Page:The Seven Cities of Delhi.djvu/75

 tomb, picturesquely situated on an outcrop of rock, and then, suddenly, above some trees there towers the great Kutb Minar.

Close to the path, which leads to the minar, there stands, on a mound, a red sandstone pavilion, which formerly crowned the tower, but was taken down in 1848, as an eyesore. Near this is a grave — that of a subaltern of H.M. 82nd Regiment, who died of cholera in 1862, while on the march to Gurgaon.

Kutb Minār (p. 88).— The Kutb Minar is over 238 feet in height, but feet and inches convey little impression of height, which can best be gauged by comparison with familiar objects. It is nearly eighty feet higher than the Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square ; if erected on the floor of St. Paul's Cathedral, a few feet would project into the lantern of the dome. It was started in a.d. 1200, under the auspices of Kutb-ud-dln I-bak, Viceroy of the conqueror of India, some five hundred years before Wren's magnificent work was undertaken.

Other features are bands of writing around, carved flutings, carried in varied design through three stories, and the excellently conceived designs of the carvings on the underside of the balconies. It has more than once been damaged