CHAPTER V 



TREATMENT OF WATER 



The dale 



With woods o'erhung, and shagg'd with mossy rocks, 

 Whence on each hand the gushing waters play, 

 And down the rough cascade white-dashing fall, 

 Or gleam in lengthened vista through the trees. 



THOMSON. 



THE delightful and captivating effects of water in 

 landscapes of every description, are universally 

 known and admitted. The boundless sea, the broad 

 full river, the dashing noisy brook, and the limpid meander- 

 ing rivulet, are all possessed of their peculiar charms; and 

 when combined with scenes otherwise finely disposed and 

 well wooded, they add a hundred fold to their beauty. The 

 soft and trembling shadows of the surrounding trees and 

 hills, as they fall upon a placid sheet of water - - the bril- 

 liant light which the crystal surface reflects in pure sun- 

 shine, mirroring, too, at times in its resplendent bosom, all 

 the cerulean depth and snowy whiteness of the overhanging 

 sky, give it an almost magical effect in a beautiful landscape. 

 The murmur of the babbling brook, that 



"In linked sweetness long drawn out," 



falls upon the ear in some quiet secluded spot, is inex- 

 pressibly soothing and delightful to the mind; and the 

 deeper sound of the cascade that rushes, with an almost 

 musical dash, over its bed of moss-covered rock, is one of 

 the most fascinating of the many elements of enjoyment 

 in a fine country seat. The simplest or the most monot- 

 onous view may be enlivened by the presence of water in 

 any considerable quantity; and the most picturesque and 

 striking landscape will, by its addition, receive a new charm, 



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