so, as he is an extremely
active man, and scarcely thirty-four years of age.

Although he was on the eve of his departure for Lucknau, he was,
nevertheless, kind enough to become my Mentor.

We commenced with the great imperial town of Delhi; the town to
which formerly the eyes not only of all India, but almost of all
Asia, were directed. It was in its time to India what Athens was to
Greece, and Rome to Europe. It also shares their fate--of all its
greatness only the name remains.

The present Delhi is now called New Delhi, although it is already
two hundred years old; it is a continuation of the old towns, of
which there are said to have been seven, each of which were called
Delhi. As often as the palaces, fortifications, mosques, etc.,
became dilapidated, they were left to fall into ruins, and new ones
were built near the old ones. In this way, ruins upon ruins
accumulated, which are said to have occupied a space more than six
miles in breadth, and eighteen in length. If a great part of them
were not already covered with a thin layer of earth, these ruins
would certainly be the most extensive in the world.

New Delhi lies upon the Jumna; it contains, according to Bruckner, a
population of 500,000, {183} but I was informed that there was
really only 100,000, among which are 100 Europeans. The streets are
broader and finer than any I had yet seen in any Indian town. The
principal street, Tchandni-Tschank, would do honour to an European
city: it is nearly three-quarters of a mile long, and about a
hundred feet broad; a narrow canal, scant of water and half filled
with rubbish, runs through its entire length. The houses in this
street are not remarkable either for magnitude or splendour; they
are at most one story high, and are furnished below with miserable
porches or arcades, under which worthless goods are exposed for
sale. I saw nothing of the costly shops, the numerous precious
stones glittering in the evening with the lamps and lights, of which
many travellers speak. The pretty houses and the rich shops must be
sought for in the bye streets near the bazaar. The manufactures
which I saw, consisted of gold and silver work, gold tissues and
shawls. The natives execute the gold and silver wares so tastefully
and artistically, that finer cannot be found even in Paris. The
tissues woven in gold, the gold and silk embroideries and Cashmere
shawls, are of the highest degree of perfection. The finest
C