give the diary of his work. To be sure, the
villanous Pasha forbade him to continue, and recalled him to Mosul, but
a new governor was sent from Constantinople, under whom he had no
difficulty. A great palace had been found, and chamber after chamber was
excavated, the walls covered with bas-reliefs and inscriptions. Then
came strange, gigantic lions with human heads, that had been placed by
the old Assyrian king to guard the entrances to his court. What was the
amazement of the Arabs and Turks cannot be told. First, the head was
uncovered. It stood out from the earth, placid and vast. Hear Layard
tell the story. He had been away to visit a neighboring chief:--

"I was returning to the mound, when I saw two Arabs urging their mares
to the top of their speed. 'Hasten, O Bey,' exclaimed one of them,
'hasten to the diggers, for they have found Nimrod himself. By Allah! it
is wonderful, but it is true! We have seen him with our eyes! There is
no God but God!' And both joining in this pious exclamation, they
galloped back to the tent."

Layard hastened to the trench, and there saw what he knew to be the head
of a gigantic lion or bull, such as Botta had uncovered at Khorsabad. It
was in admirable preservation. The expression was calm, yet majestic,
and the outline of the features showed a freedom and knowledge of art
that was scarcely to be looked for at so early a period. Says the
explorer:--

"I was not surprised that the Arabs had been amazed and terrified at
this apparition. It required no stretch of imagination to conjure up the
most strange fancies. This gigantic head, blanched with age, thus rising
from the bowels of the earth, might well have belonged to one of those
fearful beings which are pictured in the traditions of the country as
appearing to mortals, slowly ascending from the regions below. 'This is
not the work of men's hands,' exclaimed Sheikh Abdurrahman, who had
galloped to the mound on the first news, 'but of those infidel giants of
whom the Prophet, peace be with him! has said that they were higher than
the tallest date-tree; this is one of the idols which Noah, peace be
with him! cursed before the flood!' In this opinion all the bystanders
concurred."

The Arabs have a ready explanation for every fresh discovery. When some
years later Mr. Layard's assistant and successor in the work of
excavation, Mr. Rassam, uncovered, at Abu-habba, a remarkable bas-relief
with the figure of the seated Sun-god and