THE LATE MUTINY. 59 



and surmounted by three domes; an open gallery running- 

 along the entire front, consisting of a triple row of 

 most exquisitely proportioned Moorish arches. Every 

 part of the edifice is of pure white marble, like that 

 of the Taj, but instead of incrustations in coloured 

 stone, the marble here is delicately carved into elegant 

 patterns and arabesques without the addition of colom-, 

 and the effect is exceedingly beautiful. 



I must now retrace my steps, and advance by the 

 drawbridge, spanning a deep moat, which gives ad- 

 mittance to the Fort, with its hiii-h embrasured walls and 

 handsome gateways. It was l:)uilt by the brave Akbar, 

 the gi^andfather of Shah Jehan, about three hundred 

 years ago, and during the Mutiny became the refuge 

 of nearly 6,000 Europeans, who flocked to it from all 

 parts. The tales I heard here as to the origin of that 

 disastrous Mutiny were strange and contradictory, 

 varying in degi'ee between open insurrection and a 

 mere cartridge feud ; the latter, we now know, was 

 the approximate cause, the match that fired the train ; 

 but that the principal conspirators aimed much higher 

 is equally beyond a doubt. " The origin of the gi'eat 

 Mutiny," says Sir Kichard Temple (" Men and Events 

 of my Time in India "), in quoting Sir John Lawrence, 

 his chiefs opinion, " was that the Sepoys had become 

 too numerous and powerful in proportion to the 



