62 MAJOR W. HODSON. 



present I am moving rapidly along the banks of 

 a small canal which traverses the Doab, between 

 the Eavi and Biyas rivers, for purposes of irri- 

 gation ; accompanying Major Napier [afterwards 

 Lord Napier of Magdala], to whom the pro- 

 secution of all public improvements throughout 

 the Land of the Five Rivers belongs." 



On the 15th he is resting for the day at 

 Dinanagar, " in a little garden - house of Ranjit 

 Singh's in the midst of a lovely grove of great 

 extent, through whose dark-green boughs we have 

 a splendid panorama of the snowy range to back 

 our horizon. We have great projects of extend- 

 ino- the canal by various branches to feed and 

 fertilise the whole extent of the Doab, which 

 wants nothing but water to make it a garden, 

 so fertile is the soil. . . . The weather is perfect, 

 so I am as happy as mere externals can make one." 



A few days later he was staying at " a fine pictur- 

 esque old castle or fort built by the Emperor Shah 

 Jahan. Its lofty walls, with their turrets and battle- 

 ments, enclose a quadrangle of the size of the great 

 court of Trinity, while from the centre rises a dark 

 mass of buildings three storeys high, forming the 

 keep ; presenting externally four blank walls pierced 

 with loopholes, but within, arches and pillars and 

 galleries with an open space in the centre, in which 

 they all face. The summit rises sixty-four feet, 

 which, in addition to the great elevation of the 

 mound on which the castle stands, gives a noble 

 view of mountain, river, and plain, covered with 

 the finest timber and green with young corn ; the 

 whole backed by range on range, peak after peak, 

 of dazzling snow." 



