His elder brother, the Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir, is in many respects
of a different type. Keeping more aloof from the English colony, he spends
much of his time in devotion and the privacy of the inner Palace.
On leaving Sir Amar Singh, one of his henchmen conducted me across the
iron bridge spanning a cut from the Jhelum, and into the warren-like
precincts of the Palace; presently we emerged from an obscure passage, and
found ourselves at the "front door," where, in the visitors' book, by
means of the stumpy pencil attached thereto, I inscribed my name and
condition.
_April_ 27.--His Highness the Maharajah having invited us to a luncheon
given by him in honour of Colonel Pears, the new Resident, we prepared to
cross the famous Dal Lake to the Nishat Bagh, the scene of the present
feast, which we fondly hoped might recall the glorious days of the Moguls
when Jehangir dallied in the historic Shalimar with the fair Nourmahal.
"Th' Imperial Selim held a feast
In his magnificent Shalimar:--
In whose saloons ...
The valleys' loveliest all assembled."
Our shikara, a sort of canoe paddled by four active fellows, with the
stern, where we sat on cushions, carefully screened from the sun by an
awning, was brought alongside the dounga at about 11.30, as we had some
seven or eight miles to accomplish before reaching the Nishat Bagh.
Leaving the main river just above the Club, we paddled down the Sunt-i-kul
Canal, which runs between the European quarter and the Takht-i-Suleiman,
the rough brown hill which, crowned with its temple, forms a constant
background to Srinagar.
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