which I have so often entered into, and so truly

felt:

"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and music in its roar :
I love not man the less, but nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be or have been before,

To mingle with the universe, and feel

What I can ne'er express, nor yet can all conceal."

149

CHAPTER XII.

THE "IMARET KHORSHEED."

It was deemed a wonderful favour to be allowed to see this "Palace of the Sun," of which, with its numerous groves and fountains, flowers and shrubs, I had heard quite an oriental description, which had "tickled the imagination and opened the door of curiosity."

The buildings stood in different detached courts, and were all of mud, having the usual flat roof. The first hall, into which I was introduced by one of the court Khans, was the throne-room, from which his Majesty occasionally "sheds the light of his countenance on the dust of the earth.” It was large and lofty, having recesses at each end,

on the walls of which were some displays of the Persian arts, in the way of painting. One of them was a battle-piece, the subject of which I could not learn. His Majesty was the most conspicuous figure in it, carrying all before him. In the galleries I noticed some figures of Ferengee males and females; I was told that they represented the earliest British envoys to Persia.

The walls were lined with marble and arabesque ornaments curiously inlaid; the ceiling partook of the same taste, all glittering with Asiatic finery. The front was open, and supported by two columns of black marble, about thirty feet high, in solid pieces, with a wreath around them, curiously cut. These were deemed great curiosities. On looking around on this oriental magnificence, which the Persians esteem to be "the wonder of the world," the servants (and they were numerous) were anxiously waiting to hear my exclamations of astonishment and delight.

Having trod my barefoot way, and expended all my Persian terms of admiration, I next examined the "takht," or throne, which was a moveable square platform, huge and unshapely. It stood about three feet from the ground, ascended by as

many steps. It was all of marble, of very fine grain; the carving was curious, but many of the figures unmeaning. It was abundantly ornamented with inscriptions, and beautifully inlaid with the Arabic character. In the centre was a small tube, or jet d'eau, which was supplied from a fountain in a recess of the room, and was deemed a very curious display of hydraulics by the Persians. The farther end of it was raised a little above the ordinary level. This was the imperial seat. The whole is carpetted and adorned with small ivory images when his Majesty is seated.

I was strongly tempted to take temporary possession of the Shah's throne, once the seat of Agha Mahmoud Koja, the terror of Persia. As a mark of special favour, I was allowed to occupy, for a short time, the "takht" of the "Shah Padi Shah," the "Centre of the Universe," &c. It caused me no trepidation to mount the steps of empire, since I had been familiar with other thrones, and I fearlessly squatted myself on the same spot which the royal loins had shortly before occupied. No cannons "bruited it to the heavens;" no slave hung upon my nod; but I found it a hard, comfortless seat, very incompatible with any thing like

ease. Had I "let loose the flood-gates of imagination, and stood on the tip-toe of power," I could have decreed "Off with his head!" and thus have played the monarch to the full tune of oriental despotism. One thing I was assured of, that I was the first "ferengee" who had ever occupied the throne of Persia.

The second room was called "outough almas," from the crystal ornaments being formed diamond fashion, with which it is entirely covered. To this you ascend by a flight of awkward steps from another court. It has likewise a large open front, supported by pillars of wood, curiously painted; and similar recesses and galleries to the throne-room. The walls have some immense mirrors, and two large chandeliers are suspended, the whole being English. The glass is empannelled in very curious shapes, with enamelled borders, and painted ornaments of birds, roses, &c., in every variety of that oriental imagery in which the Persian imagination delights to revel; presenting altogether a blaze of mirror not unworthy the fervid description of the "Thousand and One Nights." The carpet was good; the "nummeds" thick, but moth-eaten; and as ma