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sierra," and jungle for "chapparal," and you change a description of the Mexican into that of the Indian table-land. I must admit, however, that, in general, Mexican scenery is on a broader and grander scale than here.

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"The resemblance to Mexico, however, does not extend to the towns and population, which are rather those of Egypt. The Indian native is darker than the Egyptian Fellah, and has a more acute and lively face, but in his habits and manners he has much in common with the latter. He has the same natural quickness of intellect, the same capacity for deception, the same curious mixture of impudence and abject servility, and the same disregard of clothing."

After passing the military station of Malligaum, and meeting with a hospitable welcome at Doolia, where he obtained a night's rest, our traveller met with a series of accidents in troublesome horses and broken axles. Advancing slowly, he at last approached the valley of the Nerbudda, and crossed that wellknown stream:

"Soon after leaving Palasnehr, the road crossed the Sindwah Ghaut, a range of hills about six miles in breadth and covered with jungle. Beyond them opened the valley of the Nerbudda; the Vindhya Mountains, on the opposite side, though fifty miles distant, were dimly visible. Between lay a wild waste of jungle, almost uninhabited, a reservoir of deadly malaria, and a paradise for panthers and tigers. * * *

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“About Sindwah the jungle is close, composed of thick clumps of shrubbery and small trees, with here and there a magnificent banyan or peepul tree towering over it. In the valley of the Nerbudda, there are many banyans, and some of great size. Few trees present grander masses of foliage than this. Instead of a low roof of boughs, resting on its pillared trunks, as I had supposed, it sends up great limbs to the height of a hundred, or even a hundred and fifty feet, and the new trunks are often dropped from boughs thirty feet high. They hang like parcels of roots from the ends of the boughs, and when broken off and prevented from reaching the earth, continue to increase and become woody like the trunk. I have seen a tree on which huge half-trunks, that had never reached the earth, hung from the branches like the fragments of shattered pillars, hanging from the roof of an Egyptian rock-temple. The leaves of the banyan are large, glossy and dark-green, and in the winter the foliage is studded with buds of a bright purple color. The only other large trees that I remarked, were the sycamore (peepul) and the tamarind. The acacia and mimosa are occasionally met with, and the date and brab palms thrive in the valleys. The tamarind frequently rivals the banyan in size, while its foliage is wonderfully graceful and delicate.

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"The people made many observations, but all availed nothing, till at last one of them rose and beckoned me to follow him. We went down to the Nerbudda, which is a beautiful river, a third of a mile wide, crossed the ferry, and behold! there stood a new cart, and there lay a new driver, asleep in the sun!

"The road was tolerable, I could now sit without holding on, and thus the journey became pleasant again. The valley of the Ner. budda is very rich and fertile, the soil resembling the black loam of Egypt. We passed many fields of flax, covered with blue and white flowers wheat, cotton, tobacco and poppies, besides small patches of sugar-cane. All seemed to thrive equally well. But a small proportion of the soil is cultivated, and it is no exaggeration to say, that the valley might be made to support a hundredfold its present popu lation. We now approached the picturesque Vindhya Mountains, one of the summits of which was crowned with a white building—the tomb of a Moslem Saint, as well as I could understand the driver. The road passes the mountains, at a place formerly called Ghara, but now Kintrey's Ghaut, in honor of the engineer. It is, indeed, admirably planned, though somewhat out of repair. The summit, which separates the waters of the two sides of India, overlooks a waste and bleak country. Soon after descending the northern side, we crossed the head-waters of the Chumbul, the largest affluent of the Jumna. At eight o'clock I reached the military station of Mhow, within fourteen miles of Indore, and was so well satisfied that I allowed the driver to stop for the night.

"Mhow is a handsome station, the officers' bungalows, surrounded with small gardens, being scattered over an extent of two miles. It stands on a dry plain, 2,000 feet above the sea, and is considered a very healthy place of residence."

The first half of his journey was completed at Indore, which he thus describes. The description has acquired new interest from the events which have recently taken place within the walls of that city:

"Indore is a town of about 60,000 inhabitants, having been much increased within a few years by the tyranny of the Begum of Oodjein, a holy old city about eighty miles distant, many of the inhabitants of which have emigrated to the former place. Portions of Indore are well built, reminding me somewhat of Konia, and other places in the interior of Asia Minor. The houses are generally of wood, two stories high, the upper story projecting and resting on pillars, so as to form a verandah below. The pillars and the heavy cornice above them are of dark wood, and very elaborately carved. In the centre of the town is the Rajah's palace, fronting a small square. It is a quadrangle of about four hundred feet to a side, the portion over the main gateway rising to the height of eighty or ninety feet, and visible for many miles around. The architecture is Saracenic, though not of a pure style. The gateway, however, and the balconies over it, are very elegant; and the main court, surrounded by fifty pillars of dark wood, connected by ornate horse-shoe arches, has a fine effect. The outer walls are covered with pictures of elephants, horses, tigers, Englishmen and natives, drawn and colored with the most complete disregard of nature."

Safely arrived in Agra, our author, under the guidance of a

countryman, one of the American Missionaries, visited of course the whole of the lions of that city. They are so well-known that little need be said of them here, though he has described them well. The fort with its lofty sandstone walls; the palace of Akbar, covering a large space of ground, and including numerous objects of special interest; the arsenal, with all its array of bristling cannon, its hall of trophies, and the Somnath Gates; the Moti Musjid, so exquisitely beautiful, and yet so severely simple; the Jumma Musjid; the narrow bazar leading from the fort, with its carved verandahs, overhanging balconies and beautiful Saracenic arches, reminding one of Cairo; the tomb of Akbar at Secundra; the Secundra Mission Press in the great tomb of Munni Begum; the great jail and its indefatigable superintendent Dr. Walker; the tomb of Ettimaud-Daola, the father of Nourmahál; the Rambagh; and above all, the Taj,-taken together, form an assemblage of objects, each valuable in itself, of which any city might be proud, and which few cities in India can excel. Only Delhi can-perhaps we should rather say, could-afford a comparison. The following is Mr. Taylor's description of the palace :

Beyond the arsenal, and in that part of the fort overlooking the Jumna, is the monarch's palace, still in a tolerable state of preservation. Without a ground-plan it would be difficult to describe in detail its many courts, its separate masses of buildings and its detached pavilions-which combine to form a labyrinth, so full of dazzling architectural effects, that it is almost impossible to keep the clue. On entering the outer courts, I was at once reminded of the Alhambra. Here were the same elegant Moorish arches, with their tapering bases of open filigree work resting on slender double shaftsa style so light, airy and beautiful, that it seems fit only for a palace of fairies. Akbar's palace is far more complete than the Alhambra. No part has been utterly destroyed, and the marks of injury by time and battle, are comparatively slight. Here a cannon-ball has burst its way through the marble screen of the Sultana's pavilion; there an inlaid blossom of cornelian, with leaves of blood-stone, has been wantonly dug out of its marble bed; the fountains are dry, the polished tank in the "Bath of Mirrors " is empty, the halls are untenanted-but this is all. No chamber, no window or staircase is wanting, and we are able to re-people the palace with the household of the great Emperor, and to trace out the daily routine of his duties and pleasures.

"The substructions of the palace are of red sandstone, but nearly the whole of its corridors, chambers and pavilions are of white marble, wrought with the most exquisite elaboration of ornament. The pavilions overhanging the river are inlaid, within and without, in the rich style of Florentine mosaic, They are precious caskets of marble, glittering all over with jasper, agate, cornelian, blood-stone and

lapis-lazuli, and topped with golden domes. Balustrades of marble, wrought in open patterns of such rich design that they resemble fringes of lace when seen from below, extend along the edge of the battlements. The Jumna washes the walls, seventy feet below, and from the balconies attached to the zenana, or women's apartments, there are beautiful views of the gardens and palm-groves on the opposite bank, and that wonder of India, the Taj, shining like a palace of ivory and crystal, about a mile down the stream."

No visiter to the north-west of India can fail to be struck by the immense number and variety of the mosques. They are all constructed on the same plan, and differ in beauty according to the size, and the proportion of the different parts. In general, the mosque consists of a hall on the west side of a square court. It is roofed with three domes; and at each of the western corners is a lofty minaret. The court is open in the centre, and has an open verandah on the other three sides, the entrance being on the East. These mosques are ornamented in many ways. In some cases, as at Muttra, they are covered with enamel, patterns being drawn all over them in different shades of green and blue. One or two of the royal mosques have gilded domes. One of the noblest in appearance is the Jumma Musjid at Delhi. It stands near the centre of the city, upon a lofty platform, and is approached on three sides by immense flights of steps. The view from the top of the minarets is one of the most striking sights to be obtained in Upper India. But amongst all the mosques, whether small or large, the palm of beauty must be conceded to the Motee Musjid, in the fort at Agra. Most travellers will agree with our author in the opinion which he passes on it :—

"Before leaving the fort, I visited the Motee Musjid, or Pearl Mosque, as it is poetically and justly termed. It is, in truth, the pearl of all mosques, of small dimensions, but absolutely perfect in style and proportions. It is lifted on a lofty sandstone platform, and from without, nothing can be seen but its three domes of white marble with their gilded spires. In all distant views of the fort these domes are seen, like silvery bubbles which have rested a moment on its walls, and which the next breeze will sweep away. Ascending a long flight of steps, a heavy door was opened for me, and I stood in the court-yard of the mosque. Here nothing was to be seen but the quadrangle of white marble, with the mosque on its western side, and the pure blue of the sky overhead. The three domes crown a deep corridor, open toward the court, and divided into three aisles by a triple row of the most exquisitely proportioned Saracenic arches. The Motee Musjid can be compared to no other edifice that I have ever seen. To my eye it is a perfect type of its class. While its architecture is the purest Saracenic, which

some suppose cannot exist without ornament, it shows the severe simplicity of Doric art. It has, in fact, nothing which can properly be termed ornament. It is a sanctuary so pure and stainless, revealing so exalted a spirit of worship, that I felt humbled, as a Christian, to think that our nobler religion has so rarely inspired its architects to surpass this temple to God and Mohammed."

There is one place a few miles from Agra, which is almost unknown, whether in or out of India: but which contains some of the finest monuments to be found in the whole country. This is Futtehpore-Sikri, a small town, near which Akbar built himself a palace. To this beautiful spot he used to retire from Agra, as the English Court retire to Windsor or Osborne. The buildings are in admirable preservation. We cannot refrain from giving Mr. Taylor's description :

"A low range of red sandstone hills appeared in the west, with here and there a crumbling ruin on the crest. The extremity of this range, about four miles distant, was covered with a mass of walls, terraces and spires, crowned with a majestic portal, which rose high above them, gleaming against the sky with a soft red lustre, as the sun shone full upon it. As I approached nearer, I found that this part of the hill was surrounded by a lofty wall of red sandstone, with a machicolated or notched parapet, and a spacious gate, through which my road ran. It is almost entire, and upwards of six miles in circuit, enclosing a portion of the plain on both sides of the hill. Driving through the deserted gateway, I was amazed at the piles of ruins which met my eye. Here was a narrow hill, nearly a mile and a half in length, and averaging a hundred feet in height, almost entirely covered with the remains of palaces, mosques and public buildings, in some places nearly as perfect as when first erected, in others little else than shapeless masses of hewn stones. Innumerable pavilions, resting on open arches, cupolas and turrets, shot up from this picturesque confusion; but the great portal, of which I have already spoken, dominated over all, colossal as one of the pylons of Karnak. The series of arched terraces, rising one above another up the sides of the hill, gave the place an air of barbaric grandeur, such as we imagine Babylon to have possessed, and of which there are traces in Martin's pictures. But here there was nothing sombre or stern; the bright red sandstone of the buildings, illumined here and there by a gilded spire, was bathed in a flood of sunshine, and stood, so shadowless as almost to lack perspective, against a cloudless sky. * * * *

"The buildings of the palace cover the crest of the hill, having superb views on both sides, over many a league of the fruitful plain. There is quite a labyrinth of courts, pavilions, small palaces, gateways, tanks, fountains and terraces, and I found it difficult to obtain a clear idea of their arrangement. Most of the buildings are so well preserved that a trifling expense would make them habitable. For a scholar or poet I can conceive of no more delightful residence. Adjoin

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