ce of
the river winding considerably--almost running back again several
miles. I made a trip there from Baghdad, and therefore reserve my
account of it.

The old caliphate appears in marvellous magnificence and extent from
a distance, but unfortunately loses this on nearer approach. The
minarets and cupolas, inlaid with variegated earthenware tiles,
glitter in the clear sunlight; palaces, gateways, and fortified
works, in endless succession, bound the yellow, muddy Tigris; and
gardens, with date and other fruit trees, cover the flat country for
miles round.

We had scarcely anchored, when a number of natives surrounded the
ship. They made use of very singular vehicles, which resemble round
baskets: these are formed of thick palm leaves, and covered with
asphalt. They are called "guffer;" are six feet in diameter and
three feet in height; are very safe, for they never upset, and may
be travelled in over the worst roads. Their invention is very
ancient.

I had a letter to the English resident, Major Rawlinson; but as Mr.
Holland, the first officer of the ship, offered me the use of his
house, I took advantage of this, on account of his being a married
man, which Mr. Rawlinson was not. I found Mrs. Holland a very
pretty, amiable woman (a native of Baghdad), who, though only three-
and-twenty, had already four children, the eldest of whom was eight
years old.

CHAPTER XVIII. MESOPOTAMIA, BAGHDAD, AND BABYLON.

BAGHDAD--PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS--CLIMATE--ENTERTAINMENT AT THE ENGLISH
RESIDENT'S--HAREM OF THE PASCHA OF BAGHDAD--EXCURSION TO THE RUINS
OF CTESIPHON--THE PERSIAN PRINCE, IL-HANY-ALA-CULY-MIRZA--EXCURSION
TO THE RUINS OF BABYLON--DEPARTURR FROM BAGHDAD.

Baghdad, the capital of Assyria, was founded during the reign of the
Caliph Abu-Jasar-Almansor. A century later, in the reign of Haroun-
al-Raschid, the best and most enlightened of all the caliphs, the
town was at its highest pitch of prosperity; but at the end of
another century, it was destroyed by the Turks. In the sixteenth
century it was conquered by the Persians, and continued to be a
perpetual source of discord between them and the Turks, although it
at length became annexed to the Ottoman Empire. Nadir Schah again
endeavoured to wrest it from the Turks in the eighteenth century.

The present population, of about 60,000 souls, consists of about
three-fourths Turks, and the remainder of Jews, Persians, Armenians,
and Arabs. There ar