dorned the corridors and
niches of the halls of the main building.

Another large building was inhabited by the women, among whom the mother
of the prince is the mistress; but they themselves, as well as the
interior of their palace, remain concealed from the gaze of the guests.
Elegant carriages with drivers, servants and grooms in oriental livery,
caparisoned horses, saddles and bridles shining with gold and silver
trimmings, were day and night at the disposition of the guests, and at
his arrival every guest received a small blank book with fifty leaves on
which to write his name and the kind of refreshment he wished, and
hundreds of servants dressed in white were always ready to fetch it to
him in the palace garden, at the race courses, or in the summer houses.

[Illustration: NAUTCH DANCER.]

The festivities and merriments were arranged so that every guest had
perfect liberty and sufficient time to follow his own taste. The
following may serve as an illustration:

On Wednesday, December 7th, at half-past seven o'clock, a high school
was inspected, and the governor of Bengal distributed prizes among the
scholars; at ten breakfast in the large dining hall; at twelve the
instalment of the young prince; at two luncheon; at three the opening of
the races; at half-past seven illumination and pyrotechnics; at eight
grand dinner; at ten a ball in the palace for the Europeans; and nautch
dancing and music by native women in a pavilion in the garden.

One day a canal was opened and dedicated. It was twenty miles long, and
built for the purpose of supplying several cities and country districts
with an abundance of water. All the streets and roads in and around
Burdwan were in a splendid condition, wide and macadamized with crushed
brick. From the railroad station to the palace and two miles beyond to
two villas, as well as along the principal streets in the city, and
along all paths and roads in the palace garden, bamboo poles forty feet
long were erected on both sides, and about forty feet apart. These poles
were all wrapped in red and white glazed paper, and had flags at the
top. The poles were connected by lines along which colored glass lamps
were suspended six inches apart, and these were all lighted at six
o'clock. I was told that there were over forty thousand such lamps, and
that it took five hundred men to fill, light, and attend to them. From
nine to twelve o'clock every night an electric light was beaming from