A WORD-PAINTING BY MOORE. 41 



Shalimar when interpreted means " Agapemone," or 

 " Abode of love," and was according to all accounts a sort 

 of " Petit Trianon " of the Emperor Jehangir, and his 

 Queen, Nur Mahal. 



The sun was just setting when we left, and the lake, 

 with its mountains on all sides, and mosques, temples 

 and villages scattered around, filled one with astonish- 

 ment at the accuracy of Moore's second-hand description : 



Oh, to see it at sunset, when warm o'er the lake 



Its splendour at parting a summer eve throws, 

 Like a bride full of blushes when lingering to take 



A last look of her mirror at night ere she goes. 

 "When the shrines through the foliage are gleaming half shown. 



There was not a breath of air to ruffle the water, and 

 the mountains were mirrored back with startling exactness. 

 Their shadows and reflections were perfectly wonderful 

 and of every hue and tint. Each hill seemed to have 

 its own particular colour, and, I am hound to add, 

 its own particular smell, for the water was very low 

 indeed. 



One ought of course to visit Kashmir in the spring, 

 when the roses are in bloom and the ground covered with 

 wild flowers. But although it is beautiful at all times, 

 I believe its chief charm to the Anglo-Indian is the 

 great contrast it forms to the plains ; its coolness and 

 greenness, when the rest of India, is baked and dried up 

 and brown. It was rather too cool to-night on the water, 



