But we
were assured that the Kuks live everywhere in India.
Their
community is so perfectly organized that it is impossible to find
them out, or to learn the names of their leaders.
In the course of the evening our Akali presented us with a little
crystal bottle, filled with water from the "Lake of Immortality."
He said that a drop of it would cure all diseases of the eye. There
are numbers of fresh springs at the bottom of this lake, and so
its water is wonderfully pure and transparent, in spite of hundreds
of people daily bathing in it. When, later on, we visited it, we
had the opportunity to verify the fact that the smallest stone at
the bottom is seen perfectly distinctly, all over the one hundred
and fifty square yards of the lake. Amrita-Saran is the most
charming of all the sights of Northern India. The reflection of
the Golden Temple in its crystal waters makes a picture that is
simply feerique.
We had still seven weeks at our disposal. We were undecided
between exploring the Bombay Presidency, the North-West Provinces
and the Rajistan. Which were we to choose? Where were we to go?
How best to employ our time? Before such a variety of interesting
places we became irresolute. Hyderabad, which is said to transport
the tourists into the scenery of the Arabian Nights, seemed so
attractive that we seriously thought of turning our elephants back
to the territory of the Nizam. We grew fond of the idea of visiting
this "City of the Lion," which was built in 1589 by the magnificent
Mohamed-Kuli-Kutb-Shah, who was so used to luxuries of every kind
as to grow weary even of Golkonda, with all its fairyland castles
and bright gardens. Some buildings of Hyderabad, mere remnants
of the past glory, are still known to renown. Mir-Abu-Talib, the
keeper of the Royal Treasury, states that Mohamed-Kuli-Shah spent
the fabulous sum of L 2,800,000 sterling on the embellishment of
the town, at the beginning of his reign; though the labor of the
workmen did not cost him anything at all. Save these few memorials
of greatness, the town looks like a heap of rubbish nowadays. But
all tourists are unanimous on one point, namely, that the British
Residency of Hyderabad still deserves its title of the Versailles
of India.
The title the British Residency bears, and everything it may contain
at the present time, are mere trifles compared with the past. I
remember reading a chapter of the History of Hyderabad, by an
English author, which contained something to the following effect:
Whilst the Resident entertained the gentlemen, his wife was similarly
employed receiving the ladies a few yards off, in a separate palace,
which was as sumptuous, and bore the name of Rang-Mahal. Both
palaces were built by Colonel Kirkpatrick, the late minister at
the Nizam's court.
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