TEHERAN, 
227 
we ascended up two terraces much more elevated than the first; on 
these there were only small reservoirs, from which the water was conti¬ 
nually falling into the basins on the successive descents, at the height 
perhaps of twenty feet between each terrace. 
At length we entered the main body of the building, which, like 
all other Persian houses, consists of a large square court lined on all 
sides with rooms of various dimensions and uses. The choicest apart¬ 
ment of the whole is a small one, placed in the very summit of the 
building, where every species of native workmanship in painting, 
glazing, and Mosaic, has been collected. We found here portraits of 
women, Europeans as well as Persians. The glass is beautifully painted, 
and the doors are prettily worked and inlaid with poetical quotations 
carved in ivory. From this there is a delightful view of the town and 
country. In the other rooms below, there are several pictures of the 
King and his favourites; one of the subjects is singular, as it represents 
His Majesty in the costume of a sick man. 
The whole of this place is of brick, except the exterior wall, which 
is mud, flanked however by brick turrets. It is much inferior in 
workmanship to any of the brick buildings either of Kerim Khan, 
or of the Seffis. The soil on which it is erected is indeed ill-adapted 
to the purpose, as it is salt; and the salt oozes out through the walls, 
and materially undermines their solidity. 
The King is building another summer residence, half a mile from 
the town, called the Negaristan. One house is finished, consisting how¬ 
ever of only an arched room, in which are various channels for water 
and playing fountains. In the garden we found water cresses, of 
the eatableness of which the Persians appeared totally ignorant. 
The climate of Teheran is variable, in consequence of its situation 
at the foot of high mountains, which on the other side are backed by 
such a sea as the Caspian. For the earlier part of our stay it was 
moderate; till the 10th of March the thermometer, which was sus¬ 
pended near an open window in a room unexposed to the sun, was. 
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