They
presented an uncommonly lively appearance, containing people in all
costumes, horses, oxen, camels, and elephants, and a large quantity
of wares in chests, bales, and sacks.
10th January. About 3 in the afternoon, we left Allahabad and
continued our journey in a post-dock as far as Agra, with some short
stoppages. The distance is nearly 300 miles.
In twenty-two hours we reached Caunipoor (150 miles), on the Ganges,
a town which is remarkable for its English settlement.
The journey so far offered little change, an uninterrupted richly-
cultivated plain and an unfrequented road. With the exception of a
few companies of military, we did not meet a single traveller.
A party of military on the march in India resembles a small
emigration company; and, after seeing one, it is easy to form an
idea of the enormous trains of the Persian and other Asiatic armies.
The greater part of the native soldiers are married, as well as the
officers (Europeans); therefore, when the regiment marches, there
are nearly as many women and children as soldiers. The women and
children ride, two or three together, upon horses or oxen, or sit
upon cars, or go on foot with bundles on their backs. They have all
their effects packed upon cars, and drive their goats and cows
before them. The officers follow, with their families, in European
carriages, palanquins, or on horseback. Their tents, house
furniture, etc., are packed upon camels and elephants, which
generally bring up the rear. The camp is pitched on both sides of
the road - on one side are the people, and on the other the animals.
Caunipoor is a strong military station, with four handsome barracks;
there is also an important missionary society. The town possesses
some handsome schools and private buildings, and a Christian church,
in pure Gothic style.
12th January. Towards noon, we reached the small village of Beura.
Here we found a bungalow; that is, a small house with two or four
rooms barely furnished with the most necessary and plainest
furniture. These bungalows stand upon the post-roads, and supply
the place of hotels. They are built by government. One person pays
one rupee (2s.) a day for a small room; a family, two rupees. The
payment is the same in most bungalows, if the travellers remain
twenty-four hours or only half an hour; it is only in a few that it
is considered enough to pay half-price for staying a short time. At
each bungalow, a native is placed as superintendent, who waits on
the travellers, cooks for them, etc. The control is carried out by
means of a book, in which each traveller writes his name. If there
are no travellers, a person may remain as long as he chooses; when
the contrary happens, he cannot stay more than twenty-four hours.
The villages which lie on the road are small, and appear very
miserable and poor. They are surrounded by high mud walls, which
give them the appearance of a fortification.
After we had travelled three nights and two days and a half, we
reached Agra on the 13th of January - the former residence of the
Great Mogul of India.
The suburbs of Agra resemble, in poverty, the miserable villages
before mentioned. They are composed of high walls of earth, within
which are small dilapidated huts and barracks. A change was at once
apparent when we had passed through a stately gateway. We then
suddenly found ourselves in a large open square, surrounded by
walls, from which four lofty gates led to the town, the fortress,
and the suburbs. Agra, like most Indian towns, has no inn. A
German missionary received me kindly; and, in addition to his
hospitality, was obliging enough to show me personally whatever
there was of interest in the town and neighbourhood.
Our first visit was to the beautiful mausoleum of the Sultan Akbar,
at Secundra, four miles from Agra.
The porch which leads into the garden is a masterpiece. I stood
before it for a long time amazed. The enormous building is raised
upon a stone terrace, which is approached by broad steps; the gate
is lofty, and is surmounted by an imposing dome. At the four
corners are minarets of white marble three stories high;
unfortunately, their upper parts are already somewhat dilapidated.
On the front of the gate are the remains of a stone trellis-work.
The mausoleum stands in the centre of the garden; it is a square
building four stories in height, each becoming narrower at the top,
like a pyramid. The first sight of this monument is not very
attractive, for the beauty of the gateway eclipses it; however, it
improves on a more detailed examination.
The bottom story is surrounded by fine arcades; the rooms are plain,
the walls covered with a brilliant white cement, intended as a
substitute for marble. Several sarcophagi stand inside.
The second story consists of a large terrace, which covers the whole
extent of the lower one; in its centre is an open airy apartment
with a light arched roof, supported by columns. Several small
kiosks at the corners and sides of the terrace give to the whole a
somewhat bizarre though tasty appearance. The pretty domes of the
kiosks must formerly have been very rich and splendid, for on many
there are still to be seen beautiful remains of coloured glazed
tiles and inlaid marble-work.
The third story resembles the second. The fourth and highest is the
most handsome. It is constructed entirely of white marble, while
the three lower ones are only of red sandstone. Broad-roofed
arcades, whose exterior marble lattice-work is inimitably executed,
form an open square, over which the most beautiful roof - the blue
sky - spreads.
