or river of Mendali, 70; from the Mendali Su, to the Hud, or ancient Gyndes, 100; from thence to the mouth of the Kera, or Kara Su, 60; and from Kara Su to the sea, 90: total, 854.

From our imperfect knowledge of Asiatic geography, it is impossible to fix precisely the remotest source of the Tigris. It appears to have two sources; one from the southern route of the Taurus, and the other from the northern front of the same range the intervening space being either a collection of small valleys, or a large valley, watered by different streams, which fall into one or the other of the branches, The western branch runs north-east along the foot of another ridge of Taurus, by which it is divided from the small lake of Gurgick, the Colchis of the ancients. It then runs east to

Maaden, or the mine town, about four hours' journey, or eighteen miles west from Agana, where, when the water is low, it is not above twenty feet wide. At Agana, it eers the great valley of Diyarbekr, fifty-two miles north-west of that city, through the gorge formed by the junction of the Niphates and Masius, which here form the western limits of the valley. This branch is joined a few miles above Diyarbekr, or Amida, by the northern branch coming from the southern slope of the Niphates, or the Nimrood Dagh. This branch rises sixty-five miles to the north-west of Diyarbekr, and is probably the largest and most distant branch of the two. A little above this junction, the Tigris receives a branch from the south. At Diyarbekr, the Tigris is fordable at all times, except when swollen by the rains or melted snows, when it rises to a great height, and is very rapid. Below this city it receives several other streams from Mount Masius; and fifty miles below Diyarbekr it receives the Batmum Su, a larger stream than itself, which rises in Mount Niphates, and runs from the north-east to the south-west.

In its further progress through the large oval valley of Diyarbekr, the Tigris receives a multitude of streams on the right and left from the Karadgia Dagler and the Nimrood Dagh. These parallel ridges gradually approximate; the one from the north-west, and the other from the south-west, till they form a stupendous narrow gorge, through which the Tigris rushes onwards. The mountains on either side run so close to the river bank, and rise so abruptly from their basis, as to render it difficult for man or beast to penetrate the lofty defile.

Eleven geographical miles below this rocky barrier, the

Tigris forms a low sandy island, three miles in circumference, called Jezeerat-ul-Omar, or Jezeerat-Beni-Omar, signifying the island of the sons of Omar. Of the two branches forming the island, the northern is the larger, being 360 feet wide, very deep and rapid.

From Mosul to Bagdad, the Tigris varies greatly in depth and breadth. Between the Great and Little Zab, it is broad and shallow, interspersed with islands spreading from half a mile to a mile in breadth. Below the Little Zab, it is from 600 yards to half a mile, and sometimes a mile wide, occasionally opening into a vast aqueous expanse, composed of islands and channels. At Tekrit, it is very wide; and at Samarra, once the royal seat of Abasside khalifs, it is a mile broad, with high banks, but shallow stream.

Below the mouth of the Kufri Su, the Tigris is reduced to a width of 300 yards, across which is stationed a bridge of boats. Soon after, it expands to half a mile in breadth. At Bagdad, it is about 870 feet wide from bank to bank. Below the confluence of the Deeallah, the Tigris, augmented by the accession of this large stream, assumes a magnificent appearance, extending at intervals to a mile and a half, and even two miles wide, with high and steep banks elevated from fifteen to twenty feet above the surface of the river. At Koote-alHamara, about midway between Bagdad and Bussorah, it is a mile broad; and at this place the Tigris discharges a large branch equal to the Thames at London Bridge, called the Shat-ul-Hye.

Seven miles below Koote-al-Hamara, the piers of an ancient stone bridge are to be seen; but by whom, and at what date they were erected, is unknown.

In the lower part of its course, the Tigris runs on a higher level than the country adjoining its banks; hence the inundations are great on both sides during the periodical swellings.

At Kornah, the Tigris combines with the Euphrates, and becomes an immense stream, and so deep, that a large frigate may anchor close to the angle of land formed by the junction. Fifty miles below Kornah is Bassora, where the tide rises. and falls nine feet; and seventy miles below this city it falls into the Persian Gulf.

Like the Nile, at certain seasons of the year, the Tigris overflows its banks. According to Parsons, who spent most of a summer and autumn at Bagdad, and whose account appears to demand greater credence than any other, the commencement of this periodical inundation, or rise, begins in the

latter end of October, and continues to June 7, or a space of nearly eight months. For about a week, the river continued stationary; and the first symptom of decrease took place on the 14th of the same month. At this date, it fell an inch and a half, and continued gradually to fall till September 30, when the river was at the lowest. The amount of decrease, from June 14 to September 30, was thirty-one feet ten inches, which, added to fourteen feet six inches, its depth at the latter date when at its lowest, makes the total depth of the Tigris, at the maximum of its height, forty-six feet four inches. depth was taken by Parsons in the centre of the stream, opposite the middle of the bridge of boats. The breadth of the river he states to be, at this point, 871 feet, from bank to bank. The hydrographic basin of the Tigris may be considered as enclosing an area of 36,000 geographical miles.

The

There is an illusion to the overflowing of the Tigris in the book of Nahum. That prophet, in denouncing the destruction of Nineveh, says:

"The gates of the rivers shall be opened,

And the palace shall be dissolved.”—Nah. ii. 6.

And again:

"But with an overrunning flood

He will make an utter end of the place thereof,

And darkness shall pursue his enemies."-Nah. i. 8.

Both these passages mark distinctly the agency of an inundation in opening the way to the beseigers (the Medes) of Nineveh. Diodoris says, that the king of Assyria was greatly encouraged by an ancient prophecy, That Nineveh should never be taken until the river became its enemy; and that when the Tigris overflowed its banks, and swept away about twenty furlongs of its wall, he was filled with such consternation and despair, that recalling to memory the words of the prophecy, he gave all up for lost.

This historian does not specify the time of year in which this inundation of the Tigris occurred; hence it is not certain by which of the causes (which still periodically operate in swelling its streams, and which sometimes occasion it to overflow its banks to an alarming extent) it was produced. In autumn it is swollen by rains, and in the spring by the melting of the snows in the mountains of Armenia. The latter cause replenishes the river more than the former and more frequently causes inundations; hence, it is supposed, it

was by this the proud walls of Nineveh were cast down. A circumstance, remarkably illustrative of this event, occurred A. D. 1831, to the great city Bagdad, that now exists on the same river. While the inhabitants were anticipating a seige, the river overflowed its banks, producing one of the most extensive and destructive river inundations recorded in history. In one night, a great part of the city wall, with a great number of houses, were overthrown by the irruption of the waters, and thousands of the sleeping inhabitants perished.

BABYLONIA, OR CHALDEA.

This portion of the Assyrian empire was a part of that territory called in Scripture, "the land of Shinar," Gen. xi. 2; a name it retained till the days of the prophet Daniel, Dan. i. 2. The name of Babylonia is generally supposed to have been borrowed from the town of Babel, and the name of Chaldea from the Chaldeans, or Chasdim. Sometimes, these two names extend to the whole country, being taken indifferently for each other, and sometimes they are limited to certain districts; by Babylonia, being meant the country in the immediate neighbourhood of Babylon; and by Chaldea, that which extends southward to the Persian Gulf. Chaldea is used by sacred writers for the whole country, and Babylonia by profane writers. The limits of Babylonia have been already defined; hence it need only be observed here, that it nearly corresponds to the present Irak Arabi.

The plain of Babylon, properly so called, extends from Pylae on the Euphrates, to the district of Accad, or Sittacene. It is bounded on the south by the marshes of Lemlun, and on the north by the Median wall, which, according to Xenophon, was fifty-eight miles in length.

This plain, (so celebrated as the spot to which the descendants of Noah attached themselves, and as involving the fall of empires, and the destruction of cities,) in ancient times, and even as late as the days of Xenophon, was a highly cultivated and fertile country. This did not arise from the fertilizing influences of the atmosphere, nor from the inundations of the river Euphrates, but from artificial means. rodotus says, that the inhabitants either watered the country by the hand, or dug trenches, or canals, for its refreshment and fecundation. Hence it was, combined with the richness of its soil and an excellent climate, that it was aptly compared by this author to Egypt.

He

ANCIENT CANALS.

The antiquity of the canals of Babylonia dates from the remotest period of the Chaldæo-Babylonian monarchy. The great empire of Babylonia arose upon this alluvial plain, amid a system of irrigation and draining, which spread like net-work over the land. It was crossed by innumerable canals in all directions, the largest of them being navigable, and feeding others; diminishing in importance as they receded from the trunk. These, as well as the parent river, were bordered with vast numbers of hydraulic machines, by which the water was raised and distributed into the fields and gardens. The exact number of these canals it is now impossible to determine, as the ancients are not only confused, but often contradict each other in their description of them. Their number would, indeed, depend much upon the political state of the country. Doubtless, they were most numerous, and kept in the best repair, during the flourishing period of the Assyrian and Babylonian dynasties. When Nineveh was destroyed, however, and Babylon ceased to be the capital of an empire; when the seat of royalty was transferred to Susa and Persepolis; and the navigation of the Euphrates from the sea was stopped by the Persians; and cities on the Euphrates and Tigris were mouldering away; the prosperous state of the canals would be interrupted, and some of them would probably go to ruin. But when the seat of power, during the Parthian and Sassanian dynasties, was once more transferred to the Tigris, the canals would be repaired and new ones excavated, as new cities arose in the vicinity. Hence, in the days of Julian, Ammianus Marcellinus describes the country of Babylonia, called Assyria by him, as being full of populous cities, date gardens and canals.

But a change once more took place under the baneful influence of Mohammedanism; and although during the khalifate of Bagdad, a temporary prosperity was experienced, yet that was soon overthrown by the ravages of the Turks and Tartars, and a country which was once as the garden of Eden, lovely in appearance, became remarkable for sterility, poverty and neglect.

On the map of Rennell, there are eight of these communicating canals, exclusive of smaller ones, the traces of several of which are still visible, but many more have been destroyed. In the days of the khalifate, four canals of communication are recorded by Abulfeda to have existed; but at present, and for