for the value of an anna, and the ladies would feign indignation,
scold his Majesty roundly, and tell him to go where he could suit
himself better. "The Begums betray, if possible, a still greater
anxiety to be served cheaply; high words are heard on every side,
and the loud and scurrilous quarrels of the buyers and sellers create
a complete farce. But, when at last the bargains are struck, the
Begums, as well as the Emperor, pay liberally for their purchases,
and often, as if by accident, let slip out of their hands a few gold
instead of silver roupies, as a compliment to the fair merchant and
her pretty daughter. Thus the scene ends with merry jests and good
humour." (Bernier.)

THE CHITORE GATES.--The further corner of this courtyard, on the left,
leads to the Chitore gates, the trophies which Akbar placed there as
a memorial of his capture of that great Rajput stronghold in 1657,
after a desperate resistance by its gallant defenders. They form the
principal entrance to the _Machhi Bhawan_, the great courtyard behind
the Dîwan-i-âm, but are generally kept closed.

THE HINDU TEMPLE.--Beyond the Chitore gates you enter into another
quadrangle surrounded by arcades, which recalls a different chapter
in the chequered history of the palace. Here is a Hindu temple, built
by one of the Bharatpur Rajahs, who sacked Agra about the middle of
the 18th century, and occupied it for ten years.


The Machhi Bhawan.

Returning now to the Dîwan-i-âm, we can ascend by one of the small
staircases to the throne-room, and enter the upper arcades which