In the middle of
the south side of the screens is the main entrance, the pillars of which
are very tall. Vigne, classes these ruins among the finest in the world,
and perhaps he is right. At Islamabad there are several bungalows
provided for visitors, and I went into one of them, having first
cleared it of the "fakirs"--who are here too. These bungalows stand by
tanks in which are tame fish, as at Burven. A spring issues from the
hill side, just above them. Two men of the 7th Hussars, Walker and
Verschoyle, occupied another, and I breakfasted with them. Adjoining the
tanks is a small pleasure garden, with some buildings which are
inhabited by the Maharajah when he visits Islamabad. The place reminds
me more of a tea garden in the New Road, than the resort of Royalty. The
water from the tanks escapes under the front bungalow forming a pretty
cascade. Dined and passed the evening with the other fellows.
AUGUST 14th.--To Atchebul, six miles. This is a charming spot. It is a
pavilion and garden built--if my memory serves me--by the Emperor Shah
Jehan, for his wife; at its upper end rises a hill covered with small
deodars and other trees, and from the foot of this hill four springs
gush forth from crevices in the rock. The volume of water is very large,
and it is conveyed into three tanks at different levels.
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