128 
the lens immediately ; but the mischief was done. The 
father of monkeys grinned and made horrible faces, then 
dropped to the ground and disappeared. Presently after- 
wards, while looking about for another view, a whole tribe of 
monkeys came and sat close to the camera, huddled together 
like a swarm of bees. The light coming through the 
branches of trees was very feeble, and having only a long- 
focus lens, it was useless to attempt taking their portraits. 
The last day I spent in Gaur was one of downright hard 
work. The ruins were a long distance apart, and the tent 
had to be pitched and taken down five times. As it was 
getting dusk we passed through a magnificent gateway in the 
old wall. I was quite tired out and half asleep ; but the 
mahout, or elephant driver, called my attention to it, where- 
upon I woke up and told my servant to pitch the tent for the 
fifth time. While he was doing so I looked out for the best 
point of view. There was no difficulty in finding it. The 
difficulty consisted in the clouds of dust raised by a long line 
of pilgrims incessantly passing. A troop of monkeys chattered 
in the branches overhead. For the monkeys there was no 
remedy; for the pilgrims there was. Coming out of the 
tent I was surprised to find a perfectly clear atmosphere. At 
a little distance the elephants were standing right across the 
narrow road, and behind them at least 200 pilgrims, partly 
held in awe by the elephants and partly by a berkendars , 
which, I think, means a “ fighting man,” who had accom- 
panied me. 
After leaving Gaur I went by train to Benares. Stayed 
three days, and took a few negatives. There are some very 
very fine mosques in Benares, but so built round as to 
prevent photographing with ordinary lenses. A globe lens 
would be of immense service in such places, and it is sur- 
prising that they are not in more general use. 
The railway is now open from Calcutta to Delhi ; but at 
the beginning of last year there were two breaks in the 
journey from Benares to Allahabad, and from Agra to Delhi. 
