Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1864-04-02

! shiu, Hiaue every euOTt 10 open an eye so Ter
ribly painful, that we gave up she ideas in
despair of either tracing walls, or, indeed,
OF looking about us anywhere. l remember
| seeing, away to the west, lines of willows
and Il silver thread winding away into the
! distance; and nearer, some unsightly bare
mounds, looking as if volcanic fire had been
at work underneath the smooth surface OF
the plain, and had thrown these mounds UP
in the spirit of pure mischief. That silver
thread was our first glimpse of the waters
of the Euphrates, and the mounds all that
remains of the once beautiful hanging gar.
dens of Babylon; at least, so the conjectures
of men of research has accounted for them
But so completely have the prophecies been
fuliled-so completely has the "name and
remnant been cut off" Of all pertaining to
the once mighty city, that even the great
hill on which we were standing is only by
conjecture supposed to be the ruin of some
great building or royal palace that stood
within the walls-possibly the palace OF
Scmiramis.
| We descended from the great mound. and
made for those lesser mounds which are
supposed to be the sites of the hanging gar
dens of Nitocris and Semiramis. In one
epot--the only thing we saw in the shape of
! a building i'll state of ruin--was q mass of
vitrified brick work, piercing the old soil
and debris of centuries angle upward. The
bricks were square, of large size, and beau
tiful make; the angles of some clear and
sharp, rs if the brick had left the kiln yes
terday. instead of twice two thousand years
ago. Turning into little hollow way be-
( tween the mounds, we came suddenly upon
the colossal stone lion. Time, with his lead
en- hand, had knocked away at all sharp
angles of the statue. The features of the
lion are completely obliterated, as are also
those of the PROSTATE form that lies so help
less SO utterly and wholly human, be-
meath the upraiscd form of the king of
! beasts
! The group represents itself to the eye,
/ owing to the wear of old Time, much in the
! appearance of those vast blocks of Carrara
marble which the bold chisel of Michael
Angelo struck into, and then at the point
| that the shapeless marble had begun to as
sumo the merest "abozzo" of the great sculp-
tors idea, the block Tas suddenly abandon
ed and left as wonder and puzzle to fu-
ture ages, so does this group of the lion and
the man now bear an unfinished, unwrought
appearance; but you cannot look at it a
moment, and not instantly avow the majesty
and grandeur of the idea that once lay there
SO nightly embodied. This dark-colored
colossal statue, which may once have stood
under the gorgeous roofota temple, and be-
fore which the queenly Semiramis-proud
and supremely beautiful-may once have
bowed, stands now canopied by the grand
est of all canopies, certainly-high heaveu-
but never noticed save by the desert wind
that sweeps meaning over it, and the jack
ais that yelp around, rs they hold high revel
over the bones of some camel who has been
good enough to die in the vicinity.
SAND STORM.
About an hour before sunset we were
standing on the bridge of boats, looking
down on the -Euphratcs rolling its dark
/, turbid tide below Us. The heaven above
was without a cloud, but suddenly in the
course of a few minutes, as 1t appeared, we
became aware that the western sky was be-
coming strangely obscure and as We looked
in the direction of the sun, We saw his rays
were waxing dim by reason Of visit lurid
scloud that was surging up from the western
horizon at pace that was terrific to behold.
There was a sudden rush of feet across the
bridge-for the people, men women and
children, were flying in all directions, hop
ing to find shelter from the deiuge which
they supposed would, in very short time,
of the midst of the omnous pillar of cloud
that was building itself up so rapidly, and
with such magic speed in the west.
We hurried home, for we saw plainly that
the storm would be upon us in few min
utes. The appearance of this driving cloud
from our verandah was grand in the extreme
We now were convinced that sand storm,
and that one of no ordinary kind, was about
to burst upon us in all its tury--for the
cloud, now that we came to look at it, and
into it, evidently held no rain in its lurid
depths. The dark shades of il were of the
deepest purple, and the edges, rs it came
boiling up from the westward, were tinted
with a most glorious gold. Every instant,
| as the light played over the surface We be-
held colOrs varying from brilliant orange
to the deep, dark, somber tones of red and
purple. Birds of all descriptions, scream
ing wildly, were endeavoring-so by
rapid flight, some by soaring high into the
yet clear vault of heaven-to avoid the sand
laden atmosphere that was surging to-
ward us in a way that was wondrous to be-
hold.
In less than fifteen minutes from the time
we first observed it, the fiery breath of the
storm was upon us. First came the moan
of u rushing mighty wind, as II swept an
grily by. There were u few date trees in
the garden below. Their sturdy leaves were
for an instant strongly agitated; the next
moment they we're torn away with crash,
and then hurried along TO the leeward rs
are the light leaves of beech before an
autumnal breeze. The stout trees them
selves waved TO and fro, then bent down,
and bowed humbly before the wrath of the
gale. a few seconds more, and the town
plunged into utter midnight darkness
Though two of us were standing within a
yard of each other, out on the verandah 1t
was impossible 10 trace even the outline OF
the figure, 30 impenetrable was the gloom
There Was a feeling that some kind of tne
sand was pervading every sense Of the body
There was peculiar taste in the atmos'
phere, and the eyes suddenly became pain
fully sore. Afler the one furious gust of
wind had passed, there was great stiffness
In the air, and immediately, AS the darkness
set in, the buzz and hum of the baLars were
completely hushed.
Our servants thought the last day had
come aud, as We heard ailsrward. this waE
the general impression throughout the town
for even tlie oldest "inhabitant" had never
seen aay dust -storm resembling this Ia
about lse inmates the darkness began 10
clear and ~ soon As Nc could sec, No
found ourselves and everything belonging
to us covered With hne, impAlpable dust,
Of reddish color. There u no sand Of this
color Ia AMY OF lhrss deserts. IA the dafk'
-. Al . Hall ..I llfs.fuatta ffiara itla