220 under these circumstances. By their umaimous advice, he dug a ditch around the city; and having cut down many of the fine palm trees that grew in the neigbouring fields, with these he constructed towers, higher than the walls ; hoping to take the city by throwing weapons therefrom into it, and at the same time directing his engines against the walls. But this plan did not succeed. He then determined to keep his army before the city, until the inhabitants should be forced to surrender from the want of food, To starve the Babylonians, however, was an almost hopeless task; for they had, through the foresight of Nitocris the queen-mother, a sufficiency of provisions laid up for twenty years, and there were cattle and cultivated fields enough within the walls to supply them with as much more. The inhabitants felt therefore perfectly secure in their fortifications and abundant stores, and from the top of their walls even scoffed at Cyrus, and ridiculed all hi attempts. When nearly two years had been spent in this mane, Cyrus learned that a great festival was shortly to be kept by the Babylonians, probably
