VERINAG BAGH 187 



a big hummum with stone -edged platforms 

 and other buildings can be traced on the east 

 side. 



For those who feel the charm of solitude in 

 a beautiful setting, Verinag Bagh is still an en- 

 chanting place to pass the early summer days. 

 So at least we found it ; reading, writing, and 

 painting under the fruit trees, or ensconced in 

 latticed summer-houses built across the stream, 

 where straggling Persian rose-bushes scented the 

 garden with their soft pink blooms. Early every 

 morning the Brahmins in charge of the spring 

 came to gather the flowers to decorate their 

 shrine. Later in the day, a school of small boys 

 were usually busy at work in the shade of a large 

 chenar, or were drawn up in line for a diving 

 lesson, learning to swim with merry splashings 

 in the clear, fast-flowing stream. 



At noon even the shady garden grows too 

 hot ; and then the alcoves round the tank prove 

 a welcome refuge, the icy water making the tem- 

 perature of the surrounding court some degrees 

 cooler than elsewhere. From the curiously vivid 

 green depths of the tank an emerald flash lights 

 up a polished black marble slab let into the walls, 

 revealing Jahangir's inscription : " The King 



