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gardens, and mausoleums, which once adorned the country, now 

 add a striking and melancholy feature to its desolation; these are 

 conspicuous in every village in the campagna of Ahmedabad, and 

 form a striking contrast to the mud cottages and thatched hovels 

 of the Mahrattah peasantry. 



On our arrival at Betwah, or Puttowah, which we were told 

 had once formed apart of the suburbs of Ahmedabad (but was 

 now a detached village five miles from the city walls), we were con- 

 ducted to a large square, containing several mahomedan tombs 

 and grand mausoleums; some were of white marble, others of 

 stone, covered with the finest stucco, white as alabaster, and exqui- 

 sitely polished. The domes were supported by elegant columns, 

 their concaves richly ornamented, and the tessellated marble pave- 

 ment beautifully arranged, vied with those of ancient Rome in the 

 museum at Portici ; the tracery in the windows resembled the 

 Gothic specimens in European cathedrals; and the small cupolas 

 which cover each tomb are of fine marble, curiously inlaid with 

 fruit and flowers, in festoons of ivory, mother-of-pearl, cornelians, 

 onyxes, and precious stones, as neat as in European snuff-boxes. 

 The small tombs in the centre of the building are adorned with 

 palls of gold and silver stuff, strewed with jessamin and mogrees, 

 and hung round with ostriches' eggs and lamps, which are kept 

 continually burning by the fakeers and dervises maintained there 

 for that purpose. 



Near most of the mahomedan cities in Asia are these extensive 

 cemeteries (none being allowed within the walls) containing a num- 

 ber of beautiful temples, sometimes supported by pillars and open 



