BERNIER ON THE ART OF THE INDIES 65 



grounds from the high platform of the mausoleum, 

 he says : " To the left and right of that dome 

 on the lower surface you observe several garden 

 walks covered with trees and many parterres of 

 flowers. . . . Between the end of the principal 

 walk and this dome is an open and pretty large 

 space, which I call a water parterre, because the 

 stones on which you walk, cut and figured in 

 various forms, represent the borders of box in 

 our parterres." Here it would seem that Bernier 

 is describing the great platform of the Taj itself. 

 Although he is, as a rule, singularly clear and 

 accurate in his observations and statements, in 

 his account of his visit to " the Paradise of the 

 Indies " (Kashmir) with the Emperor Aurungzeb 

 he speaks of sailing up the whole length of the 

 Shalimar Bagh, but as this garden is on three 

 distinct levels, it is a little difficult to understand 

 how he accomplished the feat. Be that as it 

 may, in spite of his natural preference for all 

 things French, this genial old Parisian cannot 

 restrain his admiration for the Mughal buildings, 

 even though he finds " the columns, the archi- 

 traves and cornices are, indeed, not formed 

 according to the proportion of the five orders 

 of architecture so strictly observed in French 



