in the Court of Lions, a low, confused sound, resembling the murmuring
of a multitude; with now and then a faint tinkling, like the distant
clank of chains. These noises are probably produced by the bubbling
currents and tinkling falls of water, conducted under the pavement,
through pipes and channels, to supply the fountains; but, according to
the legend of the son of the Alhambra, they are made by the spirits
of the murdered Abencerrages, who nightly haunt the scene of their
suffering, and invoke the vengeance of Heaven on their destroyer.

"From the Court of Lions we retraced our steps through the Court of
the Alberca, or Great Fishpool; crossing which we proceeded to the
Tower of Comares, so called from the name of the Arabian architect. It
is of massive strength and lofty height, domineering over the rest
of the edifice, and overhanging the steep hill-side, which descends
abruptly to the banks of the Darro. A Moorish archway admitted us into
a vast and lofty hall, which occupies the interior of the tower, and
was the grand audience chamber of the Moslem monarchs, thence
called the Hall of Ambassadors. It still bears the traces of past
magnificence. The walls are richly stuccoed and decorated with
arabesques; the vaulted ceiling of cedar-wood, almost lost in
obscurity, from its height, still gleams with rich gilding, and the
brilliant tints of the Arabian pencil. On three sides of the saloon
are deep windows cut through the immense thickness of the walls, the
balconies of which look down upon the verdant valley of the Darro, the
streets and convents of the Albaycin, and command a prospect of the
distant Vega.

"I might go on to describe minutely the other delightful apartments of
this side of the palace; the Tocador, or toilet of the queen, an
open belvidere, on the summit of a tower, where the Moorish sultanas