Much Cannot Be Said For The Execution Of These
Pictures, Which Seem To Have Been The Work Of A Native
Artist; but
they become exceedingly interesting as proofs of the decline of a
religion so completely opposed to the spread
Of knowledge, and to all
improvement in the moral condition of its followers.
The furniture in the Pasha's palace, though in a great measure limited
to carpets and cushions, is very handsome. The divans are covered with
rich brocade, figured satin, damask, or cut velvet. The attendants
drew aside, with great pride, the curtains which concealed the
looking-glasses, evidently fancying that we had never beheld mirrors
of such magnitude in our lives. I observed that the chandeliers in
some of the apartments did not match each other, but the whole was
very creditable to the taste and spirit of the owner. Below them was a
handsome apartment entirely lined with marble, and apparently designed
as a retreat for the hot weather, the floor being divided into two
parts - the one ascended by a step, in which the family might repose
upon cushions; the other scooped into basins, with a fountain to play
in the centre: the water either had not as yet been laid on, or the
season did not render it necessary. Near to this apartment was
the Pasha's bed-chamber, a fine room, also lined with marble, and
containing a fire-place, which in the warm weather revolved upon a
pivot, and was concealed in a recess made on purpose in the wall.
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