mosque and cloisters. For some unexplainable reason they laid three layers of stones in the court, which causes the drainage to run towards the cloisters — a most inconvenient arrangement.
The dome over the entrance, and the others in the colonnades, are quite different to the modern dome, which, if cut through the centre, would show bricks or cut stones, the sides of which point to a common centre. But here there is a different arrangement : each ring of stones has been placed horizontally over the top of that below it, and brought in a little in decreasing circles, the stability depending on the outer edge of the ring being adequately weighted. This idea is purely Hindu, for they did not know the principle of the ordinary arch until they were taught by their conquerors ; but it is a very simple method of construction, and the top could be closed in with plain slabs. The outsides of these domes look like the ordinary dome, but this effect has been produced by building a false dome of masonry, shaped like a true dome on the outside only. These colonnades have been much admired, and justly so, but the credit for them belongs rather to the Hindus than to the Mahomedans, who merely rearranged the pillars and roofs. The pillars are well carved, although not in such relief as those on Mount Abu. The
