Other shapeless heaps of rubbish cover for many an acre the face of the land. On all sides, fragments of glass, marble, pottery, and inscribed brick are mingled with that peculiar nitrous and blanched soil, which, bred from the remains of ancient habitations, checks or destroys vegetation, and renders the site of Babylon a naked and hideous waste. Owls start from the scanty thickets, and the foul jackal skulks through the furrows. Truly "the glory of kingdoms and the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency is as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Wild beasts of the desert lie there; and their houses are full of doleful creatures; and owls dwell there, and satyrs dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces," for her day has come.[193] A few black tents and flocks of sheep and camels were scattered over the yellow plain. They belonged chiefly to the Zobeide, an ancient tribe, renowned in the history of the conquering Arabs under their first caliphs, and now pasturing their flocks in the wilds of Babylonia.[194] From Amran, the last of the great mounds, a broad and well-trodden track winds through thick groves of palms. About an hour's ride beneath a pleasant shade brings the traveller to the falling gateway of the town of Hillah. A mean bazar, crowded with Arabs, camels, and asses, leads to a bridge of boats across the Euphrates. The principal part of the town, containing the fort and the residence of the governor, is on the opposite side of the river. We turned off, however, to the left, as our quarters had been made ready on the western bank. A party of irregular troops sent out to meet me, conducted my caravan to a spacious house standing on the very edge of the stream, and belonging to one of the principal families of the place. It had once contained rich furniture, and handsomely decorated rooms in the Persian style, but was now fast falling into utter ruin. The cold wind whistled through the rotten wooden panels of the windows, for there was no glass, and the crumbling ceiling and floor threatened to give way together. In this frail dwelling we prepared to pass a part of our winter in Babylonia. [Illustration: The Mujelibé or Kasr (from Rich).] CHAPTER XXII. THE CHIEFS OF HILLAH.--PRESENT OF LIONS.--THE SON OF THE GOVERNOR.--DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN.--ZAID.--THE RUINS OF BABYLON.--CHANGES IN THE COURSE OF THE EUPHRATES.--THE WALLS.--VISIT TO THE BIRS NIMROUD.--DESCRIPTION OF THE RUIN.--VIEW FROM IT.--EXCAVATIONS AND DISCOVERIES IN THE MOUND OF BABEL.--IN THE MUJELIBÉ OR KASR.--THE TREE ATHELÉ.--EXCAVATIONS IN THE RUIN OF AMRAN.--BOWLS, WITH INSCRIPTIONS IN HEBREW AND SYRIAC CHARACTERS.--THE JEWS OF BABYLONIA.