The Park in Muskau 173 



park, alive or dead, should be used for the bene- 

 fit of the place ; and so I have also utilized this 

 dubious find. A grave of green grass with a sim- 

 ple stone cross has been made for this skeleton. 

 The inscription states that the bones of the un- 

 known rest under the cross, and from the bank 

 near it the eye plunges into a wide and deep 

 forest ravine. 



Almost the whole of the considerable space 

 which is taken up by the feudal castle buildings 

 is used for service ; only the detached tower with 

 the so-called old castle is arranged for the use of 

 the master. Not far from the castle Platz is 

 a narrow plain about a mile round, used to make 

 a little race-course with ** obstacles," in which I 

 have taken the liberty of using as my model, 

 not the domestic but the Irish style, which, even 

 for the best riders and most excellent horses, 

 present real obstacles; as, for instance, clay banks 

 six feet high with a ditch beyond ; stone w^alls 

 five feet high, woodpiles and ditches twelve and 

 sixteen feet wide. The course is so small that 

 one can see all the evolutions quite distinctly 

 from the amphitheater in the middle, which is 

 to be provided with three rows of rising seats 

 which are to be dug in the sides of the hill; and 

 during the whole race one need never lose sight 

 of the horses. 



This is the utmost point of to-day's excursion, 

 from which we return to the castle by a road, 

 marked with an arrow in the plan, whose ac- 

 quaintance we have yet to make. 



