Kerkuk, in the country between the Lesser Zab and the Adhem, are
scarcely less celebrated than those of Hit; and there are some abundant
springs of the same character close to Nimrud, in the bed of the Shor
Derrell torrent. The Assyrian palaces furnish sufficient evidence that
the springs were productive in old times; for the employment of bitumen
as a cement, though not so frequent as in Babylonia, is yet occasionally
found in them. With the bitumen are always procured both naphtha and
petroleum; while at Kerkuk there is an abundance of sulphur also. Salt
is obtained from springs in the Kerkuk country; and is also formed in
certain small lakes lying between the Sinjar and Babylonia. Alum is
plentiful in the hills about Kifri.

The most remarkable wild animals of Assyria are the following: the lion,
the leopard, the lynx, the wild-cat, the hyaena, the wild ass, the
bear, the deer, the gazelle, the ibex, the wild sheep, the wild boar,
the jackal, the wolf, the fox, the beaver, the jerboa, the porcupine,
the badger, and the hare. The Assyrian lion is of the maneless kind, and
in general habits resembles the lion of Babylonia. The animal is
comparatively rare in the eastern districts, being seldom found on the
banks of the Tigris above Baghdad, and never above Kileh-Sherghat. On
the Euphrates it has been seen as high as Bir; and it is frequent on the
banks of the Khabour, and in the Sinjar. It has occasionally that
remarkable peculiarity--so commonly represented on the sculptures--a
short horny claw at the extremity of the tail in the middle of the
ordinary tuft of hair. The ibex or wild goat--also a favorite subject
with the Assyrian sculptors--is frequent in Kurdistan, and moreover
abounds on the highest ridges of the Abd-el-Aziz and the Sinjar, where
it is approached with difficulty by the hunter. The gazelle, wild boar,
wolf, jackal, fox, badger, porcupine, and hare are common in the plains,
and confined to no particular locality. The jerboa is abundant near the
Khabour. Beau's and deer are found on the skirts of the Kurdish hills.
The leopard, hyaena, lynx, and beaver are comparatively rare. The last
named animal, very uncommon in Southern Asia, was at one time found in
large numbers on the Khabour; but in consequence of the value set upon
its musk bag, it has been hunted almost to extermination, and is now
very seldom seen. The Khabour beavers are said to be a different species
from the American. Their tail is not l