with colossal inscriptions. The
whole exterior is fluted from base to top, narrowing gradually towards
the summit.

In the broad main thoroughfare of Delhi--the Chandni Chowk--one
constantly meets ponderous elephants, solemn and awkward camels, fine
Arabian horses, and the diminutive, toy-like ponies of Cashmere. Daily
marriage processions of the most fantastic description crowd the
roadway, with the animals just named caparisoned in a gaudy, harlequin
style, accompanied by unskilled musicians on foot, 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 employed on
these occasions. Some of the white horses in the processions are painted
in parts, sky-blue, and some are decked with 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 caricatures, half human and half animal. This is
called a marriage procession, but upon careful inquiry it is found to be
only a betrothal of children too young to marry. The boy-bridegroom
appears upon an elephant, and is dressed like a circus rider; but the
future bride, probably a little girl of six or eight years, does not
appear: she remains at home to be called upon by this motley crowd, when
a brief ceremony takes place,--presents being duly exchanged,--and the
farce is then ended.

A journey of nine hundred miles, still over these broad plains of
India, will bring us to the city of Agra, which, like Delhi, stands not
on the Ganges, but on its great tributary, the Jumna. It is an important
city, containing over forty thousand inhabitants. To all who visit this
place the first object of interest will be the Taj (pronounced _Tahj_)
Mahal, or tomb of the wife of the Emperor Shah-Jehan. It is the most
interesting edifice in India and one of the most beautiful in the world.
A tomb in this country means a magnificent structure of marble, with
domes and minarets, the walls inlaid with precious stones, and the whole
surrounded by gardens, fountains, and artificial lakes, covering from
ten to twenty acres. Cheap as labor is in India, the Taj must have cost
some fifteen millions of dollars, and was seventeen years in building.
The Mogul Emperor resolved to erect the most superb monument ever reared
to commemorate a woman's name, and he succeeded, for herein Mohamme