hampered his movements in every possi- | gether, unwilling to grant, yet fearing to ble way. In place of possessing that refuse. The Cawal having enjoyed their ample command of means which the French, Prussian, and other governments, are, in similar circumstances, so generous in lavishing upon their employés, Mr. Layard, it is evident, was, from the very first, trammelled in consequence of the inadequate means at his command. Though he makes no direct complaint on the subject, it is easy to see that he was deeply dissatisfied and disappointed; and he expresses an ardent wish, that the management of all such matters may, ere long, be placed on a "new and more efficient basis." So much interest was excited by Mr. Layard's former volume, that an almost unanimous desire was felt by the public that he should be again despatched to Nineveh, furnished with better means and appliances for carrying on the excavations there. In compliance with this wish, the Government and the trustees of the British Museum, agreed to furnish him with the means of continuing his researches. This they did, however, on a scale utterly unworthy of such a nation as Britain, and totally inadequate to the work on hand. That Mr. Layard accomplished so much under such discouraging circumstances, is most creditable to him, and says much for his indomitable energy. It appears from his narrative, that he left Trebezond for Mosul in August 1849, accompanied by, among others, Cawal Yusuf, one of the Yezidi preachers, who had been at Constantinople representing to the sultan the wrongs of his people. The journey through Armenia and Kurdistan, was pursued without marked incident, until they reached the first Yezidi village, where the party was received in the manner here described : "As the sun was fast sinking, the peasants were leaving the threshing-floor, and gathering together their implements of husbandry. They saw the large company of horsemen drawing nigh, and took us for irregular troops,-the terror of an Eastern village. Cawal Yusuf, concealing all but his eyes with the Arab kefieh, which he then wore, rode into the midst of them, and demanded, in a peremptory voice, provisions and quarters for the night. The poor creatures huddled to alarm for a moment, threw his kerchief from his face, exclaiming, "O evil ones! will you refuse bread to your priest, and turn him hungry from your door?" There was surely then no unwillingness to receive us. Casting aside their shovels and forks, the men threw themselves upon the Cawal, each struggling to kiss his hand. A boy ran to the village to spread the news, and from it soon issued women, children, and old men, to welcome us. A few words sufficed to explain from whence we came, and what we required. Every one was our servant. Horses were unloaded, tents pitched, lambs brought, before we had time to look around. There was a general rejoicing, and the poor Yezidis seemed scarcely able to satiate themselves with looking on their priest; for a report had gone abroad, and had been industriously encouraged by the Mussulmans, who had heard of the departure of the deputation for Constantinople, that Yusuf and his companions had been put to death by the Sultan, and that not only the petition of the Yezidis had been rejected, but that fresh torments were in store for them. For eight months they had received no news of the Cawal, and this long silence had confirmed their fears; but he was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found;' and they made merry with all that the village could afford. "Yusuf was soon seated in the midst of a circle of the elders. He told his whole tions as an Eastern alone can introduce, to history, with such details and illustrabring every fact vividly before his listeners. Nothing was omitted: his arrival at Constantinople, his reception by me, his introduction to the ambassador, his interview with the great ministers of state, the firman of future protection for the Yezidis, prospects of peace and happiness for the tribe, our departure from the capital, the nature of steamboats, the tossing of the waves, the pains of sea-sickness, and our journey to Kherzan. Not the smallest particular was forgotten; every person and event were described with equal minuteness; almost the very number of pipes he had smoked, and coffees he had drunk, was given. He was continually interrupted by exclamations of gratitude and wonder; and, when he had finished, it was my turn to be the object of unbounded welcomes and salutations. "As the Cawal sat on the ground, with his noble features and flowing robes, surrounded by the elders of the village, eager listeners to every word which dropped from their priest, and looking towards him with looks of profound veneration, the picture brought vividly to my mind many scenes described in the sacred volumes. Let the painter who would throw off the conventionalities of the age, who would feel as well as pourtray the incidents of Holy Writ, wander in the East, and mix, not as the ordinary traveller, but as a student of men and of nature, with its people. He will daily meet with customs which he will otherwise be at a loss to understand, and be brought face to face with those who have retained, with little change, the manners, language, and dress of a patriarchal race.' Pursuing his journey, Mr. Layard at last approached Mosul, the scene of his labours. APPROACH TO MOSUL. "Suddenly," he says, 66 large body of horsemen appeared on a rising ground to the east of us. We could scarcely expect Arabs from that quarter; however, all our party made ready for an attack. Cawal Yusuf and myself being the best mounted, rode towards them to reconnoitre. Then one or two horsemen advanced warily from the opposite party. We reared each other. Yusuf spied the well-known black turban, dashed forward with a shout of joy, and in a moment we were surrounded, and in the embrace of friends. Hussein Bey and Sheikh Nasr, with the Cawals and Yezidi elders, had ridden nearly forty miles, through the night, to meet and escort me, if needful, to Mosul! Their delight at seeing us knew no bounds; nor was I less touched by a display of gratitude and good feeling, equally unexpected and sincere. "They rode with us as far as Tel Eskoff, where the danger from the Arabs ceased, and then turned their hardy mares, still fresh after their long journey, towards Sheikhan. I was now once more with old friends. We had spent the first day of our journey, on leaving Mosul two years ago, in the house of Toma, the Christian Kiayah of Tel Eskoff; we now eat bread with him the last on our return. In the afternoon, as we rode towards Tel Kef, I left the high road with Hormuzd to drink water at some Arab tents. As we approached, we were greeted with exclamations of joy, and were soon in the midst of a crowd of men and women, kissing our knees, and exhibiting other tokens of welcome. They were Jebours, who had been employed in the excavations. Hearing that we were again going to dig after old stones, they at once set about striking their tents to join us at Mosul or Nimroud. "As we neared Tel Kef, we found groups of my old superintendents and workmen by the road side. There were fat Toma, Mansour, Beynan, and Hannah, joyful at meeting me once more, and at the prospect of fresh service. In the village we found Mr. Rassam, (the viceconsul,) and Khodja Toma, his dragoman, who had made ready the feast for us at the house of the Chaldæan bishop. Next morning, as we rode the three last hours of our journey, we met fresh groups of familiar faces:-Merjan, with my old groom holding the stirrup ready for me to mount, the noble animal looking as beautiful, as fresh, and as sleek, as when I last saw him, although two long years had passed; former servants; Awad and the Sheiks of the Jebours; even the very greyhounds who had been brought up under my roof. Then, as we ascend an eminence midway, walls, towers, minarets, and domes, rise boldly from the margin of the broad river, cheating us into the belief, too soon to be dispelled, that Mosul is still a not unworthy representative of the great Nineveh. As we draw near, the long line of lofty mounds, the only remains of mighty bulwarks and spacious gates, detach themselves from the low undulating hills: now the vast mound of Kouyunjik overtops the surrounding heaps; then above it peers the white cone of the tomb of the prophet Jonah; many other well-remembered spots follow in rapid succession; but we cannot linger. Hastening over the creaking bridge of boats, we force our way through the crowded bazaars, and alight at the house I had left two years ago. Old servants take their places as a matter of course, and, uninvited, pursue their regular occupations as if they had never been interrupted. Indeed it seemed as if we had but returned from a summer's ride; two years had passed away like a dream." Mr. Layard, after resting a few days, recommenced his labours at Kouyunjik. During his absence, Mr. Ross had carried on the excavations on a small scale, and had made various discoveries, which are described in the following extract: SCULPTURES DISCOVERED AT NINEVEH. "The sculptures, faintly seen through. the gloom, were still well enough preserved to give a complete history of the subject represented, although, with the rest of the bas-reliefs of Kouyunjik, the fire had nearly turned them to lime, and had cracked them into a thousand pieces. The faces of the slabs had been entirely covered with figures, varying from three inches to one foot in height, carefully finished, and designed with great spirit. "In this series of bas-reliefs, the history of an Assyrian conquest was more fully pourtrayed than in any other yet discovered, from the going out of the monarch to battle, to his triumphal return after a complete victory. The first part of the subject has already been described in my former work. The king, accompanied by his chariots and horsemen, and leaving his capital in the Assyrian plains, passed through a mountainous and wooded district. He does not appear to have been delayed by the siege of many towns or castles, but to have carried the war at once into the high country. His troops. cavalry and infantry, are represented in close combat with their enemies, pursuing them over hills and through valleys, beside streams, and in the midst of vineyards. The Assyrian horsemen are armed with the spear and the bow, using both weapons whilst at full speed: their opponents seem to be all archers. The vanquished turn to ask for quarter; or, wounded, fall under the feet of the advancing horses, raising their hands imploringly to ward off the impending deathblow. The triumph follows. The king standing in his chariot, beneath the royal parasol, followed by long lines of dismounted warriors leading richly caparisoned horses, and by foot soldiers variously armed and accoutred, is receiving the captives and spoil taken from the conquered people. First approach the victorious warriors, throwing the heads of the slain into heaps before the registering officers. They are followed by others leading, and urging onwards with staves, the prisoners-men chained together, or bound singly in fetters; and women, some on foot, carrying their children on their shoulders, and leading them by the hand, others riding on mules. The procession is finished by asses, mules, and flocks of sheep. As on the bas-reliefs uncovered by Mr. Ross, there is unfortunately no inscription by which the name of the conquered people can be determined. . one appeared to have been eagle-headed, with the body of a man; and the other a monster, with human head, and the feet of a lion. The bas-reliefs round the chamber represented the siege of a castle standing on an artificial mound, surrounded at its base by houses. The besieged defended themselves on the walls and turrets with bows, spears, and stones. The Assyrian army was composed of spearmen, slingers, and bowmen, some of whom had already gained the housetops. Male and female captives had been taken, and heads cut off; the victorious warriors, according to custom, and probably to claim a reward, bringing them to the registrars. The led horses and bodyguard of the king was still preserved; but that part of the bas-relief containing the monarch himself, probably standing in his chariot, had been destroyed. In the back ground were wooded mountains; vines and other trees formed a distinct band in the middle of the slabs; and a river ran at the foot of the mound. The dress of the male prisoners consisted either of a long robe falling to the ankles, or of a tunic reaching to the knees, over which was thrown an outer garment, apparently made of the skins of animals, and they wore greaves laced up in front. The women were clothed in a robe descending to the feet, with an outer fringed garment thrown over the shoulders; a kind of hood or veil covered the back of the head, and fell over the neck. Above the castle was the fragment of an inscription in two lines, containing the name of the city, of which, unfortunately, the first character is wanting. It reads: The city of... alammo I attacked and captured; I carried away its spoil.' No name, however, corresponding with it has yet been found in the royal annals, and we can only infer, from the nature of the country represented, that the place was in a mountainous district to the north of Assyria. It is remarkable that in this chamber, as in others afterwards explored, some of the slabs (those adjoining the entrance) had been purposely defaced, every vestige of sculpture having been carefully removed by a sharp instru This "Returning to the great hall, I found that a third outlet had been discovered, opening, however, to the west. entrance had been guarded by six colossal figures, three on each side. The upper part of all of them had been destroyed. They appear to have been eagle-headed and lion-headed monsters. In the side of the hall sculptured with these bas-reliefs, was a wide portal, formed by a pair of gigantic human-ment. headed bulls. A small doorway to the right of the portal formed by the winged bulls, led into a farther chamber, in which an entrance had been found into a third room, whose walls had been completely uncovered. Its dimensions were twenty-six feet by twenty-three, and it had but this one outlet, flanked on each side by two colossal figures, whose lower extremities alone remained, the upper part of the slabs having been destroyed: "This doorway led into a narrow passage, one side of which had alone been excavated; on it was represented the siege of a walled city, divided into two | pings of the horses, whose bits were in parts by a river. One half of the place the form of a horse at full speed." had been captured by the Assyrians, who had gained possession of the towers and battlements, but that on the opposite bank of the stream was still defended by the slingers and bowmen. Against its walls had been thrown banks or mounds, built of stones, bricks, and branches of trees. The battering-rams, covered with skins or hides looped together, had been rolled up these inclined ways, and had already made a breach in the fortifications. Archers and spearmen were hurrying to the assault, whilst others were driving off the captives, and carrying away the idols of the enemy. The dress of the male prisoners consisted of a plain under-shirt, an upper garment falling below the knees, divided in the front, and buttoned at the neck, and laced greaves. Their hair and beards were shorter and less elaborately curled than those of the Assyrians. The women were distinguished by high rounded turbans, ornamented with plaits or folds. A veil fell from the back of this headdress over the shoulders. No inscription remained to record the name of the vanquished nation. Their castles stood in a wooded and mountainous country, and their peculiar costume, and the river passing through the centre of their chief city, may help hereafter to identify them. "The opposite side of this narrow chamber, or passage, was shortly afterwards uncovered. The bas-reliefs on its walls represented the king in his chariot, preceded and followed by his warriors. The only remarkable feature in the sculptures was the highly decorated trap But still more wonderful discoveries rewarded the diligence and labour of Mr. Layard. In the course of his researches he came upon a human-headed bull, of colossal dimensions, which seemed to have formed one side of an entrance or doorway. Further excavations shewed the correctness of this opinion, and laid bare many and important inscriptions, more or less preserved. These inscriptions form some of the most precious records with which the monuments of the ancient world have rewarded the labour of the Antiquary. One of these inscriptions contained no less than 152 lines. These records, wonderful to relate, contain the annals of six years of the reign of Sennacherib. Mr. Layard, in his previous work, adduced evidence to shew that the great Palace at Kouyunjik had been built by Sennacherib. Dr. Hincks, of Dublin, discovered the name of this king in the arrow-headed characters of these inscriptions. Subsequent discoveries confirmed this identification, while, in further deciphering of these inscriptions, it was seen that they referred to events recorded in the Bible, and in profane history, thus removing all doubt as to the king who had raised them. Some account of these remarkable discoveries we shall give in our next number. PENCILLINGS IN PALESTINE, AND WANDERINGS IN ISRAEL. THE time was when a voyage was a great event, a visit to the chief countries and capitals of Europe was a grand tour," and authorship, to the extent even of a volume of travels, a momentous undertaking, to be successfully completed by nothing short of a quarto at the least. But all that is changed now: all men are now travellers, and all travellers • Pencillings in Palestine: being Scenes descriptive of the Holy Land and other countries in the East, written during a visit in 1850. By the Rev. JOHN ANDERSON, Minister of the Free Church of Scotland, Helensburgh. London: James Nisbet and Co. 1851. think it incumbent on them to become authors, and to enlighten the world with a full and minute detail of all their memorable sayings and doings, and of all their marvellous adventures by "flood and field." Hence the endless multiplicity of "Journals," "Recollections of a Tour," "Notes of a Visit," "Sketches," and so forth,-a kind of light and easy Wanderings in the Land of Israel and through the Wilderness of Sinai, in 1850 and 1851. With an account of the inscriptions in Wady Mokatteb, or the Written Valley. By the Rev. JOHN ANDERSON, Free Church, Helensburgh. London and Glasgow: William Collins. literature, often flimsy and little profitable, but almost always agreeable and exceedingly suitable to the tastes and dispositions of a vast mass of indolent, superficial, and careless readers, who, though they have souls to be saved, and all the duties of life to discharge, are glad of any expedient to help them to waste their precious time, with which otherwise they would find it difficult to deal. Were all such publications like those now before us, the world would have little cause to lament their multitude. Both volumes, but more especially the latter, are interesting, entertaining, and instructive, pervaded by Christian principle and feeling, and, while fitted to amuse, are calculated at the same time inform the understanding and improve the heart. The author, as he tells us, being in bad health, and having in vain spent a season in Italy-that beautiful land, whose bright and salubrious clime so contrasts with its dark and dismal superstitions-was advised to try, as a more effectual restorative, the remoter regions of the East. Passing through Germany, and taking Athens and Smyrna on his way to Egypt, he visited the chief scenes and objects of interest in that marvellous land; he ascended the Nile as far as the ruins of Thebes, and then crossing the desert by the long route traversed by the children of Israel, and leading by Sinai and Petra, he at length reached Palestine. There fixing his head quarters at Jerusalem, he visited in succession many of the most celebrated and interesting scenes of that most interesting of all lands; and having extended his peregrinations as far as Damascus,-"the oldest city in the world, and the fairest city in the East,"-he returned to the coast by "that goodly mountain and Lebanon," and sailing from Beyrout, he made his way home by sea to England. In 1851 the author repeated his visit to Palestine, by way of Constantinople, and spent another season among its hallowed scenes. These two journeys gave birth to the two very dissimilar volumes which are now before us. The former of these, the "Pencillings," is a slight production, partly in prose and partly in verse,-a text of Scripture, or a brief descriptive notice being first given, and then made the subject of a poetical effusion. In the following we present our readers with perhaps the most favourable specimen of poetry the volume contains. It refers to the scene of one of the most beautiful and characteristic of our Saviour's miracles : NAIN. "Passing through the great plain of Slow from the darkened city's gates Oh! bitter is the Dead Sea brine, One only hope she had on earth, In vain the sun now shines for her, Her cheek with watching 's sad and pale, The flower that fades in winter's wind The Lord drew near with pitying gaze- Now Nain was glad, and songs of joy Our lost one he is found. Art thou a mourner sad like her, Thy dead shall live again!" The other production, the "Wanderings," is larger, and by far the better and more interesting of the two. It embodies a consecutive narrative of both journeys. It is written in a simple and easy style; incidents are told and descriptions given with good effect, and without effort. There |