India revisited . sty-red stains upon it, due, no doubt,to some ferreous oxide in the marble. The Khadim,however, tells you that the seat of the Emperor brokespontaneously and in indignation when the Jat usurperfirst sate there; and that the gouts of blood appearedon it because of his tyranny. Close at hand, ap-proached by hidden passages, is the Muchchi Bhawan,a quadrangle of marble kiosks and pavilions, thecentral hollow of which was once filled with waterand stocked with gold and silver fish; and there is apretty open turret, with satin-white seats and piercedwindows, from which the lovely
India revisited . sty-red stains upon it, due, no doubt,to some ferreous oxide in the marble. The Khadim,however, tells you that the seat of the Emperor brokespontaneously and in indignation when the Jat usurperfirst sate there; and that the gouts of blood appearedon it because of his tyranny. Close at hand, ap-proached by hidden passages, is the Muchchi Bhawan,a quadrangle of marble kiosks and pavilions, thecentral hollow of which was once filled with waterand stocked with gold and silver fish; and there is apretty open turret, with satin-white seats and piercedwindows, from which the lovely ladies of the Courtwere wont to angle. Yet again you wander, by a corridor of marble andsome shining steps, by once-secret bowers of the zenanaand bath-rooms, cool in the hottest noon, to a pair ofbrazen gates, spoil brought by Akbar from Chittore;and these admit the delighted visitor to a small, secludedmosque, dedicated to the use of those same lovely queensand odalisques of the Great Mogul for their daily devo-. AGBA AND THE TAJ. 205 tions. Here is the Nagina, or Gem —all of whitemarble, and delicately beautiful enough for the knees ofthe sweetest and stateliest of votaries. But it is a seed-pearl only to the Great Pearl adjoining, the famousMoti Musjid, the edifice which is a fair and perfectsister to Shah Jehans other consummate work, theTaj Mahal. A heavy door of carved timber is thrustopen by the Khadim, and you stand in a Muslimshrine, where only two colours are needed by theartist who would endeavour to depict it—the blue ofthe enroofing sky and the silvery white of the sur-rounding alabaster. All is sapphire and snow; asanctuary without any ornament except its ownsupreme and spotless beauty of surface and milky cupolas crown the holy place of prayer,approached by milk-white steps from the white en-closure, in the middle of which opens a marble tank,within the waters whereof the fifty-eight white pillarsof the cloister glass their delicate twelve-sid
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