East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1864-01-20

paints the following picture Of tho
desolation that surrounds and en-
shrouds tho once mighty Babylonian
empire
In the distance high above the
plain, doomed great mound of earth.
On both sides of US lay what looked
Ike long parallel ranges of hills
These lines are pronounced to be the
remains Of those canals that once con
ductcd the waters Of the Euphrates
over the length aud breath of the an
cent Babyloriia. What mighty ca
mails must they have been, that still
showed under the roll Of centuries
snch substantial traces now not SO
much as drop Of water; no, not even
a drop Of heavens pearly dew, ever
glistens, whore once ships must have
navigated. These mighty banks that
carried fertility to every corner Of the
ancient kingdom arc now more use
less, sightless mounds.
No morning mist, moistening the
thirsty earth, over hangs over them.
No rain clouds ever shadow them,
tcmpcring the rays Of a fierce daily
returning sun. The end of her that
" dwelleth upon many waters has
been brought only too surely. The
awful prophecies has been fulfilled
nad desolation, in all its nakedness,
in all its dreariness, was around U.S.
After riding some two hours we arriv-
ed at the foot of the great mound that
we had seen in the morning. We
dismounted and scrambled to the top,
for we had even arrived at the ruins
of Babylon; and this great mound Of
earth that we were on was the grave
of the golden city.
believe from tho summit, raised
some hundred feet above the plain,
tho walls of the ancient city may be
traced. But hot wind driving burning
sand and tho impalpable dust of ages
into the pores of our skin, made every
effort to opon an eye so terribly pain
full, that we gave up tho idea in de-
spair OF, either tracing walls, or indeed
OF looking about us much anywhere.
| remember seeing, away to the
west, lines Of willows, and a silver
thread winding away into distance !;
and nearer, some unsightly bare
mounds, looking asif 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
The silver thread was our first
glimpse Of tho wateas Of the Euphra-
ties, and the mounds that remained of
tho once beautiful hanging gardens of
Babylon; at least, so the conjecture of
men Of research has accounted for
them. But so completely have tho
prophesies been fulfilled-so COM
pletely has tho "name and the rem
nant boon cut OFF, ofall pertaining to
tho once mighty city, that even the
great hill on which we are standing is
only by conjecture supposed to be tho
ruin Of some great building or royal
palace that stood within tho walls
possibly the palace Of Scmiramis.
We descended from the great
mound, and made for those lesser
mounds which are supposed to be the
site Of the hanging gardens Of Nitro
els and Semiramis. In one spot-the
only thing we saw in tho shape of
building in state of ruin-was a
mass Of potrifed brickwork, piercing
the old sod and debris of centuries,
angle upwards. Tho bricks were
square, of large size and beautiful
make; tho angle of some clear and
sharp, as if the brick had but loft the
kiln yesterday; instead of nearly twice
two thousand years ago. Turning in
to little hollow way between the
mounds, we came suddenly upon the
colossal stone lion. Time with its
leaden hand had knocked away all the
sharp angles Of the statue. Tho fea-
lures of the lion are completely oblit-
Grated, as arc also those of the pros
trate form that lies so helpless, so ut
terly and wholly human, beneath the
appraised paw of the king of beasts,
The group presents itself to tho
eye, owing to the wear of old Time,
much i'll the appearance of those vast
blocks of Carras marble which the
bold chisel of Michal Angelo struck
into and then, at the point that the
shapeless marble had begun to assume
the interest "abozzo" of the great sculp-
tors idea, the block was suddenly
abandoned and left as a wonder and a
puzzle to future ages, so does this
group Of the lion and the man now
bear an unfinished, unwroughtappear-
ance; but you cannot look at it mo-
ment, and not instantly avow the mai
esty and grandeur of the idea that
once lay there SO nightly embodied
This dark colossal statue, which may
once have stood under the gorgeous
roof of a temple, and before which
the queenly Semiramis; proud and SUI
premely beautiful, may once have
bowed, stands now canopied by the
grandest of canopies certainly high
heaven--but never noticed but by the
wind that sweeps moaning over it
aud the jackals that yelp around, as
they hold high revel over tho bones of
some camel who has been good to die
in the vicinity.