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2. House of Pleasure of the Kings of Kashmir |
F. Bernier
2. House of Pleasure of the Kings of Kashmir
Still in the Kashmir, Bernier takes a detour to Achiavel, a house of
pleasure of the ancient kings.
There water breaks out of the earth, more like a river than a fountain, amid
fruit-bearing trees, in a garden.
So the rush of upwelling water, amid the garden, is clearly associated with
a house of pleasure, as in Coleridge's poem.
Text Returning from Send-brary I turn'd a little aside from the road to go and
lie at Achiavel, which is an house of pleasure of the ancient kings of Kachemire, and at present of the great Mogol.
That which most adorns it is a
fountain…. It breaks out of the earth, as if by some violence it ascended up
from the bottom of a well, and that with such an abundance as might make it
to be called a river rather than a fountain… The garden itself is very fine,
there being curious walks in it, and store of fruit-bearing trees.
VIII, p. 233. |
 Other sources
William Bartram |