"Various figures are given for the cost, and the majority of them are not far from $15,000,000. It is said that 20,000 workmen were employed for twenty-two years in collecting materials and building the Taj Mahal; and as nearly all the labor was forced, there was great distress and mortality in the surrounding country. Doubtless the peasantry had little cause to revere the memory of the queen whose death brought them so much calamity. A poet represents them as saying, "'Have mercy, God, on our distress, For we, too, die with our princess.' "It is a perfect building and not a ruin, and it is hard to believe that it is more than 200 years since the lovely Moomtaz-i-Mahal was laid here to rest. The situation contributes largely to the general effect of the work. The Taj stands on the bank of the Jumna River, and in the midst of a plain which is unbroken in every direction except by the Fort of Agra, and a few low hillocks. No matter from what direction you approach it, the Taj is visible for miles, and its dazzling whiteness is more impressive from a distant than in a near view. [Illustration: GATE-WAY OF GARDEN, TAJ MAHAL.] "It is at the end of a large garden where Moomtaz loved to wander. You pass a massive gate-way--itself a fine work of architecture--and look along an avenue of cypresses at the building of which you have heard so much. The view is somewhat spoiled by the garden, as you see only the tops of the minarets, and less than half the building itself. The best view is from the other side of the river, as it is quite unobstructed, and no part of the grand spectacle is lost. The central building and all its surroundings are included, and it is quite possible that the architect made his plans from this stand point. [Illustration: FRONT VIEW OF THE TAJ MAHAL.] "First there is a broad platform of red sandstone at the end of the garden, and about four feet above it. On this there is a marble platform eighteen feet high and 313 feet square, white marble entirely, or at least externally. There is a tower or minaret 137 feet high at each corner of this platform, and the building in the centre is 186 feet square, except that the corners are cut off opposite each of the towers. The mausoleum thus takes the form of an octagon, with four of its sides broader than the other four. Each of the broad sides has a grand entrance like a half-dome, that rises nearly to the cornice, while on each side of the entrance there are two arches, one above the other. Around this magnificent door-way are Arabic inscriptions, consisting of black marble inlaid upon pure white, and the spaces left by the curving of the arches are similarly ornamented with mosaic scroll-work. It is said that the whole of the Koran, or Mohammedan Bible, is on the walls of the Taj, and all of it inlaid in stone.