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 assembly not being visible, its glances alighted upon a blaze of grandeur, above, around, below, until the aching sight would gladly have sought repose among the serener and more soothing beauties of external nature.

In the several visits which Bernier made to Agra, the object which principally attracted his attention was the celebrated taj, or tomb, of Nourmahal, the favourite wife of Shah Jehan, which he considered far more worthy than the pyramids to be enumerated among the wonders of the world. Leaving the city and proceeding towards the east, through a long, broad street, running between lofty garden-walls and fine new houses, he entered the imperial gardens. Here numerous structures, varying in their forms, yet all possessing their peculiar beauties, courted observation; but the enormous dome of the mausoleum, rising like the moon "inter minora sidera," immediately absorbed all his attention. To the right and left dim covered walks and parterres of flowers yielded soft glimpses of shadow and a breeze of perfume as he moved along. At length he arrived in front of the building. In the centre rose a vast dome, which, together with the tall, slender minarets on both sides of it, was supported by a range of beautiful arches, partly closed up by a wall, and partly open. The façade of the structure consisted entirely of marble, white like alabaster; and in the centre of the closed arches were tablets of the same material, thickly inlaid with verses from the Koran, wrought in black marble. The interior of the dome was bordered, like the exterior, with white marble, thickly inlaid with jasper, cornelian, and lapis lazuli, delicately disposed in the form of flowers and other beautiful objects. The pavement was formed of alternate squares of black and white marble, disposed with singular art, and producing the finest effect imaginable upon the eye.

In the month of December, 1663, Aurungzebe,