VI. 



THE TERRACE 



The Terrace is stately. It is a fitting and impos- 

 ing introduction to the Mall. Its whole expression is 

 noble, dignified, large, with its broad stairways, its 

 open esplanade and its sweeps of greensward. Stand 

 here and look northward. The beautiful Bethesda 

 Fountain ripples a continuous sheen of falling silver, 

 playing with rainbows and blown at times into sprays 

 of flying diamonds by sudden gusts of wind. On either 

 side the velvet lawns lead the eyes away in a revel of 

 sunlit green, holding them here and there by the blaze 

 of color from some mass of bloom. From April to 

 the end of June this spot is a glory of richly mingled 

 hues, the flame of the azalea, the splendid outburst of 

 the rhododendron, the lovely hues of the rose, the en- 

 chanting festoons of the Wistaria, the tender and gentle 

 profusion of the hawthorn's sweet flowers follow each 

 other in charming succession. It is a silent symphony 

 of color, and the eye roves over it with a joy as keen 

 as the ear delights in the swelling music of the 

 orchestra. 



And beyond the glittering Fountain, across the danc- 

 ing waters of the Lake, you look into the restful 

 depths of the Ramble. The contrast between the 

 ornate and the simple is extreme, yet by no means 

 jarring. The gaze is led away and lost almost un- 



