mals on the two first portals are elevated on a base. From the contour of the mutilation, the heads appear to have been similar to those of horses, and their feet have hoofs; on their legs and haunches the veins and muscles are strongly marked. Their necks, chests, shoulders, and backs, are encrustated with ornaments of roses and beads. "The sphinxes on the second portals appear to have had human heads, with crowned ornaments, under which are collected massive curls, and other decorations of a head-dress, which seems to have been a favourite fashion among the ancient Persians. Their wings are worked with great art and labour, and extend from their shoulders to the very summit of the wall. The intention of the sculptor is evidently, that these figures (emblematical perhaps of power and strength) should appear to bear on their backs the mass of the portico, including not only the block immediately above each, but the covering also, which, though now lost, certainly in the original state of the palace, connected the two sides and roofed the entrance. In these, as in the first portals, the faces of the animals form the fronts, and the bulk of their bodies, (called forth to a certain extent by the basso-relievo on the sides) is supposed to constitute the substance of the walls. "Under the carcase of the first sphinx on the right, are carved, scratched, and painted the names of many travellers; and amongst others we discovered those of Le Brun, Mandelsloe, and Niebuhr. Niebuhr's name is written in red chalk, and seems to have been done but yesterday. "A square reservoir of water, broken in many places, yet still appearing to have been of one single block, was in the space, between the portals and the staircase which led to the grand hall of columns. The breadth of that staircase is fifteen feet four inches. It has two corresponding flights, the front of which, though now much mutilated, was originally highly carved and ornamented with figures in bass-relief. The stones which support the terrace of the columns are all carved in the same style, and are as perfect as when Le Brun made his drawings, On comparing indeed his designs with the originals, I found that he had given to some of the figures a mutilation which does not exist; for I discovered on a close inspection many interesting details of dress, posture, and character, which are omitted in his plates. One great defect pervades this part of his collection; in order to elucidate by the human form the comparative dimensions of the buildings, he has introduced figures so small, that, measured by them as a standard, the actual size of the objects represented would be three times their real magnitude. In fact, a man who stands close to the sculptured wall touches the summit with his chin, though the figures in the drawings of Le Brun would not reach half way. "Immediately on ascending this staircase, stands a single column, but on closer observation I counted the bases (or spots at least where once bases were) of eleven more columns of two rows; forming, with the first, six in each row. They are quite distinct from the great cluster in the centre of the hall, and were therefore probably a grand entrance to it. "Passing forwards 'through this double range, we observed large blocks of stone, placed at symme trical distances (to correspond with the the arrangement of the columns at the entrance, and those in the centre), and forming, probably, the bases of sphinxes or other colossal figures. Having taken some pains to ascertain the real plan and the original number of the columns in the great hall, I came to the following conclusions: I observed, in the first place, that there were two orders of columns, distinct in their capitals as well as in their height, and that, of the highest, two rows were severally placed at the E. and W. extremities of the hall. "Between these and the mass of columns of less height and a different capital is the space on either side of one row, in which, however, no trace whatever of bases exists, and through which run the channels of aqueducts. The remainder in the centre consists of six columns in front, and composes with the four exterior rows a line of ten columns; each row contains in depth six bases, forming, with the twelve at the entrance, a grand total of seventy-two. On drawing out a plan of this arrangement, I find that it is symmetrical in all its points, and in every way in which I can view it satisfies my imagination; but, on comparing it with that laid down by Niebuhr, my own conceptions have accorded so exactly with those of that great traveller on this, (as well as on the ichnography of the general remains) that the introduction of my sketch becomes unnecessary. "On one of the highest columns is the remains of the sphinx, so common in all the ornaments at Persepolis; and I could distinguish on the summit of every one a something quite unconnected with the capitals. The high columns have, strictly speaking, no capitals what ever, being each a long shaft to the very summit, on which the sphinx rests. The capitals of the lesser columns are of a complicated order, composed of many pieces. I. marked three distinct species of base. The shafts are fluted in the Doric manner, but the flutes are, more closely fitted together. Their circumference, is sixteen feet seven inches. Some of their bases have a square plinth, the side of one of which I measured, and found it to be seven feet; the diameter of the base was five feet four inches, diameter of columns four feet two inches, distance from centre of base to the next centre twenty-eight feet. To the eastward of one of these, and close at the foot of one of the highest columns, are the. fragments of an immense figure. The head and part of the fore-legs I could easily trace; the head ap-peared to me more like that of a lion than of any other animal, and the legs confirmed this supposition; as it has claws so placed, as to indicate that the posture of the figure was couchant. "The grand collection of porticoes, walls, and other component parts of a magnificent hall, are situated behind the columns, at the distance perhaps of fifty paces, and are arranged in a square. "On the interior sides of the porticoes or door frames, are many sculptured figures, which have been drawn with accuracy by Le Brun. They represent the state and magnificence of a king, seated in a high chair with his feet resting on a footstool. "To the north of these remains, is the frame of what was once a portico, and where the outlines of a sphinx are to be traced among the rude and stupendous masses of stone. Further on, nearly on the same fine! and and bearing, is the head of a horse, In the time of Mandelsloe, (who visited Persepolis 27th January, 1638) the number of columns erect was nineteen in a letter indeed to Olearius, (written from Madagascar on the 12th of July, 1639, and published by his correspondent) he states, that thirty remained; but, as he does not specify their position, be might have included those lying on the ground, and at any rate he was writing a private letter, from memory, in a distant country, at the interval of a year and a half. His own authority therefore in his book is a better evidence of the fact; and as he there omits another and much more curious circumstance, which he had asserted in the same letter, the value of that document becomes still more suspicious. Speaking of the celebrated inscriptions at Persepolis, he says, on voit aussi plusieurs caractères anciens mais fort bien marqués, et conservant une partie de l'or, dont ils ont été remplis. Sir Thomas Herbert also, however, mentions that the letters at Persepolis were gilt. 17th. On quitting Persepolis, I left our party in order to examine a ruined building on the plains, which at a distance is generally pointed out as a demolished caravanserai. I passed the stream of the Rood Khonéh Sewund to the north, nearly where the road takes a N. E. direction, and came to a fine mass of stone, thirty-seven feet four inches square, which appears to have formed the base of some building. It is composed of two layers of marble blocks, the lower range of which extends about two feet beyond the line of the upper. The largest blocks, according to my measurement, are ten feet four inches in length, four feet four in depth, and three feet four in breadth; all still retain a moulding, and traces here and there of masonry which must have connected them with others. The whole building is filled up in the middle by a black marble, and in its N.E. angle one stone is raised higher than the rest. In the same angle, is a channel cut, as if something had been fitted into it. I took the following bearings: foot of the rocks of Nakshi Rustam, N. 10 W. two miles; foot of the mountain of Persepolis, S. two miles; our encampment S. 20 W. two miles; road to Ispahan, N. 80 E. "I was called from this spot by a chatter sent by the envoy to conduct me to some sculptures, which he had himself seen, (about four miles, from the place on the same mountain of Persepolis,) by the side of the road to Ispahan. I found them indeed worthy of the minutest investigation, as no preceding traveller has described them with any suffi. cient accuracy. They are situated in a recess of the mountain, formed by projecting and picturesque rocks. The sculpture facing the road is composed of seven colossal figures and two small ones. The two principal characters are placed in the centre: : centre: the one to the left is the same (not in position indeed, but in general circumstance) as that which we had so often seen represented at Shapour and Nakshi Rustam. He has the distinguishing globe on his head, and offers a ring to the opposite figure; who, seizing it with his right hand, holds a staff or club in his left. Behind the personage with the globe, are two figures, one of whom, with a young and pleasing face holds the fan, the customary ensign of dignity and the other, with hard and marked features, and a beard, rests on the pommel of his sword with one hand, and beckons with the other. Behind the chief on the right, are two figures, which from the feminine cast of their countenances appear to be women; one wears an extraordinary cap, and the other, whose hair falls in ringlets on her shoulders, makes an expressive motion with her right hand, as if she were saying, Be silent.' Between the two principal figures, are introduced two very diminished beings, who do not reach higher than the knees of their colossal companions. In dress they differ materially from each other, and one holds a long staff. To the left, on a fragment of the rock, is the bust of a figure, who also holds his hand in a beckoning and significant posture. The largest of these figures I reckoned to be ten feet in height; the small ones two feet eight inches. The whole of this is so much disfigured, that it is difficult to ascertain its various and singular details. "In the same recess, and to the left of this sculptured rock, forming an angle with it, is another monument in a much higher state of preservation; parts of it indeed have suffered so little, that they appear to be fresh at this day from the chisel. The same royal person. age so often represented with a globe on his head, and seated on horseback, here forms the principal character of the groupe. His face, indeed, has been completely destroyed by the Mahomedans, but the ornaments of his person and those of his horse, (more profusely bestowed on both, than on any of the similar figures which we had seen) are likewise more accurately preserved. They merit a particular description; because as the composition was probably designed to represent the king in his greatest state, every part of his dress is distinctly delineated. I assign this subject to the sculpture, because no other personage of rival dignity appears in the piece; and because the attitude of the chief announces parade and command; for he presents a full face to the spectator, and his right hand, though now much mutilated, still rests on his side to indicate his ease and his independence. Nine figures, of which the first is nine feet high, wait behind him; and, from the marks of respect in which they stand, can be attendants only on his grandeur. On each side of his head swells an immense circumference of curls; he wears an embossed necklace, which falls low on his breast, and is therefore, perhaps, rather the upper termination of his garment; but its counterpart, an ornament of the same description round the waist, is certainly a gir dle. His cloak is fastened on his left breast by two massive clasps. A rich belt is carried from his right shoulder to his left hip, across an under garment, which, from the extreme delicacy of its folds, appears to be formed of a very fine cloth or muslin. The drapery of some loose trowsers, which cover his legs down to the very ancles, displays equal delicacy delicacy, and is probably, therefore, of the same texture. From the ancles a sort of bandage extends itself in flowing folds, and adds a rich finish to the whole. On the thigh there appears to hang a dagger. The horse is splendidly accoutred with chains of a circular ornament: his length, from the breast to the tail, is seven feet two inches; and on the chest is a Greek inscription, of which the letters are about an inch in height, and correspond in form with those of the latter empire. "Opposite to the sculpture, in the same recess and on the right of the first, is another, containing the same two figures on borseback, holding a ring, which we had seen at Shapour and at Nakshi Rustam. On the general merit of these remains, I may say, that they are superior to those at Nakshi Rustam, and equal to those at Shápour. "When I had sketched these monuments, and completed my observations, I hastened to join my party, who were then considerably advanced. A man who filled some station about the camp joined me. He asked my opinion on the probable design of these sculptures, and when I had told him my own conceptions, he assured me, that the royal personage here also was Rustam; and when I reminded him that their own traditional king, Jemsheed, might possibly be the hero, he replied in the true spirit of a system, "Jemsheed was but the slave of Rustam." Of the figures grasping the ring, one again (according to the same theory) was Rustam, in the act of proving his strength, by wrenching it from the other's hand." T . MANNERS, DRESSES, AND CHARACTERS OF THE PERSIANS. EHERAN, the present capital of Persia, is situated, as I ascertained by a meridional observation, in lat. 35o. 40. It is in circumference between four and a half and five miles, if we might judge from the length of our ride round the walls, which indeed occupied an hour and a half: but from this we must deduct something for the deviations necessary from the intervention of the gardens, and the slaughter-houses. There are six gates, inlaid with coloured bricks and with figures of tigers and other beasts in rude mosaic: their entrance is lofty and dcomed; and they are certainly better than those that we had then seen in any of the fortified places of Persia. To the N. W. are separate towers. We saw two pieces of artillery, one apparently a mortar, the other a long gun. The ditch in some parts had fallen in, and was there supported by brick work. "The town itself is about the size of Shiraz; but it has not so many public edifices: and, as it is built of bricks baked in the sun, the whole has a mud-like appearance. Of the mosques, the principal is the Mesjid Shah, a structure not yet finished. There are six others, small |