captives. It stood upon a large level plain, on the banks of the river Euphrates. Very little is said of its early history; nor is it certain who first built it; but it was Nebuchadnezzar who enlarged and beautified it, and made it the wonder of the whole earth.

2. The city was in the form of a square; each side of the square being fifteen miles in length, requiring sixty miles to go round it. It was surrounded with a deep and wide ditch, lined with bricks, and filled with water; and by walls, inside the ditch, three hundred and fifty feet in height, and eightyseven in thickness. The walls were built of large bricks, cemented with bitumen, that is, a slimy substance found in that country.

3. To enter the city were one hundred gates, twenty-five on each side, all of solid brass. Between every two of these gates were three towers, raised ten feet higher than the wall; also four more at the four corners of this great square. From each of the gates ran a street, one hundred and fifty feet wide, in a straight line, to the gate opposite to it, on the other side of the city. The whole number of streets was fifty, besides four half streets on the inside of the walls, two hundred feet wide, and built only on one side, that is, the side opposite the walls.

4. These fifty streets crossing each other, and the half streets, at what are called right angles, cut the whole city into six hundred and seventy-six smaller squares, each of which would be about two miles and a quarter round. The houses were built on the sides of the squares only, and were three or four stories high, and beautified with all kinds of ornaments. The space within was left open, and laid out in gardens, or employed for other purposes of use and ornament.

5. The river Euphrates, or a branch of it, ran quite across the city, entering at the north side, and going out at the south, over which was a bridge, in the middle of the city, a furlong, or an eighth part of a mile long, and thirty feet wide. This bridge was built with wonderful art, because the bottom of the river was sandy, and did not furnish a good foundation for building on. At the east end of the bridge stood the old palace of Babylon, so large that it covered four of the squares above named; at the west stood the new palace, which was much larger still, and covered no fewer than nine squares.

6. The temple of Belus, which covered one entire square, stood next the old palace. A wall, like that which went round the city, was built on each side of the river, and massy brazen gates were also placed at the ends of the streets leading down to the river, which was crossed by boats. Cyrus, having

turned the river out of its channel, entered by these gates, which had been carelessly left open in the night, during a publick festivity, and so took the city. This was when he set the Jews at liberty, and gave them leave to return to their own country.

7. The most wonderful works in Babylon were the walls already described; the temple of Belus; the new palace; the hanging gardens; and a prodigious artificial lake and canals for draining the river; of which we may, perhaps, say more in a future number.

Such, according to accounts, was ancient Babylon. It never was, and, perhaps, never will be, equalled in grandeur by any city upon earth.-MONTHLY REPOSITORY.

LESSON XXV.

The Poisoned Valley.

1. At the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, held on the 28th ultimo, considerable interest was excited by an extract from a letter of Mr. Alexander Loudon, communicated to the Society by John Barrow, Esq. The letter contains the account of a visit to a small valley in the island of Java, which is particularly remarkable for its power of destroying in very short space of time the life of a man, or any animal, exposed to its atmosphere.

2. It is distant only three miles from Batur, in Java, and on the 4th of July, Mr. Loudon, with a party of friends, set out on a visit to it. It is known by the name of Guevo Upas, or Poisoned Valley, and, following a path which had been made for the purpose, they shortly reached it with a couple of dogs and some fowls, for the purpose of making experiments.

3. On arriving at the mountain, the party dismounted and scrambled up the side of a hill, a distance of a quarter of a mile, with the assistance of the branches of trees and projecting roots. In consequence of the heavy rain that had fallen in the night, this was rendered more difficult, and occasioned much fatigue. When a few yards from the valley, a strong nauseous and suffocating smell was experienced, but on approaching the margin this inconvenience was no longer found.

4. The scene that now presented itself is described as of the most appalling nature. The valley is about half a mile in circumference, of an oval shape, and about thirty or thirty-five

feet in depth. The bottom of it appeared to be flat, without any vegetation, and a few large stones scattered here and there. The attention of the party was immediately attracted to the number of skeletons of human beings, tigers, boars, deer, and all sorts of birds and wild animals, which lay about in profusion.

5. The ground on which they lay, at the bottom of the valley, appeared to be a hard sandy substance, and no vapour was perceived issuing from it, nor any opening through which it might escape, and the sides were covered with vegetation. It was now proposed to enter it, and each of the party, having lighted a cigar, managed to get within twenty feet of the bottom, where a sickening nauseous smell was experienced, with out any difficulty in breathing,

6. A dog was now fastened at the end of a bamboo, and thrust to the bottom of the valley, while some of the party, with their watches in their hands, observed the effects. At the expiration of fourteen seconds the dog fell off his legs, without moving or looking round, and continued alive only eighteen minutes.

7. The other dog now left the party and went to his com panion; on reaching him he was observed to stand quite mo tionless, and at the end of ten seconds fell down; he never moved his limbs after, and lived only seven minutes. A fowl was now thrown in, which died in a minute and a half, and another which was thrown after it died in the space of a minute and a half.

8. A heavy shower of rain fell during the time that these experiments were going forward, which, from the interesting nature of the experiments, was quite disregarded, On the op posite side of the valley to that which was visited, lay a human skeleton, the head resting on the right arm, The effects of the weather had bleached the bones as white as ivory.

9. Two hours were passed in this valley of death, and the party had some difficulty in getting out of it, owing to the rain that had fallen. The human skeletons are supposed to be those of rebels, who have been pursued from the main road, and taken refuge in the valley without their knowledge of the danger to which they were thus exposing themselves.

10. (The effects as here described are identical with those of the grotto del Cane, at Naples, and no doubt arise from the same cause. These seem more strange in an open valley; but the mephitick air at the grotto is so heavy, that you may stand upright without inconvenience, as it rises but a few inches above the surface.)

LESSON XXVI,

Falls of the Montmorency,

1. THE Montmorency empties itself at the distance of about eight miles northeast of Quebeck, into the great river St. Lawrence, to the coast of which it gradually descends from the elevated mountain on which it has its source, At a station called La Motte, situated on the northern extremity of a sloping ground, its waters diffuse themselves into shallow currents, interrupted by rocks which break them into foam, and accom panied by murmuring sounds which enliven the solitude and solemn stillness prevailing throughout the surrounding forests and desolate hills Farther down, its channel is bounded by precipitous rocks, its breadth becoming extremely contracted and the rapidity of its current proportionably augmented,

2. At a place called "the natural steps," there are several beautiful cascades of ten or twelve feet. These steps, which are extremely regular, have been gradually formed by the ac cession of waters the river receives in its progress, at the break. ing up of winter, by the melting of the snows, From the iddle of April to the end of May, its waters roll with increas ing height and rapidity. Being powerfully impelled in their course, they insinuate themselves between the strata of the horizontal rock, vast fragments of which are detached by the rushing violence of the sweeping torrent.

3. On the eastern side, the bank, which is almost perpen dicular, and fifty feet high, is surmounted by lofty trees, The southwest bank rises beyond the steps, and terminates in a precipice. On the opposite side, the bank is regular, and of a singular shape, resembling the ruin of an elevated wall, The trees by which the banks are enclosed, united with the effect produced by the foaming currents, and the scattered masses of stone, form a scene wild and picturesque. The stream now taking a southern direction, is augmented in its velocity, and forms a grand cascade interrupted by huge rocks. A quarter of a mile farther down a similar effect is produced.

4. After exhibiting an agreeable variety through its course, the river is precipitated, in an almost perpendicular direction, over a rock two hundred and fifty feet in height. Wherever it touches the rock it falls in white clouds of rolling foam; and, beneath, where it is propelled with uninterrupted gravitation, it forms numerous flakes, like wool or cotton, which are grad

ually protracted in the descent, until they are received into the boiling profound abyss beneath.

5. The effect from the summit of the cliff is awfully grand, and truly sublime. The prodigious depth of the descent of the waters of this surprising fall; the brightness and volubility of their course; the swiftness of their movement through the air; and the loud and hollow noise emitted from the basin, swelling with incessant agitation from the weight of the dashing waters, forcibly combine to attract the attention, and to impress the mind of the spectator with sentiments of grandeur and elevation.

6. The clouds of rising vapour, which assume the prismatick colours, contribute to enliven the scene. They fly off from the fall in the form of a revolving sphere, emitting with velocity pointed flakes of spray, which spread in receding, until they are interrupted by the neighbouring banks, or dissolved in the atmosphere.

7. The breadth of the fall is one hundred feet; and the basin, which is bounded by steep cliffs, forms an angle of forty-five degrees. When viewed from the beach, the cataract is seen, with resplendent beauty, to flow down the gloomy precipice, the summit of which is crowned with woods. The diffusion of the stream, to the breadth of fifteen hundred feet, and the various small cascades produced by the inequalities of its rocky bed, on its way to the river St. Lawrence, display a very singular and pleasing combination.-MONTHLY REPOSITORY.

LESSON XXVII.

The Elder's Funeral.

1. How beautiful to the eye and to the heart rise up, in a pastoral region, the green, silent hills from the dissolving snow-wreaths that yet linger at their feet! A few warm, sunny days, and a few breezy and melting nights, have seemed to create the sweet season of spring out of the winter's bleakest desolation. We can scarcely believe that such brightness of verdure could have been shrouded in the snow, blending itself, as it now does, so vividly with the deep blue of heaven. With the revival of nature, our own souls feel restored. Happiness becomes milder, meeker, and richer in pensive thought; while sorrow catches a faint tinge of joy, and reposes itself on the quietness of earth's opening breast. Then is youth re