170 GARDENS OF THE DAL LAKE 



and the long carved water-chutes were white with 

 foam. A faithful servant, risking his Ufe, had 

 defied the Emperor's orders, and removed the 

 obstruction from the stream. Asaf Khan re- 

 buked him for his zeal and hastily had the stream 

 closed again. But the news reached the Emperor 

 in his gardens at Shalimar; whereupon he sent 

 for the terrified servant, and, much to the surprise 

 of the Court, instead of punishing him, bestowed 

 a robe of honour upon him to mark his admiration 

 for this act of devoted service ; at the same time 

 granting a sanad which gave the right to his 

 master to draw water for the garden from the 

 Shalimar stream.; 



The old approach was by water, and the 

 Nishat Bagh, like other Kashmir gardens, loses 

 greatly by the intrusion of the modern road, 

 which cuts off the lake-side terrace from all the 

 others. The enclosure is now five hundred and 

 ninety-five yards long and three hundred and 

 sixty wide. Being a private garden, and not a 

 royal pleasure-ground, there are only two large 

 divisions : the main garden built in a series of 

 terraces each slightly higher than the other ; 

 and the upper zenana terrace, where the wall 

 is eighteen feet high, and runs across the full 



