there is consummate art both in the placing of the ornament and in
the beautiful springing of the arches from the supporting piers. The
fine workmanship is worthy of the art.

On either side of the mosque there is a small chamber for the ladies
of the zanana, with a window filled with a carved marble _grille_
looking on to the interior. They could thus attend to the services of
the mosque without being seen. The staircases on the right and left
of the courtyard give private access to the apartments of the palace.

The Persian inscription inlaid in black marble under the wide,
projecting cornice of the mosque is a poetic tribute to the beauty of
the building and a panegyric of its founder. From it we learn that
it was built by Shah Jahan, it took seven years to build, and cost
three lakhs of rupees.

The dimensions of the courtyard, given by Fergusson, are 154 feet
by 158 feet; and of the Mosque: length, 159 feet; depth, 56 feet,
internally.


The Dersane Darwaza.

Nearly opposite to the Mûti Masjid, you pass on the left an
inclined passage which leads to an old gateway, a part of Akbar's
buildings. Very little remains of the original buildings which
connected it with the palace in the time of Jahangir, but there cannot
be much doubt that this was the locality described by William Finch
as the "Dersane Darwaza, leading into a fair court, extending along
the river, in which the King looks forth every morning at sun-rising,