palanquin to the Jatnee Bagh. Such was
the name of the Jooteepersâd's garden-house,
in which Lall Singh then resided. The
Maharajah was dressing, I was confronted
by a Seik with an enormous beard, whose
hair was a yard long and tied up in a
peculiar knot on the top of his head, and
who politely inquired if I would take coffee.
Ere long the Rajah made his appearance,
and we went together to the newly
discovered ty-khana, which was now guarded
since gold and silver had been found there.
The workmen, some twenty in number,
came and commenced their labour: that
of clearing away the earth in all directions,
in order to get to the bottom of the apartment
in the ty-khana. This was accomplished
in about two hours, and we then
stood upon a stone-floor in the centre of a
room, about sixteen feet square. In several
of the niches were little lamps, such as are
burnt upon the tombs of Moslems, and a
hookah and a pair of marble chairs were
found in this subterraneous apartment; of
which the sky was now the roof. Whilst
examining the walls, I observed that, upon
one side, there was a ledge about six feet
high from the floor (and carried up therefrom),
and about a foot in width. This
ledge, which was of brick and plaster,
resembled a huge mantel-piece, and was
continued from one end of the apartment to the
other. I asked the Rajah the reason of such
a structure in the apartment. He replied
that he did not know, nor could any of the
workmen account for it; one of them,
however, took a pick-axe and dug out a portion
when, to my surprise and horror, I discovered
that in this wall a human being had been
bricked up. The skin was still upon the
bones, which were covered with a costly
dress of white muslin, spangled all over with
gold; around the neck was a string of
pearls; on the wrists and ancles were gold
bangles, and on the feet were a pair of
slippers, embroidered all over with silver
wire, or thread; such slippers as only
Mahommedan women of rank or wealth can
afford to wear. The body resembled a well-
preserved mummy. The features were very
distinct, and were those of a woman, whose
age could not, at the time of her death,
have exceeded eighteen or nineteen years.
The head was partially covered with the
white dress. Long black hair was still clinging
to the scalp, and was parted across the
forehead and carried behind the ears. It was
the most horrible and ghastly figure that I
ever beheld.

The workmen appeared to take this discovery
as a matter of course; or, rather, to
regard it only with reference to the gold
and silver ornaments upon the skeleton, and
it was with great difficulty that I could
prevent their stripping it forthwith. As for
the Rajah, he simply smiled and coolly
remarked: "A case of jealousy. Her husband
was jealous of her, and thought her guilty, and
punished her thus,—bricked her up alive in
this wall, with no room to move about, only
standing room. Perhaps she deserved it,—
perhaps she was plotting against his life;
perhaps she was innocent: who can say?
Hindoos as well as Mahommedans punish
their wives in that way."

"You mean that they used to do so in
former times, previous to British rule in
India. But such a thing could not occur in
our time."

"It does not occur so often as it did; but
it does occur, sometimes, even in these days.
How do you know what happens in the
establishment of a wealthy native? Let
us look a little further into the wall. It
strikes me that we shall find some more of
them."

Orders were given accordingly to the
workmen to remove, with great care, the
whole of the ledge, in short, to pull away
its entire face. This was done; and how
shall I describe the awful spectacle then
presented ? In that wall there were no less
than five bodies,—four besides that already
alluded to.  One of the number was a young
man, who from his dress and the jewels
on his finger-bones, must have been a person
of high rank: perhaps the lover of one,
or both, of the young women; for he had
been bricked up between two of them. The
others were evidently those of confidential
servants; old women, for they had grey hair.
They possibly had been cognisant, or were
supposed to be cognisant, of whatever offence
the others had been deemed guilty.

The sun was now shining brightly on these
ghastly remains, covered with garments
embroidered in gold and silver. The air
had a speedy effect on them, and, one by
one, they fell; each forming a heap of bones,
hair, shrivelled skin, dust, jewels, and finery.
The latter were now gathered up, placed in,
a small basket, and sent to the Lallah. Their
value, possibly, was upwards of a thousand
pounds. How many years had passed since
that horrible sentence had been put into
execution? Not less than one hundred and
seventy, or perhaps two hundred.

VESTIGES OF PROTECTION.

I AM a stern, unflinching, thoroughgoing
free-trader. Whenever I use a cab, I give a
cabman whatever he thinks proper to
demand; and when any regulation comes out
about omnibus-fares, I shall pay no more
regard to it than I do to the orders of the
Trinity Board. That's my character—firm
and consistent.

I like clean boots. I may be stout and
puffy as regards figure; but my feet are
always neat. Much, however, as I covet
clean boots, I will not have them polished by
a gaudy little Protestant ruffian, clad in red
sackcloth, like a drummer in the Spanish