The ruins of this wonderful city are to be seen about forty-eight miles south of the present city of Bagdat. Its prodigious walls have entirely disappeared, and it is not easy to trace even the outline of this once mighty metropolis. The remains consist of heaps of rubbish, principally bricks. It does not appear that the architecture of the Babylonians had reached a high degree of refinement. Its chief characteristic was colossal dimensions. The remains of the temple of Belus are still to be distinguished, and consist of a heap of ruins about one hundred and twenty feet in height. This complete destruction of Babylon, and the desolation which presides over the scene, is regarded as a terrific fulfilment of the prophetic denunciations uttered against it by the prophets. [Illustration] The Leopard. This animal, a handsome, but fierce member of the great family of cats, is smaller than either the lion or the tiger. Its skin is very beautiful, being spotted with large ocellated black spots on a light ground, which sometimes approaches to a bright yellow color. The leopard is remarkably lithe and flexible in all its motions. It is a very symmetrical animal, and as its expression partakes as much of wildness as of fierceness, it is among the handsomest of its tribe. It preys upon small animals, is frequently on the hunt, and probably kills more creatures than do the tiger or the lion. It is said to be found only in the islands of the Oriental Archipelago, and in the Eastern peninsula. The leopard climbs trees with astonishing rapidity, so that few animals are safe from his ravages. Man alone seems to be respected by him, but if pressed hard in the pursuit by the hunter, it will turn upon him, and much skill and prowess is then necessary to guard against the fury of his attacks. Two men in Southern Africa fell in with a leopard in a mountain ravine, and immediately gave chase to him. The animal at first endeavored to escape by clambering up a precipice, but being hotly pressed, and slightly wounded by a musket ball, he turned upon his pursuers with that frantic ferocity which he frequently displays, and springing upon the man who had fired upon him, tore him from his horse to the ground, biting him at the same time very severely on the shoulder, and tearing his face and arms with his claws. The other hunter, seeing the danger of his comrade, sprung from his horse, and attempted to shoot the leopard through the head; but, whether owing to trepidation, or the fear of wounding his friend, or the sudden motions of the animal, he unfortunately missed his aim.