he left-
hand side of the road, stands the tomb of Mansur Ali Khan, the great-
grandfather of the present King of Oudh. Of all the tombs to be seen
in this immense extent of splendid ruins, this is perhaps the only
one raised over a subject, the family of whose inmates are now in a
condition even to keep it in repair. It is a very beautiful
mausoleum, built after the model of the Taj at Agra; with this
difference, that the external wall around the quadrangle of the Taj
is here, as it were, thrown back, and closed in upon the tomb. The
beautiful gateway at the entrance of the gardens of the Taj forms
each of the four sides of the tomb of Mansur Ali Khan, with all its
chaste beauty of design, proportion, and ornament.[4] The quadrangle
in which this mausoleum stands is about three hundred and fifty yards
square, surrounded by a stone wall, with handsome gateways, and
filled in the same manner as that of the Taj at Agra, with cisterns
and fruit-trees. Three kinds of stones are used--white marble, red
sandstone, and the fine white and flesh-coloured sandstone of Rupbas.
The dome is of white marble, and exactly of the same form as that of
the Taj; but it stands on a neck or base of sandstone with twelve
sides, and the marble is of a quality very inferior to that of the
Taj. It is of coarse dolomite, and has become a good deal discoloured
by time, so as to give it the appearance, which Bishop Heber noticed,
of _potted meat_. The neck is not quite so long as that of the Taj,
and is better covered by the marble cupolas that stand above each
face of the building. The four noble minarets are, however, wanting.
The apartments are all in number and form exactly like those of the
Taj, but they are somewhat less in size. In the centre of the first
floor lies the beautiful marble slab that bears the date of this
small pillar of a _tottering state_, A.H. 1167;[5] and in a vault
underneath repose his remains by the side of those of one of his
grand-daughters. The graves that cover these remains are of plain
earth strewed with fresh flowers, and covered with plain cloth. About
two miles from this tomb to the east stands that of the father of
Akbar, Humayun, a large and magnificent building. As I rode towards
this building to see the slab that covers the head of poor Dara
Shikoh, I frequently cast a lingering look behind to view, as often
as I could, this very pretty imitation of the most beautiful of all
the tombs of the earth.[6]

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