8 1 8 Observations upon the past and present [Oct. 



Inscription in the building (No, 2 of the sketch), of the water-palace. 



Another building of probably the same kind, and of which only the 

 foundation remains, occupied a singularly awkward situation as the 

 sketch will shew ; and a more glaring fault, the left outer line of the 

 central path is not parallel to the right one but slanting inwards, 

 adds much to the already too distorted appearance of the square. 

 It is difficult to account for the last deformity unless we suppose it the 

 clumsy repairing of some modern bungler. 



Notwithstanding these minor imperfections the water-palace is a 

 delightful spot. The chief defect, absence of trees, could be easily re- 

 medied ; for we have reason, to believe, that formerly the neighbourhood 

 was adorned with pleasure-houses, green fields, groves, and the wall 

 enclosure doubtless marked the boundary of a garden*, but of the 

 trees hardly a stump, of the buildings not a trace, remains, and Kaliya- 

 deh, surrounded by barren ravines and uncultivated plains looks 

 strangely bleak and deserted. Still few who have escaped from the heat 

 of the day to the inner arcade, " so protected from the sun that it scarce 

 ever sees it," while the running rivulets cool the air and the murmur 

 of the water falling over the cascades lulls to sleep, will ungratefully 

 call to mind the* deficiencies of the place, or feel tempted to re-echo 

 the sentiments of the surly poet, quanto pra^stantius esset 



viridi si margine clauderet undas 



Herba, nee ingenium violarant marmora tophura. 



1 This word was written on the stone , ^s- 



2 The space between the brackets contains the date 1030, H. or A. D. 1620. 



* The author of the Seyr Mutuakhereen describes Kaliyadeh, as consist- 

 ing of a heart-delighting palace, and a well, ever full, and ever flowing, sur- 

 rounded by pleasant buildings. He adds, that it was a country distinct from 

 Oujein, and whose woods abounded in elephants ; while its crops, fed the 

 Deccan and Guzerat. This melange of field and forest proves, that the author 

 wrote currente calamo, without pausing to think. That there was formerly a large 

 forest near Oujein, the traditions of Mahakal ban (hereafter noticed) seem to 

 indicate but there is not now the remotest trace of it, nor was there probably 

 any such when the country about the water-palace was well peopled and cultivated. 

 I should be almost inclined to suspect that those who formerly described Kaliya- 

 deh had never visited it, so unlike are their accounts from what we at present see. 

 The author from whom I have first quoted is evidently a stranger to Malwa 

 geography, for he speaks of Dhar as a city of the Deccan, 



