couch.

If a man possesses the sentiment of form and proportion, the Taj will
satisfy him. The stately portal seems to harmonize with the grandeur of
an Eastern queen; and the aerial dome, higher than its breadth, rests
upon its base as if possessing no weight, yet is of solid marble. Heroic
in treatment are the quotations from the Koran framing every doorway and
aperture, wrought in inlay or sculptured in relief--and these modify the
pearly monotony of the marble.

One enters reverently the burial-place of Shah Jahan's queen, whose
cenotaph is of the whitest marble, placed in the precise center of the
building, and surrounded by an octagonal screen of alabaster that is
pierced and interwoven like lace. Every foot of the walls, every column
and panel, is elaborately embellished with flowers, leaves, scrolls, and
sentences, and these are inlaid in jasper, bloodstone, jade, onyx, and
precious stones. Arjamand's tomb blossoms with never-fading Persian
flowers and Arabic sentences extolling her character, and is as
marvelous in workmanship as if produced by Florentine inlayers of the
present time. The sarcophagus was originally inclosed by a fence of
gold, studded with gems; but this was early replaced by the screen of
marble, local history asserts.

The supposition is that one Austin de Bordeaux, a French goldsmith, who
had been summoned to Agra by Shah Jahan to construct the celebrated
Peacock throne, had much to do with the treatment of the Taj's interior.
The building originally possessed two wonderful silver doors, of his
designing, but these were looted by Jat invaders in 1764 and melted
down. It is said that eight years were consumed by the artists intrusted
with the making and beautifying of Arjamand's cenotaph; and further,
that the Koran's every line and every word is reproduced by inlay or
relief carving on the interior and exterior of the Taj.

To the left of Arjamand's tomb is that of her lord and lover, its
location proving that it was placed there obviously from necessity and
as an afterthought. It is a span larger than his consort's stone, and
occupies nearly all the space allowed by the position of the grilled
inclosure--but is a sentimentally fitting intruder upon the general
design.

It is a curious bit of history that Shah Jahan, conscious of triumph as
the author of the Taj, long contemplated constructing a similar shrine
on the opposite bank of the Jumna, wherein his own body was to be
placed. It