Furniture and Household Decoration.

In India, the great art in Furniture is to do without it. "Up country you may pass through a whole palace, and the only furniture in it will be rugs and pillows, and, of course, the cooking pots and pans, and the vessels for eating and drinking, and the wardrobes and caskets, and images of the gods. But you are entranced by the perfect proportions of the rooms, the polish of the ivory-white walls, the gay frescoes round the dado, the beautiful shapes of the niches in the walls and the windows, the richness and vigour of the carved work of the doors, and projecting beams and pillars of the verandah."

Notice how frequently use is made of the wood of the Shisliam or blackwood Tree.