the tent of their chief. The venerable old man came forth to the door, attended by his subjects of all sizes and descriptions, and greeted us with a countenance beaming kindness; while his words, which our interpreter explained, were demonstra tive of patriarchal welcome."

I

Having entered, I sat down by my host! and the whole of the persons present, to far bes yond the boundaries of the tent—the sides of which were open-seated themselves also, withs out any regard to those more civilized ceremonies of subjection-the crouching of slaves, of the standing of vassalage. These persons; in rows beyond rows, appeared just as he had described them the offspring of his house the descend ants of his fathers, from age to age," and like brethren, whether holding the highest or the lowest rank, they seemed to gather round their common parent. Their sense of perfect equality in the mind of the chief, could not be more foreid Bly shewn, than in the share which they took in the objects which appeared to interest his feel ings. And as I looked from the elders, or leadi ers of the people, seated immediately around him, to the circles beyond circles of brilliant faces bending eagerly towards him and his guest, thought I had never before seen so complete" an assemblage of fine and animated countenances;

nor could I suppose a better, specimen of the still existing state of the true Arab, nor a more lively picture of the scene which must have presented itself, ages ago, in the fields of Haran, when Tereh sat in his tent door, surrounded by his sons, and his sons' sons, and the people born in his house. The venerable Arabian sheik was also seated on the ground, with a piece of carpet spread under him; and like his ancient Chaldean ancestor, turned to the one side and the other, graciously answering or questioning the groups around him, with an interest in them all, which clearly shewed the abiding simplicity of his go vernment, and their obedience. Such must have been the manners of these people for three thousand years; verifying the prediction given of Ishmael at his birth, that he, in his posterity, should be a wild man,' and always continue so, though he shall dwell for ever in the presence of his brethren That an acute and active people, surrounded for ages by polished, and luxurious nations, should still be found a wild people dwelling in the presence of their brethren, unsubdued and unchangeable, is, indeed a standing miracle one of those mysterious facts which establishes the truth of prophecy,

گارد

drages "After partaking of strong coffee, black, and thick, and bitter, &c, the visit broke up; and at

Аа

the tent door, Sir Robert found a man standing holding a fine Arab colt by the bridle, which the hospitable sheik presented to his English guest with many compliments, as a mark of his esteem!" p. 303, 4. 370g n Ji es bis ;zágon m 1997 to 9008 or 9 muidutsesi qurdire semi slow silt Hi JUBIZS 913 dana zlenmelerine usted edt •Pul" •q‚vonas× „buslend

P. 38.

Nineveh.

"ON the eastern bank of the Tigris, and about three quarters of a mile from that stream, the village of Nunia, and the sepulchre of the prophet Jonas, seem to point out the position of Nineveh, the largest city perhaps that ever existed in the world. Its origin is ascribed by profane writers to Ninus, &c. The history of this metropolis is lost in succeeding ages. It would seem gradual ly to have fallen into decay after the building of Babylon and in the reign of Adrian it was 96 completely destroyed, that even the place where it stood was unknown. A city being afterwards erected near the spot, bore the name of Nimus! and, in my opinion, it is the ruins of the latter, and not of old Ninevels that are now visible7891 examined these remains in 1810, and found tem

to consist of a rampart and fosse, forming an ob long square, not exceeding four miles in compass, if so much. I saw neither stones nor rubbish of any kind. The wall is, on an average, twenty feet in height; and as it is covered with grass, the whole has a striking resemblance to some of the Roman entrenchments which are extant in England."-Kinneir, p. 259.

19

gode bus erziT out to plund aroteno odt z0 » The following observations on Antideluvian Ar ehitecture, are selected from Porter's Travels. dovoni to moiti-oq adt tuo tmrog n) M1992 „pruol 66 THE undeviating absence of the arch from the buildings of ancient Babylonia, as well as from similar remains of primeval Egypt and Elam, cannot fail of being a conclusive argument in support of a nearly contemporary date, to them all.ervBesides, mayo we not draw another ins ference from these corroborating evidences, that the arch, as a feature of architecture, was uns known before the deluge? That the antideluvians, sin the course of more than two thousand years, had arrived at great excellence in building, we have sufficient grounds for believing, from the

9

the ark the

nature of things, as well as ocular demonstration in these colossal relics of Babylon's one of which nataleast, we cannot doubt, was erected little more athan a century after the flood, even in the life-time of Noah That he did not, on issuing from whole world before him where to choose'adopt a wandering life, living intents, >but established ar city, we may gather from his planting a vineyard, whose growth he not only watched, but drank of its vintage. These accounts certainly shew a settled place of residence for himself and immediate family; and must imply the building of habitations, which most probably would be erected on the old place of his ancestors, of a proportionate extent and durability to a race of inhabitants whose individual time of existence yet included several hundred years.

"We have seen sufficient in the architectural remains of ancient Persia, to discern some distant resemblances between the style and taste of their structures, with those of Egypt, India, viand toJudea; but we have to lament the utxter demolition of all outline of building, wor fragment of ornament on the heaps of Nineveh and Babylon, totally deprives us not only of the foundation-stone of architecture, but of asthose after links which would have formed a per

fect chain in the thistory of the art, from the