1884.] AN ITALIAN LAKE GARDEN. 397 



the southern shore of the bay by a strait about four hundred yards 

 across. At its western end is the chdteaii of Count Borromeo, a huge 

 building devoid of architectural beauty, and with a ruined wing which 

 materially detracts from the general appearance of the island. This 

 statement may be questioned by those who have not visited the spot, 

 but they may be reminded that, though isolated ruins are often 

 extremely picturesque, a building, a portion only, of which is in ruins, 

 imparts an air of desolation to the scene, unless ivy or some creeper 

 throws a veil of green over the dismantled walls. Some of the rooms 

 in the cTidteau are very beautifully proportioned, and amongst the 

 large collection of pictures and statuary, there is enough to repay a 

 visitor, whilst from the long grotto-like galleries beneath the building 

 one gets exquisite views over the lake. For a short distance along 

 the southern shore of the island extends a row of dilapidated cottages, 

 which can hardly be considered picturesque. All the remaining 

 surface of the island is occupied by the famous garden of the chateau, 

 formed by Count A^italio Borromeo some two hundred years ago, who 

 converted what had been a mere barren rock into a fertile garden of 

 sub-tropical shrubs and flowers. 



The highest part of the island is occupied by a stone platform or 

 upper terrace of considerable area, studded with statues and fountains 

 of no merit : its bareness is somewhat redeemed by a few stone vases 

 filled with flowers, but there is no denying the fact that this, the most 

 conspicuous part of the garden, is the very part which offends the eye 

 as being in bad taste. 



To the west of this highest terrace, from which a magnificent 

 panorama of the lake and surrounding mountains delights the eye, 

 is the largest Camphor tree in Italy, said — and apparently correctly — 

 to be sixty feet in altitude, and very evidently of the most luxuriant 

 growth. To the north of this, and facing Pallanza, is the most 

 secluded, and perhaps — being less formal in style and more not'ceable 

 for floriculture than the other parts of the garden — the prettiest bit 

 of the island. It is a level tract of ground, some sixty yards in length 

 by forty in breadth, the entire area, with the exception of that part 

 of it which is occupied by parterres, being covered with a lawn of 

 well-kept turf. Here are clumps of ^.eaZe«, Acapa7ithus,a,ndCaladmm 

 giganteum interspersed with sturdy Yuccas and grand specimens of 

 Ciipressus deodara. Magnificent trees oi Camellia, however, are perhaps 

 the main attraction, reaching as they do an altitude of twenty feet, and 

 thriving most luxuriantly. Around the lawn, at stated intervals are 

 twelve grand trees of Pinus strohus, beautifully grown, and averaging 

 eighty feet in height ; and beneath their shade flourishes a superb 

 Bamboo, the feathery foliage of which is ever tremulous in the soft 

 breezes blowing from off the lake. Another feature in this charming 



