fire-altar. It is, perhaps, the pedestal of a column. I am told that at a little distance is another and a similar fragment, but much mutilated; I have not seen it, but my next excursion shall be towards that locality, in hopes that it will assist me to complete what is wanting in the inscription.

It is time, Sir, that I should inform you of the style in which this monument is constructed, and therein do not lie its least remarkable features, for I know of nothing like it. It is built upon a platform composed of a single range of baked bricks, bearing inscriptions. Above this platform is a layer of fine sand, six inches in thickness, which is spread upon another platform of bricks, and so on several times, strongly cemented with bitumen. This sand was, there can be no doubt, deposited intentionally, for it must have been brought from the Tigris, though with what object I cannot conceive, unless to contradict our proverb. This is not all; the walls are formed of large and small slabs of gypsum, such as is found near Mosul. Between these there is merely earth; thus the whole

exterior of the brick-work is

covered with sculptured slabs, while the interior is filled with clayey soil. There is no appearance of its being the decomposition of unbaked bricks,

monuments.

for no traces of them are visible; but my workmen assert that this earth has been mixed with lime, which hardens it, and that this mode of construction is in use at Mosul at the present day. Nevertheless, it seems to be far from durable, and forms a singular contrast to what we already know regarding primitive In confirmation of this statement, the swelling of the earth, before the empty spaces were filled, has broken the bas-reliefs into a thousand pieces, and since I have cleared the passages, their sole stay being removed, they would fall if not carefully and immediately supported. As these props will not last beyond the period of my present labours, this monument must necessarily perish for ever, unless the enlightened munificence of the French government provide me with the means of rescuing the most interesting portions.

Such Sir, are the details which I am now enabled to give. I will continue to keep you au courant of all discoveries that may result from my researches, in the hope that they will not be altogether devoid of interest both for yourself and the literary world.

E. BOTTA.

IN a former letter, I had the honor of acquainting you with my archæological discovery in the village of Khorsabad; I now send you some particulars of what has since been brought to light. To my description I annex a plan, which approaches nearer to the reality than the first.* This plan is necessary in order to elucidate what I have written, because

*I do not publish this plan; that which accompanies the first letter (see Plan I.) being posterior to, and more complete than the one named by M. BOTTA. Therein will be found the state of the excavations such as it was when M. BOTTA wrote his third letter.

J. M.

nothing else can give any idea of the different parts of the monument.

You doubtless remember that the excavations ceased at the end of a wall, forming the northern side of a passage paved with an inscription. I had left the workmen an order to quit this point and follow the wall, to see whether it was a continuation of that which displays the two colossal figures discovered more to the eastward; it is not so; before reaching these, this wall opens out in a passage running towards the north, and like the one I first found, but rather larger. I will call it passage No. II. The eastern partition (xvI.) has been followed as far as the point where it turns to the east at right angles; the western partition (x.), facing this same point, turns towards the west, it then turns back in a northerly direction, forming, with an opposite wall, the passage No. III. This last wall comes from the northward, and by following it to its head, I have ascertained that at the distance of five mètres it turned towards the east.

Of the result of all this the plan will show an outline, but yet cannot explain the ensemble in the slightest degree. On reflection, it is evident that this is only a very small portion of an immense monument;

future labours may, perhaps, develop the general plan. I now proceed to describe the sculptures and inscriptions.

The second and third passages are, like the first, paved by one great slab bearing a cuneiform inscription, of which I send copies made with all possible care. The largest, that of passage No. II,* cost me an entire day's labour. There are forty-six lines, and, although broken, it is complete; nothing is wanting but (especially towards the southern extremity) some defaced characters.

The inscription of the third passaget is rather imperfect; nevertheless, to judge by its proportions, it must be deficient in very little, the more so as the

*See Plans XIII. and XIV. The great extent of this inscription has compelled me to publish it on two sheets. M. BOTTA says in a note: "No characters are wanting save where irregular marks may be observed, which in my copy take up the place of those characters that, owing to their present decayed state, I have not been able to transcribe. The blanks indicate corresponding gaps upon the stone. This slab is broken, but each fragment retains its place. I am confident that the inscription is complete throughout."-J. M.

† See Plan XV.—"The slab is quite complete at lines 29-31 only, yet, as indicated in the copy, it cannot be wanting in much more than the others. The characters are widely separated; they are arranged in my copy as on the stone itself."-Note by M. BOTTA.

D