from June 28. to August 16. 1840. 197 



know whether the room at the angle is of the height indicated 

 by the large windows in front; or whether the upper part of the 

 large windows is false, and there are in reality two rooms one 

 over another, as indicated by the two rows of windows in the 

 end. In the interior, some of the rooms have ceilings which 

 appear to us rather exaggerated in point of ornament, and es- 

 pecially in the depth of the beams. On the whole, however, 

 with the exception of the point alluded to in the exterior eleva- 

 tion, and the introduction of some cornices in it instead of string 

 courses, this building gave us great satisfaction. A square 

 building with an arcade below, with subdued string courses, 

 and a bold projecting cornice at top, on the banks of the Seine, 

 a little further up the river than the Pont d'Austerlitz, and the 

 elevation of a school or college close by St. Sulpice, also pleased 

 us. The attention paid to public manufactories in several parts 

 of Paris and the suburbs was also gratifying ; for example, the 

 Gasworks on the road to Passy. The termini of the railroads 

 at Paris, Pecq, and especially at Versailles, are not surpassed 

 by any in England. The waiting-room at Versailles, in the style 

 of Louis XIV., is most agreeably proportioned, and richly and 

 elegantly decorated. The archway of the Barrierede I'E'toile is 

 certainly the grandest monumental building in Paris, next to the 

 Madeleine; and from many parts of the neighbourhood, and 

 especially from the elevated line of the railroad to Versailles, it 

 has a truly magnificent effect. The obelisk of Luxor, 3300 

 years old, and the fountains put up in the Place de la Concorde, 

 are grand objects. We admire on the pedestal of the obelisk a 

 gilt representation on one side showing the manner in which it 

 was taken down in Egypt, and another representation on the 

 other side showing the manner in which it was raised up in the 

 Place de la Concorde, under the direction of M. Lebas, in 

 October, 1836, in the presence of the king and upwards of 

 3000 spectators. A copious account of the taking down of this 

 obelisk in Egypt, and of its erection in Paris, will be found in 

 the Architectural Magazine, vol. iv. p. ^e^. ; and an elevation 

 and description of a plan for completing the summit of the obe- 

 lisk, with a bronze cap, in vol. v. p. 560. The bronze cap was 

 put on, and struck by lightning, and the obelisk now remains 

 with a mutilated summit, as indicated in the shaded part o^ Jig. 

 24;. The fountains are circular basins, with candelabra in the 

 centre, from which the water falls ; and these candelabra are 

 surrounded by inrmersed figures with their heads above water, 

 from trumpets or other objects held by which water is spouted 

 up into the lower basin of the candelabra. The effect, to our 

 taste, is too turbulent and stormy ; we should prefer seeing the 

 water spouted up by the figures only occasionally. A candelabrum 



o 4 



