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I was obliged to travel by dak from Benares to Allahabad, 
thence by rail to Cawnpore, and again by dak to Lucknow. 
At the latter place the weather was miserably cold, and the 
wind too high for photography. The Kaiser Bagh reminded 
me of the Palais Royal at Paris. It would make an excellent 
picture in a pantoscopic camera. 
I was much disappointed at not being able to do more at 
Lucknow : once I did set up my camera near the Presidency, 
but a sudden squall of wind upset it, diminishing the size of 
my unfortunate small focussing screen. 
Leaving Lucknow at midnight, I had time to photograph 
the memorial over the well at Cawnpore : it stands at the 
end of a large garden. No natives are allowed to enter 
unless by special permission ; and Europeans driving through 
the garden do so at foot’s pace. 
No words can describe the magnificence of the Taj Mehal, 
at Agra — a mausoleum of white marble, built by the Sultan 
Akbar over the tomb of his wife. The marble is inlaid in the 
most exquisite manner with precious stones, in the form of 
leaves and flowers. In front of the building is an avenue of 
dark cypress trees, and a long line of fountains, at the end of 
which stands the Taj flashing like the sun itself. It would 
be hard to conceive a more difficult subject for a photograph ; 
yet by using a weak developer, the black cypress trees, the 
shining white marble, and the fleecy clouds were all perfectly 
rendered. 
From Agra to Delhi is one hundred and thirty miles by 
dak — a most wearisome journey through sandy plains, dotted 
here and there with low jungle. The Delhi water is full of 
salt ; at least I found it so, though a professional photo- 
grapher living on the spot told me “ it was good enough in 
his hands, and answered perfectly.” I acquiesced humbly, but 
took a pint of distilled water he was kind enough to give me. 
The splendid monument called the Kutub, on the site of 
ancient Delhi, is about eleven miles from the present city. 
The height of the pillar is even now, I believe, 340 feet, and 
