The whole tomb was once covered with decorations in mosaic and painting, but both are now in bad repair.

In the interior is a circular apartment, with marble walls, and an arched marble roof, both richly decorated with graceful designs in various colours and gilding. In the centre of this room lie the remains of Kwaja Aeeas, one of the most remarkable characters of Jehangeer's reign.

He came originally from Western Tartary, being attracted to India by the hopes of procuring employment in the court of the Emperor Akbur. So poor was he that he started on this long journey, with only one bullock, which carried his wife and their little baggage. On the way his wife was delivered of a daughter. Once arrived at Akbur's court, he rapidly rose to a high position, both by his intrinsic merits, and the favour of some relations who had long been in the Emperor's service. His daughter, Noor Mahul, had now grown up to be a prodigy of beauty. Being freely admitted to the royal zěnana she was accidently seen by the Prince Mirza Suleem, afterward the Emperor Jehangeer, who at once conceived for her that violent passion, which forms the subject of Moore's poem, "The Light of the Harem."

Sheer Afgun, a Toorkman noble, had long been espoused to Noor Mahul, and, notwithstanding the opposition of the heir-apparent, he married her. As soon, however, as Jehangeer was seated on the musnud, as Akbur's successor, he caused his successful rival to be murdered, and took possession of his wife, whom he married. From this time Noor Mahul, or as she now styled herself Noor Jehan, exercised an absolute sway over the Emperor, and became a paramount author- · ity in the government. Her father, over whom this tomb was erected, was raised to the rank of Aktmud ood Dowlah or high treasurer; and afterwards promoted to be the prime minister of the empire. Her relations from Tartary flocked to the court, and were well provided for.

She never had any children by Shah Jehan, but her one daughter by her first husband, she married to a younger son of the Emperor. In order to secure the crown to her son-inlaw, she induced the Emperor to put out the eyes of his eldest

son Khosroo. His mother was then invited by Noor Jehan to visit her apartments. She led her out to a well in the court, which she asked her to look down. Her victim complied, and Noor Jehan at once threw her in. Khosroo was afterwards taken to the South of India by Shah Jehan, the Emperor's second son, who said "he could not bear to be separated from his poor blind brother" and was there murdered by his orders.

Notwithstanding the efforts of Noor Jehan, the Emperor's second son, Shah Jehan, succeeded to his father's throne on his death. He put the Empress in confinement, and blinded his brother Shah Reear, her protegé. His other relations were all strangled by his orders. With the accession of Shah Jehan the influence of this remarkable woman ceases. For ten years she had in fact governed the empire, had even led the imperial troops in battle, and had caused her name to be struck on the coin of the royal mint-a solitary instance of that honour being awarded to a woman in India.

The new Emperor Shah Jehan, had married her niece, Moomtaz-ee-Mahul, over whose remains the Taj was afterwards erected. She seems to have inspired her husband with an affection as deep and powerful as that of which Jehangeer felt for her aunt; but Shah Jehan being a man of greater ability than his father did not leave the reins of his government in the hands of a woman.

CHAPTER XXVI.

AGRA то JAIPOOR.

Chowdris-Combination versus Competition-Our Retinue-Price of Labour-Commer cial Integrity-Leaving Agra-The Departure of "a Warrior Lord "-A Loan to the Sovereign Company-The Royal Pilgrimage-"Seekree, the City of Victory-Tomb of a Wealthy Saint- A Magnificent Gateway-Bishop Heber's Guide-Throne-room -Human Chessmen-Blind-man's Buff-The Old Lake-A Triumph for ReligionIrreverence-Dining in a Palace-" Pointing a Moral "-Four Rupees' worth of Picturesque Piety-Fording a Jheel-Bhurtpoor-English Protection and its FruitsThe Fort-Its Sieges-An Indian Sebastopol-Rajah's Palace-Battle of DeegQuail Fighting-A Boxing Match-Deer-Bosawur-Breakfast at 3 P. M.-The Village-A Native Distillery-People on Road-Antelopes-Manpoor-Walled Villages -Naked Sanctity-Pilgrim to the Shrine of Juggurnath-Buranah-PigeonsDress of the Rajpoots-Hills of Jaipoor-Palace of the Rajah-Jaipoor.

On the 12th of January, my American friends had returned from Delhi, and we were all ready to start for Bombay. The previous week had been occupied in making arrangements, and bargaining for the bearers. We at first made application to a Chowdri* who lived near the hotel, but not liking his terms we had recourse to all the others in the place. These fellows were ostensibly in opposition to each other; but as we discovered that they were really in league, we gave our custom to the first man with whom we had spoken. This is a curious feature in the habits of all native tradesmen. As some one has remarked "they do not understand competition, but are masters of combination." All trades and occupations are in the hands of certain castes or guilds, who unite their forces against the customer. By an apparent competition they will induce purchasers to buy at a price far exceeding the real value of the article; and the surplus profit is then divided among all those who have joined in the plot. This

* Chowdri, a native maître de poste from whom kuhars or palkee-bearers are hired.

custom makes it impossible for a stranger or European to buy anything at a reasonable price in the bazárs. It is much better and cheaper for him to make such purchases through a native, and submit to the cheating of one rather than be defrauded by a combination of a dozen.

Gibson and I went in dhoolees, which are more commodious than palkees, and which being lighter required only twelve bearers each. The two other Americans had palkees, and sixteen kuhars each. Our baggage was carried upon bamboo poles by eight banghee-burdars. We also took a servant who was in the pay of the Americans, but cooked for the whole party. He went in a dhoolee with twelve bearers. Besides these there were six extra banghee-burdars to carry cooking utensils and provisions; and four mussalchees, or torch-bearers, for the palkees, so that our retinue amounted to eightysix men exclusive of the servant.

In the northern part of India, as I have before stated there are lines of chowkees along all the principal roads. At each chowkee a fresh relay of bearers is obtained, so that the same set only carry the palkee for a stage of ten miles, but in Central India there are no such arrragements, and we had to hire in Agra, a sufficient number of men to carry us all the way to Bombay. The road is regularly divided off, before starting, into day's marches-the estimated number, by the route which we took, being thirty-nine. If we remained a day at any place we agreed to pay a fixed sum to the men as demurrage.

To give an idea of the cheapness of labour and living in India, it is only necessary to state the terms on which we hired the kuhars for this trip.

The distance was nearly a thousand miles; they were to feed and clothe themselves; and would have to return all the way on foot, without the chance of carrying another palkee back, that being forbidden by the rules of their guild. For this service, the hire of each man was seventeen rupees, of which pittance an ana per rupee goes as commission to the chowdri, and ten per cent. is retained by the hotel-keeper at whose house you are staying, so that the poor kuhar only gets about fourteen rupees, four anas ($6 84), for his two months'

labour, and even that is considered high pay, and exceeds the wages paid to other labourers.

Gibson and I paid a little more than these rates. We gave each bearer eighteen rupees ($8 64), and paid the commission out of our own pockets. We did this to make our men contented, and were in hopes that they would work better than the others. In this expectation we were disappointed, and for a long time could not understand the cause. At length, when we were almost at the end of our journey, the men confessed that they had actually been fools enough to pay all the commissions over again, for fear of offending the chowdri, on whose good will they were dependent for work. So that our liberality had only gone to enrich the chowdri who lived on the life-sweat of these poor wretches.

We made the best bargain we could with the chowdris but yet they contrived to cheat us considerably in this and other respects. As all the money passed through their hands, they made arrangements with some of the bearers to desert during the early part of the journey-the chowdri, of course, retaining the larger part of the wages which we had paid supposing that the stipulated number of men would continue with us all the way down. We did not discover this little game for some time, and afterwards prevented its repetition by counting our men every few days. Another dodge which we discovered, was this: whenever a man became foot-sore, or too sick to go on, they would say nothing to us of what had occurred, and not supply the man's place as they were bound to do by agreement. The profits of this arrangement inured to the kuhars in this way. We had paid half their wages through the chowdri before starting. The other half was paid by us in instalments on the road. pay-day came round, they would get a man from the next village to personate the missing bearer, and would then divide among themselves the wages of the poor man whom they had left sick or dying upon the road. This cheat was also stopped by the plan of frequently mustering the bearers.

Now whenever

We left Agra on the 15th of January, 1857. The day was cold and drizzly, but by two o'clock it cleared off, and we