New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-06-11

amount OF labor bestowed on Futtehpore, throws ia
,.uceo hlgrees Of the Alhambrs' quite into the shad,
~ IS unlike anything that have ever seen And ye
he very name of this splendid collection Of ruins whic
cannot be surpassed anywhere, outside Of Egypt wa
unnDo"n TO me. before reaching India
we pad rather hasty visit to the Dirdss ar IN,
aaesn am, and the mint. The latter is an mmens,
quadIahee' nail blocked up with ruins In the diwap
lam is the balcony where Akbar usually made his pub
nc appearance IN the morning to the crowd waiting IN
ne court 10 see or petition him He was greeted on
these occasions with cry Of "ARck a5ar! :" ((od il
Eeai2 70 winch he invariably replied: IlH jcllaLli.
moo :! May his glory shineD This was a mode of saln.
taton introduced by himself because the two nhr,ses
contained bis name-Jellalud-deen Akbar have fra
queptty heard very similar style of address in Bohs
mia, where the greeting is Praised be Jsscs Carss
s aIa the the answer answer II eternity: Amen
On the north side of BeerBuls palace Ase further
down the hill, is the famous Elephant Gate Akbar nc
enc time intended make fortress Of the place. and
commenced by building this gate, which is very noble
structure ankcd By octagona basti0ns: but Shekh
Selim Chsti in whose ssncnfy the Emperor had great
faith threatened to leave, in the plan was carried
cut and the fortress therefore relinquished On
each side of the gate is colossal eli phant a lofty
PEDESTAL but both the animals have lost their trunks
and are otherwise mutiated A steep paved road. be-
tween gardens hanging below the other arched
terraces interrupted occasionally by the ruBs ofpaaees,
leads down the hill to the Elephants Tower minaret
about 80 feet high and studded from top to bottom with
the tusks Of elephants There is much discussion
corning its character but the most plausible suppostiou
is that erected by Akbar over the grave OF favor
lite elephant IL called by the natives the HTun NInat
ANTELOPE tower).
BY this time il two hours past noon, and still
had the famous Durgah see. We therefore retraced
our steps snd assembled 10 the highest part of the hill
where the tomb rises like huge square fortress, over
topping the palace of Akbar himself We mounted
long flight of steps and entered quadrang spacious
20 symmetrical SO wonderful in its decorations, that
was filed with amaZement. Fancy paved courtyard
40 feet in length by 4U6 in breadth surrounded with
pared corridor 90 feet high with gateway, of the
nobest in the world 100 feet high, ripedomed mosque
on one side large tank and fountain in the center and
opposite the great portal the motkeropea and marble
tomb of the Shekh, miniature palace cleaning like
crystal with its sded domes, Its ivory pillars, and It's
wreaths of wOndrsus fOwer-ike ornaments inwreught
in marble fgree The court, with its immense gate,
seemed an enchanted fortress solely erected TO guard
the precious structure within
Shekh Selm- Chisti was a very holy man, who became
known as such by his intimacy with tigers, several Of
whom lived with him in cave on the hill where his
tomb now stands. His renown reached the ears of Ak
barwho finding him to be man of apparent sanctty and
considerable wisdom, built the palace OF Futtehpore
Skree il is said be near him. lie consulted him on all
important occasions and as the story goes, finally
indebted to him for all heir to his throne. For
time after Akbar's accession he was without son, and
twice demanded of the Shekh whether he should ever
have one No. said the latter it is not 80 written
Now be- the Shekh, had an infant son OF six months old
these NOSen SAINTS drtthc reverse
Akbar coming to make ,he demand third time, and
ceying the same answer this infant who was present 10
his cradle during the interview suddenly spoke although
never before had be much as lisped syllable. ga
Their said he, why do you send away the Conqueror
of the World in despair :" Because said the
Sbekh although he maryeed not little at this, there
no son written for him, unless another will give mp
the life of child destined for him and who will do
thisi' IF you permit me- father said the infant
will die that son may be born to the Emperor
bofor fho siO MIS-
up the ghost That day heir TO the throne was con
ceiyed and in due time born. There scandal0us
persons however who say that this is an alegory, veil
inc truth and that the Shekh in procuring an heir for
the Emperor did in fact give up his son, but with
out destroy ing his life BE that as il may Jehan CHR
tie of Akbar, bore the name of Sem until he as
cended the throne.
We were allowed to enter the inner corridor which
surrounds the Shekhs tomb and 20 look but not
the threshold The tomb, well as canopy six feet
high which covers il, is made of mother ofpear The
floor is Of Jasper and the walls Of white marble naid
with comedian. cloth of silk and gold was spread
over il like PAIL andupOn this were wreaths OF fresh
and wthered flowers The screens of marble surround
ing the building are the most beautiful in India They
are single thin slabs, about eight feet square, and
rOught into such intricate open patterns that you
ould say they had been woven in loom The mosque
bcb is of older date than the tomb, is very elegant
resembling somewhat the Hall of the Abenceragos in
the Alhambra except that it is much larger, and Of
white marble instead of stuccO Bushara Ali informed
me that the Durgah erected in year. from the
wealth left by the Shekh Chishti at his DEATH and
that it cost 81 lacks of rupees-$l,750OOO
We ascended to the summit Of the great gateway for
the ,ake of the panoramic view Of FuttehpOreSikrec
and the adjacent country 1t is q vast plain, and our
horizon was described by radius of twenty miles-a
circle of fresh wheateds, dotted with mAngogroyes,
sud now and then the blue CLEAN Of river irrgatng
canal There were low hills in the west, and the
famous citadel of Bhurtpore in that direction was bare
" visible The country though less garden like, re-
minded me Of the plain of the Nile. lew years ago
il was all an uncutyated waste. Mr. Tbomass0n, the
rresert Governor of de Northwestern Pro-
yinces happening to be at FuttehpOreSkree one day
heard native say that in Akbars time the country
annually overfOwed that the palace was IN the midst
of lake "Wel, said Mr.. T. 81 will overflow ttoo"
And he ordered the banks of small river, which to~s
into the Junna near Bhutpore to be cut away so that
hen the rainy season came the water spread over about
twenty square miles of land That year the natives had
crops such as had been heard OF IN those parts
but they Lad also fever which carried OIL eight hun
dred persops However, the Governor made bis work
GOOD by cutting canal take of the nundatiOn, and
now the region has reganed its health and kept it, big
crops into the bargain
We went back 10 Beerbuls palace, where the ser
wants had prepared tilin in the meantime Busharst-
sung on Arab oye-soDg and told tales Of the time
of Akbar Some Of these could not very well be re-
heated as like most Eastern stories, they were nara
tves OF sklfu intrigue but there was one relating TO
Beerbul himself which give you in the Sheah words,
merely emitting some Of his endless repe'Hiohs OF
phrases.
One day." so begun the old man, Akbar Shah and
Raiah Beer-bu we're sitting together Akbar said to
" BeerbuL What would you DO, if great misfortune
fell upon youp Said Beer.bul, should give myself
mn 10 Measure How, to pleasureF saul AkOar
IS when YOU we're unfortunate STILL said Beerbu
" sbonid do it, The next day Akbar said to Beer u
tale this ruby and keep it til l call for H. Now it
was ruby worth millions Of rupees, such as there
never was in the world before nor since SO Beerbul
ii. Lo,,a 10 bis daughter and bade her keen