with the strictest diligence.

At the distance of a few miles from Samarah stood a high mountain, whose
sides were swarded with wild thyme and basil, and its summit overspread
with so delightful a plain, that it might be taken for the paradise
destined for the faithful. Upon it grew a hundred thickets of eglantine
and other fragrant shrubs, a hundred arbours of roses, jessamine, and
honeysuckle, as many clumps of orange trees, cedar, and citron, whose
branches, interwoven with the palm, the pomegranate, and the vine,
presented every luxury that could regale the eye or the taste. The
ground was strewed with violets, hare-bells, and pansies, in the midst of
which sprang forth tufts of jonquils, hyacinths, and carnations, with
every other perfume that impregnates the air. Four fountains, not less
clear than deep, and so abundant as to slake the thirst of ten armies,
seemed profusely placed here to make the scene more resemble the garden
of Eden, which was watered by the four sacred rivers. Here the
nightingale sang the birth of the rose, her well-beloved, and at the same
time lamented its short-lived beauty; whilst the turtle deplored the loss
of more substantial pleasures, and the wakeful lark hailed the rising
light that re-animates the whole creation. Here more than anywhere the
mingled melodies of birds expressed the various passions they inspired,
as if the exquisite fruits which they pecked at pleasure had given them a
double energy.

To this mountain Vathek was sometimes brought for the sake of breathing a
purer air, and especially to drink at will of the four fountains, which
were reputed in the highest degree salubrious and sacred to himself. His
attendants were his mother, his wives, and some eunuchs, who assiduously
employed themselves in filling capacious bowls of rock crystal, and
emulously presenting them to him; but it frequently happened that his