Chinese Scenery, Plants, and Gardens. 



137 



The pieces, or ponds of water, an indispensable feature in a 

 Chinese garden, are thickly covered with " the green mantle 

 of the standing pool," to obtain which they bestow no small 

 pains ! One of their favourite walks deserves particular de- 

 scription, because they consider it a chef-d'ceuvre of the gar- 

 dener's art : a wall, eight or nine feet high, is built along one 

 side of a pond, betwixt which and the wall a narrow irregular 

 path is made, but so narrow, that it is with much difficulty a 

 person can edge himself along it ; and, as the water is per- 

 mitted to reach the wall in different places by breaks made in 

 the walk, there is even danger of slipping into the water almost 

 at every step ; and this difficulty is called " pleasure" to the 

 walker himself, or at least to the beholders of his embarrass- 

 ment ! Another peculiarity in their garden walks is, when 

 leading through a group of trees and shrubs it must pass be- 

 tween the thickest of the stems, for no other purpose than to 

 produce annoyance to the pedestrian. 



In short, except the beauty and rarity of the plants, the 

 visitor finds nothing interesting in their style of gardening : 

 no scope of ornamental disposition ; no rational design ; the 

 whole being an incongruous combination of unnatural asso- 

 ciation. (Jig. 37.) In one place a piece of craggy rock (real 



or artificial) is seen jutting out from among a tuft of the most 

 delicate garden flowers ; fantastic bridges without water, — 

 unsightly excavations without character or beauty, — the whole 



