east of the Kutb are the cyclopean ruins of Tughlakabad (page 206). ~Delhi past and present.~--The Delhi of Aurangzeb was as much a camp as a city. When the Emperor moved to Agra or Kashmir the town was emptied of a large part of its inhabitants. It contained one or two fine _bazars_, and nobles and rich merchants and shopkeepers had good houses, set sometimes in pleasant gardens. But the crowds of servants and followers occupied mud huts, whose thatched roofs led to frequent and widespread fires. In that insanitary age these may have been blessings in disguise. "In Delhi," wrote Bernier, "there is no middle state. A man must either be of the highest rank or live miserably.... For two or three who wear decent apparel there may always be reckoned seven or eight poor, ragged, and miserable beings." The ordinary street architecture of modern Delhi is mean enough, and posterity will not open an eyelid to look at the public buildings which its present rulers have erected in the city. But at least the common folk of Delhi are better housed, fed, and clad than ever before. It is now a clean well-managed town with a good water supply, and it has become an important railway centre and a thriving place of trade. Since 1881 the population has steadily increased from 173,393 to 232,837 in 1911. In 1911-12 the imports into Delhi City from places outside the Panjab amounted to 9,172,302 maunds. There are some fifteen cotton ginning, spinning, and weaving mills, besides flour mills, iron foundries, two biscuit manufactories, and a brewery. The city is well supplied with hospitals including two for women only. Higher education has been fostered by S. Stephen's College in charge of the Cambridge Missionary brotherhood. The Hindu college has not been very successful. Delhi has had famous "hakims," practising the Yunani or Arabic system of medicine, which is taught in a flourishing school known as the Madrasa i Tibbiya. ~Imperial Darbars.~--In this generation the plain to the north of the Ridge has been the scene of three splendid _darbars_. When on 1st January, 1877, Queen Victoria assumed the title of Empress of India (_Kaisar i Hind_) it seemed fitting that the proclamation of the fact to the princes and peoples of India should be made by Lord Lytton at the old seat of imperial power. On 1st January, 1903, Lord Curzon held a _darbar_ on the same spot to proclaim the coronation of King Edward the VIIth. Both these splendid ceremonies were surpassed by the _darbar_ of 12th December, 1911, when King George and Queen Mary were present in person, and the Emperor received the homage of the ruling chiefs, the great officials, and the leading men of the different provinces. The King and Queen entered Delhi on 7th December, and in the week that followed the craving of the Indian peoples for "_darshan_" or a sight of their sovereign was abundantly gratified. None who saw the spectacles of that historic week will ever forget them.