FORT OF AGRA. 
131 
with the same malady, that I might sit all day, 
repeating my tale to him; for two pieces of wood 
burn together with a brighter flame : while thy mind 
is not affected like mine, the relation of my story 
seems to be only an idle tale.” In bespeaking the 
interest of the reader, I do not exactly wish with 
Sadi, that he may become so absorbed in my effu- 
sion as inadvertently to do himself an injury , but I 
am certainly desirous he should be so far sensible of 
the beauty and grandeur of the scenes described as 
will enable him to enter with full relish into the 
stories or legends attached to them. 
lu Lucian, the immortal Homer is made to avow 
that he commenced his book with the word Mwiv, 
simply because it was the most convenient word which 
presented itself to him ; and he is represented as 
laughing to scorn the penetration of the critic, who 
professed to have discovered in that single word an 
epitome of the whole poem. I certainly am under 
no apprehension lest any critic, however profound, 
should pretend to read the events of the conclusion in 
the pages which open my description of Agra ; but 
while I plead guilty of having seized and committed 
to paper whatever offered itself with the best promise 
of accommodation, I trust that these random words 
will be found not altogether irrelevant. 
The Moti Musjid, or Pearl Mosque, is the most 
beautiful and attractive building within the fort of 
Agra, While the British Government have not he- 
