The prospect from this position was at once far-reaching and instructive. On our right hand, a few miles off, rose the caldron of Nimrud from the table surface upon which we stood. Behind us there was nothing but the undulating steppe. Our barometers were now sensible of a slight decline in elevation--a decline of about 350 feet. We were placed at a level of 5500 feet; abruptly before our eyes the ground fell away to the head of the plain, 1000 feet below. The appearance of the plain of Mush recalled our view from the slopes of Aghri Dagh over the district of Alashkert. Both depressions are in fact the beds of former lakes, to which the mountains descend in bold promontories. On that occasion we were overlooking the breadth of an even area; to-day we were commanding the length. And what a curious commencement of the plain that feeds the Euphrates, this colossal dam, 1000 feet in height and several miles across! The boundaries of the depression are, on the north, the train of Nimrud, which extends for a short distance towards the west. Further on, the line is continued by a range of lofty hills, which, as we looked, extended across the horizon, their summits topped with snow. The Kurdish chain contributes the southern and continuous barrier. Our course was indicated by a distant headland of that southern border, bearing about west-north-west. The descent to the plain occupied nearly an hour, and it was one o'clock before we were again on level ground. The first steps of the declivity led us past a little village, and along a torrent which contributes its waters to the Euphrates. The name of Morkh is applied both to the hamlet and to the stream. Looking backward, we observed a little conical crater on the flank of Nimrud, resembling a boil, and facing the Kerkür. Eruptive volcanic stones were strewn upon our path. Lower down we threaded our way through some low bush of oak. When we reached the head of the plain, a hill mass of no great height, and evidently of volcanic origin, rose between us and the descending train of Nimrud. We could see the trees of the Kurdish village of Norshen, beneath the mountains of the southern border, and scarcely more than half-a-mile away.