frequenting the shores and banks of shallow rivers, over the surface of which he slowly sails, or sits on a rock a little raised above the water, watching for fish. These he seizes with a sudden and instantaneous stroke of the foot, seldom missing his aim." The notes of this northern hunter of the arctic wilds are congenial with the gloomy scenery, adding "horror even to a Greenland winter." Among these scenes of silent desolation, the snowy owls rear their progeny, building their nest on the ground, or off rocks; the young are two in number.

light was fading in the western horizon. The owl, perched on the old masonry, occasionally sent forth its mournful note. The shrill laugh of the Arabs would sometimes rise above the cry of the jackals. Then all earthly noises were buried in the deep roll of the distant thunder. It was desolation such as those alone who have witnessed such scenes can know-desolation greater than the desolation of the sandy wastes of Africa; for there was the wreck of man as well as of Nature."*

The social and domestic condition of the Arabs is ever interesting, and on it Mr. Layard has thrown much light. The people from a neighbouring encampment having arrived in close proximity to the observing Englishman, he tells us that the scene was one of activity and bustle. Every one appeared desirous of surpass

NINEVEH AS IT IS.

No. II.

To the interesting labours of Mr. Layard we again recur, as revealing some of the most important discoveries of modern times, and also illustrating the results which have rewarded intelligent, persevering, and well-directed research. In the descriptions of the labours to which his attention was specially turned, he varies his narrative by allusions to the scenery of the land in which he was engaged. "It was cold and damp," says he, on one occasion, "and the Arabs, collecting brushwood and trunks of trees, made a great fire, which lighted up the recesses of the jungle. As the night advanced, a violent storm broke over us; the wind rose to a hurricane-the rain descended in torrents-the thunder rolled in one long peal-and the vivid streams of lightning, almost incessant, showed the surrounding landscape. When the storm had abated I walked to a short distance from the tents to gaze upon the scene. The huge fire we had kindled threw a lurid glare over the trees round our encampment. The great mound could be distinguished through the gloom, rising like a distant mountain against the dark sky. From all sides came the melancholy wail of the jackals-thousands of these animals having issued from their subterranean dwellings in the ruins, as soon as the last gleam of twi

vehemence of shouting. A stranger would have fancied that the people were all quarrelling; in which, out of several hundreds of men and women, no two persons could agree. The confusion, however, arose from a friendly debate in reference to the site of the respective tents; and when the matter had been settled to the general satisfaction, without recourse to any more violent measures than yelling and shouting, each family began to raise its temporary abode. The camels were made to kneel, and were then deprived of their burdens,the donkeys were brought to the various spots at which their loads were required

the women spread the coarse, black, goat-hair canvass-the men rushed about with wooden mallets to drive in the stakes and pegs; and in a few minutes the dwellings which were to afford them shelter were complete. The women and girls, to whom all household matters were consigned, then went forth in search of water, or to collect brushwood or dry twigs for the fires, and the men assembled in the tent of the Sheikh, and crowding in a circle round the entire trunk of an old tree which was soon enveloped in flames, prepared to pass the remainder of the day in that desultory small talk about stolen sheep, stray don keys, or unsuccessful attempts at plunder, which fills up the leisure of the Arab, unless he be employed in the more exciting engagements of plunder or war.t

Various reasons having induced Mr. Layard to decide on the removal of some

* Layard, vol. ii., chap. xii.

t Ibid.

of the larger sculptures from the excavations, arrangements were made for this purpose. It was important also that they should not be sawn in pieces, as had formerly been done with a pair of bulls; but it required considerable ingenuity to contrive a means of their transport entire. A carpenter was sent to the mountains to fell the largest mulberry-tree he could find, or some wood of equally compact grain, and to bring beams and pieces of the trunk to Mosul. With the aid of a pair of strong iron axles, purchased from the dragoman of the French consulate, a cart was made of rough but firm construction, each wheel being formed of three solid pieces, nearly a foot thick, from the trunk of the mulberry-tree, and bound together by iron hoops. The vehicle was looked upon with wonder and admiration by thousands of the people. Crowds went to gaze at it, as it stood in the yard of the vice-consul's khan, and the pasha's artillery-men, who, from their acquaintance with the mysteries of gun-carriages, were regarded as authorities on such matters, daily declaimed on the properties and use of the cart to a large circle of wondering listeners. But when the news was heard that it was about to leave the gates and to be drawn over the bridge, the business of the place was completely suspended. Secretaries and scribes from the palace deserted their divans; guards left their posts; the bazaars were cleared; and half the population assembled on the banks of the river to witness the manoeuvres of the vehicle. A pair of buffaloes, with the assistance of a crowd of Chaldæans and shouting Arabs, forced the ponderous wheels over the rotten bridge of boats. "The multitudes seemed to be fully satisfied with the spectacle. The cart was the topic of general conversation in Mosul until the arrival, from Europe, of some children's toys-barking dogs and moving puppets-which gave rise to fresh excitement, and filled even the gravest of the clergy with wonder at the learning and wisdom of the infidels."

Having reduced the weight of the sculptures as much as possible by sawing away from the back that which was not intended to be seen, it was necessary first to remove the bull from the ruins in order to get it on to the cart in the plain below. A trench was accordingly made, about fifteen feet wide, in some places twenty deep, and nearly two hundred feet long. The principal difficulty was

to lower the mass; for during its descent it could only be sustained by ropes, which if of insufficient strength, the sculpture would be precipitated to the ground, and, in all probability, broken. The few ropes Mr. Layard possessed had expressly been sent across the desert from Aleppo, but they were small. From Bagdad a thick hawser had been obtained, made of the fibres of the palm, besides two pairs of blocks and a pair of jack-screws belonging to the steamer of the Euphrates expedition. The sculptures were wrapped in mats and felts to preserve them from injury, and they were to be lowered on rollers which had been laid on the ground. But Mr. Layard must now tell his own story in his admirably descriptive style:-"My men being ready," says he, "and all my preparations complete, I stationed myself on the top of the high bank of earth over the second bull, and ordered the wedges to be struck out from under the sculpture to be moved. Still, however, it remained firmly in its place. A rope having been passed round it, six or seven men easily tilted it over. The thick, ill-made cable stretched with the strain, and almost buried itself in the earth round which it was coiled. The ropes held well. The mass descended gradually, the Chaldæans propping it up with the beams. It was a moment of great anxiety. The drums and shrill pipes of the Kurdish musicians increased the din and confusion caused by the war-cry of the Arabs, who were half frantic with excitement. They had thrown off nearly all their garments; their long hair floated in the wind; and they indulged in the wildest postures and gesticulations as they clung to the ropes. The women had congregated on the sides of the trenches, and by their incessant screams, and by the ear-piercing tahlehl, added to the enthusiasm of the men. The bull once in motion, it was no longer possible to obtain a hearing. The loudest cries I could produce were lost in the crash of discordant sounds. Neither the hippopotamus hide whips of the Cawasses, nor the bricks and clods of earth with which I endeavoured to draw attention from some of the most noisy of the group, were of any avail. Away went the bull, steady enough, as long as supported by the props behind; but as it came nearer to the rollers, the beams could no longer be used. The cable and ropes stretched more and more. Dry from the climate, as they felt the strain, they creaked and

threw out dust. Water was thrown over them, but in vain, for they all broke together when the sculpture was within four or five feet of the rollers. The bull was precipitated to the ground. Those who held the ropes, thus suddenly released, followed its example, and were rolling one over the other in the dust. A sudden silence succeeded to the clamour. I rushed into the trenches, prepared to find the bull in many pieces. It would be difficult to describe my satisfaction when I found it lying precisely where I had wished to place it, and uninjured! The Arabs no sooner got on their legs again, than, seeing the result of the accident, they darted out of the trenches, and, seizing by the hands the women who were looking on, formed a large circle, and, yelling their war-cry with redoubled energy, commenced a most mad dance. The musicians exerted themselves to the utmost, but their music was drowned by the cries of the dancers. It would have been useless to endeavour to put a check upon these proceedings. I preferred allowing the men to wear themselves out-a result which, considering the amount of exertion and energy displayed both by limbs and throat, was not long in taking place.” *

The night, after SO successful an undertaking, having been spent by the Arabs in eating and dancing, they proceeded, apparently unfatigued, and still singing and capering, to the mound. The sculpture having been placed on the rollers, the men had now only to pull it along, and to bring those rollers to the front over which the mass had passed. Having conveyed it in this manner down the side of the mound, it was lowered on to the cart, and this was soon ready to be dragged to the river. Buffaloes having refused to move the load, though aided by men, the work had to be accomplished by men to the number of about three hundred, who screeched at the top of their voices, while the musicians drummed and fifed with all their might. The procession was closed by the women, who favoured the multitude with a very shrill accompaniment to the noise, while horsemen performed various feats around, dashing backwards and forwards, and charging with their spears. The procession was re-arranged on the following day; and, with the exception of a night attack of some Arabs who had regarded the ropes, mats, and felts with jealousy,

* Layard, vol. ii., chap. xiii.

and the cart having once stuck in the sands, the bull was triumphantly dragged down to within a few hundred yards of the river, where a platform was erected to receive it, and where a guard of Arabs encamped till the lion could be brought down, and the two embarked together for Bagdad. By a very similar process to that just described, the lion was also brought to the banks of the Tigris, where it rested with the bull till the necessary arrangements were completed for their embarkation.

But though these physical obstacles had thus to be encountered, Mr. Layard found others even more difficult to be subdued. The raftmen of Mosul refused to render any assistance in the navigation of the river in the required part. Their fathers had never done it, and they therefore resolved not to lend any aid in the design. At length, a poor debtor of Bagdad preferred the desperate undertaking to the certain prospect of a prolonged residence in the gloomy subterranean abodes of his unfortunate class, though it was impossible to persuade him that his raft would ever reach its destination, that he could survive the enterprise, or that Mr. Layard had a greater stake in the matter than himself. Having at length been induced to sign the contract, and to make up his mind as well as possible to submit to his hard fate, he protested in a long speech, by the prophet, that he would undertake the work for no one else in the world, and adopted a variety of other devices to gain more money. But Mr. Layard cut short his complimentary discourse, and hinted that he was now in the power of an authority from which there was no appeal. The raft was made; though he strenuously opposed any suggestions for its improvement, but "like many other injured men, he fell a victim to the right of the stranger,' and had to sacrifice, at once, prejudice and habit." Having at length reduced his refractory workmen, who struck for higher wages, to the utmost penitence, the rafts received their cargoes, and were floated down the stream. he contemplated the receding vessels, Mr. Layard says, "I could not forbear musing upon the strange destiny of these burdens, which, after adorning the palaces of the Assyrian kings, the objects of wonder, and perhaps the worship, of thousands, had been buried unknown for centuries beneath a soil trodden by Persians under Cyrus, by Greeks under

As

Alexander, and by Arabs under the first successors of their prophet. They were now to visit India, to cross the most distant seas of the southern hemisphere, and to be finally placed in a British museum. Who can venture to foretell how their strange career will end?"*

Mr. Layard vividly describes the scene which the mount of Nimroud presented during the excavations. It was a curious sight, he tells us, to observe on all sides, issuing from the earth, long lines of wildlooking beings, with dishevelled hair, their limbs only half concealed by a short loose shirt, some jumping and capering, and all hurrying to and fro, shouting like madmen. Each carried a basket, and, as he reached the edge of the mound, emptied its contents, which raised a cloud of dust. He then returned at the top of his speed, dancing and yelling as before, and again suddenly disappeared in the bowels of the earth.

If the principal trench is entered by a flight of steps rudely cut in the earth, perhaps a Bedouin sheikh with his followers will be encountered, as they gaze with astonishment at the work. Each holds his long spear, tufted with ostrich feathers, in one hand, and in the other the halter of his mare, which stands patiently behind him. He rises as he hears approaching footsteps, and if it is wished to escape the embrace of a very dirty stranger, it will be best to escape into the trenches. Passing a pair of colossal lions, winged and human headed, which form the portal, and entering the subterraneous labyrinth, bustle and confusion seem to reign supreme. Arabs un about in different directions; Chaldæans in their striped dresses and curious conical caps are digging with picks into the tenacious earth, raising a dense cloud of fine dust at every stroke; wild strains of Kurdish music may be heard occasionally issuing from some distant part of the ruins, and if caught by the parties at work, the Arabs join their voices in chorus, raise the war-cry, and labour with renewed vigour. Enter the principal hall, and sculptured gigantic-winged figures, carrying mysterious symbols in their hands, are seen. One of them has fallen across the entrance, and there is just room to creep beneath it. Slabs of alabaster, fallen from their original position, are in different directions, and the foot treads in a maze of small bas-reliefs, representing chariots, horsemen, battles, Layard, vol. ii., chap. xiii.

and sieges. "Whichever way we turn,

we find ourselves in the midst of a host of rooms, and without an acquaintance with the intricacies of the place, we should soon lose ourselves in this labyrinth. The accumulated rubbish being generally left in the centre of the chambers, the whole excavation consists of a number of narrow passages, panelled on one side with slabs of alabaster, and shut in on the other by a high wall of earth, halfburied, in which may here and there be seen a broken vase, or a brick painted with brilliant colours. We may wander through these galleries for an hour or two, examining the marvellous sculptures or the numerous inscriptions which surround us. Here we meet long rows of kings, attended by their eunuchs and priests-their lines of winged figures, carrying fir-cones and religious emblems, and seemingly in adoration before the mystic tree. At length, wearied, we issue from the buried edifice by a trench on the opposite side to that by which we entered, and find ourselves again upon the naked platform. We look around in vain for any traces of the wonderful remains we have once seen, and are half inclined to believe that we have dreamed a dream, or have been listening to some tale of eastern romance. Some, who may hereafter tread on the spot when the grass again grows over the ruins of the Assyrian palaces, may indeed suspect that I have been relating a vision."*

To the courage, energy, and talent of the distinguished author of these deeplyinteresting volumes, it is but just to pay our tribute. The efforts he has made, and the results that have arisen, will be remembered with gratitude by his countrymen and by the lovers of knowledge in every land. Nor ought we to forget to express our humble acknowledgment to the God of providence, who has thus revealed so rich a source of knowledge in reference to a nation so interesting to every student of his holy word.

F. S. W.

ALFRED, A STUDENT AND AN
INSTRUCTOR.

WITH the assistance of learned men, Alfred,† in the thirty-ninth year of his age, began to study the Latin language

*Layard, vol. ii., chap. xiii.

It is now precisely a thousand years since Alfred was born.