cleared it of the "fakirs"--who are here too. These bungalows stand by
tanks in which are tame fish, as at Burven. A spring issues from the
hill side, just above them. Two men of the 7th Hussars, Walker and
Verschoyle, occupied another, and I breakfasted with them. Adjoining the
tanks is a small pleasure garden, with some buildings which are
inhabited by the Maharajah when he visits Islamabad. The place reminds
me more of a tea garden in the New Road, than the resort of Royalty. The
water from the tanks escapes under the front bungalow forming a pretty
cascade. Dined and passed the evening with the other fellows.
AUGUST 14th.--To Atchebul, six miles. This is a charming spot. It is a
pavilion and garden built--if my memory serves me--by the Emperor Shah
Jehan, for his wife; at its upper end rises a hill covered with small
deodars and other trees, and from the foot of this hill four springs
gush forth from crevices in the rock. The volume of water is very large,
and it is conveyed into three tanks at different levels. These tanks are
connected by broad canals lined with stone, and at the extremity of each
canal is a fine waterfall. There are also two lateral canals which run
through the whole length of the gardens, from the boundary of which the
water escapes in three cascades, the centre one from the tanks being
the largest. In the middle tank are twenty-five fountains, which were
turned on for my benefit; only seventeen of them play, and the best jets
are not more than six feet high. In the centre of this tank stands a
pavilion which I now inhabit. Its walls are of wooden trellis work, and
the ceiling is divided into panels on which are painted in many colours
the everlasting shawl pattern; it looks as though the floor-cloth had
been placed on the ceiling by mistake. Along the foot of the hill is a
ruined terrace built of bricks, with arches and alcoves crumbling to
pieces. There is also an arch over the canal, between the second and
third tanks. The whole garden was originally laid out in several
terraces faced with masonry, and having wide flights of stone steps from
one to the other; but all is now much decayed, and the garden itself is
quite uncultivated, except a small portion, and is but a wilderness of
fruit trees and fine chenars. On the left of it is the old Human or
bath, a series of domed and arched rooms containing baths and marble
seats. The interior is in a fair state of preservation, and the various
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