A Maharajah.

Sail1ng South To India.

That British occupation is on the whole a blessing to India I have not the slightest doubt. Whether the English really have a right to dominate the Mogul Empire, or not, there can be only one opinion as to the superiority of Anglo-Saxon rule over the usual tyranny of Indian princes. The British Government has built in India railways, bridges, high-roads, churches, hospitals, and schools. It has established national universities. It has abolished many horrible religious customs, such as the burning alive of widows, and death beneath the car of Juggernaut; and, above all, it has given to India courts of justice, in which all natives, rich or poor, Brahmins or Pariahs, can have their rights defended by the grand old principles of English law.

A Religious Festival.

The city which, more than all the rest of India, delights and satisfies the traveler, lies in the heart of the old Mogul Empire and is known as Agra. It surpasses even Delhi in its magnificent memorials of the Mogul dynasty. Three structures are especially remark-able in this old capital of Ak-bar: the Mausoleum of the Prince Itmad-ud-Daulat, the Mogul Palace, and the Taj Mahal. It is true, the first of these lies across the river Jumna, at a little distance from the city, and many tourists fail to visit it. But were it not for its proximity to the incomparable Taj, this tomb would be regarded as one of the marvels of India and would of itself repay a lengthy pilgrimage.

Stone Carvings Of An Indian Temple.

An Indian Railway Station.

Itmad-ud-Daulat was the father-in-law and prime minister of the Mogul emperor, Jahangir, who succeeded his father Akbar in 1605. His mausoleum stands, as is usually the case in India, in a beautiful garden, whose foliage and flowers form a lovely framework for the pure white marble of the edifice. The Oriental architects who worked for the Moguls thoroughly understood the value of perspective and the solemnity and dignity imparted to such structures by a gradual approach on marble pavements framed in verdure. This building is so perfectly proportioned that it is a constant pleasure to behold it, even from a distance, and when one comes to its threshold and examines it in detail, his admiration is unbounded. For the entire edifice without and within, in its windows, doors, walls, and graceful towers is a masterpiece of carved and perforated marble, inlaid with precious stones. On the outside, the walls are beautiful expanses of the mosaic work called pietra dura, arranged in rectangles, diagonals, diamonds, cubes, stars, and other geometrical designs. While the arches are adorned with flowers carved in marble, the inner walls and niches are embellished with flowers in mosaic, whose colors, set in jewels, never fade. In the place of windows also are placed alabaster screens, so exquisitely cut and perforated that they appear like white lace curtains, through whose fine apertures the sunbeams filter to a dust of gold.

Tomb Of Itmad-UD-Daclat, Agra.

A Gorgeous Mausoleum.

This tomb is not a rival of the Taj Mahal. It could not be, for the Taj is the most beautiful structure in the world. But, being smaller, this can perhaps be studied to better advantage, and, since the style of decoration in both buildings is very similar, this can explain some features of the greater edifice, which might, in the confused emotions there awakened, escape our notice. Moreover, the Taj appeals to us as an expression of man's love for woman. This tomb has no such sentiment connected with it, and merely marks the resting-place of one almost unknown to history, and whose very name is spelled in half a dozen ways. Nevertheless, it is one of the most beautifully proportioned and richly decorated buildings in the world; and as I turned at the entrance of the lovely garden to take a farewell view of its enameled walls and jeweled towers, I thought the scene a perfect illustration of the well known lines: