we have just passed. These hedges are so high that 

 one misses the flowers as little as possible, although 

 of course they lead one to pass through the garden, 

 rather than to treat it as a place in which to loiter. 



Above the flower garden, to the east, is an archi- 

 tectural terrace leading to an ilex bosquet. This is 

 really the charming feature of the Villa Medici to-day, 

 and there is nothing more delightful in Rome. The 

 trees are very old, and although the place is not large, 

 there is such a complete tangled growth that it is im- 

 possible to believe that one is within a stone's-throw 

 of a very busy part of the city. At the end of the 

 central paths is an elevated temple, reached by a flight 

 of steps, and the trees surrounding it are so cut as to 

 give a complete view of the city. There are some de- 

 lightful old seats in the grove, which one abandons 

 with regret when the custodian arrives to close the 

 gates and turn the visitor away. 



