all this is very good: perhaps we could not improve it. That which is bad, that which we could improve, that which in our eyes debases all to what may be called the gingerbread-style, is the mere outside covering, the gilding, the paint, the looking-glass.

Jane. I thought all that was the best, Uncle?

U. O. I doubt not you thought so. You love gingerbread now; but you won't care about it twenty years hence. But I see you want to say something, Frank.

F. I was thinking that this room is high enough for two rooms: and you might throw a floor across there, from the ledge above the cupboards, niches, I mean, on this side to the ledge on the other side: then, that above would make a nice room.

U. O. Things are nicer as they are. The notion is, however, good. The break or division is clear enough, and is intended, being part of that plan of furnishing the walls which I have described. You see that on those ledges, over the spaces between the lower niches, the arched coves seem to rest, and how beautifully they rise up and unite in the domes!

H. The upper part is like the top of a church, and the lower part is like,-like

U. O. Like nothing you ever saw before.

H. Sir, are all the ceilings of such great rooms like this?

U. O. Not exactly. Indeed, although from the scarcity of timber, domed roofs are so general, they are still sometimes flat, with a flat ceiling inside.

F. Like ours?

U. O. Why, no: a plain space of such size would be intolerable to the Persians; therefore, when the ceiling is flat, it is generally, in good houses, made of joiners' work, executed very nicely, consisting of an immense moulded frame, with squares, and other compartments, filled with pieces of board. This looks very well, the wood being generally of a cinnamoncolour; but it is sometimes judged to be improved by gilding, paint, and looking-glass.

H. What would they gild, Sir?

U. O. The mouldings between the compartments. Indeed, you will observe throughout, that a disposition is shown to gild the raised mouldings, which form, as it were, the ribs of the inside decoration. And does the effect seem to you good?

H. Remarkably good, Sir.

U. O. In mentioning these ceilings, I must not forget to tell you, that they are made upon the ground; and vast as their size is, and composed of such a multitude of parts, they are raised up, in a finished state, to the top of the walls and pillars intended to support them. This, I fancy, would not be considered an easy undertaking, even in Europe.

Jane. (From the other end of the room.) Oh, Uncle will you come and open this window? I can't see through the glass.

U. O. I must not: and the glass is intended to prevent your seeing through.

J. What for? What harm shall I see?

U. O. I don't know that you will see any harm but it is forbidden for any body to look through that window,—or, rather, I suppose so, as it probably looks into the other court, or garden, surrounded by the apartments in which the ladies live.

J. The ladies! Do, do let me see, dear Uncle ?

U. O. Dear Jane, I can't. I would, if I were sure that the window does not look into the court of the harem, (or ladies' house,) which

is sacred from the eyes of all men but the master of the house.

J. But I am not a man,

Sir.

U. O. (Laughing.) I suppose not: and you might see every thing to your heart's content, and so might your brothers: but as Mr. Dillon and I are with you, this cannot be done at present. Well, since we cannot look through the window, let us look at it. There are not always windows here, at this end of the room. There are often no windows; the light from the front, which is entirely open, being thought sufficient. This is a very fine window, such as I have already described to you. The joinery is admirable; this being a kind of work in which the Persians excel, although their carpenters are but indifferent artificers. The coloured glass was intended to prevent persons inside from looking out, or outside from looking

in; it also serves to subdue the sunshine which passes through the window. But, indeed, if this end of the room is much exposed to the sunshine outside, there is commonly no window there, as above all things the Persians wish to keep their rooms cool. For this reason, when a man has any choice, he prefers to have the open

front to the north; in that case, there is seldom such a window as this at the further end, because then, of course, it would look southward, and the sun would shine too much upon it. The window at this end, is often in a large recess or bay; and sometimes there is the recess without the window.

Then, perhaps, there is a fountain in it; or if not, it may be, as here, in the middle of the room, or outside, in the porch. Or, indeed, besides one or more in the court, there may be one i the porch, and another in the room. But in the commoner sort of houses, there are no fountains, unless in the court.

F. I should have thought a fountain in a room would make it damp and uncomfortable. U. O. But you see it does not. The water spouts up in the middle of a basin, or pool of water, and every drop that is thrown up falls down again into this basin. It is certainly a very refreshing thing in a room. But in the warmer parts of the country they have a contrivance for refreshing their rooms in summer, which I think the very best that could be invented for the purpose. It consists of a large square tower, covered at top, which rises to a considerable height above the roof of the