'THE SALOON, which forms the centre of the suite in the eastern front, is magnificently decorated, almost every part being effulgent with gold. Its general plan is a circle, thirty five feet in diameter, surmounted by a cupola, and enlarged to the north and south by coved semicircular recesses (of a ten feet radius), which include the entrances from the apartments communicating with the Music and Banqueting rooms. The Cupola springs from a boldly projecting cornice, composed of various mouldings, apparently, of massive gold, crowned by a running ornament of flowers, and pendent bells. The ceiling represents a lightly clouded sky (the sun being dimly seen); in the centre of which is a gorgeous bird, in full relief, with wings of flowered gold and silver, enwreathed with serpents, resplendently coloured crimson and green. This sustains one of the most elaborate and finely devised lustres, of cut glass, that was ever executed. Its height is about eighteen feet, and its varying and brilliant tiers of glittering drops are surrounded, towards the bottom, by radiant burners, the light of which is softened and diffused around by globes of ground glass. Four smaller lustres, but of corresponding fancy and workmanship, are pendent from the ceilings of the recesses. 'On the eastern side are three large windows, splendidly adorned with festooned curtains of flowered satin, crimson and gold; and the panels, and other divisions, are enriched with corresponding drapery. Between the windows are two very large pier glasses, reaching nearly from the ground to the cornice; and other large glasses surmount the entrance doorways; all the framework is of an elegantly conceived pattern, designed from the lotus leaf; and every frame has a rich canopy, springing from dragons' heads. On the west side is a sumptuous chimney piece of statuary marble, with enrichments of _ormolu_; and, in each jamb, within a niche, stands a Chinese figure; these figures, which are of metal, are highly painted and varnished, and the dresses are finely pencilled. Over the chimney piece is a vast looking glass, thirteen feet high, and eight feet wide, in front of which stands an elegant dial by Vulliamy; this is supported by couchant dragons of blue porcelain, and enclosed in a China case surrounded by golden wreaths of the lotus and sunflower plants. Surmounting the dial, is a Chinese male figure seated, with a boy on his shoulder, a girl at his side, and a dog on his lap.