Book L 



Travels in India. 



and till the return of the King he never ftirrM out of the Gate, where hé Iccltr'd, 

 neither by night nor day. At fuch a time as that it was, that I was pérniittèd tô 

 fee the Palace of Agra. The King being departed for GehanavsJ, whither all the 

 ' Court followed him, together with the Women, the Government of the Palace 

 was given to one that was a great Friend to the Hollanders 1 , and indeed to all the 

 Franguis. Mcnhcir Velap,t 3 chief of the Holland-Factory at Agra, fo foon as the 

 King was departed, went to vifit the Lord, and to prefent him according to 

 cuiroin. The Prefent was worth about 6000 Crowns, and confuted in Spices, 

 Cabinets of fapan, and fine Holland-Cloath. He defir'd me to go along with 

 him when he went to Compliment the Goverrtour. But the Lord being offended 

 that he had put himfelf to fo much charge, fore'd him to carry the Prefent back 

 again, taking only one fapan-Cdne, of fix that were in the Prefent, telling him he 

 would have no more, out of the kindnels which he had for the Franfotfc. Nay, 

 he would not fo much as take the Gold-head and Ferula, but caus'd them to be 

 taken off. The Complements being over, the Governor ask'd Menhcir Vêlant, 

 wherein he might ferve him : whereupon lie defiring the favour, that fince the 

 Court was gone, he might fee the infide of the Palace, the Governor granted his 

 requeft, and order'd fix men to attend him. 



The firft Gate where the Governor of the Palace lies, is a long blind Arch, 

 which leads you into a large Court all environ'd with Porticos 5 like our P(dkjùa 

 in Covent-Garden. The Gallery in front is larger and higher than any of the reft, 

 fttftain'd by three ranks of Pillars, and under thofè Galleries on the. other fide of 

 the Court which are narrower and lower, are little Chambers for the Souldiers 

 of the Guard. In the midft of the large Gallery, is a Nich in the Wall, into 

 which the King defcends out of his Haram by a private pair of Stairs, and 

 when he is in, he feems to be in a kind of a Tomb. He has no Guards with him 

 then, for he has no reafon to be afraid of any thing ; there being no way to' 

 come at him. In the heat of the day he keeps himfelf there only with one 

 Eunuch, but more often with one of his Children, to fan him. The Great Lords 

 of the Court fray below in the Gallery under the Nich all the while. 



At the farther end of this Court is another Gate that leads into a fécond 

 Court encompaft with Galleries, underneath which, are little Chambers for fome 

 Officers of the Palace. The fécond Court carries you into a third, which is the 

 King's Quarter. Cha-jehan had refolv'd to cover with Silver all the Arch of a 

 Gallery upon the right-hand. And a French- man, .Austin de Bordeaux by name/ 

 was to have done the work : but the King not finding any one in his whole King- 

 dom fo capable as the Frcnch-mix\ was to treat with the Portugais at Goa -about 

 fome important affair he had at that time ; the defign was laid alide : For they 

 being afraid of Atifiwk Parts, poifbn'd him upon his return to Cochin. This Gal- 

 lery is painted with branch'd-work of Gold and Azure, and the lower-part is 

 hung with Tapeftry. There are feveral doors under the Gallery that lead into 

 little fquare-Chambers $ of which we faw two or three open'd, and they told us 

 all the reft were fuch. The other three fides of the Court lie all open, there be- 

 ing nothing but a fingle Wall, no higher than for a man to lean over. On the 

 fide that looks toward the River there is a Divan, or a kind of out-jutting Bal- 

 cone, where the King fits to fée his Brigantines., or to behold his Elephants fight. 

 Before the Divan is a Gallery, that ferves for a Portico j which Cba-jehan had a 

 defign to have adorn'd all over with a kind of Lattice-work of Emraulds and Ru- 

 bies that fhould have reprefented to the life Grapes wherfilthey are green,and when 

 they begin to grow red. But this defign which made fuch a noife in the World, 

 and requir'd more Riches, than all the World could afford to perfect," remains 

 unfinifh'd ; there being only three Stocks of a Vine in Gold, with their leaves, as 

 the reft ought to have been ; and enamel'd in their natural' colours, with Em- 

 ralds, Rubies and Granates wrought into the faflvion of Grapes. In the middle 

 of the Court ftands a great Fat to bath in, 40 foot in Diameter, cut out of one 

 entire grey-ftone, with fteps wrought out of the fame ftone within and with- 

 out. 



As for the Monuments which are in and about Agra, they are very fair ones $* 

 for there is fcarce an Eunuch belonging to the King's Haram, that is not very 

 ambitious of leaving a fair Monument behind him. Indeed, when they have 



* H heap'd 



