ains, that Mohammed selected the site of his palace.

Nothing with which we are familiar in architecture can give us a
correct idea of that of the Moors. They piled up buildings without
order, symmetry, or any attention to the external appearance they would
present. All their cares were bestowed upon the interior of their
structures. There they exhausted all the resources of taste and
magnificence, to combine in their apartments the requisites for
luxurious indulgence with the charms of nature in her most enchanting
forms. There, in saloons adorned with the most beautiful marble, and
paved with a {139} brilliant imitation of porcelain, couches, covered
with stuffs of gold or silver, were arranged near _jets d'eau_, whose
waters glanced upward towards the vaulted roof, and spread a delicious
coolness through an atmosphere embalmed by the delicate odours arising
from exquisite vases of precious perfumes, mingled with the fragrant
breath of the myrtle, jasmine, orange, and other sweet-scented flowers
that adorned the apartments.

The beautiful palace of the Alhambra, as it now exists at Grenada,[5]
presents no _facade_. It is approached through a charming avenue,
which is constantly intersected by rivulets, whose streams wander in
graceful curves amid groups of trees. The entrance is through a large
square tower, which formerly bore the name of the _Hall of Judgment_.
A religious inscription announces that it was there that the king
administered justice after the ancient manner of the Hebrew and other
Oriental nations. Several buildings, {140} which once adjoined this
tower were destroyed in more recent times, to give place to a
magnificent palace erected by Charles V., a description of which is not
necessary to our subject. Upon penetrating on the northern side into
the ancient palace of the Moorish kings, one feels as if suddenly
transported to the regions of fairyland. The first court is an oblong
square, surrounded on each side by a gallery in the form of an arcade,
the walls and ceiling of which are covered with Mosaic work, festoons,
arabesque paintings, gilding, and carving in stucco, of the most
admirable workmanship. All the plain spaces between these various
ornaments are filled with passages transcribed from the Alkoran, or by
inscriptions of a similar character to the following, which will
suffice to create some idea of the figurative style of Moorish
composition.

"Oh Nazir! thou wert born the mas