LAHORE 
59 
was the dignified figure of the Sheik, who is the official guide, and 
the way in which he proudly rolled off the sonorous Persian of the 
inscriptions. In the North-West to know Persian is pretty much 
what it is to know Sanscrit further East, or to know Greek in Europe. 
The other thing was to see the workmen of the British Raj 
repairing a Moslem tomb, and using for the purpose red sand-stone 
from the distant and far-famed quarries of Euttipur Sikri. 
In the gardens of the mausoleum I saw at dusk a number of 
Hawk-moths at the yellow tubular flowers of a small tree ; probably 
a species of Allamanda , but possibly Tecoma stans, Juss. My short- 
handled net only allowed me to catch two, which proved to be 
beautiful specimens of Nejphele hesjpera , and Choerocampa celerio, 
Linn. 
In writing to Dr. Dixey from Lahore, I made the suggestive 
remark: “ It is evident that being late in the autumn many of the 
butterflies are old and much worn. Curiously enough they are more 
often tattered and torn than actually rubbed.” It is difficult to 
apportion rightly the breaking of the wings between the work of 
thorns and insectivorous foes. Certainly Indian butterflies fly into 
and through bushes in a way that is not seen at home. 
To my mind the greatest glory, of the many glories of Lahore, is 
the seventeenth century Musjid of Wazir Khan, which is covered 
with Nakashi work, a mosaic of shaped pieces of glazed pottery, a 
sort of out-door marqueterie. The patterns, floral and geometrical, 
are excellent, and on a scale exactly suited to their positions, a 
thing not very often seen in architectural ornament; the colour¬ 
ing is a harmonious blending of blue and yellow with green and 
purple, constituting the most successful out-door decoration for a 
hot climate that I have come across; seen against a bright blue sky 
it is simply perfect. A less beautiful thing in the city is the sheep, 
with a tail as fat as a leg of mutton. The printed cottons, which in 
general effect so much resemble those of Northern Italy, are made 
in Lahore. 
In this city we realized how little effect a century of our occupa¬ 
tion has had upon the changeless East. We have introduced kerosene 
oil and aniline dyes— mild tout! 
In the Ajaib Ghar, or Wonder House of Lahore, Anglice Museum, 
well known to readers of “Kim,” is a small collection of insects. 
This was useful to me, but the destruction wrought by Dermestes, 
etc., both among the insects and the textile fabrics of the Industrial 
Collection, is most sad. I trust Mr. Kipling will see to it. 
