"Thank you, Sir Modava," added Mr. Woolridge.

"The manufactures of silk, cotton, and metals are very important; for the soil is not very fertile, though cotton, rice, sugar, indigo, and all kinds of grains and fruits, are raised. Lahore is the capital of the Punjab, and has a population of a hundred and seventy-seven thousand, though it once contained a million. At this point we are near the Himalaya Mountains. About a hundred and fifty miles east of Lahore is Simla, nearly eight thousand feet above the sea. This is a noted sanitarium; and in the hot season it is the resort of thousands of people, including the highest officers of the army and the government."

"Is this as near the Himalayas as we are to go?" asked Scott.

"About as near, though at Patna you will be about one hundred and fifty miles from Mount Everest, the highest peak on the earth."

"I should like to go there," added Scott.

"You couldn't climb it; and what good would it do you? I could mention a hundred places in India I should like to visit; but it is not practicable to do so," added the commander. "We can only take along with us a few specimens of the wonderful country, and make the best of them."

After dinner the party divided up according to their own fancy, and went out to walk, though some were too tired to do so. Louis invited Miss Blanche to go with him; and she was always glad to be in his company, especially as Sir Modava was to be his companion. The first sight they saw in the street was a regiment of Punjab sepoys, a well-drilled body of men, not very different from the soldiers they had seen in other countries.

They wore frock-coats, buttoned tight to the throat, and a sort of turban on the head. Their faces were swarthy, but none of them wore full beards. There were plenty of street sights after the regiment had passed. The different kinds of vehicles attracted their attention first. In a kind of gig drawn by a horse, two men and two women were crowded together. The driver seemed to be seated behind, and one of the women was on the floor in front of the two who were seated. By the side of the man on the seat was a girl of sixteen or eighteen, and she was very pretty.

In a two-wheeled cart drawn by a humped bullock were a couple of Hindu ladies, under a canopy supported by four poles. Then came a camel bearing two bearded men on his back. Two or three palanquins were seen; but they were an old story, and they turned their attention to the architecture of the houses that lined the street. There was an abundance of what we call bay-windows, and ornamented balconies. There was a great deal of variety in the construction of these appendages of the houses; and all of them were occupied by ladies, who wore no veils over their faces, though most of them were doubtless Mohammedans, and the yashmak had evidently gone out of fashion.

"There is the dak-bungalow," said the Hindu gentleman as they passed a building of considerable size.

"What is a dak-bungalow?" asked Louis.

"It is one which answers the purpose of a hotel. I pointed one out to you at Baroda. Sometimes they are free so far as the rooms are concerned; but here the guest pays two rupees a day, or fifty cents of your money, and the food is furnished at a low price."

"But this is not half so much of a place as I expected to find," said Louis, after they had walked an hour, and it was time to return to the hotel.

"It is a place of considerable importance, though there are not so many temples, mosques, tombs, and other fine structures, as in many other cities of India; and I wondered that the commander had placed it in his list of places to be visited. Jeypore and Oodeypore would have been far more interesting to your party," replied Sir Modava. "Yet you will see some of the finest structures in the country before you reach Calcutta."

The company returned to the hotel at an early hour, and all of them were tired enough to retire at once. But they were up at six in the morning, and the four boys went out to explore the city by themselves for a couple of hours. Even at this early hour the ladies, old and young, were in the balconies, and they were much occupied in observing the latter. Though the yashmak, or veil, was not often used to cover the face, it appeared to have been only thrown back upon the head.

After breakfast carriages were at the door to convey the party to the more interesting sights of the city. At the request of Lord Tremlyn, they were driven first to the office of the lieutenant-governor, to whom they were presented. The government buildings are in Lawrence Hall Gardens, where there is also a memorial building in honor of Lord John Lawrence, the first lieutenant-governor, who won his distinction in subduing and ruling over the Punjab.

They were next conveyed to the mosque of Jehanghir, built of red stone, and so much like a score of other mosques that they were not much interested in the building. The mosque of Vazir Khan pleased them more; for it was a beautiful edifice, though crumbling before the ravages of time. But even here they were more pleased on observing the loafers around the entrance and in the court in front of it. An old bald-headed Hindu, with a beard as white as snow, was a study to the boys; and perhaps it was fortunate that the subject of their remarks did not understand English, or there might have been another war in the Punjab.

The cook-shops in the street were instructive to them, and they watched the customers with interest; but, as they had attempted to eat in a Turkish restaurant in Constantinople, they were content with looking on. The minarets of the Vazir Khan pleased all the party, for they were certainly very beautiful. They went to the Golden Temple of Amritsar in the afternoon, and were impressed with the beauty of its surroundings.

Lahore was rather a disappointment to the tourists, though it would not have been if they had not spent some days in Bombay before visiting it. The train in which they had come from Baroda was to be used by them as far as Calcutta, and they were ready to leave that night. The journey was by a different route from that by which they had come, and through a more densely populated region. It was a bright moonlight night when the train passed out of the capital of the Punjab.

They had gathered in what they had come to call the Conference Hall compartment; and as they looked out into the light of the evening they believed they could see some of the peaks of the Himalayas, though Lord Tremlyn doubted it. Possibly they saw some of the peaks, for Mount Nauda Devi was within a hundred miles of the point on the railroad where they would be in the morning; and this is more than twenty-five thousand feet high. Mont Blanc is seen in very clear weather at the distance of a hundred miles, and it is about eight thousand feet less in height.

They were awake very early in the morning, and they certainly saw some high mountains in the distance, but could not identify them by name. At eight o'clock the train rolled into the station at Delhi, perhaps the most wonderful city of India.



CHAPTER XXIX

THE WONDERFUL CITY OF DELHI

The Mohammedans of Bombay whose acquaintance General Noury had made were wealthy and influential men; they had notified their friends in other cities of the coming of the distinguished Moroccan, and he had several invitations to make his home in Delhi with them. Lord Tremlyn and Sir Modava were even more abundantly tendered accommodations from British and Hindu persons of distinction.

Captain Ringgold had no friends, and received no invitations, though the entire company of tourists were included in those of both the general and the distinguished gentlemen who had insisted upon being the hosts of the party. But the commander was a wealthy man himself, and a very independent one. To throw a company of a dozen and a half upon the generous hospitality of private individuals, or even public officials, seemed like an imposition to him.

The viscount and his Hindu companion were equally sensitive on this point; and it was proposed by Sir Modava to divide the guests among those who had not only given the invitations but had pressed them upon the travellers. The others did not like this plan; and, after some consideration, it was decided to go to a hotel; at least it was suggested as the remedy by the commander, who again insisted upon paying the bill. But there was no suitable hotel in the place. The dak-bungalow was the only resort, though a hotel was soon to be opened. Those who were consulted in the party were all for the bungalow, and the problem was finally settled in this manner.

A couple of small omnibuses were taken, and the party proceeded to the dak-bungalow, which was in the centre of the city. Their apartments were not elegant, but they were comfortable; and no one found any fault at the absence of the splendors with which they had been surrounded in the palace of the Guicowar, or even those of Bombay. A good breakfast was obtained, and the forenoon was given up to rest; but after a couple of hours in their chambers the company were assembled in the coffee-room.

"Delhi is a city which figures largely in the history of India," said Lord Tremlyn, seated very informally in an arm-chair. "It existed fifteen or twenty centuries before the time of Christ, and was the capital of the great Aryan empire. It was founded by the invaders of India. The chronology of India is not reliable, but it is claimed that this event dates back to 3101 B.C. Its name was Indrapechta, which it holds to the present time among the learned Hindus, so that the city appears to have existed while Egypt was still in its infancy.

"It became the great Mussulman capital; but one and another of its princes changed its location, till its ancient sites extend for thirty miles along the river, and its ruins, more extensive than even those of Rome, cover this range of territory. But I shall not go into the details of those migratory periods, but speak only of the city as we find it.

"Delhi is on the Jumna River, which you saw in the early morning. This stream has its entire course in Hindustan, and is the principal tributary of the Ganges. Both of these rivers are sacred with the natives. The Jumna rises in the Himalayas, at a height of nearly eleven thousand feet, and of course it is a mountain torrent at its upper waters. After a run of eight hundred and sixty miles, it falls into the Ganges about three miles below Allahabad. On each side of it is an important canal, both built before railways were in use here.

"Delhi is nine hundred and fifty-four miles northwest of Calcutta. It stands on high ground, is walled on three sides, and has ten gates. A series of buildings formerly composing the grand palace of Shah Jehan have become the fort, overlooking the river, with a fine view of the surrounding country, covered with woods and agricultural grounds. You will see the palaces, mosques, and temples, and I will not describe them. Delhi is the seventh city in population, which is a hundred and ninety-three thousand."

After luncheon half a dozen landaus were at the door of the bungalow, in which the party seated themselves according to their own choice; and the first stop was made at the Jummah Musjid Mosque, which the Mussulmans of India venerate and admire more than any other. It is built on an immense esplanade, which is mounted by three flights of stairs, each in the form of the three sides of a pyramid, and each leading to an immense pointed arch, the entrances to the buildings.

Before the party entered a carriage arrived, from which General Noury and another person alighted. The Moroccan had accepted the invitation of a Delhi Mussulman to be his guest, and this gentleman had begun to show him the sights of the city. The general presented him to the members of the party as Abbas-Meerza. Evidently in honor of his host the Moroccan had put on his Oriental dress, which was certainly a very picturesque costume, though it called up unpleasant memories in the minds of the commander and the Woolridges.

Abbas-Meerza was evidently a Persian, or the son of one; for he was clothed in the full costume of that country. He wore a rich robe, reaching to his ankles, with a broad silk belt around his waist. His cap, of equally costly material, was a tall cylinder, with the top slanting down to the left side, as though it had been cut off. He spoke English as fluently as the general. He invited the party to step to a certain point, and view the mosque as a whole.

The wall of the esplanade was a continued series of pointed arches, with a handsome frieze above it. On the elevated platform was a colonnade of the same arches on each side, with a pillared tower at each corner, interrupted only at the grand entrances. It looked as though one might walk entirely around the vast structure in the shade of this colonnade.

Within the enclosure could be seen three domes, the one in the centre overtopping the other two, two lofty minarets, with small domes at the summit, supported by several columns, and an immense pointed arch leading into the great mosque. The whole edifice is built of red sandstone. The visitors mounted one of the staircases, and entered a court paved with marble tiles. They walked around the esplanade under the arches of the colonnade, or cloisters as some call them, and finally entered the mosque itself. The interior was very simple in its style, but very beautiful. The roof, pavement, pillars, and walls were of white marble, ornamented with carvings in the stone. Slabs of black marble presented sentences to the praise of God, and in memory of Shah Jehan, who was the founder of the mosque.

"Formerly no person not a Mussulman was permitted to enter this mosque," said Sir Modava, while the general and his host were engaged in their devotions; "but for more than thirty years it has been open to all. From the top of one of the minarets a very fine view of the surrounding country can be obtained; but the ascent is by a very narrow flight of circular stairs, two hundred in number. He advised Dr. Hawkes and Uncle Moses not to attempt it."

A venerable mollah was found, who put half a dozen of the party in the way of going up; and they reported the view as worth the labor and fatigue. The aged priest then proposed to show them the relics of the mosque; and a fee was paid to him, and to the man who unlocked a door for their admission. The mollah produced a small golden box, from which he took a silver case. Muttering the name of Allah very solemnly all the time, he unscrewed the top of the receptacle, and took from it a single hair, about six inches long, red and stiff, and fixed in a silver tube.

"The beard of the holy Prophet!" he announced, with a reverent inclination of his head; and the two Mussulmans of the party followed his example.

"According to the tradition, this hair really came from the beard of Mohammed," said Sir Modava. "I believe it, because I have inquired into its history. It is the glory of this mosque and of Delhi, for only three others exist in the world. You need not believe it is genuine if you prefer not to do so."

They were also permitted to gaze at one of Mohammed's old shoes, a belt, and some of the clothing of the Prophet. A number of dusty ancient manuscripts were exhibited, copies of the Koran, one in fine characters, said to have been dictated by Mohammed himself. The party returned to the carriages, filled with admiration of the magnificent structure they had visited, and were driven to the palace of the emperors, now turned into the fort.

They left the landaus at a point selected by Abbas-Meerza, from which an excellent view of the ancient structures could be obtained. It was a magnificent building, whose dimensions the Americans could hardly take in. The most prominent features from the point of observation were a couple of octagonal towers, very richly ornamented, with several small domes at the summit, supported on handsome columns.

The party entered at the principal gate, and came to the guard-house, which was filled with British soldiers wearing straw helmets and short white coats. A soldier offered his services as a guide, and they were accepted. He gave the Hindu names of the apartments. The Dewani-Am was the hall of audiences, from which they passed to the Dewani-Khas, the throne-room, both of which recalled the Alhambra, which they had visited a few months before. The pillars, arches, and ornaments were similar, though not the same.

The tourists wandered through the pavilion, the emperor's rooms in the palace, the bath, and numerous apartments. But in transforming this magnificent palace of the emperors into barracks, much of the original beauty had been spoiled; the lapse of years had made great rents in the walls, and the visitor was compelled to exercise his imagination to some extent in filling up what it had been centuries before.

Abbas-Meerza was a very companionable person, and made the acquaintance of every one in the company. He then invited them all to dine with him that day, as he had evidently intended to do in the morning, for the dinner was all ready when they arrived at his palace. He was a magnate of the first order, and his apartments were quite as sumptuous as those of the Guicowar of Baroda. The dinner was somewhat Oriental, but it was as elegant as it was substantial.

The noble host apparently wished to show the Americans what the Mussulmans of India could do, and he crowned his magnificent hospitality by inviting the entire company to install themselves in his mansion, which was large enough for a palace; but for the reasons already set forth, the invitation was gratefully declined. The next morning the travellers visited the Mosque of Pearls, where the ancient emperors came to perform their devotions. The interior is of carved ivory.

From this little gem of a church the company were driven to the Chandi Chowk, which is a boulevard, planted with trees and lined with elegant buildings. The stores of the principal merchants of Delhi were here, and most of them were on the plan of an Oriental bazaar. The little square shops challenged the attention of the party, and most of them alighted to examine the rich goods displayed.

In the course of the ride they passed the Black Mosque, the only building in the city dating farther back than the reign of Shah Jehan. They found the bungalow surrounded and partly filled, on their return, by venders of relics, curiosities, and other wares, anxious to find customers for their goods. But they were not very fortunate in the enterprise, and finally they were all driven away by an officer.

In the afternoon they drove out on the plains of Delhi, among the ruins of palaces, tombs, and temples. They stopped at another black mosque, near which was a handsome pavilion, which had been the library of the emperors.

"One of these emperors was Houmayoun, who recovered the throne after a long banishment. He lost his life in consequence of a fall from the top of a ladder he had mounted to obtain a book," said Sir Modava. "He was the real founder of the Great Mogul dynasty. His mausoleum, to which we will go next, is one of the noblest monuments on this plain;" and the carriages proceeded to it.

It is a mass of white marble and red sandstone. It has a fine dome, around which cluster several smaller structures, such as we should call cupolas in America or England. Under the great dome in the building is a plain tombstone, beneath which are the remains of the first of the Mogul emperors. The mausoleum is placed on an esplanade, like the great mosque in the city. The sides present a vast display of pointed arches, and its shape on the ground is quite irregular. The party were driven to the tower of Koutub, a Mussulman conqueror, who commemorated his victory by building this triumphal column, which is two hundred and twenty-seven feet high. It consists of five stories, becoming smaller as they ascend. The remains of his mosque were visited, the columns of which look like enlarged jewellery, elaborately worked into fantastic forms. By its side is an iron column with contradictory stories about its origin. The tourists visited other mosques and tombs, which reminded them of the tombs of the Mamelukes.

For two days longer they looked about Delhi; and Lord Tremlyn pointed out to them the scenes of the massacre, which he had described on board of the Guardian-Mother. On the train by which they had come they proceeded to Agra.



CHAPTER XXX

THE MAGNIFICENT MAUSOLEUM OF AGRA

Several hotels were available on the arrival of the travellers at Agra, and they were domiciled at Lawrie's. The journey was made in an afternoon, and was through a densely populated territory, so that the trip was very enjoyable. After dinner the party assembled in a parlor provided for their use; and Lord Tremlyn gave a talk, for he objected to the formality of a lecture. He seated himself in an easy-chair, and took from his pocket a little book, to which he occasionally referred.

"Agra, on the whole, is the handsomest city of Upper India, though of course there may be some difference of opinion in this matter," he began. "It is eight hundred and forty-one miles north-west of Calcutta, and one hundred and forty south-east of Delhi. Like Delhi, it is on the Jumna, which is here crossed by a floating bridge. One of the most prominent buildings is the fortress of Akbar, and you must know something of this sovereign in order to understand Agra.

"He was known as Akbar the Great, the Mogul emperor of India, and the greatest Asiatic monarch of modern times. He was the son of Houmayoun, whose mausoleum you visited at Delhi. The father was robbed of his throne, and retreated to Persia; and it was on the way there that Akbar was born, in 1542. After an exile of twelve years, Houmayoun recovered his throne, but lost his life within a year after his return. The government was committed to the care of a regent, who became a tyrant; and the young prince took possession of it himself at the age of eighteen.

"At this time only a few provinces were subject to the rule of his father; but in a dozen years Akbar had made himself master of all the country north of the Vindhya Mountains, or of a line drawn from Baroda to Calcutta, though he was not so fortunate in subduing the southern portion of the peninsula. He was a great conqueror; yet, what is not so common with the mighty rulers of the world, past or present, he was a wise and humane monarch, and governed his realm with wisdom and vigor. His reign was the most unparalleled, for his justice, energy, and progressive character, of any in the East. In this manner he made his empire the greatest of the age in which he lived.

"He fostered commerce by the construction of roads, by the establishment of an excellent police system, and introduced a uniform system of weights and measures. He looked after the administration of his viceroys in his numerous provinces, permitted no extortion on the part of his officers, and saw that justice was impartially meted out to all classes. He was a Mohammedan, but he was tolerant of all the prevailing sects in religion.

"He gave the Hindus entire freedom of worship; though far in advance of his successors, he prohibited cruel customs, such as the burning of widows, and other barbarous practices. He founded schools and encouraged literature. He inquired into the various forms of religion, and even sent for Portuguese missionaries at Goa to explain the Christian faith to him. From the various beliefs he made up a kind of eclectic religion; but it was not a success outside of his palace. A history of his reign of fifty years was written by his chief minister. Akbar died in 1605, and was interred in a beautiful mausoleum, near the city.

"With the ordinary sights of India you are already somewhat familiar; and, aside from what you may see in any city here, there is not much to interest you, with the grand exception of the Taj, and some of the mausoleums, of which I will say nothing, as we are now to visit them."

The company retired early, and after breakfast the next morning the carriages were at the door. In the first one were Captain Ringgold, Mrs. Belgrave, and Sir Modava. Lord Tremlyn had more than once manifested a desire to be in the same carriage with Miss Blanche; and he went with her and Louis on this occasion, while Mr. and Mrs. Woolridge invited General Noury to accompany them.

"Akbar made Agra the capital of the Mogul Empire," said Sir Modava, as the carriage started. "He changed its old name to Akbarabad, and the natives call it so to this day."

"The termination of that name seems to be very common in India, as Allahabad, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad," added the commander.

"In the Hindu, abad means a town or a village; and if you cut off that ending you will find the person or place for whom it was named, as Akbar-abad."

"Precisely as it is in our country, where we have Morris-town, Allen-town, Morgan-town, and a thousand others," added the captain.

"After the death of Akbar his successors reigned in Delhi. The Mogul Empire came to an end in 1761; and Agra was sacked by the Jats, and later the Mahrattas completed the destruction they had begun. It was captured from Scindia in 1803 by the English under Lord Lake, and has since remained in their possession. In all these disasters its population, which had been seven hundred thousand, dropped to ten thousand; but under British rule it recovered some of its former prosperity, and it is now about one hundred and seventy thousand."

"If a man wants to build a house here he has only to dig for the material, for not far down he will find the stone and brick of the structures that crumbled into the earth after the death of the great emperor. We are now approaching the fortress, or the citadel as it is oftener called. It is a sort of acropolis, for it contains palaces, mosques, halls of justice, and other buildings."

The carriages stopped at the principal gate, opposite to which is the mosque of Jummah Musjid, or the Cathedral Mosque. About all the great structures here are built of red sandstone, with marble bands on many of them, so that it is hardly necessary to mention the material, unless it varies from the rule. This mosque is a fine one, mounted on a marble esplanade or platform, like most buildings of this description.

Crossing the drawbridge, the visitors came to the Palace of Justice, built by Akbar. It is six hundred feet long, enclosed by a colonnade of arches, like a cloister. It is now used as a military storeroom, divided by brick walls, and filled with cannon and shot. The English have made a sort of museum here; and the superior officer who did the honors to his lordship showed them the throne of Akbar, a long marble seat, inlaid with precious stones, with a graceful canopy of the same material over it; and the boys thought he would have had a more comfortable seat if he had put off the period of his reign to the present time.

The gates of Somnath, twelve feet high, were beautiful pieces of carving. They once guarded the entrance to the temple of Krishna, in Goojerat; but in the tenth century they were carried off by Sultan Mahmoud, of Ghuzni, in Afghanistan. He captured Somnath, and destroyed all the idols. The Brahmins offered him immense bribes if he would spare the statue of Krishna; but he spurned the money, and destroyed the image with his own hands. He found that it was hollow, and filled with jewels of great value.

When the English conquered Afghanistan, Lord Ellenborough sent the gates to Agra; but some think they were not the gates of the temple, but of Mahmoud's tomb, for they were made of a wood that does not grow in India, and they are not of Hindu workmanship. From the museum the party walked to the imperial palace of Akbar, still in an excellent state of preservation. Some of the apartments, especially the bath-room of the monarch, made the visitors think of the Arabian Nights.

The great black marble slab on which Akbar sat to administer justice was pointed out. When one of the Jat chiefs seated himself upon it, the story goes, it cracked, and blood flowed from the fracture. Lord Ellenborough tried the experiment, and the stone broke into two pieces. The Mosque of Pearls is a small building of white marble on a rose-colored platform. It is considered by experts the finest piece of architecture in the fortress. Nothing could be simpler, nothing grander. Bishop Heber visited it and wrote this of it:—

"This spotless sanctuary, showing such a pure spirit of adoration, made me, a Christian, feel humbled, when I considered that no architect of our religion had ever been able to produce anything equal to this temple of Allah."

Following the Jumna, the carriages reached the Taj, the wonder and glory of all India. It was built by the Emperor Shah Jehan, as a mausoleum for the Empress Mumtazi Mahal. She was not only beautiful, but famous for mental endowments; and the emperor had so much love and admiration for her that he determined to erect to her memory the most beautiful monument that had ever been constructed by any prince. It was begun in 1630, and twenty thousand workmen were employed upon it for seventeen years. History says that one hundred and forty thousand cartloads of pink sandstone and marble were brought from the quarries of Rajputana; and every province of the empire furnished precious stones to adorn it. Its cost was from ten to fifteen millions of dollars.

The golden crescent of the Taj is two hundred and seventy feet above the level of the river. The magnificent temple is placed in the centre of a garden nine hundred and sixty feet long by three hundred and thirty in width, filled with avenues flanked with cypress-trees, and planted with flowers, on a terrace of sandstone. In the centre of this garden is a marble platform, two hundred and eighty-five feet on all sides, and fifteen feet high, which may be called the pedestal of the mosque. The principal entrance to the garden is more elaborate and beautiful than the fronts of many noted mosques, for it is adorned with towers crowned with cupolas.

Entering the enclosure, and walking along the avenue of cypress-trees, one obtains his first view of the great dome of the Taj. It looks like about three-fourths of a globe, capped with a slender spire. From this point, through the trees, may be seen a forest of minarets, cupolas, towers, and inferior domes. The mausoleum is in the form of an irregular octagon, the longest side being one hundred and twenty feet in length. Each facade has a lofty Saracenic arch, in which is an entrance.

The interior surpasses the exterior in magnificence, the ceiling, walls, and tombstones being a mass of mosaics. The resting-place of the empress and Shah Jehan is in the centre of the edifice, enclosed by a marble screen. Some experts who have examined the building thoroughly are unable to find any architectural faults, though perhaps others would be more successful. The party visited several other mosques and mausoleums; but nothing could compare with the Taj. The commander suggested that they ought to have visited it last, as the pie or pudding comes in after the fish or meats at Von Blonk Park.

The members of the party were unable to say enough in praise of the Taj, and no one seems to be in danger of exaggerating its beauty and its wonders. On their return to the hotel, they seated themselves in their parlor, and talked till dinner-time about the mausoleum, for they had many questions to ask of the viscount and the Hindu gentleman.

"There seemed to be two other mosques back of the mausoleum," said Mrs. Belgrave; "we did not visit them."

"The Mohammedan traditions require that a mosque should be erected in connection with every mortuary temple," replied Sir Modava. "Isa Mohammed, a later emperor, built one at the western end of the terrace. It was a beautiful building with three domes, in keeping with the Taj. But the builder found that it gave a one-sided appearance to the view; and he erected the one on the east end, to balance the other and restore the proportions. Either of them is equal to the finest mosque in Cairo or Constantinople."

"That was an expensive method of making things regular," added the commander. "Some one spoke in Delhi of a durbar in connection with Agra. I think it was Mr. Meerza."

General Noury laughed at this title; for it sounded funny to him, applied to an Oriental, and the captain had forgotten the rest of the name.

"Abbas-Meerza, we call him, without any 'mister,'" he added.

"I will try to remember it," replied the commander. "But what is a durbar? Is it something good to eat?"

"They do not eat it here, and probably it would be indigestible if they could do so," continued Sir Modava. "A durbar is a very important event in India, but is not eatable. It is an occasion at which the native princes acknowledge the sovereignty of the Queen of England. In 1866 the most noted one took place at Agra, a full description of which would require a long time. For the first time after the establishment of the Empire of India, the governor-general, representing the empress, received the homage of twenty-six sovereign princes. It was an act of submission. The ceremonies occupied many days; and kings, maharajahs, rajahs, and other princes bowed to the throne of the sovereign. It was a tremendous occasion; and it was a festival honored by banquets, processions, and royal gatherings. I will get a book for you, Captain Ringgold, when we reach Calcutta, from which you may read a full account of the affair. It grew out of an ancient Indian custom, and many of them on a small scale have occurred."

The tourists spent another day at Agra, and, though they had not exhausted the sights of the place, the commander decided that they could remain no longer, and they left on the following day for Cawnpore.



CHAPTER XXXI

THE TERRIBLE STORY OF CAWNPORE AND LUCKNOW

Agra is on one of the great railroads from Bombay to Calcutta, though not the most direct one; and it crosses the Jumna at this point, where a vast bridge was in process of construction over its waters, which must now be completed. It was but a five hours' journey to Cawnpore, and the party arrived there in season for luncheon.

"Cawnpore is on the right bank of the Ganges, six hundred and twenty-eight miles from Calcutta," said Lord Tremlyn, when the party were seated in the Conference-Hall carriage, and the train was moving away from Agra. "But, so far as viewing the wonderful buildings of India, you will have a rest at this place; though you need not suppose it is a city of no importance, for it has 188,712 inhabitants, and has a large trade. Here you will obtain your first view of the Ganges, varying in width from a third of a mile to a mile.

"The great river is one of the special objects of interest to the tourist in coming from Bombay, for here he usually gets his first view of it. There are important buildings here, including mosques and temples, but none to compare with those you have already seen. The Indian Mutiny of 1857 attracts many visitors to the place."

"I don't think I care to see any more great buildings," interposed Mrs. Belgrave.

"There are none here to see; and we shall remain here only long enough to see the sites connected with the mutiny."

"I should like to hear the story of the mutiny over again," added the lady.

"I was able to give only a very brief and imperfect account of the rebellion, with so great a subject as India in general on my hands, on board of your ship, and very likely there will be occasion to repeat some portions of it as we point out the various spots connected with it," replied Lord Tremlyn.

The accommodations for the party were ready on their arrival, and even the luncheon was on the table. Before they had disposed of it the landaus were at the door. Three military officers were also in attendance, appointed to render all the assistance to the company they needed. They were introduced to the members of the party, and then they were driven to the fort."

"At the time of the mutiny Cawnpore contained about one thousand English people, one half of whom were women and children," said Captain Chesly, the principal of the officers. "The troops were provided with ill-constructed intrenchments for their defence. I am informed that his lordship has already given you some details of the rebellion, but as I am not aware of the extent to which he has given them I shall probably repeat some of them."

"The party will be glad to have them repeated," added Lord Tremlyn. "I told them who and what Nana Sahib was."

"His first act after taking the lead in the rebellion of the sepoys was to murder one hundred and thirty-six of our people, who were deceived by the sympathy he had formerly manifested for them, and easily fell into his hands. Two hundred and fifty soldiers, with as many women and children, the latter in the military hospital, had taken refuge in the fort. As soon as he had completed his bloody work in the massacre, Nana Sahib besieged the feeble garrison. They defended themselves with the utmost bravery and skill against the vast horde of natives brought against them.

"For three weeks they held out against the overwhelming force that was thirsting for their blood. Their chief had anticipated no such resistance, and he was impatient at the delay in finishing the butchery. He resorted to an infamous stratagem, proposing to General Wheeler, who was in command of the British troops, to grant him all the honors of war if he would surrender, with boats and abundant provisions to enable him and all his people to reach Allahabad.

"The proposition was received with considerable distrust by the besieged; but Nana swore before the general that he would faithfully observe all the terms of the capitulation, and it was finally accepted. The garrison marched out with their arms and baggage, and passed through the hordes of the besiegers to the river. The wounded, with the women and children, were sent to the Ganges on elephants. Now, if you take your seats in the carriages, we will proceed to the scene of the massacre."

The company were conveyed to a Hindu temple on the shore, where the suttee had formerly been performed, and which was provided with a broad staircase leading down to the water. The place had a funereal aspect, to which the terrible tragedy lent an additional melancholy.

"The treacherous commander of the rebels had provided about twenty boats of all sizes, and supplied them with provisions, in order to complete the deception," continued Captain Chesly when the party had alighted. "The boats were cast loose to the current, and the hungry people rushed to the eatables. But the flotilla was hardly clear of the shore before a battery of guns, masked from their view, opened a most destructive fire upon them with grape and solid shot, mostly the former.

"The smaller boats sank, and others were set on fire. The cavalry of the enemy waded into the river, and sabred those who attempted to escape by swimming. In the largest boat was General Wheeler; and, by desperate rowing, it succeeded in getting away from the slaughter. Unhappily it got aground, and all on board of it were captured.

"Nana ordered that not a man should be saved, and all were murdered in cold blood. The various accounts differ considerably; but all the men were killed but four, two captains and two privates, who escaped by swimming down the river, and were protected by a rajah, who was afterwards pensioned for this service."

"After the massacre of all the men, there remained one hundred and twenty-five women and children captured from the boats, who were confined in the town-house of the detested Nana, where they were fed upon the poorest food and subjected to many indignities. They were heroic women, and preferred death to any other fate at the hands of their miscreant captors. They were kept in confinement about three weeks, when it was whispered among them that deliverance was at hand. Sir Henry Havelock was marching from Allahabad to the relief of the garrison, and when he was within two days' march Nana went out to meet him and give battle to him. He was defeated and driven back to Cawnpore."

"Smarting under this defeat, and stimulated to revenge for it, Nana at once ordered the massacre of the helpless prisoners on his return. This order was executed with all the atrocity incident to the character of the savages, and the bodies of the victims were thrown into a well near their prison. Now, if you please, we will drive to the memorials of this dreadful butchery."

A memorial church now indicates the site of General Wheeler's intrenchments, which the party visited first. The scene of the massacre is now a memorial garden, in charge of an old soldier, who was one of the four who escaped. The place of the well into which the bodies of the women and children were thrown is marked by a beautiful marble statue of an angel standing by a lofty cross. It is surrounded by a Gothic fence, with lofty towers in the same style. The party looked upon these mementoes of the terrible events with mournful interest, and had hardly recovered their usual cheerfulness when they reached the hotel. The guides were invited to dine with them, and the evening was more cheerful than the afternoon had been.

Part of the forenoon of the next day was given to a ride along the Ganges, which was crowded with boats of all kinds, from the boat with a cabin covered with a thatched roof to steamboats of considerable size. They found an abundance of temples on the shores of the sacred stream, and a beautiful ghat or staircase to the water, which excited their admiration.

"We are now going to Lucknow this afternoon; but it is only forty-five miles," said Sir Modava. "If you prefer to do so, we can return to Cawnpore, and go down the river on one of those fine steamers to Calcutta, a thousand miles from here by the river."

"Or you could go to Benares, our next stopping-place on the river," suggested the viscount.

But it would take too much time, and Captain Ringgold objected; for he had already marked Allahabad out of the route. Early in the afternoon the tourists were again seated in the conference carriage. The station at Cawnpore excited their attention, for it is five hundred and sixty feet long. A bridge of boats sixteen hundred yards in length was an affair not seen in their own country.

"We are now in the province of Oude, a word of various orthography," said Lord Tremlyn, after they lost sight of the city from which they started.

"Oude!" exclaimed Miss Blanche. "Where did I see that name?"

"In Paris," replied Louis. "We saw the tomb of the Queen of Oude in Pere-la-Chaise."

"I will tell you about her presently," continued Lord Tremlyn. "There was a great deal of corruption in the government of the kingdom under the native king. The people were robbed of vast sums in the guise of taxes, the police was miserably inefficient, and it was not a safe region for the traveller. The East India Company drew up a treaty with the king, transferring to the corporation the government, but providing liberally for the ruler and his family."

"The king refused to sign this treaty; the East India Company had been superseded, and the governor-general deposed the king. No compromise could be effected, though many believed the king had been unjustly treated. He removed to Calcutta; but his queen, with her son and brother, went to England, and endeavored to obtain redress for the real or supposed wrongs of the family, but without success. The queen then went to Paris, and died there in 1858.

"The people of Oude never submitted to the new government; and in the Mutiny of 1857, not only the sepoys but the people rebelled. The insurrectionists concentrated at Lucknow, the capital, and captured some of the forts, as has been related to you. This city has now a population of two hundred and seventy-three thousand, which makes it the fifth city in size in India. It is regarded as a very attractive place. The streets are wide, and the buildings are well-constructed, with the wooden balconies you see all over India, and the shops and bazaars may entice the ladies to make purchases. It has a fine park.

"The kings of Oude were ambitious to outshine the glories of Delhi, and, to a considerable extent, they succeeded; but the architecture is fantastic rather than grand and beautiful, and experts are inclined to laugh at it. But our friend Professor Giroud has something to say, and I subside to make room for him.

"I wish to tell the story of a Frenchman, which I think will interest the party," said the professor. "Claude Martine was a Breton soldier who went with his regiment to Pondicherry, the principal French settlement in India, which has been tossed back and forth between the English, Dutch, and French like a shuttlecock, but has been in possession of my country since 1816. He attained the grade of corporal; but this elevated rank did not satisfy him, and he left for the interior.

"Finally, after a thousand adventures, which he never wrote out, he arrived at the court of Oude, where, by some means, he obtained a captaincy in the royal army, and, what was better, the favor of the king. In 1780 he was commander-in-chief of the native army. But his enterprise did not end here; for he was the king's trusted favorite, and of course he became a millionaire, even though there were no railroad shares in being at that period.

"He brought with him some crude notions of architecture, and he set about reforming that of India. He was not a success in this capacity; and, as my lord says, his work is ridiculed by men of taste. But this appears to have been his only sin; for he used the money he had accumulated in establishing schools, now known under the name of La Martiniere, in which thousands of children are educated. As a Frenchman I do not feel at all ashamed of Claude Martine."

"You need not, Professor," added the viscount. "But here we are at the Lucknow station."

As usual, by the kindness of Lord Tremlyn, everything had been provided for the arrival of the company of tourists. There were carriages and servants, and officers as guides, in attendance. Captain Ringgold was very economical of his time; and, as it was still early in the afternoon, he proposed that the party should visit some of the objects of interest before dinner. The baggage was sent to the hotel, and the carriage proceeded to the Residency, which had been occupied by the official of the British government when the province was under the native ruler. It was in ruins, for it was so left as a memorial of the events of the past.

The city was attacked by the rebels; and the little garrison, with the English people of the town, took refuge in this building. It was a three-story brick house, not at all fit to be used as a fort. The cannon-shot of the besiegers wrecked the building, and many of its defenders, including Sir Henry Lawrence, the commander, perished in the fight.

The visitors looked over the house and its surroundings, and then went to the hotel.



CHAPTER XXXII

MORE OF LUCKNOW AND SOMETHING OF BENARES

"I suppose you recall the events of the Mutiny well enough to understand the situation here in 1857," said Lord Tremlyn the next morning when the company had gathered in the parlor of the hotel. "But there was no massacre here, as in Cawnpore, to impress the facts upon your memory, though many brave men lost their lives in the defence of the place. There were only seven hundred and fifty troops in the town; but Sir Henry Lawrence had done the best he could to fortify the Residency, ill adapted as it was for defensive works.

"An attempt was made to check the advance of the rebels eight miles from the city; but it was a failure, with the small available force, and two days later the enemy attacked the British at the Residency. Three times the brave defenders beat back the assaults of the assailants. These events on the spot you have visited occurred between the last of May and the first of July. It was not till the twenty-second of September that Havelock and Outram arrived, and captured the Alum-Bagh, which we shall visit this morning. It was a terrible summer that the beleaguered people and their brave handful of soldiers passed; and Tennyson has commemorated Lucknow in his immortal verse.

"But the coming of Havelock was not the end; for the rebels besieged the place again, and it was near the middle of November before Sir Colin Campbell arrived, with a considerable force. He captured the Alum-Bagh, and, leaving in it a force of three thousand five hundred men, he escorted the women and children and the civilians to Cawnpore; but returned in March to subdue the rebels. For a week he fought them, drove them from the intrenchments in which they had fortified themselves, and the mutiny was ended, as I related to you on board of your ship."

The carriages were at the door as soon as the party had breakfasted. They were driven to the cemetery, where they saw the grave of Lawrence, whose memorial is that "He tried to do his duty." In the Alum-Bagh, which means the Queen's Garden, was the grave of Havelock. It was here that Outram had his camp and fortifications for the defence of Lucknow during the absence of Campbell.

The Kaiser Bagh, or Caesar's Garden, contains some of the principal sights of the city, which the viscount pointed out and described. It is a forest of domes and cupolas; and the company halted at the pavilion of Lanka, which a French writer called the least ridiculous of the structures in the enclosure, though the professor insisted that it was quite as bad as the worst. It had an abundance of cupolas with arabesque domes; but the edifice looked like a shell, for the veranda, with lofty columns supporting the roof, appeared to take up the greater portion of the enclosed space.

The most grotesque feature was at the entrance. A flight of broad stairs led to the principal floor, over which was extended what looked like an imitation of the Rialto bridge in Venice, with a small temple under the middle arch and at the head of the stairs. The top of the bridge was on a level with the flat roof, and the two side-arches started from the ground. The building was handsome in some of its details; but the professor said it was an "abomination," and Dr. Hawkes called it "queer." The various edifices are now occupied by the civil and military officials.

"Where does the name of this place come from?" asked Captain Ringgold. "Kaiser Bagh seems to be half German."

"But it is not German," replied Lord Tremlyn. "These buildings were mostly erected no farther back than 1850, by Wajid Ali Shah, the King of Oude, who was deposed by the British government in 1856. He called himself Caesar, and Kaiser is simply a corruption of that name, with no German allusion in it. He was the husband of the Queen of Oude, whose burial-place you saw in Pere-la-Chaise."

The next visit was to the palace of Claude Martine, a conglomeration of all the styles of architecture ever known, and some that were never heard of. At first view it looks like a small palace set on the top of a large one. It is certainly very original and very elaborate. Going to the citadel, they entered by a highly ornamental gateway, which opened to the visitors the view of the vast pile of buildings, in the middle of which is the Imambara. The vastness of the pile presented before them was bewildering, though they had seen so many immense structures that mere size did not now overwhelm them. The Great Imambara is considered the marvel of Lucknow, and should not be confounded with another in the citadel bearing the same general name. To walk around or through this enormous building was simply impossible, and the party contented themselves with a general view from different points. It is located on a lofty terrace; and its long line of walls, crowned with Arabic domes, is very imposing.

"This palace was erected at the close of the last century, by Nawab, with half a yard of other names to fetch up its rear," said Major Shandon, the military officer who was doing the honors of the city, with a pleasant smile. "Like many others of the Indian monarchs, he desired to immortalize his name by erecting a monument in his own honor; and he offered a prize for the competition of all the architects of India, for one that would surpass all others. We think he produced a plan that was worth the money he received; though we don't think he surpassed the Taj, or some other buildings that might be mentioned."

This immense structure is now a vast arsenal. The other building, which sometimes robs this one of its honors, is called the Hoosseinabad Imambara; and perhaps the length of the added name may account, to some extent, for the robbery. It is in the citadel, and in sight of its namesake; but the mausoleum, for it is the tomb of Ali Shah, who died in 1841, stands alone; and it does not fatigue the eyes to look at it. It is a light, ethereal sort of structure, and looks like lacework. It is surmounted by a beautiful dome, and the roof bristles with the points of turrets and towers. It contains, besides the tomb of the monarch, a mosque, a bazaar, and a model of the Taj, which make up a sufficient variety for an edifice erected for a tomb.

This temple completed the list marked out for inspection in Lucknow. The party had not supposed there was much of anything here to be seen except the memorials of the Mutiny; and for these alone they would not have missed seeing the historic locality. The rest of the day was devoted to rides through the streets and suburbs of the city. The avenues were wide, the houses neat and commodious, and the gardens laid out with English taste. The evidences of British thrift were to be seen in many portions of the place.

Lochner's Hotel was their abiding-place, and Major Shandon regaled the party at dinner and in the evening with stories of the place, and proved himself to be a gentleman of "infinite humor." The next morning the company took the train for Benares. They were a very sociable party, and preferred the conference carriage to being confined to the smaller compartments. The route was along the Boomtee River at first, which, some one has said, is the crookedest stream in the world, and the scenery was worth looking at. But as soon as the ladies and gentlemen had satisfied themselves with looking out the windows the commander presented Sir Modava as the "talkist" for the trip of six hours, or as much of the time as he chose to occupy.

"I shall not take more than half an hour for what I have to say, my much-loved friends," the Hindu gentleman began, "though I know you are very patient and long-suffering; and I assure you that I shall not take offence if you look out the windows while I am talking. The Boomtee River is as pretty as it is sinuous. If you write to your friends in the United States about it, you can spell the last syllable t-i, if you prefer; for Indian orthography is not yet controlled by statute, as I hope it will be when we have established an Academie Indienne, such as they have in France. But Benares is my subject, and not spelling.

"Where is Benares? It is four hundred and twenty miles by rail from Calcutta, and is on the left bank of the Ganges. I suppose you know which side that is."

"Of course we do," laughed Mrs. Belgrave. "It is on the left-hand side."

"You have put your foot in it, mother," rallied Louis.

"Into the Ganges?" queried the lady. "I did at Cawnpore, but not here."

"Suppose you were coming up the river in a steamer from Calcutta, which would be the left bank?" asked Louis.

"On my left, of course."

"Then Sir Modava will have to oblige you by locating Benares on both sides of the Ganges, and I don't believe it would be convenient for him to do that," said Louis, laughing at the expense of his mother, who blushed, though she did not see what was wrong, when she realized that she had made a blunder of some kind.

"Better not have said anything," whispered Mrs. Blossom in retaliation; for hitherto she had had a monopoly of all the blunders."

"Will you tell me, Sarah, which is the left bank of a river, for it appears that I don't know," added the lady out loud.

"The left bank of the Ganges is the one Benares is on," replied the worthy woman; and she was greeted with a roar of laughter, and a volley of applause started by the live boys who were making their way across India.

"Quite right, madam!" exclaimed Sir Modava, applauding with the others. "It may be a matter of no particular consequence; but you will excuse me for saying that the left bank is the one on your left as you go down the stream, and not at all as you go up."

"I remember now, for I learned that in my geography when I first went to school; and it is strange that I should have forgotten it," added Mrs. Belgrave.

"We know just where Benares is now," Sir Modava proceeded. "It is the largest city in this part of India with the exception of Lucknow, to which it stands next, or sixth among those of the country, having a population of 219,467. It extends along the Ganges for three miles; and the shore is lined continuously with staircases, called ghats, which lead up to the temples, palaces, and the vast number of houses on the banks of the river. The stream sweeps around the place like a crescent, presenting one of the finest views you ever saw, with the ornamented fronts of dwellings, public offices, and a forest of towers, pinnacles, and turrets. To the Hindus it is the most sacred city known to them.

"When I was a boy I came here for the first time, brought by my father on account of the religious character of the place, if I may call anything idolatrous by such a name. But the city, when you get into it, will disappoint you. It is like Constantinople, very beautiful to look at from the Bosporus, or the Golden Horn; but its dirty, narrow streets disgust you. I am afraid this will be your experience in Benares. You will be obliged to forego the luxury of carriages in making your tours through the place, for the streets are so narrow and crowded that it is impossible to get along with a vehicle. An elephant is equally impracticable, and even in a palanquin your progress would be so slow that you would lose all your stock of patience."

"The city must be 'done' by walking, must it?" asked the commander.

"Whew!" whistled Dr. Hawkes; and the sibilation was repeated by Uncle Moses, for each of them weighed over two hundred and a quarter.

"If the ship were here I would lend you the barge with eight rowers, to enable you to see the sights from the river," suggested Captain Ringgold.

"A steam-launch shall be provided for all the company, and our obese friends shall be provided with stuffed chairs, for the survey of the river scenes; but carriages can be used in some parts of the city, though what you will desire to see can best be observed from the river; and we can land when you wish to see interiors," added Lord Tremlyn.

This interruption was heartily applauded by the Cupids, as the fat gentlemen had been called in Cairo, assisted by all the others.

"The famous Monkey Temple is just out of the city, and that can be reached by carriages," continued Sir Modava. "There are fourteen hundred and fifty Hindu temples, pagodas, and shrines, and two hundred and seventy-two Mohammedan mosques, so that our good friend, General Noury, need not neglect his devotions."

"The good Mussulman never does that, whether there be a mosque at hand or not, for he says his prayers at the proper time, wherever he may be," replied the general.

"I know that some of your people are better Christians than some who bear the name," replied the Hindu gentleman politely. "Benares is so holy, and the Ganges is so holy, that hundreds of thousands visit it as the Mussulmans visit Mecca. Men of wealth, and those who have the means without being rich, come to this city when they feel that they have been seized with a malady likely to prove fatal; for to die here with the Hindu is a passport to eternal happiness. But I am talking too long, though there is much more that might be said; but perhaps it could be better said on board of that launch my friend mentions, and in sight of the temples, towers, and other objects of interest."

In the middle of the afternoon the train arrived at its destination; and the party proceeded in carriages to the western suburb, the location of the cantonment, or English quarter of the city.



CHAPTER XXXIII

A STEAMER TRIP UP AND DOWN THE GANGES

Clarke's Hotel, at Secrole, received the tourists, and everything was in readiness for them when they arrived. Lord Tremlyn had announced the coming of himself and his large party, and a person of his distinction and influence could command anything he desired. The rest of the day was given to rest, though in the evening Sir Modava talked to the tourists about the city.

Early the next morning the party were conveyed to the river, where they embarked in a steam-yacht which had been provided for their use. It was more than a launch; for its standing-room would seat the whole company, while an awning was spread over a portion of the upper deck, from which a full view of the shore could be obtained. The city is on the north shore of the river, which has an easterly course in this portion of India, and the houses are packed in about as thickly as they can be.

"This is the Dasasvamedh Ghat," said Sir Modava, with a smile. "I thought you might wish to recall it after you get home to America. I think it is rather pleasant to know the names of places one has visited."

"We could not speak the word now without an hour's practice, and I am sure not one of us will know it when we get to the other side of the Atlantic," said Mrs. Belgrave.

"You can write it down in your diaries."

"We might as well attempt to copy the top of a tea-chest," added Louis.

The ladies were assisted on board of the steamer. The captain was a very gentlemanly Englishman; and he was all devotion to the wants of his passengers, who seated themselves on the promenade deck. The steamer belonged to the government; and she was fitted up in the most comfortable manner, though it was not so gaudy as the craft of a maharajah would have been. The ghat was at the western extremity of the crescent to which Sir Modava had alluded, and from this point the town looked like an amphitheatre.

The river is ordinarily about half a mile wide, but in the season of high water it is double that width. The captain called the attention of the party to the ghat as they receded from it, the broad flight of stairs being a rather wonderful sight to the strangers, though they had seen something of the kind before in Delhi and Cawnpore.

The steps are adorned with small temples with plenty of spires. Near the top of the flight was the Man Munder, the great observatory. Though the building is plain, as a whole, Captain Carlisle pointed out a highly ornamental window, with a profusion of handsome brackets. The stairs on the city side of the river were unlimited as far as the eye could see. Behind them was a forest of spires, domes, and cupolas.

"You ought to have left the ghat before sunrise," said the captain, who was walking up and down the deck, with an eye on the Hindu pilot. "Then you would have been in time to see the sight of the day, for the appearance of the sun is the holy moment for the natives to plunge into the holy river. For miles along the shore the ghats are thronged at the first appearance of the orb of day, and there is a continuous murmur of voices. No matter how cold the water is, they dive in and swim like fishes. You can see a thousand heads in the water along the shore at any moment. Then they support themselves on the surface, and gaze motionless at the sun as it mounts in the sky."

"Are you a sailor, Captain Carlisle?" asked Louis, who thought he was rather poetic for an uneducated man.

"Not as the commander of your ship would understand it, though I was in command of a Thames steamer, and fell into the same business when I came to India," replied the captain, laughing at the question. "My father was a good Baptist; he wanted to make a minister of me, and I was educated far enough to enter the university; but I concluded that I did not like the business, and took to steamboating."

"But aren't the women as religious as the men?" inquired Captain Ringgold.

"More so, if anything. But they come down to the river before sunrise and take their swim. If you had been here this morning you would have seen them coming out of the water just as the men are ready to go in, and you would have observed them in their white garments, dripping like drowned rats. That pagoda you see ahead of us with the bell tower and shining in gilt is the only temple the Buddhists have in Benares."

"We are coming now to the Munikurnika Ghat. It is a five-syllable word, but you can easily pronounce it," said Sir Modava, who thought he would "spell" the captain for a time; and he was quite as familiar with the banks of the Ganges.

"And it is quite musical," added the captain.

"Pronounce u like double o, and the rest of the letters as in English, and you can speak it without choking," said the Hindu gentleman. "But there are some letters in Hindu that have no equivalents in English."

"Moo-ui-koor-ni-ka Ghat," added Louis, pronouncing the word. "But what is it all about?"

"It is the place for burning the dead, such as you saw in Bombay, but on a much larger scale," replied Sir Modava. "You see that it extends a considerable distance. Please keep to the leeward of the smoke, Captain Carlisle."

"That is what I am doing, Sir Modava."

"These funeral pyres are burning all the time, night and day. The people whose bodies are consumed in these fires, and their friends, believe that the souls of the deceased will pass from this spot into paradise, where, if they have not been very great sinners they will be transplanted into the bodies of future Brahmins. Many deceased persons are brought even hundreds of miles to be burned on the Munikurnika by the Ganges, as their sure passport to the realms of bliss."

The obliging captain took the steamer near enough to the ghat to enable the tourists to see the process of burning. An occasional puff of the horribly offensive odor came to the nostrils of the sightseers; but the captain sheered off, and they got very little of it.

"It smells just like assafoedita. It is awful-smelling stuff; and I wonder if they don't make it out of this smoke, for it hits my nose in just the same way," said Mrs. Blossom. "I took care of old Jotham Beeling when he had the apoplexy, and gave the stuff to him. The room smelt then just the same as it does here."

"You are quite right, madam," said Dr. Hawkes, laughing. "It gets part of its name from its bad odor; but it is not made out of smoke. Asa is the gum of a tree that grows here. It has a very offensive odor, which gives it the rest of the name, from foeditas, meaning foul, filthy."

The workmen who were operating the burning were nearly naked, begrimed by the sooty smoke, and looked like so many imps. They were stirring up the fires with long iron pokers, and throwing vessels of oil upon them. The boat passed beyond the fumes of the pyres, and came up to the ghat, at the request of Lord Tremlyn. A multitude of hideous-looking cripples, humpbacks, and beggars made an onslaught on the steamer; and the boys and gentlemen pelted them with coppers, with which they had been forewarned to supply themselves. It was fun to them, and the mendicants enjoyed it quite as much.

"There is a procession of pilgrims just arrived," said Captain Carlisle, pointing to the high ground beyond the ghat. "They are coming here all the time. The Hindus under the umbrellas are Brahmins, who collect the fees for bathing from the steps; and they sell certificates of purification, indulgences, and amulets."

The boat continued on her course, and they did not wait to see the bathing, though the heads of the swimmers were soon in view. A staircase is reserved for women, who are watched over by the elders of their sex. But they could be seen in the distance, frolicking in the water; and they were so hilarious that their shouts could be heard on board of the Sylph, as the boat was called.

The steamer next came to a long row of palaces on the high ground, whose fronts were profusely ornamented with staircases that exceeded in extent and beauty anything they had before seen. Every rajah has a residence here, not permanent, but where he comes to celebrate the religious festivals. The king of Nagpore has the finest one, with one hundred stairs of white sandstone reaching down to the water.

"Now we come to a building worth looking at," said Sir Modava, as they passed beyond the assemblage of palaces. "This is the mosque of Aurungzeb. Those two lofty minarets are one hundred and forty-seven feet high. They are very slender, and look like a couple of needles; but, though they are only eight and a quarter feet in diameter on the ground, they have spiral staircases reaching to the top. If you wish to land and go to the cupola you can do so."

"I pray thee have me excused," interposed Uncle Moses; and Dr. Hawkes said "Me too!" And no one cared to ascend to such a height.

"This mosque was built by the Emperor Aurungzeb, on the site of a Hindu temple of Siva, which he caused to be pulled down, to the scandal of the worshippers of that deity, for it marked the spot where Vishnu himself first appeared to man. A flight of one hundred stairs leads to the mosque, which the Hindus formerly ascended on their knees when they went to the worship of Vishnu. But we have gone as far in this direction as we need go."

The Sylph came about, and went back up the river, landing above the funeral pyres. From the ghat, they walked into one of the crowded streets. They were conducted by Sir Modava to a square, which was thronged with natives. In the middle of it was a small round temple, the spire of which was overlaid with plates of gold. At the present day this is the holy of holies of the Hindus. Its principal object of adoration is a plain stone post, which is believed to form a part of the very body of the deity, Siva in this instance.

The narrow streets, through which the party made their way with difficulty were very clean. They were thronged with pilgrims from all parts of India, dressed in their best garments, loaded with gold and silver ornaments. The men were carrying great brass trays, piled up with flowers, as offerings for the various deities. The little stalls, which were the stores, made the thoroughfares look like bazaars. They passed no end of temples; and all of them were small, though they were very pretty, what there were of them.

Emerging from these narrow streets, the company came to a section where the avenues were broad, with handsome houses built upon them. This portion was practicable for carriages, and half a dozen culeches were drummed together after some delay; and the ladies were glad to be seated again, for they had had a long and tiresome walk through the narrow and crowded streets. Sir Modava directed the drivers, and when he said Dourga Khound no one knew what he was to see next. The word means the Fountain of Dourga; and when they came to it they agreed that it was one of the most beautiful buildings in Benares, though it was painted all over with red, which made it look rather fantastic.

Sir Modava said nothing about the use of the building, and led the way into the enclosure. The moment they entered the grounds they realized that the Hindu gentleman had worked a surprise upon them; for the yard was filled with monkeys, and the walls were covered with them. The chattering creatures immediately surrounded them, holding out their paws for something. Sir Modava gave the most dignified one a rupee, and Lord Tremlyn made a similar gift to another.

"They can't eat silver," suggested Morris.

"The money is for the Brahmin who has charge here. You see they have gone to give it to him," replied Sir Modava, as he opened a large paper package he had bought at a store, and proceeded to distribute its contents, consisting of nuts and parched corn, to the members of the monkey community.

For half an hour they fed the animals, which were very tame, and made friends with them. The live boys were more pleased with this occupation than in looking at temples and mosques. They all visited the sanctuary of the temple, which was said to date back a thousand years. The party greatly enjoyed the ride back to Secrole, which is the English town of Benares. After dinner Sir Modava told them about the Feast of Ganesa.

"He is one of the most popular deities of India," said the Hindu gentleman. "He is the embodiment of wisdom, prudence, and commerce; his presence wards off all perils. You will find him over the door of places of business; and contracts open with an invocation to Ganesa, sometimes given by a picture of the god. He was the son of Siva and Parvati. His picture is that of a short, fat man, with four arms and an elephant's head.

"Though he was Siva's son, the father was jealous of him, and struck off his head. Siva was sorry for what he had done, and wanted to bring Ganesa back to life; but his head was gone."

"Couldn't he put a head on him?" asked Scott very seriously; and the other boys laughed.

"That was just what he did," replied Sir Modava, wondering what the boys and some of the others were laughing at. "Siva selected a young elephant, cut off his head, and affixed it to his son's shoulders; and that is how he happens to have such a head. This head sometimes takes the place of the whole figure on contracts. His festival is celebrated the last of April, with the greatest magnificence. Effigies of the god are made of terra-cotta, painted and gilded, and borne by processions through the streets. Priests and musicians surround the idol; and young girls, widowed before they are wives, dancing and waving their scarfs in solemn cadence, lead the way.

"When the processions reach the river, they embark in fairy-like boats propelled by sails or oars, forming a grand aquatic spectacle. At sunset the idols are thrown into the river, and the festival terminates with a grand frolic on shore, with fireworks, in which many Europeans take part; and the river is thronged with boats decorated with many-colored lanterns."

The party spent two days more at Benares, and visited temples, mosques, and many places of interest. They were visited by British civil and military officers, who were extremely kind to them, and offered them every facility for seeing the city. After dinner on the last day, Captain Ringgold asked Lord Tremlyn to tell them something about Patna; and he evidently did so with a purpose.

"Patna is the fifteenth city in India in population, one hundred and forty miles from Benares," replied the viscount. "It extends nine miles along the Ganges, and an average of two back from it. The streets are narrow and crooked. The houses are mostly of mean appearance, and there are but very few buildings there of any importance. You laid out your list of cities to be visited yourself, Captain, and generally very judiciously; but if I had made it out I should have omitted Patna. It has a population of about one hundred and sixty-five thousand."

"I asked the question with a view to omit it from the list if there are no sights of importance, and, after what you have said, I shall do so; and tomorrow we will take the train for Calcutta," added the captain.

This decision pleased the party, and at six the next morning the special started with them for the greatest city of India.



CHAPTER XXXIV

ALL OVER THE CITY OF CALCUTTA

"I shall be glad to be on board of the Guardian-Mother again," said Scott, after the four live boys had taken a place by themselves in the conference carriage. "I have seen enough of India."

"But you have not seen one-half of India," replied Louis.

"I read a story in an old schoolbook Uncle Moses had used when he didn't weigh as much as I do now, which was called 'The Half is Better than the Whole;' and it proved the proposition with which it started out. That is just what is the matter now."

"But you have been seeing new things all the time, and learning something," added Louis.

"That's very true; but we have seen all the big mosques and things, and enough is as good as a feast," suggested Scott. "I suppose if we stayed here a couple of years more we should not see the whole of the country. We have got a specimen brick of the principal cities; and a dozen specimens of the same thing don't amount to much."

"But you haven't seen Calcutta yet, and that is the biggest toad in the puddle," said Felix. "The ship will be there, and if you are homesick you can go on board of her."

But the call for attention from Captain Ringgold interrupted the conversation, and Sir Modava had seated himself in front of the company to give one of his "talks."

"Our route will be along the Ganges till we come to Luckieserai Junction, where the loop-line falls into the main line," the Hindu gentleman began.

"Is it much of a fall, sir?" asked Felix.

"I don't understand you, Mr. McGavonty," replied the speaker blankly.

"The expression 'falls into the main line' is somewhat different from what we use at home; but the young man ought to have understood you," interposed the commander.

"What would you have said, Captain?"

"The loop-line we call a branch, and we say connects with instead of falls into," replied the captain. "But your meaning was plain enough, and our boys must fall into the methods of expression used here."

"Though you have seen the Ganges several times, not much has been said about it; and I will tell you a little more concerning it before we leave, not to see it again. It rises in Gahrwal, one of the Hill states, north-east of Delhi. It has its source in an ice-cave nearly fourteen thousand feet above the level of the sea. It is not called the Ganges till it has received the flow of two other rivers, a hundred and fifty miles or more from its lofty source. Just below Allahabad it takes in the Jumna, itself a mighty stream.

"As you have learned, it is the holy river of the Hindus; and it deserves their homage, for, aside from the religious character they give to it, three hundred thousand square miles are drained and fertilized by the Ganges and its tributaries. Of its sanctity, that it washes away sin, and that death in its waters or on its shores is the passport to eternal bliss, you have learned. But it renders a more immediate and practical service to the people; for it is navigable for small craft from the point where it enters the lowlands, seventy or eighty miles north of Delhi.

"The river is 1,509 miles long. Though it rises and falls at different seasons, it never fails, even in the hottest summer; and its inundations render, to some extent, the benefit which the Nile does to the soil of Egypt. Like the Mississippi, in your country, it has sometimes changed its course, as proved by the ruins of cities that were once on its banks.

"Now you have a view of the Ganges for quite a distance, and can see the kinds of boats that navigate it. It is one of the most frequented waterways in the world, though the building of railways and canals has somewhat diminished the amount of freight borne on its tide. About L6,000,000 is needed to complete the Ganges canal, which will reach all the cities through which you have passed. There is a very complicated mythology connected with the river, which it would take me all day to relate, and therefore I will not meddle with it."

For a couple of hours the passengers watched the boats and steamers on the river, and the scenes on the other side. While they were thus employed, Lord Tremlyn gave to each person a map of Calcutta, intimating that he should soon tell them something about the city; and they all began to study it, so as to form some idea of the place they were next to visit. Of course they could make out but little from the vast maze of streets, but some of them obtained a very good idea of the situation of the city and many of its important buildings.

"People coming from England or America generally arrive at Calcutta or Bombay, the larger portion at the former. From the sea the metropolis of India is reached by the Hoogly River, the most western outlet of the Ganges," his lordship began. "It is sometimes spelled Hugli. Under this name, the stream is known sixty-four miles above Calcutta and seventeen below. Vessels drawing twenty-six feet of water come up to the city; though the stream, like the Mississippi, is liable to be silted up."

"I see that some of you look at me as though I had used a strange word. Silt is the deposit of mud, sand, or earth of any kind carried up and down streams by the tide or other current. But the river engineers here are constantly removing it; the course is kept open, and the Hoogly pilots are very skilful. The river has also a bore, though not a great bore, like some people I know.

"We know the book-agent better than this one," said Scott.

"Some of our rivers in England have bores, though not book-agents; so have the Seine, the Amazon, and others with broad estuaries. High tides drive a vast body of water into the wide mouth; and, as the stream is not large enough to take it in, it piles it up into a ridge, which rolls up the river. It forms a wall of water in the Hoogly seven feet high, which is sometimes dangerous to small craft. Enough of the Hoogly.

"Calcutta, by the last census, 1891, had a population of 861,764; but it is not so large as New York, Philadelphia, or Chicago; and London is the only larger city in the United Kingdom. It became a town in 1686. After it had attained considerable importance, in 1756, it was attacked by the Nawab of Bengal, the king or rajah; and after a siege of two days the place yielded. The tragedy of the 'Black Hole' followed."

"I have heard of that, but I don't know what it means," said Mrs. Belgrave.

"You observe the large open enclosure at the right of your map of the city, the esplanade. Within it is Fort William, which has existed nearly two hundred years. It had a military prison, which has since been called the 'Black Hole.' The nawab caused one hundred and forty-six prisoners, all he had taken, to be shut up in a room only eighteen feet square, with only two small windows, both of them obstructed by a veranda. This was but a little more than two square feet on the floor for each person, so that they could not stand up without crowding each other. They spent the night there, pressing together, the heat terrible, enduring the pangs of suffocation. In the morning all were dead but twenty-three.

"The nawab held the fort for seven months, when it was recaptured by Lord Clive. Calcutta extends about five miles on the bank of the river, being about two in breadth. I shall not follow out its history, for you will hear enough of that as you visit the various localities."

"I used to think Calicut and Calcutta were the same city," said Louis.

"Not at all, though the names of the two may have been derived from the same source. The name of the great city is from Kali, a Hindu goddess of whom you heard in Bombay, and cuttah, a temple; and doubtless there was such a building here. Calicut is on the south-west coast of India, and was a very rich and populous city when it was visited by Vasco da Gama, who was the first to double the Cape of Good Hope, in 1498. The cotton cloth, calico, generally called print, gets its name from this city."

Dinner was brought into the carriages; and the tourists slept in the afternoon, arriving at Calcutta in the evening. The Great Eastern, one of the two largest hotels in the city, was prepared to receive them. Here, as in Bombay and elsewhere, every guest is attended by his own servant. Half a dozen of them had been retained, but when the omnibuses set them down at the hotel a hundred more could have been readily procured.