96 GARDENS OF THE PLAINS DELHI 



tomb of Isa Khan, and round the corner of an 

 old garden wall with picturesque, brightly-tiled 

 baradaris. The great dome of Humayun's 

 tomb is the most conspicuous building in all the 

 plains around Delhi ; but the garden, a square of 

 thirteen acres, in the midst of which the mauso- 

 leum stands, looks bare and disappointing. Its 

 interest, however, lies in the fact that it is the 

 earliest Mughal garden in India which still 

 preserves intact its original plan. The Ram 

 Bagh, at Agra, is of course earlier, but there the 

 design is quite obscured by modern roads and 

 plantations. At Humayun's garden -tomb, on 

 the other hand, the stone channels and fountain 

 basins have lately been carefully restored ; though 

 unhappily the garden seems to have been swept 

 bare of its characteristic fruit trees and shade. 



The site chosen for this Mughal garden of the 

 plains is practically level, and like the Taj the 

 garden ends in a terrace on the old river-bank. 

 The invariable watercourse, with raised paths on 

 either hand, leads up from the gateway to the 

 mausoleum, but the water channel is very narrow, 

 being hardly two feet across. Instead of the 

 usual simple plan the four long waterways 

 the garden is made up of a labyrinth of little 



