Thus the exact measurement from the centre of the central
altar to the extreme point of any one of the rounded rays would
be three hundred feet (the width of the circle itself), or a
total of six hundred feet from the rounded extremity of one ray
or petal to the extremity of the opposite one. {Endnote 14}
The building itself is of pure and polished white marble, which
shows out in marvellous contrast to the red granite of the frowning
city, on whose brow it glistens indeed like an imperial diadem
upon the forehead of a dusky queen. The outer surface of the
dome and of the twelve petal courts is covered entirely with
thin sheets of beaten gold; and from the extreme point of the
roof of each of these petals a glorious golden form with a trumpet
in its hand and widespread wings is figured in the very act of
soaring into space. I really must leave whoever reads this to
imagine the surpassing beauty of these golden roofs flashing
when the sun strikes -- flashing like a thousand fires aflame
on a mountain of polished marble -- so fiercely that the reflection
can be clearly seen from the great peaks of the range a hundred
miles away.
It is a marvellous sight -- this golden flower upborne upon the
cool white marble walls, and I doubt if the world can show such
another.
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