Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1895-01-11
EDENTON N. c., FRIDAY, JANUARY II, 1895


was ch ant about ''peace and good will to
men," And as the speed of the rail train
slackened the motion of the car became
so easy as we rolled along the track that
il seemet to me that all the distress
and controversy and joiting and wars OF the
world had ceased. and in my dream l
thought we hud come to the time when ''the
rausomed OF the Lord shall return and come
TO Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon
their heads, and sorrow and sightng shall
fee away"
-talt here at what you have never seen be-
fore, a depopulated city, the city OF Amber,
India.
The strange fact is that ruler abanlone
his palaces at Amber and moved to Jatpur,
and all the Inhabitants OF the city followed.
Except here and there house in Amber
occupied by hermit, the city Is as silent
a population as Ponpeii OF Hercuaneum,
but those cities were emitted by volcanic
disaster, while this city of Auber was va
Gated because Prince Joy Singh was told by
q Hndoo priest that no city should be In
habited more than 1000 years, and so the
ruler ITO years ago moved out hlmseN'
and all his people moved with him.
You visit Amber on the back OF an ele-
phant. Permission obtained for your visit
the day before at Jatpur, an elephant Is IN
waiting for you about six miles out 10 take
you up the sleeps to AmOer. You pass
through the awfully quiet streets, all the
feet that trod them In the days of their activ-
ity having gone on the long journey ard the
voices of business and gayety that sounded
amid these abodes having long ago uttered
their last syllable. You pass by lake COW
ering 500 acres. where the rajahs used to
sail in their pleasure boats, but alligators
now have full possession, and you come to
the abandoned palace, which Is an
enchantment. No more picturesque
place was ever chosen for the resi-
dence OF a monarch. The fortress
above looks down upon this palace, and the
palace looks down upon lake. Ihls
n.onarchial abode may have had attractions
when it was the home Of royalty whicn have
vanished, but antiquity and the silence OF
many years and opportunity to tread where
once you would not have been permitted to
tread may be an addition quite equal to the
subtraction.
But what solemn and stupendous thing
is an abandoned city! While many of the
peoples of earth have no root for their head.
here is a whole city of roofs rejected. The
! sand OF the desert was sufficient excuse 1ol
| the disappearance of Heliopolls. and tine
waters of the Mediterranean Sea for the en-
| gulfment of Tyre, and the lava OF Moun'
| Vesuvius for the obliteration of Hercu
| laneum, but for the sake OF nothing but a
| superstitious whim the city of Amber 1s
| abandoned forever. Oh, wondrous India
The city Of Amber is only one of the marvels
which compel the uplifted hand Of surprise
| from the day YOU enter India until yor
| leave 1t. Its flora is so f1amboyant, Its 1aunt
| so monstrous and savage, its ruins so sug
gestive its idolatry so horrible, Its degrade
ton so sickening, its mineralogy 50 brilliant
its splendors so uplifting, its architecture 81
old, SO grand, so educational, SO multi
| potent that India will not be fully compre
| hended until science has made its last ex
pertinent, and exploration has ended its las
| Journey, and the library of the worlds liter
| ature has closed its last door, and Christian
tty has made its last achievement, and the
clock of time has struck its last hour.