the lake and the town is the Munshi Bagh, in and
near which are the houses of Europeans including the Residency. The
splendid plane trees beside the river bank, to which house boats are
moored, and the beautiful gardens attached to some of the houses, make
this a very charming quarter. The Takht i Suliman to the west of
Srinagar is crowned by a little temple, whose lower walls are of great
age. The town itself is intersected by evil-smelling canals and consists
in the main of a jumble of wooden houses with thatched roofs. Sanitary
abominations have been cleansed from time to time by great fires and
punished by severe outbreaks of cholera. The larger part of the
existing city is on the left side. The visitor may be content to view
the parts of the town to be seen as he is rowed down the broad waterway
from the Munshi Bagh passing under picturesque wooden bridges, and
beside temples with shining metal roofs and the beautiful mosque of Shah
Hamadan. On the left bank below the first bridge is the Shergarhi with
the Maharaja's houses and the Government Offices. Opposite is a fine
_ghat_ or bathing place with stone steps. Between the third and fourth
bridges on the right bank is Shah Hamadan's mosque, a carved cedar house
with Buddhist features, totally unlike the ordinary Indian mosque. The
stone mosque close by on the opposite side, built by Mir Jahan, was
seemingly rejected by Muhammadans as founded by a woman, and is now a
State granary. The Jama Masjid is on the north side, but not on the
river bank. The tomb of the great king, Zain ul Abidin, is below the
fourth bridge, which bears his name. In the same quarter are the
storehouses of the dealers in carpets and art wares and the Mission
School. The last should be visited by anyone who wishes to see what a
manly education can make of material in some respects unpromising.

[Illustration: Fig. 150 Mosque of the Shah Hamadan.]

CHAPTER XXX

OTHER PLACES OF NOTE

I. PANJAB.

(_a_) _Ambala Division._

~Ambala~, 30.2 N.--76.4 E. Population 80,131, of which 54,223 in
Cantonments. A creation of British rule. It became the headquarters of
the Political Agent for the Cis-Sutlej States in 1823, and the
Cantonment was established in 1843. The Native City and the Civil Lines
lie some miles to the N.W. of the Cantonment. Headquarters of district
and division.

~Bhiwani~ (~Hissar~), 28.5 N.--76.8 E. Headquarters of _tahsil_ in Hissar.
Population 31,100. On Rewari--Fer