IX.
THROUGH THE CENTRAL PROVINCES.
OUR next stage was Allahabad, on the delta formed by the junction of the two greatest rivers in the world, the Jumna and the Ganges. The bridge over the former, which carries the train over the mighty stream, is a wonderful feat of engineering. To look over and see the speed at which the current carries this immense sheet of water under the bridge gives one a shudder, and unwittingly one grasps the iron railing with a force which cramps one’s hands. It seems as if the bridge was receding under one’s feet.
After Benares, Allahabad seems almost an European city, and therefore loses much of its attractions. It is, however, well worthy of a visit, as a great emporium of trade, as well as a great manufacturing city, one of the principal items being the manufacture of carpets, which here are made by machinery, and not merely by hand, as they are manufactured through other parts of India. In colour and appearance they are equally fine, but if they are much cheaper than those that are hand made, they lack in durability and finish. We might have tarried in Allahabad, but the weather was intensely hot, and a hot day in that city is not to be easily forgotten. We therefore moved on to Cawnpore, which was full of reminiscences of the great Mutiny, and even now is strongly garrisoned by English troops. Here are the great leather manufactories, and again the black earthen pottery we had met in a more crude and primitive state at Moghal-Serai. Having no particular reason to stay here, we pushed on to Agra, where we intended making a halt for a couple of days. We made straight for Fizarabad for dinner; slept at Tunala, and having started in the cool of the morning, reached Agra in time for breakfast.
It was not food we were craving for. Long before we reached the station our eyes had rested on that most marvellous structure, the Taj-Mahal, which has been justly termed the seventh marvel of the world, and still more appropriately, “a dream in marble.” Miles away, on the other side of the Jumna, cut in sharp outlines against the blue Indian sky, soaring above the green foliage, the gigantic white marble dome and marble minarets can be seen, increasing in size as the train draws nearer and nearer; but this hasty glimpse of the huge mausoleum gives a very poor idea of its stupendous size and awfully grandiose reality.
We had no patience until the carriages came to the door, and we were driven to the spot. Alas! The task of describing this monument is beyond my powers. In the face of it man is struck dumb—a feeling of insignificance creeps over one.