The morning breaks serene and clear; we have slept, as usual, with our tent open upon one side. It has been chilly during the night; but the temperature rises with great rapidity as the sun mounts above the rim of the crater. A charming landscape is framed within the opening of the green canvas, receiving the mellow light from behind. Beyond the foreground of quivering aspens and white-stemmed, tremulous birches, the eye rests upon the transparent surface of the lake. The opposite segment of the circle of cliffs is mirrored in the water with all the wealth of detail which they possess. Where these images cease, the surface is blue, like any other lake in the recesses of the mountains. We miss the changing effects and splendour of colour, characteristic of the lake of Van. We descend through the groves to the margin of the water, to take our morning's bathe. The declivity is pretty steep, and there is a difference of level of 300 feet between our camp and the lake. The wood is still cool and fresh. Tall stalks of flowering yellow mullein rise within it; and the prevailing greenness is relieved by patches of pink from the rosebay willow-herb, or of pale salmon from clusters of poppies. It seems quite a nursery for a variety of insects, this crater of Nimrud. Last evening, as we arrived, the bushes were dotted with sleeping butterflies, reminding us of the appearance of those shreds of coloured cotton which are affixed by devout pilgrims to the shrubs round their sacred place. This morning the air is all hum and bright wings; we notice the swallow-tail in abundance, the marbled white, some clouded yellows, a multitude of fritillaries, a few tortoiseshells. The water is pure as crystal; but it feels cold, having a temperature of 64° Fahrenheit. To the taste it scarcely differs from ordinary water, although we thought it was at once more pleasant and more bracing to the skin. It is evidently increasing in level. Many of the trees along its margin are submerged. We saw no fish, only some small leeches and fresh-water shrimps. If only one had a boat, and could take soundings, and could cross to the opposite shore! It is probably very deep. The walls of the crater are so precipitous, that one cannot walk along their base. Nor is it possible to reach their summit, except on the eastern side of the great circle, in which we occupy a fairly central position. It is therefore necessary to make a very long detour when we wish to visit any point on the west of the crater.