ed when he built his summer
residence upon this eminence.

We came expecting to find India hot, but we have found the northern part
of India very cool. So it was reviving and refreshing to take the drive
from Jaipur to Amber in an automobile, over a noble roadway with
slightly ascending grade and skirting an originally splendid palace,
once in the center of an island, but now in the bed of a dried-up lake.
When we left the motor-car at the final lofty hill, the deserted city of
Amber towered above us. How should we reach that threatening height?
Three gorgeously caparisoned elephants solicited our patronage for the
ascent. But before making that ascent, there was another ascent to make.
We had to ascend the elephants. Ladders were brought to our assistance,
and up the ladders we climbed to the howdah, or square seat on the top
of the bulky beasts. Each elephant had to carry two passengers. I, on
one side of the animal that bore me, had my weight balanced by that of
my courier, who rode on the other side. Each of us was compelled to let
his legs dangle over the edge of the howdah. All went well until the
elephant came to the narrow part of the road. There he evinced a vicious
propensity to plant his feet close to the edge of the precipice. There
was indeed a railing beneath me, but, clinging as I was somewhat
convulsively to my slippery seat, the railing was invisible. So I seemed
to myself at times to be hanging over the abyss. If I slipped from my
seat, I might fall four hundred feet. It was not a pleasing situation.
But the elephant knew his business. He trod the path in perfect
confidence. And so, in royal state, though in mind tremendously afloat,
we made the long and steep climb, until we reached the palace of the
king. The maharaja, however, was not at home that day to receive us. He
is a Hindu devotee, and at the time of our visit he was making a
pilgrimage to Benares, the sacred city. The first thing we saw, when we
entered the court of his excellency, was the spot where every morning a
bullock or a goat is sacrificed as an offering to his heathen god.

Still, "every prospect pleases." The views of mountain and plain from
this elevation among the hills are so beautiful that one can only admire
the taste of the prince who made this his chosen dwelling-place. And the
palace itself is a fascinating study in art and architecture. Long
corridors are turned into cloisters arched and shaded from the sun.
Tanks of wate