under Sindia, and a principal actor in the commotions which caused the present change of affairs in the Mogul empire. The town is large, has many public and private edifices of great beauty, and is delightfully situated amidst groves and gardens laid out with taste.

The next day Sir Charles crossed the bed of the Gumbeer, a very broad river, now without water, which, when full, is passed by a bridge of larger dimensions, but not executed with so much taste as that at Nourabad. This, like all the others that he had hitherto seen, was without the smallest rise in the centre, but carried on in a straight surface. It consists of twenty arches, each upwards of five yards wide, and the intermediate space of equal breadth; it is well paved, and adorned with two minarets at each end. On the north bank of the Gumbeer stands the town of Jajew, where is a serai built by order of Sha Jehan, beyond comparison the most elegant he had yet met with. The en

trances are uncommonly grand, each consisting of two minarets, tastefully decorated, with the gate and appropriate ornaments in the centre. On the left is a musjeed, not more remarkable for general beauty than for the delicacy of the stone with which it is built. It is of a pale reddish hue, inlaid with ornaments of light yellow, and white marble.

Soon after leaving the Gumbeer the travellers passed a less considerable river, called the Karra Nuddy, or salt-river, which they were told has its source in a salt lake in the neighbourhood of Jaypoor; but other information attributes the spring to another spot; the water was brackish and disagreeable. From thence they proceeded to Oakwalla, the halting place for the

410

DREADFUL FAMINE.

day, which, to avoid the extreme heat, they passed under the dome of a Mahomedan mausoleum. Near it were two Hindoo tombs; on one of them was sculptured a tiger, on the other a deer. They could gain no intelligence concerning these singular monuments, which were the first of the kind they had seen. From this spot they could discern, by the assistance of a telescope, the most conspicuous buildings and lofty minarets in the far-famed city of Agra. Thither they marched very early the next morning, and arrived at day-break on the ninth of May, after a journey of six hundred and thirty-six miles from Surat, performed entirely on horseback, in fifty-five days including halts, at the hottest season of the year. Sir Charles preferred riding to either elephant or palanquin.

The country through which he travelled for several days past presented a melancholy picture, occasioned by a dreadful famine, which had sadly diminished population, and left the survivors in a state of misery. At Gwalier the whole suburbs were strewed with skeletons; from thence to Agra the villages were generally uninhabited, and the land become a wilderness from want of cultivation, but his arrival at Agra presented a scene lamentable beyond conception.

The gloom of the morning veiled the suburbs in a great measure from his observation. He entered the gates of Agra, or Akber-abad, with the early dawn, and proceeding through the quarter called Momtazabad, beheld on all sides the most melancholy objects of fallen grandeur: mosques, palaces, gardens, caravansaries, and mausoleums, mingled in one general ruin. Agra had been the frequent subject of the

ARRIVAL AT AGRA.

411

travellers' conversation, they had anticipated much novelty, and expected every comfortat the close of their fatiguing journey. These considerations added to the poignancy of disappointment. Instead of the spacious squares and frequented streets of a great capital, it was with difficulty and danger they kept their horses on their feet amidst the magnificent, but terrible mass of ruin. Few persons can have an idea of the painful sensations excited by such a view of this once celebrated city, for few have the opportunity of contemplating an object so deplorable! In the midst of this chaotic heap of desolation, their attention was suddenly roused by a stupendous fabric bursting on their view, in complete repair and resplendent beautya splendid structure, with domes and minarets of the purest white, surmounting the dark umbrage of rich surrounding groves, produced in such a situation a most extraordinary effect.

Previous to his arrival, Sir Charles Malet had corresponded with Mr. James Anderson, the British resident at Sindia's durbar, and his last letter mentioned that the Taje Mahal had been appropriated by the Mahratta chief for his accommodation at Agra. This was the edifice which had now excited his astonishment, and thither he was immediately conducted. On alighting at the grand entrance, built of a light red stone, inlaid with white marble, he walked into a large court, with apartments on three sides like those of the serais. To the right and left of this square, a gate of similar construction opened into the street; near each of the gates is an enclosure containing a beautiful dome of white marble, sacred to the memory of eminent persons; opposite to these mausolea is a

spacious serai. Magnificent as was the first entrance, the one fronting it on the opposite side of the square was still more so; the roof being ornamented with two rows of small domes above the entablature, each row containing eleven of those elegant white cupolas with gilded spires. This superb portal, which indeed forms a spacious apartment, is ascended by a noble flight of steps; a similar descent on the other side leads to an extensive garden, enriched with groves of cypress and other trees. In the centre is a noble avenue, with a canal and fountains, leading to a large marble reservoir, with a beautiful jette d'eau. On each side of the garden is a respondent structure of elegant architecture; one a musjid, or place of worship, the other apparently intended for the accommodation of the great officers of the imperial court. Between those buildings, at the termination of the garden, on the banks of the river Jumna, stands the mausoleum of the empress Momtaz Mahal, deservedly the wonder of the eastern world.

Taje Mahal, standing due north and south on the southern bank of the river Jumna, was built by the command of the emperor Shah Jehan, for the interment of his favourite Sultana, Momtaz Mahal, preeminent, or most honoured of the seraglio; or Momtaz al Zumani, superior of the age; both having been the titles of the empress. This mausoleum is commonly called Taje Gunse, or Taje Mahal, meaning the repository, or the abode of the diadem, alluding allegorically to her, as the most brilliant gem of the seraglio. The word seraglio being an Italianization of serah, or mohl serah, signifying the female apartments held sacred among the Mahomedans. The posthu

SHAH JEHAN'S MAUSOLEUM.

413

mous title of the empress was Mehd Aalea, which "Reposing in Heaven."

means

The emperor Shah Jehan intended erecting a similar mausoleum for himself on the opposite side of the river, and connecting the two magnificent structures by a bridge; but succeeding events having prevented the completion of this great design, his remains were, by order of his son and successor, Aurungzebe, also deposited in this beautiful edifice, which, in point of design and execution, is one of the most extraordinary works anywhere extant. The admirable art and nicety of the masonry has hitherto withstood the effect of time nor have successive barbarous and predatory conquerors yet violated its sanctity and beauty. Two great squares or areas contain the principal buildings; those of the outer one seem intended for the convenience of travellers, distant visitors, and the inferior officers and dependents of the roza, a name for the mausoleum, but implying something saintly or sanctified. The inner square, which is entered through a stupendous dome, with brass gates, most elaborately and exquisitely worked, is an entire garden, shaded by numerous stately trees, adorned by marble canals and a fine reservoir, studded with fountains through the middle avenue. The right and left boundaries of the garden are formed by magnificent buildings for recreation and devotion.

At the extremity of the garden, opposite the grand entrance, and overlooking the river, stands pre-eminent, and alone, elevated on a very extensive platform, having a lofty minaret at each corner, composed entirely of beautifully white marble, the imperial roza; in which, under the grand centre dome, rest the ashes of the emperor and his consort in separate tombs.