onstantinople" is
handsome; not so La Martinere, an attempt at an Italian villa, the
figures on the roof of which look as much out of keeping with the rest of
the edifice as the building itself looks out of place planted in the
midst of paddy-fields; it was erected by General Claude Martine,
originally a French grenadier, and it is now, according to his express
intentions, devoted to educational purposes.

One cannot but be struck by the singular taste of eastern potentates, who
are so much more careful to provide a handsome place for their reception
when dead than they are for their residence while alive. Were I the King
of Oudh I should immediately move into the handsome tomb at present
vacant, and leave directions to be buried in my palace.

A night's journey took us to Cawnpore, one of the largest and most
disagreeable-looking stations in India. Here I resumed my acquaintance
with the great trunk road under more favourable circumstances, and was
not a little pleased to find how rapidly I was approaching Delhi. The
carriage in which I travelled was a small palanquin on wheels, which one
horse dragged along with ease; and as the stages were short, and the road
very good, he was generally put into a hand-gallop at starting, and kept
his pace up for the five or six miles allotted to him.

The great number of carts we passed confirmed me in thinking that this
was the proper line for an experimental railway. The country is here
well cultivated throughout; there is no water-carriage to contend
against, and the present means of conveying goods is lamentably slow and
expensive. The formation of the country affords every facility for the
construction of a railway, being perfectly level throughout; whereas
between Calcutta and Benares, the Rajmahal hills have to be traversed:
besides these many advantages, this line would be attended with a
pecuniary saving to the Government, as the two or three military stations
now on this road might be abolished.

The sights at Delhi are worth a visit, but are too well known to need
description. In the centre of the town stands the Jumma Musjid, the St.
Peter's of Mahomedans; its handsome domes and tapering minarets are built
of red sandstone and white marble, a combination which is common in the
edifices of this city, and which produces a most agreeable effect. From
the summit of one of the minarets an extensive view is obtained.

The large and well-built city, containing 156,00