Nor did I know the material of which this room was formed. It seemed like ice, yet was never changed by the fire of the sun. It was capable of being moulded into the most delicate lace-work, and yet could be made as massive as marble walls of Eastern palaces that were built for both pleasure and siege. It was in portions as transparent as glass, and in others frosted with wondrous pictures. And how were those countless domes and arches and arborescent columns produced with such ease? How were those airy galleries hung? How were those fragrant fountains poised so nicely that an infant’s finger seemed capable of overturning them? Even the gently moving curtains had the same crystalline character as the walls, now frosted as by the artist of our winter-mornings, again goldenly dim, or rainbow-hued. There was a spaciousness that reminded me of the colonnaded aisles of our great cathedrals. Was I resting in one of the temples of the island? Was I being consecrated for sacrifice? And yet the dainty warm nooks, the close-hung curtains, and graceful tapestries so broke the awe and loneliness of the place as to make me feel that it was a chamber for a solitary. And I could look out upon the fields and forests and the far-stretching sea; for every foot of wall had in it some transparency that with its landscape stood like a picture framed in the frosted tracery around it. I seemed never to reach the limit of these varied perspectives and distances. I sank back exhausted on my perfumed couch, then slowly recovered by aid of the sweetness that met my every sense. The fragrance that filled the room was like that of finest garden flowers, and kept changing from one lovely variety to another, never cloying the sense. Around, too, from unseen sources, floated sweet music, that now swelled into a chorus, and again fell into angelic softness. Then a new sensation came to me; with every breath I seemed to draw in a subtle nourishment and stimulation to my senses; every minute added to the renewal of my strength. And, to increase my delighted bewilderment, I gradually felt a new sense appealed to; every nerve in my body seemed exhilarated, and I felt capable of heroic actions. Some magnetic influence was raying towards me through the atmosphere, and a dormant electric faculty seemed to be awakened in my mind and in my body, producing the effect of intoxication without its stupor or the numbing of the moral powers. It was like a beautiful dream without the helplessness of the dreamer. I felt no delirium or voluptuous languor from the excitement of the senses. It all led to spiritual vigour, that would have made the body its prompt ally.