156 GARDENS OF THE DAL LAKE 



eastern extremity is occupied by two large stone- 

 walled tanks ; the western by parterres, and they 

 are divided by a building which served as a 

 pleasure-house to the Emperor and his household. 

 It was too small for a residence, consisting of a 

 body and two wings, the former containing three 

 long rooms, and the latter divided into small 

 chambers. The interior of the whole is stuccoed, 

 and in the smaller apartments the walls are 

 decorated with flowers, foliage, vases and in- 

 scriptions, in which, notwithstanding the neglected 

 state of the building and its antiquity, the Unes 

 of the stuccoed work are as fresh as if they 

 had but just been completed, indicating a very 

 superior quality in the stucco of the East over 

 the West. The chambers in the southern front 

 of the western wing, and others continued 

 beyond it, constitute a suite of baths, including 

 cold, hot, and medicated baths, and apartments 

 for servants, for dressing, and reposing, heating- 

 rooms and reservoirs : the floors of the whole 

 have been paved with a yeUow breccia, and each 

 chamber is surmounted by a low dome with a 

 central sky-light. The water, which was supphed 

 from the reservoirs first noticed, is clear and in 

 great abundance. It comes from several copious 



