GARDENING TN NATIVE STATES. 479 



Harsinghar {Nyctanthes wbor tristes), afford thorn an abundant 

 supply of powerfully BCented flowers for the purpose of decorating 

 their persons by mean.'; of garlands, and that is about all tbey care 

 about. To find natives of India who possess any idea of landscape 

 gardening- is very rare ; indeed, I do not remember to have met 

 with a single such specimen during all my experience. It is 

 therefore not to be wondered at that the homes of the people of 

 this country do not present those features which, wc are accustomed 

 to look for among the residences of tlie rich and intelligent. During 

 the reign of the Mahomedan kings magnificent monuments of 

 architectural beauty were raised, which stand to this day as silent 

 evidences of their love of luxurious living ; but we look in vain 

 for any attempt at landscape gardening. Even the Taj, that " dream 

 in marble/' had but a poor garden around it. The grounds were simply 

 divided into squares, with a row of fountains going up the centre. 

 That certain places lend themselves naturally to the development 

 of high class gardening, will be readily admitted by any one who 

 has visited some of the capitals of the ruling chiefs in Rajputana, 

 notably Jeypore and Oodeypore ; in both these places are to be found 

 perhaps two of the finest laid-out gardens to be met with anywhere in 

 India. I will first of all describe that at Jeypore. 



Here, the spot where now thousands of the Maharaja's subjects 

 spend their evenings in dreamy enjoyment, was once a dreary waste ; 

 a perfect e} r esore, where the sewage of the town was deposited. It 

 was covered with prickly pear jungle, and was a sandy waste, in 

 which nothing, it was said, would grow. The spot lies between the 

 two principal gates of the city — the Ajmere and Sanganeer gates, and 

 running parallel with the walls of the city. In 18G9 Rajputana was 

 devastated by one of the worst famines on record, and the late 

 Maharaja, Sewai Ram Singh, hit upon the happy idea of converting 

 this eyesore into- a garden, which was then started as a famine relief 

 work, where thousands of the starving population were provided with 

 w r ork and wages. Dr. F. W. A. DeFabeck, at present Surgeon-General, 

 Madras, was at that time Residency Surgeon at Jeypore, and it was 

 he who originally designed the now famous " Ram Newas " public 

 garden, which has served as a model for several other gardens in 

 various parts of India. But the first design had to be considerablv 



