[Footnote 28: page 76.--_A tree of gold and silver._ 'Among the other
spectacles of rare and stupendous luxury was a tree of gold and silver,
spreading into eighteen large branches, on which, and on the lesser
boughs, sat a variety of birds made of the same precious metals, as
well as the leaves of the tree. While the machinery effected spontaneous
motions, the several birds warbled their natural harmony.'-_Gibbon,_
vol. x. p. 38, from Abulfeda, describing the court of the Caliphs of
Bagdad in the decline of their power.]

[Footnote 29: page 76.--_Four hundred men led as many white bloodhounds,
with collars of gold and rubies_. I have somewhere read of an Indian or
Persian monarch whose coursing was conducted in this gorgeous style: if
I remember right, it was Mahmoud the Gaznevide.]

[Footnote 30: page 76.--_A steed marked on its forehead with a star._
The sacred steed of Solorhon.]

[Footnote 31: page 78.--_Instead of water, each basin was replenished
with the purest quicksilver._ 'In a lofty pavilion of the gardens, one
of those basins and fountains so delightful in a sultry climate,
was replenished, not with water, but with the purest quicksilver.'
--_Gibbon_, vol. x, from Cardonne.]

[Footnote 32: page 78.-_Playing with a rosary of pearls and emeralds_.
Moslems of rank are never without the rosary, sometimes of amber and
rare woods, sometimes of jewels. The most esteemed is of that peculiar
substance called Mecca wood.]

[Footnote 33: page 78.--_The diamond hilt of a small poniard._ The
insignia of a royal female.]

[Footnote 34: page 83.--_You have been at Paris_. Paris was known to the
Orientals at this time as a city of considerable luxury and importance.
The Embassy from Haroun Alraschid to Charlemagne, at an earlier date, is
of course recollected.]

[Footnote 35: page 90.--_At length beheld the lost capital of his
fathers._ The finest view of Jerusalem is from the Mount of Olives. It
is little altered since the period when David Alroy is supposed to have
gazed upon it, but it is enriched by the splendid Mosque of Omar, built
by the Moslem conquerors on the supposed site of the temple, and which,
with its gardens, and arcades, and courts, and fountains, may fairly be
described as the most imposing of Moslem fanes. I endeavoured to enter
it at the hazard of my life. I was detected, and surrounded by a crowd
of turbaned fanatics, and escaped with difficulty; but I saw enough
to feel that minute inspection