54 GARDENS OF THE PLAINS AGRA 



grass-plots, and scattered trees show that the 

 garden has quite lost its original character. 

 The four great tanks on the central platform 

 are dry and empty, no glittering fountain spray 

 breaks the darkness of the doorways, nor over- 

 flows in ripples down the tiny carved water- 

 chutes ; and the empty, narrow watercourses, 

 once blue ribbons of the sky laid on the rosy 

 mauve of the broad flagged pathways, now look 

 meaningless and forlorn. The majority of the 

 Mughal gardens are on such a huge scale that 

 it seems, at first sight, almost vain to hope for 

 their complete restoration. But the tomb of 

 I'timad-ud-Daulah and its enclosure are com- 

 paratively small, and it is easy to realise how 

 much this exquisite mausoleum would gain in 

 beauty and interest if its old setting were revived. 

 The delicious flash and sparkle of the water 

 running through its narrow channels would give 

 life and character to the broad stone-ways and 

 platforms ; the deep gloom of the cypress 

 avenues, a welcome relief and perspective, chang- 

 ing the glare of sunshine on white inlaid marble 

 to a soft iridescent bloom. Rose-bushes should 

 border the raised walks, bending over to break 

 the hard edges of the stone-work, and drop their 



