s in all Turkish towns, to close the gates towards sunset,
and to give up the keys to the governor. The gates are again opened
at sunrise.

My considerate hostess would have persuaded me to take a quantity of
provisions with me; but my rule in travelling is to exclude every
kind of superfluity. Wherever I am certain to find people living, I
take no eatables with me, for I can content myself with whatever
they live upon; if I do not relish their food, it is a sign that I
have not any real hunger, and I then fast until it becomes so great
that any kind of dish is acceptable. I took nothing with me but my
leathern water flask, and even this was unnecessary, as we
frequently passed creeks of the Tigris, and sometimes the river
itself, although the greater part of the road lay through the
desert.

About half-way, we crossed the river Dhyalah in a large boat. On
the other side of the stream, several families, who live in huts on
the bank, subsist by renting the ferry. I was so fortunate as to
obtain here some bread and buttermilk, with which I refreshed
myself. The ruins of Ctesiphon may already be seen from this place,
although they are still nine miles distant. We reached them in
three hours and a half.

Ctesiphon formerly rose to be a very powerful city on the Tigris; it
succeeded Babylon and Seleucia; the Persian viceroys resided in the
summer at Ecbatania, in the winter at Ctesiphon. The present
remains consist only of detached fragments of the palace of the
Schah Chosroes. These are the colossal arched gate-porch, together
with the gate, a part of the principal front, and some side walls,
all of which are so strong that it is probable that travellers may
still continue to be gratified with a sight of them for centuries.
The arches of the Tauk-kosra gate is the highest of the kind that is
known; it measures ninety feet, and is therefore about fifteen feet
higher than the principal gate at Fattipore-Sikri, near Agra, which
is erroneously represented by many as being the highest. The wall
rises sixteen feet above the arch.

On the facade of the palace, small niches, arches, pillars, etc.,
are hewn out from the top to bottom; the whole appears to be covered
with fine cement, in which the most beautiful arabesques are still
to be seen. Opposite these ruins on the western shore of the
Tigris, lie a few remains of the walls of Seleucia, the capital of
Macedonia.

On both banks, extensive circles of low mound