146 THE INDIAN ECLIPSE, 1898. 



occupied twenty thousand workmen for seventeen years in the 

 building, and was erected at a cost of three millions sterling, 

 which it is distressing to think was in great measure never 

 paid. This wondrous tomb has been described as "a dream 

 in white marble," and as " designed by Titans and finished by 

 jewellers." All the work that can be seen is of white marble, 

 much of it inlaid with agates, jasper, bloodstone, etc., all in 

 exquisite taste. It is to-day as fresh and spotless as if but 

 an hour completed ; and standing as it does in beautiful 

 gardens, and seen beneath a cloudless Indian sky, it forms 

 a sight never to be forgotten. By moonlight its fairy-like 

 loveliness is yet more enhanced. Within sleep Shah-Jehan 

 and his much-loved empress. Their tombs are marvels of 

 inlaid jewelling, and are surrounded by a screen of exquisite 

 workmanship. Any noise made within the building will awake 

 a thousand echoes in the great dome above, which answer 

 each other in long-drawn cadence and fade away in softest 

 whispers. 



THE JASMINE TOWER, AGRA (p. 127). The Jasmine Tower (in 

 the Fort of Agra) is a structure of white marble. It was the 

 boudoir of the chief Sultana, the home of Shah Jehan's 

 beautiful Arjmand Banu, who now lies buried in the Taj Mahal, 

 seen in the distance across the river. This tower is built of 

 pure white marble, exquisitely pierced and sculptured, and 

 richly inlaid with semi-precious stones. 



THE GHATS, BENARES (p. 30). The photograph was taken at 

 Benares, on the Ganges, the Sacred River of India. It is a 

 view of the Ghats or Quays (literally stairs). From the river 

 the long range of temples and shrines is very fine. There are 

 forty-seven Ghats, most of them with temples or palaces. The 

 photograph shows some of the roofed river boats ; and on the 

 Ghats may be seen the large umbrellas under which squat the 

 Fakirs or Holy Brahmins, who collect money from those who 

 come down to worship or bathe in the Holy River. 



At the time of an eclipse of the sun these Fakirs reap a rich 

 harvest from the millions of pilgrims who j ourney from all parts 

 of India to the Holy City, so that they may be present at 

 Benares and bathe in the Ganges during the eclipse, and emerge 

 from the water cleansed from all their sins. 



One of the Ghats by the river is used by the Hindus for 

 burning their dead, after which their ashes are thrown into the 

 Holy River. Immediately to the right of the trees is the palace 

 of the Rajah of Nagpur ; above it shows the tip of one of the 

 minarets of Aurangzib's Mosque; and to the right, just beyond 

 the Hindu Temple, is the Ram Temple, the favourite shrine of 

 the Marathas. 



