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. The Sultan Akbar is said to have frequently sat upon the top of
this tower, occupying himself by shooting birds.
All the buildings, even the enormous wall, are of red sandstone, and
not, as many affirm, of red marble.
Many hundreds of small green birds have formed their nests in the
holes and crevices of the buildings.
On the 19th of January I left the famous town of Agra, in the
company of Mr. Law, in order to visit the still more celebrated city
of Delhi, which is 122 miles from Agra.
