sion. As the
afterglow fades, the Taj takes on an air of mystery and aloofness; the
perfect lines melt into one another and the whole structure is blurred
as though it were seen in a dream. Then one bids adieu to the world's
perfect building, thankful that he has been given the opportunity to
enjoy the greatest marvel of architecture, which leaves on the mind the
same impression left by splendid music or the notes of a great singer.
Words are poor to describe things like the Taj, which become our
cherished possessions and may be recalled to cheer hours of despondency
or grief.

DELHI AND ITS ANCIENT MOHAMMEDAN RUINS

Delhi, the ancient Mogul capital of India, is an interesting city, not
only because of its present-day life but because it contains so many
memorials of the Mohammedan conquest of the country. The ancient Moslem
emperors were men who did things. Above all else they were builders, who
constructed tombs, palaces and mosques that have survived for nearly
four hundred years. They builded for all time, rearing massive walls of
masonry that the most powerful British guns during the mutiny were
unable to batter down. They built their own tombs in such enduring
fashion that we may look upon them to-day as they were when these
despots completed them. Akbar, Shah Jehan, Humayan and Aurungzeb each
erected scores of buildings that have survived the ravages of time and
the more destructive work of greedy mercenaries in time of war. In and
around Delhi are scores of these tombs in various stages of decay. Those
which have been cared for are splendid specimens of the best
architecture of the sixteenth century.

Indian brick is the cheapest building material in the world. The Indian
brick of to-day looks very much like the cheapest brick used in American
cities to fill in the inside of walls; but the brick made in the time of
Shah Jehan and Humayan and used by them was a flat tile brick, hard as
stone, set in mortar that has resisted the elements for over three
hundred years. When the roofs of these Moslem tombs and palaces fell in,
then the work of disintegration followed rapidly. The plaster scaled off
the front and sides, and the rows on rows of brick were exposed; but it
is astonishing that these massive walls have not crumbled to dust in all
these years. In most cases the imposing arched doorways of red sandstone
have survived. These doorways, beautifully arched, may be seen on both
sides of the road leading out