366 
IN AFRICA 
constructed by a jeweler. It was built by Shah Je- 
han as a memorial to his wife and for centuries it 
has stood as a token of his great love for her. 
When I visited it this year I was surprised to find 
that Lord Curzon had placed within the great mar¬ 
ble dome a hanging lamp as a memorial to his own 
wife. It seemed like a shocking piece of presump¬ 
tion—much as if the president of France should 
hang a memorial to one of his own family over the 
sarcophagus of Napoleon, or a president of the 
XJnited States should do the same at Washington’s 
tomb at Mount Vernon. It seemed like an inex¬ 
pensive way of diverting the most beautiful struc¬ 
ture of the world to personal uses. 
And yet later I was compelled to modify this 
opinion when I saw how much excellent work Lord 
Curzon did toward restoring the old palaces of 
Agra and preserving them for future generations. 
As a reward for this work, perhaps, there may have 
been some justification in placing a memorial lamp 
in the dome of the Taj, especially as the lamp is 
exquisite in workmanship and adds rather than de¬ 
tracts from the stately beauty of the interior. But 
just the same the first verdict of the spectator is 
that Lord Curzon displayed a colossal egotism in 
so doing. 
The tourist’s beaten track in India was as 
thronged with American sightseers as the chateau 
country in France. Lucknow was crowded, Ben¬ 
ares was crowded, Calcutta was crowded, and the 
trains that ran in all directions were crowded. A 
