Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/221

 CHAP. V.. DIG. 1^9 700 ft. square, 1 crossed in the centre by ranges of the most beautiful fountains and parterres, laid out in the formal style of the East, and interspersed with architectural ornaments of the most elaborate finish. The pavilion on the north side contains the great audience- hall, 76 ft. 8 in. by 54 ft. 7 in., divided in the centre by a noble ^v- range of arcades, behind which are the principal dwelling apartments, two, and in some parts three, storeys in height. Opposite this is a pavilion occupied princi- pally by fountains. On one side stands a marble hall, attached to an older palace facing the principal pavilion, which was meant to occupy the centre of the garden. As will be seen by the plan (Woodcut No. 363), it is a parallelogram of 152 ft. by 87 ft, each end occupied by a small but very elegant range of apartments, in 363. Hail at Dig. two storeys; the central hall (108 ft. by 87 ft.) is supported on four rows of columns, and open at both sides ; at each end is a marble reservoir for fountains, and a similar one exists externally on each side. The whole is roofed with stone, except the central part, which, after being contracted by a bold cove, is roofed with a flat ceiling of timber exquisitely carved. This wooden ceiling seems to have been considered a defect, nothing but stone being used in any other part of the palace. The archi- tect, therefore, attempted to roof the corresponding pavilion of the unfinished court with slabs of stone 34 ft. in length, and 1 8 in. square. Some of these still exist in their places but their weight was too great for the arcades, which are only 1 8 in. thick, and not of solid stone, but of two facings 4 or 5 in. thick, and the intermediate spaces filled in with rubble. Besides this, though the form of the arch is literally copied from the Muhammadan style, neither here, nor elsewhere throughout the palace, is there a single true arch, the open- ings being virtually covered by two brackets meeting in the centre. The general appearance of the arcades of these buildings may be gathered from the annexed view (Woodcut No. 364), and may be characterised as more elegant than rich. The glory of Dig, however, consists in the cornices, which are generally double, a peculiarity not seen elsewhere, and which 1 A plan of it is given in Lieut. Cole's ' Report on the Buildings near Agra,' (pp. 41-58 and eight plates), correct as far as it goes, but not complete.