They presented a slightly concave facade to the plain, and slanted backward at about the angle of the Tower of Pisa.
Through their aureate glimmer, dazzling in the direct rays of the sun now well past its meridian, a glimpse of a flashing river instantaneously impressed itself on the Master's sight, with cascading rapids among palm-groves, as it foamed from beneath the city walls.
Then all was blotted out by the gleaming side of the stupendous archway.
Up into a broad thoroughfare that rose on a steep slant--a thoroughfare very different from the usual narrow, tortuous alleys of Arabian cities--the swarm of horsemen swept, with a dull clatter of hoofs on the soft yellow pavement that gave almost like asphalt.

The utter lack of any ruts well proved that wheeled vehicles were here unknown.

Nothing harder than unshod horses, than goats and sheep, and the soft pads of camels had ever worn these gleaming ways.
The brush of a Verestchagin, a Gerome, a Bida, skilled in the colors of the Orient, would have been needed to paint even an impressionistic _coup d'oeil_ of this scene surpassing strange, now opening out before the Legionaries' eyes.

Its elements were golden houses with door and window-frames of cedar, sandal, and teak; fretwork golden balconies overhanging streets and gardens where delicate palm-fronds swayed--balconies whence no doubt kohl-tinted eyes of women were peering at the strange men in khaki, as henna-dyed fingers pulled aside silken curtains perfumed with musk and jasmine; mosques and minarets carven of the precious metal; dim streets, under striped silk awnings; a world of wonder to the Legion.
The Master saw, as the cavalcade swept along at unabated swiftness, glimpses of terraced roofs and cupolas tiled with blue and peacock hues; open-fronted shops hewn out of the all-present gold and displaying wares whereof the purchase-price could not be imagined since gold was everywhere; bazaars heaped with _babooshes_, _cherchias_, and robes of muslin, wool and silk, with fruits and flowers, tobacco, spices, sweetmeats, and perfumes, and with strange merchandise unknown.
He caught swift vision of a wide _mirbad_, or open court for drying dates; and then, through a low, golden arch, a camel-yard with a vast number of kneeling, white dromedaries.

And everywhere he saw innumerable hosts of the people of Jannati Shahr.
The streets themselves were clear of people as the cavalcade thundered on and on with many turnings; but every doorway, shop, arch, roof, terrace, and tower was packed with these silent, white-clad folk, bronze-faced and motionless, all armed with pistols, rifles, and cold steel.
What some poet has called "a joyous fear" thrilled the Legion.