his reply was "With our troops, Sir?" Our troops! good
heavens! a black man speaking to me of "our troops." It is customary I
know to call these Asiatics our fellow subjects, but I never before had
the fact so forcibly brought before me.

AUGUST 24th.--I got up early this morning and have spent half the day on
the "Dul" or "City Lake"--a large sheet of water which lies at the foot
of the hill behind Sreenuggur. Besides the excessive beauty of the lake
itself there are many objects of interest to be seen on its banks. I
visited in succession the Mussul Bagh, Rupa Lank or Silver Isle,
Shaliman Bagh, Suetoo Causeway, Nishat Bagh, Souee Lank or Golden Isle,
and floating gardens. A word or two of description for each. The Mussul
Bagh is a large grove of fine chenars planted in lines so as to form
avenues at right angles to each other. There must be several hundred of
these noble trees upon the ground, I do not mean fallen but erect and
vigorous. The Shaliman Bagh is an extensive and well cultivated pleasure
garden with pavilions, tanks, canals and fountains, in true oriental
style. The upper pavilion is especially worthy of notice having a
verandah built of magnificent black marble veined with quartz
containing gold. It is surrounded by a large tank possessing one hundred
and fifty-nine fountains, and its exterior is grandly if not
artistically painted. The Nishat Bagh is smaller but scarcely less
attractive. It is arranged in a series of fifteen terraces, from which a
splendid view is obtained of the lake and adjacent country. Down its
centre runs a canal, expanding at intervals into tanks and having a
waterfall for each terrace, with a single straight row of fountains
numbering more than one hundred and sixty. Grand hills rise immediately
above it. It contains pavilions of fruit trees, and as a flower garden,
is superior to the Shaliman Bagh. The Suetoo Causeway, is a series of
old bridges and embankments which formerly crossed the lake, and was two
or three miles long, but only portions of it now remain. The two islands
are small and covered with trees, having no interest of themselves, but
adding greatly to the appearance of the lake. They are I believe
artificially constructed. The celebrated floating gardens are very
curious; they were formed by dividing the stalks of the water weeds near
their roots, and sprinkling the surface of them with earth, which
sinking a little way was entangled in the fibres and retained; F