Royal Gardens of Lahore. 315 



other above, and on a level with the ground. At one end of 

 this building, on the space beneath the usual level of the ground, 

 there is a well of water, towards which the lower room opens ; 

 and when it is requisite to cool this room, the following opera- 

 tion is put in action, viz., at the top of the well there is a large 

 wheel, over which pass two ropes parallel to each other, to 

 which are suspended along the entire length of the ropes, 

 reaching to a depth of two or three feet in the water, a succession 

 of earthen pots ; so that, when the wheel is put in motion, the 

 buckets are drawn up full on one side, and, passing over the 

 top of the well, return their contents again into it, the operation 

 of which agitates the circumambient air, causing a rapid eva- 

 poration, thus rendering the chamber refreshingly cool. 



During the encampment of the embassy at Lahore, (a period 

 of three weeks,) we made frequent excursions in its neighbour- 

 hood, and within the extent of three to five miles, beheld 

 numerous remains of the mansions of the Emirs, or nobles of the 

 empire, of which there is scarcely a remaining vestige in the 

 vicinity of Delhee, for there 





" The spider holds the veil in the palace of Caesar ; the owl 

 stands sentinel in the watch-tower of Afrasiab." 

 In one of these excursions, on the right bank of the Rauvee, 

 we stumbled, as it w^re, upon a most magnificent mausoleum 

 of the Emperor Jehangeer, nothing inferior to the celebrated 

 Taj Muhul at Agrah. The building which contains this mau- 

 soleum is much larger than that at Agrah, though it is not, in 

 the exterior, of so chaste and beautiful a design. The large 

 piazzas which surround this immense mass of buildings contain 

 numerous accommodations for pilgrims and other travellers, 

 and are floored throughout with pudding-stone. There are 

 various chambers within the edifice, some ornamented with 

 paintings in fresco, tolerably well executed, particularly some 

 «f domestic scenes, of parties eating fruit, ^c, m a taste 



