ISPAHAN. 
16*3 
divided into parterres, and copiously watered by the canals of water, 
which run from one side of it to the other; and which at regular inter¬ 
vals are collected into basons square or octagonal. This fine alley is 
raised at separate distances into terraces, from which the water falls in 
cascades. Of the chenar trees, which line the walks, most can be 
traced to the time of Shah Abbas, and when any have fallen, others 
have immediately been planted. On either side of the Chahar Bagh y 
are the eight gardens which the Persians call Hasht-behesht , or eight 
paradises. They are laid out into regular walks of the chenar tree, are 
richly watered, and have each a pleasure-house, of which we were con¬ 
ducted to occupy the best, that at least, which was certainly in more 
perfect repair than the others. The rest indeed are in a state of decay, 
and corroborate only by the remains of the beautifully painted walls 
and gilded pannels, those lively and luxuriant descriptions of their 
former splendor which travellers have given. 
On the right of the Maiclan , and nearly in the centre of the Chahar 
Bagh, is a college called Medresse Shah Sultan Hossein. Its entrance 
is handsome; a lofty portico enriched with fantastic-twisted pillars, and 
intermixed with the beautiful marble of Tabriz , leads through a pair of 
brazen gates, of which the extremities are silver, and the whole surface 
highly carved and embossed with flowers and verses from the Koran. 
The gates pass into an elevated semi-dome, which at once opens into 
the square of the college. The right side of this court is occupied by 
the mosque, which is still a beautiful building, covered by a cupola and 
faced by two minarets. But the cupola is falling into decay, the 
lacquered tiles, on its exterior surface, are all peeling off, and the 
minarets can no longer be ascended, for the stairs are all destroyed. The 
interior of the dome is richly spread with variegated tiles, on which are 
invocations to the prophet, and verses of the Koran in the fullest pro¬ 
fusion. I ascended the dome, from which I had but a partial view of 
the surrounding country; and that which I did see was scarcely any 
thing more than a series of ruined houses and palaces. The other sides 
y 2 
