sed of the finest collection of the kind in
the world. Layard's two volumes, "Nineveh and Its Remains"
(1848) and "Monuments of Nineveh" (1850), are unique
records of special enterprise and skill.

During the autumn of 1839 and winter of 1840, I had been wandering
through Asia Minor and Syria, scarcely leaving untrod one spot hallowed
by tradition, or unvisited one spot consecrated by history. I was
accompanied by one no less curious and enthusiastic than myself--Edward
Ledwich Mitford, afterwards engaged in the civil service in Ceylon. We
were both equally careless of comfort and unmindful of danger. We rode
alone; our arms were our only protection; and we tended our own horses,
except when relieved from the duty by the hospitable inhabitants of a
Turcoman village or an Arab tent.

We left Aleppo on March 18, took the road through Bir and Orfa, and,
traversing the low country at the foot of the Kurdish hills, reached
Mosul on April 10.

During a short stay in the town we visited the great ruins on the east
bank of the river which have been generally believed to be the remains
of Nineveh. We rode into the desert and explored the mound of Kalah
Shergat, a vast, shapeless mass, covered with grass, with remains of
ancient walls laid open where the winter rains had formed ravines.

A few fragments of ancient pottery and inscribed bricks proved that it
owed its construction to the people who had founded the city of which
the mounds of Nimroud are the remains. These huge mounds of Assyria made
a deeper impression upon me than the temples of Baalbec and the theatres
of Ionia. My curiosity had been greatly excited, and I formed the design
of thoroughly examining, whenever it might be in my power, the ruins of
Nimroud.

It was not till the summer of 1842 that I again passed through Mosul on
my way to Constantinople. I found that M. Botta had, since my first
visit, commenced excavations on the opposite side of the Tigris in the
large mound of Kouyunjik, and in the village of Khorsabad. To him is due
the honour of having found the first Assyrian monument. He uncovered an
edifice belonging to the age preceding the conquests of Alexander. This
was a marvellous and epoch-making discovery.

My first step on reaching Mosul was to present my letters to Mohammed
Pasha, governor of the province. His appearance matched his temper and
conduct, and thus was not prepossessing. Nature had placed hypocrisy
beyond his reach. He had