INFORMAL WATER GARDENS 123 



various conditions, not from one fixed spot, but from 

 numerous points of view, and not only at the time when 

 it is first pegged out, but repeatedly after the banks have 

 been thrown up and are beginning to settle, when varying 

 heights are often achieved naturally. 



FIG. 84. 

 A, Curvature of outline ; B, Raft with irises. 



The Japanese have made careful study in contour lines 

 both of hills and of water-beds. Probably no nation has 

 such fixed theories and principles of garden design ; and, 

 since their chief aim is to copy Nature as accurately as 

 possible, we learn much from observation of their work. 



Fig. 84 is a quite ordinary example of the shape they 

 would choose for a lake, and there are many points about 

 it worth noticing. For instance, the summer-house and 



