ble, richly and artistically furnished with
arabesques, reliefs, etc.

Before leaving the fortress, I was led to a deep underground vault--
the former scene of numerous secret executions. How much innocent
blood may have been shed there!

The Jumna Mosque, which the erudite affirm to surpass that of
Soliman's in Constantinople, stands outside the fortress, upon a
high terrace near the river. It is of red sandstone, has the same
wonderful domes, and was built by the Sultan Akbar. In the arches
are to be seen remains of rich paintings in light and dark-blue,
intermixed with gilding. It is to be regretted that this mosque is
in a rather dilapidated condition; but it is hoped, however, that it
will soon be completely restored, as the English government have
already commenced repairing it.

From the mosque we returned again to the town, which is, for the
most part, surrounded by rubbish. The principal street, "Sander,"
is broad and cleanly paved in the middle with square stones, and at
the sides with bricks. At both extremities of this street stand
majestic gateways. The houses of the town (from one to four stories
high) are almost entirely of red sandstone; most of them are small,
but many are surrounded by columns, pillars, and galleries. Several
are distinguished by their handsome porches. The streets are
narrow, crooked, and ugly; the bazaars unimportant. In India, as
well as in the East, the more costly wares must be sought in the
interior of the houses. The population of this town is said to have
amounted formerly to 800,000; it is now scarcely 60,000.

The whole environs are full of ruins. Those who build can procure
the materials at the mere cost of gathering them from the ground.
Many Europeans inhabit half-ruinous buildings, which, at a small
expense, they convert into pretty palaces.

Agra is the principal seat of two missionary societies--a Catholic
and a Protestant. Here, as in Benares, they educate the offspring
of the children they picked up in 1831. A little girl was pointed
out to me that had recently been bought of a poor woman for two
rupees (4s.)

At the head of the Catholic mission is a bishop. The present one,
Mr. Porgi, is the founder of a tastefully-built church. In no
similar establishment did I ever see so much order, or find the
natives so well-behaved as here. On Sundays, after prayers, they
amuse themselves with decorous and lively games; while in the
Protestant establis