'I hardly know
anywhere', he adds, 'of a building so perfectly pure and elegant.'
(_Ind. and E. Arch._, ed. 1910, vol. ii, p. 317. See also _H.F.A._,
p. 412, fig. 242.)
24. I would, however, here enter my humble protest against the
quadrille and tiffin [_scil._ lunch] parties, which are sometimes
given to the European ladies and gentlemen of the station at this
imperial tomb; drinking and dancing are, no doubt, very good things
in their season, even in a hot climate, but they are sadly out of
place in a sepulchre, and never fail to shock the good feelings of
sober-minded people when given there. Good church music gives us
great pleasure, without exciting us to dancing or drinking; the Taj
does the same, at least to the sober-minded. [W. H. S.] The
regulations now in force prevent any unseemly proceedings. The
gardens at the Taj, of Itimad-ud-daula's tomb, of Akbar's mausoleum
at Sikandara, and the Ram Bagh, are kept up by means of income
derived from crown lands, aided by liberal grants from Government.
25. The anthor's curiously meagre description of the magnificent
mausoleum of Akbar is, in the original edition, supplemented by
coloured plates, prepared apparently from drawings by Indian artists.
Pages:
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721