on either side of it. The statues and elephants were thrown down by
order of Aurangzîb. There are four hollow places in each platform,
where the legs of the elephants were morticed into it. [5]

The gate is a fine example of the early Mogul style; it contains the
_Naubat khana_, or music gallery, where the royal kettledrums announced
the Emperor's arrival or departure, and all state functions. It was
also a guard-house, and probably the quarters of a high military
officer, but it is certainly not, as the guides have it, the "Darshan
Darwaza," or "Gate of Sights," described by William Finch, where
the Emperor Jahangir showed himself at sunrise to his nobles and to
the multitude assembled in the plain below. The Darshan Darwaza was
undoubtedly near the old disused water-gate, which was joined to the
royal apartments of the palace by a private passage, and answers to
Finch's description of "leading into a fair court extending along
the river." The Elephant Gate is at a considerable distance from the
palace, and was never connected with it, except by the public road.

It is worth while to climb the top of the gate by the staircase on
the right, inside the Fort. There is a fine view of the Fort, and
beyond the walls the ever-beautiful white domes of the Taj appear in
the distance. The Itmâd-ud-daulah is visible on the left. Towards
the town you look down into the quadrangle of the Jâmi Masjid. The
pavilions on the summit of the great octagonal towers flanking the
gate are finely carved, and bear traces of painting and enamelled
tile-work. Descending the staircase to the floors beneath, one can
wander through the curious small chambers and look out from the
balconies on the front of the gate.