THE ZENANA TERRACE 151 



parterres. So without much difficulty we can 

 imagine for ourselves what Shah Jahan's great 

 pleasance may have looked like before it was 

 despoiled. 



The Shalimar has suffered like all its fellows. 

 These large enclosures have been so often the 

 camping - ground of marauding armies, while 

 subsequent neglect and change of taste have 

 frequently swept away the few remaining char- 

 acteristics within their walls. But in spite of 

 evil times and changes something of the old 

 enchantment lingers round the great pool set 

 in the mango grove, the one open square of light 

 in all this dim green garden at Lahore. 



Shut in on three sides by a dense woodland, 

 against which the small white pavilions stand 

 out in sharp relief, the fourth side bounded by 

 the walls of the upper terrace, the large tank lies 

 deserted, tranquil in the quiet evening air ; rich, 

 peaceful harmonies of pale green water reflecting 

 deep green trees, rose-red walls, and the darker 

 rose of amaranth in the parterres. In the shadows 

 of the old zenana terrace, the once clear rippling 

 water-ways are muddy now and choked with 

 plants. The hundred little fountains play fit- 

 fully : a faint grey spray scarcely seen against 



