1,850 miles in length, and at its mouth fall by a common channel into the head of the Persian Gulf.*

This basin, at its upper part, has a breadth of 7° of longitude, from about 36° E. to 431° E., but narrows towards its lower extremity, where its width is not more than 140, from 48° E. to 49° E. Into the area so bounded, however, the ridged and knotted mountain mass that incloses Lake Van, projects like a great promontory, dividing the sources of the Euphrates, which are on its northern side, from those of the Eastern Tigris, the Khabour, and the Zab, which fall from its southern declivities.

The Euphrates, from its springs near Mount Ararat, flows along to the westward for about 250 miles, vainly seeking an outlet through the mountain chain of Taurus that bounds its southern bank. At length the full river, its constituent branches having

"We cannot refrain from making an observation on the historical effect of these systems of double rivers in Asia. We find that in the valley of the Nile civilization descended along its banks from one royal residence to another, from Meröe to Thebes, and thence to Memphis and Sais. But in the valleys of the double rivers of Asia we meet with double royal residences, double civilization, and double political systems, as Babylon and Nineveh respectively on the Euphrates and Tigris; Delhi and H'Lassa with Brahmanism and Buddhism, on the river-system of the Ganges, and on the double river-systems of China, the southern and the northern empire, Ma-chin and Katai. When in the progress of time civilization descended these streams, and met at their conflux, or where they approach near to one another, the different degrees of perfection which it had attained, and the different turns it had taken, must have produced, as the nations came in contact with one another, a beneficial effect. The same observation applies to the fourth great system of double rivers, the Sir and Gihon, on the banks of which, in the centre of Asia, the same fact is repeated in the royal residences of Samarkand and Bokhara."-Penn. Cycl. ii. 471.

united, precipitates itself through a chasm in the chain, but a few miles distant from the source of the Tigris. From this point the two sister rivers diverge, both, however, pursuing a general southeasterly course, and again approach, thus enclosing a large tract of level country, now the Turkish province of Algezira, but anciently known as Mesopotamia, a Greek version of its original Semitic name, Naharaim, signifying "The Two Rivers."

On the eastern bank of the Tigris, which separated it from the Mesopotamian plain, was situated, according to ancient geographers, Assyria proper, bounded on the north by the Niphates mountains (the modern Nebad Tagh), which separated it from Armenia, on the north-east by the Zagros chain. (the mountains of Koordistan), which divided it from Media, and on the south-east and south by the provinces of Susiana and Babylonia, the flat alluvial districts which constitute the lower portion of the Euphratean basin.

The upper part of this region is rugged and mountainous, lying among the ridges and valleys that form the southern declivities of the Niphates mountains, which are in fact the eastern extremity of the great chain of Taurus. A range of hills, dividing the valley of the Tigris from that of the Khabour, descends along the banks of the former river nearly as far as Mosul; but to the south-west of this point a vast level plain stretches out from the river's banks to the bases of the Koordish mountains, similar in character as in appearance to the plains of Mesopotamia on the opposite bank. Low ranges of hills, of

sandstone, limestone, and gypsum, here and there break the uniformity of these plains, which are bounded by the Hamrun hills, not far from the 34th parallel of north latitude.

Three large tributary rivers fall into the Tigris from the east, within this region, the Khabour, the Greater Zab, and the Lesser Zab. These all have their sources in the lofty snow-clad mountains of northern Koordistan; the course of the Khabour (called, to distinguish it from a river of the same name that flows into the Euphrates, the Upper Khabour), however, has not been traced throughout its length. The greater Zab, the principal river of Assyria after the Tigris, rises in the elevated plateau between Lakes Van and Urumiyah, at a level of 7,000 feet above the sea. It pursues a winding course of 200 miles, chiefly among the mountains, receives several tributaries, and falls, a stream of 60 feet in width, into the Tigris, in 36° north latitude.

The Lesser Zab has its principal sources about 20 miles south of the extremity of Lake Urumiyah; it has a course of about 100 miles, and pours into its superior a deep and rapid stream 25 feet broad. The Tigris itself has at this point a width of 1,500 feet.*

The physical characteristics of the country under consideration, the original home of the renowned Assyrian nation, differ with the varying elevation of surface. Mr. Ainsworth, who has personally examined it with great skill and acumen, divides it into two districts, that of the mountains, and that * Or, about half as wide again as the Thames at London Bridge.

of the sandy plains; the low alluvial plains of Susiana and Babylonia are at present excluded from our examination.

The mountainous region around Lake Van, including the sources of the Tigris and the Greater Zab, have a tolerably uniform geological structure. Granite rocks are met with, but the igneous rocks, considered to belong to the later formations, predominate. These mountains are not deficient in metals. At Divrigi, on one of the tributaries of the Upper Euphrates, vast masses of native iron, 3 feet thick, are found. A little lower down on the same river there are silver-mines, with the following ores,-argentiferous galena, a sulphuret of lead, silver, antimony, and iron; a sulphuret of antimony and silver. Near the sources of the Tigris there are copper-mines, said to yield 2,250,000 lbs. annually. Silver-mines occur again to the eastward of the same range. The lofty Koordish mountains between the great lakes and the Tigris present similar conformations. In the valley of the Greater Zab there are veins of lead, which are worked.

The hilly country merging into uneven plains, between the mountains and the banks of the Tigris, consists almost wholly of chalk, and the overlying deposits, interrupted here and there by igneous rocks. At Hit are celebrated fountains of naphtha and bitumen in a magnesian limestone. In the neighbourhood of Mosul red sands and sandstones prevail, and extend to the Hamrun hills. The Kufri hills to the south-west of the Lesser Zab are composed of fresh-water limestones, gypsum, and

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sandstone, with deposits of bitumen, naphtha, sulphur, and salt. There are burning fountains of naphtha here, and at the pass of the Tigris through the Hamrun hills.

The botany of Mount Taurus is particularly rich, especially in its trees and shrubs, but this is chiefly true of its central and northern districts; the southern parts, with which we have principally to do, are comparatively defective. Pines, oaks, and ashes, are the most abundant forest-trees, and the sides of the mountains are often well-wooded with these to their summits. The walnut and the mulberry are also common. The plane attains an enormous size. The declivities that face the south are sheeted with vineyards and orchards; pears, apples, apricots, plums, figs, almonds, and olives yield their fruits in abundance, and of excellent quality. Wheat and barley are cultivated with success. Many of the beautiful flowering plants and bulbs of our gardens have their native country here; the daphne, the myrtle, the oleander, the guelder rose, the tree pink, the clematis, the jasmine, the honeysuckle, and the rhododendron, are enumerated among the wild plants and shrubs; and some of the sheltered valleys are said, in spring, to be as gay as a flowergarden with the brilliant blossoms of bulbous and herbaceous plants.

On the hills and plains there is a great scarcity of timber-trees, and the annual or tender plants are few; "the tough stems of perennials alone seem able to withstand the excessive variations of temperature." Wormwood is characteristic of this