The former
stands in the centre of an open court; it is a long, square
building; the roof is supported by thirty columns, and is open on
all sides; several steps lead up to it, and a prettily decorated
marble gallery, two feet high, surrounds it.
The present Great Mogul has so little taste, that he has had this
divan divided into two parts by a very paltry partition wall. A
similar wall adjoins both sides of the saloon, for what purpose I
could not learn. In this divan is a great treasure: the largest
crystal in the world. It is a block of about four feet in length,
two and a half broad, and one foot thick; {185} it is very
transparent. It was used by the emperors as a throne or seat in the
divan. Now it is hidden behind the blank wall; and if I had not
known of its existence from books, and been very curious to see it,
it would not have been shown to me at all.
The mosque is indeed small, but, like the judgment-hall, it is of
white marble, and with fine columns and sculptures.
Immediately adjoining the mosque is the garden "Schalinar," which is
said to have been formerly one of the finest in India, but has now
quite fallen to decay.
Heaps of dust and rubbish were laying in the court-yards; the
buildings were almost like ruins; and miserable barracks stood
against dilapidated walls.
