THE DEWAN KAUSS. 
101 
period of this predal abomination, the emperors of 
Delhi have been content to sit upon a much less 
costly throne. 
In the third court is the Dewan Kauss, or hall of 
private audience, built entirely of marble, and richly 
ornamented with representations of various flowers. 
This is a very elegant structure, and the interior 
scarcely less costly than that of the Dewan Aum. 
Over the arches which support the roof is the following 
inscription in Persian characters, beautifully inlaid with 
silver on a ground of dark but brilliantly polished mar- 
ble: — “ If there be a heaven on earth, it is here, it 
is here, it is here.” The characters are large and ad- 
mirably formed ; indeed, I think it is the finest spe- 
cimen of the Persian text I ever witnessed. In this 
hall there was an immense block of crystal, on which 
the unhappy Shah Allum always used to sit when he 
held a private audience of his ministers. Its su- 
perficial measurement was four feet by three, and it 
was eighteen inches thick. The apartment formerly 
devoted to the royal privacy, into which no one was 
permitted to intrude but upon business of great mo- 
ment, is close by the Dewan Kauss. It was gorge- 
ously furnished. Over it is a gilt dome, the most spa- 
cious in the palace. The gardens are now quite in 
ruins. In the centre is a large square basin, said to 
have been originally lined with crystal. It contains 
gold and silver fish. Close by it there was a marble 
seat for the emperor’s use when he chose to visit 
the gardens. At a short distance was a large bath, 
much like a huge sarcophagus, cut out of the solid 
marble. Between the garden and the Dewan Kauss 
