ept their craft in
the middle of the stream by means of two oars, or, rather, an oar and
a paddle, which were worked, the first at the bows, and the second at
the stern. The advance of the boat was in some measure accelerated by
these boatmen, though their main function was to steer their vessel by
keeping it out of eddies and away from projecting points of land, and
directing its course to those parts of the stream where the current
was swiftest, and where it would consequently be borne forward most
rapidly to its destination.

These boats were generally of very considerable size, and they
carried, in addition to their cargo and crew, one or more beasts
of burden--generally asses or mules. These animals were allowed
the pleasure, if any pleasure it was to them, of sailing thus idly
down the stream, for the sake of having them at hand at the end of
the voyage, to carry back again, up the country, the skins, which
constituted the most valuable portion of the craft they sailed in. It
was found that these skins, if carefully preserved, could be easily
transported up the river, and would answer the purpose of a second
voyage. Accordingly, when the boats arrived at Babylon, the cargo was
sold, the boats were broken up, the skins were folded into packs, and
in this form the mules carried them up the river again, the boatmen
driving the mules as they walked by their side.

Babylon was a city of immense extent and magnitude. In fact, the
accounts given of the space which it covered have often been
considered incredible. These accounts make the space which was
included within the walls four or five times as large as London. A
great deal of this space was, however, occupied by parks and gardens
connected with the royal palaces, and by open squares. Then, besides,
the houses occupied by the common people in the ancient cities were of
fewer stories in height, and consequently more extended on the ground,
than those built in modern times. In fact, it is probable that, in
many instances, they were mere ranges of huts and hovels, as is the
case, indeed, to a considerable extent, in Oriental cities, at the
present day, so that it is not at all impossible that even so large an
area as four or five times the size of London may have been included
within the fortifications of the city.

In respect to the walls of the city, very extraordinary and apparently
contradictory accounts are given by the various ancient authors who
described th