GARDEN OF MAHUN 13 



been lulled to sleep by the overpowering sense 



of beauty and the murmur of the running water. 



" By Allah ! I think, indeed, that this garden 



is not surpassed in beauty by even that famous 



garden mentioned in the Koran : — 



• The Garden of Iram, adorned with lofty pillars, 

 The like of which hath not been created in the World.' " 



Two other traits peculiar to these old Persian 

 gardens may be remarked : the one of so 

 constructing the canals and tanks as to keep 

 the water brimming to the level of the paths on 

 either hand ; the other, a charming custom of 

 paving the shallow watercourses with brilliant 

 blue tiles, the clear rivulets running in and out 

 between the gloom of the old cypress avenues 

 reflecting even a deeper blue than the cloudless 

 sky above them. 



The Mughal gardens, copied from the earlier 

 gardens of Turkestan and Persia, are invariably 

 square or rectangular in shape, their area being 

 divided into a series of smaller square parterres. 

 A high wall, adorned with serrated battlements 

 and pierced by a lofty entrance gateway, encircles 

 the garden. These imposing entrances are a 

 great feature of the Mughal style, and in the larger 

 gardens there are always four main gateways, 



