE. 389 
 
 many smaller cliannels, all of which swarm with na- 
 tive boats, plying hither and thither like so many 
 gondolas, recalls the Italian " City of the Sea ;" while 
 the neglect which allows the buildings to assume 
 all degrees of inclination, and to hang over the ca- 
 nals in all sorts of startling attitudes — this, with the 
 costume of the thronged bazaars, gives the whole an 
 unmistakably Oriental cast. 
 
 Though stone and sun-dried and fire-burnt brick 
 are employed to some extent as building material, 
 by far the larger proportion of the houses are con- 
 structed of wood, and are from one to four stories in 
 height. Thev have either flat or double - slopins; 
 roofs, thatched with reeds, or shingled or turfed. The 
 fronts of the buildings are often embellished with 
 ornamental tracery, in close mimicry of Swiss carv- 
 ings. The windows are unfurnished with glass, but 
 are picturesquely latticed, and frequently open upon 
 balconies that overhang the canals. The architect- 
 ure of the city impresses the traveler from Syria, Tur- 
 key, or Persia somewhat strangely at first ; because, 
 being essentially a wood-constructed city, it necessa- 
 rily presents a very different appearance from the 
 mud-built villag-es' of the Arabs and Persians. It 
 takes the traveler away back to Switzerland again; 
 for there alone does he find any thing with which 
 he may compare it. In interior ornamentation, Per- 
 sian art, it seems to us, has had its influence upon
 
 390 KEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Cashmerian : pigments are generally employed, as at 
 Shiraz, to embellish the walls and ceilings, while the 
 dwellings of the wealthier class have imparted to 
 their chambers a rich though somewhat tawdry ap- 
 pearance by profuse gilding. 
 
 The Jhelum River, which bears the same relation 
 to Cashmere that the Grand Canal does to Venice, 
 is in its passage through the city about a hundred 
 yards in breadth. The fronts of the houses along its 
 course rise directly from the water, the same as in 
 the Italian city. Seven bridges span the stream, and 
 unite the two principal divisions of the town. This 
 river is the Broadway of Cashmere, being the prin- 
 cipal thoroughfare for both traffic and pleasure. 
 
 Let us take a boat in the upper part of the city, 
 and float down this Grand Canal, and explore this 
 Eastern Venice. We will choose the late afternoon, 
 two or three hours before sunset ; not that any por- 
 tion of the day would be too oppressively warm, but 
 because the river scene will then be liveliest, and 
 also as that hour will bring us to the lower portion 
 of the city just at the close of the day, so that our 
 return will be in the edge of the evening, when hun- 
 dreds of lights will be glimmering, Venetian -like, 
 alonfif the banks of the canal-street. 
 
 Leaving our tent, we walk beneath the mulberry- 
 trees a few hundred yards to the bank of the river, 
 where we are immediately beset by a score of boat-
 
 THE CITY OF CASHIMERE. 39I 
 
 men. " Big boat, sahib !" " Little boat, sabib !" iter- 
 ated and reiterated on all sides, creates a sort of 
 English atmosphere about us, and for a moment be- 
 trays us into the belief that we are in the midst of 
 an English-speaking community. We address our- 
 selves to one : " How much for your boat ?" " Big 
 boat, sahib !" " We don't care how big your boat is ; 
 how much do you want for taking us to the lower 
 end of the city and back ?" " Big, h-i-g boat, sahib !" 
 At this moment Mohammed (our interpreter) comes 
 up, and seeing disgust depicted upon our counte- 
 nances, tells us, as we have already discovered, "Them 
 Inglee no talk." Throuo;h Mohammed's mediation 
 a boat is quickly engaged — a "little boat," as the 
 passage back against the ciu'rent, Mohammed assures 
 us, can be made much more easily in such than with 
 a large one. Our boat is about fifty feet in length, 
 and six feet wide in the middle, being built with 
 slender bow and stern. About one third of the length 
 is covered with a roof of mats, to afford protection 
 from sun and rain. The larger and more unwieldly 
 boats about us are from sixty to eighty feet in 
 length, and of corresponding breadth. As is the case 
 in many Chinese cities, these boats constitute the 
 only summer home of a considerable portion of the 
 population of Cashmere. They are arranged with 
 the few conveniences a native family requires, so that 
 all the operations of the household are carried on 
 upon the boat.
 
 392 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 As we enter, the women snatcli up their spinning- 
 wheels and miscellaneous articles, and hurry them 
 into the 'kitchen — the stern of the boat. Neat mats 
 are spread, and bolsters placed upon them, so that 
 we may assume a comfortable recumbent position. 
 Four men take their places at the paddles — regular 
 Indian paddles — and one of the women seats herself 
 in the stern, with a paddle for a rudder. And now 
 our fully equipped Cashmerian gondola shoots fi'om 
 the bank, and we are out upon the middle stream. 
 
 Before we are really within the city, just turn and 
 look up the stream. Any city might well be proud 
 of such a river view. Those venerable chenars and 
 poplars and willows fringing the banks and stretch- 
 ing back from the wat^r in noble vistas, and the 
 rugged hills beyond, rising abruptly, wall-like, half 
 way up the heavens, make up a view at once rarely 
 picturesque and grand. 
 
 But now our eyes are needed to observe what is 
 shooting past us. Here, on our right, are several 
 small, uninviting, two-storied bungalows, erected for 
 the accommodation of English visitors ; for Cashmere, 
 as already seen, is a favorite summer sanatarium. 
 These buildings are unfurnished, and may be taken 
 possession of by any one who finds them unoccupied. 
 The surrounding grove is filled with tents ; for trav- 
 elers prefer camping out to taking quarters in the 
 wretched bungalows. Tent life in Cashmere, too, has
 
 THE CITY OF CASHJUERE. 
 
 393 
 
 VIEW OP THE JHELUM ABOVE CASHMERE. 
 
 just the same charms as "Tent life in the Holy Land." 
 And here, fronting the river, is an English shop, 
 which is open during the " season," from April to 
 November, for the " benefit " of English travelers — 
 and, after pricing some of their M^ares, we may safely 
 infer for the benefit of the proprietors also. 
 
 Some fine buildings on the left bank now attract 
 our attention, and immediately we are drifted beneath
 
 394 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 the first of the seven bridges that span the river. 
 The piers of the structure are built of logs, the alter- 
 nate layers crossing each other, just as lumber is oft- 
 en piled. These piers, narrow at the river level, 
 grow wider as they rise, by the use of longer timbers, 
 and thus gradually approach so near to one another 
 that the remaining space is easily spanned. 
 
 Between this bridaje and the fourth all fishins: is 
 prohibited. Why ? Because the natives believe that 
 Ghoolab Singh, a former Maharajah of Cashmere, is 
 now a fish, and lurking in these waters ! Just below 
 the bridge, on the left bank, stands the palace of 
 the present Maharajah, an infamous tyrant, who ought 
 also to be in the river, without any interdiction 
 upon the natives' fishing. It is not a very imjDosing 
 structure, surely, for a royal residence ; but the gild- 
 ed dome of the royal temple, which glistens amid the 
 mass of buildings, suggests that we may find grand- 
 eur within. So, stopping our gondola, we mount the 
 stone steps, and by an obsequious, white -gowned 
 and turbaned usher are led into a large hall, the 
 most magnificent chamber of the palace. It is a lofty, 
 gorgeously painted and gilded apartment, the minute- 
 ness of the patterns and the delicate lightness of the 
 columns suggesting Moorish art. Tawdriness, how- 
 ever, takes too much the place of chasteness. 
 
 Re-entering our boat, we continue on down the 
 river, between lines of buildings rising directly from
 
 THE CITY OF CASHMERE. 395 
 
 tlie water. Some project over the stream, and are 
 propped up by slender poles, wliicli seem just ready 
 to precipitate their burdens into the river. Some of 
 the fronts are artistically carved, while others are 
 fiintastically painted ; not with such heraldic designs 
 as are borne by the palatial fronts along the Grand 
 Canal of the Venetian city, yet still, as we glide past, 
 not only are those olden palaces recalled, but for the 
 moment we can scarcely divest ourselves of the im- 
 pression that we are again upon the canals of Ven- 
 ice. And the scores of boats gliding hither and 
 thither help wondrously to sustain the illusion. Here 
 is one just passing with an English lady — we touch 
 our hats, for it is the missionary, the good Dr. Elms- 
 lie's wife; and here is another boat containing two En- 
 glish gentlewomen— ^and now we have met just half 
 of the English ladies in Cashmere. Anglo-Indian 
 gentlemen are more numerous — one, two, five boats 
 pass us before we reach the third bridge, each bear- 
 ing two Englishmen, lolling comfortably amid their 
 bolsters. Some are reading their newspapers. What ! 
 the Cashmere Daily Gra^yldc f No, not exactly, but 
 the India papers from Lahore, Bombay, and Calcutta, 
 brought up by post. 
 
 But here is something more purely native — a gai- 
 ly painted barge, with surmounting canopy, beneath 
 which are squatted some high Cashmerian officials, 
 in white robes and trim turbans. A score of rowers 
 
 Dd
 
 396 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 dip their paddles witli a sort of rLythmic movement, 
 changing at short intervals from quick to slow 
 strokes, under the impulse of which the barge shoots 
 by us like an arrow. 
 
 And here is another scene quite different — but 
 things are always strangely mingled in the East. 
 This smaller boat attracting our attention has but a 
 single rower — a woman, a perfect Amazon — sitting- 
 cross-legged ujoon the bow, "paddling her own ca- 
 noe." But that is not at all unusual. Here is an- 
 other common scene — a loaded barge with another 
 disheveled, sun -burnt, herculean Amazon, bare -foot- 
 ed and bare-headed, mounted upon the stern of the 
 boat, with a great pole in her hands, shouting orders 
 with the voice of Stentor to a crew of half a dozen 
 swarthy men, while she makes the entire craft leap 
 frantically with the mighty sweeps and lunges of 
 her pole. This is one of Moore's sweet angels with 
 " love-lighted eyes that hang over the waves." 
 
 At different intervals we observe stone steps lead- 
 ing down to the water, all thronged with maiden 
 water-carriers, and with bathers of both sexes, for 
 bathing is rather a promiscuous, Japanese affair here 
 in Cashmere. We notice now and then some richly 
 sculptured blocks of stone built into the walls along 
 the river, relics of a by-gone magnificence. But no- 
 tice this pile of logs, or rather short sections of large 
 trees — firs we should judge, but that is difficult to
 
 THE CITY OF CASHMERE. 397 
 
 determine, for tlie bark of each piece is bruised off, 
 aud the ends battered as though the section had 
 done rough service as a maul or beetle. Our curios- 
 ity is excited, and we turn to Mohammed. " Moham- 
 med, what have the people been doing with these 
 blocks ?" " Them is wood, sahib ; got way up yon- 
 der in the hills." That is sufficient ex2:)lanation for 
 their appearance. Wood is somewhat scarce in the 
 immediate vicinity of the capital, and the natives go 
 into the heavy forest high up among the mountains, 
 and felling the trees, and cutting them into short sec- 
 tions that they may not lodge in the stream, tumble 
 them into the torrent; the battered appearance of 
 these blocks tells of the nature of their voyage down 
 to the valley. 
 
 Let us row a little way up this side channel. The 
 buildings are in a fearfully ruinous condition, and 
 hang over the water in the most reckless manner. 
 A little way up this narrow water-street we find 
 scores of boats moored for the night along the bank. 
 We land and walk up a narrow, crooked street, in 
 order to find the Jumna Meshjed, an old dilapidated 
 mosque, an immense structure, which, it is said, will 
 hold sixty thousand people. Four times it has been 
 destroyed by fire ; it was last repaired by the Mogul 
 sovereign Aurungzebe. It is a large quadrangular 
 building, constructed about a square court, and is 
 surmounted by four low spires. It is neglected and
 
 398 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 desecrated — Mohammedanism, decaying every where 
 else, languishes also even in this " earthly paradise." 
 
 Returning to our boat, we glide back into the 
 main canal, and continue our interrupted course down 
 the river. We row slowly by the Maharajah's ba- 
 zaar, the only one in the city which fronts the river, 
 and which always presents a lively and attractive ap- 
 pearance, pass several small Hindu temj)les, shoot 
 beneath a number of bridges, and, after gliding be- 
 tween long rows of buildings, at length emerge with 
 the river from the city, after a float of about three 
 miles, and find ourselves in the open country, with 
 an English landscape spread all around us. 
 
 Our return is slow, as our paddlers have to con- 
 tend with a strong cun-ent. As the evening prom- 
 ises a good view, we land, before halfway back, at 
 a little pier up the right bank, and feel our way 
 through a labyrinth of streets to the citadel, posted 
 on an isolated basaltic mound, four or five hundred 
 feet in height, which rises abruptly from the plain 
 in the northeast portion of the city. The hill is en- 
 circled at its base by a heavy wall, and the crown- 
 ing fortifications are defended by several respectable 
 pieces of artillery. The view from f-^ walls of the 
 fort well repays our climb. The ceL 'al portion of 
 the town presents a dense brown m-^ of buildings, 
 but the suburbs are lost in the gro\es that invest 
 the city. The Jhelum River enters the city away to
 
 THE CITY OF CASmiERE. 399 
 
 the soiitli, and issues to pursue its tortuous course to 
 the distant Wular Lake. The northeast portion of 
 the town is so intersected by canals that a thorough- 
 ly Venetian character is given to it, the buildings 
 seemine to rise from the waters of a lake. Just 
 across the Dul — the "sunny lake of cool Cashmere" 
 — lie several of the famous royal gardens of Cash- 
 mere, created by the Mogul sovereigns; and not far 
 from the citadel mound itself, rising from a vast reedy 
 marsh, is a beautiful wooded islet, celebrated by Moore 
 as "The plane-tree isle reflected clear." All about, 
 the mountains gird the valley with their lofty snowy 
 ramparts, which, all ablaze with the glory of the 
 west, form a fitting crown to the beauties of the 
 vale. 
 
 By the time we regain our boat the lights begin 
 to glimmer along the banks of the river, and before 
 we reach the gardens above the city are forming 
 hundreds of long, shattered reflections in the water. 
 Now that the darkness hides and the starlight trans- 
 forms, we are in Venice again : this wide stream, 
 lined with glittering rows of light, is the Grand Ca- 
 nal; these boats gliding past are gondolas; those 
 ill-defined ma' ,^es of buildings are the olden palaces. 
 Yes, this is V nice ; and we lean back upon our pil- 
 lowed divans i^nd give ourselves up to the pleasing 
 illusion. , . 
 
 As we approach the ga-rdens and clear the build-
 
 400 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 ings, the lofty heights of the mountains appear, traced 
 on the sky half-way up from the horizon, Venice ! 
 did you say we were in Venice? See these mount- 
 ains heaping themselves Pelion-upon-Ossa-like almost 
 to the zenith. We are among the Himalayas. We 
 took our last row on the Grand Canal, and bade a 
 last farewell to the City of the Sea, long, long ago. 
 Well, 'tis another Venice, then, and quite as romantic 
 and fascinating for being up here a mile or more in 
 the air, and set about with these noble mountains. 
 With all this running through our heads as we fling 
 ourselves beneath our tent under the mulberry-trees, 
 we need not wonder if, in the vagaries of sleep, we 
 see strange confusions of Doges' and Maharajahs' pal- 
 aces, of cathedrals and temples, of cam^Daniles and 
 minarets, of gondolas and Cashmerian barges, of low, 
 level horizons of water and sky, and lofty, ragged 
 horizons of hills and clouds. 
 
 The gardens of Cashmere form one of the attrac- 
 tions of the capital. Besides the Wular Lake, there 
 is another smallei' body of water, about nine miles in 
 circumference, lying close to the city. It is supj^lied 
 with water, not from the Jhelum, but by some small 
 streams that issue from the overhanging mountains. 
 Upon the borders of this lake, and placed so as to 
 be watered by the afore-mentioned rivulets, are sev- 
 eral of these royal paradises, created by the former 
 princes of Cashmere. At the northeast corner of
 
 THE CITY OF CASH:MERE. 401 
 
 the lake is situated one of the most beautiful of 
 these gardens, the Shalimar Bagh, laid out, or at least 
 embellished, by the Mogul emperor Jehangeer. In 
 this earthly paradise, with the beloved and beautiful 
 Noor-Jehan — the heroine of Lalla Rookh — he spent 
 many a day — 
 
 " When from power and poQip and the trophies of war 
 He flew to that valley, forgetting them all, 
 With the light of the harem, his young Nourmahal." 
 
 And here it was that they were reconciled during 
 the "Feast of Roses," as Nourmahal wins back the 
 love of Selim (Jehangeer) while she sings as the 
 " masked Arabian maid." With his love all burning 
 again, he exclaims : 
 
 " ' Oh, Nourmahal ! oh, Nourmahal ! 
 
 Hadst thou but sung this witching strain, 
 I could forget, forgive thee all, 
 And never leave those eyes again.'" 
 
 "The mask is off — the charm is wrought — 
 And Selim to his heart has caught. 
 In blushes more than ever bright, 
 His Nourmahal, his harem's light ! 
 And well do vanished frowns enhance 
 The charm of every brightened glance; 
 And dearer seems each dawning smile 
 For having lost its light awhile; 
 And happier now for all her sighs, 
 
 As on his arm her head reposes, 
 She whisjjers him with laughing eyes, 
 
 ' Remember, love, the Feast of Roses I' "
 
 402 EEMAIKS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 The Shalimar Bagh, whicli embraces perhaps be- 
 tween twenty and thirty acres, lies on a very gentle 
 sloj)e, and drops down to the lower w^all in several 
 terraces, all of which are heavily loaded with chenar, 
 mulberr}^, cherry, plum, apple, pear, apricot, and vari- 
 ous ornamental trees. A broad avenue and water- 
 course, lined with cheuars, run through the centre of 
 the garden. Pretty cascades are formed by the stream 
 as it leaps down the terraces. Built over this stream, 
 in the U23per part of the garden, is the once beautiful 
 summer-house, which now" presents the same ruinous 
 and neglected aj^pearauce as the kiosks of the gar- 
 dens of Shiraz. From the balconies of this building 
 was once displayed to the eye a paradisaical scene; 
 and the view even now down over the terraces of 
 the garden is rarely bea!utiful. It was here that 
 Moore makes the Georgian maid give utterance to 
 this sentiment : 
 
 " If there be an Elj^sium on earth, 
 It is this, it is this." 
 
 Situated not far from the middle of the eastern 
 shore of the Dul is the Nishat Baojh, another line 
 garden, not unworthy a place by the side of the 
 "magnificent Shalimar." It is six hundred yards 
 long and about three hundred and fifty yards in 
 width. It rises in ten terraces, ujoon the lower of 
 which, just at the entrance to the garden, the prin- 
 cipal pavilion, or summer-house, is built. Like the
 
 THE CITY OF CASHMERE. 403 
 
 buildings of the Shalimar, those of this garden are 
 also falling into decay. A stream runs through the 
 centre of the grounds, leaping the terraces, and fi- 
 nally escaj^ing into the lake. Jets d'eau are ranged 
 along the entire length of this water-course; and 
 when throwing their full supply of water — as hap- 
 pened upon the occasion of our visit, as some grand 
 Cashmerian officials were hourly expected — present 
 a very pretty sight as they toss their waters amid 
 the trees through the sunshine and the shadows. 
 
 Between the Shalimar and the city is the Nessib 
 Bagh, a grove of noble chenars, without a summer- 
 house. It makes a magnificent camping-ground, and 
 the white tents of visitors are often seen beneath the 
 trees. This must be the island grove which Moore 
 intends to describe as the "Plane-tree isle reflected 
 clear." The Char Chenar is a pretty islet rising out 
 of the lake near the Nessib Bagh. It is said at one 
 time to have possessed a fine temple, but now only 
 a broken stone platform is to be seen. There are 
 other gardens besides those we have referred to ; but 
 the foregoing will suffice to give a general idea of 
 Cashmerian paradises. 
 
 The floating gardens in the Dul form one of the char- 
 acteristic features of the lake : these are in every j^ar- 
 ticular reproductions of the famous chinampas, or float- 
 ing gardens, of the city of Mexico. Large portions of 
 the lake are very shallow, and thickly covered with
 
 404 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 aquatic plants. These are cut off by the natives two 
 or three feet under water, and then pressed together 
 somewhat, and formed into beds or rafts six to eight 
 feet in breadth, and of indefinite length. The tops 
 of the reeds are now lopped off, and then mud 
 thrown on and allowed to work down into the bed, 
 which is thus converted into a solid mass. Poles are 
 thrust down through the beds to prevent their being 
 driven out of j^lace by the winds. Little mounds of 
 earth, about eighteen inches high, supported by in- 
 tertwined reeds, are raised along either border of the 
 raft ; and in these are planted melons and cucumbers, 
 which fruit wondrously. There are many acres of 
 these floating gardens in the Dul, and they furnish 
 the principal article ot diet for many thousands of 
 the inhabitants of Cashmere for several months. It 
 is perfectly astonishing to see the quantities that are 
 daily, during the season, brought to the city markets. 
 It might be questioned whether these floating gar- 
 dens should be considered real or personal property 
 — they certainly lack one of the requisites of the for- 
 mer. By removing the poles that hold them, they 
 are easily floated away from their positions. As a con- 
 sequence of this mobility, they are sometimes stolen, 
 and dragged away to another part of the lake; in 
 which case the rightful proprietor has diflficulty in 
 discovering the whereabouts of his garden, and in 
 proving property when found.
 
 THE CITY OF CASHMERE. 405 
 
 But from Cashmere and its surroundinsfs we must 
 turn for a glimpse of Caslimerians. The population 
 of the city was estimated by the government, in 1865, 
 at one hundred and fifty thousand ; of which number 
 not more than twenty thousand are Hindus, the re- 
 mainder Mohammedans."^ Moorcroft, at the time of 
 his visit, in 1823, put the poi^ulation at two hundred 
 and forty thousand, estimating the number of per- 
 sons engaged in the manufacture of Cashmere shawls 
 alone at one hundred and twenty thousand. But 
 even at that time the population of the city liad 
 greatly declined from various causes. Two centuries 
 ago the population of the entire Cashmere valley was 
 about one million ; but now it can scarcely exceed 
 three hundred thousand, a decrease resulting from 
 earthquakes, famines, and pestilences — for this East- 
 ern paradise has enjoyed no immunity from these 
 scourges — and also from the oj)pressions of the gov- 
 ernment, which have driven many of the inhabitants 
 from the valley. The old feudal idea of the lands 
 being the possession of the rulers has prevailed im- 
 memorially ; and the people, though industrious and 
 ingenious, are kept in hopeless poverty from exor- 
 bitant taxes, imposed by unscrupulous governors. 
 Dr. Elmslie, before alluded to, declared to us that 
 
 * " The language of Cashmere is rooted in the ancient Sanskrit; it is 
 estimated that out of one hundred words twenty-five are Sanskrit, forty 
 Persian, fifteen Hindustani, ten Arabic, and a few Thibetan." — Ince.
 
 406 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 the present Maharajah, son of the notorious Gholab 
 Singh, was an " ignorant, bigoted, avaricious, despotic 
 monster." And yet it was into the hands of such 
 men that the English government sold the inhabit- 
 ants of Cashmere ! 
 
 Cashmerian men are generally tall, well-propor- 
 tioned, and of fairer complexion than the Indians of 
 the plains ; those whose habits of life do not lead to 
 much exposure are quite as fair as Europeans. But 
 this is not a singular instance illustrative of the ef- 
 fects of climate and different degrees of light and 
 heat upon the color of the human body. The Arabs 
 of Northern Syria and Armenia we observed to be 
 much lighter complexioned than those of Southern 
 Mesopotamia and Arabia. The Egyptians are said 
 to j)resent a " chromatic scale from black to white" as 
 we ascend the Nile from the delta toward Abyssinia. 
 The Tuarkiks of the Atlas are also represented as 
 being of a fair olive color, while those of the same 
 race dwelling in the interior of Africa are as black 
 as negroes. 
 
 The dress of the men of Cashmere is the effeminate 
 Indian costume. The higher class wear long, tight 
 pantaloons, a short gown, and an immense turban, 
 all white. The lower class, instead of the long In- 
 dian trousers, wear short drawers, reaching just be- 
 low the knee; and often the whole suit, including 
 the turban, is made of a cheap, gray woolen manu-
 
 THE CITY OF CASHJIERE. 407 
 
 factnre. The loose nature of the gown is admirably 
 adapted alike to the heats of summer and the winter 
 habits of Cashmerians. They have no fires in their 
 dwelliuo-s ; but in lieu of them it is the custom to 
 carry a liangree^ a small earthen pot, protected by 
 wicker-work and filled with coals, which, when the 
 person is sitting, is placed beneath the clothes, the 
 looseness of the garments allowing the heat to cir- 
 culate freely. 
 
 Cashmerians are very far from what they ought 
 to be in respect to conscientiousness in their com- 
 mercial transactions. At first we thought them ex- 
 ceptionally honest; but we soon discovered that their 
 trickery was inevitable and ingenious. The moment 
 one enters the city he is beset by a crowd of per- 
 ambulating traders, bringing all sorts of things, from 
 a Cashmere shawl to an absurdly bushy dak's tail; 
 for all of which they ask several times their w^orth. 
 Dealers in precious stones, diamonds, opals, carbun- 
 cles, etc.-— manufactured in France or Germany — open 
 their boxes with a cautiousness well calculated to 
 inspire respect for their value. One needs to be 
 chary of all these, and deal only with established 
 houses that appreciate the policy of maintaining a 
 good reputation. There are firms in the city ^vhich 
 have earned even an European reputation for hon- 
 esty and fair dealing. 
 
 "VVe have already referred, incidentally, to at least
 
 408 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 one class of the women of Cashmere. Unwilling as 
 we are to make a cruel raid on romance and poetry, 
 stoical prose compels us to correct a popular miscon- 
 ception — for which the imaginative Moore is largely 
 responsible — by observing that the ladies of Cash- 
 mere seem to be denied even the usual attractions 
 of their sex. We did not see a single pretty or even 
 passably pleasing countenance among them while in 
 Cashmere ; and even among the faces of the children, 
 who generally among all races are fair-featured and 
 attractive, we did not notice a single instance of that 
 beauty which is peculiarly the inheritance of child- 
 hood. We are not singular in our failure to discover 
 Cashmerian beauties. "The women are broad-feat- 
 ured and coarse of figure, and not so elegant in form 
 as the women of India," quietly observes Knight; 
 while M. Jacquemont irascibly declares : " Moore is 
 a perfumer, and a liar to boot. Know that I have 
 never seen any where such hideous witches as at 
 Cashmere. The female race is remarkably ugly." 
 Hidden away from vulgar eyes within the harems or 
 zenanas may be some Moontajs, Nourmahals, and 
 Lalla Eookhs: but the presumj)tion is against any 
 such supposition ; for if Venus loved to visit this 
 sjTiot as dearly as the Caucasian vales, she would in- 
 evitably be led in some of her capricious moods to 
 lend her girdle to some of the unimprisoned maidens 
 of the valley.
 
 THE CITY OF CASH]^IERE. 409 
 
 The products of the shawl-looms of Cashmere have 
 given it a world-wide reputation. The wool of which 
 these shawls are made is furnished by several ani- 
 mals, the wild goat of the provinces of Lassa and 
 Ladakh affording the best. The domestic goat and 
 wild sheep furnish an inferior article. It is simply 
 the inner coat or down that is used ; the iirst step 
 being carefully to separate this from the hair. This 
 is then spun by the women, a work which engages a 
 large proportion of the ^vomen of Cashmere. The 
 skins are next dyed ; and in this art the Cashmerians 
 disj^lay much taste and skill in producing beautiful 
 and brilliant tints. The weavers are always men or 
 boys, and we generally found from twenty to fifty 
 crowded into a small room, three or four being en- 
 gaged at each loom. The \varp is extended in the 
 loom as though the wool were to be introduced by a 
 shuttle; but instead of a shuttle, several hundred slim, 
 wooden needles, each wound with a small amount 
 of thread, are employed. With a sort of hieroglyphic 
 pattern before his eye, indicating the color of thread 
 to be used, the weaver passes these in rapid succes- 
 sion, according to the color required, through one or 
 more threads of the warp. 
 
 Many of the shawls are woven in separate pieces, 
 and then carefully joined, this being so skijlfully 
 done that the seams are scarcely discernible. The 
 time required for weaving a shawl varies, of course.
 
 410 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 witli the pattern, and the fineness of the threads 
 used-, usually three or four weavers are engaged 
 upon a single shawl from three months to two years. 
 There are rarer patterns, of course, that embody in- 
 finitely more labor than this. The price of the 
 more common shawls varies from 400 to 1600 ru- 
 pees ($200 to $800). 
 
 Besides these woven shawls, there is another va- 
 riety manufactured, called " worked shawls," in which 
 the pattern is first impressed upon the prepared 
 cloth, and then the colors wrought in with common 
 needles. Shawls thus embroidered are really prettier 
 than the woven patterns, though not so rich, Or, con- 
 sequently, highly esteemed. Very beautiful shawls 
 of this kind may be purchased for about 100 rupees. 
 The patterns adapted for scarfs, table-spreads, and 
 similar articles, are generally pretty and tasteful. 
 The entire trade is now languishing in Cashmere, 
 since European manufacturers have so successfully 
 imitated all the different products of the Cashmerian 
 looms, which have been so universally and deservedly 
 admired. 
 
 It is a phenomenon as interesting as remarkable 
 which we observe in the ingenuity, skill, and taste 
 exhibited by many half-civilized peoples in the pro- 
 duction of some particular article of manufacture ; or 
 the aptness displayed by such for some special science 
 or pursuit. It is worth our while to notice that in
 
 THE CITY OF CASHMERE. 411 
 
 siicli instances Nature has often, perhaps always, 
 given the first suggestion, and become teacher and 
 encourager. The better the material she places in 
 our hands, the greater is the incentive, and the 
 stronger the desire awakened in us, to manipulate 
 it skillfully and artistically. Thus in Japan the sap 
 furnished by a certain tree possesses the qualities of 
 a brilliant varnish — is admirably adapted to the pur- 
 poses of ornamentation, transforming the surface to 
 w^hich it is applied so that it rivals in appearance 
 the most beautifully polished of our precious woods. 
 Now this article is, we believe, in a measure at least, 
 the secret of that taste and ingenuity displayed by 
 the Japanese in the manufacture of lacquer cabinet- 
 work. In this art no other workmen in the world 
 can compete with them. The first attempts to utilize 
 this substance were doubtless rude enough ; but the 
 artist finding the capabilities of that with wdiich he 
 dealt far in advance of his work, was constantly in- 
 spired to more painstaking efi:brt; and thus taste, 
 ingenuity, and artistic skill were gradually devel- 
 oped, till he became a not unworthy artist and skill- 
 ful manipulator of the material put into his hands. 
 Especially do we observe the Avorkman's care and 
 faithfulness in the inlaid ornamentation with which 
 the lacquered surface is embellished. He has, seem- 
 ingly, not been satisfied till the beauty of this should 
 be in keeping with the body upon which it rests and 
 
 E E
 
 412 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 purports to adorn. Birds and flowers and frnit and 
 foliage are most artistically inlaid with pearl, the 
 deep colorings and delicate tints of nature being 
 most skillfully imitated by the most wonderfully ex- 
 act and tasteful arrangement of the different pieces, 
 the whole thus forming a richly brilliant and beau- 
 tiful mosaic. 
 
 And thus among the natives of Cashmere : the 
 wool of the Himalayan goat, of marvelous delicacy 
 of fibre and of silky softness, tempted the Cashme- 
 rians to the employment of unusually careful effort, 
 that the product of their work might be worthy of 
 the material. Coarser material would never have 
 inspired such painstaking work. Thus skill, taste, 
 and judgment, all greatly at fault at first, are, by con- 
 stant stimulus, endeavor, and exercise, gradually de- 
 veloped, till in tastefulness of design, skillful blend- 
 ing of different tints, and wonderfully patient and 
 faithful execution, these loom products evidence a 
 genius which at once astonishes us and challenges 
 admiration. 
 
 This view, we are aware, militates against the doc- 
 trine of a certain writer, whose name our memory 
 refuses to recall, who asserts, substantially, that it was 
 a wonderful providential arrangement that placed in 
 the same reirion an artistic ^vorkman and a remarka- 
 ble product, to the manipulation and manufacture of 
 which the skill of the workman was exactly adapted.
 
 THE CITY OF CASHMERE. 413 
 
 It is not more deferential to suioerintending wisdom, 
 and certainly is gratuitously unscientific, to assume 
 such intentional juxtaposition of these things — ma- 
 terial and skill or ingenuity. We should rather at 
 once surmise that the presence of the one has causal 
 connection with the co-existence of the other. We 
 would not j)ush this doctrine too far; yet it has its 
 legitimate place in our philosophies. We have con- 
 stant illustration of it, as we see Nature ever insti- 
 tuting herself as our teacher — offering this induce- 
 ment and that encouragement, and thus awakening 
 and developing those tastes and powers and apt- 
 nesses and latencies which without these suggestions 
 and stimuli would lie dormant and unimproved.
 
 414 RE3IAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE EST INDIA. 
 
 Descent to the Plains of India. — Change Wrought by the Monsoons. 
 — Multiplicity of Scenes. — Architectural Monuments of the Great 
 Moguls. — Sketch of the Tartar Tribes. — Conquests of Zingis Khan 
 and Timour. — The Mongol Emi^ire in India Compared Avith the 
 Moorish Kingdom in Spain. — Splendor of the Great Mogul Court. — 
 The Mohammedan Sovereigns of Delhi and the Sepoy Rebellion. — 
 Our Arrival at Delhi. — The Dewani Khass. — Persian and Indian Au- 
 dience Halls. — Beauty of the Structure. — The Peacock Tlirone. — 
 Jumna Musjed. — Ruins of Old Delliis. — The Kutub Minar. — Agra. — 
 The Taj Mahal. — The Beauty of this Mausoleum. — Contrasted with 
 that of Zobeide's. — Palace of Akbar. — Pearl Mosque. — Cawnpore 
 and Lucknow. — The Well. — The Relief of Lucknow. — Benares. — Its 
 TemiDles and Shrines. 
 
 FRo:\r oiir pleasant retreat, Ligli among the snowy 
 ranges of the Himalayas, we watched, through the 
 papers that regularly found their way into our se- 
 questered vale, the progress of the seasons in India. 
 June 1 2th the monsoons (the heavy rains which pre- 
 vail in India from June to October) broke at Bom- 
 bay ; and, advancing steadily up the country, reached 
 the base of the Himalayas the 18th. From 130° and 
 140°, tlie thermometer was quoted as suddenly drop- 
 ping under the influence of the cooling floods of rain 
 to the more temperate figures of 80° and 00°. We
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 415 
 
 were also told of what was going ou below us by 
 the black thunder - clouds that pushed just their 
 heads above the hio-h rano;es which walled our val- 
 ley along the south. Occasionally, however, our vale 
 would be invaded — a storm would force the passes, 
 and deluge the valley from one end to the other. 
 
 About the middle of July we determined upon 
 descending to the plains. Carrying a host of pleas- 
 ant reminiscences with us, we broke camp, bade adieu 
 forever to the " Happy Vale of Cashmere," climbed 
 sloAvly the inclosing wall, and from the lofty summit 
 of the Pir Punjal looked over the wilderness of mount- 
 ains, breaking down in giant steps to the plains; then, 
 turning the pass, we journeyed onward and down- 
 ward day after day, dropping with the streams, or 
 scaling steep ranges to descend their opposite abrupt 
 flanks to some profounder valley, till we stood at 
 the base of its foot-hills, with the gloomy, towering 
 mountains all behind us, and the great level expanses 
 of India before us. From Bhimur palanquin bear- 
 ers ran with us swiftly to Goojerat, whence the dak 
 conveyed us, less expeditiously however, to the city 
 of Lahore. 
 
 The transformation India had undergone since we 
 fled her to the hills was perfectly marvelous. In 
 May, w^hen we first passed over the plains, they ap- 
 peared like one vast desert, and the quivering at- 
 mos2:)here seemed filled with fire. But awakened by
 
 416 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 the maofic touch of moisture, a beautiful verdure had 
 oversi^read the face of the country, the foliage of the 
 trees was brightened, and all nature had taken on a 
 joyous look. This yearly resurrection of nature in 
 India, coming after the vegetation has been long 
 blasted and the land burned by the fiery sun of the 
 dry months, is the counterpart of our spring, trans- 
 forming into life and beauty the dead, seared scenes 
 of winter ; or perhaps it may be better likened to the 
 bursting life of the South American llanos, when the 
 first showers of the rainy season M\ upon them, 
 baked and cracked from long drought. One passing 
 through Hindustan during the dry season would 
 pronounce the greater portion of the country an ir- 
 redeemable desert; the same person viewing the 
 land after the monsoons have fallen would declare 
 the beauty of the country paradisiacal. 
 
 The whole land was looking thus like a beautiful 
 garden, and the heat of the preceding months was 
 being atoned for by a fresher and more respirable 
 atmosphere, as we left Lahore and journeyed down 
 the country toward Calcutta. It is not our purpose 
 to give, in this chapter, a detailed account of all the 
 scenes, experiences, and impressions of this journey. 
 India crowds such an infinite variety and number of 
 phenomena upon the attention of the traveler, that 
 should he attempt to make mention of all those 
 things which impress him his journal could be
 
 MOXOIENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 417 
 
 scarcely more than an arid category of wonders of 
 art and nature, and strange phenomena of life and 
 society. The last particularly thrust themselves ob- 
 trusively at all times upon the notice of the Eu- 
 ropean traveler, because so novel, so antipodal to all 
 Iiis previous experiences and traditional instincts. 
 The theme is altogether too vast to encourage any 
 attempt to compass it. So, instead of speaking of 
 many things, we shall confine our attention to a very 
 limited number; and even as to these we must nec- 
 essarily fail of even a remote approximation to an 
 exhaustive treatment, simply suggesting, by frag- 
 mentary sketches, the vastness and richness of the 
 subjects under review. 
 
 Prominent among the attractions which India pre- 
 sents to the transient visitor are her architectural 
 monuments of the past; and pre-eminent among 
 these are the relics of the " power and glory of the 
 great Mogul sovereigns." Before examining the 
 magnificent structural memorials of that remarkable 
 empire in India, it will be well for ns, in order to 
 awaken an appreciative and intelligent interest in 
 these wonderful monuments, to consider briefly the 
 source and nature of that exotic civilization which 
 seemed to find such a congenial home upon the soil 
 of the Indian peninsula, and that there displayed an 
 opulence and splendor unwonted even to the "gor- 
 geous East."
 
 418 REIVIAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 This purpose will compel us to turn again, as 
 when tracing the destiny of the Saracen Empire, 
 toward Central Asia — to the " shadowy land of the 
 Gogs and Magogs." That vast expanse of mountains 
 and stejDpes commonly designated as Independent 
 Tartary (or Turkestan) and Chinese Tartayy, sweep- 
 ing quite across the continent of Asia, has played an 
 intensely interesting and important part in the drama 
 of human history. According to the Veda of the 
 Hindus and the Zendavesta of the Persians, there 
 was the paradisiacal home of the j^rogenitors of our 
 race; and philological science is pointing more and 
 more definitely to some district within the western 
 limits of that tract as the centre of dispersion — the 
 region whence issued those great streams of migra- 
 tion that spread over the w^orld. Certain it is that 
 these regions have been the " great nursery of na- 
 tions — the armory of divine Providence, whence 
 were drawn the weapons for the destruction of cor- 
 rupt, worn-out, or imbecile nations — the great store- 
 house of material for the reconstruction of new em- 
 pires, nations, or communities." 
 
 Varied, indeed, are the races that have been nour- 
 ished amid the mountains and upon the vast steppes 
 of that extended region, and have gone out from 
 their rough home to people, to devastate, and to 
 people anew the countries to the north, the south, 
 and the west. The appelhition "Tartar" has come
 
 moxu:ments of the great mogul empire. 419 
 
 to be loosely applied to all the inhabitants of these 
 Central Asiatic countries ; just as the classical writers 
 embraced all those to which their knowledge ex- 
 tended under the ill-defined term of " Scythians." In 
 this extended, popular signification, the term em- 
 braces a large number of tribes possessing no com- 
 mon ethnological afiinities; some belonging to the 
 Indo-Germanic family of nations, and others to the 
 Turanian ; yet the term may be properly enough 
 used to conveniently group all those nomadic or 
 semi -nomadic tribes — whether Manchoos, Mongols, 
 Kalmucks, Turks, Turcomans, Usbecks, or Kinghis 
 Cossacks. 
 
 In the dim traditions of many nations are pre- 
 served the vague traces of the early migrations that , 
 were born of the overflowings of this " storehouse 
 of nations ;" but we pass by these primitive, peaceful, 
 migratory movements to those impulsive outbreaks, 
 that may more properly be termed eruptions, which 
 poured like devastating floods over the more civilized 
 communities of Asia and Europe. 
 
 In the seventh century preceding the Christian 
 era these Scythian warriors overrun and devastate 
 the fairest portions of Western Asia, and Egypt is 
 only saved by an exorbitant ransom from becoming 
 the spoil of these rough hordes of the North. About 
 the middle of the third century B.C. the Parthian 
 horsemen drive from Persia the successors of Seleu-
 
 420 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 ciis Nicator, and upon the ruins of the Greek Empire 
 establish the great Parthian monarchy : a kingdom 
 of such extent and influence that the Oriental his- 
 torian Rawlinson classes it with the great Chaldsean, 
 Assyrian, Median, Babylonian, and Persian Empires, 
 designating it the " Sixth Ancient Monarchy of West- 
 ern Asia." For several centuries we behold these 
 fierce Parthian w^arriors the most dreaded and for- 
 midable enemies of the Roman legions. 
 
 In the fourth century of our era the Tartar tribes 
 seem all convulsed, and are hastening to its fall the 
 tottering fabric of the Roman power. If not the di- 
 rect, immediate cause engaged in the overthrow of 
 that gigantic empire, they are at least the people to 
 which the great historian of the decline and fall of 
 the Roman power needs to turn to discover the re- 
 mote causes of the events he is tracing. The shock 
 received by the Tartar tribes along the distant front- 
 ier of China is transmitted from one end of Asia to 
 the other — is communicated to the barbarous races 
 of Europe, Avhich are hurled upon the Roman Empire 
 with a fury that breaks into fragments the carefully 
 consolidated work of centuries, sweeps away every 
 landmark, and extinguishes every light of the nas- 
 cent civilization of Europe, and bewilders the world 
 in the uncertainty and darkness of night. — (Gibbon's 
 " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," ch. xxvi.) 
 
 In A.D. 11 50 Zinij-his Khan was born. To this
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 42 1 
 
 Mongol warrior would well apply any and all of tLe 
 epithets that have been used to designate different 
 destroyers of the horaan race; for he was, in truth, 
 " the beast," " the scourge of mankind," " the fire- 
 brand of the Almighty." Before his death (1226) 
 lie had swe]3t with fire and sword the cities of Asia 
 and Europe from Pekin to Moscow; China, India, 
 Beloochistan, Persia, Mesopotamia, and large districts 
 of Siberia and Europe, were traversed by his hardy^ 
 warriors, the inhabitants massacred, and the lands' 
 wasted. It is estimated that at least ten or twelve 
 millions of the race were destroyed by this ruth- 
 less butcher. His name signified " greatest Khan of 
 Khans," or universal sovereign ; and surely the ex- 
 tent of his emj^ire justified the assumption of such a 
 title: stretching from China to Hungary, from the 
 frozen stepj^es of Siberia to the hot plains of* India, 
 his dominions embraced a much greater extent of 
 territory than the world had ever before seen swayed 
 by a single hand. From the seat of the royal court, 
 at Karahorun, the embassadors of the kings and 
 dukes of EurojDe, and the potentates of Asia, received 
 the decrees of the rude and illiterate barbarian. 
 
 After the death of its founder, the unwieldy em- 
 pire broke into several fragments, and we find a 
 Mongol Empire existing in China a century and a 
 half after this dismemberment ; another in Russia ; 
 still another in Transoxiana; and yet a fourth in
 
 422 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Persia. But these fragmentary empires were either 
 lost through rebellion, or were gradually disinte- 
 grated by rivalry and faction, so that the gigantic 
 empire of Ziughis required to be reconquered and 
 recemented by the genius of another chieftain. 
 
 Tamerlane, or Timour the Lame, was the one des- 
 tined for the work of re-establishing the Mongol 
 power. This great conqueror was born A.D. 1336. 
 With his rough followers he traversed anew most 
 of the countries that had been tracked by the san- 
 guinary marches of the conquering Zinghis. To the 
 savagery of the barbarian were added all the sanc- 
 tioned cruelties of the religious fanatic ; for the Tar- 
 tar tribes were now converts of Islamism, and their 
 conquests in infidel countries were characterized by 
 all the excessive brutalities to which the ftiith of the 
 False Prophet has never failed to prompt its fanatical 
 defenders. 
 
 It is Timour's conquests in India that now more 
 nearly concern us. Crossing the snowy passes of the 
 Himalayas, his hordes of hardy soldiers rushed down 
 upon the plains of India, sacked the royal and opu- 
 lent city of Dellii, and blackened and stained with 
 fire and ruthless butchery the entire countrj^ between 
 the Indus and the Ganges. The immense empire 
 consolidated by Timour, like that of Zinghis, fell into 
 confusion and anarchy as soon as death removed the 
 genius spirit tliat had organized it ; but the dynasty
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 423 
 
 established in Hindustan was destined to a brilliant 
 career. For nearly one hundred years, however, it 
 exhibited nothing but weakness and disorder; but 
 about 1520 the Mongol chieftain Baber, a descend- 
 ant of the great conqueror, seized the throne, and 
 established that dynasty of Tartar rulers known as 
 the Great Moguls. (Mogul is the European corrup- 
 tion of Mongol.) 
 
 The empire of the Grand Moguls in India, which 
 lasted about three centuries, till overthrown by the 
 British po^ver, displays an affluence and splendor 
 that recalls the maonificence of the court of the Ca- 
 liphs during the golden period of the renowned Ha- 
 roun-al-Raschid. And there are many features com- 
 mon to the Mongol and the Saracenic Empire. Thus, 
 as those rude Arab sheiks, under the influence of the 
 civilization with which they came in contact, acquired 
 a taste for the refinements of a cultured life, and be- 
 came the munificent patrons of art and science and 
 philosophy, so these Mogul chieftains, in exchanging 
 their rough home of the North for the genial clime 
 of India, seem to have been inspired with a new life, 
 and to have forgotten the tastes of the barbarian. 
 
 This transformation wrought upon barbarous, con- 
 quering tribes, by the influences of a higher civiliza- 
 tion, under which the movements of conquest may 
 have brought them, is not singular, but has had 
 constant illustration since the time that the rough
 
 424 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Roman legions came in contact with the more pol- 
 ished culture of the Greeks, and as " conquerors be- 
 came the conquered." 
 
 The kingdom of the Arab Moors in Spain is not 
 only illustrative of the capabilities and aesthetic tastes 
 that may lie dormant where one might least expect 
 to find them, and of how beneath the magic touch of 
 genial influences and opportunities they may sud- 
 denly exhibit an unexpected susceptibility and re- 
 sponsiveness; but it also affords, in a more particular 
 way, a parallel to the great Mogul Empire in India. 
 As the Moorish kingdom of Granada was an offshoot 
 of the great Saracenic empire, that had its birth in 
 the Arabian irruption of the seventh century, so the 
 Grand Mogul monarchy in India was, in the same 
 way, a branch of the vast empire established in Asia 
 by the irruption of the Tartar hordes seven centuries 
 later. Each w^as thus the offspring of a destructive 
 barbarian eruption ; each was the fragment of a 
 mighty empire ; the princes of each w^ere the patrons 
 of literature, and exhibited a refined architectural 
 taste, that gave birth, in the one case, to the beau- 
 tiful and almost faultless palaces of Granada and 
 Seville, and, in the other, to the inimitable royal 
 structures of Delhi and Agra. The style of archi- 
 tecture, also, of the palaces of the great Moguls is 
 suggestive of that of the Alhambra; especially in 
 beauty of design, profuseness of ornamentation, and
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 425 
 
 patient elaboration of details does the architecture 
 of the Moguls bear a close resemblance to that of 
 the Moorish kings. 
 
 About the middle of the seventeenth century 
 the celebrated traveler and court-physician Bernier 
 brought to the knowledge of the world the fabulous 
 splendor of the court of the great Moguls. It had, 
 at this time, attained its culminating glory ; and the 
 Oriental extravagance displayed in the glittering 
 paraphernalia of royaltj^ at once attracted and dazed 
 the eyes of the courts of Europe, and excited among 
 them that unseemly struggle for the " wealth of In- 
 dia" w^hich has resulted in the supremacy of the 
 English and the utter annihilation of the sovereign- 
 ty of the Mogul princes. 
 
 Delhi and Agra were both imperial cities of the 
 Mogul sovereigns ; and they now hold the most 
 splendid architectural memorials of their empire that 
 have escaped the convulsions of revolution and con- 
 quest. At the breaking out of the memorable Sepoy 
 rebellion the court of the Mogul potentate was held 
 at the former capital. Impelled by the most invet- 
 erate political and religious hatred of the English, 
 the Mohammedan emperor of Delhi eagerly joined 
 the rebel Sepoys ; and thus to all the horrors of un- 
 feeling Hindu brutality, revealed during that terri- 
 l)le rebellion, was added the ruthless, bloodthirsty 
 fanaticism of Moslemism., We have no desire to
 
 426 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. | 
 
 follow the example of many writers, and u ^ 
 again any of those scenes of inhuman butc^ ^ 
 
 where unresistins^ women and children were cv 
 pieces in each other's blood, in crowded " slaug 
 pens." The world has shuddered often enoug. at 
 this revelation of the deepest hell. It is enough for 
 us here to remark that many of those fiendish acts I 
 were but the execution of edicts that issued from the 
 imperial halls at Delhi. When the capital was at 
 last taken by the English army, after a sanguinary 
 siege, a terrible retribution followed. The citizens 
 offered almost a million sterlino; as a ransom for their 
 guilty city. But it was refused, the inhabitants were 
 driven out, and the city justly given up to pillage. 
 Mohammed Surazoo-deen, the last of the Grand Mo- 
 guls, was condemned to transportation: he died in 
 Burmah, 1861. Many of the numerous princes of 
 the royal house were executed; and the palace and 
 its accessories, save the royal audience- hall, were 
 reduced to masses of ruins. 
 
 Upon our arrival at Delhi, the first place to which 
 we directed our guide to conduct us was the ancient 
 royal quarter of the city. We found the strongly 
 fortified enceinte, which formerly contained the pal- 
 ace, occupied by English barracks, with only one 
 important relic of the imperial structures remaining 
 to witness the ti'utlifulness of the seemingly fabulous 
 accounts of the mao-nificence witli ^^■]lich the Moo-ul
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 427 
 
 "eiscns surrouncled their court. This memorial 
 'the famous Dewani Khass, the great audience- 
 'built by the Emperor Shah-Jehan, whose archi- 
 .I'al taste also gave to the world its most beau- 
 til l.*- mausoleum — the inimitable Taj Mahal, at Agra. 
 As the palace at Delhi was the finest imperial resi- 
 dence in the East, so the Dewani Khass w^as the 
 most beautiful audience - hall that ever shaded the 
 throne of any Oriental potentate. 
 
 Dr. Butler, who visited Delhi in 1857, says: "1 
 found it [the Dewani Khass] despoiled of its glory, 
 its marble halls and columns whitewashed, and the 
 whole turned into a hospital for sick soldiers !" But 
 we found it (in 1872) restored to somewhat of its 
 former splendor. The English government is wisely 
 interesting itself in the preservation of India's archi- 
 tectural monuments of the past; and this generous 
 regard for the curiosity of posterity has led to the 
 careful renovation of the Dewani Khass, so that the 
 building now stands in almost its pristine integrity 
 — barring, of course, the gold and silver ornamenta- 
 tions, which have long since disappeared. 
 
 In our survey of the ruined palaces of the Persian 
 kings we saw standing on the loftiest terrace of the 
 Persepolitan platform, overlooking the broad plain of 
 Merdasht, the ruins of the magnificent pillared audi- 
 ence-hall of those ancient sovereigns. In the majesty 
 of lofty and imposing proportions, that royal hall, 
 
 Ff
 
 428 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 could all its fallen pillars be lifted again in crowded 
 and stately phalanx, would surpass by far the marble 
 pavilion council- chamber of the great Moguls: for 
 though the structures of these sovereigns were by 
 no means deficient in the elements of grandeur, lent 
 by gigantic or massive construction, their greatest 
 merit lay in beauty of material, faultless proportions, 
 and marvelous richness of ornamentation. Bishop 
 Heber expresses this in one sententious line : " These 
 Pathans designed like Titans and finished like jew- 
 elers." 
 
 The Dewani Khass is a low - pillared, massive, 
 arched pavilion, about one hundred and fifty feet in 
 length and fifty feet in breadth. It is constructed 
 entirely of the most beautifully polished white mar- 
 ble, pure as the Parian stone. The brilliant beauty 
 of the material recalls the bright, untarnished blocks 
 of the Athenian Parthenon. So gracefully are the 
 pillars wrought and the arches bended, and so exqui- 
 sitely is the face of the marble carved with tracery, 
 that we are at once equally lost in admiration of the 
 skill and taste of the artist. The ornamentation is 
 simply inimitable ; only an Indian prince could com- 
 mand the wealth and the labor requisite for the em- 
 bellishment of so vast a structure in such a lapida- 
 ry style. Almost every portion of the pillars and 
 arches of the pavilion is covered with gilt tracery, 
 or inlaid with intricate and graceful designs of vines,
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 429 
 
 flowers, fruit, foliage, and arabesques, all wrought in 
 different-colored stones, as lapis lazuli, chalcedony, 
 garnet, agate, carnelian, jasper, heliotrope, amethyst, 
 topaz, sard, chlorite, and variegated marbles ; so that 
 in the various objects represented all the colors of 
 nature are exactly imitated; and so skillfully and 
 artistically is the inlaying done, that the hand fails 
 to detect any roughness whatever in the face of the 
 marble, and the eye deceives one into the belief that 
 the mosaic is a beautiful painting depicted on the 
 white canvas -like surface. Many of the gems of 
 these rich mosaics have been picked out; but the 
 pavilion is now carefully guarded against such van- 
 dalism in the future. 
 
 In the beautiful flowing arabesque-like characters 
 of the Arabic are many quotations from the Koran, 
 inlaid upon different portions of the building. Here 
 also are the lines which Moore has made famous 
 through his " Lalla Rookh :" 
 
 "If there be an elysium on earth, 
 It is this, it is this."* 
 
 Recalling that the present magnificence of the place 
 is but a remnant of the glory that the emperor saw 
 
 * Dr. Butler, in his " Land of the Veda," substitutes in this couplet, 
 without what seems to us an improvement in the poetry at least, the 
 word paradise for " elysium," observing that the latter is " too Euro- 
 pean, too Northern a term." Dr. Clarke, quoted by the same writer, re- 
 marks : " The term paradise is applied to denote " splendid apartments, 
 as well as fine gardens ; in a word, any place of pleasure and delight."
 
 430 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 about him, as from his jeweled throne beneath the 
 arches of the gorgeously curtained pavilion his eye 
 took in the beauties of the surrounding gardens 
 and the splendor of the royal apartments, we can 
 easily forgive the ardent, impulsive sentiment of 
 Shah-Jehan. 
 
 Beneath the central arch of the pavilion is a low 
 marble platform, on which stood the famous Peacock 
 Throne. Bernier, who saw this extraordinary " piece 
 of Oriental extravagance," describes it as being con- 
 structed of two peacocks, wrought in gold and silver 
 and the most precious stones ; the varied plumage of 
 the birds being formed of the skillfully blended tints 
 of the choicest gems. Six '' massy feet of gold," 
 sprinkled with rubies and diamonds, supported the 
 brilliant seat. The throne was mounted by silver 
 steps, and was canopied with gold and silver and 
 jewels. Its value has been variously estimated from 
 $20,000,000 to $150,000,000. The renowned Koh-i- 
 noor diamond formed, as is well known, a part of the 
 regalia of the Great Mogul. The Persian conqueror 
 and robber. Nadir Shah, bore off in triumph the 
 jeweled throne; and the Koh-i-noor is to-day the 
 brightest gem that glitters amid the jewels of the 
 Queen of the British Empire. 
 
 Another relic of the splendid pile of building em- 
 braced within the fortified palace inclosure is the pri- 
 vate royal mosque — a perfect gem, pure as the liglit
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 43 1 
 
 of heaven. This edifice is constructed of beautifully 
 carved and polished marble, which dazzles like snow. 
 Its stainless purity seems a mocking satire upon the 
 guilty, blood-stained religion of which it stands as 
 the embodiment. 
 
 In another part of the city, some distance from 
 the royal quarter, is the Jumna Musjed, the principal 
 mosque of Delhi, and one of the finest of which Islam- 
 ism can boast. It was erected by Shah-Jehan, the cre- 
 ator of the Dewani Khass and Taj Mahal, and is wor- 
 thy of the taste and resources of that princely build- 
 er. It stands upon an elevated platform five hundred 
 feet square, constructed of warm-colored sandstone, 
 and is reached by magnificent flights of steps. The 
 lofty minaret and soaring domes, the latter striped 
 with dark-hued stone, tower conspicuously above the 
 surrounding buildings of the city. The walls are not 
 composed entirely of marble, but are simply faced or 
 paneled with heavy slabs of that material. 
 
 From the minarets a splendid view is gained, which 
 embraces the whole of Delhi and the surrounding 
 country. The first thing that attracts the eye, after 
 it has wandered beyond the limits of the city, is a 
 distant yet lofty tower, that rises up grandly from 
 a desolate, ruin-heaped plain — the site of former 
 Delhis. We need no one to tell us that that grand 
 isolated column is the celebrated Kutub Minar, the 
 loftiest pillar in the world.
 
 432 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Althougli there is some controversy respecting the 
 age and design of this work, those best qualified to 
 speak as authorities upon the subject pronounce it 
 the minaret of a great mosque, which was com- 
 menced by the Mohammedan conquerors of India 
 more than six centuries ago, and which was intended 
 to surpass every other Moslem shrine in the Orient. 
 Although this minaret was carried up to its full 
 height, the mosque itself was never completed. The 
 Kutub is about fifty feet in . diameter at the base, 
 and two hundred and fifty feet in height. It is five- 
 storied ; each division being marked by a broad, rich 
 cornice and balustrade. The lower stories are com- 
 posed of sandstone, but the upper of pure white 
 marble. One well able to speak of its comparative 
 merits — we mean Bayard Taylor — calls it the finest 
 shaft ever raised by man, and gives it a place before 
 Giotto's Florentine Campanile and the Giralda of 
 Seville. 
 
 Nothing teaches more impressively man's frailty 
 than his unfinished undertakings. Lying in the 
 quarry near the Syrian city of Baalbec is the largest 
 worked stone in the world, a gigantic block nearly 
 seventy feet in length, almost detached and ready 
 for transportation to its niche in the Titanic platform 
 of the Temple of the Sun. It seems as though the 
 workmen had just momentarily left their labor, and 
 we fancy that we must soon see them returning.
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EJUPIEE. 433 
 
 But forty centuries or more ago some providential 
 emergency called them from their work; and there 
 lies the huge block, and yonder is the cyclopean wall 
 with its vacant niche, one of the most striking and 
 impressive of the unfinished labors of the world. 
 And so the colossal Kutub Minar, though a finished 
 column in itself, is but a fragmentary memorial of 
 a gigantic unfinished plan ; and as such it will 
 doubtless stand to teach many generations yet to 
 come that, though man may propose. Heaven will 
 dispose. 
 
 The Kutub Minar towers over a plain strewn far 
 and wide with ruins. For fifteen miles from Delhi, 
 along the course of the Jumna, the face of the coun- 
 try is covered with fragments of massive walls, gate- 
 ways, palaces, mosques, monumental tombs, and even 
 astronomical observatories. These are the remains 
 of the Delhis of the past. Twenty centuries ago the 
 first Delhi was founded ; being left a mass of ruins 
 by some conqueror, it was abandoned, and another 
 site chosen ; this, in its turn, was deserted for a third ; 
 which also was destined to see another city, bearing 
 its name, spring up alongside its crumbling walls: 
 thus the ruins lying along the river are really those 
 of several distinct cities. Did not the traveler wan- 
 dering amid the interminable ruins bear in mind 
 that not the size, but the migratory character of the 
 imperial city, scattered the remains over such a vast
 
 434 KEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 extent of country, he would believe that mighty 
 Babylon must have here had her rival, 
 
 A little over one hundred miles in a southerly 
 direction from Delhi is the city of Agra, another 
 imperial centre of the "power and glory" of the 
 Mogul emperors. Pre-eminent among its wonderful 
 architectural monuments is the inimitably perfect 
 and universally celebrated Taj Mahal. Justly has 
 this structure been pronounced by every beholder 
 the most beautiful, the most faultless monument ever 
 raised by the art of man. 
 
 Before visiting this beautiful mausoleum, we had 
 come to entertain the thought that man's most la- 
 borious and magnificent works had been prompted 
 by his religious sentiments. This thought had re- 
 curred to us again and again while gazing upon the 
 glories of St. Paul's and St. Peter's, and that won- 
 drously wrought pile, the Milan Cathedral. The same 
 conviction was pressed upon us amid the magnifi- 
 cent remains of the temples of classic times : the old- 
 en shrines of Rome, Athens, Baalbec, and Palmyra, 
 grand, beautiful even, in their ruin and desecration, 
 served only to deepen the impression 'produced by 
 the splendid creations of the Christian faith ; the 
 lofty tower-temples of Assyria and Babylonia told 
 us how even in the Avorld's childhood man had been 
 prompted to give laborious material expression to 
 liis religious hopes and fears ; the preserved and
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 435 
 
 decayed mosques of the Mohammedan countries 
 through which our wanderings had led us, and the 
 thousand honored and dishonored shrines and tem- 
 ples of the Hindu faith that we found throughout 
 India and the lofty valleys of the Himalayas, all con- 
 firmed our first conviction that man's religious sen- 
 timents and aspirations had inspired the loftiest 
 genius, and lent the divinest skill that ever quick- 
 ened the soul or guided the hand of Art. 
 
 But in the presence of the beautiful mausoleum 
 of the Taj Mahal we were taught that it is Love 
 that forgets costs and labor when raising its fitting 
 memorials over lost affections. Religion never has 
 raised, nor ever will raise, such a monument of its 
 sentiment. The Milan Cathedral seems gross in com- 
 parison with the purity and lightness of the Taj. 
 Religion's love for the high object of her afi*ections, 
 when it becomes that impassioned sentiment which 
 has given to the world the loveliness of this mau- 
 soleum, must needs build of other material than gold 
 and precious stones. 
 
 We can not hope, by any description of ours, to 
 convey any just conception of the beauty of this 
 mausolean structure, which has always alike en- 
 tranced the beholder and bafiled his efforts to ade- 
 quately portray the object of his enthusiasm. No 
 single pen has ever di'awn a complete picture of the 
 Taj Mahal ; but each of the many sketches that have
 
 436 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 been traced by different writers seems but a rough 
 study or fragmentary effort of the artist. Each, 
 while exhibiting some fresh beauty, or discovering 
 some new harmony, shows the imperfect character 
 of all the others. One is struck at the marvelous 
 balancings of proportions ; another at the wonderful 
 plasticity of the snowy marble, which in the hands 
 of the artist assumes such lovely forms of lace-like 
 delicacy and zephyr lightness ; still another is in 
 transports of admiration over the beauty and rich- 
 ness of the rare mosaics of flower and fruit and leaf, 
 wrought with such fairy skill in the face of the mar- 
 ble ; and yet a fourth is enraptured while, with the 
 whole in its inviolable unity before him, he reflects 
 only upon the sentiment it embodies. Dr. Butler, 
 who, in his " Land of the Veda," draws one of the 
 most beautiful sketches that has ever been made, 
 expresses his sense of and offers excuse for its incom- 
 pleteness, and its inadequateness to convey to his 
 readers those feelings which it awakened in himself, 
 by observing that, " like piety, or like heaven, it may 
 be said of the Taj that no man knoweth it save him 
 that receiveth it." 
 
 After having given some statements that may re- 
 veal in part the foundation upon which such un- 
 bounded and universal admiration has been accorded 
 to the wonderful loveliness of this monumental tomb, 
 we will illustrate the impression which its beauty
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 437 
 
 has produced upon different observers, by quoting 
 their own heated and impassioned language, and 
 shall hope, by thus enabling our readers to view the 
 Taj through the eyes of those best fitted to judge of 
 its merits and beauties, and best qualified to convey 
 their impressions to others, to give a much better 
 conception of this faultless monument of the skill 
 and taste of the artists of the Great Mogul than we 
 can impart by any unsupported words of our own. 
 
 Preceding any description, one word will be requi- 
 site respecting the origin and builder of the Taj. It 
 was erected by the Mogul emperor Shah-Jehan, in 
 accordance with a promise made to his beautiful and 
 beloved consort, Moontaj-i-Mahal, who died in 1631, 
 leaving as a last request that he should raise to her 
 memory a monumental tomb. This mausoleum was 
 born of that dying wish and the affection of the 
 emperor, over whom during life the lovely queen 
 had exerted an unbounded influence. The artist 
 employed by the emperor in the construction of 
 the edifice is thousjht to have been a Frenchman, 
 M. Austin de Bordeaux, who had great influence at 
 the court of the Great Mosrul. This same artist is 
 believed to have designed several other structures 
 for the sovereign Shah-Jehan, who seems to have 
 had as great a passion for building as the Syrian 
 Seleucus. The Taj was raised by a nation's toil; 
 for it is recorded by Tavernier that twenty thou-
 
 438 REMAINS OP LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 sand men were engaged upon the work for twenty 
 years. 
 
 As we stood beneath the rich monumental pile, we 
 could not but contrast it with the tomb of Zobeide — 
 the beautiful consort of the Caliph Haroun-al-Kaschid 
 — which we had stood beside only a few months be- 
 fore at Bagdad. Equally lovely and beloved in life, 
 each the light of a brilliant semi-barbarian court, one 
 lies to-day beneath a mean tomb, on the edge of an 
 uncultivated desert ; the other reposes within the 
 most costly mausoleum in the world, in the midst 
 of a garden of unwonted beauty even for an Eastern 
 paradise. 
 
 Since the time when there was planted a garden 
 eastward in Eden, the East has been celebrated for 
 its paradises. The one that casts its shades about 
 the Taj Mahal com'bines the charms of the royal 
 gardens of Shiraz 'and Cashmere. Conspicuous amid 
 the lighter foliage of the orange and lemon and palm 
 and banyan rise the dark cones of the "mournful 
 cypress," that tremble slightly in the breeze, like the 
 sad, rich plumes of funereal pomj); jets d'eau, grouped 
 about the pools, and ranked along the avenues of ap- 
 proach to the mausoleum, toss their pearly streams 
 into the air, and shiver into a thousand quick gleams 
 of light the faces of the marble reservoirs. 
 
 Opposite the magnificent gateway which gives en- 
 trance to the garden, and midway between two costly
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 439 
 
 structures, designed one for a mosque, the other as a 
 temporary home for pilgrims or visitors to the shrine, 
 rises the Taj, overhanging the river Jumna, w^hich 
 almost laves one face of the great terrace upon 
 which the mausoleum stands. Surmounting the 
 lower stage is a polished marble platform, from 
 each corner of which shoots up a beautiful minaret, 
 one hundred feet in height, and exactly in the centre 
 of which stands the triple-domed, minareted mauso- 
 leum itself, glorious as light, being of such a dazzling 
 brightness when the sun falls upon it that the eye 
 can not be directed steadily toward it. The gilded 
 crescent that surmounts the central dome flashes in 
 the light two hundred and sixty feet above the mar- 
 ble terrace. 
 
 Had the artist been satisfied with the bare em- 
 bodiment of his ideal in the symmetrical balancings 
 and faultless proportions that we have now before 
 us, the Taj would even then be matchless and unap- 
 proachable by any future effort ; for so perfect is the 
 harmony of all its parts, so immaterial is its lightness, 
 that it seems as thousfh the stone which enters into 
 it were, for this once, relieved of that inability that 
 rests upon matter to receive, without distortion and 
 marring, the ideal of the workman. It seems like a 
 creation of the fancy, that somehow has crystallized — 
 somehow embodied itself without the touch of hand, 
 and not something chiseled out block by block.
 
 440 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 But to the perfection of graceful form and the 
 wonderful harmony of proportion, unsurpassed by 
 the balanced symmetries of a Parthenon, are added 
 the most marvelous richness and delicacy of orna- 
 mentation. Both the exterior and the interior are 
 alike lavishly embellished ; yet, while the decorative, 
 sculpturesque work exhibits an Oriental richness, it 
 never degenerates into extravagance, but is through- 
 out characterized by the purest classic chasteness. 
 Within and without the white face of the marble is 
 inlaid with texts from the Koran, the graceful, flow- 
 ing Arabic characters being employed. The almost 
 infinite expenditure of labor in this species of adorn- 
 ment may be inferred from the fact that the whole 
 of the sacred book of Islamism (which makes a close- 
 ly printed octavo of five hundred pages) is said to 
 be inlaid upon the mausoleum. 
 
 Within, the beauty seems more of heaven than of 
 earth. There are marble screens of filigree, light as 
 zephyr, formed of flowers and delicate arabesques; 
 there are the tulip, the lotus, and the lily, cut 
 in marble white as driven snow; there are broad 
 panelings of polished marble, inlaid with gems ; 
 and every where are flowers and fruit and foli- 
 age, all wondrously wrought of precious stones. 
 "The beholder at once perceives that such beau- 
 tiful and chaste ideas are intended to convey to 
 the human mind and eye the supposed scenes of
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 441 
 
 the charms and indescribable beauty of a heavenly 
 Paradise." 
 
 A beautifully ornamented sepulchral chamber or 
 vault holds the richly decorated marble tomb of the 
 Empress Moontaj, and also that of her husband, 
 Shah-Jehan. There is enough of inimitable beauty 
 here, but we forget it amid the greater beauties of 
 the apartment above, where are placed the two ceno- 
 taphs, and above which springs the lofty vault of the 
 central dome. No rojal chamber or stately hall of 
 Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, or Persian palace 
 was ever decorated with such purity of taste, such 
 chasteness of design, such delicacy of sentiment, such 
 perfection of skill, such supreme forgetfulness of 
 wealth and labor. Marble latticed windows, elab- 
 orately and cunningly wrought, play perfect witchery 
 with the light that enters the chamber. The floor 
 and walls of the apartment are inlaid with precious 
 stones. Directly beneath the dome are the ceno- 
 taphs, surrounded by a marble screen, wrought with 
 such marvelous delicacy that it resembles a piece of 
 rich lace-work, wherein are 
 
 "Mimic leaves and vines, 
 That, light and graceful as the shawl designs 
 Of Delhi or Umritsir, twine in stone."* 
 
 The cenotaph of the Empress is the most pro- 
 fusely embellished, being completely covered with 
 
 * Whittier's " Miriam." 
 
 Gg
 
 442 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 inlaid inscriptions, flowers, and arabesques. In tlie 
 mosaics of flowers and foliage all the colors of nat- 
 ure are reproduced with wonderful fidelity, even to 
 their most delicate tints and shadings, by the skill- 
 ful grouping of various-hued stones, as chalcedony, 
 agate, carneliau, jasper, lapis lazuli, heliotrope, tur- 
 quois, sard, blood-stone, and jade. More than two 
 hundred pieces of stone have been counted in a sin- 
 gle flower. 
 
 The foregoing, we are conscious, gives a very in- 
 adequate idea of the richness and beauty of the most 
 23erfect monument ever raised to perpetuate the name 
 of a lost love. Perhaps we can best supplement its 
 incompleteness, and best aid the imagination of our 
 readers in forming a just notion of its entrancing 
 beauty, by illustrating, as already proposed, by a few 
 quoted passages, the effect which its architectural 
 liarmonies and artistic loveliness have produced upon 
 those that have felt the power of its presence, and 
 who, lost in admiration, have exclaimed, as does But- 
 ler in the words of another: "Suffice it — Love w^as 
 its author. Beauty its inspiration." 
 
 We give first a short but glowing 2:)assage from 
 the pen of Bayard Taylor : " The hall, notwithstand- 
 ing the precious material of which it is built, and the 
 elaborate finish of its ornaments, has a grave and 
 solemn eff'ect, infusing a peaceful serenity of mind, 
 such as ^ve feel when contemplating a happy death.
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 443 
 
 Stern, unimaginative persons have been known to 
 burst suddenly into tears on entering it; and whoever 
 can behold the Taj without feeling a thrill that sends 
 the moisture to his eyes has no sense of beauty in 
 his soul. The Taj truly is, as I have already said, a 
 poem. It is not only a pure architectural type, but 
 also a creation which satisfies the imagination, be- 
 cause its characteristic is Beauty. Did you ever 
 build a castle in the air ? Here is one, brought 
 down to earth, and fixed for the wonder of ages; 
 yet so light it seems, and when seen from a dis- 
 tance so like a fabric of mist and sunbeams, with its 
 great dome soaring up, a silvery bubble about to 
 burst in the sun, that, even after you have touched 
 it, and climbed to its summit, you almost doubt its 
 reality.""^ 
 
 A lady, to whom can not be denied a keen, dis- 
 criminating taste, and a rare appreciation of the truly 
 beautiful in art, thus expresses her admiration : " The 
 Taj Mahal is usually deemed the most attractive 
 object [in the city of Agra], and, considered in its 
 character of a mausoleum, it has not its equal in the 
 world. The reader of Eastern romance may here re- 
 alize his dreams of fairy -land, and contemplate those 
 wondrous scenes so faithfully delineated in the bril- 
 liant pages of the ' Arabian Nights.' . . . The build- 
 ing is composed of polished marV)le of tlie whitest 
 
 * Bayard Taylor's " India, China, and Japan," p. 137.
 
 444 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 hue ; and if there be any faults in the architecture, 
 they are lost in the splendor of the material, which 
 conveys the idea of something even more brilliant 
 than marble, mother-of-]3earl, or glistening spar. No 
 description can do justice to this shining edifice, 
 which seems rather to belong to the fanciful crea- 
 tions of a dream than to the sober realities of waking 
 life — constructed of gathered moonbeams, or the lilies 
 which spring in Paradise."* 
 
 Hear another enthusiastic witness: "There never 
 was erected in this Avorld any thing so perfect and 
 lovely, save Solomon's Temple. In gazing down 
 upon the scene, as the writer did in the closing days 
 of the terrible rebellion in 1858, the effect was won- 
 derful, and akin to those emotions that must thrill 
 the soul which looks out foi* the first time upon the 
 plains of heaven. Every thing that could remind 
 one of ruin and misery seemed so far away, that as 
 we sat, and the delighted eyes drank in the scene 
 before tliem, terminated by the gorgeous fane as it 
 rose up toward the blue and cloudless sky, we 
 thought if John Bunyan could have shared the 
 opportunity he would surely have imagined his 
 dreams realized, and believed himself looking over 
 tlie battlements of the New Jerusalem, and viewing 
 tliat ' region of eternal day' where holiness and peace 
 are typified by pearls and gold, and all manner of 
 
 * " Sketches and Characteristics of Hindustan," by Emma Roberts.
 
 M0NU3IENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EilPIRE. 445 
 
 precious stones, with the fountain of life, clear as 
 crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and the 
 Lamb;'* 
 
 We forbear speaking in detail of the other art 
 wonders of imperial Agra, through fear of satiating 
 our readers; we will simply make the briefest pos- 
 sible allusion to some of the features of the more 
 noted of the remaiuins; relics of the Mohammedan 
 emj)erors which have contributed to the renown of 
 this city of Akbar. Within the Fort, which is itself 
 a most imposing structure — whose embrasured walls, 
 nearly two miles in circuit, threateningly overhang 
 the Jumna — is the Palace of Akbar, which, although 
 it has suffered somewhat from time and violence, still 
 displays much of its former splendor. At the time 
 of our visit, the work of restoring some injured por- 
 tions was being prosecuted by the English govern- 
 ment. The courts, chambers, baths, fountains, corri- 
 dors, and pavilions, all of carved marble, still attest 
 the luxurious character of the palace. Marble screens, 
 wrought with fairy-like delicacy, seclude the gaze of 
 the world from the chambers of the zenana, and give 
 privacy to the corridors and pavilions, which were 
 the frequent resort of the fair sultanas. 
 
 The " palace of glass," which is the name given to 
 the principal bath, is the most brilliant chamber of 
 the palace. When we saw it, the fountains had 
 
 * Dr. Butler's "Land of the Veda," p. 142.
 
 446 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 ceased to play, and the pool was dry; but all the 
 adornments of the room were still as of old. Ever}' 
 portion of the wall is covered with little mirrors, so 
 that whichever way you turn you meet hundreds of 
 repeated images. The floor is inlaid with vines and 
 flowers and arabesques of such beauty and richness 
 that one fancies one's self really within the chambers 
 of Aladdin's Palace. 
 
 Also embraced by the walls of the Fort is the 
 Moti Musjed, or Pearl Mosque, which in the purity 
 of the material used in its construction is the rival 
 of the little royal mosque at Delhi. Surmounting 
 the building are three marble domes, so perfect in 
 their swelling outlines, so airily 2)oised, that they 
 seem "like silvery bubbles which have rested for a 
 moment on the wall, and wdiich the next breeze must 
 sweep away." — (Bayard Taylor.) 
 
 Just outside the Fort is the Jumna Musjed, a 
 . mosque of imposing proportions, but a structure 
 which in beauty and artistic merit must not for a 
 moment be allowed a place by the side of the Mosque 
 of Pearl. The platform upon which it stands is so 
 elevated that its great domes soar far above all the 
 other edifices of Asjra. The tombs of Elmad-ood- 
 Doulah and of Akbar are both mausolean structures 
 that, notwitlistanding they exhibit sadly the wear 
 of time, must l>e placed among the most beautiful 
 relics of Oriental architecture.
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL ElMPIRE. 447 
 
 One is bewildered amid all these superb memorials 
 of Moslem power and glory. The surroundings of 
 the imperial court of the Great Moguls in the city 
 of Agra, we perhaps venture nothing in saying, were 
 more magnificent and luxurious than those of any 
 other that ever lorded it over the East. " Such pal- 
 aces and paradises for the living, such mausoleums 
 for the dead, such shrines for religion," at least nev- 
 er all lent their grandeur or loveliness to the embel- 
 lishment of any single Oriental capital. Nineveh 
 may have been unrivaled in her palaces; Babylon 
 in her temples ; Shiraz and Cashmere in their royal 
 paradises : but imperial Agra gathered all these crea- 
 tions about herself, in one wondrous phalanx of mag- 
 nificence and beauty. 
 
 After having viewed the wonderful architectural 
 monuments of Delhi and Agra, we proceeded on 
 down the country, only taking a glimpse of the his- 
 toric cities of Cawnpore and Lucknow, as they are 
 famous alone for their awful reminiscences of the 
 great Sepoy rebellion in 1857. At the former place, 
 standing in the midst of a beautiful garden, is the 
 monumental shrine which holds in remembrance the 
 victims of that terrible massacre that in the dark 
 days of the rebellion sent such a thrill of horror 
 through the Christian world. 
 
 By treachery. Nana Sahib, an incarnate fiend, and 
 his Sej^oys, had overpowered and cut to pieces the
 
 448 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 gallant defenders of Cawnpore, and crowded into a 
 small building, near where the monument now stands, 
 two hundred helpless women and children. The gal- 
 lant Havelock, only a few days distant, was hurrying 
 to the relief of the little company. Fearful of the 
 rescue of his prisoners, Nana Sahib ordered that they 
 should be butchered. Five hired assassins entered 
 the building with their knives; and they and God 
 only know the scenes in that slaughter-pen during 
 the next two hours. The bodies were dragged out 
 and thrown into the neighboring well: the sight of 
 these mangled bodies, heaped in the pit, and of the 
 rooms of the building where they were butchered, 
 " almost ankle deep in blood," was the cruel reward 
 that awaited the brave men who had so gallantly 
 cut their way through successive rebel armies, while 
 nerved with the hope of carrying deliverance to the 
 fated band. The Black Hole of Calcutta and the 
 Slaughter-pen of Cawnpore have memories too ter- 
 rible to be ever outlived. They will never permit 
 to be forgotten the fiendish, hellish spirit that ani- 
 mated the Sepoy rebellion. 
 
 Two days' march from Cawnpore was Lucknow, 
 where seventy thousand Sepoys were beleaguering 
 another devoted company, and thirsting for their 
 blood. Could they be saved ? The world knows 
 what the noble Havelock and his brave men did to 
 save them — how again and again they endeavored to
 
 MONTOIENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 449 
 
 cut their way through the hosts that stood between 
 them and the city — how, when at last the city was 
 reached, that little handful of men fought for two 
 days in the barricaded streets with the human tigers, 
 who seemed mad with rage at the possibility of their 
 prey being rescued from them — how at last the Resi- 
 dency was reached — and the thrilling meeting — and 
 how the gallant Sir Colin and his men cut their way 
 in to rescue the rescuers. Fourteen hundred men, 
 women, and children were saved; but more than 
 the same number of brave men died to redeem them 
 from the fate of the devoted band at Cawnpore. 
 
 The almost superhuman achievements of English 
 soldiers upon the battle-fields of India are the ad- 
 miration of history. The fire of India's climate seems 
 to course in their veins, so that the excitement of 
 battle awakens a sleeping tiger. The character of 
 the foe they have fought has also served to arouse a 
 most terrible determination. The fiendish atrocities 
 and butcheries perpetrated by the Sepoy rebels is 
 what fired Havelock's men with such resolution, and 
 gave such awful and irresistible impetuosity to their 
 terrible charges. The memories of the heroes of 
 those dark days of 1857-8 set all a-fire the spirit 
 of the English soldier in India. We have seen the 
 young ofiicer almost transported by the intensity of 
 his feelings while recounting to us the thrilling ex- 
 ploits of those times. If there be any thing of worth
 
 450 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 or inspiration in a grand historical reminiscence, En- 
 gland's sons, on India's future battle-fields, will never 
 fall below those heroes who, during the terror and 
 darkness of the Sepoy mutiny, stood so undauntedly 
 between all the " tremendous interests of Christian 
 civilization in India and the East" and the fiendish 
 assaults of combined Mohammedan and Brahminical 
 hatred and diabolism. 
 
 From the sad memories of Lucknow and war we 
 turn now to religion. Only twenty miles by rail 
 from Cawnpore is Benares — the " Athens of India," 
 and the " sacred city of the Hindus." This city has 
 been the centre of the intellectual, and especially 
 the religious life of Hindustan. " By reason of some 
 subtile and mysterious charm," writes Sherring, "it 
 has linked itself with the religious sympathies of the 
 Hindus through every century of its existence. For 
 the sanctity of its inhabitants — of its temples and 
 reservoirs — of its wells and streams — of the very soil 
 that is trodden — of the very air that is breathed — 
 and of every thing in and around it, Benares has 
 been famed for tliousands of years." If a hoary an- 
 tiquity may confer sanctity, then Benares is truly 
 sacred ; for more than a score of centuries ago it 
 was a place of holy veneration, to whose shrines pil- 
 grimages were undertaken from the remotest por- 
 tions of India, which has led to its being termed the 
 "Mecca" of Hinduism.
 
 MONOIEXTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 45 1 
 
 Benares is situated upon the banks of tlie sacred 
 Ganges, being built upon an abrupt bluff, so that its 
 buildings overhang the river in successive terraces. 
 The view of the city from the opj^osite bank of the 
 Ganges is considered one of the finest city scenes in 
 India; and some enthusiastic writers have declared 
 it to surpass any similar view in the world. The 
 advice of a friend to us was, " Go and look at the 
 city across the river,, and then come away." The 
 view over the Ganges is certainly impressive. The 
 city has a river front of about three miles; the ter- 
 raced mass of buildings being broken by the pinna- 
 cles of scores of temples, and crowned by the great 
 Mosque of Aurungzebe, whose lofty minarets tower 
 far above all into the blue of the heavens. 
 
 We crossed the river in a native boat, first towing 
 a long way above the city, that the current might 
 not carry us too far below the point at which we de- 
 sired to land. The ghauts, or flights of stone steps, 
 already alluded to, swarmed with the inhabitants of 
 the city, who were crowding down to the river, to 
 relieve themselves at once of dirt and sin in the sa- 
 cred waters. 
 
 We found the streets of the city to be gloomy, 
 narrow lanes, from which the light of the sun was 
 so excluded by the lofty buildings, which were sel- 
 dom less than two or three, and frequently of five 
 stories in height, that we seemed to be threading
 
 452 RExMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 the maze of a semi - subterranean labyrinth. le 
 great Mosque of Auruugzebe, erected by the emp-^ror 
 whose name it bears (who destroyed the princip; ^ 
 Hindu temples in Benares, and above their ruins 
 raised this symbol of the faith of the conquerors of 
 India) ; the famous astronomical observatory, built 
 A.D. IGOO, by Manasimha; the temple sacred to 
 monkeys, where the groves were filled with the agile 
 little deities— all these things had their peculiar in- 
 terest ; but what interested us most, and left the deep- 
 est impression upon our imagination, was the throng- 
 ing of the people to tlieir shrines, and their heathen- 
 ish rites of worship there. 
 
 We had always experienced a difficulty in forming 
 other than very vague conceptions of the rites and 
 orgies of classic or pagan worship. But here we 
 seemed to have had realized for us the vision of 
 Ezekiel. We seemed to have entered the Chambers 
 of Imager}', and seen there all the abominations that 
 they do. The city of Benares is filled with shrines 
 and temples: Prinseps enumerated over one thousand 
 Hindu temples and nearly three hundred Mohamme- 
 d'du mosques. Sherring devotes the larger part of 
 a considerable volume to what amounts to scarcely 
 more than a categorical mention of the principal of 
 these edifices. The ^valls of the streets are filled 
 with little niches, holding hideously shaped and 
 [)ainted Hindu deities. The people are mad u])on
 
 MONUMENTS OF THE GREAT MOGUL EMPIRE. 453 
 
 tb idols. It is estimated that there are over five 
 huncired thousand enshrined deities in the city. 
 
 Attended by a number of the native English po- 
 lice, we visited several of the temples. The people 
 about these shrines seemed to be ravins:. As much 
 as we had mingled among Eastern fanatics, we now 
 felt, for the first time, that our lives were in danger 
 from the violence of religious fanaticism. Unpro- 
 tected, ^ve should not have dared to set foot with- 
 in the limits of any of the temples ; but before our 
 guides the crowd sulkily gave way, and we were 
 able to enter one after another of the shrines. The}^ 
 were perfect sties, offensive to every sense. The 
 idols were dripping with the filth of offerings, which 
 consisted of ghee (butter), sugar, rice, flowers, and 
 leaves, mingled with the sacred waters of the Ganges, 
 with which they were kept constantly wet. The 
 bullocks, confined within the temples, received with 
 more appreciation the offerings made to them. They 
 were fat and sleek, and certainly had no occasion to 
 lament that the fates had exalted them to be as gods. 
 Suspended from the roof of the temple, and swingino- 
 near the idols, were little bells, which those making 
 offerings rung, to call the attention of the god, should 
 his thoughts happen to be abstracted. To enumerate 
 all the abominations that we saw within those tem- 
 ples would be to exceed the credulity of our readers. 
 We never imagined that pven any heathen faith could
 
 454 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 be charged with such absurd and revolting rites as a 
 part of its regular worship. The diabolical sensual- 
 ism stamped u2:)on the countenances of the half naked 
 Brahmins and fakirs, and the wretched, fanatic aspect 
 of the women that crowded about these shrines, 
 caused us, protected though we were, to shrink back 
 through fear as well as loathing. Those who find 
 pleasure in exalting the divine purity of Brahminism 
 should picture to their readers its benign effects upon 
 society in the most sacred city of Benares. It is 
 among such scenes of the pagan world that the phi- 
 lanthropist exalts and blesses Christianity for the 
 boon that it has brought to man. 
 
 From Benares we proceeded without delay to Cal- 
 cutta; for between these cities there is little of in- 
 terest to detain the traveler ; besides, H 's failing 
 
 health rendered us anxious to terminate our overland 
 journeyings. We spent two weeks in the city of 
 Calcutta, and then, as the unhealthful season was 
 approaching, hastened our departure for the more 
 bracing air of the Isle of Ceylon.
 
 PROGRESS IN THE EAST. 455 
 
 CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 PKOGRESS IN THE EAST. 
 
 The Great Moguls. — The Eiiglisli in India. — East India Company. — 
 ' India as England's Ward. — The Establishment of Order and Good 
 Government. — Railways. — Their Effect on Caste. — Steamship Lines. 
 — Municipal Improvements. — Schools and the Press. — Hinduism. — 
 Influence of Western Science on Eastern Mythologies. — Has there 
 been More than One Centre of Revelation ? — Hinduism versus Chris- 
 tianity. — Shall we Civilize but not Christianize ? — Civilization and 
 Christianity Inseparable. — India's Position in the History of the 
 East. — General Awakening in Asia. — Sclavonic Influence in Central 
 Asia. — Alleged Inferiority of the Asiatic Mind. — Religious Instinct of 
 the Oriental. — The Future of Asia viewed in the Light of the Past. — 
 Immobility of Oriental Races. — Cause to be found in their Religious 
 Systems. — Progress not Metamorphosis. — Relations of the West to 
 the East. 
 
 The great Mogul Empire in India has passed 
 away, and another, emanating from the foremost of 
 European nations, has been established over that 
 ancient people. What difference is there between 
 this English occupancy and ihd Mongol conquest? 
 Many of England's critics are ready to protest that 
 she has no more legitimate business in India than 
 had the Great Moguls. Grand fundamental distinc- 
 tions, however, characterize these two empires in In- 
 dia. History may seem to be constantly resurrecting 
 past epochs, and dragging man again through their 
 wearying lengths of woe and harassing experiences ; 
 
 IT n
 
 456 REJVIAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 but in triitli sine never thus turns back to retraverse 
 battle-fields once left behind. Now the great Mogul 
 Empire in India was the representation of an age 
 and of principles that have alike passed away. It 
 was established, as we have already seen, by a race 
 whose instincts and traditions taught them that the 
 enrichment and aggrandizement of the conqueroi- 
 was a justifiable motive for conquest, and sufficient 
 extenuation for inflicting upon a subjected people 
 every burden and cruelty ; and this maxim, in fact, 
 shaped that empire, and determined every relation it 
 sustained to the conquered natives of India. Those 
 Mohammedan rulers certainly never imposed their 
 religion bodily upon the Hindus; but that w^as a 
 toleration of necessity, rather than a toleration of 
 spirit. They left behind them, it is true, some mag- 
 nificent and inimitable architectural monuments ; but 
 those pavilioned marble audience-halls, mausoleums, 
 and palaces which we have viewed in wonderment 
 only witness with what reckless disregard for their 
 subjects' welfare those sovereigns employed the 
 wealth and labor of the nation for the cri'atification 
 of personal vanity or caprice. They did nothing for 
 the education and permanent U2:>lifting of the people 
 they had conquered. Their rule was an unmitigated 
 curse to the people upon whom they imposed it.* 
 
 * "It may lie doubted wliether any part of the world was ever so 
 cursed l)y a line of bigoted, ferocious wretches as, with two or three
 
 PROGRESS IN THE EAST. 457 
 
 It would be difficult to find a stronger historical 
 contrast than is exhibited by this record of the 
 great Mogul monarchy and that of the English Em- 
 pire in India. It is no part of our purpose to say 
 any thing here in extenuation of the many unwar- 
 rantable acts i^rominent in this latter conquest ; but 
 we may simply observe that the assumptions of the 
 English in India have never aj)proached those by 
 which we have justified an almost total ignoring of 
 the rio'hts of the autochthones of our own continent. 
 After England had once founded tradino; communi- 
 ties and established commercial relations with the na- 
 tives, her succeeding steps were necessitated by the 
 very pressure of events. Refractory native princes 
 that attacked her communities or threatened her in- 
 terests must necessarily be deposed; and thus prov- 
 ince after province fell under English authority. We 
 must also discriminate between the English govern- 
 ment and her agents. That gigantic monopoly, the 
 East India Company, which, till the great Sepoy re- 
 bellion in 1857-8, controlled the affairs of India, is 
 alone responsible- for the greater portion of those acts 
 
 exceptions, were these Mohammedan deposits of India. ... To many 
 of them may be truly applied the terrible lines of Moore : 
 
 "'One of that saintly, murderous brood, 
 To carriage and the Koran given, 
 Who think through unbelievers' blood 
 Lies their directest path to heaven !' " 
 
 —Dr. Butler's "Land of the Veda," p. 104.
 
 458 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 ;md measures Avliicli cast such a dark reflection upon 
 the earliest records of the English in India. The sin 
 of the English government in these things was rather 
 permissive than voluntary. When at last the terrible 
 experience of the Sepo}^ mutiny aroused the people 
 of England to a sense of the wrong India was suffer- 
 ing at the hands of their grasping and conscience- 
 less agents, they at once demanded that the trust be 
 taken from them. Thus in the darkness of the Sepoy 
 rebellion the sun of the East India Company went 
 out forever. The English government then took In- 
 dia as her special w\ard. Since that time England 
 has " ruled in India for India." The representative 
 portion of the Anglo-Indian and home press, in all its 
 discussions of the affairs of that country, displays an 
 exact impartiality and careful conscientiousness, al- 
 ways asking, Will this be promotive of India's wel- 
 fare ? There is now a national recognition of respon- 
 sibility arising from this wardship. England sees 
 that her position in that country is a providential 
 one ; and that she realizes its full significance is evi- 
 denced by the efforts she is now making to bring the 
 millions of India under all those inspiring and elevat- 
 ing political, social, and educational influences which 
 she has to impart. 
 
 The natives perceive this effort which is being 
 made for them, and notwithstanding some ungra- 
 ciously persist in believing that England's conscience
 
 PROGRESS IN THE EAST. 459 
 
 is troubling her because of past acts, and that now 
 she is prudently endeavoring to lay up something 
 on the credit side of her account in heaven (all 
 Orientals have a debit and credit account with the 
 other world), there is among the Hindus generally 
 an appreciative recognition of her efforts to meet 
 faithfully the obligations of her guardianship. The 
 most thoughtful of the native leaders are often at a 
 loss to find words sufficiently expressive of their ad- 
 miration of their conqueror's forbearance, or that 
 shall adequately embody their sense of the immense 
 advantages accruing to their fellow-countrymen from 
 English rule. And when we observe the political 
 and social transformation that the country has un- 
 dergone since the entrance of the English, w^e do not 
 wonder at the native encomiums of their present 
 rulers : contrasting with the oppression, anarchy, gen- 
 eral insecurity, and violence which characterized the 
 reigns of their Mohammedan princes, they have to- 
 day peace, security, and prosperity. 
 
 One is perfectly astonished to see what a gigantic 
 work England is doing in India. All the intricate 
 machinery of a well-balanced government is set up, 
 and in its operations reaches all the infinitely mul- 
 tiplied interests of two hundred million people. Life 
 and property are as secure in India to-day as in En- 
 gland. Sutteeism has been interdicted;* and Thug- 
 
 * For a very interesting paper " On the supposed Vedic authority
 
 460 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 gism, which so recently carried terror to the people 
 and defiance to the rulers, has been suppressed with 
 a strong hand. This establishment of order and 
 good government over such violent, contending, and 
 demoralized communities is in itself a stupendous 
 achievement. 
 
 But England does not halt here : this is but pre- 
 liminary to her real work. She has given to India 
 all the material improvements and appliances of 
 modern civilization. A perfect network of rail- 
 ways stretches over the j)eniusula: it is now but a 
 pleasant excursion from Bombay to Calcutta, or from 
 the shadow of the Himalayas to the surf of Cape 
 Comorin. Between five and six thousand miles of 
 railway are already completed, and two thousand 
 more are to be finished within the next five years. 
 It is difficult to estimate the good results that have 
 followed the introduction of railroads into India. 
 
 for the burning of Hindu widows, and on the funeral ceremonies of the 
 Hindus," see " Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society," vol. xx., art. xi., by 
 Professor II. H.Wilson. Professor Wilson proves that not only is there 
 no authority in tlie Vedas for the burning of the widow with the body 
 of licr deceased husband, but that they directly discountenance it. He 
 points out "a willful alteration of the text" of the Rig Veda — an act 
 which has been charged upon the Brahmins, and doubtless justly, that 
 the costly ceremony miglit bring presents and advantages to them- 
 selves. We quote from Professor Wilson's paper the following pas- 
 sage illustrating the change in the original text : " The words are dro- 
 hantu yonim (((jrc^ literally, ' lot them (the widows) go up into the dwell- 
 ing first;' the reading to which it has been altered is, drohantu yonim 
 agneh, 'let them go up to the place of the fire:' agneh, iho genitive of 
 <iffni, having been substituted for agre, locative agra used adverbially."
 
 PROGRESS IN THE EAST. 4gl 
 
 Civilization, instead of being practically confined to 
 a few trading sea-ports, now comes in contact with 
 the inhabitants of every city in the empire. Thus 
 India is advanced centuries at a leap. The refusal 
 of the railroad companies to provide separate coaches 
 for the different castes has forced the people to lay 
 aside, to a certain degree, their scrupulous adhesion 
 to caste distinctions, and thus this absurd, tyrannical 
 system has received a rude shock. The people must 
 travel : the high-caste Brahmin might avoid the com- 
 pany of the despised Sudra by taking a " first class ;" 
 but money is stronger than caste. Thus the intro- 
 duction of the locomotive has set the selfishness of 
 the Hindu in conflict with his detestable social and 
 religious pride; Christianity enlists all the better 
 sentiments against it ; one need be neither a seer nor 
 the son of a seer to predict what the end of all this 
 will be. The Mormons propose an exodus from Utah 
 to get away from railways and telegraphs ; caste and 
 superstition may as well be preparing for a general 
 exodus from India — they are anachronisms in an age 
 of railroads and universal commerce. But this is 
 ]jut one of the blessings following the establishment 
 of these lines of railway communication. They in- 
 troduce all the hurry and healthy excitement of our 
 Western life : the people are awakened — they travel, 
 think, intermingle. The pulse of the nation begins 
 to beat ; circulation is qvickened ; and under the im-
 
 462 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 pulses of a new life tlie people begin to move for- 
 ward. 
 
 The steamship lines that have been established 
 upon Indian waters are the counterpart of the rail- 
 way systems of the peninsula. All the ports of the 
 country are crowded with the vessels of numerous 
 competing lines; flotillas pass up and down the In- 
 dus, and great steamers frisk the sacred waters of the 
 Ganges. Telegraphic wires unite all the principal 
 cities, so that the government at Calcutta is hourly 
 advised of what is going on in every corner of its 
 empire. Railroads and telegraphs have fairly pre- 
 cluded the possibility of another Sepoy rebellion ; 
 and this assurance against the premature destruction 
 of the English government in India, and the violent 
 overthrow of all that has been secured thus far, lends 
 confidence and certainty to the future. 
 
 The gigantic works of internal improvement — such 
 as the great Gangetic Canal, which irrigates from three 
 to four million acres — that connect themselves direct- 
 ly with the agricultural interests of the country, are 
 in keeping with all those other stupendous enter- 
 prises at w^hich we have simply glanced, and which 
 never fail of exciting the astonishment and admii-a- 
 tion of every traveler in British India. The cities, 
 too, are gradually undergoing a complete sanatorial 
 and architectural change : Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, 
 Allahabad, and Lahore seem each to have a khedive
 
 PROGRESS IX THE EAST. 463 
 
 ambitious to create another Cairo. Civilization can 
 not live within mud walls. The j^lan of the Kev. 
 Naravan Sheshaclri to found a Christian villao-e as a 
 model for the nativ^es is simply indicative of the 
 desire which the presence and example of the En- 
 glish have awakened for an improved domestic ar- 
 chitecture. 
 
 The progress which India has made in material 
 improvement within the last half- century is only 
 equaled by her intellectual advance during the same 
 period. Schools, colleges, and the press have been 
 at work disseminating new ideas among the peo23le, 
 revolutioniziuo; their modes of thousiht, and creatino- 
 a healthier moral and intellectual atmosphere, which 
 is inspiring with new life the native stupor of the 
 Hindu. It is not alone our missionaries who are 
 founding educational institutions ; but wealthy na- 
 tives, catching the spirit of the new literary enthusi- 
 asm, instead of building shrines and temples, are es- 
 tablishing and endowing schools, and becoming the 
 patrons of education. Governmental academies and 
 colleges are also springing up on every hand to meet 
 the constantly increasing demand for Western science 
 and learning. Within the period of w^hich we are 
 speaking journalism has grown into a most signifi- 
 cant educational and political power. Four hundred 
 and thirty papers are now published in British In- 
 dia; over two hundred of these are edited in the
 
 464 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 native languages, tlie remainder in English, or in 
 English and the vernacular. The influence of these 
 journals in elevating the standard of education and 
 morality, by sowing healthy ideas broadcast among 
 the people, is simply incalculable. Discussion, too, 
 is stirred up, and the people are set to thinking 
 about social, educational, political, and religious prob- 
 lems. When we consider how suddenly this tre- 
 mendous agency in the awakening and regeneration 
 of India has sprung into existence, it is difficult to 
 think without enthusiasm of the vast power which 
 journalism must wield over the millions of her j^eo- 
 ple during the coming century. The press will never 
 allow India to drop back again into the torpor and 
 stagnation of the past. 
 
 But in the midst of all this stir and bustle of 
 material and intellectual progress there is springing 
 up a new religious life. Hinduism is giving way to 
 Christianity (the evangelical missions number their 
 converts at two hundred and forty thousand). No 
 other result could possibly be expected from the 
 movement of things in India. Christianity is an in- 
 separable element of European civilization : it is in- 
 terwoven with the arts, sciences, and philosophies of 
 Europe ; and India, in the reception of these, breathes 
 in unconsciously the spirit that pervades and vital- 
 izes them. 
 
 Hinduism holds within itself the elements of self
 
 PROGRESS IN THE EAST, 465 
 
 destruction. Its weakness, as lias been often ob- 
 served, consists in its purely religious ideas being so 
 intimately interwoven with the absurdities of a false 
 science that Hindu religion and science must stand 
 or fall together. But what defense can its everlast- 
 ing chronology, its monstrous cosmogony, its puerile 
 geographical ideas, its absurd astronomical teachings, 
 make before the questionings of European knowl- 
 edge ? Its errors, its superstitions, its absurdities, its 
 uncouth mythological creations, can no more live in 
 the atmosj^here of the present than could the favorite 
 fauns and nymphs, gods and goddesses, and apothe- 
 osized heroes of the old Greek mythology or the Ro- . 
 man pantheon. The whole system, venerable though 
 it be in its antiquity, must inevitably crumble be- 
 neath the touch of the Ithuriel spear of modern sci- 
 ence. With this fact before our minds, we can not 
 fail of being impressed with that providential direc- 
 tion of events which is now bringing the science and 
 knowledge of the West in such broad contact with the 
 error-built institutions of the East. The attractions 
 of trade and commerce have drawn Asia near to Eu- 
 rope ; and through the medium of railroads, tele- 
 graphs, schools, and presses, a flood of new ideas, pro- 
 foundly subversive of the time-honored faiths of ig- 
 norance and superstition, are being poured in upon 
 her people. 
 
 But in relegating to the limbo of forgotten things
 
 466 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 the faith that has been believed in and reverenced 
 by the millions of Hindustan for two-score centuries, 
 we must not imagine that it has had no important 
 function in the conservation of those communities 
 over which it has held sway; or that it does not 
 contain many germs of divine truth, choked and 
 overgrown though these may now be by those rank 
 superstitions and absurdities which are the inevitable 
 growth of the ages of national childhood. That Con- 
 fucius, Mencius, Menu, and Buddha were teachers 
 and lawgivers to the Chinese and Hindus, in as high 
 and divine a sense as Moses and the long line of 
 prophets were to the ancient Jews, we ought not, 
 perhaps, to doubt. We are apt to lack broadness 
 and generousness of view in these things. That we 
 have received Jacob's blessing does not prove that 
 others may not have received Esau's. Dr. Waugh, in 
 a recent article in the Metliodist Quarterly Revieiv 
 (for April, 1873), while making allusion to the lofty 
 truths which we discover in the sacred books of the 
 various religions of the East, observes : " There may 
 be much of truth, much that is good, much that is 
 divine, in the Vedas, as well as in the Mohammedan 
 Koran, and in the sacred books of other religions, 
 though that truth may be sadly distorted and in- 
 extricably mingled with error of man's devising. 
 Tliere is a (question of great interest very closely re- 
 lated to this subject, wliich is yet quite undecided,
 
 PROGRESS IN THE EAST. 467 
 
 and Avhich, during the next decade or two, will, we 
 prophesy, be more discussed than the question of the 
 origin either of man or of evil. It may be stated 
 thus : Has there been during the history of our race 
 more than one centre of manifest divine revelation ? 
 ... So much of truth, and even of high moral 
 teaching, is found among certain people, that we 
 must conclude, with the intuitional deists, either that 
 God reveals himself to each intelligent being, or that 
 these people have, by contact with other nations, or 
 through the agency of missionaries in the very ear- 
 liest ages, received many of the truths of our Bible, 
 or that a revelation has been made direct to them as 
 nations and peoples." 
 
 Observe now how the reflections and questionings 
 of the philosopher find a response in the intuitions 
 of the poet : 
 
 "It must be that He witnesses 
 Somehow to all men that He is : 
 That something of this saving grace 
 Reaches the lowest of the race, 
 Who through strange creed and rite may draw 
 The hints of a diviner law. 
 
 " In Vedic verse, in dull Koran, 
 Are messages of good to man : 
 The angels to our Aryan sires 
 Talked by the earliest household fires. 
 The prophets of the elder day — 
 The slant-eyed sages of Cathay — ■
 
 4G8 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Read not the ridel le all amiss 
 
 Of higher life evolved from this."* 
 
 But why has the revelation of truth and law to 
 the different peoples of the earth been so partial? 
 The question is best answered by another: Why, 
 while many souls in every Christian land are brought 
 into life under influences that will cause them to 
 gravitate toward truth and goodness, are others 
 thrown amid surroundings so vile and corrupt that 
 the spirit must almost inevitably become stained 
 through contaminating contact ? It is because there 
 are such mysterious ordinances in the divine govern- 
 ment of the world that our reason has been uplift- 
 ed into faith, that, resting in the strong, indefeasible 
 assurances of this higher reason, our intuitions and 
 experiences should not bewilder and overwhelm us 
 by their jarring and irreconcilable dissidence. But 
 even our reasonings have been satisfied as to all that 
 awaits beyond this world by the divine assurance 
 that not according to what a man has not, but ac- 
 cording to what he has, shall he be judged. Here 
 is a rational and authoritative answer to the ques- 
 tion respecting heathen I'esponsibility. We frankly 
 confess to a lack of patience to consider in any way 
 dispassionately the doctrine of those who imagine that 
 they peculiarly honor the All-father — and it is a pe- 
 culiar honor they render him — by teaching that only 
 
 Wliitticr's '• ^Miriam.''
 
 PROGRESS IN THE EAST. 469 
 
 "ruin and conflagration" await the myriads of the 
 heathen world. We commend such to the followino- 
 passage and its Scriptural and ex cathedra vindica- 
 tion : " There is no doubt the notorious Catharine II. 
 held more truth and better truth than was known 
 to all classic Greece — held to a belief in a Saviour of 
 whose glory that gifted soul [Socrates] knew naught; 
 yet such is the grandeur of soul above mind, that I 
 doubt not that Queen Penelope, of the dark land, 
 and the doubting Socrates, have received at heaven's 
 gate a sweeter welcome than greeted the ear of Rus- 
 sia's brilliant but false -lived queen." — (Rev. David 
 Swing.) Shame ! for the bigotry of our times, that 
 the utterance of such a simple, Saviour-taught truth 
 should demand heroism in him who would declare 
 it, and subject him to theological persecution ! Sav- 
 iour-taught truth, we say; for read these words quoted 
 with such effect by Professor Swing before the pres- 
 bytery that so triumphantly acquitted him : " Woe ! 
 unto thee, Chorazin (Catharine II.), for it shall be 
 more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon (Penelope and 
 Socrates) in the day of judgment than for thee." 
 
 Did Bayard Taylor ever write a passage that does 
 greater credit to his heart or philosophy, or which 
 awakens a quicker response in the hearts of his read- 
 ers, than the following, which occurs in one of his re- 
 cent articles, " Egypt Revisited." Upon meeting at 
 Cairo his faithful old dragoman Achmet, who had
 
 470 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 served him twenty years before, lie says, with a glow 
 of feeling : " I come back to verify my old experience 
 of human nature: in Christian or Moslem, Jew or 
 Buddhist, the true man is true, the false man is false; 
 not the creed of an abstraction, but its practical ex- 
 emplification in life, is the gauge of religion. Ach- 
 met, and various Mohammedan priests whom I have 
 known, promise me free entrance into their heaven ; 
 I in turn hope to welcome them in mine." 
 
 And whence the inspiration that led the learned 
 and large-hearted author of "Hypatia," the gifted 
 and beautiful Alexandrian philosopher, whose zeal 
 in endeavoring to restore the dying faith of the Gre- 
 cian world in its classic pantheon devoted her to a 
 cruel death — whence the inspiration, we ask, that led 
 Kingsley to reveal to Philammon, in dying vision, the 
 virtuous pagan Hypatia and the repentant, Chris- 
 tian-born Pelagia clasped hand in hand, and crowned 
 both with the same halo of heaven's brightness ? We, 
 at least, have faith in the source of such inspiration. 
 
 But that in this matter which most nearly con- 
 cerns us is the fact that the motives, the sanctions, 
 the persuasions of Buddhism and Brahminism, and 
 of every pagan religious system, be they of natural 
 or supernatural origin, are now too debased, distort- 
 ed, and weakened to have any longer positive influ- 
 ence for good ; and that Christianity alone contains 
 those sanctions, and holds out those promises which
 
 PROGRESS IN THE ExiST. 471 
 
 aiford at once needful restraint and inspiration to 
 the human soul. This alone renders it incumbent 
 upon us, simply as j)hilanthropists, to give to India 
 the teachings of the Bible. A native paper, com- 
 menting on Professor Seelye's lectures, which were 
 able and admirable expositions of the leading truths 
 of Christianity, given to the most highly cultured 
 Hindu audiences, makes this admission : " The Gos- 
 pel of Christ is the best system for the elevation and 
 civilization of the mass of the people." 
 
 This matter of the religious movement in India 
 we would have passed by without discussion were it 
 not for the fact that there are constantly emanating 
 from certain quarters what profess to be philanthrop- 
 ically inspired protests against evangelistic effort 
 among the Hindus. Those who make these pro- 
 tests would by no means be thought to throw ob- 
 structions in the way of progress in India: they 
 would civilize, but not Christianize. But these crit- 
 ics forget that European civilization and Christianity 
 are inseparable. If history teach any thing, it em- 
 phasizes this fact — that the religious faith of the 
 West is the progressive element of its aspiring civil- 
 ization. But suj^pose it were possible to separate 
 the religious and secular elements of modern culture, 
 would it be promotive of the welfare of the natives 
 of India for us to give them an atheistical science 
 and literature and a godless 23hilosophy? We have 
 
 Ii
 
 472 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 seen that their own religious institutions must inev- 
 itably crumble under the influence of modern science. 
 But a people can not be thus left religionless : it 
 must have some faith, be it good or bad, supersti- 
 tious or rational. If we would have our work in In- 
 dia result in permanent good, we must give her, not 
 our science without our religion, nor our faith di- 
 vorced from our culture — that would result in a low, 
 feeble, superstition - distorted type of Christianity — 
 but we must give her people at once a Christian 
 civilization. 
 
 The most thoughtful natives themselves recognize 
 the important, indispensable part w'hich religious 
 teachings must hold in any system of eifort for the 
 regeneration of their countrymen. A recent writer 
 for the London Times, in referring to the failure of 
 Miss Carpenter's schools, assigns as the reason that 
 " natives will not have their daughters taught with- 
 out the moral safeguards of religion, whether Hindu- 
 ism or Christianity." Again, in the Bengal Christian 
 Herald, a native writer, in speaking of an effort to es- 
 tablish a 23urely " secular school " for girls, says that 
 " it is a great mistake to attempt to found a godless 
 institution. A day-school for females without relig- 
 ious instruction is bad enough ; it is a thousand times 
 worse to have a boarding-school without religion." 
 
 In view of the great revolution which is taking 
 place in British India — this breaking up of the old
 
 PROGRESS IN THE EAST. 473 
 
 social foundations, one is led to ask — What is to be 
 the result of all this movement and change? He 
 who would cast the horoscope of India's future must 
 study her past, and rightly appreciate the importance 
 of the part which she has played in the history of 
 both the East and the West. From the days of Sol- 
 omon the wealth and trade of India have been cov- 
 eted by every conquering or commercial nation. She 
 built Palmyra, Tyre, and Alexandria. It was her 
 riches that beckoned on the Macedonian conqueror, 
 and thus brought the West into that significant con- 
 tact with the East, the far-reaching consequences of 
 which are still entering into history. To her the 
 world is indebted for the discovery of America at the 
 opportune moment when the emergencies of political 
 and religious strife in Europe demanded a new home 
 for Liberty. Columbus was thinking only of India, 
 and a short route thither, when his vessels were 
 driven against the New World. The splendid com- 
 mercial Italian republics of Venice and Genoa were 
 largely indebted to India for their prosperity and af 
 iluence; she enriched Portugal, gave to the Dutch 
 Republic her supremacy in Europe, and has created 
 much of England's wealth. 
 
 While sustaining these relations to the West, she 
 has stood in even more important relations to the 
 East. She has been the intellect of Eastern Asia — 
 has done her thinking. Her schools of ethics and
 
 474 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 philosophy have been the home of many stirnng 
 thoughts. She has given religion to more than half 
 of the human race. As among the hills of Palestine 
 there sprang up a religion which, though it could 
 find no permanent home there, was welcomed by the 
 races of Europe, so the religion of Buddha, born in the 
 schools of India, was destined, though driven thence, 
 to find an asylum on the island of Ceylon, among the 
 Himalayas, and in Burmah, China, and Japan ; while 
 Brahminism, itself of indigenous birth, reasserted its 
 authority over the millions of India. 
 
 And now, in the general awakening of Asia, India 
 is exerting, directly or indirectly, a mighty influence 
 throusrhout the leno-th and breadth of the continent. 
 She has severed Africa from Asia, and by means of 
 the Suez Canal brought the East into broad and 
 close contact with all the influences of the West. 
 The great scheme for the Euphrates River Valley 
 Railroad, recently discussed in the English Parlia- 
 ment, and the plan for a trans-continental railway 
 line from Constantinople to Bombay, via Aleppo, 
 Mosul, and Teheran, or, as M. de Lesseps recommends, 
 across Central Asia, from St. Petersburg to Calcutta, 
 via Orenburg, Samarcand, and Peshawur — projects 
 which soon will be realized — owe their origin to the 
 importance which the afl'airs of British India are as- 
 suming in the eyes of Europe. 
 
 At this point our thoughts naturally broaden, and
 
 PROGRESS IN THE EAST. 475 
 
 the interests and the future, not of a single nation, 
 but of a continent, excite our attention. We ask, 
 What is to follow this awakening of Asia from the 
 torpor of centuries ? What significance in these new 
 relations between the W^est and the East? We 
 have seen how in early times art, science, literature, 
 and religion were handed on from Asia to Europe; 
 and now we see the actual realization of the proph- 
 ecy of Stanley, as the Greek race hands back the 
 light which in former times was thus passed to it 
 from the Orient, and " the Sclavonic race imparts by 
 the Volga and the Caspian the civilization which it 
 has itself received by the Neva and the Baltic."* 
 
 The foregoing pages of this chapter are a hasty re- 
 view of what the Indo-Germanic race is doing in the 
 East, or more particularly in India; but we have 
 barely alluded to the work that is being done by the 
 Sclavonic race. In respect to the part which Russia 
 is playing in the affairs of the East, we might quote 
 to effect the words of Scripture: "I girded thee, 
 though thou hast not known me." (Isa. xlv. 5.) In 
 her schemes for the territorial extension of her do- 
 minions, she is the Rome of modern times. Her op- 
 erations in Central Asia are of the greatest impor- 
 tance to the cause of civilization. Step by step Rus- 
 sia has pushed her stations into the heart of the con- 
 tinent, always with a looking toward India, till now 
 
 * Stanley's " History of the Eastern Church."
 
 476 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 only the ranges of tlie Himalayas lie between lier 
 outposts and those of the English in Hindustan. 
 The wild, warring, plundering, semi-barbarous khan- 
 ates or tribes of Turkestan have, the greater portion 
 of them, been subjugated, pacified, and taught some- 
 thing of the rules of civilization by Russian armies 
 and Russian diplomatists. These robber tribes, be- 
 fore the military occupation of the country by the 
 Russians, kept the entire region in a perfect turmoil 
 with their petty squabbles and marauding expedi- 
 tions, and frightened away trade and held civilization 
 at a distance. Now the country is open to the influ- 
 ences of trade, commerce, and civilization. Thus over 
 all the northern half of the continent of Asia Russia 
 has extended her authority, to the advantage of those 
 tribes themselves, as well as to the advantage of the 
 world. The semi-nomads of Siberia and of the vast 
 district once embraced in Chinese Tartary, and the 
 robber tribes of the immense semi-desert steppes of 
 Turkestan, are now obliged to forego their usual pas- 
 time of senseless raids and conflicts, and give their 
 attention to more sensible and elevating pursuits. 
 Common laws, and the employment, to a greater or 
 less extent, of a common language, are drawing to- 
 gether these different peoples, races, tribes, and 
 khanates, and consolidating them into a nation, with 
 a close community of speech, sentiment, religion, and 
 political interests. Post-roads aftbrd safe and rapid
 
 PROGRESS IN THE EAST. 477 
 
 communication between the most extreme points of 
 the enormously extended dominions of the Czar. 
 From St. Petersburg and Moscow railroads are reach- 
 ing out to meet those that the English are pushing- 
 north from the East Indian Peninsula. Two thirds 
 of the distance between London and Calcutta are 
 now covered by iron rails ; and the only difficulty in 
 the way of closing the gap is now removed by the 
 extension of Russian authority over the tribes of 
 Turkestan. We have already made allusion to the 
 project of uniting the Russian and East Indian lines. 
 Probably within twenty years — possibly within a 
 single decade — there will be a weekly express run- 
 ning regularly between Calais and Calcutta, and car- 
 rying the round-the-world tourist directly through 
 the heart of Central Asia. That this will be real- 
 ized ten years hence need not astonish us half as 
 much as the fact that there is to-day an howrly ex- 
 press between Yokohama and Yeddo. Who ten 
 years ago would have been so reckless as to prophesy 
 such an event in Japan ? The establishment of these 
 lines of railway communication upon the continent 
 of Asia, all reaching out from or connected with the 
 centres of European culture, has a meaning deep and 
 significant : along these highways of trade and travel 
 intelligence, civilization, and Christianity will run out 
 to the ends of the world. 
 
 Here we are met by the suggestion that the Ori-
 
 478 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 ental mind is naturally incapacitated for realizing for 
 itself all those grand possibilities which the civiliza- 
 tion of the West j)ushes forward and upholds as the 
 lofty ideals to the attainment of which effort should 
 he directed. It is asserted that the Asiatic intellect 
 is intrinsically inferior to the European. This al- 
 leged superiority of the latter, it will be just for us 
 to observe, is but the superiority of masculinity over 
 femininity. Thus the objection which is advanced 
 as a discouragement to effort for the civilization of 
 the East simply means, if it mean any thing, that 
 Asiatics can not be changed into Europeans, and 
 therefore that efforts to civilize them are simply 
 wasted, misdirected energy. It is a total misconcep- 
 tion of our work to suppose that it be to metamor- 
 phose those Orientals into Westerners. They are 
 palms, not oaks. It would be a mistake, providing it 
 were possible, to convert the palm into an oak. We 
 should only secui-e an unnatural, awkward growth. 
 The tree must be trained to a healthy, native devel- 
 opment. Palms grow in full beauty in Eastern 
 climes. Now as the palm has more of grace and 
 l)eauty than the oak, so will Oriental civilization, in 
 its future true and highest development, far surpass 
 that of the West in graceful culture and the attract- 
 ive embodiments of spiritual life. Quite recently 
 we heard a missionary, Avliile S2:»eaking in glowing 
 language of the future of Africa, exclaim: ''When j
 
 PROGRESS IN THE EAST. 479 
 
 iVfi'ica becomes Christianized, we shall have Chris- 
 tianity set to music.'" He impressed the thought 
 with the following beautiful illustration, which we 
 give from memory : " It is said that when the rays 
 of the rising sun fell u23on the Egyptian Memnon, 
 the statue became vocal, and sweet music floated out 
 upon the Nile. So when the light of the Sun of 
 Righteousness shall dawn upon that continent, and 
 chase away the darkness of its long night, responsive \ 
 to its influences will burst forth music more won- 1 
 drously sweet than the fabled notes of the Egyptian I 
 deity, whose rich cadences will entrance the world, / 
 as the ancient worshipers of the Nile were said to [ 
 have been entranced by the music which trembled I 
 from the lips of the vocal Memnon." ""'^ 
 
 The characteristics of the Eastern mind justify us 
 in looking forward with even greater enthusiasm to 
 the future of the continent of Asia. The prominent 
 features of the Oriental are a deep religious instinct, 
 an impetuous, devotional ardor, a sensitive S2:)iritual- 
 ity, which, debased, distorted, misdirected, and un- 
 duly inflamed, have found expression in groveling 
 superstition or violent fanaticism ; but which, rightly 
 developed and directed, promise a far higher type of 
 spiritual life than is attainable by the cold, unemo- 
 tional native of the West. One who has been long 
 a missionary in India once remarked to us: "I feel 
 ashamed of my own Christian life when I contrast
 
 480 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 it with that of many of these Hindus. There is such 
 sweetness, devotedness, resignation, and ardency of 
 love often evinced by these native Christian converts 
 that I feel as though I were infinitely below them in 
 spiritual attainments." This religious instinct of the 
 native of the East may, perhaps, be best illustrated by 
 recalling the ftict that every religious system which 
 exerts any considerable influence in the world to-day 
 had its birth in Asia. All the great religious teach- 
 ers of the race have been Asiatics : Confucius, Men- 
 cius, Buddha (Guadama), Christ, and Mohammed 
 were all Orientals. 
 
 The entire history of Asia in early times here 
 comes forward to justify every effort which is being 
 made for the elevation of her millions; to afford 
 ground for the strongest hopes for the unlimited im- 
 provement of her peoples ; and to give reason for the 
 l^rightest colorings in every portrayal of her future. 
 The most brilliant monarchies that the world has 
 ever seen arose upon that continent. It is not for us 
 who have wandered over the ruins of her once splen- 
 did empires, and stood amid the decayed grandeur 
 of the imperial centres of Assyrian, Babylonian, Per- 
 sian, and Indian civilization, to be incredulous when 
 told that she may have a glorious future yet before 
 her. The wildest tribes that w^ander over her im- 
 mense deserts and steppes have never failed, when 
 brought under favoring and inspiring conditions, to
 
 PROGRESS IN THE EAST. 431 
 
 make ra23id advancement in culture and refinement. 
 The Saracenic irruption, resulting in the establish- 
 ment of the brilliant reign of the caliphs at Bagdad, is 
 an illustration of this. The mao;nificent relics of the 
 empire established in India by the Mogul chieftains 
 — wild semi-nomads of the bleak wastes of Central 
 Asia — can not fail to impress one with the sensitive- 
 ness of the Tartar tribes to the touch of civilization. 
 Those rough "children of the north" are destined, we 
 prophesy, to play a prominent part in the coming 
 history of the Asiatic peoples. In hardy vigor and 
 conquering energy they are kindred to the races that 
 settled Europe, and in them we discover all those el- 
 ements from which our own civilization was born. 
 
 This belief that the awakenins: in Asia is the cer- 
 tain prelude to a re-enactment upon that continent 
 of the long drama of European progress from barba- 
 rism to civilization is, perhaps, staggered in some by 
 the fact of the immemorial immobility of Oriental 
 races. Does not this phenomenon, it is asked, prove 
 that Eastern peoples are lacking in those qualities 
 necessary to a progressive race ? If this be not so, 
 how then are we to account for the phenomenon? 
 For illusti'ation, Why is it that India and China, 
 with all the rudiments of civilization acquired, with 
 all the elements of progress discovered, should have 
 halted i What occasioned this immobility, this fos- 
 silization? It was occasioned, not by any defect in
 
 482 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 iutellectual endovvnients, but by the entering in at a 
 critical period in the early history of those communi- 
 ties, while the religious instinct was yet the blindest 
 superstition, of a religion that prescribed, witb all 
 the sanctions of a divine original, every law, custom, 
 and ordinance of society ; forbade change, stamped 
 progress as innovation, and commanded the people 
 ever to look backw^ard instead of forward. Any at- 
 tempt to introduce change into such a system would 
 necessarily be an attack upon religion, and would 
 not escape punishment at the hands of fanatical su- 
 perstition, hot in its zeal for those institutions which 
 it believes of divine appointment, and which grow at 
 once more sacred and venerable through the lapse of 
 time. Thus all change is effectually proscribed ; but 
 without change there can be no progress : hence stag- 
 nation, rigidity. 
 
 How different is all this from that inspiring, pro- 
 gressive religion which entered into and gave such 
 elasticity to the civilization of Europe. Christianity, 
 taking the golden age of the ancients from the past, 
 placed it in the future; whispered to man that it 
 was not something lost, but something to be won ; 
 placed its ideals of perfection not behind, but iu ad- 
 vance, that the race, with these grand possibilities 
 ever before it, might, in its pursuit of them, be led on 
 in a path of tireless progress. Thus has Christianity 
 become the progressive element of our civilization.
 
 PROGRESS IN THE EAST. 433 
 
 Here, without doubt, may be found the fundamental 
 cause of the great dissideuce between the East and 
 the West. That the immobility of Eastern society 
 is not the result of any inherent incapacity for im- 
 provement of the Oriental mind is evidenced by 
 what is taking place in Japan, now that that people 
 have had weakened their superstitious veneration for 
 its institutions of antiquity, and have conceived a 
 true regard and veneration for the institutions of the 
 superior civilization with which they have come in 
 contact. 
 
 But we must not expect that the lofty ideals of 
 the Christian civilization of the West will be attain- 
 ed at once by the natives of the East. We ourselves 
 fall lamentably far short of realizing them in the em- 
 bodiment of either our individual or national life. 
 The peoples of Asia, we must remember, have been 
 steeped for so many centuries in the reeking sinks of 
 the foulest corruption that the forces of recupera- 
 tion have been ahuost lost. Grateful that, unlike 
 the South Sea Islanders, they have still sufficient vi- 
 tality left, so that responsive indications answer to 
 the new influences flowing in upon them — grateful 
 for this, let us not be impatient if we do not see them 
 at once grasping all the higher possibilities of that 
 purer and better life to which they are awakened. 
 These can only be the heirloom of a long and care- 
 fully directed progress. The superstitious notions
 
 484 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 and polytheistic ideas of tlie Sandwicli Islander still 
 cling to liim after lialf a century's tuition in the 
 schools of modern science ; centuries scarcely sufficed 
 to enable the wild Britons and the untutored Ger- 
 manic tribes to forget their Druidical sacrifices or the 
 worshij) of Odin and Thor. So the superstitions of 
 the worshipers of ancestral sires — of Buddha, of Brah- 
 ma, Vishnu, and Siva — will long continue to enthrall 
 them, and complete emancipation from these can only 
 be effected by the manumitting processes of time. 
 
 Again, to repeat what we have suggested once be- 
 fore, we must not confound progress with metamor- 
 phosis. The East will always be different from the 
 West. Occidental will always be synonymous with 
 energy, masculinity ; Oriental with grace, femininity. 
 The one is identical with man, the other with woman. 
 True progress will never obliterate or obscure these 
 primal distinctions. Not Euroi^ean, but Oriental 
 Christianity and civilization is the goal of Eastern 
 progress. There is danger lest Japan and her ad- 
 visers forget this. Now in this divinely apj^ointed 
 diversity we find the basis and necessity of union. 
 The East needs, and needs greatly, the West; the 
 West has much to gain from union with the East. 
 Each alone is incomplete: each is essential to the 
 fullest and most symmetrical development of the 
 other. History reveals how deeply was appreciated 
 in early times the vast advantages of such a union.
 
 PROGRESS IX THE EAST. 485 
 
 cancl how conquest vainly endeavored to bind Asia 
 to Europe with the bonds of rough force. Xow 
 commerce and religion are drawing them together in 
 that spirit of mutual regard and appreciation that be- 
 speaks a true and permanent alliance. We hail the 
 union as one of the grandest outcomes of the world's 
 progress — as a fact that will shape all coming history 
 — as an event large with promises for the future of 
 the race.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Kk
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ANCIENT GLACIERS AMONa THE HIMALAYAS. 
 
 Importance of Exact Knowledge of the Extent of Glaciation suifered 
 by the Difterent Continents during the Ice Period. — Our PUms for 
 Investigations among the Himalayas. — Interview with Dr. Hooker. — 
 Study of Glacial Action among the Alps. — Difficulties attending In- 
 vestigation among the Himalayas. — Facility of Interpretation. — Re- 
 sult of Long Observation and Comparison. — Illustrations of Liabili- 
 ties of Error. — Mimic Moraines. — Their Mode of Formation. — The 
 Sinde Valley. — Chamounix of the Himalayas. — Discovei-y of an In- 
 teresting Series of Ancient "Moraines. — Sonomarg Valley. — Move- 
 ments of the Ancient Glacier. — Description of the Several Moraines. 
 — The Moraines Mark the Limit of Ancient Glacial Action. — That 
 Limitation determined by the Climate prevailing in the Sinde Val- 
 ley. — The Glacial Epoch. — Other Moraines. — Their Evidence Con- 
 firmatory of that given by the Sonomarg Moraines. — Why the Sinde 
 Glacier formed Smaller Moraines than the Sonomarg. — Extension 
 of Ancient Glaciers below Existing Ice Streams. — Absence of Lateral 
 and Medial Moraines Explained. — The Kishun Gunga Valley. — Geo- 
 logical Formation of the Valley and its Tributaries. — Absence of 
 Glacial Phenomena. — Other Valleys Examined. — Respecting the 
 Causes that Produced the Ice Period. — Astronomical Origin of the 
 Glacial Epoch. 
 
 We hope to give, in tlie following notes, some in- 
 teresting facts respecting the limitation of ancient gla- 
 cial action among the Himalayas. In giving the re- 
 sults of our researches in the mountains lying about 
 the Vale of Cashmere, we shall engage ourselves with 
 the steps and processes of the investigation simply
 
 490 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 to that extent necessary to show the legitimacy of 
 the conclusions drawn, and to enable others to see 
 just the nature, extent, and strength of the facts upon 
 w^hich they rest. We trust, too, by pointing out 
 some of the difficulties attending the study of gla- 
 cial action in those elevated valleys, to eliminate 
 some of the liabilities of error, and thus smooth the 
 path of future investigators. 
 
 Europe, North and South America, and even North- 
 ern Africa, have all been more or less thoroughly ex- 
 plored with reference to the traces of ancient glacial 
 action ; and each has furnished more or less mate- 
 rial for the elucidation of this interesting chapter of 
 geology. But Asia has hitherto contributed com- 
 paratively little to the inquiry ; hence facts from this 
 continent bearing upon the subject can not prove 
 otherwise than of value, and may aid in the settle- 
 ment of the question whether we must look to geolo- 
 gy or astronomy for the causes that produced the ice 
 period. The more local the phenomena, the more cir- 
 cumscribed the agency or agencies of which they are 
 the resultant ; the more universal the phenomena, 
 the greater the certainty of the cosmic nature of the 
 cause that secured them ; hence the necessity of a 
 knowledo-e of the extent and limitations of 2:lacia] 
 action before we can enter intelligently, and with 
 prospects of just conclusions, upon the question re- 
 specting originating causes.
 
 APPENDIX. 49]^ 
 
 Before proceeding to the presentation of any facts 
 relative to ancient glacial action among the Hima- 
 layas, we will allude briefly to the anticipations with 
 which we entered upon our researches. The Hima- 
 layas were the objective point in our plans of Asiatic 
 travel. As the time we proposed to spend upon that 
 continent would compel us to pass one summer in 
 the southern portion, we early selected the Himalay- 
 an mountains as the best retreat from the plains of 
 Persia and India during the hot months; and we 
 were, moreover, led to the adoption of this plan by 
 the consideration that we should, in the elevated and 
 temperate valleys of those mountains, be able to 
 prosecute uninterrupted our botanical and geological 
 studies ; and also because during no other portion 
 of the year could we seek for the traces of glacial ac- 
 tion in those valleys lying just below the line of per- 
 petual snow — to which valleys we had no reason to 
 doubt such indications must be confined. 
 
 The fact that the glaciers of the Himalayas once had 
 a greater extension than at present was most fully es- 
 tablished by the discoveries of the celebrated bota- 
 nist, Dr. Hooker. He found unmistakable proof in the 
 morainic deposits of the valleys of the Sikkim Him- 
 alaya that the ice streams of those lofty peaks for- 
 merly pushed several thousand feet below the point 
 now reached by them. These glacial phenomena, it 
 will be noted, occur beneath the highest peaks of the
 
 492 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 Himalayas — in valleys connecting witli mountains 
 varying from twenty thousand to twenty-eight thou- 
 sand feet in elevation. The snow -fields of these 
 ranges are, of course, of enormous, arctic-like breadth, 
 and the glaciers that choke their valleys of the most 
 gigantic nature. It becomes an important question 
 under such circumstances what effect a given lower- 
 ing of the snow-line, say one thousand feet, would 
 have upon the extension of the glacial streams. The 
 descent of the glaciers would, we might suppose, be 
 much greater than that of the line of snow. For 
 this reason we do not think that any definite or en- 
 tirely satisfactory conclusion respecting the amount 
 of depression suffered by the snow-line on the Him- 
 alayas during the glacial epoch can be arrived at by 
 a study of the glacial phenomena beneath the high- 
 est peaks of those mountains. Our own observations 
 among the lo\ver peaks of the Western Himalaya 
 convinced us that we are very liable to err, in the 
 way of drawing unwarrantable conclusions from the 
 former movements of the glacial streams of those 
 loftier ranges. This will appear as we advance in 
 our investigations. Our object will be to determine 
 positively the limitations of glacial action among the 
 lower peaks of the Cashmerian mountains, that there- 
 by we may be able to pronounce somewhat definitely 
 upon the depression of the snow-line during the gla- 
 cial period. This, of course, will enable us to inter-
 
 APPENDIX. 493 
 
 pret, ^vithoiit exaggeration, the climatic change suf- 
 fered by the Himalayas during that era. 
 
 While in England we made the acquaintance of 
 Dr. Hooker, and made known to him our plans of 
 visiting the Himalayas, and the objects to which we 
 should direct our attention while there. He led us 
 to anticipate finding a paradise for the botanist, but 
 a region of confusion and uncertainty for the geolo- 
 gist. Our pleasant interview, however, while it sug- 
 gested the difficulties which we might encounter in 
 prosecuting our glacial researches, led us to prepare 
 ourselves still more thoroughly for surmounting the 
 same by spending several weeks among the Alps, 
 and thus familiarizing ourselves with the phenomena 
 aftbrded bv the s'lacial fields of those mountains. 
 Among the high valleys of the Oberland and about 
 the Chamounix we watched the glaciers at their 
 work ; and below the line of their present action, in 
 the valleys from which they had retreated, we studied 
 the results of their greater extension in former times. 
 With this preparatory field-work, we entered upon 
 our studies among the Himalayas with the quiet 
 conviction that we should in our investigations en- 
 counter no difficulties which we should be unable to 
 surmount. 
 
 But once among those mountains, we found our- 
 selves surrounded by so many new and unfamiliar 
 difficulties that at first we experienced uncertainty
 
 494 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 and embarrassment. In the lower valleys the dete- 
 I'iorating effects of tropical agencies, and impenetra- 
 ble jungles or heavy forests, often rendered the ex- 
 amination difficult or altogether impossible, and al- 
 ways discouraging; for had any such traces as we 
 were in search of ever existed, they would almost 
 certainly have been obliterated or obscured. As to 
 the higher valleys, it often haj)pened that they as- 
 sumed such a nature — abrupt, crumbling, clift'-built 
 sides, and rapidly descending bottoms — that no trace 
 of the passage of a glacier could be permanently re- 
 corded. Then, besides, there were often pseudo-gla- 
 cial api:)earances, produced by the action of swollen, 
 ice-loaded torrents, and by avalanches of snow and 
 rock, all of which conspired to complicate the phe- 
 nomena, and to lead to hesitation in pronouncing 
 upon the exact agencies that had been at work. 
 
 Thus we had to set ourselves to the task of learn- 
 ing to interpret correctly the unfamiliar appearances 
 with which we found ourselves surrounded. At first 
 every thing seemed a perfect chaos ; and often, when 
 striving to reduce to intelligent order the confusion 
 that reigned about us, did we recall the remark of 
 Dr. Hooker — " It is a fearfully tumbled-up country." 
 But after three weeks' experience and careful obser- 
 vation and comparison we began to acquire facility in 
 the detection of difference in seeming similarity, and 
 — gradually familiarized with the characteristic feat-
 
 APPEXDIX. 495 
 
 ures of the work of particular sets of agencies — in re- 
 ferring the various phenomena to their true causal 
 connections. 
 
 We never felt a keener pleasure than we expe- 
 rienced in pursuing our explorations among those ele- 
 vated mountain valleys, after we had possession of 
 the key that enabled us, without the least feeling 
 of uncertainty in our conclusions, to interpret the 
 changes ■ which they had witnessed during geologic 
 times. There was a pleasure which utterly refuses 
 to find expression in words in standing amid those 
 lofty peaks, and studying out the thoughts wrought 
 in the forms about us : to be able to say, This valley 
 was sculptured by glaciers, for the chiseled rocks and 
 carefully piled moraines record their advances and 
 retreats ; that has been shaped by the torrent, pa- 
 tiently wearing away the granitic rock through geo- 
 logic eternities ; this was formed amid the throes of 
 some sudden convulsion ; there Time has slowly 
 crumbled down the cliff, and cast it rock by rock 
 into the vallev ; here the avalanche has shot from 
 the dizzy heights its "thunder-bolt of snow" and 
 rock ; and here Nature has joined all her destroying 
 agencies, and with the shock of earthquake, with tor- 
 rent, avalanche, and storm, brought down in ruins the 
 cliffs, and ground and heaped the fragments with gla- 
 ciers, and with the strength of ice-loaded torrents push- 
 ed them for onward and downward toward the sea.
 
 496 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 In presenting the results of our researches, we will 
 select from the dozen or more valleys examined two 
 or three representative ones, which exhibit all the 
 important phenomena. The evidence yielded by 
 these will, we think, be sufficiently conclusive; so 
 that, instead of surveying the phenomena presented 
 by the remaining localities visited, we shall avoid 
 useless repetition by simply stating that the evidence 
 of all is confirmatory of that given by these particu- 
 larized valleys. 
 
 In order to exhibit some of the difficulties that 
 complicate the work, and some of the liabilities of 
 error in the interpretation of certain phenomena, 
 which the explorer needs to guard against by the 
 greatest caution in his investigations, we will first 
 give the results of our explorations in the Das Val- 
 ley, which lies over one hundred miles north of the 
 Vale of Cashmere, and is separated from it by two 
 lofty passes — the Rajdiangan and Stalpild — respect- 
 ively 11,770 and 12,900 feet in elevation. The lat- 
 ter pass, when we crossed it, early in July, was cov- 
 ered for more than a thousand feet from its summit 
 -with a heavy body of snow, which rendered the pas- 
 sage all but impossible. From this pass a large val- 
 ley leads down to a still larger one, which we have 
 called the Das, from the native name of a little clus- 
 ter of huts we found in it. This tributary vale has, 
 toward its embouchure, a gently descending and mod-
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 497 
 
 erately broad bottom. At this point, lying at an el- 
 evation of about eiglit thousand feet, are some ac- 
 cumulations which have all the appearance of ter- 
 minal and medial moraines. Stretching completely 
 across the valley, here about two hundred yards in 
 breadth, lies a rampart of boulders, which is from 
 
 PSEUDO-MORAINES m THE DAS VAXLEY, 
 
 thirty to forty feet in height, and about one hundred 
 broad. The annexed plate represents the appear- 
 ance this accumulation presents when viewed from 
 down the river. It has every feature of a terminal 
 moraine. One end rests full against the right flank 
 of the valley, and the other leaves just sufficient space
 
 498 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 between itself and the left bank for the passage of 
 the stream, which the dam of rocks has, in fact, forced 
 to eat away the cliff in order to make a passage for 
 its waters. The material composing the w^all con- 
 sists of huge angular fragments of rock, of just the 
 nature of glacier-transported boulders. Stretching 
 from this dam to the mouth of the valley, a distance 
 of about half a mile, is a broken line of boulders 
 that would at once be pronounced a medial moraine, 
 as the blocks are sometimes piled up twenty feet in 
 height, and are not sjoread out more than is often the 
 case in such de2:)osits. 
 
 We were at first misled by these accumulations; 
 but a more careful examination discovered a single 
 circumstance which created a suspicion as to their 
 glacial origin. The stream, as already remarked, 
 does not break through the dam, but finds its way 
 around one extremity. At that point it had torn 
 away the clifi^, making quite an irregularity in the 
 bank ; and into this recess we observed that the wall 
 of rocks had extended itself, so that the termination 
 was several feet Avithin the line of the side of the 
 valley. It was difficult to account for this while 
 proceeding upon the supposition that the ridge was 
 a terminal moraine. The extension was, indeed, com- 
 paratively slight, scarcely observable; yet the hesi- 
 tancy it produced in our minds, before indorsing our 
 first impressions, led us finally to a discovery of its
 
 APPENDIX. 499 
 
 true origin. Subsequent inv^estigations in a neigh- 
 boring valley, where several of these pseudo-moraines 
 were in process of formation, acquainted us with all 
 the features of their origin. 
 
 We will explain, first, the formation of the mimic 
 medial moraines. These are very rarely met with, 
 as they are only formed in broadish valleys, where 
 one or both of the sides presents this structure : first, 
 rising from the bottom of the valley, a ]3erpendicular 
 or very abrupt cliff; above this a comparatively gen- 
 tle slope ; and overhanging this another abrupt cliff'. 
 Now the fragments broken from this first roll down 
 the slope, gaining impetus in the descent, then shoot 
 over the lower cliff far out into the valley, and in 
 time an enormous accumulation is formed. When 
 the above geologic structure characterizes the flank- 
 ing wall of the valley for some considerable distance, 
 there is created a line of debris, more or less contin- 
 uous, which very closely mimics the medial deposits 
 of a glacier. 
 
 The pseudo-terminal moraines are formed in the 
 following manner : occasionally the flanking wall of 
 a valley forms a great trough, very wide at the top 
 and quite contracted below, so that the material from 
 a considerable extent of slope or cliff above is thrown 
 upon nearly the same point in the valley below. 
 During the ^vinter the snow falling upon the abrupt 
 slopes of this great trough is constantly forming av-
 
 500 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 alanches that shoot down into the valley, and form 
 an immense talus or slope of snow, the base of which 
 may come to occupy the entire breadth of the valley, 
 even if it be several hundred yards wide. The val- 
 ley is thus completely bridged, and the rocks shot 
 down the trough glide over the snow-slope to the 
 opposite side. As upon the advance of summer the 
 talus gradually diminishes, the boulders are carried 
 a less and less distance from the side whence they 
 come, and thus in time form an immense wall com- 
 pletely across the valley, which bears every resem- 
 blance to the terminal accumulation of a glacier. 
 
 With this single illustration of the difficulties at- 
 tending our work, and of the caution necessary to be 
 exercised in the prosecution of our inquiries, we will 
 proceed at once to an examination of the several 
 glacial valleys which we have taken as representative 
 ones in our present study. 
 
 Opening into the Vale of Cashmere upon the north- 
 east is the Sinde Valley, leading up among the mount- 
 ains a distance of sixty or seventy miles to the Lojji- 
 Im-Pass, which at an elevation of 11,300 feet gives 
 access to the valley of Dras. This was one of the 
 valleys we chose for our operations. At its embou- 
 chure it is about a mile in width, and presents quiet, 
 beautiful scenery for two days up its course, its bot- 
 tom being sprinkled with walnut, mulberry, and wild 
 apricot.
 
 APPENDIX. 501 
 
 Above Gond, the second station, a little cluster of 
 native huts, the scenery of the valley changes, and 
 suddenly becomes Alj)ine. The vale abruptly nar- 
 rows to a wild gorge, in places not more than two 
 hundred feet in width, walled by towering cliffs of 
 basaltic rocks, which have piled the bottom of the 
 gorge with huge blocks, among which the torrent, 
 with a rapid fall, dashes so furiously as to render the 
 passage at times of high water extremely difficult 
 and dano^erous. We failed to estimate the heisfht of 
 the cliffs, as a few hundred feet above our heads the 
 clouds concealed them ; and we only knew that they 
 must reach far up into the mists from the large 
 streams gathered, which came leaping down from be- 
 neath the clouds. 
 
 Following up this difficult defile for a few miles, 
 we find that the valley suddenly expands to a mile 
 and a half in breadth, forming the Charaounix of this 
 portion of the Himalayas. The valley, indeed, is 
 transformed into a miniature upland plain, encircled 
 by lofty mountains. The snowy Kolohoy, or Gwas- 
 brari, rising to an elevation of over seventeen thou- 
 sand feet, is the Blanc of the environing peaks. 
 
 In this vale we discovered the first traces of gla- 
 cial action we had met with among the Himalayas. 
 Right at the lower end of this little plain lies an im- 
 mense and most interesting' morainic accumulation. 
 A glance at the annexed ,chart, constructed upon the
 
 502 
 
 EEMAINS OF LOST ElklPIRES. 
 
 spot from actual measurements of all the most im- 
 portant lines and elevations, will reveal at once the 
 disposition of the moraines to which we shall first 
 direct our attention. 
 
 MORAINES, SINDE VALLEY. 
 
 The bottom of the vale where these moraines lie 
 has an elevation of about nine thousand feet above 
 the sea-level. The height of the surrounding peaks 
 varies from fourteen thousand to over seventeen 
 thousand feet. The valley indicated upon the chart 
 as " Sonomarg Valley " is a ravine not more than 
 four hundred yards in width, leading up to the snow- 
 fields of Gwasbrari, the highest peak that could ever
 
 APPENDIX. 503 
 
 have poured its glaciers into the Sinde Valley. The 
 cliffs bordering the valley of Souomarg are wholly 
 basaltic, wliile those that hem the Sinde Valley are 
 limestone. Did not the position of the moraines rep- 
 resented upon the chart at once reveal whence the 
 glacier must have come that formed them, this would 
 be immediately discovered by the nature of the de- 
 hris composing them. Not a block of limestone is 
 found in the accumulation, which indicates that the 
 whole material was unmistakably derived from the 
 Souomarg Valley. That no portion of the deposit 
 was formed by a glacier pushing down the Sinde 
 Valley has an importance that will appear a little 
 later, when we come to examine some moraines lying 
 higher up this valley. 
 
 The position of the moraines, as they lie upon the 
 chart, indicates the movements of the ancient glacier : 
 descending from the Souomarg Valley, which em- 
 bogues into the Sinde at an acute angle, just at the 
 point where the latter suddenly contracts to the nar- 
 row gorge already referred to, the glacier, unable to 
 force its heavy stream through the contracted pas- 
 sage, poured itself into the Sinde Valley, spread 
 across the broad bottom, and actually pushed its 
 moraines some little distance up the vale. 
 
 The amount of material carried into the valley by 
 the glacier is astonishing, and indicates the great 
 length of time employed in its work. The trans- 
 
 Mm
 
 504 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 portation of such immense heaps of debris by the 
 slow processes of glacial movements must have re- 
 quired many thousand years. The moraine that 
 blocked the gorge, and prevented any part of the 
 glacier from following that, its natural path, is five 
 hundred and fifty feet in height where it lies across 
 the face of the defile; from this point it gradually 
 sinks in elevation to two hundred feet; and finally, 
 after running over a mile, is represented by a train of 
 scattered boulders lying along the stream, which is 
 pushed against the cliffs, and sent a long way around 
 the corner of the vale. This gigantic ridge is clothed, 
 in part, with a heavy forest of firs ; when, upon issuing 
 from the gorge, we first encountered it, we believed 
 it simply an immense spur, shooting out from the 
 mountain wall. A corresponding ridge, lying higher 
 up the valley, and nearly uniting with this, completes 
 the exterior wall of the entire accumulation. 
 
 The periodical retreats of the glacier are indicated 
 by the successive moraines found within this older 
 and outer rampart. There are five of these moraines, 
 each forming a perfect semicircular wall, somewhat 
 resembling in shape a horseshoe, and recording, by 
 its thickness and height, the comparative length of 
 the halts of the retreating glacier. The first, taken 
 in the order of formation, is the largest, being fully 
 two hundred feet in height ; the thick, massive nat- 
 ure of the entire ridge indicates that after its first
 
 APPENDIX. 505 
 
 retirement from the line of tlie outer moraine the 
 glacier must have delayed at this point for a length 
 of time approximating the period spent in construct- 
 ing the outer rampart. A considerable portion of 
 the slopes of this moraine is loaded with a forest of 
 firs and birches. 
 
 The second moraine is a fir-clothed ridge, from sixty 
 to eighty feet in height, separated from the first and 
 third moraine by intervals of marshy land, in each 
 instance about two hundred yards in w^idth. The 
 third, with a very uniform elevation of about seventy 
 feet, is a carefully built ridge of rock and earth, with 
 so sharp an edge that, after we had succeeded in 
 leading our horses by a zigzag course to its summit, 
 we could not lead them along the top, it being so 
 narrow that often a single boulder, poised upon the 
 edge, completely barred the way. Between this mo- 
 raine and the fourth lies a train of boulders, marking 
 the terminal line along which the glacier commenced 
 to form an accumulation, but suddenly retreated forty 
 or fifty yards, and then threw up a wall perfect and 
 symmetrical as though built by hand. At a distance 
 of only a few yards from this is another immense mo- 
 raine, which repeats in every particular the features 
 of its twin companion. After forming this double 
 rampart, the glacier appears not to have halted again, 
 but to have made an uninterrupted retreat up the 
 Sonomarg Valley, not delaying at any point a sufifi-
 
 506 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 cient length of time to throw dowu any considerable 
 burden of rock. 
 
 Now in this interesting concentric series of mo- 
 raines we have an exact measure of the strength, and 
 a complete record of all the work, of the ancient gla- 
 cier of the Sonomarg Valley ; and, moreover, we have 
 what may be considered a just index of the amount 
 of ancient glacial action in all valleys among the 
 Himalayas of an equal elevation where there are 
 mountains of the same height and snow-fields of the 
 same extent as lie about the valley of Sonomarg, 
 but where the nature of the valleys and flanking 
 mountains has been less favorable for the registering 
 or preservation of the traces of glacial action. That 
 no portion of the Sonomarg glacier pushed through 
 the narrow gorge of which we have spoken, thus 
 leaving but a partial record of its transporting power 
 in the morainic accumulation now lying in the Sinde 
 Valley, is evidenced by the position of the immense 
 moraine that lies in the throat of the gorge, as well 
 as by the present appearance of the cliffs of the ra- 
 vine, which at a hundred points absolutely negative 
 the idea of a glacier ever having pushed through it ; 
 for certainly no glacier could ever have forced itself 
 through the narj'ow defile without having plainly re- 
 corded its passage. Thus we may accept the accumu- 
 lation undei' question, not as a partial, but a complete 
 register.
 
 APPENDIX. 507 
 
 But wliile tlie complete series of moraines records 
 tlie aggregate labor performed by the glacier, the 
 outer moraiuic line, marking unmistakably the ex- 
 treme limit of the glacier's movements, proves (1) 
 either that the glacier upon pushing into the Sinde 
 encountered a climate sufficiently warm to waste it 
 before it pushed quite across the valley; or (2) that 
 the duration of the ice period, between its commence- 
 ment and culmination, was simply sufficiently long 
 to allow the Sonomarg mountains to form a glacier 
 of sufficient strength to push well into, but not com- 
 pletely across, the Sinde Valley. To suj^pose it a 
 record of the latter is to proceed directly in the face 
 of all the phenomena presented by existing glaciers, 
 and to substitute paroxysmal for gradual action as 
 the law characterizing geological changes ; for to sup- 
 pose that during the period of its growth no portion 
 of the extending glacier was wasted by being pushed 
 down into a warmer climate, is to presuppose that 
 the lowering of the snow-line during the advance of 
 the glacial period was more rapid than the extension 
 of the glacier. Now the movement of a glacier, un- 
 der favorable circumstances, such as we here suppose 
 to have existed, is several hundred feet annually. It 
 is wholly unscientific to assume any such sudden re- 
 duction of temperature. We must believe that dur- 
 ing the first centuries of the ice period the line of 
 cold crept vei-y slowly, with a scarcely appreciable
 
 508 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 advance, down the mountain flanks, and that one cent- 
 ury saw but a very narrow belt frosted that during 
 the preceding one had been free from snow and ice ; 
 and thus we may safely assume that at no time was 
 the slowdy descending line of cold in advance of the 
 lengthening glacier — so that the latter should have 
 its annual advance determined, not by the climate into 
 which it might be pushing, but solely by the quan- 
 tity of snow falling upon the fields above — but rather 
 that the foot of the glacier was ever in advance of 
 the falling frost-line, and, consequently, was constant- 
 ly subjected to the influence of a wasting tempera- 
 ture. Hence the extension of the glacier can not 
 be taken as an index of the actual time spent in 
 making that advance ; but it may indicate the mini- 
 mum time in which it could have been made. For 
 illustration : Suppose we find the foot of a glacier to 
 be five miles below the point formerly marked by it. 
 Take the maximum annual progress of a glacier to 
 be one hundred feet. Then we may be sure that the 
 glacier must have been at least two hundred and 
 sixty-four years in making the advance. But we 
 have seen that the minimum time can never be iden- 
 tical with the actual. Hence we can not consider 
 the morainic record in the Sinde Valley as indicating 
 the actual period occupied by the Sonomarg glacier 
 in making the advance from which it has now re- 
 treated ; in other words, it can not be used as data
 
 I 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 509 
 
 for determiuing the duration of the ice period be- 
 tween its commencement and culmination. 
 
 TERMINAL MOKAINES, SIXDE VALLEY. 
 
 So we have only left the former of the two possi- 
 ble inferences ; w^hich is, that the Sonomarg glacier, 
 after pushing into the Sinde, encountered a temper- 
 ature sufficiently high to so waste the front of its ad- 
 vancing mass that it was unable to extend itself en- 
 tirely across the open valley. That is, we here find 
 the limit of the glacier's action : a limitation deter- 
 mined, not by the denial of sufficient time for growth 
 — that may have been any period short of infinity, 
 as far as any thing to the contrary that our data 
 give us — but by the nature of the climate reign-
 
 510 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 ing in the Siucle Valley during the ice period. As 
 corroborative of this conclusion, we shall now pro- 
 ceed to examine some other moraines lying in the 
 same valley. 
 
 About two miles above the interesting accumula- 
 tion that we have been examining are two large ter- 
 minal moraines, from seventy to eighty feet in height, 
 lying directly across the Sinde Valley, and forming 
 two vast dams, about the extremities of which the 
 stream has forced a passage. The two ridges run 
 parallel to each other, with an interval between their 
 bases of not more than sixty feet ; the length of each 
 is about five hundred yards. The boulders of both 
 moraines are exclusively limestone, and the deteriora- 
 tion they have suffered gives the accumulation the 
 appearance of a higher antiquity than is suggested 
 by the sharply cut faces of the basaltic boulders 
 comprising the moraines pushed into the valley by 
 the Sonomarg glacier. 
 
 From these moraines we followed uji the valley a 
 distance of twelve miles, to the Lojji-Im-Pass, in or- 
 der to ascertain whether the head of the valley were 
 still occupied by a glacier. We found the bordering 
 cliffs throughout the entire distance so crumbled 
 down into immense tali that we could not expect to 
 discover any evidence of former glaciation ; especially 
 as the soft rock, wherever exposed along the bottom 
 of the valley, had suffered such deterioration as to
 
 APPENDIX. 511 
 
 obliterate all traces of striae. The valley was occu- 
 pied to the very foot of the last abrupt ascent to the 
 pass by detached groves of pine and fir, and was 
 throughout, to the summit of the pass (eleven thou- 
 sand three hundred feet), free from snow. 
 
 Now respecting the question whether the two ter- 
 minal moraines mark the extreme limit of the ancient 
 glacier that pushed down from the head of the Sinde 
 Valley, w^e have no hesitation in responding in the 
 afiarmative ; for had the glacier advanced farther, it 
 would have mingled the limestone blocks with which 
 it was freighted with the basaltic boulders heaped 
 into the valley by the Sonomarg glacier. But no 
 such commingling took place. There is not a single 
 limestone boulder to be discovered in the latter ac- 
 cumulation; all the moraines are composed exclu- 
 sively of basaltic blocks, and all the boulders cast 
 sporadically about the immediate locality are of the 
 same nature. Nor is there in that portion of the 
 valley embraced between the twin moraines and the 
 debris of the Sonomarg glacier a single traveled boul- 
 der. Thus these twin ramparts mark the low^est 
 point reached by the glacier of the main valley. 
 Thouo-h free to advance till it abutted against the 
 moraines of the Sonomarg stream, it is evident that 
 it halted here, not because it met obstructions, but 
 because it had pushed into a climate that wasted its 
 strength.
 
 512 KEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 It may seem strange, at first view, that the glacier 
 from the lateral valley of Sonomarg should have car- 
 ried down so much more material than was trans- 
 ported by the stream of the main valley, especially 
 as the length of the former could not have equaled 
 that of the latter ; for at the distance of two or three 
 miles from the ancient moraines the bottom of the 
 Sonomarg Valley is lifted quite abruptly to the snow- 
 fields of Gwasbrari. But this seeming discrepancy 
 is at once explained if w^e note the difference in the 
 nature and amount of the material thrown down by 
 the limestone and basaltic cliffs that respectively 
 border the two valleys. While the stratified walls 
 of the Sinde are buttressed by shoots formed large- 
 ly of disintegrated material, the Sonomarg cliffs are 
 heaped all along with huge fragments of basalt ; and 
 thus, while the glacier occupying the former valley 
 would be loaded with deteriorated rock, which would 
 to a large extent be washed off the ice, and carried 
 away by the action of running water, the Sonomarg 
 stream would be freighted with indestructible blocks, 
 just suited to the building up of permanent barriers. 
 
 We accept, then, the evidence given by the mo- 
 raines lying in the Sinde Valley as doubly conclusive 
 respecting the limitation of ancient glacial action in 
 that valley ; and, consequently, as indicating, with a 
 certain degree of positiveness, the limits at which we 
 may look for the termination of glacial phenomena
 
 APPENDIX. 513 
 
 among Himalayau peaks of an altitude corresponding 
 to those about the locality under consideration. As 
 already remarked, the moraines of the Sinde lie at 
 an elevation of eio;ht thousand five hundred feet, 
 while the peaks among which the glaciers were 
 formed vary from fifteen thousand to eighteen thou- 
 sand feet in height. The Gwasbrari has broad, ele- 
 vated snow -fields, lying only about two thousand 
 feet below its summit, which are now vast reservoirs 
 for the accumulation of the winter snows. 
 
 We now ask. How much below the point reached 
 by existing glaciers did the ancient ice streams push? 
 Fortunately there are glaciers lying in some of the 
 lateral valleys of the Sinde, so that we can right here 
 measure the retreat that has been made. We have 
 already seen that the glacier which formerly occupied 
 the main valley has entirely disappeared. (It will be 
 recalled that the distance between the twin moraines 
 and the Lojji-Im-Pass is about eleven miles.) But 
 hanging high up in two of its lateral ravines are two 
 small glaciers, pushing down from the snowy peaks 
 on the right side of the valley. As these are both 
 inaccessible, we could not carry our barometer to the 
 foot of either, and thus could only estimate their ele- 
 vation, which we placed at about eight hundred feet 
 above the two terminal moraines. But in the lateral 
 Sonomarg Valley we were aljle to secure an actual 
 measurement. A little over three miles from its em-
 
 514 KEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 bouchure the floor of the valley, as we have already 
 said, is abruptly lifted several hundred feet, forming 
 a precipitous descent, which must have created a 
 grand cataract in the ancient ice stream. This preci- 
 pice is finely polished and striated. Over it now 
 leaps a small stream, issuing from the foot of the 
 glacier, which hangs just on the verge of the descent. 
 We succeeded in carrying our instrument to the 
 point where the stream escapes from beneath the ice, 
 and found our elevation above the ancient moraines 
 to be seven hundred and fifty feet. Two other small- 
 er glaciers, at a considerably higher altitude than 
 this, push their terminal moraines in sight in two of 
 the valleys leading from the snow-fields of the Kolo- 
 hoy into the Sonomarg. The foregoing will be suf 
 ficient to indicate the difference of extension between 
 the ancient and present glaciers. 
 
 Before dismissing the subject of the glacial phe- 
 nomena of the Sinde Valley, one word will be in 
 place respecting the absence of all medial and lateral 
 moraines. This is not at all strange, considering the 
 nature of the two principal valleys. For the forma- 
 tion of a medial moraine there is required the union 
 of two glacial streams, approximating somewhat to 
 each other in volume; for if one be disproportion- 
 ably small, it is received by the larger as a simple 
 tributary, and all of its material is eventually crowd- 
 ed against the side of the valley, and goes to swell 
 
 I
 
 APPENDIX. 515 
 
 the lateral accumulation of the main stream. Now 
 it so happens that neither the Sonomarg nor Sinde 
 Valley branches out into arms of such nearly equal 
 size as to render it difficult to determine which 
 should be considered the trunk; but each preserves 
 its integrity, and all of the lateral ravines opening 
 into either are comparatively small. In such valleys 
 we should not look for medial deposits. 
 
 But then we might consider the circumstances fa- 
 vorable for the formation of lateral moraines. Fa- 
 vorable, certainly, for the forming of such ; but the 
 abruptness of the sides of both valleys absolutely 
 forbid permanence to such accumulations. Upon the 
 retreat of the glaciers, such moraines would immedi- 
 ately lose their distinctive features, and be obscured 
 by the forming tali. 
 
 As confirmatory of the conclusions at which we 
 have arrived by our examination of the evidence 
 yielded by the Sinde Valley, we will now proceed to 
 the examination of another locality, which affords un- 
 usuall}^ favorable opportunities for the collection of 
 evidence upon the subject under consideration. 
 
 Separated from the Cashmere Valley on the north 
 by a lofty ridge, crossed at an elevation of eleven 
 thousand seven hundred and seventy feet by the 
 Eajdiangan Pass, is a valley known to the natives 
 as the Kishun Gunga; the stream that threads it 
 is fed, in part, by the northern rivulets of the same
 
 516 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 peaks that drain their southern waters into the Sinde. 
 This valley has several large lateral valleys opening 
 into it, and which lead up to peaks varying from thir- 
 teen thousand to sixteen thousand feet in elevatiou ; 
 thus, it will be observed, falling in their average 
 height about one thousand feet below the average 
 elevation of the peaks about the Sinde. Perpetual 
 snow tips several of these mountains, and the heats 
 of July and August even fail to clear some of the 
 higher passes; but no glaciers are formed. 
 
 We entered the valley at Kuntlwan, a little clus- 
 ter of native huts, where the summer trail from Cash- 
 mere to Skardo drops into it. Thirty-five miles above 
 this point the valley is joined by the tributary valley 
 of Burzil, eight or ten miles in length, which leads 
 up to the pass of Stakpild, twelve thousand nine 
 hundred feet in elevation, with the peaks immedi- 
 ately about rising two thousand feet higher. The 
 geological formation of these, and of the flanks of 
 the valley, is a coarse-textured granite; but just as 
 the vale reaches the Kishun Gunga the cliffs on the 
 right change to greenstone, and this kind of rock 
 forms the right flank of the valley for a mile below 
 the opening of the Burzil. At this point another 
 granite - walled tributary opens into the Kishun 
 Gunga; below this, both of the flanks of the main 
 valley suddenly change to slate, and before reaching 
 Kuntlwan (thirty miles below) present successively
 
 APPENDIX. 51^ 
 
 cliffs of shale, schist, limestone, and basalt. For a 
 considerable portion of its course the valley has a 
 broadish bottom, at some points more than a mile 
 in breadth, and is but partially clothed with forest. 
 At several points the limestone and basaltic rock 
 shoot out spurs, and form isolated tells in the val- 
 ley ; so that no glacier could possibly move down it 
 without leaving upon these permanent records of its 
 passage. 
 
 Here, then, we have a locality admirably fitted for 
 our work. We have a central valley entirely dif- 
 ferent in geologic formation from its tributaries — a 
 main valley lined all along with basalt, limestone, 
 schist, shale, and slate ; and emboguing into this 
 lateral valleys, flanked with granitic walls, and ris- 
 ing up to passes and peaks of similar geologic struct- 
 ure. Now it is evident that a glacier pouring from 
 one of these laterals into the main valley would carry 
 with it a large quantity of granitic debris, and scatter 
 the same throughout this lower valley. Before pro- 
 ceeding to an examination of the Kishun Gunga, with 
 a view to determine whether such transportation of 
 materials have ever taken place, we will observe the 
 nature of the Burzil tributary. 
 
 This valley joins the Kishun Gunga at an eleva- 
 tion of about eight thousand four hundred feet, and 
 then sweeps up eight or ten miles to the pass of 
 Stakpild, Avbich has an altitude, already given, of
 
 518 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 twelve thousand nine hnuclred feet. There is abun- 
 dant expanse of snow-fields lying about the pass, and 
 connecting with the valley, to form feeders for a large 
 o-lacier. The immense tali of huge blocks thrown 
 down by the crumbling cliffs show with what enor- 
 mous quantities of boulders a glacier moving through 
 the valley would be burdened; for five or six miles 
 the glacial stream, supposing one to have existed, 
 would have flowed between clifl:s that would have 
 been constantly heaping their ruins upon it. 
 
 Now we inquire, Has the material of this valley 
 been transported into the Kishun Gunga? If so, we 
 shall find it at the opening of the Burzil, as in the 
 case of the Sonomarg— for the Kishun Gunga at the 
 junction of the Burzil is wdde, like the Sinde ; or, in 
 case the main valley was occupied by a glacial stream, 
 we shall discover the material carried down and scat- 
 tered throughout it. Now we examined carefully 
 the Kishun Gunga for a distance of thirty-five miles 
 from the mouth of the Burzil, and are confident that 
 we hazard nothing in asserting that there is not a 
 single glacier - transported granitic block in that 
 lengthy section of the valley. We give this decis- 
 ion with the less hesitation because the nature of the 
 valley, and the material in it, are of such a character 
 as to render it quite impossible for any such foreign 
 material to have escaped our detection. There were, 
 indeed, throughout the entire section, granite boul-
 
 APPENDIX. 519 
 
 ders, but only sucli as had unmistakably been intro- 
 duced by the agency of the stream. This was evi- 
 denced by two circumstances, each in itself sufficient- 
 ly conclusive : (1) the change observable in the size 
 of the boulders in passing from a higher to a lower 
 level; (2) the stratified appearance of the detritus. 
 In order to a proper appreciation of the evidence of 
 the first fact, it will be necessary to refer a little 
 more particularly to the geologic character of the 
 tributary valleys below the Burzil. We have al- 
 ready mentioned the existence of a lateral granitic 
 valley about one mile below this tributary; this is 
 the last, of similar geological character, joining the 
 Kishun Guno-a throu2;hout the section under consid- 
 eration. As we descend the Kishun Gruuga from the 
 junction of this tributary, the granite boulders be- 
 come gradually less numerous, smaller, and more wa- 
 ter-worn, showing conclusively that they were scat- 
 tered throughout the valley by the agency of run- . 
 ning water. 
 
 We might, then, consider ourselves as sufficiently 
 cautious should we immediately draw the conclusion 
 that no glacier ever emptied from the Burzil into 
 the Kishun Gunga; but it may not be amiss if we 
 strengthen this decision by observing that the evi- 
 dence given by the Burzil itself strongly negatives 
 the passage through it of a glacial stream. This evi- 
 dence is borne l)y many a long, sharp, projecting
 
 520 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 rocky spur, which, had a glacier ever crowded down 
 the valley, could never have escaped being broken, 
 rounded, polished, and striated. 
 
 But although we may novv^ consider the evidence 
 advanced as establishing the fact that the Burzil 
 Valley was never occupied by an ancient glacier, still 
 we need something additional to prove that the same 
 is true of the Kishun Gunga ; for demonstrating that 
 a glacier never emptied into this latter valley from 
 the former does not necessarily negative the former 
 existence of a glacier in this main valley; because 
 the snow-fields about the head of the Kishun Gunga 
 may have formed an ice stream of sufficient strength 
 to push down past the embouchure of the Burzil, 
 even while that valley remained entirely free from 
 o-lacial accumulations. As to the water-w^orn mate- 
 rial found in the lower valley, plainly derived from 
 the Burzil, that may have been scattered where we 
 now find it subsequent to the ice period, and so does 
 not assist us in the least to read the history, or to 
 decide respecting the condition of the valley during 
 the glacial era; we must examine anew, and with 
 special reference to a decision of this question, the 
 debris and detritus of the valley. 
 
 The condition of the loose material in the Kishun 
 Gunga will facilitate this work, and give a satisfac- 
 tory conclusiveness to the result of our investigations. 
 The Avidth of the valley varies from one hundred
 
 APPENDIX. 521 
 
 vards to a mile or more ; at times the borderinfr 
 cliifs, when the valley contracts, are abrupt; again, 
 where the vale opens, they become gently sloping 
 and w^ooded. This geologic structure of the valley 
 is favorable both for the reception and retention of 
 the traces of glacial action ; for (1) in crowding 
 through the contracted passes the march of the 
 heavy stream would be jDermanently recorded; and 
 (2) in the broad-bottomed sections any morainic ac- 
 cumulations would be distinctly preserved. 
 
 Respecting the first, we need simply state that a 
 careful examination of the several passes occurring 
 between Burzil and Kuntlwan, and also of all the 
 exposed rock surface in the bottom or along the side 
 of the valley that could possibly be subjected to gla- 
 ciation, revealed no traces of the shaping, polishing, 
 and striating work of a moving ice mass. Often the 
 rock was so exposed, or jutted into the valley in 
 such a manner, as to render it quite impossible for a 
 glacial stream to have ground over, or j)ushed past, 
 without leaving traces of its movements. 
 
 It now remains to examine the loose material or 
 deposits found in the valley. Are there any travel- 
 ed boulders? Are there any ancient medial or ter- 
 minal moraines ? Are there any traces of lateral mo 
 raines ? As to the first inquiry, there is not a gla- 
 cier-transported block on any of the broad bottoms 
 of the valley. The boulders occurring are such as
 
 522 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 have in every instance leaped from the adjoining 
 cliffs: a fact rendered easy of confirmation by the 
 constantly changing character of the strata flanking 
 the valley. As to the second question, which is mere- 
 ly a matter of observation, we need only state that 
 no such accumulations exist. 
 
 The third inquiry we have made a separate one, 
 because it is not, like the second, to be decided by 
 simple observation, but demands the most careful ex- 
 amination ; for the reason that while medial and ter- 
 minal accumulations can not easily be obliterated, 
 lateral moraines, resting precariously on the flanks of 
 the valley, are liable, after the retreat of the glacier, 
 to sink down into the valley, or to be completely 
 buried and lost beneath the slope of debris constant- 
 ly accumulating at the base of the cliffs. 
 
 There is a certain feature of the tali of the Kishun 
 Gunga that enabled us to examine them satisfactori- 
 ly with reference to a determination of the question 
 whether the debris of ancient lateral moraines, broken 
 down and obliterated, were mingled with the materi- 
 al composing them. At numerous points these slopes 
 were cut by deep gullies, and their entire section ex- 
 posed. These cuttings revealed the fact that these 
 shoots, generally formed of slate, shale, and schist, 
 were hiding heavy terraces composed of very differ- 
 ent material. The question immediately occurred to 
 us, Is not this buried debris the remains of old lateral
 
 APPENDIX. 523 
 
 moraines ? We soon discovered that it presented dis- 
 tinct traces of stratification, and that, instead of being 
 formed of the angular blocks which characterize mo- 
 rainic accumulations, it was made up exclusively of 
 water-worn material. Not any of these buried ter- 
 races lay more than seventy feet above the stream, 
 and were formed by the river when flowing at a 
 higher level than at present. Thus our last ques- 
 tion must also be answered in the negative. 
 
 We now observe that the negative evidence which 
 the Kishun Gunga has given us after this somewhat 
 extended examination is exactly corroborative of the 
 positive evidence yielded by the Sinde Valley. The 
 peaks that make up the snow-fields of the locality 
 we have been examining are, as previously observed, 
 from one to two thousand feet lower than those that 
 feed the glaciers of the Sinde and Sonomarg; and 
 thus, after noting the limitations of ancient glacial 
 action in the latter locality, our expectations are ex- 
 actly met, when we find that the somewhat lower 
 peaks surrounding the Kishun Gunga failed entirely 
 td form any ice streams during the glacial period. 
 To express in a word the results of our examina- 
 tions, we may summarize thus: Cashmerian Hima- 
 layan peaks, 13,000 to 15,000 feet high, have never 
 formed glacial streams; while peaks 15,000 to 17,000 
 feet in elevation have pushed down glaciers to a 
 point S500 to 9000 feet above the sea-level — that is.
 
 524 rejViains of lost empires. 
 
 800 or 1000 feet below the line to which present 
 glaciers, formed among the same mountains, extend. 
 
 It is unnecessary for us to particularize further re- 
 specting our explorations in other valleys; we need 
 simj^ly say that the investigation in all was conduct- 
 ed in the same manner as in the two that have af 
 forded us the above facts, and add that the evidence 
 elicited by such examination was, in every instance, 
 confirmatory of the conclusions forced upon us by 
 the phenomena presented by the Sinde and Kishun 
 Gunga. The larger number of the valleys examined 
 lie about the following passes, which are crossed by 
 trails leading from the Valley of Cashmere on the 
 north and east: Lojji-Im-Pass, 11,300 feet; Sansun- 
 gau Pass, 13,860 feet; Stalkpild Pass, 12,900 feet; 
 Eajdiangan Pass, 11,770 feet; the remainder embrace 
 the valleys leading up to the Pir Punjal and Eutun 
 Pir passes, crossed by the Bimbour trail, one of the 
 paths which give access to the Yale of Cashmere 
 from the plains of India. 
 
 The foregoing conclusions may seem, at first, to ex- 
 hibit a decided disagreement with those to be drawn 
 from the facts given by Dr. Hooker. But this is not 
 so. They do, however, militate against certain in- 
 ferences that have been drawn from those facts. If 
 we mistake not, the lowest traces of glacial action 
 discovered by Hooker among the Sikkim and N"epal 
 Himalayas were at an elevation of about 8000 feet;
 
 APPENDIX. 525 
 
 while the level reached by existing glaciers was 
 found to vary from 12,000 to 16,000 feet. From a 
 careful comparison of the various measurements he 
 gives, we estimate that the general difference be- 
 tween the descent of ancient and present glaciers in 
 the valleys of those lofty ranges may be stated as 
 5000 to 6000 feet. Now it has been inferred that 
 the snow -line suffered a depression approximating 
 these figures. But we have seen that, among the 
 lower Cashmerian rano-es, the ice streams of former 
 times did not extend more than 1000 feet below the 
 influence of present glaciers ; and that the dropping 
 of the snow-line must be expressed by even smaller 
 numbers. But by whatever causes the line of per- 
 petual cold was pushed dowm uj^on the flanks of the 
 Himalayas, we must suppose that these agencies af- 
 fected about equally the climate of the Cashmerian, 
 Sikkim, and Nepal provinces. We would doubtless 
 be very far from the truth should we suppose that 
 amono; the mountains of the latter the snow-line for- 
 merly lay 5000 to 6000 feet below its present level. 
 Local influences, es2:)ecially the influence of vast 
 breadths of snow, might, indeed, conspire to aid in 
 the depression of the line of cold among the extreme- 
 ly elevated peaks of the Nepal and Sikkim Hima- 
 layas to a somewhat lower level than it attained 
 among the Cashmerian ranges. Yet such influences 
 must have been comparatively feeble. If this be so,
 
 526 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 then the. descent of the snow-line during the glacial 
 period, measured on the flanks of the highest ranges 
 of the Himalayas, would be somewhere between one 
 and two thousand feet. We have not the requisite 
 data for determining the numerical relation that ex- 
 ists between the depression of a given snow-line and 
 the extension of existing glaciers as the result of such 
 depression ; but so confident are we of the correct- 
 ness of the conclusions to which we have been led 
 by the phenomena of the Cashmerian valleys, that 
 we entertain no doubt but that the dropping of the 
 Himalayan snow -line from 1000 to 2000 feet (the 
 maximum depression that our observations will al- 
 low us to believe ever took place) would cause Sik- 
 kim qnd Nepal glaciers, which now hang in their 
 lofty valleys at from 12,000 to 16,000 feet elevation, 
 to flow down and choke these valleys at the lower 
 level of 8000 to 11,000 feet, the extreme limits 
 reached in difl^erent valleys by those ancient glacial 
 streams. 
 
 It will not be without interest for us, before clos- 
 ing this chapter, to notice the bearing of the facts 
 which we have been studying upon the interesting 
 question respecting the causes instrumental in initi- 
 ating the glacial epoch. 
 
 It is an axiom in geological interpretation that lo- 
 cal effects should look for their explanation in local 
 causes. Thus, while the investigation of glacial plie-
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 D^V 
 
 iiomena was confined to the continent of Europe, 
 and observ^atiou had as yet tracked ancient glaciers 
 over a comparatively limited field, it were wholly 
 unscientific to search for cosmic causes to account 
 for the circumscribed effects : hence geological rather 
 than astronomical aa^encies were to be looked to for 
 an explanation of the phenomena. A cataclysmal or 
 gradual upheaval of vast areas of the continent of 
 Europe, and changes in the polar oceanic currents, 
 might reasonably find a place in any theory seeking 
 for the causes of the climatic revolution. 
 
 But when the scored mountains, boulder - strewn 
 plains, and moraine-traversed valleys of North Amer- 
 ica witnessed the movement of a vast sheet of glacial 
 ice over all the northern portion of the continent, as 
 low as the parallel of 39^, then to some it seemed 
 necessary, supposing the ice period of Europe and 
 that of America to have been synchronous, to search 
 for more far-reaching causes. 
 
 Geologists have seldom been at a loss to dis- 
 cover, amid the mighty forces of geological revo- 
 lution, agencies obviously adequate to effect any 
 changes that observations might determine our plan- 
 et to have imdergone. But when asked to supply 
 some agency or combination of agencies adequate to 
 the creation of the widely extended phenomena of the 
 glacial epoch — agents adapted and proportionate to 
 the work of simultaneously loading two hemispheres
 
 528 EEMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 with ice, and transforming tlie swift streams of their 
 mountains into slow, majestic rivers of ice — there ap- 
 peared, if not the impotence of her mightiest forces 
 in the presence of such demands, at least somewhat 
 of improbability that there should have occurred 
 such a conjunction of these as to have produced, un- 
 aided, all the observed phenomena. 
 
 Now Astronomy has offered to become the ally 
 of Geology and help to grapple the difficulty.* She 
 has suggested that hidden in the almost infinite pe- 
 riods of her changing cycles lies the secret of this 
 geologic revolution. f 
 
 Annually winter creeps down from the pole, and 
 covers with snow and ice a considerable portion of 
 the continents of the JSTorthern Hemisphere; the lofty 
 mountains near the equator push their summer snow- 
 limits down their sides ; while those peaks not lofty 
 enough to bear the crown through all the year are 
 now capped with snow and frost. Gradually, as 
 spring advances, the snow-line is lifted again upon 
 the mountain flanks, and driven back from the con- 
 tinents toward the pole. 
 
 In these periodic advances and retreats of winter 
 we see a repetition, on a small scale, of the glacial 
 epoch — a mimic reproduction of the scenes of the 
 
 * "Popular Science Alontlily" for July, 187:]: urt. iii., by N. H. 
 Winclicll. 
 
 + LycU's "Principles ol" Geology,'" bk. i., cli. vii.
 
 APPENDIX. 529 
 
 world's great winter iu geologic times. Consequent 
 upon some great climatic revolution, resulting in the 
 reduction of the temperature of the Northern Hem- 
 isphere, and the unwasted accumulation of centuries 
 of snow, the sheet of ice that caps the northern pole 
 gradually extended, and pushed down over all the 
 continents toward the equator, in masses often five 
 thousand feet in thickness. 
 
 In ascribing such universality to the influences 
 of the ice period, it will be observed that we are not 
 making a theoretic extension of ancient glacial action 
 beyond the broad foundation of facts. If we have 
 not failed in the purposes of this chapter, we have 
 shown that the climate of Asia experienced during 
 the glacial epoch a change corresj)onding to that sut- 
 fered by the climate of Europe and North America. 
 Such a lowering of the snow-line of the Himalayas 
 as we have seen actually occurred is exactly such 
 as we should expect to find took place among those 
 mountains, when we consider the nature of the cli- 
 mate of Asia, and the fact that the Himalayan ranges 
 lie 15° to 20° nearer the equator than the once gla- 
 ciated fields of the United States and EurojDe. 
 
 Thus while the snows of winter spread over the 
 plains and valleys of these continents that were for- 
 merly covered with glacial ice, the summer snow-limit 
 of the Himalayas is simply lowered a few thousand 
 feet, still hanging high above the plains of India.,
 
 530 REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. 
 
 So during the glacial or cosmic winter. While the 
 northern half of Europe and a considerable portion 
 of North America were loaded with heavy glaciers, 
 the snow -line of the Himalayas simply dropped 
 somewhat lower, and the glaciers crept a little far- 
 ther down the valleys — those communicating with 
 the most extensive snow-fields making the greatest 
 descent. 
 
 Now this parallelism in phenomena — this similar- 
 ity in advance and retreat — which we find to exist 
 between the annual and geologic winters, naturally 
 leads us to look for parallelism in their originating 
 causes; and is thus to a greater or less degree con- 
 firmatory of the theory of the astronomical origin of 
 the geological epoch of cold ; for as the annual cli- 
 matic changes to which the Northern and Southern 
 Hemispheres are subjected result from familiar as- 
 tronomic movements, there arises a sort of presump- 
 tion in favor of the concernment of similar causes in 
 the creation of the like phenomena of the ice period ; 
 especially when we find that these are not of a local 
 or continental, but world-extended nature, occurring 
 in both the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere, 
 and differing from the former only in intensity and 
 duration. 
 
 To astronomy, as well as to geology, it would then 
 seem we should look for the explanation of the origin 
 of the glacial epoch. When we ask. Are there great
 
 APPENDIX. 531 
 
 astronomical cycles, the results of wliose changing 
 periods would naturally be the glaciation of the 
 Northern and Southern Hemispheres ? and receive in 
 answei', There are such cycles — as the precession of 
 the equinox, the change in the inclination of the 
 earth's axis, and the variation in the eccentricity of 
 the earth's orbit""' — of vast but calculable periodic- 
 ity, whose variations either singly or in conjunction 
 would powerfully effect the climate of our planet, 
 throwing the poles alternately into the rigoi-s of a 
 long geologic winter, measured by decades of millen- 
 niums, then ^^e may consider the theory of the causal 
 connection between the glacial era and the variations 
 of the astronomical cycles as entitled, at least, to a 
 provisional acceptance. 
 
 * " Popular Science Monthly" for July, 1873, art. iii., p. 291. 
 
 THE END.
 
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