INTRODUCTION. J5 



flat being a square of about four hundred feet 

 each way; these flats or stories lessening in 

 surface as they increased in height. The 

 stones were first covered with reeds cemented 

 together by bitumen. On this covering was 

 laid a double row of bricks united by cement, 

 which were then covered also by sheets of 

 lead, in order to prevent the moisture from 

 penetrating downwards ; and these sheets 

 lastly sustained a depth of earth sufficient for 

 the plantation of trees and shrubs. We are 

 told that this elevated shrubbery was watered 

 by fountains, the water of which we pre- 

 sume to have been conveyed into it by manual 

 labour, as skill in hydraulics appears to be an 

 acquirement of later times ; and perhaps the 

 ancient Egyptians, from their peculiar situa- 

 tion and circumstances, were the only people 

 who attended at that period to the science. 



We have noticed these gardens of Babylon, 

 to show that pleasure-grounds have existed 

 from the earliest ages in civilized countries. 

 As the arts have flourished or been neglected, 

 so have gardens flourished or decayed. 



The Romans would naturally attach to their 

 villas in this country a similar style of garden 

 to that which they had been accustomed to in 

 Italy. But this would be lost in baronial 

 times, when nothing was secure outside the 



