ssage-way, with the animals just named, caparisoned in the most gaudy
and harlequin style, accompanied by unskilled musicians, whose
qualifications evidently consist in being able to make the greatest
amount of noise upon a drum, fife, or horn, which are the three
instruments that are employed on these occasions. Some of the white
horses in these processions are partially painted sky-blue, some
saffron-yellow. In the ranks are covered bullock carts with peep-holes,
in which ride the women of the harem. Mingled with these are men bearing
banners with Hindoo mottoes and ludicrous characters, half human and
half animal, painted thereon. This was called a marriage procession, but
upon inquiry it was found to be only a betrothal of children too young
to marry. The boy, bridegroom in embryo, appeared upon an elephant, and
was dressed like a circus-rider; but the future bride, probably a little
girl of six or eight years, did not appear. She remained at home, to be
called upon by this motley crowd, when a brief ceremony would take
place, presents be exchanged, and the farce would then be ended.

A visit to the palace of the late King of Delhi was full of interest,
exhibiting evidences of elegance and splendor almost beyond belief. Here
are still to be seen the remains of that famous Peacock Throne, the
marvel of the world when the Mogul dynasty was at its zenith,--a throne
of solid gold, six feet long and four feet broad, surmounted by a gold
canopy supported by twelve pillars composed of the same precious metal.
The back of the throne was so made as to represent a peacock with
expanded tail, the natural colors of which were exactly imitated with
rubies, sapphires, diamonds, and other precious stones, the aggregated
value of the whole being over thirty millions of dollars. And this was
not an isolated case, an exception, but only an example of the lavish
expenditures of the Mogul emperors. They used choice stones, gems, gold,
and silver, with precious marbles, in mosaic work, as freely as modern
rulers employ bricks and mortar. Their revenues were practically
unlimited, and their expenditures were of the same character. The
country was one of the richest in the world, but the wealth was in the
hands of the few, and the poor were all the poorer in proportion, being
taxed to the extremest possible point, and compelled to give free labor
to all such enterprises, as the ruling power might dictate.

The Grand Mosque at Delhi is one