The plans of the chambers thus excavated are given in the volumes, together with wood engravings of many of the principal bas-reliefs and inscriptions,-for most of which we must refer the reader to the work itself; since, without making our article entirely pictorial, it would be a waste of space to attempt a description of them.

The work was not prosecuted, however, without many discouragements. The chief of these arose from the cupidity or stupidity of Mohammed Pasha, the governor of the province of Mosul, of whom we have a flattering portrait.

"The appearance of his excellency was not prepossessing, but it matched his temper and conduct. Nature had placed hypocrisy beyond his reach. He had one eye and one ear; he was short and fat, deeply marked by the smallpox, uncouth in gestures, and harsh in voice."-P. 39.

One of this functionary's expedients to prevent working at the mounds, was to cover them with false graves of true believers, which could not be disturbed. The hindrance from this cause was so great that our antiquarian was finally obliged, he says, to "come to an understanding" on the subject with Daoud Agha, the captain of the irregular troops, who was the chief executive officer in the vicinity.

At length, in the middle of December, the obnoxious Pasha was deposed, and Hafiz Pasha appointed in his stead,—Ismail Pasha, a popular general, acting as regent until he could reach his government. This change occasioned a commotion in the country, which interrupted Mr. Layard's researches. He went to Bagdad, and did not return till the beginning of January, when he found the new governor more friendly. Interruptions arose, however, from other quarters, so that he did not fairly commence operations at the ruins till the middle of February, though his agents continued at work, with considerable success, in his absence, bringing to light "fragments of sculpture and inscriptions, with much entire pottery and inscribed bricks."

But, soon after recommencing their labours, the party began to make more important discoveries, the account of which forms one of the most interesting parts of the book.

"On the morning following I rode to the encampment of Sheikh Abd-urrahman, and was returning to the mound, when I saw two Arabs of his tribe urging their mares to the top of their speed. On approaching me they stopped. Hasten, O Bey,' exclaimed one of them,-"hasten to the diggers, for they have found Nimrod himself. Wallah, it is wonderful, but it is true! we have seen him with our eyes. There is no God but God; and both joining in this pious exclamation, they galloped off, without further words, in the direction of their tents.

"On reaching the ruins I descended into the new trench, and found the workmen, who had already seen me, as I approached, standing near a heap

of baskets and cloaks. Whilst Awad advanced, and asked for a present to celebrate the occasion, the Arabs withdrew the screen they had hastily constructed, and disclosed an enormous human head sculptured in full out of the alabaster of the country. They had uncovered the upper part of the figure, the remainder of which was still buried in the earth. I saw at once that the head must belong to a winged lion or bull, similar to those of Khorsabad and Persepolis. It was in admirable preservation. The expression was calm, yet majestic, and the outline of the features showed a freedom and knowledge of art, scarcely to be looked for in the works of so remote a period. The cap had three horns, and, unlike that of the human-headed bulls hitherto found in Assyria, was rounded and without ornament at the top.

"I was not surprised that the Arabs had been amazed and terrified at this apparition. It required no stretch of imagination to conjure up the most strange fancies. This gigantic head, blanched with age, thus rising from the bowels of the earth, might well have belonged to one of those fearful beings which are pictured in the traditions of the country, as appearing to mortals, slowly ascending from the regions below. One of the workmen, on catching the first glimpse of the monster, had thrown down his basket and run off towards Mosul as fast as his legs could carry him."

"I now ordered a trench to be dug due south from the head, in the expectation of finding a corresponding figure, and before night-fall reached the object of my search, about twelve feet distant. Engaging two or three men to sleep near the sculptures, I returned to the village and celebrated the day's discovery by a slaughter of sheep, of which all the Arabs near partook. As some wandering musicians chanced to be at Selamiyah, I sent for them, and dances were kept up during the greater part of the night. On the following morning Arabs from the other side of the Tigris, and the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, congregated on the mound. Even the women could not repress their curiosity, and came in crowds with their children from afar.. My Cawass was stationed during the day in the trench, into which I would not allow the multitude to descend."

!

"I ascertained by the end of March the existence of a second pair of winged human-headed lions, differing from those previously discovered in form, the human shape being continued to the waist and furnished with arms. In one hand each figure carried a goat or stag, and in the other, which hung down by the side, a branch with three flowers. They formed a northern entrance into the chamber of which the lions previously described were the southern portal. I completely uncovered the latter, and found them to be entire. They were about twelve feet in height, and the same number in length. The body and limbs were admirably portrayed; the muscles and bones, although strongly developed, to display the strength of the animal, showed at the same time a correct knowledge of its anatomy and form. Expanded wings sprang from the shoulder and spread over the back; a knotted girdle, ending in tassels, encircled the loins. These sculptures, forming an entrance, were partly in full and partly in relief. The head and fore-part, facing the chamber, were in full; but only one side of the rest of the slab was sculptured, the back being placed against the wall of sun-dried bricks. That the spectator might have both a perfect front and side view of the figures, they were furnished with five legs; two were carved on the end of the slab to face the chamber, and three on the side. The relief of the body and three limbs was high and bold, and the slab was covered, in all parts not occupied by the image, with inscriptions in the cuneiform character. These magnificent specimens of Assyrian art were in perfect preservation; the most minute lines in the details of the wings and in the ornaments had been retained with their original freshness. Not a character was wanting in the inscriptions."—Vol. i, p. 75.

The season was now far advanced, and we should do great injustice to Mr. Layard to omit quoting some of the descriptions of natural scenery, which are to us no less interesting than the narrative of his explorations.

"When I returned in the evening, after the labour of the day, I often sat at the door of my tent, and giving myself up to the full enjoyment of that calm and repose which are imparted to the senses by such scenes as these, I gazed listlessly on the varied groups before me. As the sun went down behind the low hills which separate the river from the desert-even their rocky sides had struggled to emulate the verdant clothing of the plain-its receding rays were gradually withdrawn, like a transparent veil of light, from the landscape. Over the pure cloudless sky was the glow of the last light. The great mound threw its dark shadow far across the plain. In the distance, and beyond the Zab, Keshaf, another venerable ruin, rose indistinctly into the evening mist. Still more distant, and still more indistinct, was a solitary hill overlooking the ancient city of Arbela. The Kurdish Mountains, whose snowy summits cherished the dying sunbeams, yet struggled with the twilight. The bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle, at first faint, became louder as the flocks returned from their pastures, and wandered among the tents. Girls hurried over the greensward to seek their father's cattle, or crouched down to milk those which had returned alone to their well-remembered folds. Some were coming from the river, bearing the replenished pitcher on their heads or shoulders; others, no less graceful in their form, and erect in their carriage, were carrying the heavy load of long grass which they had cut in the meadows. Sometimes a party of horsemen might have been seen in the distance slowly crossing the plain, the tufts of ostrich feathers which topped their long spears showing darkly against the evening sky. They would ride up to my tent, and give me the usual salutation, Peace be with you, O Bey, or, Allah Aienak, God help you.' Then driving the end of their lances into the ground, they would spring from their mares, and fasten their halters to the still quivering weapons.

Seating themselves on the grass, they related deeds of war and plunder, or speculated on the site of the tents of Sofuk, until the moon rose, when they vaulted into their saddles and took the way of the desert.

"The plain now glittered with innumerable fires. As the night advanced, they vanished one by one, until the landscape was wrapped in darkness and in silence, only disturbed by the barking of the Arab dog."-Vol. i, pp. 82, 83.

The discoveries made at the mounds had created such a sensation at Mosul, that some time before this the Pasha had thought best to have the work suspended. Mr. Layard, meanwhile, had written to Sir Stratford Canning, to procure for him a firman, or viziral letter, from the Porte, authorizing its continuance, and securing him against further interruption. While waiting for its arrival, he took advantage of the time to visit Sofuk, the Sheikh of the great Arab tribe of Shammar, which occupies nearly the whole of Mesopotamia. This journey gives rise to some of his most picturesque descriptive passages, most of which are so excellent that we are in doubt whether to withhold them entirely, or to curtail them within the limits of our review. The day after leaving Mosul their caravan passed "the low lime-stone hills which, broken into a thousand rocky valleys, form a barrier between the Tigris and the plains of Mesopotamia:"

"We now found ourselves in the desert, or rather wilderness; for at this time of the year nature could not disclose a more varied scene, or a more luxuriant vegetation. We trod on an interminable carpet, figured by flowers of every hue. Nor was water wanting; for the abundant rains had given reservoirs to every hollow, and to every ravine. Their contents, owing to the nature of the soil, were brackish, but not unwholesome. Clusters of black tents were scattered, and flocks of sheep and camels wandered over the plain. Those of our party who were well mounted urged their horses through the meadows, pursuing the herds of gazelles, or the wild boar, skulking in the long grass. Although such scenes as these may be described, the exhilaration caused by the air of the desert in spring, and the feeling of freedom arising from the contemplation of its boundless expanse, must have been experienced before they can be understood. The stranger, as well as the Arab, feels the intoxication of the senses which they produce. From their effects upon the wandering son of Ishmael, they might well have been included by the Prophet amongst those things forbidden to the true believer."-Vol. i, pp. 86, 87.

After two or three days' wandering, they at length came upon the encampment of Sofuk:

"We started early in the morning, and took the direction pointed out by Khalaf. Our view was bounded to the east by a rising ground. When we reached its summit, we looked down upon a plain, which appeared to swarm with moving objects. We had come upon the main body of the Shammar. It would be difficult to describe the appearance of a large tribe, like that we now met, when migrating to new pastures. We soon found ourselves in the midst of wide-spreading flocks of sheep and camels. As far as the eye could reach, to the right, to the left, and in front, still the same moving crowd. Long lines of asses and bullocks, laden with black tents; huge caldrons and variegated carpets; aged women and men, no longer able to walk, tied on the heap of

domestic furniture; infants crammed into saddle-bags, their tiny heads thrust through the narrow opening, balanced on the animal's back by kids or lambs tied on the opposite side; young girls clothed only in the close-fitting Arab shirt, which displayed rather than concealed their graceful forms; mothers with their children on their shoulders; boys driving flocks of lambs; horsemen armed with their long tufted spears, scouring the plain on their fleet mares; riders urging their dromedaries with their short hooked sticks, and leading their high-bred steeds by the halter; colts galloping amongst the throng; high-born ladies seated in the centre of huge wings, which extend like those of a butterfly from each side of the camel's hump, and are no less gaudy and variegated; such was the motley crowd through which we had to wend our way for several hours. Our appearance created a lively sensation ; the women checked our horses; the horsemen assembled round us, and rode by our side; the children yelled and ran after the Franks.”—Vol. i, pp. 90, 91.

The following portrait of the favourite wife of the Shammar chieftain gives an idea of the "latest fashion" in the Desert :—

"Of the three ladies now forming his harem, the chief was Amsha, a lady celebrated in the song of every Arab of the desert, for her beauty and noble blood. She was daughter of Hassan, Sheikh of the Tai, a tribe tracing its origin from the remotest antiquity, and one of whose chiefs, Hatem, her ancestor, is a hero of Eastern romance. Sofuk had carried her away by force from her father; but had always treated her with great respect. From her rank and beauty she had earned the title of 'Queen of the Desert.' Her form, traceable through the thin shirt which she wore like other Arab women, was well proportioned and graceful. She was tall in stature and fair in complexion. Her features were regular, and her eyes dark and brilliant. She had undoubtedly claims to more than ordinary beauty; to the Arabs she was perfection, for all the resources of their art had been exhausted to complete what nature had begun. Her lips were dyed deep blue, her eyebrows were continued in indigo until they united over the nose, her cheeks and forehead were spotted with beauty marks, her eye-lashes darkened by kohl; and on her legs and bosom could be seen the tattooed ends of flowers and fanciful ornaments, which were carried in festoons and network over her whole body. Hanging from each ear, and reaching to her waist, was an enormous ear-ring of gold, terminating in a tablet of the same material, carved and ornamented with four turquoises. Her nose was also adorned with a prodigious gold ring, set with jewels, of such ample dimensions that it covered the mouth, and was to be removed when the lady ate. Ponderous rows of strung beads, Assyrian cylinders, fragments of coral, agates, and parti-coloured stones, hung from her neck; loose silver rings encircled her wrists and ankles, making a loud jingling as she walked. Över her blue shirt was thrown, when she issued from her tent, a coarse striped cloak, and a common black handkerchief was tied round her head."-Vol. i, pp. 98, 99.

From this visit to the Shammar tribe, Mr. Layard returned to Nimroud, towards the middle of spring. Two men only had been employed at the ruins during his absence. The Christian families of Mosul being anxious to see the sculptures, he chose this time, before the heat of summer, to gratify their curiosity, by giving a grand entertainment at the scene of his labours. All the neighbouring Arabs were also invited, out of policy, and the festivities, celebrated with war and other national dances, and the recitations of jesters,