Nineveh and Its Remains; With an Account of a Visit to the Chaldaean Christians of Kurdistan, and the Yezidis, or Devil Worshippers; And an Inquiry In

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1854 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER X. On my return to Mosul, I received letters from England, informing me that Sir Stratford Canning had presented the sculptures discovered in Assyria, and had made over all advantages that might be derived from the order given to him by the Sultan, to the British nation; and that the British Museum had received a grant of funds for the continuation of the researches commenced at Nimroud, and elsewhere. The grant was small, and scarcely adequate to the objects in view. There were many difficulties to contend with, and I was doubtful whether, with the means placed at my disposal, I should be able to fulfil the expectations which appeared to have been formed, as to the results of the undertaking. The sum given to M. Botta for the excavations at Khorsabad alone, greatly exceeded the whole grant to the Museum, which was to include private expenses, those of carriage, and many extraordinary outlays inevitable in the East, when works of this nature are to be carried on. I determined, however, to accept the charge of superintending the excavations, to make every exertion, and to economize as far as it was in my power-- that the nation might possess as extensive and complete a collection of Assyrian antiquities as, considering the smallness of the means, it was possible to collect. I had neither knowledge nor experience as a draughtsman; a^.l this I felt to be a great drawback, indeed a disqualification, which I could scarcely hope to overcome. Many of the sculptures, and monuments discovered, were in too dilapidated a condition to be removed, and others threatened to fall to pieces as soon ns uncovered. It was only by drawings that the record of them could be preserved. There was no inclination to send an artist to assist me, and I made...