DEHLI AND AGRA                        267

two hands,! ^jjfj others of scales ;^ and several more which
I cannot here enumerate, to which the Indians attach a
certain mystic meaning. Among the Kours and the Man¬
sebdars are mixed many Gourze-berdars, or mace-bearers
chosen for their tall and handsome persons, and whose
business it is to preserve order in assemblies, and to carry
the King's orders, and execute his commands with the
utmost speed.

It would afford me pleasure to conduct you to the
Seraglio, as I have introduced you into other parts of the
fortress. But who is the traveller that can describe from
ocular observation the interior of that building ? I have
sometimes gone into it when the King was absent from
Dehli, and once pretty far I thought, for the purpose of
giving my professional advice in the case of a great lady
so extremely ill that she could not be moved to the out¬
ward gate, according to the customs observed upon similar
occasions ; but a Kachemire shawl covered my head, hanging
like a large scarf down to my feet, and an eunuch led me
by the hand, as if I had been a blind man. You must be
content, therefore, with such a general description as I
have received from some of the eunuchs. They inform me
that the Seraglio contains beautiful apartments, separated,
and more or less spacious and splendid, according to the
rank and income of the females. Nearly every chamber
has its reservoir of running water at the door; on every
side are gardens, delightful alleys, shady retreats, streams,
fountains, grottoes, deep excavations that afford shelter
from the sun by day, lofty divans and terraces, on which
to sleep coolly at night. Within the walls of this enchant¬
ing place, in fine, no oppressive or inconvenient heat is
felt. The eunuchs speak with extravagant praise of a
small tower, facing the river, which is covered with plates

^ Punja.

2 The symbol of a pair of scales, in gold and colours, can still be
seen in the middle of the screen of marble tracery-work separating the
Divan-i-Khas from the private rooms in the palace at Delhi,