whatever
other reason, it is in better preservation than the other parts of the
palace. It has the appearance of having been newly executed in hard
white stone.

Through the Court of Dolls you pass into an inner apartment, to which it
is a worthy introduction. This room has been selected in modern times,
as being the best in the palace, for the experiment of restoring the
ceiling. The operation has been judiciously executed, and produces an
admirable effect. The design of this ceiling is the most tasteful of the
whole collection. Six or seven stars placed at equal distances from each
other, form centres, from which, following the direction of the sides of
their acute angles, depart as many lines; that is, two from each point;
or, supposing the star to have twelve points--twenty-four from each
star: but these lines soon change their directions, and intersecting
each other repeatedly, form innumerable small inclosures of an hexagonal
shape. The lines are gilt. Each hexagonal compartment rises in relief of
about an inch and a half from the surface, and is ornamented with a
flower, painted in brilliant colours on a dark ground.

The room is twenty-four feet in height by only sixteen wide, and between
sixty and seventy in length. At the two ends, square spaces are
separated from the centre portion by a wall, advancing about two feet
from each side, and supporting an arch, extending across the entire
width. These arches were probably furnished with curtains, which
separated at will the two ends from the principal apartment, and
converted them into sleeping retreats. Their ornaments are still more
choice than those of the centre. With the exception of this room, all
the principal apartments, and the two courts, are decorated from the
ground upwards to a height of about five feet, with the _azulejos_, or
mosaic of porcelain tiles, the colours of which never lose their
brilliancy.

The first floor is probably an addition made entirely subsequently to
the time of the Moors. It contains several suites of plain white-washed
rooms, and only two ornamental apartments, probably of Don Pedro's time.
These are equal to those on the ground floor with respect to the tracery
of the walls, unfortunately almost filled with white-wash; but their
ceilings are plainer. There is a gallery over the Court of Dolls, of a
different sort from the rest, but scarcely inferior in beauty to any
part of the edifice. The pillars, balustrades, and ceilin