and had furnished its mythology with symbols recognised of old by the Assyrian votaries. They may have been buried, and their existence may have been unknown before the foundation of the eternal city. For twenty-five centuries they have been hid from the eye of man, and they now shine forth once more in their ancient majesty. But how changed was the scene around them! The luxury and civilisation of a mighty nation had given place to the

wretchedness and ignorance of a few half-barbarous tribes. The wealth of temples, and the riches of great cities, had been succeeded by ruins and shapeless heaps of earth."

Having once found an entrance into the grand palace, chamber led into chamber, each with its sculptured walls, and more than fabled figures. Of

winged giants, of viziers and their attendants, of captives and tribute-bearers, of eagle-headed figures, of castles built on an island, of the roar of battles, of sieges, and other historical subjects, much might be said, but we must forbear. One slab represented the king holding, a bow in one hand and the arrows in the other, followed by his attendant eunuch bearing a second bow and a quiver for his use, and a mace with a head in the form of a rosette, while his ministers and his servants are portrayed in the humblest posture of submission. These figures, which were exquisitely finished, were about eight feet high, and the

ornaments rich and elaborate, one or them carrying an antelope, such as still abound on the hills in the neighbourhood, and having a branch of the holy tree in his hand. Some of the representations were hunting scenes, in which the monarch is the principal actor, and in which his courage, wisdom, and dexterity, seem as conspicuous as in his martial exploits. Others exhibited warriors in the act of making their escape from the hand of the enemy. The Assyrian Hercules, represented (page 74) as strangling the lion, is full of

meaning. This figure is sometimes found between the winged bulls, which are placed at the grand entrance of some of the nobler structures. What the ring on the back of the lion, in the figure below this, is meant to symbolise, it is difficult to determine. The noble animal is in bronze, and of one piece, and the cast displays great faithfulness to nature. It may be that the ring is the symbol of the divinity, or it may have been expressive of some more mysterious truth in their spiritual and religious ideas.

The discovery of what the Arabs believed to be the very head of Nimrod himself, the founder of the Assyrian empire, gave birth to no every-day feelings of delight. When this interesting object came into view, Mr. Layard was not

present. On his way to the ruins, where his men were at work, he met two Arabs riding at full speed, who, on seeing him, suddenly stopped, and looking half-serious and half-frightened in his face, exclaimed-"Hasten, O Bey! hasten to the diggers, for they have found Nimrod himself. Wallah! it is wonderful, but it is true. We have seen him with our eyes. There is no God but God!" And so saying they galloped off to their tents. On reaching the ruins, and examining the head, he was convinced that it belonged to a winged lion or bull. It was in admirable preservation, and the outline of the features showed a freedom and knowledge of art scarcely to be looked for in