urdwan,
which is situated about seventy miles north of Calcutta, for the purpose
of attending an Indian fete to which I was invited shortly after my
arrival at Calcutta. Burdwan is the name of an old principality (as
well as of its capital) situated on the great Indian railway. The
principality of Burdwan is now under the English government, but it has
its own maharajah, or prince, to whom the English government grants
certain rights over the people and property of this principality.
The ruling prince during my stay in India was a young man of about
twenty-two years. He had a good European education, spoke English well,
and had, to a great extent, adopted European manners and customs. His
name was Aftab Chand Muhtab Bahadur. In the beginning of December, 1881,
he was installed as maharajah of Burdwan by Sir Ashley Eden, at which
time he came into actual possession of his inherited rights; and this
event was celebrated by great festivities in the palace and city of
Burdwan.

The fete which commenced December fifth and closed December tenth was
celebrated according to a well-chosen program for each day. About fifty
English civil and military officers with their families were invited as
guests to the palace. Some of them occupied rooms in the palace, others
lived in tents pitched in military order in the palace garden, and about
three hundred Indian guests were lodged in private houses in the city. I
was the only foreign guest, and was assigned a neat pavilion, built
partly over an artificial lake in the garden, and the second place of
honor at all ceremonies--an honor which was, of course, due to the
republic which I represented.

The palace consisted of several large buildings two or three stories
high, and several small pavilions, all in Italian style, situated in a
park or garden of some forty acres, and surrounded by a stone wall
twelve feet high, with two beautiful porticos. The largest building
contained the private apartments of the prince, two large parlors, two
dining halls, a ball room, a billiard room, a library, several picture
galleries and a large armory,--all of them furnished in the most
expensive and magnificent style. The floors and stairways were of
Italian marble, and the walls of the large parlors adorned by huge
mirrors set in frames inlaid with emeralds, rubies, and other precious
stones. Sculptures of marble from Italy, of porphyry and alabaster from
Egypt, and porcelain vases from China, etc., a