FUTTEHPORE SIKREE. 65 



S£Lrae finale, only that Akbar, instead of the people, is 

 learning a lesson from his master in subtlety. 



With this anecdote I will take leave of Agra, and 

 pay a short visit to Secundra, at a distance of six or 

 eight miles, where, in the midst of a neglected garden, 

 rises to the height of a hundred feet the pyramidical 

 tomb of Akbar, consisting of five terraces. Around each 

 runs an arched gallery, resting on slender pillars, and 

 surmounted by rows of cupolas. The material is red 

 sandstone, except the upper story, which is of white 

 marble, and the ornamentation consists of mosaics 

 and carvings, as elsewhere. The road between this 

 mausoleum and Agra is studded with tombs and ruins 

 of palaces. 



Within twenty-two miles of Agra, there is another 

 very interesting place, namely, Futtehpore Sikree, once 

 the country residence of Akbar, now one mass of ruins 

 and neglect, although some of the princely buildings are 

 still fairly intact, telling the same story of a luxurious 

 age long gone by. The splendour of Beer-Bul's 

 palace, and that of the mosque and tomb of Shekh 

 Selim, is almost greater than that of anything yet 

 described ; but a short sketch of the latter will suffice 

 to give some idea. This tomb, covered by a canoj^y 

 six feet high, is made of mother-of-pearl, the floor of 



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