200 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



it sleeps, as lazily and glassily as if quite incapable of aught but re* 

 fleeting the beauty of the blue sky, and the snowy clouds, that float 

 over it. On two sides, it is overhung and deeply shaded by the 

 bowery thickets of the surrounding wilderness ; on the third is a 

 peninsula, fringed with the graceful willow, and rendered more at- 

 tractive by a rustic temple ; while the fourth side is more sunny 

 and open, and permits a peep at the distant azure mountain tops. 



This part of the grounds is seen at the most advantage, either 

 towards evening, or in moonlight. Then the effect of contrast in light 

 and shadow is most striking, and the seclusion and beauty of the 

 spot are more fully enjoyed than at any other hour. Then you will 

 most certainly be tempted to leave the curious rustic seat, with its 

 roof wrapped round with a rude entablature like Pluto's crown ; 

 and you will take a seat in Psyche's boat, on whose prow is poised 

 a giant butterfly, that looks so mysteriously down into the depths 

 below as to impress you with a belief that it is the metempsychosis 

 of the spirit of the place, guarding against all unhallowed violation 

 of its purity and solitude. 



The peninsula, on the north of the lake, is carpeted with the dry 

 leaves of the thick cedars that cover it, and form so umbrageous a 

 resting-place that the sky over it seems absolutely dusky at noon- 

 day. On its northern bank is a rude sofa, formed entirely of stone. 

 Here you linger again, to wonder afresh at the novelty and beauty 

 of the second cascade. The stream here emerges from a dark thick- 

 et, falls about twenty feet, and then rushes away on the side of the 

 peninsula opposite the lake. Although only separated by a short 

 walk and the mass of cedars on the promontory, from the lake itself, 

 yet one cannot be seen from the other ; and the lake, so full of the 

 very spirit of repose, is a perfect opposite to this foaming, noisy little 

 waterfall. 



Farther up the stream is another cascade, but leaving that for 

 the present, let us now select a path leading, as near as we can 

 judge, in the direction of the open pleasure-grounds near the house. 

 Winding along the sides of the valley, and stretching for a good 

 distance across its broadest part, all the while so deeply immersed, 

 however, in its umbrageous shelter, as scarcely to see the sun, or in- 



