'Narrative of a journey to the site of Babylon in 1811, now first published: memoir on the ruins; with engravings from the original sketches by the author: remarks on the topography of ancient Babylon, by Major Rennell; in reference to the memoir: second memoir on the ruins; in reference to Major Rennell's remarks: with narrative of a journey to Persepolis: now first printed, with hitherto unpublished cuneiform inscriptions copied at Persepolis: by the late Claudius James Rich, Esq., formerly the Resident of the Hon. East India Company at Bagdad. Edited by his widow.' [‎57] (135/474)

OF BABYLON.
57
diligent search all through the gardens, but found
not the slightest vestige of ruins, though previously
I heard of many,—an example of the value of in
formation resting solely on the authority of the na
tives. The reason is obvious. Ruins composed, like
those of Babylon, of heaps of rubbish impregnated
with nitre, cannot be cultivated, and any inferior
mound would of course be levelled in making the
garden.
In such a soil as that of Babylon it appears sur
prising how long some of the canals have remained.
The Naher Malcha, a work of the Babylonian mo-
narchs, might still be effectually repaired, and it is
probable that many of the canals now seen on the
site of Babylon may have been in existence when it
was a flourishing city. Some of the canals were used
for the purpose of navigation, and Alexander took
great pains to cleanse and restore those that were out
of order. Aristobulus, quoted by Strabo*, lib. xvi.,
p. 510, edit. Casaub., says that he went into these
canals in a boat, which he steered himself, and in
spected the repairs in person, in presence of a mul
titude of spectators, cleansing the mouths of some
which were choked up with mud, and blocking up
others. In one instance, where the canal led toward
the morasses and lakes of the Arabian side, he
opened a new mouth thirty stadia from the old one,
in a more stony place, to ensure greater durability.
He also dug basins for his fleet; and in performing
these works, it is said the graves of many of the
* See Appendix, No. 3.