The Argosy — page 60: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Cruise of the Reserve Squadron. 47 better, purer than this—if, amongst the stars, such an intermediate state is to be found. The views from the windows are beyond comparison. From that overlooking the Darro, it is said that Ayeshah the mother of Boabdil, let down the child in a basket to protect him from the fury of his father, and thus saved his life; a life, however, destined to unhappi- ness and misfortune, defeat, the loss of his kingdom, and eventually death in a strange country and fighting for another’s cause. Abn Hasen, the father of Boabdil, appears to have been a fiend in human form, and is said to have sacrificed his children at the Foun:ain of Lions to satisfy the jealousy of Zoraya, the rival of Ayeshah. The floor of the hall was of pure alabaster, and an alabaster foun- tain is said to have played in the centre. How delicious to have reclined in one of those cool window recesses in the heat of summer, listening to the soothing plash of the water, dreaming idle dreams, and gazing out upon that fair world! What men those Moors must have been, how strong-minded and determined, to live surrounded by all this voluptuous luxury and not fall victims to its influence. Poor Boabdil, indeed, was gentle and yielding, but his feminine tempera- ment must have been born with him, and not resulted from education and influence. It is, after all, a temperament that some of the best and noblest men in the world have possessed, and must not be con- founded with an effeminate nature. The one is good for nothing; the other will prove capable of feats of heroism, self-sacrifice, martyrdom if need be. It is, happily, rarely found in the world, for it is born to life-long trouble as surely as the sparks fly upwards. This Hall of Ambassadors was the work of Ibn-l-Ahmar, and is different in style and period from the rest of the palace. From this we entered the Court of Lions, the principal court of the Alhambra, of which one seems to catch glimpses from all points and all other courts and halls. It is of pure Moorish architecture, and is supposed - to have been given upto the harem. Cloister-like arcades run down each side, with their exquisite Moorish arches of open filagree work, and slender white marble pillars, that have defied—as by a miracle— the wearing influences of five centuries. As last night, so this morning, at a first glance, the pillars seemed innumerable. ‘The Court is characterised by inconceivable lightness, grace and refinement. The floor is of marble, and in the centre is the celebrated fountain: an immense alabaster basin re- posing on the backs of twelve white marble lions—the lion being a sign of power and bravery in the East, as with us. The arcades are of light and beautiful open-work ; and the arches are decorated with the loveliest arabesque designs. The slanting roofs above the galleries and halls are composed of various coloured tiles, highly glazed. At each end of the Court is a pavilion, and at one end a small dome, covered with the same glazed tiles. Above, the blue sky rivals in beauty this fair structure ; the sun casts slender shadows connicloooks (C(O) mn