The mortar is of extraordinary hardness; it is easier to break the bricks themselves, than to separate them from it.  The bricks of all the ruins are partly yellow and partly red, a foot long, nearly as broad, and half an inch thick.

In the ruins El Kasir stands a solitary tree, which belongs to a species of firs which is quite unknown in this district.  The Arabs call it Athale, and consider it sacred.  There are said to be several of the same kind near Buschir—­they are there called Goz or Guz.

Many writers see something very extraordinary in this tree; indeed they go so far as to consider it as a relic of the hanging gardens, and affirm that it gives out sad melancholy tones when the wind plays through its branches, etc.  Everything, indeed, is possible with God; but that this half-stunted tree which is scarcely eighteen feet high, and whose wretched stem is at most only nine inches in diameter, is full 3,000 years old, appears to me rather too improbable!

The country round Babylon is said to have been formerly so flourishing and fruitful, that it was called the Paradise of Chaldea.  This productiveness ceased with the existence of the buildings.

As I had seen everything completely, I rode on as far as Hilla, on the other side of the Euphrates.  A most miserable bridge of forty-six boats is here thrown across the river, which is four hundred and thirty feet broad.  Planks and trunks of trees are laid from one boat to the other, which move up and down at every step; there is no railing at the side, and the space is so narrow that two riders can scarcely pass.  The views along the river are very charming; I found the vegetation here still rich, and several mosques and handsome buildings give life to the blooming landscape.

In Hilla I was received by a rich Arab.  As the sun was already very near setting, I was shown to a beautiful terrace instead of a room.  A delicious pilau, roast lamb, and steamed vegetables were sent to me for supper, with water and sour milk.

The terraces here were not surrounded by any walls, a circumstance which was very agreeable to me, as it gave me an opportunity of observing the mode of life and customs of my neighbours.

In the court-yards I saw the women engaged in making bread, and in the same way as at Bandr-Abas.  The men and children meanwhile spread straw mats upon the terraces, and brought dishes with pilaus, vegetables, or some other eatables.  As soon as the bread was ready, they began their meal.  The women also seated themselves, and I thought that the modern Arabs were sufficiently advanced in civilization to give my sex their place at table.  But to my regret I saw the poor women, instead of helping themselves from the dishes, take straw fans to keep off the flies from the heads of their husbands.  They may have had their meal afterwards in the house, for I did not see them eat anything, either upon the terraces or in the courts.  They all slept upon the terraces.  Both men and women wrapped themselves in rugs, and neither the one nor the other took off any of their clothing.