116 GARDENS OF THE PLAINS DELHI 



a roof-garden, where the little fountain plays 

 amid the small square flower-beds. 



The pictured garden is shut in by dark trees, 

 their leaves patterned against the moonlit sky; 

 but the ladies' terrace at Talkatora has the 

 stirring freedom of a vast outlook all the plains 

 of Delhi melting away into the blue haze of a 

 far-off mountain range. Pale against the horizon 

 shine the domes, minarets, and fortress towers 

 of Shah Jahanabad ; nearer, the graceful tomb 

 of Safdar Jang is plainly seen, and beyond 

 towards the river stands Humayun's massive 

 dome. Then, turning to the hills behind, at the 

 very foot of the great embankment, lay the 

 blue jewel of a little hillside tarn, its ripples 

 lapping the stones of the old terrace wall, and 

 surrounded on all other sides by the red parched 

 rocks. 



The old pleasure-ground lies desolate enough 

 now, only the shrill cry of the peacock startles 

 one under the trees and an occasional covey oj: 

 partridges whirring past from among the rocks 

 outside. The little lake from which the garden 

 takes its name has been drained, and in its 

 place a vivid green patch of cultivation shows up 

 against the stony, barren hillside. The wells, 



