to a mansion of paradise or to a precious pearl.”  It is built after the usual fashion, a square courtyard paved with white marble and surrounded by a marble colonnade of exquisite arches, supported by pillars of perfect grace.  The walls upon three sides are solid; the western side, looking toward Mecca, being entirely open, a succession of arches supported by columns exquisitely carved.  And the roof is crowned with a forest of minarets and three white marble domes.  In the center of the courtyard is a marble tank thirty-seven feet square and three feet deep, in which the faithful performed their ablutions before going to prayer.

Near by the mosque is the Diwan-i-’Am, or Hall of Public Audience, 201 feet square, in which the Moguls received their subjects and held court.  The roof is supported by nine rows of graceful columns cut from red sandstone and formerly covered with gold.  The rest of the building is marble.  The throne stood upon a high platform in an alcove of white marble, richly decorated, and above it are balconies protected by grilles or screens behind which the sultanas were permitted to watch the proceedings.  Back of the audience-room is a great quadrangle, planted with trees, flowers and vines.  White marble walks radiate from a marble platform and fountain basin in the center, and divide the garden into beds which, we are told, were filled with soil brought from Cashmere because of its richness.  And even to-day gardeners say that it is more productive than any found in this part of the country.  Around this court were the apartments of the zenana, or harem, occupied by the mother, sisters, wives and daughters of the sultan who were more or less prisoners, but had considerable area to wander about in, and could sit in the jasmine tower, one of the most exquisite pieces of marble work you can imagine, and on the flat roofs of the palaces, which were protected by high screens, and enjoy views over the surrounding country and up and down the Jumna River.  From this lofty eyrie they could witness reviews of the troops and catch glimpses of the gay cavalcades that came in and out of the fortress, and in a small courtyard was a bazar where certain favored merchants from the city were allowed to come and exhibit goods to the ladies of the court.  But these were the only glimpses female royalty ever had of the outer world.

No man was ever admitted to the zenana except the emperor.  All domestic work was done by women, who were watched on the outside by eunuchs and then by soldiers.  They had their own place of worship, the “Gem Mosque” they called it, a beautiful little structure erected by Shah Jehan, and afterward used as his prison.