MUHAMMEDAN TOMB, TRANSFORMED INTO A PROTESTANT CHURCH.-SUNDAY AT LAHORE.

[Page 147.

at least to the satisfaction of some five or six hundred priests, who are supported in lazy luxury by the offerings of the faithful. In many cases imagination works a cure on the impassioned votary, be his belief or his idolatry what it may. Bathing in sacred waters, and, still more, being plunged into them by one of a priestly order, is a primæval tradition preserved in this unchangeable east, and by the Hindoos is held to be typical of spiritual purification. Runjeet built the fort of Govindgurh outside Amritser, to overawe the crowds of pilgrims that flock to the Golden Temple and sacred tank. Constructed by Italian engineers, it was considered to be impregnable; but we took it, improved its defences, and now hold it for the purpose for which it was designed. During the mutiny, occupied by a garrison of British troops, it was of some use to us.

From Amritser to Lahore,* seat of government, capital of the Punjaub, is a journey by rail of two hours. The line runs through a country well irrigated, therefore abounding in fields of grain. Lahore, like Delhi, occupies the site of earlier and larger cities ; but as the soil around it is fertile, their débris are being removed, and only the larger ruins remain relics of splendours that have past. All are covered with encaustic tiles of brilliant colours. Here rises a blue dome in a field of yellow corn, and there, emblazoned with Persian sentences and bright with flowers, a mosque, turned into a police station. Where these monuments could, from their situation, be made available, they have been repaired and occupied by living, to the exclusion of dead, inmates. The Lieut.-Governor occupies a very comfortable tomb. The accountant-general lives in one, and so do the railway officials. The reading-room is a handsome, and the principal English church, a spacious tomb; and

* “Thence we arrived at the goodlie citie of Lahor, in India, one of the largest cities of the whole universe; for it containeth at the least sixteen miles in compasse, and exceedeth Constantinople itself in greatness.”—Coryat's Letters from India in 1561.

"From the famous citie of Lahor I had twentie days' journey to another goodly citie called Agra, through such a delicate and even tract of ground as I never saw before. No less memorable, a row of trees on each side of this way where people do travell, extending from the towne's end of Lahore to the towne's end of Agra, the most incomparable show of that kind that ever me eies surveyed.”--Coryat's Letters.

its beadle endowed with the traditional husky voice and cough, is
a Mussulman. The city is surrounded by walls and numerous
gates, which, closed at night, are opened about 8 A.M., when an
impatient crowd is gathered on either side. The fort within the
city walls contains also the Mootee Musjid and tomb of Runjeet
Singh. Arriving early, the gates still shut, were opened for the
"sahib," and then a simultaneous rush took place, only stopped
by the policeman's staff, wielded effectively. Like Amritser, the
city walls enclose nests of dirty houses, and contain a dense popu-
lation of unwashed. In its fort are two state prisoners, sons of
the late Ameer of Kabul.. Adjoining is a partially-decayed, but
magnificent mosque, standing at the end of a quadrangle two
hundred yards square.
Built of red sandstone, inlaid with
marbles, in designs of roses and lilies, the whole of the interior,
one hundred yards long by thirty wide, is encased with sculptured
marble. Within were many followers of the Prophet. Four lofty
minars occupy the corners of the quadrangle. Descending from
it by a flight of steps into a garden, you enter a pavilion of the
mixed style of architecture, carved with grotesque designs, pea-
cocks carrying necklaces, fruits half cut with the knives through
them, and flowers, vases, and birds: Round the platform are the
apertures through which fountains once played; within, are seats,
on which models of beauty and fashion once reclined; and above,
still fixed in the ceiling, are the mirrors that once reflected them.
Pass the garden and enter the pavilion and tomb of the Lion of
Lahore. A Hindu sovereign, he was burnt in great state, and
with him, four wives and seven of his eight concubines.* The

* “At Lahore I saw a most beautiful young widow sacrificed who could not, I think, have been more than twelve years of age. The poor little creature appeared more dead than alive when she approached the dreadful pit. The agony of her mind cannot be described. She trembled and wept bitterly; but three or four of the Brahmins, assisted by an old woman, who held her under the arm, forced the unwilling victim toward the fatal spot, seated her on the wood, tied her hands and fcet lest she should run away, and in that situation the innocent creature was burnt alive. I found it difficult to repress my feelings and to prevent their bursting forth into clamorous and unavailing rage, but restrained by prudential considerations, I contented myself with silently lamenting the abominable superstition of these people."― Bernier's Travels, vol. ii. p. 18-19.