The
garret windows and tops of houses were so crowded with spectators,
that I thought in all my travels I had not seen a more populous
place. The city is an exact square, each side of the wall being
five hundred feet long. The two great streets, which run across
and divide it into four quarters, are five feet wide. The lanes
and alleys, which I could not enter, but only view them as I
passed, are from twelve to eighteen inches. The town is capable of
holding five hundred thousand souls: the houses are from three to
five stories: the shops and markets well provided.
The emperor's palace is in the centre of the city where the two
great streets meet. It is enclosed by a wall of two feet high, and
twenty feet distance from the buildings. I had his majesty's
permission to step over this wall; and, the space being so wide
between that and the palace, I could easily view it on every side.
The outward court is a square of forty feet, and includes two other
courts: in the inmost are the royal apartments, which I was very
desirous to see, but found it extremely difficult; for the great
gates, from one square into another, were but eighteen inches high,
and seven inches wide.
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