scription of them than any former traveller, it is still matter of astonishment that he did not give a fuller account of the various heaps which he must have seen. He describes them generally as a confused mass of ruined buildings, so covered over with earth, that they sometimes looked as much like hills as buildings.

A Carmelite monk, on his return overland from India, about the year 1657, left Bussorah in a boat sailing up the Euphrates on the 16th of August ;* and though he says but little of Babylon, the account he gives of his voyage up to it is curious, and the book being scarce, a few particulars from his journal are here inserted. They were four days in getting from Bussorah to Koorna, the point of Mesopotamia where the Euphrates and Tigris unite. From thence they sailed up the Euphrates, passing - several places, the names of which are either now lost, or so changed by the Italian monk, that they are not recognisable.

After having passed a place he calls Goi, and then moving on to the two Medinas and Mansura, they arrived on the 6th day at Saghé, and the following day they came to Gezzael, by which he probably means Ghezzail, or the place of residence of the chief of the Arab tribe of that name, which inhabits the banks of the Euphrates, below Babylon.

He next speaks of reaching the place where

* Viaggio all' Indie Orientali del Padre F. Vincenzo Maria di S. Caterina di Sienna, Procurator Generale de Carmelitani Scalzi.

the Tigris and Euphrates separate, and likewise of arriving at Seleucia, all of which is quite unintelligible. He surely must have perceived that the two rivers divide at Koorna, and the only Seleucia on these rivers is not on the Euphrates, up which he was sailing, but on the Tigris, about twenty-five miles below Bagdad.

He goes on to say-" The heat was insupportable, and for many hours of the day quite stupified us. Though the nights tempered the burning heat, yet we were then greatly molested by musquitoes, which are much larger than those we have in Italy. On the morning of the 24th we arrived at Salussar, in the evening at Marmer, both of them miserable places, composed of huts built with mats and reeds, but abounding in provisions. The following day we arrived at Argé, where the jurisdiction of Bagdad* begins. Here we halted for two days, and our suffering from the heat was so great that some of the passengers fell ill. The water of the Euphrates is very relaxing, and easily brings on dysentery, the sole remedy for which is burnt wine.

"On the 27th we found ourselves surrounded by an open desert, and the weather was intensely hot. We heard lions, tormented by the heat, roaring on all sides, there being great numbers of them in these woods. Having posted our guards at the coming

* The writer always calls this city by the name of Babylon.

And they were cured by a strange remedy-an infusion of tobacco in a glass of brandy, which produced a profuse perspiration, and thus relieved them.

on of night, we gathered together a good provision of wood, in order to keep up a brisk fire through the night. But towards midnight our guards having fallen asleep, and the fire having become fainter, one of these wild beasts came so near, that there was not more than twenty paces between us and him, when, by the Divine permission, a Turk awakened, who, as soon as he became aware of the danger, commenced crying out as loud as he could, and such were his screams, that every one was quickly up, and the noise of the fire-arms which at the same time were discharged on all sides, so alarmed the lion, that he quickly took to flight.

"We were off early in the morning, and soon came to a little wood of wild cypress-trees, among which we heard the whistling of some Arabs, who were making signals to each other to assemble, in order to attack us. We all prepared to meet them; and soon afterwards about forty men made their appearance on the shore, some armed with lances, some with bows and arrows. Having steered our vessel away from the shore, our people inquired of them what they wanted. They pretended that a cow had been stolen from them; and, after much disputing and abuse, they retreated. Pursuing our voyage, on the 31st we arrived at Samadava, a very flourishing and well-peopled place, where we halted two days.

"We resumed our voyage on the 2nd of September, in considerable fear of thieves; and we passed through a wood full of wild beasts, where often we heard the

с

roaring of the lions, who from time to time answered one another from the opposite shores of the river, to our no small terror; and yet, notwithstanding, we met with Arabs in these woods, who live upon capers and wild fruit.

"On the 9th we arrived at a village where the people were celebrating the Coorban Bairam, or the anniversary of the sacrifice of Isaac. After some hours' repose we set off for Kader and Romaia, which is rather a considerable place. The captain of our vessel had promised us at Bussora to conduct us from Romaia by land to Bagdad, which place we should reach in five days; but, upon our requesting him to provide us with horses, we found it impossible to obtain them. He, however, hired a smaller boat here, in order to hasten our voyage, in which we set off; and having passed Coscus,* we were attacked by some Arabs, who, enraged at having lost some of their cattle who had been devoured by lions, expected to make up for their loss by plundering us; but seeing us all armed, and with little baggage, and knowing that they would, therefore, gain little and might lose much, they thought it most advisable not to meddle with us. Finally, on the 16th of September, we arrived at Hillah, passing along beautiful banks, covered with palm and other fruittrees, and abounding in the necessaries of life. Here we remained for two days.

"It is a very general opinion that this place was

* By which he probably means the place called Hasca.

the ancient Babylon, which is proved by the site, being on the banks of Euphrates, by the fertility of the adjacent lands, and by the ruins of magnificent buildings, which abound for many miles round; but, above all, by the remains of the Tower of Babel, which to this day is called Nimrod's Tower. We were curious to see these buildings, but finding that no one would accompany us for fear of robbers, we were compelled to give it up.

"The captain had again promised to provide us with horses at this place, but he put us off again with a thousand excuses. We were in great trouble about it, when hearing, on the evening of the second day, that a caravan of Persians had just arrived from the tomb of Ali, on their way to Bagdad, we provided ourselves with horses, and crossed the river over the bridge of boats with the caravan that night."

The day after leaving Hillah they arrived in the neighbourhood of Bagdad, and " passed the remains of several remarkable buildings." They entered the city, and took up their abode with some Capuchin friars, who received them "with their wonted expressions of love and affection," and treated them with the most unbounded hospitality.

But to return to the history of the remains of Babylon, concerning which the Carmelite monk had it not in his power to give us much information. Another Roman Catholic missionary, le Père Emanuel de St. Albert, at a later period visited the solitary city, and describes the mass of ruins which