The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-12-18 00:00:00

DESCRIPTION OF A PALACE IN DAMASCUS.

The interior court, or harim, is a quadrangle from
fifty to sixty yards square, with a tesselatq pavement of
marble; a large marble fountain stands in the centre, and
several smaller ones of great beauty sparkle around, and
give a delicious coolness to the air, even amid the heat of
summer. Orange, lemon, and citron trees diffuse their
fragrant odours ; while gigantic flowering shrubs and rare
exotics are disposed in tasteful groups, and climbing
plants are trained on trellis-work overhead, affording
grateful shade and pleasing variety. All the great re-

[GRATIS.

ception-rooms and chamth on this court ; the
former are upon the first floo e latter above, having
in front a narrow corridor c. with glass. On the
southern side is the Malan, u alcove, similar in
design to those found in the exte, courts, but loftier,
and far more gorgeously decorated. he grand salon is a
noble room. It is divided into two compartments by a
beautiful arch richly ornamented with gilt fretwork. The
floor of the first compartment is of the rarest marbles of
every hue, arranged with admirable precision and pleasing
variety in mathematical designs. In the centre is a
fountain inlaid with mother-of-pearl and rare stones. The
walls to the height of twenty feet are covered with mosaic
in panels, in the centre of each of which is a slab of
polished granite, porphyry, or finely-veined marble, with
the exception of those in the upper tier, which are in-
scribed with sentences from the Koran, written in letters
of gold. Several niches relieve the plainness of the
walls ; in their angles are slender columns of white marble
with gilt capitals, and the arches above are richly
sculptured in the Saracenic style. The upper part of the
walls is painted in the Italian style. The ceiling is about
thirty feet high, and delicately painted. The central
ornaments and cornices are elaborarely carved and gilt,
and inlaid with innumerable little mirrors. The other
and principal part of the room is raised about two feet.
The walls and ceiling are similar in design to those
described, except that the former are in part covered with
a wainscoting, carved, gilt, and ornamented with mirrors.
Around the three sides run the divans. covered with the
richest purple satin, embroidered with gold, in chaste
designs of flowers and scrolls, and having a deep gold
fringe descending to the floor.

It is only (says he) when the " bright-eyed houris" of
this sunny clime assemble in such a salon, decked out in
their gay and picturesque costumes, and blazing with gold
and diamonds, and when numerous lamps of every form
and colour pour a rich and variegated flood of light all
round, to be reflected from polished mirrors, and countless
gems, and flashing eyes, that we can fully comprehend
the splendour of oriental life, and the perfect adaptation
of the gorgeous decorations of the mansions to the brilliant
costumes of those that inhabit them.

Such a description savours little, it must be ad-
mitted, of the self-denying abstinence and simple
habits of the anchorite ; but its glowing richness
and uncrowded fulness convey a lively picture of
Orientalism surrounded by its splendours. If the
court of such a dwelling is thus lavishly adorned,
the cost of ornamentation is not, it would appear,
stinted when applied to individual apartments ;
the sum of £2,000 sterling being not unfre-
quently expended in ornamenting a• single
chamber.

That industry which, for so great a number of
centuries, has chiefly conduced to the fame of
Damascus, and out of which the means for sup-
porting this luxury are in a pre-eminent degree
created, was sure to attract the attention of so acute
and intelligent an observer as Mr. Porter, and on
this subject lie presents his readers with several pic-
tures, out of which let us select the following