of the lines which by the hypothesis they would occupy. In front
of the building, midway between the great pillar-cluster and the north
colonnade, are the remains of four stone bases, parallel to one another,
each seventeen feet long by five feet six inches wide. Mr. Fergusson
regards these bases as marking the position of the doors in his front
wall; and they are certainly in places where doors might have been
looked for, if the building had a front wall, since the openings are
exactly opposite the inter-columniations of the pillars, both in the
portico and in the main cluster. But there are several objections to the
notion of these bases being the foundations of the jambs of doors. In
the first place, they are too wide apart, being at the distance from one
another of seventeen feet, whereas no doorway on the platform exceeds a
width of twelve or thirteen feet. In the second place, if these massive
stone bases were prepared for the jambs of doors, it could only have
been for massive stone jambs like those of the other palaces; but
in that case, the jambs could not have disappeared. Thirdly, if the
doorways on this side were thus marked, why were they not similarly
marked on the other sides of the building? On the whole, the supposition
of M. Flandin, that the bases were pedestals for ornamental statues,
perhaps of bulls, seems more probable than that of Mr. Fergusson;
though, no doubt, there are objections also to M. Flandin's hypothesis,
and it would be perhaps best to confess that we do not know the use of
these strange foundations, which have nothing that at all resembles them
upon the rest of the platform.

Another strong objection to Mr. Fergusson's theory, and one of which
he, to a certain extent, admits the force, is the existence of drains,
running exactly in the line of his side walls, which, if such walls
existed, would be a curious provision on the part of the architect for
undermining his own work. Mr. Fergusson supposes that they might be
intended to drain the walls themselves and keep them dry. But as it is
clear that they must have carried off the whole surplus water from
the roof of the building, and as there is often much rain and snow
at Persepolis, their effect on the foundations of such a wall as Mr.
Fergusson imagines would evidently be disastrous in the extreme.

To these minute and somewhat technical objections may be added the
main one, whereof all alike can feel the force--namely, the entire
d