Storia do Mogor 45.7

45.7

We did not halt at this place (Narwar), but pressed onwards. In five days we arrived at the well-known fortress of Gualior (Gwaliyar), where it is usual for the Mogul to keep as prisoners princes and men of rank. This fortress is on the top of a great mountain having a circuit of three leagues. It is in the middle of a fertile plain, and thus there is no other high ground from which it could be attacked. There is only a single road to ascend it, walled in on both sides, and having many gates to bar the way, each having its guard and sentinels. The rest of the [45] hill is of rock, perpendicular as a wall, though made by Nature. All around this mountain are to be seen many balconies, lanterns (? kiosks), rooms, and verandas, in different styles of architecture, with Hindu sculptures, all of this making the view most agreeable and pleasant to the visitor. On the crest of the mountain is a great plain, on which are sumptuous palaces with many balconies and windows of various kinds of stone, and delightful gardens irrigated from many crystal springs, where cypress and other lovely trees raise their heads aloft, so as to be visible from a distance. Within this fortress is manufactured much oil of jasmine, the best to be found in the kingdom, the whole of the level ground on the summit being covered with that shrub. There are also in this district many iron-mines, of which numerous articles are made and sent to the principal cities in the Mogul country.