76 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891. 



taste, and in strict harmony with the palace. If property kept up, 

 and retained in their original style, the artificiality of which is so 

 prominent in the white marble-paved walks, fountains, and covered 

 walks, and by the predominance of lime-trees in the plantations, they 

 would remain one of the finest specimens of architectural gardening 

 in India. 



The Public Park in Baroda, situated between the native town and 

 the camp, is very extensive (about a hundred acres, I believe) ancl 

 attractive. The river Vishwamitri winds its course through the 

 park, and is crossed by several more or less ornamental bridges. 



The steep river-banks are here and there varied by the presence of 

 an ancient picturesque temple, or by solemn thick groves of shady 

 old tamarind- trees, by clusters of graceful bamboos, or bits of 

 babul- jungle, and are almost everywhere thickly studded with 

 clumps- of arundo and munj-grass — (Sacchancm sara) — which latter 

 by its graceful feathery silver-like flower-spikes, come3 near to- 

 rivalling the well-known pampas-grass in beauty. Following the 

 course of the river, many bits of beautiful scenery and objects pleas- 

 ing to the eye are met with, but at the same time the intelligent ob- 

 server cannot fail to see what excellent conditions for scenery of far 

 greater beauty and of imposing grandeur present themselves, but at 

 present are not made the most of. Another special feature of the park 

 are the numerous clumps of bamboos, of which several kinds are met 

 with. The park is just old enough to have acquired the peculiar 

 attractiveness which old and well-grown shady trees always lend to 

 garden scenery, and contains several fine specimens of trees, many of 

 which are but rarelv met with in Indian gardens. I could obtain 

 no information, as to who originally designed the plan of the park, 

 and should the name be known, it had better remain unpronounced^ 

 as the designer has evidently been totally ignorant of the art and 

 requirements of landscape gardening, and even perfectly destitute 

 of taste, the principal qualification for landscape gardening. The 

 most prominent fault, a fault that too often betrays the hand of 

 amateurs in landscape gardening, is the far too great number of 

 roads and footpaths, the majority of which are perfectly aimless, and 

 too often do not serve any other purpose than to destroy effects which 

 in their absence might be pleasing and attractive. The original 



