ld houses of wealthy people.
Part of the beauty of many ancient dwellings in Poona City is to be
found in their admirable proportions. Modern houses in India are often
built in a pseudo-Gothic style, with barbarous innovations in the
shape of base metal-work and glaring coloured glass, and in which all
sense of proportion has been hopelessly lost.

[Illustration: A MODERN HOUSE IN POONA CITY, BUILT BY ONE OF THE
INDIAN CLERGY.]

Some of the modern palaces of Indian Rajahs are built and furnished in
this style, at an immense cost, and with most incongruous results.
Whereas many of the old palaces, and those of northern India in
particular, afford beautiful examples of royal residences, well
adapted to the needs of Indians, and yet capable of being modified
for the use of modern-minded rulers who have adopted some of the
household arrangements of the West. Sir Swinton Jacob has shown in the
fairy-like palace which he built at Jeypore, but which internally you
find exactly suited to the requirements of a modern museum, how
possible it is to adapt Indian architecture to present-day needs.
There is a good deal of carving, effectively placed and graceful in
design and skilfully executed, both on the outside and inside of old
houses in the City of Poona; and the balustrades that form the front
of the narrow verandahs, which run along so many of the houses with
happy effect, afford charming specimens of what the turner's craft can
accomplish. But nowadays ironwork, such as adorns a cheap bedstead,
more often than not is substituted for the graceful balustrade, and
some tawdry decoration, or coarsely-cut stone corbel, takes the place
of the picturesque carved woodwork.

The graceful outline of pots and pans used in Indian households has
often been remarked upon, and happily at present there are no signs of
degeneration in this department of domestic life. The traditional
shapes still hold their ground; and even quite common utensils, made
of coarse earthenware, are pleasing to look at. The more costly brass
and copper vessels in ordinary daily use are delightful examples of
how much beauty can be got out of an artistic outline, even when there
is an entire absence of ornamentation. In the midst of a vast amount
of apparent disregard for cleanliness, there are certain matters about
which a Hindu is excessively particular. The metal cups and pans must
be polished up to the highest pitch of perfection, and though the
Hindu woma