THE TOUR 



341 



some extent have the appearance and beauty of 

 mosaics. 



I remained a few days at the palace, and then I 

 returned along the bank of the canal, that canal whose 

 restoration, as I have mentioned, led to the discovery of 

 the palace. The first march was to the head of the 

 canal, the point where it receives its water from the 

 Jumna. The length of the march was not very great, 

 but it had brought about an entire change in the 

 scenery, a change that, I must confess, I found agree- 

 able. Instead of the wilderness of waste and forest, 

 I now looked over a wide, open plain, half enclosed by 

 long blue lines of distant mountains, and here and there 

 above them rose some of the glistening peaks of the 

 snowy range. The plain was still mostly wild, but 

 not far off there were fields with rising crops, groves 

 of mango trees, and some few villages. 



Where the plain was uncultivated, it was covered by 

 a low, shrub-like plant, which produces a curious berry. 

 The berry is oval in shape, very small, of the colour of red 

 coral, and of almost equal hardness ; on the broader end 

 is a little round patch of black. This berry is termed 

 the " ruttee," and is used all over India by goldsmiths 

 and jewellers as the standard by which small ornaments, 

 pearls, and precious stones are weighed. Though less 

 in weight, it corresponds to the " carat " of the jewellers 

 of Europe. There must be countless millions of these 

 berries in use over India, yet I do not know of any 

 place, except this belt of waste land below the Shewa- 

 lic, where they are found, and, moreover, from this part 

 of the waste I never heard of their being exported. 



