The palaces of Crete and their builders . e a view ofthe sanctuary ; such an arrangement would be inexplicable in thecase of a bath. In the pavement of the adjoining room-two great rectanglesmarked with red are still visible, forming a square between theslabs. The cavity surrounded by the alabaster slabs is filled withreddish cement. The alabaster, from its exposure to the weather,has lost the ivory polish and transparency, and has now the greyshade of melted silver. The water which has flowed over it hasdried up the azure and roseate veins which had had the efi^ect ofarabesques upon a pearl-c
The palaces of Crete and their builders . e a view ofthe sanctuary ; such an arrangement would be inexplicable in thecase of a bath. In the pavement of the adjoining room-two great rectanglesmarked with red are still visible, forming a square between theslabs. The cavity surrounded by the alabaster slabs is filled withreddish cement. The alabaster, from its exposure to the weather,has lost the ivory polish and transparency, and has now the greyshade of melted silver. The water which has flowed over it hasdried up the azure and roseate veins which had had the efi^ect ofarabesques upon a pearl-coloured ground. I grieved to think THE PALACE OF PHyESTOS 67 that I was probably one of the last to contemplate the rose-tintedsquares of this fine pavement, and I felt both sad and uneasy as Iwalked upon the slabs, which creaked and splintered as if it werea thin layer of ice upon the marble. Some of the blocks areblack as velvet from the action ot fire, while others are purewhite, and have become like sponge beneath the corroding rain,. FIG. -SANCTUARY IX THE PALACE OF giving the effect of snow on ice or of hailstones heaped up in aditch after a storm. Within a century the palaces of Pha^stos will exist no longer,and the ruins will be seen in books. Ihese witnesses oiprimeval civilisation are inevitably condemned to disappear ;everything even to the last vestige will crumble to dust andbe dispersed bv the wind, or will be dissolved into mud, 68 PALACES OF CRETE AND THEIR BUILDERS which the rivulets of rain will carry tar off to trouble thewaters of the river. In a few years time nothing will remain but a limestone skele-ton ; the alabaster stairs will be destroyed, the decoration of thepavements and the incrustation of the walls will have vanished. In perplexity we watch the ruin of the ruins. The cloudsand the sun will devour the sacred relics of that civilisationwhich was the mother of our own. The vision of these remainsbrought back to the light has been li
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublishe, booksubjectpalaces
