without ascending the Shat el Arab. And the claims of the Karun rest on the supposition that the ruins of an ancient city on its banks are those of Shushan the Palace; though it seems sufficiently proved, that they are only those of a city built by Shapur, (Sapor,) the Persian king, in the third century.

Mr. Kinneir considers the Abzal to be the Ulai. This river rises in the mountains of Irak, and flows nearly south, through a space of about four and a half degrees of latitude, till, as has been already said, it enters the Gulf, having been joined at some distance above by the Karun. The only place of any note on this river, is the town of Dizful, which is situate on its east bank, in a beautiful and spacious plain. It contains a population of about 20,000 souls, and is noted for its elegant bridge of twentytwo arches, the work of Sapor; the river is here about 300 yards wide. About twenty miles below the town, the Abzal is joined by the Karun, and these rivers united form the ancient Pasitigris.

The country through which all these rivers flow is the modern province of Khuzistan, a part of the kingdom of Persia, and formed in ancient days the kingdom of Susiana, which was governed by Abradates, the friend and ally of Cyrus. On his death it became incorporated with the dominions of the Persian monarch.

The northern part of this region is hilly; the central portion is an extensive plain, in many places very fertile; but towards the south and east this degenerates into a barren sandy desert, occasionally intersected by extensive morasses. The banks of the

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rivers are the only situations in this part that are capable of cultivation, where rice and a little wheat and barley are raised. There are also a few plantations of date-trees. The higher portions of the province include several extensive valleys, distinguished for their fertility and picturesque beauty.

The climate is so healthy that the region is the resort of a great number of invalids from the sur

rounding provinces. In summer the heat is great, and the inhabitants reside in subterranean cellars for the sake of the coolness which they possess, sleeping by night in the open air on the house-tops. The winters are mild, and the springs peculiarly delightful. Near the rivers already named, the soil is rich and the crops abundant. The sugar-cane is extensively cultivated, and grows in great luxuriance; the quantity and excellence of the sugar manufactured here is considered as giving name to the province, for Khuzistan is said to signify sugar country. Indigo is cultivated around Dizful, and in the neighbourhood of Shuster a great quantity of opium is produced from the large and beautiful oriental poppy.

Among the animals of this region may be mentioned the wild ass, "used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure." This is a beautiful and active animal, and so swift that it can be hunted down only by relays of horses and dogs; it is of a light mouse brown, with the same black cross on its shoulders that marks the breed with which we are familiar. The wild boar inhabits the thickets, and makes destructive incursions upon the cultivated grounds; it is a bold and ferocious creature. Jackals and hyenas are very abundant, and their nocturnal howls as they prowl for their prey are truly terrifying. These sounds are occasionally exchanged for the scream of the beautiful but sanguinary leopard, or the roar of the still more formidable lion. Numerous herds of gazelles and other elegant species of antelopes, afford food to these beasts of prey. Many of the animals, and in parti

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cular the birds, are the very same as those of southern Europe, and even the familiar songsters of our own native hedges are abundantly found there. Venomous reptiles are numerous, and many sorts of lizards, including the singular chameleon; and various species of insects are annoying and destructive. The ravages of the locusts often produce lamentable consequences.

About seven miles west of Dizful commence the ruins of Shus, the ancient Shushan, or Susa, the royal palace of the Persian kings, and the capital of the kingdom of Susiana. The word Shus in the Pehlivi language signifies "delightful;" and is indicative of that pleasantness of situation and of climate which made this city the favourite residence of Cyrus and his successors, in preference to the ancient and magnificent Babylon. The mouldering heaps that alone remain of its costly palaces extend over a space of twelve miles, reaching nearly to the banks of the Kerkhah, the ancient Choaspes. Over this immense tract are strewn mounds like those of Babylon; huge hillocks of earth and rubbish, covered with broken bricks and fragments of coloured tiles. The largest and most remarkable of the mounds are about two miles from the Kerkhah. The first, according to Kinneir, is a mile in circumference, and 100 feet high; the second is rather less in elevation, but of twice the extent. They are called by the inhabitants the Palace and the Castle, and resemble the pyramids of Babylon; but are not wholly composed of brick, but of clay and pieces of tile, with irregular layers of brick and mortar, five or six feet thick, to serve as a prop to the mass. Large blocks of

marble, covered with sculptures, are often discovered by the wandering Arabs, when searching for treasure, which they believe to be hidden in the ruins.

Major Rawlinson thus speaks of these remains : "The great mound of Susa forms the north-western extremity of a large irregular platform of mounds, which appear to have constituted the fort of the city, while the great tumulus represents the site of the inner citadel. By a rough calculation with the sextant, I found the height of the lower platform to be between eighty and ninety feet, and that of the great mound to be 165 feet; the platform, which is square, I estimated to measure two miles and a half. The mound, which I paced, measured 1,100 yards round the base, and 850 round the summit. The slope is very steep; so steep, indeed, as only to admit of ascent by two pathways." Major Rawlinson saw on the mound a slab, with an inscription of thirty-three lines in the arrow-headed character, and three Babylonian sepulchral urns, imbedded in the soil; and in another place there was exposed to view, a few feet below the surface, a flooring of brickwork: while the summit of the mound was thickly strewn with broken pottery, glazed tiles, and kiln-burnt bricks.

Sir Robert Ker Porter has given figures of some curious relics of antiquity found in the palace of Susa. One of these is interesting as containing, among other objects, specimens of compound animals, reminding us of those symbolic forms seen in vision when this place was in its glory. The cross, too, appears on it as a sacred emblem, as we know it was with the ancient Egyptians, a thousand years before the Christian era.