214 PINJOR 



English can grow plants and flowers to perfection, 

 and many that we never knew to exist before. 

 But why can't you design a garden to grow them 

 in ? Look at the gardens our kings and princes 

 made before you came." 



It was true enough of modern India, but I 

 could not let the remark pass altogether un- 

 challenged. So I replied that, at Hampton 

 Court, the King-Emperor himself possessed at 

 least one fine example ; and that many other 

 lovely gardens were scattered up and down 

 our land. But the attempt was useless I 

 could see he disbelieved me ; for had he not 

 been a great traveller ? Never had he seen 

 in all India such a thing as a well-designed 

 English garden, beautiful though their flowers 

 might be, and so to his mind such a thing simply 

 could not exist ; which settled the matter to his 

 satisfaction, if not to mine. 



We were standing while we talked under the 

 great wide archways of the palace bounding 

 the harem garden on its western side for 

 Pinjor was a country-house as well as a garden, 

 and needed more accommodation than that 

 afforded by the slighter baradaris in gardens 

 near a city, to which the family or Court might 



