- Reached Umballa at eight A.M., and started again
shortly after.
Our horses to-day were most miserable caricatures,
and it was with difficulty we managed to progress at all. The last
stage was accomplished at a walk; and what with this and the delay
caused by a couple of sandy river-beds, we only reached Kurnaul at
ten P.M. The miserable condition of the horses was accounted for
by the enormously high price of grain and the absence of grass,
in consequence of the want of rain. The general topic, in fact,
is now the failure of the rains, and consequent apprehensions of a
famine throughout the land. "Atar" is here eight seers the rupee, or
in other words, flour sells at one shilling and ninepence a stone -
an enormous price in these parts.
OCTOBER 25. - Sunrise found us still half-way to Delhi, and we
stopped to breakfast at the little bungalow of Ghureekulla. Here we
found a fine old Khansaman, who gave us an account of the incidents
of the Mutiny which came under his notice. He had received a flying
party of two hundred men, women, and children, who arrived at dead of
night, some on horses, some on foot, and all worn and haggard by their
march from Delhi, from which they had escaped. These he took care of,
and supplied with food until the following day, when they departed,
without, by his own account, giving him anything, either as pay or
reward. He afterwards assisted others also, and received about one
hundred and twenty rupees, one way or another, for his services. At
present he receives six rupees a month, with whatever he can pick up
from travellers; not a very large amount in the out-of-the-way little
jungle station of Ghureekulla.
OCTOBER 26. - Passed through Delhi by moonlight, and reached the
bungalow at one A.M. At gun-fire we emerged from our locomotives,
and went to explore the king's palace. In spite of the late lesson on
the subject of sepoys, we found the gates of the fort held entirely
by native guards, and a very small body of Europeans located within
the walls. After rambling through the place, and discovering that
its only beauty lay at present in its exterior, we went to the Jama
Musjid, a fine mosque of red granite, inlaid in parts with white
marble. The cupolas, of great size, were entirely marble, and the
minarets, also of marble, were closely inlaid. The place had been
only recently handed over to the Moslems after its late seizure,
and was not as yet used for worship. Ascending one of the minarets,
we had a fine view of the city of the Great Mogul dynasty, with its
minarets and ornamented streets; and in the distance we could discern
the positions occupied by our besieging force, when the last of the
kings was brought so rudely to the termination of his reign.
OCTOBER 27. - Reached Koel, or Allyghur, at eight A.M. Started again
at five, stopping on the way to inspect the Jama Musjid, and a very
fine old tower, probably of Buddhist or Jain origin, which was covered
over with ancient inscriptions. Just as the Muezzin was calling to
evening prayer, we again resumed our monotonous order of travel,
and branched off towards Agra to visit the famous Taj Mahul.
OCTOBER 28. - Reached Agra at two A.M., and finding the bungalow full,
had to go to the hotel. At sunrise we drove out to the Taj, and here,
I think, for the first time, we were not disappointed in the difference
between reality and description. The entrance to the gardens in which
the Taj is situated was beautiful in itself, but one sight of the
main building left no room for admiration of anything besides.
It is situated on the banks of the Jumna, with a fine view of the
magnificent fort, with its mosque and minarets, and is entirely of
pure white marble, inlaid with stones into shapes of flowers and
arabesques, &c. At each corner rises a white marble minaret, like a
pillar of snow, beautifully decorated and carved, but unsullied by a
single line of any other colour whatever. The interior is profusely
inlaid with minute stones of considerable value, and is lit by carved
marble windows of the most beautiful design imaginable. In the centre,
surrounding the tomb of Mumtaz and her lord, is a marvellous white
marble screen, in the form of a polygon, carved like perforated ivory,
and also inlaid with minute stones of every shape and colour.[34]
The queen, in whose honour the tomb was built, occupies the very
centre of the enclosure, Shah Jehan's tomb being on one side of it,
and larger in size, which rather spoils the symmetry of the space.
Exactly underneath the tombs, in the main body of the building,
one descends to a marble vault, where there are two others precisely
similar in shape, but without any inscription or ornament whatever,
and under these latter the mortal remains of the famous Shah Jehan
and Mumtaz repose in peace. Over the queen's tomb, in the very centre
of the interior, a single ostrich egg was suspended by an almost
invisible thread, probably to shadow forth something of the meaning
of the "Resurgam" affixed to monuments elsewhere. On either side,
without the mausoleum, are two buildings facing inwards, one of which
is a mosque, built in red granite and white marble; and the whole are
profusely ornamented with carvings in marble, which would take an age
to 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.
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