150 GARDENS OF THE PLAINS— LAHORE 



Moslem Paradise. Looking at the plan of the 

 Shalimar Bagh, its close resemblance to that of 

 the carpet will be easily seen. In the real garden 

 the terraces with cross canals are square, but the 

 whole design forms an oblong and in each case 

 the central ornament is a tank. Green depres- 

 sions mark the smaller canals, and eight grass 

 chabutras, four on the upper terrace and four 

 on the lowest level, take the place of the eight 

 pearl pavilions. 



This old royal carpet illustrates more clearly 

 than anything I have seen the customary method 

 of planting when these gardens were first laid out. 

 It shows the old symbolic avenues of cypress and 

 flowering fruit trees — which same idea was carried 

 out in Pliny's Tuscan gardens by his avenues of 

 clipped box obelisks and apple trees planted 

 alternately — with their mystic birds beak to 

 beak in the old traditional fashion, and the 

 tulip border beneath close to the stream. Four 

 large chenar trees are planted at the angles of 

 the pavilions, forming an outer avenue on each 

 side of the main canal, and trees fill the squares 

 at the corners of the central tank. Flower-beds 

 border the smaller watercourses and the inter- 

 vening squares between the trees are filled with 



