representative, could have made a residence here at all tolerable to a European. In the winter, the climate is cold, (the latitude being about 33° north,) and many snow-clad mountains within a short distance, from which bleak winds descend; but the three months of June, July, and August, are so intensely hot, as to make persons staying here, even after a long residence in India, sigh for the more temperate regions of Bengal or Hindoostan. Intense as

the heat of the climate may appear to the English reader, from the degrees of the thermometer given in the preceding page, it may be added, that there were seasons in which the heat was even still greater than there mentioned. In a letter received from Mr. Rich, during my subsequent residence in Calcutta, dated Bagdad, April 7, 1820, nearly four years after my passing through the city on my way to India, he says, "So extraordinarily bad was our last summer, so fearfully exceeding any thing you experienced here, (though you had a tolerable specimen of our climate,) that I had, at one time, intended to send you an account of it for publication.”

JULY 22nd.-Accompanied by Mr. Bellino, the Italian secretary of the Resident, and one of the Indian sepoys of the body-guard as a guide, we set out at day-light on an excursion to the ruins called Akkerkoof.

On going out at the Bab el Jisser, we crossed the bridge of boats, which was two hundred and seventy-five horse-paces, or little more than six hundred feet in length. It is of the most wretched construction; and, considering the crowds that go over it constantly, the weakness of the boats, and the strength of the wind and current at some particular seasons, it seems surprising that it holds so well together.

We passed from hence, through a long continued line of streets

and bazārs, on the west of the Tigris, of the same kind as those on the east, and came to one of the principal hospitals of the Dervishes. The architecture of the front of this edifice presented nothing remarkable; the masonry was of the best kind, of burnt brick work, and, like every part of the old edifices at Bagdad constructed of that material, was quite equal to the best works of this kind executed in the present day, and of the same materials, in Europe. The great arch of the front was of the Gothic form, and very lofty; and a broad band on each side of it contained a long and finely cut inscription, in Kufic characters, executed in high relief, on an ornamented ground.

From hence, we soon got on the skirts of the Western Desert, and continuing our way across it in a westerly direction, came in sight of the distant ruin, of which we were in search. From the level nature of the ground over which we went, this tall mass of building appeared, when we first observed it, to be within half an hour's ride, though it was two long hours before we reached the spot, and about three from the time of our leaving the city-gate. It may be considered, therefore, as at least twelve miles distant from Bagdad; and it lies from thence, in the bearing, by compass, of west by north half north.

The ruined monument called Akkerkoof, and more generally Kasr Nimrood, or Nimrod's Palace, is a shapeless mass of brick-work, rising from a broad base, now so worn away, as to be a mere heap of rubbish. The height of the whole is estimated, with apparent accuracy, by Mr. Rich, to be one hundred and twenty-six English feet; though, by Niebuhr, it is stated at seventy Danish ones. The diameter of the largest part is given, by the former authority, as one hundred feet; the circumference of the lower part of the brick-work still distinct, which is much above the real base, as three hundred feet; and the remains of the tower still perfect, above what appears as a heap of rubbish, though evidently part of the edifice, as containing one hundred thousand cubic feet of masonry.

The part that remains is composed of unburnt bricks, of a large

size, cemented together by thin layers of mud, and between every five or six rows of brick, or at intervals of about three feet, are layers of reeds. These last were placed across each other in four separate layers, that is, the first and third shewing their ends outwards, and the second and fourth their sides, as in the weaving of a straw mat. The softer substance of the brick having gradually crumbled away by the operation of the elements, these layers now project beyond the surface, and form distinct ridges, which are seen at a considerable distance in regular lines.

The use of these layers of reed at intervals was, perhaps, to absorb whatever moisture might have been imbibed by the earthy material, and give it out more freely along its continued tubes towards the surface; and it perhaps underwent some chemical preparation, either to fit it for that purpose, or to preserve it against decay, for these reeds were still as brittle and as fresh as if they had been placed there within the present year. From their size and texture, they seemed more like the stems of rushes from the river, than the stalks of common straw. In some places, besides the layers of reeds, were thick strata of mud and pebbles mixed, of the depth of more than a foot, while the layers of reeds seldom exceeded an inch or two in thickness; but there did not appear to be any invariable rule observed in the succession of the intervals between either.

The composition of the bricks, their size, and their manner of union—all indeed, except these layers of reed-resembled the work in the walls of the ancient Tanis, the capital of the Pharaohs in Lower Egypt, and those of Eliethas, one of the ancient cities of Upper Egypt. The whole mass, as it stood, resembled the remains of a brick pyramid, more than the fragment of any other kind of building. Its base occupied an extent of nearly three hundred feet square. From thence, a slope went up, as on a heap of rubbish, which, however, was evidently part of the original work; for beneath the surface, now worn into mud by the wind and weather, the layers of bricks and reeds could be plainly traced. This slope was sufficiently gentle, in most places, to be ascended on foot without difficulty, and,

after a perpendicular height of about fifty feet, it led to the more perfect mass, where the brick-work is still firm and distinct. This rises in a tall heap, nearer to a pyramidal than any other form, though it may, with the strictest propriety, be called shapeless, as it is destitute of regularity in every part of its outline. Some portions of it, indeed, rise perpendicularly, and there are appearances of holes and channels on the present outer surface; but these, from being still seen in this worn and decayed state of the monument, must have originally extended considerably beneath the original surface, and, perhaps, to the very centre of the building.

On the north-east side, and about half way up the height of the more perfect portion that remains, is a passage like an arched window, still open, its termination not being visible from any part of the heap on which I stood. By some, this is thought to have belonged originally to the building; by others, to have been made since, for the purpose of examining its interior. It appeared to me rather to resemble a work coeval with the edifice, than one of subsequent execution; and I should have been more decidedly of that opinion, were it not that there was an appearance of a constructed arch at the top of this passage; and that it is still matter of doubt, whether the constructed arch was known to the Assyrians or their contemporaries. Every one who has seen this ruin, and the similar ones at Babylon, scruples not to pronounce them all of the same age and construction. No arch has yet been seen there, nor would it be expected to be found in this place, either as an original part of the structure, or as a portion of the passage subsequently forced into the pile for purposes of examination; but whether the slight appearance which it presented, of being a constructed arch, was deceptive, we had no means of judging, without an ascent to the aperture itself, which was impracticable.

Though the interior of this solid mass of building was composed of unbaked bricks, its exterior surface seems to have been coated with furnace-burnt ones, many of which, both whole and broken, are scattered about the foot of the pile, and are said to resemble in