The king of Siam has in one of his country palaces a most singular
pavilion. The tables, the chairs, the closets, &c. are all composed of
crystal. The walls, the ceiling, and the floors, are formed of pieces of
plate glass, of about an inch thick, and six feet square, so nicely
united by a cement, which is as transparent as glass itself, that the
most subtile fluid cannot penetrate. There is but one door, which shuts
so closely, that it is as impenetrable to the water as the rest of this
singular building. A Chinese engineer constructed it thus as a certain
remedy against the insupportable heat of the climate. This pavilion is
twenty-eight feet in length, and seventeen in breadth; it is placed in
the midst of a great basin, paved and ornamented with marble of various
colours. They fill this basin with water in about a quarter of an hour,
and it is emptied as quickly. When you enter the pavilion the door is
immediately closed, and cemented with mastic, to hinder the water from
entering; it is then that they open the sluices; and this great basin is
soon filled with water, which is even suffered to overflow the land; so
that the pavilion is entirely under water, except the top of the dome,
which is left untouched for the benefit of respiration. Nothing is more
charming than the agreeable coolness of this delicious place, while the
extreme heat of the sun boils the surface of the freshest
fountains.[336]
[336] Furetiere.
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