had fed their flocks. Only one pregnant young woman was spared, and her son was the founder of the so-called " Orphan's tribe." The spot where this savage event took place is still known as the Wadi al Nissa, or the Valley of the Woman." A lofty mound of ruin is to be observed from the Muntifik encampment to the westward, on the Arabian plain. It is called Mugaiya, or the "Place of Bitumen," by the natives. According to Mr. Fraser a huge quadrangular tower rises out of this mass of ruin to a height of eighty or a hundred feet. This, which is, perhaps, one of the most perfect specimens of the Assyrian and Chaldean temple, "built on high places," still extant, is constructed with bricks, many of which are marked with the arrow-headed character, and is divided into stories, the upper of which diminish in extent as we see in some Indian pagodas, and looking from the top, vestiges of a wall are to be traced, which once apparently enclosed the building. This ruin appears to have been first observed by Pietro della Valle in 1625, and it has been identified, both by Rennell and D'Anville, with the Urchoe of the Greeks, the Ur of Babylonian Chaldea, in contradistinction to, and at the same time probably in memory of, the Ur of Abraham. This city was according to the ancient geographers situate on the Pallacopas, but Mr. Fraser remarks that no traces of that canal were visible from the top of the ruined temple. As, however, both Colonel Chesney and Lieut. Ormsby met with the bed of that channel between Zubair and Jibal Sinam, it must have followed the line of valley in which Mugaiya is situated. It is not positively necessary that it should have flowed close to the capital; it is more positive that it flowed through the territory of the Orchenian Chaldeans, for Pliny remarks, "Euphrates præclusere Orchani nec nisi Pasitigri defertur in mare.' And Mr. Fraser remarks, that other similar monuments of a remote antiquity were to be observed still further to the westward. A great central depression furrows the lands eastward and northeastward of the Muntifik encampment. A channel bearing the waters of the Tigris to the Euphrates, the reverse of what occurs in the plains of Babylonia, quits the former river in the neighbourhood of Kut Amarah, passing the modern village of Kut Hai*, to reach Nushayit Wasut. This was once a place of importance, situated in the heart of a populous, rich, well-cultivated, and flourishing country, and was under the name of Vaseta, a metropolitan town of the Chaldeans. This site has also been identified with the Cybate of the Theodosian tables, with every degree of probability, as far as position, distance, and corruption of name is concerned; and also by Mr. Fraser with Cascara, but as that place is contained in the same list, as given by Assemani, of Chaldean episcopacies with Vaseta, they must be supposed to be different places. It appears that at one time the river flowing past Wasut, and into which the Nahr Wan also emptied itself, was a principal bed of the Tigris, for the Ayyubite prince and geographer, Abu-l-fada, describes Wasut as being intersected by the Diglah, or Tigris, which was spanned by a bridge of boats. Beyond this, the Shat al Hai divides into two branches, the northerly Apparently the same as the Hei-beni-lyt, opposite Amara, and quoted by D'Anville from La Carte du Sabéïsme, or a map of the Sabæans, or Sabian churches. one, called Buji Hairat, being navigable and flowing past several villages; while the southerly is called Shat ul Amah, or "the blind," from not being navigable, and flows past the modern Wasut al Hai. The two channels then unite again to form the Sub Bil, which sends off canals to Shatra and other villages, to divide once more at the tomb of Hamzah, the most northerly branch being alone navigable and flowing into the Euphrates, fourteen miles north of Kut, as the shaikh's residence is called. Quitting Suk al Shuyukh, the steamer wended its way through continuous groves of date trees, till it reached a village with the ominous name of Umu al Bak, or "the mother of musquittoes," beyond which the river was only separated by a narrow band of soil, and tall reedlike grasses, from an almost perpetual inundation, that stretched away like a great lake to the eastward, and extended to the extreme verge of the horizon, only here and there interrupted by groves of date trees, or occasional reed huts islanded in the desert of waters. On the ascent of the steamer Euphrates in the latter end of October, and the descent of the same vessel in the beginning of November, the extent of this great inundation had undergone very little diminution from what it was in the month of June, the season of the floods. The native distinguishes amidst these marshes a variety of more or less distinct channels, through which he navigates in his frail bark, and to which he even attaches a name *. This tract of marsh and inundation would appear to correspond with the Chaldean lake of old, into which, according to Pliny, the Tigris poured its waters, after passing between Seleucia and Ctesiphon, and which must be distinguished from the lake which, according to the same author, was formed by the union of the Tigris and Eulæus rivers near to Charax. The river Euphrates, as it flowed tranquilly through these great marshes, was wide and deep, and, having deposited its mud, was clear and pellucid, presenting a most inviting and splendid sheet of water. On the 18th of June the steamer arrived at Kurnah, where the confluence of the two great rivers, Euphrates and Tigris, takes place, in the midst of verdant palm-groves. The few mud-houses which constitute the modern town of Kurnah, occupy the extreme point between the two, and are almost hid among the date trees. The changes in the course of the rivers have been so frequent and so numerous, that but slight data remain in the present day for identifying the village at the actual junction with the Apamea in Mesene, on the Digba or Didigua, of classical geography, and described as being situated at the junction of the rivers. Apamea, a name so beloved by the successors of Alexander, was enjoyed by Seleucia, as well as by some city in Mesene. And as Pliny describes the Tigris as losing itself in the Chaldean lake, previous to arriving at that territory so renowned in Trajan's wars, his Digla, and Ptolemy's Digua, or Didugua, must have been more in the interior of Mesopotamia, than the actual junction of * The Arabs are as rich in names for their picturesque marshes, as the Norwegians are for their variously formed mountains. The whole district is termed Jisayir, plural of Jisirah, "an island," or "the district of islands;" a narrow but navigable channel through reeds is termed Jahiyah, plural Jiyayit; while a channel which spreads out, and has islands or clumps of trees in the bed, is called Burj or Burjah, plural Burjayit. the rivers. The aspect of this portion of country, and the physical distribution of its land and waters, when there was a royal river on one side, and a Pallacopas on the other, a great Chaldean lake to receive the surplus of the waters of the Euphrates and Tigris, and a Susian lake to receive the waters of the Digla branch of the Tigris and of the Choaspes and Eulæus rivers, must have been altogether different to what it is in the present day.. Arrived at this remarkable point in the progress of the expedition, we found earnest of our approach to the sea, in the presence of a rickety, and disabled Turkish sloop of war, which lay off Kurnah, at a kind of custom-house, and which returned, after some delay, the salute with which we honoured the Sultan's flag. DREAM OF AN EVIL SPIRIT BEFORE HIS FALL *. FROM THE GERMAN OF JEAN PAUL FRIEDRICH RICHTER. BY JOHN OXENFORD, ESQ. ANGELS can still fall, and devils increase. No will is immutable but the holiest. More than that, no finite being can prophecy his will, and say that he will will this or that in the following week. For even if he fulfils his prophecy, he does it, not with the former will, but with the will of the moment, every will reigning as a new prince, independent of his predecessor. Hence all spirits can fall as well as rise, eternally. I was in a dream. The Paradise of the first man unfolded itself around me, but it seemed removed into another world,-it went along from sun to sun in woods of the Trees of Life, that extended further than the eye could reach,―the rivers of Paradise had rounded themselves into four pacific seas, from the depths of which glimmered the four quarters of the world, mirrored like great gardens; birds of paradise played with eagles, and in the breezes the flowers flew about the bees. I was in the land of profound peace; all was tranquil, even the sensation of longing in man; and if a shining light wafted itself over the flowery meads, and these undulated like ears of corn, the heart became full and tranquil, but desired nothing; and if a ceaseless music, now softer, now louder, flowed about the soul,-strayed echoes, as it were, from eternal bliss, that called to one another and sought one another, and finally died one upon another-the breast indeed swelled, but it did not sigh. All at once the flowery fields in the East became brighter, and the Trees of Life cast red shades, when, in the extended light, I saw a tall-built youth, like a cherub who once guarded Paradise, hastening eastwards. His face was turned from me, but the fourth sea suddenly raised itself, and stood upright in the sky with its water-mirror; and in this I saw the youth's face. How, before those pure eyes of love, be *This is an isolated piece, originally published in the "Taschenbuch für Damen,” (Ladies' Pocket Book,) for 1819. fore those warm lips of love, and before that sacred brow, arched into a temple, which nought but prayer had ever entered, did my whole heart dissolve into love! The new super-terrestrial spirit ennobled Eden, because he lived his sacred eternity therein. Thus did the evil spirit appear to me, ere he had fallen from God. The purple radiance increased, and I saw in the erect sea-mirror, that, behind me, in the West, a sun with a wreath of white moons was sinking, and that one moon after another was sinking before it. The upright sea in the sky whirled round-it formed and formed, and out of the waters a rainbow arched itself, which glared with more and more colour the deeper the sun fell. And when the sun had fallen, and the last moons were yet glimmering, it rested broad in the blue of heaven, with the brilliancy of jewels. Veiled forms now came down over the rainbow, and as they looked down upon the angel, they cast their veils back, and displaying their bridal wreaths and myrtle wreaths, sang, "Thanks, thou fair angel of our life, thou hast led and protected us, thou hast strengthened our virgin heart, and hast shown to eyes dark with pleasure the bright stars of eternity, and by thy means we have lived piously upon the erring earth. Thus do we go home over the rainbow of the grave into the city of God, to meet all the eternal beloved ones, and we thank thee, faithful angel of our heart!" Thus sang the female forms, who celebrated the rose-festival of their re-blooming. They all wept with gratitude, and their tears dropped upon the rainbow, and remained hanging there more brilliant than all other colours. Then did the angel kneel down, his face became an evening-red of joy, and he prayed with trembling arms, "Look upon me longer, ye pious eyes, and only continue to weep, for your friend hath warmly loved you." Ah, the angel of innocence did not know what tearsother than he wished-would flow for him. Behind the moving forms the rainbow had broken in, and only a little girl tarried when they had passed over upon the last pillar of colour. She looked down with infinite melancholy, and taking her veil let it float down upon the angel. He turned round and sank into slumber, when the veil rose far above him towards the South, and suspended itself on what seemed to be a distant tall lily, but was in reality a white snake, which stood upright. This swallowed the veil, and went erect upon the rattles in its tail, as upon feet. The nearer it became the more did it resemble a human shape, and at last resembled the sleeping angel himself. Now the form stood before him, and the face bore all the features of the angel, but evilly disturbed. Broad wrinkles had erased Paradise, it was like a face decaying in poison, a lily-leaf swollen with black worm-curvings; the eyeballs had changing hues, thick spider-bodies, and looked hungrily at the closed eyes of the angel. The form had a face that can never sleep or rest. It pushed the angel's feet, and he was obliged to raise himself before it, though with closed eyes. It looked sharply upon the great white eyelids, and then said, "Thou becomest I! Dream me and thyself." Then did the good angel dream he was seducing mankind. He saw all the virgins who had passed over the rainbow, return, shamelessly laughing, without wreath or veil on their bare heads, and himself marching at their head. He saw how he dragged the little girl, who had flung to him her nun's veil, into a bacchanal dance, and poured out for her glowing beverages, and how in the violent movement his wet locks hung down, wild and long. He saw how he rocked and lulled parents, with words and gold, and then made signs to the daughters to fly swiftly to the satyr-robbers; how he charmed after him child-like virgins by holding before them mirrors and gold-stuffs, and ran before them till he had drawn them into cruel men's arms, that opened like the claws of a scorpion. Everywhere he beheld himself seducing female hearts, and driving wild impure herds upon defenceless souls. Then did the sleeping angel weep. Then did the waking form laugh, and it said: "Dream further, my good spirit of the time." And the angel saw all those whom he had made unhappy-the faded forms, once so fascinating, as they passed him with empty eye-sockets, having nothing in those sockets but tears in the place of eyes: a thousand little crouching orphans, who looked about and cried, "Parents! Parents! where do ye live on the wide earth?" And female suicides and infanticides went hand in hand, and looked towards a row of gibbets. And he perceived that in the distance the bell for execution was incessantly ringing, and at this he laughed. But when heads of children, torn off, and severed heads of mothers began to roll towards him, he awoke in horror and wept over the misery. Scarcely had he opened his eyes, than the evil form entered him, to conceal itself within him. He now discerned me, and he looked on His look was hot and hard, me severely as a stranger in Paradise. and the painful dream had already disturbed his mild Eden. "Son of Adam," said he, "thou art not one of us, thou canst not remain in pure Paradise; punish thyself and fly from me; thou canst not stand near me." During these words, the likeness of the evil form appeared plainer and plainer through the angel's face, and at last completely worked itself out. Envy and Pride were now added to the former countenance. The angel had fallen, and he was about to mislead the souls he had formerly guarded, and had preserved in holiness and purity. Then did I awaken from my dream. But instead of the angel, youths stood before me, who had not yet fallen, who still made war on sin and protected innocence, and who could worship maiden beauty with modesty, order and goodness. To them I said, "Never, never dream and wake like the angel. For this have I told you the dream, which will once either reward or punish you." SONG. FROM THE GERMAN OF HENREICH HEINE. BY PERCY BOYD, ESQ. WHEN to my heart thou art folded, Deep-deep-is beneath us toiling, Men seeking with vain endeavour What a blest lot to us is given, Whilst thou hid'st in thine own heaven |