Sat 31. [31 January 1903] Spent the morning shopping at Ganeshi
Lal's and seeing the exquisite Fort which is certainly the loveliest thing
in India. More than ever struck with the beauty of the earlier red
sandstone building. The intricacy and variety of the detail is endless.
We left at 1.30 for Muttra [Mathura] and arrived at 3.30. Went to the
DB then to the Post Office. Then onto the town. Wonderfully clean,
paved streets, full of people and excellent bazaars. Took a boat at
the Sati Burj and went down the river front. Monkeys at every temple
and turtles in the Jumna [Yamuna] - we fed them all with a pice worth
of peas. Walked about the streets and then drove at dusk to the Katra
which stands on raised ground - the site first of a Buddhist monastery,
then of a great temple destroyed by Aurungzeb, now of a mosque.
Fine view of the town which rises, oddly enough, towards the river -
and falls again I suppose. Made arrangements for Dig.