"سرد لإقامة في كردستان وفي موقع نينوى القديمة؛ مع مذكرات رحلة إلى بغداد عبر نهر دجلة ووصف زيارة إلى شيراز وبرسبوليس." [‎٣‎٨‎٦] (٤٥٠/٤٢١)

386
ANCIENT RUINS.
[APP. VI.
like the tops of walls that had been buried. Ihe manner
in which these mounds were formed is evident. Ihe sand
accumulating on the ruins and filling up all the vacant
spaces, aided by the gradual decomposition of the surface
of the bricks, was consolidated into one mass by the action
of the rain. We had a specimen to-day how such an ope
ration might have taken place. The dust and sand was
drifted in clouds by the wind ; and had any solid substance,
our jolly-boat for instance, been placed on the ground in an
exposed situation, it would, in a very short time, have been
buried under a hillock of sand, which a day's rain would
have converted into a solid mass. I he bricks were well
baked, and resembled those found at Babylon. 1 intend,
on my return, to make more accurate observations, and to
perforate the mound in various directions, in hopes of dis
covering some remains that may lead to a probable conjec
ture on the nature and antiquity of these ruins.
I had an opportunity to-day of observing the picturesque
and sublime effects of obscurity on some scenes, i he sky
was dark and louring, and a mist was diffused over the
whole horizon, which softened and threw back the distance,
and gave a dignity to objects mean and unpicturesque in
themselves. The brushwood on the opposite bank of the
river was converted into a distant forest scene. 1 he flatness
and continuity of the boundary line was softened and broken,
and the reach of the river in which we were, assumed the
appearance of an immense lake, bounded by varied and
woody shores. Under a clear unclouded sky, it would have
borne its real character, that of a common river, confined
between two regular flat, brown stripes.
In some parts of the river, where the banks rise abruptly
to the height of about ten or twelve feet, they are not devoid
of beauty, though merely composed of indurated earth.