Palmyrene. Zenobia is never more herself than when she joins the chase
mounted upon her fleet Arabian, and roused to all her power by the
presence of a gallant company of the boldest spirits of Palmyra.

The southern view, and which my apartments overlook, presents a wide
expanse of level ground, or gently undulating, offering a various prospect
of cultivated fields, unbroken lawns, dense groves, of standing or flowing
waters, of light bridges spanning them, of pavilions, arbors, statues,
standing out in full view, or just visible through, the rich foliage or
brilliant flowering plants of these sunny regions. The scene is closed by
the low, waving outline of the country, through which we passed on the
morning of our ride from Palmyra, over which there is spread a thin veil
of purple haze, adding a new charm to whatever objects are dimly discerned
through it. At one point only can we, when this vapor is by any cause
diminished, catch a glimpse of the loftier buildings of the distant city.
But the palace itself, though it be the work of man, and not of gods, is
not less beautiful than all these aspects of nature. It is wholly built
after the light and almost fantastic forms of the Persian architecture,
which seem more suited to a residence of this kind than the heavier
fashions of the Greek or Roman taste. Hadrian's villa is alone to be
compared with it for vastness and magnificence, and that, by the side of
this, seems a huge prison, so gay and pleasing are the thoughts and
sensations which this dream-like combination of arch upon arch, of
pinnacle, dome, and tower--all enriched with the most minute and costly
work--inspires the mind.

Nothing has pleased me more than at times, when the sultry heats of the
day forbid alike study and recreation, to choose for myself some remote
and shaded spot, and lying along upon the flowery turf, soothed by the
drowsy hum of the summer insects, gaze upon this gorgeous pile of oriental