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CHAPTER VII.

THE MOON'S ACCOUNT OF BABYLON'S HANGING GARDENS.

"I USED to look upon Babylon of old," the Moon declared to me on one of her visits. "I watched the workmen when they were building that queen of cities. I saw them lay brick upon brick, and plaster them together with bitumen, which is the strongest kind of mortar, until at length the walls which surrounded Babylon, sixty miles in measure, were completed. These walls were so thick that six chariots might drive on them abreast. Looking down in another spot, I saw other workmen working in other fashion. They were melting and founding the brazen gates, which were to give the inhabitants the means of entering their city, or leaving it through those wondrous walls.

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Then, as years rolled on, new works, not less splendid, were added. The Chaldeans, proud and powerful, exulted in their city; they were stronger than the surrounding nations, and they subjected some of them to their sway. But it is not of these things, nor of their superstitions, nor, their science, that I wish to tell you this evening; it is rather of one particular structure within Babylon, on which I was used to look with pleasure, namely, the hanging gardens. On these," the Moon continued, "I think with the more interest, because my beams have great effect on plants, and having done service to the trees, and plants, and shrubs of the hanging gardens, I remember with a sort of affection those receivers of my benefits, so long since passed away.

"I had often seen the Queen Amyte speak to her husband, King Nebuchadnezzar, concerning the flowers, and groves, and hills, and forests of the country of her birth, Media, which she had admired and enjoyed much indeed. I had looked down upon her many a time when, as a child, she sported with glee and delight in the gardens of her

father, or roamed among the hills and groves around. Nebuchadnezzar loved Amyte; so on one occasion, when she talked to him, he said to her, 'Well, we will see what can be done to obtain for the Queen of Babylon, some of the pleasures she enjoyed when she was a Median princess.'

"The next day he called together the most skilful men of the city, told them of the Queen's taste for hills, and groves, and flowers, and consulted them how they might best indulge it within the walls of Babylon. They requested to consider the matter before they should answer the king. I need not tell you of the several plans that were thought of; I do not know them all, for I was not always by when the thing was discussed, but I soon perceived that something was decided, for presently I saw many workmen busily engaged; there were Chaldeans and Jews, Medes and Persians, and some even from the islands of the Mediterranean, all collected together in the king's pay, and they of each nation, wished to prove themselves more skilful

workmen than the rest. It seemed to me that the

king was urgent and hastened them, for they worked not only when the sun gave his strong and glorious light, but also under my pale beams, and, ah! how vigorously they laboured. First, they enclosed a large space of ground, lying around the palaces and by the river's side, and built a wall. around it as much as twenty-two feet thick, that is, so thick that four persons might have laid down across the top of the wall in a line, each person's head touching the feet of the other beyond him; perhaps the feet of the last, would have reached just beyond the edge of the wall.

"The next proceeding was, to raise the ground within this wall in terraces, one above another, which they did by building strong arches in tiers, one rising higher than the other, till the last reached. the outer wall in height. The floor of each terrace was made over the tier of arches which supported it, in the following manner. First, above the arches was laid a pavement of stones or gravel; then came a layer of reeds, mingled with bitumen, and joined together with it; on this layer two courses of bricks

were laid, which were well cemented together, and above this brick floor, thick sheets of lead were run together, so that no water could escape through them. On this last covering of lead, was laid the best and richest mould that King Nebuchadnezzar could procure, and especially on the upper terraces it was spread so thickly, that great trees could root themselves in it. Moreover, the soil on the different terraces was of various kinds, for even in those early days, men understood enough of the culture of trees, and plants, and flowers, to know that some thrive in one kind of soil, and others in a mould composed of different ingredients.

"When the whole was finished, every possible variety of trees, shrubs, and flowering plants was introduced into the gardens; and the whole were arranged so as to produce the best effect. From one terrace to another the ascent was by ten steps, and on the terraces, amid the parterres and borders, were winding walks. From the highest terrace the beholder looked down upon the squares of Babylon,