Page:Walter Matthew Gallichan - Women under Polygamy (1914).djvu/189

 the door. No blankets are used, but a wadded coverlet was spread on the bed. Landscapes were painted on the ceiling, from which was suspended a huge gilded chandelier. On the walls were designs of flowers.

In the lovely scented gardens were myrtle hedges enclosing borders of luxuriant roses. Jessamine, with white and yellow blossoms three times the size of these flowers in England, trailed everywhere. Dazzling geraniums carpeted some of the beds. The air was odorous with the leaves of the verbena tree and the rose. Oranges and many other fruits abound. Huge cacti and strange Indian plants flourish here.

The square sheets of ornamental water have each their pagoda of white marble. Within these are comfortable divans. Around the lakes are terraces of marble, with vases decked with sweet-smelling flowers. China cushions, exquisitely painted to resemble silk, are placed at the corners of the terraces. Upon the gates of the garden are life-size marble figures of lions. In the gardens are statues of nude men and women.

Marble lions adorn the terrace steps leading to the pleasure boats. Swans, black and white, swim in the clear water. Numerous aquatic birds of the most beautiful plumage frequent the lakes. On the roof of the pagoda Egyptian crows, with sheeny black wings, build their nests.