COUNTEY MANSIONS. 



425 



portion of the margin, in what is decidedly the lowest part of the general 

 surface of the ground, ought to be concealed by trees, or by an island, so as 

 to leave the spectator room to suppose that there is an outlet in the proper 

 place. Most lakes are also supplied by brooks ; and, for this reason, in all 

 imitations of them, whether gardenesque or picturesque, there ought to be an 

 indication of the point at which the brook or rill expands into a lake, as well 

 as of that where it contracts again into a brook. Where a rill or small stream 

 runs through a narrow valley, it sometimes happens that a succession of dams 

 are formed across the valley, in order to produce a succession of ponds ; and 

 when the dams are not disguised by wood, and the margins properly varied, 

 this is one of the most formal and unartistical appearances which artificial 

 water can be made to produce. In valleys which are nearly flat, ponds 

 formed by throwing dams across are more easily managed ; but even in cases 

 of this kind, the dam is frequently left naked, and the margin of the water 

 unbroken by trees or islands. 



Fig. 298. shows two ponds which existed some years ago in a valley at 

 Lyne Grove, near Chertsey, Surrey ; and Jig. 299. shows the manner in which 

 we proposed to reduce both pieces to the same level, to vary the margin by 

 islands, and to form a cascade at a in Jig. 299. ; where also a hydraulic ram 

 might be erected for forcing up the water to a cistern on the top of the 

 dwelling-house. Notwithstanding this digression on the forms of artificial 

 water, yet that element is so great an addition to landscape, that, where it has 

 a clear surface, and is of a sufficient extent to receive a breadth of light, it is 



