nd from north to south three
hundred and twenty-nine.[l5]

The mausoleum itself, the terrace upon which it stands, and the
minarets, are all formed of the finest white marble, inlaid with
precious stones. The wall around the quadrangle, including the river
face of the terrace, is made of red sandstone, with cupolas and
pillars of the same white marble. The insides of the churches and
apartments in and upon the walls are all lined with marble or with
stucco work that looks like marble; but, on the outside, the red
sandstone resembles uncovered bricks. The dazzling white marble of
the mausoleum itself rising over the red wall is apt, at first sight,
to make a disagreeable impression, from the idea of a whitewashed
head to an unfinished building; but this impression is very soon
removed, and tends, perhaps, to improve that which is afterwards
received from a nearer inspection. The marble was all brought from
the Jeypore territories upon wheeled carriages, a distance, I
believe, of two or three hundred miles; and the sandstone from the
neighbourhood of Dholpur and Fathpur Sikri.[16] Shah Jahan is said to
have inherited his partiality for this colour from his grandfather,
Akbar, who constructed almost all his buildings from the same stone,
though he might have had the beautiful white freestone at the same
cost. What was figuratively said of Augustus may be most literally
said of Shah Jahan; he found the cities (Agra and Delhi) all brick,
and left them all marble; for all the marble buildings, and additions
to buildings, were formed by him.[17]

This magnificent building and the palaces at Agra and Delhi were, I
believe, designed by Austin de Bordeaux, a Frenchman of great talent
and merit, in whose ability and integrity the Emperor placed much
reliance. He was called by the natives 'Ustan [_sic_] Isa, Nadir-ul-
asr', 'the wonderful of the age'; and, for his office of 'naksha
navis', or plan-drawer, he received a regular salary of one thousand
rupees a month, with occasional presents, that made his income very
large. He had finished the palace at Delhi, and the mausoleum and
palace of Agra; and was engaged in designing a silver ceiling for one
of the galleries in the latter, when he was sent by the Emperor to
settle some affairs of great importance at Goa. He died at Cochin on
his way back, and is supposed to have been poisoned by the
Portuguese, who were extremely jealous of his influence at court. He
left a son by a nati