156 Notes and Reflections during a Tom- : — 



19, Rockwork and rustic seat. 



20, Artificial spring and rocks. The water that enters by this spring comes 



from the manufactory (1), to which it is raised from the Seine for 

 various useful purposes. 



21, Two Doric columns, surmounted by marble statues. 



22, Terrace walk supported by a lofty wall, near the base of which is the 



Seine. From this terrace magnificent views are obtained. 



23, Avenues, chiefly of horsechestnuts, clipped so as to form columns 

 joined by arches. The soil being dry and gravelly, the trees are very 

 prolific in nuts, which were eaten greedily by the goats, as well as the 

 leaves of the chestnut and other trees, when properly dried, and 

 stacked up for winter use. 



24, Statues on pedestals. 



25, Lawn sprinkled with shrubs in the natural manner, sloping from 17 to 16. 



26, Elevated lawns, planted in the natural manner, and kept verdant and 



close in summer by nightly waterings. 



27, Shady winding walks a I'Anglaise. 



28, Point shaded by trees, from underneath which the master-views of the 



place are obtained. 



There are several small Villas in the Neighbourhood qfSceaux 

 worthy of notice. All these, as well as the public garden of 

 that place, were formed out of the park of Penthievres. Next 

 in interest to the grounds of Admiral TchitchagofF are those 

 of M. Vandermarcq : the former depends chiefly on art, the 

 latter on nature. It consists of twenty or thirty acres, with 

 considerable diversity of surface. It was laid out during the 

 consulate, for Mademoiselle Mars, the celebrated actress, by 

 the architect Berthoud, who laid out Malmaison. The place 

 is not without considerable beauties, but it is deficient in small 

 groups ; and, when we saw it, it was, like most other French 

 villas, very badly kept. The villa of the Countess de Bruce 

 is chiefly remarkable for its green-houses and its exotics ; that 

 of M. Comte for the architectural remains of the palace of 

 Penthievres ; and that of M. Sartoris is a good deal in the 

 English manner. 



The Natural, or English, Style of Landscape-Gar dening is 

 neither generally understood nor duly appreciated in France ; 

 chiefly, we believe, because the whole kingdom, as far as we 

 have either heard or observed, does not contain a single good 

 example. There is no want of romantic scenery in various 

 districts ; but there is almost every where a want of close 

 green turf, of evergreen shrubs, and of good adhesive gravel. 

 These natural defects are aggravated, rather than concealed, 

 by the excess of art ; by too many walks ; by too many seats 

 and buildings ; and by too meagre a distribution of trees and 

 evergreen shrubs. The defects of nature can never be alto- 

 gather overcome ; more especially the want of dark green 

 turf; but we do not object to sanded instead of gravel walks, 

 provided they have not deep harsh edges, and are neither too 



