It Is Scarcely More Than Two Hundred Years Since The Town Was In A Flourishing State Of Wealth And Magnificence, And It Is Hardly Possible To Divest The Mind Of The Idea Of A Terrible Earthquake Having Overwhelmed It.

Unlike Pompeii, it was not covered by protecting ashes, but laid openly exposed to the weather. My sadness and astonishment increased at every step - sadness at the terrible destruction, astonishment at the still perceptible magnificence, the number of splendid buildings, the beautiful sculptures, and the rich ornaments.

I saw some buildings whose interior and exterior were so covered with sculptures, that not the smallest space remained bare. The principal mosque exceeds in size and artistic construction even the Jumna Mosque in Agra. The entrance porch in the fore-court is said to be the loftiest in the world. The interior arch measures 72 feet, and the entire height amounts to 140 feet. The fore-court of the mosque is also one of the largest existing; its length is 436 feet, its breadth 408; it is surrounded by fine arabesques and small cells. This court is considered almost as sacred as the mosque itself, in consequence of the Sultan Akbar, "the just," having been accustomed to pay his devotions there. After his death, this spot was indicated by a kind of altar, which is of white marble, and of wonderful workmanship.

The mosque itself is built in the style of the Jumna Mosque, and has, like that, four enormous domes. The interior is filled with sarcophagi, in which lie the remains either of relations or favourite ministers of the Sultan Akbar. An adjoining court also contains a great number of sepulchral monuments.

The Sultan Akbar passed several hours every day in the Hall of Justice, and gave audience there to the meanest, as well as the most important of his subjects. A single column, standing in the centre of the hall, was the divan of the emperor. This column, the capital of which is marvellously executed, becomes broader towards the top, and is surrounded by a beautifully worked stone gallery, a foot high. Four broad stone passages or bridges lead into the adjoining apartments of the palace.

The sultan's palace is less remarkable for size than for its sculptures, columns, ornaments, etc. Every part is over-richly furnished with them.

I found less to admire in the famous Elephant gate. It is, indeed, loftily arched, but not so high as the entrance gate in the fore- court of the mosque; the two elephants, which were very beautifully executed in stone, are so much dilapidated, that it is scarcely possible to tell what they are intended to represent.

The so-called Elephant's Tower is in a better state of preservation. In some descriptions of this, it is stated that it is constructed only of elephants' tusks, and even of the tusks of those elephants only which were taken from enemies during Akbar's time, or had been captured by him in hunting. This is, however, not the case; the tower, which is sixty feet high, is built of stone, and the tusks are fastened on from top to bottom, so that they project out from it.

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