72 LAHORE. 



cradle of that new community of " soldier-priests," and 

 the great feature of the city is the " Golden Temple," 

 in the sacred pool or reservoir called " Immortality," 

 to which the faithful crowd morning and evening to 

 hear the holy text chanted, during which performance 

 they throw money and grain upon the circular plat- 

 form, in the centre of which the priest squats with liis 

 *' Grunth." Runjeet Singh, the last native ruler of the 

 Punjab, built this temple, in the shape of an irregular 

 square, with gateways, domes, and galleries ; its ex- 

 terior laid over with thin plates of gold, and its interior 

 painted in Oriental fashion. The whole forms a pretty 

 object, and very original. There is little else to interest 

 one in this town, which is surrounded by a high wall ; 

 its streets and houses do not difier from those I have 

 described elsewhere, but the city is considered to be 

 wealthy, from its large trade with Cashmere and 

 Thibet ; indeed, it is the market, pa7' excellence, for 

 shawls and silks. 



Barely thirty miles due west from Amritzar, is 

 Lahore, the capital of the Punjab, a large military 

 station. There is an old palace, also the magnificent 

 mausoleum of Jehangeer, a couple of miles from the 

 town, and the large white marble tomb of Runjeet 

 Singh ; also that of Rani Chunda, one of his widows, a 



