REMARKS ON THE RUINS. 
651 
tumulus of Alexander’s maddened folly! And on that terrace, 
(which is the fifth in the order of description,) stand the remains 
of one of the most regularly and amply planned structures of 
the whole platform. (N) Its site is also the most elevated, 
shewing even now upwards of twenty feet above the level of 
that vast foundation. From its dimensions, and the disposition 
of its numerous apartments, with its contiguity to the destroyed 
part, which I suppose to have contained the festival halls, 
and the passages leading to the high court of ceremonies 
contained in the Chehel-minar, I am induced to believe this 
the dwelling quarters of the monarch, and where he might hold 
his more private days of audience. Hence, it is deeply to be 
regretted, that its state is one of the most ruinous of the whole ; 
though enough remains to allow the ground plan to be traced 
with the greatest precision, and also to shew the bases and 
plinths of its pillars, with fragments of beautiful sculpture 
scattered about in the saddest confusion. The principal door¬ 
ways, and huge marble window-frames are yet in their places ; 
their lofty sides, and ponderous lintels, resembling, though with 
the finest workmanship, our druidical monument of Stonehenge. 
Perhaps we cannot have a better concurrent argument for the 
truth of our accounts of the longevity of the early patriarchs, 
than this habitual fashion of their more immediate descendants 
in all countries, to make erections calculated for the duration of 
ages. But to proceed with my description. Beginning at the 
southern side of this minor terrace, we find at the eastern and 
western ends, two flights of narrow steps (ff) descending to a 
lower level of thirty feet. These ways of ingress, from their 
style, appear to have been private, probably only appropriated 
to the inhabitants of the place. The several faces of the. 
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