Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1858-06-03
NO. 80.
Palaces and Grounds of a Petty
Price in India.

The New York Commercial Advertise
er has a letter from a correspondent in
India, dated Calcutta, January Is, in
which the writer gives the. following ac-
count of what he saw on a visit to the
palaces and grounds of the Rajah ofBurd-
wan, some seventy miles from Calcutta
We are acquainted with the Raiah's
secretary and manager, and he kindly
showed US over the gardens and O
pounds, and two of the palaces the
third and finest one was undergoing re-
pairs and closed to visitors The estates
OF this petty prince "a fine looking fellow
OF ~thirty-eighD is only seventy FIVE miles
square, of rich land, &e. In addition he
owns b@azaars, and considerable property
in Calcutta. Twelve thousand men are
employed on all his lands, four thousand
IN the immediate vicinity. of his palaces.
Lis annual income is eighty laos of ru-
pees, about four millions of dollars. ever
four hundred and Fifty dollars per hour.
With these great means he might become
q formidable enemy to the East India
Government, but seems very peaceably dis
posed, and doubtless finds it to his later.
est to remain SO.
| spent many hours in pleasantly stroll
Ing about the grounds there are over
seventy five acres Of gardens and parks,
misrepresentation a number of large tanks
One is the largest | have ever seen ia In,
dia, being a full mile around. it's four
sides, with many stone stairways leading
down to the water. The entire com
pound is surrounded by a wide canal.
There are large and seperate parks for
almost every class of animals in one
were three hundred and fifty deer of diff
ersnt species. Another was for a couple
of ostriehes and huge tortoises, one for
half a dozen kangaroos, two for bears,
others for pelicans, famingoes, rhinocer-
oses, crocodiles, two stately giraffes, &c.
In most Of these enclosures were tanks,
and those containing the larger animals
were built around with high puckah wall
succeed, with walks on the top. The
m%enagerie, of solid masonry, was we'll
worth seeing f; the cages were all
capacious, and very secure. In them
we're tigers, and leopards and cheetus,
hyenas, foxes, wolves, porcupines, an
enormous outrangoutang, monkeys, bab-
oons, boa-coEstrictors, &c. Two large
tealeries contained nearly "a thousand
ducks, of every variety. There were
many other specimens Of rare birds that
| cannot now remember. At Calcutta, |
| saw the King of Dudes tigers-thirteen
enormous animals, which the Raiah is
about to purchase for mis- mepagerie.
The stud of the Rajah contains eight
hundred of the best horses that can be
procured in India, and he has besides
about thirty-fve elephants in his stables.
We were offered the use of one of them,
if we would make up a hunting party, at
another time.
In the ground is an elegant and richly
carved marble monument, with a temple
built over it and an iron railing placed
around it to protect its s~anctity the in.
scription reads, " to the memory of the
Rajah's best friend and companion" &C.,
with a long catalogue of his virtues, re-
ferring to a faithfuli dog he had lost
We were puzzled for a long time in a
labyrinth made of vines trained on ar
bors. Many of tho tanks abound in fish,
and furnish delicies for the princes ia
BILE.
The monthly expenditures for the sup
port of all this is about four thousand
dollars, which seems to me not extrava-
giant although the native labor is the
cheapest part Of it. The palaces were
large and richly furnished, the walls GOV.
with elegant paintings, mirrors, engrav-
ings, &c. Altogether we were much
pleased with all we saw, and the atten-
tion we received.