This month of Sawan-July-is the month of the swings. 'It is both pleasant and profitable to swing in the rains,' as I read once in some modern Indian book. In the damp, stifling air, when not even the watered fibre screens-the kas-kas tatties-can keep the rooms fresh, because there is no wind to blow through them, a swing under the trees wafts a cool, reviving air, and children and women, from the highest to the lowest, all have their swings. Sometimes it is but a rope thrown over the branch of a mango tree or slung between the pillars of a little courtyard, but in the palace gardens the swings were beautiful, elaborate constructions, their pointed arches forming one of the most charming garden ornaments. These arches were built of stone or white marble like that in the palace gardens at Deeg. They were finely carved, and when used in the month of Sawan were fitted with swings whose ropes were made of scented fibre and covered with wreaths of flowers. That at Deeg is placed on a platform under the trees at the end of one of the canals, where the swinger, swinging vigorously, could sway through the nearest fountain spray.
Swimming baths are another delightful and invariable feature of an Indian garden; and the ladies had their swimming tanks as well as the men. These reservoirs are shallow as a rule, and filled by one or more fountains, so that the water may always be running and clear. The canals were also kept clean and free from plants, the lotus tank being generally on one of the lowest terraces or in an outer garden. At the Lahore Shalimar the mistake has recently been made of trying to grow these flowers in the shallow canals, which only results in making the water muddy, and confusing the effect of the range of little fountains. On the other hand, if grown round the central chabutra of the large tank the lotus would look very well, for the plants themselves cannot be seen to advantage unless they are given plenty of space and deep water.
