LANDSCAPE GARDENING IN NATIVE STATES. 77 



plan is defective also with regard to the distribution of plantations, 

 and from the beginning- the unelVective treatment of light and shade 

 has been further sinned against by subsequent planting, without any 

 noticeable thinning of the original plantations. The consequence is 

 that the park is at present not much more than a wilderness without 

 character, instead of the beautiful park which the local conditions and 

 the unusual advantage of charming river-scenery are so eminently 

 favourable for creating, and almost seem to claim as a necessity. 

 Great improvements could, however, easily be obtained, and a very 

 few weeks' work with the felling axe, under able supervision, would 

 entirely alter the character of the park and vastly add to its attrac- 

 tiveness and beauty. I understand it is H. H. the Gaekwar's inten- 

 tion to have the park entirely remodelled, as soon as the new gardens, 

 now being laid out, have been completed. The Park contains a 

 rather large plant house, of which the chief attractions are a few 

 large palms, among which is an unusually fine and large clump of the 

 cane-palm [Calamus rotaivj) ; but the almost entire absence of ferns, 

 to which plant-houses in Bombay owe their principal charm and 

 beauty, is strikingly felt. The zoological collection, which contains 

 the common kinds of wild animals, as tigers, panthers, lions, bears, 

 besides a few deer, is greatly in need of better accommodation, as 

 will be easily perceived from the fact of the deer being tied up to 

 trees by ropes, but also in this respect improvements are under 

 contemplation. As the able Superintendent of the Park, Mr. T. M. 

 Henry, was absent on leave during my visit, it would be unfair, 

 from the present state of the Park, to form any opinion as to its 

 general maintenance. 



Though not a garden, the Camp must be mentioned as a feature 

 of unusual grandeur and beauty. The "maidan," one of the largest 

 and finest in India, surrounded by beautiful groves of old trees, 

 bears ample evidence of the presence of a masterhand in creating a 

 most perfect picture. The broad avenues, the thick clusters of trees, 

 and the few but wonderfully fine trees scattered over the large open 

 space, present a scenery, the beauty of which could not be obtained 

 except by judicious co-operation with nature, and may, as far as my 

 information goes, be credited to the hand of the late Sir James 

 Outram. 



