^yal Gardens of Lahore. 313 



time tliey were first formed. There are three distinct gardens 

 descending from the south ; the highest, situated on remarkably 

 rising ground, receives theUslee canal*on its south side, through 

 a small stone buildino-, the front of which, towards the garden 

 has arches of a Gothic character ; the back of the building being 

 a blank wall, under which the canal first enters flowing into a 

 marble basin of three feet diameter, in the centre of which is a 

 fountain. The surplus water of the canal is conveyed by aque- 

 ducts, under a marble floor, and the water in the basin passes in 

 a thin sheet over a white marble slab, (from which it falls into the 

 garden) carved in scollops, the edges of the scollops being inlaid 

 witli black marble, in the fashion of fishes' scales. From this 

 scoilopped slab the water flows through the highest garden, and 

 running under the marble floor of a Barah Doorce, or stone 

 building of twelve arches, (being a square, having three to each 

 face, as its name, in the language of the country, imports,) it 

 falls to the second garden over a large surface of marble, sloping 

 at an angle of about twenty degrees from the perpendicular. 

 This fall consists of three fine slabs, each being ten feet by four, 

 the whole displaying a sheet of water often feet deep by twelve 

 feet in breadth, the marble being scoilopped and inlaid with 

 black, in a manner similar to the first slab already described. 

 A most beautiful effect is produced by the rippling of the water 

 over their scaly-marked indentations to its receptacle at the 

 bottom of the inclined plain, in a reservoir of marble, fourteen 

 feet by ten, and one foot in depth, having in its centre a Pulung^ 

 or couch, also of marble, with claw feet. On this couch the 

 Moghul emperors were used to recline in the hot season, where, 

 the waters rippling over the scallopped fall, they enjoyed the 

 refreshing luxury of coolness from the falling water agitating the 

 airy particles, and also the delightful sensation imparted by its 

 murmurs over the uneven surface of the marble ; thus rendering 



* This canal is brought to these gardens over high grounds from the 

 Rauvee river, a distance of upwards of sixty milesabovethe city of Lahore. 

 It also iirigates the country through which it passes, and a considerable 

 revenue is derived by the tax levied for its supply of water applied to 

 agricultural purposes. 



