cultivation of flic melon. Wo have elsewhere shown (§ 40.) that this appears to he a
mistake. Sir Jolm Malcolm says, that, when he was iu Persia ( a . d . 1800), grapes
were sold at less than a hahpcnny a pound ; while, in some provinces, fruit had scarcely
a nominal value. (Buckc’s Beauties, ^c. o f Nature.)
SuBSECT. 3. O f Gai'dening in Arabia.
7 43. The gardening and agriculture o f Arabia may properly be said to constitute biit
one art, and that art is at the lowest ebb. Although the Arabs cultivate the grouiui,
they do not hold it in any fixed occupancy. The whole of Arabia, with some few exceptions
on its boundaries, is one immense common, over which tho dilfcrcnt tribes arc
in couthmal motion. When they come, at the rainy season, to a favourable spot, tlicy
sow it, wait about three mouths for its growth, reap the haiwcst, and proceed onward.
The Fclhilis, or fixed cultivators, are the objects of thcir most profound contempt, and
au alliance with them is considered as involving the deepest ignominy. (E d . liev., and
Gard, Mag., vol. 'V'ii. p. 93.)
Subsect. 4. O f the present State o f Gardening in Hindostán.
744. O f the gardening o f Hindostán \vo liave collected various notices from travellers
ancient and modern, chiefly on gardcuing as an ai’t of design and taste, but partly on
horticultiu’C and floriculture.
Division i. Gardening in Hindostán, as an A r t o f Design and Taste.
745. The gardens o f the chiefs o f India, noiv or lately existing, ai*c of the same general
character as those of Persia. In the gardens belonging to the Mahometan princes,
which iu some parts of India were made at a very great expense, a separate piece of
ground was usually allotted for each kind of plant, the whole being divided into square
])lots, separated by walks. Tlius, one plot was filled with rose trees, another with pomegranates,
&c. The gai-dcns of this sort, most celebrated in India, were those of Raii-
galorc and Delhi. Tlic former, belonging to Tippoo, were made by him and his father,
llydei- Ali. As Bangalore is very much elevated above the sea, it enjoys a temperate
climate ; and in the royal gardens there were seen not only tlic trees of the country, but
also the cypress, vine, apple, pear, and p e a ch : the latter two produced fruit. Strawberries
were likewise raised, and oaks and pine trees, brought from the Cape of Good
Hope, flourished. These gardens arc now in a state of decay. Some magnificent
palaces and walled gardens arc mentioned by Moricr and other Oriental travellers; but
all agree in representing their interior in a state of neglect.
74(3. A garden a t Cabul, in Afghanistan, between Persia and Hindostán, is thus described
by the Emperor B ab e r: — “ Opposite to the fort of A dinahpur, to the south, on a
rising gi-ound, I formed a charbagh (or gi-cat garden), in the year 914 (1508). I t is
called jjaglic Vafa (the Garden of Fidelity). I t overlooks the river which flows between
the fort and tlie palace. In tho year in ivhich I defeated Behái- Khan, and conquered
Lahore aud Dibálpúr, I brought plantains and planted them here. They grew and
thrived. The year before I had also planted the sugar-cane in it, which throve remarkably
well. I sent some of them to Budakhshan aud Bokhai-a. I t is on an elevated
site, enjoys running water, and the climate in the winter season is temperate. In tho
garden there is a small hillock, from which a stream of water, sufficient to drive a mill,
incessantly flows into tho garden below. The four-fold ficld-plot of this garden is
situated on this eminence. On the south-west part of this garden is a reservoir of water
of large dimensions which is wholly planted round with orange tre e s ; there arc likewise
pomegranates. All around the piece of water the gi-oimd is quite covered with
clover. Tliis spot is the vci-y eye of the beauty of the garden. A t the time when the
orange becomes yellow, the prospect is delightful. Indeed, the garden is charmingly
laid out.”
747. The garden o f Bagh-e-keUm is thus described b y th e same author: — “ On the
outside of the garden arc large and beautiful spreading plane trees, under the shade of
which there arc agreeable spots finely sheltered. A perennial stream, large enough to
turn a mill, runs tlu-ough the g a rd en ; and on its banks avc planted planes and other
trees. Formerly this stream flowed in a winding and crooked course ; but I ordered its
couVvSG to be altered according to a regular plan, wliich added greatly to the beauty of
the place. Lower down than these villages, and about a kop or a kop and a half above
the level plain, on the lower side of the hills, is a fountain, named Kluvajch-sch-yárán
(Kwajch, three friends), around which there are three species of tre e s ; above the fountain
arc many beautiful plane trees which yield a pleasant shade. On the two sides of
the fountain, on small eminences at tho bottom of the hills, there arc a number of oak
tre e s ; except on those spots where there are groves oi' oak, there is not an oak to be met
with on the hills to the west of Kabul. In front of tliis fountain, towards tho plaint
tlici-0 arc many spots covered with the flowery arghwau tree, and, besides these arghwán
plots, there arc none else iu the whole country.” (Memoirs o f Baber, Emperor o f H in dostán,
See,.) f J
748. The gardens o f Kalimnr, near Delhi, wliich were made in the beginning of the
seventeenth century by the Emperor Shah Jclian, arc said to have cost 1,000,000/.
stcrlmg, and were about a mile in circumfcrcucc. They were sun-ounded by a high
brick w a ll; but tho whole arc now in ruins. (Edin. Encyc., art. India, p. 87.) “ The
palace of Delhi,” says Bishop Ilcbcr, “ formerly celebrated' for the splendour and richness
of Its architecture, though still inhabited by the ‘King of Kings’ (tho Emperor
Akbar Shab), is now in a ruinous s ta te ; not from absolute poverty, but because its
inhabitants have no idea of cleaning or mending any thing. The gardens,” he continues,
“ arc not large, but, in thcir way, must have been extremely rich and beautiful.
They are full of very old orange and other fruit trees, with terraces and partcn-cs, on
whicli many rose-bushes and jonquils were growing. A channel of white marble for
water, with httle fountain pipes of the same material, cai-vcd like roses, is carried licro
and there, among these parteiTcs, and at tlic end of the tcn-acc is a beautiful octagonal
jiavihon, also of marble, lined with mosaic flowers, with a marble fountain in its centre,
and a beautiful bath in a recess on one of its sides. The windows of this pavilion, which
IS nused to the height of the city wall, command a good view of Delhi and its ncigh-
liourhood. But all was, when wc saw it, dirty, lonely, and wretched: the bath and
fountain were d r y ; the inlaid pavement was hid with lumber and gardeners’ sweepings,
and the walls were stained with the dung of birds and bats. How little did Shah Jchan,
the founder of these fino buildings, foresee what would bo the fate of his descendants, or
what his own would be ! ‘ Vanity of vanities!’ was surely never wi-itten in more legible
characters than on the dilapidated arcades of Delhi.” (Trav. in Ind., p. 562.)
749. O f the royal gardens o f Shah Leemar, near Lahore, a city of Hindostán, some
account is given in the Journal o f the Royal Institution for July, 1820. “ They differ,”
says ilic writer, “ from the indigenous royal gardens generally found in India, in
belonging to the class of hanging gardens.” Thcir length is about 500 yards, and thcir
bi-cadtli about 140. They consist of three tci-raccs, watered by a stream brought upwards
ot sixty miles, and irrigating the counti-y through which it passes. The only thing
worthy of notice is the use of this water in cascades for cooling tlic air. There arc largo
trees, including the apple, pcar, and m an g o ; a border and island of flowers, among
which tho narcissus abounds.
750. The gardens o f Patna. A t the eastern extremity of Patna is a large wood of
palms and frait trees, pointed out to Bishop Ilcbcr as tlic gardens belonging to a
summer palace, built and planted by the Nawfib Jaificr Ali Klian. Tlicy are renowned
for thcir beauty and extent, being two or tlircc miles in circuit. (Ibid., vol. ii. p. 237.)
75\. The residence o f Baboo Hurree Mohun Thakoor ( fg . 212.), Bisliop Hcber found
more like an Italian villa, and the conversation of the owner more European, than lie
expected. Tlic house is sun-ounded by an extensive garden, laid out in formal partcn-cs
of roses, intersected by straight walks, with some fine trees, and a chain of tanks,
fountains, and summer-houses, not ill adapted to a climate where air, water, and
sweet smells arc almost the only natural objects which can bo relished during the
greater part of the year, I'h c garden is little less Italian than (lie fa9adc of the liouse ;
and, on the bishop mentioning this .similarity, the owner observed, that the taste for