182 
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS. 
Old Delhi, once stood. In the rainy season, the 
stream is very rapid, and the water rises so high that 
the bridge is occasionally submerged. 
This structure is of the Afghan taste, and must 
therefore have stood several centuries, though it does 
not bear any perceptible marks of dilapidation or de- 
cay. The architecture in its details is considerably 
ornamented, but the whole mass presents an elegant 
simplicity which cannot fail to attract the attention 
of a discriminating eye. Its symmetry is as remark- 
able as its decorations are chaste, and nothing can be 
more appropriate than the various accessories by which 
it is enriched. There are seven arches, pointed after 
the Gothic form, and defined by a strip of beautiful 
masonry, which terminates on either side upon a 
square buttress, surmounted by a plain column that ex- 
tends to the balustrade of the bridge. These columns 
separate the arches and support the balustrade, which 
consists of a handsome stone rail, with a plain coping 
of stone to correspond with the cornice, immediately 
above the arches. From the centre shafts on each 
side of the structure rise two extremely elegant penta- 
gonal pillars, about five feet high, standing upon a 
sculptured base, representing the capsule of the lotos or 
Indian water-lily, and ending in a small dome. 
On the left of the picture is a splendid mausoleum, 
covering the ashes of some Afghan chieftain, yet differ- 
ing little except in the superior richness of its decora- 
tions from the numerous specimens of those sepulchral 
remains with which the plains of Old Delhi abound. 
It is enclosed by a wall of exquisite masonry, 
on the top of which lies a broad terrace, termi- 
