SECUNDRA.
As the burial-place of Akbar Shāh, this is the most interesting spot near Agra; and I accepted an invitation to spend the day there with much pleasure. The tomb is on the Delhi road, about seven miles from Agra; we drove there in the early morning. It is situated in a fine piece of park-like ground, encompassed by a high wall, filled with noble trees and fountains,—a quadrangle of forty acres. To this enclosure there are four gateways; the principal gateway is of red granite, richly carved, inlaid with ornaments in white marble, with inscriptions in the Persian character in black marble. The form of the gateway is reckoned very fine, and likely to be durable. It is very lofty, and the roof is ornamented by four shattered white marble minarets, one at each angle, which are all broken off about the centre; this appears like the effect of time or storm, but I have some idea that they were left in this unfinished state, for some particular reason.
THE TOMB OF AKBAR SHAH.
فاني پارکس
Having passed the gateway, you proceed to the mausoleum, a magnificent pile of red granite, erected by Jahāngeer in memory of his father; the design of the building is most remarkable, and consists of a series of terraces, rising one above the other, until finished by one of white marble; all the arches of which are filled with lattice-work of different patterns. The terraces are ornamented with numberless small turrets, of the most beautiful shape; their domes of white marble, with the exception of eight, which are covered with enamelled porcelain. The sketch annexed was taken by Luteef, a native artist at Agra; it merely gives the outline of the building.