Page:Walter Matthew Gallichan - Women under Polygamy (1914).djvu/97

 alternately. Surrounding the royal residences was one of the finest menageries in the world. There were "20,000 birds, beasts and snakes," and in the tank were numerous kinds of fish. The pigeons alone numbered 18,000. The monarch who presided here, like Solomon in all his glory, had artistic tastes. He painted pictures and composed songs for the nautch girls, who sang them in all parts of India. He had a troupe of dancers, and an orchestra of musicians. Such was the splendour of this deposed king's harem and estates, in 1874, as described by Mr. James Routledge, in his volume on "English Rule and Native Opinion in India."