440 
VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OF THE PUNJAB AND KASHMIR. 
glassy waters glide flocks of white geese ; 
shady vistas, bowers full of perfumes, wind- 
ing paths, and small groups of palms, allow 
the eye no resting place of monotony, either 
in form or hue. But leaving this magnificent 
place, the self-adorned plain alone meets the 
eye, and this soon degenerates into a sterile 
tract, where the beautiful karita only enlivens 
the surface. Even this at length disappears, 
and we enter upon a bare and inhospitable 
plain . 
But we shall proceed no further in this 
direction, which would lead us into the moun- 
tains, with the small alternate plains, the towns, 
the villages, the gardens, and the groves in- 
tervening between the Indus and Candahar. 
They lie beyond the geographical range of 
this sketch. We, therefore, once more place 
ourselves at the junction of the Ghara and the 
Indus, in the vicinity of Mooltan. A visible 
distinction exists between the character of the 
soil in this district and in that of Bahawalpure. 
The tamarisks become scarce, and the lighter 
trees, as the karita, the ber, and the dwarf 
mimosa, more abundant. Highly cultivated 
lands spread in all directions ; the cotton-plant 
is grown in great quantities, and immense 
fields of sugar-cane extend around the nume- 
rous fortified places. Around Mooltan, in 
particular, gardens planted profusely with the 
mango, the orange, the citron, and the lime, 
with dates, and a variety of vegetables, and 
fields of gram — a grain inferior to wheat, but 
still useful and nutritious — testify to the 
generous qualities of the earth. 
This place is now invested with a melan- 
choly interest for our countrymen. Its 
gardens and its groves, its pastures and its 
corn-fields, have been trodden down by the 
feet and illumined by the fires of a besieging 
army, and many are they in this country 
whose friends lie festering in their narrow 
homes under the shadow of Mooltan. A 
recollection of new glory acquired by the 
British arms will for ever cling to this place, 
but a few years will wipe away the melan- 
choly feelings which the usual cost of glory — 
sorrow and slaughter — has spread through 
thousands of English and Indian homes. 
Between Mooltan and Lahore the country 
presents few features difiering from those 
already described. Under the blasting influ- 
ence of native rule, the population has been 
enabled in a large degree to develop the 
resources of the soil, and even there travellers 
have been filled with admiration by the 
scenes of plenty and natural wealth there dis- 
played. If our government has, as is univer- 
sally admitted, exerted a fostering influence 
in other countries, we may look for the same 
result here ; and the already productive plains 
of the Punjab may be made to bear harvests 
second in abundance and beauty to those of 
no other region in the world. 
The neighbourhood of Lahore is full of 
large and delightful gardens, planted with the 
fruit-trees and flowering shrubs common to 
most parts of Hindostan, while few of those 
which flourish in western countries are to be 
found. The mango, the mulberry, the plan- 
tain, the apple and peach, of inferior size and 
quality ; the janson, the fig, the karinda, the 
quince, the orange, the lime, both acid and 
sweet, and the date, are plentiful, but the 
fruit of the last is seldom eatable. Pome- 
granates also abound, but are little prized, 
and a few vines climb up the sunny banks. 
Melons of indifferent quality grow in such 
numbers that they are scarcely considered as 
fruit. A large portion of the land near the 
city is devoted to the culture of vegetables for 
the consumption of the inhabitants. The 
badrisjar, an Eastern vegetable, gourds of 
several kinds, with cucumbers, are chiefly 
produced, whilst immense fields of sweet fennel 
are grown for the sake of the seed. 
The flowers of this district are not very 
various, but' are prized for their delicious 
odours. Chaplets of the blossoms are made 
and sold in the bazaars. Here, as is the case 
in most Eastern countries, gardens are open 
to the public ; and any individual, preserving 
due respect for the fruits and flowers, may 
freely enter and stroll about them. The sale 
of the produce is a large source of revenue 
to the proprietors. Mr. Massar observes: 
" The mean practice prevails of selling the 
produce ;" but the same might be said of the 
English gardener, who derives an income from 
his orchards, his flower-parterres, his con- 
servatories, or his hot-houses. 
The beauties of Shalimar,* a garden which 
was once the pride of the family of Timur, 
have now faded away, and scarcely enough of 
their magnificence remains to tell what once 
they were. Marble tanks and fountains, with 
their costly machinery, and stone-built pavi- 
lions, still exist, too substantial for quick decay ; 
but a mass of rank and wild vegetation has 
overgrown walks and pai'terres, and almost 
effaced the beauty for which Shalimar was 
once famous throughout the continent of India. 
Still, however, magnificent shrubberies re- 
main, and flowers and plants in great variety 
spread their clouds of perfume above and 
* It has been paid, after an elaborate description of 
these far-famed gardens : — 
" Many a glorious spot is seen, 
With flowery glades and groves of green ; 
Many a scene of rich delight. 
Where earth is verdant and sky is bright. 
With sunny bowers and shadowy dells. 
Many a spot where beauty dwells ; 
But, ah ! thy gardens are lovelier far. 
Thou pride of the East, thou sweet Shalimar !* 
