Examine thoroughly, and which produce an effect quite incapable
of being adequately portrayed by either pen or pencil.
In one of these edifices, among the inlaid work and arabesques,
and not far from the mortal remains of the departed King and Queen,
we found a curious and interesting inscription, which seems to have
been hitherto unmentioned by the many travellers who have visited
the sacred spot. It was prominently placed and easily decipherable,
being in unusually large letters, and in that character which might
be called the "UNEIFORM," of which so many valuable specimens exist
in all parts of the known globe.
It ran thus : -
IN MEMORY OF VALENTINE'S DAY.
The sentence appeared unfinished, and one or two words were probably
required to complete the sense, but from similar existing records
there could be no difficulty in filling in the missing syllables.
It was curious, however, to reflect what the feeling could have been
that stayed the writer's hand, and prevented him from finishing his
graceful tribute to the mighty dead.
Mumtaz, from whose name the word "Taj" is derived (the letter "z"
being incapable of being pronounced by many natives except as a
"j"),was the daughter of the famous Noor Jehan's brother Asoph
Khan. Shah Jehan followed his queen in A.D. 1665, and was laid in the
building which he had himself originally designed in her honour alone.
