Page:The Seven Cities of Delhi.djvu/203

Shahjahanabad cool room, which, however, could be heated if so desired; warm water could be admitted to flow in the channel which surrounds this chamber, and which is paved with mosaic, so arranged that the flowing water should seem to contain fish. In the side room of this chamber there is a marble couch, on which the coffee and hookah could be enjoyed after the bath had been taken. The walls are beautifully ornamented with mosaic up to the level of a man's waist, and the upper part is supposed to have been painted, but the pictures have been covered with white-wash for many years. The next room was the hot room, warmed by fires under the floor; the fuel was introduced through holes in the floor of a passage, which is at the end nearest the Pearl Mosque. It is said that four tons of wood were necessary to heat up the baths, .__The main passage through the baths has been blocked at the north end, through which one could formerly pass on to the river-terrace again; it is now necessary to make a detour. On this part of the terrace there once stood the Pearl Palace (the term " Mahal" really means "Seraglio," but may, for convenience,be rendered "palace"). Between the baths and 153