Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XVIII. An Indian Fête—The Prince of Burdwan—Indian Luxury—The Riches and Romantic Life of an Indian Prince—Poverty and Riches
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186,
Story of an Emigrant.
palace. Some of them occupied rooms in the palace, others
lived in tents pitched in military order in the palace garden,
and about three hundred Indian guests were lodged in
private houses in the city. I was the only foreign guest, and
was assigned a neat pavilion, built partly over an artificial
lake in the garden, and the second place of honor at all
ceremonies—an honor which was, of course, due to the
republic which I represented.
The palace consisted of several large buildings two or three
stories high, and several small pavilions, all in Italian style,
situated in a park or garden of some forty acres, and
surrounded by a stone wall twelve feet high, with two beautiful
porticos. The largest building contained the private
apartments of the prince, two large parlors, two dining halls, a
ball room, a billiard room, a library, several picture
galleries and a large armory,—all of them furnished in the most
expensive and magnificent style. The floors and stairways
were of Italian marble, and the walls of the large parlors
adorned by huge mirrors set in frames inlaid with emeralds,
rubies, and other precious stones. Sculptures of marble
from Italy, of porphyry and alabaster from Egypt, and
porcelain vases from China, etc., adorned the corridors and
niches of the halls of the main building.
Another large building was inhabited by the women,
among whom the mother of the prince is the mistress; but
they themselves, as well as the interior of their palacc,
remain concealed from the gaze of the guests. Elegant
carriages with drivers, servants and grooms in oriental livery,
caparisoned horses, saddles and bridles shining with gold and
silver trimmings, were day and night at the disposition
of the guests, and at his arrival every guest received a small
blank book with fifty leaves 011 which to write his name and
the kind of refreshment he wished, and hundreds of servants
dressed in white were always ready to fetch it to him in
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