from June 28. to August 16. 1840. 405 



laid in mortar of loam, and plastered with lime, with copings of 

 flat tiles, forming a roof projecting about 9 in. on each side of 

 the wall, and, consequently, balanced and held in its place by 

 being raised in the centre, so as to form a miniature roof. The 

 freestone with which these walls are built forms the substratum 

 of all the gardens, though it is, in many cases, too deep to be 

 conveniently quarried. We went through a number of the 

 gardens in company with M. Poiteau, M. Souchet, and one of 

 the principal cultivators, and found, as usual, the ground re- 

 markably free from weeds, and every where loose, in conse- 

 quence of being stirred 8 or 9 inches deep, and somewhat rough 

 on the surface; experience having taught these industrious and 

 observing men that the ground being in this state is a better 

 non-conductor of heat and moisture than if it were hard and 

 smooth ; and, consequently, when the soil is warmed by the 

 radiation of the sun to the depth of 1 or 2 feet, which it is even 

 in spring, the heat does not escape so rapidly as it otherwise 

 would do ; while the rain, not lying on the surface, cannot 

 evaporate so quickly. 



From Thomery we returned to Paris by the steam-boat on 

 the Seine, passing several villas on its banks, and one or two 

 large mansions. The most tasteful small villa was a cottage on 

 the top of a steep bank, with its garden, in the form of a paral- 

 lelogram, reaching to the towing-path. The ascent to the house 

 was by a regular zigzag path to a rustic arch in a terrace wall ; 

 which, doubtless, led to the offices, while the terrace was on a 

 level with the living-rooms. The most English-looking places 

 which we saw were, the Park of Fromont, M. le Chevalier Sou- 

 lange-Bodin ; and Petit Bourg, the residence of the Spanish 

 banker, M. Aguado. This wealthy and liberal gentleman has 

 built a suspension bridge across the Seine, and sold it to the 

 department at a price merely nominal. We passed several sus- 

 pension bridges and several stone bridges, some arches of which 

 had been blown up during the invasion of 1814, and were not yet 

 rebuilt. Such are the miseries of war ; though these are nothing 

 when compared with dragging away children from their parents, 

 and forcing them to the cannon's mouth, as must necessarily 

 have been the case in France in many thousand instances. 



The Palace of Fontainehleau, and the villa near it which for- 

 merly belonged to Madame de Pompadour, occupied us the 

 greater part of a day. The palace is extremely interesting, in 

 an architectural point of view, from the different styles which it 

 exhibits, and more particularly those of Francis I. and Louis XIV. 

 The first is characterised exteriorly by immense windows in the 

 upper part of the building, where, in most manners of archi- 

 tecture, the windows are generally smallest, about a third of the 

 height of these large windows being in the upper part of the 



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