134 
THE ORIENTAL ANNUAL. 
building, alone reveals the low archway by which 
admittance is to be gained. The surprise and gra- 
tification of the visitor to the interior are heightened 
by the unexpected magnificence of the chambers to 
which he is thus introduced. They are three in 
number ; that in the centre being the most remark- 
able for extent and the splendour of its decorations. 
The material is white marble of the finest quality, 
elaborately carved into tracery and fret-work of 
endless variety, and of a delicacy equal in design and 
execution. The roof is supported, or rather formed, 
by numberless gothic arches, which spring from 
slender shafts of perfect symmetry, and intersect 
each other in all directions, terminating in thousands 
of wreathed flowers, which again are formed into 
groins and stalactical pendants of wonderful beauty. 
The flooring is also of white marble, and in the 
centre of the apartment is a beautiful basin of the 
same material, from which, in former days, a large 
jet of water was thrown up almost to the roof, 
whence it descended in a thick shower, and fell upon 
an inclined plane running round the interior of the 
basin : this being cut into shell-shaped hollows, 
here and there, created a pleasant murmuring sound, 
calculated to induce drowsiness and repose, luxuries 
beyond all price to the voluptuous Asiatic. Like 
most of the other buildings in the fort, this elegant 
edifice is now utterly deserted, except by certain 
desolation-loving tenants, supposed by the Hindoos 
