BMantations 223 



of the purple foothills and the gleaming snow peaks 

 of the Maritime Alps. In the thickets are laurels, 

 pittosporums, gardenias, etc., from the ends of the 

 earth: but ilex, phillyrea, and oleander are natives of 

 the country, and myrtle and pistacia are the com- 

 mon shrubs of the seashore, so that the foreigners are 

 only additions to an original wealth of evergreens. 

 The garden also has its palms of many species, with 

 cycads, yuccas, aloes, and the like; but the agaves 

 are common hedge plants of the country, and strange 

 euphorbias grow everywhere about: moreover, the 

 most monstrous of these creatures are given a space 

 apart in the main garden, so that they may not dis- 

 turb the quiet of the scene. M. Thuret saved the 

 olives and the ilexes of the original hillside. He did 

 not try to imitate the gardening of another and dif- 

 ferent country or climate but simply worked to en- 

 hance the beauty natural to the region of his choice. 

 "At the other end of Europe all this is equally 

 true of Paulovsk. Here at the edge of the wet and 

 dismal plain on which St. Petersburg is built, is a 

 stretch of upland almost featureless, but which 

 thanks to a careful helping of nature is now the most 

 interesting and beautiful bit of scenery the neighbour- 

 hood of the Tsar's capital can show. Here is no 

 futile striving after the loveliness of England or any 

 other foreign land; no attempting the beauty- of a 

 mountain country or a rocky country or a warm 

 country, or any other country than just this country 

 that lies around St. Petersburg; here also is no 



